As the world continues to struggle with the challenges thrown by the pandemic, India has emerged as the country which has not only managed to control the spread of pandemic to a large extent, but has also managed to successfully tackle the economical challenges thrown by it. The last quarter has seen India registering a GDP growth rate of 8.4% and remains on track to register the fastest growth among major economies this year.

What is even more promising, is the growth registered by the Indian IT-BPM industry. The IT & BPM industry’s revenue is estimated at ~US$ 194 billion in FY21, an increase of 2.3% YoY. The domestic revenue of the IT industry is estimated at US$ 45 billion. According to Gartner estimates, IT spending in India is estimated to reach US$ 93 billion in 2021 (7.3% YoY growth) and further increase to US$ 98.5 billion in 2022.

In our view, this kind of sustained robust growth is a result of the following:

Demand for IT Services is growing and how…

The need for digitization has become imperative for an organization to succeed in the current scenario. As a part of digitization, the demand for move to cloud, for process automation and for data analytics has become an intrinsic roadmap for every organization. Technologies such as Blockchain, AI/ML, IOT, RPA etc are all contributing in a big way to make innovation happen in the digital space - in a better, quicker and scalable way. In case of IMS industry, the demand for permanent move to cloud from on-premise, is now combined with an equally important demand of adherence to security and GRC protocols. We foresee this demand to sustain and grow for the next couple of years, thereby enabling the double-digit growth, the industry at large is seeing right now.

Leadership leads the way….

Leadership is all about taking the lead to make changes that drive your organization in the right direction. Today’s customers are looking at the background of leadership of their IT partners, and evaluate their capability as leaders who have guided their organizations in the right direction. In case of IT Industry a big part of being adaptive to change means spotting changes in technology trends. A lot of thriving IT service companies of yesteryears have perished because of their inability to spot the future trends, and adapt them quickly.  At Ahana, the leadership team is aligned when it comes to creating a roadmap for the organization that is always focused on the direction where the market is heading towards. We strongly believe that this helps us provide more value to our customers as well. Most of our customers who want to modernize/digitize their organization, evaluate the leadership team of their IT Partners, their outlook towards technology trends and their track record in adapting them. In the 13 years of its existence, Ahana’s leadership team has always been proactive when it comes to technology adaptation, and has gone for technology collaborations and partnerships that provide the best value for our customers.

Unicorns are for real….

A large chunk of India’s growth forecast is now being attributed to the explosive growth story of start-ups. India’s start-up growth story has really taken off in the last decade. Be it Fintech, EdTech, Healthtech or E-Commerce, the remarkable progress made by Indian start-ups is made possible due to a supporting ecosystem created by the Government, organizations such as Nasscom, Venture Capitalists and Technology companies. The evolution of cloud and agile technologies have helped most start- ups validate their ideas quickly, create MVPs and made faster GTM possible. In addition, developments in the development industry whether it is low code or no code, has made working on products and scale-up, much easier than before. The onset of social media, access to cheaper internet bandwidth and smartphones have also contributed in their own way to this success story.  Entrepreneurship is no longer limited to business families and if you have the right idea, the right set of people to take it forward, you can create a successful start-up. Having said that, in my view, at the end of the day, the focus should not be on start-up valuations but on profitability, execution and providing superior customer experience. An astounding 41 start-ups turned into unicorns in the last 11 months and there are many more in the pipeline. In this context, it won’t be too far- fetched to say that most youngsters now have a dream of entrepreneurship in their eyes and that Unicorns are for real and are here to stay.

Growth lies in numbers and numbers don’t lie…

As the second most populated country in the world, we always had the population to ensure that there is growth for the country. However, in the recent years, most industries whether they are Manufacturing, Real Estate, IT or Education- are on a growth trajectory. A digitally integrated ecosystem led by UPI and Aadhar has made incentives, subsidies more accessible and financial inclusion possible. The whole approach of a Digital India coupled with growth in infrastructure and connectivity has ensured that the confidence in India’s economy and its growth story remains strong. India has the largest population of young people between the age of 18-35 years who have an excellent appetite to take risks and grow. This has reflected in the way digitization has taken shape in India. In my view, UPI and the innovation in Digital Payments have been gamechangers for India. Today, India is at No1 when it comes to digital financial transactions and has left its nearest competitor China well behind.  Growth is now constant and not stagnant.

Lastly, while pandemic has taught us many things, it has also taught and proved the world that Indian are extremely resilient and a dynamic lot, when it comes to adapting to change. Our numbers and the speed of bouncing back to have better than pre-pandemic GDP growth, is an indicator of that. On the IT front though, things have never been brighter and the pandemic has fast forwarded things by 5 years for us in terms of growth in revenue terms. By all parameters, we can predict that the next decade will be India’s, when it comes to growth.