As I reflect on my current trip to India, I can't but help feel the
deja vu of the Silicon Valley during the late 90's. Streams of business people come in and out of the lobby with ideas, deals, and lots of excitement. I'm typing away from the Hotel Leela in Bangalore where I just met with a client in the system integrator space. Like others, she also commented on the tremendous growth in just the past year. Among the construction cranes, cows in the street, motorized rickshaws, and the hustle and bustle of a country on the move, I have firmly experienced an outsider's perspective on India's growth.
With each trip, I notice new architectures and campuses being built or expanded for each of the
SI's. India's info tech economy continues to grow and their system integrators now play a significant role in the global professional services business. As they continue to make progress and gain multi-billion in revenues, they remain on an aggressive move towards the next step in the value chain.
With that perspective in mind, opportunities exist for these highly skilled system integrators to make the transition from system integrator to solution provider. More importantly, those system integrators who have the development
capabilties and understanding of various
middleware platforms such as BEA
WebLogic/
AquaLogic, IBM
WebSphere, Microsoft.Net, Oracle Fusion
Middleware, and SAP
NetWeaver have an opportunity to change the software environment in their next transformation. Just like Electronic Arts who builds software on Sony's
Playstation, Microsoft's X-box, and
Nintendo's Game Cube, imagine a world where an
Infosys,
Wipro,
Satyam, Cognizant, and
HCL deliver their own Chinese HR talent acquisition solutions or eastern
european process manufacturing solution on top of
NetWeaver, Fusion,
WebSphere, VS.
NEt, or
WebLogic.
Delivering last mile solutions regardless of
middleware platform potentially transforms system integrators who are channels for the big vendors like SAP and Oracle into solutions providers who view SAP and Oracle as a strategic supplier. But to get there, these
SI's will require internal transformation in their capabilities. Customers must view these firms as trusted
advisors across the enterprise.
However, skills shortages still abound in advanced capabilities such as change management, master data management, business process
reengineering, and overall IT strategy. But with some retooling, expect the most nimble and adaptive of these system integrators to make the transformation. Clients desperately seek resources to deliver process innovation while optimizing
commoditized processes via
BPO. The key success factor will be the capability to deliver modular last mile solutions by industry and geographies
on top of agnostic
middleware platforms or
SaaS deployment options.
Once that transformation has been attained, IBM and
Accenture will nervously have to look in their
rear view mirrors as the competition charges forward. But for now, their positions remain safe.
(The personal contents in this blog do not reflect the opinions, ideas, thoughts, points of view, and any other potential attribution of my current, past, or future employers.)
Copyrighted 2007 by R Wang. All rights reserved