Category: In The News

Not Even One in 10 Indian Techies Wants to Work at a Startup | In the News

India prides itself on being the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem after the US and the UK. But the country’s techies, it seems, aren’t really sold to the idea.

Fewer than 10% of Indian engineers want to work at startups, according to an employability report by the Mumbai-based pre-employment assessment firm Aspiring Minds. The report is based on a survey of over 170,000 engineers who graduated in 2018 from over 750 colleges in India.

Moreover, India’s startups are caught in a bubble, with nine in 10 failing within five years of founding. “…when the unviable astronomical valuations of startups come down and the dust settles on true business cases, especially in B2C, and when more B2B tech product companies gain traction, more engineers may want to work there,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president of consultancy Everest Group.

Read more in Quartz India

South Africa Recognised as Global Destination for Business Process Service | In the News

Following significant investments from key industry players and renewed focus on the sector from government, South Africa has emerged as a global destination of choice for Business Process Services (BPS).

“In an unprecedented and seminal moment for the market, a sitting president specifically mentioned the BPS sector in a State of the Nation Address,” comments Kabelo Makwane, MD for Operations at Accenture in Africa.

However, South Africa’s BPS industry stakeholders have made significant efforts to develop and promote hubs of competency within the major economic regions of Gauteng, the Western Cape and Kwazulu-Natal. These efforts have yielded compelling results, with the local BPS industry growing 22% annually over the past four years, according to research by Everest Group, which is twice the global industry growth rate.

Read more in IT News Africa

Rogue, Stealth, Shadow: The Antiheroes of IT | In the News

The names that define the illicit hardware and software introduced into the organisation are uncannily accurate, but can be turned into a business benefit.

In a dark, gloomy and quiet corner of the office, behind cupped hands, the hushed words are spoken for fear that anyone else should hear: “Shhh, don’t say it out loud, but we’ve got a case of shadow IT.”

It’s not just limited to free apps either. Between both Gartner and Everest Group, their research found that anything from 30% to 50% of enterprise spend is linked to shadow IT. And both think this is likely not even close to the truth. The reality is that shadow tech is simple, accessible, cost-effective and quick. It doesn’t labour under the complex security and red tape restrictions that oft en hamper approved applications. And, let’s face it, many of the apps and solutions provided by organisations are difficult to use, bloated and chosen by management, not by the users.

Read more in Brainstorm Magazine

Trump Is Fighting to Dramatically Restrict Legal Immigration | In the News

From the moment Donald Trump stepped into the Oval Office, he has acted deliberately to restrict the number of immigrants coming to the United States. His administration has not only been cracking down on unauthorized entry to the country but also closing off legal avenues for immigration. It initially curtailed admission from Muslim countries and slashed refugees. Now it has turned its attention to family and skills-based categories—without any new congressional authorization.

Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder and CEO of Everest Group, says, “Almost every major U.S. firm is building some form of digital platform so it can enhance its competitive position….The current skill shortages are going to grow as the demand for digital and IT skills explodes. If this administration wanted to harm U.S. competitiveness, then restricting access to this vital labor would be an excellent approach.”

Read more in reason

As with Infosys, the Mindtree Row is just another Case of Founders’ Folly | In the News

Yet another leading IT outsourcing firm in India is in the eye of a storm as its founders refuse to let go of the reins.

Bengaluru-based Mindtree has made headlines after one of its investors, the owner of coffee chain Café Coffee Day (CCD), VG Siddhartha, struck a deal to sell his 20.32% stake in the company to Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T). The decision did not go down well with co-founders Krishnakumar Natarajan, Subroto Bagchi, Parthasarathy NS, and CEO Rostow Ravanan, who deemed the hostile takeover “a grave threat” to the 20-year-old organisation.

The problem is that Mindtree and L&T may not be seeing eye-to-eye yet.

“The complaint is from a passion perspective,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president of Texas-based consulting firm Everest Group. Mindtree has invested in newer areas such as agile, design thinking, and cloud services; it’s made crucial acquisitions, including buying out both UK-based Bluefin and US-headquartered Relational Solutions.

Read more in Quartz India

Long-drawn battle with L&T may hurt Mindtree: Analysts | In the News

The major risk in L&T’s battle to take control of Mindtree is the process dragging on and hurting the Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm’s business, analysts said, even as they opined that cultural issues could be managed.

“In this case, it will be important that this process does not drag on but is brought to conclusion quickly. If the process drags on and generates substantial bad press, it can affect future growth,” Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of IT consultancy Everest Research, told ET. “Having said that, we have found that clients are quite sticky and will normally give new management time to prove itself.”

Read more in The Economic Times

Why is Innovation Important Today? | In the News

In an age in which sustainable advantage is increasingly transient, organizations need to adapt endlessly – to the point of embedding innovation in their business DNA. Consequently, the historically predominant CXO “delivery” mindset is shifting to a “business outcome” mindset. Firms that fail to adapt to rapid technological advances, constantly evolving  customer expectations and intensifying global competition may find themselves unable to compete.

Rohitashwa Aggarwal and Parul Jain explain more about innovation in an article in Intelligent Sourcing

Why Millions of Indian Traders are Setting Chinese Goods on Fire | In the News

The prevailing bilateral frost between India and China is having a chilling effect on local trade as the south Asian nation prepares to celebrate its annual festival of colours.

Around 60 million members of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) have called for the boycott of Chinese goods on the eve of Holi, one of India’s most popular festivals. Some business owners even plan to use such products to make the traditional bonfire—Holi symbolises the burning of an evil demon in Hindu mythology—today (March 19) across 1,500 locations in the country.

The row only highlights the significance Chinese products have assumed in Indian trade and other areas.

“The entire garment and electronics industries are highly dependent on China. Lots of Chinese apps like TikTok are gaining traction, too,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president of Texas-based consultancy Everest Group. Four out of five of the top smartphones in India are China-made. Even plastic buckets, idols of Hindu gods and goddesses, and winter coats are mostly manufactured in China.

Read more in Quartz India

Why Two Music-Streaming Giants have Entered India in Less than a Month | In the News

International music-streaming platforms have turned up the volume in India.

Less than three weeks after Stockholm-based Spotify launched its app in India, Google-owned YouTube Music entered the country on March 12, with premium plans starting at Rs99 ($1.44). The new entrants will now compete with Apple and Amazon Music, besides homegrown rivals Gaana, JioSaavn, and Hungama.

Spotify garnered 1 million users in India within a week of its launch on Feb. 27. “Whether the growth converts to revenue numbers is a different question,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president of Texas-based consulting firm Everest Group.

Read more in Quartz India

Employers Struggling with Absence, Disability Management | In the News

Employers might consider a multi-faceted approach to better manage absences and accommodate for worker disabilities, and the index provided a few suggestions. They included using data to benchmark against industry competitors; investing in formal return-to-work and stay-at-work programs to support employee engagement and productivity; adhering to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) best practices; and building a robust training program to teach managers how to identify conditions and communicate with employees, among other solutions.

Many companies, though, have turned to third parties to help them better manage their leave practices. Forty percent of companies with 1,000 or more employees outsource their FMLA management, as do 27% of companies with 50 or more employees, according to recent research. Additionally, the Everest Group has predicted that the global HR outsourcing market will continue at a rate of 6% to 8% growth for at least the next few years, exceeding $5 billion by 2020.

Read more in HR Dive

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