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Nasscom - Business India - Shashi Bhagnari
Nasscom - Business India - Shashi Bhagnari
Nasscom - Business India - Shashi Bhagnari
B u s i n e s s I n d i a u t h e m ag a z i n e o f t h e c o r p o r at e wo r l d
we needed, says
Ashank
Desai,
former
chairperson, founder, &
board
member,
Mastek, attempting
to explain nasscoms dream.
Fostering
quality in
business
nasscom has always sought enduring gains that would benefit all, quality being one of the many. Indian
industry, which has been battling
the image of Indian goods bearing
poor quality and, as a consequence,
Indian software firms being hardly
reliable to deliver timely, consistent
and high quality products and services, was challenged to change that.
nasscom set a globally acknowledged and accepted normal Capability Maturity Model (cmm), developed
by Carnegie Mellon University in the
US, as a level of quality attainment.
Driven and motivated, the industry worked hard toward achieving
this accreditation and this paved the
way for Indian companies to get certified at cmm Level
5. K.V. Ramani,
former
chairperson, nasscom and
founder & former chairperson,
Future
Software,
says, The mission
was so successful
that today more
than 65 per cent
of all cmm Level 5 certified firms are
based in India, which is more than
in any other country worldwide.
With a stress on quality and business ethics, India was able to transform its image radically in the
international market. The quality
advantage has more than proved to
be a competitive gain for Indian companies, Ramani points out. Today,
even as customers come for cost benefits, they stay back for quality.
In creating an ecosystem that facilitates growth of the it industry, nasscoms role shines brightly. It has
addressed diverse initiatives like taking up policy, tax, regulatory issues
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B u s i n e s s I n d i a u t h e m ag a z i n e o f t h e c o r p o r at e wo r l d
and
incentives,
human
resource
availability, infrastructure
among
others, says Kiran
Karnik,
former
president,
nasscom. In addition to
highlighting new
opportunities and
new markets, it has
facilitated these segments through
active customers and government
engagements, leading delegations,
inviting top customer ceos to India,
etc, and attracting foreign it companies to set up operations in India,
he explains.
Determined origination
Its worth remembering that the
thought of forming a software association was hatched during one of the
many get-togethers held at it evangelist, writer and education trainer, Vijay
Mukhis house in downtown Mumbai. The idea gained traction when on
a summer afternoon in 1988, a few
industry folks met at the Sea Lounge
at Mumbais Taj Mahal Hotel. According to Mehta, one of the attendees,
The motivation was creating a blueprint for founding a trade association.
Others who were part of the initial
meeting included Saurabh Srivastava;
Prakash Ahuja, ceo, Sonata Software;
and Shashi Bhagnari, tech writer. Of
course, they were not the only ones
to make it happen, but that was the
spark. The initiative was nurtured by
many other people like Nandan Nilekani, Vijay Srirangan and Sri Ganesh.
Following burgeoning support from
pro-software body companies across
the country and a combined pitch
culminated in the formation of nasscom on 1 July 1988 in New Delhi.
Recalling nasscoms formative
days, N.R. Narayana Murthy,
former
chairperson, nasscom, and
founder & former
chairperson, Infosys, recalls: I still
remember
how
Harish
Mehta,
Ashank Desai, K.V.
Ramani,
Arvind
Shah,
Saurabh
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B u s i n e s s I n d i a u t h e m ag a z i n e o f t h e c o r p o r at e wo r l d
or Nasscom to continue
its growth trajectory, it
needs to have iconic leaders
in the future with the potential to make a bigger impact.
Whether future leaders will
actually lead, however, will
depend on whether they
can gain the confidence and
commitment of other members. I dont think we are
Mehta. It is an incredible
story that does not happen
without key players in the
industry coming together.
Adds Desai, In the past
we have had we had many
bright, energetic persons as
chairmen and surely these
capable individuals will take
the organisation to the next
level.
u
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B u s i n e s s I n d i a u t h e m ag a z i n e o f t h e c o r p o r at e wo r l d