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Over the past few months, I have heard conflicting opinions about the market
situation from different people. There are those who are positive that the
global slowdown has finally visited Indian shores, which means a recession in
India as well. There are others who are cautiously optimistic about the future
and are continuing to invest into newer business avenues.
I belong to the latter stock. True, there is a slowdown in India. The stock
market has been behaving erratically but then again the stock market is not the
true indication of the prevailing economic reality. It is more sentiment driven.
I still see and hear enterprises investing in various asset acquisitions,
though now one witnesses more discretionary spending. Of course during a
recession most companies defer their purchase decisions, and these get
telescoped and suddenly the entire market sentiment is brought down.
In fact one company I spoke to has witnessed a 30 percent drop in order
bookings in the last quarter, which is more or less driven by a fear for the
future than because of a sign of a failing economy. Most organizations are
managing to touch their toplines, but their bottomlines are under severe
pressure and this is likely to continue for sometime.
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Vinita Bhatia |
Nonetheless, even in a slowdown most companies would still be willing to
continue their IT spending. This is because IT has become an integral part of
the way they conduct their business and it even helps make their entire business
processes shorter and efficient.
So there is truly no reason to be gloomy and be bogged down by the general
perception that India too will be badly impacted by the US recession. In fact,
according to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman-Planning Commission, Govt
of India this year too India will display a seven percent GDP growth. Compared
to the two percent GDP growth expected by the US, we are definitely doing much
better. And also considering we are living with 11 percent inflation, a seven
percent GDP growth is no mean feat.
So if you take my advice, keep your eye on the ball. And keep an eye on newer
technologies because when there is a slowdown, enterprises are keener to invest
in technologies that will bring down their total cost of ownership and will
offer better return on investment over a period of time.
Vinita Bhatia
vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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