Focus the Spotlight

The PM, our

political fraternity and even the economists like to call it

inclusive growth, trade and business analysts view it as secular

growth while the IT industry would believe it to be the overall

growth. The Bard of Avon would have said 'whats in a name?' as

long as it is undiluted growth with no statistical shenanigan

involved. 'Who cares' when it is unfettered growth, feels DQ

Channels; instead, we would rather hail this growth story as the

ultimate democratization of Indian IT. Especially, if solution

providers, the glorified moniker given to the tier-2 system

integrators, prove to be one of the biggest and most critical

stakeholders of the Indian IT sector.

The specific story

here is of course the growth of the domestic IT services sector, and

how it is gradually attracting similar interests to that of the

software exports story. And more precisely true to its colors, DQ

Channels is focusing on the achievements, successes as well as trials

and tribulations of the solution providers. Though India in FY12 is

still the kingpin of the global off-shore lexicon, thanks to an

overwhelming increase in domestic consumption, it is also supporting,

at the same time, a vibrant local IT services market, a phenomenon

not visible a few years back. At least a few years back, domestic IT

services was synonymous with the likes of Wipro and TCS and IBM. Now,

there is no way you can ignore the likes of Allied Digital, Gemini

Communications, PC Solutions, Targus Technologies or Value Point

Systems. The democratization of Indian IT is now complete.

Even the growth of

these solution providers is no more a new or unique story. However,

the catalyst till now has primarily been hardware, not surprising

considering their genesis from a hardware channel background.

Analysts have tracked with interest their maturation from box pushers

to value added services; but now a look at the nature of solutions

and services they are offering, the magnitude and complexities of

deals they are inking, the kind of customers they are servicing (and

no more just in India), it is evident that it is time to consider

them at par with most mainstream system integrators instead of

looking at them as an exclusive club. After all, our politicos with

their vested interests might not understand, but once democratization

is complete, reservation not just becomes superfluous but can even

be damaging. This is what precisely, what DQ Channels attempts to

highlight or I may say celebrate with the Solutions Champs issue. As

you will find over the next few pages, most solution providers are

handling complex solutions and services and no more dealing in just

plain vanilla hardware. And we have further attempted to recognize

the champions in each of their precise areas. A clarification though:

we do not claim that a particular solutions provider generates the

maximum revenues or they have signed the maximum deals in one

particular segment. The Solutions Champs have been, however, one of

the most prominent players in their respective domains and to

recognize more names, we have not repeated any winner in another

category.