Volume 14, Number 1 Article by M Chandrasekaran March, 2002
Success Parameters for Technology Companies in IT- An Indian Perspective :
Technology companies tend to venerate technology as an end in itself; the fact that any technology that does not satisfy a customer need is largely an exercise in futility in a commercial context, is most often lost sight of. Entrepreneurs must be sensitised to the need for establishing a company that is market driven, and where technology makes it possible to offer a product that is distinct and differentiated; both these facts then combining to yield superior financial returns. It is also vital that the framework of a successful technology company be laid in the very early stages of the company?s life cycle.
Indian companies working with emerging technologies must be part of the early group of companies which set the standards which will govern the usage of that technology. Companies must also make sure that the IP created as a consequence of the research and development work is adequately protected. Companies must balance between making public the knowledge developed by them and protecting such knowledge through the due processes available - not an easy task but it needs to be done if the company is to make an impact on the standard. Ambitious companies must take an active part in the regular engineering inter operability events and marketing events, which have become essential to the field.
M Chandrasekaran, Advisor to Sasken Communication Technologies and mentor to early stage companies, draws attention to three kinds of technology companies which seem to be emerging in the Indian context. Companies largely conceived in the US, where the senior management is located, with the Indian end primarily being a product development centre; companies started by senior personnel from either MNCs based in India, large Indian companies, or in a few cases, senior scientists from Indian government institutions; and the home grown, garage style start ups which are funded more on a wing and a prayer than any real cash - the segment that requires the most help. In order that India establishes a prominent position in the IT technology landscape, it is important that all three types of companies should secure their places in the sun.
Reprint No 02106c
