What's Up - Editorial

Volume 11 - October 2005

Prayag entered its fifth year of operations in September 2005 and it has been an exciting journey so far. We have worked with over 40 companies global corporations to organically grown local companies, product and services companies, start-ups, mid-sized and large companies including some of the world's largest software companies. We have done diverse work in the areas of business and market strategy and implementation of marketing programs. In many ways, the work we have done reflects the trends in the industry.

In the last four years, we have seen the emergence of a strong offshore centric BPO industry. In alignment with this trend, Prayag has helped several clients examine a diversification strategy into the BPO business. We have also anchored studies to determine the efficacy of various offshoring models. Prayag has also been a part of the team that was instrumental in setting up a JV between a leading UK bank and a well known Indian financial services company.

With offshoring becoming mainstream, Indian companies, large and small, are realizing the importance of positioning themselves distinctly in the market place. Many mid-sized companies are also seriously pursuing a “niche” player approach. In accordance with trend, Prayag has assisted many of our mid-sized clients with defining a focused go to market strategy. For some clients, Prayag has helped create a compelling market message. More often than not, Prayag also helps in implementing the messaging strategy through a variety of marketing vehicles.

Complementing the need to position oneself distinctly is the need to stay abreast of the developments in the market. Indian companies have realized the need to be more externally focused and have bolstered research activities. Prayag too has witnessed an increasing demand for its research suite of services. We have done a wide variety of research assignments spanning market opportunity assessments, competition mapping and prospect profiling.

Over the last decade, Indian companies have solely focused on entrenching themselves in the developed markets of North America and Europe. Meanwhile, the market closer home- domestic market too has been growing rapidly. In fact, the local market for IT is estimated at nearly $ 4B. In a recent study, Prayag found that the appetite for IT is increasing among Indian buyers – a good proportion of the companies we spoke to were evaluating solutions that were business critical, more often than not, they were evaluating packaged solutions. This edition’s “In the Eye” touches upon the potential for IT services and products in the Indian market.

We concluded from this study that the most important aspect of creating an IT solution or product is to make IT business relevant. Talking about his experiences in creating a business intelligence solution specially tailored for global retailers is “Tomorrow Maker” Atul Jalan, CEO, Manthan Systems.

Creating a successful product company is the goal of many aspiring technopreneurs across the globe, as well as in India. So, we figured that the experiences of a person who has created not one or two, but seven such successful companies, would be invaluable to the readers of Confluence. The “Best and the Rest” section features an interview with Vish Akella, a highly acclaimed Silicon Valley entrepreneur and currently Chairman of Ample Communications

Finally, Prayag’s annual marketing best practices study that seeks to evaluate marketing priorities and pain points of technology companies with an offshore centric delivery model. We present excerpts from Prayag’s Marketing Best Practices Study 2005 in this edition of Bottom Line Top Line.

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