Software product companies, long considered as stepchildren amidst the large array of IT services firms in India, have formed a separate caucus -iSPIRT - to convert their ideas into policy proposals.

The 30 founding members insist iSPIRT is no industry association but only a think-tank that would come up with special demands relevant for product firms. Nucleus Software, Tally Solutions, Persistent System and Drishti Software are among the few software product firms who are iSPIRT's founding members. iSPIRT is an acronym for Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable.

"We are just an informal group and most of us continue to be members of NASSCOM," said Anand Deshpande, founder member of iSPIRT and chairman of products firm Persistent Systems. A member of NASSCOM's executive council, he said iSPIRT would ultimately partner with NASSCOM to convey concerns of product firms to policy makers.

The national association of software and services companies (NASSCOM), an industry association of over 1400 software firms, said the association has a defined focus and initiative for the software product sector.