What is the scope of IT in India today?
If you look around, you will find that our dependence on IT has increased manifold in the last few years. Internet enabled computers in homes, mobile phones are just a few facets of how IT use has grown over the years.
It is becoming difficult to think of life without IT. Today, this sector touches almost all the key sectors of economy -- agriculture to manufacturing, banking to media, medicine to defence and private sector to government. The use of Electronic Voting Machines in the recent Lok Sabha polls is an example of the increasing use of IT in governance i.e. e-Governance.
The Indian IT industry has grown manifold in the first three years of this new millennium. Personal computers have doubled to over 10 million in just three years. Internet users have grown threefold to over 20 million. Software exports have doubled to Rs 60,000 crores. All these point to the IT industry being rated as the fastest growing industry over the years.
Indian software professionals have built strong brand equity for themselves worldwide. India has emerged as the destination of choice for software services and outsourcing.
All parameters point towards continuing growth in the years to come with one caveat -provided India can produce six million trained IT professionals by the year 2012. The formal engineering colleges can meet less than half of that requirement. That is where the younger generation needs to step in and take the plunge.
Has the sector fully recovered from the slowdown and if yes, then to what extent?
The global slowdown did leave an impact, but the good news is that the Indian IT industry has overcome the short-term turbulence. The industry has weathered the storm, emerged stronger and is back on a sustained growth path.
Has the sector fully recovered from the slowdown and if yes, then to what extent?
The global slowdown did leave an impact, but the good news is that the Indian IT industry has overcome the short-term turbulence. The industry has weathered the storm, emerged stronger and is back on a sustained growth path.
What are the areas that show an acute skill shortage?
By all accounts the prospects of India's IT industry remain bright. First because organisations have started spending on IT once again. Second Silicon Valley bigwigs have also started to open the doors to recruitment and one cannot help but believe that careers in the field of IT will be back in the spotlight. The other issue is that countries such as USA, Germany, UK, Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand and Japan are continuing to face a demand-supply gap in the area of IT manpower. Skilled IT professionals continue to be scarce and this creates a major opportunity for Indian software professionals. The highest number of jobs will be created in the areas of Systems Engineering, Net-working, Business Apps., Software Engineering and BPO.
Which are some of the new programmes launched by NIIT recently? What are the plans for the future?
NIIT is offering a range of new programmes — GNIIT (Software Engineering) that comes with one year of industry experience, a special postgraduate Diploma in .Net technologies for students seeking a career as .Net developers and an intensive programme in Bio-informatics to be delivered jointly with the Supercomputing Facility of IIT Delhi.
For ITES industry aspirants, NIIT is offering industry endorsed programmes in technical as well as non-technical areas (like customer care, English language). The GNIIT programme is being customised to offer four success tracks that will provide the largest number of openings in the Indian IT and ITES industry. All these new tracks will come with the advantage of one year of professional practice during which learners are paid Rs 5,000 p.m. on an average.
What kind of skill-sets are required to join IT? What tips can you give students who want to enter this field?
You need an exceptional ability to learn on your own once you are through with your IT programme because the technology changes so fast that you need to keep abreast of it all the time. A high level of motivation, ambition and the willingness to slog are essential components. The best thing is to check your aptitude for computers before you enroll in a computer programme.
Besides the right programme, it is equally important for students to choose the right institute.