India Arriving: The IT Story

A scholar shares his first-hand perspective on how India’s high-tech industry came to life - and what will shape its future.

By Rafiq Dossani, Stanford University

Editor’s Note: India’s software, software services and software-enabled services industry had revenue of $48 billion in 2006 and aims to grow that figure 30 percent annually through 2015. Rafiq Dossani, a professor at Stanford University, chronicles the rise of the South Asia powerhouse in his new book, “INDIA ARRIVING: How This Economic Powerhouse is Redefining Global Business.”

This essay, adapted from the author’s book, focuses on the rise of India’s communications and technology sectors by taking a look at the skyline of a small town, the history of economic reform and the drivers which will determine the industry’s future.

Year End Webinar: The Death of the Software Suite?

As megavendors continue to acquire software companies and assemble ever-larger “suites” of products, on-demand vendors continue to fight for the death of the software suite. Attend a free webinar on Tues., Dec. 18 at 11:00am PST/2:00pm EST to get expert opinion and insight into how companies like yours have become more successful by joining the on-demand revolution. Host M.R. Rangaswami, founder of the Sand Hill Group and publisher of SandHill.com, will speak with executives from Intacct, LucidEra, and WebEx to find out about the latest in on-demand business application innovation and the success software businesses are achieving by deploying best-of-breed on-demand applications and platforms. Click here to register now!

Linux Desktop Redux

New data shows Linux adoption on the desktop is increasing – but remains primarily at small businesses. Guy Smith of Silicon Strategies Marketing says that’s a good thing. Read how the snowball effect may mean Microsoft’s day with destiny is approaching in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on open source.

Questioning the SaaS Decision

As the use of on-demand software in the enterprise continues to grow, CIOs need to be sure they’re asking the right questions before adopting the model. Judith Hurwitz of Hurwitz & Associates offers a quick list of considerations in this week’s post to the SandHill.com Blog on SaaS.

Publish Your Perspective!

The SandHill.com Blog wants your opinions. Send your thoughts on the enterprise software industry to editor@sandhill.com and we’ll publish them in our blog.

DON’T MISS: The Evolving Role of the CMO

Many chief marketers still have narrowly defined roles that emphasize advertising, brand management, and market research. They will have to spread their wings. Read why in this article from The McKinsey Quarterly.

What Makes Software Successful?

The business value created? User adoption rates? On-time and on-budget deployment? Take a short survey from SandHill.com and NeoChange and give us your opinion about the drivers of enterprise software success. Click here to participate. All respondents will receive a report of the study’s findings and one lucky respondent will be chosen at random to win a new iPod Nano – just in time for the holidays. Click here to take the study now.

News Update: India’s Quintuple Double

More big numbers on India’s economy; plus, questions for the future of open source, questions about Novell’s accounting and questions about who will build “tech’s Prius.”
Read these stories and more software news of the week in the latest SandHill.com Software News Summary.

Poll: Can India Hit $15B?

Will India’s software companies be able to meet the industry’s goal of $15 billion in revenue by 2015?
Take our Pulse Poll >>

Last week, readers speculated as to how long it takes to make a SaaS company profitable.
Give us your opinion and see the results >>

More at SandHill.com:

Tech startups eye IPOs again after a long lull.
Read the most important enterprise software industry news of the week >>

Real-time analytics vendor, Cernium, receives $10 million.
Monitor the latest software venture capital deals >>

IBM acquires Arsenal Digital Solutions.
Size up last week's software M&A deals >>

JasperSoft, an open-source business intelligence software solutions provider, named Brian Gentile as President and CEO.
See who's made it to the top in our list of recent software executive appointments.

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Parting Thought

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
– Albert Einstein

Courtesy of Malcolm Kusher, The Kushner Group