1. Grand Vision 2009
understanding the market and its needs better than others.
Growing ‘SaaS market
According to Andrew Milroy, ICT director at Frost Sullivan, four
technologies and service areas are likely to experience increased
demand in the current climate including ‘sustainable IT’; ‘outsourc-
ing services, managed and hosted services’; ‘information management
tools’; and ‘services that support mergers and acquisitions’. The con-
sultancy also predicts good times ahead for Software as a Service
(SaaS) as it says tighter controls and a desire to minimize risks will
increase focus on variable costs - leading to greater interest in SaaS
and hosted service models.
SaaS will gain favor, as it not only converts a capital expenditure
but also converts a one time large payment into equated monthly or
quarterly payouts. High licensing costs and lock-in nature of software
products often bleed the end-user organizations and in the current
economic uncertainty SaaS solutions, which focus on cost-cutting can
be a boon to organizations.
Ramco is one among the early few who realized this advantage and
has come out with Ramco OnDemand ERP (RODE), a full-fledged
Chetan Pathak ERP on SaaS model, which is all set to revolutionize the ERP mar-
ket. In today’s scenario when the going is not so good and the com-
Riding revolution the ‘Ramco’ way panies are looking for products with maximum flexibility and mini-
mum expenses our solution could prove to be the best fit.
lobal financial crisis, up to now largely confined to Western SMBs, the driving factor
G markets, has now spread much wider, and the contagion of this
credit crisis has hit a number of emerging markets including
India. This unprecedented global recession fuelled by the financial
In these challenging times our focus is to capitalize on the evolution-
ary growth of SMB (Small and Medium Business) sector, which has
led to an increase in demand for IT solutions. Many smaller compa-
crises, has ensured a slowdown in India’s economic growth as global nies are not satisfied with their existing disparate solutions and lega-
demand for exports fall. Specifically the software industry faces imme- cy systems, and are showing a keen interest in IT solutions, which
diate backlash and the road to recovery is nowhere in the vicinity. provide maximum business benefits. The CIO’s in the SME sector are
NASSCOM’s recent statement that ‘Software and services sector of the opinion that hosted IT services would facilitate them to work
growth in the country could be slower than expected this year as the more, spend less and gain remarkable benefits by concentrating on
global financial crisis hits exports’, reemphasizes the fact. What hap- their businesses, rather than on managing IT. Studies reveal that
pens is yet to be seen, nothing can be said with certainty. SMBs that outsource their IT infrastructure are utilizing the tech-
In these challenging times, software companies are not leaving any nology resources that bring in additional top-line revenues while
stone unturned and are relentlessly finding ways and means to sustain improving bottom-line results. SMBs are most likely to use cutting-
and grow. Riding on revolutionary technology and building products edge technologies and approaches such as Software as a Service (SaaS).
based out of them is one sure way to be ahead of competition. Analysts are of the opinion that the increase in use of hosted infra-
Lets us look at some of the demand drivers, which would keep us structure models is enabling smaller companies to compete on an
going in coming days. equal IT footing with bigger enterprises.
Looking at the growing needs of SMBs it appears that Ramco
Domestic market
OnDemand ERP is well timed, as it suffices almost all the criteria of
The GDP growth in India though showing signs of moderation will still SME needs. Faster implementation, flexibility, scalability, mainte-
be close to healthy 7 per cent. This is lower as compared to the predic- nance free, accessibility, pay per use model are few of the characteris-
tions made earlier but still substantial in contrast with other economies. tics of RODE which seems to be gelling well with today’s need. Cost
The growing demand for IT in India is driven by a healthy and stable control, optimum usage of resources, enhanced productivity is today’s
economic environment and strong competition among SMBs (Small mantra to be successful and RODE fits quite well in that. Fortunately
and Medium Businesses). Strong growth primarily led by the domestic we also have first mover’s advantage in domestic market. We have
demand of the Indian economy has acted as a catalyst for driving IT already enabled several organizations reap the benefits of SaaS and are
adoption as an enabler to improve global competitiveness. This has well positioned to bring in revolutionary benefits for others.
eventually led to increased adoption of ERP (Enterprise Resource
Planning), SCM (Supply Chain Management) among other enterprise BPO
apps by corporate India as the companies today are focused on stream- The market for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has been grow-
lining their processes and systems for improved delivery. ing at a rapid rate in India. However, most of the BPO players pro-
Indian domestic IT industry has grown rapidly in size and repu- vide traditional services based on legacy systems and legacy processes.
tation during the past decade, thanks to the growing offshore IT serv- Ramco, due to its own software asset base and rich experience in con-
ices market. Traditionally, Indian companies have lagged in terms of sulting is in a unique position to provide value-added BPO services
adopting IT in comparison to their global counterparts. However, and managed services. Ramco has been working with a select group of
with the awareness of benefits and advantage of things IT, the IT marquee customers who require stringent SLA driven services.
expenditure is growing rapidly in India, leading to new business Currently, Ramco offers services in the areas of Human Resource
opportunities for both MNCs and Indian companies. Management, Payroll, and Compliance and intends to launch
The growing technology consolidation and heavy investments in Financial Accounting services soon. Also our tremendous experience
enterprise application are driving IT uptake in Indian economy. on international best practices will help us in bringing incredible
Increased investment by multinational companies setting up opera- value to our customers.
tions in India also is fuelling growth as the fast-growing SMB seg-
ment and mid-size companies become prime targets for IT companies. Customer focus
Besides network infrastructure and managed services, the domestic IT Enhanced customer services are the central focus for the service
market continues to present sizable opportunity for the IT product industry now days. Verticals like telecom and banking, which are tra-
companies. The market is characterized by end users who are trying ditionally high IT spending industries, are focusing on their cus-
to adopt latest advances in IT. They’re open to new technologies and tomers much more than before. This encouraging trend has compelled
embrace emerging delivery models of service to compete with their the services sector to invest in sophisticated CRM solutions and BI &
counterparts in global arena. With the growing domestic market we at Analytics tools to serve their customers better than before.
Ramco are well poised with products to cater to the needs of our home
market. Being an Indian company, we also have an advantage of The author is VP, India Operations, Ramco Systems
DIGITAL EDGE JANUARY 2009 21