The GIS business from India had never really taken off even during the golden years of the IT boom when margins of IT companies were in the 40% range. Today, as margins are dropping to the mid-teens and early 20s, it is surprising to note that the space is now suddenly generating excitement and interest. GIS has traditionally been a low-price, low-volume and low-margin game, with companies undercutting each other to charge even $2-3 per hour of work. So, it is obvious that some of the enthusiasm might be misplaced and needs to be viewed with a rationalistic mindset. What also amazes me is the continuing lack of awareness amongst the user base of the immense applications that can be developed on a GIS base.
It is obvious that there must be more than that meets the eye; there must be areas which can help sustain the expectation that GIS-related activities have great opportunities for Indian companies. We believe that one such area is geographical positioning systems or GPS, which has been largely ignored and not given its due till date. GPS-related applications now have the potential to turnaround the fortunes of the GIS companies who have been struggling to make a decent name for themselves in the market. GIS now needs to piggy-back on GPS and amazingly, this turn around will not come from doing outsourcing but will need to happen by selling solutions to the citizens of India for the Indian market! It is interesting to note the excitement that GPS-related applications have been generating in the recent past, especially over the last three to six months. The market has now finally started viewing this space with the kind of importance that it richly and truly deserves.
Globally, the market for GPS was evaluated at $22 billion in 2005. The Indian market is projected to be less than $22 million but with a potential to grow to $448 million by 2010. The next question that arises is, why are we lagging behind the world in GPS-based applications and what potential does this hold for the industry segment and for the country?
GPS can take GIS applications to a whole new plane and make them extremely ?high-end? as compared to the traditional ?low-end? status they have always had. Today, with so many people having travelled abroad, they are not only appreciating the efforts of our company but are also recommending it for their family and friends. The logistics industry in India has been a nightmare. In a country where ethics and integrity are high premium, there is immense pilferage and willful loss in addition to the systemic challenges. Implementing GPS tracking can be a boon to transporters and consumers alike, thereby benefiting the entire value chain of that segment of the industry. So let us embrace GPS applications to positively impact our day to day life, enhance safety and benefit the economy too with improved efficiency and reduced costs!
?The writer is founder, MD & CEO, SatNav Technologies