Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country?s largest IT services exporter, expects the digital technology play to create an additional market opportunity of $3-5 billion in the next few years. N Chandrasekaran, CEO, TCS, tells PP Thimmaya that the digital economy will be the defining force for all companies soon. Excerpts:
What are the factors driving demand in the IT world this fiscal?
The whole evolution of technology is happening very fast. If you take the digital space, the five forces ? mobile, cloud, social, big data, analytics ? are having a significant impact on businesses irrespective of the industries they operate. Every business around the world is going to adopt these technologies. There is going to be technology play in everything, whether it is in a car, manufacturing plant or retail operations. So, adoption of the digital technology is a big opportunity, an additional $3-5 billion for TCS alone in terms of market opportunity.
The second area that every company is trying to address is to simplify their IT investment, so that they optimise on one side, while, at the same time, remain futuristic. It is not just about cutting costs. Companies are looking to get some benefit from technology and operations by taking a relook at various investments.
The third area is that of governance with issues like risk, compliance and security that are going to be important. Now, all of these are coming together.
Which sectors will drive this demand?
If we go back in time, we realise that the agricultural and industrial economies in the last 50-60 years got transformed through the information age. The next big thing is the digital consumer economy, which is a big jump from the industrial economy. This is because every business is getting connected to the consumer. Now, a product is launched and feedback is available on the social media immediately.
Digital economy is a big transformation and will make an impact. Take manufacturing ? every device is going to be connected, when we talk of the internet of things. This will shrink time-frames, bring agility and better serviceability. Every industry is going through transformation, and even sectors like healthcare, education and government will go through massive transformation, in the next five years. The total economy activity that will be generated through digital will run into trillions of dollars.
What kind of investments will TCS make in these new technologies?
We are focused on providing solutions to our enterprises for them to understand customer spendings. We have the digital five forces ? mobile, cloud, social, big data & analysts and artificial intelligence. There is limited capability in each of these areas, but when you connect them, it becomes infinite. In each of these areas, we have a dedicated centre of excellence. It is about bringing these technologies together in the context of the business and the customer.