Against All Odds , livre ebook

KRIS GOPALAKRISHNAN N. DAYASINDHU KRISHNAN NARAYANAN

AGAINST ALL ODDS: THE IT STORY OF INDIA
Introduction by Gurcharan Das
PENGUIN BOOKS

PENGUIN BOOKS
Contents
Introduction by Gurcharan Das
1. Ab Initio: The Indian IT Industry Discovers a New Normal
2. Emergence of IT in India and Capability-Building
3. Emphasis on Self-Reliance and the Domestic Hardware Industry
4. Growth of Software Services and Mission-Mode Government IT Projects
5. The Rapid Growth of Indian IT Services
6. Indian IT Comes of Age
7. Quo Vadis: Where Are We Heading?
Notes
Acknowledgements
Follow Penguin
Copyright
Advance Praise for the book
In the company of two excellent younger professionals-Dayasindhu and Krishnan Narayanan-Kris has ably demonstrated his avatar as a technology historian in addition to having been India s best software designer, a technology thought leader and an able corporate leader. He brings the same level of expertise, excellence and attention to detail in this book as he did in his earlier avatars. This book is the first written-down history of IT in India. It is a seminal contribution to advancement of the research of technology historians and the success of entrepreneurs. The three authors have herded between the covers of this book their narration of the good and the not-so-good aspects of policy, implementation and the use of computing and communications infrastructure right from the time of HEC-2M computer at ISI, Kolkata, to the ubiquitous and impactful presence of digitalization and 5G around us. What lends this book its authenticity are the myriad interviews with the various actors in this drama documented here-educationists, policy wonks, entrepreneurs, politicians, bureaucrats and industry leaders. The objective and the genteel personality of Kris and his co-authors shine throughout the pages of this important book. I would recommend it to every Indian interested in understanding the history of computing and software in India -Narayana Murthy, founder, Infosys
Kris, Dayasindhu and Krishnan have done a real service by writing this book. The rise of India as a power in the world of IT in the past few decades is a fascinating story. It has rarely been told with the depth and sweep that this book has. And that is very important because the story of IT is an integral part of the transformation of India in these decades, as also it is in this period that IT has become deeply embedded in almost all aspects of human life -Azim Premji, founder, Wipro
In this remarkable book, Kris Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu and Krishnan Narayanan have written the definitive account of the fascinating birth and rise of the Indian IT industry. As they have so evocatively described, it is a tale with many heroes, who all did their bit to collaborate and build a magnificent edifice that has done India proud on the global stage, created millions of jobs, laid the foundation for robust foreign exchange reserves and most importantly, gave our engineers and entrepreneurs the self-confidence to take on the world. This is a must-read to understand a great Indian success story! -Nandan Nilekani, chairman and co-founder, Infosys, and founding chairman, UIDAI (Aadhaar)
The historic, six-decade-long ascent of India s IT sector can now be better understood thanks to Kris Gopalakrishnan s research and compelling narrative. There is much to learn from the story of India s innovations and investments in hardware, software, services and the skills required to advance the world s digital imperative -Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer, Microsoft
Indian IT is a wonderful example of jhakaas . This is a mindset of thinking outside the box and creating an entire world-class industry that is truly unique and awe-inspiring. Our IT industry has placed India on the global centre stage. Kris and his co-authors give us a captivating insider s view of Indian IT s revolution. This book captures the spirit of a confident India and is an inspiration for all of us -Anand Mahindra, chairman, Mahindra Group
A few decades ago, computers were only used as a tool to accumulate and process data. However, in the last thirty years, our computing abilities have evolved from organizing data to managing information to leveraging insights to augmenting intelligence. The Indian IT industry has come of age during this period. While we were handicapped initially, our entrepreneurs and professionals, with dreams to make India an IT force to reckon with, worked relentlessly to get the IT sector where it is today. This book is the story of how we took on this challenge and succeeded. Kris Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu and Krishnan Narayanan have written an inspiring book full of interesting anecdotes and insider nuggets of wisdom covering entrepreneurship, implementation excellence and scaling-up. This is the hallmark of Indian IT. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in knowing how Indian IT became world-class and world-scale #8212;S.D. Shibulal, co-founder, Infosys
Against All Odds: The IT Story of India is a uniquely Indian story of capability and capacity-building, entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation and execution. Kris Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu and Krishnan Narayanan have written a compelling book that connects the remarkable milestones orchestrated by India s IT entrepreneurs in their journey towards global leadership. Indian IT is an exemplar of a revolution that created value and credibility as a front-running nation at a time when few countries understood the magnitude of the emerging digital opportunities. As a tech entrepreneur, I have admired the fighting spirit of IT entrepreneurs in their aspiration to build global leadership. Their efforts have delivered sustainable economic returns for India for generations to come -Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson, Biocon
Five decades ago, when Indian IT was just an emerging topic in the IITs and IIMs, entrepreneurs in living rooms and college dorms were envisioning a future where Indian software would redefine the rules of global business. They dreamt of creating an industry from India that would one day lead the world. This book is about their dreams and hard work that resulted in the world-class Indian IT industry. Kris Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu and Krishnan Narayanan have captured the authentic insider stories of the rise of Indian IT through their meticulous research. This book is a must-read for all those interested in how a modern industry is architected on entrepreneurship, leadership and execution -Ashank Desai, principal founder, Mastek
Against All Odds: The IT Story of India provides a powerful account of the rapid ascent and continuing momentum of India s IT industry on the global stage and its impact in the broad spectrum of applications that benefit society. The book, which covers six decades of evolution through inputs and oral histories from the movers and shapers of India s IT story, is a particularly welcome and thoughtful document of archival significance as these technologies will increasingly define and influence every aspect of daily life in the twenty-first century. Kris Gopalakrishnan has been one of the pioneering leaders in the impressive accomplishments of India s IT industry and his perspectives, captured here in collaboration with N. Dayasindhu and Krishnan Narayanan, will be of considerable value not only to those interested in learning about historical information but also to successive generations of leaders shaping the future growth of the IT industry in India -Subra Suresh, president and Distinguished University Professor, NTU Singapore, and former director, US National Science Foundation
Few authors have a decades-long ringside view of the phenomena they write about. Here is a riveting history from such a trio of the emergence of the information technology industry in India. The helpful chronologies will orient any interested reader; the distillation of facts, and even revealing anecdotes, will enhance the understanding of even those familiar -Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School
Kris Gopalakrishnan
To my family, especially my wife, Sudha, and daughter, Meghana
N. Dayasindhu
To Akhila, Athmika, Kavitha, amma and appa
Krishnan Narayanan
To my amma, appa and Ramya
Introduction
by Gurcharan Das
INDIA S CHEERIEST STORY
T he quiet economic and social revolution unleashed by information technology (IT) is the cheeriest story of India s recent economic ascent, making one almost forget the nation s failure to create a broadscale industrial revolution. Conventional wisdom is that the software revolution took place from below, despite the state-a classic example of how India grows at night when the government sleeps . Since software was invisible, landing on the customer s computer via the telephone, it escaped the clutches of the License Raj , dodging the Kafkaesque bureaucratic state that had killed the industrial revolution. This book challenges this hypothesis, revealing a remarkable, healthy collaboration between software companies via a unique trade association and a few rare government officials, who unobtrusively and unheroically, opened opportunities, cut red tape and helped shepherd the industry to glory. The IT industry s inability, however, to make a mark in hardware reinforces the conventional wisdom .
The authors hang this sober, objective chronicle on the thread of personal experience of over fifty protagonists in the industry, whose stories are not only unique but also provide significant data of history. They have posted these video histories on the web (https://itihaasa.com/History), creating a veritable museum of digital history. However, they have presented us with a fascinating puzzle. Like solid narrators of oral history, they have offered us dots of historical data, but have left it to the reader to connect the dots. My role in