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It is beyond doubt that software is a field best suited for India and Indians.
The primary raw material for this experience is “brain power” which we have in bulk,
in addition to the science and mathematics orientation which is a great asset in
this field. The only aspect that is missing is that we do not have an abundance of
the right kind of trained manpower. If we have to achieve a target of US$ 1 billion
of software exports by 1996-97, we need to impart state-of-the-art skills to the vast
pool of manpower.Therefore, an immediate focus on the training and education aspects in
this field is the need of the hour.
All developed countries are facing major shortages of trained computer manpower.
Japan is projecting a shortage of close to a million systems engineers by the
end of the century. The US and major European countries are not far behind. This
shortage is becoming more acute due to continuous changes in technology and the
advent of newer trends in software development such as client/server architecture,
object oriented programming, CASE etc. In fact, a recent survey indicated that 75
percent of US companies plan to re-engineer applications using these newer
technologies but find that 72 percent of their existing staff lack the required skills
and 14 percent are not even retrainable. This is, therefore, an opportunity for India,
as long as we are able to create the numbers and quality of people experienced and trained
in these technologies.
Most software exporting companies currently source the majority of their
professionals from IITs and other leading engineering colleges. Very few take people
from the MCA program and almost none from private training institutions. This
clearly represents a bottleneck in terms of numbers. Even the IIT curriculum is
not able to keep pace with changing trends overseas and the graduates have to be
trained further by companies.
Outside of the IITs and leading engineering colleges, quality is a major
issue and varies widely among different universities due to availability of good
faculty and hardware/software resources. Private training institutes are still
substantially conducting courses at the lower end and not where skills are needed for
software exports.
The problem with qualified professionals is that the experience they gain in the
domestic market is not very relevant to the international market. This is because
the operations of most of our industries, banks etc. and the level to which they
are automated is completely different from the countries which we are seeking to
penetrate. Therefore, these people have to be trained again. Of course, there is no
quick solution to these problems.
