This special issue of Newsline walks you through a journey of a futuristic outlook as top leaders share their views on the industry, its trends and its metamorphosis moving forward. Read through to understand how the biggest, the latest and the most innovative bring about a change in the IT-BPO ecosystem. Understand Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Software Product Innovation, IT-BPO trends and many more topics from a unique standpoint.

Dear Friends,

This is a special and milestone year for NASSCOM’s India Leadership Forum (NILF). The conference completes 20 years with its 2012 edition, and we are delighted to bring you yet another exciting, thought provoking and insightful conference.

This event has seen the industry expand from USD 100 million in 1990, to USD 100 billion in 2011 —a momentous jump within the short span of two decades. The India Leadership Forum has mirrored the changing face of the Indian IT-BPO industry, reflecting its evolution and growth, creating a platform where industry leaders congregate and discuss strategies and challenges for the year ahead.

The global sourcing sector is changing fundamentally. The buyer is expanding beyond the CIO to business units; while cost competitiveness is critical, there is enhanced focus on specialization and domain; contracts and pricing is moving beyond FTE to business outcomes and fixed price; service providers are increasingly becoming strategic partners to global businesses.

The manner in which the industry has transformed to the above changes has been phenomenal. From the kind of marquee global customers it is drawing, to the projects it is delivering, to the talent pool it has built, to the competitive differentiators it has created for itself—the sector has added several dimensions to its success story.

Today, the IT-BPO industry is making a deep impact on India—on its economy and its people as well as our customers and their economies. Looking ahead, we can see that the next phase will be different. The global economic environment remains uncertain, but we are certain that despite adverse conditions, the IT-BPO industry will continue to grow. This is largely due to strong fundamentals, resilience, our ability to embrace change, adopt different business models and explore new and emerging opportunities.

In order to celebrate this journey and look at the future, we have put together a collector’s issue of Newsline, with contribution from 20 leaders representing different segments of the IT-BPO industry, who are talking on a range of subjects. The theme is `Looking ahead’ – how is the industry preparing for the future, what are the critical enablers and leadership priorities.

We hope you enjoy NILF 2012, as well as the wide array of viewpoints and perspectives presented in this issue.

Som Mittal
President, NASSCOM