India's first integrated IT service platform to wreck dominance of handfuls in sector

For the first time in the country, Otivr launched an integrated platform to digitise the B2B partner search within the IT sector through its open marketplace. The idea is to bridge the gap between global buyers and quality IT suppliers in India.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr Ricky Dhillon, CEO of Otivr, says, “Today there is no structured way to search for high-quality suppliers of IT consultancy services in India, this not only reduces trust in this segment but also the business opportunities for mid-sized and talented IT suppliers. Otivr addresses this challenge through its open marketplace which helps buyers take informed decisions while gives the suppliers a global reach. With this platform, we aim at safeguarding trust, quality and transparency between the parties in the global IT outsourcing market”.

Experts in the industry see this platform not just as a growth opportunity for the B2B marketplace but also as an excellent approach to harnessing the unleashed potential of SMEs. In future, the set-up may also prove to be a key in impeding or even reversing the brain drain from the country as the talents will get a fair chance and visibility in the international market within a domestic framework.

As per latest Government data, there are only top five IT firms that contribute to over 25 per cent to the total industry revenue in overseas market1. This clearly shows a huge gap and potential for SMEs. Experts are hopeful that such initiative will help in beating the slump in Indian IT industry and breaking the monopoly of IT giants by offering a window of opportunity to mid-sized players by giving them an exposure in the international market.

According to Nasscom, Aranca Research2, with 52 per cent market share, at present India is a leader in the global sourcing IT industry. The Indian IT market is fairly mature and developed by international standards with exports making the bulk of the turnover accounting for about 60-70 percent of the Indian market. However, as stated above, this data is majorly a business reflection of the big shots of the IT industry, the share of medium and small scale industry is still marginal. Considering the immense potential of mid-sized players, their exposure in the international market will ensure a faster and more balanced growth in this sector.

Mr. Vineet Garg, Business Unit Head for ICT & CleanTech at Business Sweden, says “Small and medium sized Indian IT suppliers and their brands don’t get a high level of visibility outside India, through Otivr high-quality suppliers get a chance to white label their own services and broaden their customer base.”