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| Val
Souza |
I
was a software programmer once. That was way back when COBOL
wasn’t a swear word and Windows was not yet the apple
of Bill’s eye. Our software industry was simpler then.
And much smaller too. Nevertheless, as a developer, I remember
voicing my opinions on things other than technical, and crying
out to be heard on more than one occasion. Fortunately, the
company I was in back then was a good listener, and I didn’t
end up on the funny farm.
Of course the Indian software industry is much more complex
now. Humongous amounts of money are paid to foreign consultants
who tell us how much bigger we can be before this decade is
out. The spotlight is so much on the technologies, the markets,
the business strategies and the revenues, that we often forget
that at the core it is the software professionals who’re
ultimately going to make all this possible—the more motivated
they are, the faster we’ll get where we want to be.
But they’re no assembly line zombies; they’re very
much human, and are crying out to be heard today too.
Unfortunately, at the industry level, no one’s been paying
too much attention. That’s why Express Computer’s
IT People, as the only publication in the country focused
squarely on the people of the computer industry, undertook
the MindPrints study, providing ground-breaking research to
understand the Indian software professional’s mind.
As with any ground-breaking project, it was also backbreaking.
Given the nature of the study, we didn’t want to entrust
it to a run-of-the-mill number-crunching research outfit.
We needed someone with indigenous experience in behavioural
research, corporate climate studies, and such like. L R Associates
fit the bill perfectly and did a superb job of crystallising
the intangible into a reliable, valid and practical research
study.
Then came the task of getting companies to agree to participate.
While most progressive software companies jumped at the prospect
and cooperated wholeheartedly, there were a handful who were
either suspicious of our motives or possibly had something
to hide. I hope their apprehensions and fears will be allayed
now that the MindPrints study has been published—we’d
love to have you all in next year, guys!
As you will see in the following pages, MindPrints works at
several levels. For the software professional, it provides
an opportunity to benchmark oneself against one’s peers
and effect an attitudinal change if that seems smart. For
instance, there appears to be a need for software developers
to focus more on knowledge acquisition and learning, if they
are to achieve all the lofty career rewards they have come
to expect.
As for the HR departments and top management of software companies,
there’s a lot to learn from MindPrints. Far more investment
needs to be made in producing effective leaders at all levels.
While there may be superlative leadership at the very top
(as reflected in the unanimous feeling that the software companies
surveyed have a bright future), this leadership does not always
seem to percolate down the line (as reflected in the feeling
that team leadership is largely ineffective). In addition
to the analysis we’ve provided, the findings are open
to further interpretation, and I’m sure each company
will find some portion relevant to its
specific needs.
Several industry veterans and experts helped us out in our
MindPrints endeavour, and for this we will always remain grateful.
Sure, we know that there are still some creases to iron out
and gaps to fill, but a firm and solid step forward has been
made. And we definitely intend to go the distance, hand in
hand with the people of our phenomenal software industry.
Come walk ahead with us!
-
Val Souza, Editor
valsouza@expresscomputeronline.com
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