Telcos Continues Investment in IT While Auto Companies May Show Restrain

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Team Industry Outlook | Friday, 27 September 2019

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Telecom companies will keep on investing in IT, while automobile companies may restrain from investing, as they are struggling with a slowdown in the economy. With the decline in the economic growth of India, experts have shown their concern that it will also have an impact on the country’s IT market, which was expected to reach over $89 billion at the year-end.

Kamal Singhania, who is the managing partner of Global business services and IBM India said “The telecom sector has to invest in technologies which are not seen earlier; we can call some of

them as network virtualization. Because, if that is not done, irrespective of the business cycle, they would not be able to bring productivity and operational efficiencies.”

IBM is also in discussion with Indian telecom operators to bring in technologies and ground expertise around artificial intelligence and automation, enterprise modernization and hybrid cloud.
IBM had inked a $700-800 million deal with Vodafone earlier this year and is also working with Airtel on a blockchain-based do-not-call register. IBM India’s revenue is around $5 billion a year. The automotive sector is facing some problem and in the current cycle, there is a little lag. Depending on whether or not it is imperative for the company, they could decide if they want to invest in IT now, or they want to postpone it for a bit longer.

IBM executives have maintained that Indian companies had started investments in technology to squeeze efficiencies out of their supply chain after the implementation of the goods and service tax. GST has surged the usage of technologies in organizations and they are getting more digital-friendly. IBM is also working with many big companies to introduce new technologies that include Future Group, where it has placed sensors to save on energy costs and also for asset maintenance.