In 1981, NR Narayana Murthy, together with six other software professionals, founded Infosys Technologies. Today the company is the only Indian company to have listed on the Nasdaq.
Aspiration is much more important than equipment. I am not as much impressed with technology as with people.
NR Narayana Murthy, chairman and CEO, Infosys Technologies
Despite this success, Narayana Murthy is still very philosophical about the industry`s achievements. "Aspiration is much more important than equipment. I am not as much impressed with technology as with people," says Narayana Murthy.
He says he would not label India as a "software country" but concedes that the country has achieved a great deal in this field. "India has realised that it has a comparative advantage in one area of the global market and that is in software. We are still in the initial stages and the good thing is that there is still a market opportunity."
But, says Narayana Murthy, the Indian IT sector still faces a number of challenges. "Indians still have to develop brand equity for themselves. They also have to learn to operate as global enterprises and they must enhance Indian infrastructure."
Best of both worlds
Narayana Murthy says that while he sees many similarities between SA and his country, he also sees many differences. "SA is in some senses different in that you have had the advantage of being connected with the world for a much longer time. In this country you had the best of both worlds. In India, when the British left we had to do it all by ourselves."
His advice for SA is simple: "You need a plan to create a large number of skilled people, both at the technician and the engineer level. But you need to compress this cycle. You need to do in five years what India did in perhaps 15 years."
[VIDEO]When it comes to lessons learnt, Narayana Murthy has three: "The first lesson we learnt was that if you want to succeed you must benchmark yourself on a global scale. This is probably the most valuable lesson India has learnt."
The second, he says, is that this is an industry that does not require as much capital as traditional industry does. "And yet it still attracts the youngest and brightest people to it."
The third lesson is to learn from everyone. "If you want to succeed you must learn from everyone. You can`t shut your mind off and you can`t be complacent."
In search of value
Of the dot-com bust Narayana Murthy is philosophical. "Any idea that creates discontinuity in the market or does something better is bound to succeed." He says the failure of the dot-com boom is largely because companies lacked adequate backing infrastructure and very few had a lasting value proposition.
[VIDEO]Looking ahead, he says: "E-commerce and the Internet will no longer be unique ... there will still be opportunities for dot-com companies, but by and large it will be old economy companies that leverage the power of the Internet that will succeed."
Narayana Murthy places high value on academic institutions and he says it is important that business and universities work together to develop technology. "We try to soak ourselves in the wisdom of these people whenever and wherever possible. This is one area where industry is going head to head in the race with the universities in terms of research and development."
[VIDEO]Will countries like India and SA ever be able challenge the might of the US? "Oh yes," says Narayana Murthy. "I have no doubt at all. So long as countries such as India help their entrepreneurs, and the governments realise the power of entrepreneurs and create hassle-free conditions, I have no doubt that this will happen."
SA, he says, is ideally placed to attract investor interest. "The youth of SA can pose a legitimate challenge to the US, so long as the nation rallies behind them."
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