Comments on Sanjiva Weerawarana's Blog: On innovation by Indian IT firms - comment to Tech...

I am an Indian (IIT graduate) living in Australia ...

2011-05-12T20:57:39.250+05:30

I am an Indian (IIT graduate) living in Australia and working as an IT Architect.
There is no doubt that several Indians have done extremely well overseas in various disciplines (Technology, Management, Healthcare, Pharma, Government, etc.). We also have software vendor (not services) powerhouses such as Infosys (Finacle), iFlex (Flexcube), plus several others in pharma (Dr. Reddy's), etc.

However, the underlying message Sanjiva is trying to convey is accurate and relevant in the Indian context.

The innate mindset of the average Indian is inclined towards "following" the most treaded path towards financial happiness. We do not "believe" in anything really. The society (largely fascinated by the West and its wonderful way of life) makes up the majority of our belief system. We do not encourage ourselves and others to be ambitious and break the norm, the routine.

The day we start "believing" in ourselves and other fellow countrymen (like Sanjiva did), we will discover a great hidden potential in the billions amongst us.
We have several hundred Sanjiva's in India, but we need thousands more.

Well,Show me one IT giant from Srilanka,that can b...

2011-03-21T19:15:05.164+05:30

Well,Show me one IT giant from Srilanka,that can be compared to Wipro,Infosys,Reliance,TCS,HCL or even Cognizant.We are discussing about technological advancement here,and I am just curious if Srilanka has any seriously big IT companies.I haven't heard of any,neither heard anything about any innovations coming from the island!

Mate,India is a huge,huge country,compared to Sril...

2011-03-21T19:11:50.193+05:30

Mate,India is a huge,huge country,compared to Srilanka...Certain parts of India,for Example,Kerala,has a HDI comparable to the developed countries.Well,Its comparable to Srilanka in size,and far far ahead.States like Punjab,HAryana etc too are doing well.Rest of India is just catching up.

Satish FYI WSO2's VC funds were raised in the ...

2010-12-03T13:06:36.604+05:30

Satish FYI WSO2's VC funds were raised in the US and not in India. I have in fact tried to raise out of India but there has been little understanding of product businesses and especially open source businesses by the Indian investment community from my (admittedly little) exposure to them.

Of course Infosys and others have made successful products. However name me one globally known Indian software (not services) brand and I'll accept your point better.

I never thought a person of such calibre would bra...

2010-12-03T02:19:17.467+05:30

I never thought a person of such calibre would brag about himself while do not give even credit to other successful people. Obviously you need to learn people skills in building a brand image for your company. You should be ashamed that you got a venture capital investment from India and then write blogs against them. There are lot of product development companies in India that solves the various business needs of companies. Infosys, for example, has built a banking software product that is widely used by many banks across different countries. I am sure there are many more companies that are creating innovative products that are not visible to you.

You say that you studied in the west but obviously you did not learn their culture i.e to appreciate others.

WSO2 done big change in mind set of Sri Lankan IT ...

2010-11-28T00:21:40.911+05:30

WSO2 done big change in mind set of Sri Lankan IT community, it's only place create world class products and show Sri Lankan talents to world. Thanks Sanjiva for initiation.

@Raphael Alwin Kalathil you want to know where Sri...

2010-08-26T11:25:24.710+05:30

@Raphael Alwin Kalathil you want to know where Sri Lanka stands? Find it here compared to MOTHER India and rest of the South Asia -> http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/15/interactive-infographic-of-the-worlds-best-countries.html

@Raphael Alwin Kalathil, yeah give us 10 years not...

2010-08-26T01:03:24.991+05:30

@Raphael Alwin Kalathil, yeah give us 10 years not only WSO2 there will be many more Sri Lankan ventures kicking your Indian butt.

You are just a frog in a little well.India is raki...

2010-06-28T21:48:05.870+05:30

You are just a frog in a little well.India is raking dough in IT and where is Sri Lanka and ur little company?I will give you 10 years.Try to be on at least 10% of Infosys/Wipro/Tata and come to me,I will shake ur hands...Dont be an educated idiot who write bull shit.

You are just a frog in a little well.India is raki...

2010-06-28T21:48:05.058+05:30

Well, there is a difference between patriotism and...

2010-05-31T13:59:35.102+05:30

Well, there is a difference between patriotism and defining innovation.You returned back to your home country after serving many years in US - good for you. In your view, it looks like innovation happens only in IT :). That's a perfect example of closed-mindedness. There are thousands of people like you and in fact much more better than you in India. Your company cannot be on the comparison board of what Reliance, Tatas, Infosys, etc strive for innovation and growth and their contribution to their home country. Other important point, do not always embrace the nagging habit of always relying and learning from WEST. Let Western countries learn from others too. Have you ever seen how much Indian companies not just IT invest in R&D's and innovation. Are you aware of Indians driving the innovation at companies like NASA and same at ISRO. Only difference - they are working for different countries for different reasons. Innovation still continues regardless. On the other point, I know that some companies do not treat their people well as you take up the point with Indian managers - well this happens everywhere might as well in Sri Lanka. If not on your company then again good for you and same for every company, you cant make a general statement. Posting views like you did only makes you look closed minded and creating mockery of yourself.

It is fair to say large number of Indian companies...

2010-05-19T02:04:59.164+05:30

It is fair to say large number of Indian companies are happy with their 30% revenue. But there are few small companies do invest in innovations and come up with new products for the Indian consumer market. The US companies in India like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, EMC, Sybase invest lot in research and innovation.

However, as you mentioned the giants like Infosys, Wipro are happy with service or "body shop" business. It is shame, but it is the reality. It could be the managers in those companies don't have visions or may have "don't rock the boat" mentality or it could be the pressure from the investors. No matter what these companies should invest at least 20% of their profit in new technologies and open source projects.

Your story is very inspiring to me. I am from Tamil Nadu and I can understand the struggles your country had gone through. But you still were able to pull through large project like Axis2.