Indian software product sales double to $2.2bn in 2013:NASSCOM

As the Indian IT-ITeS industry is evolving from services to products and end-to-end solutions, the revenues from software has doubled to USD 2.2 billion this year from USD 1.2 billion in 2008, industry body NASSCOM said.

The USD 108 billion Indian IT-ITeS industry is also witnessing the rise of tier II and III cities like Kochi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata as product hubs.

"The products ecosystem is rapidly evolving and is being supported by the industry, incubators, angel investors and mentors," NASSCOM President Som Mittal said.

The trend is also driven by rapid technology adoption across segments of the industry with consumers, enterprises, SMBs and the government now looking at e-solutions for businesses and processes, he added.

NASSCOM said such a trend is creating opportunities for the developers, operating in various verticals.

"The growth in software products can be judged by the fact that its revenues rose to USD 2.2 billion in 2013 from USD 1.2 billion in 2008," NASSCOM Senior Vice President Sangeeta Gupta told PTI.

The industry has seen rise of about 500 software product firms in 2013, she added.
On the growth of the product eco-system, Gupta said there is lot of potential in the start-up business and the number of angel investors in India has risen for seven in 2007 to about 32 this year.

The IT-BPM Industry continues to build strong interest from the VC/PE community as software, internet and mobile industries account for 65 per cent of total VC investments in India, NASSCOM said.

The transaction value of Venture Capital) VC/PE (Private Equity) deals in software products space since 2008 amounts to a total of USD 711 million, it added.

The growth of the sector was driven by various factors including increase in mobility devices, online transactions, and newer technologies with lower operating costs, the industry body said.

Cloud technology is also expanding access to larger customer base and driving demand for hosted applications, which will be the catalyst for growth in the future, NASSCOM added.

The primary verticals of the products landscape are still technology and BFSI with both segments having a share of pie of 32 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

Besides, security solutions for enterprise and home use are now becoming an upcoming segment with many firms building antivirus and related security products, NASSCOM said.
India has close to 600 product firms offering nearly 1,300 products with 80 per cent firms employing over 100 people each, accounting for about one-fourth of the total employees.

NASSCOM also commenced its Product Conclave 2013, which has the theme of 'The Community Meet-Up Of Doers Who Share!', and will run till October 30 at Bangalore.