The Hindu : Business : Information security practices, a critical selling point

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 17, 2004

Business

Business

Information security practices, a critical selling point

By Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI, OCT. 16. Information technology companies in India and the U.S. are more concerned about information security than ever before so that sophisticated information security offerings and practices yield a competitive advantage. As a result, budgetary allocation for information security has also been increased in these companies, states an opinion poll on "Information security market and customer perception".

Conducted jointly by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) and Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) across 115 IT companies in India and the U.S., the opinion poll covered questions ranging from the role and importance of information security in an organisation and growing importance of information security practices as a source of competitive advantage.

The survey found that 75 per cent of Indian companies and 82 per cent of the U.S. companies agreed that sophisticated information security offerings and practices offer a competitive advantage.

Information security practices were a critical selling point while marketing their products and services to global clients, the companies felt. As a result, the increase in budgetary allocation for information security in the last 12 months was 45 per cent for Indian customers and 41 per cent for the U.S. customers.

Key concern

Security is a key concern as 82 per cent customers of Indian IT companies and 76 per cent customers of the U.S. IT companies were more concerned about information security than ever before while 75 per cent customers of Indian IT companies and about 64 per cent customers of the U.S. companies realise that information security was a responsibility shared by vendor and customer alike rather than it being a primary responsibility of the vendor, the opinion poll states.

Similarly, majority of respondents in Indian and U.S. companies were of the view that the government needs to do more in the information security space.

In India, the concern was around legislation and effective use of information security practices for e-governance and critical infrastructure protection, it said. Commenting on the opinion poll, the Nasscom President, Kiran Karnik, said, "The Indian IT industry is an integral part of the global supply chain for services. As we are undertaking more and more high-end work and handling sensitive data, it becomes essential to proactively adopt best practices in security and integrate security into normal business practice of every company.

"Our objective is to position India as a `trusted sourcing' destination through a process of engagement, education, enactment and enforcement with a strong focus on IP protection and robust legislative framework."

The ITAA President, Harris Miller, "The findings of the poll indicate a need for U.S. and India (government as well as industry) to collaborate and partner in alleviating the importance of cyber security technology and implementation".

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