Corporate interest in these areas is at an all time low. IT Heads want to invest in technologies that would provide them faster and more tangible benefits

The IT slowdown has caused CIOs to focus on areas that are most beneficial to the enterprise. The idea is to invest in technologies that can help them save costs from day one. So while the budget allocated for areas like Converged Networks and Bandwidth/Connectivity have been high, interest in other areas like Training/ Recruitment and Consultancy/Outsourcing have been very low.

Initially, we had two separate set of queries on Training/Recruitment and Consultancy/Outsourcing. However, due to the very small base of respondents showing interest in these areas, we have clubbed both these categories into a single feature.

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT
Corporate training has been a major source of revenue for the IT Training industry. But in recent times, this Rs 2,500 crore industry has been hit by the IT slowdown. The IT Training industry recorded a growth of only 10 percent in 2000-2001 as against a 35 percent growth it has enjoyed in better times. The training industry is expected to register a growth of 10-15 percent in 2002-2003.

To survive in these bad times, IT training institutes are yielding earnestly to corporate requirements--courses are now tailor-made specifically for niche industries. At the corporate level, short-term courses that focus on basic computing skills (or those that enhance existing skills), are more common. Some of these courses move beyond the domain of IT and also include training in other areas like personality development and stress management.

At the other end of the spectrum, long-term courses for professionals continue to be in demand. Engineering students favor the certification courses, particularly for Security and Networking.

E-learning is fast catching on within the enterprise. This method of training is favorable when organizations need to implement training on specific processes within a short span of time and with minimal investment.

There has been a drop in registrations for IT courses, but the industry still requires IT professionals. In fact, NASSCOM estimates a demand for 3 lakh IT professionals by 2008.

But Training/Recruitment is not a major focus for enterprises at present and just nine percent of the respondents said this is a main focus area.

Whatever little training requirement that exist, comes from the IT/Telecom sector. 14 percent of the respondents in this sector said Training/Recruitment is a main focus area. Of these respondents, 57 percent said Training and Recruitment is an area to be covered in the current IT budget.

Last year (2000-2001) the big spenders in this area were companies from the Banking & Finance and IT/Telecom sector.

CONSULTANCY AND OUTSOURCING
The shortage of skilled manpower in highly specialized areas and the complexity of network infrastructure is prompting enterprises to outsource infrastructure management. While some choose partial outsourcing others leave their entire network in the hands of highly skilled and trusted engineers, who operate from a Network Operations Center (NOC) and are bound by a SLA (Service Level Agreement).

A growing number of security consultants are also servicing the needs of the enterprise. Security experts can perform vulnerability testing/risk assessment and advise an enterprise on its security lapses and requirements.

While the benefits of outsourcing and consultancy seem attractive, not many CIOs are too interested in this right now. In fact, consultancy and outsourcing is the main focus area for just 9 percent of the respondents.

According to the survey, main demand comes from the Manufacturing sector. 13 percent of the respondents in this sector said consultancy and outsourcing is a main focus area. Of these respondents, 32 percent said consultancy & outsourcing is an area to be covered in the current IT budget.

The main areas outsourced in the Banking and Finance sector are Customized software and Bandwidth/connectivity.

The main areas for the IT/Telecom sector are security and converged network.