Independent India is 60 years old, and for an average Indian this usually is an age to retire; sit back and enjoy the pension. But not the new age India, which, in the last decade has been propelled by a strong economic growth. Among all the Indian industries, IT industry has outshined with the highest growth to touch U.S. $50 bn (of which Software & BPO Services export being U.S. $32 bn) and is expected to grow to U.S. $100 bn (of which exports alone will be U.S. $60 bn) by 2010.

According to a study conducted by the research firm IDC, while the Indian IT market continues to be dominated by large services firms, certain mid- tier companies are creating some serious competition to them. I believe what differentiates these companies is that they have carved out a niche for themselves.

How does one identify such a niche? Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for North American Offshore Application Services 2007 defines niche players as the ones who can focus on a particular segment of the market, as defined by such characteristics as functional area vertical industry, client size, or project complexity. Gartner in the same survey has listed 14 such niche companies, including Unisys, Deloitte, Sapient, and also my own company Hexaware Technologies.

At Hexaware, we looked for niches in the under-served markets. Transportation was one such niche. When we began focusing on this vertical in the early 90’s, it was one of the smallest verticals. Among ERPs, PeopleSoft was another niche area that did not have any dominant scale player; Hexaware built competencies around it. Today, Hexaware is a global leader in PeopleSoft practices.