Winter is coming to Indian IT! : Blog # 271

Winter is coming to Indian IT

It was a pleasant evening on the banks of the river. They all sat down for tea. It had been a good year. They made about 1000 pots. Chief was happy although he did not forget to remind them that their rival potter had made about double of what they made. The veterans shared their pearls of wisdom which they had mined over their years of experience. Chief told everyone that he is extremely happy with what they were doing and he is proud to have such talented craftsmen with him.

A couple of days later, one of the craftsmen approached the chief and told him that one of their customers is not happy. Some of the larger pots which they made are not fitting his stove. They are falling short by small dimensions. Chief thought about it and the next day, he asked the craftsman to send the best of his men to the customer’s kitchen. They can sit there and work along with the customer. They started doing it for more customers. The craftsmen were also happy. Only the more talented ones were sent to the customer and they were paid more too. Business thrived. More and more people from the town got in to pottery. Teachers who knew pottery were in demand.

The chief asked everyone to come to the banks of the river. He told them “Winter is coming our way. We are falling short of wood and fire. It will become worse in the days to come. We won’t be able to dry the pots. We should find new ways to make pots”. The craftsmen looked at each other. They wondered as to what the chief is talking about. The senior craftsmen told the younger ones “Keep your heads down and do your job. We need to make dozens of pots by the end of the week. Focus!”

A few days later, Chief asked his men to gather again. He told them “You might be best in your field. But the world now needs a different talent. Your customers will ask different skills of you. Start preparing yourself. Winter is coming our way, faster and sooner than you think.” It was the craftsmen who were at the kitchens who felt the heat more. They kept telling their friends “Winter is coming”. The craftsmen continued making pots. The kitchens cannot work without pots. We have lived all our lives with pots. Let us keep our head down and keep working. May be we should make our pots stronger and more resistant to fire. That should silence everyone.

One day in the kitchen, the craftsmen saw a gleaming vessel. It looked like mirror. They asked the customer as to what that was. “It is Steel; stronger, harder and unbreakable. It will help us in the winter. We are buying more of these”, the customer said. The craftsmen told his friends about this. “Oh! It‘s too fancy and expensive. They can’t replace pots with steel”, they said.

“I think we should start learning to make steel”, one of the youngest craftsmen said. The entire crowd laughed at him. “You have just started your work. We have been doing this for years. Keep your head down and work.” There was one teacher who taught working with steel. He went to him and started mastering steel work. The others continued working with clay and the teachers continued teaching them clay craft.

That morning had a distinct chill to it. The sun refused to come out. A large customer said that they did not need pots anymore. They will use only steel. And then a second customer and then a third. The craftsmen were asked to go home. The fire was put out. The one who learned steel work could keep himself warm in the winter.

#Winteriscoming to the IT Industry.Business model is changing, skill set required is changing too like in the above story!Brace yourself.

Arun babu

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