HYDERABAD, MARCH 22: Nine small and medium information technology companies have formed a consortium, IT SME India, to tap global markets. When you say global markets, it is not exactly the traditional North American and European markets.

These small firms, with a combined turnover of Rs 500 crore and staff strength of 6,200, are focussing on geographies that are considered either not viable or not so lucrative.

In just two years, these firms have won projects in eight Latin American countries. Now, they are looking at Africa. For one, they are going to set up base in little-known Sao Tome, an island off Nigeria.

“We will focus on countries where big Indian IT companies have not treaded yet. We are sending small teams to countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. We are planning to scout for projects in 14 more in South America,” Mr Bharath Kumar Reddy B, Chief Executive of Threshold Software Solutions, told Business Line.

A few months before they formed this alliance, a similar union was formed. Supported by ZTH (German Technical Cooperation), another set of nine firms started an association to pitch for bigger projects with a combined balance sheet. This, however, could not take roots and fizzled out a while later. “But some of us in that avatar liked the idea and began working on a different alliance. It is not just about collecting annual membership fee. We share expenses on exploring newer markets, pitching for projects,” he said.

Mr A.V. Swamy, Director of SAT InfoTech, understands this power of unity better. Taking time off from business delegates at India Soft-2012, he says he hardly found visitors in the last edition two years ago.

“Feeling a bit embarrassed, I left the venue handing over the stall to his staff. This year, my firm is able to generate a lot of interest. Because, I'm at the combined stall of IT SME India,” he said. Others in the alliance included SKILD Education Private Limited and Infosun.

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