During October, I visited Bengaluru for the first ITAM Forum India chapter meeting. It’s the first time I’ve been to India for 10 years. I first visited back in 2014 when I was presenting SAM and ITAM related topics at an itSMF conference.
What I didn’t appreciate was that this was the first time a lot of ITAM practitioners had actually met in person. India is the seventh largest country in the world with a land mass of 3.2 million km2 and a population of 1.4 billion. Many attendees knew each other virtually, and some had worked together, but this was the first, in-person, coming together of ITAM professionals in India. We were thrilled to be part of it. I also met some people who, since 2008, have supported my work with the ITAM Review. It was a pleasure to finally put faces to names.
There is a real thirst for knowledge in the Indian ITAM market and a massive pool of talent with SAM, ITAM, licensing, and FinOps expertise. Some of the biggest integrators and outsourcers on the planet are in India. I can also think of many companies across Europe and North America that have at least part of their ITAM operation underpinned by ITAM professionals based in India. So, it was fantastic to meet everyone and get a first-hand feel for the India ITAM market.
Discussion Topics
In terms of topics on the day, the agenda covered ITAM best practice, managing AI in the enterprise, ITAM and FinOps convergence, sustainability and green IT, open source, and Oracle Java. It was interesting to appreciate the Indian perspective on these topics, both from global corporations with an Indian subsidiary and Indian-based corporations.
I hope this is the first of a growing number of events – allowing Indian ITAM professionals to connect, network, learn, collaborate, and push the industry forward. In particular, I would love to hear more from Indian ITAM professionals in terms of thought leadership. I hope the ITAM Forum can help with this process.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Venkat Krishnan (India Chapter Lead and ITAM Forum Ambassdor) and Premnadh K for delivering the first-ever ITAM Forum India Chapter meeting in Bengaluru. Thanks to Niladri Ray and Flexera for being such gracious hosts and sponsors, and Sheshagiri Anegondi of Rythium Technologies for sponsoring this great event. Until next time.
By Martin Thompson, Founder of the ITAM Forum