Ibrahim Ahmed

I am not sure if many of you know that VOICE&DATA is not the only magazine that comes out of CyberMedia, a specialty media house. Over the last two decades, CyberMedia has earned several acclaims for its independent editorial and industry analysis, through its strong publication brands including Dataquest, PCQuest, Living Digital, DQ Week, Channels India, and bpOrbit. These publications have established a strong equity in the IT, telecom, and biotech industries, besides enterprise and the user community.

It's the focused approach-on IT, telecom, and biotech–due to which CyberMedia has now the confidence and has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) of 28.22 lakh equity shares aggregating to Rs 17 crore.

CyberMedia, which specializes in the knowledge, media, and associated services domain had posted an annual turnover of Rs 58 crores for this financial year ending March 2004 and a profit after tax of Rs 3.7 crore. In the first four months of the current financial year (April–July), the company registered a turnover of Rs 20 crore, with a profit after tax of Rs 1.76 crore. Expected to be offered within a price band of Rs 50–60 each, the issue is likely to open in early December 2004. This first-ever equity offer by the company to the public will open to domestic investors and the offered shares are to be listed on NSE and BSE.

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The strategy, to be focused and niche, will continue. The proceeds of the issue are to be primarily deployed for new projects in high growth avenues, including foreign strategic alliances to propel business growth in the years to come. These funds would be utilized to build the necessary infrastructure, equipment, and marketing expenses of its new initiatives.The company proposes to launch two international publications thereby becoming the first Indian media house to launch global publications.

Among its new projects, CyberMedia is planning to upscale its content BPO business operations in the US and European markets. This would be a significant move considering that the worldwide BPO market is slated to touch the trillion-dollar mark by 2006. The Indian BPO industry revenue is expected to grow by 40 percent during FY 2004–05. Content management is a significant portion of BPO business.

CyberMedia is planning to launch Global Outsourcing, a magazine that will reach out to international clients of BPO services. The publication will comprehensively cover this rapidly expanding market. Global Outsourcing would address outsourcing issues from a global perspective. There is also a plan to take BioSpectrum, India's largest biotechnology publication, global-with its proposed launch in Singapore. This is in line with the phenomenal growth of biotechnology industry and India's increasing expertise in this arena. The company has also applied to the Government of India for permission to launch BusinessWeek in India. This publication would aim at the rapidly growing segment of Indian companies going global so that they have up-to-date knowledge on global trends, alongwith an Indian perspective.

Narration of CyberMedia's success story is to drive home the point that specialization pays. The Indian service providers, sooner or later, will also have to consider how to attack the market with a more niche and focused approach.

Ibrahim Ahmed