The war clouds looming over Iraq have not dampened the optimistic outlook of the Indian infotech sector.

A dipstick survey of 12 CEOs of IT companies at Nasscom 2003 conducted by Business Standard revealed that none of them thought war would impact their businesses. Business, they unanimously said, would go on -- stronger than usual.

This is partly because CEOs have factored in possible disruptions ever since the events of September 11.

Said Arun Kumar, managing director of Hughes Software Systems and Nasscom chairman, "We have been through this situation before and this won't come as a surprise."

Added Deepak Ghaisas, CEO of i-Flex, "The war seems inevitable. If it happens then we will have to market India. Even geographically, Iraq is farther away from India than Afghanistan is. If the war in the latter country did not have too much of an impact, Iraq will be a tremor that will barely be felt."

Most CEOs agreed that the worst-case scenario involved curbing travel and therefore, decision-making and order-processing. Those who already had orders, they said, would work harder at retaining them.

Some CEOs even sensed opportunities. Said one of them who requested anonymity: "In good times, offshore business development is always good. In bad times, it will only get better and application outsourcing will move up."

The only apprehension that some CEOs voiced was the possibility of a long-drawn war.

Said Pheroz Vandrevala, executive director, Tata Consultancy Services, "If it is a short-term war, the impact won't be significant. But if it is long term, then the impact would largely be related to geo-political issues. With the major customers of the Indian IT industry spread out globally, there is the worry of a potential widespread backlash which will then impact businesses."

While most CEOs considered the war an inevitability, there were some who didn't even consider this a possibility. Among them is N R Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor of Infosys.

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