By Keyur Shah, Group Strategy Officer, Servify
India has evolved into a pillar of the global digital ecosystem by providing the world with software development, IT services, and platform support at scale across multiple industries. With core technical competence, mature service networks, and a skilled workforce, the Indian IT industry has built a reputation for delivery in sectors as diverse as finance, healthcare, telecommunications, and retail.
Today, India’s value propositions are driving yet another phase of growth in a sector that is transforming globally: device care. For many industries, providing support after the device reaches the hands of the customer has been a fragmented process. The nature of global distribution means that a device often changes hands several times before it reaches the end user, passing through a network of distributors, dealers, and retail stores in the process. As a result, the manufacturer often does not know which customer bought which device – and, more importantly, when. This is critically important, because warranties start on the date the customer purchased the device.
Earlier, manufacturers would opt for manual, customer-dependent registration processes to verify when a customer purchased their product. We can still see examples of those systems in the warranty cards we find enclosed with certain products, or with the need to call a number to activate or register your warranty. How many people, one might ask, actually have the time to mail in a warranty registration card? The answer is – less than 10%. In fact, 68% of customers who need to actively register their products will never do so.
This leaves manufacturers with a challenge. A device is sold, a warranty obligation exists, yet they do not know to whom or where it applies! Often, when service needs to be provided under warranty, the manufacturer has to ask the customer to provide copies of the purchase invoice – an inconvenient process at best, and an acute problem if – like most people – the customer did not remember to retain the invoice once they purchased the product.
It is in this vacuum that Indian companies have come up with innovative solutions. By integrating the digital infrastructure between manufacturers, retailers, and consumers, it becomes possible to ensure seamless warranty registration, offer additional device care solutions, provide end-of-life solutions for devices, and enable a digital-first, technology-led customer experience.
A host of Indian innovators have taken the lead in creating this digital infrastructure. They are carving out value in refurbishment and trade-in, extended warranties, and at-home service offerings. From simple trade-in or repair web pages, the solutions have evolved into broad, full-service tools offering device diagnostics, locating authorized service centres, enabling home pickup, and utilizing predictive technologies to improve the customer experience.
Simultaneously, platforms like Servify are working to construct a device lifecycle network across the globe by creating a documented digital backbone for OEMs, insurers, retailers, and service partners alike. The backbone enables service delivery to be consistent, transparent, and quick across regions from India to the rest of Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. That the service being orchestrated across complex boundaries signifies how India’s role is changing from a technology implementer to a platform architect.
What used to be a fragmented, reactive category with a broken customer experience is now becoming a digital, tech-led category. AI-led diagnostics, app-based claims, and digitally integrated last-mile logistics are transforming device care to become more intelligent, standardised and scalable. Much of the shift is due to the infrastructure and innovation built in India.
From being the back end service arm of global tech companies, the Indian IT industry has come a long way. Today, the new wave of innovators are launching product-based solutions to solve global challenges, building a seamless customer journey and providing the power of technology to every user to solve their problems. Many of the platforms embed easy-to-use analytics, an intuitive user interface, and emerging technologies such as AI to deliver a better customer experience – a testimonial to how the India of today chooses to build its own technology stack, using the vast reserves of talent the nation has to offer.
As people around the globe continue to rely on their digital devices for more and more aspects of life – ranging from shopping to news to entertainment to seeking and practicing employment – expectations around efficient and responsive support will continue to grow. By powering the platforms that keep billions of devices working smarter and longer, India is helping to keep the world’s digital infrastructure running – quietly but assuredly.