Vishal Sikka’s appointment as the new CEO and MD of Infosys has got a thumbs up from analysts, as it ends uncertainty regarding the new CEO, calms employees, addresses all the issues for customers and also sends a message that the company is looking at going beyond an outsourcing provider to a technology provider.

Analysts believe that the Board along with NR Narayana Murthy has played a master stroke with this appointment and see it as the right step forward.

“The fact that he is a global leader and not merely an Indian and coupled with the fact that he has created a new line of business with HANA for SAP implies that he has the capability to deliver the future solutions for Infosys,” said Sundararaman Viswanathan, Manager – Consulting, Zinnov. Others agree. “This might just be the start of an interesting transition of the company,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst, Greyhound Research.

Well-known face Prabhudas Lilladher analysts believe that Sikka is a well-known face in the technology industry with a strong pedigree having access to leaders of many companies across the globe. “We see the pre-existing relationship as beneficial for Infosys’ graduation to the next level and believe that his background could be very helpful to guide Infosys in the fast evolving technology landscape.

Others believe that Infosys with Sikka at the helm will eventually change its business mix. Right now, 60 per cent of its revenues comes from application development maintenance but this will come down and new revenue streams from areas like SMAC (social, mobile, analytics, cloud computing) will form a large chunk of its revenues, according to Viswanathan.

Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO of Head Hunters India, believe that Infosys will look at more strategic alliances, strengthen the package implementation and consulting division (which contributed 33 per cent of its revenues in 2014 fiscal) and will look at acquisitions to grow.

However, some are still sceptical. “All these changes will take time and whether the company can regain lost ground remains to be seen,” said an industry watcher.

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