Infosys Technologies says it is paranoid about retaining its place in the industry amid a challenging environment.
“There is a concern. We are all paranoid about our position in the industry and are working harder than ever to make sure we are doing all the right things,” said Kris Gopalakrishnan, Executive Co-Chairman, in an exclusive interaction with Business Line and The Hindu .
“We have been going through changes. These things need to settle down. It has been just a year since Narayana Murthy retired. It is also unfortunate that the industry is going through a slow period. We have made our choices. Whether they are right, only the future will tell. Early wins and indications are reinforcing our strategies,” said Gopalakrishnan.
Major transformation
Infosys is going through a major transformation from services to business solutions. “We want to increase our relevance to clients and enable them to transform using technology,” said S. D. Shibulal, CEO and Managing Director, referring to the mobile wallet innovation for Airtel.
Infosys is changing its service mix with a thrust on consulting. Said Shibulal: “In the late nineties, we got 95 per cent of revenues from application development and maintenance. Now, we get only 38 per cent. Consulting and system integration gives us 30 per cent plus. That is a new revenue track we have built over the last 10 years. This is extremely important to us because it helps us operate in the board room rather than in the boiler room.”
“Consulting is an interesting business because 26,000 people give us $2 billion in revenue. Otherwise, 1.5 lakh people give us $7 billion plus.”
On Cognizant
With Cognizant overtaking Infosys recently as the number two player in the country, competition is no longer just snapping at the heels. Gopalakrishan said, “Different companies have different strategies. Ours is to address all needs of clients. We are building our consulting practice; it is discretionary and gets affected by slowdown. We also want to take advantage of cloud, mobility etc. Our strategy will play out in the long term. Long term does not mean 20 years, but 3-5 years.”