Infy, iGate others in queue for Rs. 1,00,000-cr govt IT contracts

While visa restrictions and business slowdown pose challenges in their traditional strongholds, such US and Europe, upcoming mega government projects seem to offer a degree of comfort for the Indian IT companies.

Indian IT service companies TCS, Infosys, HCL, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and iGate and multinational companies such as IBM, Accenture, HP and Dell are vying for a sizable pie of various e-governance projects, the total cost of which would run into anywhere between Rs. 80,000 crore and Rs. 1,00,000 crore.

“For Indian IT industry, the government continues to be the major source of business,” said CN Raghupathi, vice-president, India business, Infosys. “With various e-governance initiatives at its nascent stage, the opportunity is enormous.”

“The rollout of Aadhar itself provides a lot of opportunities,” said Apporva Ruparel, head, India business, iGate. “There are 17 categories of direct cash subsidy… to be rolled out in 643 districts. In value terms this would throw up a huge number.”

Apart from Aadhar, various Central and state e-governance projects, such as digitisation of land records, implementation of smart-grids in electricity distribution companies and the computerisation of state treasuries will result in sizable contracts.

Tamil Nadu has finished bidding process for computerisation of its state tax department. Other states including Maharashtra are soon expected to come up with bids. For the smart-grid implementation, eight bids are underway.

All this does not necessarily mean a smooth flow of business for IT companies. "There is a fair degree of unpredictability as these are government projects," said a senior executive, who wished to be not identified.

The government is expected to play a major role in the future of the Indian IT market.

India’s IT market is expected to grow from $10.3 billion (Rs 61,800 crore) in 2012-13 to $13.4 billion (Rs 80,400 crore) this year, and to touch $20 billion (Rs 120,000 crore) by 2020.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/SectorsBPOs/Infy-iGate-others-in-queue-for-Rs-1-00-000-cr-govt-IT-contracts/Article1-1092418.aspx

iGate Gets 5-Year $100M Outsourcing Order from US MetLife

Outsourcing services company iGate Corp. (IGTE) Tuesday said it has received a five-year contract worth more than $100 million to offer information technology infrastructure solutions to U.S. life insurer MetLife Inc. (MET).

As part of the deal, iGate said in a statement, it will manage the IT systems of the U.S. company and provide applications support and enterprise network services. iGate is U.S.-based and listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, employing 28,000 people, mainly in India.

Some parts of the contract were previously managed by a major U.S. IT services company and one of the top Indian outsourcing companies, Sanjay Tugnait, executive vice president and head of sales for North America at iGate, told the Wall Street Journal.

iGate, which already has a 10-year outsourcing partnership with MetLife, said the deal will be based on a business model where the company charges the client using an outcome-based pricing approach.

It's Official; Tech Mahindra Completes Merger of Satyam

Once a darling of the Indian IT sector and the stock market, the scam-hit erstwhile Satyam has formally ceased to exist as an individual entity by formally merging with Tech Mahindra.

Its journey saw a fraud bringing down the company's valuation by over 95 per cent within weeks, while a subsequent revival brought in an over 10-fold surge from the dumps.

Still, it is the remains of this once scam-hit company on which its saviour Tech Mahindra will bank upon significantly to move up the ladders of the Indian IT sector charts, say industry experts.

IT industry will grow 13-14%: Som Mittal

Software industry body Nasscom expects the country's information technology (IT) services sector to grow 13-14 per cent in the current financial year and to touch $225 billion (Rs 13.22 lakh crore) by 2020. Speaking to reporters after addressing Nasscom's EmergeOut Conclave here, the industry body's president, Som Mittal, said the sector had been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 12-13 per cent till two years earlier, and reaching the $225 billion target was not impossible.

The first main driver will be new geographies. At present, the US, the UK and other European markets contribute to around 90 per cent of the total business, while other markets, including India, China and Latin America, contribute the rest.

"Only three per cent of the business we do in China and Japan, which shows there is plenty of opportunities in those markets," said Mittal. Many small companies have now started focussing only on these markets. "Our estimate is that around 20 per cent of the business would come from new geographies by 2020," said Mittal.

Infosys eyes IT, BPO arms of European companies

Infosys is looking to acquire technology and back-office services arms of European companies as they open up to the idea of outsourcing such work with an eye on cutting costs. The deals that Infosys is chasing could give it committed business worth $40- $250 million (Rs 240 crore-Rs 1,500 crore) over three to five years, the Europe head of India's second-largest software firm said. Such transactions typically involve upfront payment for buying the facilities of corporations as well as taking over their employees.

"There are quite a few opportunities we are participating in. For clients, it is about cost-optimisation but at the same time they don't want employees to be impacted," said InfosysBSE -0.01 % board member BG Srinivas, who also heads the financial services business division. "We are open to rebadging employees because we are continuing to invest in Europe."

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/euro-trail-infosys-eyes-it-bpo-arms-of-european-companies/articleshow/21076918.cms

Wipro BPO win Best Project with Organizational Impact Award

Wipro  Ltd., a leading Global Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company announced that the American Society for Quality (ASQ) has recognized Wipro BPO for a Six Sigma Project implemented for a customer. The project was recognized by ASQ and voted on by attendees of the 2013 World Conference on Quality and Improvement as Best Project with 'Organizational Impact' at the International Team Excellence Awards, Indianapolis, USA.

The awards recognize and commend the impact of quality on customer relationships. The finalists of the "International Team Excellence Awards" comprised of 32 teams from across the world and global organizations spanning industries including Automobiles, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Financial Services & Insurance, Telecom, Military, Energy, Housing and ITeS.