Infosys - Dilema still exist

Having worked at Infosys for a considerable portion of my career, I have always felt attached to the the "family" even after 5 years or so. During my tenure, Infosys restructured itself into verticals and at that time it was difficult for me to understand the reasoning behind it. Besides it did not mattered much as it seemed insignificant other than some changes at top level. Today when I look at it, it was one of the many strategic decision Infosys has taken to adapt to exponential growth it was experiencing and to remain competitive. During discussions with clients and managers, I got to understand that Infosys is a premium player and charges well above the competitors. It was something which used to make me feel proud.

It is now a known fact that Infosys is lagging behind its competitors and rivals like Cognizant are catching up. Four years back, the gap between TCS and Infosys revenue was around 7000 crores. Come 2013 and the gap has more than trebled. So what exactly is going wrong at Infosys? Why it is not able to grow at a pace which its competitors have managed? Of course I am not a gyaan guru who will go ahead and provide any quick fix solution. There must be already many of consulting firms spending huge amount of money to come at a solution. Infosys itself is searching for a direction and for sure there are many brains at work there.

But one thing is certain that Infosys need to find a quick solution. Having moved back to Bangalore, I have met some of my old friends and have many fellow ex-infosions in my batch. The biggest strength of IT company is its people. They should remain committed and motivated. One of the biggest fallback of lack of leadership and direction is that the employees are not seeing themselves growing. I feel the employees are missing direction towards a common vision. Earlier there were differentiating factors at Infosys which kept me going. In a process to streamline itself with the industry, it has moved away from the position of leader it once held (despite lagging behind TCS in terms of revenues). Indian IT industry has to move up the value chain to fight competition from Eastern Asia and visa restrictions. For this to be done, there has to be more than 100% engagement by employees which seems to be on decline.

Another important cog in the wheel is its customers. Since the house is not in order, what can happen is that customer might not feel connected to it in longer run. I have seen customers feeling delighted in associating with Infosys. It worked like a partnership helping them in growing their business. With Infosys loosing the way forward, client will not have any hesitation in moving to any other IT service provider. Beside there seems to be no differentiating factor as competition has caught up on those. And once customer base starts to wean, Infosys will not have much time to recover.

In a nutshell, it is imperative that Infosys has to buckle up and find a strong leadership. If not within the company, it has to look outside. It has to let loose its tightly coupled decision making to allow an open view. Even after close to 4 years since Nandan left, they still seem to be searching for an answer and they better find it soon. Otherwise, this fast moving IT industry does not give much time to recover and Infosys will relegate itself to case studies in business schools. It does not bode well for Indian IT industry and economy as a whole.

C&S Discussion

Many a times I have wondered how does experience matter in a classroom. What difference does it makes to the discussion. Today this experience dynamics was in full force in C-21. As more and more cases are being disposed off in competition and strategy class, e-yumbiez are becoming more and more intellectuals. The best part is that each one of us have started to question established theories. What it means is that we are analyzing deep into any aspect we are being taught and would not accept anything easily.

Had Mr Porter would have been in our classroom today, he would have had a really tough time. e-yumbiez are challenging his panchtatva theory and contesting that it does not have any weight in today's world. During the case discussions too, the claims are being contested and disputed amongst peers. At times these do turn into heated arguments (thank god we are not allowed to carry guns or missiles in the class), but it is expected. All of this is part of steep learning curve of our course.

On a side note, couple of results are out from mid-term and class dynamics is taking a turn. While we are still waiting for QAM and ME results hoping for Gods to smile on us, there is added weight to dispose off pile of projects and assignments we have in our basket. And by the time we submit these, we will be right at the doorstep of first term exams. May we be able to survive this. Amen!!!

Essence of Mid-term exams

It was not even a month into the course and we found ourselves in a midst of a storm called 'Examination'. This is something which have frightened even Einsteins and Newtons since the start of civilization on this planet. Some of us have been in fact giving 'gyan' to their children to tackle this, but to give motivational talks is one thing while to tread on that path is other. None of us would have ever sat for exams in last few years except probably for the GMAT.

First and foremost of the task was to find out from where to start. Then with tons of material at our disposal, we had to figure out what to study and what not to. For many years, late nights has been synonymous with parties or booze and studying till late nights was a abnormal deviation from this mean. The clan culture which has developed at Ajmera was not able to save us as from this expected uncertainty. We essentially tried hard to devise strategies to grapple with wave of countless yawns and power naps during the lectures in the morning. But it seemed that all fundamental rights were violated during this past one week.

Fortunately, we had managed to scrape through this unhurt and in the end everyone was happy go lucky. Though some will be anxiously waiting for results, though it is trivial those who have attained absolute enlightenment. During the exams, couple of folks had a debit of one year to their age account and we innovated a new way of celebration to save costs.

Immediately after the exams, we had a alumni meet 'Anusmaran 2013' at IIMB and it added a new dimension to learning curve. Motivational talk by keynote speaker and former Microsoft India head - Ravi Venkatesan - on leadership was great and then there were series of interesting experiences shared by successful entrepreneurs from our institute. These expereiences makes one rethink about the career choice which he/she should make. Of course it goes without saying that we had a long night as well, but it is nobody's guess on what would have transpired.

journey is getting interesting

Contrary to what I mentioned
in my earlier post, the time is now flying at EPGP program. It looked like that we joined the program just the other day and we are staring at the mid-terms next week. This little mind of mine is being challenged to maximum by the grinding schedule. They say that Rome was not build in one day, but it seems this is true only for lesser mortals. We are actually being trained to challenge this perception. So much has been covered in wide range of topics. Beside there is so much load of project work and assignments to be completed. Either we will adapt to it or I will become insulated or immune (whatever you call it). It will be fun either ways.

In addition to study or work, wide range of activities are happening on and off campus. CR election has been very interesting. It was a conscious decision by me to withdraw from election process despite protests by my numerous fans ;). There have been few photo shoots in last couple of weeks in preparation for the D-day November onwards. It was also required to be in formals with strict dress code. It has been ages I have been in 'formal' wear. Except for
probably couple of interviews or to solicit my presence at marriage ceremonies, there was never any need. But it also gave us chance to capture the beauty of the campus. Luckily I got a breather from formals for the next shoot with some strategic planning.

Then there have been quite a few celebrations already at Ajmera. This Saturday was my anniversary and first time I was away from my 'biwi' on this day. Just so that I do not miss her, she sent a cake directly at my residence. A small celebration followed it at my place. Then there have been birthday celebrations of Prem and Poornima with belated B'day of Chirag on both occasions. Few new members added to the EPGP already -  birth of twins at Sampath's and lil' one at Martand's.