Nilekani: Eye for details

New Delhi, April 15: Infosys will focus on improving its consultancy and business knowledge to become the end-game player in the global business environment.

The software giant plans to achieve this target within the next few years. The company, which reached the billion dollar milestone on Tuesday, reiterated that it would continue the progress with special efforts to improve in the areas that would enable it to become a leading multinational company.

Nandan Nilekani, CEO, managing director and president of Infosys, said: “Every company has to win the ‘end game’. To do that you need to excel in all the areas. We have a good delivery model but the consultancy and business knowledge has to be further developed and improved upon. The company’s focus would be during the next few years to enhance these capabilities and meet the growing requirements of customers.”

“We will bring the power of global delivery model (GDM) to high-value services like consulting and system integration. Infosys pioneered the GDM that changed the traditional business model of the industry,” he said.

GDM provides a clearly-defined process guidelines emphasising the importance of information flow and communication. The combination of infrastructure and quality orientation reduces engagement risk for a client compared with conventional delivery models. It is based on the principle of taking work where it can be done best, to make the most economic sense, with the latest amount of acceptable work.

As part of the expansion plans, Infosys Consultancy business would spread to more states in the US. The company plans to invest $20 million in the consultancy business.

The company’s Chinese foray is expected to report a loss of $2.3 million during this year both on software development and consultancy business. The company has plans to invest $5 million in China over the next few years and hire 200 professionals.

Rupee woes

Hit by a strong rupee, Infosys is in discussions with the RBI for greater freedom in hedging its foreign exchange risks.

“We are in discussions with the RBI to allow us greater freedom in hedging. Currently we are allowed to hedge up to 50 per cent of the previous year’s revenues but that is not enough. If regulations allow we can hedge our net foreign exchange for the entire year. But regulations in India do not,” Nilekani said.