Established in 1990, Infogain is a leading business and IT consulting firm focusing on delivering technology solutions in Retail, High Tech, Insurance and Healthcare verticals. With over 4000 professionals it serves approximately 300 clients, including more than 50 from the Fortune 500 globally. Speaking to Mr. Eddie Chandhok, President–Infogain we got the insights of Indian IT sector and Infogain’s vision to be a leader in the digital transformation space.
- Team Estrade: You recently raised US $63M investment from ChrysCapital. How are you planning to use it?
Eddie Chandhok: ChrysCapital has invested US $63M into the company in August of last year. The sum is a significant amount and the investment will help us to propel activities for an array of initiatives. We will broaden our solution offerings, pursue strategic acquisitions, explore new geographies and accelerate the expansion of our employee base. In September 2015, we announced acquisition of Blue Star Infotech’s IT Operations, a global mid-size IT player with capabilities in emerging digital transformation offerings, particularly in the areas of Cloud, Mobility, SAP and Analytics.
- Team Estrade: You recently acquired Blue Star Infotech. How do you place a valuation on an acquisition?
Eddie Chandhok: The fundamental parameters for the valuation were based on leveraging potential synergies with any prospective acquisition target. We believe Blue Star Infotech fit these criteria the best because of obvious synergies in our core business, while complementing us in terms of customer base and the industry verticals we serve. Also Blue Star Infotech’s strong geographical presence, capabilities in digital technologies coupled with experienced leadership were important elements. Blue Star Infotech’s strong financial performances across quarters were another important aspect to play a significant role in valuation.
“India will remain the world’s fastest growing information technology market in 2016”
- Team Estrade: What is the market size & scope of investment in India’s IT sector?
Eddie Chandhok: According to research firm Gartner Inc., India will remain the world’s fastest growing information technology (IT) market in 2016. Enterprises are expected to spend more than $72 billion on IT services, products and hardware, up from 7.2% from the current year. India would be a key area of growth for the IT industry particularly with the adoption of digital technology by consumers, e-commerce and start-ups. The Government has also initiated multiple reforms to put the economy on a faster growth track and with initiatives like Digital India, Skill India and Startup India, further boosting growth prospects for the domestic IT market. The rise in adoption of Cloud and emerging technologies has resulted in increased demand across verticals. Businesses are getting ready to digitally transform to beat the competition and win customers.
Source for Gartner Info – http://www.livemint.com/Industry/9PT1hYOIFqSH0NgkjLG0LL/India-to-remain-fastest-growing-IT-market-in-2016-says-Gart.html
- Team Estrade: What challenges are faced by the Indian IT sector and how does Infogain’s provide solutions to cater to the IT sector?
Eddie Chandhok: The Indian tech sector is booming right now, particularly in the area of e-commerce. Infogain caters to leading Indian e-commerce providers and also provides a wide spectrum of services from Product Engineering, Test Automation to Cloud, Mobility, SAP, and Analytics. We have outstanding Oracle as well as Microsoft capabilities. Infogain has strong presence in Retail, High-tech, Healthcare, Insurance and Travel & Hospitality sector.
- Team Estrade: What is the demand pattern in terms of geography, where is the need of IT services
Eddie Chandhok: The US continues to be a key market for IT outsourcing, particularly North America driving the software market growth. We are also focusing on other key markets, such as Singapore, The Middle East, and the UK.
“Organisations today are seeking capable technology partners who can help them to understand and connect with their end-consumers”
- Team Estrade: Is Infogain working on any new solutions that would bring about a revolution in the way Retail, Insurance, Healthcare verticals function?
Eddie Chandhok: Infogain services the Retail, High-tech, Healthcare, Travel & Hospitality verticals. In each of the verticals, we have unique solution offerings addressing the clients’ needs particularly in this digital era. Organisations today are seeking capable technology partners who can help them to understand and connect with their end-consumers. For example, our Travel & Hospitality business has a solution called “Mobile Vacation Planner,” which is a consumer-oriented travel planning app that enables travellers to access and explore rich travel content organized by geography. They can access things to see and do, read reviews, including ratings and recommendations written by other similar minded travellers to help them intelligently plan their next holiday or vacation.
“With the acquisition of Blue Star Infotech, we now have an employee base of 4000 people with 9 delivery centers globally”
- Team Estrade: What are the two trends that will define the future of the industry??
Eddie Chandhok: Digitization and Automation are the two trends that will define the future of the industry. Today, digitization is no longer aspirational but a fundamental necessity. Digitization is already being leveraged to carve out multibillion dollar enterprises out of nowhere that are capable of giving established players a run for their money. Establishments are extending themselves into areas, which at one stage were non-core, with ease and agility. With the increase in product standardization and IT savviness, customers have access to comparing products and services and opting for the one that provides greater return-on-investment (ROI). If considered, planned and managed well, business process digitization programs can have a number of benefits for an organization.
- Team Estrade: What are Infogain’s expansion plans and future roadmap??
Eddie Chandhok : With the acquisition of Blue Star Infotech, we now have an employee base of 4000 people with 9 delivery centers globally. We have presence in our strategic business locations the US, Europe, and the Middle East, Asia Pacific and India. We will continue to focus on our current services and verticals and continue to strengthen our offerings particularly in the digital space. Our vision is to be a leader in the digital transformation space. We will also continue to be a customer centric organization– offering more innovations in solutions and delivery.
Digitization will define the future of IT: Infogain
