Zero Hour for India's Tech Companies

It's time for the likes of Wipro, Infosys, and Tata to regroup and reinvent their business models to compete with global rivals like IBM and Accenture

by Manjeet Kripalani

The nightshift at Wipro's Spectramind call center. The outfit services customers of a US-based computer manufacturer and an Internet service provider in Britain. GETTY IMAGES

The writing is on the wall: India's vaunted technology companies must upgrade their business model or face dwindling profits and market share. At the annual conference of Nasscom, the powerful Indian software association, currently under way in Mumbai, the buzz has centered on one topic: When will Indian tech companies grow discontented with being no more than happy back-office campers and start behaving more like their global counterparts IBM (IBM) and Accenture (ACN)?

That was the challenge posed by keynote speaker Anand Mahindra on Feb. 13. Chief executive of Mahindra & Mahindra (MAHM.BO), India's top tractor maker, he also runs a successful tech affiliate called BT-Mahindra. While delivering the main address, Mahindra congratulated the industry on its creation of a new wave of globalization, then gently but firmly chided the Indians for their inability to innovate and reinvent themselves. "You have fallen off your perch, and created your own demons," he said. "You need to reinvent, regroup, and rethink your way of crises."

For years, India's top six software companies (sometimes referred to as SWITCH: Satyam, Wipro (WIT), Infosys (INFY), Tata Consultancy (TCS.BO), Cognizant (CTSH), HCL) have roiled global IT markets with their high-quality, low-cost software and tech-related services. They gave India a new hope, and their success became the accelerator for the country's growth. Companies such as IBM, Accenture, and Electronic Data Systems (EDS), which ruled the roost with their high-end offerings, saw business slip away to the Indians. SWITCH seemed unbeatable, especially as the group grew in sophistication.

Combining Local and Traditional Strengths

But Indian companies haven't advanced as fast as they should have (BusinessWeek.com, 8/6/07), many people at the Nasscom convention say.

Indian companies have made some overseas acquisitions, but most deals have been tiny, and the business has remained largely Indian—based on armies of talented local engineers. Meanwhile, rivals such as IBM have moved into India (BusinessWeek.com, 8/23/07), copied their game, and combined it with their traditional consulting strengths. That has been winning new customers both abroad—and in India.

Now there are new and unexpected challenges facing the Indian IT industry: a rising rupee, the escalating costs of real estate and employees, and a severe talent crunch. India's top market, the U.S. (accounting for nearly 60% of revenues), is teetering on the brink of recession, and tech spending is likely to fall. Finally, the sector is no longer the only engine of India's growth nor its only star sector. Other sectors such as financial services, manufacturing, and recently, infrastructure, have begun to power India. Stocks of IT companies in India fell sharply in 2007, and price-earnings ratios that were an expensive 23 just last year are now down to 17. "Indian companies are at an inflexion point," says Peter Bendor-Samuel, chief executive of Everest Group, a tech consultancy based in Dallas. "They've had a very nice run, and lots of wealth has been created. But now they've got to change."