'FY15 to be better, digital offers billion dollar opportunity'

IT major TCS said 2014-15 will be better than the ongoing fiscal on account of uptick in client spending in the US and Europe and growth in demand for technologies like cloud, mobility and Big Data.

The country's largest software services exporter said that momentum is picking for social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC) technologies, which offer a "multi-billion dollar opportunity" in revenues for the company in the next 3-5 years.

"When we started 2013-14, we had said it will be a good years and we will still stick to that. This has been a year in which normal business performance has been good. But for digital it has been a very good year," TCS CEO and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran told reporters.

SMAC technologies are driving enormous opportunities across sectors and the firm is poised to "leverage the opportunities on the back of enormous investments it has made on them," he added.

"2014-15 will be a better year than 2013-14 as per the initial talks that we have had with our clients. We expect a good growth overall -- retail, consumer goods and services, utilities, pharma, financial services, etc," he said.

Buoyancy in outsourcing demand and increasing confidence among clients is driving hopes for a better year for the $108 billion Indian IT-ITeS industry.

While the Indian IT sector weathered effects of sluggish global economy and currency fluctuations, the proposed US Immigration Reform Bill still remains a concern until further clarity on the final Bill.

Even as rivals have taken a 'cautiously optimistic' view of the environment, TCS has remained confident of the outsourcing demand pipeline.

On SMAC, Chandrasekaran said: "We established a digital collaboration centre in the Silicon valley two years back and have various other investments across geographies. No doubt, SMAC presents a multi-billion dollar revenue opportunity in the next 3-5 years."

Digital presents a unique opportunity to strategically partner and participate with clients as they re-imagine their future in multiple dimensions, he added.

Talking about the India market, he said the environment continues to be volatile.

"As the elections are around the corner, there would be a delay in spending and also the mix of our business in lopsided toward discretionary spending, we expect it to continue to be volatile. We have come to live with it," he added.

On the hiring front, TCS said they will hire about 25,000 college graduates who will join the firm in the next fiscal.

Besides, the firm will also be hiring across geographies like the US and Europe to keep up with demand for services.

TCS reported a healthy 34 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,702 crore (Rs 47.02 billion) for the July-September quarter on the back of large deal wins.

Image: TCS CEO and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran