Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest software exporter, will embark on a massive brand building exercise, starting early next fiscal and said it expects its joint venture subsidiary with Microsoft in China to be operational by June this year.
"We have appointed a global company to work out the branding and positioning strategy for TCS in the global market. Their report is expected in a matter of weeks and the roll out of the strategy would begin next fiscal," Phiroz Vandrevala, executive vice president, TCS, said on the sidelines of a Conference on Indo-US Economic Cooperation.
The global consultant would advise on the roll out, tagline, graphics and positioning of the TCS brand, he said.
Vandrevala said every successful global organisation undergoes this process and TCS was doing the same. The new subsidiary floated by TCS in China with Microsoft and three Chinese Government entities would begin operations by June this year.
"The structure for the subsidiary would be in place by June," Vandrevala said, adding that negotiations are underway on finer details.
TCS would have a majority stake and management control of the company and it would be a Mini-TCS which would focus not just on Chinese market but other geographies as well, he said.
Discussions are being held to determine whether the present development centre of TCS in China employing 300 people would continue independent of the new subsidiary.
The name of the JV company is also being finalised, Vandrevala said.
Apart from Microsoft, which has joined the venture as a strategic partner with minority stake, the three other entities forming part of it include Beijing Zhongguancun Software Park Development Company Ltd, Uniware Company Ltd and Tianjin Huayuan Software Park Construction and Development Company Ltd.
TCS was picked for the JV initiated by Chinese government after a bidding process in which many global and Indian IT companies participated.
The JV is being seen by analysts as an emergence of a major force in the global IT services market.
"This (the venture) sounds a warning bell for competitors, including global providers from the United States and Europe," research firm Gartner's India head Partha Iyengar said.
"It is a coup for TCS to be selected as the Indian partner, since the Chinese offer the resources and focus to make this venture succeed," he said.
"TCS also gains an advantage over other Indian companies that are trying to break into China, thanks to Chinese government sponsorship, Chinese company expertise and Microsoft support for local language software availability for this venture," Iyengar said.
With the backing of the Chinese government, Microsoft and TCS venture could become a dominant force in the Chinese IT services market, AMR Research's Lance Travis said.
