The company is unlikely to continue with the CEO-COO model
India's top technology companies will witness a tepid revenue expansion in the third quarter (October - December) of the current financial year (Q3FY24) - along expected lines - on the back of furloughs and no blockbuster deals, even as the momentum gained from Generative AI (GenAI) is likely to take centre stage. IT services and consulting firm Accenture's first quarter numbers in FY24 showed a significant pick up in GenAI spending. It signed new bookings to the tune of $450 million in this space, a surge from the $300 million signed in the whole of FY23.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty settled with marginal gains on Thursday in a highly volatile trade amid the scheduled monthly derivatives expiry and muted trend in the US markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 86.53 points or 0.13 per cent higher at 66,988.44, registering its third day of gains. During the day, it hit a high of 67,069.89 and a low of 66,610.35.
Infosys spent Rs 70 crore last year on its brand building exercise. The company underlines that it focuses on earning the respect of all its stakeholders.
Among the Sensex firms, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Nestle, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank and Maruti were the major laggards. IndusInd Bank, ITC, Bharti Airtel and State Bank of India were among the winners.
With the last quarter of 2023-24 (FY24) expected to have been soft owing to lower discretionary spend and macro uncertainty, many are hoping FY25 will be a year of recovery for the information-technology (IT) industry. The fourth quarter, January-March, is considered soft, and will continue to see the headwinds the sector has been facing. And the sector has entered the new financial year on a weak footing. Analysts are expecting Tier-I firms to report sequential growth of -1 per cent to 1.5 per cent and midcap players' growth may range between 0.7 per cent and 4 per cent.
Sources in the company said the company had already started appraisals to give the hike from October. The Azim Premji-owned company -- which also has interests in consumer care, lighting and engineering equipment -- usually gives salary hikes to its offshore employees in October and onsite employees in January.
'We are looking at the next target which is to be a $1 billion ARR firm in the next 4-5 years.'
In the Sensex pack, HCLTech rose the maximum by 3.12 per cent, followed by ITC which gained 2.73 per cent and M&M went up 2.61 per cent. TCS climbed 2.44 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Wipro, L&T and Maruti were among the other major gainers.
Indian information technology firms continue to be accused of misusing H1B and L1 visas and depriving the US youth of employment opportunities. However, these very IT firms are increasingly hiring locals from foreign countries.
Almost all Indian IT companies would pay between $8,000 and $10,000 per H1B visa from April 1
Airports across the country witnessed chaotic scenes on Friday after dozens of flights were either delayed or cancelled after a widespread global computer outage that also hit operations like cash withdrawal at some banks, and impacted functioning of some brokerages. Globally, the Microsoft cloud outage led to US airlines cancelling flights, but the tech giant later reportedly said its cloud services outage in the Central US region has been resolved.
IT major also looking at acquisitions in Germany and Canada.
The turmoil in the financial market is likely to spell good news for the Indian outsourcing companies, as the downturn will compel multinationals to seek further economies for sustenance in these tough times, Wipro Technologies founder Azim Premji has said.
Companies now require more than just academic marks; they seek students with internship experience or extra certification courses.
If I focus on today, I will have to give up the future, says T K Kurien.
Wipro is close to setting up an IT park in Nagpur and is believed to have acquired 117 acres of land at the new special economic zone in the city.
The project involves building a network around a dozen secured centres, each priced at pound 250 mn.
Jumbo Group company, Shaw Wallace & Co has requisitioned Wipro Ltd to evolve an IT roadmap aimed at incorporating cutting business applications and business intelligence tools.
The awards were given by the UN's body on women for their work on principles of women's empowerment and helping champion gender equality.
This centre will cater to the infrastructure and application management service requirements of customers across the ASEAN region through a remote service delivery model.
Wipro Technologies CFO Manish Dugar tells Ravi Menon that smaller deals are coming in use to gain mindshare and pave the way for the big-ticket contracts.
Brazil's alternative energy company, Cemig, tops the list of Environmental Tracking (ET) BRICS 300 Carbon Ranking.
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
Revenues from IT services segment, which accounts for a significant portion of the company's topline, stood at $2.013 billion, remaining flat sequentially and up by 5.8 per cent year-on-year.
According to a PTI report, in the latest '2012 Global Outsourcing 100', compiled by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, three Indian firms have found a place in the top 10, with Accenture heading the list.
Also, dedicated resources for top 60 clients, in a set of moves to encourage growth.
Howard County delegates will meet Bangalore firms to explore possibilities of business expansion of Indian companies in Howard County.
Foxnews.com on Tuesday reported that the World Bank ban started in September this year "due to alleged malpractice's including bribery". The news report said the World Bank debarment -- the harshest sanction ever made by the bank since 2004 -- was meted out for 'improper benefit to bank staff' and 'lack of documentation on invoices'.When contacted, a Satyam spokesperson said that "the company does not comment on individual clients".
According to Jagat M Sarkar, head of HR, e-Rev Max, a product company which has its main development centre in Kolkata and presence in 60 countries, "In the given scenario, there will be increased focus on getting quality manpower. Salary hikes too would be hit. Those on the bench and non-performers are jittery too as companies plan on pink slips.
'The top five IT giants are not hiring, but most of the freshers want to start their careers with the top five IT firms.' 'In today's scenario this is a challenge.'
Trading in the equity market this week will be highly influenced by a host of important triggers, with quarterly earnings from IT majors TCS, Wipro, and domestic inflation and IIP data taking the centre stage in dictating the movement in equities, analysts said. Besides, global factors and trading activity of foreign investors will also drive markets. "We are approaching the first quarter earnings season, with HCL Tech, TCS and Wipro set to report their earnings this week.
Indian technology industry has a "big opportunity" despite global macroeconomic challenges, said Rishad Premji, chairman of IT services firm Wipro, on Wednesday as he spoke about how Covid-19 had changed work. "My confidence is driven by two things: the rapid pace of digitisation across the world, and the shift in the mindset of stakeholders who engage with us as an industry," said Premji in Bengaluru while addressing industry leaders and civil servants at the Invest Karnataka 2022, the state's Global Investors Meet (GIM). Businesses are using technology for customers and employees: a trend marked by the shift to cloud computing and leverage of data.
Among the Sensex firms, Nestle rose the most by 4.66 per cent. NTPC rose by 2.16 per cent, Reliance Industries by 1.53 per cent, State Bank of India by 1.04 per cent and Hindustan Unilever by 1.03 per cent. ITC, Power Grid and Bajaj Finance were the major gainers. Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv and Maruti were among the laggards.
Tata Consultancy Services has been ranked as the top IT software and services exporter in the country by National Association of Software and Service Companies.
