Infosys sets up consulting subsidiary in US

Thursday, 08 April 2004, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: India's IT bellwether Infosys Technologies Ltd. announced Thursday that it had set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in the US, Infosys Consulting Inc., with an investment of $20 million. In a notification to the stock exchanges, the company said four people from leading US consulting firms had joined the subsidiary as founder members. According to a company spokesperson here, of the four founder members, two are Americans and two are non-resident Indians based in the US. The four are: Stephen Pratt, considered one of the world's top 25 consultants; Romil Bahl, former leader of EDS' 5,000-person consulting unit; Paul Cole, former leader of global operations at CGE&Y; and Raj Joshi, former CEO of Deloitte Offshore. "The subsidiary will operate from Fremont, California, where the company's US headquarters is located," the spokesperson said. In a statement here, Infosys CEO Nandan M Nilekani said the consulting subsidiary would be hiring in the US and expects to provide a platform to top consulting talent. "We have taken an unconventional approach to build our consulting capabilities. Having witnessed numerous failed mergers and acquisitions in the IT industry, we are instead assembling a dream team of top consultants from other major firms," declared Infosys Consulting chairperson S. Gopalakrishnan. As Infosys Consulting CEO, Pratt said the firm would offer clients more competitively priced projects, practical ways to increase competitiveness and a much higher return on their consulting dollar. "We will combine top consulting talent with what I believe is the world's best global delivery model. For those clients using traditional consulting firms, we will offer a new alternative. "For current Infosys' clients, the subsidiary presents an additional way to use the global delivery model to their full advantage as no other consulting firm can offer this today," Pratt stated. The company will introduce a host of new services to the traditional consulting mix -- up-front competitive edge assessments, proprietary industry analyses and projects structured around beating the competition. "We will also offer workshops and training designed to hone the competitive mindset of client organisations," Pratt added.
Source: IANS