“It’s a great client, they’ve got good money and they’ve put a lot of investment in it. I don’t think they’ll go away without a fight. I don’t think IBM is backing down easily. I don’t see the other guys backing down easily either. It should be fun to watch,” said Peter Bendor-Samuel, chief executive of outsourcing advisory firm Everest Group.

“If I were (Bharti) Airtel, I’d certainly be sifting through the market. I’d certainly want IBM believing that. It doesn’t mean they’re ready to throw IBM out, but they’re probably ready to see the price decrease,” Samuel said.

But some experts sense that Airtel even might think of introducing a second vendor into the show, just to ensure that IBM does not control all of its operations.

“Some 80-85 percent of those deals go back to the incumbent (or at least include them in a new mix) according to our numbers. This domestic battle will be a tough one to fight. I would compare it to a marathon where on day one of that battle, IBM is already at 21 km (in case the client is happy),” said Frank J.H. Ridder, research vice-president at Gartner.

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