2014 has been a game-changing year for IT giant Infosys. with the exit of the founders, the new man at the helm - Vishal Sikka has his task cut out for him. Here’s a special report on Sikka's journey over the last one year.
S Gopalakrishnan, Former Exec Chairman, Infosys said, “I will continue to cheer you all from the outside. Once an Infocian, always an Infocion. It was the end of an era and beginning of another and he was the one to usher it in. Vishal Sikka, who took charge for the top job at India's leading it bellwether Infosys, from founders and stalwarts of the it industry.”
Meanwhile, Sikka said, “I only feel a tremendous sense of excitement and privilege to help take this iconic company.”
It was after serving 12 years at global software product giant SAP, he took over the reigns of Infosys on June 12, 2014. But it was a time when the it was struggling - sub par earnings, high attrition, a dwindling market share with competitors like cognizant surpassing Infosys in the pecking order and visa issues in the US. Add to that, his entry was preceded by exits of top brass like V Balakrishnan, Ashok Vemuri and BG Srinivas, who were earlier frontrunners for the top job. However, the executive search committee responsible for the selection of the heir were confident.
NR Narayana Murthy had earlier said, “I think I am so honoured and pleased that Vishal has agreed to join Infosys as the CEO.”
Sikka, though was prepared to delve straight into troubleshooting. Right after taking charge, he began employee town hall meetings and round table sessions with clients to pinpoint the issues and tackle them. The first step was clearly to reboot confidence.
Few months back, he said, “There have been things that have been happening here around attrition, what you can call an issue with confidence. One of the key things I see is the opportunity to restore the confidence and everything follows from there.”
In his meetings, he found out that Infosys’ lack of innovation and ability to adapt to changes was weighing heavy on the minds of clients.
Sikka then began a journey that he termed 'renew and new'. His strategy will work around 'renewing' or restructuring old verticals by aligning them to newer technologies and entering 'new' emerging verticals like digital, SMAC, mobility. Infosys will look at building newer software products, IP’s, and even expanding high margin businesses like consulting.
To arrest the bigger problem of attrition, he infused a fresh air by inviting employee participation in ideation and strategy development. He also roped in 10 of his old colleagues from SAP to assist him build on the new strategy, a move that, according to sources, didn't go down well with incumbents.
In his first 6 months, he has kicked off the drive to renew Infosys; a defined strategy for the company will only be prepared by April 2015. And although his critics question lack of a roadmap for financial turnaround, his supporters say be patient, Sikka may just recreate the magic that took SAP to its pinnacle with the 1.1 billion pound SAP HANA product.
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