Infosys and its success story has been elucidated many times over, that it
does not bear another round of repetition. But how does one ignore the 25th
anniversary of one of India's finest trophy companies? There was a time when the
name Tata stood as the sole representative of India's industrial face. In more
ways than one, Infosys can be credited with having created such a recognition
globally for IT and Bangalore.
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Ironically, through the late eighties and early nineties, one hardly ever heard
of Infosys. Those days one heard and read more about the venerated Tata
Consultancy Services chief Fakir Chand Kohli and a young promising company
Mastek and two of its founders Sudhakar Ram and Ashank Desai. TCS was and
continues to be a juggernaut and has grown in size but somehow seems to have
missed out on something somewhere. Mastek is another growing company but without
the promise it showed when young.
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So, what did a bunch of ordinary guys led by a diminutive and none too
impressive Narayana Murthy do that was so different and radical? Looking back,
one can only think that they must have taken personal risks that many others
would not have dared. It takes a deep sense of conviction and faith to persevere
on a given path against odds. May be they looked at TCS, the big daddy of
software services, and must have thought that if TCS can do it, Infosys can too.
And that too, better.
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May be they did think like that and may have not stated it publicly for fear of
sounding brash and audacious.Â
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But one thing is certain. Infosys is NRN and NRN is Infosys. He has dared to
think big and audacious and he has succeeded where few have. May be it was a
business strategy to give employees stock options as a means of getting and
retaining talent (and curbing attrition rates) but he couched it under creating
wealth in the middle class. It was a gamble that has indeed paid in real terms.
Infosys is perhaps the only company that has created several hundreds of
millionaires among the middle class. No ordinary feat in a country where wealth
was and is still largely associated with landed gentry or politicians.
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With that he proved that while he did business with American companies, he also
learnt from them rapidly the art and the science of marketing. No other Indian
company has successfully marketed itself and created a brand bigger than the sum
of parts.
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In retrospect, marketing an annual report or following GAAP standard seems
ridiculous. But in the hey days, when reengineering code was oh so unfashionable
and where labour arbitrage as the business model was absolutely low value work,
NRN created products with no direct correlation to Infosys and its business and
marketed them with elan.
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In fact, everything from the campus to the basketball courts to the food courts,
all of them were pushed and media, both Indian and international, lapped them up
while Infosys set about creating its only real product-the global delivery
model.
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While Infosys literally pioneered and innovated in areas other than software,
all questions regarding its product dreams were blithely and deftly brushed
aside. More importantly, it ensured the continuous propagation around the brand
without inviting focus (and perhaps criticism) on its work-in-progress effort,
most of which was and continues to be run of the mill reengineering/maintenance
work.
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Be that as it may, today NRN is a thought leader and is looked upon by
many-heads of countries as well as corporate honchos-as a strategist. How many
Indians have achieved this feat?Â
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The first 25 years of Infosys has been characterized by NRN and his fierce
belief in making the impossible possible. What will be the next 25 years like?
It's a question that will be debated in the wake of NRN relinquishing his post
as a visionary and cheer leader rolled into one.
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But like the current Adidas campaign for the football World Cup, Impossible is
nothing. May be Nandan Nilekani and his team will make that their anthem.
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Latha Chandradeep
Executive Editor, CIOL