‘We must be equal or better than our client in IT usage’

Q. How does Infosys keep pace with the technology internally?

It is our philosophy that "we must be equal or better than our client in use of technology and leverage our productivity." In that sense we use a lot of cutting edge technology internally. Applications on web services are developed and used internally, VoIP and Wireless LAN are deployed. We are constantly engaged in experimenting with new things. We have brought hand-held devices and Tablet PCs and have started using them internally to find out the USPs so that we can understand our clients’ needs better.

Q: How are these technology needs addressed?

In order to execute technology-needs internally, there are three groups, Software Engineering Technology (SET) Labs, Education and Research group and Computers and Communication group. SET lab identifies new technologies that influence business and these new technologies will be used internally.

The Education and Research division gathers and disseminates knowledge and also manages the collected knowledge while deriving the new methodologies for e-learning, testing and assessment. The computer and communication division is responsible for the infrastructure and maintains a balance between security and transparency. The division also promotes the use of open standards.

Q: What does Infosys Research and Development division do?

The R&D in Infosys covers two important aspects- one is Focus and the other is software engineering. The focus is on the impact of emerging technology on business. At present, we are looking at how non-PC devices mobile and wireless technology and convergence and data convergence would help in business enhancement.

The software engineering division develops and experiments on new and emerging technologies and methodologies. For instance, we are working on component technologies. But, working with emerging technologies requires good standards, because for every two steps forward, we are pushed one step backwards. So the actual progress made is very slow.

Q: Has Infosys derived any new methodologies from its R&D so far?

Yes. We have derived a new methodology called INFLUX. This is basically a methodology to gather business requirements, which later can be developed to bring about evolutionary changes in productivity, reduce defects and design six sigma techniques, new tools, etc.

Q: How much does Infosys spend on R&D initiatives?

About three to five percent of the total revenue is spent on research and development activities. For a software services company this amount is significant. R&D also gains significance as it involves developing new applications that have to be integrated with the legacy applications.

Due to the downturn, more and more companies are choosing to re-engineer legacy applications than investing into new technologies. This is the reason why Infosys revenues also were driven by re-engineering and maintenance instead of actual development.

Q: Are there any new products other than Finacle from Infosys?

Finacle is our flagship product and has gained market more recently. We will have new versions of Finacle but have no plans to roll out a new product.

Q: Where do you foresee Infosys in the next 5 years?

In the next five years, we see Infosys as a leading service player in the world. Globally too we will continue to expand. The recently announced disaster recovery center in Mauritius will be operational within the next two to three months and will have 300 professionals to start with and is scalable up to 1500. We would also increase our focus in increasing our pace in establishing our presence in countries like France and Germany.