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'The day Infosys listed on NASDAQ was truly a memorable day'

Nandan Nilekani, managing director, president and chief operating officer, Infosys Technologies, spoke about the future of the information technology industry and what it means for India on the rediff chat. Amidst questions seeking venture capital, business advice and employment opportunities, he answered questions on Infosys -- the growth path, technology, brand-building and human resources.

Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:27 IST)
Good evening everybody. This is Nandan Nilekani from Infosys. I look forward to your questions.


vijay parvatikar (Thu Jul 20 6:24 IST)
Mr Nilekani, Infosys has agreed recently to fund startups in India, how many startups have you funded till today ?? Would you please let me know some progress on the same ???


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:29 IST)
vijay parvatikar: Infosys has incubated 2 companies, one is Yantra & the other one which we launched is Onscan which is a wireless notification service s/w company. We have also made strategic investments in EC-CUBED & CIDRA.


Veena (Thu Jul 20 5:52 IST)
Sir: Please answer following questions. 1. Why is bandwidth so important to India? 2. What are Infosys's initiatives in developing internet infrastructure in India Thanks.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:31 IST)
Veena: Bandwidth is very important for the spread of telecommunications services & Internet throughout the country. Today most global companies extensively use their network to conduct global business in a seamless way. So bandwidth will allow both Indian cos to be globally competitive as well as improve the social services.


Sohan (Thu Jul 20 6:30 IST)
Hi Nandan!! I really admire you for all that you are doing for our country and our city, keep up the good work!! I am a software engineer from Bangalore, presently in the US. I plan to work here for a few years, probably pick up an MS or MBA part-time and then return to good ol' Bangalore. I need some advice from you as I consider you as my role model, do you think a MBA is necessary for managing a technical company or is sheer experience enough. Would an MS be helpful. Your advice will be sincerely appreciated. Thanks..


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:32 IST)
Sohan: I think a MBA combined with a technical background allows one to devise the best business solutions using technology.


Indra (Thu Jul 20 6:27 IST)
Dear Mr Nilekani, How does your HR department works? I mean how do you retain staff when all software professionals want to go abroad..


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:34 IST)
Indra: I believe Infosys has the most outstanding HR dept. in the country. Through a vast no. of initiative & programmes, we make sure that employees get job satisfaction, career growth & also participate in wealth creation. Several of our HR practices are now being adopted by other cos.


Indra (Thu Jul 20 6:32 IST)
Mr Nilekani: Why didn't Infosys start a dot com company? Is it because they are loss making?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:36 IST)
Indra The Infosys vision is to be a globally respected co providing best of breed s/w solutions with best in class people. We want to just focus on realising this vision.


Sohan (Thu Jul 20 6:35 IST)
If i remember correctly, Infosys started off as a company selling instruments, how did the successful transition to software occur.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:37 IST)
Sohan: Infosys has been a s/w co. from day one. We began the co. in July 1981 with a view to create a global co. from India for providing s/w solutions.


Ramesh (Thu Jul 20 6:37 IST)
Hi Nandan, Why is Infosys not opening brances in small places in Karnataka. It is only concentrating in big places. You can open branches in places like dharwar, hubli, gulbarga.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:39 IST)
Ramesh: We have pioneered s/w development in Mangalore. In addition we are starting a 100-acre campus in Mysore. So we are spreading in other parts of Karnataka as well as in other parts of India like Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mohali, etc..


Yogita (Thu Jul 20 6:39 IST)
Where do you see the future of the Internet heading in the next 10 years in India?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:42 IST)
Yogita: The Internet is going to be one of the most significant developments in the next 10 years. In the business space it will enable cos. to provide better customer satisfaction, reduced cost & improve productivity. In the social space, it will enable government to provide social services like education, health more effectively.


swapnil (Thu Jul 20 6:41 IST)
What is Infosys doing to build its brand image globally


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:44 IST)
swapnil: Infosys has a no of initiatives to build a global brand. For example, being the first Indian co to list on a US exchange was a definite plus for our brand. We also conduct a large no of customer-focused, direct marketing events as well as participate in trade shows to enhance our brand.


Manoj (Thu Jul 20 6:43 IST)
Nandan, do you have plans to work on the Internet infrastructure?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:45 IST)
Manoj: In fact, a fair amount of work is in the area of building Internet infrastructure products for cos. like Nortel Networks, etc..


Muthu (Thu Jul 20 6:45 IST)
Hi Nandan, Infosys seems to be service based company NOT product based? Any idea when it will get into that field like Competitor to Computer Associates?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:47 IST)
Muthu: Today the difference between product & service co is getting blurred. Many s/w product cos. are now planning to offer their product as a service over the Internet. This is a new concept called Application Service Providers (ASP). The key thing is to deliver something which creates a lot of value for customers.


kishor (Thu Jul 20 6:47 IST)
are you developing any real banking products


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:50 IST)
kishor: We have recently launched FINACLE, state of the art e-platform that covers all banking functions. This product, supported by other products like BankAway, PayAway & BancsConnect are the premier banking products in India. In fact, 4 out of the 6 banks in India offering Internet banking are based on our technology.


rahulj (Thu Jul 20 6:49 IST)
What will be the next big growth area after e commerce for indian IT industry?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:51 IST)
rahulj: I think e-commerce is such a fundamental transformation affecting all the cos. across the world that it will be a very important driver for IT service cos. for some more time.


kishor (Thu Jul 20 6:51 IST)
and what about m-commerce


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:53 IST)
kishor : M-Commerce is also a very important trend as a population of cell phones exceeds the no. of fixed line phones, which is expected to happen in the next few years. Moreover, most new cell phones will be web enabled. Hence, this area is bound to grow.


sunder athreya (Thu Jul 20 6:52 IST)
Dear Mr. Nilekani, what are prospects of some real infrastructure improvements? Could you give us brief description?

sunder athreya (Thu Jul 20 6:53 IST)
I meant that question in the context of Bangalore. Thanks.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:54 IST)
sunder athreya : I think infrastructure improvement will be a result of new financing models combined with the best technology and project management.


amol (Thu Jul 20 6:53 IST)
How much time will it take for nationwide backbone of voice/mail/image network to come into picture.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:55 IST)
amol : I think with the recent decision to liberalize long distance in the country as announced by the PM on July 15th, we should see significant investment in upgrading our telecom infrastructure including broadband.


Sohan (Thu Jul 20 6:55 IST)
Dear Nandan, do you see a future where all the indian intellectuals who have immigrated abroad return home to work in India, thus creating a positive synergy which would make india a world leader, not only in IT but medicine, pharmaceuticals etc. Do you see India getting its act together in terms of infrastructure and governance in the near future...


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:57 IST)
Sohan : I think Indians who have gone abroad are contributing in many ways to the progress of the country. This includes starting cos. in India, Philanthropy, Intellectual inputs, etc..


Ajay (Thu Jul 20 6:56 IST)
Mr. Nilekani, do you think IT boom in India is irreversible, irrespective of whichever government is in power. For I feel the biggest threat to the country's (and IT's) well being is from the government itself!!


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 6:59 IST)
Ajay : I think there is a broad political consensus in India irrespective of political affiliation that IT is the best thing that could have happened to India. There is an understanding that it can help to generate exports, create jobs & improve the quality of governance.


Manoj A (Thu Jul 20 6:59 IST)
Sir, can e-commerce flourish in India where credit card is still not common and internet banking is in its infancy


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:1 IST)
Manoj A : I think a lot of initial impetus of e-commerce in India will be more in the B2B space where credit cards is not an issue.


Raghavendra Kamath (Thu Jul 20 7:1 IST)
How are things going to be in India for the software market say after 5 yrs?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:2 IST)
raghavendra : That is why it is important that the fruits of IT revolution reach a large no. of people & there is no "digital divide".


A Haldipur (Thu Jul 20 7:1 IST)
Mr Nilekani, do you think that bio-tech companies/research will be able to match the speed at which IT has transformed our lives? I mean the Human Genome Project was one thing (yeah it was finished almost 2 years before schedule) but for the most part I think that basic biotech realities like drug-development times and FDA regulations will impede biotech companies from emulating the meteorical rises of their IT/ecommerce counterparts.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:4 IST)
A Haldipur : I think biotechnology is another exciting space where Indian cos. can do well. I have personally seen many biotechnology cos. in India that are at the cutting edge of the field.


jayesh (Thu Jul 20 7:3 IST)
what about japanese market growing now?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:6 IST)
jayesh : We think Japan is a very important market. We have recently re-organized ourselves to have a Asia-Pacific group (APAC) to bring focus on this market.


malinirao (Thu Jul 20 6:59 IST)
hello sir this malini rao from baroda. my question is what is the future of e-commerce in india is it the big bubble like y2k? and i would like to know what kind of private computer institutes do u normally visit for quartely or yearly placements??


malinirao (Thu Jul 20 7:5 IST)
mr.nandan what do u think of e-commerce in india will b to c flourish like b to b in india.what are the steps to be undertaken by the government and the locals of india to make ecommerce more wide spread and in use what is your company-infy doing towards it kindly reply sir


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:7 IST)
malinirao : I think the passage of IT bill, widespread use of digital encryption, internet penetration & wide access thru' cyber dhaba will promote e-comm in India.


brucelee (Thu Jul 20 7:7 IST)
Mr. Nilekani, Working in the software sector, I hear that Infosys barely has a presence in e-biz and the newer technologies. Most of its projects are maintenance of legacy mainframe systems. Do u still say that Infosys is doing great work in the hitech areas.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:9 IST)
brucelee : If u see our latest results for Q1 FY 2001 u will find that e-comm revenues constitues 28.7% of our total revenue. Hence, we have significant revenue from e-comm & we are widely regarded as a high technology co. in the e-space.


ananth (Thu Jul 20 7:8 IST)
what do you think of the europe market?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:11 IST)
ananth : Europe is also a very important market for Infosys. Our revenues from Europe have been going up every quarter. We now have several office all over Europe.


indiandoctor (Thu Jul 20 7:10 IST)
are there any area where infosys can improve themselves?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:12 IST)
indiandoctor : We believe that we have to improve ourselves on every front if we have to keep being globally competitive.


nitin (Thu Jul 20 7:12 IST)
Hi Mr Nilekani, Enlightened people like you should be in the Govt guiding its policies in the right directions.How do u think we can achieve that


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:14 IST)
nitin : I think we have a very open minded govt. which is ready to take input from different sources. We have given our input whenever asked on formulating policies to enhance the growth of the IT industry.


mitumanish (Thu Jul 20 7:13 IST)
Dear Mr. NileKani, Do you have offices in London. If yes, Where and can professionals working in UK join directly


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:15 IST)
mitumanish : Please go to our website www.infy.com where u can get answers for the question u've asked.


subhashis (Thu Jul 20 7:8 IST)
Dear Nandan, with more than 100% profits, why is the stock going down ?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:16 IST)
subhashis : I think this is question u should ask investment & market analysts who specialize in this area.


Mahesh (Thu Jul 20 7:15 IST)
Hello sir, Computer Industry is similar to political party's where there is no room for fresh faces. In this industry also it is difficult for the fresh faces. U don't think so?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:17 IST)
Mahesh : On the contrary, the speed of this industry means that there are new successful faces everyday.


mams (Thu Jul 20 7:17 IST)
Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Now there is no doubt that India is a one of the best super powers in IT industry. But in most of the western countries, STILL India is projected as poor country, full of illiterate people, full of diseases, etc, etc. In this circumstances, I feel that, the Body of Indian IT companies NASSCOM can do a lot. For example, if any software is developed by any Indian companies and if it is sold to western countries, the LOGO of India and NASSCOM should come; saying like this "THIS IS A PRODUCT OF NASSCOM, INDIA. TOMORROW'S WORLD IS WITH US." Can you make some comment on this? >


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:20 IST)
mams : I think in the last 20 years since we began Infosys there has been a sea change in the global perception of India. India is now seen as a very important player in the new economy all over the world.


mitumanish (Thu Jul 20 7:21 IST)
Mr. Nilekani, Can I join INFY directly in London.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:22 IST)
mitumanish : Please visit our web site www.infy.com for your question/s.


malinirao (Thu Jul 20 7:22 IST)
sir why dont u start your branch office at australia or europe.dont u think infy has better future there as well. sir please answer at least one question of mine i will be grateful if you will reply any of my questions asked till now sir i am eagerly waiting for your reply.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:24 IST)
malinirao : We do have an office in Melbourne, Australia as well as several offices in Europe, in London, Frankfurt, Brussels, Stockholm, etc..


jd (Thu Jul 20 6:53 IST)
Dear Mr Nilekani, If you stopped providing ESOPs by what percentage would your employee costs increase?


jd (Thu Jul 20 7:23 IST)
Dear Nandan, Are the extremely low admin costs - benefit of operating from India - the reasons for its high margins vis-a-vis a Sapient? And what about the ESOP question??????


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:26 IST)
jd : The global delivery model which Infosys delivers s/w throughout the world is a very efficient & strategic business model. Our ESOP plan has been very important in our low attrition & high level of employee motivation.


Krishnamoorthy V (Thu Jul 20 7:27 IST)
Nandan, Will the dot com boom last long & does it have the potential to generate a huge revenue over a period of years ?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:29 IST)
Krishnamoorthy V : I think those cos. in the dot.com space with robust revenue models & low customer acquisition costs will do well.


siva (Thu Jul 20 7:29 IST)
What has been your most MEMORABLE DAY ever at INFOSYS?


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:30 IST)
siva : I think the day Infosys listed on NASDAQ on March 11, 1999 was truly a memorable day for all of us.


Mr Nandan Nilekani (Thu Jul 20 7:32 IST)
Thank you all very much for a very enjoyable & interesting chat. With warm regards :-)


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