Tag: Power Talk

Excl: HCL Tech expects pre-COVID levels by March; says pent-up demand, early transition of deals pushing recovery

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Information technology firm HCL Technologies expects to get back to the pre-COVID levels by March 2021, said C Vijayakumar, President and CEO of the company.

“We expect to get back to the pre-COVID levels in reported terms by March if not earlier. Even assuming the lower end of growth, we will be close to last year’s numbers on a reported currency basis,” Vijayakumar said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. According to him, given the pace of pick-up, FY22 will be a normal year for the company.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put to test all of corporate India. And Indian IT, which has seen several headwinds over the last decade, is no exception. HCL Tech has been one of the companies that survived the tide.

The company recently released its mid-quarter update and outlined that it expects to do better than the earlier forecast. In Q1, it had said that its revenue growth in constant currency terms will be between 1.5-2.5 percent. With a pick up in Q2, it now expects Q2 revenues to grow by 3.5 percent. The reason is pent-up demand and deals that were in transition flowing in this quarter.

“We had some good bookings in the two quarters prior to COVID. Some deals that were signed earlier were in transition and are flowing into the current quarter. We are seeing pent-up demand in some projects that were kept on hold,” he said.

Vijayakumar admits that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a tailwind for tech adoption by clients. And that’s the opportunity that, he says, has him excited. According to Vijayakumar, two broad things give the company confidence in terms of the road ahead —  cost transformation and digital transformation

“Two broad themes are giving us confidence for not just right now but post COVID as well. One is cost transformation. The need for cost transformation and the need for enterprises to variablize their cost structures is driving some segments. The second is that almost all businesses are looking at several aspects of digital transformation. The retail segment, for instance, some clients are looking at modernizing their e-commerce infrastructure. A lot of customers that have a retail presence are strengthening their digital channels,” said Vijayakumar.

Vijayakumar has been a part of HCL Tech since 1994. Over the years he held several ranks and in 2016, he finally took over as the CEO. Since his appointment, HCL Tech has grown at a CAGR of 12.4 percent vs the industry average of about 7.4 percent.

“Simple strategy and good execution have been drivers for differentiated growth,” he says.

“We have executed a smooth business mix transition from traditional services to new tech and digital services. Our next-gen offering (mode 2) has grown 25 percent CAGR over 4 years. We have built a strong platform for software products business which has grown over 60 percent in that period. Our mode 2 and 3 combined revenues are now at almost 35 percent of overall revenues. We have seen continued market leadership in our chosen segments. All of these are showing industry-leading growth in the last 4 years,” explained Vijayakumar.

After being appointed the CEO, he had restructured the business of HCL Tech into 3 segments – Mode 1, 2, 3. Mode 1 is traditional services, Mode 2 digital and new tech services, and Mode 3 for platform and products.

Vijayakumar believes the strategy has helped them steer the company through the pandemic and its ripple effects. “We have a differentiated mix and a bigger total addressable market opportunity. The investments made in the last 2 years have helped. Current spending in IT, business services, engineering & R&D is at $2.5 trillion. We expect this to go to $3.5 trillion. We believe that we are in a position to take this market opportunity of $1 trillion. We are definitely in a better position today than we were a few years ago,” he says.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Infosys’ Salil Parekh explains how cloud ecosystems are being built across the globe on Indian model

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Infosys managing director and chief executive officer Salil Parekh on Wednesday said  there are a lot of players which are now building cloud ecosystems with the way Indian companies started to build with different companies.

Parekh said: “One of the things that we start to see is in this area of cloud – there are lot of players who build cloud ecosystems with the way we have started to build within India with different companies, the way to switch between clouds, the way to create cloud independent growth scenario’s that is quite innovative.”

“Each of the companies here, many of the company’s in the audience are doing that today and we are seeing that across all over client base and we see there is a huge amount of respect that clients have for that level of innovation that many of these companies bring to those clients.”

Parekh said Indian companies are now at a stage where globally technology has become so relevant and the critical mass that collectively India has, all of the companies here, which are driving this change.

“So we are absolutely at the forefront of the change and the good news is there is so much new that is going on in what people are calling digital transformation and that is driving all of the change that we are putting in place. So it is a hugely positive optimistic view of the next 10 years.”

Rishad Premji Chairman of Wipro, said. “I think two things are happening. One is you have young companies that are becoming true product companies coming out of India and it is still early days but I think that is happening and that is the challenge we keep getting which is – is India truly becoming an innovation hub if we don’t have world-class companies coming out of India which I think is changing.”

“For Wipro, our philosophy is more how do we leverage products and services in a combined manner, unlikely that we will become a product company or have large scale IT that we sell independently but how do we combine products and services and take productised services or business process as a service. That is the journey we are on but the journeys could be different for different stakeholders.”

Indian companies are going to break the idea of Indian companies versus global companies. The reality is some of the global companies today have more people in India than some of ours have here, Premji said.

“So the concept is not about whether you are global or Indian, the reality is we are all multi-national companies.”

Indian companies began with Indian heritage, so they can have more Indian talent compared to global companies, he said.

“I think that philosophy is completely changed. The other thing that has changed is it is not only technology companies that have a presence here, it is actually customers and end enterprises we were talking about earlier.”

“I was talking with a customer earlier who is a large global bank and they have more people here, they are building a talent base here not for cost and quality but for strategic differentiation.”

“So they would tell you don’t walk our corridors of London and New York to get business, walk our corridors of Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune.”

So the philosophy has changed dramatically, he added. “So I would not pile Indian companies and global companies separately because we are all leveraging a very similar talent base which is a very powerful and qualified talent base.”

Rajesh Gopinathan MD & CEO of TCS, said: “Next decade is going to be about continuing to transform ourselves. We have had a tremendous journey over the last 20 years, many of the stalwarts are here.”

“We acknowledge the 20 years of participation of NASSCOM here. If you look at it what we have done is, we have built up an enviable talent pool in this country.”

“If you think back over a century kind of basis what industrialisation did to Europe, technology is doing that to India and the same role that Europe had in industrialisation from a global perspective India is at the cusp of making that kind of an impact to the world as we look at the next decade.”

“So we are in a phenomenal position today compared to where we were when we started this century and it is up to us to reimagine where we can use this talent and this opportunity to drive the next ten years.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

We have plans to introduce EV recharging posts at outlets, says Bob Dudley of BP

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and BP have formed a new fuel retail joint venture which will include RIL’s ATF business. RIL will hold 51 percent and British Petroleum 49 percent in this new fuel retail joint venture. The joint venture will build on RIL’s current fuel network of about 1,400 sites. Over the next five years, the JV will set up 5,500 sites.

CNBC-TV18 spoke to Bob Dudley, Group CEO of BP, who shared his views on the new joint venture.

“There are regulatory approvals that have to happen. I think the closing of this might happen in the early 2020 rather than by the end of 2019 but that is normal, that would actually be normal in most countries around the world,” Dudley said.

The senior BP official has pointed out that Reliance has 1,400 stations which is just over 14 percent of the market share. “So, there are no real impediments here, there is encouragement for competition that will happen and all these formats will change. We will bring in the digital world,  will make sure the fuel is available across the country. Then there is the possible idea to take the fuel straight to the consumer so that they do not have to spend the time going and getting a tank of diesel or petrol themselves. So, all kinds of things will happen and digital will be a big enabler in this,” he noted.

On electric vehicle ecosystem he said, “We are even thinking about advanced mobility. Eventually electric charging of vehicles will happen, and the perfect place to do that is with fuel sales. We are doing that, we are combining that with ultrafast charging in the UK so consumers can come and buy liquid fuel, they can charge their cars and then retailing as well. And the speed of being able to make sure through the Jio system that all the stock levels are there on time, following customer patterns. It is really exciting. India is encouraging fast-charging vehicles as well. It will come in its own time, we will take the experience that we have in other countries with Reliance and that is clearly where we will go. It is not going to be the fastest growing part of it until a number of years down the road.”

Disclosure: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow