• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

V. Rishi Kumar

CSC is on an expansion drive in India. Its next southern centre could come up in Chennai or Bangalore. Arun Maheshwari talks to eWorld on the company's action plan.

Arun Maheshwari

COMPUTER Sciences Corporation (CSC), the software services player, is on an expansion drive. The company is set to ramp up Indian operations and Hyderabad has been chosen one of the hot spots. It is also considering another southern centre, possibly Chennai or Bangalore, and sees India playing a strategic role in its scaling up the IT services ladder.

eWorld caught up with Dr Arun Maheshwari, Managing Director, CSC India, for his take on the IT scene and his company's plans. Excerpts from the chat:

CSC is on an expansion drive in India. How do you see this taking shape in the next two to three years?

During the past three years CSC India has been growing at 75 per cent per year, albeit on a smaller base. Today, the company is an integral component of CSC's `World Sourcing' strategy. Moving forward, it should continue to grow at least at the same rate though the base is growing rapidly. Much of our growth in the next 12 months will be in Hyderabad where our new 150,000-sq.ft. office should be ready in a month or two. Besides our focus on application management in the financial services space, we are growing our remote infrastructure support work and are poised to sign outsourcing deals with a commitment of hundreds of people for 5-10 years.

You are mulling another centre in India. Where is this likely to come up?

While deciding the location of a centre, we evaluate factors such as availability of talent, good, yet reasonably priced infrastructure, and government support. In addition to the Hyderabad office which is to come on stream soon, we plan to have an additional office in Noida by year-end, which will take the number of offices in Noida to four with a combined capacity of around 2,000 employees. We are also expanding our Indore office. In another year or so, we might consider an office in Bangalore or Chennai, as this is where the resources are.

What is your overall investment plan for India? You recently announced a $10-million investment in the Hyderabad centre.

We typically lease office buildings so our investment is limited to leasehold improvements and IT equipment. For a company with about 90,000 employees and revenue of about $15 billion a year, the investment needed in India is very modest. We are willing to make the required investment in tune with our growth plans for India. Today, CSC employs about 1,700 people in its five centres in India.

You were among the early movers into the business process outsourcing (BPO) arena. What are your plans for this space?

While we were one of the first IT companies to start a BPO operation, it has not grown at a satisfactory rate so far. This is a disappointment to me. However, we remain bullish and believe there is considerable unexploited opportunity in this segment for us.

Has the outcry against outsourcing died down or do you see this going up as the election campaign gets closer?

The US has gone through many offshore outsourcing waves in manufacturing. IT and BPO are nothing new and actually started a long time ago when work was being offshored to Ireland, Israel and other places. IT outsourcing to India from the US has been taking place since the seventies. My belief is that the US is committed to a free enterprise system that helps both parties involved in outsourcing. From studies, we know that offshore outsourcing is good for the US. I never believed that this would be a major long-term issue and expect it to die down as the US economy picks up steam.

Any plans for Indian acquisitions?

CSC India has been able to grow significantly in an organic way and we plan to leverage the foundation we have created to support our growth objectives. However, historically, CSC has used acquisitions to fuel its growth and if it is found suitable this may be considered for India too.

Are you able to find the right talent given the hectic pace of recruitment by MNCs?

We look for the best talent in the industry and so it is always a challenge to identify and attract these people. We typically select one out of more than 30 people who apply to us. We have not had any problem getting the right people to support our growth plans. We have been rated by DQ/IDC as one of the best employers in the Indian IT industry. In addition, we have been an innovative company in terms of HR practices, being rated as the second best in India by Watson Wyatt. The company's growth is creating exceptional opportunities for employees. CSC stresses employee development. For example, CSC India encourages employees to undertake 90 hours of discretionary training every year to grow their capabilities in technology, domain expertise, and soft skills of their choice. Many of our employees also take advantage of our policies supporting higher studies and industry certifications. In fact, out of the six key result areas in which each employee's performance is appraised, the first one is Individual Development Plan, i.e., each employee has to develop a personal development plan and the company considers performance on this critical to both the company and the individual employee.

We are in an exciting industry at a fantastic time in terms of growth and opportunities. The future looks very rosy. However, the competition is immense. To survive and prosper, companies will have to be innovative and driven. CSC India has tried to do this from its inception with good results. We are confident of the future. In fact, we believe that the best for us is yet to come.

vrishi@thehindu.co.in

Picture by A. Roy Chowdhury

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
What's the SCORE?

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line