Infosys: Hail The Infotech Scion

Infosys Technologies changed the infotech
landscape of the country. It was incorporated by seven daring software professionals on July 2, 1981 and made Bangalore its base in 1983. By setting up high standards of ethics, corporate governance, quality, value system and respect for human beings at large and society in general, the company has emerged as a modern day corporate icon. If in 1993 it came out with an
IPO, on March 11, 1999, the company put the country on the global technology map of bourses by getting a listing on
Nasdaq. 

Its strengths include customized software development, re-engineering and maintenance in many vertical areas including retailing and distribution, banking and finance, insurance, manufacturing and data communication. The company’s growth strategy is based on the global software delivery model. With an eye on the future, the company has targeted internet, package implementation, engineering services and telecom. It seeks and attracts IT professionals, offering an entrepreneurial environment, programs that recognize and reward merit, challenging assignments and allowing a continuous updation of skills.

Employees receive competent salaries and are eligible to participate in the stock option plans. The company also has an
ADR-linked dollar stock option plan and rupee-based plan along the new SEBI guidelines. It has been a pioneer in creating wealth. If on March 31, 1999, its market capitalization was Rs9,672.80
crore, today it is over Rs30,000 crore. The company’s scrip became the first IT scrip to touch the magic five-figure mark. It zoomed past the Rs15,000 mark and recorded an all-time high market capitalization of Rs55,922 crore on January 4th when Wipro attained the number one position. However, the later trading sessions witnessed changes in the market with the price of the Infosys scrip going down. 

To increase the liquidity of its scrip, Infosys also announced a stock split of 2-for-1 with effect from February 11, 2000. Interestingly, Infosys has successfully managed to convert its year 2000 conversion solutions into long-term relationships with clients. It has leveraged on the prevalent ecommerce opportunities and has shown a consistent growth pattern over the last nine quarters.

The company increased its employee strength to 4,996 as on December 31, 1999, up from 4,778 as on September 30, 1999. It also achieved the SEI-CMM Level 5 in Q3 of this fiscal. Despite having a higher bench, it has been able to maintain its growth and margins. Moreover, with the company eyeing acquisitions, it will continue to beat market expectations and grow above the industry rate.