If you happened to visit popular Web2.0 watering holes like TechCrunch, Gigaom etc in the past few days, chances are that you would have noticed ad banners from Infosys on those sites. I don’t recall seeing these ads earlier. This looks like a concerted effort by India’s top IT services company to get noticed in the Web2.0 world. And the appearance of these ads seems to be timed with the launch of its corporate blog called Infosysblogs.
The banner ads are (infact) hyperlinked to the Infosysblog. The blog is titled ‘ThinkFlat’ (an obvious reference to Thomas Friedman’s bestseller The World is Flat) and seems to have been launched recently. I read through the blog’s content ; it seems less like a regular blog and more like a compulsive eulogy of Friedman’s theory (Thomas Friedman incidentally, has quoted extensively about Infosys in his book). Sree (who apparently works for Infosys) suggests in this incisive blog post that the general tone of ThinkFlat seems quite negative with its over-emphasis on the word ‘flat’ which is usually used in a negative sense. I would tend to agree with him. In fact, I find the entire communication in the campaign quite unimaginative and ill-conceived. For the (ad+blog) seem to celebrate Friedman’s Theory of the Flat World, with the tacit message that if that theory is true, then Infosys is a default choice. This argument adds credence to the stereotype of Indian software services companies as being nothing more than smart (or shameless?) opportunists. I would have liked to see the (ad+blog) give me solid reasons as to why should the world go to Infosys, instead of taking refuge under Friedman’s theory.
This may also be a sign of India’s big IT services companies waking up to the influence of Web2.0 in shaping global software trends. I think Indian software companies are gradually trying to enhance their salience levels. Take a look at the list of sponsors at this year’s World Wide Web conference held in Edinburgh in May earlier this year, where Infosys was a platinum sponsor along with Microsoft & Yahoo. This is an indicator that the Indian services companies harbor global ambitions and now want to be counted amongst the Who’s-Who of the global IT industry.
Update (17thSep): I have been tipped off by Mohan about the existence of another blog from Infosys. This is about offshore project management and talks about Infosys’s competencies and their inherent strengths, in sharp contrast to the ThinkFlat blog.
That blog design leaves a lot to be desired. Why does the blog not show up immediately. Why do you have to click a link to go to the first page? And even after that, the content does not show up till you click a link on the right. And it seems like they are using Yahoo for a blogging solution. Why not use MOvableType, WordPress, or TypePad. All these companies understand blogging well, and what comes out of the box is quite usable. Hopefully, they will use this critique to make changes!
Check out Mini infosys
I guess they forgot to change the blog settings. Since they have not posted anything for more than 10 days, nothing is showing up in the homepage! They need to learn the ABCs of blogging. There are more than 50.000 employees and nobody to help with this? pathetic situation of a global company!
Hey,
MiniInfosys seems to be on similar lines as MiniMicrosoft. I am surprised that you have even thought of this for a company like Infosys. Surely they don’t deserve this.
amit
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here is a take on Infosys and concept of flat world.
Rajiv,
Thanks for pointing out that link; I checked it out and the blog post talks about the software services space in general. My observations are not about the business models of the services companies but about the aptness of the communication they are making to a world audience.
amit
Amit, This is a very strong critique! Hope Infosys takes this positively and improve on, being one of the first corporate blogs from India.
I have posted some review comments in my blog, Infosys Think Flat Blog Review.
Sree
NASA is to Space,
Google is to Innovation,
Vint Cerf is to Internet,
Richard Stallman is to Open Source,
Jesse James Garrett is to AJAX,
Lakshmi Mittal is to Steel,
[and Bush is to War :-)],
what is Infosys’s crediblity in talking about the Flat World? Could someone explain, please?
Is it that, Tom Friedman visited the Infosys campus in Bangalore and mentioned it in his book? I think the Western-style campus with lawn, golf course and swimming pool flattened him! Does this give Infosys any credibility to talk about the flat world concept?!
Companies like Wal-Mart operating its departments in various countries in collaboration, are the real flat world companies who can talk about it. Infosys just rolls on its GDM wheels, with a lot of push from its PR gimmicks and hype. The deliverables from Infosys is just the same as (if not worse than) those of the other silent Indian IT players like TCS, Wipro or CTS. Now Infosys is shamelessly trying to capitalize on Friedman’s book. Isn’t it true that Infosys proves to be shameless opportunist? Don’t you agree with me?
Hi,
I think, Infosys is aiming for more traffic….sounds silly for a large corporate like infosys, but, i believe it so.
While reading the book by Thomas Friedman, i happened to open Infosys website, and there it was, the word ‘FLAT’ and some text around it. I realized it was a way to get INFOSYS on top in searh results for keywords like FLAT OUTSOURCING SOFTWARE etc..etc.
The blogs are to ensure more traffic to their site. Infosys is not like Google or Microsoft, whose products are used by a wide range of customers. Household to corporates. Blogging is for those who have an opinion. Not for fence sitters.
Kris
http://www.vkinfotek.com
Krishna,
I never thought of it from this angle, but you might have a good explanation for this. In fact if there is even an iota of truth in this assertion, then it might actually be a smart move from infosys.
amit
An excellent example, and in stark contrast to Infy’s efforts, is the corporate blog of Mumbai based TATA Interactive Systems which is at http://blog.tatainteractive.com
This blog not only offers an insight into the company via pics/vids etc but also nicely aggregates posts from different departments to provide a well rounded view of the company. I think they went live in Dec 2006 and could very well be the first corporate blog out of India by a major Indian corp…Cheers!
I don’t know if the flat world blog is working or not but the business model is surely looking a little flat these days. Take the BPO subsidiary, Infosys BPO for example. Quarterly data for FY06 and FY07 show that profits at Infosys BPO grew slower than revenues leading to a profit margin slide, and employee utilization plunged resulting in a large bench. Simultaneously, employee and customer satisfaction scores fell leading to attrition and delivery issues.
The problem seems to be managerial and caused by the exit of the senior team at the former Progeon (10 VPs have quit since the buyout) and their replacement by Infy middle to senior managers who don’t have BPO experience.
So while Infosys BPO revenues and employee headcount are growing (the latter alarmingly), the more BPO grows, the more it drags down the Infosys group’s productivity and net margin.
PS. Q1FY08 results show that Infy BPO recorded a PAT of Rs 36 crore on revenues of Rs 200 crore. That is a net margin of 18% in a company that used to do 24% last year. Expect heads to roll!
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