Infosys selects new BPO boss
By Annie the Snoop

Techgoss was the first to report about Infosys APAC head - Allen Lam being jailed for insider trading activities in his previous company.  On Nov 18, 2009 we had exclusively reported that the highly regarded Infosys BPO Head Amitabh Chaudhry had resigned from the tech major after his well deserved ambitions were being thwarted.

On Nov 26, 2009 Techgoss had published speculation that new BPO Head would be ‘Swami Swaminathan – current COO of Infosys BPO, head of delivery and from the Mohandas Pai faction. Swami joined Infosys from Eicher in 2004 and is a complete people’s person. Politically savvy with extensive work experience to override Ritesh, he holds approval from majority of the Executive council members and could seriously derail Ritesh’s C-level plans. The only con against Swami could probably be that he only has a few years left in his working tenure.’

Now the Techgoss source close to the Infosys board tells us that Mohandas Pai has stayed true to his word. The eager wait of a few thousand Infosys BPO employees is finally over. Swaminathan – current COO of Infosys BPO has been elevated to the head honcho position and will be singularly responsible for the overall growth of their BPO business. Closely competing with Swami for the CEO position, Ritesh Idnani has been named COO reporting to Swaminathan. Both of them are reportedly working together on fixing the gaping holes in their middle and top layer management caused by Amitabh Chaudhry’s abrupt departure. This is a good sign for Infosys BPO and their clients who were in a wait and watch mode.

Internal consensus is that it will be a tough phase for Swaminathan with Ritesh nipping closely at his heels considering their previous differences. However, they feel Infosys has made a wise choice in backing experience over young blood. In todays risk averse market situation, this move will assure the clients of Infosys’ steadfast leadership as well as sufficient horsepower beneath the hood to propel them to the next level and battle their competitors for a share of the increasing outsourcing pie. The restructuring has left a lot of senior level opportunities open across the globe. Word is out that outside talent is wary of joining the company considering their internal turmoil and inability to retail talent across all BPO functions.

The charge of assuaging employee and external fears will be led by their experienced war horse Mohandas Pai who has successfully managed similar previous situations.

(Techgoss had published the following article on Nov 26, 2009)

Infosys:  Who will be the new BPO boss?
By Annie the Snoop

Techgoss was the first to report about Infosys APAC head - Allen Lam being jailed for insider trading activities in his previous company.  On Nov 18, we had exclusively reported that the highly regarded Infosys BPO Head Amitabh Chaudhry had resigned from the tech major after his well deserved ambitions were being thwarted.

Sources close to the Infosys Board tell us that the internal environment is slightly chaotic and disheartened after Amitabh's departure. Techgoss has received another sneak peek at possible contenders to the BPO head honcho post. Techgoss attempts a quick SWOT of the contenders.

At the top of the shortlisted contenders is Ritesh Idnani - Global head of sales and business head for BPO in financial services, healthcare and emerging markets. One of the fastest growing stars and the youngest member in Infosys's Executive Council, Ritesh is slated to easily pip the others and be the next BPO head. After completing his MBA from Delhi University, Ritesh worked with Citigroup and PWC before joining Infosys in 1999. His rise has been nothing short of being meteoric from managing delivery to heading global sales for BPO across geographies in a short span of time. Largely influential among Infosys management and their BPO client facing lead across verticals, Ritesh has probably everything sewn up. On the cons, insiders opine that Ritesh lacks the operational skills required to manage people from a C-level perspective and is easily influenced by his sycophants. That has ruffled a few feathers in Solution design, operations and transition leads in Infosys BPO.

However, the biggest thorn in Ritesh’s side could probably be Ashok Vemuri. Ashok is a Member of the Executive Council and Senior Vice President and Global Head of the Banking and Capital Markets (BCM) group. He is also a member of the Board of Infosys Consulting Inc. Ashok joined Infosys at the same time in 1999 and currently holds a portfolio larger than the entire BPO which logically extends his sphere of influence over Ritesh. He is rumored to have large differences with Ritesh in technology resulting in NRN and Nandan Nilekani moving Ritesh to lead BPO sales.

The other contender is Swami Swaminathan – current COO of Infosys BPO, head of delivery and from the Mohandas Pai faction. Swami joined Infosys from Eicher in 2004 and is a complete people’s person. Politically savvy with extensive work experience to override Ritesh, he holds approval from majority of the Executive council members and could seriously derail Ritesh’s C-level plans. The only con against Swami could probably be that he only has a few years left in his working tenure.

There are a couple of others who are attempting to reach for the stars but the possibility of them achieving is anybody’s guess and probably not worth a mention here. A googly would be an outsider jumping in which is a far-reaching possibility but a chance nevertheless. As we always say, keep watching this space for more.

(Techgoss had published the following story on Nov 24, 2009)

Infosys: Turf war claims Nandan Nilekani proteges
By Annie the Snoop

Highly regarded technology giant Infosys was started in 1981 by 7 people with a $250 investment.  Today, this Indian behemoth has revenues of US $4 billion and is the darling of the stock market.  Infosys has 105 thousand employees and 50 offices world wide. Infosys insiders tell Techgoss about a bitter on going turf war.

After the respected Mr. Murthy decided to take a back seat and Mr. Nilekani left to join the Indian Government, a bitter turf war has erupted between some remaining co-founders and senior executives.

On Nov 18, Techgoss had exclusively reported that the highly regarded Head of Infosys BPO, Amitabh Chaudhry, had resigned. This was officially confirmed by Infosys on Nov 24.  Amitabh was the poster child of Infosys BPO, a favourite of Nandan Nilekani and also one of the 5 candidates (the other 4 being Ashok Vemuri, Mohandas Pai, Subhash Dhar and Shibu Lal) slated to be in running for being the next CEO in Infosys. Utterly sharp, scrupulously honest and professional, Amitabh was the one of the very few next generation leaders within Infosys respected and revered by employees and clients alike. He was most likely to take Infosys BPO to the next level.

Now, I can tell you exclusively about the ongoing faction wars in Infosys. I hope the wars won't damage the foundation built by NRN and others. Our source inside the tech giant reports that there were immense power struggles within Infosys and certain factions were wary about Nandan Nilekani getting extra powerful. The move of Nandan to join the Indian Government could very well have been a master move by some Infosys grandmaster to clear space for his pawns and knights.

There existed two extremely strong factions within Infosys - Nandan Nilekani and Mohandas Pai. The remaining belongs to the rest of the world.  A united face to the world, the continuous tension between the two head honchos was a well kept secret restricted to the inner circle. Those in Nandan's faction (read Amitabh Chaudhary) are slowly being edged out of the inner circle after Nandan left the top post. Latest to hit the bandwagon are Rishi Jain (AVP and Head of Corporate Planning at Infosys BPO) and Purnima Menon (Head - Marketing for Infosys BPO). Over his stint of more than six years, Rishi was responsible for changing the face of corporate planning in Infosys completely. A product of IIT Kanpur, he is tremendously revered by his peers and seniors alike for his ability to generate results in a structured format, share credit with juniors and think ahead. Our source even reports that Joydeep Mukherjee – head of Infosys Knowledge Services has also been a victim though we are yet to confirm the same.

Amidst these internal wars, Infosys risks losing some of the most respected executives in India.

Watch this space for more exclusive updates on Infosys.

(Techgoss had published the following story on Nov 18, 2009)

Techgoss exclusive: Infosys BPO boss resigns
By Pulkit Sharma

The corporate jungle is ruthless and unforgiving by nature. A single slip is enough to hamper the growth of even the most respected executive. That's probably what curtailed Head of Infosys BPO, Amitabh Chaudhry's, well deserved ambition to occupy the top seat in Infosys Technologies.  Amitabh has just resigned.

Techgoss was the first to report about Infosys APAC head - Allen Lam being jailed for insider trading activities in his previous company. Allen Lam and Amitabh Chaudhry worked together in their earlier company and Amitabh was instrumental in recommending Allen to spearhead Infosys BPO's APAC operations. Our sources report that Amitabh has “resigned” from his current position sending shock waves within the employees of the company who are now aware of this news. Amitabh was the poster child of Infosys BPO, a favourite of Nandan Nilekani and also one of the 5 candidates (the other 4 being Ashok Vemuri, Mohandas Pai, Subhash Dhar and Shibu Lal) slated to be in running for being the next CEO in Infosys. Utterly sharp, scrupulously honest and professional, Amitabh was the one of the very few next generation leaders within Infosys respected and revered by employees and clients alike. He was most likely to take Infosys BPO to the next level.

The decision could have stemmed from the fact that he was not elected to join Infosys’s Board of Directors. A Techgoss source that is close to one of the Board directors reports that the board did not invite him due to the Allen Lam issue. The same reason probably put the brakes on his outside chance of occupying the top seat in Infosys Technologies after Kris Gopalakrishnan – current CEO. It’s a dog eat dog world politically inside Infosys like any other company and the Allen Lam slip though uncontrollable by Amitabh proved to be a costly one. Allen has kept Amitabh in the dark about his past.

He is rumored to be returning to his original roots and joining one of the top 3 Indian banks. Keep reading this space for updates on what’s next within the company.

The Infosys website has the following bio about Amitabh Chaudhry, CEO, Infosys BPO

“
Amitabh joined Infosys BPO in 2003 as the head of transition. He rose to the position of the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in April 2005, and took over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in March 2006. He has over 17 years of experience. At Infosys BPO, Amitabh focuses on company-wide processes for smooth transitions. He also delivers transformational change for clients through improvements in productivity and process re-engineering. Amitabh believes in processes and metrics and he encourages teams to focus on and deliver best-in-class results. He then endeavours to improve them continuously.

Prior to joining Infosys, he was with Credit Lyonnais Securities in Singapore as the head of the Investment Banking Franchise for South East Asia and Structured Finance practice for Asia. Previously, he was with Bank of America as the Head of Technology Investment Banking for Asia, Regional Finance Head for Wholesale Banking and Global Markets, and Chief Finance Officer, India. Amitabh holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
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