Peter Bendor-Samuel Archives - Page 5 Of 8

RAISE Act may result in cost rise for IT firms | In the News

August 14, 2017

As the US President Donald Trump has backed the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act (RAISE) Act, a reform for green card application; IT services firms likely to see the rise in a cost as they may be pushed to hire high-skilled professionals locally.

If implemented, RAISE Act can also potentially increase the cost of employing an Indian software engineer in the US for both Indian and their global counterparts such as Accenture, IBM and others.

The RAISE Act is making a strong case for highly-skilled workers to be eligible to become US citizens and filter the low-end workers.

Peter Bendor-Samuel, chief executive officer of Everest Group, a global technology researcher, however, believes it is too early to be cautious and this Act has a “low probability” of getting passed anytime soon.

Vishal Sikka enters 4th year with new challenges | In the News

August 2, 2017

Vishal Sikka enters his fourth year as Infosys CEO on Tuesday with his back partly to the wall. Ten of the 16 senior executives he hired from his previous company, SAP, have quit over the past year and a half. Most of them were hired to further his innovation agenda. That agenda now appears to be in crisis.

The $10-billion company’s growth has slowed down sharply after having risen in Sikka’s first two years. Consequently, Infosys’ share price is down steeply from the highs it had touched mid-last year. Sikka has, since the beginning, spoken about a dual strategy — to renew the traditional business with automation, and develop new businesses around the new digital technologies such as cloud, AI/machine learning, analytics, big data, and internet-of-things.

Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of US-based IT research firm Everest Group, says from an execution point of view, Sikka has not been able to get his company fully behind the changes he is trying to drive. “He has not been able quickly enough to put the challenge from the founders behind him, which has further eroded support for his programmes. He has not yet been able to convince his customer base that Infosys is the digital partner of choice and they continue to see Infosys as a great labour arbitrage company ,” he told TOI.

Cognizant share surges on buy back | In the News

July 27, 2017

Cognizant’s share price has been surging in recent months, leading to a widening in the difference between its market capitalization and those of its peers Infosys and Wipro.

The company now has a $6 billion lead over Infosys in market capitalisation. Infosys had caught up with Cognizant and overtaken it in 2016, but it has not lost significant ground. Infosys’ share price has fallen in the past one year.

“My belief is that Cognizant is benefiting from the promise it has made to Elliot Management that it will raise margins and return cash to shareholders. The market may not have fully baked in that to do this Cognizant must reduce its sales expense and that this will slow down its growth,” said Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Everest Group.

Infosys’ head of $500 million innovation fund Yusuf Bashir resigns | In the News

July 26, 2017

In another huge setback to Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka’s strategy to strengthen the company’s new digital and innovation capabilities, Yusuf Bashir, MD of the $500-million Infosys Innovation Fund, has resigned.

The MIT-alumnus had worked closely with Sikka at SAP as VP of new products before joining Infosys in March 2015.

Together with another former SAP executive, Ritika Suri, Bashir was to help Infosys take a leap into the new digital world that has become important to global clients. Bashir, based in Palo Alto, had the mandate to identify and invest in early-stage companies doing cutting-edge work in areas including AI, machine learning, big data, cloud and analytics.

Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Everest Group, feels Bashir was caught between Sikka’s stated intent to use acquisitions to drive the digital transformation of Infosys and the board which micromanaged and second guessed decisions. He was not nearly as comfortable with an aggressive acquisition strategy. “This was compounded by the decision to return cash to shareholders and focus on keeping margins high,” he said.

Accenture drives digi-innovations via worker seed funds, small acquisitions | In the News

July 18, 2017

The United States -based information technology firm Accenture Plc has started funding innovative ideas from employees on emerging technologies to drive faster growth in the digital segment. Aggressive innovation moves such as $2,000 for best ideas can outweigh Indian peers in gaining digital revenue.

The IT major has received 13,700 ideas from employees of its Indian technology delivery centres on digital technologies such as design thinking, machine learning (ML) and the best ones are being implemented for its customers across India and global markets. The two key themes for these ideas were disruptive businesses and Digital India.

Accenture has started offering $2,000 for 40-50 shortlisted ideas to turn them into prototypes.

“What sets them (Accenture) apart from their Indian competitors are not the programs, which companies such as Wipro, TCS and Infosys have also adopted and in some instances been even more aggressive, but when the early lead they gained by being the first mover and establishing industry credibility from this early mover role. The second big thing they have done is that they are far more aggressive in buying digital firms, which bring with them the IP and innovations,” said Peter Bendor-Samuel.

The Reasons Firms Are ‘Reshoring’ Jobs Go Beyond Trump’s ‘America First’ Doctrine | In the News

July 18, 2017

In March 2017, telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. agreed to add about 3,000 jobs to its American call center workforce. Rather than continue with its pattern of offshoring those jobs to Mexico and slimming its workforce at home, AT&T is beginning to bring those jobs back.

It isn’t alone. Verizon Communications Inc., an AT&T competitor, recently ended its contract in the Philippines with roughly 1,500 workers, while the company is adding about 1,000 jobs to the U.S. workforce.

Although companies are reducing their offshoring tendencies overseas, they’re continuing to outsource certain jobs domestically.

Some firms, for instance, may exert caution in which jobs they opt to bring back and the pace at which they do so. When reshoring IT jobs, in particular, there might be challenges in filling those roles because skills shortages in the technology sector have companies in a bind.

“There isn’t enough in the U.S. to absorb all of that work coming back straight away,” said Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder and CEO of Everest Group, a boutique research and management consulting company based in Dallas.

Indian techies are taking these online courses to get reskilled amid layoffs | In the News

July 13, 2017

Infosys, India’s second largest software exporter this year, has set a bet for graduates who are given campus offers. A graduate is asked to pick a paid course on front-end development (of website or an app) on Udacity, the online technology education provider. The person must get a nano degree or pass the course before being put on training at its Mysuru campus. Once he or she gets placed after training, Infosys pays back the student the course fee on Udacity.

Putting in hundreds of fresh minds with the new skills is a good move. India’s top five technology firms have over the past two years undertaken a massive exercise of reskilling over half a million engineers in newer technologies. “The need to retrain the workforce is further amplified with the automation of the old work procesess. Hence, companies need new skills. In addition to different technical skills digital also requires employees to acquire new soft skills. All this is being addressed by investing in training in design thinking and agile development methodologies,” says Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder and chief executive officer of Everest Group, a global outsourcing advisory.

IT is a worry! Headhunters see more than 90% jump in mid-level tech resumes | In the News

June 20, 2017

Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Everest Group said that the spike in resumes of mid-management IT professionals makes sense since in order to keep the cost under control IT companies must lay off mid-management employees to allow them to bring on cheap freshers and promote last year’s freshers which are also cheaper than the tenured employees.

“This phenomenon is further exacerbated by the pivot of the industry into the new digital business which requires reskilling workers and moving them from management positions into individual contributor positions.”

Infosys President Quits, Top Execs Come Under Pressure | In the News

June 17, 2017

Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of US-based IT advisory Everest Group, believes Dadlani’s departure is part of the increased pressure on leadership combined with a market eager to hire Infosys talent which is highly regarded.

India’s Tech Firms Face Fundamental Shift from IT to More Advanced Tech | In the News

June 13, 2017

Everest Group founder and CEO Peter Bendor-Samuel discusses India’s tech firms’ shift from IT to more advanced tech in this interview with NPR’s morning edition.

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