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Best in France Project

Best in France Project. Infosys Technologies, Ltd. Group EJ9 Kunju Tsai, Richard Abbiss, Arnaud Jacotin, Tomokiyo Yoshikawa, Andrea Girard June 2005. Contents. Infosys in France Clients in France Client Expectations Why France? Approach to International Expansion Adaptations in France

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Best in France Project

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  1. Best in France Project Infosys Technologies, Ltd. Group EJ9 Kunju Tsai, Richard Abbiss, Arnaud Jacotin, Tomokiyo Yoshikawa, Andrea Girard June 2005

  2. Contents • Infosys in France • Clients in France • Client Expectations • Why France? • Approach to International Expansion • Adaptations in France • Employee Integration • Challenges • The Costs of coming to France • Key benefits of French location • The Future for Infosys in France • References Best in France: Group EJ9

  3. Infosys in France • Infosys is an Indian-based provider of consulting and Information Technology services to clients globally (36,000 employees world-wide) • Infosys offers its full range of information technology services in France, including: • Outsourced application and infrastructure services • Consulting services • Packaged application installation (including SAP, Oracle, APS, PeopleSoft. ERP offerings are particularly strong in the French market) • Systems integration services • Product R&D Services Best in France: Group EJ9

  4. Infosys is evolving its offerings to the French market, • making them more industry-specific, • tailoring them towards more in-depth solutions for more specific areas of the market (for example, in the Finance sector, for developments related to compliance with the US Sarbanes-Oxley legislation) • For more information, please refer to the web site: www.infosys.com Best in France: Group EJ9

  5. Clients in France • Infosys currently has 10-12 active clients in France • The Paris office of Infosys currently has clients in the Finance, Retail, Hi-Tech, and Manufacturing industry sectors Best in France: Group EJ9

  6. Examples of work being done with French clients: • Development of international IT strategy for Cardif, an insurance subsidiary of BNP Paribas • Reengineered of business processes • Improved IT system • Deployed software worldwide • Development of an end-to-end supply chain management solution for a distributor of footwear • SAP implementation for a large manufacturing CAC 40 company • Assisted a major insurance firm with the rollout of a customer management system • Implemented an automotive manufacturing payroll systems • Set up a Bangalore-based R&D center with Alstom Power for the development of engineering solutions Best in France: Group EJ9

  7. Client Expectations • The managers interviewed covered France, Benelux, the Nordic countries, and also had experience with the US and Hong Kong markets • Expectations are vastly different for French clients • More is expected ‘up front’– there is an expectation of meticulous planning before beginning projects, with a high stress placed on attention to detail • Project timeframes are longer, and testing periods themselves tend to be longer than in other countries • French customers take time to approve new business partners aiming to have long term relationships. • The decision to partner is usually taken by a team, and not just by the CEO or CIO Best in France: Group EJ9

  8. Why France? • The French market for IT services has grown significantly in the last 5-10 years • Infosys has a desire to be a major player in the European market, and France represents the 3rd largest market • Infosys has ‘historical’ connections to France – its once largest client in the early 80s was based in France, and it has maintained an operational presence here ever since • Infosys opened sales offices in France in 2000 • Infoys showed growth in sales 100% every year and expect 60% sales growth for 2006. Best in France: Group EJ9

  9. Approach to International Expansion Why? • Infosys has a long-term objective to increase revenues from Europe, in order to decrease its dependence on the US (which currently provides 2/3rds of revenues) • In 1998, European revenues were only 7%, now they are 23% Best in France: Group EJ9

  10. How? • Upfront , one sales person explores the new market, meets key clients and makes 3-5 business plans • When the new business in France was opened: • Infosys partnered with E&Y for legal and administrative services • HR Central office in Germany was used for resourcing; HR was outsourced to headhunters for senior positions • Infosys continued to build awareness through advertising, breakfast meetings, fairs and other events Best in France: Group EJ9

  11. Adaptations in France • Infosys believes there are no fundamental value differences between the company and French clients • Indeed, in general the two cultures are a very good fit: • France has a strong tradition of academic excellence, attention to detail, and technical and engineering savvy • Infosys also has a reputation for these same values, as such this ‘cultural technical’ focus matches very well Best in France: Group EJ9

  12. Infosys uses translation services where necessary to solve the language issue (however they feel they do not yet have access to 90% of the French market due to the lack of French speakers) • Infoys want to hire more French speaking people • For example, it created a large software development and delivery center with 100 people in Mauritius in 2003, mostly with the goal of building up its francophone ability • Infosys has created some offerings specifically to address the needs of the French market Best in France: Group EJ9

  13. Employee Integration • Most local hires are managed by Indian or French managers, or Indian managers who have been in France for 10-12 years • There are differences in the way people work at Infosys (typically a lot of remote work via e-mail and telephone), compared to the more traditional way of doing business in France (face-to-face meetings, for example). • This did not pose major problems, however, and the common ‘tech-savvy’ cultures overcame these issues Best in France: Group EJ9

  14. There are just under 100 employees working from Paris for Infosys (not including expatriate consultants) • The French Infosys workforce is made up of about 60% local hires and 40% Indian hires • For Indian employees transferred to France, while they are subject to a convention collective, they have a tendency to work longer hours than their French colleagues • Thus there can be different management expectations for the Indian and French employees Best in France: Group EJ9

  15. Infosys offers extremely competitive pay-rates to its French-based employees, since it applies its global compensation policy consistently (calculating salary from a base pay which is a function of local cost of living, with an added fixed-percentage savings goal on top). • Infosys has not found it difficult at all to find highly qualified local talent to meet its hiring goals Best in France: Group EJ9

  16. Of all of the managers hired locally, about 20% do not integrate • Difficulty in adjustment usually results from the different working model (the fact that the bulk of work is done in India, with contact via e-mail or phone) • Some managers have had difficulty adjusting to remote work and as such have not been able to succeed at Infosys Best in France: Group EJ9

  17. Communication in France is mostly face to face • Infosys is global company present in several time zones; oral communication is minimized, most is through e-mail. There is not so much informal personal interaction • In India, the organization is more hierarchical, in France the internal structure tends to be more informal • Training and regular team building conventions are held in India Best in France: Group EJ9

  18. Challenges in setting up an office in France • Difficulties did not arise around the administrative / legal aspects of set up • Infosys found extremely capable local firms able to assist with administration, tax, and infrastructure set-up issues • The greatest challenge was in fact the difficulty of generating new business in France • It was challenging for a foreign company to establish a strong foothold in France, with a relatively conservative marketplace Best in France: Group EJ9

  19. Information Technology services is a highly competitive sector – with 3000 existing IT services firms operating in France (e.g. Altran) • It was difficult to convince potential clients to trust a newcomer, and to risk change • It required sales effort and resources to promote the Infosys image and commitment • Infosys had to Handle with care the human relationship with new customer and build the trust • Infosys used personal contacts to established new relationship Best in France: Group EJ9

  20. Techniques used to overcome this challenge were: • build awareness – discussions, meetings, PR campaigns, use small customers for references to larger clients • target international rather than francophone subsidiaries of potential clients – e.g. banking, did not approach retail level, but national • focus on international companies which might be more amenable to new technology consulting services Best in France: Group EJ9

  21. However, even this approach has difficulties: • The focus on international accounts, which sounds great in theory, can be problematic in practice • It can be difficult to penetrate a French subsidiary of an international company, even if Infosys has existing relationships with its US parent • This is especially true for large companies which have grown organically through acquisition • As an example, take Schneider Electric (which has 30% of its business in France, 30% in the US, and 40% in other countries). Its information systems are not integrated internationally, so having relations with the US does not really help in developing business with France Best in France: Group EJ9

  22. The Costs of coming to France • The costs to Infosys of French employees is indeed higher than many other countries • Other organizational costs (travel, real estate) are comparable to other western countries • There have been no real extra costs associated with language adaptation since most of the projects have been developed in English • Overhead costs tend to be high (to use external services for administration, for example) Best in France: Group EJ9

  23. Key benefits of French location • Transport and infrastructure • Time zone • Quality of life • Employee satisfaction • Market potential Best in France: Group EJ9

  24. Advice for companies considering entering France • It is important that company management be aligned as to the realities of the French market, and that it sets its expectations appropriately (and not necessarily compared to other western markets) • Management must be aware that timelines need to be longer to establish business and growth, and that the investment is for the long-term • … this can also be the advantage – once business is won, it is likely to be long-lasting Best in France: Group EJ9

  25. Thoughts on Infosys’ future in France • French companies are being forced more and more to compete on the international scene in order to grow (LVMH in Japan for example) • They will need cost-efficient technology services, such as those offered by Infosys, to be able to compete effectively • As such, Infosys is optimistic about growth in the French market • Growth has already been over 90% per year, and this is expected to increase markedly this year Best in France: Group EJ9

  26. Managers Interviewed • Prakash Chellam (European Business Development Manager) 12 Avenue de l'Arche 92419 Courbevoie Cedex Paris , France Phone: +33 (1) 46 91 84 56 Email: prakash_chellam@infosys.com • Pascal Beignon (Client Manager for France) 12, Avenue de l’Arche 92419  Courbevoie  Cedex Direct +33 (0) 1 46 91 84 76 Email: pascal_beignon@infosys.com Best in France: Group EJ9

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