'He is returning at the right time'

The reappointment of Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy on Saturday was welcomed by industry leaders who felt that the company had taken the right decision in the interests of its shareholders and the prevailing economic climate.

Karnataka’s IT and BT Minister S R Patil termed the return of Murthy to the helm of Infosys as the right step which would help the company regain lost ground. “I am glad that the highly respected Murthy is back at Infosys. Besides bringing change in the company, Murthy can do more in shaping Brand Bangalore and guide the development of IT in the entire state,” he said.

Sudin Apte, Offshore Insights CEO & Research Director, said that the immediate impact of Murthy’s return would galvanise employee morale at Infosys and bring them back to old motivation levels. “He (Murthy) can also reinvigorate the confidence of prospective IT employees in the job market -- where Infosys is now in bad shape,” he said.
For the long term, Apte said the appointment will take time to reflect on the company’s efforts to acquire more clients and sign up more big-ticket deals.

“Even though the appointment will take time to impact these fronts, a Murthy-led team should go forward with the right strategy so that the comapny’s sales improve,” he said. He said Infosys should focus on transforming productivity by giving more thrust to innovation, transformation and operations. “Infosys should engage more with clients.

They should end the complexity in contracting and pricing strategies,” he said.
An analyst with a leading research firm said on condition of confidentiality that the return of Murthy would help the company regain its vision.

“Murthy has the ability to bring  back the synergy among the top management of Infosys and thus guide them through troubled times. He can be the lynchpin of Infosys’ future course of action and its course correction,” the analyst said.

When asked about the  need for big ticket acquisition, the analyst said it can help the company to make giant strides in its journey forward.