This quarter, all eyes are on Cognizant Technology Solutions. Sure Infosys will kick-off the earnings season, and as usual its numbers will set the tone for the rest of the season, but it?s Cognizant that?s garnering the attention this time.
Wipro has been the undisputed No.3 in software sweepstakes in the country for long, but Cognizant could upset the apple cart when earnings are unveiled later this month. Cognizant is currently placed fourth after TCS, Infosys and Wipro but it is one company that has been growing rapidly?going strong especially in the BFSI segment along with healthcare and life sciences. In fact, Cognizant led the healthcare and life sciences vertical in 2010, with revenues of $1,177 million.
It is not that Cognizant has been flying under the radar of the top three IT firms. It has been making its voice heard for the past two years, and despite the warning bells ringing loud and clear the Big Daddies of Indian IT have not been able to stop them in their tracks.
In Q1, Cognizant could well deliver what it has threatened to do all along, that is, snatch the No.3 slot. Its management team is young and dynamic and knows the North American market like the back of its palm. The previous quarter, Cognizant had guided for a sequential growth of nearly 6% in the April-June period to $1.45 billion, while Wipro is expecting revenues in the quarter to be flat?between $1.39 billion and $1.42 billion. It won?t be a surprise if Cognizant meets its guidance during the quarter, thereby racing past Wipro.
The worry for Wipro is that the June quarter may not be an exception. This could be the trend in future quarters too, analysts believe. Cognizant expects to grow 29% in fiscal 2011 to least $5.925 billion. Wipro, however, can still hold on to the lead for the full year (FY12) if the firm manages to capitalise on the demand environment in the second half of the year. And under TK Kurien?the hard driving Wipro CEO?that is quite possible. But still Cognizant is the undoubted flavour of the season.
No respite for Google
This is fun. The most popular person on Google Plus is none other than Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. And that?s probably the last thing the Google founders wanted. Almost immediately after launch, Zuckerberg had over 25,000 people following his updates on the Google?s new service, which has been designed to take on his very own Facebook. Larry Page, the Google co-founder, was way behind.
Zuckerberg has not yet posted anything on it, but his own description on his profile page says, ?I make things.? Yes, he does make things difficult for his rivals for sure! Meanwhile Facebook had promised us something ?awesome? and it delivered. Zuckerberg has announced its video calling in partnership with Skype. With the video calling feature, Facebook can now better handle competition from Google and its Google Plus network, which offers video chat as a main feature. But Google Plus allows for up to 10 people to video chat at once, whereas Facebook?s service is currently limited to one-on-one calls.
Facebook has also updated its user count?to 750 million users worldwide?for the first time since last summer, when it reached half a billion people. Zuckerberg said that?s because ?we don?t think it?s a metric to watch anymore.?
Rather, he is more interested in knowing how much time its users spend sharing stuff with with one another. That number is growing at a much faster rate than its monthly user base. Currently, people share 4 billion items, such as photos, status updates and links, every day using Facebook.
Will NRN say ?yes??
Mamata Banerjee has taken a liking to NR Narayana Murthy. The thespian has been approached to become an IT mentor for West Bengal. Murthy has been to Bengal twice in the last one year, but the request must have taken him by surprise. Murthy is still deciding on it, but if he says ?yes?, he will have Sam Pitroda for company.
Soon after being sworn in, the Mamata Banerjee-led government had announced setting up of two advisory committees for hardware and software development in the state. Sam Pitroda has been nominated as the chairman of the two committees. While it is debatable whether Pitroda is the best choice, the move for Murthy can?t be faulted. He is retiring from Infosys in August, and is always the man to turn to for fresh ideas.
Infosys had received 50 acres from the Left government last year to set up a campus in Kolkata, but the company has not started any work on it yet.
Mamata?s request is a tricky one and NRN will have to chew on this quite hard. No one needs an angry Mamata. Right, Mr Tata?
