In a decision reflective of a new aggressive stance adopted by the company, Infosys Technologies has replaced its telecom business unit head Subhash Dhar. Performance from the vertical has been lagging expectations, dropping to 12.5% of total revenues in the December quarter, compared with 16.2% in the year-ago period.

The company, established in 1981, has always been a fountainhead of conservatism and is not known to take such sharp calls, but things are changing.

Dhar, an executive council member seen as one of the company?s rising stars, is being replaced by Prasad Thrikutam, senior vice-president and the current head of energy, utilities and services, company sources said.

However, Dhar will continue to head Infosys? global sales and marketing division. Thrikutam is also the global head for the firm?s systems integration business and director of Infosys China.

Another significant change about to be brought about is the introduction of executive council member Ashok Vemuri into the healthcare space. He will also continue to head the highly successful BFSI wing. Healthcare, thus far, was headed by Eric Paternoster, the CEO of Infosys Public Services.

Chief operating officer SD Shibulal, who is slated to become CEO shortly, has been spearheading the restructuring. As part of this, the firm may consolidate some other verticals too. The $6 billion Infosys wants to be a major consulting force, much like Accenture, helping customers transform their business through game-changing trends such as cloud computing and the digital consumer platform.

These changes assume further significance taking into consideration the elevation of TK Kurien as CEO of rival Wipro. Kurien has the reputation of being a hard-charging boss, who is never shy about taking a tough decision. While it is not clear whether Infosys has taken a leaf out of Wipro’s book, industry observers are bound to closely watch Infosys’ new style of functioning.

The shift also sends a clear message to other business unit heads, according to insiders at Infosys. The firm has been feeling the heat from companies like the fast-rising Cognizant and industry leader Tata Consultancy Services, which is widening its revenue gap.

Infosys did not officially comment as it was in its silent period. The firm will declare its fourth-quarter results this Friday.

Dhar did not return calls. In May last year, FE reported that Dhar had topped the salary hike charts at the company for the second consecutive year. His overall remuneration had risen 36% to Rs 1.73 crore in 2009-10.

While Dhar?s exit from telecom has to do with the vertical?s poor performance, analysts said that the same issue has been plaguing other companies as well. The telecom industry has few clients and most of the infrastructure in advanced economies has already been built out.

Infosys’ famed conservatism has always intrigued analysts who have often questioned the company’s wisdom of sitting on cash reserves of around $3 billion, shying away from major acquisitions. It had come close to acquiring Axon, an SAP consulting firm in 2008, but HCL Technologies outbid Infosys. Infosys, in 2009, had begun restructuring of its HR practices.

The 18-month effort was called the Infosys Role and Career Enhancement programme (iRace). It was a role-based evaluation system that initially resulted in some disgruntlement in the ranks, since employees who did not meet the programme’s stringent criteria were demoted.

However, the Infosys management has said that the issue is now behind the firm and all employees have now understood how iRace helps an individual map their career growth.

The ongoing restructuring could bring in new winds of change in a company which will see a new chairman and CEO shortly.