Information technology majors Infosys, Wipro and HCL remain “cautiously optimistic” on their growth in Europe, on the back of steady deal pipelines, notwithstanding the uncertain economic conditions in the region.
“The uncertainty in the Euro zone stems from low-performing regions, primarily driven by the electorate’s push against austerity measures. The need for growth, combined with continued high unemployment has put strain on infrastructures and Greece, followed by Spain, Italy and Portugal are contributing to the uncertainty,” Wipro Consulting Services Vice-President Roop Singh said.
European clients remain cautious with regard to IT spends and Wipro is seeing steady growth in service lines focused primarily around cost and revenue drivers, he added.
Business from the European region is the second largest after the US and contributes 20-25 per cent of the revenues of Indian software exporters. A slowing US market, which accounts for 60 per cent of the Indian IT industry’s exports, has forced players to expand their business in Europe and Asia. The confidence in the European region may be based around the fact that most Indian IT companies do not have significant exposure to troubled economies like Greece and Italy.
Agrees Infosys’ global head of financial services and insurance, B G Srinivas, “We do not have direct exposure to businesses in Spain, Italy and Greece. Our revenue exposure has been higher from markets like UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and the Nordics. We continue to see growth from these countries, as clients are looking to partner with us to identify areas for growth and process efficiency,” Srinivas said.
He added the deal pipeline for the company continued to be steady in this region. “We have a few large deals in the pipeline, primarily in financial services, energy and utilities and telecom sectors,” Srinivas said.
HCL Technologies is also bullish on the region, which contributes 27 per cent to its revenues. “We have seen continued traction in Europe, with many first-time outsourcers. Our key differentiator in Europe is strong local presence, and we stay committed to increase our market share,” said its Europe president Rajeev Sawhney.
The geography booked a robust performance in view of strategic investments made by it in the Nordics, Germanics and Benelux region, he added.
In the last 2 quarters, HCL Technologies has booked over $2.5 billion in large transformational deals and Europe contributed 54 per cent of this.
