The Indian software services sector has now come of age. While margins may not be as exciting as the past nor the growth so stellar, beneath the numbers something else is quietly happening inside the software giants that can bring a sea of change in their operations.

The change is globalization. These companies are now becoming increasingly local in the geographies they operate in, and as the Indian salary structure moves northwards, be certain to see Indian companies going into new territories that have cost advantages.

Among the companies that have been focusing on globalization is Infosys Technologies. The company has been among the first to recruit locally in the geographies it operates and also the first to set up development centers in countries such as China and Poland.

Infosys Technologies is a multinational information technology services company headquartered in Bangalore. It is one of Indias largest IT companies, with nine development centers in India and over thirty offices worldwide. Infosys and its subsidiaries employ over 80,501 people worldwide.

Their initial foray into the US market was through their first client Data Basics Corp as an on-site developer of software for US customers. Later, in 1987, Infosys formed a joint venture with Kurt Salmon associates to handle marketing in the US. In 1999, Infosys attained a SEI-CMM Level 5 ranking and became the first Indian company to be listed on the Nasdaq. Infosys was rated as the "Best Employer in India" by Business Today and "Indias Most Respected Company" by Business World. Infosys has also won the Global MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises) award for the years 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Infosys serves various industries through its Industrial Business Units (IBU) such as banking and capital markets, communications media and entertainment, energy, utilities and services, insurance, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, retail, consumer product goods and logistics, new growth engines, and India business unit. Additionally, there are horizontal business units (HBUs) such as consulting solutions, enterprise solutions, infrastructure management services, etc.

The shareholding pattern of the company as on September 30, 2007 stood as promoter hold 17%, FII hold 32%, institutions hold 33%, others 18%.

The company posted a net profit after tax of Rs 3,856 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007, as compared to Rs 2,458 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006, a y-o-y growth of 56.6%. Revenues for the year ended March 31, 2007 increased from Rs 9,521 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006 to Rs 13,893 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007, a y-o-y growth of 45.9%. Software export revenues aggregated Rs 12,939 crore, increase of 46% from Rs 8,864 crore the previous year. Geographically, 63.8% of the revenues came from North America, 25.8% from Europe and 8.7% from the rest of the world.

During the year, Infosys BPO, a subsidiary of the company teamed up with HVS International for providing various services to the hospitality industry. Infosys became the first Indian company to be included in the Nasdaq-100 Index.

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