Strengths

• Since the company is based in India its competitive advantage is enhanced. The
Indian economy, despite weak economic indicators such as relatively high rates of
inflation, has low labor costs. The workforce has relatively high skills levels in
Information Technology. Couple these two elementstogether and you have an
operational basis that offers low-cost based, highly skilled competitive advantage.
Trained Indian personnel often speak very good English and are sensitive to
Western culture, underpinned by India's colonial past.
• Infosys is in a strong financial position. The business turned over more than $4
billion in 2008. This means that it has the capital to expand, and also the basis to
leverage potential investors.
• The company has bases in 44 global development centres, most of which are
located in India, although the company has offices in many developed and
developing nations. This means not only that Infosys is becoming a global brand
but also that it has the capability to support the global operations of multinational
clients.

Weaknesses
• Infosys on occasion struggles in the US markets, and has particular problems in
securing United States Federal Government contracts in North America. Since
these contracts are highly profitable and tend to run for long periods of time,
Infosys is missing out on lucrative business. Added to this is the fact that its
competitors do well in terms of securing the same Federal business (and one
should also take into account that many of its competitors are domiciled in the US
and there could be political pressure on the US Government to award contracts to
domestic organizations).
• Despite being a huge IT company in relation to its Indian competitors, Infosys is
much smaller than its global competitors. As discussed above, Infosys generated
$4 billion in 2008, which is relatively low in comparison with large global
competitors such as Hewlett-Packard ($91 billion), IBM ($91 billion), EDS ($21
billion) and Accenture ($18 billion).
• It is sometimes argued that Infosys is weaker when it comes to high-end
management consultancy, since it tends to work at the level of operational value
creation. Competitors such as IBM and Accenture tend to dominate this space.

Opportunities
• At a time of recession in the global economy, it may appear that some companies
will reduce take up of services that Infosys offers. However, in tough times clients
tend to focus upon cost reduction and outsourcing - with are strategies that
Infosys offers. So hard times could be profitable for Infosys.
• There is a new and emerging market in China as the country undergoes a huge
industrial revolution.
 • The strategic alliance between Infosys and Schlumberger gives the IT company
access to lucrative business in the gas and oil industries.
• There has been a trend over recent years for European and North American
companies to base some or all of their operation in India. This is called an
offshore service. Essentially there is a seamless link between domestic operations
and services hosted in India. Examples include telecommunications companies
such as British Telecom and banks such as HSBC that have customer service and
support centres based in India. Think about the times that you have made calls to
a support line to find that the adviser is in Mumbai or Bangalore and not in your
home market.

Threats
• India is not the only country that is undergoing rapid industrial expansion.
Competitors may come from countries such as China or Korea where there are
large pools of low-cost labor, and developing educational infrastructures such as
universities and technology colleges.
• Customers may switch to other offshore service companies in other countries such
as China or Korea.
• Other global players have realised that India has the benefit of low-cost, highly-
skilled labor that often speaks English and is culturally sensitive to Western
practices. As with all global IT players, Infosys has to compete for skilled labor
and this may have the effect of driving up wage levels, and making it more
difficult to recruit and retain staff.

Bibliography
Wiki - Infosys
Infosys's own official site
Business Today - The Best Companies to Work for in India
Business Today - 20 companies to watch in 2008