Mumbai: The IT bellwether Infosys
Technologies on Tuesday said it expects the IT budget of its
clients to remain unchanged or marginally lower during 2010.
"Past patterns suggest that when budgets are under
pressure, clients do all kinds of things to get more with
less, like outsourcing and offshoring," Infosys Chief
Operating Officer SD Shibulal told reporters on the sidelines
of a conference here.
The country’s second-largest software exporter by
revenues, will sustain margins in a narrow range, despite the
investment it is planning, he said, adding "we are not looking
to expand them (margins) significantly".
Customers are still cautious because the world has not
changed, Shibulal said, adding so there is some kind of a
cautious optimism in customers and that will be reflected in
the growth as well.
Shibulal said his clients have said the global recovery
might be protracted, indicating that they would continue to be
cautious on spending.
"We will continue with our strategy of taking hedging
positions for the short-term. We are not going to take any
long-term view at this point in time," Shibulal said.
However, he added that clients have begun taking decisions
on IT spending, underscoring optimism that the worst from the
global economic crisis was over for the software outsourcing
industry.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 21:20