First of all, let us try to define what is legacy. According to Dictionary.com, the meaning of legacy is 'Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past:'. It is true that IBM (NYSE:IBM) is an old company and has a great history. Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today, "IBM is legacy, Infosys is the future". Infosys is celebrating its 25th anniversary and in the anniversary celebration P Chidambaram said this.
"It is difficult to believe we are in India," this was his message. He added, "This could be the Silicon Valley in California, this could be the Ronalds region in France, this could be Stuttgart, this could be any town in Australia. It is not even in a capital city, but in a place of great history and a greater future. But we are proud that this is India, we are proud that the makers of this dream are here with us and let me begin by congratulating Narayana Murthy and those who founded Infosys 25 years ago."
Wow, it seems that Mr. Chidambaram was too much excited about the success of Infosys. However, I do not share his enthusiasm- not in such a high level. There is no doubt that Infosys is doing great and I wish them all the success but Infosys has not come to the level of IBM- this is a reality. Even if IBM falls tomorrow, another US or European company will replace IBM, not an Indian company. Secondly, Infosys depends on getting outsourcing contracts. If, tomorrow, there is any crash on the outsourcing then Infosys will suffer a lot as the local IT market in India is still every small.
P Chidambaram's words also indicate that he is expecting India to be the future super power in IT. About this, I have missed feeling. It is true that India is emerging as an important IT power and India can boast of huge success in outsourcing too. However, except outsourcing, Indian success is much limited. India needs to create companies like IBM who would redefine the world. Infosys has still a long way to go to achieve that.
Still, the rise of Infosys is admirable. It started from nothing and it has become a very impressive company. Infosys is the pioneer for Indian success in IT. However, comparing it with IBM is not appropriate- at least not now.
Am I right?
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Yes dude! You are right. Infosys neither is nor will be research oriented - Any one @ Infy will admit that the work is far from being innovative or research oriented. IBM is known for crucial works especially in fields of opensource and Unix development - So IBM-Infy comparisons can exist in minds of FM but atleast that utopia won't exist in any IT professional!
Posted by: Sajith | December 28, 2006 11:37 AM | Permalink to Comment