US IT services giant CSC targets the Indian market, launches local unit

CSC, one of the biggest IT services companies in the World with 20,000 employees in India, has set up a new unit targeting the Indian market.

The company, also known as the Computer Sciences Corporation, was one of the pioneer IT services firms dating back to 1959, but lost out some of the momentum compared to peers like IBM as it was slightly late in taking advantage of Indian workforce.

The company, at around $17 billion of revenues, is still ahead of the largest Indian IT services firm TCS ($16 billion.) However, at around 91,000, it has less half the number of employees that TCS has (202,000,) though enjoys more lucrative contracts with higher billing rates.

After having been slightly late to ramp on its Indian operations compared to competitors like IBM and Accenture, the company now seems keen to sharpen focus on India as a market. CSC entered India in 1991 and has of late grown the operation here very fast, making the country its single largest development centre outside the US.

In India, the company, which pioneered the development of the ATM, will again focus on its core areas of strength — banking, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare and government sectors. It appointed Narendra Nayak, described by the company as a IT and telecom industry veteran, to head the India-focused operations.

India is already a big focus areas for CSC, which has sprawling campuses in places like Noida, as it ties its India centres to its global workforce.

While the global IT services market grows at around 5-7% a year, CSC said its internal estimates are suggesting India’s to grow at around 16% every year over the next three to four years.

According to NASSCOM’s Strategic Review 2011, market trends indicate that the Indian IT services market is showing a significant upswing with domestic IT services pegged at about USD 9 billion in 2010 and slated to grow by 22% percent in 2011.

That said, India’s IT market is only 1.3% of the global one.

It will work with its 100 “software, hardware and strategic emerging partners” in India, the company said.

CSC, though it failed to keep with the growth of its peers like IBM (which has 400,000 plus employees today), is known for its strength in certain core verticals such as banking.