Infosys Success: From Borrowed $250 To Global IT Giant

February 17, 2019July 7, 2019 Brand Riddle 0 Comments

What's Inside?

Origin of Infosys

The start of Infosys dates back in 1981 when the concept of customized software has just started. Seeking this as an opportunity N R Narayana Murthy and six engineers’ friends, all of whom were former employees of Patni Computer Systems, decided to create a software company. The company was registered in Mumbai, India as Infosys Consultants Pvt Ltd.

Early Days of Infosys

The initial capital came from borrowing. Murthy had an idea and vision to start the company but had no money. Murthy borrowed $250 from his wife Sudha to start the company which she had saved without husband knowledge.

Murthy was always broke.” He always owed me money. We used to go for dinner and he would say, ‘I don’t have money with me, you pay my share, will return it to you later.’ For three years, I maintained a book of Murthy’s debts to me. No, he never returned the money and I finally tore it up after our wedding. The amount was a little over Rs 4,000. An excerpt from Sudha Murthy’s reminiscences.

The 1^st office of Infosys was the home of Murthy and Sudha which they bought with a loan. As Murthy ran Infosys, Sudha took up a job as a systems analyst with the Walchand Group of Industries to support their household. Infosys moved to Bangalore when it got its first client, Data Basics Corporation from the United States, in 1983.

Struggling Days of Infosys

The initial years of Infosys were all about struggle. With the hope to impact in the American market, Infosys formed a joint venture partner with Kurt Salmon Associates. But the joint venture collapsed in 1989, leaving Infosys in further crisis. Gopalakrishnan, one of the cofounder, relives the memories of those days. “We had nothing after eight years of trying to bring up a company. Those who studied with us had cars and houses.”

The company was on the verge of collapse. One of the founder-partners — Ashok Arora — was dejected with the way the company was going and decided to quit.

That was a very tough time for Murthy. Murthy was never going to give up . ‘If you all want to leave, you can. But I am going to stick and make it,’ Murthy told them. He was still determined and kept the business going.

Growth Phase of Infosys

Slowly Infosys began getting big breakthroughs from the US market and formed a joint venture with Kurt Salmon Associates to handle marketing in the United States. In 1993 Infosys lists on the Indian exchanges and is among the first in India to introduce employee stock-option plan, a move to attract and retain talent. The company opened its first European office in the UK and Global Development Centers at Toronto and Mangalore.

It also established an e-Business practice. In 1999 Infosys becomes the first Indian company to list on the Nasdaq, raising the profile of the Indian outsourcing industry in the United States.

In 2001, it was rated best employer in India by Business Today. In 2002 Murthy retires from the service of the company and continued as Chairman and Chief Mentor. While celebrating 25^th year in 2006 its revenue was over 2 billion USD with over 50,000 employees.

Current Days of Infosys

Infosys comes a long way to become one of the greatest IT company. Infosys has global presence through its offices and development centers spread across India, China, Australia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the UK, Canada, Japan, and many other countries.

By 2017 revenues, Infosys is the second-largest Indian IT company and a 596th largest public company in the world in terms of revenue. All thanks to N R Narayana Murthy strong determination of not giving up in a difficult time. They make it big, because of their sheer passion about what they did and their perseverance during tough times made them even stronger,

Infosys Products & Services

Infosys provides software development, maintenance, and independent validation services to companies in banking, finance, insurance, manufacturing, and other domains.

One of its known products is Finacle which is a universal banking solution with various modules for retail & corporate banking.