Infosys Taps Surging Demand in EU
BANGALORE, India -- The president of Infosys Technologies Ltd. said surging demand from Europe is powering growth at the outsourcing company.</br></br>"A lot of large [European] corporations have been testing the waters with their toes," and they now are ready to dive in, said Nandan Nilekani, who also is chief executive of Infosys, India's second- largest outsourcing company by revenue.</br></br>Last week, Infosys signed a five-year, $140 million deal to maintain and support software applications for Dutch bank ABN Amro Holding NV. The contract could be just the beginning of a wave of orders from European Union members, Mr. Nilekani said.</br></br>Mr. Nilekani said that while Indian information-technology-service outsourcing companies receive more than 80% of their revenue from U.S. clients, more European companies realize that they have to outsource to be competitive.</br></br>Although Infosys's revenue from Europe has grown more than 50% a year in the past five years, it still accounts for only 23% of overall sales. Europe is likely to account for more than 30% of total revenue at big Indian outsourcing companies in the next few years, industry analysts say.