Latest news with #ManishTandon


Mint
10-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
IT companies are hunting deals rather than waiting for clients to float tenders
The country's largest information technology (IT) services companies are actively hunting for deals rather than waiting for clients to float tenders, as uncertain macroeconomic conditions and a need to outperform competition are prompting IT outsourcers to become deal hunters. While IT service providers, including Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. and Zensar Technologies Ltd, said they are bagging deals through such client mining efforts, peers Birlasoft Ltd and Firstsource Solutions Ltd are focusing on creating large deals. Also Read | Mary Meeker's AI report: Decoding what it signals for India's tech future 'See, there are two types of large deals. One, where things are coming as RFPs (request for proposals) in the market. And the second is where you have to create large deals. So the pipeline for where we are trying to proactively create large deals is very good. The pipeline for RFPs where anyway the probability of selling is very low, that is fairly muted, and that has been muted for us for quite some time," said Manish Tandon, chief executive of Zensar Technologies, during the company's post-earnings conference on 25 April. Zensar ended last fiscal with $624.5 million in revenue, up 5.4% on a yearly basis. IT outsourcers generally win large deals through RFPs, which include a client floating a tender for IT-related work. Multiple IT outsourcers bid for such contracts and pitch their offerings to the client. Ultimately, the tech services company bidding a low price and doing more for less is awarded the contract. Also Read | AI-first startups outpace SaaS firms in funding race However, such RFPs are rare in this macroeconomic situation, with governments imposing tariffs on imports. This is causing companies to pull back their tech expenditure, which is considered non-essential at times of such uncertainty. As a result, tech services companies are actively mining clients to bag deals. Finding deals Last week, Nasdaq-listed Cognizant announced that it bagged two deals through its mining efforts, fetching upwards of $500 million in revenue. Surya Gummadi, the company's Americas president, said in a fireside chat with Bank of America analyst Jason Kupferberg last week that both mega deals came after Cognizant passed on artificial intelligence (AI)-led productivity gains to clients, leading to additional investments in IT work. 'Both the mega deals that I spoke about, they were originated by us, they did not come from an RFP," said Gummadi, adding that 'the ideas originated from us." Cognizant ended last year with $19.74 billion in revenue, up 1.98% year-on-year. Also Read | Tech industry fights to save clean-energy tax credits While Cognizant and Zensar spoke about client mining paying dividends, two of its peers highlighted a shift in focus. 'We have identified an existing very senior leader to take the mantle of opening accounts, and we have identified about 19 or 20 accounts that we are going to go after, so that we can create pipeline and close them," said Angan Guha, chief executive officer (CEO) of Birlasoft, in a post-earnings call with analysts on 29 May. His views were echoed by a larger peer, which is the newest entrant to India's $1 billion IT club. 'We are engaged very deeply with all our existing customers. And at this stage, we are trying to see how we can help them and use the current environment actually to our advantage to provide them proposals which allow them to create operational efficiencies further in their business," said Ritesh Idnani, CEO of Firstsource Solutions, as part of his prepared remarks during the post-earnings analyst call on 28 April. Active search Notably, each of the companies ramping up new deal creation,except Cognizant, earns less than $1 billion in revenue annually. Firstsource Solutions and Birlasoft reported $944 million and $635 million in revenue for the year ended March 2025, respectively. At least one analyst attributed the drive to a lack of macroeconomic clarity. 'As it is, demand is slow, and outsourcing deals have slowed down because we are entering a weak economic situation. In such a scenario, IT outsourcers have to create their own demand rather than just for deals to come to them through RFPs," said Pramod Gubbi, founder of Marcellus Investment flip-flops and an uncertain demand environment have prompted large Fortune companies to stop awarding large IT deals. Gubbi added that smaller IT outsourcers first try to win small deals and get a foot in the door of large clients. Once they have a fair understanding of the client's IT systems and the extra IT work that they can do to modernize them, they mine those accounts for more IT work. A second analyst attributed the reason behind companies chasing large deals to eliminating competition. 'The moment a deal gets into the RFP stage, there will be price competition. If IT service providers have an existing relationship with the client, they will understand the problem and will try to proactively create a solution that can help them get ahead of their competition and eliminate chances of a price war," said Abhishek Kumar, research analyst at JM Financial. Kumar added that AI is an integral part of such conversations when it comes to creating large deals. Another analyst said this was an effort by IT outsourcers to increase their footprint in their accounts. "This is an aggressive move to encourage enterprise clients to consolidate more of their services with them, and benefit from economies at scale, take advantage of more automation and AI," said Phil Fersht, CEO of HFS Research. The bid to push clients for more business comes as Fortune companies are narrowing the number of IT outsourcers they work with.


Business Standard
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Zensar Tech gains after Q4 PAT climbs 10% QoQ to Rs 177 cr
Zensar Technologies added 2.70% to Rs 720.90 after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 10.39% to Rs 176.4 crore on 2.51% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1358.9 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q3 FY25. Year on year basis, the company net profit and revenue jumped 1.79% and 10.51%, respectively in Q4 FY25. Profit before tax (PBT) increased 9.27%QoQ to Rs 229.8 crore in Q4 FY25. EBITDA stood at Rs 212.5 crore in Q4 FY25, registering the growth of 2.7% as compared with Rs 206.9 crore in Q3 FY25. In dollar terms, the companys revenue stood at $156.8 million in Q4 FY25, down 0.1% QoQ and 5.8% YoY. In Q4 FY25, the company reported sequential QoQ growth of 0.9% in constant currency and QoQ decline of 0.1% in reported currency. US as a region grew by 0.3% sequential QoQ and by 6.5% YoY in constant currency. Europe as a region grew by 2.5% in sequential QoQ and by 10.0% in YoY constant currency terms. Africa as a region grew by 0.9% sequential QoQ but declined by 1.7% in YoY constant currency terms. Banking and Financial Services reported a sequential QoQ revenue growth of 3.4% in constant currency. Telecommunication, Media and Technology reported a sequential QoQ revenue growth of 1.7% in constant currency. Manufacturing and Consumer Services reported a sequential QoQ revenue decline of 2.6% in constant currency. Healthcare and Life Sciences reported a sequential QoQ revenue decline of 1.4% in constant currency. On full year basis, the companys consolidated net profit fell 2.29% to Rs 649.8 crore in FY25 as against 665.0 crore in FY24. Revenue from operations increased 7.73% to Rs 5,280.6 crore in FY25 as compared with Rs 4,901.9 crore in FY25. Meanwhile, the companys board has recommended of final dividend of Rs 11 per equity share of each with face value of Rs 2 each for FY25, subject to approval of the members of the company at the ensuing 62nd Annual General Meeting (AGM). Manish Tandon, CEO and managing director, Zensar, Technlogies, Were proud to report consistent growth across all geographies in constant currency, Zensars performance reflects the resilience and global relevance of our EEE value proposition. This quarter marks our highest-ever order book, driven by strong client confidence and strategic investments. Focused efforts in mining new accounts are yielding results, with significant traction in client acquisitions. Additionally, our improved attrition number highlights the success of our people-first approach and culture that values long-term relations. Pulkit Bhandari, CFO, Zensar, commenting on the Q4FY25 & FY25 performance, said, Revenue for the quarter was $156.8M translating into 0.9% growth in constant currency with an EBITDA margin of 15.6%. For the year, revenue stood at $624.5M with constant currency growth of 5.1%. Continuing our momentum with sales effort, we booked orders worth $213.5M this quarter. The quality of engagements is more strategic and long term which is a validation of our strategy. Zensar Technologies is a leading digital solutions and technology services company that conceptualizes, builds, and manages digital products through experience design, data engineering, and advanced analytics, serving over 145 global clients.


Time of India
24-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
UP's 3rd smart waste mgmt transfer stn inaugurated in Varanasi
Varanasi: Kashi Mayor Ashok Kumar Tiwari recently inaugurated the third Smart Waste Management Transfer Station , constructed on approximately 15,000 square feet of land near the boundary of Jalkal at Shankuldhara Kund. It is the third such station in the state after Ghaziabad and Gorakhpur. With the collaboration of HDFC Bank under its CSR initiative, a plant with a capacity of processing 120 tons of waste per day was built at a cost of Rs 5 crore by the Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC). The smart transfer station is equipped with two static compactors, two hook loaders, and six capsule devices. Waste from houses and establishments in Bhelupur zone will be compacted into capsules and sent to the plant located in Karsada for disposal via hook loaders, ensuring no visible waste on the streets. HDFC Bank zonal head Manish Tandon handed over the keys of the hook loader to the Mayor. The Mayor said that two years ago, there were 23 large garbage dumps in the city, of which 187 were closed, and the remaining will be shut down in the next couple of months. He also planted a sandalwood tree on the premises on the occasion. Municipal commissioner Akshat Verma highlighted the contribution of the bank and the company 'Hyva' in completing the modern smart transfer station within two months, ahead of schedule.