TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES: Slow On The Uptake

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is a leading IT services provider globally.
But its domestic business was barely 6% of its total revenue of Rs 5,827 crore
in 2003-04. This indicated a further focus of the company on international
business, since its domestic revenues last fiscal were 8% of overall sales.
However in value terms, domestic business grew from Rs 85 crore in 2002-03 to Rs
92 crore, this fiscal.

TCS developed extensive experience in providing end-to-end IT services,
integrating multiple technologies and delivering solutions in multiple
geographies. The last fiscal saw it offering a comprehensive range of IT
services to its clients in diverse industries such as banking and financial
services, insurance, manufacturing, telecommunications, retail and
transportation.

Growth was driven by what TCS calls the 'e-business practice', which
brought a major chunk of revenues. The practice, which was started in 1999 with
just 10 people, deals with implementation of packaged application software and
enterprise application integration and is the second-largest contributor to the
top line.

One of its major offering came in the form of an implementation of an
end-to-end trading, clearing and settlement solution for HDFC Securities, a
reputed brokerage house which operates from eleven cities all over India.

The company also tied up with Oracle to add RFID solutions to its wide set of
offering. TCS is now ready to help organizations integrate RFID into every level
of their business, from business case formulation to technology implementation.

During the year, the company set in some structural changes. Most relevant
for the Indian market was the formal acquisition of CMC into its folds. However,
since CMC continues to operate as a different entity, it has been ranked as a
separate company in the Silver Club.

2003-04 saw TCS becoming India's first global billion-dollar software
organization when it announced revenue of Rs 5,012 crore for FY 2002-03 as
compared to revenues of Rs 4,187 crore in the previous financial year. Globally,
the company aims to turn itself into a two billion dollar company within the
next two years, helped largely by its IPO.