'Rebuilding Infosys to take 3 years; involve tough decisions'

Recalled to ride out the bad times for Infosys, its Chairman N R Narayana Murthy today said the "daunting" task of rebuilding a "desirable Infosys" would take at least three years and there would be some tough decisions resulting in "pain."
IT industry's favourite poster boy Murthy has begun his second innings as Infosys chief two weeks ago as the country's second largest software services exporter had been losing ground to smaller rivals and had disappointed investors with poor earnings in the last nine quarters.
"The challenge is daunting and the task is tough, therefore the task of rebuilding a desirable Infosys will take at least 36 months, even with a high quality team and full dedication of every Infosian.

"In the process there will be some tough decisions that we have to take and that will result in pain as we move forward," Murthy said in a candid address to shareholders at the 32nd Annual General Meeting here.
Murthy, who had shed executive role seven years ago and finally retired as head of Infosys in August 2011, has been appointed Executive Chairman, replacing K V Kamath during whose tenure the company shares slumped 15 per cent.
He said that the need of the hour is to focus on employees and take speedy decisions with clarity.

"The need of the day is to focus on our employees, take quick, tough and firm decisions, communicate these decisions with clarity and speed, execute these decisions with speed, imagination and excellence and exceed the expectations of our customers and investors," he added.

Addressing shareholders, Infosys CEO S D Shibulal said that the company's performance has been below expectation.
"FY13 has been a year of muted growth. Our performance was below expectations, both our own and the industry. While the operating environment was volatile, several of our challenges were Infosys specific," he said.