IBM targeting infrastructure firms

Global IT major IBM is targeting the infrastructure companies, which are now focusing on information technology to increase their productivity.

"As companies have started to look at IT as a necessity, the opportunity we see in this is to serve as a strategic business partner," said IBM India & South Asia Global Business Services Managing Partner Sandip Patel.

At present, the technology spend by Indian construction and steel companies is about 1.5 to 2 per cent of their annual turnover, said Patel.

The IT major plans to develop better practices and processes apart from offering IT services that will drive the growth of these companies in a competitive market.

"We are partnering with companies in the infrastructure space for supply chain consulting, systems and applications," adds Patel.

The company is also helping the infrastructure and real estate players in HR, sales, marketing finance, accounting, business strategy, supply chain, logistics and procurement.

Also, with Indian infrastructure companies expanding their business to the global markets like Middle East, Africa and other growing markets, IBM believes these companies would make use of technology to bring in the best processes and practices to drive growth.

The company wants to revisit their service offerings in real estate vertical as tier 2 and tier 3 cities are also witnessing growth in this space.

"Given their size and where they are at the market (small to mid-sized companies), we need to structure our offerings in ways that are customised and affordable for these growth clients," he added.

The company has made customised applications in the past for customers like DLF, Hiranadani and Bharti Airtel.

IBM also feels that the Indian infrastructure companies are proactive enough to adopt new technologies.

"All these organisations recognise the fact that if they have to grow and become global, they have to get out of the manual labour," he added.

"As they are rolling out new businesses, we get into the planning ahead of the pack which helps our clients achieve their business objectives," he further said.

Hiranandani group, Brigade Group, DLF, Lodha Group are some of the main customers of IBM in the infrastructure space in the country.