1. In 2006, how well is Infosys Technologies doing? What is the company’s strategic position in the IT industry, and what are its distinctive competencies? Where does it fit in the industry value chain?

2. Why did Infosys Technologies decide to move into the IT consulting market segment? How big is this market segment, and what is its structure? Why did they form a wholly owned subsidiary to enter this market segment?

3. How important are client relationships and institutional knowledge in the consulting industry? How would you assess Infosys Consulting's competencies in these two areas? Does Infosys Consulting have a sustainable competitive advantage? If so, what is it?

4. How are IBM and Accenture likely to view what Infosys Consulting is trying to do? How can they respond? 

5. What interface challenges exist between Infosys Technologies and Infosys Consulting? To what extent do the parent company and subsidiary go to market together? 

6. One of the challenges Steve Pratt faces is to determine how Infosys Consulting can stay ahead of the game. Please prepare an action plan for Infosys Consulting, and assess the company’s strengths and weaknesses to stay ahead of the game.

This case describes the growth of Bangalore, India-based Infosys Technologies in the global IT consulting industry. It details how the company grew by expanding its service offerings and moving up the value chain to offer higher-end consulting services and executing (higher margin) complete IT solutions. In the process it improved its brand equity and recognition as a global company. It also developed a stable set of clients and increased revenues through repeat business from the company’s client base and through entering client relationships earlier in the lifecycle by defining problems and identifying solutions before implementing the solution. This case considers whether Infosys Technologies, through the creation of a wholly-owned U.S.-based subsidiary Infosys Consulting, has created disruptive change in the IT consulting industry by leveraging its competency in global delivery to create a new model that shortens the lifecycle from business consulting to implementation, reduces the costs of a typical client engagement, and delivers measurable benefits to clients.