Phaneesh Murthy wants to prove a point to Infosys?

iGates Phaneesh Murthy elicits different reactions from different people. Journalists love him,not because of his much-talked-about past but because of what he is now.

iGates Phaneesh Murthy elicits different reactions from different people. Journalists love him,not because of his much-talked-about past but because of what he is now. He was accessible to most in the media till about a month ago; he agrees quickly to interview requests,promptly replies to e-mails and likes to meet scribes in his office that overlooks a sprawling campus in Bangalores Whitefield. Very few in the Indian IT services industry can explain the going-ons in the way he does.

Murthys peers in the industry take him and his company seriouslyquite a contrast to the firm he wants to acquire. Executives from top tier Indian IT services firms,or even some of the frontline mid-tier firms,consider Patni hardly any competition. Patni doles out low-value,high-volume IT services; it is much less aggressive in terms of sales than iGate and appears to lack much of the process maturity that Murthy has fire-walled his company with.

Many executives,therefore,are apprehensive of Murthys intentions in trying to buy Patni. When we approached them,some from Infosys,many smiled,a few laughed and some offered comments,but off the record.

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He wants to build an empire. He has a big ego. He wants to prove a point to Infosys. After all,Murthy was a star at Infy and was widely seen as a potential CEO figure. I am not interested in the deal; he would be paying a very high price for a commodity player. We will watch the fun after the acquisition; he will struggle with high integration expenses and low margins. What will he do with Jeya Kumar? Kumar is Patnis CEO and one of the highest paid executives in the technology industry.

Many of these questions,pertinent ones,can be answered only by Murthy. But it is unlikely he would speak before iGates fourth quarter earnings call later this month. His peers,the media and the analyst community would have to wait for answers.

goutam.das@expressindia.com