Tata Consultancy Services Asia

ABOUT THIS COMPANY:

A fruitful family tree

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the largest IT services firm in Asia, as well as the largest software exporter—and the company has plans to get even bigger. In a 2005 interview with Indian newspaper the Hindustan Times, firm CEO and Managing Director Subramanian Ramadorai revealed his aspirations for the company: "Our vision for 2010 is to be amongst the top 10 software services companies in the world." To support this globally, TCS is looking to recruit a shockingly ambitious target of 30,000 additional employees as it grows.

TCS is a part of the larger Tata Group, one of India's oldest (and largest) business conglomerates. The Tata Group is made up of 96 companies in seven business sectors; TCS is part of the Information Services and Communications division. As a whole, the Tata Group operates in 80 countries and employs approximately 350,000 people across every major international market.

The group's roots go back to 1868, when Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata opened a private trading firm. Tata, an industrialist and entrepreneur, eventually created a successful textile company in central India. A trip to England in the 1880s convinced him to expand into steel manufacturing, despite the fact that India had yet to experience its own industrial revolution. Tata's determination to become India's first steel magnate earned him some ridicule—one British railway official joked that he'd eat every pound of steel rail Tata managed to produce. Although Tata didn't live to see it happen, the steel plant he planned produced its first ingots in 1912. (No word on whether any of them were eaten.)

Tata's son Dorab led the family business after his father's death, and he continued to broaden its scope, moving into hydroelectrics, building luxury hotels, establishing a science institute and producing consumer goods. Tata Airlines debuted in 1932, followed by Tata Chemicals, Tata Engineering and Locomotive, and Tata Industries. In the 1960s the Tata family launched a tea company and an international export business, and in 1968 Tata Consultancy Services, India's first software services company, was established. In 2002, TCS became the first Indian software company to surpass US$1 billion in revenue, and in 2004, its IPO was the largest in Indian history, raising more than US$1.2 billion.

Lots to offer

TCS splits its consulting business into three units. The business consulting group offers business process management, business change management and program management. IT consulting services include architecture and technology, information risk management, infrastructure services, IT process and service management, IT strategy and governance, master data management, performance engineering solutions and quality assurance and testing. Finally, the business solutions consulting group focuses on process value stream improvement and end-to-end process integration.

The clients TCS serves hail from dozens of industries, including banking and finance, retail and consumer goods, telecommunications, media and entertainment, energy and utilities, travel and hospitality, insurance, life sciences and health care, government and manufacturing sectors.

Big in Asia and growing

There are 78 TCS offices in 18 cities throughout India, employing more than 45,000 people. TCS also has offices scattered across Asia Pacific with outposts in Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. The firm runs scores of global delivery centers in India, including a Japan offshore delivery center (J-ODC) in Kolkata, as well as additional delivery centers across China in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. While most of TCS' revenue comes from Europe and the U.S., the Asia Pacific region contributes about 14 percent of yearly revenues.