Infosys: Leveraging the Global Delivery Model (2004)

This case study focuses on Infosys Technologies Ltd., one of the leading software companies in India. The key to the success of Infosys has been its ability to leverage an innovative business model: “The Global Delivery Model”, in order to help its clients economize on costs linked to information technology and software development. The success of Infosys has led to competitors mimicing the business model and the Indian software industry as a whole, witnessing rapid growth. The case questions whether the strategy of Infosys, including the Global Delivery Model, is adequate to maintain the company’s trajectory of high growth, and its position as one of the leading software companies in the world.

Offshoring is now a competitive necessity for organisations, and no longer a strategic choice. The success of the Indian industry is not only a result of the competence and quality of India's skilled workforce, but also the increasingly institutionalised nature of the offshoring process. If one examines the 'software' product lifecycle, one will note that the industry has evolved from the early innovatory phase where Infosys's Global Delivery Model was key to (Infosys) competitive advantage towards a new period where it has become the dominant design for certain types of software manufacturing. As a result, incumbents are obliged to react to the competitive reality of offshoring. Competitive dynamics have changed, and the early innovators such as Infosys must continue to innovate, differentiate, or occupy an important structural position in the industry in order to meet future challenges.