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ShareMumbai: Patni Computer Systems, the Mumbai based IT services provider, is looking at capitalising on big opportunities in the cloud computing and may go for acquisitions of intellectual property (IP) capabilities for it.
Cloud computing stands for technology that helps an organisation to place its applications and data on the internet, thereby saving on spending on in-house hardware and software applications.
Patni will develop solutions for firms that wish to access data and applications from the cloud on an opex model.
Additionally, it plans to set up labs in India and US to generate IP on various solutions, including those for cloud computing.
"Virtualisation and cloud computing are some of the emerging technological innovations that promise to change the way people use, apply and adopt technology, and Patni is bullish about the opportunities they present for us," Surjeet Singh, chief financial officer, Patni Computers, told DNA.
Also, the firm is looking to fund acquisitions by utilising its cash reserve of about Rs 1,400 crore.
"Any considerations for acquisitions will be led by its strategic fit into Patni and for its IP advantage, as opposed to scale alone. We believe that growth in 2009 will be fuelled by a strong sub-verticalisation and portfolio expansion, along with a focus on creation of IP and building greater domain expertise," Singh said.
According to research firm Gartner Inc, the global cloud computing services revenue will surpass $56.3 billion in 2009, a 21.3% rise from 2008 revenue of $46.4 billion. The market (cloud computing) is expected to reach $150.1 billion in 2013.
Patni Computers believes telecom boom will play a big role in the cloud computing opportunity. "As bandwidth becomes cheap and more readily available, transmission speeds will no longer be an impediment, making it possible to store data and run software anywhere for users to access from wherever they want. The future will see technology moving completely to a virtual cloud-format, and Patni will be well poised to ride this wave," Singh said.
"Vertically, we will continue to focus on telecom, manufacturing insurance, and life sciences and horizontally, on BPO, infrastructure management services and application management services," Singh said.
However, in the current calendar year, the company is facing the impact of the global downturn. In a June 24 report on Patni Computers, Surendra Goyal of Citi Investment Research & Analysis, a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc, wrote, "With poor growth prospects, we see little room for upside."
The report said, "The management (Patni Computers) expects pricing to decline 2% in CY09 -- in line with their guidance earlier."
Patni Computers management also indicated that insurance is doing okay and regulatory changes could drive growth in financials and healthcare. However, the firm spotted challenges in banking and financial services vertical which is "unlikely to go back to historic IT spends in next few years", according to the report.
