Software services exporter Mindtree plans to scale up its U.S. operations through more local hires and U.S. delivery centres in a strategy that the company claims is not due to impending U.S. immigration reform but rather to establish more “client facing capabilities”.
The mid-sized IT firm has now one U.S. delivery centre in Florida, and plans to establish at least two more centres — one on the west coast and another in the mid-west. “We thought of local delivery before this cloud of immigration reform. We’re proud of the fact that 11 per cent of our talent is non-Indian. Accordingly, over the next two to three years, we will add 400 more local hires there in the U.S.,” said Krishnakumar Natarajan, Managing Director and CEO, while addressing reporters here on Wednesday.
“We strongly believe that global delivery centres in the U.S. must be based on client need rather than just using it as a de-risking tool,” Mr. Natarajan added.
The company also downplayed its ambitious goal of hitting $1 billion in revenue by 2014 — a milestone that Mindtree’s founder Ashok Soota, who has since left the company, had announced in 2010. Mindtree, at present, makes roughly $500 million in annual revenue.
“It does not overly bother us if we don’t achieve the $1 billion goal by some deadline. We would be much happier if we achieved that goal as an outcome of us gaining leadership position in the specific domains that we have set out to be leaders in,” Mr. Natarajan said.
According to Mr. Natarajan, 2014 will be the year when Mindtree focuses on more specific acquisitions that will add to the company’s domain capability and generally add overall value.
