The process of contracting for large deals has become quite complex as the solution components and customer collaboration models have changed with the pandemic, said Sanjay Jalona, CEO and MD, Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI).
“Because of this, deal conversion takes longer than usual. But we are witnessing the beginning of the end of this crisis, and are hopeful that the pace will gradually become faster,” he said. According to him, LTI’s approach has been to hunt for new client wins in the $100-150 million value band. The lead mid-tier tech firm has been actively chasing large deals in the last several quarters. In December 2020, the company won a six-year contract from UAE-based Injazat worth $204 million, its biggest-ever single deal.
Overall, Mr. Jalona said, LTI’s deal pipeline was large and healthy and the company was getting invited to participate in more such deals globally.
“We have successfully closed several multi-million, multi-year deals in the last few quarters. A reflection of this is the 22 new clients we signed in Q3 [this year],” he said. “What I find most exciting are the proactive conversations that we are having with our customers, many of which generate large deal opportunities,” he said. In his market commentary, he said it was interesting to see the way how enterprises were envisioning ways to meet the emerging needs of their customers. For instance, banks are on boarding customers virtually, insurance companies are managing sales and distribution remotely, retailers are enabling customers to order online and pick up at the kerbside, CPG companies are reaching out to customers directly for the first time, he elaborated. According to him, all aspects of business had witnessed accelerated digitalisation, be it core functions, customer-facing capabilities, or workplace modernisation during the pandemic.
In Q3FY21, LTI posted revenues of ₹3,152.8 crore and a net income of ₹519.3 crore. In March ended FY20, it reported revenues of ₹10,878.6 crore and a net income of ₹1,520.5 crore. The company had 33,983 employees as of December 31, 2020.
