TCS wins $6bn in contracts under a month

BENGALURU: For several years, under its previous CEO N Chandrasekaran, TCS achieved growth rates of 15-16% even when it had hit $10 billion in revenues, way more than the No. 2 player, Infosys, in the Indian IT industry. Then, in the past couple of years, the company slowed down dramatically as customers looked at newer digital technologies that TCS and others were not fully prepared for. But now, Chandrasekaran’s successor, Rajesh Gopinathan, looks to be bringing the company back to its winning ways.

In less than a month, TCS has announced deal wins of nearly $6 billion, including a $690-million contract from Europe’s M&G Prudential that it announced on Tuesday. It’s a stellar feat that has left many in the Indian IT sector in awe of the company’s deep client connects and robust execution engine. TCS appears to have pulled way ahead of rivals Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL in deal wins.

Last week, TCS bagged a $2.5-billion deal from US insurance company Transamerica to enhance its digital capabilities, and simplify the service of more than 10 million policies into a single-integrated modern platform. In December, it renewed a $2.25-billion contract from television ratings measurement company Nielsen. On Monday, it announced a $400-million deal with Marks & Spencer to transform it into a digital-first business.


In September, TCS subsidiary Diligenta announced a $1-billion contract from Scottish Widows, Lloyds Banking Group’s life and pensions business. With this, the value of the total large deals announced by the company in recent months goes up to nearly $7 billion. Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of outsourcing consulting firm Everest Group, said TCS is taking on the market with new vigour. “Last year, TCS rolled out a comprehensive strategy to address the markets’ move into a digitalfirst orientation. This involved increased investments in digital, reorganisation of its operations to address the new realities of a digital marketplace, and new messaging for its marketing and sales teams,” he said.

Analysts believe TCS’s early pivot into digital has paid of significantly. Hansa Iyengar of London-based Ovum Research said, “TCS was the trailblazer when it came to splitting out digital revenues (around 30% of total revenues at last count) and this business is growing much faster than other segments.”