Infy, Gen-i to offer IT services in Australasia

New Delhi: The country's second largest software exporter Infosys on Wednesday announced a partnership with New Zealand-based Gen-i to offer IT services like IT consulting, business transformation and cloud-based offerings to Australasian companies.

The partnership creates a new market proposition for local businesses by helping them to transform for competitive advantage, with new ways to innovate, reduce costs and increase the effectiveness of their people, processes and technology, Infosys said in a statement.

Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Infosys has also acquired Gen-i's software solutions practice and offered positions to its more than 110 employees and contractors, who will continue to be based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

These employees are primarily senior developers, technical architects and consultants, Infosys said, adding that with this, Infosys' New Zealand team will have over 150 people.

Infosys has immediate plans to hire an additional 15-30 people. The partnership will be undertaken by Infosys Australia and New Zealand, the Australasian arm of Infosys Technologies, and Gen-i, the corporate ICT arm of Telecom New Zealand.

As near-shore delivery from New Zealand is among the joint growth strategies being planned, the partnership also has significant potential to further grow New Zealand-based technology jobs, it added.

The current software solutions management team will lead New Zealand delivery for Infosys, with Patrick Kouwenhoven running New Zealand operations under the leadership of Infosys Associate Vice President Ashok Mysore.

"Since launching our first New Zealand office 18 months ago, we have been studying the market to find the right strategic partner," Infosys Australia and New Zealand CEO and Managing Director Jackie Korhonen said.

"We will be adding our global R&D, business transformation and industry-specific capabilities to an iconic New Zealand brand," he added.

"There has been a lot of consolidation in the IT services market recently, leaving an opportunity for a strong local partnership which can deliver world class capabilities in hosted and integrated ICT solutions," Gen-i Australasia CEO Chris Quin said.

Gen-i works alongside its 3,300 corporate, government and business customers to offer integrated ICT solutions. It has nearly 3,000 highly skilled people in 17 locations across New Zealand and Australia.