HFS Highlight: Infosys aims to lead the cloud battle with the launch of Cobalt

Accelerated by the pandemic, there is a secular shift in cloud adoption. The emphasis is moving from cost considerations toward value capture and the ability to deliver services end-to-end. Service providers are responding to this by revamping their go-to-market and even their organizational structures.

To enable its clients’ cloud-powered enterprise transformations, Infosys has launched Cobalt: a set of cloud-enabled services, solutions, and platforms. Cobalt offers over 15,000 cloud assets and perhaps most importantly, over 200 industry-specific cloud solution blueprints. ‘ Enterprises can leverage the full potential of the cloud ecosystem and Infosys Cobalt’s thriving community of business and technology innovators to drive increased business value. With Cobalt, Infosys plans to accelerate the cloud-powered digital transformation for its customers by letting them redesign their enterprises from the core in alignment with their company-specific challenges. But like any new announcement, Infosys will have to focus hard on Cobalt’s differentiators as everywhere you turn, its provider peers are also renaming and reframing their own “cloud-first” platforms. Its peers also launched a similar solution like Cobalt. For example, Atos launched Atos OneCloud (with €2 billion investment commitment over the next 5 years) that includes 10 offerings and is a blend of industry-specific consulting capabilities with cloud technical experience.

Other peers like Accenture and IBM have followed organization restructuring to focus on the cloud. Accenture established a new multi-service group, Accenture Cloud First (with a $3 billion investment over three years) that brings together Accenture’s industry and technology capabilities along with ecosystem partnerships. IBM separated the Managed Infrastructure Services unit of its Global Technology Services division into a new public company (“NewCo”) to focus on hybrid cloud growth strategy.

Infosys’ Cobalt balances execution and innovation with a focus on industry-specific solutions

Infosys Cobalt targets to transform the business models of the enterprises to address changing market needs (Exhibit 1). Thus, the strategic focus on expanding industry solutions rather than technology. To accelerate traction, Infosys has set up tiger teams that blend both domain and technology expertise. Most of the assets are best to be seen as configurable but not customizable solutions. Over time Infosys is aiming to offer much broader (business) functions-as-a-service. The industry focus will also be extended to the collaboration with the leading Hyperscalers where Infosys plans to push vertical platforms as a go-to-market partner. Cobalt is also deeply embedded with solutions to help enterprises adhere to regulatory and security compliance, along with technical and financial governance. Infosys Cobalt provides access to over 200 industry-specific solution blueprints while also offering enterprises the option to co-create new cloud solutions with Infosys Cobalt Labs.

Exhibit 1: Infosys Cobalt Community

Source: Infosys, 2020

Infosys has been busy carrying out different acquisitions as it builds its cloud capabilities. It has made 3 cloud-related acquisitions this year with Simplus (Salesforce), Guide Vision (ServiceNow), and Blue Acorn iCi (Adobe) that will strengthen the Cobalt offerings.

Our clients are building cloud capabilities to gain a business advantage in increasingly competitive markets. The future of enterprise cloud strategy will be shaped by three key factors – speed-to-market, innovation at scale, and security of the ecosystem – this is the foundational construct of Infosys Cobalt.

Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys

Cobalt has observed adoption among clients across industries

Infosys launched the Cobalt solutions portfolio in August 2020 at a critical juncture with COVID-19 accelerating cloud adoption. The company sees three key issues driving adoption. First, managing and mitigating integration issues. Second, identifying and training talent. And thirdly, mitigating security issues and concerns. Through Cobalt, Infosys has been enabling both operating and business model transformation for its clients. Examples include:

• Migrated a healthcare provider’s core to the public cloud, increasing time-to-market by 40% for ‘new market acquisitions and expansions and also infusing AI and self-service capabilities that reduced costs by 20%.
• Accelerated delivery timelines for a leading manufacturer by approx. 60%—leveraging templates and accelerators, increasing annual savings by nearly $1.2 million.
• Increased employee productivity by 20% for a leading holding company by leveraging cloud efficiencies and improving agility.
• Enabled data monetization for a leading transportation manufacturer by curating and harmonizing data from 300+ applications.

The Bottom Line: ‘With the launch of Cobalt, Infosys is distinctly leading the race with the first-mover advantage as its peers try and catch up.

The competition is heating up in cloud space, with the launch of Infosys Cobalt, Infosys is already seeing a first-mover advantage by winning transformational deals. This is aligned with Infosys’ intent to move up the value chain and aiming to get access to the C- Suite. Infosys’ North Star is industry-specific domains. With the release of Cobalt, it is taking the fight directly to its competition. While time will show how other competitors perform, but for now Infosys has launched its aggressive campaign to expand its cloud offering. The race is on.