BENGALURU:
Infosys has acquired Finnish company Fluido, a top consulting partner of Salesforce, for 65 million euros (about Rs 545 crore). This is Infosys’s second acquisition under CEO Salil Parekh.
In April, it had acquired US digital creative and consumer insight agency WongDoody for $75 million.
The Fluido acquisition will make Infosys the largest Salesforce consulting partner in the Nordics. Last month, Cognizant had acquired SaaSfocus, another top rated Salesforce partner, based in Noida and focused on the Australian market.
Salesforce, the $10-billion cloud CRM (
customer relationship management) solutions provider, has some 86 platinum partners – the highest rated partners – including Fluido and SaaSfocus. Jimit Arora, who leads US-based advisory Everest Group’s IT services research practice, said Salesforce acquisitions have been key to accelerated growth in the IT market and have been instrumental in the maturation of capabilities for service providers.
“Accenture, IBM, Capgemini, Wipro and PwC have leveraged acquisitions to bolster their Salesforce capabilities. For example, Bluewolf for IBM and Appirio for Wipro were key to the maturation of salesforce capabilities for the two firms. So in general we see this (Infosys’s acquisition of Fluido) as a good investment in a fast-growing market and will further help Infosys accelerate its digital growth agenda,” he said.
Fluido, founded in 2010, has over 200 experts spread across six locations in Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, and Slovakia. It services customers across retail, manufacturing, energy, finance and education, delivering strategy consulting to implementation and training. It counts Stockmann, MTV, Wilhelmsen and Wartsila as customers. The acquisition gives Infosys a boost in its consulting practice, one that has traditionally been a weak spot for many Indian IT firms.
Ravi Kumar, president and deputy COO, Infosys, said the acquisition demonstrates Infosys’s commitment to the Salesforce ecosystem. “Fluido will be an important addition to the Infosys family, bringing a unique combination of market presence, deep Salesforce expertise, agile delivery and training, that combined with our existing capabilities will help companies reimagine and transform their businesses. This acquisition also aligns to our efforts to invest in local capabilities in the regions in which we operate,” he said.
Fluido founder and CEO Kai Makela said that with Infosys, the company would be able to provide truly global scalable services.
Arora said he sees consulting as an area which is picking up stronger emphasis in Infosys especially as the company takes on more of a navigation role in helping clients with their digital transformation journeys. The company has been hiring and re-skilling for Salesforce aggressively with strong traction in segments such as automotive, manufacturing, and financial services.
