US base IT company Cognizant Technology has said that infrastructure management services and business process outsourcing (BPO) would be the key drivers for the Indian IT industry.

Francisco D’Souza, President & CEO, Cognizant told media that after the 2000 slowdown when work came offshore, application outsourcing gave the required impetus. Now, opportunities would come up in infrastructure management and BPO. Those are largely under-penetrated.

He however was grim about the forecast and said that the economic situation may not get any better in 2009 compared with 2008 says a report in the Hindu Business Line.

The company has also recently intensified its focus in the Indian market with its software applications. R. Chandrasekaran, President and Managing Director, Cognizant, said India is now a mature market to go after for business. “An Indian client is no different from dealing with the customer in the US. They also look for value and they are a lot more progressive than they were earlier,” the paper quoted him.

Cognizant is going after three types of customers in India: multinational companies entering India; ; India-centric, large companies who want global expertise; and, captive organisations.