Bucking the trend: a look at Zyme solutions' non-linear business model for IT services from India

Abstract

The case describes XGen Technologies (name disguised), an India-based IT Enabled Services (ITES) company having to grapple with the issues of linear growth. The company's headcount had touched a whopping 40,000 and managing such a large setup was becoming a severe challenge, putting immense pressure on Partha Sen, the CEO, to adopt an innovative business model to sustain historical growth rates of revenue and profitability. This situation was similar to what most Indian ITES companies faced: they had been clocking impressive growth, yet there were concerns about the future.

The case then describes some of the strategies that software companies have been adopting in order to achieve greater non-linearity in their business. In particular, the case concentrates on Zyme Solutions, Inc., a fully outsourced hosted data service provider to the high-tech vertical market, which has built as a non-linear business from the ground up, without the legacy of the linear business models to contend with. Students are put in the place of Partha Sen, having to decide on an approach that established companies like XGen could adopt to transit to a non-linear model.