Infosys Australia has launched a consulting and systems integration practice in a bid to help it weather the global financial crisis.

The practice, based in Sydney with an initial staff of around 10, is aimed at moving the company from lower value application development work to higher value business transformation projects, Infosys Australia CEO Jackie Korhonen said.

Infosys Australia has appointed Robert Liong to lead the practice as managing partner, consulting and systems integration. Liong has previous experience at BearingPoint, KPMG, Andersen Consulting, ING and Westpac.

The new practice has current projects for three customers, including ING Australia in the finance sector, and one each in the telecommunications and transport sectors, Korhonen said.

Infosys had just completed a portfolio analysis project with ING, which recommending next steps in the application lifecycle for a number of core applications as part of that company’s two-year technology transformation project, she said.

Korhonen said aim of the practice was to allow Infosys to get in earlier on the current trend of business transformation, allowing it to consult on bridging the gaps between IT, business and operations, then secure IT project work and lucrative support contracts.

“It is really about us moving up the project lifecycle to be much more closely aligned with the client’s business – not just in the IT project space,” she said. “It is important for us as we evolve Infosys to evolve into the more business-focused areas – that is one of our strategies.”

The announcement follows news this week from parent company Infosys Technologies that it is forecasting its first ever full year revenue decline with the global recession biting into its fourth quarter results As reported, the company's revenue will decline 3.1 percent to 6.7 percent to between US$4.35 billion and $4.52 billion this fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2010. Revenue in the current quarter is forecast to decline as much as 8.2 percent.

Infosys saw revenue decline 1.8 percent year-on-year to $1.12 billion in the fourth quarter, which ended March 31. Full year revenue rose 11.7 percent to $4.7 billion.

Korhonen said the global financial crisis could work in Infosys Australia’s favour.

“It’s forcing clients to look hard at their businesses and where they want focus – where they are efficient and where they are not,” she said.

“When times are easier some of the transformational work wasn’t a priority, but now [the global financial crisis] is spurring those transformational requirements.”