ManageEngine reducing reliance on the US, looks at diversification across geographies

CHENNAI: ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation, is reducing reliance on the US and diversifying its global business to different geographies including Latin America, the middle east and African regions.

It comes amid the US imposing a 50% tariff on goods sourced from India, though IT services are yet to fall under the tariff radar. The US is the largest market for the company accounting for nearly 30% of its business followed by the UK and India with a share of 15% each. "The US is important, and it will keep growing. But the reliance will reduce, and contribution will be spread equally across. We are trying to reduce our reliance on the US, which was contributing 80% about 10 years ago and now at 30%.

We are prepared that way we are not reliant on one country anymore because there are companies who have built their business model or services model around serving North America. For such companies, maybe it is going to cause a lot more impact,” Rajesh Ganesan, CEO, ManageEngine told TOI in an interaction here on Thursday.

Shailesh Davey, co-founder & CEO, Zoho Corp observed that Latin America Southeast Asia, middle east and Africa are the bright spots.

"The other way of looking at it is at the end of the day all these geopolitics are like an earthquake zone. You do not know where it's going to suddenly open up. So, you have to tread carefully, feel the road and then walk and that is the approach we are taking. For example, what happens if suddenly they put something on the services? So far, nothing has been done and it is fine.

But, if they put, then we have to react to it with options including bringing down the reliance," he added. The duo were responding to queries on the eventuality of the US extending its tariff to IT services from India.The technology company has offices in different parts of the world including Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and the UAE. On an average, it grew at 20–25% CAGR globally in recent years. India grew 35% last year, while Latin America grew more than 40%. Out of its total global workforce of 18,000 people, 85% are employed in India. Asked about the impact of AI in hiring, Davey said, it has opened space for recruiting more personnel in the customer-facing roles. “But on the development roles, we are being careful so that we do not have to lay off in the future,” he said.