If you consider the dramatic changes in information technology from 1983 to 2008, you realize that twenty-five years is a long time. IT is increasingly making improvements to more services-as volumes increase, the costs reduce. Lowered IT costs make new applications and services increasingly viable, which in turn increases IT volumes and reduces costs. At the same time, increasing capabilities in processing, storage, display technology and interfaces are opening up even more applications and services, creating increased volumes for IT. The next 25 years in IT are likely to have even greater impacts than the last 25 years!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Toward a Stronger Golden
Indian IT Firms Acquire 15 Captive R&D Centers
With global recession impacting most R&D firms, cash rich Indian R&D service providers, including Symphony Services, HCL Technologies, Mind Logic, Persistent Systems and L&T Infotech, have acquired about 15 captive centers over the last two years
In fact, Symphony Services has acquired close to seven companies while Global Logic has acquired about four. HCL, Persistent, L&T and others have acquired one each in the R&D sector.
The captive centers acquired are as follows: Symphony Services - In-reality, Intransa, CT Space, Cambridge Tech Partners; GlobalLogic India - Mantas India, Validio Software, Kewill Software Solutions, Praedea Solutions; HCL Technologies - Adaptec India; Persistent Systems - Metrikus and L&T Infotech - GDA Technologies.
Bank of America retains Underperform rating on Hexaware Technologies
Bank of America retains `Underperform’ rating on Hexaware Technologies. Though results were in line, Bank of America (BoA) was surprised by a very sharp revenue decline guided for 1Q at a negative 16% q-o-q with outlook being the weakest announced so far. This likely reflects high exposure to discretionary spends such as ERP (~ 29% revenue, -18 % q-o-q).
Management highlighted that macro environment has worsened in 4Q; with clients across board rationalizing IT spends. With 1Q results likely to disappoint and a poor revenue outlook, stock could correct
Zensar launched web based broadcasting platform
IT major, Zensar Technologies, announced its tie-up with media group Two Four, to launch 'Media Freedom', a web-based broadcasting platform, in India.
The content would be delivered in virtual software as services (SaaS) model and on any connected device including personal computers and mobile via a set-top box.
Media Freedom used by media and entertainment companies, business and organisations world-wide, offers a single solution for acquiring, managing and delivering video content online
Mastek Scouting for US Partner
Mid size IT Solutions Company Mastek Ltd is scouting to partner with a business process outsourcing (BPO) company in the US for its Elixir Distribution Management (EDM) solution.
Partnering with BPOs in the US is going to be an integral part of our strategy for EDM, similar to that of our partnership with Capita in the UK. The Mastek scrip was down by 0.57 per cent to close at Rs 122.3 on the National Stock Exchange
Persistent Systems unveils SaaS initiative for ISVs
Persistent Systems announced its Software as a Service (SaaS) enablement initiative for independent software vendors (ISVs). ISVs can leverage Persistent's SaaS Competency Center and Migration Services to migrate their applications onto the Oracle platform.
The Oracle platform includes Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Enterprise Manager, and Oracle VM, an open and integrated set of technologies that allow ISVs to build, deploy and manage SaaS and cloud-based applications.
Patni Expands foot prints in Europe
Software exporter Patni Computer Systems is expanding its presence in western Europe and beefing up its senior management there.
The company has announced four appointments to expand its operations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The senior-level executives have previously worked in companies, such as T-systems, Infosys Technologies, Cognizant Technology Services and Hewlett Packard.
The appointments are an integral part of Patni’s overall strategy to build a significant operation in Europe to complement its business operations in the US and India.
IT infrastructure offshoring likely to touch $6 bn this year
Even as top outsourcing customers are tightening their information technology budgets, they continue to outsource the management of their computer servers and desktops, according to experts tracking the industry.
Remote Infrastructure Management Outsourcing (RIMO) has emerged as the growth engine for many Indian tech firms. According to Everest Research Institute, the RIMO market is expected to touch $5.9-billion in 2009 and $8.6-billion in 2010.
MphasiS wins 250-cr Contract from US
IT services provider MphasiS, an EDS company, is reported to have won a clutch of contracts worth $50 million (around Rs 250 crore) from US companies in the areas of systems integration and infrastructure technology outsourcing (ITO).
The contracts reflect the resolve of American companies to strengthen their technology associations with Indian IT companies. The possibility for offering integrated IT-BPO services on some of these contracts is high. The ITO division is currently MphasiS’ fastest growing business with over 4,500 people servicing over 50 clients globally.
Infosys identifies European Sap firms as potential target
Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest software exporter, has identified European SAP services firms BCC and Ciber Novasoft, among others, as potential acquisition targets. This is part of the company’s move to increase revenues from SAP-based services and compete more effectively.
On condition of anonymity that while Infosys was evaluating the potential acquisition targets, a final transaction could be still far away. Especially, since there is no agreement yet on the valuation of BCC and the SAP services unit of Ciber
Zensar expands ties with UK co
RPG group company Zensar Technologies has partnered with TwoFour Media, UK’s largest broadcast TV Company to launch its ‘Media Freedom’ product in India. ‘Media Perform’ is an asset management system that enables media content of any format to be acquired, published and delivered to end users live or on-demand, anywhere, on any connected device; including PC, Mobile and TV via a set top box (STB).
The company has promoted Ms Lavanya Jayaram as Country Head- India from her previous role as head of the corporate innovation group. Zensar expects revenues from ‘Media Freedom’ in India to contribute Rs 20 crore to overall company revenues in the next three years, Mr V. Balasubramanian, Executive Vice President and Head GTS (EMEIA), told news persons here. In the next six months, Zensar would start distributing the Media Freedom product in Japan as well, added Mr Balasubramanian. TwoFour Media is also one of Zensar`s customers; the Pune based company is an offshoring partner for the UK based company.
Customers now want more value for money
Customers now want more value for money' Infosys chief on the slowdown and how his company is tackling the uncertainty.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Nalanda Capital Picks Up 2.4% Stake In Aztecsoft
Singapore-based Nalanda Capital has picked up a 2.36% stake in outsourcing product development firm Aztecsoft Ltd on Thursday. Nalanda India Fund picked up the stake for Rs 3.8 crore from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance on the Bombay Stock Exchange through bulk deal route. The deal is interesting as Nalanda picked up a stake in MindTree Ltd earlier this month.
MindTree acquired Aztecsoft last year for around Rs 400 crore in one of the biggest deals in domestic IT space. MindTree holds an 80% stake Aztecsoft, while rest is held by trusts and public shareholders. Nalanda bought nearly a 2% stake in MindTree for Rs 15.6 crore from venture capital firm Walden International on February 3. Going by Nalanda's previous investments, the firm is likely to pick up more stake in these two firms.
Rural sourcing gains momentum in US
Smaller US firms such as Rural America Onshore Sourcing and Xpanxion are attempting to build a sustainable rural outsourcing model in the US at a time when offshore locations such as India are facing a backlash and unemployment rates have touched an all time high.
Xpanxion, an Atlanta-headquartered software firm, which shifted its software testing work from Pune to Nebraska few years ago is among a handful of such firms seeking to create a more comfortable and cost effective alternative to offshore outsourcing.
Satyam gets nod to select buyer, raise capital base
Satyam Computer Services won crucial approvals to increase its capital base and rope in strategic investors, setting the stage for what is likely to be a keenly-contested bid war critical to ensure the company’s survival.
The Company Law Board (CLB) permitted the scandal-hit company to raise its authorized capital to Rs 280 crore from Rs 160 crore, or to 140 crore shares from 80 crore, and allowed it to induct a strategic investor through a competitive auction process. The company was also allowed to allot the new shares on a preferential basis at par or at a premium.
TCS works on big e-commerce deals
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s largest IT services provider, is working on five requests for proposals (RFPs) for e-commerce deals worth $75-100 million (around Rs 350-500 crore). This is despite the fact that the retail segment has been under pressure globally.
For TCS, the retail business has been growing at 10-12 per cent over the last three quarters. On a year-on-year basis, the growth rate of the retail business has been impacted due to currency fluctuation and the general slowdown. In dollar terms, the retail business grew 51.6 per cent for the company last financial year. The numbers look big as the retail base was small before the company adopted a vertical business model. But after adopting the model, the company has been bagging at least one large deal in each quarter since last two-three quarters in the retail sector. For the quarter ended December 31, 2008, TCS bagged two deals in the retail segment.
Now, a software to track corporate fraud!
Solix Technologies, a California based IT company, started by Indian techies, this week signed an agreement with Oracle to embed a functionality in Oracle's Flexcube software (earlier called i-Flex Flexcube), which will be able to track if any financial or employee data is tinkered with in a company and alert authorities immediately.
The software can also alert via an SMS to the board if a crucial change has been made in a financial or employee database without authorization. Oracle has nearly 350 Flexcube banking customers in nearly 120 countries.
Zylog Systems’ net profit dips 8 per cent
Zylog Systems, a software service provider, has reported a 8 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 21 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2008 as compared to Rs 23 crore, a year ago.
Patni Computer to launch financial services solutions
IT and BPO firm Patni Computer Systems today said it will offer an extended suite of services under its Global Asset Management practice in view of the changing financial services landscape.Patni & aposs solutions and services will aid financial services organisations and asset management institutions with ways to contain costs and improve efficiencies, the company said in a statement.The solutions will also help reduce risks during mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and conversions of internal IT systems that directly impact the overall technology infrastructure.
Persistent Technologies to realign workforce
At a time when IT companies are looking at ways to realign their workforce, given the declining number of clients, Pune-based Persistent Systems has begun evaluating employees in a manner that would enable it to justify any possible manpower restructuring, including a layoff.
According to a person familiar with the development, the company is implementing a procedure that reassesses skill sets of existing software programmers and developers. The move to conduct such a skill test, which evaluates the knowledge of programming languages and tools used by developers, for those working on projects raises questions since such tests are generally conducted at the time of recruitment.
AppLabs Named to Global Outsourcing 100 List of Best Outsourcing Service Providers
AppLabs, the world’s largest independent testing, quality management and certification solutions company announced today that the company has been named to ‘The Global Outsourcing 100’ by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) as one of 2009’s best outsourcing service providers in the ‘Leaders’ category. The 2009 Global Outsourcing 100 and The World’s Best Outsourcing Advisors recognizes the world’s best outsourcing service providers and advisors. These rankings are based on applications received and evaluated by an independent judge’s panel.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Cognizant acquires Canada consulting firm Active Intelligence
Software services firm Cognizant has acquired Canada-based Active Intelligence (AI) for an undisclosed sum, as part of a strategy to deepen its consulting expertise in the retail vertical.
Active Intelligence, a systems integration company with employees in Canada and the United States, specializes in providing consulting and implementation services around Oracle Retail's solution portfolio.
Wipro to support SAP Business Suite 7
Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Ltd, on Tuesday announced its support to the new SAP Business Suite 7, which helps businesses align their investments to immediate business value through a fully integrated and flexible application platform. Wipro, an SAP Global Services partner, became the only Asian service provider to partner with SAP AG as an SAP Business suite 7 launch partner, to help customers benefit from the new flexible and modular software suite to optimise business performance and gain maximum value from IT investments, it said in a release here.
Satyam chair: bid process to be defined in 7-10 days
Satyam Computer Services Ltd's board expects to outline the bidding process for a possible sale of the fraud-hit firm in the next 10 days time, Chairman Kiran Karnik said on Thursday.
Infosys extends employees training period to deal with crisis
IT major Infosys Technologies on Thursday said it has extended the period of training for people on the "bench" to 29 weeks from the present 16 weeks because of the ongoing global economic recession.
MindTree to spin off separate unit for testing
MindTree Consulting, an IT services and consulting firm will create a new business unit focussed on testing, as it sees good uptick in this area, a top company official said.
Zensar Technologies to merge US subsidiaries
Zensar Technologies Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on February 10, 2009, has considered and approved a proposal to merge its wholly owned subsidiaries in USA i.e. Zensar ThoughtDigital LLC and Zensar OBT Technologies Inc with Zensar Technologies Inc.
Sybase posts net income of $47.3 million in Q4
Sybase, Inc, a provider in enterprise infrastructure and mobile software, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2008.
Virtusa posts Q3 net profit of $6.3 mn
Virtusa Corporation, a provider in IT consulting, technology implementation and application outsourcing services, announced on Thursday its financial results for the third quarter of the financial year 2009, ended December 31, 2008.
Cisco Acquires Richards-Zeta Building Intelligence
Cisco, a provider in networking solutions, today announced that it has completed the purchase of California-based, privately-held Richards-Zeta Building Intelligence, Inc, a provider in intelligent middleware technology.
The acquisition exemplifies Cisco’s “build, buy and partner” strategy to move quickly into new markets and capture key market transitions.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Satyam Insider A.S. Murthy Appointed As The CEO
Satyam Computer Services finally gets its turnaround man. The government appointed Board for the fraud hit major has appointed A.S. Murty, a Satyam veteran for 15 years as its CEO with immediate effect. Murthy has been with Satyam since Jan 94.
Infosys to get tough with poor performers
The economic slowdown has made Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest IT services firm by revenues, take a harder look at employee performance. The firm has put 2,200 employees under the scanner for non-performance this year — more than double the number last year.
MindTree ups focus on manufacturing vertical
IT and R&D services company MindTree has launched a Spend Analysis Solution targeting the manufacturing industry, the largest vertical in terms of revenue contribution for the company’s IT services business. The Bangalore-based company said the solution will offer enhanced control and optimization of the procurement costs for companies in the manufacturing space.
MindTree promoters pledge 0.78% of their holding
IT consulting MindTree Ltd (BSE:532819) on Wednesday said its promoters have pledged 0.78 per cent of their holding in the company to financial institutions. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, MindTree said its promoter S Janakiraman has pledged 26,428 shares, representing 2.52 per cent of his holding in the company, to ICICI Bank (BSE:532174). Another promoter Rostow Ravanan has pledged 75,000 shares, representing 15.07 per cent of his stake in the company, to HDFC Ltd (BSE:500180).
MindTree cuts capex, defers Mexico centre plan
MindTree Ltd is trimming capital spend for the year ending March and has deferred plans for a mid-sized hub in Mexico as the global slowdown bites, but the ousourcer was unlikely to cut jobs, a senior official said.
NASSCOM Awards Persistent Systems for Innovation
Persistent Systems, the leading Outsourced Product Development (OPD) services company today announced that they have won the coveted NASSCOM Innovation award for 2008, in the Market Facing - Business Process and Business Model category. NASSCOM has recognized Persistent's innovative mobile strategy, developed for Bridgestone, Europe -- world's largest tire manufacturer. Persistent's three main innovation focus areas include platform, product engineering and domain specific innovation. Its OPD focus has allowed Persistent to grow to and sustain its present position. Persistent has delivered over 2000 software product releases in the last five years by use of technology accelerators, strategic business models and in-depth customer feedback.
Mastek solution for Catholic Mutual
The US-based subsidiary of mid-tier IT firm Mastek has been selected to provide billing and accounting solutions to the Catholic Mutual Group (CMG). CMG will be using MajescoMastek's STG Billing and Accounts Receivable system, according to a statement issued by the city-based IT firm here.
Blackstone Invests Rs 190 Crore In CMS Computers
Blackstone has acquired 56.7% of IT infrastructure management and BPO firm CMS Computers for Rs 190 crore, sources tell VCCircle. The deal values the Mumbai-based CMS at Rs 335 crore($68 million as per current exchange rates).
VC firm Walden sells part stake in MindTree to Nalanda Capital
Singapore-based Nalanda Capital has bought nearly a 2% stake in IT services firm MindTree Ltd from venture capital firm Walden International. The stake has been bought for Rs 15.6 crore through an open market bulk deal on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stake has been picked up for nearly Rs 16 crore. Walden still continues to hold about 15.8% stake in MindTree
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