IT major Infosys would soon set up its second project in Orissa at an investment of Rs 300 crore, official sources said. Infosys's plan for the state was announced by its director (human resource) TV Mohandas Pai after meeting the chief minister Naveen Patnaik here last evening.
While as many as 3,000 IT professionals were now busy working at the first Infosys project in the state, he said about 5,000 workers would get placement in its second project.
The second project would come up at IT valley on the side of the National Highway No-5 between the state capital and Khurda town.
Work on the second project would start soon, Pai said. The state government had agreed to provide required water and power to the second project.
The IT major was presently exporting software products worth Rs 850 crore per annum from its existing project in the state, he said.
Pai and Patnaik also discussed on mid-day-meal (MDM) project of Akshya Patra, presently being given to 61,000 students in Puri and Nayagarh district. The number of beneficiaries of the MDM programme was targetted to touch 2.5 lakh in next two years, they said.
Showing posts with label Infosys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Infosys. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Infosys, TCS, Wipro
TCS, Infosys, Wipro give local flavour to foreign operations
India's large software service providers are going increasingly local with hiring in overseas markets, part of a drive to position themselves as truly global players and polish their image in advanced economies reeling from job losses.
Beginning with employing foreign nationals for junior and mid-level positions, companies such as Tata Consultancy (TCS), Infosys and Wipro – together these three account for about a third of India’s IT exports – now have a number of foreigners in their top echelons.
“There’s a transition in mindset to grow out of the Indian mold and aspire to be like an Oracle , IBM, Accenture, SAP. Also, as Indian companies have gained scale they can tap the best foreign talent; earlier they had to settle for just about anyone,’’ says K Sudarshan, managing partner at executive search firm EMA Partners International.
In the past year, many of the top positions at Wipro Technologies have been filled by foreigners. American Martha Bejar left Microsoft to join India’s third largest software exporter as president, global sales and operations. Ralf Reich, a former Unisys executive in charge of strategic outsourcing in continental Europe, was appointed head of German operations. And Wipro’s centres in France and Japan are also headed by non-Indians.
Infosys’ German, French and Australian operations are managed by locals. Jackie Korhonen, ex-vice-president of managed business process services for IBM Australia and New Zealand, is now head of Infosys Australia.
“They want to be true multinationals. Besides, if you want to really penetrate a local market, bagging business from not only big companies but also small and medium, you better have a local face,’’ says Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst, Gartner.
At TCS, India’s largest technology services company, foreign nationals comprise nearly 12% of the senior management. Among the key executives are John Lenzen, global head of marketing, Gabriel Rozman, global head of emerging markets and Carol Wilson, global business unit head, Hi-Tech solutions unit.
Amit Singh, head of the IT practice at Avendus Capital, says that Indian companies, used to expanding at 30%, are now seeing growth decline. “They want new avenues to maintain growth and hence the geographic expansion and local faces to drive it.’’
Indian software providers have also been expanding into new geographies in the past year. Infosys opened an office in Brazil in mid-December and in recent months Wipro started operations and ramped up investments in strategic development centres and near-shore centres like Atlanta (US), Bucharest (Romania), Wroclaw (Poland), Curitiba (Brazil), Chengdu (China) and Cebu (Philippines).
Continue reading on: EconomicTimes
Beginning with employing foreign nationals for junior and mid-level positions, companies such as Tata Consultancy (TCS), Infosys and Wipro – together these three account for about a third of India’s IT exports – now have a number of foreigners in their top echelons.
“There’s a transition in mindset to grow out of the Indian mold and aspire to be like an Oracle , IBM, Accenture, SAP. Also, as Indian companies have gained scale they can tap the best foreign talent; earlier they had to settle for just about anyone,’’ says K Sudarshan, managing partner at executive search firm EMA Partners International.
In the past year, many of the top positions at Wipro Technologies have been filled by foreigners. American Martha Bejar left Microsoft to join India’s third largest software exporter as president, global sales and operations. Ralf Reich, a former Unisys executive in charge of strategic outsourcing in continental Europe, was appointed head of German operations. And Wipro’s centres in France and Japan are also headed by non-Indians.
Infosys’ German, French and Australian operations are managed by locals. Jackie Korhonen, ex-vice-president of managed business process services for IBM Australia and New Zealand, is now head of Infosys Australia.
“They want to be true multinationals. Besides, if you want to really penetrate a local market, bagging business from not only big companies but also small and medium, you better have a local face,’’ says Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst, Gartner.
At TCS, India’s largest technology services company, foreign nationals comprise nearly 12% of the senior management. Among the key executives are John Lenzen, global head of marketing, Gabriel Rozman, global head of emerging markets and Carol Wilson, global business unit head, Hi-Tech solutions unit.
Amit Singh, head of the IT practice at Avendus Capital, says that Indian companies, used to expanding at 30%, are now seeing growth decline. “They want new avenues to maintain growth and hence the geographic expansion and local faces to drive it.’’
Indian software providers have also been expanding into new geographies in the past year. Infosys opened an office in Brazil in mid-December and in recent months Wipro started operations and ramped up investments in strategic development centres and near-shore centres like Atlanta (US), Bucharest (Romania), Wroclaw (Poland), Curitiba (Brazil), Chengdu (China) and Cebu (Philippines).
Continue reading on: EconomicTimes
Monday, December 28, 2009
Accenture, Infosys, TCS, Wipro
Wipro, TCS, Infy plan to follow rival Accenture's sales model
India’s top tech firms, including Wipro, plan to follow rival Accenture’s sales model by hiring senior partners with a few decades of experience and capable of having a dialogue with chief executives of customer organisations, a shift from the earlier focus on selling services to IT heads of leading customers such as Citigroup and General Electric.
Wipro, which serves customers such as British Petroleum (BP) and Citi, has hired around a dozen senior partners from rivals Accenture, Ernst & Young and Deloitte over the past few months. Girish S Paranjpe, the company’s joint chief executive, told ET in an interview that his company would hire another 30 such partners in 2010.
Some senior professionals who have joined Wipro during the past few months as part of the company’s new sales strategy include Kirk Strawser, managing partner and global head, Wipro Consulting Services; Chris Rooney, global practice head, business transformation; and Roger Camrass, senior practice partner, business transformation.
“We often lost because of having pure CIO-level dialogues, we got hurt and even lost some deals,” he said. “We will hire another 30-40 such professionals who will be responsible for growing our client relationships to $30-40 million in revenues,” he added.
For many years, TCS, Infosys and Wipro have been focused on software application development and maintenance, getting new business from CIOs of large customers such as Citi, GE and many others. As they now seek bigger, multi-year transformational deals, they need to penetrate boardrooms of Fortune-500 companies.
“Client partners think and breathe business problems of customers who seek advise and guidance—they are people with a few decades of experience,” Mr Paranjpe added.
In a year when business was hard to come by, Wipro managed to penetrate large customers such as BP, helped by the new approach. Camrass, who joined Wipro as senior practice partner a few months ago, is respected by many decisionmakers within BP. With over 35 years of experience, Mr Camrass has worked with top consulting firms such as Ernst & Young.
India’s biggest software exporter, TCS, once perceived as a slow-moving IT behemoth, is also recruiting these partner-profile people, according to an industry analyst who wished to remain anonymous.
According to R Suresh, MD of executive search firm Stanton Chase, all top IT firms are looking at hiring partner-level people. “One of the reasons is they are winning huge long-term IT outsourcing contracts. These are annuity-based contracts and the client needs to see the same face when he’s interacting with the service provider,” he said.
Unlike the traditional Accenture model, Indian companies are hiring these professionals more as ‘client partners’, and not necessarily ‘equity partners’, added Mr Suresh.
Experts such as John C McCarthy, vice-president and principal analyst of Forrester Research, say Indian firms need to shift from having pure technology-based dialogues and work on their sales and marketing efforts. “This will be one of the biggest cultural shifts—these companies need to intensify their sales and marketing efforts,” he said.
Indeed, by engaging with top business leaders at a customer organisation, Accenture creates entry barriers for other suppliers. “Accenture’s partner-driven sales model is the ultimate form of client engagement,” Edelweiss analysts Viju George, Kunal Sangoi and Pratik Gandhi noted in their September report. Today, the common sales structure of the big three Indian tech firms is typically three-tiered—overall vertical head, client director in overall charge of client relationship, and multiple account managers handling different facets of the relationship.
Source: EconomicTimes
Wipro, which serves customers such as British Petroleum (BP) and Citi, has hired around a dozen senior partners from rivals Accenture, Ernst & Young and Deloitte over the past few months. Girish S Paranjpe, the company’s joint chief executive, told ET in an interview that his company would hire another 30 such partners in 2010.
Some senior professionals who have joined Wipro during the past few months as part of the company’s new sales strategy include Kirk Strawser, managing partner and global head, Wipro Consulting Services; Chris Rooney, global practice head, business transformation; and Roger Camrass, senior practice partner, business transformation.
“We often lost because of having pure CIO-level dialogues, we got hurt and even lost some deals,” he said. “We will hire another 30-40 such professionals who will be responsible for growing our client relationships to $30-40 million in revenues,” he added.
For many years, TCS, Infosys and Wipro have been focused on software application development and maintenance, getting new business from CIOs of large customers such as Citi, GE and many others. As they now seek bigger, multi-year transformational deals, they need to penetrate boardrooms of Fortune-500 companies.
“Client partners think and breathe business problems of customers who seek advise and guidance—they are people with a few decades of experience,” Mr Paranjpe added.
In a year when business was hard to come by, Wipro managed to penetrate large customers such as BP, helped by the new approach. Camrass, who joined Wipro as senior practice partner a few months ago, is respected by many decisionmakers within BP. With over 35 years of experience, Mr Camrass has worked with top consulting firms such as Ernst & Young.
India’s biggest software exporter, TCS, once perceived as a slow-moving IT behemoth, is also recruiting these partner-profile people, according to an industry analyst who wished to remain anonymous.
According to R Suresh, MD of executive search firm Stanton Chase, all top IT firms are looking at hiring partner-level people. “One of the reasons is they are winning huge long-term IT outsourcing contracts. These are annuity-based contracts and the client needs to see the same face when he’s interacting with the service provider,” he said.
Unlike the traditional Accenture model, Indian companies are hiring these professionals more as ‘client partners’, and not necessarily ‘equity partners’, added Mr Suresh.
Experts such as John C McCarthy, vice-president and principal analyst of Forrester Research, say Indian firms need to shift from having pure technology-based dialogues and work on their sales and marketing efforts. “This will be one of the biggest cultural shifts—these companies need to intensify their sales and marketing efforts,” he said.
Indeed, by engaging with top business leaders at a customer organisation, Accenture creates entry barriers for other suppliers. “Accenture’s partner-driven sales model is the ultimate form of client engagement,” Edelweiss analysts Viju George, Kunal Sangoi and Pratik Gandhi noted in their September report. Today, the common sales structure of the big three Indian tech firms is typically three-tiered—overall vertical head, client director in overall charge of client relationship, and multiple account managers handling different facets of the relationship.
Source: EconomicTimes
Infosys, New Deals
Infosys bags $83 mn Karnataka project
Infosys Technologies, India's No. 2 software exporter, has been selected to implement a Rs 3.87 billion ($83 million) IT project for Karnataka's power distribution utilities, two government officials said.
"We have issued the letter of intent to Infosys," a source at the Bangalore utility said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
"It will cover entire Karnataka," he said. The project was awarded by all five electricity distribution utilities in the state last week and will cover 100 towns in the state, he said.
Infosys outbid 10 other companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, for the contract, the source said.
The projects must be implemented within 36 months, the other source said.
Infosys officials could not be reached for comment. The project is part of a central government-funded programme to use information technology to cap electricity losses in the country.
Tata Consultancy and HCL Infosystems Ltd have won contracts for similar projects in West Bengal and Rajasthan, respectively.
"We have issued the letter of intent to Infosys," a source at the Bangalore utility said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
"It will cover entire Karnataka," he said. The project was awarded by all five electricity distribution utilities in the state last week and will cover 100 towns in the state, he said.
Infosys outbid 10 other companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, for the contract, the source said.
The projects must be implemented within 36 months, the other source said.
Infosys officials could not be reached for comment. The project is part of a central government-funded programme to use information technology to cap electricity losses in the country.
Tata Consultancy and HCL Infosystems Ltd have won contracts for similar projects in West Bengal and Rajasthan, respectively.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Infosys, new openings
Infosys to hire 13,000 freshers
After a long dry spell, seems the hiring days are here again. Close on the heels of Wipro announcing its plans to hire 5,000 in the coming months, comes a similar announcement from its rival Infosys Technologies.
The Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies plans to hire 13,000 freshers in the coming fiscal (2010-11), according to a news report in WallStreet Journal.
The report quotes the company's senior vice president and group head, human resources, saying that the company will close with 18,000 freshers and 3,500 laterals this fiscal year.
Recently, Infosys announced plans to double its US headcount. India's second-largest software exporter by revenue plans to hire 1,000 employees in the US.
Earlier, Wipro Technologies said that it will hire 5,000 people in the next couple of months and is looking at a fresh recruitment strategy of taking in graduates from non-engineering institutes.
The Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies plans to hire 13,000 freshers in the coming fiscal (2010-11), according to a news report in WallStreet Journal.
The report quotes the company's senior vice president and group head, human resources, saying that the company will close with 18,000 freshers and 3,500 laterals this fiscal year.
Recently, Infosys announced plans to double its US headcount. India's second-largest software exporter by revenue plans to hire 1,000 employees in the US.
Earlier, Wipro Technologies said that it will hire 5,000 people in the next couple of months and is looking at a fresh recruitment strategy of taking in graduates from non-engineering institutes.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
IBM, Infosys, New Deals, TCS, Wipro
TCS, Infy, Wipro, IBM to bid for Rs 2000 cr online FIR project
Vijay Kumar Singh hopes that by 2012, most of those he gets to see in person would be potential criminals.
Well, Singh happens to be a cop. And those whom he intends to spare from his appointment diary are the general public. Singh’s hopes are pinned on a new automated complaint filing and tracking system that the ministry of home affairs (MHA) plans to roll out across India, aimed at trimming the time the general public spends in doing the labyrinthine rounds of the good old police station.
At the Greater Kailash-1 police station in South Delhi, where Singh is the station house officer, the existing Zipnet search is pretty much an ornament. The system tracks from a set base of data, often outdated, and fails to read the latest inputs from other law enforcement agencies.
The new integrated system police officers like Singh are looking forward to will network initially 14,000 police stations across the country, and all the 6,000 higher offices in police hierarchy (like headquarters, range offices, zonal offices). It will bring the benefits of India Inc’s technology prowess to this British era institution, hopes Singh.
Well, Singh happens to be a cop. And those whom he intends to spare from his appointment diary are the general public. Singh’s hopes are pinned on a new automated complaint filing and tracking system that the ministry of home affairs (MHA) plans to roll out across India, aimed at trimming the time the general public spends in doing the labyrinthine rounds of the good old police station.
At the Greater Kailash-1 police station in South Delhi, where Singh is the station house officer, the existing Zipnet search is pretty much an ornament. The system tracks from a set base of data, often outdated, and fails to read the latest inputs from other law enforcement agencies.
The new integrated system police officers like Singh are looking forward to will network initially 14,000 police stations across the country, and all the 6,000 higher offices in police hierarchy (like headquarters, range offices, zonal offices). It will bring the benefits of India Inc’s technology prowess to this British era institution, hopes Singh.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Infosys, IT market
Infosys to reduce sub-contractors, perform their work in-house
IT major Infosys plans to reduce the usage of sub-contractors and perform their work in-house particularly at cheaper offshore locations, a top company official said on Friday.
"We found during our reviews that a large number of client work had been outsourced to sub-contractors. In such cases, we decided to reduce the usage of sub-contractors and use our (own) facility," Infosys' chief mentor, NR Narayana Murthy, said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Mumbai.
The company has also taken a new concept "more from the same", which will scrutinise budgets and look after areas where previously unnoticed expenses could be eliminated, he said.
Infosys believes that this new concept will benefit the company, its shareholders and its employees. During the second quarter of FY 10, the company saw a 2.9 per cent increase in revenues from the first quarter.
"We found during our reviews that a large number of client work had been outsourced to sub-contractors. In such cases, we decided to reduce the usage of sub-contractors and use our (own) facility," Infosys' chief mentor, NR Narayana Murthy, said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Mumbai.
The company has also taken a new concept "more from the same", which will scrutinise budgets and look after areas where previously unnoticed expenses could be eliminated, he said.
Infosys believes that this new concept will benefit the company, its shareholders and its employees. During the second quarter of FY 10, the company saw a 2.9 per cent increase in revenues from the first quarter.
Infosys, IT market
No one’s good enough for Infosys' Engg prize
You thought India produces one of the best engineers across the globe? Not really (seems like)! For, Indian IT giant Infosys Technologies has reportedly failed to find a worthy candidate for its Infosys Engineering Science Prize 2009.
The company has decided not to give the prize in that category to anyone this year. Infosys’ chief operating officer (COO), SD Shibulal, told a business daily that there were 34 nominees for the engineering and computer science prize but even after relaxing the age limit to 55 years, the jury could not find anyone who met all the criteria of the Infosys Prize. So, the jury has taken unanimous decision to not award the prize for the engineering sciences discipline this year.
The company has named three scientists and two academic experts as winners of Infosys Prize 2009 for outstanding contributions to scientific research.
The winner in physical sciences is Thanu Padmanabhan of Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophyics, Pune, in recognition of his contribution to a deeper understanding of Einstein’s theory of gravity in the context of thermodynamics. For mathematical sciences, Ashoke Sen of Harish Chandra Research Institute at Allahabad was given the prize in recognition of his contributions to mathematical physics. For life sciences, K VijayRaghavan of National Centre of Biological Sciences in Bangalore got the award.
The winner in the social sciences and economics category is Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee of Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his contributions to the economic theory of development. Upinder Singh of the University of Delhi won an award for her contributions as an outstanding historian of ancient and early medieval India.
The company has decided not to give the prize in that category to anyone this year. Infosys’ chief operating officer (COO), SD Shibulal, told a business daily that there were 34 nominees for the engineering and computer science prize but even after relaxing the age limit to 55 years, the jury could not find anyone who met all the criteria of the Infosys Prize. So, the jury has taken unanimous decision to not award the prize for the engineering sciences discipline this year.
The company has named three scientists and two academic experts as winners of Infosys Prize 2009 for outstanding contributions to scientific research.
The winner in physical sciences is Thanu Padmanabhan of Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophyics, Pune, in recognition of his contribution to a deeper understanding of Einstein’s theory of gravity in the context of thermodynamics. For mathematical sciences, Ashoke Sen of Harish Chandra Research Institute at Allahabad was given the prize in recognition of his contributions to mathematical physics. For life sciences, K VijayRaghavan of National Centre of Biological Sciences in Bangalore got the award.
The winner in the social sciences and economics category is Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee of Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his contributions to the economic theory of development. Upinder Singh of the University of Delhi won an award for her contributions as an outstanding historian of ancient and early medieval India.
H1-B, Infosys, NRIs
Infosys to double US headcount
Indian IT majors seem to be in a hurry to shed their `job stealer' tag. Country's IT bellwether is all set to double its workforce in the US.
According to a news report in Walls Street Journal (WSJ), India's second-largest software exporter by revenue is planning to hire 1,000 employees in the US. The report quotes a recent interview of the company's Chief Executive S Gopalkrishnan to Dow Jones Newswires.
The news comes close on the heels of TCS CEO saying that the company wants to become global not just in terms of "sales but from a people perspective". The country's numero uno IT company recently expanded its strategic business alliance with US-based Dow Chemicals. The alliance will create new jobs in Midland-Michigan.
As part of the alliance, Dow and TCS are planning to build a new service centre at a site near Dow's global headquarters in Midland Michigan, the US.
Recently the country's third largest IT company Wipro Technologies too announced that it is expanding its US operations and will hire about 1,000 people, including more locals.
Indian IT companies, who have traditionally been earning over 50% of their profits from the US markets, are often derided for stealing local jobs. The recent recession and spiralling unemployment in the US seems has only further fueled the sentiment.
According to a news report in Walls Street Journal (WSJ), India's second-largest software exporter by revenue is planning to hire 1,000 employees in the US. The report quotes a recent interview of the company's Chief Executive S Gopalkrishnan to Dow Jones Newswires.
The news comes close on the heels of TCS CEO saying that the company wants to become global not just in terms of "sales but from a people perspective". The country's numero uno IT company recently expanded its strategic business alliance with US-based Dow Chemicals. The alliance will create new jobs in Midland-Michigan.
As part of the alliance, Dow and TCS are planning to build a new service centre at a site near Dow's global headquarters in Midland Michigan, the US.
Recently the country's third largest IT company Wipro Technologies too announced that it is expanding its US operations and will hire about 1,000 people, including more locals.
Indian IT companies, who have traditionally been earning over 50% of their profits from the US markets, are often derided for stealing local jobs. The recent recession and spiralling unemployment in the US seems has only further fueled the sentiment.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Infosys, New Deals, Outsourcing, TCS
Tata Comm, Infosys & four others in deal with US cos
Six Indian companies, including Tata Communications, Infosys Technologies and Apollo Hospitals, have signed separate collaboration agreements with US-based firms for joint business development at Washington on Monday.
The agreement signing ceremony, organised by industry body CII, coincides with the state visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the US.
Data services provider Tata Communications has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tyco Electronics to work together in providing additional connectivity and transmission, using dark fibers on the submarine cable system.
Indian IT major Infosys Technologies has signed a multi-year enterprise agreement with Microsoft, to work together in areas like databases, besides infrastructure and application software.
Apollo Hospitals has signed an MoU with stem cell therapeutics company StemCyte to establish a cord blood bank facility at its Ahmedabad-based hospital.
Drugmaker Cadila has joined hands with biotech firm Novavax to support production of key vaccines in India, including the recently-developed H1N1 Pandemic Vaccine. Jubilant Organosys also entered into a joint venture with two US institutes — University of Alabama and Southern Research Institute.
The agreement signing ceremony, organised by industry body CII, coincides with the state visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the US.
Data services provider Tata Communications has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tyco Electronics to work together in providing additional connectivity and transmission, using dark fibers on the submarine cable system.
Indian IT major Infosys Technologies has signed a multi-year enterprise agreement with Microsoft, to work together in areas like databases, besides infrastructure and application software.
Apollo Hospitals has signed an MoU with stem cell therapeutics company StemCyte to establish a cord blood bank facility at its Ahmedabad-based hospital.
Drugmaker Cadila has joined hands with biotech firm Novavax to support production of key vaccines in India, including the recently-developed H1N1 Pandemic Vaccine. Jubilant Organosys also entered into a joint venture with two US institutes — University of Alabama and Southern Research Institute.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
BPO, Infosys
Infosys BPO to acquire US co McCamish for initial $38 mn
IT bellwether Infosys Technologies on Thursday said its subsidiary Infosys BPO will acquire US-based McCamish Systems for an initial payment of $38 million (about Rs 176.6 crore).
Infosys BPO has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all the outstanding interests of McCamish Systems LLC, Infosys Tech said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
"The upfront consideration for the deal is $38 million, with up to an additional $20 million payable to the sellers if McCamish Systems achieves certain financial targets in the future," the company added.
The acquisition is expected to be completed later this year.
"We look forward to this combination with McCamish, and welcome an exceptional group of professionals with strong skill sets to the Infosys family who will enrich our service capabilities in the USA," Infosys BPO CEO & MD Amitabh Chaudhry said.
The acquisitions is expected to enhance Infosys' capability to provide complete business solutions for insurance and financial industries.
"Infosys BPO has in-depth knowledge of the insurance and financial services sector, and this deal reinforces our relationship position in providing business platform services," Chaudhry said.
The combination is likely to enable McCamish to serve larger portfolio of transactions for clients and expand into global markets.
Shares of Infosys Technologies were trading at Rs 2,336 on the BSE, up 1.18 per cent from its previous close.
Infosys BPO has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all the outstanding interests of McCamish Systems LLC, Infosys Tech said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
"The upfront consideration for the deal is $38 million, with up to an additional $20 million payable to the sellers if McCamish Systems achieves certain financial targets in the future," the company added.
The acquisition is expected to be completed later this year.
"We look forward to this combination with McCamish, and welcome an exceptional group of professionals with strong skill sets to the Infosys family who will enrich our service capabilities in the USA," Infosys BPO CEO & MD Amitabh Chaudhry said.
The acquisitions is expected to enhance Infosys' capability to provide complete business solutions for insurance and financial industries.
"Infosys BPO has in-depth knowledge of the insurance and financial services sector, and this deal reinforces our relationship position in providing business platform services," Chaudhry said.
The combination is likely to enable McCamish to serve larger portfolio of transactions for clients and expand into global markets.
Shares of Infosys Technologies were trading at Rs 2,336 on the BSE, up 1.18 per cent from its previous close.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Infosys, new openings
Infy to up sales staff by 50% before year-end
Infosys, the country’s second-largest information technology services exporter, plans to increase its sales and client services headcount by almost 50 per cent by the end of this financial year, most of which will happen in Europe.
“We are going to add another 100-200 people worldwide in sales and client services by the end of this fiscal on a base of 500. This doubling is in line with our interest in Europe,” said Subhash Dhar, senior vice-president, Infosys Technologies. The headcount increase could happen for sales people in infrastructure and applications services.
Moreover, the company sees its communication, media and entertainment segment to be a cash flow driver. It currently gets around 18 per cent of its overall revenues from this area, up from single-digit in 2002-03. Infosys is bullish about this segment, as many of its customers are restarting their capital expenditure on networks, which usually accounts for half of a company’s total expenditure.
“The spend had slowed down in the last one year. But handheld devices are now driving more traffic. In the media and entertainment space, we are seeing greater activity in digital media and not conventional media,” added Dhar.
He expects budgets to be better next year, too, compared with this year. “We are servicing almost 25 clients in this space and are always in talks with 10-15 more. Usually, we sign one big client per quarter and two or three small clients,” he said.
The non-US revenue is greater than the US revenue for Infosys’ communication, media and entertainment vertical. And, though India does not figure in the top countries’ list, the IT major is seeing new business coming from within India.
“We are going to add another 100-200 people worldwide in sales and client services by the end of this fiscal on a base of 500. This doubling is in line with our interest in Europe,” said Subhash Dhar, senior vice-president, Infosys Technologies. The headcount increase could happen for sales people in infrastructure and applications services.
Moreover, the company sees its communication, media and entertainment segment to be a cash flow driver. It currently gets around 18 per cent of its overall revenues from this area, up from single-digit in 2002-03. Infosys is bullish about this segment, as many of its customers are restarting their capital expenditure on networks, which usually accounts for half of a company’s total expenditure.
“The spend had slowed down in the last one year. But handheld devices are now driving more traffic. In the media and entertainment space, we are seeing greater activity in digital media and not conventional media,” added Dhar.
He expects budgets to be better next year, too, compared with this year. “We are servicing almost 25 clients in this space and are always in talks with 10-15 more. Usually, we sign one big client per quarter and two or three small clients,” he said.
The non-US revenue is greater than the US revenue for Infosys’ communication, media and entertainment vertical. And, though India does not figure in the top countries’ list, the IT major is seeing new business coming from within India.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
BPO, Infosys, new openings
Infosys BPO to hire 2000 by FY10
Infosys BPO, the back-office unit of IT firm Infosys Technologies, today said it would hire 1,500-2,000 people by the end of the current fiscal.
"We plan to hire 2000 people in the next four-five months or by the end of this fiscal. Currently, we are 16,000 people in India," Infosys BPO CEO Amitabh Chaudhry told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
The 300-million Infosys subsidiary recently signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up rural BPO centres in 22 districts of the state.
Infosys BPO gets significant part of its business from North America and Europe.
To bag more clients, it is said to be looking at aligning with Finacle, the banking solution business of its parent. Infosys BPO is also reportedly planning to set up a new delivery centre in the United States before the end of this financial year.
The back-office services wing of Infosys has eight delivery centres across the globe, including in Mexico, but it did not have a centre in the US so far.
Infosys BPO registered revenues of $71.3 million with a net profit of $16.3 million for the September quarter.
"We plan to hire 2000 people in the next four-five months or by the end of this fiscal. Currently, we are 16,000 people in India," Infosys BPO CEO Amitabh Chaudhry told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
The 300-million Infosys subsidiary recently signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up rural BPO centres in 22 districts of the state.
Infosys BPO gets significant part of its business from North America and Europe.
To bag more clients, it is said to be looking at aligning with Finacle, the banking solution business of its parent. Infosys BPO is also reportedly planning to set up a new delivery centre in the United States before the end of this financial year.
The back-office services wing of Infosys has eight delivery centres across the globe, including in Mexico, but it did not have a centre in the US so far.
Infosys BPO registered revenues of $71.3 million with a net profit of $16.3 million for the September quarter.
BPO, Infosys, New Deals
Infosys eyeing acquisitions in Europe, US
The back-office arm of Infosys Technologies, India's No. 2 software services provider, is looking at acquiring firms in Europe and in the United States of $50 million to $100 million, a top official said on Monday.
Infosys BPO would also hire 1,200 people in the current financial year, the unit's chief executive, Amitabh Chaudhry, told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Infosys BPO would also hire 1,200 people in the current financial year, the unit's chief executive, Amitabh Chaudhry, told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Infosys
Infosys offers multi-function human resource solutions
Infosys Technologies, in association with Oracle, will offer managed services platform that will help companies streamline their human resource (HR) operations and reduce costs.
"The platform enables us to offer the next generation of multi-process HR transformational outsourcing to our global clients cost-effectively," the company said in a statement.
Built on Oracle's PeopleSoft enterprise human capital management suite, the offering will help companies streamline their HR operations and reduce costs, as it includes hire-to-retire processes and functions such as HR administration, payroll and talent management.
"Clients can take advantage of the scalable IT infrastructure to achieve economies of scale, best practices and variable cost models," Infosys vice-president Anantha Radhakrishnan said.
"Offshore teams will provide integrated technology, process and language support from multiple offshore and near-shore delivery centers."
The global software major has teamed with Oracle to promote the offering in Australia and New Zealand and extend it to Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Oracle vice-president Tibor Beles said the combination of Oracle's platform and Infosys' IT and HR capabilities can help global organisations achieve HR process transformation and cost reduction using a "pay-as-you-go" variable pricing model.
"The platform enables us to offer the next generation of multi-process HR transformational outsourcing to our global clients cost-effectively," the company said in a statement.
Built on Oracle's PeopleSoft enterprise human capital management suite, the offering will help companies streamline their HR operations and reduce costs, as it includes hire-to-retire processes and functions such as HR administration, payroll and talent management.
"Clients can take advantage of the scalable IT infrastructure to achieve economies of scale, best practices and variable cost models," Infosys vice-president Anantha Radhakrishnan said.
"Offshore teams will provide integrated technology, process and language support from multiple offshore and near-shore delivery centers."
The global software major has teamed with Oracle to promote the offering in Australia and New Zealand and extend it to Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Oracle vice-president Tibor Beles said the combination of Oracle's platform and Infosys' IT and HR capabilities can help global organisations achieve HR process transformation and cost reduction using a "pay-as-you-go" variable pricing model.
Monday, November 2, 2009
BPO, Infosys
Infosys BPO to open delivery centre in US
Infosys BPO will set up a new delivery centre in the United States before the end of this financial year.
The $300 million back-office services wing of Infosys has eight delivery centres across the globe, including in Mexico, but it did not have a center in the US so far. Swaminathan Dandapani, senior vice-president and head of global service delivery, told Financial Chronicle that the US delivery centre was the next logical step.
North American clients account for 62 per cent of the BPO’s export revenues, while the European clientele accounts for 26 per cent. Dandapani said the US will be a key market as the economy has been improving and outsourcing again. The US centre will be followed by more delivery centres in the UK and rest of Europe as the outsourcing scene continues to improve.
“All customers are looking to keep the costs down as they have done over the past year. Hence, outsourcing has continued to be a priority,” he said. The recession has significantly helped Indian outsourcing organisations as customers turn to low-cost suppliers to cut costs.
Infosys BPO will also be hiring to fill up these delivery centres, although it was not immediately known how many will be recruited. The BPO has 17,500 people on its rolls, with 3,000 employees outside India.
Indian outsourcing outfits were under huge stress when US president Barack Obama said that there will be no tax breaks for American companies that would ship jobs abroad.
But that cloud seems to have blown over. And now, with companies like Infosys BPO opening centres in the US, local employment would be created driving out fears of outsourcing.
Infosys BPO registered revenues of $71.3 million with a net profit of $16.3 million for the September quarter. It plans to hire 3,000 to 3,500 people during the current financial year. The company will continue to hire at the entry level which constitutes 80-85 per cent of our total employee base.
The $300 million back-office services wing of Infosys has eight delivery centres across the globe, including in Mexico, but it did not have a center in the US so far. Swaminathan Dandapani, senior vice-president and head of global service delivery, told Financial Chronicle that the US delivery centre was the next logical step.
North American clients account for 62 per cent of the BPO’s export revenues, while the European clientele accounts for 26 per cent. Dandapani said the US will be a key market as the economy has been improving and outsourcing again. The US centre will be followed by more delivery centres in the UK and rest of Europe as the outsourcing scene continues to improve.
“All customers are looking to keep the costs down as they have done over the past year. Hence, outsourcing has continued to be a priority,” he said. The recession has significantly helped Indian outsourcing organisations as customers turn to low-cost suppliers to cut costs.
Infosys BPO will also be hiring to fill up these delivery centres, although it was not immediately known how many will be recruited. The BPO has 17,500 people on its rolls, with 3,000 employees outside India.
Indian outsourcing outfits were under huge stress when US president Barack Obama said that there will be no tax breaks for American companies that would ship jobs abroad.
But that cloud seems to have blown over. And now, with companies like Infosys BPO opening centres in the US, local employment would be created driving out fears of outsourcing.
Infosys BPO registered revenues of $71.3 million with a net profit of $16.3 million for the September quarter. It plans to hire 3,000 to 3,500 people during the current financial year. The company will continue to hire at the entry level which constitutes 80-85 per cent of our total employee base.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
BPO, Infosys
Infosys to open 22 BPO centers in Andhra Pradesh
Infosys BPO Limited, a subsidiary of IT major Infosys, signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up rural BPO centres in 22 districts of the state.
Infosys BPO Limited CEO and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry and State Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty CEO T Vijaya Kumar signed an MoU in this regard in the presence of Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
"The first such BPO centre will be set up in the next six weeks which will provide a testing ground for this model. The capital expenditure and other details will be worked out subsequently," Chaudhry said adding that all the 22 districts would have one BPO each.
"Over 1,000 people would get direct employment through the rural BPO centers in the next 12-15 months. Statistics suggest that direct employment generates 1.4 times indirect employment as well," he added.
Noting that Andhra Pradesh would be the first state where Infosys would be setting such facilities, Chaudhary said, "We are in talks with some other states as well for similar ventures but I can't disclose the names at this stage".
Infosys BPO Limited CEO and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry and State Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty CEO T Vijaya Kumar signed an MoU in this regard in the presence of Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
"The first such BPO centre will be set up in the next six weeks which will provide a testing ground for this model. The capital expenditure and other details will be worked out subsequently," Chaudhry said adding that all the 22 districts would have one BPO each.
"Over 1,000 people would get direct employment through the rural BPO centers in the next 12-15 months. Statistics suggest that direct employment generates 1.4 times indirect employment as well," he added.
Noting that Andhra Pradesh would be the first state where Infosys would be setting such facilities, Chaudhary said, "We are in talks with some other states as well for similar ventures but I can't disclose the names at this stage".
Monday, October 26, 2009
Infosys
Infosys techie arrested for raising bomb scare
A 25-year old engineer from Infosys, who thought that he would miss his Bangalore-bound GoAir flight because his train was running late, landed behind bars Sunday for causing a bomb scare at the Delhi airport.
Abhishek Gupta, who was coming from Lucknow in Gorakhnath Express and was expected to reach Delhi railway station by 6 a.m. and catch a Bangalore-bound GoAir flight from the capital's domestic airport around 8.45 a.m. Gupta's train got delayed and he reached airport around 9.30 a.m. "He called up the call centre of GoAir informing them that he was late because of train delays and asked the staff to reschedule his journey and put him on the second flight to Bangalore. But his request was refused by the GoAir staff," said a police officer.
"Gupta who desperately wanted to reach Bangalore, again called up at their call centre telling the staff that there was some suspicious object on the plane. He thought by doing this, the flight would get delayed for some time. And in the mean time, he would reach the airport and board the same flight," added the police officer.
After the call, the GoAir flight G8201 carrying 164 passengers was grounded and passengers asked to disembark. The bomb and dog disposal squads were pressed into service but nothing was found on the aircraft.
At 9:30 am, Gupta reached the airport and asked for the boarding pass. "It aroused some suspicion. Gupta was then cornered and questioned. He then confessed to causing the panic," said the police officer.
A case has been registered against him under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code and he has been arrested.
Abhishek Gupta, who was coming from Lucknow in Gorakhnath Express and was expected to reach Delhi railway station by 6 a.m. and catch a Bangalore-bound GoAir flight from the capital's domestic airport around 8.45 a.m. Gupta's train got delayed and he reached airport around 9.30 a.m. "He called up the call centre of GoAir informing them that he was late because of train delays and asked the staff to reschedule his journey and put him on the second flight to Bangalore. But his request was refused by the GoAir staff," said a police officer.
"Gupta who desperately wanted to reach Bangalore, again called up at their call centre telling the staff that there was some suspicious object on the plane. He thought by doing this, the flight would get delayed for some time. And in the mean time, he would reach the airport and board the same flight," added the police officer.
After the call, the GoAir flight G8201 carrying 164 passengers was grounded and passengers asked to disembark. The bomb and dog disposal squads were pressed into service but nothing was found on the aircraft.
At 9:30 am, Gupta reached the airport and asked for the boarding pass. "It aroused some suspicion. Gupta was then cornered and questioned. He then confessed to causing the panic," said the police officer.
A case has been registered against him under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code and he has been arrested.
Infosys
Narayana Murthy turning venture capitalist
One of India's most successful entrepreneurs is turning into a venture capitalist (VC). Infosys Technologies' co-founder and chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy, on Thursday, sold shares worth Rs 180 crore to start a venture capital firm that would fund start-ups mainly in India. The idea is to encourage young entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas.
The VC will invest in startups operating in the areas of basic healthcare, education and nutrition. In a reversal of roles, in deciding to become a VC, Murthy is following in the footsteps of his daughter Akshata who was until recently a VC based out of Bay Area in Silicon Valley operating in the clean tech space.
Until her marriage to Rishi Sunak in August, she was a senior associate at Siderian Ventures. Murthy on Wednesday and Thursday sold a combined eight lakh shares of Infosys to raise money to fund VC firm. The number of shares owned by him in the company now stands reduced to 23.8 lakh valued at Rs 526 crore at Thursday's closing price of Rs 2,211.
The Murthy family's combined holding is around 5% with his wife Sudha owning the largest chunk. Murthy's individual holding in Infosys which has been less than 1% for a while now stands reduced to 0.4%. A Infosys' communique to the stock exchanges said, “Narayana Murthy has intimated the company that the proceeds of the sale (of 8 lakh shares) will be used for a proposed venture capital firm to be set up by him in India.''
That the "fund will primarily invest in India and may on a case-to-case basis consider investing overseas.''
Murthy had told TOI a couple of months back that he and his wife intend to give financial help to people who are already doing good work in the fields they have identified rather than re-invent the wheel themselves.
He had then said, "There are lots of fabulous initiatives in the field being executed by some wonderful people to address the issues that interest us. So, Sudha and I will give financial help to these people rather than do it directly."
On Thursday, Infosys stock was the biggest gainer among the 30 sensex constituents. It opened the session at Rs 2,221, traded between Rs 2,250 and Rs 2,182 and finally settled at Rs 2,212, up 2.1% over its Wednesday close at Rs 2,165. In early trades on Nasdaq, Infy ADRs were trading marginally lower at $47.64.
The VC will invest in startups operating in the areas of basic healthcare, education and nutrition. In a reversal of roles, in deciding to become a VC, Murthy is following in the footsteps of his daughter Akshata who was until recently a VC based out of Bay Area in Silicon Valley operating in the clean tech space.
Until her marriage to Rishi Sunak in August, she was a senior associate at Siderian Ventures. Murthy on Wednesday and Thursday sold a combined eight lakh shares of Infosys to raise money to fund VC firm. The number of shares owned by him in the company now stands reduced to 23.8 lakh valued at Rs 526 crore at Thursday's closing price of Rs 2,211.
The Murthy family's combined holding is around 5% with his wife Sudha owning the largest chunk. Murthy's individual holding in Infosys which has been less than 1% for a while now stands reduced to 0.4%. A Infosys' communique to the stock exchanges said, “Narayana Murthy has intimated the company that the proceeds of the sale (of 8 lakh shares) will be used for a proposed venture capital firm to be set up by him in India.''
That the "fund will primarily invest in India and may on a case-to-case basis consider investing overseas.''
Murthy had told TOI a couple of months back that he and his wife intend to give financial help to people who are already doing good work in the fields they have identified rather than re-invent the wheel themselves.
He had then said, "There are lots of fabulous initiatives in the field being executed by some wonderful people to address the issues that interest us. So, Sudha and I will give financial help to these people rather than do it directly."
On Thursday, Infosys stock was the biggest gainer among the 30 sensex constituents. It opened the session at Rs 2,221, traded between Rs 2,250 and Rs 2,182 and finally settled at Rs 2,212, up 2.1% over its Wednesday close at Rs 2,165. In early trades on Nasdaq, Infy ADRs were trading marginally lower at $47.64.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Infosys
It’s party time at Infosys
Say cheers to this! IT behemoth Infosys has reintroduced binge benefit to its 100,000 employees, entitling them to a fixed quarterly allowance to take time out for recreation.
The company had withdrawn this perk six months ago in the wake of the economic meltdown and stagnation of its business.
There is now buzz in the campus that Infy may soon reintroduce other incentives such as interest-free home loans to needy employees, car loans and other giveaways.
The news comes close on the heels of the IT bellwether revising its full-year revenue guidance upwards and is aimed at boosting staff morale.
Nandita Gurjar, senior VP and group head of HR at Infosys, confirmed the news.
“Yes, we have reintroduced this particular scheme. This was put on hold due to economic downturn. Under this scheme, the company pays Rs 300 per person every quarter as party incentive. All employees will get this benefit,” Gurjar said.
Infoscians say the sop marks a return to good times both for the company and for the employees located at around 50 offices across the globe.
The party incentive comes as the icing on top of an across-the-board salary hike and promotions announced earlier this month. Offshore salaries have risen by 8 per cent while onsite remunerations have gone up 2 per cent.
For quarter ending September 30, Infosys reported a rise in net profit by 7.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis at Rs 1,540 crore and 3 per cent revenues growth at Rs 5,418 crore, beating street expectations.
The company had withdrawn this perk six months ago in the wake of the economic meltdown and stagnation of its business.
There is now buzz in the campus that Infy may soon reintroduce other incentives such as interest-free home loans to needy employees, car loans and other giveaways.
The news comes close on the heels of the IT bellwether revising its full-year revenue guidance upwards and is aimed at boosting staff morale.
Nandita Gurjar, senior VP and group head of HR at Infosys, confirmed the news.
“Yes, we have reintroduced this particular scheme. This was put on hold due to economic downturn. Under this scheme, the company pays Rs 300 per person every quarter as party incentive. All employees will get this benefit,” Gurjar said.
Infoscians say the sop marks a return to good times both for the company and for the employees located at around 50 offices across the globe.
The party incentive comes as the icing on top of an across-the-board salary hike and promotions announced earlier this month. Offshore salaries have risen by 8 per cent while onsite remunerations have gone up 2 per cent.
For quarter ending September 30, Infosys reported a rise in net profit by 7.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis at Rs 1,540 crore and 3 per cent revenues growth at Rs 5,418 crore, beating street expectations.
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