The Madras High Court dismissed applications seeking an interim injunction restraining Tata Consultancy Services from infringing the applicant’s copyright and patent in the invention ‘FLYGUARD’ under the title e-passport (Smartcard) and as TCS e-passport solution.
The applicant, S Paul Raj, a computer science graduate, said during his study, he identified several areas in daily life, which could be simplified with technological intervention. To avoid aircraft being hijacked, he invented the concept of a travel document, which would be the substratum for the traveler’s information.
He said he was the owner of the intellectual property in the patent regarding the invention in the written form of the project concept.
The company’s attempt to infringe the copyright and his patent should be prohibited.
In its counter, the company submitted the concept was bereft of any novelty. It was neither original nor new. Such a concept involved technologies that were already in public domain for a long time.
The applicant admittedly had not operationalised the so-called idea. There was no patent registration in his name.
In his order, Justice K Chandru said the applicant had neither made out any prima facie case nor the balance of convenience was in his favour for the grant of any interim order.
It was not the applicant’s claim that he had a patent for the invention. The company had established that the concept of e-passport through a s
mart card and the biometric concept of introducing chips containing details had already been in public domain for several years.
This fact coupled with the applicant’s request to the company to provide employment for him and his family would clearly show that he was not making any bona fide claim.
The applicant did not satisfy the ingredients for the grant of an interim order.
Showing posts with label TCS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TCS. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Infosys, new openings, TCS, Wipro
IT firms to come calling in December for campus selections
The recruitment season in engineering colleges has seen a shift. Usually, August-September is when IT firms queue up to tap the best talent on campus. This year, however, is different with companies deciding to keep away until the eighth semester as per a Nasscom directive.
Hiring season will now start only from December while some firms such as Wipro have opted for a February 2010 timeframe.
“The number of IT companies going to campuses now is almost negligible. We have been told by our clients that they are looking to hire only from December since they are still absorbing the 2009 batch,” said Madan Padaki, MD of MeritTrac, a firm which works with IT companies for student assessments.
In March this year, Nasscom sent out an email to IT companies requesting them to visit engineering colleges only in the last semester.
It was felt that such a move would benefit companies who were struggling from the economic meltdown, burdened with excess bench strength and deferred campus offers.
Top tech firms including Infosys, Wipro and TCS are still in the process of taking in students they had offered jobs to from the 2008 and 2009 batches. For instance, about 7,000 students are yet to be accommodated in Wipro.
Wipro’s VP – Talent Acquisition, Pradeep Bahirwani said, “We plan to visit campuses only in the final year unlike previous years. Our hiring is based on business need and training plans.” He added that depending on the colleges, Wipro would begin campus recruitment from February-March 2010 onwards.
Many colleges are happy with the delay saying that it will allow students to concentrate more on study and research, an aspect they tend to go easy on once they get their job.
N Vijayadev, head of placement and training department of M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology said, “Earlier, with placements happening during the sixth semester and students bagging jobs, there was a drastic decline in the number of students taking up research and higher studies.”
DY Patil College of Engineering’s placement head S V Dravid said that the extra two semesters will give students
time to be better prepared for the interviews.
Hiring season will now start only from December while some firms such as Wipro have opted for a February 2010 timeframe.
“The number of IT companies going to campuses now is almost negligible. We have been told by our clients that they are looking to hire only from December since they are still absorbing the 2009 batch,” said Madan Padaki, MD of MeritTrac, a firm which works with IT companies for student assessments.
In March this year, Nasscom sent out an email to IT companies requesting them to visit engineering colleges only in the last semester.
It was felt that such a move would benefit companies who were struggling from the economic meltdown, burdened with excess bench strength and deferred campus offers.
Top tech firms including Infosys, Wipro and TCS are still in the process of taking in students they had offered jobs to from the 2008 and 2009 batches. For instance, about 7,000 students are yet to be accommodated in Wipro.
Wipro’s VP – Talent Acquisition, Pradeep Bahirwani said, “We plan to visit campuses only in the final year unlike previous years. Our hiring is based on business need and training plans.” He added that depending on the colleges, Wipro would begin campus recruitment from February-March 2010 onwards.
Many colleges are happy with the delay saying that it will allow students to concentrate more on study and research, an aspect they tend to go easy on once they get their job.
N Vijayadev, head of placement and training department of M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology said, “Earlier, with placements happening during the sixth semester and students bagging jobs, there was a drastic decline in the number of students taking up research and higher studies.”
DY Patil College of Engineering’s placement head S V Dravid said that the extra two semesters will give students
time to be better prepared for the interviews.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
IBM, Satyam, TCS, Wipro
Bharti IT contract: TCS, Wipro, IBM, Tech Mah short-listed
Four Indian IT majors have been short-listed for Bharti Airtel's IT contract, reports CNBC-TV18, quoting sources. The shortlisted companies include Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, IBM, and Tech Mahindra. Bharti Airtel's IT contract is valued at USD 500 million, for which 10 IT firms had bid.
When contacted, Bharti Airtel was unavailable for comment. The outsourcing contract is for management of inter-city fibre network. IBM is currently working on a USD 100 million IT contract for Airtel.
When contacted, Bharti Airtel was unavailable for comment. The outsourcing contract is for management of inter-city fibre network. IBM is currently working on a USD 100 million IT contract for Airtel.
Infosys, IT market, TCS
Infosys most admired Indian company: Survey
IT bellwether Infosys Technologies has been adjudged as most admired Indian company, ahead of Tata Consultancy Services and Bharti Airtel, says a survey.
Infosys has topped the list of 10 most admired Indian companies and is followed by IT major TCS at the second position, according to the survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal Asia.
Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is at the third spot, engineering major Larsen & Toubro has cornered the fourth place and IT firm Wipro is at the fifth position.
Others on the list are Tata Steel (sixth), FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (seventh), HDFC Bank (eighth), State Bank of India (9th) and conglomerate ITC (10th).
The ranking is based on the Asian 200 survey of subscribers of The Wall Street Journal Asia and other business people.
The survey takes into account factors such as financial reputation, vision, corporate reputation, quality and innovation.
Infosys has also been ranked first in terms of corporate reputation, vision and quality.
State Bank of India has topped the list in terms of financial reputation followed by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries at the second place and HDFC Bank at the third position.
Tata Steel and Reliance Industries have cornered the second and third places, respectively, in terms of vision.
When it comes to corporate reputation, Tata group firms TCS and Tata Steel are at the second and third spots, respectively.
In terms of quality, Larsen & Toubro is at the second position while Bharti Airtel is placed third.
TCS has topped the list when it comes to innovation and followed by Bharti Airtel at the second place. Infosys is at the third spot, respectively.
A total of 2,622 executives and professionals participated in the Asian 200 survey across 12 Asian-Pacific countries.
According to the publication, the multinational winner of the survey would be named on September 11.
Infosys has topped the list of 10 most admired Indian companies and is followed by IT major TCS at the second position, according to the survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal Asia.
Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is at the third spot, engineering major Larsen & Toubro has cornered the fourth place and IT firm Wipro is at the fifth position.
Others on the list are Tata Steel (sixth), FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (seventh), HDFC Bank (eighth), State Bank of India (9th) and conglomerate ITC (10th).
The ranking is based on the Asian 200 survey of subscribers of The Wall Street Journal Asia and other business people.
The survey takes into account factors such as financial reputation, vision, corporate reputation, quality and innovation.
Infosys has also been ranked first in terms of corporate reputation, vision and quality.
State Bank of India has topped the list in terms of financial reputation followed by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries at the second place and HDFC Bank at the third position.
Tata Steel and Reliance Industries have cornered the second and third places, respectively, in terms of vision.
When it comes to corporate reputation, Tata group firms TCS and Tata Steel are at the second and third spots, respectively.
In terms of quality, Larsen & Toubro is at the second position while Bharti Airtel is placed third.
TCS has topped the list when it comes to innovation and followed by Bharti Airtel at the second place. Infosys is at the third spot, respectively.
A total of 2,622 executives and professionals participated in the Asian 200 survey across 12 Asian-Pacific countries.
According to the publication, the multinational winner of the survey would be named on September 11.
IT market, TCS, Wipro
Govt's long-pending projects new hope for Indian IT
The next big opportunity for the country’s IT sector is right in front of Tanmoy Chakraborty’s eyes. His office on the fifth floor of a high-rise on New Delhi’s Parliament Street is flanked by a medley of buildings that serves as head offices of various departments of the central government.
Decisions made in them could potentially shape the future of the Indian IT industry, says Mr Chakraborty, the 47-year-old vice-president for government projects at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s biggest software company by revenues, market value and employees.
Just about a tenth of TCS’ around $6-billion annual turnover comes from executing official projects now —it is no different at rival firms such as Infosys and Wipro—and Mr Chakraborty’s task is to persuade departments sitting on the fence when it comes to decisions to award large IT projects to take the plunge.
But that’s easier said than done. As is common with all things official, an unseen yet formidable barrier stands between the IT sector’s hopes and government promises: The Great Indian Red Tape.
“India is a graveyard of pilot projects,” Mr Chakraborty says, leaning against his cabin wall.
Decisions made in them could potentially shape the future of the Indian IT industry, says Mr Chakraborty, the 47-year-old vice-president for government projects at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s biggest software company by revenues, market value and employees.
Just about a tenth of TCS’ around $6-billion annual turnover comes from executing official projects now —it is no different at rival firms such as Infosys and Wipro—and Mr Chakraborty’s task is to persuade departments sitting on the fence when it comes to decisions to award large IT projects to take the plunge.
But that’s easier said than done. As is common with all things official, an unseen yet formidable barrier stands between the IT sector’s hopes and government promises: The Great Indian Red Tape.
“India is a graveyard of pilot projects,” Mr Chakraborty says, leaning against his cabin wall.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Infosys, IT market, TCS
Swine Flu: IT companies issue advisory
Taking precautionary steps against swine flu, Infosys Technologies has restricted both inbound and outbound travel from its development centre in Pune. On the other hand, Wipro is continuing with its general travel advisories.
Infosys said: “We have restricted all inbound and outbound travel at our development centre in Pune. We are continuing efforts to educate our employees, monitoring health bulletins and taking necessary precautions.” Infosys has 20,000 employees at its Pune development centre.
Both these IT majors have development centres across the country, with Pune being among the larger centres. According Wipro CIO Laxman Badiga: “We continue to provide required travel advisories .... We are communicating with our employees to exercise extreme caution and to avoid unnecessary travel. Our employees at the affected countries are reported to be safe and our business operations continue to function as normal.” Wipro has close to 9,000 people at the Pune centre.
Pune has seen the maximum attention from outbreak of HIN1 virus, especially with the first death being reported from the city.
At the first outbreak of the H1N1 in Mexico, IT majors like Infosys, Wipro and TCS had temporarily closed down their centres in Mexico for a week as a precautionary measure.
Infosys said: “We have restricted all inbound and outbound travel at our development centre in Pune. We are continuing efforts to educate our employees, monitoring health bulletins and taking necessary precautions.” Infosys has 20,000 employees at its Pune development centre.
Both these IT majors have development centres across the country, with Pune being among the larger centres. According Wipro CIO Laxman Badiga: “We continue to provide required travel advisories .... We are communicating with our employees to exercise extreme caution and to avoid unnecessary travel. Our employees at the affected countries are reported to be safe and our business operations continue to function as normal.” Wipro has close to 9,000 people at the Pune centre.
Pune has seen the maximum attention from outbreak of HIN1 virus, especially with the first death being reported from the city.
At the first outbreak of the H1N1 in Mexico, IT majors like Infosys, Wipro and TCS had temporarily closed down their centres in Mexico for a week as a precautionary measure.
IT market, TCS
Swine flu fear spreads across the Indian IT industry
Source: DeccanHerald
If it be the global recession that impacted IT sector for the last two years, it is all going to be gripped by an impending outbreak of swine flu.
While many IT companies in the country have imposed travel restriction on their employees, few others are circulating information on swine flu internally to sensitise employees. Few companies also embarked upon cooling off period for those who returned from overseas stint. According to TCS sources, the company started mailing employees to take precautionary measures in the event of singe or large outbreak of the disease.
Eventhough the outbreak of the disease hasn’t affected its overseas operation, TCS Mexican centre had to be closed for five days because of local government directive.
When Deccan Herald spoke to few TCS employees, they said the circular cautions them to restrict hugging and even unwanted spitting. TCS also tied up with few hospitals for getting them checked. Infosys has already started educating employees by sending health bulletins for taking necessary precautions. Medical teams at the company’s various development centres are on high alert and in constant touch with public authorities to ensure safety of employees and continuity of operations. Infosys also reduced all inbound and outbound travel to Pune Development Centre and limited it to essential business travel. It has 20,000 strong workforce at the Pune centre.
WiproChief Information Officer Laxman Badiga said “in addition to existing pandemic response plan, we have intensified our efforts at employee health and safety measures.
We are communicating with our employees to exercise extreme caution and avoid unnecessary travel.”
Symphony Services Corporation has told its employees who have travelled to the UK, Mexico, the US and parts of Europe recently, to go through a cooling off period. Executive Vice-President & Chief People Officer C Mahalingam said the cooling off period entails working from home for four-five days and getting back to office after employees show no signs of having contracted the disease. “Our wellness partners are doing all necessary checks and issuing communication on the disease to all staff,” he added.
Mask purchasing spree
Cognizant, which has over 7,500 employees in Pune, has issued an advisory to their associates asking them to undertake only essential travel and defer all other types of travel to locations worldwide affected by swine flu.
Few of MNC companies working in the sector have also started purchasing spree of masks and other gadgets to counter the spread of swine flu at their centres in the country. In another development, Nasscom has also postponed its engineering services outsourcing summit scheduled to be held in Pune on August 19 to November 18.
Manipal Cure & Care Pvt Ltd Medical Director Satish Amaranth, who takes health classes for IT companies on swine flu said it is time for employees to be sensitised rather than paving the way for a panic situation.
If it be the global recession that impacted IT sector for the last two years, it is all going to be gripped by an impending outbreak of swine flu.
While many IT companies in the country have imposed travel restriction on their employees, few others are circulating information on swine flu internally to sensitise employees. Few companies also embarked upon cooling off period for those who returned from overseas stint. According to TCS sources, the company started mailing employees to take precautionary measures in the event of singe or large outbreak of the disease.
Eventhough the outbreak of the disease hasn’t affected its overseas operation, TCS Mexican centre had to be closed for five days because of local government directive.
When Deccan Herald spoke to few TCS employees, they said the circular cautions them to restrict hugging and even unwanted spitting. TCS also tied up with few hospitals for getting them checked. Infosys has already started educating employees by sending health bulletins for taking necessary precautions. Medical teams at the company’s various development centres are on high alert and in constant touch with public authorities to ensure safety of employees and continuity of operations. Infosys also reduced all inbound and outbound travel to Pune Development Centre and limited it to essential business travel. It has 20,000 strong workforce at the Pune centre.
WiproChief Information Officer Laxman Badiga said “in addition to existing pandemic response plan, we have intensified our efforts at employee health and safety measures.
We are communicating with our employees to exercise extreme caution and avoid unnecessary travel.”
Symphony Services Corporation has told its employees who have travelled to the UK, Mexico, the US and parts of Europe recently, to go through a cooling off period. Executive Vice-President & Chief People Officer C Mahalingam said the cooling off period entails working from home for four-five days and getting back to office after employees show no signs of having contracted the disease. “Our wellness partners are doing all necessary checks and issuing communication on the disease to all staff,” he added.
Mask purchasing spree
Cognizant, which has over 7,500 employees in Pune, has issued an advisory to their associates asking them to undertake only essential travel and defer all other types of travel to locations worldwide affected by swine flu.
Few of MNC companies working in the sector have also started purchasing spree of masks and other gadgets to counter the spread of swine flu at their centres in the country. In another development, Nasscom has also postponed its engineering services outsourcing summit scheduled to be held in Pune on August 19 to November 18.
Manipal Cure & Care Pvt Ltd Medical Director Satish Amaranth, who takes health classes for IT companies on swine flu said it is time for employees to be sensitised rather than paving the way for a panic situation.
Friday, August 7, 2009
TCS
TCS implements automated trading system for Daiwa securities
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, consulting, business solutions and outsourcing firm has announced that it has simultaneously implemented an automated trading system for Daiwa Securities SMBC (Daiwa) across multiple markets in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region including Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Daiwa expects the newly introduced automated trading system to reduce cycle times while increasing trading volumes and that it will offer customers increased profitability afforded for access to automated trading strategies.
The automated system employs essentially the same applications for each stock market and its simultaneous deployment was made possible through the use of TCS' Global Network Delivery Model (GNDM). The trading system's adaptability to such diverse stock market systems bales well for its future expansion into other markets.
TCS mobilized 100 engineers over a one year period working in tandem with Daiwa's project team from the gathering and analysis of system requirements to system implementation, TCS ensured effective project management and addressed requirements for industry specificity by assigning a group of engineers and functional consultants, well-versed in the operations of securities markets. To ensure the successful deployment of Daiwa's first large scale off shoring initiative, periodical visits to the TCS offshore facilities by Daiwa representatives were arranged throughout the development process.
The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 06 August 2009.
The automated system employs essentially the same applications for each stock market and its simultaneous deployment was made possible through the use of TCS' Global Network Delivery Model (GNDM). The trading system's adaptability to such diverse stock market systems bales well for its future expansion into other markets.
TCS mobilized 100 engineers over a one year period working in tandem with Daiwa's project team from the gathering and analysis of system requirements to system implementation, TCS ensured effective project management and addressed requirements for industry specificity by assigning a group of engineers and functional consultants, well-versed in the operations of securities markets. To ensure the successful deployment of Daiwa's first large scale off shoring initiative, periodical visits to the TCS offshore facilities by Daiwa representatives were arranged throughout the development process.
The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 06 August 2009.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
IT market, New Deals, Outsourcing, TCS
IT cos eye $1.8 bn engg services market
At a time when revenues from application development and maintenance are shrinking, Indian tech firms are seeing newer opportunities emerging from engineering services outsourcing market, estimated to be worth around $1.8 billion and expected to reach $50 billion by 2020.
Tech companies such as TCS, QuEST Global, Infotech Enterprises and Tata Technologies are finding new opportunities because their top customers, including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and EADS, are changing their business models to cut costs with more outsourcing, bring in new risk-sharing partners and get closer to growing markets of India and China.
Besides seeing increase in volumes from aerospace customers for projects, such as Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus 380, these companies are seeing new growth in the number of customers from verticals such as life sciences, healthcare and energy conservation which will grow the current $1.8-billion offshore market in India.
“We believe that the recent structural changes in the automotive industry will drive increased demand for ESO, and specifically outsourcing to India,” says Warren Harris, Tata Technologies president and global COO. The company is in the process of securing a full vehicle program for a major Asia-Pacific automotive OEM, “which will be a first for an Indian ESO provider”, said Mr Harris.
Experts such as VG Ramakrishnan, senior director, automotive and transportation at Frost and Sullivan said companies from Europe and the US are looking to increase their activity in India because of cost arbitrage and talent. “The cost arbitrage is like $25 per hour in India and $75 per hour in the US. The value of contracts that will come to India typically starts from Rs 200 crore-Rs 300 crore”.
“India can expect to win about 25% of this offshore engineering spend, about $50 billion due to various reasons, like availability of skilled and trained English speaking manpower, cost advantages, excellent offshore management processes,” said Bejoy George chief marketing officer at QuEST Global. “We expect to cross $100 million in revenues this current year,” said Mr George.
Meanwhile, rival firm Infotech Enterprises is eyeing opportunities in the auto-sector, rail transportation, heavy engineering, oil and gas. “We are seeing new work coming to us in auto sector for fuel-efficient cars, clean technology-based engines for aerospace, developing medical electronic devices,” said Dr BVR Mohan Reddy, chairman, Infotech Enterprises.
TCS is working on hybrid-battery technology for fuel efficiency, partnering with a US-based automotive major. “TCS is expecting to grow the engineering and industrial services (EIS) business from 6% to 10% in the next three years because of new programs by global aerospace and OEMs which can run into billions of dollars,” said Regu Ayyaswamy, VP and global head (EIS) at TCS.
Tech companies such as TCS, QuEST Global, Infotech Enterprises and Tata Technologies are finding new opportunities because their top customers, including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and EADS, are changing their business models to cut costs with more outsourcing, bring in new risk-sharing partners and get closer to growing markets of India and China.
Besides seeing increase in volumes from aerospace customers for projects, such as Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus 380, these companies are seeing new growth in the number of customers from verticals such as life sciences, healthcare and energy conservation which will grow the current $1.8-billion offshore market in India.
“We believe that the recent structural changes in the automotive industry will drive increased demand for ESO, and specifically outsourcing to India,” says Warren Harris, Tata Technologies president and global COO. The company is in the process of securing a full vehicle program for a major Asia-Pacific automotive OEM, “which will be a first for an Indian ESO provider”, said Mr Harris.
Experts such as VG Ramakrishnan, senior director, automotive and transportation at Frost and Sullivan said companies from Europe and the US are looking to increase their activity in India because of cost arbitrage and talent. “The cost arbitrage is like $25 per hour in India and $75 per hour in the US. The value of contracts that will come to India typically starts from Rs 200 crore-Rs 300 crore”.
“India can expect to win about 25% of this offshore engineering spend, about $50 billion due to various reasons, like availability of skilled and trained English speaking manpower, cost advantages, excellent offshore management processes,” said Bejoy George chief marketing officer at QuEST Global. “We expect to cross $100 million in revenues this current year,” said Mr George.
Meanwhile, rival firm Infotech Enterprises is eyeing opportunities in the auto-sector, rail transportation, heavy engineering, oil and gas. “We are seeing new work coming to us in auto sector for fuel-efficient cars, clean technology-based engines for aerospace, developing medical electronic devices,” said Dr BVR Mohan Reddy, chairman, Infotech Enterprises.
TCS is working on hybrid-battery technology for fuel efficiency, partnering with a US-based automotive major. “TCS is expecting to grow the engineering and industrial services (EIS) business from 6% to 10% in the next three years because of new programs by global aerospace and OEMs which can run into billions of dollars,” said Regu Ayyaswamy, VP and global head (EIS) at TCS.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
TCS
Hiring practices need to be digitized: TCS
Source: NDTV
Guess where the new generation wants to work, which sectors it prefers and where should one look out for best results while recruiting? There are some very interesting findings in a youth survey done by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest software company in India, which by the way employs over 140,000 employees itself.
Well, why go visit a college to recruit and spend money when one can hire employees by click of a mouse. That's what says a TCS youth survey done across 12 Indian cities with 14,000 high school children between 12-18 years of age.
The young digital generation looks to online sources as the first destination for any information followed by TV and print. A 46 per cent of them access online sources and only 25 per cent turn to TV and print for information. The survey also found that 63 per cent of them spend an hour online daily.
If the survey done by TCS is to be believed, it will change the hiring models across companies quite dramatically. A clear shift to web and TCS’ top management is already acting upon the data cues.
S Ramadorai, CEO of TCS, said, "We have to completely digitize hiring practices, not from campuses anymore but through interactions on the web."
The survey doesn't stop at that. The recession is reflecting in choices that today's youth want to make. They don't want to become high street bankers anymore, but the new age sectors like media, entertainment, travel and tourism are the clear favorites.
While majority still wants to go and study abroad, homecoming is a serious option. "They are open to sharing, want to travel, many want to be global citizens, but also want to come back," Ramadorai said.
Also, who says the young generation is not social. A good 93 per cent of them are aware of social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. All one needs to know is where to find them.
Guess where the new generation wants to work, which sectors it prefers and where should one look out for best results while recruiting? There are some very interesting findings in a youth survey done by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest software company in India, which by the way employs over 140,000 employees itself.
Well, why go visit a college to recruit and spend money when one can hire employees by click of a mouse. That's what says a TCS youth survey done across 12 Indian cities with 14,000 high school children between 12-18 years of age.
The young digital generation looks to online sources as the first destination for any information followed by TV and print. A 46 per cent of them access online sources and only 25 per cent turn to TV and print for information. The survey also found that 63 per cent of them spend an hour online daily.
If the survey done by TCS is to be believed, it will change the hiring models across companies quite dramatically. A clear shift to web and TCS’ top management is already acting upon the data cues.
S Ramadorai, CEO of TCS, said, "We have to completely digitize hiring practices, not from campuses anymore but through interactions on the web."
The survey doesn't stop at that. The recession is reflecting in choices that today's youth want to make. They don't want to become high street bankers anymore, but the new age sectors like media, entertainment, travel and tourism are the clear favorites.
While majority still wants to go and study abroad, homecoming is a serious option. "They are open to sharing, want to travel, many want to be global citizens, but also want to come back," Ramadorai said.
Also, who says the young generation is not social. A good 93 per cent of them are aware of social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. All one needs to know is where to find them.
Outsourcing, TCS, Wipro
TCS, Wipro eyeing $522 mn rail deal
Indian technology firms including Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro are in pursuit of up to 25 billion rupees ($522 million) outsourcing contract from Indian Railways, the Economic Times said.
State-owned Indian Railways plans to procure a human resources management system and other modules for integrating and automating its payroll, accounting and pension functions, the newspaper said on Monday.
The organisation plans to spend around $1.5 billion over the next 2-3 years on technology, it said.
"We will be coming out with a request for proposal very soon. The idea is to have build-operate-transfer models with the vendors," the paper quoted an unidentified senior railway official as saying.
A spokeswoman for TCS declined to comment on the report, while Wipro officials were not immediately available. Indian Railways also plans to outsource its train scheduling and management system, in a deal valued at around 4.5 billion rupees, the paper said.
TCS, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam are also bidding for this project, it said.
State-owned Indian Railways plans to procure a human resources management system and other modules for integrating and automating its payroll, accounting and pension functions, the newspaper said on Monday.
The organisation plans to spend around $1.5 billion over the next 2-3 years on technology, it said.
"We will be coming out with a request for proposal very soon. The idea is to have build-operate-transfer models with the vendors," the paper quoted an unidentified senior railway official as saying.
A spokeswoman for TCS declined to comment on the report, while Wipro officials were not immediately available. Indian Railways also plans to outsource its train scheduling and management system, in a deal valued at around 4.5 billion rupees, the paper said.
TCS, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam are also bidding for this project, it said.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Infosys, IT market, Outsourcing, TCS, Wipro
IT majors chase Rs 2,500-cr railways’ outsourcing deal
Tech firms TCS and Wipro, apart from several others, are in pursuit of up to Rs 2,500-crore outsourcing contract at Indian Railways, as the world’s biggest civilian employer plans to procure a human resource management system (HRMS) and other modules for integrating and automating functions of payroll, accounting and pension.
With around 1.6 million employees, Indian Railways aims to have a centralised system for managing its staff better. The organisation plans to spend around $1.5 billion over the next two to three years on technology.
“We will be coming out with a request for proposal very soon. The idea is to have built-operate-transfer (BOT) model with the vendors,” said a senior railways official. He requested anonymity because he is not authorised to talk about the project.
In order to avoid high capital investments in acquiring these solutions, railways is exploring cost-effective models such as software-as-a-service, wherein entire infrastructure and application software will be owned by vendors. “We also plan to bring performance and efficiency-linked parameters for paying these vendors,” the official added. At least two senior officials at Indian tech firms chasing this contract confirmed their interest on conditions of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to media about their companies’ business pursuits.
“It will be a PPP and the pricing will be based on the number of transactions, while the IT company will fund and manage the entire IT set-up,” one of the executives said.
Indian Railways, which is the second largest rail network in the world, also plans to outsource another contract called ‘implementation of software-aided train scheduling’, valued at around Rs 450 crore. TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam are already bidding for this contract. The project will help railways do real-time train scheduling and management with the help of a software solution.
“Wipro is already doing two pilots for Indian Railways. One is a pilot for RFID and will be rolled out in next 12-18 months. The company is doing another control charting pilot for Railways where it charts the movement of trains,” another person familiar with outsourcing contract being awarded by Railways said. Both TCS and Wipro declined to offer specific comments about these contracts.
Railways is planning to outsource three more contracts over the next few months, with each estimated to be in the range of Rs 450 crore to Rs 500 crore. Apart from the asset management contract, the railways plans to invite bids for a contract to develop and deploy a solution for automating and integrating the functions of finance and payroll and the other one for material management solution.
With around 1.6 million employees, Indian Railways aims to have a centralised system for managing its staff better. The organisation plans to spend around $1.5 billion over the next two to three years on technology.
“We will be coming out with a request for proposal very soon. The idea is to have built-operate-transfer (BOT) model with the vendors,” said a senior railways official. He requested anonymity because he is not authorised to talk about the project.
In order to avoid high capital investments in acquiring these solutions, railways is exploring cost-effective models such as software-as-a-service, wherein entire infrastructure and application software will be owned by vendors. “We also plan to bring performance and efficiency-linked parameters for paying these vendors,” the official added. At least two senior officials at Indian tech firms chasing this contract confirmed their interest on conditions of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to media about their companies’ business pursuits.
“It will be a PPP and the pricing will be based on the number of transactions, while the IT company will fund and manage the entire IT set-up,” one of the executives said.
Indian Railways, which is the second largest rail network in the world, also plans to outsource another contract called ‘implementation of software-aided train scheduling’, valued at around Rs 450 crore. TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam are already bidding for this contract. The project will help railways do real-time train scheduling and management with the help of a software solution.
“Wipro is already doing two pilots for Indian Railways. One is a pilot for RFID and will be rolled out in next 12-18 months. The company is doing another control charting pilot for Railways where it charts the movement of trains,” another person familiar with outsourcing contract being awarded by Railways said. Both TCS and Wipro declined to offer specific comments about these contracts.
Railways is planning to outsource three more contracts over the next few months, with each estimated to be in the range of Rs 450 crore to Rs 500 crore. Apart from the asset management contract, the railways plans to invite bids for a contract to develop and deploy a solution for automating and integrating the functions of finance and payroll and the other one for material management solution.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Infosys, IT market, Outsourcing, TCS, Wipro
For IT firms, it pays to be on networking sites
Recently, a prospective buyer of information technology services posted a query for Infosys Technologies on networking site Twitter. The Infosys team that tracks the online world forwarded the query to the sales team, which got in touch with the prospective buyer. The client was pleasantly surprised with the prompt reply and awarded the contract to Infosys.
In a month, the two joint CEOs of Wipro Technologies, Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani, are expected to become active on Twitter. The IT firm agrees that leads coming from its online presence on sites such as Linkedin, Webcasts, Webinars, and others have gone up by 50 per cent.
Bangalore-based Mindtree has created a community on professional networking site Linkedin. The company uses this as positive referral traffic, which can be converted into business.
These are examples of how Indian IT companies are using networking sites —social and professional. Traditionally focused on using business-to-business (B2B) tools, these companies are using business-to-consumer (B2C) tools like networking sites to gain attention.
IT companies are not new to the virtual world, having made their presence felt in secondlife.com — a three-dimensional virtual world where registered users socialise and connect with one another. Wipro has set up a virtual lab and uses 3D technology. The company boasts of 9,000 unique visitors and uses its virtual presence to showcase its technology offerings to clients.
But moving on to sites like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook is an altogether different thing. “It is about engagement and getting insight. What it gives an organisation is participation with stakeholders, opinion sharing, and co-creation. This does not replace the need for creating awareness (branding), but it does give a huge insight on the target audience,” says Aditya Jha, assistant vice-president, marketing, Infosys. He believes that in future research on any organisation will be done online. “Those who do not join now will lose big in this segment,” he cautions.
India’s second-largest IT company has a sizeable presence in the online world. For instance, the company started its blog almost three years back. It ventured on slideshare — a presentation sharing site — 15 months ago, has had videos on Youtube for over a year, and started on Twitter nine months ago. Recently, when the company was jolted by a bus accident, it immediately posted it on Twitter.
The target audience for IT-services companies are media, analysts, potential employees and, in some instances, clients.
Jessie Paul, chief marketing officer of Wipro, agrees that these sites are typically targeted at the B2C segment, but are relevant even to IT companies. “The impact of traditional media is diminishing. Sites like Linkedin are being used by sales teams to get in touch with business people. Analysts follow you, but, most importantly, so does competition,” she says. Wipro has a community on Linkedin. Its human resources department uses the site for hiring.
Wipro started its online foray (other than having a corporate website) with secondlife.com two years ago. After that, it ventured into Youtube and joined Twitter in August last year. “We will launch our new website next month and it will have all these clubbed together. Our CEOs will also start twittering,” says Paul. The company plans to have a one-day workshop on social media for its top executives.
At the same time, lessons are being absorbed. “I think earlier the objective was not clearly defined and hence the Second Life presence did not make much of an impact. But that’s not the case now. Apart from creating communities and blogs, this medium is being used for hiring as well as for extending the CSR (corporate social responsibility) reach. Most importantly, companies are trying to monitor the negative as well as positive press. Not being at these places creates more criticism than being there,” says Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst, Gartner.
Pratheep Raj, responsible for the online marketing initiative at Mindtree, says every networking site has its own relevance. “We are using Twitter and Facebook for attracting talent and the younger crowd. Our presence on Linkedin is to get positive referral traffic.”
A Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) spokesperson agrees, “TCS Twitter, started early this year, has received overwhelming response from followers who want to know more about the company’s new initiatives. We have seen traction from analyst, opinion makers and journalists who are subscribing to news alerts.”
In a month, the two joint CEOs of Wipro Technologies, Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani, are expected to become active on Twitter. The IT firm agrees that leads coming from its online presence on sites such as Linkedin, Webcasts, Webinars, and others have gone up by 50 per cent.
Bangalore-based Mindtree has created a community on professional networking site Linkedin. The company uses this as positive referral traffic, which can be converted into business.
These are examples of how Indian IT companies are using networking sites —social and professional. Traditionally focused on using business-to-business (B2B) tools, these companies are using business-to-consumer (B2C) tools like networking sites to gain attention.
IT companies are not new to the virtual world, having made their presence felt in secondlife.com — a three-dimensional virtual world where registered users socialise and connect with one another. Wipro has set up a virtual lab and uses 3D technology. The company boasts of 9,000 unique visitors and uses its virtual presence to showcase its technology offerings to clients.
But moving on to sites like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook is an altogether different thing. “It is about engagement and getting insight. What it gives an organisation is participation with stakeholders, opinion sharing, and co-creation. This does not replace the need for creating awareness (branding), but it does give a huge insight on the target audience,” says Aditya Jha, assistant vice-president, marketing, Infosys. He believes that in future research on any organisation will be done online. “Those who do not join now will lose big in this segment,” he cautions.
India’s second-largest IT company has a sizeable presence in the online world. For instance, the company started its blog almost three years back. It ventured on slideshare — a presentation sharing site — 15 months ago, has had videos on Youtube for over a year, and started on Twitter nine months ago. Recently, when the company was jolted by a bus accident, it immediately posted it on Twitter.
The target audience for IT-services companies are media, analysts, potential employees and, in some instances, clients.
Jessie Paul, chief marketing officer of Wipro, agrees that these sites are typically targeted at the B2C segment, but are relevant even to IT companies. “The impact of traditional media is diminishing. Sites like Linkedin are being used by sales teams to get in touch with business people. Analysts follow you, but, most importantly, so does competition,” she says. Wipro has a community on Linkedin. Its human resources department uses the site for hiring.
Wipro started its online foray (other than having a corporate website) with secondlife.com two years ago. After that, it ventured into Youtube and joined Twitter in August last year. “We will launch our new website next month and it will have all these clubbed together. Our CEOs will also start twittering,” says Paul. The company plans to have a one-day workshop on social media for its top executives.
At the same time, lessons are being absorbed. “I think earlier the objective was not clearly defined and hence the Second Life presence did not make much of an impact. But that’s not the case now. Apart from creating communities and blogs, this medium is being used for hiring as well as for extending the CSR (corporate social responsibility) reach. Most importantly, companies are trying to monitor the negative as well as positive press. Not being at these places creates more criticism than being there,” says Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst, Gartner.
Pratheep Raj, responsible for the online marketing initiative at Mindtree, says every networking site has its own relevance. “We are using Twitter and Facebook for attracting talent and the younger crowd. Our presence on Linkedin is to get positive referral traffic.”
A Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) spokesperson agrees, “TCS Twitter, started early this year, has received overwhelming response from followers who want to know more about the company’s new initiatives. We have seen traction from analyst, opinion makers and journalists who are subscribing to news alerts.”
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Infosys, New Deals, Outsourcing, TCS
TCS, Infosys Patni await clarity on ABN Amro outsourcing
Top outsourcing firms including TCS, Infosys and Patni Computer wait for more clarity at RBS-owned ABN Amro, as the management remains undecided about outsourcing deals worth $400-500 million signed by the erstwhile Dutch bank four years ago with these vendors.
In April 2005, ABN Amro had announced several contracts worth nearly $2.5 billion, due to be renewed in 2010. While IBM had won the lion’s share of the deal (around $2 billion) for managing the bank’s servers, desktops and other IT infrastructure, Accenture, TCS, Infosys and Patni shared $400-500 million worth of contracts for software application, development and maintenance.
At least three people familiar with the sourcing decisions at ABN Amro told ET that while RBS is yet to take a call on whether it wants to integrate its technology and business systems with ABN Amro, there is a definite move to shrink the Dutch bank’s operations through a sale, which will bring down the outsourcing revenues for these vendors as well.
“It’s not business as usual. We are told it could take another few months before any clarity emerges. The 2010 renewal is not the only issue. The business seems to be getting smaller,” said a senior executive at one of the top tech firms serving ABN Amro. He requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak about customer engagements.
Experts like Bob McDowall of Tower Group say RBS, which is now a nationalised bank in the UK, is under pressure to sell assets outside of UK. “IT integration (with ABN Amro) has effectively ceased. RBS certainly will not be planning IT integration initiatives that will make a sale or disposal of the ABN Amro businesses more difficult,” he said. “I would suggest that the longer-term prospects for the contract will depend on when and who acquires the relevant businesses in ABN Amro supported by the outsourcing contracts,” he added.
Officials at Infosys and TCS declined to offer customer-specific comments.
RBS, which has an annual IT budget of $3-4 billion, too is in the process of reviewing its businesses. Some experts say RBS will actually be looking at outsourcing in a big way to achieve these efficiencies after the strategic review is over.
“Cost has become more important for RBS now in the wake of the economic slowdown and there is a greater focus on outsourcing,” said Vikram Gulati, director at outsourcing advisory firm Quantum Step. An RBS spokeswoman confirmed that her bank continues to look at outsourcing to India.
“India is already a major centre for the group and is our third-largest employment centre. As a result of our acquisition of ABN Amro, we now employ 8,000 people in India serving our operations globally. Last year we have been progressing with work to integrate the two businesses and develop all our centres in the UK, India and across the globe,” the RBS spokeswoman said.
In April 2005, ABN Amro had announced several contracts worth nearly $2.5 billion, due to be renewed in 2010. While IBM had won the lion’s share of the deal (around $2 billion) for managing the bank’s servers, desktops and other IT infrastructure, Accenture, TCS, Infosys and Patni shared $400-500 million worth of contracts for software application, development and maintenance.
At least three people familiar with the sourcing decisions at ABN Amro told ET that while RBS is yet to take a call on whether it wants to integrate its technology and business systems with ABN Amro, there is a definite move to shrink the Dutch bank’s operations through a sale, which will bring down the outsourcing revenues for these vendors as well.
“It’s not business as usual. We are told it could take another few months before any clarity emerges. The 2010 renewal is not the only issue. The business seems to be getting smaller,” said a senior executive at one of the top tech firms serving ABN Amro. He requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak about customer engagements.
Experts like Bob McDowall of Tower Group say RBS, which is now a nationalised bank in the UK, is under pressure to sell assets outside of UK. “IT integration (with ABN Amro) has effectively ceased. RBS certainly will not be planning IT integration initiatives that will make a sale or disposal of the ABN Amro businesses more difficult,” he said. “I would suggest that the longer-term prospects for the contract will depend on when and who acquires the relevant businesses in ABN Amro supported by the outsourcing contracts,” he added.
Officials at Infosys and TCS declined to offer customer-specific comments.
RBS, which has an annual IT budget of $3-4 billion, too is in the process of reviewing its businesses. Some experts say RBS will actually be looking at outsourcing in a big way to achieve these efficiencies after the strategic review is over.
“Cost has become more important for RBS now in the wake of the economic slowdown and there is a greater focus on outsourcing,” said Vikram Gulati, director at outsourcing advisory firm Quantum Step. An RBS spokeswoman confirmed that her bank continues to look at outsourcing to India.
“India is already a major centre for the group and is our third-largest employment centre. As a result of our acquisition of ABN Amro, we now employ 8,000 people in India serving our operations globally. Last year we have been progressing with work to integrate the two businesses and develop all our centres in the UK, India and across the globe,” the RBS spokeswoman said.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Infosys, IT market, Outsourcing, TCS, Wipro
TCS, Infy, Wipro among top 10 global service providers
Even in a recession-hit market where clients are cutting outsourcing budgets, Indian firms such as TCS, Infy, Wipro, HCL and Tata Communications have won large outsourcing deals this year placing them among the top 10 global service providers, on contract value terms.
Even though the total contract value of awarded outsourcing deals fell by 22% to $40.2 billion in the first six months of this year, Indian tech firms continued to compete neck and neck with the global biggies such as IBM, Accenture, HP/EDS, CSC, shows data from TPI. TPI is the largest sourcing data and advisory firm and measures commercial outsourcing contracts valued at $25 million or more.
Indian firms dominated the information technology outsourcing (ITO) segment ($33.2 billion) split into application, development & maintenance (ADM) and infrastructure segments.
Among the desi firms, the top deal winners were Cognizant, Infosys, HCL, TCS and Wipro featuring in the ADM section. HCL and Wipro were again listed among the top 10 infrastructure deal winners, TPI said.
“Retail, diversified financials, transport, and network telecom services provided strength to the ITO market. TCS was the top vendor to win deals in three of these markets, while Infosys appeared as one of the top vendors in the Americas and the APAC region,” HSBC IT analyst Yogesh Aggarwal said.
Tata Com, only Indian firm among network service bigwigs such as AT&T, BT, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens, grabbed a place amongst top 10 club in a segment where deals worth $13.4 billion were awarded till June.
While the broader BPO market remained weak, experts believe Indian vendors relied on client mining, rather than winning new mega-accounts. Infy, that employs 16,700 people in its BPO division, was among the top 10 BPO service providers in the H1 of 2009, wherein globally contracts worth $7 billion were awarded to the likes of Capita, Perot Systems, Xerox, RR Donnelley and Johnson Controls.
Even though the total contract value of awarded outsourcing deals fell by 22% to $40.2 billion in the first six months of this year, Indian tech firms continued to compete neck and neck with the global biggies such as IBM, Accenture, HP/EDS, CSC, shows data from TPI. TPI is the largest sourcing data and advisory firm and measures commercial outsourcing contracts valued at $25 million or more.
Indian firms dominated the information technology outsourcing (ITO) segment ($33.2 billion) split into application, development & maintenance (ADM) and infrastructure segments.
Among the desi firms, the top deal winners were Cognizant, Infosys, HCL, TCS and Wipro featuring in the ADM section. HCL and Wipro were again listed among the top 10 infrastructure deal winners, TPI said.
“Retail, diversified financials, transport, and network telecom services provided strength to the ITO market. TCS was the top vendor to win deals in three of these markets, while Infosys appeared as one of the top vendors in the Americas and the APAC region,” HSBC IT analyst Yogesh Aggarwal said.
Tata Com, only Indian firm among network service bigwigs such as AT&T, BT, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens, grabbed a place amongst top 10 club in a segment where deals worth $13.4 billion were awarded till June.
While the broader BPO market remained weak, experts believe Indian vendors relied on client mining, rather than winning new mega-accounts. Infy, that employs 16,700 people in its BPO division, was among the top 10 BPO service providers in the H1 of 2009, wherein globally contracts worth $7 billion were awarded to the likes of Capita, Perot Systems, Xerox, RR Donnelley and Johnson Controls.
HCL, Infosys, IT market, Outsourcing, Recession, TCS, Wipro
Global IT contracts dip 22% in First Half
Even in a recession-hit market where clients are cutting outsourcing budgets, Indian firms such as TCS, Infy, Wipro, HCL and Tata Communications have won large outsourcing deals this year placing them among the top 10 global service providers — on contract value terms.
Even though the total contract value of awarded outsourcing deals fell by 22% to $40.2 billion in the first six months of this year, Indian tech firms continued to compete neck and neck with the global biggies such as IBM, Accenture, HP/EDS, CSC, shows data from TPI. TPI is the largest sourcing data and advisory firm and measures commercial outsourcing contracts valued at $25 million or more.
Indian firms dominated the information technology outsourcing (ITO) segment ($33.2 billion) split into application, development & maintenance (ADM) and infrastructure segments.
Among the desi firms, the top deal winners were Cognizant, Infosys, HCL, TCS and Wipro featuring in the ADM section. HCL and Wipro were again listed among the top 10 infrastructure deal winners, TPI said. “Retail, diversified financials, transport, and network telecom services provided strength to the ITO market. TCS was the top vendor to win deals in three of these markets, while Infosys appeared as one of the top vendors in the Americas and the APAC region,” HSBC IT analyst Yogesh Aggarwal said.
Tata Com — only Indian firm among network service bigwigs such as AT&T, BT, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens — grabbed a place amongst top 10 club in a segment where deals worth $13.4 billion were awarded till June.
While the broader BPO market remained weak, experts believe Indian vendors relied on client mining, rather than winning new mega-accounts. Infy, that employs 16,700 people in its BPO division, was among the top 10 BPO service providers in the H1 of 2009, wherein globally contracts worth $7 billion were awarded to the likes of Capita, Perot Systems, Xerox, RR Donnelley and Johnson Controls.
Even though the total contract value of awarded outsourcing deals fell by 22% to $40.2 billion in the first six months of this year, Indian tech firms continued to compete neck and neck with the global biggies such as IBM, Accenture, HP/EDS, CSC, shows data from TPI. TPI is the largest sourcing data and advisory firm and measures commercial outsourcing contracts valued at $25 million or more.
Indian firms dominated the information technology outsourcing (ITO) segment ($33.2 billion) split into application, development & maintenance (ADM) and infrastructure segments.
Among the desi firms, the top deal winners were Cognizant, Infosys, HCL, TCS and Wipro featuring in the ADM section. HCL and Wipro were again listed among the top 10 infrastructure deal winners, TPI said. “Retail, diversified financials, transport, and network telecom services provided strength to the ITO market. TCS was the top vendor to win deals in three of these markets, while Infosys appeared as one of the top vendors in the Americas and the APAC region,” HSBC IT analyst Yogesh Aggarwal said.
Tata Com — only Indian firm among network service bigwigs such as AT&T, BT, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens — grabbed a place amongst top 10 club in a segment where deals worth $13.4 billion were awarded till June.
While the broader BPO market remained weak, experts believe Indian vendors relied on client mining, rather than winning new mega-accounts. Infy, that employs 16,700 people in its BPO division, was among the top 10 BPO service providers in the H1 of 2009, wherein globally contracts worth $7 billion were awarded to the likes of Capita, Perot Systems, Xerox, RR Donnelley and Johnson Controls.
Cost cutting, Recession, TCS
Worst may not be over yet, says TCS chief
Chief executive officer S Ramadorai has spent 13 years at the helm of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). In this time, he has turned the company into the largest IT services provider in the country. As he prepares to bid adieu to the organisation in a couple of months, he spoke to Sharang Limaye about the present economic crisis and his post-retirement role. Excerpts:
Are ‘Green Shoots’ sprouting?
To some extent, it is true. We must see how it plays out. There are some signs of improvement. But we should not get carried away by these. One should be prepared for some more volatility. The volatility has not disappeared. There will still be some shocks along the way.
But is the worst over?
In terms of some parameters, the worst may not be over. For example, when you look at unemployment, it looks like more bad times are in store. We are still seeing increasing unemployment. When people see the banks performing well, they think there has been some recovery. But it remains to be seen whether it’s a one-off thing.
Do you see pricing pressure easing?
There is some extent of easing of pricing pressure. But, there may be specific sectors with pricing problems. Telecom, for one, will certainly experience some pressure. So also will manufacturing. Hi-tech may also find the going tough in terms of pricing. But this will be due to sector-specific issues.
Domestic market contribution to your turnover is less than 10 per cent. Will we see more focus on India?
We are anyway focusing on the domestic market. But we have to see how much Indian companies are ready to spend on information technology. Right now, the IT budgets are nowhere near what Western economies do. If the growth is not faster, then the contribution of the Indian business as a percentage would still be minimal.
What could be done to increase the size of the domestic market?
I have always said that the government must spend a lot. It’s the right time for it to work on digitisation of data at both the state and central levels. Consolidation of information in areas such as taxation, healthcare and education should be of high priority. This expenditure will show in the GDP growth and also lead to improvement of services.
What about the contribution of the domestic private sector?
If the Indian private sector wants to be globally competitive, technology adoption and deployment is a must. Also, in sectors like microfinance, IT can help in greater financial inclusion.
What’s the outlook for TCS from a human resource point of view?
There is recruitment at entry level jobs for the year 2009-10 based on the offers made in 2008-09. For the year 2010-11, recruitment will take place at the time of students’ graduation, unlike in the past where we did three or four quarter earlier. Experienced professionals will be hired on a need basis.
How do you see the European market doing this year?
Currently, Europe is facing bigger problems than the US. Countries like Germany, Italy, UK, Spain and Portugal have been under a lot of stress. To me, Europe is a very important market, but it will recover slower than the US.
Does TCS have an inorganic growth strategy?
We have a Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) group for this purpose. But haven’t planned any acquisition strategy as such. The M&A group will continuously look at opportunities for synergies. If there is anything that makes sense from a growth perspective, we will look at it. But there is nothing in the pipeline as of now.
Is there a move to concentrate more on the retail vertical as compared to telecom and BFSI?
There are opportunities for growth in the retail sector. Hence, it is very important for us. Having said that, the IT spends in the BFSI sector are still the largest. We would like to have presence in multiple domains and geographies. Our new focus areas include healthcare, lifesciences, energy, utilities etc.
What are your plans post-retirement?
I will continue to be on the board of TCS. I am also on the board of other Tata companies as well as some non-group companies. I would continue mentoring people in TCS. I would also be involved in some brand-building exercises. I might have lesser time on my hands after retiring.
Source: FinancialChronicle
Are ‘Green Shoots’ sprouting?
To some extent, it is true. We must see how it plays out. There are some signs of improvement. But we should not get carried away by these. One should be prepared for some more volatility. The volatility has not disappeared. There will still be some shocks along the way.
But is the worst over?
In terms of some parameters, the worst may not be over. For example, when you look at unemployment, it looks like more bad times are in store. We are still seeing increasing unemployment. When people see the banks performing well, they think there has been some recovery. But it remains to be seen whether it’s a one-off thing.
Do you see pricing pressure easing?
There is some extent of easing of pricing pressure. But, there may be specific sectors with pricing problems. Telecom, for one, will certainly experience some pressure. So also will manufacturing. Hi-tech may also find the going tough in terms of pricing. But this will be due to sector-specific issues.
Domestic market contribution to your turnover is less than 10 per cent. Will we see more focus on India?
We are anyway focusing on the domestic market. But we have to see how much Indian companies are ready to spend on information technology. Right now, the IT budgets are nowhere near what Western economies do. If the growth is not faster, then the contribution of the Indian business as a percentage would still be minimal.
What could be done to increase the size of the domestic market?
I have always said that the government must spend a lot. It’s the right time for it to work on digitisation of data at both the state and central levels. Consolidation of information in areas such as taxation, healthcare and education should be of high priority. This expenditure will show in the GDP growth and also lead to improvement of services.
What about the contribution of the domestic private sector?
If the Indian private sector wants to be globally competitive, technology adoption and deployment is a must. Also, in sectors like microfinance, IT can help in greater financial inclusion.
What’s the outlook for TCS from a human resource point of view?
There is recruitment at entry level jobs for the year 2009-10 based on the offers made in 2008-09. For the year 2010-11, recruitment will take place at the time of students’ graduation, unlike in the past where we did three or four quarter earlier. Experienced professionals will be hired on a need basis.
How do you see the European market doing this year?
Currently, Europe is facing bigger problems than the US. Countries like Germany, Italy, UK, Spain and Portugal have been under a lot of stress. To me, Europe is a very important market, but it will recover slower than the US.
Does TCS have an inorganic growth strategy?
We have a Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) group for this purpose. But haven’t planned any acquisition strategy as such. The M&A group will continuously look at opportunities for synergies. If there is anything that makes sense from a growth perspective, we will look at it. But there is nothing in the pipeline as of now.
Is there a move to concentrate more on the retail vertical as compared to telecom and BFSI?
There are opportunities for growth in the retail sector. Hence, it is very important for us. Having said that, the IT spends in the BFSI sector are still the largest. We would like to have presence in multiple domains and geographies. Our new focus areas include healthcare, lifesciences, energy, utilities etc.
What are your plans post-retirement?
I will continue to be on the board of TCS. I am also on the board of other Tata companies as well as some non-group companies. I would continue mentoring people in TCS. I would also be involved in some brand-building exercises. I might have lesser time on my hands after retiring.
Source: FinancialChronicle
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Infosys, IT market, Recession, Satyam, TCS, Wipro
Campus Recruitments: IT cos freeze recruitments before final semester
The days of goofing off in the last year of college after getting job placements in the penultimate academic year are over for students.
The IT industry, the biggest recruiter in colleges, has decided to visit campuses only in the final semester leaving students with no choice but to study hard even in their last year.
Most IT companies have so far been making offers at least a year or so before graduation, prompting students to take it easy in their final year. But not any more.
“All our member companies have unanimously taken this decision. The change is not only for this year, it is permanent,” said Som Mittal, president of software industry body Nasscom. The decision taken by Nasscom is unlikely to be reversed even if demand picks up. In fact, the trend may even catch up with companies outside the IT industry.
Nasscom has sent a communication to industry associations, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), which have in turn circulated it among their members.
The IT industry hired 2,26,614 people in 2008-09, and an even bigger number 3,89,000 in the previous year. In the last few quarters of 2008-09 and in the current year, the slowdown has caused the industry to recruit less and also extend joining dates for freshers. The uncertainity in demand has made it hard for IT firms to forecast how many employees they would need to meet their future requirements.
Some students who have graduated in 2008 and have been made job offers are yet to join companies as uncertain demand has made it hard for companies to predict the number of employees they will need in the coming year.
“WE felt it would be better if we go to campuses in the eighth semester when we would be in a better position to understand what the demand would be,” Ajoy Mukherjee, Global Head - Human Resources, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), said.
TCS, which interacts annually with the heads of some of the top management and engineering colleges, said the colleges were agreeable to it.
“That’s the kind of feedback we were getting from the institutes also. They felt students tend to relax once they have got a job and focus less on studies. Trainee offers were being done a year in advance. For example, the students we made offers to last year will be joining us this year,” added Mr Mukherjee.
“It is better for the companies and for the students,” said Infosys Technologies board member and director-human resources, Mohandas Pai. He said Infosys had communicated its decision to all the 500-600 colleges it visits . “I cannot comment on how many colleges we will exactly visit. All I can say is that the colleges are happy,” he said.
According to Mr Mittal, companies were hiring almost three years ahead of demand as they were visiting campuses in the fifth semester (around the third year) of engineering.
After the students graduate, it takes approximately another year before they become productive because they have to undergo training before being assigned any client projects.
The IT industry, the biggest recruiter in colleges, has decided to visit campuses only in the final semester leaving students with no choice but to study hard even in their last year.
Most IT companies have so far been making offers at least a year or so before graduation, prompting students to take it easy in their final year. But not any more.
“All our member companies have unanimously taken this decision. The change is not only for this year, it is permanent,” said Som Mittal, president of software industry body Nasscom. The decision taken by Nasscom is unlikely to be reversed even if demand picks up. In fact, the trend may even catch up with companies outside the IT industry.
Nasscom has sent a communication to industry associations, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), which have in turn circulated it among their members.
The IT industry hired 2,26,614 people in 2008-09, and an even bigger number 3,89,000 in the previous year. In the last few quarters of 2008-09 and in the current year, the slowdown has caused the industry to recruit less and also extend joining dates for freshers. The uncertainity in demand has made it hard for IT firms to forecast how many employees they would need to meet their future requirements.
Some students who have graduated in 2008 and have been made job offers are yet to join companies as uncertain demand has made it hard for companies to predict the number of employees they will need in the coming year.
“WE felt it would be better if we go to campuses in the eighth semester when we would be in a better position to understand what the demand would be,” Ajoy Mukherjee, Global Head - Human Resources, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), said.
TCS, which interacts annually with the heads of some of the top management and engineering colleges, said the colleges were agreeable to it.
“That’s the kind of feedback we were getting from the institutes also. They felt students tend to relax once they have got a job and focus less on studies. Trainee offers were being done a year in advance. For example, the students we made offers to last year will be joining us this year,” added Mr Mukherjee.
“It is better for the companies and for the students,” said Infosys Technologies board member and director-human resources, Mohandas Pai. He said Infosys had communicated its decision to all the 500-600 colleges it visits . “I cannot comment on how many colleges we will exactly visit. All I can say is that the colleges are happy,” he said.
According to Mr Mittal, companies were hiring almost three years ahead of demand as they were visiting campuses in the fifth semester (around the third year) of engineering.
After the students graduate, it takes approximately another year before they become productive because they have to undergo training before being assigned any client projects.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Accenture, IBM, Infosys, Outsourcing, TCS, Wipro
Indian IT cos bid against MNC rivals for $1-bn BP deals
India’s offshore outsourcing firms, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam, have locked horns with MNC rivals IBM and Accenture for up to $1 billion worth of outsourcing contracts to be awarded in August by British Petroleum (BP).
BP, which currently outsources a majority of its application development, system integration and infrastructure management projects to almost 30 suppliers including IBM, Accenture, Mahindra Satyam and Infosys, wants to bring down its IT costs by up to 30% by working with fewer vendors handling more work, at lower rates.
“Every BP business unit at BP was running its IT operations separately, with a different set of suppliers. This led to complexity and a higher cost of operations. With this consolidation, BP now wants to work with not more than six vendors globally,” said a UK-based expert familiar with BP’s sourcing strategy. He requested anonymity as he is not authorised to comment about the contracts.
When contacted by ET last week, a BP spokesman confirmed that the supplier review is nearing its end. “Yes, we have been reviewing our strategic IT providers, and are getting close to the end of that process, but I can’t confirm numbers of the current or possible future providers,” said spokesman Robert Wine.
Sridhar Vedala, MD of sourcing advisory firm Quantum Step, says customers are now breaking down their requirements into infrastructure management, application development and maintenance, and are selecting vendors according to their competencies. “A few years ago, ABN Amro undertook a similar exercise,” he added.
While customers in the US, the top market for Indian companies, are scaling back on outsourcing, British firms will spend around $15.6 billion this year, according to research firm Ovum-Datamonitor.
While Mahindra Satyam counts BP as one of its $40-50 million customers, Accenture and IBM currently have a lion’s share of the outsourcing pie, estimated to be anywhere between $300 million and $400 million.
BP, which currently outsources a majority of its application development, system integration and infrastructure management projects to almost 30 suppliers including IBM, Accenture, Mahindra Satyam and Infosys, wants to bring down its IT costs by up to 30% by working with fewer vendors handling more work, at lower rates.
“Every BP business unit at BP was running its IT operations separately, with a different set of suppliers. This led to complexity and a higher cost of operations. With this consolidation, BP now wants to work with not more than six vendors globally,” said a UK-based expert familiar with BP’s sourcing strategy. He requested anonymity as he is not authorised to comment about the contracts.
When contacted by ET last week, a BP spokesman confirmed that the supplier review is nearing its end. “Yes, we have been reviewing our strategic IT providers, and are getting close to the end of that process, but I can’t confirm numbers of the current or possible future providers,” said spokesman Robert Wine.
Sridhar Vedala, MD of sourcing advisory firm Quantum Step, says customers are now breaking down their requirements into infrastructure management, application development and maintenance, and are selecting vendors according to their competencies. “A few years ago, ABN Amro undertook a similar exercise,” he added.
While customers in the US, the top market for Indian companies, are scaling back on outsourcing, British firms will spend around $15.6 billion this year, according to research firm Ovum-Datamonitor.
While Mahindra Satyam counts BP as one of its $40-50 million customers, Accenture and IBM currently have a lion’s share of the outsourcing pie, estimated to be anywhere between $300 million and $400 million.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Outsourcing, Recession, TCS
US banking, finance customers stabilising: TCS
Along with some stabilisation in the banking and finance sector, India’s largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is seeing green shoots in the retail and other sectors in the US market as well.
The US contributes to over 55 per cent of the company’s total revenue and the BFSI (banking, financial services, insurance) segment contributes to over 43 per cent.
“In the US, each vertical is playing out differently. Manufacturing still seems to be soft. Last week, we saw another bankruptcy. Telecom and hi-tech remains a concern. But in the areas of banking and finance, we believe things have stabilised. In the past six months, there was a lot of transition happening and new teams were coming in. Now all the new teams are there and we see much more stability,” Surya Kant, President, TCS - North America, told Business Standard.
Some customers of TCS have done mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the recent past. In some cases, such clients are talking about what they want to do, especially where consolidation has already taken place. These are positive signals, notes Kant, but adds that “discretionary spend is still under pressure”.
But more than the US, TCS is seeing pressure in the UK region, with one of its top telecom clients (BT) under pressure and revenue from this client dropping successively. “In this particular client’s case, I can only say that it has a certain budget and is trying to use less of it. Moreover, in both Germany and the UK, this will be an election year. Hence, even government deals might be difficult,” cautioned A S Lakshminarayanan (Lakshmi), Vice President and Head, Europe TCS.
Lakshmi added that recent conversations with customers from Europe and the UK have revolved around efficiency and reducing costs. “And it is not always about offshoring. There are a number of other levers we can use to help customers gain that,” he said. Lakshmi added that TCS has been able to break into new clients and has signed a couple of deals in sectors like utilities, travel and hospitality, logistics and pharma.
In its US operations, TCS will be ramping up its Cincinnati centre’s headcount to 1,000 people in the next three years. “The Cincinnati centre is our comitment to the North America market. We are not only hiring from the state of Ohio but across the US. The centre will handle work like business analytics, front desk, work that can be done in the same time zone and work that needs to be done quickly, like proof-of-concept or pilots,” said Kant.
The US contributes to over 55 per cent of the company’s total revenue and the BFSI (banking, financial services, insurance) segment contributes to over 43 per cent.
“In the US, each vertical is playing out differently. Manufacturing still seems to be soft. Last week, we saw another bankruptcy. Telecom and hi-tech remains a concern. But in the areas of banking and finance, we believe things have stabilised. In the past six months, there was a lot of transition happening and new teams were coming in. Now all the new teams are there and we see much more stability,” Surya Kant, President, TCS - North America, told Business Standard.
Some customers of TCS have done mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the recent past. In some cases, such clients are talking about what they want to do, especially where consolidation has already taken place. These are positive signals, notes Kant, but adds that “discretionary spend is still under pressure”.
But more than the US, TCS is seeing pressure in the UK region, with one of its top telecom clients (BT) under pressure and revenue from this client dropping successively. “In this particular client’s case, I can only say that it has a certain budget and is trying to use less of it. Moreover, in both Germany and the UK, this will be an election year. Hence, even government deals might be difficult,” cautioned A S Lakshminarayanan (Lakshmi), Vice President and Head, Europe TCS.
Lakshmi added that recent conversations with customers from Europe and the UK have revolved around efficiency and reducing costs. “And it is not always about offshoring. There are a number of other levers we can use to help customers gain that,” he said. Lakshmi added that TCS has been able to break into new clients and has signed a couple of deals in sectors like utilities, travel and hospitality, logistics and pharma.
In its US operations, TCS will be ramping up its Cincinnati centre’s headcount to 1,000 people in the next three years. “The Cincinnati centre is our comitment to the North America market. We are not only hiring from the state of Ohio but across the US. The centre will handle work like business analytics, front desk, work that can be done in the same time zone and work that needs to be done quickly, like proof-of-concept or pilots,” said Kant.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)