The global IT arm of Wipro Ltd, Wipro Technologies, is reportedly planning to shut down its development centre in Sophia Antipolis, France.
The company is said to have started consultation process with local employees in this connection. According to EETimes, in an open letter the employees of Wipro-NewLogic, based at its Sophia Antipolis center in France, have said that the company has closed the center and laid off its staff.
Wipro-New Logic development centre builds components and connectivity-based semiconductor intellectual property (IPs) in wireless and wire line segments that are used by customers in System on Chip (SoC) and ASIC designs.
According to the news report, the staff at the French center, numbering 61, had earlier written to the press saying that "We are the employees of Wipro-NewLogic's Research and Development center in Sophia Antipolis (France)... On the June 22, the executive management of Wipro-NewLogic announced to the employees that Wipro would stop all of its semiconductor activities in France and close the facility: 61 engineers will be terminated."
Commenting in the issue, Christophe Martinoli, head of France, Wipro Technologies, reportedly said in a statement that given the market conditions and the economic problems facing this business, we have had to review our semiconductor IP portfolio, a niche offering within our overall semiconductor business. After carefully considering all possible options, we have initiated a consultation procedure with the employee representatives in France in relation to the same.
The company, however, maintains that the likely closure will not affect its presence in France, which it plans to grow.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that Wipro is pulling out of the semiconductor IP business. Earlier, the company had shut down its wholly-owned semiconductor IP company started in the US in the late 1990s.
Showing posts with label Wipro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wipro. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
West Bengal scraps Infosys, Wipro projects
The projects proposed by Infosys Technologies and Wipro in a township just outside the state capital has been scrapped, the West Bengal government informed the two IT majors on Monday.
The projects were to come up in the proposed IT township at Rajarhat near Salt Lake but had become controversial in recent weeks following allegations that land sharks had been involved in acquisition of plots there.
The announcement on Monday came barely a month after state IT MInister Debesh Das declared that the government had already acquired land for the Infosys and Wipro in the proposed township. West Bengal stands to lose out on a staggering Rs 10,000 crore of potential IT investments and the creation of 3 lakh IT/BPO jobs.
“Since the IT township project is about to scrapped, latest estimates by the state IT department suggest West Bengal could lose out on Rs 10,000 crore of potential investments and the chance of creating nearly 3 lakh jobs. Had Infosys and Wipro been able to set up shop in the township, a string of greenfield projects from the likes of ICICI Bank to ITC Infotech were expected to follow,” said a very senior state government official.
In the 1,600-acre township, IT/ITeS companies were to be allotted over 600 acre, with the balance was for building township and common infrastructure facilities. At present, nearly 1 lakh people work in the state’s IT sector with 80,000 working in city’s Salt Lake Sector V IT hub.
While Infosys and Wipro had both announced that they would initially employ 5,000-odd people in the Vedic Village IT township project, sources said both companies had actually informed the government that eventually planned to create at least 40,000 jobs in the IT township between themselves.
Sources indicated that state IT minister Debesh Das was likely to finalise the draft of his regret letters to Infosys and Wipro in consultation with the chief minister on Monday. Following this, the state IT minister could send the letters to both companies stating that the state government would be unable to provide any land at the proposed IT township.
In fact, before the Vedic Village fiasco and the consequent political upheaval, the state government was working on a “crash basis” to allot 50 acre out of the promised 90 acre to Wipro by Durga Puja.
The projects were to come up in the proposed IT township at Rajarhat near Salt Lake but had become controversial in recent weeks following allegations that land sharks had been involved in acquisition of plots there.
The announcement on Monday came barely a month after state IT MInister Debesh Das declared that the government had already acquired land for the Infosys and Wipro in the proposed township. West Bengal stands to lose out on a staggering Rs 10,000 crore of potential IT investments and the creation of 3 lakh IT/BPO jobs.
“Since the IT township project is about to scrapped, latest estimates by the state IT department suggest West Bengal could lose out on Rs 10,000 crore of potential investments and the chance of creating nearly 3 lakh jobs. Had Infosys and Wipro been able to set up shop in the township, a string of greenfield projects from the likes of ICICI Bank to ITC Infotech were expected to follow,” said a very senior state government official.
In the 1,600-acre township, IT/ITeS companies were to be allotted over 600 acre, with the balance was for building township and common infrastructure facilities. At present, nearly 1 lakh people work in the state’s IT sector with 80,000 working in city’s Salt Lake Sector V IT hub.
While Infosys and Wipro had both announced that they would initially employ 5,000-odd people in the Vedic Village IT township project, sources said both companies had actually informed the government that eventually planned to create at least 40,000 jobs in the IT township between themselves.
Sources indicated that state IT minister Debesh Das was likely to finalise the draft of his regret letters to Infosys and Wipro in consultation with the chief minister on Monday. Following this, the state IT minister could send the letters to both companies stating that the state government would be unable to provide any land at the proposed IT township.
In fact, before the Vedic Village fiasco and the consequent political upheaval, the state government was working on a “crash basis” to allot 50 acre out of the promised 90 acre to Wipro by Durga Puja.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
IT majors chase $6.5-bn Belgian outsourcing deals
Belgian Grand Prix is not the only race where Indian hopes are riding high. A worsening economic crisis is forcing companies such as AXA, Dexia Bank, Belgacom, drugmaker UCB and car insurer Allianz in Belgium explore IT offshoring and back-office projects, making it almost $6.5-billion opportunity for Indian outsourcing vendors including TCS, Infosys and Wipro apart from MNC rivals.
According to Quantum Step, an outsourcing advisory firm, customers in Belgium will spend around $1.8 billion on infrastructure management outsourcing, almost $2.6 billion on application development and maintenance and nearly $2 billion on BPO this year.
“We have recently started discussions with some Indian suppliers for pure offshoring of our ERP maintenance — it would be fair to assume that until last year, we were not prepared for any such initiative,” said an official at one
of the biggest Belgian enterprises.
While many Indian offshoring firms have been attempting to hire more local European sales professionals and project consultants, it appears that now customers only want to deal with Indian offshore experts. “Many outsourcing dialogues these days are being spearheaded by Indian offshore delivery managers, unlike in the past when some local expert would help us gain entry into an account — the CIOs are specifically asking for Indian suppliers,” said a top executive at one of the Indian IT firms pursuing outsourcing contracts in continental Europe. Officials at the Belgian firms did not respond to an e-mail query sent by ET.
When contacted by ET on Tuesday, TCS said the company’s early investments in the Belgian market are now fetching dividends. “Belgium represents one of the more mature markets for us within Continental Europe. After 15 years of operations in the country, we hold a significant share of the market and are now a prime IT partner to some of the largest BEL20 companies,” said AS Lakshminarayanan, vice-president and head — Europe, TCS.
“Our strategy to invest in localised delivery centres in Europe, particularly the ones in Eindhoven and Luxembourg, fuses well with our Global Network Delivery Model,” he added. TCS already has around 700 professionals working for Belgian customers, with around 200 onsite. InBev, AXA and Belgacom are among TCS’ top customers in Belgium.
Experts such as Sridhar Vedala of outsourcing advisory firm Quantum Step say that the key European markets opening up for offshoring include BeNeLux, Nordics, Germany and France. “Most of the European companies are more or less first time outsourcers. Some big multinationals had offshored previously such as ABN Amro, Ikea, Nokia and Philips.
However, this did not trickle down to regional customers as many of them felt that there was cultural mismatch. Also, to a large extent, Indian providers also did not focus on this market,” he told ET in an interview.
As reported by ET recently, BASF AG, the world’s biggest chemical company, along with Euroclear-Europe’s largest settlement firm, and Anheuser-Busch InBev — the world’s biggest brewer are among companies looking at offshore outsourcing for the first time, as they seek to lower their operational costs and cope more effectively with an unprecedented slump in demand for their products and services.
According to Quantum Step, an outsourcing advisory firm, customers in Belgium will spend around $1.8 billion on infrastructure management outsourcing, almost $2.6 billion on application development and maintenance and nearly $2 billion on BPO this year.
“We have recently started discussions with some Indian suppliers for pure offshoring of our ERP maintenance — it would be fair to assume that until last year, we were not prepared for any such initiative,” said an official at one
of the biggest Belgian enterprises.
While many Indian offshoring firms have been attempting to hire more local European sales professionals and project consultants, it appears that now customers only want to deal with Indian offshore experts. “Many outsourcing dialogues these days are being spearheaded by Indian offshore delivery managers, unlike in the past when some local expert would help us gain entry into an account — the CIOs are specifically asking for Indian suppliers,” said a top executive at one of the Indian IT firms pursuing outsourcing contracts in continental Europe. Officials at the Belgian firms did not respond to an e-mail query sent by ET.
When contacted by ET on Tuesday, TCS said the company’s early investments in the Belgian market are now fetching dividends. “Belgium represents one of the more mature markets for us within Continental Europe. After 15 years of operations in the country, we hold a significant share of the market and are now a prime IT partner to some of the largest BEL20 companies,” said AS Lakshminarayanan, vice-president and head — Europe, TCS.
“Our strategy to invest in localised delivery centres in Europe, particularly the ones in Eindhoven and Luxembourg, fuses well with our Global Network Delivery Model,” he added. TCS already has around 700 professionals working for Belgian customers, with around 200 onsite. InBev, AXA and Belgacom are among TCS’ top customers in Belgium.
Experts such as Sridhar Vedala of outsourcing advisory firm Quantum Step say that the key European markets opening up for offshoring include BeNeLux, Nordics, Germany and France. “Most of the European companies are more or less first time outsourcers. Some big multinationals had offshored previously such as ABN Amro, Ikea, Nokia and Philips.
However, this did not trickle down to regional customers as many of them felt that there was cultural mismatch. Also, to a large extent, Indian providers also did not focus on this market,” he told ET in an interview.
As reported by ET recently, BASF AG, the world’s biggest chemical company, along with Euroclear-Europe’s largest settlement firm, and Anheuser-Busch InBev — the world’s biggest brewer are among companies looking at offshore outsourcing for the first time, as they seek to lower their operational costs and cope more effectively with an unprecedented slump in demand for their products and services.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wipro, HCL engineers commit suicide
In the last one week two young IT engineers, one was working with Wipro and another with HCL, committed suicide. Both the engineers died by jumping from their office building.
Wipro engineer, Vishal Yadav (29), had a BE in electronics and hailed from Madhya Pradesh. Since May 17, 2004, he was working with Wipro as a Business Analyst and had gone on leave for two months. Interestingly, he had put in his papers via e-mail and was supposed to be relieved of his duties on August 31.
At around 10:20 pm on Wednesday, Vishal jumped from the top floor of S-II building of Wipro that has 12 storeys. When security supervisors heard a loud thud, they rushed to the spot and found Vishal down with blood around his body. They took him to the hospital, but it was in vain as doctor declared him brought dead. Doctor said, "With multiple head, spinal and thigh fractures, he might have collapsed within minutes after the fall."
HCL (Hindustan Computers Limited) engineer, Vikas Kumar Sharma (26), hailed from Munger district in Bihar. Since January 01, 2009, he was working with HCL as a Senior Network Analyst. He was living with a cousin in Delhi's Katwaria Sarai area. Though he was on a official off on Wednesday (August 19), he decided to report for the duty. The company cab had brought Vikas to the office around 4.30 am. Around 5.50 am Vikas jumped from the 5th floor of the office building. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
In both the cases, Police have been trying to find the reason of the death as they could not find any suicide note or any threat related information till now. In the case of Vishal, police framed eight questions and sent them to the human resources department of Wipro, but even after 24 hours, they were unable to get any personal details of the dead man. However, an HR executive of Wipro said, "We have been directed not to reveal any information or photograph of the employee. It is just that he had quit the job and was serving the notice period."
A police officer said, "We are not ruling out murder. There are lots of unanswered questions and it is for Wipro to clear the doubts."
In the case of Vikas, Noida's Superintendent of Police (City) Ashok Tripathi said, "The company's officials did not inform the police about the incident. Authorities at Max Hospital, where the victim was taken to, informed us."
In 2009, two suicide news of big IT companies' employees came in limelight. There are many engineers who are being harassed and forced to resign from the company. Last week, one of the former Wipro employees had informed media of the way he was sacked from the company.
Wipro engineer, Vishal Yadav (29), had a BE in electronics and hailed from Madhya Pradesh. Since May 17, 2004, he was working with Wipro as a Business Analyst and had gone on leave for two months. Interestingly, he had put in his papers via e-mail and was supposed to be relieved of his duties on August 31.
At around 10:20 pm on Wednesday, Vishal jumped from the top floor of S-II building of Wipro that has 12 storeys. When security supervisors heard a loud thud, they rushed to the spot and found Vishal down with blood around his body. They took him to the hospital, but it was in vain as doctor declared him brought dead. Doctor said, "With multiple head, spinal and thigh fractures, he might have collapsed within minutes after the fall."
HCL (Hindustan Computers Limited) engineer, Vikas Kumar Sharma (26), hailed from Munger district in Bihar. Since January 01, 2009, he was working with HCL as a Senior Network Analyst. He was living with a cousin in Delhi's Katwaria Sarai area. Though he was on a official off on Wednesday (August 19), he decided to report for the duty. The company cab had brought Vikas to the office around 4.30 am. Around 5.50 am Vikas jumped from the 5th floor of the office building. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
In both the cases, Police have been trying to find the reason of the death as they could not find any suicide note or any threat related information till now. In the case of Vishal, police framed eight questions and sent them to the human resources department of Wipro, but even after 24 hours, they were unable to get any personal details of the dead man. However, an HR executive of Wipro said, "We have been directed not to reveal any information or photograph of the employee. It is just that he had quit the job and was serving the notice period."
A police officer said, "We are not ruling out murder. There are lots of unanswered questions and it is for Wipro to clear the doubts."
In the case of Vikas, Noida's Superintendent of Police (City) Ashok Tripathi said, "The company's officials did not inform the police about the incident. Authorities at Max Hospital, where the victim was taken to, informed us."
In 2009, two suicide news of big IT companies' employees came in limelight. There are many engineers who are being harassed and forced to resign from the company. Last week, one of the former Wipro employees had informed media of the way he was sacked from the company.
TechM, Wipro, IBM vie for $400-m Loop Tele deal
LOOP Telecom, where the Essar Group has a stake, has shortlisted Tech Mahindra, Wipro and IBM for an IT outsourcing contract worth around $400 million. The contract is believed to be spread across a period of 10 years and will not include Loop Mobile’s operations, said two industry officials familiar with the deal. Loop Mobile provides cellular services in Mumbai, while operations in the rest of the country is under Loop Telecom.
The outsourcing contract is for the telco’s system integration and maintenance of IT systems across 22 cellular circles. This deal does not include BPO services since most of the back-end operations are done by Essar Group’s Aegis BPO. Loop Telecom has recently launched its services, selectively in Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Kerala and Karnataka.
A Wipro spokesperson said the company was in talks with a few telcos and would not comment on specific engagements, while Tech Mahindra and IBM declined comment on the deal.
A Loop Telecom spokesperson said, “We are constantly exploring ways to enhance our business model, launch plans and operational decisions and regularly engage in dialogue with vendors to help us build a compelling proposition. Nothing has been finalised in terms of partners or the contract amount. An announcement on our IT contract will be made as and when it gets firmed up.”
Loop Telecom is believed to be exploring an operating expenditure (opex) model, under which the shortlisted players can take Loop Telecom’s IT assets on its books. “They could either rent or lease the assets back to the client,” said a person familiar with the deal. This model of outsourcing is considered more cost-effective for companies. The telecom company has already outsourced its network infrastructure to China’s ZTE and Huawei Technologies.
Loop Mobile, earlier known as BPL Mobile, has a subscriber base of 2.4 million in the Mumbai circle, for which it already has an in-house team of IT professionals.
“The request for proposal (RFP) did not mention providing IT services to Loop Mobile, but to other 22 circles. While the company has had a soft launch in four circles, it will scale it up after finalising on the IT vendor,” said
another official familiar with the contract.
The domestic market has been the focus of many IT service providers after a decline in exports from the US and Europe, apart from a host of new companies launching mobile services in India. These new entrants have kept the order book running for IT companies. Earlier, Wipro had bagged a full IT outsourcing project from Unitech Wireless worth approximately Rs 2,500 crore over a nine-year period.
The outsourcing contract is for the telco’s system integration and maintenance of IT systems across 22 cellular circles. This deal does not include BPO services since most of the back-end operations are done by Essar Group’s Aegis BPO. Loop Telecom has recently launched its services, selectively in Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Kerala and Karnataka.
A Wipro spokesperson said the company was in talks with a few telcos and would not comment on specific engagements, while Tech Mahindra and IBM declined comment on the deal.
A Loop Telecom spokesperson said, “We are constantly exploring ways to enhance our business model, launch plans and operational decisions and regularly engage in dialogue with vendors to help us build a compelling proposition. Nothing has been finalised in terms of partners or the contract amount. An announcement on our IT contract will be made as and when it gets firmed up.”
Loop Telecom is believed to be exploring an operating expenditure (opex) model, under which the shortlisted players can take Loop Telecom’s IT assets on its books. “They could either rent or lease the assets back to the client,” said a person familiar with the deal. This model of outsourcing is considered more cost-effective for companies. The telecom company has already outsourced its network infrastructure to China’s ZTE and Huawei Technologies.
Loop Mobile, earlier known as BPL Mobile, has a subscriber base of 2.4 million in the Mumbai circle, for which it already has an in-house team of IT professionals.
“The request for proposal (RFP) did not mention providing IT services to Loop Mobile, but to other 22 circles. While the company has had a soft launch in four circles, it will scale it up after finalising on the IT vendor,” said
another official familiar with the contract.
The domestic market has been the focus of many IT service providers after a decline in exports from the US and Europe, apart from a host of new companies launching mobile services in India. These new entrants have kept the order book running for IT companies. Earlier, Wipro had bagged a full IT outsourcing project from Unitech Wireless worth approximately Rs 2,500 crore over a nine-year period.
Premji re-appointed Wipro Chairman
Software major Wipro said its current Chairman and Managing Director Azim Premji has been re-appointed for the post for a further two-year period till July 2011.
The shareholders of the company have given their approval for the re-appointment of Azim Premji as Chairman and Managing Director until July 30, 2011, Wipro said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
His re-appointment would be effective from July 31, 2009, it further said.
The shareholders of the company have given their approval for the re-appointment of Azim Premji as Chairman and Managing Director until July 30, 2011, Wipro said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
His re-appointment would be effective from July 31, 2009, it further said.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wipro, Lavasa tie-up for ICT may result in $100 mn revenue
IT services provider Wipro has tied up with Lavasa Corp for planning, implementing and managing ICT services across Lavasa hill city, which could result in revenues of up to $100 million over the next 10 years.
The strategic partnership (on Information & Communication Technology) will focus on providing integrated and effective solutions for enhancing IT operations within the Hill city, a press release said.
“It will also provide the necessary infrastructure support including technology selection, supply, installation and management of platforms, networks and data centre. The estimated revenues out of this partnership from Lavasa city’s first town Dasve is about $100 million over the next 10 years,” it added.
Lavasa, spread over 12,500 acres, is a hill city complete with education, hospitality and health care services currently being developed by Hindustan Construction Company.
Wipro will design the detailed infrastructure for telecom services for governance.
It will also provide telecom-based services to facilitate smart homes, provide physical security requirements and other on-demand services.
The ICT services include voice-video-data services to various businesses operating in the hill city.
The strategic partnership (on Information & Communication Technology) will focus on providing integrated and effective solutions for enhancing IT operations within the Hill city, a press release said.
“It will also provide the necessary infrastructure support including technology selection, supply, installation and management of platforms, networks and data centre. The estimated revenues out of this partnership from Lavasa city’s first town Dasve is about $100 million over the next 10 years,” it added.
Lavasa, spread over 12,500 acres, is a hill city complete with education, hospitality and health care services currently being developed by Hindustan Construction Company.
Wipro will design the detailed infrastructure for telecom services for governance.
It will also provide telecom-based services to facilitate smart homes, provide physical security requirements and other on-demand services.
The ICT services include voice-video-data services to various businesses operating in the hill city.
Wipro wins Fosters' contract
Wipro, India’s third biggest software exporter, has won a new outsourcing contract estimated to be worth around $100 million from Australia's biggest brewer Fosters.
The contract involves managing and supporting Fosters IT infrastructure, data centres and different business applications across Australia, US and UK.
Having won several large deals including a contract from Origin Energy in Australia’s over $6.5 billion outsourcing market, Wipro continues to increase its footprint in the country.
When contacted by ET on Thursday, a Fosters spokesman confirmed the transaction. A Wipro spokeswoman had not responded to an email query sent by ET on Thursday morning.
"Fosters and Wipro are in discussions regarding global IT infrastructure services, data centre and applications support. The discussions are part of ongoing business efficiency initiatives. Wipro was chosen after a comprehensive tender and offer the capability to service our global operations and deliver significant costs savings with a combination of online, telephone and field staff services," said Troy Hey, Fosters Spokesman.
Fosters is already in the process of shifting members of its internal IT team.
"We are currently discussing transition arrangements with our people. Employees impacted by this approach in Australia, the United States and the UK will be offered alternative roles where available or provided full redundancy payments and career transition support," Mr Hey added.
Meanwhile, Fosters is not planning to outsource any back office and call centre jobs as part of this transaction.
"Discussions are limited to internal Information Technology services and all customer and consumer call centre services remain managed by Fosters teams in Australia, the United States and the UK," Mr Hey added.
At a time when new business is increasingly becoming tough to come by, Australia has emerged as a great opportunity for the outsourcing vendors. Other recent outsourcing contracts awarded by Australian companies include the $1.2 billion deal from Telstra and the over $100-million contract from Origin Energy.
The contract involves managing and supporting Fosters IT infrastructure, data centres and different business applications across Australia, US and UK.
Having won several large deals including a contract from Origin Energy in Australia’s over $6.5 billion outsourcing market, Wipro continues to increase its footprint in the country.
When contacted by ET on Thursday, a Fosters spokesman confirmed the transaction. A Wipro spokeswoman had not responded to an email query sent by ET on Thursday morning.
"Fosters and Wipro are in discussions regarding global IT infrastructure services, data centre and applications support. The discussions are part of ongoing business efficiency initiatives. Wipro was chosen after a comprehensive tender and offer the capability to service our global operations and deliver significant costs savings with a combination of online, telephone and field staff services," said Troy Hey, Fosters Spokesman.
Fosters is already in the process of shifting members of its internal IT team.
"We are currently discussing transition arrangements with our people. Employees impacted by this approach in Australia, the United States and the UK will be offered alternative roles where available or provided full redundancy payments and career transition support," Mr Hey added.
Meanwhile, Fosters is not planning to outsource any back office and call centre jobs as part of this transaction.
"Discussions are limited to internal Information Technology services and all customer and consumer call centre services remain managed by Fosters teams in Australia, the United States and the UK," Mr Hey added.
At a time when new business is increasingly becoming tough to come by, Australia has emerged as a great opportunity for the outsourcing vendors. Other recent outsourcing contracts awarded by Australian companies include the $1.2 billion deal from Telstra and the over $100-million contract from Origin Energy.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
TCS, Infosys, Wipro bag big chunk of BP's 5-year IT deal
Country's top three IT companies TCS, Infosys and Wipro today bagged a seizable chunk of five- year outsourcing deal from British oil Spokepersons of all three companies did not disclose the size when asked whether the total deal size is worth $ 1.5 bn (approximately Rs 7,500 crore). They also did not reveal their independent size of the contract they have won.
The multi-crore rupee contract is a big boost for the domestic outsourcing majors, currently under pricing and margin pressure in the wake of gloabl downturn.
Global IT majors IBM and Accenture have also has snapped a part of the deal. The three companies announced separately that they have entered into an outsourcing deal with BP.
Infosys said it will operate BP's business systems. Wipro said it will provide IT Application Development and Application Maintenance (ADAM) services for BP's Fuels Value Chain and corporate business globally.
TCS said it has been selected for engagements in refining, manufacturing and corporate IT with opportunities across fuels value chain including upstream and trading.
As part of the deal, IBM will manage and run the oil giant's enterprise applications and integrated service desk responsibilities, IBM said.
The big three closed up in the range of 2-4 per cent on BSE after the news of them bagging the deal broke out.
The multi-crore rupee contract is a big boost for the domestic outsourcing majors, currently under pricing and margin pressure in the wake of gloabl downturn.
Global IT majors IBM and Accenture have also has snapped a part of the deal. The three companies announced separately that they have entered into an outsourcing deal with BP.
Infosys said it will operate BP's business systems. Wipro said it will provide IT Application Development and Application Maintenance (ADAM) services for BP's Fuels Value Chain and corporate business globally.
TCS said it has been selected for engagements in refining, manufacturing and corporate IT with opportunities across fuels value chain including upstream and trading.
As part of the deal, IBM will manage and run the oil giant's enterprise applications and integrated service desk responsibilities, IBM said.
The big three closed up in the range of 2-4 per cent on BSE after the news of them bagging the deal broke out.
Infosys, Wipro bag 5-yr BP deal
Indian outsourcers Infosys Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd bagged five-year outsourcing deal from oil and gas firm BP.
Under the terms of the deal, Infosys will operate a large portion of BP's business systems. No financial details were available.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies, said, “Infosys has a long standing relationship with BP, delivering consulting and technology services. We are well positioned to use our global sourcing expertise and transformational capabilities in the oil and gas domain.”
Under the five-year agreement with BP, Wipro will provide IT applications development and maintenance services for the company’s fuel and corporate businesses globally.
Earlier last week, Infosys Technologies said that it has bid for more than 10 large government projects in India as part of a drive to lower its dependence on the US market.
Infosys, which gets more than half its business from the United States, plans to generate $1 billion in revenue from the Indian market in 2-3 years versus an insignificant level now, the head of its India business unit said.
"There are large opportunities in India. So we are definitely going to go after these kinds of businesses very aggressively in India," Binod Rangadore said. "We have a very healthy pipeline right now."
The market for technology and business outsourcing services in India is expected to expand five-fold by 2020 to $90 billion to $100 billion on the back of a growing economy, according to a recent study by lobby group NASSCOM and consultancy McKinsey.
Outsourcing firms such as Infosys and bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services are tapping new markets such as India, China, Japan and countries in Europe to beat a recession in the United States.
The Indian firms face competition from big global players such as IBM Inc, Hewlett-Packard and Accenture that have raided their home turf as they look for growth outside their mature markets.
Under the terms of the deal, Infosys will operate a large portion of BP's business systems. No financial details were available.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies, said, “Infosys has a long standing relationship with BP, delivering consulting and technology services. We are well positioned to use our global sourcing expertise and transformational capabilities in the oil and gas domain.”
Under the five-year agreement with BP, Wipro will provide IT applications development and maintenance services for the company’s fuel and corporate businesses globally.
Earlier last week, Infosys Technologies said that it has bid for more than 10 large government projects in India as part of a drive to lower its dependence on the US market.
Infosys, which gets more than half its business from the United States, plans to generate $1 billion in revenue from the Indian market in 2-3 years versus an insignificant level now, the head of its India business unit said.
"There are large opportunities in India. So we are definitely going to go after these kinds of businesses very aggressively in India," Binod Rangadore said. "We have a very healthy pipeline right now."
The market for technology and business outsourcing services in India is expected to expand five-fold by 2020 to $90 billion to $100 billion on the back of a growing economy, according to a recent study by lobby group NASSCOM and consultancy McKinsey.
Outsourcing firms such as Infosys and bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services are tapping new markets such as India, China, Japan and countries in Europe to beat a recession in the United States.
The Indian firms face competition from big global players such as IBM Inc, Hewlett-Packard and Accenture that have raided their home turf as they look for growth outside their mature markets.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Sacked Wipro employee alleges harassment
An ex-employee of Wipro has filed a harassment case with the Electronics City police against some senior officials of the company after his services were terminated, reports Bangalore Mirror. Ram Manohar G, a native of Hyderabad, has alleged that he was confined to a room and harassed by his seniors, and was finally forced to quit. The 37 year old techie had been working as a team leader in the organization for the past 15 months.
According to Ram, he joined Wipro on Dec 3, 2007 and was unlawfully sacked on March 10 this year. Earlier he was working with MindTree in Bangalore. In his complaint, he alleged that he was confined to a room for a couple of hours at a stretch on several occasions by the higher-ups, and asked each time to resign. "It all started when recession hit the IT business. As far as my knowledge goes, some seven to eight thousand employees have been sacked during the last couple of months. But looking at my 11 years of experience and good track record, I was not really bothered about my services being terminated," he said.
In his complaint, he said, "I was confined by Anuradha Raju (Assistant Manager, TED, Testing Services, BFSI) in a conference hall inside the campus and was forced to sign on some blank papers. When I asked for the reason, she threatened that they would blacklist my name with NASSCOM and ensure that I did not get a job elsewhere."
Ram has also accused Ganesh Halapeti (Senior Project Manager, AXA, Australia) of abusing him in vulgar language over the phone. "He threatened that if I did not sign on the blank papers, my career would be ruined. I was also ordered to come to the office and work despite being sick." He also approached the HR Department about the incident, but no one paid heed to his grievance. "After I was sacked for no proper reason, I am in a state of shock and am facing acute financial problems."
Saurabh Govil, Senior Vice-President (HR), Wipro Technologies said, "We have not seen the complaint and would not like to comment before seeing it. The ex-employee in question, Ram Mohan, was employed with Wipro. We will not be able to provide any specific information on the individual due to employee confidentiality."
Govil said that the company would provide all the necessary co-operation and support to the investigating authorities in the matter. "We have a very robust process to deal with employee grievances. We have not had any complaints of this nature ever before. This may be an isolated case," he said.
Source: SiliconIndia
According to Ram, he joined Wipro on Dec 3, 2007 and was unlawfully sacked on March 10 this year. Earlier he was working with MindTree in Bangalore. In his complaint, he alleged that he was confined to a room for a couple of hours at a stretch on several occasions by the higher-ups, and asked each time to resign. "It all started when recession hit the IT business. As far as my knowledge goes, some seven to eight thousand employees have been sacked during the last couple of months. But looking at my 11 years of experience and good track record, I was not really bothered about my services being terminated," he said.
In his complaint, he said, "I was confined by Anuradha Raju (Assistant Manager, TED, Testing Services, BFSI) in a conference hall inside the campus and was forced to sign on some blank papers. When I asked for the reason, she threatened that they would blacklist my name with NASSCOM and ensure that I did not get a job elsewhere."
Ram has also accused Ganesh Halapeti (Senior Project Manager, AXA, Australia) of abusing him in vulgar language over the phone. "He threatened that if I did not sign on the blank papers, my career would be ruined. I was also ordered to come to the office and work despite being sick." He also approached the HR Department about the incident, but no one paid heed to his grievance. "After I was sacked for no proper reason, I am in a state of shock and am facing acute financial problems."
Saurabh Govil, Senior Vice-President (HR), Wipro Technologies said, "We have not seen the complaint and would not like to comment before seeing it. The ex-employee in question, Ram Mohan, was employed with Wipro. We will not be able to provide any specific information on the individual due to employee confidentiality."
Govil said that the company would provide all the necessary co-operation and support to the investigating authorities in the matter. "We have a very robust process to deal with employee grievances. We have not had any complaints of this nature ever before. This may be an isolated case," he said.
Source: SiliconIndia
Friday, August 21, 2009
Wipro BPO to host Mega Job Fest in CT Group of Institutions
Wipro BPO, the BPO arm of global IT giant Wipro, and CT Group of Institutions have joined hands to host a Mega Job Festival for the youth of the region to explore a career opportunity in the fast growing BPO Industry.
The "Job Fest" will be held on August 22 and August 23 at the CT Group of Institutions. Announcing the launch of the Job Fest, Vikas Dua (Head - Campus Initiatives) of Wipro BPO said, "It is our privilege to join hands with CT Group of Institutions, one of India's most reputed education institutions, and offer career opportunities to the youth. We are always on the outlook to partner with quality institutes to meet our rapid growth of talent.
Wipro BPO provides the talent pool an opportunity to create a career in the fast growing BPO industry - where students can choose locations from across the country where we have centres".
Also, on the occasion, Charanjit Singh Channi, Chairman of CT Group of Institutions said "The association with Wipro BPO re-iterates our commitment to career-oriented education. We are pleased to become a platform for enabling youth to take up rewarding careers with such a leading organization."
Asked whether there was any adverse impact of the economic recession on BPO sector, Dua said that there was not much adverse impact on the BPO industry and rather the industry spread its wings.
The "Job Fest" will be held on August 22 and August 23 at the CT Group of Institutions. Announcing the launch of the Job Fest, Vikas Dua (Head - Campus Initiatives) of Wipro BPO said, "It is our privilege to join hands with CT Group of Institutions, one of India's most reputed education institutions, and offer career opportunities to the youth. We are always on the outlook to partner with quality institutes to meet our rapid growth of talent.
Wipro BPO provides the talent pool an opportunity to create a career in the fast growing BPO industry - where students can choose locations from across the country where we have centres".
Also, on the occasion, Charanjit Singh Channi, Chairman of CT Group of Institutions said "The association with Wipro BPO re-iterates our commitment to career-oriented education. We are pleased to become a platform for enabling youth to take up rewarding careers with such a leading organization."
Asked whether there was any adverse impact of the economic recession on BPO sector, Dua said that there was not much adverse impact on the BPO industry and rather the industry spread its wings.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Cognizant pips Wipro as third in North American revenue
Cognizant has pipped Wipro in terms of revenue from the North America — a major market for Indian IT companies. The New Jersey-based company, whose major operations are in India, now ranks third after TCS and Infy. Cognizant’s revenues from the region touched $621 million during April-June 2009 quarter while Wipro’s revenues fell $16 million to $617 million in the same quarter.
“Cognizant has been reporting better results than the others. The company is growing at 13-14 % and is gaining market share more than the others in the region and are growing faster than the competition ,” Manik Taneja of Emkay Research said.
Interestingly, from July-September 2008 quarter till April-June 2009, Cognizant has been the only one in the top four to have consistently gained in revenues from the region. TCS topped the quarter with $774 million and Infy $726 million.
“Cognizant focuses on a limited number of geographies and industries and has built deep capabilities and insights in those areas. Through a combination of deep consulting and domain expertise, and high-touch relationship management , Cognizant has built leadership positions in each of the areas. We will continue to invest in North America, while expanding in other markets like Europe and Asia Pacific,” a Cognizant spokesperson said.
Manish Dugar, CFO, Wipro Technologies told ToI, “We do not believe that we have fallen behind in North America... we continue to win large deals... see good traction in terms of deal pipeline... Our revenues in the US have broadly been in line with our overall performance. While the macroeconomic environment has been challenging in the US, we are starting to see semblance of stability in the markets.”
“Cognizant has been reporting better results than the others. The company is growing at 13-14 % and is gaining market share more than the others in the region and are growing faster than the competition ,” Manik Taneja of Emkay Research said.
Interestingly, from July-September 2008 quarter till April-June 2009, Cognizant has been the only one in the top four to have consistently gained in revenues from the region. TCS topped the quarter with $774 million and Infy $726 million.
“Cognizant focuses on a limited number of geographies and industries and has built deep capabilities and insights in those areas. Through a combination of deep consulting and domain expertise, and high-touch relationship management , Cognizant has built leadership positions in each of the areas. We will continue to invest in North America, while expanding in other markets like Europe and Asia Pacific,” a Cognizant spokesperson said.
Manish Dugar, CFO, Wipro Technologies told ToI, “We do not believe that we have fallen behind in North America... we continue to win large deals... see good traction in terms of deal pipeline... Our revenues in the US have broadly been in line with our overall performance. While the macroeconomic environment has been challenging in the US, we are starting to see semblance of stability in the markets.”
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
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.
Wipro Launches Consulting Academy in the United States
Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT) announced that it has undertaken a key initiative to strengthen the consulting and customer management skills of its frontline employees.
The EAS (Enterprise Application Services) Consulting Academy aims to go beyond training to inculcate the right engagement behavior at an early stage that will go beyond improving customer satisfaction. The academy offers a six month certification programme to all Wipro employees who are involved in delivering consulting solutions to our clients. The program includes a combination of class room sessions followed by implementation of the learnings at the client workspace.
The EAS consulting academy has received very positive response from its clients, with some getting actively involved as faculty at the academy and acting as “guides” to pre-assigned students throughout the training period.
“It is great to see Wipro making these strategic investments into consulting, in spite of the prevailing economic conditions.” said Joe Simon, CIO, Viacom. “The EAS consulting academy is a win-win proposition for Wipro and the client, since it will help us in the future”
Speaking on the occasion Sangita Singh, Senior Vice President ,Enterprise Application Services, Wipro Technologies said “The EAS consulting academy is a key Wipro initiative to align our workforce closely to the business objectives of our clients, we are extremely happy with the overwhelming support that we are getting from our clients.”
The program will be run by Wipro's Corporate Human resource Development in conjunction with Enterprise Application Services business unit as well as eminent academicians and luminaries from the industry. The study will be facilitated through case studies, anecdotal learning interspersed with rigorous assignments in all areas. Wipro plans to certify around 300 consultants globally in the current financial year. The first batch of 60 consultants will get certified by September 2009.
The EAS (Enterprise Application Services) Consulting Academy aims to go beyond training to inculcate the right engagement behavior at an early stage that will go beyond improving customer satisfaction. The academy offers a six month certification programme to all Wipro employees who are involved in delivering consulting solutions to our clients. The program includes a combination of class room sessions followed by implementation of the learnings at the client workspace.
The EAS consulting academy has received very positive response from its clients, with some getting actively involved as faculty at the academy and acting as “guides” to pre-assigned students throughout the training period.
“It is great to see Wipro making these strategic investments into consulting, in spite of the prevailing economic conditions.” said Joe Simon, CIO, Viacom. “The EAS consulting academy is a win-win proposition for Wipro and the client, since it will help us in the future”
Speaking on the occasion Sangita Singh, Senior Vice President ,Enterprise Application Services, Wipro Technologies said “The EAS consulting academy is a key Wipro initiative to align our workforce closely to the business objectives of our clients, we are extremely happy with the overwhelming support that we are getting from our clients.”
The program will be run by Wipro's Corporate Human resource Development in conjunction with Enterprise Application Services business unit as well as eminent academicians and luminaries from the industry. The study will be facilitated through case studies, anecdotal learning interspersed with rigorous assignments in all areas. Wipro plans to certify around 300 consultants globally in the current financial year. The first batch of 60 consultants will get certified by September 2009.
Monday, August 17, 2009
India's Outsourcing Firms Lure More Japan Business
Source: WallStreetJournal
Indian software and outsourcing companies are starting to crack the tough Japanese market in an effort to trim their dependence on ailing U.S. financial clients.
Wipro Technologies Ltd., Infosys Technologies Ltd. and other Indian information-technology companies that had only tiny teams here five years ago now have thousands of employees dedicated to Japan. And with Japan's aging populace producing few new engineers, Indian companies expect much more business in the future.
"The game is changing," for Japanese companies, says Hiroshi Alley, the Yokohama-based head of Wipro's Japan and China businesses. "They are becoming more open to outsourcing and taking it further and even going offshore."
Wipro just had its best year to date in Japan. Its revenue there climbed 15% to $115 million in the year ended March 31. While that is 2% of Wipro's global revenue, Mr. Alley expects close to 10% of the company's sales to come from Japan over the next few years.
India's software companies are keen to diversify. This year has been painful proof of the problems of overexposure to the U.S. financial industry. Outsourcers have seen their profits plunge because often more than 60% of their revenues come from the U.S., and most of that from the troubled financial industry.
Japanese companies have been reluctant to use foreign companies. Still, some are slowly starting to experiment with sending information-technology work to China and India.
Wipro engineers in India, for example, are helping design car-navigation systems for Toshiba Corp. and medical scanners for Olympus Corp. Infosys is designing software for Fujitsu Ltd., and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. is designing the on-board systems for some Nissan Motor Co. cars.
Japanese investment bank Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. chose India's Tata Consultancy to build its international automated trading system. Tata had more experience in building this kind of software than its Japanese competitors, and charged half of what they were asking.
"There were concerns about using an Indian company, but we saw what they are already doing in the U.S. and Europe and that gave us confidence," says Masaji Harada, the Tokyo-based general manager of Daiwa's IT department. "To survive, we must become more international."
V. Sriram, the Tokyo-based head of Infosys' Japan business, says he started to look for customers in Japan in 1997 but there was little interest then. It wasn't until the past five years when Japanese companies noticed their competitors using Indian firms that some started to consider outsourcing projects. During the last fiscal year Infosys had sales of $88 million in Japan. It is expanding its Japan team this year even as it cuts back at home.
Japan's interest in outsourcing is part global trend and part local demographics. As its population ages, it isn't producing enough computer engineers to keep up with demand. More than three million Japanese are expected to retire from the service sector alone by 2020, according to India's Nasscom, a software-industry lobbying group in India.
The shortage is already so acute that Japanese businesses had to deal with what they dubbed the 2007 Cobol Problem, when a large batch of older engineers who programmed in the Cobol computer language -- which many Japanese companies still use for their internal systems -- retired.
"They are short of engineers" for technology work, says Girija Pande, executive vice president in charge of the Asia/Pacific business at Tata Consultancy. "They have to look to China and India."
In pursuit of Japanese clients, Indian companies put their engineers through Japanese-language and business-culture courses. They also send their Japanese employees to India to learn how business is done there.
While the language barrier is one of the reasons the outsourcing business isn't bigger, Indian companies say the biggest barrier is corporate culture in Japan. It can be difficult to persuade companies to trust part of their business to others, especially when that company's model is to do most of the work half way around the globe. Japanese companies also expect perfection, the Indian firms say, even if that takes time. The Indian software model, meanwhile, leans more toward delivering software quickly, testing it and fixing it along the way.
"They want absolute completion and absolute robust reliability," says Mr. Sriram of Infosys.
Indian software and outsourcing companies are starting to crack the tough Japanese market in an effort to trim their dependence on ailing U.S. financial clients.
Wipro Technologies Ltd., Infosys Technologies Ltd. and other Indian information-technology companies that had only tiny teams here five years ago now have thousands of employees dedicated to Japan. And with Japan's aging populace producing few new engineers, Indian companies expect much more business in the future.
"The game is changing," for Japanese companies, says Hiroshi Alley, the Yokohama-based head of Wipro's Japan and China businesses. "They are becoming more open to outsourcing and taking it further and even going offshore."
Wipro just had its best year to date in Japan. Its revenue there climbed 15% to $115 million in the year ended March 31. While that is 2% of Wipro's global revenue, Mr. Alley expects close to 10% of the company's sales to come from Japan over the next few years.
India's software companies are keen to diversify. This year has been painful proof of the problems of overexposure to the U.S. financial industry. Outsourcers have seen their profits plunge because often more than 60% of their revenues come from the U.S., and most of that from the troubled financial industry.
Japanese companies have been reluctant to use foreign companies. Still, some are slowly starting to experiment with sending information-technology work to China and India.
Wipro engineers in India, for example, are helping design car-navigation systems for Toshiba Corp. and medical scanners for Olympus Corp. Infosys is designing software for Fujitsu Ltd., and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. is designing the on-board systems for some Nissan Motor Co. cars.
Japanese investment bank Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. chose India's Tata Consultancy to build its international automated trading system. Tata had more experience in building this kind of software than its Japanese competitors, and charged half of what they were asking.
"There were concerns about using an Indian company, but we saw what they are already doing in the U.S. and Europe and that gave us confidence," says Masaji Harada, the Tokyo-based general manager of Daiwa's IT department. "To survive, we must become more international."
V. Sriram, the Tokyo-based head of Infosys' Japan business, says he started to look for customers in Japan in 1997 but there was little interest then. It wasn't until the past five years when Japanese companies noticed their competitors using Indian firms that some started to consider outsourcing projects. During the last fiscal year Infosys had sales of $88 million in Japan. It is expanding its Japan team this year even as it cuts back at home.
Japan's interest in outsourcing is part global trend and part local demographics. As its population ages, it isn't producing enough computer engineers to keep up with demand. More than three million Japanese are expected to retire from the service sector alone by 2020, according to India's Nasscom, a software-industry lobbying group in India.
The shortage is already so acute that Japanese businesses had to deal with what they dubbed the 2007 Cobol Problem, when a large batch of older engineers who programmed in the Cobol computer language -- which many Japanese companies still use for their internal systems -- retired.
"They are short of engineers" for technology work, says Girija Pande, executive vice president in charge of the Asia/Pacific business at Tata Consultancy. "They have to look to China and India."
In pursuit of Japanese clients, Indian companies put their engineers through Japanese-language and business-culture courses. They also send their Japanese employees to India to learn how business is done there.
While the language barrier is one of the reasons the outsourcing business isn't bigger, Indian companies say the biggest barrier is corporate culture in Japan. It can be difficult to persuade companies to trust part of their business to others, especially when that company's model is to do most of the work half way around the globe. Japanese companies also expect perfection, the Indian firms say, even if that takes time. The Indian software model, meanwhile, leans more toward delivering software quickly, testing it and fixing it along the way.
"They want absolute completion and absolute robust reliability," says Mr. Sriram of Infosys.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wipro, VTU to improve employability of students
IT major Wipro has tied up with Visveswaraiah Techn-ological University (VTU), Karnataka’s biggest technology university, to enhance the employability of graduating engineers, as part of its Mission 10X prgramme. Mission10X is a not-for-profit trust launc-hed by Wipro. The MoU is for a period of three years.
As part of the tie-up, VTU would allow faculty across Karnataka to have interactions through EDU-SAT. Selvan D, senior VP — talent transformation, Wip-ro, said, “This partnership will provide a platform to encourage innovative thinking in the faculty, which will generate enthusiasm in engineering graduates.”
“There lies a huge gap between academia and industry requirement. Getting the right people for the industry is becoming very difficult. We aim to train the students through the faculty on logical, analogical and interpersonal skills,” said S Nagarjuna, GM and head of Mission 10X.
Wipro also announced a new initiative to strengthen its consulting and customer management skills of its employees, by starting a consulting academy in the US.
As part of the tie-up, VTU would allow faculty across Karnataka to have interactions through EDU-SAT. Selvan D, senior VP — talent transformation, Wip-ro, said, “This partnership will provide a platform to encourage innovative thinking in the faculty, which will generate enthusiasm in engineering graduates.”
“There lies a huge gap between academia and industry requirement. Getting the right people for the industry is becoming very difficult. We aim to train the students through the faculty on logical, analogical and interpersonal skills,” said S Nagarjuna, GM and head of Mission 10X.
Wipro also announced a new initiative to strengthen its consulting and customer management skills of its employees, by starting a consulting academy in the US.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Wipro close to Rs 1,500-crore IT deal with Etisalat
Etisalat DB Telecom India, in which the UAE-based Etisalat holds a 45 per cent stake, is close to signing a Rs 1,500 crore outsourcing deal with IT major Wipro Technologies.
If the deal goes through, this would be the second largest deal for Wipro in the telecom space. Earlier in April, the IT major bagged a Rs 2,500-crore contract from another new operator, Unitech Wireless.
Importantly, Wipro will be pipping seven other IT vendors, including IBM and Tech Mahindra, who were also in discussions with Etisalat, according to sources.
Under the agreement, Wipro will manage the IT infrastructure and services for Etisalat, including setting up of servers, enterprise resource planning (ERP) suites and technology, computers and other software required for billing and customer care, among other things.
Etisalat will have to sign the deal much ahead of its equipment order. The company was planning to rollout its services by the end of the year. “The companies are finalising the deal, and would announce it within a month’s time,” the source added.
However, the tenure of the contract the companies were discussing could not be ascertained.
While a Wipro spokesperson declined to comment, an Etisalat spokesperson stated that the company does not comment on speculation.
Etisalat DB Telecom India, a joint venture between Etisalat and Mumbai-based Dynamix Balwas Group, has licence to provide services across 15 circles. The company had received spectrum to start services across 13 circles in the country and was gearing up for the services.
The telecom companies were increasingly outsourcing their IT infrastructure, as it would enable them to be asset-light and concentrate on their core competencies.
In January 2008, Aircel Cellular had awarded a $600-million deal to Wipro, while Aditya Birla group company Idea Cellular had signed a 10-year IT outsourcing deal with IBM. Idea Cellular’s deal was estimated to be around $600-800 million.
Earlier, telecom giant Vodafone-Essar had outsourced its IT operations to IBM under a five-year contract in 2007 (financial terms not disclosed). IBM has large outsourcing contracts from Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.
If the deal goes through, this would be the second largest deal for Wipro in the telecom space. Earlier in April, the IT major bagged a Rs 2,500-crore contract from another new operator, Unitech Wireless.
Importantly, Wipro will be pipping seven other IT vendors, including IBM and Tech Mahindra, who were also in discussions with Etisalat, according to sources.
Under the agreement, Wipro will manage the IT infrastructure and services for Etisalat, including setting up of servers, enterprise resource planning (ERP) suites and technology, computers and other software required for billing and customer care, among other things.
Etisalat will have to sign the deal much ahead of its equipment order. The company was planning to rollout its services by the end of the year. “The companies are finalising the deal, and would announce it within a month’s time,” the source added.
However, the tenure of the contract the companies were discussing could not be ascertained.
While a Wipro spokesperson declined to comment, an Etisalat spokesperson stated that the company does not comment on speculation.
Etisalat DB Telecom India, a joint venture between Etisalat and Mumbai-based Dynamix Balwas Group, has licence to provide services across 15 circles. The company had received spectrum to start services across 13 circles in the country and was gearing up for the services.
The telecom companies were increasingly outsourcing their IT infrastructure, as it would enable them to be asset-light and concentrate on their core competencies.
In January 2008, Aircel Cellular had awarded a $600-million deal to Wipro, while Aditya Birla group company Idea Cellular had signed a 10-year IT outsourcing deal with IBM. Idea Cellular’s deal was estimated to be around $600-800 million.
Earlier, telecom giant Vodafone-Essar had outsourced its IT operations to IBM under a five-year contract in 2007 (financial terms not disclosed). IBM has large outsourcing contracts from Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.
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