Also see:Infosys to replace Indians by Americans
Wipro Ltd, India’s third-largest software-services provider, plans to hire more workers in the US to take advantage of a rebounding technology market.
“We are seeing signs of stability, signs of decision making coming back,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Azim Premji, 64, said in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York yesterday. “So overall positive, but still cautious.”
Premji is betting that US employees will help the Bangalore-based company win local orders, including contracts with the federal government, as the world’s largest economy starts to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. Wipro gets about half its revenue from the US.
The company plans to hire about 500 local employees for a new services center by June, he said. He declined to name possible locations, saying he is talking to different state governments. The company already has a center in Atlanta.
“Everybody wants employment,” said Premji, who attended Stanford University. “That’s the trump card today.”
Larger rival Infosys Technologies Ltd. reported second- quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates last week after winning more business from current customers.
Wipro designs and builds software programs, maintains computers, and provides product-engineering services and back- office support to General Electric Co, Cisco Systems Inc, Citigroup Inc and other customers. It will report results on Oct. 27 for the three months ended Sept. 30.
Wipro rose 1.4 percent to 581.70 rupees yesterday in Mumbai trading. The stock has more than doubled this year, compared with a 79 percent increase for the benchmark Sensitive Index on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
U.S. Universities
The company has been working with schools such as the Georgia Institute of Technology to help bolster engineering education, which is subpar in the U.S., Premji said. U.S. graduates have become more affordable in the recession, he said.
Premji said he was worried about President Barack Obama limiting H-1B visas in a bid to fight unemployment. The visas allow foreign workers to come to the U.S.
Showing posts with label Wipro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wipro. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
HCL, Infosys, IT market, Satyam, TCS, Wipro
Variable, pay hike make a comeback this Diwali
Salary-earners are seeing their pinched pockets bulging, as companies are untying their purse strings. Top IT companies such as TCS and Infosys are leading a revival of employee-centric HR policies in India Inc marked by high variable payouts, double-digit salary hikes and promotions, less than a year after the global meltdown forced them to slash salaries and freeze hiring.
Buoyed by signs of faster-than-expected economic recovery from India and elsewhere and a jump in demand, a clutch of companies across sectors including carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hyundai Motors are busy paying out variable bonuses ahead of Diwali.
Some others, like top white goods maker LG Electronics, biotech firm Avesthagen, consumer products company Dabur and private insurer Bharti AXA Life Insurance are rewarding select employees with salary hikes and promotions.
India Inc has turned its focus back on its people power as companies are looking to expand, encouraged by improved demand and enquiries, BSE Sensex more than doubling in just six months, and signs of faster-than-expected global recovery that made the International Monetary Fund up its forecast for world economic growth in 2010 to 3.1% from 2.5% predicted in July.
This is in stark contrast to just a year ago when the global recession that felled several global financial giants including Lehman Brothers hit India, forcing companies to shelve expansion plans, downsize operations, cut salaries and freeze recruitment.
“In the past 15 months, HR heads were not at all bothered about attrition. But now that several sectors are bouncing back to normalcy, poaching might see a rise. Hence, companies want to secure their talent pool with mid-term hikes and promotions,” said P Dwarkanath, Max India group director (human capital) and a former president of the National HRD Network.
The drive to please employees is most visible in the country’s $60-billion technology services sector that is seeing more business trickling in.
Worst-hit sectors may give hikes
"It is a people-driven industry. At a time when the sector is witnessing positive signs of recovery, such announcements become even more relevant for both the company and employees. This would not only help companies in retaining their existing talent, but attracting new talent as well," said Joy Nandi, client partner, global technology practice, with Delhi-based headhunting firm Korn/Ferry International.
Tata Consultancy Services, the largest IT exporter, for example, has restored variable pay it had cut earlier this year due to a drastic demand slump.
Its main rival Infosys Technologies plans to give higher variable pay for the second quarter, besides declaring salary hikes and promotions across levels in October.
The firm will increase the variable component of employee salary if its overall performance is up in the second quarter, said a company executive requesting anonymity. Infosys will announce its Q2 results on October 9.
TCS did not pay variables in the January-March quarter due to overall decline in performance, while Infosys cut its variable pay by up to 55% in the first quarter. The average variable component in both firms is 30% of an employee's total salary.
The third largest player, Wipro, did not cut any variable pay and will continue to give variable linked with performance, a company executive said. Earlier this month, Mahindra Satyam (erstwhile Satyam Computer Services) announced restoration of variable pay of its 28,000 employees. Satyam had held back variable payouts from April to trim costs as revenues were under pressure.
Zensar Technologies, which employs more than 5,000 people, has hiked salaries by 6.5% on an average on a selective basis, besides paying full variable to 95% of its employees, its CEO Ganesh Natarajan said. With the recovery in economy activating the job markets again, companies in other sectors too are promoting key performers and doling out 8-12% mid-year salary hikes.
Avesthagen, for example, is promoting employees "who have worked overtime during the recession and were loyal to us", according to Villoo Morawala-Patell, its founder and CMD. Similarly, LG Electronics has just promoted a select bunch of employees in the general manager level and gave them a mid-term hike, according to Y V Verma, its HR director. Bharti AXA Life Insurance's HR director Priya Ranjan said the insurer will hand out about 15% hike to some 20-odd employees later this month.
Also, several companies that had last year migrated from half-yearly appraisal cycle to one-year cycle due to the slowdown are returning to six-month appraisal cycle. "For companies who had given measly hikes or cut salaries, a mid-term appraisal provides an opportunity for salary correction," said E Balaji, CEO of executive search firm Ma Foi Management Consultants.
HR circles say the trend is seen in some of the erstwhile worst-hit sectors like real estate, stockbroking and mutual funds. Brokerage firm Angel Broking recently gave 8% hike to its top 5% talent base of 6,200 people.
DLF, the country's largest real estate firm, said it was yet to decide on a mid-term appraisal, while Kolkata-based Ambuja Realty chairman Harsh Neotia said the firm was evaluating it.
Dabur India, which had already hiked salaries in April and July this year, plans to undertake another round of salary correction in January next year. It will undertake mid-term appraisals this month, according to HR head A Sudhakar.
Tyremaker Ceat too plans to go in for mid-term appraisal confirming the fact that companies are no longer fighting shy when it comes to pay packets.
Buoyed by signs of faster-than-expected economic recovery from India and elsewhere and a jump in demand, a clutch of companies across sectors including carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hyundai Motors are busy paying out variable bonuses ahead of Diwali.
Some others, like top white goods maker LG Electronics, biotech firm Avesthagen, consumer products company Dabur and private insurer Bharti AXA Life Insurance are rewarding select employees with salary hikes and promotions.
India Inc has turned its focus back on its people power as companies are looking to expand, encouraged by improved demand and enquiries, BSE Sensex more than doubling in just six months, and signs of faster-than-expected global recovery that made the International Monetary Fund up its forecast for world economic growth in 2010 to 3.1% from 2.5% predicted in July.
This is in stark contrast to just a year ago when the global recession that felled several global financial giants including Lehman Brothers hit India, forcing companies to shelve expansion plans, downsize operations, cut salaries and freeze recruitment.
“In the past 15 months, HR heads were not at all bothered about attrition. But now that several sectors are bouncing back to normalcy, poaching might see a rise. Hence, companies want to secure their talent pool with mid-term hikes and promotions,” said P Dwarkanath, Max India group director (human capital) and a former president of the National HRD Network.
The drive to please employees is most visible in the country’s $60-billion technology services sector that is seeing more business trickling in.
Worst-hit sectors may give hikes
"It is a people-driven industry. At a time when the sector is witnessing positive signs of recovery, such announcements become even more relevant for both the company and employees. This would not only help companies in retaining their existing talent, but attracting new talent as well," said Joy Nandi, client partner, global technology practice, with Delhi-based headhunting firm Korn/Ferry International.
Tata Consultancy Services, the largest IT exporter, for example, has restored variable pay it had cut earlier this year due to a drastic demand slump.
Its main rival Infosys Technologies plans to give higher variable pay for the second quarter, besides declaring salary hikes and promotions across levels in October.
The firm will increase the variable component of employee salary if its overall performance is up in the second quarter, said a company executive requesting anonymity. Infosys will announce its Q2 results on October 9.
TCS did not pay variables in the January-March quarter due to overall decline in performance, while Infosys cut its variable pay by up to 55% in the first quarter. The average variable component in both firms is 30% of an employee's total salary.
The third largest player, Wipro, did not cut any variable pay and will continue to give variable linked with performance, a company executive said. Earlier this month, Mahindra Satyam (erstwhile Satyam Computer Services) announced restoration of variable pay of its 28,000 employees. Satyam had held back variable payouts from April to trim costs as revenues were under pressure.
Zensar Technologies, which employs more than 5,000 people, has hiked salaries by 6.5% on an average on a selective basis, besides paying full variable to 95% of its employees, its CEO Ganesh Natarajan said. With the recovery in economy activating the job markets again, companies in other sectors too are promoting key performers and doling out 8-12% mid-year salary hikes.
Avesthagen, for example, is promoting employees "who have worked overtime during the recession and were loyal to us", according to Villoo Morawala-Patell, its founder and CMD. Similarly, LG Electronics has just promoted a select bunch of employees in the general manager level and gave them a mid-term hike, according to Y V Verma, its HR director. Bharti AXA Life Insurance's HR director Priya Ranjan said the insurer will hand out about 15% hike to some 20-odd employees later this month.
Also, several companies that had last year migrated from half-yearly appraisal cycle to one-year cycle due to the slowdown are returning to six-month appraisal cycle. "For companies who had given measly hikes or cut salaries, a mid-term appraisal provides an opportunity for salary correction," said E Balaji, CEO of executive search firm Ma Foi Management Consultants.
HR circles say the trend is seen in some of the erstwhile worst-hit sectors like real estate, stockbroking and mutual funds. Brokerage firm Angel Broking recently gave 8% hike to its top 5% talent base of 6,200 people.
DLF, the country's largest real estate firm, said it was yet to decide on a mid-term appraisal, while Kolkata-based Ambuja Realty chairman Harsh Neotia said the firm was evaluating it.
Dabur India, which had already hiked salaries in April and July this year, plans to undertake another round of salary correction in January next year. It will undertake mid-term appraisals this month, according to HR head A Sudhakar.
Tyremaker Ceat too plans to go in for mid-term appraisal confirming the fact that companies are no longer fighting shy when it comes to pay packets.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Wipro
Wipro eyeing acquisitions, govt projects for growth
Against the backdrop of a spate of recent acquisitions by international technology companies like Dell and Xerox, Indian IT major Wipro on Friday said it is looking at acquisitions to fuel growth.
"We are selectively looking at acquisitions...it will be a string of smaller ones," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here.
He, however, declined to divulge further details saying, "It is premature to talk of them."
Premji said Wipro is focusing on the domestic sector, which accounts for just about 5 per cent of its Rs 6,274 crore revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2009. About a quarter of domestic sales comes from government projects.
"We are very active in the (government) space and chasing many deals... About 20-25 per cent of our Indian revenues come from the government sector," Premji said.
On the signs of recovery in the IT market, which was hit by the global economic meltdown, Premji said, "I think there is stabilisation in the market."
Wipro Infotech has already bagged the e-health contract of the Indian Navy to upgrade technology in the hospital patient administration wing into an integrated hospital information system. “We see a huge opportunity in government hospitals, especially in rural areas. Wipro HCIT (health care IT) is growing at 100% y-o-y . Over 100 installations have been completed so far,” Wipro Infotech healthcare IT general manager Harbir Singh Sawhney has said. The task they had taken up involved creating various databases and linking them via internet.
“We are developing new products based on cutting-edge technology, which will be Web-enabled , have multiple databases and have radio-frequency identification (RFID),” he said.
"We are selectively looking at acquisitions...it will be a string of smaller ones," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here.
He, however, declined to divulge further details saying, "It is premature to talk of them."
Premji said Wipro is focusing on the domestic sector, which accounts for just about 5 per cent of its Rs 6,274 crore revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2009. About a quarter of domestic sales comes from government projects.
"We are very active in the (government) space and chasing many deals... About 20-25 per cent of our Indian revenues come from the government sector," Premji said.
On the signs of recovery in the IT market, which was hit by the global economic meltdown, Premji said, "I think there is stabilisation in the market."
Wipro Infotech has already bagged the e-health contract of the Indian Navy to upgrade technology in the hospital patient administration wing into an integrated hospital information system. “We see a huge opportunity in government hospitals, especially in rural areas. Wipro HCIT (health care IT) is growing at 100% y-o-y . Over 100 installations have been completed so far,” Wipro Infotech healthcare IT general manager Harbir Singh Sawhney has said. The task they had taken up involved creating various databases and linking them via internet.
“We are developing new products based on cutting-edge technology, which will be Web-enabled , have multiple databases and have radio-frequency identification (RFID),” he said.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Infosys, IT market, New Deals, Outsourcing, TCS, Wipro
TCS, Wipro, Infosys vie deals worth $100 mn each in Nordic region
Nordea AB, the biggest regional bank in the Nordic region, along with peers Svenska Handelsbanken and SEB, are among a new set of customers planning to offshore technology work to India, as they aim to bring down operational costs by up to 30% and cope with the slump more effectively.
Indian tech vendors such as TCS, HCL, L&T Infotech, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant are in discussion with Nordic customers for outsourcing contracts potentially worth around $100 million each over next few years.
Outsourcing advisory firm EquaTerra recently analysed around 370 outsourcing contracts signed by over 200 Nordic customers and concluded that the Indian service providers scored better than European vendors such as TietoEnator and Capgemini when it came to customer satisfaction. EquaTerra analysed almost $4.3 billion worth of outsourcing contracts signed by these customers.
Most Nordic countries, especially Sweden, have high cost structures. This is putting pressure on local customers to seek low-cost resources in locations like India, which will help them tighten belts by up to 30-40 %.
“India remains the dominant offshore destination for Nordics firms. 61% of the respondents are using India to fulfill at least some of their global sourcing needs,” EquaTerra said in a recent report. When contacted by ET, Indian tech vendors declined to comment on any potential outsourcing contract being pursued by them.
TCS, India’s biggest software outsourcing firm, said Nordic customers are indeed beginning to explore more outsourcing options.
“While the overall Nordic IT market is expected to remain flat in 2009, the demand for services outsourcing continues to be firm and we are seeing continued growth,” said AS Lakhminarayanan, vice-president and head(Europe), TCS. “Norway in particular is expected to demonstrate one of the highest IT market growth rates in Europe in 2009, estimated at between 1-2 % annually, while most other markets have remained flat or even declined,” he added.
Customers such as Handelsbanken have been exploring offshoring of IT work for almost a year, and a worsening economic crisis forced them to look at offshoring more seriously.
The bank is now seeking suppliers for maintaining its legacy mainframe systems, and also make them work with newer business software applications. Nordic customers prefer to start an outsourcing engagement with smaller contracts of $10-20 million, but are expected to ramp up after experiencing the promised benefits.
Unlike other European markets such as Germany where labour laws make it difficult for an offshoring contract, countries in the Nordic region are more flexible.
However, they still prefer to exercise caution during early relationships without succumbing to doling out multi-year, mega outsourcing contracts. “If you look at the last 100 deals signed over the past six to eight months, you would find that they range from € 500,000 to € 150 million, which is a broad range. The most significant deal size segment, in terms of frequency, would lie in the range of € 8-20 million,” agreed Mr Lakhminarayanan.
Indian tech vendors such as TCS, HCL, L&T Infotech, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant are in discussion with Nordic customers for outsourcing contracts potentially worth around $100 million each over next few years.
Outsourcing advisory firm EquaTerra recently analysed around 370 outsourcing contracts signed by over 200 Nordic customers and concluded that the Indian service providers scored better than European vendors such as TietoEnator and Capgemini when it came to customer satisfaction. EquaTerra analysed almost $4.3 billion worth of outsourcing contracts signed by these customers.
Most Nordic countries, especially Sweden, have high cost structures. This is putting pressure on local customers to seek low-cost resources in locations like India, which will help them tighten belts by up to 30-40 %.
“India remains the dominant offshore destination for Nordics firms. 61% of the respondents are using India to fulfill at least some of their global sourcing needs,” EquaTerra said in a recent report. When contacted by ET, Indian tech vendors declined to comment on any potential outsourcing contract being pursued by them.
TCS, India’s biggest software outsourcing firm, said Nordic customers are indeed beginning to explore more outsourcing options.
“While the overall Nordic IT market is expected to remain flat in 2009, the demand for services outsourcing continues to be firm and we are seeing continued growth,” said AS Lakhminarayanan, vice-president and head(Europe), TCS. “Norway in particular is expected to demonstrate one of the highest IT market growth rates in Europe in 2009, estimated at between 1-2 % annually, while most other markets have remained flat or even declined,” he added.
Customers such as Handelsbanken have been exploring offshoring of IT work for almost a year, and a worsening economic crisis forced them to look at offshoring more seriously.
The bank is now seeking suppliers for maintaining its legacy mainframe systems, and also make them work with newer business software applications. Nordic customers prefer to start an outsourcing engagement with smaller contracts of $10-20 million, but are expected to ramp up after experiencing the promised benefits.
Unlike other European markets such as Germany where labour laws make it difficult for an offshoring contract, countries in the Nordic region are more flexible.
However, they still prefer to exercise caution during early relationships without succumbing to doling out multi-year, mega outsourcing contracts. “If you look at the last 100 deals signed over the past six to eight months, you would find that they range from € 500,000 to € 150 million, which is a broad range. The most significant deal size segment, in terms of frequency, would lie in the range of € 8-20 million,” agreed Mr Lakhminarayanan.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Cost cutting, HCL, Infosys, IT market, Recession, TCS, Wipro
IT firms pull out all stops on staff training
Indian IT majors may have tightened their belts in various areas to contain costs as a fallout of the global economic slowdown. However, most of them see continuing value when it comes to employee training, even though it skims crores of rupees off their top-lines.
Top tier IT firms — including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies, Wipro and HCL Technologies — have identified the need to train the brains they handpick annually from India’s top engineering colleges and technical institutes as a critical task, even as the industry is seeing a degree of upturn in client demand.
India’s largest IT services provider, TCS, for instance, spends 2 per cent of its revenue every year on training new entrants. Bangalore-headquartered Infosys recently announced the opening of a grand training facility at its Mysore campus. Infosys annually spends over Rs 800 crore on training alone. Wipro spends about 2 per cent of its net sales in providing training to employees.
While Infosys and TCS have, to a certain extent, tried to centralise their training resources, Wipro’s strategy has been of a federal nature to cater to local manpower requirements. Wipro has set up an archipelago of training centres in proximity to its competency centres all over India and overseas.
“Wipro believes in taking learning as close as possible to the learner. Hence, for fresh recruits, training is conducted at the development centres where the employee is to be placed. Training happens primarily at our Talent Transformation Centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata and Kochi,” says Sreekala Ramamurthy, GM (talent transformation), Wipro Technologies. Overseas recruits, she says, are either provided training at the company’s global centres like the Atlanta Development Centre or “...recruits are flown down to our India offices”.
HCL, too, has decentralised its training infrastructure across the globe because its employees are no longer confined to a particular geography or location. According to Anand Pillai, senior V-P and global head (quality, talent transformation & intrapreneurship development), HCL Technologies: “Since learners are spread across the globe, the entire training department is also spread across the world. Our programmes are standardised to cater to global learning challenges and simultaneously manage different cultural nuances and local sensitivities.”
TCS provides an Initial Learning Programme (ILP) at the company’s corporate learning centre in Thiruvananthapuram. “We invest heavily in world-class training for our employees. ILP training is primarily conducted at our corporate learning centre at Thiruvananthapuram for Indian and non-Indian trainees. We replicate our fresher training programme at Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore and Baroda, as well as overseas, to bring scalability to our training model,” says Ajoy Mukherjee, V-P & head (global HR), TCS.
TCS’ new facility, the Peepul Park, is spread over 12 acres of newly acquired land in Technopark. The 3.5-lakh square feet Peepul Park is snazzily designed and also houses a Leadership Development Institute. The ILP Learning Block can accommodate 1,000 employees at a time, a hostel block accommodates 500 people, with a recreation centre and library thrown in. The facility has a capacity of 1,500 people.
The ILP is replicated in overseas geographies for new hires from countries like Australia, China, India, Hungary, Uruguay, the UK and the US. TCS also ensures that it hires people with diverse educational backgrounds and across geographies.
Infosys recently expanded the company’s global training centre, located at its 337-acre Mysore campus, by setting up another dedicated facility (GEC-II) for training. However, Infosys also maintains training infrastructure at all its development centres. The company recently extended the training duration for new recruits (freshers).
“We consider training as an investment in the future. Our investments to enhance our training capabilities are in keeping with future requirements,” justifies S Gopalakrishnan, CEO and MD, Infosys Technologies.
Top tier IT firms — including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies, Wipro and HCL Technologies — have identified the need to train the brains they handpick annually from India’s top engineering colleges and technical institutes as a critical task, even as the industry is seeing a degree of upturn in client demand.
India’s largest IT services provider, TCS, for instance, spends 2 per cent of its revenue every year on training new entrants. Bangalore-headquartered Infosys recently announced the opening of a grand training facility at its Mysore campus. Infosys annually spends over Rs 800 crore on training alone. Wipro spends about 2 per cent of its net sales in providing training to employees.
While Infosys and TCS have, to a certain extent, tried to centralise their training resources, Wipro’s strategy has been of a federal nature to cater to local manpower requirements. Wipro has set up an archipelago of training centres in proximity to its competency centres all over India and overseas.
“Wipro believes in taking learning as close as possible to the learner. Hence, for fresh recruits, training is conducted at the development centres where the employee is to be placed. Training happens primarily at our Talent Transformation Centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata and Kochi,” says Sreekala Ramamurthy, GM (talent transformation), Wipro Technologies. Overseas recruits, she says, are either provided training at the company’s global centres like the Atlanta Development Centre or “...recruits are flown down to our India offices”.
HCL, too, has decentralised its training infrastructure across the globe because its employees are no longer confined to a particular geography or location. According to Anand Pillai, senior V-P and global head (quality, talent transformation & intrapreneurship development), HCL Technologies: “Since learners are spread across the globe, the entire training department is also spread across the world. Our programmes are standardised to cater to global learning challenges and simultaneously manage different cultural nuances and local sensitivities.”
TCS provides an Initial Learning Programme (ILP) at the company’s corporate learning centre in Thiruvananthapuram. “We invest heavily in world-class training for our employees. ILP training is primarily conducted at our corporate learning centre at Thiruvananthapuram for Indian and non-Indian trainees. We replicate our fresher training programme at Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore and Baroda, as well as overseas, to bring scalability to our training model,” says Ajoy Mukherjee, V-P & head (global HR), TCS.
TCS’ new facility, the Peepul Park, is spread over 12 acres of newly acquired land in Technopark. The 3.5-lakh square feet Peepul Park is snazzily designed and also houses a Leadership Development Institute. The ILP Learning Block can accommodate 1,000 employees at a time, a hostel block accommodates 500 people, with a recreation centre and library thrown in. The facility has a capacity of 1,500 people.
The ILP is replicated in overseas geographies for new hires from countries like Australia, China, India, Hungary, Uruguay, the UK and the US. TCS also ensures that it hires people with diverse educational backgrounds and across geographies.
Infosys recently expanded the company’s global training centre, located at its 337-acre Mysore campus, by setting up another dedicated facility (GEC-II) for training. However, Infosys also maintains training infrastructure at all its development centres. The company recently extended the training duration for new recruits (freshers).
“We consider training as an investment in the future. Our investments to enhance our training capabilities are in keeping with future requirements,” justifies S Gopalakrishnan, CEO and MD, Infosys Technologies.
IT market, Wipro
On sale: Wipro's France facility
Wipro Ltd, India’s third largest provider of software services, is seeking a buyer for its Sophia Antipolis centre, said Christophe Martinoli, country head for France at the company’s Wipro Technologies business.
“We have been always looking for buyers and we will continue to look favorably on any proposal that we may get from interested parties willing to continue part” or all of the center’s activities, Martinoli said in an email interview on Thursday.
The facility, one of the Bangalore-based company’s five offices in France, employs about 60 workers.
The company has told the French government that it will try to redeploy workers from the facility and assist them in seeking jobs outside the company, he said.
“We have been always looking for buyers and we will continue to look favorably on any proposal that we may get from interested parties willing to continue part” or all of the center’s activities, Martinoli said in an email interview on Thursday.
The facility, one of the Bangalore-based company’s five offices in France, employs about 60 workers.
The company has told the French government that it will try to redeploy workers from the facility and assist them in seeking jobs outside the company, he said.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
New Deals, Outsourcing, TCS, Wipro
Wipro, TCS bag major IT services contracts
Two of India's IT bellweather companies Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro bagged contracts from major agencies. Wipro Ltd, India's No. 3 outsourcing company, said on Wednesday it had won a three-year IT services contract from Aquarion Water Company, one of the largest water utilities in the United States.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on the other hand has won India's largest state-wide area network (SWAN) project from the Andhra Pradesh government.
Financial details of the Wipro deal were not disclosed. TCS' five-year project is based on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model. "This is the fourth SWAN project TCS has bagged in a row," said a company statement here Wednesday.
It is now implementing SWAN projects in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar.
The proposed SWAN project will enable the state government to start and run various e-governance projects and citizen services. The project would be rolled out in 12 months and TCS will then maintain it for five years.
"We are happy to partner with TCS for this project. This is yet another initiative of the state government to take a wide array of services to the common man," said Sameer Sharma, secretary and chairman of Andhra Pradesh Technology Services.
The project envisages connecting state headquarters with 1,088 sub-divisions and 23 district headquarters.
Once the project is commissioned, the network will enable the state to have video-conferencing facility across government offices and enable them to communicate and conference with each other over VoIP (voice over IP) phones, which will reduce the government's phone bills considerably.
Various e-governance applications like RTO, healthcare, education, municipality would also ride on this network backbone, said Sanjay Kumar, managing director of Andhra Pradesh Technology Services.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on the other hand has won India's largest state-wide area network (SWAN) project from the Andhra Pradesh government.
Financial details of the Wipro deal were not disclosed. TCS' five-year project is based on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model. "This is the fourth SWAN project TCS has bagged in a row," said a company statement here Wednesday.
It is now implementing SWAN projects in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar.
The proposed SWAN project will enable the state government to start and run various e-governance projects and citizen services. The project would be rolled out in 12 months and TCS will then maintain it for five years.
"We are happy to partner with TCS for this project. This is yet another initiative of the state government to take a wide array of services to the common man," said Sameer Sharma, secretary and chairman of Andhra Pradesh Technology Services.
The project envisages connecting state headquarters with 1,088 sub-divisions and 23 district headquarters.
Once the project is commissioned, the network will enable the state to have video-conferencing facility across government offices and enable them to communicate and conference with each other over VoIP (voice over IP) phones, which will reduce the government's phone bills considerably.
Various e-governance applications like RTO, healthcare, education, municipality would also ride on this network backbone, said Sanjay Kumar, managing director of Andhra Pradesh Technology Services.
New Deals, Wipro
Wipro wins 3-yr contract from US utility
Wipro Ltd, India's No. 3 outsourcing company, said on Wednesday it had won a three-year IT services contract from Aquarion Water Company, one of the largest water utilities in the United States. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Wipro
Wipro looks to sell French unit as employee protests mount
Wipro plans to explore options to sell its development centre at Sophia Antipolis, France, because of extensive employee protests against shutting it down.
The issue had snowballed into a major controversy with the involvement of the local French government officials. Wipro had initiated talks to close down the centre that it acquired from Newlogic because of poor demand. The centre employs around 60 people.
“As part of the ongoing process, we will continue to look favourably on any proposal that we may get from interested parties willing to continue part of totality of the activities in the Sophia Antipolis centre,” Pramod Idiculla, general manager (strategy), Wipro Technologies, told ET. The Indian IT firm acquired privately-held Newlogic in 2005 for around $56 million.
A cross-section of consultants ET spoke to said Wipro may find it hard to sell the facility in this environment. “I am not sure, if the Newlogic unit will find any buyers. A safer bet would be to wait for the demand to improve and then take a call,” said a semiconductor design consultant based in Germany.
“These 60-odd engineers may be few in numbers, but any move to sack them will create a public unrest in this region, there’s already pressure on EU countries to ensure that jobs do not go outside the region,” he added.
The issue had snowballed into a major controversy with the involvement of the local French government officials. Wipro had initiated talks to close down the centre that it acquired from Newlogic because of poor demand. The centre employs around 60 people.
“As part of the ongoing process, we will continue to look favourably on any proposal that we may get from interested parties willing to continue part of totality of the activities in the Sophia Antipolis centre,” Pramod Idiculla, general manager (strategy), Wipro Technologies, told ET. The Indian IT firm acquired privately-held Newlogic in 2005 for around $56 million.
A cross-section of consultants ET spoke to said Wipro may find it hard to sell the facility in this environment. “I am not sure, if the Newlogic unit will find any buyers. A safer bet would be to wait for the demand to improve and then take a call,” said a semiconductor design consultant based in Germany.
“These 60-odd engineers may be few in numbers, but any move to sack them will create a public unrest in this region, there’s already pressure on EU countries to ensure that jobs do not go outside the region,” he added.
IT market, Wipro
Wipro tops R&D chart with $800 m revenue
Wipro Technologies leads the Indian IT research & development (R&D) services revenue chart with a revenue of $800 million, a management survey said on Wednesday.
TCS, with revenues of around $700 million, closely follows Wipro, with HCL next in line with $523 million. Infosys, according to the survey, is way down with revenues of under $100 million from R&D services.
Zinnov Management Consulting, which carried out the survey, said mid-market companies such as Aricent, MindTree, Symphony Services, Global Logic and Sonata Software, which generate over $150 million from R&D services, will soon rise to the forefront. The total R&D services market in India is worth $3.5 billion.
Wipro Technologies joint CEO Girish Paranjpe told Financial Chronicle that R&D is in the company’s DNA. “We were the early birds in offering R&D services outsourcing. As a company, we pride ourselves in being the best in this space,” he said.
Paranjpe said the R&D wave started with hi-technology, moving on to telecom, and now it is flowing into aerospace and healthcare. “I am hoping that Wipro will be able to raise over $1 billion from the R&D space in a couple of years,” he added.
Karthik Ananth, engagement manager, Zinnov said, “Even though the growth of R&D service providers in India has been relatively flat over the past year, many of them have seen an improvement in their operation margins because of conscious efforts to optimise the cost of operations. Margins have improved by 6-8 per cent.”
He said a company such as Infosys has traditionally lagged in the R&D services space. “That’s not surprising. They have not been focusing on it,” said Ananth.
The survey said the impact of recession on R&D service providers has been felt across four key levers —contract re-negotiation, increase in sales cycle, bankruptcy of clients and fears of business continuity risk.
TCS, with revenues of around $700 million, closely follows Wipro, with HCL next in line with $523 million. Infosys, according to the survey, is way down with revenues of under $100 million from R&D services.
Zinnov Management Consulting, which carried out the survey, said mid-market companies such as Aricent, MindTree, Symphony Services, Global Logic and Sonata Software, which generate over $150 million from R&D services, will soon rise to the forefront. The total R&D services market in India is worth $3.5 billion.
Wipro Technologies joint CEO Girish Paranjpe told Financial Chronicle that R&D is in the company’s DNA. “We were the early birds in offering R&D services outsourcing. As a company, we pride ourselves in being the best in this space,” he said.
Paranjpe said the R&D wave started with hi-technology, moving on to telecom, and now it is flowing into aerospace and healthcare. “I am hoping that Wipro will be able to raise over $1 billion from the R&D space in a couple of years,” he added.
Karthik Ananth, engagement manager, Zinnov said, “Even though the growth of R&D service providers in India has been relatively flat over the past year, many of them have seen an improvement in their operation margins because of conscious efforts to optimise the cost of operations. Margins have improved by 6-8 per cent.”
He said a company such as Infosys has traditionally lagged in the R&D services space. “That’s not surprising. They have not been focusing on it,” said Ananth.
The survey said the impact of recession on R&D service providers has been felt across four key levers —contract re-negotiation, increase in sales cycle, bankruptcy of clients and fears of business continuity risk.
new openings, NRIs, Wipro
Wipro expands UK centre
Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited, announced the expansion of its facility in Reading and opening of a new office in London.
The center at Reading was inaugurated by The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Reading. This center is an extension of the existing development center facility. This facility will be used for building centers of excellence, delivering customer projects and training purposes.
Speaking on this occasion the Mayor of Reading, Councilor Fred Pugh, said, “It is very encouraging that an international company is ready to invest in Reading in these difficult times. Wipro is a major employer in Reading and a major player in the business community the Council is pledged to support.”
Continuing its business expansion in the UK, Wipro is also inaugurating its new office premises in London. This office would be the headquarters for Wipro’s UK operations. The facility will serve as a sales office with state-of the art infrastructure.
Laxman Badiga, Chief Information Officer, Wipro Technologies said, “Taking on the ownership of the facility at Reading is the first of its kind for Wipro overseas and hence makes this occasion special. The Reading center started with just one floor and had a little over 30 employees when we began. The expansion in Reading and opening of the new office in London has only reinforced our commitment to the region.”
Ayan Mukerji, Head of Europe Operations, Wipro Technologies said, “Today, Wipro has grown to become a leading IT Services company in the UK. Both the centers at Reading and London will be a key hub for recruiting, training of local staff and also gives an opportunity to offer an onsite development center premises to more customers.”
Revenues from Wipro’s European operations account for approx 26% of the IT major’s overall IT Services revenue. UK is one of the key markets for Wipro with a large customer base. The establishment of the new offices will now facilitate Wipro’s growth strategy in the UK and the overall growth in the European region.
The center at Reading was inaugurated by The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Reading. This center is an extension of the existing development center facility. This facility will be used for building centers of excellence, delivering customer projects and training purposes.
Speaking on this occasion the Mayor of Reading, Councilor Fred Pugh, said, “It is very encouraging that an international company is ready to invest in Reading in these difficult times. Wipro is a major employer in Reading and a major player in the business community the Council is pledged to support.”
Continuing its business expansion in the UK, Wipro is also inaugurating its new office premises in London. This office would be the headquarters for Wipro’s UK operations. The facility will serve as a sales office with state-of the art infrastructure.
Laxman Badiga, Chief Information Officer, Wipro Technologies said, “Taking on the ownership of the facility at Reading is the first of its kind for Wipro overseas and hence makes this occasion special. The Reading center started with just one floor and had a little over 30 employees when we began. The expansion in Reading and opening of the new office in London has only reinforced our commitment to the region.”
Ayan Mukerji, Head of Europe Operations, Wipro Technologies said, “Today, Wipro has grown to become a leading IT Services company in the UK. Both the centers at Reading and London will be a key hub for recruiting, training of local staff and also gives an opportunity to offer an onsite development center premises to more customers.”
Revenues from Wipro’s European operations account for approx 26% of the IT major’s overall IT Services revenue. UK is one of the key markets for Wipro with a large customer base. The establishment of the new offices will now facilitate Wipro’s growth strategy in the UK and the overall growth in the European region.
Friday, September 18, 2009
HCL, Infosys, Outsourcing, Wipro
Infosys, Wipro and HCL in race for low-value US deals
Infosys Technologies, Wipro and HCL Technologies are among the software service providers that are laying foundation for the next round of multi-million dollar orders from the big US corporations, by pitching for low-value, but politically important US state governments’ orders.
Infosys, which counts JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley as clients for its services, bids for Arizona Public Service’s (APS) 400 positions, who work in its information-services department, and another 400 or so contractors to raise the staff strength for undisclosed amount.
Nine other US states, some from where politicians opposed offshoring work, are looking to outsource their healthcare operations worth over $2 billion, said Wipro chief strategy officer KR Lakshminarayana, and the company hopes to get a slice of these.
“The discussions are not about offshore outsourcing, but more about working with newer outsourcing vendors, who can deliver locally and keep the jobs here at lower rates,” said a senior executive at one of the Bangalore-based tech firms exploring this opportunity. Many US states such as Missouri, Virginia and Arizona, which are battling falling revenues amid the worst economic slump in their country since the 1930s, are attempting to reduce costs and at the same time want to increase employment opportunities for their citizens. So, they are including clauses such as recruitment of minimum number of staff from their states.
Indian companies, which were used to contracts of hundreds of million-dollars at one go, are bidding for these low-value orders since their traditional clients are cutting down on technology spending and at the same time provides visibility, which would be helpful in getting big orders when tech spending recovers.
“The marketing muscle that comes from such contracts is huge and working with the US state governments send out a signal of importance to other customers,” said Siddharth Pai, managing director of outsourcing advisory firm TPI’s India unit. “For the Indian IT companies this is not a core business, but it creates a halo effect,” he added.
While the global government IT outsourcing market is estimated to be around $100 billion, experts tracking the sector said the US state governments could outsource projects worth up to $5-6 billion this year. States, which in the past opposed the outsourcing of work to Indian companies by the likes of Microsoft and Citigroup, are now turning to the same Indian companies, as their mission now is in line with that of the companies cut costs.
Rodney Nelsestuen of US-based research firm TowerGroup, said state governments in the US are suffering from a reduction in tax revenue due to high unemployment and lower spending on taxable items by the US consumers. “Significant budget cuts are making it difficult for states to maintain the level of services that residents expect. Outsourcing has become an option that governments are looking at,” he added.
The orders from these state governments are for maintenance of records, accounts, healthcare and other administrative jobs, said a consulting firm engaged with a few governments.
Indian companies are not worried about the fact that they may be at a disadvantage to their US peers such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard, which are more familiar with the functioning of the local governments. “As long as you have the competency and ability to deliver what they want and from where they want, you are as competitive as your local peer,” said Wipro’s Mr Lakshminarayana. Wipro already has a $407-million deal from the state of Missouri for application, maintenance and development (AMD) and BPO work for the state’s healthcare division, which it bagged in December 2007.
“They always ask us how many local jobs will we create and that sometimes is an important factor,” he added. TCS, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant are among a few vendors, who have already hired local citizens. TCS has hired 120 people for its centre in Cincinnati.
“The level of success that India-based outsourcers will have in the future rests on their ability to add local talent, their ability to be viewed as global service companies and not just India-centric, and how quickly they assimilate government requirements – something India-based companies should be good at given their outsourcing history on a global and multi-industry scale,” said Mr Nelsestuen.
Infosys, which counts JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley as clients for its services, bids for Arizona Public Service’s (APS) 400 positions, who work in its information-services department, and another 400 or so contractors to raise the staff strength for undisclosed amount.
Nine other US states, some from where politicians opposed offshoring work, are looking to outsource their healthcare operations worth over $2 billion, said Wipro chief strategy officer KR Lakshminarayana, and the company hopes to get a slice of these.
“The discussions are not about offshore outsourcing, but more about working with newer outsourcing vendors, who can deliver locally and keep the jobs here at lower rates,” said a senior executive at one of the Bangalore-based tech firms exploring this opportunity. Many US states such as Missouri, Virginia and Arizona, which are battling falling revenues amid the worst economic slump in their country since the 1930s, are attempting to reduce costs and at the same time want to increase employment opportunities for their citizens. So, they are including clauses such as recruitment of minimum number of staff from their states.
Indian companies, which were used to contracts of hundreds of million-dollars at one go, are bidding for these low-value orders since their traditional clients are cutting down on technology spending and at the same time provides visibility, which would be helpful in getting big orders when tech spending recovers.
“The marketing muscle that comes from such contracts is huge and working with the US state governments send out a signal of importance to other customers,” said Siddharth Pai, managing director of outsourcing advisory firm TPI’s India unit. “For the Indian IT companies this is not a core business, but it creates a halo effect,” he added.
While the global government IT outsourcing market is estimated to be around $100 billion, experts tracking the sector said the US state governments could outsource projects worth up to $5-6 billion this year. States, which in the past opposed the outsourcing of work to Indian companies by the likes of Microsoft and Citigroup, are now turning to the same Indian companies, as their mission now is in line with that of the companies cut costs.
Rodney Nelsestuen of US-based research firm TowerGroup, said state governments in the US are suffering from a reduction in tax revenue due to high unemployment and lower spending on taxable items by the US consumers. “Significant budget cuts are making it difficult for states to maintain the level of services that residents expect. Outsourcing has become an option that governments are looking at,” he added.
The orders from these state governments are for maintenance of records, accounts, healthcare and other administrative jobs, said a consulting firm engaged with a few governments.
Indian companies are not worried about the fact that they may be at a disadvantage to their US peers such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard, which are more familiar with the functioning of the local governments. “As long as you have the competency and ability to deliver what they want and from where they want, you are as competitive as your local peer,” said Wipro’s Mr Lakshminarayana. Wipro already has a $407-million deal from the state of Missouri for application, maintenance and development (AMD) and BPO work for the state’s healthcare division, which it bagged in December 2007.
“They always ask us how many local jobs will we create and that sometimes is an important factor,” he added. TCS, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant are among a few vendors, who have already hired local citizens. TCS has hired 120 people for its centre in Cincinnati.
“The level of success that India-based outsourcers will have in the future rests on their ability to add local talent, their ability to be viewed as global service companies and not just India-centric, and how quickly they assimilate government requirements – something India-based companies should be good at given their outsourcing history on a global and multi-industry scale,” said Mr Nelsestuen.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
IT market, TCS, Wipro
Mid-size IT companies to ring in pay hikes
After software giant Wipro lifted freeze on promotions and hikes, although selectively, mid-sized technology firms like MphasiS-EDS, Sonata Software and Symphony Services are also planning to increase salaries and give bonus.
IT services firm MphasiS, which recently bagged new outsourcing contracts, has announced a recompense bonus for its staff which the company feels is possibly an innovative compensation model. “For good performers, the bonus can be 15-25% higher than the average pay hike,” MphasiS chief human resources officer Elango R said.
Recompense bonus will compensate for the salary freeze which was introduced in early 2009. “It is a one-time adjustment in the form of a bonus to reward employees for their commitment and contribution,” said Mr Elango.
The recompense bonus is guaranteed up to the third quarter and is linked to the company’s overall performance and that of the business units as well as to the performance of employees, which includes the individual appraisal rating, for the fiscal year ending 2009.
“If in the fourth quarter, the company achieves its targets again, the bonus size will get bigger. In case they do not meet targets, the bonus will still be paid out on a pro-rata basis based on the third quarter results,” Mr Elango pointed out. He said this bonus was possible not only by winning new businesses, but also through
operational efficiencies.
Offshore product firm Symphony Services is planning to hike salaries for all its employees by 7-8% once its budget is ready. “We are noticing that other companies are also contemplating hikes of 5-8%. However, companies are keeping a watch on the overall market,” C Mahalingam, executive vice-president and chief people officer of Symphony Services, said.
Like MphasiS, Sonata Software, too, has introduced a new package called ‘company-linked performance pay’. Last year, the firm had dropped annual incentives and appraisals due to the economic meltdown. “But this year, there will be appraisals, salary increments between 7-10% and incentives based on performance because the market is getting better and Sonata is getting projects from the UAE, the US and the UK,” said a person privy to the developments.
These changes come at a time when layoffs and salary cuts have become a rather controversial method to control cost. Experts like Ashok Reddy, managing partner and co-founder of staffing company, Teamlease, said business is picking up and companies are increasing salaries based on employee performance, revenue and profit rise. “Many companies are restructuring pay scales or cost-to-company compensations. And attrition rate will also grow as more jobs are coming in,” said Mr Reddy.
Going forward, mid-sized companies will explore more innovative compensation models that will be based more on performance, experts said. To boot, apart from the bonus plan, MphasiS has announced a quarterly performance-linked pay model for FY10. “Effective November, a percentage of annual fixed and base salary will be converted to variable which will be paid based on quarterly performance of the company and the business unit,” Mr Elango said.
IT services firm MphasiS, which recently bagged new outsourcing contracts, has announced a recompense bonus for its staff which the company feels is possibly an innovative compensation model. “For good performers, the bonus can be 15-25% higher than the average pay hike,” MphasiS chief human resources officer Elango R said.
Recompense bonus will compensate for the salary freeze which was introduced in early 2009. “It is a one-time adjustment in the form of a bonus to reward employees for their commitment and contribution,” said Mr Elango.
The recompense bonus is guaranteed up to the third quarter and is linked to the company’s overall performance and that of the business units as well as to the performance of employees, which includes the individual appraisal rating, for the fiscal year ending 2009.
“If in the fourth quarter, the company achieves its targets again, the bonus size will get bigger. In case they do not meet targets, the bonus will still be paid out on a pro-rata basis based on the third quarter results,” Mr Elango pointed out. He said this bonus was possible not only by winning new businesses, but also through
operational efficiencies.
Offshore product firm Symphony Services is planning to hike salaries for all its employees by 7-8% once its budget is ready. “We are noticing that other companies are also contemplating hikes of 5-8%. However, companies are keeping a watch on the overall market,” C Mahalingam, executive vice-president and chief people officer of Symphony Services, said.
Like MphasiS, Sonata Software, too, has introduced a new package called ‘company-linked performance pay’. Last year, the firm had dropped annual incentives and appraisals due to the economic meltdown. “But this year, there will be appraisals, salary increments between 7-10% and incentives based on performance because the market is getting better and Sonata is getting projects from the UAE, the US and the UK,” said a person privy to the developments.
These changes come at a time when layoffs and salary cuts have become a rather controversial method to control cost. Experts like Ashok Reddy, managing partner and co-founder of staffing company, Teamlease, said business is picking up and companies are increasing salaries based on employee performance, revenue and profit rise. “Many companies are restructuring pay scales or cost-to-company compensations. And attrition rate will also grow as more jobs are coming in,” said Mr Reddy.
Going forward, mid-sized companies will explore more innovative compensation models that will be based more on performance, experts said. To boot, apart from the bonus plan, MphasiS has announced a quarterly performance-linked pay model for FY10. “Effective November, a percentage of annual fixed and base salary will be converted to variable which will be paid based on quarterly performance of the company and the business unit,” Mr Elango said.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
New Deals, Wipro
Wipro partners with Schneider Electric
Indian IT major Wipro Technologies has partnered with global energy management firm Schneider Electric to market its industrial automation solutions in India.
Under the agreement, Wipro will offer an additional commercial channel and outstanding project execution capability Schneider to market and deliver its state-of-the-art solutions.
To begin with, Wipro will market Schneider Electric's Ampla MES solution to the mining, mineral processing and metals industries.
This solution helps manufacturers enhance the efficiency, productivity and reliability of their industrial operations and improve their return.
"Our partnership with Wipro is an indicator of our commitment to the Indian market. It shows our willingness to go beyond conventional business models to grow our business here," Schneider executive vice-president Michel Crochon said.
Under the agreement, Wipro will offer an additional commercial channel and outstanding project execution capability Schneider to market and deliver its state-of-the-art solutions.
To begin with, Wipro will market Schneider Electric's Ampla MES solution to the mining, mineral processing and metals industries.
This solution helps manufacturers enhance the efficiency, productivity and reliability of their industrial operations and improve their return.
"Our partnership with Wipro is an indicator of our commitment to the Indian market. It shows our willingness to go beyond conventional business models to grow our business here," Schneider executive vice-president Michel Crochon said.
New Deals, Outsourcing, Wipro
Wipro wins 3-year contract from Japan's ANA
Wipro has won a three year outsourcing contract from All Nippon Airways (ANA), the first airline in the world to procure the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but Wipro will deliver materials management system to ANA that will help manage the parts life cycle, reports Economic Times.
The system will strengthen regulatory compliance, predict parts demand better and help manage inventory levels. The new Materials Management system will be built in a scalable, flexible platform. ANA, with its fleet of 209 aircraft, is embarking on transforming its legacy materials management system to support the new fleet, in line with the expansion of its business at Tokyo's Haneda Airport with its upcoming fourth runway in 2010.
ANA will be able to increase its cost competitiveness, improve the quality of its aircraft part maintenance business and improve asset management with the new system. The complete program will be managed by Wipro, which will deliver services such as application development, program management and vendor management thereby enabling ANA to gain a sustainable competitive advantage.
Takanori Yukishige, Senior Vice President, ANA Information Technology Services said, "We are starting a new journey and this program will set a benchmark for our future way of doing business. We look forward to further leveraging our partnership with Wipro to gain competitive advantage."
The system will strengthen regulatory compliance, predict parts demand better and help manage inventory levels. The new Materials Management system will be built in a scalable, flexible platform. ANA, with its fleet of 209 aircraft, is embarking on transforming its legacy materials management system to support the new fleet, in line with the expansion of its business at Tokyo's Haneda Airport with its upcoming fourth runway in 2010.
ANA will be able to increase its cost competitiveness, improve the quality of its aircraft part maintenance business and improve asset management with the new system. The complete program will be managed by Wipro, which will deliver services such as application development, program management and vendor management thereby enabling ANA to gain a sustainable competitive advantage.
Takanori Yukishige, Senior Vice President, ANA Information Technology Services said, "We are starting a new journey and this program will set a benchmark for our future way of doing business. We look forward to further leveraging our partnership with Wipro to gain competitive advantage."
HCL, Infosys, IT market, TCS, Wipro
Infosys ahead of the rest of the world, says Sonia
Software major Infosys is a "stunning reminder" of what Indian talent, ingenuity and hard work can accomplish, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi said today.
"You have shown to India and the world that an Indian company Cannot just be world class, but be ahead of the rest of the world", the Congress President said after inaugurating the company's Global Education Centre-II here.
She said the success of Infosys, India's second largest software exporter, should not be measured in Dollars alone, but in the difference it makes in transforming a society for the better.
Praising the Indian IT industry, Gandhi said the success of Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and other companies had changed the lives of millions of Indians and propelled the country's economy to a record-breaking growth.
Gandhi also spoke of the enabling environment created by the state government for the growth of Indian IT companies.
She recalled the "temples of modern India" established by former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and the groundwork laid down by her husband Rajiv Gandhi for the "revolution" in Communication and Information Technology.
Rajiv Gandhi faced "bitter political opposition" to his vision, not just in introduction of computers, but his greater challenge was on the "mindshift" of people in terms of accepting new ideas, she said.
"You have shown to India and the world that an Indian company Cannot just be world class, but be ahead of the rest of the world", the Congress President said after inaugurating the company's Global Education Centre-II here.
She said the success of Infosys, India's second largest software exporter, should not be measured in Dollars alone, but in the difference it makes in transforming a society for the better.
Praising the Indian IT industry, Gandhi said the success of Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and other companies had changed the lives of millions of Indians and propelled the country's economy to a record-breaking growth.
Gandhi also spoke of the enabling environment created by the state government for the growth of Indian IT companies.
She recalled the "temples of modern India" established by former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and the groundwork laid down by her husband Rajiv Gandhi for the "revolution" in Communication and Information Technology.
Rajiv Gandhi faced "bitter political opposition" to his vision, not just in introduction of computers, but his greater challenge was on the "mindshift" of people in terms of accepting new ideas, she said.
Monday, September 14, 2009
IT market, Wipro
Wipro promotes, hikes salaries on a selective basis
In what could be the first signs of a turnaround in the IT sector, Wipro, India's third largest software exporter by sales has lifted the freeze on promotions and hikes on a selective basis.
Wipro's senior vice-president- Human Resources Saurabh Govil confirmed the development and said the company continues to invest in leadership talent and recognize them, even if on a selected basis. The company did not give details about the percentage of employees who got promoted or the range of these promotion-linked hikes.
"We do not work on any percentages. Employees meeting the promotion criteria get promoted. Those promoted get standard promotion linked increases. This happens across all levels in the organisation," Govil said in an email response.
IT industry officials said a standard promotion linked hike could hover anywhere between 8-15% depending on the level that the employee comes under. A senior industry official, who did not wish to be named, said, "In Wipro, the employees getting promotions include some people who missed it in the October cycle last year as well as those handling key customer accounts. It’s been happening in a phased manner over the last few months."
Worries for the IT industry became starkly visible last year when they started layoffs and salary cuts, in an effort to rein in costs in an increasingly deteriorating environment. But now, news of promotions, even if on a selective basis, points to higher confidence levels in a sector hit by recession in US, its biggest technology market.
Among the top five IT players, Cognizant sent a mail to all its employees a couple of months back, stating that it has kicked off an appraisal process to promote and hike salaries across levels in the organisation.
At the same time, TCS' global HR head Ajoy Mukherjee told analysts in the July quarter earnings call that the company will be going ahead with promotions this year.
"It does signal return of semi-good times, organisations are more optimistic. And the fact that companies are going public in their appraisal or hiring plans indicates that the worst is over," said Gartner India's principal research analyst Diptarup Chakraborti.
Experts also see the beginning of a trend here. Ashok Reddy, managing partner and co-founder of staffing company Teamlease said, "Variable portion of pay is already there in most IT companies. Overall, the market is positive and as sentiments improve, there will be pressure on companies to increase salaries."
However, Chakraborti said that unless there is a real recovery in the US economy on which the IT industry is dependent, real recovery isn't likely to happen for Indian IT. Also, the real signs of rebound will become visible when IT companies give salary increases across the board and start recruiting in large numbers like before.
Wipro's Govil said, "There is no increase being contemplated on a broad-based basis. Our hiring as in the past will be tied to the business environment."
In the analyst call, Mukherjee said that there would be no increments this year. Mid-sized firms such as MindTree Consulting are also cautious. MindTree's chief-HR Puneet Jetli said, "We did not do the annual increment but as the business picks up we will consider increasing the salaries."
Wipro's senior vice-president- Human Resources Saurabh Govil confirmed the development and said the company continues to invest in leadership talent and recognize them, even if on a selected basis. The company did not give details about the percentage of employees who got promoted or the range of these promotion-linked hikes.
"We do not work on any percentages. Employees meeting the promotion criteria get promoted. Those promoted get standard promotion linked increases. This happens across all levels in the organisation," Govil said in an email response.
IT industry officials said a standard promotion linked hike could hover anywhere between 8-15% depending on the level that the employee comes under. A senior industry official, who did not wish to be named, said, "In Wipro, the employees getting promotions include some people who missed it in the October cycle last year as well as those handling key customer accounts. It’s been happening in a phased manner over the last few months."
Worries for the IT industry became starkly visible last year when they started layoffs and salary cuts, in an effort to rein in costs in an increasingly deteriorating environment. But now, news of promotions, even if on a selective basis, points to higher confidence levels in a sector hit by recession in US, its biggest technology market.
Among the top five IT players, Cognizant sent a mail to all its employees a couple of months back, stating that it has kicked off an appraisal process to promote and hike salaries across levels in the organisation.
At the same time, TCS' global HR head Ajoy Mukherjee told analysts in the July quarter earnings call that the company will be going ahead with promotions this year.
"It does signal return of semi-good times, organisations are more optimistic. And the fact that companies are going public in their appraisal or hiring plans indicates that the worst is over," said Gartner India's principal research analyst Diptarup Chakraborti.
Experts also see the beginning of a trend here. Ashok Reddy, managing partner and co-founder of staffing company Teamlease said, "Variable portion of pay is already there in most IT companies. Overall, the market is positive and as sentiments improve, there will be pressure on companies to increase salaries."
However, Chakraborti said that unless there is a real recovery in the US economy on which the IT industry is dependent, real recovery isn't likely to happen for Indian IT. Also, the real signs of rebound will become visible when IT companies give salary increases across the board and start recruiting in large numbers like before.
Wipro's Govil said, "There is no increase being contemplated on a broad-based basis. Our hiring as in the past will be tied to the business environment."
In the analyst call, Mukherjee said that there would be no increments this year. Mid-sized firms such as MindTree Consulting are also cautious. MindTree's chief-HR Puneet Jetli said, "We did not do the annual increment but as the business picks up we will consider increasing the salaries."
Friday, September 11, 2009
Wipro
Wipro gives promotions to ‘a few thousands’
Wipro Technologies has gone ahead and given promotions to selected personnel this year. The company had earlier said that it will not give any promotions and salary hikes in financial year 2010 considering the present market environment.
Employees at the Bangalore-based IT major said that the communication about promotions was made in August to people identified as best performers and those who met the criteria. While it is not known how many have been given the higher positions, employees said it should number in a few thousands.
When contacted by FC, Saurabh Govil, senior vice-president — human resources, Wipro Technologies said, “We continue to reward and recognise best talent. We have a rigorous promotion criteria and employees who meet this criteria get progressed. This happens across all levels in the organization and those promoted get standard promotion-linked increases. We continue to invest in leadership talent and recognise them even if on a selective basis. However, there is no increase being contemplated on a broad-based basis.”
Wipro is the first major Indian company to give promotions in financial year 2010, even if partially. Firms such as Accenture and Cognizant have also been giving selective promotions, even sometimes calling them as bonus incentives, in the last two months.
In FY09, Infosys had introduced promotion for its employees twice a year. The new appraisal cycle is set to start in September at Infosys and it is not known if they will consider the initiative again thisyear.
Employees at the Bangalore-based IT major said that the communication about promotions was made in August to people identified as best performers and those who met the criteria. While it is not known how many have been given the higher positions, employees said it should number in a few thousands.
When contacted by FC, Saurabh Govil, senior vice-president — human resources, Wipro Technologies said, “We continue to reward and recognise best talent. We have a rigorous promotion criteria and employees who meet this criteria get progressed. This happens across all levels in the organization and those promoted get standard promotion-linked increases. We continue to invest in leadership talent and recognise them even if on a selective basis. However, there is no increase being contemplated on a broad-based basis.”
Wipro is the first major Indian company to give promotions in financial year 2010, even if partially. Firms such as Accenture and Cognizant have also been giving selective promotions, even sometimes calling them as bonus incentives, in the last two months.
In FY09, Infosys had introduced promotion for its employees twice a year. The new appraisal cycle is set to start in September at Infosys and it is not known if they will consider the initiative again thisyear.
IT market, new openings, Wipro
Wipro to take Australian headcount to 1,000
Wipro Ltd, a relatively late entrant in the lucrative information technology outsourcing market in Australia, is planning to hire more locals.
The company is trying to penetrate deeply into the market there. Wipro, India’s third largest IT outsourcing provider, has about 90 Australians on its rolls now. It intends to increase the number of local employees to 250 by the end of the current financial year.
“Australia is a large market for us in the Asia Pacific region. We are quite bullish and investing heavily in that market. As a part of that strategy, we would like to enhance the capacity of our two development centres located the country and have about 250 Australian people by the end of this year, thus increasing the percentage of local people working there from the current 20 per cent to about 35 per cent of our workforce in Australia,” said Rajat Mathur, senior VP and Chief Sales & Operations officer for Asia Pacific, Wipro Technologies.
Wipro currently has about 450 people in Australia, including 300 people at the two development centres in Melbourne and Adelaide. Besides, there are close to 350 employees at its various offshore locations in India, working for the company’s Australian clients. With the increase in business opportunities there, the company expects the number of employees working for Australian customers to go up to about 1,000 people by the end of this financial year.
As part of its localisation strategy, Wipro has tied up with the local software industry body, Australian Computer Society. This will help the company to hire graduates from the top eight local universities, Mathur added.
The IT services market in Australia and New Zealand is about $14 billion and is growing. This has prompted all Indian IT outsourcing providers to increase their focus on the ANZ market. Infosys, with a subsidiary in Australia, with its acquisition of Expert Information Services, employs close to 400 people there.
Wipro entered the Australian market seven to eight years earlier. It derives close to 15 per cent of its global revenues from the Asia Pacific region (which includes Japan and India). Though the company does not give country-wise breakdown of revenue, it said those from Australia and New Zealand had shown a compounded annual growth rate of 100 per cent during the past five years, ‘making it the highest growth market in the region’.
As part of its strategy, Wipro has been focusing on specific sectors — banking and insurance, energy and utilities, telecom, retail and government in Australia.
The company is trying to penetrate deeply into the market there. Wipro, India’s third largest IT outsourcing provider, has about 90 Australians on its rolls now. It intends to increase the number of local employees to 250 by the end of the current financial year.
“Australia is a large market for us in the Asia Pacific region. We are quite bullish and investing heavily in that market. As a part of that strategy, we would like to enhance the capacity of our two development centres located the country and have about 250 Australian people by the end of this year, thus increasing the percentage of local people working there from the current 20 per cent to about 35 per cent of our workforce in Australia,” said Rajat Mathur, senior VP and Chief Sales & Operations officer for Asia Pacific, Wipro Technologies.
Wipro currently has about 450 people in Australia, including 300 people at the two development centres in Melbourne and Adelaide. Besides, there are close to 350 employees at its various offshore locations in India, working for the company’s Australian clients. With the increase in business opportunities there, the company expects the number of employees working for Australian customers to go up to about 1,000 people by the end of this financial year.
As part of its localisation strategy, Wipro has tied up with the local software industry body, Australian Computer Society. This will help the company to hire graduates from the top eight local universities, Mathur added.
The IT services market in Australia and New Zealand is about $14 billion and is growing. This has prompted all Indian IT outsourcing providers to increase their focus on the ANZ market. Infosys, with a subsidiary in Australia, with its acquisition of Expert Information Services, employs close to 400 people there.
Wipro entered the Australian market seven to eight years earlier. It derives close to 15 per cent of its global revenues from the Asia Pacific region (which includes Japan and India). Though the company does not give country-wise breakdown of revenue, it said those from Australia and New Zealand had shown a compounded annual growth rate of 100 per cent during the past five years, ‘making it the highest growth market in the region’.
As part of its strategy, Wipro has been focusing on specific sectors — banking and insurance, energy and utilities, telecom, retail and government in Australia.
Infosys, IT market, Wipro
Cong wants Wipro, Infosys to stay back
Two days after the West Bengal government scrapped the ambitious IT project at Rajarhat, the Congress today said IT majors like Wipro and Infosys should be given alternate land elsewhere in the state.
"We want companies like Wipro and Infosys to stay back and set their shops in the state. The government should provide them alternative land elsewhere," WBPCC working president Pradip Bhattacharje told reporters here.
In the wake of the Vedic Village controversy involving land scam, the state IT department stated earlier this week that "We are unable to stick to our assurances of providing land to Infosys and Wipro. The government had assured 90 acres each to Infosys and Wipro in the project and signed MoUs with the two companies last year."
"We want companies like Wipro and Infosys to stay back and set their shops in the state. The government should provide them alternative land elsewhere," WBPCC working president Pradip Bhattacharje told reporters here.
In the wake of the Vedic Village controversy involving land scam, the state IT department stated earlier this week that "We are unable to stick to our assurances of providing land to Infosys and Wipro. The government had assured 90 acres each to Infosys and Wipro in the project and signed MoUs with the two companies last year."
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