Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is "thoroughly reviewing" published reports fingering former chairman and CEO Hector Ruiz as the AMD executive who gave confidential company information to a defendant in the Galleon Group insider trading case.
"We are not aware of any allegation of criminal misconduct on the part of any current or former AMD employees, nor have any current or former AMD employees been charged with a crime," AMD said in a statement Tuesday. A spokesman for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company declined to comment further.
Citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Tuesday that Ruiz is the AMD executive described in the Manhattan US Attorney's Office complaint as passing inside information to defendant Danielle Chiesi.
Chiesi, 43, was among six hedge fund managers and corporate executives arrested earlier this month in a hedge fund insider trading case that authorities say generated more than $25 million in illegal profits. Chiesi worked for New Castle, the equity hedge fund group of Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc that had assets worth about $1 billion under management, according to court papers.
Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon Group portfolio manager at the center of the case, last week said Galleon would wind down its funds after publicity surrounding the case led some investors to pull out money.
Before he left AMD's CEO job last year, Ruiz was only the second person to run the company other than founder and longtime CEO Jerry Sanders and was one of the few Hispanic CEOs of a major U.S. corporation. Ruiz, now 63, left amid mounting investor frustration over AMD's finances. He was instrumental in orchestrating a fix: the spinoff of AMD's manufacturing operations into a company called GlobalFoundries Inc, of which he is now chairman.
A GlobalFoundries spokesman would say only that the allegations predate the company's launch. AMD, which had $5.8 billion in revenue last year,
is small compared to its rival Intel Corp., but is significant because it is the world's No. 2 maker of microprocessors. Microprocessors are the "brains" of personal computers. Intel owns about 80 percent of that market — AMD essentially has the rest.
Before word of Ruiz's possible involvement surfaced, the highest-ranking corporate executive ensnared in the insider-trading scheme was an IBM Corp senior vice president, Robert Moffat, who was once considered a possible candidate for CEO. Moffat was put on leave after the allegations surfaced and no longer serves as an officer of the company. Moffat is accused of leaking secrets about IBM's earnings and financial dealings with partners, including AMD.
That information allegedly included AMD's plans for GlobalFoundries. IBM was involved in those talks because it has a technology development partnership with AMD.
The indictment against Moffat and the person he's accused of supplying information to, Chiesi, says that an AMD executive also provided inside information to Chiesi, but that executive is not named.
The indictment quotes Chiesi allegedly boasting in wiretapped calls that she spoke multiple times with the AMD executive about the deal. The indictment quotes the AMD executive in multiple calls to Chiesi describing the timing and financial details of the deal, such as what would happen with AMD's debt under the new structure. In one call, on Sept. 16, 2008, the AMD executive was quoted as saying the spinoff wouldn't be announced until the following month and that it was going to "shock the hell out of everybody."
Thursday, October 29, 2009
HCL, IT market, New Deals
HCL may lose BSNL IT contracts worth Rs 1,700 cr
IT firm HCL Infosystems will have to give up two large IT contracts jointly worth over Rs 1,700 cr after the company emerged as the lowest bidder in all the four zones for state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam’s (BSNL) $1-b IT outsourcing contract. This is because, as per the BSNL tender norms, a single company cannot be awarded more than 50% of the total contract.
After emerging as the lowest bidder or L1 in East, West and South zones, HCL Infosystems has now become L1 for managing BSNL’s IT requirements in the northern region also. But considering the telco’s tender conditions, the IT company can be awarded only a maximum of two contracts thus implying that it can provide solutions to BSNL in only two regions. In all the four zones, HCL’s bid has been supported by HP, which will supply hardware and systems and Convergys, which will provide billing solutions.
HCL Infosystems chief executive Ajai Chowdhry told ET on the sidelines of an event in Delhi that the company has emerged as the lowest bidder in all the four zones adding that BSNL was yet to award the contract. Asked about HCL’s preference for the zones Mr Chowdhry said: “It is for the telco to decide which regions will be allotted to us. We are well placed as far as positioning is concerned”.
“As is the norm at BSNL, the financial bid by HCL Infosystems will be evaluated and it will go through the process of negotiations. The entire procedure will take some more time, after which the contract will be awarded,” Mr Chowdhry added.
Earlier this year, HCL had won Rs 230 cr enterprise resource planning (ERP) contract from BSNL. HCL’s mandated surrendering of two contracts may benefit other IT firms like TCS and Mahindra Satyam. For instance, TCS is the second lowest bidder for south zone and west zone while Mahindra Satyam along with Spanco is next to HCL is L2 the East zone.
In the West zone, HCL’s had bid amount was for Rs 980 cr, followed by TCS which quoted Rs 906 cr and Spanco/Mahindra Satyam at Rs 1,042 cr.
In the East Zone, HCL Infosystems was the lowest bidder at Rs 861 cr followed by Mahindra Satyam/Spanco (Rs 904 cr), TCS (Rs 934 cr) and Prithvi Information (Rs 2,000 cr). In the South Zone, HCL’s bid was of Rs 865 crore, followed by was While TCS’ Mahindra Satyam, Wipro and Infosys bid Rs 906 cr, Rs 1,030 cr, Rs 1,500 cr and Rs 2,000 cr respectively.
This IT outsourcing contract is part of BSNL’s 93-million line GSM project worth over $1 b, for procuring network equipment, tower infrastructure and technology solutions and services. The project was split into four zones to allow companies to bid separately for each zone.
After emerging as the lowest bidder or L1 in East, West and South zones, HCL Infosystems has now become L1 for managing BSNL’s IT requirements in the northern region also. But considering the telco’s tender conditions, the IT company can be awarded only a maximum of two contracts thus implying that it can provide solutions to BSNL in only two regions. In all the four zones, HCL’s bid has been supported by HP, which will supply hardware and systems and Convergys, which will provide billing solutions.
HCL Infosystems chief executive Ajai Chowdhry told ET on the sidelines of an event in Delhi that the company has emerged as the lowest bidder in all the four zones adding that BSNL was yet to award the contract. Asked about HCL’s preference for the zones Mr Chowdhry said: “It is for the telco to decide which regions will be allotted to us. We are well placed as far as positioning is concerned”.
“As is the norm at BSNL, the financial bid by HCL Infosystems will be evaluated and it will go through the process of negotiations. The entire procedure will take some more time, after which the contract will be awarded,” Mr Chowdhry added.
Earlier this year, HCL had won Rs 230 cr enterprise resource planning (ERP) contract from BSNL. HCL’s mandated surrendering of two contracts may benefit other IT firms like TCS and Mahindra Satyam. For instance, TCS is the second lowest bidder for south zone and west zone while Mahindra Satyam along with Spanco is next to HCL is L2 the East zone.
In the West zone, HCL’s had bid amount was for Rs 980 cr, followed by TCS which quoted Rs 906 cr and Spanco/Mahindra Satyam at Rs 1,042 cr.
In the East Zone, HCL Infosystems was the lowest bidder at Rs 861 cr followed by Mahindra Satyam/Spanco (Rs 904 cr), TCS (Rs 934 cr) and Prithvi Information (Rs 2,000 cr). In the South Zone, HCL’s bid was of Rs 865 crore, followed by was While TCS’ Mahindra Satyam, Wipro and Infosys bid Rs 906 cr, Rs 1,030 cr, Rs 1,500 cr and Rs 2,000 cr respectively.
This IT outsourcing contract is part of BSNL’s 93-million line GSM project worth over $1 b, for procuring network equipment, tower infrastructure and technology solutions and services. The project was split into four zones to allow companies to bid separately for each zone.
Outsourcing
Australian telco to offshore 150 jobs to Mumbai
Australian mobile phone retailer Crazy John's is reportedly offshoring about 150 jobs to Mumbai where its parent company Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) operates a call centre.
According to 'The Australian', around 200 employees of Crazy John's will face redundancy as part of its restructuring programme in the first half of 2010, when over 150 jobs will be shifted to Mumbai.
The remaining staff of Crazy John's that will be made redundant later would initially come from finance, credit management and customer relations departments, sources said.
"Their tasks would be absorbed by VHA," sources said.
Crazy John's unit and mobile virtual network operator GRLmobile is a prepaid service aimed at the female youth market.
In August, company executives dismissed talk of GRLmobile's impending demise describing it as pure rumour.
Crazy John's Chief Executive Brendan Fleiter had said GRLmobile's sales channels -- Australia Post, Kmart, Target, Dick Smith and Crazy John's -- would increase over the next few months.
Crazy John's employees fear that VHA's Sydney-centric management is intent on wiping the slate clean and consolidating its operations under one roof.
A VHA spokesman declined to comment on possible retrenchments, saying "it's business as usual at Crazy John's".
According to 'The Australian', around 200 employees of Crazy John's will face redundancy as part of its restructuring programme in the first half of 2010, when over 150 jobs will be shifted to Mumbai.
The remaining staff of Crazy John's that will be made redundant later would initially come from finance, credit management and customer relations departments, sources said.
"Their tasks would be absorbed by VHA," sources said.
Crazy John's unit and mobile virtual network operator GRLmobile is a prepaid service aimed at the female youth market.
In August, company executives dismissed talk of GRLmobile's impending demise describing it as pure rumour.
Crazy John's Chief Executive Brendan Fleiter had said GRLmobile's sales channels -- Australia Post, Kmart, Target, Dick Smith and Crazy John's -- would increase over the next few months.
Crazy John's employees fear that VHA's Sydney-centric management is intent on wiping the slate clean and consolidating its operations under one roof.
A VHA spokesman declined to comment on possible retrenchments, saying "it's business as usual at Crazy John's".
IT market, Wipro
No downturn for Wipro employees, attrition at 14 percent
There seems to be no impact of the economic slowdown on the Wipro employees, the company has witnessed an attrition rate of 14 percent, with voluntary attrition going up to 10.5 percent and involuntary attrition to 3.1 percent in the same period.
Wipro on Tuesday projected an earning of $1.11 billion from IT services for third quarter (October-December) of this fiscal (2009-10), as revenue for second quarter (July-September) at $1.06 billion was higher than the guidance of $1.03 billion.
"We expect revenues from our IT services business to be in the range of $1.09-1.11 billion in the third quarter, as we see more stability in volumes and pricing," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said in a statement here.
In a regulatory filing earlier, the IT bellwether said net profit for the second quarter increased by 19 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.11.62 billion, as per the Indian accounting standard.
The net profit is higher than the projection of Rs.10.6 billion by analysts who keep track of Indian blue chip firms in the technology space.
But consolidated revenue for the quarter under review (Q2) increased modestly by six percent YoY to Rs.69.17 billion, as per the Indian accounting standard.
According to the International Financial Regulatory Standard (IFRS), the company's net income at $243 million increased by 21 percent YoY, while total revenue increased by six percent YoY to $1.44 billion.
Revenue from IT services at $.106 billion was, however, four percent lower YoY though sequentially higher by 3.2 percent, as per the IFRS.
"Our broad portfolio of services and strong delivery excellence continue to position us as a partner of choice with customers," Premji noted.
Operating margins for IT services increased by 143 basis points to 23.8 percent sequentially and 279 basis points on annualized basis.
In rupee terms, revenue from IT services at Rs.49.96 billion is an increase of five percent YoY and 3.5 percent sequentially.
"Our unwavering commitment to operational improvements continues to pay dividend, resulting in double-digit sequential growth in net profit," Wipro chief financial officer Suresh Senapaty said in the statement.
The IT services business added 37 clients during the quarter.
The company's IT products business recorded 18 percent YoY growth to Rs.11.83 billion, while consumer care and lighting grew by 11 percent YoY to Rs.5.87 billion.
With voluntary attrition marginally increasing to 10.5 percent from 8.4 percent in the first quarter (April-June) and involuntary attrition to 3.1 percent from 1.9 percent in the same period this fiscal, the headcount for IT services business decreased by 630 people to 97,891 from 98,521 sequentially.
On annualised basis, the headcount has increased by 330 people from 97,552 in the second quarter of last fiscal.
Wipro on Tuesday projected an earning of $1.11 billion from IT services for third quarter (October-December) of this fiscal (2009-10), as revenue for second quarter (July-September) at $1.06 billion was higher than the guidance of $1.03 billion.
"We expect revenues from our IT services business to be in the range of $1.09-1.11 billion in the third quarter, as we see more stability in volumes and pricing," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said in a statement here.
In a regulatory filing earlier, the IT bellwether said net profit for the second quarter increased by 19 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.11.62 billion, as per the Indian accounting standard.
The net profit is higher than the projection of Rs.10.6 billion by analysts who keep track of Indian blue chip firms in the technology space.
But consolidated revenue for the quarter under review (Q2) increased modestly by six percent YoY to Rs.69.17 billion, as per the Indian accounting standard.
According to the International Financial Regulatory Standard (IFRS), the company's net income at $243 million increased by 21 percent YoY, while total revenue increased by six percent YoY to $1.44 billion.
Revenue from IT services at $.106 billion was, however, four percent lower YoY though sequentially higher by 3.2 percent, as per the IFRS.
"Our broad portfolio of services and strong delivery excellence continue to position us as a partner of choice with customers," Premji noted.
Operating margins for IT services increased by 143 basis points to 23.8 percent sequentially and 279 basis points on annualized basis.
In rupee terms, revenue from IT services at Rs.49.96 billion is an increase of five percent YoY and 3.5 percent sequentially.
"Our unwavering commitment to operational improvements continues to pay dividend, resulting in double-digit sequential growth in net profit," Wipro chief financial officer Suresh Senapaty said in the statement.
The IT services business added 37 clients during the quarter.
The company's IT products business recorded 18 percent YoY growth to Rs.11.83 billion, while consumer care and lighting grew by 11 percent YoY to Rs.5.87 billion.
With voluntary attrition marginally increasing to 10.5 percent from 8.4 percent in the first quarter (April-June) and involuntary attrition to 3.1 percent from 1.9 percent in the same period this fiscal, the headcount for IT services business decreased by 630 people to 97,891 from 98,521 sequentially.
On annualised basis, the headcount has increased by 330 people from 97,552 in the second quarter of last fiscal.
IT market
At Microsoft, six Indians call all the shots
As the world turned its attention on Microsoft's launch of Windows 7, one thing went quietly unnoticed. Indians now don’t just have a foot in the door of technology, they have prised open the Gates. And literally has the keys to most of the doors at MS office.
Indeed, a quick roll call of the Microsoft global management team will reveal a distinct Indian trail.
Indians run some of the key businesses within Microsoft, with at least half-a-dozen of them among the top 25 out of the company’s 95,000-strong workforce.
The tenets of the world’s largest software company are being defined by the likes of S Somasegar of Chennai, Amit Mittal of Mumbai, Amitabh Srivastava from Kanpur, Gurdeep Singh Pall from Chandigarh, Satya Nadella of Hyderabad and Anoop Gupta of Delhi. Along with a few others, they run everything from cloud computing, unified communications to new software development initiatives at the software behemoth.
As part of the crack team, they report directly to the top four in the Microsoft management hierarchy, with some among them being Technical Fellows (the highest technical rank).
These ‘Made in India’ techies hold over 100 patents, have written key research papers in technical journals and are now driving the company to its next growth path.
Microsoft is not the only one witnessing a great Indian takeover. Several global technology companies have at least one or two Indians in the top management. Quite a shift, considering that not too far back Indian code writers were dismissed merely as ‘tech coolies’ doing the low-end tech jobs. Says Ravi Ventakesan, chairman, Microsoft India, “There’s a sea change on how Indians are seen. They are moving up in sync with contributions they have made to technology and business.”In Bangalore, Anshuman Das, co-founder & managing partner of CareerNet, a technology-focussed head-hunting firm reckons 20% of senior vice-presidents and above in several multinational technology companies could be Indians, up from almost zilch a few years back.
“This will pick up as Indians have now proven themselves. Many Indians from the 1988-1994 batch of IITs and other engineering institutes are in senior positions now.”
The bright kid from Hyderabad Public School, Satya Nadella, is Binging Google head on, being the senior VP, R&D, online services division, while Amitabh Srivastava, senior VP, Windows Azure, leads the development for Microsoft’s cloud computing business.
Srivastava reports to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect. Somasegar, senior vice-president, developer division (reports to Bob Muglia, president, server & tools), has over 4,000 people under him worldwide as he heads the developer division.
This is the division responsible for all new products including the recently-launched Windows 7. Somasegar started the India Development Center in Hyderabad and the Microsoft Canada Development Center in Vancouver. He holds four patents and has worked on eight different operating system releases before heading the developer division.
On the other hand, both Gupta and Nadella were also technical assistants to Bill Gates, advising the company founder on future technology trends. That was before they moved to their current roles with Anoop Gupta being the corporate VP, Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group, Education Product Group, Technology Policy & Strategy. He advises Craig Mundie (chief research & strategy officer) on technology, policy and strategy and also reports to him.
Says Amit Mittal, corporate VP, unlimited potential group, Microsoft (he reports to Mundie). “I worked on both the technology and business side in my 16 years at Microsoft. My group founded the BizTalk server, LiveMesh platform, Windows starter edition and netbook support.”
“My group is involved in development of new products that will create solutions for the next one billion people (those untouched by tech) and create value for Microsoft,” he explained.
Mittal has 20 patents to his credit for work done in mobile technologies, e-commerce and software services areas.
Just to give a feel of how well Indians are doing at Microsoft it’s important to understand the top management structure of the Redmond giant. Apart from the CEO, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft has seven presidents, 15 senior vice-presidents and about 100 corporate vice presidents.
Among the 15 VPs, there are four Indians and another 8-10 corporate VPs of Indian origin. Both India chairman of Microsoft and managing director Ravi Venkatesan and Rajan Anandan (Indian father and Sri Lankan mother) respectively are among the global corporate VPs. While Indian tech prowess is well acknowledged worldwide, it’s only in recent years (last 18-24 months) that the likes of the above have begun holding the reins. The Windows, as they say, have opened to the skies.
Indeed, a quick roll call of the Microsoft global management team will reveal a distinct Indian trail.
Indians run some of the key businesses within Microsoft, with at least half-a-dozen of them among the top 25 out of the company’s 95,000-strong workforce.
The tenets of the world’s largest software company are being defined by the likes of S Somasegar of Chennai, Amit Mittal of Mumbai, Amitabh Srivastava from Kanpur, Gurdeep Singh Pall from Chandigarh, Satya Nadella of Hyderabad and Anoop Gupta of Delhi. Along with a few others, they run everything from cloud computing, unified communications to new software development initiatives at the software behemoth.
As part of the crack team, they report directly to the top four in the Microsoft management hierarchy, with some among them being Technical Fellows (the highest technical rank).
These ‘Made in India’ techies hold over 100 patents, have written key research papers in technical journals and are now driving the company to its next growth path.
Microsoft is not the only one witnessing a great Indian takeover. Several global technology companies have at least one or two Indians in the top management. Quite a shift, considering that not too far back Indian code writers were dismissed merely as ‘tech coolies’ doing the low-end tech jobs. Says Ravi Ventakesan, chairman, Microsoft India, “There’s a sea change on how Indians are seen. They are moving up in sync with contributions they have made to technology and business.”In Bangalore, Anshuman Das, co-founder & managing partner of CareerNet, a technology-focussed head-hunting firm reckons 20% of senior vice-presidents and above in several multinational technology companies could be Indians, up from almost zilch a few years back.
“This will pick up as Indians have now proven themselves. Many Indians from the 1988-1994 batch of IITs and other engineering institutes are in senior positions now.”
The bright kid from Hyderabad Public School, Satya Nadella, is Binging Google head on, being the senior VP, R&D, online services division, while Amitabh Srivastava, senior VP, Windows Azure, leads the development for Microsoft’s cloud computing business.
Srivastava reports to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect. Somasegar, senior vice-president, developer division (reports to Bob Muglia, president, server & tools), has over 4,000 people under him worldwide as he heads the developer division.
This is the division responsible for all new products including the recently-launched Windows 7. Somasegar started the India Development Center in Hyderabad and the Microsoft Canada Development Center in Vancouver. He holds four patents and has worked on eight different operating system releases before heading the developer division.
On the other hand, both Gupta and Nadella were also technical assistants to Bill Gates, advising the company founder on future technology trends. That was before they moved to their current roles with Anoop Gupta being the corporate VP, Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group, Education Product Group, Technology Policy & Strategy. He advises Craig Mundie (chief research & strategy officer) on technology, policy and strategy and also reports to him.
Says Amit Mittal, corporate VP, unlimited potential group, Microsoft (he reports to Mundie). “I worked on both the technology and business side in my 16 years at Microsoft. My group founded the BizTalk server, LiveMesh platform, Windows starter edition and netbook support.”
“My group is involved in development of new products that will create solutions for the next one billion people (those untouched by tech) and create value for Microsoft,” he explained.
Mittal has 20 patents to his credit for work done in mobile technologies, e-commerce and software services areas.
Just to give a feel of how well Indians are doing at Microsoft it’s important to understand the top management structure of the Redmond giant. Apart from the CEO, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft has seven presidents, 15 senior vice-presidents and about 100 corporate vice presidents.
Among the 15 VPs, there are four Indians and another 8-10 corporate VPs of Indian origin. Both India chairman of Microsoft and managing director Ravi Venkatesan and Rajan Anandan (Indian father and Sri Lankan mother) respectively are among the global corporate VPs. While Indian tech prowess is well acknowledged worldwide, it’s only in recent years (last 18-24 months) that the likes of the above have begun holding the reins. The Windows, as they say, have opened to the skies.
BPO, Infosys
Infosys to open 22 BPO centers in Andhra Pradesh
Infosys BPO Limited, a subsidiary of IT major Infosys, signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up rural BPO centres in 22 districts of the state.
Infosys BPO Limited CEO and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry and State Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty CEO T Vijaya Kumar signed an MoU in this regard in the presence of Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
"The first such BPO centre will be set up in the next six weeks which will provide a testing ground for this model. The capital expenditure and other details will be worked out subsequently," Chaudhry said adding that all the 22 districts would have one BPO each.
"Over 1,000 people would get direct employment through the rural BPO centers in the next 12-15 months. Statistics suggest that direct employment generates 1.4 times indirect employment as well," he added.
Noting that Andhra Pradesh would be the first state where Infosys would be setting such facilities, Chaudhary said, "We are in talks with some other states as well for similar ventures but I can't disclose the names at this stage".
Infosys BPO Limited CEO and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry and State Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty CEO T Vijaya Kumar signed an MoU in this regard in the presence of Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
"The first such BPO centre will be set up in the next six weeks which will provide a testing ground for this model. The capital expenditure and other details will be worked out subsequently," Chaudhry said adding that all the 22 districts would have one BPO each.
"Over 1,000 people would get direct employment through the rural BPO centers in the next 12-15 months. Statistics suggest that direct employment generates 1.4 times indirect employment as well," he added.
Noting that Andhra Pradesh would be the first state where Infosys would be setting such facilities, Chaudhary said, "We are in talks with some other states as well for similar ventures but I can't disclose the names at this stage".
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