Monday, January 4, 2010

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IBM wins 10-year IT deal with Gujarat bank

IT major IBM India has signed a 10-year information technology (IT) services agreement with Sardar Bhiladwala Pardi People's Cooperative Bank in Gujarat, the company said Monday.

'The operational expenditure in the pay-as-you-use model will enable the leading cooperative bank to save up to 50 percent in its capex (capital expenditure) on IT infrastructure,' IBM said in a statement.

As part of the deal, IBM India will provide the 80-year-old bank managed continuity services comprising server management, network and security management and back-up and database management.
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HCL Info bags Rs 110 crore order from Gujarat government

HCL Infosystems today said it has bagged an order worth Rs 110 crore from the Gujarat government to supply and implement biometric attendance and computer aided learning systems in over 7,000 schools across the state.

Under the scope of the contract, HCL will supply personal computers (PCs) with biometric finger print scanner and UPS to over 7,000 schools in the state, HCL Infosystem said in a statement.

HCL Infosystems, which makes, telecommunication and security equipment would also implement the biometric-based attendance system, offer facility management and run teacher training programmes, it added.

Out of the total schools to be covered, over 1,000 schools are under the Tribal Department and 6,000 under the Education Department.
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Information technology: The wonder decade

What started as an industry riding the demand from global customers seeking to make their IT and business systems Y2K compliant is today almost a $60-billion industry, contributing nearly 4% to India’s GDP.

Source: EconomicTimes
-1999 - The biggest inflection point was the role Indian companies played in combating the so-called millennium bug. TCS, Wipro and others become trusted partners for companies worldwide seeking to achieve Y2K compliance

-Infosys achieves $100 million in revenues, lists on Nasdaq. India’s outsourcing industry grows to $4 billion 2000-2001 - Indian IT industry moves from Y2K to complex e-business projects

-Dewang Mehta, who helped Indian IT industry grow in its early years, dies. Kiran Karnik takes over as Nasscom head

-US increases H1B visa limit to 1,95,000, the highest ever

-Wipro lists on NYSE

-2002-2003 - NR Narayana Murthy steps down from Infosys and Nandan Nilekani takes over

-Post the dotcom bust, companies such as DSQ Software, Pentafour and Silverline perish

-2004-2005 - TCS lists on BSE

-Large customers start offshoring ERP-based projects. Infosys becomes a $1-billion company, Wipro too crosses $1 billion in revenues

-GE sells 60% in GECIS — the back office pioneer — to private equity firms. The Indian BPO industry starts growing rapidly

-IBM, Accenture and HP start developing their Indian offshore presence to make them their largest operations outside the US

-2006-2007 - Indian IT becomes a $31-billion industry

-Protectionism in top export markets forces Indian IT companies to start hiring locals

-2008-2009 - Infosys’ revenues cross $4 billion. Nilekani joins the government as chairman of the Unique Identity Authority of India

-HCL acquires UK’s Axon for £441.1 million, the biggest ever acquisition for Indian IT

-Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju admits to over $1-billion fraud. Tech Mahindra acquires Satyam

-TCS’ annual revenues cross $6 billion. N Chandrasekaran takes over from S Ramadorai as chief executive
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TCS, Infosys, Wipro give local flavour to foreign operations

India's large software service providers are going increasingly local with hiring in overseas markets, part of a drive to position themselves as truly global players and polish their image in advanced economies reeling from job losses.

Beginning with employing foreign nationals for junior and mid-level positions, companies such as Tata Consultancy (TCS), Infosys and Wipro – together these three account for about a third of India’s IT exports – now have a number of foreigners in their top echelons.

“There’s a transition in mindset to grow out of the Indian mold and aspire to be like an Oracle , IBM, Accenture, SAP. Also, as Indian companies have gained scale they can tap the best foreign talent; earlier they had to settle for just about anyone,’’ says K Sudarshan, managing partner at executive search firm EMA Partners International.

In the past year, many of the top positions at Wipro Technologies have been filled by foreigners. American Martha Bejar left Microsoft to join India’s third largest software exporter as president, global sales and operations. Ralf Reich, a former Unisys executive in charge of strategic outsourcing in continental Europe, was appointed head of German operations. And Wipro’s centres in France and Japan are also headed by non-Indians.

Infosys’ German, French and Australian operations are managed by locals. Jackie Korhonen, ex-vice-president of managed business process services for IBM Australia and New Zealand, is now head of Infosys Australia.

“They want to be true multinationals. Besides, if you want to really penetrate a local market, bagging business from not only big companies but also small and medium, you better have a local face,’’ says Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst, Gartner.

At TCS, India’s largest technology services company, foreign nationals comprise nearly 12% of the senior management. Among the key executives are John Lenzen, global head of marketing, Gabriel Rozman, global head of emerging markets and Carol Wilson, global business unit head, Hi-Tech solutions unit.

Amit Singh, head of the IT practice at Avendus Capital, says that Indian companies, used to expanding at 30%, are now seeing growth decline. “They want new avenues to maintain growth and hence the geographic expansion and local faces to drive it.’’

Indian software providers have also been expanding into new geographies in the past year. Infosys opened an office in Brazil in mid-December and in recent months Wipro started operations and ramped up investments in strategic development centres and near-shore centres like Atlanta (US), Bucharest (Romania), Wroclaw (Poland), Curitiba (Brazil), Chengdu (China) and Cebu (Philippines).
Continue reading on: EconomicTimes

5 kinds of colleagues, who may be laid off soon

There are people in workplaces who cause problems that may result in them being laid off from work. According to HR expert Henry Fernandes, every office has problem employees. "Whether you are an employer or a co-worker, you have to deal with things diplomatically and on time if you do not want work to suffer," he says.

People who have attitude problem may become victims of layoffs. Such employees can make workplaces a very sad place. If other employees are demoralized, productivity will suffer. "It could be an employee's attitude towards work, excessive criticism of fellow colleagues or talking rudely," says Fernandes.

Those not coming to work on time may also face the wrath. This means work gets started late and deadlines are not met. "It sets a bad example and reflects on your working style and discipline in the office," says Fernandes.

Another reason can be if the employee doesn't keep his desks tidy. "Basically, the employee who does this is being careless," says Fernandes.

There are habits that disrupt work and affect productivity in workplace. A colleague who talks too much or discusses personal problems on the phone so loudly can result in you losing concentration on work.

Some people ask too many personal questions or keep looking at your computer screen to see what you are doing. "Even if you are sending a personal mail, they don't stop," says Fernandes.

The only way to deal with these kinds of employees is to have a serious talk with them. If you are the employer, you can be straightforward and question their behavior. If their behavior continues to affect others' productivity, it's time to show them the way out.
Source: SiliconIndia

Monday, December 28, 2009

The top 100 IT projects of 2009

2009 InfoWorld 100 Awards: IT remains the lifeblood of forward-thinking organizations, as this year's recipients of InfoWorld's highest honor attest
Accenture
Unified Collaboration Initiative
Project lead: Frank B. Modruson, CIO

Project description: Accenture developed Accenture Client Exchange, a communications and collaboration platform that provides employees and clients presence, secure IM, voice and videoconferencing, virtual desktop sharing, and network-enabled phone functionality based on technology from Microsoft and Cisco.
Industry: Services

Activision Blizzard
WAN-Optimized Development Initiative
Project lead: Thomas Fenady, Senior Director of IT
Project description: Activision Blizzard increased the efficiency of its worldwide development efforts by revamping its network and moving away from MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) and DS3s (Digital Signal 3) in favor of WAN optimization technology from Riverbed.
Industry: Entertainment

ADP
Client Service Initiative
Project lead: Jeff Mullins, Vice President, Field Automation Engineering
Project description: ADP developed Workspace Manager, a unified customer service agent desktop built on Microsoft .Net and integrating Web, Java, Win32, mainframe, and legacy applications within a single user interface, while supporting the development of new composite application interfaces and eliminating the need for client service agents to individually log into 17 Citrix Presentation Server infrastructures.
Industry: Services
Click here to read complete list from InfoWorld