Wipro putting videos on Youtube to reach out to customers

Wipro, the third largest IT exporter in India is making use of viral marketing to reach out to customers, as the company successfully uploaded some of the company videos on YouTube and got many viewers visited the page within one week. The videos are intended to act as a primer to information showed on its website, reported Financial Chronicle.

When Wipro uploaded its first video named Penguins and SOA story on YouTube(embeded below) on December 23, more than 1000 viewers viewed the page within three days. The animated clip uses Penguins and problem of constructing a housing structure to illustrate the benefits of the service-oriented architecture (SOA) technology. Viewers are provided a link to Wipro's website to get more information about the offerings.


Inspiring from the success of first video, Wipro is in process of making another Video on SOA to be uploaded in January 2009. The company is also planning to make similar films on like green IT and unified communications segments. Moreover, Wipro has recently paid to an official channel on YouTube to upload its videos.

Bangalore-based design firm Pepper Square is making such videos for Wipro and the budget for a single video production would be a little less than Rs.1 lakh. "Spending more would not make sense since the video clips on networking sites had a small shelf-life of about one to three months," Paul added.

Bangalore leads in IT race in India

Source: The Economic Times
BANGALORE: Bangalore continues to be the number one destination for IT/ITeS companies in the country.

For all those who thought Chennai and Hyderabad were eating into Bangalore's status as the IT capital of India, here are some facts.

The annual year-end report by global real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield shows that Bangalore witnessed the highest commercial space absorption in the country of 10.4 million sqft - the highest in the country for the fifth consecutive year. Of that, IT and ITeS companies absorbed 88%, followed by automotive, telecommunications and other sectors.

Leading the way was i-Flex Solution, which absorbed 1,100,000 sqft of commercial space in Whitefield, followed by 350,000 sqft of space each by ABB and ANZ IT in Whitefield and the Marathalli-Sarjapur belt.

Chennai absorbed only 4.1 million sqft of commercial space of the 9.8 million sqft of supply this year, as against its absorption of 6.5 million sqft of space in 2007.

Hyderabad witnessed a whopping 67% drop in commercial space absorption -- from last year's figure of 4 million sqft to only 1.3 million sqft this year. The total supply in the city amounted to nearly 3.8 million sqft.

Mumbai and the National Capital Region (NCR) absorbed 8.5 million sqft and 8.6 million sqft of commercial space in 2008 respectively.

"Bangalore & Mumbai were the only two cities that showed an increase in absorption from last year," reads the C&W report. Meanwhile, commercial rental rates in Bangalore appreciated between 4% and 9% in the peripheral areas and by a whopping 18% in the central business districts.

Satyam Crisis[update]: Possible takeovers

Satyam Computer is understood to have grabbed the attention of private equity investors, rival IT firms and other institutional investors, which are looking at the IT major as a possible takeover target with attractive valuations.

Satyam Computers is available at a bargain:
Though the company looks attractive, the three top Indian IT services companies are unlikely to bite. According to market sources, the Big 3: TCS, Infosys and Wipro are most definitely not going to make a bid for Satyam. The reasons are simple. The foremost being acquiring Satyam would be "more of the same." Same suite of businesses, technologies and clients. Market participants also believe that considering the cash one would have to fork out, the only thing assured are 53,000 employees. The big 3 don't necessarily want those number of additional people at the moment.

While there has been market speculation that IBM or Accenture might emerge as strategic buyers, the general perception within the industry seem to be that they might also stay out. Both the companies have hugely grown their local operations and today have 74,000 IBM) and 37,000 (Accenture) employees in India. Adding more people through acquisition might not be a priority while they can be grown organically especially in the current environment where quality people are available at reasonable prices.

Satyam for Cash:
A controlling 26% stake in the company can be acquired for $520-million, given that the company's market cap is around $2-billion. Then, of course, the cherry on the cake: $1.2-billion in cash.

Cognizant interested in Satyam?
As speculation mounts on who could be a potential ‘buyer' of Satyam Computer Services, the one name repeatedly touted as a very interested party is Cognizant Technologies. The Teaneck, New Jersey-based, Nasdaq-listed company with a huge India back-end has not hid its ambitions of wanting to be in the big league. The company that has clocked very aggressive top line growth in the last few years grew 50% in 2007 with revenues at $2.13 billion.

If it were to buy Satyam which had revenues of $2.14-billion last fiscal, then Cognizant with has 59,000 employees would easily pip Wipro to emerge as the third largest IT services company. Wipro's IT services business closed last fiscal with a topline of $3.41-billion. Cognizant and Satyam with combined revenues in excess of $4-billion would easily move Wipro to the fourth slot among the top Indian IT service providers. When contacted Cognizant Technologies' spokesperson R Ramkumar, said, "As a policy, we do not comment on market speculation."

Among the big IT players, analysts say Cognizant is likely to gain the most if it acquires Satyam as the deal will give it scale, an opportunity to diversify from concentrations such as banking, financial services and pharmaceuticals and access to a robust SAP business.

Is Hewlett-Packard eyeing stake in Satyam?
BANGALORE: Hewlett-Packard (HP) is evaluating the possibility of acquiring a stake in IT services provider Satyam Computer, attracted by the latter’s lucrative business software practice. The opportunity to challenge rival IBM with bigger, low-cost offshore capabilities is also alluring, those familiar with the strategic options being considered by the company said.

More:
Raju tells Satyam staffers to stand by him. Letter to all Satyam Employees.

Silicon Valley looks towards 2009

Source: BBC
The world of technology is set to face a challenging year in 2009 but many in the industry say it will weather the storm better than the rest of the US. Here Maggie Shiels presents the first of a two-part assessment of how technology will fare over the next 12 months. Click here for complete story on BBC.

8 Tech Predictions for 2009: By PC Magazine

1. Windows 7 will bring tech out of the doldrums.
2. The tech industry will be the first to recover.
3. The unemployed will start small businesses to survive—and will need PCs to make a living.
4. Netbook sales will double in 2009.
5. Smartphones will gain market share.
6. Android will expand its reach.
7. Apple market share in PCs and smartphones will grow.
And for my outrageous prediction
8. Microsoft makes a play to purchase RIM.
Click here for complete story on PC Magazine.

Satyam crisis[Update]: Satyam Chairman Raju's letter to employees

Below is the Letter/Email sent to Satyam employees by Ramalinga Raju

Dear Associates,
I am writing to inform you of what has developed since my note of December 18th and to outline plans to restore our stakeholders' faith in Satyam.

The events of the past two weeks have raised many questions, but these can be distilled into two basic issues: the viability of our business strategy to diversify; and the effectiveness of our corporate governance.

Re: Business strategy, you should understand that Satyam is completely committed to the IT services and BPO business, as we have been since our inception. While the idea that we could diversify into an unrelated business was rejected by our investors, it was formed with the belief that doing so would not imperil our leadership in our core business or lessen our commitment to it, and that all stakeholders would benefit. Satyam did not - and does not now - intend to retreat from IT and BPO services in any way, and going forward, Satyam will focus exclusively on these markets.

Re: Corporate governance, the board arrived at its decision to bid for Maytas by following all required processes and procedures, and while there was a spirited discussion among members, their vote to approve the motion was unanimous. Further, Satyam has won numerous awards for excellence in corporate governance, including the Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance on two separate occasions, most recently in 2008.

Over the past two weeks, we have been communicating these facts to our customers, and I'm very pleased to report that customers continue to show a high level of trust in Satyam.
We have also been in contact with many of our investors, and we have taken key steps to regain their confidence. These include strengthening the board by changing its size and composition, and engaging DSP Merrill Lynch to provide strategic advice and options. The board will meet on January 10, 2009 to consider these options and to chart a course of action that would boost stakeholders' confidence further.

Please be assured that the board and the leadership team are doing everything possible to get Satyam back on track. We cannot do this without your help, however. I ask for your continued faith in Satyam and for your steadfast focus on your customers, especially in the face of wild speculation and unchecked rumor. There is simply no more effective way to strengthen the company and to secure its future - and yours - than by delighting your customers.

Thank you very much for your commitment and support. Once again, I wish you the very best for 2009.

With warm regards,
Raju