Netmagic Launches SaaS Based Application Performance Monitoring Services Based on the AppDynamics Platform

Netmagic  (An NTT Company), and a leading managed hosting, security and multi-cloud hybrid IT solution provider in India, today announced its partnership with AppDynamics, a Cisco company, to provide Application Performance Monitoring (APM) as a service to enterprises in India to ensure deep visibility into their customers’ critical applications and end user experience.

This service enables businesses to deliver flawless digital experiences consistently by connecting end-user experience and application performance to business outcomes. APMaaS is intuitive to configure and deploy, automatically discovers business transaction, consumes little production overhead, monitors every line of code, and dynamically baselines performance to proactively identify and resolve application performance issues before they impact customers and the business.

Contemporary businesses rely heavily on digital technology to deliver a superior customer experience. Technology today includes a complex fabric of multi-cloud, IOT, distributed services, microservices, containers, APIs and much more that need to work in harmony to ensure that the application performance as experienced by the end user is of high quality.

Speaking about this, Nitin Mishra, Senior Executive Vice President, and Chief Product Officer, Netmagic (An NTT Company) said, “We are extremely pleased to partner with AppDynamics to offer Application Performance Monitoring Service (APMaaS) empowering businesses to navigate this turbulent pandemic period and emerge stronger and more scalable. With the business transaction-centric management of most complex and distributed applications, the APM service will bring value and enhance customer experience by providing clear visibility on the underlying components of the application. Apart from narrowing down to the source of the problem in the entire application flow, it will also provide deep user insights and analytics that will help the customer deliver significantly improved end user experience”

Adding further, Abhilash Purushothaman, Managing Director, India & SAARC, AppDynamics, said, “Our partnership and joint solution offering with Netmagic is a significant milestone for the AppDynamics India business. In India, adoption of online application-led services has sky-rocketed across all industry verticals in recent years. Now with the recent pandemic and increased reliance on remote working, our customers have shared that managing digital user experience in real time is no longer nice to have but a necessity. This strategic partnership will help us scale and deliver APM as a service across all business and industry segments.” 

The modules of this tool that will help in delivering the APM services include Application Performance Management – Core, Performance Management – Microservices Application Performance Management – SAP, Synthetic Transactions Monitoring, Browser Real User Monitoring, Mobile Real User Monitoring, Database Visibility, Infrastructure Visibility, and Business Analytics.

The benefits of the service that would add value to customers’ applications management are –

* Uptime and availability of the applications.

* Slowness in response in terms of time and database can be identified using this service.

* Application performance monitoring for end-users who use browsers and mobiles, tablets etc. to access the applications.

The modules will be wrapped under different packages and offered to customers. The APM solution is based on the package and can be scaled up depending on business requirements. This service can be delivered as a standalone offering or as an enhancement integrated with Netmagic’s Infra Manage Services.

About Netmagic (An NTT Company)

Netmagic, an NTT Company, is India’s leading Managed Hosting and Multi-Cloud Hybrid IT solution provider serving more than 2000 enterprises globally. Headquartered in Mumbai, Netmagic also delivers Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM) services to various enterprise customers globally across Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific region. The Company was the first in India to launch services – Cloud Computing, Managed Security, Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) and Software-Defined Storage. Netmagic has been recognized with 8 awards at the CIO Choice 2020, and 2 awards at the Datacenter Dynamics India 2019.

Blue Dart Encourages the ‘Bonds of Solidarity’ Thanking COVID-19 Warriors with Special ‘Rakhi Express’ Offer

Blue Dart, India’s leading logistics service provider and part of Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), announces the launch of its annual ‘Rakhi Express’ on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. Straying from tradition, Blue Dart aims to go one step beyond the celebration of the bond between siblings. This year, Blue Dart encourages the ‘Bonds of Solidarity’ to ship rakhis, not just to siblings within India and internationally, but to go one step beyond and send your love and spread the joy of the festival to all protectors including our COVID-19 warriors who have safeguarded the nation through the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Blue Dart’s ‘Rakhi Express’ is a unique opportunity that has been loved by customers for years. Through its widespread Indian domestic network, Blue Dart will deliver rakhis to 34,000+ locations across India and to 220 countries and territories across the globe, as part of the DPDHL Group’s ‘Express Easy Rakhi’. Customers can avail a special rate of ₹200/- to send rakhis to COVID-19 warriors and ₹250/- to send rakhis to their loved ones between 10th July, 2020 and 05th August, 2020. The special rate applies for up to 0.5kg for domestic shipments (anywhere within India). These offers can be availed at any of the Blue Dart – DHL retail stores across India or by calling 1860 233 1234. Customers can send their rakhis through a specially designed ‘Rakhi Envelope’ and a greeting card for their personalized messages.

Speaking about the initiative, Ketan Kulkarni, CMO & Head - Business Development, Blue Dart said, “The year 2020 was different on every vertical. This year, the world crumbled around us, giving way to a Pandemic that shook businesses and individuals across the world. The only common underlying theme across industries, cities and nations was the ‘Bonds of Solidarity’ amidst people. While most of us stayed in the safety of our homes, our COVID-19 warriors geared up at their action stations to ensure the health and safety of all.

Our goal during this festive season is to ensure that Raksha Bandhan 2020 is more than a festival for sisters to send brothers their love; rather, it is to ensure that Raksha Bandhan 2020 is a festival that celebrates love in all its forms – to parents, to friends and most importantly to send gratitude to all our protectors including our COVID-19 warriors.

This initiative is a tribute to every Government Worker, Health Care Worker, every Armed / Paramilitary / Police Force personnel, every Civil Aviation / Railway / Bank employee who has tirelessly worked through the pandemic for the greater good.”

He further added, “We want to give families that live apart, the opportunity of experiencing Raksha Bandhan to the fullest by staying connected across the country and globe. In the world of social media, the Rakhi and personal note from a loved one delivered with care, holds a very special place. We strive to provide a hassle-free, accurate and timely delivery so that people may enjoy their Raksha Bandhan without any worries.”

Customers can register for the Rakhi Service at any of Blue Dart’s conveniently located stores across the nation. At the store, the customer needs to verbally confirm that the sender or receiver is a COVID-19 warrior. Blue Dart staff then offer the Domestic Rakhi Express at Rs.200/- on domestic Rakhi shipment up to 0.5kg. The Rakhi the customer brings is then inserted in the rakhi envelope along with the Blue Dart greeting card where the sender can write their personal message for their unwavered fighting spirit.

To avail our service or for any further enquiry, customers can call us on Customer Care Number - 1860 233 1234 or email us on - customerservice@bluedart.com.

L&T Technology Reports Q1 FY21 Results Medical and Telecom & Hitech Segments Show Resilience, Announces Acquisition of Orchestra

L&T Technology Services Limited (BSE: 540115, NSE: LTTS), India’s leading pure-play engineering services company, announced its results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Key financial parameters for Q1FY21:

USD Revenue at $171 million

Revenue at ₹12,947 million; down 4% YoY

EBIT margin at 12.1%

Net profit at ₹1,173 million; down 42% YoY

 

LTTS has executed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% stake in Orchestra Technology, a specialist technology solutions provider for the Telecom industry. Orchestra is based in Texas, USA and will enable LTTS to strengthen its capabilities in network engineering and modernization.

“With many industries operating at limited capacity on account of the pandemic, Q1 was a challenging quarter as expected. Still, we had a good performance in two of our segments - Telecom & Hitech and Medical, and our large deal engine continues to churn wins. Free cash flow generation was strong during the quarter and the healthy cash position sets us up well for the future.  Looking ahead, we see a path for recovery backed by good order bookings and a healthy pipeline. We expect both revenue and operating margin to show sequential improvement over the remaining quarters of the current fiscal.

The acquisition of Orchestra will enhance our offerings in the areas of Network Engineering & Enterprise Mobility and provide us strategic access to Telecom service providers who are investing in next generation digital systems for 5G and IoT networks.

As customers redraw their business plans, we are working with them to improve operating efficiency, finetune sourcing and production plans, and prepare for faster go-to-market.  Our newer set of offerings like Frugal Manufacturing, Telehealth solution and i-BEMS Shield are seeing good traction in the market. The large deal discussions we are having with customers are a notch higher in terms of criticality and adoption of new age technologies, which we believe will pave the way for greater mind share and competitive differentiation”, said Dr. Keshab Panda, CEO & Managing Director, L&T Technology Services Limited.

During the quarter, LTTS won 9 multi-million dollar deals across all major industry segments which includes one deal with TCV of USD30mn plus and two deals with TCV of USD15mn plus. On a YoY basis, LTTS has increased its USD10mn+ clients by 5 and its USD1mn+ clients by 3.

Industry Recognitions:

* TechCircle honored LTTS with the Business Transformation Award in the “New Markets” category to our IT and HR functions jointly for leading digital transformation at LTTS with innovative solutions.

* Enterprise IT magazine conferred LTTS’ IT Team with the “COVID-19 Super Hero Award” for their tireless efforts to help LTTS’ workforce during lockdown.

Patents

At the end of the first quarter, the patents portfolio of L&T Technology Services stood at 525, out of which 385 are co-authored with its customers and the rest are filed by LTTS.

Human Resources

At the end of Q1FY21, LTTS’ employee strength stood at 16,641.

LTI to Launch Accelerated Migration Program for SAP-Based Enterprises with Amazon Web Services

Larsen & Toubro Infotech, a global technology consulting and digital solutions company, today announced an Accelerated Migration Program for customers of SAP with Amazon Web Services (AWS). As part of this program, LTI will help customers move their SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA, and other SAP workloads from on-premise to AWS leveraging its intelligent, automated, migration acceleration platform and services.

To enable faster migration to AWS, the program offers Discovery Module, Build and Deployment Module, and Validation Module to enterprises across industry segments. The Add-on components of the program include an SAP profiler, analyzer for SAP S/4HANA, Auto-code remediation for SAP HANA compliance, Security Module and Smart Testing module with a vast repository of test scenarios and test cases.

“LTI has a successful track record of enabling AWS cloud transformations across highly complex SAP customer landscapes,” said Siddharth Bohra, Chief Business Officer, Tech, Media, Consumer & Head of Digital and Analytics, LTI. “Working with AWS will help us digitize the core and bring this expertise to other SAP clients, leveraging our highly automated approach.”

LTI has achieved AWS SAP Competency status which establishes LTI as an Advanced Consulting Partner in the AWS Partner Network (APN) with certified technical proficiency and proven customer implementation success in migrating SAP environments to AWS. 

The Accelerated Migration expertise reflects the highest standards of LTI’s depth of knowledge in the functional and technical aspects of AWS cloud migration for SAP solutions. LTI itself is a very large and long-standing SAP customer and has migrated its internal SAP systems to AWS.

As an SAP customer, an AWS SAP Competency Partner, and global strategic services partner with SAP, LTI is positioned to be an ideal partner for any SAP customer migrating to AWS. LTI’s Accelerated Migration Program for SAP solutions speedily migrates and transforms SAP-based enterprises by lowering infrastructure costs while simultaneously improving agility, customer experience, and innovation.  

In October 2019, LTI acquired Powerup Technologies, an APN Premier Consulting Partner, bolstering its cloud consulting and digital transformation capabilities. LTI recently won the 2020 SAP Pinnacle Award as Industry Innovation Partner of the Year.

IDC says India's domestic BPO market to touch $6.82 bn

After establishing itself as a major player in the international BPO market, India is now set to shift focus on the domestic market, which is projected to grow at over 30% annually.

According to a report by IT research firm IDC India, the country's domestic BPO market, with nearly 500 players, will grow at a CAGR of 33.3% to touch revenues of $6.82 billion by 2013, up from $1.62 billion in 2008.

The report said the domestic BPO industry would evolve from just running isolated processes for customers to engaging more deeply in identifying and transforming core business processes.

"Positive market indicators of an economic recovery, unbundling of mega outsourcing deals and large unaddressed white spaces such as regional language services support the current optimism," the report said.

Currently, the BFSI vertical contributes the lion's share of 37% to the domestic sector's revenues, while telecom contributes about one-fourth to it.

Other verticals like utilities and services, energy, food and hospitality, aerospace and automotives, consumer durables and government contribute 17%, while the travel segment contributes 8% to the revenue.

Agencies

Is Peanuts what you will be paid for IT job?

One may boast of being employed in IT in the current scene, however they have to work twice as much for getting an interview and the annual salary is peanuts compared to earlier days. A worsening economic crisis, increased availability of skilled workers and lower demand for software services have brought down the entry-level salaries for IT professionals in the country by up to 20 percent, according to experts tracking the sector.

Every year, around 3,00,000 computer science and engineering graduates seek employment with hundreds of tech firms, including big names such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro. This year, more than half of them were left unemployed because tech firms were already finding it tough to manage resources sitting on the bench, according to Economic Times.

"The entry-level salaries are down by at least 10-16 percent. Last year, a number of companies gave away offer letters but did not recruit. On top of that, there is a new pool of qualified professionals being churned out this year - all this has created an oversupply in the entry-level IT job market where salaries typically sway between Rs. 3 lakh per annum and Rs. 5 lakh on the higher side," said GC Jayaprakash, Principal Consultant of Stanton Chase International.

Until two years ago, almost all computer and engineering graduates were absorbed by India's outsourcing industry, comprising top tech firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and many others. However, as customers delayed and shelved outsourcing projects, these tech firms also postponed campus hirings. Many students had to approach potential employers directly, since companies did not visit their campuses for placements. "We formed groups and toured companies, and agreed to settle at lower salaries because it's better to be employed at lower salary than having no job at all," said Srilekha Varma, who recently accepted a job offer from a Chennai-based IT firm specializing in banking software.

In a normal year, computer science graduates were offered entry-level salaries of Rs. 3.5-5 lakh. However, companies are now hiring freshers at Rs 1.7-3.5 lakh. However, human resources heads at tech firms, including Wipro, India's third-largest software exporter, say professionals have become more realistic about what they want from their employers. "I don't think salaries have come down, but the environment has indeed helped us in containing salary hikes," Pratik Kumar, Head of Human Resources at Wipro said.

But few companies have not forgotten the offers made. TCS said it would do new campus hiring in January 2010 and will honor all 24,000 offers made for financial year (FY09). "Around 1,800 graduates have joined us in second quarter (Q2) and another 8,000 will join in Q3, rest of the graduates will join based on the demand," a TCS spokeswoman said. Infosys said for FY10, it has made 20,000 campus offers and expects an 80 percent conversion rate i.e. 16,000 of these offers to join the company. "We are honoring all our hiring commitments," an Infosys spokeswoman said.

Agencies

TCS signs multi-million contract with Cardiff City Council

Tata Consultancy Services' contract with Cardiff City Council for technology services is a multi-million dollar deal that will run over 15 years, a company source said on Tuesday.

Under the deal signed last week, Tata Consultancy will provide a host of IT services for faster and efficient delivery of services in Cardiff.

Tata Consultancy and its rivals such as Infosys Technologies and Wipro are aggressively vying for deals in markets such as Europe and Asia Pacific to cut their dependence on the US, which brings in more than half the sector's revenue.

Tata Consultancy, a part of the diversified Tata Group that spans commodities autos and services businesses, last month beat forecasts with a 29 per cent rise in quarterly net profit helped by demand from recession-hit financial customers.

Agencies

Is Xerox set to acquire ACS for $6.4 in 2009?

Xerox, the global copier and imaging giant, will pay $6.4 billion to acquire the outsourcing company Affiliated Computer Services, expanding its foothold in a growing industry, the companies said.

Xerox, based in Norwalk, Conn, is paying $63.11 a share in cash and stock for ACS, which posted revenue growth of 6% and new business signings of $1 billion in annual recurring revenue during its fiscal 2009.

“We’re creating a new class of solution provider,” Xerox’s chief executive, Ursula M Burns, said in a statement, adding that the deal was “a gamechanger for Xerox.” She estimated the company’s revenue from services would triple to $10 billion next year from $3.5 billion in 2008. Lynn R Blodgett, ACS’s chief executive, said in the statement that the deal was necessary “to expand globally and differentiate our offerings through technology.” ACS will continue to operate as an independent organization. Blodgett will remain as chief executive, reporting to Burns.
It was the first major deal for Burns, who took over Xerox in July with the retirement of Anne M Mulcahy.

Owners of ACS stock will receive $18.60 a share in cash and 4.935 Xerox shares for each ACS share. Xerox will assume $2 billion in ACS debt and issue $300 million of convertible preferred stock to ACS’s Class B shareholders. ACS had a market value Friday at the close of trading of $4.6 billion. Xerox said the transaction would add to profit in the first year on an adjusted-earnings basis.

ACS, based in Dallas, specializes in outsourcing processes for industries including telecommunications, retail and financial services and health care, and describes itself as the largest provider of managed services to government entities in the United States. The companies estimated the market for so-called business process outsourcing at $150 billion, growing at a rate of 5% a year.

JP Morgan Chase and Blackstone Advisory Partners acted as financial adviser to Xerox, while Citigroup Global Markets served as financial adviser to ACS

Agencies

Arabic portal Maktoob acquired by Yahoo!

Internet major Yahoo! Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Maktoob.com, an online community in the Arab world, with more than 16.5 million users. Though the transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009, the financial details of the deal is not yet known.

"This acquisition will accelerate Yahoo!'s strategy of expanding in high-growth in emerging markets where we believe Yahoo! has unparalleled opportunity to become the destination of choice for consumers," said Yahoo! chief executive officer Carol Bartz in a statement.

According to Yahoo!, this acquisition will extend its current offerings by adding capabilities to deliver relevant Arabic-language content and services, as well as Arabic versions of Yahoo!'s popular Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mail services.

"Yahoo! and Maktoob are natural partners and this combination should help energize the Internet market in the region as a whole. We are excited about Yahoo! building a stronger presence in the Middle East and bringing its compelling suite of services to Arab users in Arabic," said Samih Toukan, founder of Maktoob.

While Internet usage in the Middle East has grown more than tenfold since 2000, most markets are still in the early stages of adoption. According to the World Bank, there are more than 320 million Arabic speakers worldwide, while less than one per cent of all online content is in Arabic, said the Yahoo press release.

Maktoob.com was founded in 2000 by Samih Toukan and Hussam Khoury as the world's first free Arabic/English Web-based email service, and since then has grown to be the leading Arab online community in the region.

Keith Nilsson, senior vice president, Emerging Markets, Yahoo!, said, "We see great growth potential in both audience and advertising in the Arab world and combining with Maktoob.com will allow us to quickly build our presence there with high quality products. This is a big win for publishers, advertisers, and consumers in the region."

Yahoo said this acquisition is part of its larger strategy to grow its business throughout the world's emerging markets by connecting consumers with the content and services that matter most to them in their local language.

Following the acquisition, Maktoob.com will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo!. Ahmed Nassef, the current general manager of Maktoob.com, will continue to lead the Maktoob.com teams and will report to Keith Nilsson, said the release.

Agencies

Analytics company SPSS Inc to be acquired by IBM

IBM plans to buy technology services company SPSS Inc for about $1.2 billion in cash, the companies said on Tuesday.

SPSS shareholders will receive $50 a share, a 42% premium to Monday's closing price of $35.09 on Nasdaq.

Chicago-based SPSS provides predictive analytics software and services. Predictive analytics are used by companies to forecast future trends and spot shifts in consumer patterns, helping them control costs and use resources more wisely.

IBM said the deal will help expand its Information on Demand software portfolio and business analytics capabilities.

Shares of SPSS jumped 41 per cent in premarket trade to about $49.50. The shares had already enjoyed a gain of about 30 per cent this year.

The deal values SPSS at about 25 times analysts' estimated 2010 earnings per share, and the $50 per share price represents an all-time high for the stock, topping its previous all-time top of $47.87.

The deal is subject to SPSS shareholder approval and regulatory clearances, and is expected to close later in the second half of 2009, the companies said.

Separately, IBM said it has acquired closely-held Ounce Labs Inc, whose software helps companies reduce the risks and costs associated with security and compliance concerns. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Back in May, IBM's chief financial officer, Mark Loughridge, told the Reuters Technology Summit that the valuations of potential acquisition targets were attractive. IBM has spent $20 billion buying more than 100 companies since 2000, paying prices that range from as little as $50 million to as much as $5 billion.

Agencies

Will India IT sector miss export target of $60 bn by FY10?

India's software sector is likely to miss the much-touted target of touching 60 billion dollar exports by FY10, due to
unprecedented slowdown in key markets like the US and Europe, IT industry body Nasscom said.

"... the aspiration of $60 billion by December 2010 is likely to be delayed by at least three to four quarters due to unprecedented slowdown in 2009 in key markets, particularly the US and Europe," a Nasscom-McKinsey report said.

The technology and business services industry grew substantially to $52 billion in 2008 including $12 billion in the domestic segment.

Now with the financial meltdown taking its toll, the software and services revenue outlook has been revised downwards.

Nasscom had earlier scaled down the growth rate for software exports to 16-17 per cent in FY09 as against 21-24 per cent announced earlier.

However, the report -- Perspective 2020 -- said the future of the IT industry remains secure in the medium to long term, even in the face of current macro-economic trends.

Agencies

India retains its leadership on global IT export, says World Bank

The World Bank on Wednesday said India leads all countries in exports of information communication technology (ICT) services.

In its latest report 'World Development Indicators 2009', World Bank said India's exports from the ICT sector increased from about $5 billion in 2000 to over $ 30 billion in 2006. This accounts for about 42 per cent of total service exports, it said.

At a time when there is a global recession and hundreds and thousands of people are being laid off, India's software industry employs about 1.6 million people, the report said.

China, though a distant second, is the next largest ICT services trader, with about $5.5 billion in ICT service exports, the report said.

The report said China and India were among the fastest-growing exporters. Export growth was led by manufactures in China and by services in India, it said.

Agencies

Samsung partners BSNL, MTNL for 3G services

Korean electronic major Samsung said it has partnered state-run telecos BSNL and MTNL to provide high-end handsets for their 3G services and is looking at up to 45 per cent of its total sales being generated from multimedia and touchscreen phones.

"We have partnered BSNL and MTNL to promote 3G services in India. We are currently giving a special bundling offer for BSNL consumers on our select handsets for 3G services," Samsung India Electronics President and CEO Jung Soo Shin said.

He said, "We have also provided handsets to MTNL to offer 3G services in Delhi."

Samsung today launched an 8 megapixel touchscreen, 3G enabled phone 'Ultra' priced at Rs 27,500 in India. The handset is capable of offering speedy internet access, video telephony, streaming and multimedia services.

"Samsung already has four touchscreen phones available in the Indian market, all of these are 3G enabled," Shin said.

"We are looking at touchscreen and multimedia phone portfolio to contribute 40-45 per cent of our total sales by the end of the year," Samsung Telecom Division Country Head Sunil Dutt said.

Agencies

IBM to layoff 5,000 jobs in US; While expand in India, China

IBM will cut about 5,000 jobs in the United States, adding to similarly large cuts in the past few months, sources with knowledge of the matter told media.

The job cuts will account for over 4 per cent of IBM's US workforce, which totaled around 115,000 at the end of 2008. The sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly on the issue, said the cuts will mostly be in IBM's global services business, which includes outsourcing and consulting services.

An International Business Machines Corp spokesman declined to comment. The company, which had a total workforce of 398,455 as of end 2008, has not disclosed how many jobs it has cut so far this year, but has said it was making "structural changes" to reduce spending and improve productivity.

IBM, which now earns around two-thirds of its revenue from outside the United States, has been expanding its workforce in emerging markets like India and China.

At the end of 2008, employment in the BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- totaled around 113,000.

IBM has been hit by slower US technology spending, although it has fared better than many rivals thanks to its global footprint and a decreased emphasis on hardware sales.

A month ago, IBM affirmed its full-year forecast of $9.20 earnings per share, and said contract signings for its business services had grown so far this year.

IBM is in exclusive talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc, according to sources familiar with the matter, a move that would create a clear leader in the high-end computer server market.

Agencies

Kronos Debuts Workforce Central 6.1 in India

Kronos India has announced the availability of version 6.1 of its Workforce Central suite in India.

Workforce Central 6.1 provides executives with greater visibility into their global workforce, enabling them to identify critical business issues. The new version includes hundreds of features and new enhancements.

Talking to CXOtoday, James Thomas, country manager, India, said, "At Kronos we've developed a unique perspective on what it takes for an organization to successfully deploy a workforce management solution. Our belief is that integrated workforce management in real time doesn't have to be so hard, and that organizations shouldn't have to trade functionality for simplicity. Workforce Central strikes an ideal balance of deep functionality combined with a range of ease-of-deployment, ease-of-use and cost-of-ownership enhancements."

Kronos helps organizations control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity all at the same time centrally in real time, Thomas said. "These are important business issues in normal times, and even more during tough economic times."

Workforce Central 6.1 supports India's Factories Act and Shops and Establishment Act, whereby manufacturers and services organizations are required to maintain time-related registers and statutory reports for employees.

To help organizations comply with these regulations and minimize compliance risk, Workforce Central 6.1 provides legislated working time reports, as well as new features to monitor overtime and time-based pay codes on a daily and hourly basis.

The new enhancements in Workforce Central 6.1 includes: Enhanced ERP integration; Low total cost of ownership (TCO); Complete automation; Global ready; Machine resource tracking and Advanced scheduling.

CXOtoday

Infosys to hire 20,000 engineering graduates at over 8% higher salary

India’s second-largest software company Infosys will be inducting almost 20,000 engineering graduates this year at over 8.3 % higher salary from what was offered last year, even as the company seeks to cope with a lower demand for software services in its top export markets such as the US and Europe.

At a time when other industry rivals such as TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies are deferring the
joining dates for new hires, Infosys is holding on to its commitment and that too at better salary levels than last year.

“We have increased the pay package from Rs 3 lakh per annum to over Rs 3.25 lakh per annum for those joining in June this year,” Nandita Gurjar, senior vice-president and global human resources head, Infosys, told ET in an interview. “The idea is to get the best talent even during this slowdown, to provide better training and prepare them for the projects,” she added.

Experts such as Prashant Srivastava, managing partner of Gallup Consulting, said that top tech firms want to retain their edge as preferred employers in the industry. “Proactive companies are preparing and hiring high performers for the future, as they don’t want to run after talent once economy revives in few years,” he said.

The offer letters and dates of joining have been sent to 20,000 freshers (2008-09), and the process of joining will start from June this year. Last year, Infosys recruited almost 18,000 (2007-08) engineering graduates.

The company has also increased the training period for new recruits from the current four months to almost eight months. “It gives them better understanding of a project because the predictability of what kind of work you will get is much lower than what it was last year,” said Ms Gurjar. Infosys visits some 1,100 engineering colleges every year.

At a time when the US government is mulling stricter work permit regulations, Indian tech firms such as Infosys will need to deliver more projects from India. “We have been preparing from past three years to reduce our dependency on H1B visa, which is hiring more and more locals in all the countries, where we work,” said Ms Gurjar.

Agencies

As turmoil continues technology exports to miss target

Exports of software and services in the year to March will be sharply below an earlier forecast as the global slowdown dents Nine trends for IT in 2009 outsourcing, expanding 16-17 percent to about $47 billion, an industry body said.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) said on Wednesday the export-driven sector's growth had been adversely impacted by the global financial crisis, deepening recessions, and currency fluctuations.

It had earlier forecast exports growth would range from 21-24 percent this fiscal year. "It was an exciting first half, 24 percent growth much in line with industry estimates," Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan said. "In the second half, we have seen a rapid decline."

Total revenue of the software and back-office outsourcing sector, including the earnings from the domestic market, is expected to rise to $60 billion this year, down from the association's July forecast of $62-$64 billion.

It expects the sector's export revenues to rise to $60-$62 billion in the fiscal year 2010/11.
India's export-driven outsourcing companies have thrived for years by bagging contracts from overseas clients, helped by a large pool of English-speaking engineering workforce and cheaper wages.

But an economic slowdown in the United States, which accounts for more than half of the sector's export revenue, and turmoil in the global financial sector have halted the sector's scorching pace of growth.

The sector's export earnings posted growth of 29 percent to $40.4 billion in the fiscal year to March 2008.

The revelation of a massive accounting fraud at leading outsourcer Satyam Computer Services has added to the gloomy outlook for the sector, which accounts for more than 5 percent of India's gross domestic product.

Indian software firms such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro provide solutions like system integration, application development, supply chain designing and back-office services.

The firms are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Middle East to lower their dependence on the United States.

Agencies

Mobile players focus on MVAS to increase ARPU

With Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) touching Rs 7,510 crore in 2008 and expected to touch Rs 9,760 crore in 2009 and Rs 16,520 by 2010, mobile players are aggressively rolling out new services to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU).

Talking to CXOtoday at the Forum Nokia Developer Conference 2009, Deepak Halan, Group Business Director of IMRB International eTech said, “In the wake of changing industry markets, telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth, and a large chunk of revenues is expected to flow from VAS in the near future. Our report indicated that this market is growing at 70% annually.”

While the growing subscriber base has positively impacted industry revenues, operator margins have shrunk, pulling down ARPU. “As ARPU declines and voice gets commoditized, the challenge is to retain customers, develop alternative revenue streams, and create a basis for differentiation in high-churn markets that is why telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth,” said Halan.

Presently the mobile market has about 12-15 major players besides a number of new licences issued to Etisalat, Unitech and Reliance (GSM) that is likely to take MVAS to all time high.

Among MVAS, the most popular service was downloaded mobile music, although voice portals were swiftly taking over, said Halan. SMS-based infotainment services are largely divided among the big players. A TRAI reports indicates that out of the 375 million users, one out of every five users have a GPRS-enabled mobile across India but not many services are available making then passive users, which is a deterrent factor.

However, the new 3G initiative give a fresh pipe for data and video tracks that could be downloaded without interruptions and also mobile TV with a lot more services like video on demand will is possible, said Halan.

Srikanth Raju, Director, Head of Product Marketing Forum Nokia said, “MVAS has seen a huge market in India and now with 3G being rolled out, will further help video downloaded and a lot more development on MVAS.”

IBM plans to open Iowa centre; To create 1,300 jobs

IBM, the world's largest technology services company, plans to open a new computer support center in Iowa, creating up to 1,300 new jobs and defying a trend of widespread corporate layoffs.

The Dubuque facility in a 10-story office building once occupied by now-defunct retailer Roshek's Department Store, will create jobs for high-tech workers at a time when many technology companies are cutting staff.

Workers will provide security services and remote support to IBM customers, helping to maintain computers and software systems primarily located in the United States, IBM said.

International Business Machines Corp said it plans to employ several hundred people in the facility by the end of this year, following renovations to the top eight floors of the building that it will occupy to make it more energy efficient.

By the end of next year, as many as 1,300 IBM employees will work in the building built in the 1930s, IBM said.

On Tuesday, IBM announced plans to work with Michigan State University to build a software development center in East Lansing, Michigan, that will create up to 1,500 jobs over the next five years.

Agencies

Is it tough times ahead for techies in 2009?

With sinking profits, eroding margins, cost-cuttings and an acquisition bid gone awry, 2008 was a year with more jeers than cheers for the country's over $50 billion IT sector, which has seen nearly a decade of uninterrupted boom.

However, as 2008 draws to a close, the sector is bracing up for a tough time ahead as the scars of global recession are showing up on the country's sunrise sector.

The sector, which has been charting a growth of over 30 per cent, had to settle for a growth rate of 20 per cent, as the global slowdown plunged the industry into unpredictable times.

In the year littered with economic disasters, the failed attempt of country's fourth largest software exporter Satyam Computer to botch up two family-promoted firms for $1.6 billion not only resulted in loss of face but also hit the reputation nurtured by the Indian IT sector over the years.

Faced with shareholder's revolt and heavy criticism over corporate governance issues, Satyam withdrew the offer within hours of making the proposal. But within a space of 24 hours, the scrip lost over 30 per cent in India and was down 55 per cent in New York Stock Exchange trade.

As a fallout, the Board size also shrank with four independent Directors resigning from the 10-Directors strong Board of the company in the wake of the fiasco.

The Satyam saga is likely to continue next year as well with the Board scheduled to meet on January 10.

If Satyam made it to the headlines for a failed deal, it was HCL Technologies, the country's fifth largest software exporter next to Satyam that made the country proud by inking the largest takeover deal in the software space overseas.

HCL piped rival country's second largest IT giant Infosys to bag UK-based SAP consulting firm Axon for $658 million. While Infosys had made 600 pence per share offer for Axon, HCL made a counter bid of 650 pence a share to acquire the UK-based firm.

The year was also some significant M&As on the IT front, such as the $13.9-billion acquisition of Electronic Data Services by HP. Back home
, Wipro acquired Citi Technology Services, Citigroup's IT arm in India, in an all-cash $127 million deal.

Earlier, TCS had bought out Citi's captive BPO arm Citigroup Global Services for about $505 million, which reiterates the strength of the Indian IT story. Another reason that will give the software services sector a reason to rejoice is the IT Amendment Bill.

The Lok Sabha passed the Information Technology (Amendment) Bill 2006 this month, which gives the government the power to tackle data theft. The bill might act as a shot in the arm for the BPO firms for whom data security is of utmost importance.

The Bill has provisions to deal with new forms of cyber crimes like publicising sexually explicit material in electronic form, video voyeurism and breach of confidentiality, leakage of data by intermediary and e-commerce frauds, among others.

The US is the world's largest technology market and accounts for between 50 per cent and 60 per cent of the revenues of the top Indian firms. Since September, however, the economic situation in the US and the rest of the world has worsened.

Country's software lobby group Nasscom had estimated that India's software and back-office services industry would grow by 21-24 per cent in the 12 months to March, but its president Som Mittal said recently that this number could be revised downward. With no signs of an early revival, all the IT biggies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam have revised their revenue guidance downwards.

The currency volatility has also compounded the woes of the Indian IT sector. If a rising rupee in the last fiscal had dented export earnings, the steady rise of the US dollar against the rupee, British pound and Euro during the second quarter (July-September) impacted revenue realisation in dollar terms since 30 per cent of the billing is done in these currencies.

The sector also experienced slowdown in hiring. Already, under pressure to cut cost, most of the IT biggies had to freeze their hiring in the year. Moreover, the joining dates of the new recruits were also postponed, ringing the alarm bells in the job market. The top five IT companies posted a 36 per cent decline in their rate of manpower addition in the last quarter.

As for hiring by BPOs -- for long looked upon as poor the cousins of information technology companies -- also faced the heat.

However, BPOs remained a bit sanguine, as Nasscom's figures indicate that the BPO sector recorded revenue growth of 31.6 per cent whereas IT companies grew at 28 per cent.

In 2009, as the new administration led by Barack Obama takes a look at the outsourcing story vis-a-vis India, it is the efficiency and resilience of the IT sector which can help it sail through the troubled waters.

Source: Agencies