Industry Updates : IT Sector

17 May 2011: 3i Infotech hawks US unit to Cerberus firm IT firm 

3i Infotech has agreed to sell its US-based global billing and payments unit to an affiliate of private equity player, Cerberus Capital Management , for $137 million. 3i Infotech had earlier acquired two firms, J& B Software and the Regulus Group, which were integrated to form its global billing and payments unit.

16 May 2011: Wipro to deploy WAN solution for United Bank of India 

Wipro Infotech said it has been selected by United Bank of India to deploy a wide area network optimization solution from Cisco for across its more than 1,600 branches and offices. The deployment is amongst the largest globally for any public sector bank.

14 May 2011: TCS appoints Vandrevala as MD, VC of UK subsidiary

Tata Consultancy Services  said it has appointed Phiroz Vandrevala as the Managing Director and Vice Chairman of its UK subsidiary, Diligenta.

Vandrevala, Executive Director of the company, will take over as the Managing Director (MD) and Vice-Chairman (VC) of Diligenta with immediate effect.

13 May 2011: Microsoft-Skype deal kindles hopes among Indian technology, e-commerce start-ups

For years, Skype has been synonymous with 'value'—its free calls a boon for Indian start-ups used to living frugally. This week, the Luxembourg-based internet telephony provider became synonymous with value of another kind. Microsoft's announcement that it was buying Skype for $8.5 billion has kindled hopes among local technology and ecommerce start-ups that the tide of rising valuations amid some frenzied deal-making in the global tech and allied sectors will wash up Indian shores too. 

India may not have start-ups similar to Skype or Facebook that can be snapped up by hungry global firms, but industry watchers say steadily-climbing valuations in global tech deals are having a positive rub-on effect across fledgling technology and e-commerce firms at home too.

13 May 2011: Sourcebits gets $10 mn funding from Sequoia, IDG Ventures 

There is a sharp uptick in early stage investments with the closure of three first round deals this week.

In the biggest of the deals, Bangalore-based app development start-up Sourcebits has received $10 million funding from Sequoia Capital and IDG Ventures India. The start-up, which has operations in US and Europe as well, is planning to expand its engineering and design operations globally. This investment is the first in the mobile application space for Sequoia Capital.

IDG has led the $5.7-million first round funding in another software product company, Agile Financial Technologies, which offers products in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) space. The company, which has a channel presence across 20 countries in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, is planning to use the investment for expansion into new markets.

12 May 2011: Post-acquisition, Patni executives to make way for iGate leadership  

In the first step towards the integration of iGate and Patni Computer Systems, more than half of the executive leadership of Patni Computer Systems will make way for new leaders within iGate in some cases and from within Patni itself. 

Around eight members of the executive leadership team reporting to Patni CEO Jeya Kumar will be leaving the company, some with immediate effect and some within a three-month period. CEO Jeya Kumar and CFO Surjeet Singh will also resign and Phaneesh Murthy is expected take over as chairman and CEO of Patni, they added. 

12 May 2011: Phaneesh Murthy appointed CEO of Patni 

iGATE announced the successful completion of Patni acquisition and appointment of Phaneesh Murthy as CEO of Patni.

Consequently, Jeya Kumar has stepped down as the CEO of Patni. iGATE entered into purchase agreements on January 10 this year to acquire a majority stake in Patni Computers. Both iGATE and Patni would continue to exist as separate listed entities and would work together on an integration exercise with the advice of professional consultants and advisors.

As a consequence of the acquisition, the Board at Patni has been reconstituted.

Jai Pathak will be Board Chairman, Phaneesh Murthy the CEO. Shashank Singh, Co-Head of Apax India and Gran Lindahl,  Member of iGATE Board are the new directors with existing members Vimal Bhandari and Arun Duggal continuing as independent directors.

Surjeet Singh, CFO, Patni, would continue in office until May 31, 2011 and then step down when the Board expects to appoint a new Financial Officer.

12 May 2011: HP names Naresh Shah Vice President of Engineering, India 

HP announced it has appointed Naresh Shah as Vice-President of Engineering, Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN).

He will take charge with immediate effect. In this newly created position, Shah would be responsible for product collaboration across all ESSN business units in India.

11 May 2011: Kerala IT companies tap into Danish ICT market 

Kerala IT companies have made inroads into Denmark's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market as part of a strategy unveiled to help small and medium enterprises identify new business opportunities.

A delegation of the Kerala IT industry, headed by state IT Mission director Ishita Roy, is in Denmark to facilitate business meetings for IT entrepreneurs from the state.