Industry Updates : IT Sector

13 Apr 2011: Cognizant,Genomics, Pistoia tie up for cloud-based platform 

Cognizant and bioinformatics software company Eagle Genomics today said that they are working with life sciences company Pistoia Alliance Inc , to develop a cloud-based platform for streamlining sequence services. The Pistoia Alliance's sequence services aims to define and document a hosted service for storing and mining proprietary derived gene information and public domain gene databases.

13 Apr 2011: Rohit Kapoor joins CA Technologies Board of Directors 

CA Technologies, said that Rohit Kapoor , 46, CEO of ExlService Holdings Inc has been elected to its Board of Directors with immediate effect.  The Board expects to name Kapoor to the Board's Audit Committee.

13 Apr 2011: TCS to announce FY11 results on Apr 21 
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)  said it will announce its fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2011 numbers on April 21. 

12 Apr 2011: Polaris to implement RBI's core-banking solutions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has chosen Chennai-based Polaris Software Lab to implement its core banking solutions, intended to integrate its operations across all its departments and offices. The RBI has 22 regional offices, most of them in state capitals.

11 Apr 2011: Accel hires Paul Wahl for corporate IT investments 

Technology venture capital firm Accel Partners, whose investments include Facebook and Macromedia, has hired ex- SAP and Siebel executive Paul Wahl to strengthen its enterprise IT business. 

As CEO-in-residence, Wahl will identify, invest in and mentor start-ups that help organisations to reduce the complexity of their IT infrastructure.

8 Apr 2011: HCL Technologies faces flak in Ireland over employment policy review 

HCL Technologies, which counts the Bank of Ireland among its top customers, has reviewed employment terms for its staff in the country. Last week HCL had to face a backlash from Ireland's local press and some employees who questioned the company's new terms and conditions.

The company is making all increments performance linked and reducing the number of holidays in line with its operations in the UK, a market that this unit services. It is also making changes to healthcare benefits. HCL started this process last month and local papers said the company had issued an ultimatum to employees to accept these changes or leave. HCL has 1,400 employees in two centres in Belfast and Armagh in Ireland. The company runs BPO operations in these centres mostly to service clients in the telecom and banking verticals.

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Industry Updates : ITES / BFSI Sector

13 Apr 2011: Wipro FY11 results on April 27 

Wipro said it will announce the company's standalone financial results and consolidated results for the quarter ended and year ended March 31, 2011 on April 27. 

13 Apr 2011: India's domestic BPO market to be worth $1.4 bn in 2011: Gartner 

The country's domestic market for business process outsourcing is projected to grow over 23% to touch $1.4 billion this year, says Gartner. In 2010, the domestic Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market was worth $1.1 billion. 

"Changing demographics, increasing affluence and economic growth in Asia-Pacific continues to drive shared services and BPO adoption, especially in Australia, India, Southeast Asia and China," Gartner's research director T.J. Singh said. 

11 Apr 2011: Infosys may announce next CEO by April 15; may name Shibulal 

Infosys Technologies is expected to announce a major organizational rejig along with naming a new chairman and CEO shortly. The announcements may come as early as on April 15, the day it will announce its fourth quarter and full year earnings for the fiscal 2010-11. 

Given the precedent, the legitimate CEO candidate will be the company's COO, SD Shibulal (55), and it is likely that the current CEO, Kris Gopalakrishnan , will become the chairman once N R Narayana Murthy retires in August, said sources. Though there is speculation about T V Mohandas Pai becoming the COO, sources said the company may not be in a hurry to fill the vacancy once Shibulal is elevated and the post may lie vacant for some time. 

7 Apr 2011: IBM to provide shared services to PepsiCo 

India IBM said it is working with cola giant PepsiCo India (PI) to provide finance and administration shared services to help the food and beverage firm streamline operations in the Indian market.

In 2009, PepsiCo India and IBM signed a five-year business process services agreement.

The agreement covers payments, revenue and reporting processes and will help PI enhance governance, drive standardisation and simplification and create value through increased productivity.

7 Apr 2011: Genpact buys IT services company Headstrong for $550mn

Genpact announced the acquisition of Noida-based IT services company Headstrong for $550 million, marking an entry into the software services business.

Genpact, which already has Wachovia, Wells Fargo and GE Capital as clients, will gain customers like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs and turn into a full-fledged financial IT services provider with the buyout. Headstrong claims to have  nine of the top 10 investment banks as its clients. Genpact will pay $300 million in cash and raise debt for the rest of the amount. The BPO major outbid IT majors like Capgemini, IBM and HP believed to be in the race to acquire Headstrong.

 

5 Apr 2011: Capgemini acquires two companies for 40 mn euros 

Capgemini said it had acquired French companies Artesys and Avantias for a total of 40 million euros ($56.9 million).

Artesys develops information technology infrastructure. Avantias specializes in enterprise content management. Capgemini said the acquisitions would help position the company in growth markets in France, where it generates 22 percent of its revenue.

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