IT/ITES News Update

14^th May 2012: IT FIRMS PRESENT A GLIM GROWTH OUTLOOK

The top four Indian IT firms together grew revenues by a mere 1.2% - the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2009 fiscal.

Pricing, or per-hour rates charged by IT firms, declined 1.2% - the sharpest quarterly sequential decline since the last quarter of 2009 fiscal. 

After growing at around 16% in 2011-12, India's second-largest software exporter Infosys expects to grow by only 8-10% in the year to March 2013. 

This is much lower than the 11-14% growth forecast by the National Association of Software & Services Companies (Nasscom).

11^TH MAY 2012: HCL TECHNOLOGIES AND CONSUMERS ENERGY SET UP TECHNOLOGY CENTER AT MICHIGAN

In a bid to increase local hiring and scale up processes, HCL America, a wholly owned subsidiary of HCL Technologies and Consumers Energy, the fourth largest US electric and natural gas company have collaborated to set up a Center of Excellence (GCoE) called the Michigan Technology Development Center (MTDC).

The center will be located at the Commonwealth Commerce Center in downtown Jackson, Michigan.
As part of the agreement, HCL expects to hire local technology professionals and create 300 professional technology positions during phase one of the MTDC openings.

The MTDC also will be a designated training and development hub for advanced and emerging IT processes, tools and will work with local universities and colleges.

10^th May 2012: TCS EXPANDS OPERATIONS IN NORDIC REGIONS

Software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has doubled the size of its operations in the Nordic regions since 2010. I

It had more than 25 large scale projects and transformational projects in the region

TCS is one of the few companies that been able to balance industry leading growth while maintaining pole position in client satisfaction, according to Carl-henrisk Hallstrrom, head of sourcing advisory at KPMG.

9^TH May 2012: MICROSOFT URGES INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO PAY ATTENTION TO IT INDUSTRY ISSUES

Microsoft India has highlights that the Indian IT Industry has some major concerns that need to be tackled immediately to boost growth of the industry.

Microsoft India chairman Bhaskar Pramanik has acknowledged that the industry wants a stable and predictable policy and regime. It wants less ambiguity, clear guidelines, clear policies and an environment where everybody can do business successfully and legally.

8^TH MAY 2012: GOVERNMENT TO SET UP FUND TO PROMOTE R&D IN IT SECTOR

The government is planning to set up an electronic development fund to promote innovation and commercialization of products in the IT sector.

"Under the draft National Policy on Electronics 2011, it has been proposed to create an electronic development fund to promote innovation, R&D, commercialization of products in the IT sector," Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot told the Lok Sabha.

The policy also proposes to provide incentives for setting up of over 200 electronic manufacturing clusters (EMCs) with world class logistics and infrastructure and easy to do business facilities. 

7^TH MAY 2012: MAHINDRA SATYAM IN ALLIANCE WITH US-BASED GALORATH

Mahindra Satyam, a consulting, engineering and IT services provider, announced a global alliance partnership with Galorath Inc, a California-based leading provider of estimation solutions called SEER.

This partnership shall focus on providing solutions to discrete manufacturing companies across industry domains like aerospace, industrial, energy and automotive, Mahindra Satyam said in a release here.

"Through this alliance, Galorath and Mahindra Satyam will complement each other's strengths to provide `Should Costing' (approximation of contract pricing) consulting solutions to customers based upon the estimation strengths within the 'SEER for Manufacturing' solution, it said.