Corporate

STPI Eyes On Tier II Cities

With secondary cities gradually emerging as key locations for IT enabled
services and BPO, the Software Technology Parks in India (STPI), Chennai, plans
to create more IT infrastructure in Tier II cities in Tamil Nadu. The foundation
stone laying ceremony of the Rs 25 crore STPI facilities centre in Chennai was
done by union minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi
Maran.

TCS's Excellence Centre

As part of its initiative to address technology requirements of SMEs, Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS) will be launching TCS-Engineering Center of
Excellence at Coimbatore in March, S Ramadorai, CEO, TCS, said. Coimbatore was
chosen because of its high concentration of SMEs and also for having a
well-developed textile industry and engineering industrial base, he added.

Solutions Lab From
IBM

IT major IBM has announced the setting up of its seventh global High
Performance On-Demand Solutions (HiPODS) Lab here. The focus of the lab is to
solve customer issues such as simplifying IT management, helping companies scale
their IT infrastructure, improving maintenance automation and optimizing
resource utilization. 

CSC Headcount Up 100%

IT services major Computer Science Corporation (CSC) saw 100% increase in
headcount during the current financial year, taking its total number of
employees to 4,500. “We have recorded 75% increase in headcount in the past
couple of years,” said Padmaja Krishnan, director (marketing, planning and
research), CSC.

Mahindra SSG Bets on Infosec

The enterprise derisking business is slated to be a $6 bn opportunity
worldwide and Mahindra Special Services Group (SSG) is eyeing a large pie of
this market. The company provides four specific services in this area:
Enterprise risk management (ERM), BS 7799, change management and technology
hardening. Mahindra SSG has come a long way in becoming a key player in the
field of enterprise derisking solutions and information security (infosec) with
a core focus on protecting organizational innovations.

Synechron Opens Center for Real Media

Synechron Technologies, a software services provider, has opened its first
strategic development centre (SDC) at Pune for 24x7 Real Media. Faisal Husain,
chief executive officer, Synechron, told mediapersons that the company plans to
set up four more SDCs in three months. Explaining that an SDC would replicate
the parent organisation like a mirror image, Husain said, “The opening of the
SDC signifies a client's commitment to work exclusively with us.”

Sun Microsystems India Plan for Software Writers

Sun Microsystems India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Sun
Microsystems, is aiming to be the best source for IT firms by offering upgraded
products on the Java platform and launching the Sun developer network program (SDNP)
for software developers. “SDNP is part of an ongoing effort by Sun
Microsystems to provide the best resources for the Java platform,” Naveen
Asrani, manager, developer marketing, said here. In view of the increasingly
complex set of challenges and opportunities being faced by IT professionals, the
company had launched SDNP offering technical topics, training, events, support,
software, business and career tips for developers, he said.

Xansa to Up Headcount by 1000

Xansa India, the subsidiary of British computer service major Xansa is
ramping up its staff by adding another 1,000 personnel in the next 12 months.
This will take its total headcount in the country to 5,000, making the Indian
subsidiary one of the largest in manpower terms.

Acer Plans to Double Retail Presence

Acer, a global vendors in the PC market, is seeking to increase its sales
revenue from the retail segment to 40% in 2006 from 25% in the previous year.
For this, it will be expanding its presence to over 160 cities and towns across
the country and doubling its retail infrastructure to over 400 stores. Acer
India, general manager, sales and marketing (mobile & display products
group) S Rajendran informed said the company was looking at a balanced
geographical coverage in A&B class cities by targetting high-density zones
within cities.

Cisco, JNTU Sign MoU

Cisco Systems, a major player in networking for the Internet, has signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University
(JNTU) to provide the Cisco Networking Academy Program in non-profit educational
institutions across Andhra Pradesh.

SAP Aims 1L Clients

Business software solutions provider SAP is targeting a global customer base
of 100,000 by 2010, against 30,000 at present. By that time, the company's key
growth center, Asia Pacific region, is expected to have around 20,000 customers
with India having a share of around 3,000.

iVivity Opens Office

Storage network building block technologies provider iVivity's office in
Bangalore would focus on OEM customer support and software development.
Atlanta-based iVivity had announced its new office last week. The Bangalore
office initially would have a small staff of local engineering and management
talent. The projected staff strength was over 20 engineers in this year,
according to the company. In addition to hiring engineers from Bangalore,
iVivity had relocated engineers from its Atlanta headquarters to staff the new
office.

Oracle Enters Embedded Systems Market  

Oracle has entered the embedded systems market in Asia Pacific and Japan by
launching an embedded business unit (EBU) for this region, including India. The
Oracle EBU plans to establish licensing agreements with independent software
vendors (ISVs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), allowing them to
integrate Oracle software directly into end-user devices such as handsets, home
appliances and automobiles. Oracle Corporation Asia Pacific embedded
technologies VP Mark Barton said, “With this, we plan to move beyond the
enterprise systems where we've traditionally been, and make a serious move
into data management for consumer devices. ”