Industry

Hiring Down by 36%



Compared to last year, net manpower hiring by the top five Indian IT

companies goes down by 36% in the current July-September quarter. The combined

hiring by TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and HCL Technologies were about 17,000

professionals, against 26,500 professionals in the Q2 of 2007. The financial

slowdown has also cut down attrition rates. While Infosys attrition dropped

from 14.2% to 12.8%, Satyams fell from 13.89% to 12.27% in the mentioned

period.

Raritan to Appoint RDs



Raritan has announced its plans to appoint regional distributors across the

country to focus on vertical segments. To meet an increased demand Raritan will

now appoint regional distributors along with channel partners across the country

to spread its reach. It is looking for partners who understand networks and the

domain that Raritan operates in.

Microsoft SPARKs Will Fly Contest



Microsoft had launched SPARKs Will Fly contest at the Embedded Systems

Conference (ESC) in Boston. The contest is based on the successful Microsoft

Windows Embedded SPARK Your Imagination community-focused program launched in

April 2008. The theme of the contest is home of the future.

SaaS Revenue to Grow



According to Gartner, worldwide SaaS revenue in the enterprise application

markets will surpass $ 6.4 bn in 2008, a 27% increase from 2007 revenue of $5.1

bn. The market is expected to more than double with SaaS revenue reaching $14.8

bn in 2012.

Secure Computing Unveils STAMP Initiative



Secure Computing has unveiled a new initiative called STAMP (Seven

Technologies for Advanced Mail Protection), designed to comprehensively improve

email security by bringing market research, industry architecture requirements

and solutions to the forefront. The STAMP initiative provides deeper knowledge

and understanding of security issues, identifies and highlights essential

architectural components, and takes a comprehensive look at tools, technologies

and solutions necessary to stamp out corporate email risk.

Intel to Fund Youth Science Competitions



Intel will invest $120 mn over the next 10 years to stimulate more interest

amongst youth in math and science, so they will be prepared to address global

challenges in innovative ways. The funding from the Intel Foundation for its

long-time science competition partner Society for Science and the Public

supports the companys historical commitment to the Intel Science Talent Search

and Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

India #48 in Industry Competiti Veness



India ranks forty-eight in the world in the 2008 IT Industry Competitiveness

Index, moving two places from its 2007 #46 in the index. India has an overall

score of 28.9 on the IT competitiveness index, according to findings from a new

study issued by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by the Business

Software Alliance. The top five countries in order of ranking in Asia Pacific

are Taiwan, Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan, respectively.

MS Anti-piracy Plan Angers China



An anti-piracy scheme by Microsoft that turns some computer users screens

black has offended Chinese consumers to a large extent, posing renewed problems

for the software maker in the huge China market. Since Microsoft has deployed an

updated anti-piracy tool in China, many Chinese consumers have fumed about what

they see as an invasion of privacy. Users of legitimate software have been

turning their own screens black in protest.

Puducherry Launches IT Policy



The Puducherry government has unveiled its new IT Policy 2008. The policy

targets 50% increase in number of registrations by IT companies, earnings in

forex from IT services and jobs in IT sector over the next five years, 100% IT

literacy in schools and colleges, 100% computerization and networking of

government departments, basic IT training to all government employees and

citizen services through CSCs.

Rs 66.1 crore PAT for HCL Info



HCL Infosys PAT stands at Rs 66.1 crore for the quarter ended September 30,

2008. The companys consolidated revenue for the quarter was posted at Rs 3125.8

crore. Consolidated services revenue for the quarter grew 47% over the

corresponding quarter of the previous year. Revenue from computer systems

business for the quarter was Rs 875.9 crore, a growth of 15%. Revenue from

telecommunication and office automation business was Rs 2257.1 crore.

India to Invest in Grenada



The government of India would invest $1 mn to set up an information

technology school in Grenada. Indian experts will be sent to train local

teachers in hardware maintenance and software creation. This is Indias first

large investment in Grenada and the center is expected to open in February 2009.

3i Infotech PAT up 67.1%



3i Infotech has recorded PAT of Rs 71.94 crore announced for the period

ended on September 30, 2008. It was up by 67.1% over the corresponding quarter

of the previous year. The company posted revenue of Rs 606.87 crore with a

growth of 113.7% over last year. On a sequential basis, revenue grew by 28.7 %,

of which 20.2 % as inorganic growth and 8.5 % was organic growth.

TCS Q2 Net Profit up 1.5%



TCS has posted a profit of Rs 1,271 crore for the quarter ended September

30, 2008, which shows a y-o-y rise of 1.5%. The software exporter said the

companys net revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 6.953 crore, up 25.3% y-o-y

and up 8.5 % q-o-q. Each share would get a quarterly dividend of Rs 3.

Wipro Annual Growth 36%



Wipro has posted profit after tax of Rs 978 crore for the second quarter

ended September 2008 with a y-o-y growth of 19%. Total revenue of the company

increased by 36% to Rs 6,507 crore from Rs 4,776 crore posted during the

corresponding quarter last year. IT services revenue stood at Rs 4,750 crore,

with an annual growth of 36%.