TCS-IBM INDIA: Partners for Progress

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has made significant
investments in IBM’s offerings over the years. But this time it has surprised
the industry by going in for IBM’s latest Z series eServer 2064—102 costing
around Rs 25 crore. The server housed in TCS’ Sholinganallur facility near
Chennai has propelled the company into the most powerful computing center in the
country. TCS is also the first in the Asean region to implement the eServer.

The eServer is part of the new family of 64-bit servers
launched by IBM. It is a mainframe-class server designed for e-business. The
server can process about 480 million instructions per second.

So why did TCS go in for such a powerful solution at a time
when IT spend in many organizations is challenged by the sluggish economic
performance worldwide? Says S Mahalingam, executive vice president, TCS,
"We have a very strong relationship with IBM and the eServer implementation
is the continuation of that tradition. Furthermore, the strategic meetings we
had during the end of 2000 established the need for augmenting and upgrading the
computing power. With an aggressive focus on diverse IT areas, we looked out for
a machine that can answer the growing demands of the application development and
maintenance business. In the end, it became clear that IBM’s eServer is the
answer to our computing requirements."

Historical roots

TCS’ relationship with IBM has strong historical roots. The
company’s tryst with IBM began in a humble way in 1988 with the setting up of
a center in Chennai armed with a 3090 mainframe machine from IBM. Since then TCS
has customized and installed several mainframe machines across India. By 1997,
the company was operating three mainframe data centers, with the largest center
running two 9672 R 35 systems and focused significantly on Unix systems and
services. Looking at the relationship TCS and IBM had over the years, the
eServer seems to be a logical extension of its commitment to IBM’s offerings.
Commenting on TCS’ investments in IBM’s solutions, Mahalingam says, "We
have built a huge client base by leveraging our capabilities on the IBM
platform. Our fundamental idea here is to offer a wide array of solutions,
whether it be RS 6000, AS 400 or S390. We have the competence. In fact since
1988, for almost every alternate year we have bought significant IBM equipment
for two reasons: one, to provide a platform for serving IBM customers anywhere
in the world, and two, to generate expertise on IBM’s offerings."

Joining hands

Another significant aspect that strengthens TCS’
relationship with IBM is that both the companies will be addressing the Indian
market as business partners to provide total solutions covering areas like
Linux, Websphere-related technologies in e-business, enterprise systems
management, groupware, and datawarehousing. Says Abraham Thomas, MD and CEO, IBM
India, "IBM’s strength as the technology leader and TCS’ leadership in
systems integration services will offer the customers the best IT solutions for
their various business requirements." For instance, TCS will build its
solutions and services around strategic IBM offerings involving the eServer,
Tivoli TME/10, and leverage platforms like OS/390, AIX and OS/400. Also, TCS
will be using Linux on its eServer.

The Linux edge

TCS’ foray into Linux began with the launch of S/390 server
for Linux by IBM last year. S/390 was a significant launch for IBM because it is
the outcome of its applications sourcing strategy. This strategy allows clients
the freedom to choose the operating system, middleware and programming best
suited for critical e-business applications. Also, as part of its Linux
strategy, IBM will leverage Linux to create pervasive applications development.
To this end, IBM is expanding its Linux technical centers. These centers will
roll out Linux-based solutions to the global market.

Says Mahalingam, "Our experiments with Linux on S/390
were very encouraging, and we have decided to include it as one of our strategic
OS platforms. Now the incorporation of Linux on eServer will significantly
increase our Linux solutions’ delivery capabilities. This year could see us
emerge as one of the largest Linux solution providers and will also open up very
interesting possibilities."

A company like TCS going aggressive on Linux can’t be
dismissed as a mere logical extension, for there has to a more convincing
rationale. Says Mahalingam, "Over the years, we have worked on a range of
platforms and our emphasis on Linux is based on the uniqueness of the platform.
Our Linux initiative is also in line with our customers’ demands.

Furthermore,
we are going proactive in the ASP arena, and will be using ASPs as a vehicle to
improve the competitiveness of a number of SMEs in India. Linux is an
exceedingly good platform in an ASP segment, the competitive advantage being the
total cost of ownership."

Yet another aspect that makes Linux advantageous to TCS is
its renewed focus on e-business. With IBM pitching Linux as the future e-biz OS,
the eServer in combination with Linux S/390 will significantly enhance its
capabilities in the realm of Internet security, Web-enabling legacy application,
CRM and supply chain management. TCS’ focus on e-biz comes in the wake of the
dissolution of the dot-com boom. Given this context, the company sees potential
business for e-business from the so-called old economy brick-and-mortar
companies. Says Mahalingam, "Yes, the dot-com boom is almost over, but that
does not mean that we have to write off e-business. Moreover, applications like
SCM, CRM and ERP can only make sense in an e-business environment."

TCS has spruced up its infrastructure at a very significant
time. As a result of the US slowdown, the delivery capabilities and models are
changing in the IT sector. As Mahalingam puts it, "The overall slowdown in
the IT sector in the US only makes them demand a lot more from us. Today, the
equation in terms of offshore and onsite work is changing. As more work gets
transferred offshore then the successful delivery is dependent upon the kind of
infrastructure one has in place. Hence, upgrading the computing power becomes
imperative to stay in the cutting edge of technology."

G Shrikanth in Chennai