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