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HCL's low-cost PC

HCL plans to market its new low-cost PC by partnering with major web portals for a piece of the "fortune at the bottom of the pyramid."

After having launched its low-cost PC in the Indian market, HCL is looking forward to injecting new vigor to its existing distribution strategy to tap the huge market potential in the Indian region. With an aim to increase its distribution footprint in the country, the company is all set to work on a two-pronged strategy. As part of this, HCL would be working closely with popular Internet portals in order to market its affordable product and the company would also be strengthening its existing distribution network.

As HCL targets the broad-based market segment it would be strengthening its existing distribution network by different strategies

"The real market lies at the bottom of the pyramid. Unless PC penetration increases from the current level, Internet and broadband will not take off in the country. As we target the broad-based market segment, we would be strengthening our existing distribution network by different strategies. We have already started working by taking online orders from customers. Moving forward, this would be a part of our overall distribution strategy," explained Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman and CEO, HCL Infosystems. Moving forward, the company would align itself with different online portals to channel its low-cost PC to more number of people and increase its distribution prowess. "As the demand of this product increases, we would be increasing the strength of our traditional distribution network as well," he added. The new HCL Ezeebee Pride computer, unveiled by the Communications and IT Minister, Dayanidhi Maran, comes with a configuration of AMD x86 1.6 GHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Disk Drive and 52X CD ROM. It also has a 15" color monitor and supports applications such as word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, e-mail and video conferencing.

HCL has priced the ready-to-use PC at Rs 9,990 with Linux software, and Rs 11,240 when bundled with Microsoft Windows XP Starter Edition. Initially, the company is making sure that the product is available at more than 1,000 dealer points spread all across the country. The company plans to increase its computer manufacturing capacity to one million units by the end of this year from the existing 600,000 units.

While the PC penetration in the country is a mere 15 per 1,000, the Government is looking forward to increasing this number to 65 per 1,000 by the end of 2008. Bringing down the PC costs to below Rs 10,000 is one way to make it more affordable to the huge population of the country. This is also likely to spur broadband and Internet penetration levels for the
country.visit full details in http://www.nextbillion.net/news/hcl-decides-the-market-for-low-cost-pcs-is-online

IBM Takes Another Step To Changing The Patent Process

IBM collaborated over the summer with a group of 50 experts from outside IBM to come up with a new approach to protecting intellectual property. The result of this effort is summarized in the report Building a New IP Marketplace. This is superb and exciting stuff. Since our government can’t seem to make any progress with this, I hope they’ll at least follow the leadership of some major industrial companies that while ultimately acting in their own self-interest (as they should) recognize that they get more economic benefit long term by fixing the underlying dysfunction. check out in http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2006/09/ibm-takes-another-step-to-changing-the-patent-process.html

Caritor movin positive

Brian Keane, CEO of Keane Inc., said the e-services firm was bolstered by a loyal customer base and public-sector business during a tough quarter hit even harder by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Keane Inc., based here, reported income, before charges, of $5.3 million, or 11 cents per share, on sales of $186.6 million. That compares with income of $8.3 million, or 15 cents per share, on sales of $208.6 million for the same quarter last year.

The numbers missed Wall Street estimates by a penny. First Call predicted income of 12 cents per share.

The impact of Sept. 11 on Keane Inc.'s business was painful and personal, said Keane. Two consultants from Keane Consulting Group who were working for a customer at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 remain among the thousands missing there.

"Our thoughts and prayers are in support of family, friends and colleagues at this time," said Keane.

On the business side, the loss of personnel, temporary suspension of air traffic and lost billings, particularly in New York and Washington, resulted in a total loss of between $1 million and $2 million, said Keane.

At the same time, Keane Inc. signed its largest federal government contract, a $127 million, 10-year deal with the U.S. Air Force, to rebuild and manage its wholesale supply chain.

In addition, Keane reported the firm's Application Development and Management (ADM) Outsourcing business remains strong, accounting for 52 percent of third-quarter revenue.

The sequential decline in ADM Outsourcing is primarily due to a reduction in the size of the deals by a few customers in the high-tech and telecommunications industries that have been severely impacted by the economic slowdown, Keane said.

"However, this in no way changes our strong belief that outsourcing is a highly attractive and stable revenue stream," Keane told analysts.

To illustrate his point, Keane said the company has received notification of the largest ADM Outsourcing win in its history, a $500 million, 10-year agreement with a major health-care organization. The deal, which Keane expects to sign during the fourth quarter, should produce about $50 million in annual revenue, he said.

Meanwhile, Keane told analysts the firm's pending acquisition of Metro Information Services is moving forward, said Keane. The Federal Trade Commission approval has been received, and the Securities and Exchange Commission declared the registration statement effective as of Oct. 19, 2001. Metro's shareholder meeting on the acquisition is set for Nov. 30.

Keane anticipates revenue for the fourth quarter to be between $185 million and $195 million. The company also estimates total revenue in 2002 will be about $1 billion. full datails check out in http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18816476

Important news for 2009 batch...

Students of the country’s best engineering colleges may now have to wait till their final year for clinching a job with an IT firm. In a bid to get greater visibility of the business environment while hiring, IT companies, such as TCS and Wipro Technologies, are now looking to push campus recruitments closer to the pass-out date. 

“We want to do real time talent management. While in the past we would go to campuses to recruit in the fourth or fifth semester, we will now do so only in the seventh or eighth semester. This will enable us to better match hiring needs with actual demand,” TCS’ Chief Executive and Managing Director, Mr S. Ramadorai, told Business Line.

The move would also help TCS to reduce the bench and increase utilization, as the company attempts to raise efficiency. TCS has also increased the performance bar for its employees to meet higher productivity demands. 

Mr Ramadorai said that the company would soon be informing various colleges about its plans. “The first letters are going out today,” he added. Premier educational institutions such as the IITs and IIMs generally invite IT companies to hire in the final year.

 

“For instance, in case of a four-year course, we may approach the campuses only three months before the students pass out. Earlier, we would do it either before the end of the third year or beginning of the fourth year,” he said, adding that this was also in line with practices followed globally by companies.

 

“We will do it for the next batch…for those graduating in 2010,” Mr Ramadorai pointed out.

 

TCS is not the only one doing this. “This issue has also been deliberated in Nasscom and more or less, member companies have agreed to follow this practice,” the TCS CEO said.

 

Earlier, Mr Pradeep Bahirwani, Vice-President-Talent Acquisition, Wipro Technologies, had toldBusiness Line, “We have encouraged campus hiring both for IITs and other technical colleges to be held during the final semester of engineering and not during penultimate year of engineering, as is the current practice. This would give students enough time to be well-prepared for assessment and will also enable organisations to get a good grip on the future business demand.”visit http://rahul-bhattacharya.blogspot.com/2009/02/tcs-and-wipro-campusing-news-for-2010.html

Infosys Technologies Receives Positive Rating

Infosys Technologies Limited INFY today announced that Infosys received ‘Positive’ ratings in Gartner’s “MarketScope: for Remote Support Services ⁽ⁱ⁾and Remote Monitor Services⁽ⁱⁱ⁾” reports. Infosys was one of 26 vendors evaluated for the reports, which focused on remote monitoring and support services for IT infrastructure functions, such as remotely-managed network services, data center services, ERP operation support, and operations and technical support.

Over the last year, Infosys has been at the forefront of IT solutions that meet client IT support and monitoring needs. The company’s commitment to identifying, implementing and managing these technologies enable Infosys to provide real-time data through secure, remote access. This ultimately translates to maximized efficiencies within the IT infrastructure.

“Our large base of global customers is already reaping the benefits of Infosys’ end to end Remote Infrastructure Management capabilities,” said Anand Nataraj, vice president of Infrastructure Management Services, Infosys Technologies Limited. “We believe Gartner’s “Positive” rating confirms Infosys’ position in the market and our commitment to providing customers with transformation solutions in Remote Infrastructure Management solutions that meet their unique challenges.”for full datails visit http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?symbol=US:INFY&feed=BW&date=20081219&id=9464668

TCS Rated Strong Positive

A Rating grid of the top Indian offshore service providers released by Gartner places TCS, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies and Cognizant Technology Solutions in the positive category under overall rating.

Gartner has rated Tata Consultancy Services as 'Strong Positive' in the MarketScope for Business Intelligence and Performance Management Services, Western Europe, 2008 report. Developed by Gartner analysts as an assessment of the BI and PM capabilities of service providers, the MarketScope provides specific guidance for users who are deploying, or have deployed, products or services.Visit full details in http://www.efytimes.com/efytimes/fullnews.asp?edid=27805