Top Stories
Infosys US visa case scheduled for Sept 17: reports
US court case against Infosys, which was scheduled to begin on Aug 20, has been pushed to Sept 17, according to reports.
Reports stated that the trial has been pushed to next month as the judge has sought more time to review a summary-judgement motion.
A former employee of Infosys has filed a suit against the company over alleged misuse of B1 visas, according to reports.
There are reports that the ex-employee Satya Dev Tripuraneni filed the suit earlier this month in a California court.
The case comes just a few days before the Jack Palmer case is set to go on trial.
iGATE to invest $1mn to establish new facility in Loudoun County
Governor Bob McDonnell announced that iGATE, the first integrated technology and operations company providing Business Outcomes-based solutions, will invest $1.0156 million to establish a new facility in Loudoun County.
The company will perform a wide range of technology consulting services for government agencies and businesses, and will offer design-build-operate-maintain services for Federal Government projects. The project will create 250 new jobs over the next two to three years.
Speaking about today’s announcement, Governor McDonnell said, “iGATE’s new operation in Loudoun County will expand the company’s U.S. presence in the Washington DC metropolitan market. The Commonwealth was picked against other states and locations considered due to the business environment and proximity to an ample resource of skilled technical workers with Federal Government experience. We are thrilled to welcome another impressive technology company to Loudoun County and Virginia.”
In Focus
India ready to launch Cloud Computing initiative: Kapil Sibal
The Minister of Communications and IT, Kapil Sibal says India with its vibrant IT industry and adoption of IT in Government, is uniquely positioned to immensely benefit from cloud computing. Sibal was delivering the keynote address at the day-long Open House on “India as a Hub for Cloud Services” held in New Delhi today, organised by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DietY).
Sibal said that Cloud is likely to unleash new growth opportunities for Indian IT industry and also bring innovations in the way IT solutions and services are delivered. He said the Government is ready to launch cloud computing initiative and added that with their modest resources and technology, medium and small sector industry needs the clouds more than anybody else. He said that keeping in mind the economic and cultural context, the architecture of Indian clouds will have to be different, frugal and innovative.
Addressing the Open House, Sachin Pilot, the Minister of State for Communications and IT said that with 120 million internet users and with net connectivity slowing spreading to Panchayats, this is the right time for India to develop cloud services. Pilot said content creation would have to be in Indian languages if the benefits of cloud services are to reach the common man. He said the issues of data vulnerability, privacy laws, regulatosry oversight and network security need to be addressed.
The Open House was attended by the representatives from the industry, Government and other stake holders.
The cloud is a shared pool of configurable resources categorised by on-demand self-service, resource pooling, elasticity and measurable service levels. While developing the cloud computing, the Cloud Service Providers (CSP) would have to provide visibility into data location, commitment to well defined SLAs, provide migration support and aim at interoperability. The responsibility on the Government is to reduce compliance burden, establish cloud security standards, create a system of certification of Cloud Service Providers and develop cross-border laws and taxation principles.
Domestic News
Fitch affirms MindTree at 'Fitch AA(ind)'; Outlook stable
Fitch Ratings has revised India-based IT services company MindTree Limited's (MindTree) Outlook to Stable from Negative. Its National Long-Term rating has been affirmed at 'Fitch AA(ind)'. A list of additional rating actions is provided at the end of the commentary.
The Outlook revision follows the improvement in MindTree's EBIDTA margins from Q2FY12 (quarter ended September 2011) onwards, in line with Fitch's expectations.
MindTree's EBIDTA margins in constant currency improved to 14% in Q1FY13 from a low of 11.2% in Q4FY11. This was driven by the company's changed recruitment practices, improved efficiency in projects, and reduced operational expenses. Additionally, a significant depreciation of the Rs. against the USD also boosted the EBIDTA margins. Overall EBIDTA margins improved to 20.9% in Q1FY13 from 11.2% in Q4FY11.
The affirmation continues to reflect MindTree's position as the leading mid-sized provider of IT services for customers in US and Europe, low levels of balance sheet debt, and a stable liquidity position. In FY12, cash and investment surplus was high at Rs. 3.7bn (FY11: Rs. 1.56bn) and financial leverage (gross adjusted debt/EBIDTAR) was low at 0.88x (FY11: 1.21x).
TCS acquires Pune-based CRL
Tata Consultancy Services, the leading IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent equity of Computational Research Laboratories (CRL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, for a cash consideration of Rs 188 crore (US $34 million).
The acquisition of CRL, a pioneering start-up firm in the arena of High Performance Computing solutions in India, will enable TCS to extend its suite of solutions and offer integrated HPC application and Cloud services to its large base of customers.
High Performance Computing (HPC) applications are finding increasing relevance and use among large enterprises, as they look to solve complex business problems like reducing their time-to-market. This is driving an increase in adoption of HPC based applications for modeling, simulations, visualization and big data analysis across the business.
MindTree to double its SAP Headcount
MindTree Limited, a global IT Services and Product Engineering Services Company, today announced that it will be making significant investments over the next twelve months in its SAP Practice to drive growth in its services business across major global markets.
According to Gartner, Inc, worldwide spending on enterprise application software will total $120.4 billion in 2012 (1). Enterprise Resource Planning is the largest enterprise application software market with revenue projected to reach $24.9 billion in 2012, followed by office suites at $16.5 billion. Business Intelligence revenue is forecast to reach $13.0 billion, and Customer Relation Management is on pace to exceed $13.0 billion this year.
To capitalize on this opportunity, MindTree is sharpening its focus on its SAP Practice. To this effect, the company has recently appointed Arun Rangaraju as Senior Vice President and ERP Practice Head. With 18+ years of rich experience in the ERP space, including 6 years at SAP India, Arun joins MindTree with a mandate to grow the SAP Practice by over 70 percent in the next twelve months. MindTree targets to double its SAP headcount to achieve this goal.
CP Gurnani appointed MD of Tech Mahindra
Tech Mahindra announces that CP Gurnani has been appointed as the Managing Director of Tech Mahindra, in the Board meeting which was held in Mumbai on August 10, 2012. CP played a pivotal role in the three year transformational journey of Mahindra Satyam and is spearheading the eventual merger with Tech Mahindra.
"From establishing Tech Mahindra as the undisputed leader in telecom to charting Mahindra Satyam's three year transformational turnaround in the most trying of circumstances, CP's journey as the turnaround CEO is now complete and I congratulate him as he takes on this additional critical responsibility. I am confident that he will continue to outshine in all that he sets out to do." said Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group and Chairman of Tech Mahindra.
"I have closely worked with CP for more than 15 years and his abundant energy, spontaneity and customer centric approach is not replicable. It is his single minded focus and 'never say die' attitude that helped galvanize the teams and made Mahindra Satyam's recovery possible. As he takes on this critical responsibility, his experience at Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam will prove to be invaluable as we move closer to the formal merger. I congratulate him on this additional responsibility and wish him the very best in his new responsibility." said Vineet Nayyar, Executive Vice Chairman, Tech Mahindra and Chairman, Mahindra Satyam.
TCS expands Student Technology awareness Program to Michigan
Micro Tech Global Foundation honours Innovative Students
HCL Infosystems launches its 3G Tablet – the HCL ME Y2
Infotech Enterprises working on several growth strategies
Sridar A. Iyengar retires from the Infosys Board
Ramco Systems partners with Ingram Micro
HP’s Fun Zone Brings Cool New Activity kits for Children
HCL Learning organizes painting competition in Schools across nation around Independence Day
Subex wins contract from MTN Group
Accel Partners invests 27mn in Mind Edutainment
Results Watch
D-Link India Posts 115% Growth in sales revenue for Q1
Zylog Systems Q1 cons net profit jumps 24%
Micro Technologies Q1 net profit at Rs288.6mn
Omnitech InfoSolutions Q1 net profit dips 50%
International News
Facebook falls to record low as share lock-in expires
Facebook Inc.’s shares tumbled to a record low as the post-initial public offering lockup on about 271 million shares expired, according to reports.
Facebook traded down 6.3% to close at $19.87, after hitting an intraday low of $19.69.
The stock has lost nearly half its value since its May IPO when it priced at $38, report says.
There are reports that more than 1.4 billion additional shares will be eligible for selling by year's end.
Yahoo looking for No. 2 to CEO Mayer: report
Yahoo Inc is actively searching for a chief operating officer with turnaround experience to be the right hand of Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, according to reports.
Reports stated that Yahoo is looking for a No. 2 who can focus on restructuring and finance, while Mayer tends to product and innovation.
Mayer was named president and CEO of Yahoo in mid-July, says report.
Google buys Frommer’s travel guides from John Wiley
US publishing house John Wiley & Sons is planning to sell all of its travel assets — including the well known Frommer’s brand — to Internet titan Google, according to reports.
Reports stated that Google planned to add Frommer’s travel expertise to its “Local” offerings at the Google+ social network, where users can search for specific places or browse for nearby businesses or services.
The financial terms of the deal has not been specified yet, says report.
Google added that the Zagat restaurant review content to its Google+ social network in May, as it rolled out a new local search feature that takes on services such as Yelp.
Gartner to host complimentary webinar "Emerging technologies hype cycle
Big data, 3D printing, activity streams, Internet TV, Near Field Communication (NFC) payment, cloud computing and media tablets are some of the fastest-moving technologies identified in Gartner Inc.'s 2012 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies.
Gartner analysts said that these technologies have moved noticeably along the Hype Cycle since 2011, while consumerization is now expected to reach the Plateau of Productivity in two to five years, down from five to 10 years in 2011. Bring your own device (BYOD), 3D printing and social analytics are some of the technologies identified at the Peak of Inflated Expectations in this year's Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle (see Figure 1).
Gartner's 2012 Hype Cycle Special Report provides strategists and planners with an assessment of the maturity, business benefit and future direction of more than 1,900 technologies, grouped into 92 areas. New Hype Cycles this year include big data, the Internet of Things, in-memory computing and strategic business capabilities.
Google to cut 4,000 jobs at Motorola Mobility
Google is planning to cut 4,000 jobs at Motorola Mobility and close up to a third of its 94 offices worldwide., according to reports.Reports stated that Search engine giant Google bought the company in May and since then has worked to reshape its business.
Motorola has around 300 people in India.
There are reports that Google bought Motorola to use its more than 17,000 patents that could help the company in challenges to the Android operating system.
Google expects to take severance-related charge of up to $275 mn mostly in the third quarter, report says.
Oracle fined $2Mn over overseas payments
Cisco posts 56% profit jump
Genpact partners with IIMU
Dassault Systemes launches SolidWorks Electrical Applications
Honeywell offers flight training for Engineers to address Pilots needs
RSA appoints Navin Sadhwani as Head Of Channel And Commercial Business
PMC Bank selects IBM Smarter Computing approach
Fujitsu Implements SAP at Bhansali Bright Bars
NVIDIA launches GeForce GTX 660 Ti GPU