Neeraj Bhargava, CEO of Mumbai-based business process outsourcing (BPO firm) WNS Global Services, and his team have voluntarily decided to forfeit their bonuses if they are not successful in getting the attrition rates below 30 per cent. This is probably the first such move of its kind in the industry in which attrition has become a critical issue. WNS has over 15,000 employees, and its current attrition rate stands at 43 per cent.
Google has unveiled an ambitious strategy that will make cellphones cheaper and speed up internet surfing. Google's director of mobile platforms, Andy Rubin, said in a telephonic conversation from the US that the new platform called Android should reduce the prices of today's $500 smart phones to around $100-150 in a year or so. "If there's ever a Gphone, it will be built on the Android platform," he said.
Gitanjali Gems is close to acquiring a US-based jewellery retail chain with sales of about $100 million. The deal, if it goes through, would be the company's second acquisition in the world's largest jewellery market. Though the deal size and name of the company could not be ascertained, sources said that the acquisition is expected to be completed in 30 days.
Mobile TV -- basically an application that enables television services on handhelds such as mobiles, handheld TVs, car TV, GPS terminals, game devices, laptop PCs, and other portable devices -- is a step closer to seeing the light of day in India.
Unlike the first quarter of FY08 when Indian IT small- and mid-caps were hit hard due to a nearly 7 per cent appreciation in the rupee against the dollar, the July-September period was relatively kind to these firms. It spared them to some extent, since the rupee appreciated around 1.5 per cent over the period. However, the rupee rose around 12 per cent against the dollar over the last 12 months.
In fact, while IT bellwether Infosys Technologies (his earlier employer) got a drubbing at the bourses for not posting "better than expected" results, iGate stumped investors a couple of days back by announcing it plans to buy back shares from the public and delist from the Indian stock markets, while remaining listed in the US.
Analysts expect that Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications (RCom) and Idea Cellular will post over 50 per cent annual growth in revenues (year-on-year) and more than 10 per cent sequential growth (over the previous quarter). Bharti continues to lead in the subscriber addition race (2.1 million in August).
IBM's attempt to patent a technology that would help companies to figure out which jobs to send overseas getting a quiet burial. The company today confirmed that it has withdrawn its patent application for "outsourcing of services" which it had filed on July 12 this year.
It's for the first time that someone from the industry will hold the position of president at Nasscom.
The earnings of Indian IT companies in rupee terms are dwindling with every upward movement of the currency. The domestic currency has risen by 11.6 per cent this year to touch a nine-year high on Wednesday.
Nortel Networks (India) is upgrading the communications at four Indian international airports, which should help make the staff more responsive to travellers.
Old economy companies such as Hero, M&M (Tech Mahindra), Aditya Birla, Essar, Hindujas and Larsen & Toubro have sprung into action with large acquisitions and major deals.
The technology's spectrum efficiency, low cost and simple installation make it the next big thing in the telecom world.
The technology's spectrum efficiency, low cost and simple installation make it the next big thing in the telecom world.
The US sub-prime lending crisis forced Mumbai-based WNS Holdings to revise its net income guidance by 60 per cent, and this is worrying the $8 billion business process outsourcing sector players and analysts.
IT-BPO firms offer end-to-end mortgage origination services and manage servicing activities.
Anuj, a resident of Second Life since November 2006, is angry. He recently bought a poker table for around 25,000 Linden dollars
Nortel President and CEO Mike Zafirovsky is scheduled to visit India shortly, his first since taking over in November 2005. In an email interview with Leslie D'Monte, he explained his company's strategy for India and more.
With organic growth slowing down due to the appreciating rupee and rising wages, Indian information technology companies have taken the acquisition route to add marketing muscle and win clients in Europe and the US.
The reports suggesting that the nearly $13.5 billion Internet giant Google is finally developing a 'GPhone' are growing stronger in the foreign media and cyberspace.