The company plans to strengthen the offerings of its digital platform, Adtech, which it launched a few months back.
VoIP services come in real handy to make cheap overseas calls.
When United States-based drug major Merck bought Schering-Plough early this month, it decided to go off the beaten track. Instead of having one managing director for the merged entity, it decided to retain both: Naveen A Rao will continue to head Merck's subsidiary MSD Pharmaceuticals in India and K G Ananthakrishnan will retain his position as MD of Schering-Plough's subsidiary Fulford India.
Almost 80% mid-sized firms plan to raise IT budget for 2010.
WNS, an NYSE-listed business process outsourcing company, recorded good second quarter numbers, reflecting the improving market conditions in global markets. Neeraj Bhargava, Group CEO, attributed the performance to better volume growth and a robust pipeline. In a chat with Business Standard, he spoke about the recent stake sale talks with Warburg Pincus, appointing a new CEO and other issues.
That the flow of deals has resumed is evident from the third quarter Global TPI Index that tracks commercial contracts valued at $25 million or more.
With the US economy showing a positive annual growth rate of 3.3 per cent, the Indian IT industry - which gets over 50 per cent of its revenue from the US - is heaving a sigh of relief.
India saw one of the worst terrorist attacks in November last year, when Mumbai was under siege for four days. Little under a year later, Indians perceive rising food prices as a bigger threat than terrorism.
Dell says the credit goes to its campaign -- 'Take Your Own Path' -- launched in October, 2008. It was the first such campaign by Dell anywhere in the world as the company mainly relied on direct marketing earlier.
IT companies hire an average of 50 students each from engineering campuses and 20 students from management institutes. Headhunters confirm that many of the IT companies have given them mandates for hiring over the next couple of quarters. "We have seen an uptick in the hiring patterns among the IT firms. We ourselves have received good mandates from firms like Infosys and others.
Till a few months ago, hiring was a strict no-no for investment banks. On the contrary, they were scaling back staffing plans in India given the dearth of merger and acquisition activity and stagnant capital markets.That is changing rapidly with a rising number of deals fuelled by strong growth in the markets and an improving economic environment.
The newest CEO in the Tata group brings an aggressive pace and style to India's largest IT consultancy firm.
Dell's acquisition of Perot System for $3.9 billion is being seen by most analysts as a strategic call. This will give Dell an enlarged footprint. Both the companies will get a chance to diversify. Of course, it will make Dell a service powerhouse -- globally and in the country too.
Last month saw 30 companies filing their draft red herring prospectuses with the market regulator for initial public offers , a sharp increase from six in August and three in July this year. The Securities and Exchange Board of India received eight filings in September last year, the month the Lehman Brothers meltdown brought the world economy to its knees.
M&As are back on the radar for Indian companies, but with two vital changes. First, the average size of the deals are much smaller compared to the earlier years; and second, overseas acquisitions have taken a backseat.
Promoters Narendra Patni and his younger brothers Gajendra and Ashok hold equal stakes totalling 48.3 per cent in India's sixth largest software exporter.
The company, which saw a pricing pressure of 5-6 per cent in the last two quarters, believes that most of the pricing negotiations are completed and about one-third of pricing pressure has been factored in the company's guidance. However, Shibulal does not rule out some tail-wind effect in this quarter as well.
BP is apparently targeting a higher percentage of offshoring.
Venture capitalists and seed fund providers receive around 500-1,200 business plans every year. The trend continued even among the student fraternity. Venture firms such as Morpheus Venture Partners and Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship that work closely with students and incubator centres have seen a spurt in activity.
With increased awareness and concern over unexpected events like the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, Ganesh mandals (organisers of the Ganapati festival) are seeking higher insurance cover. For instance, Mumbai's most popular mandal, Lalbaughcha Raja Ganesh Mandal, has bought insurance worth Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million).