Shivani Shinde &Amp; Bibhu Ranjan Mishra In Mumbai

Stories by Shivani Shinde &Amp; Bibhu Ranjan Mishra In Mumbai

IT firms shift focus to smaller clients

IT firms shift focus to smaller clients

Rediff.com   4 Aug 2008

Indian IT firms have started mining smaller clients with more fervour given that the revenue accruring from their top clients has been declining due to the US slowdown and the sub-prime crisis. Consider this. Revenue accruing from the top clients of the five leading IT firms by revenue - Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies, Satyam Computer Services and HCL Technologies - dropped by anywhere between 0.2 per cent and 4 per cent

Real life Indians yet to get a Second Life

Real life Indians yet to get a Second Life

Rediff.com   31 Jul 2008

Poor infrastructure and unavailability of broadband are major reasons why Indians have not taken to Second Life in a big way. Besides, the time zone of Second Life is more attuned to the US, which is another issue for Indians wanting to hook on to this world.

'We have hedged about 44% of our revenues'

'We have hedged about 44% of our revenues'

Rediff.com   25 Jul 2008

The June quarter turned sour for MindTree as forex losses pushed the company into the red despite logging strong growth in revenues.

Virtual data centres save power, realty costs

Virtual data centres save power, realty costs

Rediff.com   17 Jul 2008

Research firm IDC India estimates the share of virtualised servers in the industry to double from the current 22 per cent to 45 per cent by the year-end.

We're optimistic: Infy chief

We're optimistic: Infy chief

Rediff.com   12 Jul 2008

Infosys Technologies generates over 60 per cent of its revenue from the US, which is witnessing a slowdown. A falling rupee did help the company tide over the quarter, and S Gopalakrishnan (popularly addressed as Kris) says that new opportunities, geographies and centres of excellence will have to be balanced against billing cycle delays and other pitfalls of the market.

Paid mobile entertainment losing steam

Paid mobile entertainment losing steam

Rediff.com   10 Jul 2008

Consider this. Leading broadcaster Star India's mobile interactive division, Star Mobile Entertainment -- which made some serious headway in the space by launching a service whereby mobile users could opt to view soaps from across Star India's network -- recently reviewed its operational strategy.

Sub-prime swells coffers of Indian LPOs

Sub-prime swells coffers of Indian LPOs

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2008

Firms are flooded with credit crisis-related litigation jobs from American law companies.

Rupee fall may not help IT companies in Q1

Rupee fall may not help IT companies in Q1

Rediff.com   8 Jul 2008

Mark-to-market losses due to the unexpected fall of the rupee against the US dollar, euro and pound; the impact of wage increases in the first quarter; a stagnant global economy; and margin pressure owing to inflation are expected to impact the rupee-term fortunes of Indian IT firms that will declare their quarterly results for the April-June 30 quarter beginning this week.

Warning bells ring over B'lore as BPO destination

Warning bells ring over B'lore as BPO destination

Rediff.com   7 Jul 2008

Warning bells are ringing on Bangalore's future as a leading BPO destination. It is not a full-blown crisis yet but the portents are disturbing, according to a cross section of industry, human resource and real estate experts.

Mobile users may be 'vishing' for trouble

Mobile users may be 'vishing' for trouble

Rediff.com   3 Jul 2008

Welcome to the world of Vishing or voice phishing, wherein hackers are using a combination of voice over internet protocol, SMSs and the internet to fool and redirect users into dialling a phone number and collect critical information for financial gain. In Kolaskar's case, both mobile spam and vishing were used.

IIM-B asks for Rs 114 cr, gets only Rs 33 cr

IIM-B asks for Rs 114 cr, gets only Rs 33 cr

Rediff.com   3 Jul 2008

The premier management institute, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, is in a bind. It had asked for Rs 114 crore (Rs 1.14 billion) to build infrastructure to accommodate additional students under the OBC quota.

TCS sees synergy in Gen X tools

TCS sees synergy in Gen X tools

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2008

A team of engineers at India's largest IT services provider firm. Tata Consultancy Services, was working on a project for an important client. While it was co-ordinating work from three geographical units - Europe, South America and India - it was finding it difficult to collaborate through telephone or other voice means as there were language and pronunciation hurdles.

VMIL stake: Merrill, Lehman among 4 firms in race

VMIL stake: Merrill, Lehman among 4 firms in race

Rediff.com   13 Jun 2008

VMIL officials declined to comment on the development. According to sources close to the development, VMIL will sell stake to raise money for expanding Hungama, the content and mobile services arm. The Mumbai-based company has already held two to three rounds of meetings with these private equity investors. The company's valuation has been pegged at Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion). The funds raised would be used for Hungama's expansion.

Aegis eyes Philippine BPO

Aegis eyes Philippine BPO

Rediff.com   3 Jun 2008

Aegis BPO Services, an Essar Group business process outsourcing (BPO) company, is close to acquiring an 8,000-seater BPO firm in the Philippines. The exact size of the deal is not clear.Aegis has been bullish on inorganic growth as its races to reach a turnover of $500 million (around Rs 2,000 crore) by 2010.

Tata rural BPO to come up  near Orissa steel site

Tata rural BPO to come up near Orissa steel site

Rediff.com   30 May 2008

The rural BPO centre will be established by the Tata Business Support Services -- the BPO wing and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons -- in partnership with Tata Steel Rural Development Society -- a corporate NGO managed by the Tata Group for the last 60 years. To start with, it is expected to employ around 200 people. Sources close to the development said the company has already recruited the first batch of the executives for the BPO unit.

Firstsource suitors eye Temasek's holding

Firstsource suitors eye Temasek's holding

Rediff.com   28 May 2008

US-based buyout fund Carlyle, Providence Equity Partners, Warburg Pincus and Blackstone are understood to be exploring a buyout of Temasek's holding in Mumbai-based pure-play business process outsourcing firm Firstsource. The news triggered the company's share price to rise 6.76 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to close at Rs 43.45 on Tuesday. Warburg Pincus has a stake in WNS, a BPO company, while Blackstone has a majority stake in Intelenet.

BPOs design in-house curricula to train staff

BPOs design in-house curricula to train staff

Rediff.com   24 May 2008

The broad idea is to help freshers and high-potential employees develop soft skills not generally taught at universities, and simultaneously increase retention rates in an industry that has attrition rates between 30 and 50 per cent. The industry, according to Nasscom estimates, accounts for almost $11 billion and employs slightly over 700,000 professionals (in terms of direct employment).

Wipro logs on to clean energy

Wipro logs on to clean energy

Rediff.com   16 May 2008

Wipro, the $5 billion company with interests in IT services, consumer care, lighting and furniture, is entering a new set of businesses which will enable the company to leverage its growth on the clean energy and agriculture sectors. The company is readying a plan to include alternate energy, water treatment, food and agriculture businesses under its infrastructure business - Wipro Infrastructure Engineering Limited.

Meet the 'election guru' of Obama and Clinton

Meet the 'election guru' of Obama and Clinton

Rediff.com   14 May 2008

Ravi Singh aims to empower politicians by effectively planning campaigns using software technology. It's election time, and Ravi Singh, the founder of US-based ElectionMall Technologies, knows what it means to be in India.

Infosys BPO to set up KPO hub in Gurgaon

Infosys BPO to set up KPO hub in Gurgaon

Rediff.com   8 May 2008

Infosys BPO, which started knowledge process outsourcing services as a part of its BPO offerings four years ago, is aiming to make Gurgaon the hub for its KPO business.