All low-cost laptops and desktops come pre-loaded with a Linux OS or a DOS version (obsolete on desktops). The installation of a legal Microsoft operating system (OS) and office suite (for word, excel, etc) will increase the price of the desktop or laptop by 20 to 35 per cent.
Logix, a company dealing in automative e-retailing solutions, is negotiating the acquisition of a US firm.
In the last three months, attrition of the company has come down by 25 per cent. The company's attrition on an average ranges from 38 to 58 per cent annually.
The Express group is expected to get around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) from the deal.
A recent US Department of State directive to the US consular posts now requires consulting an electronic record for visa issuance in these categories.
Indian IT-BPO firms are looking at Philipines as a viable option to build outsourcing centres.
The year 2007 surely belonged to the Indian gaming industry. Though investments made were larger than the returns, the number of people playing games certainly grew.
If you search for Benazir Bhutto on the Net, chances are that you would reach a malicious website that will steal your money and personal details stored on the computer and may even crash the system. All this if you do not have a genuine anti-virus installed on the PC.
Matrix's new SIM offering promises less paperwork.
The declining prices of mobile handsets and low connectivity costs have helped in doubling Internet access through cellphones this year.
The Essar group firm is in talks with 7-10 companies for a "strategic fit", as it races to become a $500 million company by 2010. In some of these cases the due diligence process is in progress. Aegis is looking at firms in the US, South America and the Philippines.
Consider these numbers. The latest figures from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reveal that the number of Indians using their mobiles to logon to the internet has increased from 16 million in 2006 to 38 million in 2007 (both GSM and CDMA).
Players such as Net4, Sify and Worldphone Internet Services are offering International long distance (ILD) calls that work out to less than a rupee a minute by using a technology called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Around 80 million minutes worth of calls are made via VoIP every month (legally), according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The effects of the sub-prime crisis and the resultant slowdown of the US market is evident on the margins of Indian information technology (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) firms. Business process outsourcing (BPO) firms such as Firstsource, Pune-based HOV Services, Zenta, Aegis BPO and others have been receiving inquiries from existing as well as new customers for ramping up their account receivables management (ARM) business.
Players in the Indian animation industry, who primarily cater to movie studios in the US, are increasingly looking at the domestic market, especially after the commercial success of animated movie Hanuman. Of the total revenues generated by the Indian studios, approximately 70 per cent comes from outsourced work.
With the rupee going from strength to strength and attrition a continuing concern for Indian business process outsourcing companies, the new poster child of private equity investors is witnessing adjustments in valuations in the changed scenario.
Hyderabad-based Applabs, providing quality management, testing, and certification solutions, will be increasing its business from the domestic market. In the next 12 months, the company is aiming at a revenue of $4-5 million (around Rs 15-19 crore) from India.
The concerns were legitimate as unlike the IT industry, more than 90 per cent of the cost of BPOs is in rupees while earnings are in dollars. However, the firms have managed well by focusing on increasing productivity, enhancing employee utilisation, increasing billing rates and effecting better management strategies.
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.
While this is a global phenomenon, it is for the first time that the Indian Music Industry (IMI) is making an effort to stop this before it erodes the revenue stream of music companies like it is already happening in the software, gaming and the movie segments.
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