Source: www.business-standard.com

Silicon Technology Group (STG) Pvt .Ltd. based in California’s Silicon Valley is planning to set up a base in the Temple City of Bhubaneswar, India. With an investment of Rs. 250-crore and a 25-acre plot, STG will be setting up a Silicon Park on it in Bhubaneswar, the most famous city of the Indian state of Orissa.

STG aims to develop facilities in Bhubaneswar over the next five years starting with a Technology Innovation Centre (TIC) that will include other companies interested in the designing and developing of semi-conductor products.

At a later stage, the Silicon Park will also have a resource centre, to help STG market the facilities in East and South-east Asian nations. Confirming STG plans, Chandrasekhar M. Reddy, Chairman said: “We might be provided land in the Info-city, the IT hub of Bhubaneswar,” adding: “Orissa is a start-up opportunity and we would like to avail of it.”

He also claims, STG could act as a model to other Indian entities in the field of semi-conductor products. According to Reddy, STG would be involved in outsourcing the manufacture of chips and buying back the product for ready marketing.

The STG model is to be composed of four stages i.e. ideation, chip design, systems development and software grouping. Reddy is of the opinion that Silicon Park will help bring Silicon Valley’s business model, know-how and expertise to India. It will incubate, design, develop and manufacture semi-conductor products for global markets. Reddy, who designed chips for LCD monitors and plasma TVs, also worked for Intel in 1984.

He affirms India will develop into one of the largest electronic equipment markets over the next 10-years, creating opportunities for electronic equipment manufacturers and for chip and embedded system design companies. Quoting a 2006 Frost and Sullivan report, Reddy says the semi-conductor market will likely to witness a ten fold growth in the next ten years, generating employment for 3.5 million, and also believes the semi-conductor market will likely grow from $2.8-billion now to over $36-billion, with the total available market growing from $1.4-billion to $15-billion. Emerging technologies that address consumers needs, IT and telecommunication according to Reddy are crucial to the expansion of the industry.

STG aims to bridge the gap between innovative visions and the market and its Silicon Park will house infrastructure for research labs and development centres. In Phase-I of the project, two out of four of STG’s current group companies will shift base to Bhubaneswar’s proposed Silicon Park and TIC.

TIC will engage in chip design, system design and embedded software development for consumer, IT, telecommunication and emerging technologies markets. The centre will also cater to the needs of bio-metric security and medical applications.

It will be a business incubator dedicated to supporting growth and development of early stage technology-based businesses focussed on building products for the semi-conductor market. Likewise, it will provide a business environment to foster collaboration among young innovators, while keeping the independence and self-reliance necessary for motivating entrepreneurs.

Capital of the south eastern state of Orissa, Bhubaneshwar has always been an important city since ancient times. Capital of the mighty Kalinga Empire, the bloody battle for which made Asoka repent and turn against warfare into an ardent Buddhist. It is this same city that has been aptly tagged as ‘Cathedral City‘ owing to its numerous temples and shrines. A unique blending of traditional cultures with modern aspirations, is distinctly visible in this holy land, as Bhubaneshwar forms a key element of the Golden Triangle, which includes the holy cities of Puri and Konark.

As well, Orissa is also home to a number of tribal clans, for whom it bodes well, as the Silicon Park could well provide employment for them, as long as they are motivated enough to get an education and reap the benefits of joining the mainstream, without of course, losing touch with their special cultural upbringing. How they adjust to high-tech in their midst, remains to be seen. However, from all accounts, they are more in touch with high-tech than most mainstream Indians, as Christian missionaries in their zeal to harvest souls have already introduced them to high tech gadgets that donations to Christian overseas missions buy for them.

Now, it remains to be seen who wins the battle for the souls i.e. Christian zeal or the Indian government trying to mainstream the tribals, as with Native Indians in Canada and America. Let’s root for the Indian government, since it is genuinely interested in the welfare of its people, as opposed to the Christians, who only want to increase the numbers of the Army of Jesus Christ, rather than the welfare of the poor tribals caught in the cross hairs of missionary zeal!

Source:IANS
Recently, Cognizant Technology Solutions, a leading provider of IT services announced the acquisition of the Massachusetts-based AimNet Solutions, a managed infrastructure and professional services firm.

Founded in 2000 by former AT&T executives, AimNet is a privately-held company with over 100-employees.

“This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to continue building on Cognizant’s successes in the ITeS practice, by expanding the depth of services we can provide to our customers,” said Lakshmi Narayanan, President and Cognizant CEO.

The transaction provides Cognizant with a state-of-the-art network operations centre in the US, world-class patterns, infrastructure management software and an installed base of over 80-direct and indirect customers and partners.

It also provides high-end network and infrastructure consulting capabilities in areas, such as, network architecture, planning, design and infrastructure security solutions.

Cognizant also gains an experienced management team, led by industry veteran Ed. Nalbandian, Chief Executive of AimNet, who will join Cognizant to manage its, a company statement said.

AimNet offers a full range of IT infrastructure management services from consulting to 24-hour managed services.

Nasdaq-listed Cognizant is a provider strategic information technology solutions that address complex business needs of its clients in applications management, development, integration, and re-engineering and change management.

Employing more than 32,000-people, Cognizant was recently named one of Forbes’ Best Small Companies in America for the fourth consecutive year and ranked among the top information technology companies in Business Week’s Hot Growth Companies.

Source:Zdnetindia.com

Infosys announced that it has received the top score for overall strategy in applications outsourcing (AO) among North American AO providers, according to Forrester Research, a leading industry analyst firm.

The report cites Infosys for its strong capability across virtually every aspect of AO and strong reputation for cultural fit among North American customers, allowing Infosys to compete effectively with MNCs and offshore rivals alike. The report describes Infosys’ strong solution strategy, including a particularly strong vision for improving internal productivity.

The Infosys Vendor Summary also reads “Infosys’ solution strategy envisions a world in which a variety of outsourcing providers serve a single customer. In other words, Infosys is living in the real world. Its vision is strong on what it describes as Modular Global Sourcing, in which various suppliers work together to deliver innovation in the customer environment, and it has adjusted its vision for engagement governance accordingly.”

“Three years ago, we announced our vision for Modular Global Sourcing emphasizing the importance of modular thinking in sourcing strategy and decisions. Being named a leader in this prestigious report is proof positive that our vision is becoming a reality today,” said Suketu Patel, head of Strategic Global Sourcing, Infosys. “By applying the fundamental concepts of modularization to business process and IT services sourcing, Infosys is helping customers realize operational efficiencies and enabling business innovation.”