Source: www.business-standard.com

Tech Reliance, the recently formed IT subsidiary of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) , has received a five-year outsourcing contract from group firm Reliance Capital.

This is the first deal for Tech Reliance - a company that was formed for the group’s foray into the information technology consulting and services segment. The financial details of the contract could not be ascertained.

Under the contract, Tech Reliance will manage IT infrastructure and applications management services for Reliance Capital’s group companies including Reliance Money and Reliance Insurance. The IT subsidiary was being awarded the contracts at market-determined prices, sources close to the development said.

According to sources, Reliance Capital was looking at outsourcing all its IT requirements and expecting a 250% increase in its total geographical footprint over the next two years.

When contacted, a Reliance Communications spokesperson declined to comment.

Tech Reliance was formed as an umbrella brand three weeks back with the group bringing all the IT firms under its fold under the subsidiary. It has over 2,000 employees, and apart from the Reliance ADA group companies, it was also scouting for opportunities from non-group companies.

The group also has an in-house technology innovation division that was engaged in R&D, and testing of new technologies.

Source: www.reuters.com

European companies outsourced more business than their counterparts in the Americas for the first time in 2007 as northern European countries followed Britain’s lead, outsourcing consultancy TPI said on Friday.

The value of outsourcing deals signed in Europe last year was $40.9 billion, compared with $26.6 billion in the Americas. The financial services sector dominated demand for business process outsourcing in Europe and elsewhere, TPI said.

“Companies across Europe are outsourcing in ever greater numbers,” TPI partner Duncan Aitchison said in a statement, naming Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and France as being particularly active.

TPI, which monitors contracts worth $25 million and over, estimates active outsourcing contracts worldwide were worth $79 billion at the end of 2007 and predicts the market will grow by 7 percent this year.

“Given the sustained growth rate we are currently witnessing and the level of activity, particularly in Europe and Asia Pacific, we have every reason to expect similar strength in the market going forward,” Aitchison said.

Business process outsourcing, a high-value activity in which service providers supply people and manage processes as well as providing basic IT services, grew strongly, while human resources outsourcing fell out of favour, TPI said.

The global share of deals awarded to Indian firms rose to 9 percent this year from 6 percent in 2006. The so-called European big five — Atos Origin (ATOS.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), BT (BT.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Capgemini (CAPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), Siemens (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and T-Systems (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) — were awarded 9 percent of the 2007 outsourcing deals between them.

India’s own domestic outsourcing demand, driven by the country’s wider economic success, is also growing. The value of contracts signed in India last year was $5.7 billion, up 77 percent and surpassing Australia and Japan.

Accenture (ACN.N: Quote, Profile, Research), HP (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Wipro (WIPR.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) won many of the outsourcing deals on offer in the Asia-Pacific region.

Outsourcing by Chinese companies grew from a small base to $400 million worth of contracts.