Virtual Recruiter
Corporation enters chat room to recruit top talent

In January Lockheed Martin launched “live chat” feature on the Careers section of its Web site. The Corporation is the first in the industry to use an online, real-time environment for recruiting.

Scheduled chats take place regularly on topics ranging from software engineering and transitioning military personnel to available opportunities in specific locations. User questions range from questions on starting the application process to tips on how to get their resumes noticed. Participants can also talk about their skills and experience to see how they may fit in a particular program area. Corporate Staffing analyzes chat activity and identifies trends in topics and the process. Employees have already been hired as a result of virtual chat sessions, and many more are expected as the tool grows in popularity.

Source: Lockheed Martin newsletter story.

Comments:

• Such a system in very useful when there is an emergency to fill the seats
• This is surely going to help reduce cost per hire
• Improves job fit and reduces turnover

Infosys Technologies Ltd has signed a multi-million dollar outsourcing contract with Royal Philips Electronics’ (“Philips”) of the Netherlands.


Highlights:

• TCV: US$250 M
• Contract Duration: 7 years
• Philips will enter into a multi-year contract with Infosys BPO to provide F&A services and the processing of purchasing orders
• Infosys will also acquire three shared service centers located in India, Poland and Thailand from Philips for US$28 million
• This contract is amongst the largest Finance & Accounting BPO engagements from India and will expand Infosys’ global network, particularly strengthening its European operations

About PhilipsRoyal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a global leader in healthcare, lifestyle and technology, delivering products, services and solutions through the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 125,800 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 27.0 billion in 2006, the company is a market leader in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting solutions, personal care and home appliances, as well as consumer electronics. For more info visit www.philips.com/

Hot action in the last quarter among top 4

Infosys

Plans investment of US$75.1m (Rs3.1bn) in a 8,000-seat development centre in Thiruvananthapuram; also setting up a 400-seat facility in Brno, Czech Republic and a 300-people centre in Mexico.

Introduced a non-compete agreement in employee contracts, barring the employee to work for the same client at a defined set of competing firms for a period of six months after their job termination at Infosys.

TCS

Bought out the joint-venture partner’s stake in the Brazil subsidiary for US$33.4m; inaugurated a new 500-seat centre in Mexico; targeting 5,000 employees in Mexico over the next five year.
ntegrated its financial services solutions (organic and from FNS acquisition) into a new SBU, TCS Financial Solutions.

Satyam

Launched a 4,500-sq ft near-shore development centre in Brazil; a 150-seat centre in Sydney (third in Australia); plans development centre in Vietnam by April 2009.

Announced extension of its existing contract with the Nestle group for a further three years; we estimate the current relationship at an annual run-rate of US$15m, that could go to US$25m. We estimate the pricing increase at about 3% in the renewed contract.

HCL Tech

Launched a 100-seat centre in Poland, its second in East Europe.

US$15m contract win from Alenia Aeronautica.

Worldwide market trends in Engineering Services

Engineering services is a huge market: global spending for engineering services is currently estimated at $750 billion per year, an amount nearly equal to India’s entire gross domestic product in 2005. By 2020, the worldwide spend on engineering services is expected to increase to more than $1 trillion.

Key sectors that dominate global engineering spends include high-technology / telecom, automotive and aerospace – accounting for over 55 percent of the total. Other sectors include industrial, defense, utilities and construction.



To date, offshoring of innovation services has largely been done in advanced countries — only 9 per cent of the world’s budget for engineering found its way to low-cost countries.





However, like in many other business functions, competitive pressures are driving large corporations to undertake their engineering activities on an increasingly global basis. A 2005 survey by Booz Allen and Duke University’s Centre for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) found that 36 per cent of companies surveyed sent some of their engineering offshore, 31 per cent offshored some research and development, and 16 per cent shipped out a portion of their product design



Of the $750 billion spent today, only $10-15 billion is currently being offshored—a tiny fraction of the total. India brings home about 12-15 percent of today’s offshored market, which it currently shares with Canada, China, Mexico, and Eastern Europe. This trend towards building increasingly global R&D footprints, observed over the past few decades, is expected to accelerate over the coming years with emerging economies – notably India emerging as the destination of choice for these expansions




Updated on: 27 Sep, 2006


Source: NASSCOM

NASSCOM has released the rankings of the top 20 IT-ITES employers in India for FY 06-07.

The rankings are based on the India-based headcount of firms with IT-ITES operations in India, as reported to NASSCOM in its annual survey.

Methodology

NASSCOM sends out a detailed questionnaire annually to all its member companies, accounting for 95 percent of the Indian IT software and ITES industry revenue. Information collated through the questionnaire includes: aggregate performance; service lines; verticals and geographies.

Key findings of the survey:

The top 20 companies collectively employ over 500,000 people of the 1.6 million employed directly in the industry

IT-ITES industry is India’s largest employment generator in the organized sector IT-ITES industry is creating jobs for over 7.5 million people both directly and indirectly and this figure is expected to cross 10 million by 2010

A varied combination of factors have led to this - healthy growth environment, attractive remuneration and different kinds of employment opportunities in the new economy based on varying skill sets, and above all the availability of talent in India which meets the employment projections

This industry needs to work on is the quality factor to ensure we remain the highest employment generator and maintain India’s share of the global offshore IT and ITES industry

Employment is spread across many cities, and the industry is increasingly going to tier II and tier III cities

This process of widespread geographical dispersion of the industry is being adversely affected by the non-extension of the STPI scheme and attendant tax incentives

A Frost & Sullivan study cited that the worldwide shared services and outsourcing (SSO) market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15 percent over the next couple of years to reach USD 1.43 trillion by 2009 as compared to USD 930 billion in 2006.

The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector spent the maximum on SSO at USD 273 billion in 2006, followed by the technology/ICT sector and the healthcare industry at USD 233 billion and USD 130 billion, respectively. The spending by other verticals, such as transportation and logistics and energy stood at USD113 billion and USD 84 billion, respectively.

In addition, India was cited as the most preferred destination for SSO operations, followed by China, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Philippines, and Canada, while countries, such as Russia (for software development) and Dubai (for BFSI services) are also emerging as preferred SSO destinations.

The study also cited that the Philippines is a hub for back-office operations for IT and IT-related services, while Malaysia which already has a strong position in the BFSI, transportation and logistics, and energy verticals is also gaining the attention of technology companies (such as IBM and Satyam) due to its excellent infrastructure and low attrition rates.

According to TPI Index report for 1H 2007, the total contract value (TCV) of sourcing contracts awarded in 1H 2007 stood at USD 33 billion, reflecting a 34 percent decline over the TCV awarded in 1H 2006. This value is the smallest first-half TCV value since 2001. In addition, the total number of sourcing contracts witnessed a 25 percent decline in 1H 2007 as compared to 1H 2006.

The annualized contract value (ACV), or average annual spending also declined by 30 percent over 1H 2006 to reach USD 5.5 billion in 1H 2007. The study also reported that the number of BPO contracts awarded in 1H 2007 (78 contracts) were lower as compared to the number of contracts in 1H 2006.

In addition, according to the study, only 56 sourcing contracts were awarded in 1H 2007 in the Americas as compared to 86 contracts in 1H 2006. The TCV of these contracts declined from USD 24 billion in 1H 2006 to USD 10 billion in 1H 2007, reflecting the lowest first-half TCV value since 1994. In contrast, TCV of the contracts awarded in Europe increased from USD 14 billion in 1H 2006 to USD 18 billion in 1H 2007. In terms of sectors, financial services sector accounted for 47 of the total number of contracts having a worth of USD 11.5 billion in 1H 2007. Though the overall outsourcing industry did not perform well in 1H 2007, yet TPI expects a growth of 5 percent in annualized revenue for 2007 as compared to 2006.

A study by the Work Foundation cited that the threat of job losses in the UK due to offshoring to developing countries (such as India) was overstated. It is evident from the study that the computer and information services were the third largest imported services in the UK from India and stood at GBP 122 million; after travel and transport services valued at GBP 626 million and GBP 289 million, respectively. In addition, the study cited that IT and business services imports from Germany to the UK have increased by 4 and 16 times, respectively, as compared to imports from India.

Low labor cost was identified as one of the factors for offshoring. However, cultural aspects are extremely important for successful organizations while offshoring. The study also revealed that offshoring led to job losses of 5.5 percent of the total in Europe in 1Q 2007 as compared to 3.4 percent in 2005. In addition, it has been found that call center jobs in the UK have increased as against expected decline. The trade of services between the UK and India is increasing at a slower rate than expected. It increased from 0.4 percent in 1995 to 1.2 percent in 2004, reflecting a marginal increase.

According to other key findings, an increasing number of western companies are adopting a mix of business models with nearshore, offshore, and onshore operations, while a majority of successful Indian companies are expanding their business operations in western locations to cater to the onshore/nearshore needs of their clients.

Merrill Lynch Acquires Minority Stake in Copal Partners

Merrill Lynch, a US-based financial management and advisory company, has acquired a minority stake in Copal Partners, an Indian research firm, through an investment of USD 11 million in the company. The size of the stake acquired by Merrill Lynch was not disclosed. Deutsche Bank, a German financial services provider, and Citigroup, a New York-based financial services company, are the other investors and clients of Copal Partners.

At present, Copal Partners employs about 550 professionals across its operations in India, the UK, the US, and Mauritius. Since the company’s establishment in 2002, it has been offering financial research and analytics services to various investment banks, hedge funds, and private equity funds across the globe. According to Rishi Khosla, the CEO of Copal Partners, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, and Citigroup collectively hold a stake of about 25 percent in Copal Partners.

IT Exports by Top 10 IT Service Firms Reached INR 682.36Bn – Dataquest

According to a survey and analysis conducted by Dataquest, the IT software and services exports of India by the Dataquest top 10 IT service companies reached INR 682.36 billion in 2006–07 (FY 2007). Of this, nearly INR 392.60 billion was contributed by the top 3 IT services companies – Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro. Satyam accounted for INR 57.89 billion and IBM accounted for INR 48.80 billion, followed by HCL Technologies and Cognizant accounting for INR 45.98 billion and INR 45.84 billion, respectively.

Of the Dataquest top 10 IT service firms, 7 are Indian companies. The study also cited that the IT software and services exports of the Indian development centers of the three international companies (IBM, Cognizant, and Oracle) stood at INR 131.27 billion. Oracle stood at the eighth position with revenues worth INR 36.63 billion in the Dataquest top 10 IT service providers list, while Tech Mahindra stood at the ninth position with revenues worth INR 28.90 billion. Patni dropped two positions down to reach the 10th position, with revenues worth INR 25.73 billion.

In addition, the study revealed that a majority of the top 10 IT companies witnessed a significant increase in their revenues from their European operations in FY 2007. All the top 10 companies are focusing on combining their BPO operations with IT that has resulted in faster growth for BPO. According to the study, the weakening dollar and the strengthening rupee did not affect exporters significantly until the latter half of FY 2007.

According to Everest Research Group, software- and BPO-related functions worth about USD 9 billion were outsourced by big North American and European firms (primarily financial service firms) to their Indian captive centers in 2006. General Motors, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, etc., are expanding their Indian offshore operations instead of outsourcing their software and back-office operations to Indian third-party service providers, such as Infosys Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro Technologies.

More than 50 centers have been set up over the past three years by such international firms in India and a majority of them plan to expand their operations two-fold over the next two years as the country offers a huge market. Moreover, such companies plan to conduct important businesses through these offshore centers. However, smaller US-based banks continue to outsource their operations to third-party vendors, such as Infosys, Genpact, and Cognizant Solutions, rather than establishing their offshore captives in India. According to Indian third-party vendors, international companies are also adopting a hybrid model under which work is divided between third-party vendors and company-owned offshore operations. Captive centers are growing at 30 percent annually and have employed more than 200,000 full-time employees for software development, back-office operations, high-end research, and product engineering.

Offshore Headcount Increases 18-fold in Financial Institutions – Deloitte

According to a study conducted by Deloitte, the number of jobs going offshore in the financial services sector has increased 18-fold over the past four years. It has been estimated that financial service firms across the globe have been saving about GBP 4.5 billion annually at present by offshoring to low-cost countries as compared to GBP 2.5 billion in 2003.

Currently, the British financial service industry has been saving GBP 1.5 billion annually by offshoring. The study also cited that the US- and UK-based financial service firms are increasingly offshoring their business processes. By 2006, about 75 percent of financial institutions were offshoring, while even less than 10 percent of financial institutions had offshore operations in 2001.

According to other key findings, the average offshore headcount has increased from 150 in 2003 to 2,700 in 2006. It has been found that offshoring has spanned across all business functions. However, functions, such as transaction processing, finance, and HR, are witnessing increase in growth. Firms that are offshoring one or two business processes are saving about 20 percent less on an average as compared to those offshoring over five business processes.

A study conducted by Deloitte cited that the number of jobs going offshore in the financial services sector has increased 18-fold over the past four years. It has been estimated that financial service firms have been saving about GBP 4.5 billion annually at present by offshoring to low-cost countries as compared to GBP 2.5 billion last year. The study also revealed that the US- and UK-based financial service firms are increasingly offshoring their business processes. By 2006, about 75 percent of financial institutions were offshoring, while even less than 10 percent of financial institutions had offshore operations in 2001. Among other key findings, the average offshore headcount has increased from 150 in 2003 to 2,700 in 2006. in addition, firms that are offshoring one or two business processes are saving about 20 percent less on an average as compared to those offshoring over five business processes.

In contrast, according to another study conducted by Compass Management Consulting, the UK-based financial service organizations are not benefiting from offshoring their call center operations to countries, such as India and China. This is because the cost saving benefits that are generally achieved by offshoring to low-cost destinations are diminishing due to increase in wages (by up to 15 percent annually) in such countries. In addition, communication inefficiencies (due to differences in speaking the English language) between the UK customers and offshore call center agents have also led to a decrease in productivity. It is evident that often offshore agents take twice the time as taken to handle a customer query call as compared to UK-based agents. Productivity is measured in terms of sales closed and new accounts opened. The study also cited that operating an onshore call center by financial service firms is capable of generating 10 sales (on an average) per month as compared to an offshore call center that is capable of generating only 4 sales per month. The study suggested that financial firms should focus on enhancing their onshore capabilities and adopt a 'fix and mix' approach towards call centers (having both onshore and offshore call center operations) as compared to a 'lift and shift' model (shutting down domestic operations and moving to offshore).

A recent study by Everest Research Institute cited that an increasing number of human resources outsourcing (HRO) buyers are focusing on accessing the best technologies and improved business process functions at present, rather than focusing on achieving cost savings. According to a company spokesperson, some HRO buyers are even ready to achieve cost savings of less than 10 percent or even zero percent as they are more inclined to access latest technologies and value-based functions; however, HRO buyers' major focus was on cost savings five years ago.

Among the key findings, about 54 percent of HRO buyers have outsourced about 10-12 HR processes out of 12 processes, with transaction-intensive and support HR processes being outsourced more frequently as compared to judgment-intensive processes. Other key findings cited that about 22 percent of HRO buyers did not outsource their HR training function, while about 45 percent revealed that they outsourced 1-5 training activities. However, about 22 percent of HRO buyers revealed that they have offshore operations.

According to the White Paper, titled 'Building a World-Class IT Services Outsourcing Industry in China' by EDS, the Chinese ITO industry is expected to generate revenues worth USD 18 billion by 2010 and USD 56 billion by 2015. The industry is also expected to create job opportunities for about 4 million professionals by 2015. In addition, the paper boasts of abundant supply of workforce, excellent infrastructure, and low-cost advantage in the country. The Chinese Information Industry Ministry estimated that the country's software outsourcing industry revenues grew by over 40 percent year-on-year to reach USD 1.4 billion in 2006. The ministry also expected the Chinese software and information services market to reach about USD 131.32 billion (CNY 1 trillion) by 2010. In addition, some newspapers sources cited that various Chinese provinces are offering tax rebates and have implemented favorable policies to facilitate the country's outsourcing industry and allow international companies to expand/open their offshore operations or set up joint ventures in the country.

NASSCOM, DRDO Collaborate to Develop Innovative Technologies

National Association of Software and Services Industry (NASSCOM), the Indian IT industry lobby, has signed a deal with the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to focus on developing innovative technologies.

Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, NASSCOM’s expertise will complement DRDO’s capabilities to develop advanced projects for the IT industry. In addition, the agreement will enhance the involvement of the IT software companies for DRDO’s development projects.

DRDO’s advanced military systems projects are increasingly relying on software, thus, its partnership with NASSCOM is essential for the development of its software projects related to radars, electronic warfare systems, flight control systems, avionics, missile systems, and command, control, and communication systems.

According to Kiran Karnik, the President of NASSCOM, the partnership with the Indian R&D agency will allow NASSCOM to focus on creating an innovative ecosystem.

DRDO has been successful in developing various innovative technologies across areas, such as aerospace, control systems, communication, etc. This was the prime reason for NASSCOM to choose DRDO as its partner. In addition, the Indian IT industry is moving up the value chain in these areas, and thus, DRDO’s expertise is very relevant and of interest to the industry.

Another Captive on Sale!

The first round of bids for Citi’s business process outsourcing operations — Citigroup Global Services (formerly known as e-Serve) — is likely to be completed this week. A host of global IT companies and also private equity firms are said to be in the initial race. However, Citi is likely to look at selling part of its operations only to a strategic partner, given the sensitivities involved in the deal. According to sources, IBM, Automatic Data Processing (ADP), Genpact, Infosys and private equity firms such as Blackstone and General Atlantic are in the race for Citi’s BPO business.

Citi is likely to follow the Genpact model, where it is likely to sell off over 50% stake in the BPO firm. It is, however, likely to retain a part of the stake in the firm so that they can not only get the benefits in case of a future listing but would also handhold the firm.

According to sources, one of the main reasons that the group is looking at bringing in a strategic partner is to bring down the overall costs and not monetising the stake.

“Though there is interest from a host of firms, the group is most likely to sell the operations to someone who has experience in the field. They would want a strategic partner in the firm. It’s a core asset and they would not like to have any issues post a sell off,”

said a senior private equity official of a leading firm. ADP and Genpact are said to be the front runners for the deal.

Citi officials declined to comment. When contacted Genpact president and CEO Pramod Bhasin declined to comment while Infosys BPO’s officials were unavailable for comment. However, experts believe that Genpact has more synergies with Citi’s BPO unit because it has the experience of working out of a captive shell. Genpact had started off as a captive for GE in 1997.

GE had in 2004 sold 60% of its stake to Oak Hill Capital Partners and General Atlantic Partners. It was then renamed as Genpact. Citi had delisted Citigroup Global services in 2004. Citi held 44.4% stake in the BPO company. It had accepted an exit price of Rs 975 per share while delisting the firm. At that price the company was valued at around Rs 1,200 crore. According to i-bankers the value of the company now would be at around $700 million.

According to Forrester Research, nearly 60% of the captives in India are struggling due to spiralling costs, high attrition and lack of integration and management support. “Nearly, 10% of these struggling captive BPOs are most likely to sell off and go the outsourcing way,” a recent Forrester study says. Another Mumbai-based analyst voiced similar views about Citi’s BPO stake sale. “It is simply following the trend set by the likes of GE and Deutche Bank,” he added.

Deutsche Bank later sold off its stake to the Delhi based HCL Technologies. Citi globally has been on a major cost cutting spree. It had recently announced that it would cut 17,000 jobs on the back of a restructuring plan that is targeting billions of dollars in cost savings over the next few years. It is also looking at moving out 9,500 jobs overseas and to smaller American cities. Citi’s BPO operations have over 9,000 employees with nearly 4,000 servicing its international businesses.

from ET

Australian BPO to Grow by 60% to Reach $3.84Bn in 2010 – IDC

According to a white paper released by IDC for Accenture, business process outsourcing (BPO) in Australia is expected to increase by about 60 percent from USD 2.387 billion in 2006 to USD 3.84 billion in 2010, reflecting a CAGR of 12.4 percent. This growth is likely to be attributed to the increase in outsourcing in the areas of HR and training, finance and accounting, procurement, and customer care.

Among the key findings, the HR services market in Australia is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9 percent to reach USD 1.591 billion by 2010, while finance and administration outsourcing will grow at a CAGR of 12 percent to reach USD 2.47 billion in 2010. In addition, the customer care segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15 percent to reach USD 833 million by 2010. However, procurement outsourcing by Australian firms is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18 percent to reach USD 354 million by 2010.

HR BPO in Australia has become mature as many HR BPO deals encompass high-end services including recruitment, workforce management, and learning. Growth in finance and administration outsourcing in Australia will primarily be driven by compliance and regulatory mandates.

The study also cited that BPO in Australia is still not mature as compared to the American and European countries. According to Aprajita Sharma, an outsourcing and BPO research manager at IDC Australia, a majority of BPO deals in Australia pertain to single function arrangements rather than complex end-to-end process deals. Sophisticated deals are, however, more prevalent in the overseas locations.

source: globalsourcingnow

Genpact CEO Pramod Bhasin took home $2.8m in ’06

In what could be one of the highest paid salaries to a professional CEO in India, Pramod Bhasin, 55, president and CEO of Genpact, earned an annual salary of $2.8 million in 2006. Bhasin’s compensation includes a salary of $610,000, annual bonus of $100,000, stock option awards of $ 971,123 and the rest in pension and retirement benefits and other benefits like housing, security and so on.

Bhasin is one of the founders of Genpact when GE started the company in India and serves as director on the company’s board. “This package would easily put Mr Bhasin amongst the top 5 highest paid investor-backed professional CEOs in the country” says Priya Chetty Rajagopal , VP, Stanton Chase International, an executive search firm.

Genpact’s next highest earning official is V N Tyagarajan, executive VP, business development and head of sales, who earned $1.2 million followed by Mitsuru Maekawa, CEO of Genpact Asia, whose total package was $844,065. Genpact disclosed the information in a preliminary prospectus filed by the company with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on May 11, 2007.
In what is reflective of the growing importance of India in global markets, CEO salaries in India have gone up sharply in the last few years. “There are at least a hundred CEOs earning $1 million in salary in India today,” says managing partner of EMA Partners International K Sudarshan.

Close to half of this salary includes performance-linked bonuses as well as stock options. Some of the highest paying executives are found in industries like large investment banks, telecom companies and banks. Search executives say that CEOs in companies such as IBM, Bharti, Reliance Retail, HSBC, Cairn and Walmart India are earning salaries in the range of $1 million and above. In 2006, India reported the highest salary increase in the Asia Pacific region.
Genpact began as an India-based captive BPO arm of GE Capital. In 2005, GE spun it off as an independent business and renamed it Genpact. The company has 28,000 employees and earned revenue of $613 million in 2006 with a profit of $39.8 million. It’s attrition stood at 32% last year.

Genpact filed a preliminary prospectus on May 11, 2007 for a listing on the NYSE. The company has not disclosed how many shares it will offer for sale and at what price. GE owns about 29% of the company.

source copy+paste: EconomicTimes

Mergers and Acquisitions:

Northgate Information Solutions has entered into an agreement with ARINSO International to acquire a 60.43 percent stake in ARINSO from Jos Sluys, the company's Founder and CEO, for about EUR 375 million. The acquisition has been approved by the management of both the companies and is subject to approval from Northgate's shareholders. Post-acquisition, Northgate is likely to make a public offer to buy the remaining stake in ARINSO. The deal will allow the two companies to strengthen their position in the HR and payroll service market across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. The combined entity is likely to have an employee base of 6,000 people and will generate revenues worth EUR 700 million.

Dimension Data has acquired an additional 40.1 percent stake in Datacraft Americas Holdings (DCAH), the wholly owned holding company of Datacraft do Brazil, increasing the company's stake to 50.1 percent. Post-acquisition, Datacraft do Brazil will be known as Dimension Data Brazil. The acquisition will enable the company to strengthen its position in the technology markets. The company can benefit from DCAH's expertise in the areas of networking, converged communications, and security in Latin America. The company also aims to enhance its association with Cisco in Brazil through this acquisition.

HCL Technologies has formed an IT alliance with Saba allowing both companies to expand and enhance their offerings across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. The alliance aims to offer IT as well as software services to the companies' common customers across various markets, such as media and entertainment, healthcare, financial services, retail, hi-technology, and manufacturing. HCL's back-end IT services combined with Saba's technology will allow the companies to offer a comprehensive package of IT services to their customers.

CDC Software has acquired a majority stake in Vectra Corporation for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will allow CDC Software to expand its portfolio of offerings in the IT security and service market and strengthen its operations in the APAC region (primarily in Australia). In addition, the acquisition will support the company's consulting and professional services division (Praxa Australia) in Australia.