Satyam receives two awards at CHP, Washington     
June 10, 2008
Source:  PTI

HYDERABAD: IT major Satyam Computer Services Limited on Monday announced that it had received two awards at the Computer World Honors Programme (CHP) at Washington. 

The CHP is the global programme to honour individuals and organisations that use Information Technology for the benefit of the society. 

Satyam submitted case studies on Byrraju Foundation and Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), both foundation by the company, in the not-for-profit and healthcare categories. 

The Byrraju Foundation was honored for its programme to deliver electrocardiograms and tele-cardiology consulting to poor people in rural areas via video-conferencing. 

The CHP recognised EMRI for its "Call 108 Service", providing end-to-end emergency services to people in rural Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, a company release said here. 

The technology achievements honored by CHP are preserved and protected in national archives in over 350 universities, museums and research institutions all over the world. 

The CHP unites chairmen and CEOs of the world's foremost information technology companies to recognise the most outstanding user achievements in technology each year.

TCS hedges $ 1.5 bn to tackle rupee fluctuations     
June 10 , 2008 
SOURCE: PTI

NEW DELHI: Country's largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today said it has hedged funds of about 1.5 billion dollars to create a safeguard against the fluctuations in the rupee movement. 

Company CEO S Ramadorai said, "We have hedged for about 1.5 billion dollars. I believe one has to run business on fundamentals and not on currency fluctuations". 

He also said it is very difficult to predict the rupee movement as in the last one-and-a-half months, rupee has taken a different turn than what it was six-to-seven months ago. 

Asked about the time period when the company aims to grow to 10-billion dollar revenue from the current six billion dollars, he said, "We do not have a time limit".

KPO firm Integreon plans three more buys for $100 million     
June 10, 2008 
SOURCE: ET Bureau

BANGALORE: Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firm Integreon Managed Solutions, which recently acquired litigation support and electronic data discovery provider Datum Legal, plans to buy one more company by the end of this year and two others in the next 2-3 years spending a total of $100 million. 

“The range is going to be bigger as we are growing. We will acquire another company by the end of this year,” Vice President (Knowledge Business Administration and Professional Document Services) Lokendra Tomar said. Integreon is evaluating possible buys in India, Europe and the US. 

Datum, the Los Angeles-based company’s fifth acquisition, was bought for $20-$25 million, according to industry analysts and based on Integreon’s publicly stated intentions in the past. 

It plans to hire 6,000 people in three years, majority of them in India. The company currently has 2,000 staff, 1,500 of them at its centres in Mumbai and Delhi. More than 500 of its employees are lawyers. 

The Mumbai centre is being expanded with an office in the Goregaon suburb, due to open next month. A delivery centre will come up in Europe in 12-18 months to cater to non-English-speaking markets on the continent, Mr Tomar said. 

An IPO and listing on the Nasdaq are also on the cards, mostly probably in 2010-11, when it expects revenues to touch $250 million. “In three years more than 50% of the growth will be organic and the rest through acquisitions,” he said. 

He said India offers a 50% cost advantage for legal support services compared to the US, but rising salaries are resulting in the difference narrowing. “Rapid growth will happen in terms of size. As contract sizes become bigger companies have to grow global; you can’t rely on cost savings alone. You have to develop expertise to be able to provide better value,” Mr Tomar said. 

Integreon is funded by Ayala Corporation, one of the leading conglomerates in the Philippines. “Ayala is our majority investor. They help us in setting up offices and we can approach them whenever we need to raise the money.”