Saudi firm gives software solution order to Bangalore developer 
June 23, 2008
Source:  IANS

BANGALORE: Saudi Arabia's leading point-of-sales (PoS) solutions provider Intersoft will outsource its retail software solution to Bangalore-based Taranag Software to ensure secure payment transactions. 

Tarang's retail software will enable Intersoft to achieve the Europay Mastercard Visa (EMV) integrated chip card standard, which is mandatory for any payment application on PoS/ATM, the companies said in a joint statement here Saturday. 

Intersoft has also partnered with Tarang to develop and certify Span II application, the latest specification to implement EMV level two in Saudi Arabia. 

"We found Tarang as our right outsourcing partner in the PoS and payments' space. We will leverage its domain expertise to sustain our leadership in the Gulf region," Intersoft founder Ammar Al-Qadi said in the statement. 

The Riyadh-based international firm specialises in retail, hospitality and banking PoS systems. It has built a strong clientele in the Saudi kingdom and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by delivering customised electronic banking solutions. 

The 17-year-old Intersoft was the first to introduce smart cards in Saudi Arabia by using SIM (subscriber identity module) in PoS terminals. 

The $5-million Tarang is a leader in the electronics transactions (payments) domain, offering end-to-end business solutions, including PoS applications, payment gateways, mobile payment, contact-less payment interfaces, EMV and fraud management. 

"The Intersoft contract reaffirms our leadership in payment technologies. EMV is the way to go for PoS solutions across the Gulf, India and Europe," Tarang CEO V. Rama Kumar said. 

Fortune 500 firms such as Verisign, Payment Data Systems, Card Services International and First Data Corp partner with Tarang for developing and deploying electronic payment and PoS systems for retail customers worldwide.

IDSi launches product for construction industry      
June 23, 2008 
SOURCE: BL

Mangalore, June 22 IDSi International, an IT products and services company, has launched ‘Contura’, a project lifecycle management software for the construction industry, in Mangalore. 

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, Mr Vibin Priyesh, General Manager of IDSi India, said that ‘Contura’ covers all the phases of construction project from planning, execution, project management to sales and post-sales activities. 

He said that IDSi offers the option for customers to install the system on-site, or to have it hosted as an ‘on demand direct’ (ODD). He said that ODD is a software-as-a-service model where the company offers dedicated managed services for running the software. This means that for a low monthly fee, customers need not worry about hardware, software or personnel management issues, but can focus on their own business, he added. 

Mr Daniel Mohan, Chairman and Managing Director of IDSi International, said that IDSi’s markets include the US, West Asia and South Asia. 

Stating that IDSi has opened a branch in Mangalore, he said this is the first branch outside Kerala.

PMC software employees face hard reality, do administrative chores    
June 23, 2008 
SOURCE: Google

Pune June 22 Civic body has 3 programmers, wants to hire 5 from private firm; proposal with standing committee 
Even as the Pune Municipal Corporation is planning to breathe e-governance in its functioning, it is actually grappling with the shortage of trained software programmers. At present, the PMC has only three IT programmers who have to spend their time in doing the daily administrative chores instead of applying their computer programming knowledge for software-based projects. In a bid to overcome the paucity of skilled staff, the civic administration has tabled a proposal before its standing committee to hire five computer programmers from a private company in the city. 

Anupam Saraph, civic chief information officer, said, "The PMC currently has only three computer programmers, whose services are being utilised more into the daily administrative part. It could be anything from the procurement of hardware equipment for PMC offices, payment of vendors, tendering and solving of technical problems. Which means they cannot be engaged into the deliverables of software. So at present, there is not a single computer programmer who could be utilised for software development in a full-time way." 

The lack of skilled manpower has forced the civic IT department to seek help from private software development companies.” Persistent Systems Ltd, Zensar Technologies Ltd and Nvidia have voluntarily given their programmers for certain projects. These companies have been willingly giving their skilled manpower to us. Thanks to their assistance, we were able to re-launch the civic official website a few months back," he said. 

Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi said the PMC is now focusing on recruiting even the clerical staff based on proficiency with computers, in order to strengthen the civic IT base. "Recently, we have filled 105 clerical posts on a contract basis, with candidates, who have either completed IT diploma or hold the computer science degree. Through this, we intend to breathe in more computer efficiency right from the lower rungs of the administration. Our ultimate aim is to get all the operations of the PMC offices automated." 

However, Saraph added, "Even if the other civic working staff possess basic computer skills, they are not meant and trained to be software programmers, and therefore, they lack expertise on that front. The number of programmers in PMC needs to be raised for jobs like handling the system administration, networking management, keeping a check on the computer security, monitoring the assets, updating of PMC website, and developing particular systems like the online property tax payment system. If programmers could not be taken on a permanent basis, their services should be sourced for particular projects at least." 

Sensing this need, the civic administration has sought to hire five programmers from G T S Info Systems, on a monthly remuneration of Rs 23,333 for six months. The civic standing committee will discuss the proposal on Tuesday.