20 April 2005

Spring Edition

The second quarter of this year has somewhat rushed up on me. With Easter come and gone already, I’m left wondering why time seems to go so much more quickly these days. Perhaps it’s the huge number of events NIIT are planning for the forthcoming months that’s making the time pass so quickly, or perhaps the inevitable is happening... I’m just getting older.

Nevertheless, I’m really keen to tell you about all that’s been happening at NIIT since the last issue of the Newsletter. In this edition, we have a featured story on NIIT’s Chinese operation; NIIT have been awarded Superbrand status; we have gained another quality certification; and attended the Labour Friends of India Luncheon to hear what our Prime Minster, Tony Blair had to say, all of which we report on within the following pages.

We also introduce NIIT SmartServe, part of the NIIT Group, and extend the circulation of the Newsletter to include SmartServe customers.

I do hope you are able to come along to some of NIIT’s forthcoming events, in the meantime, I’ll continue my never-ending chase of time, and look forward to updating you in our next edition.

Dear Diary: A Day in the Life of a Senior VP...

Friday 15th April 2005
If you read my diary in the last Newsletter, you’ll already know that I plan to tell you a story over the coming months – the story of our efforts at NIIT Technologies to become a top tier organisation in our sector.

Lots of plotlines on that story have developed in the last couple of months. Let me start with marketing, which is where all successful business stories should start!

The most entertaining recent event was the launch of the second edition of Mark Kobayashi-Hillary’s book, Outsourcing To India: The Offshore Advantage, at the Nehru Centre in London last month. The centre is a grand Georgian building in Mayfair, and has recently been re-furbished with spectacular results. It was a fantastic bash, full to the rafters with standing room only, almost 200 there, a very well researched book and a great guy to boot. Mark even signed a copy of the book for me but in the mêlée I misplaced it. Maybe the effect of the products of the kind sponsors Kingfisher beer had something to do with it, but I blame the throng. I’ll have to go back to Mark on bended knee and ask for another copy.

We have just completed setting out budgets and goals for the new financial year beginning April 2005. It’s a big challenge for us, as we want to grow our top line by over 40% over last year. So we are gearing up to expand our sales team, and to increase our marketing activities even further.

We are planning our most active and exciting quarter ever. As you can read elsewhere in these pages we are planning seven (count them yes SEVEN) events and it will be great to meet lots of new people, including new customers I hope, and to extend our name into new areas. Carl and Tanya, our marketing team are going to be just a little busy!

In signing off, let me mention one milestone we passed this month. Our team of software professionals serving UK clients just hit a strength of 500. It’s a number that gives us tremendous leverage in terms of flexibility and economy of scale. In future diaries, I’ll also reveal the challenges it brings, and how we are meeting them.

David West, Senior VP NIIT Technologies Limited (UK)

People News...

Vaibhav Dayal has recently joined the NIIT team as Business Development Manager for the travel and transportation sector. Vaibhav was previously Senior Vice President for Business Development at Kale Consultants, India, where he worked on projects with clients in the travel and distribution Sector.

“I am really looking forward to working with NIIT, as it is one of the top 3 suppliers in our sector providing leading edge, quality IT services & solutions in the airline sector” says Dayal.

Arpita Ghatak has joined NIIT Technologies as the Delivery Manager of a project for a new prestigious telecommunications customer.

Arpita has been with NIIT for the last 14 years and was mainly associated with the NIIT Kolkata factory. She looks forward to her new role with this prestigious account and hopes to grow it into a long-term partnership.

NIIT Opens Office In China

Mention China – and most people will think of the ‘Great Wall of China’, ‘Martial Arts’, ‘Panda Bears’ and oh ‘the largest population in the world’. The fact that 400,000 of them are IT professionals has enabled NIIT to recognise China's vast potential. NIIT’s Training business first launched its education centre in Shanghai five years ago, becoming the first Indian company to set up a professional education centre in China.

NIIT Technologies Limited is pleased to announce it has taken forward this initiative and has set up a development team based in Shanghai. Shishir Sinha, who has been with NIIT for 7 years and has handled many high profile projects, heads up a team made up of local Chinese resources.

NIIT Technologies, along with Singapore Airlines Terminal Services, is involved with Beijing Aviation Ground Services for the customisation and implementation of COSYS, a cargo operation application. Customisation will be done in Shanghai, implementation will be executed at Beijing.

NIIT Technologies has taken the strategic decision to have a global delivery centre in China to address local and global clients. The highly enthusiastic team is working hard towards a zero defect delivery by end June.
More about the potential of China for our UK clients in future editions.

Tony Blair Boosts the Relationship Between Britain and India

On 3rd March 2005, NIIT attended the Labour Friends of India luncheon. 300 prominent people, including the Indian High Commissioner, members of Indian Chamber of Commerce, members of Parliament and the House of Lords, and several British business leaders came together to hear Tony Blair report on the UK’s relationship with India.

In his speech, Mr Blair talked about India as a country that has undergone an extraordinary change in modernisation. It's the world's largest democracy, but it's become respected and admired throughout the world not just because of its democratic credentials, but increasingly because of its economy, its dynamism, its sense of innovation and adventure; in short, an immensely exciting place.

Mr Blair expressed admiration at the way that India has taken in its own hands the running of its dynamic economy, to create an extraordinary impact in India and right throughout the world. The close links on trade and investment are well known. The India-British Partnership has seen bilateral trade and investment increase dramatically since its creation 12 years ago. Britain is India's second largest trading partner and cumulatively the number one investor in India - something to build on in the future.

The PM concluded on a high note:- “Our two countries are close today. The Indian community in this country make a huge contribution recognised by all today. And I believe that in the work that we do together, we are sending out not just something important on a day to day basis, we're sending out a signal, a symbol if you like, of a different and better world to come. Long live the relationship between Britain and India, long live Labour Friends of India.”
Pioneer of Hole in the Wall Wins Prestigious Award
The Dewang Mehta Award for Innovation in Information Technology, instituted by the Ministry of Communications and IT at the Government of India, is this year being given to NIIT’s Chief Scientist, Dr Sugata Mitra for his work on the "Hole-in-the-Wall" project.

In 1999, Dr Mitra conducted the largest experiment in alternative primary education in the world. How did he do this? He installed a computer, connected to the internet, into a slum wall and left it unsupervised, for use by children. The results were fascinating. The findings of the experiment suggested that groups of children could learn to use computers and the internet on their own, irrespective of who or where they were.

Dr Mitra and his team subsequently verified this discovery by extending the experiment to thousands of children in 30 villages spread throughout India. NIIT and The World Bank formed a joint venture to undertake this large-scale experiment, which was soon widely known as the hole in the wall project, although its official title is Minimally Invasive Education Technology.

The Award for Innovation in IT was instituted by the DIT in memory of Dewang Mehta to honour individuals from technology-related sectors for their innovative work, which has the potential of making an impact on national development.

Expressing his happiness at receiving the award, Dr Mitra said “I am humbled by this prestigious award. Over 3 million students, who experienced NIIT’s pioneering instructional methods, influenced my efforts at devising the innovative ‘Hole-in-the-wall’ method of learning.”

Congratulations go to Dr Sugata Mitra and his team on this great achievement.  

Upcoming Events
For NIIT, the period from April to June 2005 sets out to be another very exciting quarter. There’s a mixture of NIIT hosted and industry sponsored events totalling 7 in all. Keep a look out for further information on the events page of our website www.niittechnologies.co.uk
  • NOA hosted seminar for NIIT, 25th May, London Chamber of Commerce. Discussing engagement models, Build My Application, Knowledge Portal and Dual Shore Methodology.
  • NIIT Seminar. A half day seminar hosted by NIIT with client speakers, analysts & external consultants.
  • NIIT Customer Group Meeting. To be combined with a corporate hospitality day.
  • Caudwell – Charity Dinner Ball 14th May, raising money for very worthwhile children’s charities.
  • European Outsourcing Association Outsourcing Conference 13th & 14th June, Frankfurt. A two day conference providing case studies and an opportunity to contribute to a discussion forum.
  • Forrester Giga World, Prague, 6th-8th June has leading industry speakers including the Global CIO of Allied Domecq; the CTO of BBC; and Group CIO of Virgin.
  • Commonwealth Technology Summit 23rd & 24th June, London. The conference will focus on the use of IT, ICT and the IT-enabled (or Business Process Outsourcing) sectors, in making businesses more competitive.

    • If you would like further information on any of these events, please email marketing@niit.co.uk.  

    NIIT Gains BS7799 Security Certification
    NIIT Technologies’ campaign to sustain and strengthen activities to instil greater confidence in our customers continues.

    NIIT Technologies’ New Delhi development centre will soon boast its accreditation to BS7799. In March, KPMG conducted an audit at NIIT Technologies’ Athena facilities, and as a result, has been recommended for a BS-7799 certification.   

    NIIT Technologies - A Super Brand
    The Superbrands Council has conferred the Business Superbrands status on NIIT Technologies Limited. This is “a great compliment” says David West, Senior VP of NIIT Technologies Limited. Only two other Indian companies have managed to achieve this status. The Council, an independent authority on branding, spread across 44 countries, was established more than a decade ago in the UK. The members of the Business Superbrands Council include marketing gurus and CEOs of some of the most successful global businesses in India. By crowning NIIT Technologies Limited as “Business Superbrand (2004-06)", the Council has acknowledged the unique relationship that the company shares with its clients.  
    Need Help With Your Helpdesk? NIIT SmartServe Can Help
    If your organisation’s core business competency isn’t to provide strategic help desk solutions, then why would you want to invest in resources? recruit and train specialists? and purchase expensive IT and telecom infrastructure? Outsourcing your helpdesk requirements meets the dual demands of efficient helpdesk operations and low cost.

    NIIT SmartServe, part of the NIIT Group, is positioned to offer a comprehensive set of outsourcing solutions from Back Office Operations, Contact Centres, and Customer and Technical Support Helpdesk Services. Leveraging strongly on NIIT Technologies’ legacy of software application development and services, NIIT SmartServe provides experience in 24x7x365 contact centre solutions. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, NIIT SmartServe mobilises the right people, skills, and technologies to help clients lower their costs, improve their processes and boost business results.

    NIIT SmartServe is holding a webinar entitled “Outsourcing Regulatory Compliance Verification”. Scheduled for Tuesday 10th May at 5.00pm, it showcases one of their clients, Sesame, the leading provider of support services to 7,000 financial advisers across the UK. You can register directly at On-line Webinar Registration, or contact Rajiv Dey, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Development NIIT Technologies at rajiv@niit.co.uk for further information.  

    Widening The Net
    NIIT hosted another of its successful seminars, Widening the Net – 16th March 2005. This seminar offered advice on how to ensure electronic information is presented in a more helpful way; demonstrated latest technology to assisting organisations identify key citizen needs, and advised how to comply with the latest Disability Discrimination Act (DDA ).

    Speakers included Rupert Marsh Head of Internet and New Media, DTI; David Andrews of Net-Effects Ltd; Alan Woolrych of Nitro; Nick Chapallaz of ESRI Ltd; Kevin Thomson of Communication Foundation and Dr Sugata Mitra of NIIT.  

    Sponsored Book Launch
    NIIT Technologies sponsored the second edition launch of the popular book written by Mark Kobayashi-Hillary. Outsourcing to India, published by Springer, is a valuable guide for any manager who needs to work with Indian technology or Business Process Outsourcing companies. With new material on the risks of offshoring, analysis of future trends and updates to many chapters, it is a completely revised book for 2005.  
    NIIT Technologies is a diversified global IT Services company offering e-Commerce, CRM Solutions, Offshore Development, Applications Maintenance/Support, Legacy Transformation, Knowledge Solutions and Business Process Management Services. Spanning 19 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and India, it has been working with global corporations for over two decades. NIIT understands the complex issues surrounding outsourcing and offshoring while partnering with its customers to provide practical IT Solutions.