January 2006

Welcome..

to the lastest Newsletter. In this edition, we showcase our partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways, showcase Singapore Airlines, reveal NIIT’s approach to offering an effective IT exit strategy, and, as usual I update you of our many marketing activities for this quarter.

With updates of people news, A Dear Diary special from Rahul Nanda, and details of NIIT’s recently undertaken seminar, I hope you enjoy the read.

Carl Stadler, Marketing Manager NIIT Technologies Limited.

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

January 2006
A year flies past.... As I grow older, I feel the years are getting shorter. This one for me was a year of tremendous learning. A new country, new customers, new colleagues (who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!)...… Looking forward to an exciting year ahead!

As in the last few months, the team here in the UK will continue to grow in the new year. As new customers are being added to our list, it is vital that our relationship management bandwidth increases. Ed and his team are expanding to ensure that adequate attention is paid to each of our customers. We as a team are looking forward to further strengthening our value and trust based relationships.

On a visit to India, I could feel the buzz in our development teams. Further strengthened by the PCMMi Level 5 certification as well as a BS 7799 security certification, it was a year of achievements and hectic activity for Bhaskar Chavli (NIIT’s Global Delivery Head), and his band of merry men and women. We all look forward to a predictable delivery model from them, which should ensure continued customer delight.

The other big moment on this trip was a visit to the site for our new campus in Greater Noida (a suburb of Delhi). 20 acres of land on which a 10,000 seat facility has been planned. The architects presented our team with a view of how this facility is being planned. It was amazing to note the detailing that goes into planning such a facility. Just planning the parking spaces to prevent chaos when 10,000 people get there is amazing.... More details will follow as work progresses.

Wishing you, your teams and your family a very happy new year!
Rahul Nanda, President NIIT Technologies Limited (UK)

People News...

Stuart Simpson has recently joined the NIIT team as Business Development Manager for the Travel and Transportation Sector. Stuart brings with him a wealth of sales experience gained both in the UK and overseas, from both the manufacturing and the business intelligence arenas.

"NIIT has long standing business relationships from some household names in the travel and transport industry. My aim is to realise the potential within this sector and I look forward to adding more names to that list" declares Simpson.

Rajesh Gupta joins NIIT as Business Development Manager for Telecoms. Over the last 18 years, Rajesh has experienced handling sales, delivery and managerial assignments with companies such as Pace, MBT, GE and L&T, generating multi million revenue accounts from fixed line and mobile operators in the UK.

Rajesh says "I am delighted to join NIIT and to have the opportunity to leverage NIIT’s strengths in its processes, customer focus, flexibility and project delivery. I look forward to developing further business in the Telecom sector, and to make it an integral part of NIIT's growth".


Heads Up for Ed

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Ed Gill to Sales Director at NIIT Technologies. Ed has been with NIIT for 5 years as Business Development Manager, during which time he has played a crucial role in both introducing new clients and growing business to a significant level.
Ed’s responsibilities now include supporting and managing the Business Development Managers in the UK. “This new role allows me to keep in touch with the customers whilst enabling me to expand into a Management role, which has been an aspiration of mine” says Gill.

NIIT congratulates Ed on his promotion and wish him every success.

Around The Globe

When Singapore Airport Terminal Services Limited (SATS), a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA), decided to beef up its world-class cargo handling services, it chose NIIT Technologies to build a customised solution. The idea was to scale its customer experience and take it to new heights!

The challenge for NIIT Asia Pacific was to design and develop a 24x7, mission-critical application; the Cargo Operations System (COSYS) - to support the cargo handling services provided by SATS. The solution needed to promise fast response times and reliability, to be rolled out across six cargo terminals at Singapore's Changi Airport, within, unsurprisingly, challenging deadlines.

COSYS provides functionality for AWB Management, ULD Management, Flight Management, Electronic Data Interchange Messaging, Radio Frequency Devices, Local Authority requirements, amongst others.

NIIT delivered this project on time using a team of skilled professionals. The project blended on-site work with development at offshore facilities in New Delhi, India.

The success of this project reflects NIIT’s impeccable credentials and skill sets, delivering high quality, cost effective IT solutions.

If you would like to learn more of this particular project, or NIIT’s offerings to the transport industry, please contact Stuart Simpson at stuarts@niit.co.uk or telephone 01494 539333.
Virgin Atlantic Airways and NIIT Combine Resources..
..to deliver a pioneering ‘Welcome System’ for the New Virgin Atlantic Airways Clubhouse at Heathrow Airport.

Virgin Atlantic Airways has completed the first phase of its new flagship Clubhouse at Heathrow airport. Providing guests with the ultimate pre-flight experience, its stunning features and interiors are designed to feel like a private members club.

The extensive list of services available include; a 14 metre long cocktail bar, a poolside lounge; a spa; sauna; and steam room. There's also a hairdressing salon; full kitchen offering meals and light bites; and laptop points including wireless connectivity.

The challenge for David Bell, Delivery Manager for IT Projects at Virgin Atlantic Airways was to create a system that could support and manage the Clubhouse, with a quality that matched the elegance and class of the Clubhouse itself.

By joining forces, NIIT and Virgin Atlantic Airways undertook the task to hand and developed the “Welcome System”. By enabling hosts to identify eligible passengers efficiently, it facilitates seamless entry, reducing passenger queues at entry. It also provides first-rate reporting facilities on the use of the Clubhouse, and supplies hosts with valuable up to date flight status information.

David Bell declares “the system has been enthusiastically received by the Clubhouse staff because of its ease of use and feature rich content. It will allow them to focus on providing an excellent service to our guests.” He continues, “I'd like to thank the IT project team for delivering a system to be proud of, delivered on time and within budget. Well done to everybody on the team at Virgin Atlantic Airways and NIIT”.  

Engagement Risk Management
Is it possible to have an Effective IT Exit Strategy with your IT Vendor?

NIIT Technologies firmly believes that the answer to this has to be yes; that the client’s ‘freedom to switch’ is one of the key tenets to a successful outsourcing engagement.

NIIT enables this freedom through a variety of ways, one of which is the implementation of NIIT Matrix; an innovative and industry-leading knowledge management framework. NIIT Matrix is a self-optimising portal that helps client's process support become increasingly process-driven and less people, and hence, vendor-dependent.

NIIT Matrix captures knowledge flowing through a process, and converts it into a knowledge base. Every aspect of a process application is documented as it is being created and makes it available to employees.

Further potential lies in the ability to dynamically communicate and collaborate on multi-site/location based programmes, and manage and control engagement parameters with complete transparency to all stakeholders across multiple locations.

Whether your organisations biggest challenge is:

  • capturing and retaining tacit, explicit, and dynamic knowledge;
  • imparting effective training;
  • concern of losing intellectual capital;
  • creating awareness of policies and procedures;
  • measuring employee awareness (without the need to
  • conduct paper-based certifications and manual tracking of scores);

    …or you simply want to learn more about retaining knowledge, and decrease risk by reducing dependency on your IT vendor and having an effective IT exit strategy, then contact NIIT Technologies by email marketing@niit-tech.co.uk or telephone 01494 539333.  

    • Marketing Events
    Yet again, NIIT’s Marketing department have been extremely busy, hosting, sponsoring and attending industry forums. First there was the Eye for Transport European Summit, 26th-27th October, where NIIT joined the debate on the future of the 3PL (third party logistics) Industry. This was swiftly followed by attendance at the RFID Networking Forum, where we were able to offer NIIT’s experience of the latest developments of RFID technology.

    FT NASSCOM on 15th November, London, hosted India as a Strategic Business Partner: ‘Next Generation’ Outsourcing. NIIT’s Chairman, Rajendra Pawar, chaired some of the proceedings, where topics such as data protection, the future of India (2010); and BPO to KPO and beyond, were discussed.

    NIIT Technologies and NIIT SmartServe sponsored the NOA Outsourcing Summit, 17th-18th Nov, London, addressing business critical issues such as gaining optimal value, managing successful partnerships and maximising strategic benefits.

    Key themes addressed at The Future of Air Transport Conference, 29th - 30th November, London, were strategies for innovation, growth and profitability.

    Future events include attendance at the Travel and Technology Show in Olympia, 31st Jan - 1st Feb 2006, where we will be exhibiting and presenting. Thereafter we are at the International Outsourcing Forum, 23rd-26th March 2006 Hilton, Amsterdam, Netherlands, where we will provide delegates information on how outsourcing solutions provide reduced operating costs and increase competitive advantage.

    Registration to these future events can be gained through the link on NIIT’s event page  

    Offshoring IT Services: Understand the Rewards and Mitigate the
    Attracted by the cost savings companies can make, organisations have been outsourcing for years. In this increasingly globalised business world, the offshore market is one that offers distinct benefits such as increase in quality, acceleration of IT project delivery, creation of competitive advantage, improvements in service and focus on core business competence. But what happens to your Intellectual Property Rights? How can you retain your business knowledge? And what effect will outsourcing have on your workforce?

    That’s what delegates considering IT Outsourcing came to hear at NIIT’s free ½ day seminar in December. The event provided invaluable insight into maximising the rewards and minimising the risks when offshoring IT services, providing real life examples.

    Joe Macken, Head of Architecture at Caudwell Communications presented the innovative outsourcing approach and partnership with NIIT, addressing the challenges and how they mitigated the risks to their business. Pascal Matzke of Forrester Research explained the significance of Offshore Outsourcing and avoiding the pitfalls, and author of “A Guide to Global Sourcing” and Chair of The British Computer Society (BCS) Working Party on Offshoring discussed the effect on the UK Workforce.

    NIIT’s seminar campaign continues throughout 2006. To hear about future events please email: tanya.gardiner@niit-tech.co.uk  

    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.