Dell to hire 5,000 people in India

Computer maker Dell said Monday that it planned to add 5,000 jobs in India over the next two years, bringing its work force in the country to 15,000.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (30 January) that at least 1,000 of workers will staff a new call centre on the outskirts of New Delhi, said the company's chief executive, Kevin Rollins. The call centre -- the company's fourth in India -- is to be opened in April, he said.

AP reports that the other new hires will staff call centeres in the southern cites of Bangalore of Hyderabad and one in the northern state of Punjab, Rollins said. The company also plans to add staff at its product testing center in Bangalore.

Rollins also said that the company is looking into setting up a manufacturing facility in India.

According to AP.,Rollins said last week Dell plans to make India a hub for its software development and back-office work.

Scores of Western companies have been cutting costs by shifting software development, engineering design and routine office functions to countries such as India, where English-speaking workers are plentiful and wages are low.

The company runs three call centres in India, a product testing centre for corporate customers and a global software development centre.

Dell plans to open more offices in India to shift technology work and to tap India's growing computer market, reports AP.

{mospagebreaktitle=UK employers feel pressured to offshore}UK employers feel pressured to offshore

Almost a third of UK organisations feel under pressure to take some of their business offshore to cut costs and tackle skill shortages, according to a new survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

The Register reports (30 January) that this pressure has led to the offshoring of around 30,000 jobs a year since 2000, according to CIPD, which warns that plans to move offshore must involve human resource professionals in order to minimise any negative effects.

The survey found that over 60 per cent of participants who had had experience of offshoring were satisfied or fairly satisfied with the experience, but 17 percent found that the benefits were less than anticipated.

According to The Register, over half (55 per cent) found the experience had caused low staff morale, 48 per cent thought managerial control was more difficult, 44 per cent saw the resulting UK job losses as a problem and 33 per cent found language barriers to be an obstacle.

{mospagebreaktitle=Smartfundit.com launches software financing market}Smartfundit.com launches software financing market

Traditionally organisations have "bought" the software they use, although the range of licensing options available can be enough to confuse anyone.

However, according to a report in The Register (30 January),on both sides of the IT world (vendor and customer), surprisingly little attention has been given to acquiring the right to use software on a "subscription" basis rather than on perpetual use licenses. But this may be about to change.

The publication reports that at the end of last year, SmartFundIT.com, a company committed to setting up the first software financing market in the UK, surveyed over 100 ISVs to assess their plans regarding making their applications available on "subscription" models. The results are encouraging but do highlight some of the challenges that ISVs must tackle in order to be able to offer software via subscription licensing options, says The Register.

The Register says that, of those surveyed, nearly nine out of ten stated they either already offered their software on a subscription basis, were planning to adopt such a model, or were in the process of evaluating subscription licensing options. Of these software vendors, one third have used the services of a financing partner while another 28 per cent expect so do in the near future.

Of even greater interest, reports The Register, is that while almost half of those questioned felt there were no advantages or disadvantages to subscription licensing, 36 per cent agreed the benefits of subscription licenses outweighed those of perpetual models, with the remainder, only 18 per cent, disagreeing.

{mospagebreaktitle=Vodafone besieged by short termists}Vodafone besieged by short termists

Just as the US mobile carriers are turning in storming performances, Vodafone is under unprecedented pressure to dump its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless, acording to a Report in The Register (30 January).

The Register reports that Arun Sarin, defending his own CEOship in the face of mounting shareholder criticism, claims this would be the wrong time to get out of Verizon, since there would be greater shareholder value to be derived from waiting - perhaps a very long time.

But, says The Register, two of the operator's top six shareholders have gone public with criticisms of the current strategy and a call to explore an exit from Verizon Wireless, a move that could generate £25-30bn. Standard Life, the second largest investor in Vodafone, and its sixth largest backer, Morley Fund Management, have both expressed concern about strategy.

According to the publication, there is no longer much talk of Vodafone looking for an alternative US investment to replace Verizon - one that would use the same GSM/UMTS technology, for instance, or in which the UK giant could hold the controlling stake.

The Register says that since it backed away from its bid for AT&T Wireless two years ago, there has been increasingly vocal questioning of the Vodafone mantra of global brand and global footprint, some of it sparked by the poor performance of Vodafone Japan.

Instead, the thinking goes, Vodafone should concentrate on growth by expanding in emerging markets such as Africa and eastern Europe - where it has made a string of relatively small deals recently - to compensate for saturation of its core western European territories, The Register reports.

{mospagebreaktitle=Services market back to growth}Services market back to growth

The IT, software and services market is heading back to growth - but growth tempered by a strong focus on cost-cutting.

The Register reports (30 January) that the impact of offshoring and budget cutting means growth will fall to less than five per cent over the next three years. The market will remain very price sensitive and public sector spending will fall to below 10 per cent after 2007.

What growth there is in spending is likely to be financed by cuts elsewhere in the IT budget. The research, from analyst Ovum's Holway division, reveals the areas likely to keep growing.

The Register reports that Ovum says that business continuity and recovery, and regulatory pressure will continue to push spending. CRM spending is changing from salesforce automation and incoming call systems to more customer analysis and outgoing marketing.

Business intelligence systems will outperform other forms of enterprise software. Ovum says the move to IP-based networks is happening but warns: "telcos rarely hurry these things, so patience is a virtue".

{mospagebreaktitle=HP's water cooling system}HP's water cooling system

Hewlett-Packard plans to begin selling a water cooling system next week to address the power and heat problems that new technology inflicts on computer administrators.

CNet reports in The New York Times (30 November) that the Modular Cooling System attaches to the side of an HP rack of computing gear, providing a sealed chamber of cooled air separated from the rest of a data centre, said Paul Perez, vice president of storage, networking and infrastructure for HP's Industry Standard Server group.

The CNet report says that the system lets a rack consume as much as 30 kilowatts of power--about three times what would be possible otherwise--without posing problems to a data center's cooling systems, Perez said. However, the cooling system also requires a connection to an external chilled-water system to cool its water.

Liquid cooling, used in vintage computers from companies such as Control Data and Cray, is experiencing a comeback because of new technology challenges, according to the CNet report, which also says that processors are consuming more electricity and being packed more densely, and electricity costs to pay for that power and for air conditioning have been increasing.

CNet says that chipmakers and server makers are working on improving computers' performance per watt, but in the meantime, liquid cooling can help.

The cooling system, expected to be launched on 6 Feb., requires HP's 10000 G2 Universal Rack, a new US$1,200 model that replaces seven nonstandard rack models the company used for its products until now.

{mospagebreaktitle=Resurgence of e-cards}Resurgence of e-cards

The online greeting card industry is starting to make some noise again, according to a report about its resurgence in The New York Times (30 January).

The newspaper says that with the quiet resurgence of the e-card category, which was an icon of the dot-com boom and a quick, companies are designing more heavily animated cards to circulate among high-speed internet users. Despite the costs of creating and distributing these cards, businesses are generating profits, thanks to a healthy online ad market and a willingness among millions of consumers to pay for the cards.

The NYT reports that, according to Sally Babcock, the senior vice president of American Greetings' online division, the company will probably deliver three million e-cards this Valentine's Day, the peak day of the year. That's about 15 percent more than last year, she said. "After settling for more than two years, the marketplace is now increasing," she said.

But, the newspaper reports that perhaps the biggest surprise of the online greeting card market is that the most popular site is not Hallmark or American Greetings, but a five-person company in Britain, JacquieLawson.com.

According to the internet consulting firm Nielsen/NetRatings, JacquieLawson.com had 22.7 million visitors in December, more than twice its closest competitor, AmericanGreetings.com.

The business started on a whim when Ms. Lawson, an artist working for a web site developer, created a Christmas card in 2000 and sent it to a dozen friends while she was on vacation. Ms. Lawson returned from vacation to 1,600 e-mail messages from people who had seen the card, and a company was born.

Now, JacquieLawson.com has 527,000 subscribers who pay about US$8 annually to choose from among about 60 cards Ms. Lawson and a colleague have created, says the NYT.