IVL India, Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala, which is a 100% export-oriented subsidiary of Information Verarbeitung Leverkusen GmbH (IVL) of Germany, engaged in developing software based on SAP R/3 platform for export to Europe and the Asia Pacific region, has formed its own wholly-owned subsidiary - IVL Software Services Pvt. Ltd. - to cater to the domestic ERP software market.

IVL India has been awarded the ISO 9001 certification by Quality Cert (India) Private Limited (Qcert), accredited by RvA, the Netherlands-based accreditation body, for quality in SAP R/3 platform-based software development. Qcert is also the assessment body of CETECOM GmbH in Germany.

The newly established subsidiary - IVL Software Services - would market its expertise and services to the SAP R/3 user community in India, comprising of about 50 leading companies. It is also planning to provide training in the areas of ERP applications. At present, due to shortage of trained professionals in ERP to meet the increasing demands in India, there is good potential in the ERP training business. The company would draw manpower resources and expertise from the parent company.

Philips Software Centre (PSC), Bangalore, which is a 100% export-oriented unit and part of the global network of Philips, is to expand its operations by investing around Rs. 80 million ($ 2 million) in setting up a second facility at Bangalore, which is expected to be operational by April 1998. After the expansion, the employee base would also increase from the present 170 to nearly 300.

During 1997, the Bangalore centre had gained the ISO 9000 and other international certifications for quality. The centre is involved in software development essentially in the areas of consumer and industrial electronics, semi-conductor and medical electronics business for Philips in US, Europe, Japan and South East Asia.

Sony India recently announced the setting up of a software development centre in Bangalore. The centre, to be set up with an investment of $1.5 million, will have two divisions - Software Architecture Division and System Design Division.

The Software Architecture Division will work closely with the ‘Platform Development Centre’ in Tokyo to develop consumer electronics platform software (CEPS) for advanced consumer electronic products. The Systems Design Division will, in tandem with Singapore-based Sony Systems Division, design, support and maintain business software applications.

US-based Electronic Data Systems, a leader in the global information services industry, launched its India Centre in Chennai. The initial focus of this facility is to support its two global EDS customers - American Express and General Motors, while the future plans are to expand its base and service offerings in the region. The facility will house 120 employees, with expansions planned in the near future. EDS staff in Chennai will form a part of the growing EDS family worldwide. The India Centre will be a natural extension of EDS Global and will be connected by state-of-the-art infrastructure.

The $1 billion Sybase Inc., is setting up a fully-owned subsidiary in India and has already sought a formal approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of the Government of India in this regard. The existing liaison office in Bangalore will be converted into a 100% subsidiary. Sybase is also planning to set up its technical support and tool development centre in the country and will open its regional centres in Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai during 1998. The company will be investing about $10 million initially.

Motorola India Electronics Ltd (MIEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the $27 billion Motorola Inc., which already operates a development centre in Bangalore, has decided to set up its second development centre at Hyderabad, with an investment of $3 million.

MIEL is involved in developing cutting edge software in areas like the Iridium project, advanced cellular phone technologies and related telecommunication projects.

Cheyenne Software, now a division of Computer Associates Inc., USA, has set up operations in India.

Cheyenne develops storage management, antivirus and communication products for client/server networks, with offerings for Netware, Windows 3.1/95/NT, Mac and OS/2 environments. Its solutions include ARCserve, DS Standard, InocuLAN, FAXserve, HSM and JETServe. It intends to position ARCserve and InocuLAN as majors in network storage management and enterprise antivirus management in India.

Digital Equipment India Ltd., a subsidiary of Digital Equipment Corporation of US, has announced the setting up of its third software technology park (STP) on a 10,000 sq.ft. area adjoining its existing facility in Bangalore. The STP is expected to be ready by the end of 1988 and will house software professionals specializing in high value-added services.

The company plans to market its products and services in the neighbouring countries. In another move to strengthen its marketing network, Digital has signed an agreement with Cabletron Systems to acquire the latter’s network products business.

Novell Inc., will invest $8 million in its second development centre, Onward Novell Software India, which is coming up in Bangalore and is expected to become operational soon. The centre will house the company’s augmented strength of software professionals of about 200 which is expected to go up to 400 within the next three years. Apart from the distinction of being a software development centre, the Bangalore unit will also function as a research centre for the parent company.

Among the new software solutions, Novell Inc., has been developing at its India centre, are : Personal Internet Directory (PID), Thunderbolt Clustering Technology, Cryptographic Protocols and Border Manager.

The US-based Mentor Graphics Corporation announced the inauguration of its state-of-the-art research and development centre in Hyderabad - the first R&D centre of the company in India. The Corporation has six other R&D centres worldwide.

The R&D centre at Hyderabad has been set up by its wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, Mentor Graphics (India), which has a strategic role in the Corporation’s future plans. The export-oriented-unit software development facility would develop key technology and products that are important to the future success of the Corporation. The company’s goal is to develop the Hyderabad facility into a leading Mentor Graphics Development Centre outside the US. It plans to develop core competence in key areas of system verification and will be involved in several key projects in the area of EDA, including design-for-test, hardware/software co-design, design capture and place and route.

Aadroitt Systems Inc., a US-based software company, has decided to set up an off-shore development centre in Hyderabad, and, in the process, has acquired NextWave Info Systems, an offshoot of ACS Technologies Ltd.

Aadroitt would be investing over $1 million during the next two to three years in building world class software development facilities in Hyderabad.

Policy Management Systems (India) (PMS), a fully-owned subsidiary of Policy Management Systems Corporation (PMSC), USA, which is the largest insurance software developer in the world, has decided to set up a software technology park (STP) in India at Indore in the State of Madhya Pradesh.

In a short span of its starting its operations in India in May 1997, the company has 10 software projects and has an ambitious plan for future growth and development, with about 1,000 professionals by the turn of the Century, from the present level of 65.

The Malaysia-based Daya Group is setting up an offshore development centre in the Elnet Software City at Chennai, as a proof of concept centre. The development centre, spread over 3,500 sq.ft, would be a mini-resource centre for the Daya Group.

The Group’s proposal for phase I of the project entails the development of a resource centre and a core area for software facilities, involving an initial cost of Rs. 65 crores ( ($ 17 million) over a period of three years. The total amount that is envisaged to go into the project as a whole during this first phase will be about Rs. 250 crores ($ 63 million).

The other three phases which include additional infrastructure and residential and entertainment areas would be completed in about four to five years.

Siemens Information Systems Limited (SISL), Mumbai, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens Ltd., the Indian wing of Siemens AG of Germany, has started addressing the healthcare market with the US-based Citation company's flagship product -Citation - for hospital management. SISL will bundle Citation with SAP's ERP solutions to meet the total IT needs in hospitals : hospital management, materials management, finance, cost controls etc. A major order for this product worth Rs. 10 crores ($2.5 million) is expected to be received by the company shortly. SISL is also making SAP ERP solutions available for the small and medium size market to beat the stiff competition from other ERP vendors wooing this market with their business solutions.

SISL's Strategic Business Unit (SBU) for Telecommunications which was launched recently provides solutions for the public and private networks : billing solution, directory accessing service, customized software and network element management.