HCL Perot in expansion mode

Punita Jasrotia / New Delhi

HCL Perot Systems (HPS), a joint venture between HCL Technologies and Perot Systems, plans to ramp up its Indian and international operations. Part of the strategy is to set up a software solutions and services centre in Dallas, US and upgrade its Australian operation to a full-fledged sales and marketing office. In addition, the company also plans to recruit 500 professionals by the end of 2003.

Rajnish Kohli

Commenting on the company’s US initiative (expected to be operational next month), Rajnish Kohli, head, Corporate Communications at HPS said, “The purpose is to provide the first level of support consisting of application development and maintenance to clients. Considering that this support will be available to them right at the prototype stage, it will help in improving the end product and save us unnecessary delays.”

The company also plans to go in for the next level of PCMM level certification i.e., PCMM-Level 5 and BS7799 certifications in the next couple of months. The company had recently achieved the Capability Maturity Model Integration certification (CMMi Level 5 of version 1.1). “It has helped us achieve better predictability in terms of projects and engineering processes, leading to better preparedness towards R&D and business initiatives. There is a complete realignment of the processes and improvements in client satisfaction levels,” said Rakesh Soni, head, Quality Group at HPS.

The company has initiated the PCMM Level 5 process, which it expects to complete in 24 months. According to Soni, the company has been noticing many changes in terms of people development, role progression and transparency levels within the organisation.

In case of BS7799 certification, which is part of company’s business continuity plan (BCP), HPS is looking at completing the process by August this year. According to Kohli, in the coming months HPS has plans of converting its Dallas, Singapore and London offices into ‘back-up nodal points’, so that they can provide a secured and continuous business environment to clients. “We have been doing regular audits and product tests to gauge our preparedness in case of any attack,” he said. The company is also in the process of creating bunkers to store critical information. The Noida bunker is ready, whereas Bangalore will be operational in few months time.

In terms of manpower requirement, the company is looking at hiring 500 professionals by the end of 2003, which according to Kohli would be essential once new projects are acquired. The company has sales of Rs 449 crore and currently employs close to 2,100 people across the globe.