An interview with Arun Narayanan - UST Global COO

The availability of quality manpower talent in India has enabled UST Global to expand on a massive scale in the Asian sub-continent. UST Global is currently the biggest software employer in the ‘God's Own Country’ and has aptly set up its Indian headquarters at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram.

The California-based IT major provides end-to-end IT services and business process outsourcing solutions for Global 2000 companies. UST, which primarily caters to the US and European markets, plans to set up centres across tier-II and tier-III towns of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. With nearly 5,500 employees, mostly in India, UST Global is keen on increasing its headcount in the country. Last year, UST Global was ranked second in the top 20 Outsourced Software Testing & QA Vendors.

Part of the $6-billion Comcraft group, UST’s goal is to become a $1-billion company by 2010. In an exclusive interview to Sify.com, Arun Narayanan, Joint Chief Operating Officer of UST, shares the company’s growth plans.

Joining UST Global in 2000, Arun was instrumental in setting up the offshore delivery centres for the company. For Arun, people are assets of the organisation and he has implemented innovative people practices for UST employees. Notable being the 'Colors of UST Global', a concept that enables associates to own organisational goals that are aligned to their personal goals.

With over 18 years experience in the global IT industry, Arun has earlier held key positions in HCL and IMR-Global.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Indian IT force?

The strengths of the Indian IT force are their technical education, English language skills and the proficiency in IT and outsourcing. The other strength is the scalability of talent. We constantly run training programmes to hone up the business knowledge in various domains.

UST Global's various centres

Any immediate acquisitions on your radar?

We are always looking for companies that complement our services as potential acquisition targets. We are very careful about the companies we acquire due to our high emphasis on cultural alignment and the innate challenges of integrating companies. In the past, we acquired e-commerce provider eBuilt and software testing and QA company - QA Labs - to expand our service portfolio. Currently, we are looking at companies in the ERP and BI space, as those are the areas our clients have growing needs in.

Where is India centre placed in your global map?

India has been and continues to be a critical component of our growth strategy. Today, we have operations in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Chennai and Bangalore. We are looking at additional cities in India to expand as it makes sense from a business and growth perspective.

How do you tackle attrition in your organisation?

At UST Global, we focus on creating professional opportunities and a positive working environment based on the values of humanity, humility and integrity so that our associates want to stay and build their careers with us. We developed a corporate programme called “Colors of UST Global” which enables associates to own organisational goals that are aligned with their personal interests. The “UST global Handprint” programme helps our associates in developing fundamental competencies required for our business.

What's the impact of US slowdown on UST Global?

UST Global derives our business from Global 2000 enterprises. While Q1 2008 saw positive revenue growth over Q4 2007, the percentage of growth was lower than Q1 2007. However, we are seeing healthy growth in Q2 2008. In Q1, 2008, we also signed more new engagements than any other quarter in our history.

Do you wish to look beyond Kerala and Tamil Nadu?

We also have operations in several states in India. We are looking at other cities in India where and when it makes sense for us to have operations. In addition to our corporate headquarters and several offices in the US, we have global operations in Canada, the Philippines, Malaysia and Europe.

How long do you expect the outsourcing bandwagon to continue?

Outsourcing is not a bandwagon but an economic necessity. It has only barely tapped its potential. There is a growing market demand for outsourcing services because it makes good business sense, regardless of whether economic conditions are good or challenging.

Tell us about your fund-raising plans?

UST Global is part of the $6-billion Comcraft group. The group funds us internally.

What's your way of empowering women employees?

UST Global promotes diversity of all kinds. To specifically support our women associates, we created NowU (Network of Women UST-associates). NowU is a global community of empowered company personnel dedicated to helping women within the company and community achieve their highest potential. It provides access to women in leadership as well as opportunities for growth and learning through networking, sustainable development and training.

Can you throw light on your 'Green' initiative?

Since its inception, UST Global has been a green company before green became “cool”. In recognition of our green initiatives, UST was ranked number 7 on the 2007 Top 20 Green IT Outsourcers report by the Brown & Wilson Group. Throughout the year our company is committed to many activities that are an integral part of our on-going, long-term initiatives to support the earth's eco-systems that include investing in eco-friendly practices, building eco-balanced offices and planting trees.

(courtesy : sify)

Stale food seized from Technopark Restaurants

We reported many times about the low quality high priced food in technopark restaurants. and finally they've got a nice pudding yesterday.

A special squad of the city corporation raided hotels and canteens on the Technopark campus at Kazhakoottam and other places in the city and seized large quantity of stale food on Wednesday.

The stale food included parottas, chappathis, pickles, bread, cake, cooked rice and chicken curry. The raid also unearthed stocks of reused oil.

The squad issued notice to the Café Mojo located in the Gayatri building on the Technopark campus, Amrita Restaurant and Rangoli restaurant on the Nila complex and a canteen in the Tata Consultancy Services building.

The squad filed a complaint with the police after the security personnel at the TCS complex tried to prevent them from inspecting the canteen and taking away the stale food. Health Inspector P. Ajayakumar who led the operation said the police had to be called in after the security staff blocked the exit of the squad members who were in uniform.

All the restaurants within technopark campus is charging very unreasonable prices for the food items. they are not hygienic or the quality of food is not up to the level which they are charging for. It seems Technopark authorities are not having any such criterias on how to operate restaurants in technopark.

Many restaurants are working in various buildings in technopark. each of them are second to none in serving low quality food for unreasonable prices. So many Technoparkians ,those who are having their own vehicles are managed to go out for their food. thus the rest of the crowd mostly the female employees are being the preys of this day light robbery that cannot be justified by any means.


Read NewsPaper Report Here..

Pre-monsoon Cleaning Drive 2008 in Technopark, Trivandrum by IT professionals

It was altogether a very different experience, a first of its kind for the local residents at the Kazhakuttom bypass leading to Technopark on May 13, 2008. They were witnessing a handful of young software professionals who had rolled up their sleeves on to clean the road and nearby areas leading to Technopark, after five days of working on the keyboard in the splendid air-conditioned glass-and-chrome buildings. This was a concerted effort by the Color Green Task force at UST Global, and it was part of the intensive "Pre-monsoon Cleaning Drive 2008" at the Technopark Campus and nearby areas. For contributing and making it a success, these pros had joined hands with the Government of Kerala, Corporation of Trivandrum and Technopark authorities. Each of them volunteered passionately for this novel and noble sanitation mission in removing weeds, overgrown vegetation, and helped scavenging & cleaning.

Contrary to the belief and presumption, they did not use any of the sophisticated cleaning machines, instead used mattocks and pickaxes when they ventured out in for this mission. Most of them were seen competing to remove the weeds with vigor and enthusiasm. They had cleaned the roads with brooms and used metal plates for scraping the dirt. Finally, they disposed off the garbage to dumps and returned fulfilled & gratified. The volunteers certainly enjoyed this unique physical work involved in de-weeding and cleaning. This sanitation mission was also aimed at sensitising the fellow professionals about the need for cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation.

Meanwhile, they also have formulated plans to actively contribute in creating awareness on pollution control, waste management, help tackle environmental issues by planting of saplings in different parts of Kerala in association with Social Forestry, facilitating different programs related to conservation of environment etc.

With this mission, these groups of IT pros were also conveying a strong message that for a democracy to be effective, one of the most important requisites is that the people should participate in the process. They were also accentuating the fact that sanitation is not the responsibility of the local self-government institutions or city corporations alone, the public have a prominent role in maintaining hygiene and cleanliness. For this to happen there has to be a change in the mindset of the people. Let’s hope that programs like these would create more awareness among the common man, educated youth and young professionals.

Time has come for introspection, and each of us must understand that we have to give up the habit of dumping garbage in the neighborhood, locality, public places, ponds and canals. Yes, public health is everyone’s concern and responsibility. And, each of us must possess the zeal and drive to save our country from pollution to make it a better place to live in.

List of Techies participated in this drive : Kiran Rajendran, Shaw Rengaswamy, Ajay Moorthy, Anila Parekaden Rappai, Balaji Vajravel, Balu Rajagopal, Damodaran Raman, Deepu Syamaladevi Janardhananachary, Harinadhan Viswanadhan Pillai, Jincy Jacob, John Wesly Sundarraj, Jojo Thomas, Karthick Thimmaiyan, Kavitha Saravanan, Ligi Antony, Linu Thomas, Manikandan Muruganandam, Manjunath Vadakkemadam, Nidhish Xavier, Periyannan Nagappan, Pramod Bhooshan, Rajeshchandran Jayakumari, Rakesh Radhakrishnan, Rejath Rajeev, Rishal Kannakulath Abdullatheef, Saranya RathinaSabapathy, Saurabh Kirar, Sreejith Padappayil, Sreejith Somasekharan Nair, Stefy Panickalethu Baby, Vikas Kalappurackal Vimal, Vimal Sivadasan, VinothKumar Soundararaj, Rajivalochan Subramaniam and SundaraSubramaniaRaja Ramakrishnan.

[Hari Nair]

Technopark basedToonz Academy expands operations

Toonz Academy, a premier training institute in 3D and 2D animation, backed by the studio major Toonz Animation India, has expanded its animation training facilities by opening centres in Ahmedabad and Indore.
More locations

This is in line with plans to further its operations in more strategic locations.

The new centres, along with existing ones in Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Nagpur will offer 12-month ‘advanced diploma in digital arts and animation course in addition to short-term courses. More academies are planned this year in Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore.

“The academy also plans to start a three-year degree course in animation by the next academic year,” academy executive director Ramaprasad said in a release issued here on Wednesday.

The diploma is awarded in association with European Carolus Magnus University, Belgium.
To impart proficiency

The diploma course aims to impart proficiency in key areas such as character modelling, background, organic character texturing, lighting, character rigging, character animation and particle effects, dynamics, and compositing, the release said.

[courtesy :Nishanth Nair]

Technopark based Toonz animation to bring ghost siblings on screen.

‘Mostly Ghostly,’ the popular children’s book series by best-selling author R.L. Stine, is set to storm the silver screen.

Produced by Toonz Animation, a Technopark- based animation studio, the feature film is expected to hit theatres across the world later this year.

Toonz Animation announced here on Wednesday that Universal Studios had bagged the distribution rights of the film.

Based on the first in the eight-book Mostly Ghostly series, the film chronicles the eerie adventures of an 11-year-old outcast Max as he protects Nicky and Tara – the sibling ghosts who live in his house –from the fume-spewing demon Phears.

Formerley foreseeing the huge demand of 2D animators for the rapidly growing animation industry in India, Toonz had launched its first 2D Animation Academy with an international faculty in Thiruvananthapuram to train eligible candidates at international standards.

Toonz animation is in the headlines for many years, as a successfully animation company in india, it has got many accreditations and and recognitions. they are executing top international projects for clients like BBC.

Toonz make technopark proud and famous across the globe. well done guys!

See the related news:

Dan, - a Toonz Animation guru, working on "The Adventures of Tenali Raman."

Return of Hanuman by Toonz is a huge success
Toonz Animation academy
Adventures of Tenali Raman by Toonz

Technopark company UST Global getting ready to public.

UST Global Inc., a technology outsourcing company with big operations in Technopark, Trivandrum getting ready to possibly go public next year.

UST Global isn’t deterred by a sluggish stock market and higher costs associated with being a public company, according to Chief Executive Sajan Pillai.

“We have plans to go public, and we are looking at the right timing,” he said. “We find the environment to be very good for the kind of business we do. Our intention is to continue to grow and to give some liquidity to our associates.”

The company, which has some 100 workers here, is reshuffling its executive suite, organizing the company into business units and gearing up for an initial public offering, which could happen sometime in the second half of 2009 if the company reaches the $500 million yearly sales mark.

Going public “is expensive, more expensive than ever before, so we want to get to a critical mass,” Pillai said. “We had to create a leadership structure to sustain this type of growth.”

Four members of the company’s team were promoted to executive roles, including Pillai, who previously was president and chief operating officer.

Satendra “Dan” Gupta, who was chief executive for four years, stayed on as chairman. Three other executives are set to be chief financial and operations officers.

Pillai said he thinks Wall Street could embrace UST’s profits.

“It’s a highly valued business because we get 15% to 20% net margins,” he said.

UST does traditional business consulting and handles services outsourced by companies.

It competes with consulting kingpins such as Accenture Ltd., Electronic Data Systems Corp., which is set to be bought by Hewlett-Packard Co. for $14 billion, Deloitte Consulting LLP and others. It also squares off with big Indian outsourcing operations, including Infosys Technologies LLC, WiPro Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., a unit of Tata Group, and Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

Customers

Customers include Lake Forest-based Apria Healthcare Group Inc., Carnival Corp.’s Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. and San Diego’s Sempra Energy.

UST’s customers include two of the top five healthcare companies in North America and three of the top five movie studios in Southern California.

Another biggie is retail—UST counts three of the top 10 retail chains as customers, Pillai said.

The company got its start in 1999 with three founders and has grown to more than 5,000 workers worldwide, most in India.

It’s funded by the investment arm of India’s Comcraft Group, a company with about $6 billion in yearly sales that makes steel, plastics and aluminum products in East Africa.

UST has tapped India for a big source of its labor—it’s a large employer there with operations at three sites.

Its biggest, with 3,200 workers, is in Trivandrum, at the southern tip of India near Sri Lanka. Another facility in Chennai has about 700 workers. A new building in Cochin has about 250 workers.

The company also has smaller offices in Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada.

The Indian sites are made up of primarily engineers who develop, test and maintain customized software for UST’s customers.

For Princess Cruises, UST manages its automated reservation system and network.

“They have the most complex cruise line reservation system in the world,” said Michael Zerkel, general manager of North American operations. “We maintain their entire application globally and augment their staff with our personnel.”

The company is continuing to hire at a rapid clip.

“What we are doing in order to scale at the pace we are talking about, we have to literally hire thousands of people,” Pillai said. “The growth is phenomenal.”

Locally, it’s looking to nab a chief marketing officer and an acquisitions specialist.

Next on deck is scouting a place to set up shop in South America and making a few acquisitions.

An Eternal Affair!

Mondays are always blue. Tired and lazy after hectic weekends, I detest the thought of Monday. It was yet another Monday and I was coming to office in Techno Park. Loads of work to be done, meetings to attend - the day's schedule looked scary.

The bus took the final round turn and stopped. I was standing in front of Bhavani - the building with an air of pride and aristocracy looming over it. The portico appeared deserted, except for a few people who were walking in early on a Monday morning.

A cold wind was blowing and it was drizzling slightly. Still the Sun was trying to come out, golden rays creating a halo over Bhavani. Somewhere in my heart, I heard a voice asking me stand there for a few more minutes. I stood, basking in the glory of the morning Sun, looking at the gleaming water drops which resembled exquisite crystal balls...

'Dil hai ke maanta nahin...' the lilting music was flowing from some distant radio adding to the romance between the gentle sunlight and the morning rain. Mayflowers weaving a red carpet over the winding road, it looked as if the stage was set for a royal wedding. Morning sun, the proud yet gentle bridegroom holding the hands of the beautiful rain maiden, who is the coy bride. Nature seems to have gone into a standstill, presenting a rainbow as the wedding gift. The rainbow stood like a crown spanning across the horizon...

I stood there mesmerized at nature's wonder absorbing the fact that every moment in life is a treasure. Every day, I come here, walk into office and return in the evening. Never did I take a few minutes to watch the movie scripted and directed by Mother Nature. Thus it was a memorable Monday and days will never be blue for me... as every day is a gift and has to be appreciated.


Indu Nair
induswathi@gmail.com

The Request For Qualification(RFQ) for Technocity and Technopark Phase 3

Technopark to offer incubation facilities to rural innovators

Technology innovators and entrepreneurs from rural Kerala and various engineering colleges in the state would be offered a chance of incubating their ventures towards successful technopreneurship at the Technopark.Proposals in this regard would be evaluated by experts at the Technopark's TePP Outreach Centre (TUC) before inviting the innovators

The innovators would be accommodated at the Technopark- Technology Business Incubator (TBI) for the development of the product and will be given all the mentoring support,The need to support genuine entrepreneurs and innovators from rural Kerala in a bid to help transform their ideas into marketable products came up for a bit of brainstorming at Technopreneur 2008.

The TBI, TUC, TiE Kerala, Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (STED), Infopark, National Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship and CUSAT, organised the session that dwelt upon ‘Promoting business and technology Incubation and building enterprises'.

Targeted at the prospective innovators and faculty members of engineering colleges in Central Kerala comprising Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, Technopreneur 2008 was supported by the central government's Department of Science and Technology (DST), Technology Information Forecasting And Assessment Council (TIFAC) and Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR).

The emphasis was on the need to support genuine entrepreneurs and innovators from rural Kerala, incubate them in the TBI and thereby drive the economic growth of the country.

Picture of the day

Inside a Mainframe


Genuine Mainframes are still rare, because they are very expensive to buy and maintain. but many technopark companies are having those expensive and giant machines with them. the major companies offering mainframe competencies are UST Global, Allianz etc...

Food in Bhavani - A Real Health Hazard!!!

Please find below, A mail form one of the victim who lost 5 kg within 1 month, Thanks to Buraq, If you want to reduce weight.. Try Buraq.. Result Guaranteed...

Hi friends,
It is with extreme indignation that I am writing this mail to you. The quality of food that is being served in restaurants in Bhavani, especially in “Buraq” is becoming worse from bad every other day.
Despite rolling out mails by different customers with pictures of rubber band, worms, cockroach, hair, etc, the plight of those who end up eating from there doesn’t seem to change.
The complacency and the patience that we are showing have been misunderstood for our passiveness and thus we have been taken for granted. Our relentless demand for quality of food at buraq has fallen on deaf ears.
Think about it. Why do we eat from Buraq despite the tragic quality of the over priced food? Convenience and time management would be the only answer.
We are not bothered of the money we pay, the poor treatment we get, but our health should be given more concern. Despite numerous advices, suggestions and warnings, the obstinate approach which Buraq has shown depresses me and increases my righteous anger.
3 unwashed, unclean prawns with half removed shells and sand was served to me with a pile of onions on it on last Wednesday (16th April) and here I am down with a temperature of 103F, bed-ridden with nausea and head ache. Lucky I didn’t go beyond a piece from that dish. You can call on either of my numbers given below and I am willing to give my testimony on this. I am taking this issue up seriously and am escalating this to the management and the Technopark authority as this is a matter of public interest.
Forget about the exorbitant prices and the pathetic service, I appeal to think twice before eating from Buraq as it may jeopardize your health.
If you value your friends health, please forward this to them so that public attention and interest can hopefully reduce these issues from happening in the future.

Tata Elxsi is planning to add another 1500 engineers in Trivandrum

Tata Elxsi announces development centers in Hyderabad and Coimbatore; expands facility in Thiruvananthapuram

Tata Elxsi Limited, the technology arm of the multi-billion USD Tata Group, today announced the setting up of two new development centers in Coimbatore and Hyderabad; while further expanding its facility in Thiruvananthapuram to meet the scale-up requirements of the clients.

The facility in Thiruvananthapuram, which currently houses 582 engineers, has been expanded to accommodate another 1500 engineers.

More on Technocity

The Govt. of Kerala has officially announced the commencement of development of Kerala's largest IT project with an advertisement appearing the regional and national editions of the Economic Times, Business Standard and the Business Line.





When completed Technocity will have 2 crore sq.feet IT space


Biggest ever IT project shaping in State

The biggest- ever IT project of the Kerala Government, Technocity is taking wings. The Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited (KSIIL), the implementing agency of the Technocity, will invite tenders from IT developers and companies on May 28 for starting the Rs 8,000-crore project of the State Government.

The project will come up near the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram.

The KSIIL will issue the 49 percent equity of Technocity to the public, private investors, banks and other financial institutions by September this year. The 51 percent equity will be owned by the KSIIL.“The Technocity project will be the biggest ever IT project of Kerala. The project is expected to create around two lakh job opportunities within 10 years and by issuing the share to the public and others, government can start the project with the participation of people,” IT Secretary Ajay Kumar told this website’s newspaper.

The bidding process will be conducted in phases. In the first phase (Request For Qualification) qualified IT companies will be short-listed.In the second phase (Request for Proposal) will be invited and tender will be finalised in December. Different IT companies and IT developers will set up buildings in an area of 2-crore sq ft in the park. The state government will have a stake of 26 percent in the proposed companies. Companies can use 70 percent of space for IT processing and the remaining for other purposes.“We are trying to sell our project across the globe and attract IT giants to the state. The project will generate more job opportunities than the Smart City Kochi. More IT giants can start their ventures at the Technocity than the Smart City Kochi,” said Ajay Kumar.The estimated infrastructure of the project will be Rs 800 to 1,000 crore. Of this, 500 crore will be utilised for purchasing land near the Technopark and Rs 300 crore will be spent for the infrastructure like water and power supply.

New food court opened at Tejaswini Building, Technopark.

A couple of new restaurants opened at the top floor of Tejaswini building in technopark.


Available outlets are :

Mothers kitchen
Kabab House
Wanges Express
Zero degree
Pancho
Passion fruit etc..

The facility is fully air conditioned and plenty of space and good ambiance made it as a favourite place for techies. but food is somewhat costly there.

Cricket League in Technopark

UST Global which is the largest company in Technopark having over 4500 employees working out of its Technopark center came out with an innovative idea to engage its employees.


UCL-UST Cricket League was a stage to vent the energy and exuberance that gets clogged in cubicles.

Over 8 months, over 80 teams, over 8 matches a day, over 1200 participants. That’s UCL.

Started on an experimental basis, this event has turned out to be the most successful organizational initiative in the history of UST.

The participation from the ladies side which was made mandatory in UCL added to the uniqueness of the success of this maiden venture. A team needed to have at least two woman members in its side!

Every thing including arranging infrastructure from ground, cricket gear etc to drinking water and recording and archiving the details of every single ball bowled in the tournament which is a tumultuous and gargantuan task was handled by the employees.

One of the greatest achievements of the UCL was the unveiling the UCL trophy by the esteemed partners from HEB (Rick and Jim). They, cricket enthusiasts also played a game with the UST leaders Niketh Sundar (Global HR Head) and Alexander Varghese(Centre Head - Trivandrum) and the UCL officiates.

17th May,2008 was yet another remarkable day for the UCL as well as UST as the 1st UCL tournament came to an end with a fitting finale. The cricketing extravaganza and all its pomb and show came to an exhilarating and electrifying end with 2 extremely distinctive matches; 1.Pryukthi(an all girls team which took on bravely) Vs ROW-U (Rest of Women’s-UST) team and 2. the big boss(Global heads) of UST Vs UCL organizers. The grand success of UCL has invoked interest not just in UST, but also in other companies in the park and the IT industry as a whole. Cricket has turned out to be a religion for UST that in various client locations in the US, matches are played between UST and other Indian vendors like Wipro and in the words of one of our distinguished clients,”I play on the UST side against Wipro on weekends.” Now that the fame and popularity of UCL has reached its zenith, there has been appeals and requests from across various UST centers to structure a UCL organizing team and guide and assist it into a self running state.