INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYInformation technology is the application
of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve,
transmit and manipulate data, often in the context of a business or
other enterprise. The term is commonly used as a synonym for
computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other
information distribution technologies such as television and
telephones. Several industries are associated with information
technology, such as computer hardware, software, electronics,
semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and
computer services. In the business context, the Information
Technology Association of America has defined information
technology (IT) as "the study, design, development, application,
implementation, support or management of computer-based information
systems" The business value of information technology is to
automate business processes, provide information for decision
making, connect business with their customers, and provide
productivity tools to increase efficiency. In an academic context,
the Association for Computing Machinery defines it as
"undergraduate degree programs that prepare students to meet the
computer technology needs of business, government, healthcare,
schools, and other kinds of organizations .... IT specialists
assume responsibility for selecting hardware and software products
appropriate for an organization, integrating those products with
organizational needs and infrastructure, and installing,
customizing, and maintaining those applications for the
organizations computer users. Examples of these responsibilities
include the installation of networks; network administration and
security; the design of web pages; the development of multimedia
resources; the installation of communication components; the
oversight of email systems; and the planning and management of the
technology lifecycle by which an organizations technology is
maintained, upgraded, and replaced." Humans have been storing,
retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the
Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC, but
the term "Information Technology" in its modern sense first
appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business
Review; authors Leavitt and Whisler commented that "the new
technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall
call it information technology (IT)." Based on the
storage and processing technology employed, it is possible to
distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical
(3000 BC 1450 AD), mechanical (14501840),
electromechanical (18401940) and electronic (1940-present).This
article focuses on the most recent period, (electronic) which began
around the year 1940.
HISTORY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYThe back-story of information
technology precedes the invention of the computer. The abacus, used
by Asians, Egyptians, Romans, and the Greek can be termed a source
of information technology. Calculators, the first mechanical one
built by German polymath Wilhelm Schickard, or the slide rule,
developed in 1622 by William Oughtred, also comes under the heading
of information technology. Another example would be punch card
machines, expanded upon by IBM in the early to mid 1900's,
qualifies the term information technology. The basic concept of
Information Technology can be traced to the World War II alliance
of the military and industry in the development of electronics,
computers, and information theory. After the 1940s, the military
remained the major source of research and development funding for
the expansion of automation to replace manpower with machine
power.
DATA STORAGEEarly electronic computers such as Colossus made use
of punched tape, a long strip of paper on which data was
represented by a series of holes, a technology now obsolete
Electronic data storage, which is used in modern computers, dates
from the Second World War, when a form of delay line memory was
developed to remove the clutter from radar signals, the first
practical application of which was the mercury delay line. The
first random-access digital storage device was the Williams tube,
based on a standard cathode ray tube,but the information stored in
it and delay line memory was volatile in that it had to be
continuously refreshed, and thus was lost once power was removed.
The earliest form of non-volatile computer storage was the magnetic
drum, invented in 1932 and used in the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's
first commercially available general-purpose electronic
computer.
Most digital data today is still stored magnetically on devices
such as hard disk drives, or optically on media such as CD-ROMs. It
has been estimated that the worldwide capacity to store information
on electronic devices grew from less than 3 exabytes in 1986 to 295
exabytes in 2007, doubling roughly every 3 years.
DATABASESDatabase management systems emerged in the 1960s to
address the problem of storing and retrieving large amounts of data
accurately and quickly. One of the earliest such systems was IBM's
Information Management System (IMS), which is still widely deployed
more than 40 years later. IMS stores data hierarchically,[22] but
in the 1970s Ted Codd proposed an alternative relational storage
model based on set theory and predicate logic and the familiar
concepts of tables, rows and columns. The first commercially
available relational database management system (RDBMS) was
available from Oracle in 1980. All database management systems
consist of a number of components that together allow the data they
store to be accessed simultaneously by many users while maintaining
its integrity. A characteristic of all databases is that the
structure of the data they contain is defined and stored separately
from the data itself, in a database schema. The extensible markup
language (XML) has become a popular format for data representation
in recent years. Although XML data can be stored in normal file
systems, it is commonly held in relational databases to take
advantage of their "robust implementation verified by years of both
theoretical and practical effort". As an evolution of the Standard
Generalized Markup Language (SGML), XML's text-based structure
offers the advantage of being both machine and humanreadable.
DATA RETRIEVALThe relational database model introduced a
programming language independent of Structured Query Language
(SQL), based on relational algebra.
The terms "data" and "information" are not synonymous. Anything
stored is data, but it only becomes information when it is
organised and presented meaningfully. Most of the world's digital
data is unstructured, and stored in a variety of different physical
formats even within a single organization. Data warehouses began to
be developed in the 1980s to integrate these disparate stores. They
typically contain data extracted from various sources, including
external sources such as the Internet, organised in such a way as
to facilitate decision support systems (DSS).
DATA TRANSMISSIONData transmission has three aspects:
transmission, propagation, and reception. XML has been increasingly
employed as a means of data interchange since the early 2000s,
particularly for machine-oriented interactions such as those
involved in web-oriented protocols such as SOAP, describing
"data-in-transit rather than ... data-at-rest". One of the
challenges of such usage is converting data from relational
databases into XML Document Object Model (DOM) structures.
DATA MANIPULATIONHilbert and Lopez identify the exponential pace
of technological change (a kind of Moore's law): machines'
application-specific capacity to compute information per capita
roughly doubled every 14 months between 1986 and 2007; the per
capita capacity of the world's general-purpose computers doubled
every 18 months during the same two decades; the global
telecommunication capacity per capita doubled every 34 months; the
world's storage capacity per capita required roughly 40 months to
double (every 3 years); and per capita broadcast information has
doubled every 12.3 years. Massive amounts of data are stored
worldwide every day, but unless it can be analysed and presented
effectively it essentially resides in what have been called data
tombs: "data archives that are seldom visited".To address that
issue, the field of data mining "the process of
discovering interesting patterns and knowledge from large
amounts of data" emerged in the late 1980s
INDIAN IT INDUSTRYThe Information technology industry in India
has gained a brand identity as a knowledge economy on the global
map. . According to the National Association of Software and
Service Companies (NASSCOM), the apex body for software services in
India, the revenue of the IT sector has grown from 1.2 per cent of
the gross domestic product (GDP) in FY 1997-98 to an estimated 5.5
per cent in FY 2007-08. The net value added by this sector, to the
economy, is estimated to be 3.3 to 3.9 per cent for FY 2007-08.
Direct employment in Indian IT-BPO crossed the 2 million mark, an
increase of about 389,000 professionals over FY2007; indirect job
creation is estimated at about 8-9 million.
MAJOR IT HUBSRank City Description Popularly known as the
Silicon Valley of India and leading software 1 Bangalore exporter
from India. Bangalore is considered to be a global technology hub
of India. Chennai is a major destination of India and is the BPO
hub of India. Chennai has the largest operations centers of TCS,
and CTS. The Financial capital of India, but recently many IT
companies have established offices. The National Capital Region
comprising Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida are clusters of software
development. Major Indian and International Firms present in Pune.
Pune is also C-
2
Chennai
3
Mumbai
4
Delhi
5
Pune
DAC Head-Quarter. One of the largest cities in India, Kolkata
contributes significantly to IT exports. The capital of Kerala, now
houses all major IT companies including Oracle, TCS, Infosys, and
contributes in IT export of India
6
Kolkata
7
Thiruvanathapuram
BIG FOUR IT SERVICES COMPANY
Firm
Revenues Employees
Fiscal Year
Headquarters
TCS
$10.17 billion
254,076
2012
Mumbai
Wipro Infosys HCL Technologies
$7.30 billion 140,569 $7.00 billion 153,761
2012 2012
Bangalore Bangalore
$4.3 billion 85,335
2012
Noida
HCL INFOSYSTEMS LTD.HCL Infosystems is India's premier
information enabling company. Leveraging its 28 years of expertise
in total technology solutions, HCL Infosystems offers value-added
services in key areas such as system integration, networking
consultancy and a wide range of support services. HCL Infosystems
is among the leading players in all the segments comprising the
domestic IT products, solutions and related services, which include
PCs, servers, networking products, imaging & communication
products. Continuously meeting the ever increasing customer
expectations and applications, its focus on integrated enterprise
solutions has strengthened the HCL Infosystems' capabilities in
supporting installation types ranging from single to large,
multi-location, multi-vendor & multiplatform spread across
India. HCL Infosystems, today has a direct support force of over
2000+ members, is operational at 300+ locations across the country
and is the largest such human resource of its kind in the IT
business. A majority of the team members have been specially
trained in a variety of supporting solutions, the company's key
focus area. HCL Infosystems' manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001
- 2000 & ISO 14001 certified and adhere to stringent quality
standards and global processes. With the largest installed PC base
in the country, four indigenously developed and manufactured PC
brands - 'Infiniti', 'Busybee' 'Beanstalk' and 'Ezeebee' - and its
robust manufacturing facilities; HCL Infosystems aims to further
leverage its dominance in the PC market. It has been consistently
rated as Top player in PC industry by IDC .The 'Infiniti' line of
business computing products is incorporated with leading edge
products from world leaders such as Intel. A fully integrated and
business-ready family of servers and workstations, the 'Infiniti
Global Line' is targeted at medium and large companies to help them
to manage their enterprise-related applications. It has
considerable dominance in verticals like Finance, Government, and
Education & Research.
The Channel Business of HCL Infosystems has an extensive network
of over 2500+ resellers across 300 locations. It has actively
promoted the penetration of PCs in the home and the small
office/home office (SOHO) segments, through Beanstalk, Ezeebee
& Busybee PCs and Toshiba Laptops.
HCL Infosystems has two focused business units. While HCL
Infosystems concentrates on the IT products, solutions and related
services business, HCL InfiNet focuses on the rapidly growing
communication and imaging products, solutions and services
industry. HCL InfiNet, with a presence in more that 35 cities, has
the ability to service around 250 cities in its catchment area. It
provides corporate networking services like Virtual Private
Network, Broadband Internet Access, Hosting & Co-location
services, designing & deploying Disaster Recovery Solutions
& Business Continuity solution, Application Services, Managed
Security Services & NOC Services over its state-of-the-art IP
network to over 200 corporates. With the Office Automation (OA)
Division being part of it, HCL InfiNet now has an exclusive sales
and support partnership with Toshiba Corporation, Japan, for its
photocopier products. The product portfolio covers a range of other
office automation and communication products through alliances with
world leaders - including Duprinters from Duplo, data projectors
from InFocus, Telecommunication solutions from Samsung and Ericsson
and mobile communication products from Nokia. HCL Infinet Ltd. has
a strong and dedicated retail network of Nokia Professional
Centres, Nokia Priority Dealers and Re-distribution Stockist across
the country. HCL has closely seen the IT industry rise from
scratch, and has actively participated in its progress. During the
twenty-eight year journey, it has picked up valuable lessons in
serving the IT needs of the Indian customer and gathered domain
expertise to successfully service various businesses. As a leading
information enabler, HCL Infosystems has long standing
relationships with world technology leaders such as SUN for
enterprise computing solutions, Intel and AMD for PCs & PC
Servers; Microsoft, Novell and SCO for operating systems and
software solutions; Toshiba Corp. for business automation
equipment; SAP AG for specialist ERP solutions; and Oracle, Sybase
and Informix for RDBMS platform, EMC, Veritas for storage
solutions. The aim
is to straddle the entire landscape of information enabling
technology far more comprehensively, effectively and competitively.
Indeed, a vision to create enterprises of tomorrow.
CHAIRMAN & CEO'S PROFILE Ajai Choudhry
An engineer by training, Ajai Chowdhry is one of the six founder
members of HCL, India's premier IT enterprise. HCL, a start-up in
1976, touched Rs.11,000 crores for the last 12 months. Ajai
Chowdhry took over the reins of HCL Infosystems, the flagship
company of the group, as President and CEO in 1994. He was
appointed the Chairman of HCL Infosystems in November 1999. Under
his stewardship, the company's turnover has grown to Rs.7783.6
crores in 2004-05 from Rs.400.6 crores in 1994. With employee
strength of over 3600, it has emerged as country's leading
information-enabling powerhouse.
Ajai has been a key force in driving the growth of HCL
Infosystems. The credit of setting up
HCL's overseas operations, starting with Singapore in 1980, goes
to him. During this tenure he extensively covered South Asian
Markets including Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the
People's Republic of China, expanding business operations, which
paved the way towards enhancing HCL's core competencies in bringing
the best international technologies to domestic market.
Driving the thrust on IT, Telecom and Imaging, Ajai perceives
the role of his company as that of enabling information. Credited
with providing momentum to key IT phenomena - within the company as
well as in the industry - he has constantly added newer and cutting
edge technology skills to the company's portfolio. Under his
leadership, several new projects have been undertaken in the
company that have had a lasting impact - getting into IT retailing,
spearheading the company wide Quality movement, and the very recent
low cost PC initiative and IT for masses are some examples. An
absolute stickler for customer focus, he himself spends significant
time, personally listening to customers. Ajai sensed an emerging
opportunity early in telecom and imaging category and today HCL
Infosystems is poised to exploit this opportunity to offer a richer
bouquet to its customers. It is a recognition of his visionary
status that Ajai was part of the IT Hardware Task Force, set up by
the Prime Minister of India to give shape to the country's IT
strategy. Ajai has repeatedly championed the cause of improving PC
penetration in the country. He has worked closely with many
Government bodies to take IT for masses agenda forward. Presently
he is part of several government committees to take forward the
course of IT and Hardware in India. He was awarded with 'IT Man of
the Year' by The Skoch Consultancy and 'Best IT Man of the Year' by
The Foundation of Indian Industry and Economists. Ajai also
addressed CII's flagship hardware event 'India e-Hardware Summit
2004' at Hyderabad as a keynote speaker recently. Ajai has a
bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering, and
attended the Executive Program at the School of Business
Administration at the University of Michigan, US.
Ajai is an avid reader and is fond of Jazz and the fine arts. He
and his wife Gita live in New Delhi.
HISTORYHCL Infosystems Ltd is one of the pioneers in the Indian
IT market , with its origins in 1976. For over quarter of a
century, we have developed and implemented solutions for multiple
market segments, across a range of technologies in India. We have
been in the forefront in introducing new technologies and
solutions. The highlights of the HCL saga are summarized below:
YEAR
HIGHLIGHTS
- Foundation of the Company laid 1976 - Introduces
microcomputer-based programmable calculators with wide acceptance
in the scientific / education community
- Launch of the first microcomputer-based commercial computer
with a ROM 1977
based Basic interpreter - Unavailability of programming skills
with customers results in HCL developing bespoke applications for
their customers
1978
- Initiation of application development in diverse segments such
as textiles, sugar, paper, cement , transport
1980
- Formation of Far East Computers Ltd., a pioneer in the
Singapore IT market, for SI (System Integration) solutions
1981
- Software Export Division formed at Chennai to support the
bespoke application development needs of Singapore
- HCL launches an aggressive advertisement campaign with the
theme ' even a typist can operate' to make the usage of computers
popular in the SME (Small & Medium 1983 Enterprises) segment.
This proposition involved menu-based applications for the first
time, to increase ease of operations. The response to the
advertisement was phenomenal.
- HCL develops special program generators to speed up the
development of applications
- Bank trade unions allow computerisation in banks . However , a
computer can only run one application such as Savings Bank, Current
account , Loans etc.
- HCL sets up core team to develop the required software - ALPM
( Advanced Ledger Posting Machines ) . The team uses reusable code
to reduce development efforts and 1985 produce more reliable code .
ALPM becomes the largest selling software product in Indian
banks
- HCL designs and launches Unix- based computers and IBM PC
clones
- HCL promotes 3rd party PC applications nationally
- Zonal offices of banks and general insurance companies adopt
computerization
- Purchase specifications demand the availability of RDBMS
products on the1986
supplied solution (Unify, Oracle). HCL arranges for such
products to be ported to its platform.
- HCL assists customers to migrate from flat-file based systems
to RDBMS- HCL enters into a joint venture with Hewlett Packard
1991
- HP assists HCL to introduce new services: Systems Integration,
IT consulting, packaged support services ( basicline, teamline
)
- HCL establishes a Response Centre for HP products, which is
connected to the HP Response Centre in Singapore.
- There is a vertical segment focus on Telecom, Manufacturing
and Financial Services
- HCL acquires and executes the first offshore project from IBM
Thailand 1994 - HCL sets up core group to define software
development methodologies
- Starts execution of Information System Planning projects
1995
- Execution projects for Germany and Australia
- Begins Help desk services
- Sets up the STP ( Software Technology Park ) at Chennai to
execute software1996
projects for international customers
- Becomes national integration partner for SAP- Kolkata and
Noida STPs set up 1997 - HCL buys back HP stake in HCL Hewlett
Packard
1998
- Chennai and Coimbatore development facilities get ISO 9001
certification - Acquires and sets up fully owned subsidiaries in
USA and UK
1999
- Sets up fully owned subsidiary in Australia
- HCL ties up with Broadvision as an integration partner
- Sets up fully owned subsidiary in Australia
- Chennai and Coimbatore development facilities get SEI Level 4
certification
- Bags Award for Top PC Vendor In India 2000 - Becomes the 1st
IT Company to be recommended for latest version of ISO 9001 :
2000
- Bags MAIT's Award for Business Excellence
- Rated as No. 1 IT Group in India
-Launched Pentium IV PCs at below Rs 40,000 2001 -IDC rated HCL
Infosystems as No. 1 Desktop PC Company of 2001
-Declared as Top PC Vendor by Dataquest
2002
-HCL Infosystems & Sun Microsystems enters into a Enterprise
Distribution Agreement
- Realigns businesses, increasing focus on domestic IT,
Communications & Imaging products, solutions & related
services
- Became the first vendor to register sales of 50,000 PCs in a
quarter
- First Indian company to be numero uno in the commercial PC
market2003
- Enters into partnership with AMD
- Launched Home PC for Rs 19,999
- HCL Infosystems' Info Structure Services Division received ISO
9001:2000 certification
- Launches Infiniti Mobile Desktps on Intel Platform
- Launched Infiniti PCs, Workstations & Servers on AMD
platform- 1st to announce PC price cut in India, post duty
reduction, offers Ezeebee at Rs. 17990
- IDC India-DQ Customer Satisfaction Audit rates HCL as No.1
Brand in Desktop PCs
- Maintains No.1 position in the Desktop PC segment for year
2003
- Enters into partnership with Port Wise to support &
distribute security & VPN solutions in India
- Partners with Microsoft & Intel to launch Beanstalk Neo PC
2004 - Becomes the 1st company to cross 1 lac unit milestone in the
Indian Desktop PC market
- Partners with Union Bank to make PCs more affordable,
introduces lowest ever EMI for PC in India
- Launched RP2 systems to overcome power problem for PC
users
- Registers a market share of 13.7% to become No.1 Desktop PC
company for year 2004
- Crosses the landmark of $ 1 billion in revenue in just nine
months
GUIDING PRINCIPLESQUALITY POLICY "We deliver defect-free
products, services and solutions to meet the requirements of our
external and internal customers, the first time, every time"
OUR OBJECTIVES OUR MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES To fuel initiative and
foster activity by allowing individuals freedom of action and
innovation in attaining defined objectives. OUR PEOPLE OBJECTIVES
To help people in HCL Infosystems Ltd. share in the company's
successes, which they make possible; to provide job security based
on their performance; to recognize their individual achievements;
and help them gain a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from
their work.
Core Values
We shall uphold the dignity of the individual We shall honor all
commitments We shall be committed to Quality, Innovation and Growth
in every endeavor We shall be responsible corporate citizens
ALLIANCES & PARTNERSHIPSTo provide world-class solutions and
services to all our customers, we have formed Alliances and
Partnerships with leading IT companies worldwide. HCL Infosystems
has alliances with global technology leaders like Intel, AMD,
Microsoft, Bull, Toshiba, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Ericsson,
nVIDIA, SAP, Scansoft, SCO, EMC, Veritas, Citrix, CISCO, Oracle,
Computer Associates, RedHat, Infocus, Duplo, Samsung and Novell.
These alliances on one hand give us access to best technology &
products as well enhancing our understanding of the latest in
technology. On the other hand they enhance our product portfolio,
and enable us to be one stop shop for our customers.
Recent UpdatesHCL & Nokia decide on longer term strategy to
further penetrate Indian market
Gist of Q&A with callers/ investors/ shareholders on the
announcement relating to the long term Agreement with Nokia Toshiba
in partnership with HCL Infosystems expands its retail presence in
India by unveiling 'shopToshiba' HCL forms a strategic alliance
with Bull to launch a new range of Scalable Enterprise Class
Servers on Open Architecture AMD & IT Ministry unveil
affordable computer to promote 50x15 vision in India.
HCL ADVANTAGEHCL Infosystems ( HCLI) draws it's strength from 29
years of experience in handling the ever changing IT scenario ,
strong customer relationships , ability to provide the cutting edge
technology at best-value-for-money and on top of it , an excellent
service & support infrastructure. Today HCL is country's
premier information enabling company. It offers one-stop-shop
convenience to its diverse customers having an equally diverse set
of requirements. Be it a large multi-location enterprise, or a
small/medium enterprise, or a small office or a home, HCLI has a
product range, sales & support capability to service the needs
of the customer. Last 29 years apart from knowledge &
experience have also given us continuity in relationship with the
customers, thereby increasing the customer confidence in us. Our
strengths can be summarized as: - Ability to understand customer's
business and offer right technology - Long standing relationship
with customers - Pan India support & service infrastructure -
Best-vale-for-money offerings
TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIPHCL Infosystems is known to be the
harbinger of technology in the country. Right from our inception we
have attempted to pioneer the technology introductions in the
country either through our R&D or through partnerships with the
world technology leaders.
Using our own R&D we have - Created our own UNIX & RDBMS
capability (in 80s) - developed firewalls for enterprise &
personal system security - launched our own range of enterprise
storage products - launched our own range of networking products We
strive to understand the technology from the view of supporting it
post installation as well. This is one of the key ingredients that
go into our strategic advantage. HCL Infosystems has to its claim
several technology pioneering initiatives. Some of them are: -
Country's first DeskTop PC - BusyBee in 1985 - Country's first
branded home PC - Beanstalk in 1995 - Country's first Pentium 4
based PC at sub 40k price point - Country's first Media Center
PC
QUALITY
Philosophy of Quality
"We deliver defect-free products, services and solutions to meet
the requirements of our external and internal customers, the first
time, every time."
To exist as a market leader in a globally competitive
marketplace, organizations need to adopt and implement a continuous
improvement-based quality policy. One of the key elements to HCL's
success is its never-ending pursuit of superior quality in all its
endeavors. HCL INFOSYSTEMS believes in the Total Quality Management
philosophy as a means for continuous improvement, total employee
participation in quality improvement and customer satisfaction. Its
concept of quality addresses people, processes and products. Over
the last 20 years, we have adapted to newer and better Quality
standards that helped us effectively tie Quality with Business
Goals, leading to customer and employee satisfaction.
QUALITY AT HCL INFOSYSTEMS LTDThe history of structured quality
implementation in HCL Infosystems began in the late 1980s with the
focus on improving quality of its products by using basis QC tools
and Failure Reporting and Corrective Active Systems (FRACAS). We
also employed concurrent engineering practices including design
reviews, and rigorous reliability tests to uncover latent design
defects. In the early 90s, the focus was not merely on the quality
of products but also the process quality systems. Our manufacturing
unit at NOIDA was certified initially to ISO 9002:1994 by BVQI in
1994 and later on to ISO 9001:1994 in 1997. As of now, all our
manufacturing units are certified by BVQI as per ISO 9001:2000 In
early 1995, a major quality initiative was launched across the
company based on Philip B. Crosby's methodology of QIPM (Quality
Improvement Process Management). This model was selected to because
it considered the need and commitment by an organization to improve
but more importantly, the individual's need towards better quality
in his personal life.
Under our Quality Education System program, we train our
employees on the basic concepts and tools of quality. A number of
improvement projects have been undertaken by our employees, whereby
process deficiencies and bottlenecks are identified, and Corrective
Action Projects (CAPs) are undertaken. This reduces defect rates
and improves cycle times in various processes, including personal
quality. Our certifications / awards in 2003 include ISO 9001-2000
by BVQI for our InfoStructure Services and award of First Prize by
ELCINA (Electronic Component Industries Association) for Quality,
2002-03. The ELCINA award criteria considers two aspects. (1)
Enablers (Leadership & Management commitment, Resource
Management, Product Realisation, Measurement Analysis &
Improvement) and Results (Product Quality, Customer / Stake holder
satisfaction , Business results). The tryst for continuous quality
improvement is never-ending in HCL Infosystems. We always strive to
maintain high quality standards, which help us fulfill our mission
to provide world-class information technology solutions and
services, to enable our customers to serve their customers
better.
MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVETo fuel initiative and foster activity by
allowing individuals freedom of action and innovation in attaining
defined objectives.
PEOPLE OBJECTIVETo Help HCL Insys people share in the companys
success, which they make possible; to provide job security based on
their performance; to recognize their individual achievements and
to help them gain of satisfaction and accomplishment from their
work.
CORE VALUESIt uphold the dignity of individual. It honour all
commitments. It is committed to quality, Innovation and growth in
every endeavor. It is responsible corporate Citizens.
MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY LEADERSHIPShiv Nadar Founder HCL, Chairman
and CEO HCL Technologies Ajai Chowdhry Co-Founder HCL, Chairman and
CEO HCL Infosystems J V Ramamurthy Chief Operating Officer HCL
Infosystems Ltd Vineet Nayar President: HCL TechnologiesRanjit
President and CEO of the HCL Technologies (BPO)
HCL MILEAP X: THE AFFORDABLE LAPTOP HITS THE INDIAN MARKET
HCL is now on the centre stage of attraction in the Indian PC
industry ones again with the announcement of Mileap X range of low
cost laptops which they prefer to call Leaptops. It is expected to
be a giant Leap for the company who is not so much popular in
Indian laptop industry dominated by international giants. There is
a popular Zen Saying that Leap and the Net will Appear So HCL is
decided to Leap ahead and they hope the net will appear . India is
witnessing a real hike in sales of laptop computers for the past
two years . Gone the days when the laptops where considered to be
only for the rich and the famous. Now the average Indian computer
buyer think twice before buying a desktop. For a Small office home
office user a laptop is always a better bargain because the cost of
computer at home and at office can be now more than the cost of a
single laptop.
HCL s decision to bring out a laptop computer that cost only
Rs14,000 was welcomed by the Indian computer industry with mixed
reactions. It got the same news value as the much hipped about TATA
Nano one lakh car.
This is technical and business review on the HCL Mileap X series
of Leaptop which hit the Indian market on this republic day, and in
general serve as a single point of reference for laptops from the
basic history of laptops to latest trends.
Leap X series is a Linux based low cost version of the HCL
family of leaptops which is surly an upgrade from from your PDA or
smart mobile that is available in our market. It is not recommended
for a serious computer user with lot of files to store , or a
graphic designer . But surly it gives the value for money at Rs.
14,000 + taxes .
At a cost lower than your high end mobile phones that remains as
fancy equipments when it come to real computing , MiLeap has strong
reason to be in your business carry bag. First of all it is handy
compared to bulky wide screen laptops (which will never fit in to
an ordinary mans lap).
Even though the micro computing industry is active from early
80s in the developed countries ,it hit our market only by early
90s.We has to wait till end of 90s to see the computer as a common
gadget uses by normal business and home. So it is quite obvious
that the portable computing segment was also a latecomer in our
market.
Initially the use of portable computer was limited to an
expensive ego booster that catch the eye and help to make an
impression in a business meeting.. The real portable computing
applications as it is used in the western countries was not
applicable to Indian scenario. We cant
expected to use our expensive laptops in busy metro rails ,
trams or buses. It was really prone to all kind of environmental
tortures including heat, dust and humidity. Because of this these
gadgets never left the comfort of their owners desktop and really
did not serve the job of a portable computer.
The major fact that refrained a typical computer user from the
laptop machines was the cost. In late 1990s a typical IBM ThinkPad
will cost more that 150 thousand Rupees and a desktop with similar
configuration cost around 40 thousand.
So majority of Indian users stay loyal to their desktops and did
not show much interest in the laptop segment. The situation changed
as the price came down and when laptops are available at sub- 50k
price segment. The popularity of laptops in India is mainly
attributed the new segments of IT related workers who telecommute a
lot wish to extend their job to the non-business hours too. Slowly
the laptops emerged as a serious business equipment which is
indispensable to a working professional. The main hindrance yet was
the lack of proper connectivity, but the boom of broadband
connectivity and wi-fi support added the popularity of laptop
systems in India.
The main segment that suffered from these revolution is a the
small scale system integrators operating in small towns throughout
the country. 100 % of the laptop industry is branded and there is
no scope for a typical system assembler to compete against it.
Naturally this segment was not happy with the new trend of invation
of laptop into the desktop market and resisted this trend to some
extend for their customer.
After the introduction of sub 30,000 laptops in to the industry
, laptop sales gain momentum and an average customer was attracted
to this segment. Now it is estimated that the share of laptop is
one third of the whole segment.
Now with, laptop price is competitive to the price of a desktop
with a TFT monitor it is all set to start a laptop revolution in
India.
ROLE OF HCL
When coming to the point of succeeding in a business , the
knowledge of local market is very important. India is a vast
country which is a blend of so many cultures together . Most of the
MNCs find a hard time understanding this market and so commit so
many wrong decision which were based on a marketing expert from
abroad. Being an Indian company HCL has many advantages on this
industry. Established in 1976 when the Indian IT industry is in a
nascent stage or not even properly formed , HCL is backed up by the
industry knowledge of so many up and downs in this
industry.Industry see the growth of HCL from a glorified assembler
to a real computer company over these years. Being one of the first
company in the IT industry in India they have strong root to even
the remote townships in India, were as a MNC will focus its
activities in Metros only HCL is deep rooted to small towns also
with a large chain of distributors. In 1990s beginning when the
computer industry begin to gain momentum in India , the common name
in computing industry is HCL itself with their Busy Bee series of
486 machines. The HCL-HP alliance supplied the Busy bee series to
all the major markets in India.
Apart from the hardware field , they offer software, training,
networking, telecom, and peripherals to the industry establishing
them self as one of the total solution providers for the Indian IT
industry and has deep rooted influence in banking , insurance and
Government sectors of this country. So it is quite natural that
when Intel look for a local partner for marketing their classmate
family of Low priced student PCs to India , they will end up in
HCL.
HCL MILEAP
MiLeap X series is a Linux based low cost version of the HCL
family of leaptops which is surly an upgrade from from your PDA or
smart mobile that is available in our market. It is not recommended
for a serious computer user with lot of files to store , or a
graphic designer . But surly it gives the value for money at Rs.
14,000 + taxes . At a cost lower than your
high end mobile phones that remains as fancy equipments when it
come to real computing , MiLeap has strong reason to be in your
business carry bag. First of all it is handy compared to bulky wide
screen laptops (which will never fit in to an ordinary mans
lap).
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF MILEAP X
The technical specifications of HCL MiLeap X is that of the
Intel classmate PC it self. It runs on a Intel Celeron Mobile
processor ticking at 900 MHz enough for a normal customer with
moderate computing requirements like internet and text editing
.
Running on a motherboard with Intel 915GMS chipset. 512 Mb of
DDR 2 memory which is comparable to any decent machines available .
It has a 7 inch Wide TFT which is offering a resolution of 800 X
480 which will be fine for a small form factor LCD. Just like any
laptop it features a build-in Speakers and Mic. And also provides a
headphone jack. Build in network interface (RJ-45) and wireless
Ethernet support ( 802.11 b/g ) ensures that you are connected to
the world. SD card Slot make it easy to download your pictures from
camera or mobile. Two high speed USB ports are part of it. Expected
battery backup is 4 hours in Idle condition as HCL is claiming. And
it will be available in Indian market in three colour choices ,
cool blue, rich black or hot pink.
HCL MILEAP X: OPERATING SYSTEMS AND APPLICATION SOFTWARES.
The original classmate has three choice for operating systems.
It is Windows XP professional , Mandriva Discovery 2007 Linux or
Metasys Classmate 2.0. HCL has made it clear that the X series will
be a LInux based product. The Linux will take 500 MB from the 2 GB
flash drive in contrast to the 1 GB required by the windows XP.
Open Office will be naturally included for your business needs
MILEAP X USABILITY AND FEEDBACK
The blue protective cover makes this tiny piece of electronics
almost shockproof and make it ready for the road. But it also gives
a toy look to the product too. If you don't like that casing it can
be detached from the leaptop and make your leaptop even
thinner.
This model contains a 30 GB hard disk drive instead of a 4 GB
Flash drive. It is a nice move but I will be happier I get the hard
disk on the same price tag of Rs. 14,000. This product is
convenient for a person who do a lot of commuting and want to spend
his time productively.
HCL Mileap X Series Laptops
Made for indian environment the HCL MiLeap X Series
ultra-portable range of Laptops sports and a unique dustproof,
shock-proof and durable design and they are powered by 900 MHz
Intel Celeron M ULV Processor 353, with 512 KB L2 Cache and upto
400 MHz Front Side Bus featuring Mobile Intel 915GMS Express
Chipset Motherboard, 512-MB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM (Max. upto 2 GB in 2
slots) and removable 2-GB Flash Drive for data storage.
The RS. 13,990
ULTRAPORTABLE
HCL MILEAP X
SERIES LAPTOP
also offers option
for internal 2.5-inch hard drive in various capacities which
would comes at extra cost.
This revolutionary new range of Ultra Portable MiLeap Laptops is
targeted at consumer who needs to stay connected, informed,
entertained and productive-anytime and anywhere. The laptop is
designed lightweight and small in size making it convenient for use
at all sorts of places like in home, gym, trains, bus, planes etc.
where a larger size laptop might feel inconvenient.
Company claims the HCL MiLeap Series of Ultra Portables are
uniquely suitable for Women and School Children due to its sleek
and ultra light design.
The new HCL MiLeap X series laptop offers 7-inch (17.78 cm) WXGA
Widescreen TFT LCD display powered by integrated Intel Graphics
Media Accelerator GMA 900 Graphics chipset with 8-MB dedicated
memory offering maximum 800 x 480 pixels screen resolution in 16.7
million colors.
HCL MiLeap X series laptop, also being talked about as HCL Nano,
does not sport any option for built-in Bluetooth, integrated
optical drive (CD/DVD) or integrated webcam. HCL has also announced
a MiLeap Y Series which provides enhanced features.
Weighing just about 1.4 kgs, the HCL MiLeap X Series
ultra-portable Laptop PC is also equipped with integrated Intel
PRO/Wireless 3945 Network 802.11a/b/g LAN connection and it sports
integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN connection. The ultra-portable
laptop does not sports any built-in fax/modem card.In addition, the
laptop offers 2 USB v2.0 fast ports for wired connectivity and also
features a standard IEEE1394 expansion slot.
The HCL MiLeap X Series ultra-portable Laptop PC comes with
Linux OS with limited functionality preinstalled and upgrading it
to Microsoft Windows XP or Vista would require extra RAM and
bootable internal hard drive all at extra cost.
The HCL MiLeap X Series laptop is equipped with Intel High
Defination Audio hardware and build-in Stereo 2 stereo speaker
system 1.5 Watts each and the laptop also features 4-in-1 Media
Card Reader supporting Multimedia Card (MMC), Memory stick (MS),
Secure Digital Card, and MS-PRO media cards.
According to HCL, Leaptop MiLeap X Series laptops are designed
to be a eco-efficient consumer and business notebooks, and are
fully compliant with the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances)
directive.
Ports on HCL MiLeap X Series Laptop PC 2 USB v2.0 ports IEEE1394
FireWire Port RJ-45 LAN Port 10/100 Mbps RJ-11 Fax/Modem Port
External MIC Input External Audio Out VGA Port 15 Pin D-Sub 4-in-1
Media Card Slot PCMCIA Slot
ULTRA-PORTABLE LAPTOP FEATURES HCL MILEAP XSERIES Intel Celeron
M ULV Processor 353, 900 MHz 512 KB L2 Cache, 400 MHz Front Side
Bus Mobile Intel 915GMS Express Chipset Motherboard 512-MB DDR2
SDRAM, 533 Mhz, Max. upto 2 GB (2 slots) 2-GB Flash Drive, option
for 2.5-inch internal hard drive 7-inch (17.78 cm), WXGA Widescreen
TFT LCD Display, 800 x 480 pixels screen resolution Integrated
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA 900 Graphics chipset with 8-MB
dedicated memory Integrated WiFi 802.11a/b/g LAN connection
Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN connection
4-in-1 Media Card Reader, Multimedia Card (MMC), Memory stick
(MS), Secure Digital Card, MS-PRO 2 USB v2.0 ports Touchpad with 2
button Intel High Defination VIA Vinyl AC 97 Audio Hardware
Build-in Stereo 2 stereo speaker system 1.5 Watts each Linux with
limited functionality preinstalled Dimensions: WxDxH 244 x 191.2 x
35.4 mm Li-Ion Battery pack, 4 Hrs backup
Weight: 1.44 Kgs (with power pack) 900 gms (without power pack)
The HCL Leaptop MiLeap X-Series Ultra-Portable cheapest Laptop
powered by Intel Celeron M ULV Processor with 2-GB flash drive
storage is available in India for Rs. 13,990 (including 4% local
tax) and comes with one year standard HCL warranty. Most expensive
version of MiLeap X-Series laptop would perhaps be priced at INR
16,990 which comes with 40/80 GB 2.5-inch internal hard drive.