TECHNOLOGY

Global BPO giant Firstsource, Dialog form joint venture

by Gamini WARUSHAMANA

Dialog Axiata recently entered into a partnership with the largest listed BPO company in India and a leading global BPO service provider Firstsource Solutions creating the largest BPO company in Sri Lanka.

Group CEO of Dialog Axiata Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya and CEO and Managing Director of Firstsource Solutions Matthew Vallance exchange the agreement

Firstsource Solutions acquired 76 percent of shares of Dialog Business Services, the recently formed BPO venture of the Dialog Axiata Group and formed Firstsource-Dialog Solutions.

The CEO and Managing Director of Firstsource Solutions Matthew Vallance said that this partnership is an important step in the expansion of its presence in South Asia and in line with growth aspirations of the Asia Business Unit of Firstsource.

Asia Business Unit which now holds 11 percent revenue of Firstsource will increase its revenue by 10-12 percent with the new partnership, he said.

Stability of the economy, support of government bodies and availability of a highly skilled talent pool were our key drivers to invest in the Sri Lankan market.

"We are confident that this venture will deliver worldclass services within the sector. The new company will cater to Sri Lankan customers as well as attract global business," Vallance said.

Group CEO of Dialog Axiata Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya said that the partnership is a privilege and opportunity. "With our success in building a best in class contact centre we seeded Dialog Business Services to make a focused contribution towards the development of Sri Lanka's ITES/BPO sector.

"We had reached world industry standards and received local and international awards."

We needed global exposure, expertise to enter into a wider market. Over the years we saw the IT/BPO industry flourishing in Sri Lanka".

"With the entry of Firstsource as the major investor in this company and the infusion of global best practices in BPO operations, I am confident that Firstsource-Dialog Solutions will be a fore-runner in Sri Lanka's ITES and BPO space.

The company will make a significant contribution towards furthering Sri Lanka's vision of being a leading ITES and BPO destination", Wijayasuriya said. The company will commence operations with the 470 existing staff of Dialog Business Services.

Apart from a small management team all staffers will be Sri Lankan.

The staff will be increased with the expansion of the business and the company expects a rapid growth in business, Vallance said. Firstsource is a leading global provider of customised BPO services to Healthcare, Telecom and Media and Banking and Finance industries.

Its clients include Fortune 500, FTSE 100, and Nifty 50 companies and has over 26,000 employees. Firstsource has a "rightshore" delivery model with operations in India, USA, UK and Philippines.

Firstsource was formed in 2001 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company recorded $ 448 million revenue in the last financial year.

Team PeraSoft wins Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011

Amidst tumultuous fanfare and applaud Team PeraSoft from the University of Peradeniya emerged winners in the Software Design category of the Imagine Cup 2011 Sri Lanka finals.

They will represent Sri Lanka at the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals to be held in New York next month which will open opportunities that could benefit their career progression.

Team CR-Coderzs representing the Informatics Institute of Technology and Team Sentinels 2.0 from the University of Moratuwa were runners up.

Team PeraSoft comprising N.D.M. Samarakoon, S.A.L.D. Senadheera, H.M.P.L. Herath and J.M.M.U. Dasanayake with organisers of Imagine Cup.

The competition attracted a record number of entries from around the country with a breakthrough of 52 finalist teams, the highest ever in the history of Imagine Cup in Sri Lanka.

This reflects the increasing levels of sophistication of students' entries and the growing popularity of the competition.

Imagine Cup Sri Lanka 2011 was made even more significant with the attendance of President, Asia Pacific Region, Microsoft Tracey Fellows who was on a visit to Sri Lanka.

Lahiru Senadheera leader of Team PeraSoft said, "Participating in the Imagine Cup has been a learning curve unlike any other.

The strong competition from fellow participants and the wide scope of the competition has helped me think out of the box and I am thrilled that my team's innovation was selected out of the many equally deserving entries.

This year's theme forced us to move out of our comfort zone to consider solving problems besetting the world.

I am looking forward to the global stage of the competition in New York and sincerely hope that we can bring the Imagine Cup home to Sri Lanka this year."

Sabry Moulana of team CR - Coderzs from the Informatics Institute of Technology said, "The grand finale was even more competitive and nerve wracking than we had imagined.

All finalists demonstrated awe-inspiring projects and it was humbling to be on the same stage with them.

We were all able to learn from each other's triumphs and failures.

The competition has helped to develop a whole new perspective about IT and its uses. More importantly, it has shown me how I can harness my knowledge to make a difference in the world.

It has instilled in me an awareness of my potential and showed me how I can look beyond the obvious."

This year, IT undergraduates have delved into their skills and talents to think 'big ideas' based on the Imagine Cup 2011 theme - 'Think Big. Think Global'.

This annual event encourages participants to "imagine a world where technology solves some of the toughest problems".

Microsoft Imagine Cup - the world's premier student technology competition envisions igniting a new wave of technological innovation, bringing together the brightest young minds from around the world and encouraging them to use their creativity to harness technology to solve the world's toughest problems.

At a little less than a decade, Microsoft's Imagine Cup has reached over 350,000 students from over 120 countries coming together with a mission to change the world.

It was obvious that the competition has given birth to some amazing talent and ingenuity as participants emerged with innovative concepts that made judging the competition a tough proposition for the jury.

The jury evaluating the entries at the competition in Sri Lanka were Chief Information Officer, Associated Motorways PLC Ruwanthi Fernando Chief Executive Officer, ZILLIONe Technologies (Pvt) Ltd Tharmarajah Suresh, Chief Information Officer, MAS Capital Private Limited Arjuna Manamperi and SMS&P Director, Microsoft Sri Lanka Pubudu Basnayaka.

Arjuna Manamperi said, "All the entries that made it to the final were outstanding for their maturity and creativity.

Judging the wide range of innovative solutions was a difficult task but gratifying, because it revealed the burgeoning talent and skills that our future IT graduates possess and the burning desire they nurse to be given a suitable platform such as Microsoft's Imagine Cup to bring that talent to the fore."

Microsoft Sri Lanka annually holds the local extension of Imagine Cup's Software Design Category, which attracts the most amongst Sri Lankan youth and which gains highest participation from undergraduates.

Over the past few years, Sri Lankan IT students have fared comparably well with counterparts from around the world, and after witnessing the benefits that accrue from winning the competition, students target participation in the Imagine Cup as a key stepping stone in their career.

Director - Developer Platform Evangelism, Microsoft Sri Lanka Wellington Perera said: "We have been overwhelmed by the force of talent and enthusiasm displayed by all the participants at this year's competition.

We are hopeful that some of these big and bold ideas will win on the international stage in New York, and provide greater impetus to students to consider the challenging opportunity that participation in the Imagine Cup offers.

The competition was conceptualised not merely to make students think out of the box, but also to bring home to the industry and teachers of IT the multi-layered benefits that such a vital challenge brings.

This can positively contribute to the student community and influence future career choices, simultaneously building vital soft skills such as qualities of leadership, teamwork and tenacity."

Abans launches Dell ultra-portable projector

Get ready to project images virtually from the palm of your hand. Amaze your friends and family and make memorable presentations while on the move with the ultra portable, pocket-sized Dell M109S ultra-portable projector.

The projector was launched by Abans, the authorised distributor for Dell Computers in Sri Lanka recently. It weighs a mere 0.80 pounds with remarkably small dimensions of only 3.64" x 4.12" x 1.46".

This groundbreaking pocket-sized projector lets you take the show on the road like never before.

With a brightness of 50 ANSI Lumens (Max) and SVGA native resolution of 858x600, it empowers users to deliver presentations in crisp text and vibrant colours to small groups, collaborative meetings or impromptu meetings with confidence and ease.

It is ideally suited for sales and consultancy professionals who are mostly mobile and also for small boardroom presentations.

Mirrors are at the heart of this amazing little wonder. The M109S projector employs millions of tiny reflectors that work in concert to create stunning colours and highly accurate images.

The M109S is easy to operate and easy to connect. One cord does it all. The Multi input cable, which is included with the projector, enables you to connect to notebooks, desktops, DVD players, gaming consoles and other video devices.

A host of convenient preset projection modes makes it easy to adapt to different viewing conditions.

Which means that high-quality presentations can be made at any given location.

The M109S utilises mercury-free LED light source of usage life of up to 10,000 hours, thereby saving money and reducing replacement and maintenance to a minimum as no replacement of LED module light source is required. It consumes less power, runs cooler and is quieter than a traditional lamp-based projector and the 10,000 hour lifetime for its LED light is much longer than the 3000 hour lifetime of many conventional projector lamps.

Hayleys Consumer introduces Fujifilm digital cameras

Fujifilm introduced its 2011 models of digital cameras, at the recently held Hayleys Consumer Technical and Sales Forum.

The cameras with versatile features and functions would give great shots that give "more than you imagined" a brand promise.

The cameras range from cutting-edge digital SLR pro-level models to fashion-conscious point-and-shoot compacts for use of photographers from amateur to professional.

The cameras use the Fujinon lens used in numerous situations including satellites in outer space, TV/film, security and compact cameras.

The optic technology is built into all Fujifilm finepix cameras that permit advance shooting functions and features ranging from image stabilisation, Panorama mode, Tracking auto focus, Smile and blink detection, Multi motion capture and High speed continuous shooting.

The cameras also offer a range of zooming from 3x zoom to a 30x zoom catering to every kind of photography requirement from wild life, scenery capture, and life shots.

S. Thomas' takes quantum leap into information age

S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia became one of the largest wi-fi installations in the country with over 40 wireless access points across the College campus installed and commissioned by Dialog Axiata PLC.

Warden of S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia Revd. J.C. Puddefoot launches the wi-fi installation. Also in the picture is Head Prefect Minaal Wickremesinghe.

The College now enjoys quality wi-fi coverage, enhancing the lives of the 2650 strong student population and bringing the administration on par with today's modern IT requirements.

Students will be allowed to access appropriate content with access enabled to the internet via PCs, laptops and other smart devices.

Warden STC Revd. J.C. Puddefoot said, "We're proud to establish this comprehensive, cost-effective and campus-wide ICT infrastructure.

It will not only create an enabling environment for Thomians to emerge as competent citizens of the information age, but also empower current and future generations of Thomians via the multiple facets of an ICT enriched education".

"Added to this will be greater opportunities for e-Learning, research and advanced knowledge, international collaboration and e-enabled interaction with teachers, parents and global knowledge bases. Among the wide ranging benefits will also be a suitable platform to enable intra-college as well as external communication through multi-device access such as desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile phones.

By enabling individual access to resources on the internet from any part of the school, we take an important step towards a new model for education."

Of great benefit to parents will be on-line access to student progress, regular interaction with teachers at school, and up-to-date information on college activities and student opportunities.

SLIIT annual convocation

Metropolitan Computers teamed up with the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) to reward the Best ICT Student at the SLIIT annual convocation, which was held recently. E. Purnima Eashani Rodrigo bagged the award. Purnima was selected from among the qualifying B.Sc. graduates in ICT. "As a keen supporter of education and career enhancement, Metropolitan Computers is pleased to be a part of this graduation ceremony. Information Technology is a key sector of the Company, and we are always looking at lending a hand to young ICT graduates," said CEO Metropolitan Computers Niranjan de Silva.