Betting on horses without going near the race course

By K.Satyamurty

BANGALORE, JULY 28. Keen on betting on horses and yet anxious not to be seen near the race course? The Bangalore-based Cerebra Integrated Technologies, the "Total IT Solutions" company, is now conducting trials with the Bangalore Turf Club to provide WAP (wireless application protocol) communication through its network to enable punters to place bets through mobile phones and to know the details of racing events.

Cerebra, founded in 1992 with just three professionals, has now grown to over 400 employees, and will open its second office in Europe at Franfurt by end of September.

Mr. V.Ranganathan, Chairman and Managing Director, told The Hindu that Cerebra had set up two offices in the U.S., and one each in Amsterdam, Singapore and Australia covering the major IT markets overseas. The company's Peenya unit made hardware such as servers, laptops and UPSs while the Yeshwantpur unit manufactured motherboards and networking products. The two software units in Bangalore City provided software and solutions for e-commerce, telecommunications, banking and finance, healthcare and wireless/WAP applications.

While government enterprises and major corporates formed 80 per cent of Cerebra's clientele, the home and SME segments showed large potential, Mr. Ranganathan said. Home users of PCs and peripherals were now turning from unbranded products to those which came with service guarantees at a slightly higher price. In the branded segment too, prices remained constant while products were being constantly upgraded. In the case of the company's software products and services, 10 per cent of the customers were in the domestic market.

Some of Cerebra's hardware stand out in the range made in the country. The company's desktop is custom-built according to the user's specifications. It is available in two basic commonly- used models that can be configured depending on user preferences. The desktops are manufactured at Cerebra's ISO 9002 certified factory, and each machine is a product made with great care that undergoes the most stringent quality control checks to ensure that a customer gets a PC that will meet his most demanding requirements. The Cerebra desktop has been rated by CHIP magazine as the best performer among competing brands including those of MNCs.

The Cerebra Mobile is a notebook packed with an amazing set of features and accessories. A built-in modem, floppy disk drive and CD ROM drive are all mandatory features. The configuration includes Intel Celeron or Pentium III processor, and the set come with Microsoft Windows 98 and antivirus software in a specially designed leather bag. The company's Network Monitoring product has won an award at the recent COMDEX expo held in Singapore.

Cerebra now has a network of 10 branches across the country and 450 channel partners offering its products. Branch offices have been planned at Nagpur, Chandigarh, Siliguri and at centres to be identified in Gujarat and the North East to expand the distribution network.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Tributes to Sivaji Ganesan
Next     : Hamstrung Bangalore police come under fire