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Relativity scouting for strategic tie-ups

M. Somasekhar

NEW DELHI, Dec. 24

ONCE bitten, twice shy. But in the case of IT whiz Mr Vivek Wadhwa of Relativity Technologies Inc it is not ``twice shy'', but greater enthusiasm for tie-ups with Indian IT firms to make big money.

Failure in his first venture with Ashok Leyland Information Technologies (ALIT) in an ``outsourcing'' operation out of Bangalore during 1994-96, has not deterred Mr Wadhwa. He is back in India scouting for a strategic alliance with the top three IT corpo rates, once again for ``outsourcing'' ventures.

This time around, Mr Wadhwa is well-armed with his software package called ``RescueWare''. This is a money spinner as it can convert the millions of lines of code written in now obsolete software languages of the 1980's and before. Using the software it is possible to use modern languages such as Java and XML, and up-to-date platforms in this rewrite process for the change from legacy to e-business marketplace.

The software converts the so-called legacy applications based on gigabytes of data pertaining to personnel, inventory details, business rules etc that are locked up in mainframes. Now, the money is in transforming this data and making it Web-enabled, sai d Mr Wadhwa.

``RescueWare'' itself is the result of a collaboration with a team of Russian computer scientists who were carrying out a re-engineering job. A team of 30 Russian scientists worked out the code to automate the translation of old code into modern platform s, Mr Wadhwa told Business Line.

The environment for conducting IT business in India has changed in the last five years. India has emerged as a big power in outsourcing jobs, especially IT-enabled services, says 43-year old, India-born Mr Wadhwa, whose $10 million capital was supported by more than 50 per cent by than Intel.

Relativity Technologies wants to partner Indian IT companies, arm them with the software and pitch for overseas jobs and execute them at highly competitive rates. NIIT Ltd has entered into a tie-up and has also invested in Relativity Technologies.

Relativity is already in talks with top Indian IT firms for strategic tie-ups, while it has forged collaborations with DSQ Software and is close to one with Silverline Technologies, Mr Wadhwa said.

The CEO has plans to raise upto $50 million to buy companies and grow rapidly. Mr Wadhwa is keen to buy out an Indian IT-services company, though he said no definite candidate has been identified. Relativity Technologies has earned revenues of $9 million s during 1999-2000 and expects to double every year.

But, the going for Relativity Technologies has not been all rosy. It has been forced to defer its IPO. Why? Because of the ``unfavourable'' market sentiments in the US, said Mr Wadhwa. Which could mean a slow down of his plans to grow rapidly.

Mr Wadhwa is optimistic that his partnerships with Indian IT companies will provide the right platform to exploit the European markets in addition to the strong US one.