Date:21/08/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/08/21/stories/2004082102180700.htm

Back Covansys to beef up offshore talent base

Our Bureau

Chennai , Aug. 20

COVANSYS Corporation plans to end the year 2004 with an additional manpower of 850-900 in the country.

The company recruited about 450 in the first half of the year and plans to add another 400 in the second half, Mr Raj Vattikuti, Covansys' Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board, said in the recent announced quarterly financial results.

The expansion is based on the company's growing relationships with companies such as BearingPoint, PeopleSoft and Fidelity Information Services, which is a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, Inc, US, he said.

The US-based firm, Covansys, is a global provider of strategic outsourcing and integration services and has a strong offshore presence in the country. It employs over 3,200 professionals in India, with over 2,500 in Chennai and the balance in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Mr Vattikuti said, "We expect the expansion of our offshore (India) talent base and our strength in modernising legacy systems, in particular, to become increasingly important competitive differentiators for us as the need for these capabilities continues to grow."

Indian operations contributed 26 per cent of Covansys' total revenues of $94.1 million in the first half of 2004.

The company anticipates maintaining revenue generated by Indian operations in a range of 27 per cent to 30 per cent for the remaining of 2004 and continuing to drive to higher levels of throughput in 2005, said an official.