The Hindu : Wipro to transfer corporate connectivity business to Sify

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 17, 2002

Business

Business

Wipro to transfer corporate connectivity business to Sify

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI JULY 16. Information technology (IT) service provider, Wipro, has decided to quit corporative connectivity business. Consequently, Satyam Infoway (Sify) will acquire the nearly 200 corporate connectivity customers of Wipro Infotech for an `undisclosed price'.

The corporate connectivity service business had fetched Wipro a revenue of around Rs. 28 crores last year.

In lay terms, it means that corporate clients who have been using the Wipro network for connectivity services will henceforth be connected through the Sify network.

Wipro's existing corporate network customers would be able to run their business critical applications over Sify's mission critical backbone network covering over 200 cities across the country from 53 points of presence.

The agreement between the two companies provides for transfer of Wipro's corporate network customers together with the rights and liabilities under the service level contracts.

According to R. Ramaraj, Managing Director and CEO of Sify, the migration from Wipro to Sify network will take around three months. He assured that the migration would be done with minimum disturbance to the clients.

Bulk of Sify's revenue, 52 per cent to be precise, comes from corporate services. It has about 500 corporate clients.

The move by Wipro to pull out of corporate connectivity services is in line with the reorganisation of its business with focus on system integration.

Mr. Ramaraj made it clear at a press briefing here today that Sify was only acquiring Wipro's clients and not taking over the latter's assets/liabilities or network.

While declining to divulge the consideration for the clients' acquisition, Mr. Ramaraj said it hinged on a number of factors.

To a query, Mr. Ramaraj said getting the acquired clients seamlessly migrated would prove a challenge to Sify over the next three months. Once the migration was ensured smoothly, Sify, he said, would seriously consider how best to make these acquired clients look at other services provided by it.

The agreement with Wipro would see Sify saddled with priced clients such as Canara Bank, ITC, Haldia Petrochem, Mahindra British Telecom, Great Easter Shipping, Indian Railways, ICICI Home Loan Services and the like under its fold.

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