Computer Industry Update: 10/06/09

 

INTEL INSIDE INTELLIGENCE TOO
P P Thimmaya
The Economic Times (Bangalore edition)

Intel Technology India Pvt Ltd
Information Technology

2541
Employees

Bangalore
HQ Location

1:3.65
Gender Ratio (F/M)

10 %
Employee Turnover

If somebody walks into Intel India and looks for the enclosed chambers of top management, he would be sorely disappointed. Just like any other cubicle for employees, even the head of the organisation is seated in one. The sense of egalitarianism runs very strongly here giving flexibility and freedom to its employees to do what they choose, though the expectation is always to perform beyond the designated role.

R Ravichandran, sales director-South Asia, Intel says, “It is not what we make, but what we make possible.” This is facilitated by giving a great degree of flexibility to employees in doing what they are best at —be it growing a new business line, product category or even a promotion-driven activity.

Intel very clearly believes that none of its employees actually leave their personality at home and come to work. Hence, efforts are constantly driven towards assimilating the culture of Intel along with different kinds of personalities in the organisation.

Anish R , HR Director, South Asia, Intel, says that managing the ‘life requirements’ of employees is a big driving factor for them and all their activities are guided around this philosophy. Further, there is a strong emphasis on learning and growing within Intel. Intel’s belief is that 70% of the learning gets done on the job, 20% through networking and the remaining at the classroom. So there are many employees within Intel who are sent to various academic programmes on behalf of the company.

The culture at Intel has always been open with communication becoming very integral to the whole organisation. There are regular business update meetings every quarter, along with dissemination of corporate information worldwide giving enough clarity to the employees.

The company also has a strong emphasis on family, extra-curricular activities and volunteerism. For example, Intel recently held its ‘Rural Olympics’, which typically consisted of games that are played in India.

Anish says that the company even has a ‘Fresh Vegetables Buying Day’ at the campus. These extra activities are actually designed and chosen by the employees. Besides, it would not be unusual to see yellow large boxes being fixed at certain places in the Intel India campus. These are oxygen boxes, which may be used in case any employee has breathing problems.

But behind all this is the thoroughness on the part of Intel in selecting its employees. They very strongly look at the attributes of prospective employees, especially on how they would integrate within the company.

Ravichandran says that at every group in Intel, there are broad guidelines or deliverables set but the culture is always steeped in how they could make things bigger and better. The chipmaker also believes in fully equipping with various tools for its employees. For example, it provided laptops to all its employees much before they came into vogue.

At Intel, mobility is also a given and as Ravichandran says, there is a great degree of horizontal skill development which happens at Intel and the organisation actually encourages people to move across roles.

FUJITSU TO EXPAND PRODUCT PORTFOLIO IN INDIA
New Delhi
Business Standard  The Economic Times  The Hindu  

IT and communication solutions provider Fujitsu India today said it would introduce notebooks and desktops in the next 4-6 weeks as it looks to strengthen its presence in the Indian market.

"We would introduce a range of products in the next 4-6 weeks, including notebooks for the consumer segment. Though the initial focus would remain on the enterprise segment, we would also look at the consumer segment," Fujitsu India Chief Executive Officer Pallab Talukdar told reporters here.

The company, which is a part of Germany-based Fujitsu Technology Solutions, currently offers notebooks under the 'Lifebook' series for the corporate and 'Amilo' and 'Esprimo' for the consumer and enterprise users globally.

Fujitsu would also look at building its team in India. "We currently have about 60 people as a part of the India team and would definitely look at increasing that," Talukdar said declining to give specific numbers.

Talking about the Indian market, Talukdar said, "We have been here for 2-3 years and feel that this is the time to grow. The economic recession is a minor blip and figures by IDC and Gartner show that despite muted growth for IT products globally, the Indian market is projected to double itself in the coming years."

The Indian entity would also leverage services from Fujitsu Consulting, which is the company's service delivery arm servicing customers in the North American and European markets.

The company is aiming to increase its volume and enterprise solutions business by expanding its portfolio of servers, storage, desktops, notebook, workstations and peripherals in the Indian market.

"The focus would be on introducing products as well as offering services," he said.

Fujitsu Group has a presence in over 70 countries, including the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

CYPRESS LAUNCHES 2 PSOC
The Financial Express

US-based Cypress semiconductor corp having operations in Chennai introduced two new PSoC (Programmable System on Chips).

The new chips target a broad range of application including white goods, communications, industrial, automotive, electronics and other markets.

HANDS ON
Ashish Bhatia
Mint

An Apple of a buy
The all-in-one, 24-inch iMac is top of the line, for geeks and gawkers alike. Its refurbished graphics prowess makes it even more desirable.

The pros
This 11.5kg aluminium-bodied compact is spirited and sleek. The large (1,920x1,200) screen is great for viewing images and video from all angles. The 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor iMac, running Mac OS X 10.5.7, offers awesome display and blazing speed. Be it graphics-intensive Photoshop, video editing, aperture-style photo library management or gaming, the lean machine’s 512MB Nvidia GeForce GT 130 graphics card, 1TB 7200-rpm hard disk and 4GB of RAM make it a nippy performer. Lower configurations—2.66 GHz and 2.93 GHz Core 2 Duo CPUs—are also available. The RAM can go up to 8GB. Other graphics card options include Nvidia GeForce 9400M, GeForce GT 120, or ATI Radeon HD4850. The iMac comes with a slot-loading 8x SuperDrive (DVD/CD writer/reader), Wi-Fi (802,11a/b/g), Bluetooth, 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet, and 6 USB ports. There’s also a Mini DisplayPort video output, FireWire 800 port, internal 24-watt digital amplifier, built-in stereo speakers, camera, mic and headphone jack. The iLife ’09 software bundle contains iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand.

The cons
The puny (wired) entry-level keyboard, with numeric pad and Home-End/PgUp sections lopped off and super-squeezed direction keys, seems an awful, too-minimal mismatch. DIY hacks looking to augment the system later may be disappointed: They can only upgrade memory. The display is in a glossy, hence reflective, finish.

The verdict
An out and out high-quality product and impressive performer. Have moolah, must buy. Rating: 4.5/5