Overview on India's Software Industry

According to statistics, country's software exports reached total revenues of Rs 46100 crores.

The share of total Indian exports form 4.9 per cent in 1997 to 20.4 percent in 2002-03. It is

expected that the industry will generate a total employment of around four millions peoples,

which accounts for 7 per cent of India's total GDP as in the year 2008.

The year 1995-96 was a boom for the industry. The performance of the industry over the

years is as follows:

(In terms of US $ millions)

Domestic software Market490670920125017002450

Software Exports 73410851750265040006300

Indian Software Industry 122417552670390057008750

India's Software Exports:

Software exports has major share in India's total exports. As of the year 2004-05,

both software and services revenue grew by 32 percent to $ 22 billions and $ 28.5 billions in

2005-06.

According to NASSCOM, India's domestic market, grew by 24 per cent. Presently Indian

companies have concentrated on only two largest IT service markets. They are USA and the

UK. Even Canada, Japan, Germany and France represent huge growth potential in the

industry.

Why India?

Rapidly Improving infrastructure

Large Talent Pool Availability

Infrastructure High Quality Educat ional

Low Operaing Costs

R&D Strengths

Established Technology Clusters

Government Incentive

Progress of IT Industry 

(In terms of US $ billion)

Year2003-042004-052005-06*IT software and service exports9.212.015.2ITE-BPO

exports3.65.27.3Domestic market3.94.86.0Total16.722.028.5

*Estimated

Source: Ministry of Communications and IT.

1995-1996 - 1224 million US Dollars

1996-1997 - 1755 million US Dollars

1997-1998 - 2670 million US Dollars

1998-1999 - 3900 million US Dollars

1999- 2000 - 5700 million US Dollars

2000-2001 - 8750 million US Dollars

According to the NASSCOM- McKinsey report on the IT industry of India, the

projected revenue of the IT industry of India for the year 2008 is 87 billion US Dollars. The

projected exports or the year 2008, accord to this report, is 50 billion US Dollars.

Some of the important aspects of the NASSCOM- McKinsey report related to the size of

India's IT industry are -

There is potential of 3.2 million people being employed in the IT industry of India by the

end of 2012.

Contribution of software and services to the total GDP of India will be more than 7.5%.

FDI  (Foreign Direct Investment) of 10.5 billion US Dollars expected in the IT industry by

the end of 2011.

45% of total exports from India will be from IT exports.

225 billion US Dollars worth of market capitalization from ITshares.

Softwares and services are exported to bout 195 companies from India. North America

accounts for 61% of the software exports from India.

The projections about the size of India's IT industry present a very optimistic picture. The

industry is expected to grow to double its current size by the year 2012. India's IT industry

is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 18% in the next five years. The industry is

also expected to cross the 100 billion US   Dollar  mark by 2011. One of the major areas of

growth for the IT industry of India is by tapping the potential in the domestic market. The IT

industry of India is largely dependant on the export market. Penetrating more into the

domestic market would create further opportunities of growth for the IT industry.Adoption

of new liberal policies in India has given birth immense opportunities to its industries.

Success story of India's Software Industry is a step in the same direction.

The Software Industry, which is a main component of the Information technology, has

brought tremendous success for the emerging economy.

India's young aged manpower is the key behind this success story. Presently there are more

than 500 software firms in the country.

Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.3 Percent in 2010

Unseasonably Strong Hardware Sales in First Quarter Sets Up 2010 for Solid IT Spending

Growth Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $3.4 trillion in 2010, a 5.3 percent

increase from IT spending of $3.2 trillion in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc. The IT industry

will continue to show steady growth with IT spending in 2011 projected to surpass $3.5

trillion, a 4.2 percent increase from 2010.

"Following strong fourth quarter sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the

first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up

2010 for solid IT spending growth," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner.

"However, it's important to note that nearly 4 percentage points of this growth will be the

result of a projected decline in the value of the dollar relative to last year. IT spending in

exchange-rate-adjusted dollars will still grow 1.6 percent this year, after declining 1.4 percent

in 2009."

Worldwide computing hardware spending is forecast to reach $353 billion in 2010, a 5.7

percent increase from 2009 (see Table 1). Robust consumer spending on mobile PCs will

drive hardware spending in 2010. Enterprise hardware spending will grow again in 2010, but

it will remain below its 2008 level through 2014. Spending on storage will enjoy the fastest

growth in terms of enterprise spending as the volume of enterprise data that needs to be

stored continues to increase. Near-term spending on servers will be concentrated on lower-

end servers; longer-term, server spending will be curtailed by virtualization,

Computing hardware suffered the steepest spending decline of the four major IT

consolidation and, potentially, cloud computing.

"spending category segments in 2009. However, it is now forecast to enjoy the joint strongest

rebound in 2010," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner. "Consumer PC spending

will contribute nearly 4 percentage points of hardware spending growth in 2010, powered by

strong consumer spending on mobile PCs. Additionally, professional PC spending will

contribute just over 1 percentage point of spending growth in 2010 as organizations begin

their migration to Windows 7 toward the end of the year."

Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars)

Worldwide software spending is expected to total $232 billion in 2010, a 5.1 percent increase

from last year. Gartner analysts said the impact of the recession on the software industry was

tempered and not as dramatic as other IT markets. In 2010, the majority of enterprise

software markets will see positive growth.

The infrastructure market, which includes all the software to build, run and manage an

enterprise, is the largest segment in terms of revenue and the fastest-growing through the

2014. The hottest software segments through 2014 include virtualization, security, data

integration/data quality and business intelligence. The applications market, which includes

personal productivity and packaged enterprise applications, has some of the fastest-growth

segments. Web conferencing, team collaboration and enterprise content management are

forecast to have double-digit compound annual growth rates (CAGR), in the face of growing

competition surrounding social networking and content.

"Cost optimization, and the shifts in spending form mega suites to the automation of

processes will continue to benefit alternative software acquisition models as organizations

will look for ways to shift spending from capital expenditures to operating expenditures,"

said Joanne Correia, managing vice president at Gartner. "Because of this, vendors offering

software as a service (SaaS), IT asset management, virtualization capabilities and that have a

good open-source strategy will continue to benefit. We also see mobile-device support or

applications, as well as cloud services driving new opportunities."

The worldwide IT services industry is forecast to have spending reach $821 billion in 2010,

up 5.7 percent from 2009. The industry experienced some growth in reported outsourcing

revenue at the close of 2009, an encouraging sign for service providers, which Gartner

analysts believe will spread to consulting and system integration in 2010.

"We continue to see a long-term recession 'hangover' as a more-cautious mind-set continues

as the norm among a lot of buyers who keep looking for small, safe deals where cost take-out

is a key factor, said Kathryn Hale, research vice president at Gartner. "In the face of that

ongoing strong pressure to renegotiate contracts, and in the absence of equivalent pressure

from stockholders, we believe vendors will generally choose to maintain margins over

revenue growth."

Worldwide telecom spending is on pace to total close to $2 trillion in 2010, a 5.1 percent

increase from 2009. Between 2010 and 2014, the mobile device share of the telecom market

is expected to increase from 11 percent to 14 percent, while the service share drops from 80

percent to 77 percent and the infrastructure share remains stable at 9 percent of the total

market.

Worldwide enterprise network services spending is forecast to grow 2 percent in revenue in

2010, but Gartner analysts said this masks ongoing declines in Europe and many other mature

markets as well as an essentially flat North American market.

"Longer term, the global enterprise network services market is expected to grow modestly,

largely on the back of growth in Internet services, such as hosting," said Peter Kjeldsen,

research director at Gartner. "Ethernet services will also grow significantly, albeit at the

expense of both legacy services and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS)."

In India, the software boom started somewhere in the late 1990s. Most of the Indian software

companies at that moment offered only limited software services such as the banking and the

engineering software. The business software boom started with the emergence of Y2K

problem, when a large number of skilled personnel were required to fulfill the mammoth

database-correction demand in order to cope up with the advent of the new millennium

The profile of the Indian IT Services has been undergoing a change in the last few years,

partly as it moves up the value chain and partly as a response to the market dynamics. Ten

years ago, most US companies would not even consider outsourcing some of their IT projects

to outside vendors. Now, ten years later, a vast majority of US companies use the

professional services of Indian Software engineers in some manner, through large, medium or

small companies or through individuals recruited directly.

The market competition is forcing organizations to cut down on costs of products. The

professional IT services on the other hand are becoming increasingly expensive. The offshore

software development model is today where onsite professional services were ten years ago.

There is a high chance (almost a mathematical certainty), that in less than ten years, the vast

majority of IT services (software development being just one of them) from developed

countries, will be, one, outsourced and two, outsourced to an offshore vendor.

Despite the global economic slowdown, the Indian IT software and services industry

is maintaining a steady pace of growth. Software development activity is not confined to a

few cities in India. Software development centers, such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai,

Pune, Chennai, Calcutta, Delhi-Noida-Gurgaon, Vadodara, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Goa,

Chandigarh, Trivandrum are all developing quickly. All of these places have state-of-the-art

software facilities and the presence of a large number of overseas vendors. India’s most

prized resource is its readily available technical work force. India has the second largest

English-speaking scientific professionals in the world, second only to the U.S. It is estimated

that India has over 4 million technical workers, over 1,832 educational institutions and

polytechnics, which train more than 67,785 computer software professionals every year. The

enormous base of skilled manpower is a major draw for global customers. India provides IT

services at one-tenth the price. No wonder more and more companies are basing their

operations in India.

COMPANY PROFILE

Who We Are

A Vision of Excellence Given the mix of collective skills & experience, commitment to deadlines and a strong culture of Semaphore, Semaphore It Solutions has been able to grow at a pace of over 100% every year since inception. Semaphore It Solutions has ably adapted to the fast-changing business environment and customer expectations, and has built a 100 plus person-strong organization. Our formidable list of clients is testimony of our standing in the industry.

The company is supported by a dynamic second rung of consultants. In keeping with the current industry requirements, Semaphore It Solutions has developed a mix of professionals with domain and functional experience, who act as a like-minded sounding board to the customer - who could be an organization or a candidate. The educated approach provides a platform for the customer to identify the necessary competitive edge.

Semaphore It Solutions‘s team-based work culture ensures that employees have the opportunity to learn, develop new skills or pick up new competencies relevant for the company's growth.

Semaphore It Solutions respects the stringent expectations of highly competitive, new economy firms who value commitment and quality from their business partners. Semaphore It Solutions strives to meet their expectations and is proud to be associated with such clients.

What We Do

As any HR Manager knows, the most important resource of his/her organization is the Human resource - their core foundation and backbone. The scenario has become all the more complex in the last decade with global opportunities, rapid growth and extreme competition. Business needs and deliverables have evolved in a manner that demand flexible recruiting options. It is imperative that your organization has suitable processes in place for their proper functioning & work satisfaction levels.

Semaphore It Solutions is a one-stop solution provider who can help modern organizations to overcome their business challenges. Semaphore It Solutions understands the complexity of human resource issues presented by the ever-changing global economy.

We understand IT as an energy source to boost the business performance. Our products are designed to be reliable, scalable, flexible and able to withstand the pressures of day-to-day activities and in-house processes. With over two decades of man hours experience in delivering quality IT solutions and products through strategic services, Semaphore It Solutions Information Semaphore is perfectly placed to handle your technology requirements.

Semaphore It Solutions software delivery capabilities are driven by strong people support with diversified domain expertise and technical savvy people. Our people carry experience of working with Microsoft, Deloitte and many software giants.

You need to send the right message to your customers, suppliers, employees! Our content management experts will work one-on-one with you to devise the message that will exert the right impact.

Semaphore It Solutions offers your business the opportunity to take advantage of our tailor made solutions to drive your business momentum with a strong IT environment.

Whether you just need a number of features to be custom programmed in your existing application or an entirely new custom application, you can trust our experienced programmers to develop a state-of-the-art application targeted to your unique needs.

For the businesses that are flexible to adapt to the changing business environment today, our IT development support to strategize, develop and execute new initiatives, will be a great strength.

From providing system integration solutions, application development and management services and testing solutions, Semaphore It Solutions helps companies make the most of their IT investments. Our techno functional professionals understand your business flow of information to deploy applications that match your organization. Having options of onshore delivery model and off shore delivery model, you can have the application designed that accurately matches to your business.

Software Development - Custom application development tailored to the client’s specific business requirements. We deliver rich internet applications combining our solid cross-domain experience, technological expertise and an established development methodology.

Software Migration and Porting - Our migration services include porting applications to a new technology platform, database and server porting, data migration, standalone-to-web migration of legacy applications.

Software Reengineering and Enhancement - We provide reverse engineering of existing systems to understand their business functionality and technical architecture and introduce new/enhanced business logic and improved performance.

Software Audit and Testing - Independent software audit and testing of your web application including code reviews, functionality-to-requirements verification, GUI usability and HTML standards compliance testing and performance/security/stability testing.

Vision

With vision constantly focused beyond the horizons along with the competence to adapt to the changes in the IT world, we are committed to extract the best of innovative technologies that give best value from the resources employed.

Mission

"Semaphore It Solutions maintains a clear focus on providing cutting edge technology with the highest quality solutions, the greatest time and cost advantages to our customers to enable them to stay competitive

Quality

We are totally committed to our customers and their needs. In our quest for excellence, we review and improve our methods of activities to delight our clients. We have devised life-cycle activities with clear definitions of deliverables, standard methods of generating the deliverables and methods of verifying the Quality of these deliverables.

Development Approach

Semaphore It Solutions uses traditional application development methodologies to meet the needs of our customers. Specialized in Design, Implementation and Quality Assurance. And our services include turnkey software solutions and ongoing user support. We assist in right direction for your business to take toward efficient and automated computing. Our well experienced Developers help you in developing design, and customized solution for your business needs.

Feasibility Study

A Feasibility Study is performed at the initial request for service. This is a very high-level assessment of the requirements to:

Determine the customer's goals for the product to be developed or enhanced Determine the technical aspects of the project Estimate the resources required Identify additional hardware and/or software requirements Estimate costs of current vs. future operation related to the product to determine the

Return on Investment if applicable

Requirements Definition

During this phase, extensive analysis is performed to identify specific requirements of the request, which include:

Business Process Impacts and Drivers Functional Requirements Data Inter-dependency Communication Requirements (e.g., multi-site) Key Dependencies (e.g., Critical Dates to meet, Impact to other organizations)

At the end of this phase, the document is jointly reviewed with the customer to ensure it accurately reflects their needs

Hierarchy (Board of Directors)

Mr. Anil Agarwal – Chairman

Mr. Agarwal, who founded the Vedanta/Sterlite group in 1976, is our Chairman and was appointed to our Board of Directors in 1978. Based in the United Kingdom, he is also the Executive Chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc and the Director of BALCO, HZL, VAL. He has over 30 years of experience as an industrialist and has been instrumental in our growth and development since our inception.

Mr. Navin Agarwal - Executive Vice-Chairman

Mr.Agarwal was appointed to our Board of Directors in August 2003. His responsibilities include executing our business strategy and monitoring the overall performance and growth of our organisation. Mr Agarwal has been with the Company since its inception. He is also the Chairman of KCM and MALCO, Deputy Executive Chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc and Director BALCO, HZL, VAL.

Mr Navin Agarwal has over 20 years of experience in strategic management. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sydenham College, Mumbai, and has also completed the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard University.

Mr. Berjis Minoo Desai - Non - Executive Director

Mr. Desai, is a Non-executive Director and was appointed to our Board of Directors in January 2003. He holds a Masters Degree in law from the University of Cambridge and has been the managing partner of Messrs J. Sagar Associates since 2003. His expertise lies in laws relating to mergers and acquisitions, securities, international commercial arbitration and in financial and international business law. Before 2003, he was a partner at Messrs Udwadia, Udeshi & Berjis.

We also provide services for :

Graphic Design Logo Design Flash, Streaming Audio and Video Auction and Portal applications Corporate Identity Concept Design Software Development Quality Assurance Training Consultancy Services HR Process Outsourcing

Multimedia:

Multimedia presentations, is an ideal and most effective medium to launch new product range. Dazzling multimedia development in animation & Graphic, Animations, An ideal Presentation could include your company profile, products details and products or process animation to suit your needs your complete presentation authored on CD can be used in many fold ways.

SEMAPHORE offers effective Multimedia Solution and Design services, which helps to create or developing corporate identity. We provide complete rich multimedia design solution and Interactive CD presentation solutions using Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Director, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and many more.

The first step in creating successful Multimedia CD Presentation is to understand the clients requirements in detail. We have knowledgeable team who does in depth analysis of company goal, strategic business plan & their targeted audience. we manage Multimedia project from start to end including theme development, 3D introduction, design, programming, sound, voice-over everything you say about multimedia. The types of media presentation shown via CD presentation is :-

Corporate Presentation, Product introduction & presentation, Advertising reports, catalogue, testimonials, virtual galleries, Live animation, full motion high-quality video, sound, text, vibrant graphic artwork, graphic presentation, graphic illustration.

Your presentation can include voiceover, music, animation, video and a link to your website. SEMAPHORE can handle all aspects of your CD presentation like content development, professional voiceover talent, video, music, CD cover art and CD production etc.

Software Development

Semaphore offers a dedicated development model to our clients in which a software development team that is dedicated to a single client uses technology, tools, processes and methodologies unique to that client. Each dedicated development Centre is located at Semaphorefacility in India and is staffed and managed by the Company. Once the project priorities are established by the client, Semaphore, in conjunction with the client's IT department, manages the execution of the project. By focusing on a single client over an extended time frame, the dedicated development Centre team gains a deeper understanding of the client's business and technology and can begin to function as a virtual extension of the client's software team.

Semaphorededicated development centre bring a unique solution to technical resource requirements of organizations. Professionals in a dedicated development Centre are focused on a particular technology platform and business domain pertaining to a given Client. The knowledge assets acquired by the centre remain with it even while individuals move on to other activities. Clients assign projects to the centre, which assumes full responsibility of the assignment and delivers end-to-end solutions.

Microsoft .Net Technology :

Microsoft defines .Net as the strategy for connecting information, systems, and devices through Web services. .Net technology is integrated throughout Microsoft products. .Net technologies use Web services to help enhance the computing experience with highly integrated communications and

information.

Microsoft .Net is a platform comprising servers, clients, and services. It’s toolset consists of Visual Studio .Net, the Tablet PC, and the .Net My Services. Microsoft .Net was designed to address the customer needs about how applications will be built, deployed, and operated. Microsoft .Net was built for integration through XML Web services using protocols and file formats such as SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), WSDL (Web Services Description Language), and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration).

A Web service-based IT architecture can be developed and deployed with a set Microsoft.Net products and tools: servers, web services development tools, applications to use them. .NET technologies are supported throughout the family of Microsoft products, including the Windows Server System, the Windows XP desktop operating system, and the Microsoft Office System.

Though Microsoft has been claiming that .Net is about open and interoperable web services, when in the other opinion Microsoft is already making their web services closed and proprietary.

The main strong points of .Net technologies are:

Integrated toolset. Simpler programming model. Language neutrality.

Java Enterprise Edition:

The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2ee) defines the standard for developing multitier enterprise applications. Enterprise Edition (J2ee) defines a standard architecture that is delivered as the following elements:

Application Programming Model; J2ee Platform; J2ee Compatibility Test Suite; J2ee Reference Implementation.

The J2ee platform consists of standardized, modular components, by providing a complete set of services to those components, and by handling many details of application behavior automatically, without complex programming.

The J2ee platform takes advantage of many features of the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE), such as "Write Once, Run Anywhere" portability, JDBC API for database access, CORBA technology for interaction with existing enterprise resources, and a security model that protects data even in internet applications. Building on this base, the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition adds full support for Enterprise JavaBeans components, Java Servlets API, Java Server Pages and XML technology. The J2ee standard includes complete specifications and compliance tests to ensure portability of applications across the wide range of existing enterprise systems capable of supporting the J2ee

platform. In addition, the J2ee specification now ensures Web services interoperability through support for the WS-I Basic Profile. The Java technology is an open technology. The Java technology recognizes the network's heterogeneous nature and is supported on all the operating systems and chip architectures. A strict security model was designed into Java from the beginning. Java supports not only Web services, but also other kinds of services like wireless data services and services on demand. Java supports Web services technologies like XML, SOAP, and UDDI and was listed in an Evans Data Corporation Developer Survey as the number one tool used by developers to build Web services.

The main strong points of J2ee technology include:

A simplified architecture which is based on standard components, services and clients, that takes advantage of the write-once, run-anywhere Java technology;

Services providing integration with existing systems, including Java Database Connectivity (JDBC); Java Message Service (JMS); Java Connector Architecture (JCA); Java Interface Definition Language (Java IDL); the Java Mail API; and Java Transaction API (JTA and JTS) for reliable business transactions;

Scalability to meet demand, by distributing containers across multiple system and using database connection pooling, for example;

A better choice of application development tools and components from vendors providing standard solutions;

A flexible security model that provides single sign-on support, integration with legacy security schemes, and a unified approach to securing application components.

Quality Assurance

We operate a large, completely independent testing laboratory, with experienced full-time testing and QA specialists and managers with an unbiased view of IT. By employing Semaphore QA laboratory services, you will see if your project meets your initial requirements and the business needs of your industry, both in its current state and in perspective. We are also able to fully test product functionality, user-friendliness, performance, stability and many other aspects. Why wait to adjust software to make it client-friendly, bug-free and adequate to your business needs? While others are struggling to make it all work smoothly after the development process is over, our customers stay aware of potential problems and are able to eliminate problems on the fly.

We offer the following QA and testing services:

Software Testing

Complex Testing Service Functional Testing Technical Testing Installation Testing User Interface Testing

508 Standard Testing

Know types of Testing

Functionality Testing:Functionality testing is validating that an application conforms to its specifications and correctly performs all its required functions. During functionality testing, a range of inputs as test data is created and tests are performed to validate whether each feature conforms to the requirements provided by the customers or as per blue print.

Automated Testing:automated testing is the re-execution of a set of tests that have already been conducted to ensure that changes have not propagated unintended side affects. Automation is often used to reduce the time and resources to perform this type of testing. Source One uses state-of-the -art tools to perform automated testing.

Performance Testing:Performance testing evaluates the system's ability to meet the required performance levels in production environment. Scalability of the application is evaluated in addition to investigating how the performance of the application varies by load and usage. The limits of net-centric applications are tested in Stress Testing.

User Acceptance Testing:It is about determining whether the software is satisfactory to an end-user or client by testing the system against the requirements and validating that the system has delivered what was initially requested.

Product Qualification Testing:Product qualification testing validates whether the application looks and functions the same across all platforms, browsers, processors and configurations. We also test whether installation of the products is properly done or not. Localization/ Globalization Testing In this type of testing, software is tested for different locale and international settings so that the application/product functions in a consistent way in different geographical locations.

Usability TestingUsability testing evaluates the application on user friendliness. In addition, we also test whether all the links in the applications are functioning; whether the response times adhere to specifications and how well the information is organized in the user interface

Consultancy

SEMAPHORE Consulting focuses in empowering IT departments, be it an ERP services firm or an embedded tools development company. We provide resources for your permanent and contract staffing needs. We specialize in mass recruitment processes like walk in interviews, organizing written tests for fresher etc.. SEMAPHORE Team works closely with the clients to fully understand the job profile, business requirements and technical skills required in order to uncover the full scope of the position requirements.

SEMAPHORE Team provides the consultants (for Contract or Permanent Positions) with expertise in:

Application development and support

Business analysis

Content management

Data warehousing and analysis

Database design, administration, and maintenance

business and Web applications

Management consulting

Network design, implementation, administration, and support

Operating systems support

Project management

Project outsourcing

Software installation and implementation

Software quality assurance and testing

Systems integration and conversions

Technical writing and documentation