Month in review
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The current economic pressures have put renewed focus on the critical role of data integration in business and technology consolidation
The Indian IT services sector was rocked by revelations of a huge fraud at outsourcing giant Satyam Computer Services. Chairman B Ramalinga Raju admitted he falsified more than $1 billion of business transactions, prompting a 70% plummet in its share price. Raju and two of his brothers were put under arrest, as well as the company’s CFO Srinivas Vadlamani. Chief delivery officer AS Murthy has been appointed as the company’s new CEO.
Redundancy announcements peppered technology news. German application maker SAP announced it is cutting 3,000 jobs – a move expected to save the company ?350 million – while Microsoft announced 5,000 lay-offs to counteract falling profits. Meanwhile, HP’s services wing EDS was hit by industrial action, as workers went on strike following its plan to shed 24,500 jobs; 3,378 in the UK.
Canadian communications giant Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection across two continents ahead of the publication of its year-end figures. In the third quarter of 2008, the company declared a loss of $3.4 billion. CEO Mike Zafirovski tried to reassure customers and partners that “Nortel is still very much in business and our commitment to customers remains unwavering. [Bankruptcy protection] will put Nortel on sound financial footing once and for all.”
Dell did its bit to push Ireland deeper into recession after announcing it was shutting down manufacturing in Limerick and moving its entire European server and PC-making capability to Poland. The closure is expected to immediately affect 1,900 workers.
Suffering from weight loss due to a “hormone imbalance”, Apple CEO and tech-industry messiah Steve Jobs took medical leave from the PC and iPod maker, revealing that his “health-related issues are more complex than originally thought”. Jobs plans to return in June, but has said that in the meantime he would continue to be involved in “major strategic decisions.” COO Tim Cook will take over the reins temporarily.
Enterprise search software firm Autonomy announced plans to acquire established web content management software vendor Interwoven for $775 million. UK-based Autonomy revealed the plan move just a day after posting annual revenue growth of 47%.
