Infosys Technologies, the second largest software exporter and IT services provider in India, has declared that the firm has set up a new data hub in Melbourne in Australia. Confirming the report, Mr. John Lenders, ITC Minister of the Victorian Governments, disclosed that already the Indian IT firm has employed 90 of the 100 personnel it is contemplating to engage by April 2010.
Quoting Infosys Australia CEO Jacqueline Korhonen, a trade website states that the generating the new jobs was a part of the company’s plan to expand its operations in Australia keeping in view the growing requirement for outsourcing services in this continent nation. Korhonen said that the company was making a total investment of $8 million Australian dollars in the new data center to sustain the increasing demand from their clients for their assortment of cloud services, including procurement, HR and other operations. Infosys Australia CEO pointed out that the firm had recently won several contracts from Victoria-based businesses that were seeking to become more viable in the ever more cutthroat international market.
In fact, the new data center in Melbourne is a part of Infosys Technologies’ continuous growth stratagem. It may be mentioned that in June 2009, the company had joined hands with EDS to enter into a $450 million contract for five years with Australian telecom firm Telstra for maintenance and application development. Earlier, in April 2009, Infosys had introduced a systems integration practice and consulting for the Australia-New Zealand region.
Meanwhile, another report says that more and more Australian companies are now eager to outsource their IT operations to India. While Qantas Airways was the first to take an initiative in this direction and followed up by Westpac Banking Corporation, National Australian Bank and ANZ, now St. George Bank of Australia is also contemplating to shift its BPO services to India. Presently, St. George Bank employs 80 personnel at its collection office in Kogarah and it is apprehended that all these people will be axed when their jobs are outsourced to India. Similarly, Qantus Airways is shifting around 300 IT jobs to India despite opposition from the labor unions since the company feels that Australia lacks the type of expertise required for advancing the airlines’ systems.