17th Sept, 2009 – HCL Technologies Ltd. (HCL), a leading global IT services provider, entered into a five year Transformational IT Infrastructure Management engagement with Oncor to seamlessly connect and support Oncor corporate functions, grid management operations and numerous community- based field service centers located throughout Oncor’s service area.

Oncor operates the largest electric distribution and transmission system in Texas, delivering power to more than 3 million homes and businesses through approximately 117,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines. “With this new contract, HCL will be investing in both the utilities sector and in Texas, through the development of a worldwide Utilities Center of Expertise in Dallas.

The Center will research and develop technologies to help transform the way energy is generated, marketed and delivered to customers around the world, which fits Oncor’s leadership in advanced Smart Grid technology deployment,” said R Srikrishna, Senior Vice President and Head – Global Sales, HCL Infrastructure Services Division (HCL ISD).

HCL’s scope of work (SoW) will cover end user computing (service desk, desk-side services) for approximately 3,600 employees; datacenter and network Services, business continuity /disaster recovery and consulting services supporting Oncor’s IT infrastructure architecture and platform modernization projects. “Our client services delivery model utilizes local personnel for on-site support, which contributes to local job base stability,” said Todd Crandall, Senior Vice President and Global Head, Energy and Utilities Sector, HCL Axon. “This engagement clearly underlines our commitment and dedicated focus in Texas.”

Now this is interesting they are also utilizing local personnel and following the govt. guidelines as the part of Obama’s initiative to save jobs and reducing the loss of jobs due to off-shoring – great going. I believe it is necessary – Everything can’t be remote!

“In addition to IBM’s strong credentials, the team showcased excellent knowledge of our domain and was able to put us at ease from day one. We strongly feel that in order to provide the best customer service, it is imperative to be flexible and agile to the changing needs of the market place. The SAP solution, implemented by IBM, will allow us to do that.”

said Sanjay Jain, CFO, Star India.

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“We are delighted to have made in roads into the Media and Entertainment space in India. We strongly feel that this is a market with a lot of potential, although it is also one of the most competitive industries in the world. IBM offers an unmatched breadth and depth of services that drive business results for clients like STAR India, allowing them to strictly focus on their customers.”

Sandip Patel, Managing Partner, Global Business Services, IBM India/ South Asia remarked,

IBM Global Services works closely with over 2,200 organizations in India, spanning across varied industries, providing them diverse spectrum of IT services. 2008 saw the company signing up customers — small, mid-sized and large — across all the key industries and regions. This partnership will strengthen IBM’s leadership in the domestic IT services market and bring about significant Business Transformation engagements. This deal with Star India was signed in February 2009.

About STAR:

STAR is a leading media and entertainment company in Asia. STAR broadcasts over 60 television services in 13 languages to more than 300 million viewers across 53 Asian countries. STAR and its joint venture channels cover all genres including general entertainment (Star Plus, Xing Kong, Star Chinese Channel, Star World, Star One, Star Utsav, Star Jalsha, Star Pravah, Vijay, Asianet, Asianet Plus, Sitara, Suvarna, antv, Phoenix Chinese Channel), sports (ESPN, Star Sports, Star Cricket), movies (Star Chinese Movies, Star Chinese Movies 2, Star Gold, Star Movies), music (Channel [V]), and news and current affairs (Star News, Star Ananda, Star Majha, Phoenix InfoNews Channel).

STAR controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming and also owns the world’s largest contemporary Chinese film library, with more than 600 titles, featuring superstars including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and Bruce Lee. In partnership with leading companies, STAR businesses extend to filmed entertainment, television production, cable systems and distribution, direct-to-home services, terrestrial TV broadcasting, wireless and digital services. STAR is a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation. www.startv.com

About IBM:

For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.

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