INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Information technology is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data, often in the context of a business or other enterprise. The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with information technology, such as computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and computer services. In the business context, the Information Technology Association of America has defined information technology (IT) as "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems" The business value of information technology is to automate business processes, provide information for decision making, connect business with their customers, and provide productivity tools to increase efficiency. In an academic context, the Association for Computing Machinery defines it as "undergraduate degree programs that prepare students to meet the computer technology needs of business, government, healthcare, schools, and other kinds of organizations .... IT specialists assume responsibility for selecting hardware and software products appropriate for an organization, integrating those products with organizational needs and infrastructure, and installing, customizing, and maintaining those applications for the organizations computer users. Examples of these responsibilities include the installation of networks; network administration and security; the design of web pages; the development of multimedia resources; the installation of communication components; the oversight of email systems; and the planning and management of the technology lifecycle by which an organizations technology is maintained, upgraded, and replaced." Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC, but the term "Information Technology" in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Leavitt and Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)." Based on the

storage and processing technology employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC 1450 AD), mechanical (14501840),

electromechanical (18401940) and electronic (1940-present).This article focuses on the most recent period, (electronic) which began around the year 1940.

HISTORY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The back-story of information technology precedes the invention of the computer. The abacus, used by Asians, Egyptians, Romans, and the Greek can be termed a source of information technology. Calculators, the first mechanical one built by German polymath Wilhelm Schickard, or the slide rule, developed in 1622 by William Oughtred, also comes under the heading of information technology. Another example would be punch card machines, expanded upon by IBM in the early to mid 1900's, qualifies the term information technology. The basic concept of Information Technology can be traced to the World War II alliance of the military and industry in the development of electronics, computers, and information theory. After the 1940s, the military remained the major source of research and development funding for the expansion of automation to replace manpower with machine power.

DATA STORAGE
Early electronic computers such as Colossus made use of punched tape, a long strip of paper on which data was represented by a series of holes, a technology now obsolete Electronic data storage, which is used in modern computers, dates from the Second World War, when a form of delay line memory was developed to remove the clutter from radar signals, the first practical application of which was the mercury delay line. The first random-access digital storage device was the Williams tube, based on a standard cathode ray tube,but the information stored in it and delay line memory was volatile in that it had to be continuously refreshed, and thus was lost once power was removed. The earliest form of non-volatile computer storage was the magnetic drum, invented in 1932 and used in the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first commercially available general-purpose electronic computer.

Most digital data today is still stored magnetically on devices such as hard disk drives, or optically on media such as CD-ROMs. It has been estimated that the worldwide capacity to store information on electronic devices grew from less than 3 exabytes in 1986 to 295 exabytes in 2007, doubling roughly every 3 years.

DATABASES
Database management systems emerged in the 1960s to address the problem of storing and retrieving large amounts of data accurately and quickly. One of the earliest such systems was IBM's Information Management System (IMS), which is still widely deployed more than 40 years later. IMS stores data hierarchically,[22] but in the 1970s Ted Codd proposed an alternative relational storage model based on set theory and predicate logic and the familiar concepts of tables, rows and columns. The first commercially available relational database management system (RDBMS) was available from Oracle in 1980. All database management systems consist of a number of components that together allow the data they store to be accessed simultaneously by many users while maintaining its integrity. A characteristic of all databases is that the structure of the data they contain is defined and stored separately from the data itself, in a database schema. The extensible markup language (XML) has become a popular format for data representation in recent years. Although XML data can be stored in normal file systems, it is commonly held in relational databases to take advantage of their "robust implementation verified by years of both theoretical and practical effort". As an evolution of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), XML's text-based structure offers the advantage of being both machine and humanreadable.

DATA RETRIEVAL
The relational database model introduced a programming language independent of Structured Query Language (SQL), based on relational algebra.

The terms "data" and "information" are not synonymous. Anything stored is data, but it only becomes information when it is organised and presented meaningfully. Most of the world's digital data is unstructured, and stored in a variety of different physical formats even within a single organization. Data warehouses began to be developed in the 1980s to integrate these disparate stores. They typically contain data extracted from various sources, including external sources such as the Internet, organised in such a way as to facilitate decision support systems (DSS).

DATA TRANSMISSION
Data transmission has three aspects: transmission, propagation, and reception. XML has been increasingly employed as a means of data interchange since the early 2000s, particularly for machine-oriented interactions such as those involved in web-oriented protocols such as SOAP, describing "data-in-transit rather than ... data-at-rest". One of the challenges of such usage is converting data from relational databases into XML Document Object Model (DOM) structures.

DATA MANIPULATION
Hilbert and Lopez identify the exponential pace of technological change (a kind of Moore's law): machines' application-specific capacity to compute information per capita roughly doubled every 14 months between 1986 and 2007; the per capita capacity of the world's general-purpose computers doubled every 18 months during the same two decades; the global telecommunication capacity per capita doubled every 34 months; the world's storage capacity per capita required roughly 40 months to double (every 3 years); and per capita broadcast information has doubled every 12.3 years. Massive amounts of data are stored worldwide every day, but unless it can be analysed and presented effectively it essentially resides in what have been called data tombs: "data archives that are seldom visited".To address that issue, the field of data mining "the process of

discovering interesting patterns and knowledge from large amounts of data" emerged in the late 1980s

INDIAN IT INDUSTRY
The Information technology industry in India has gained a brand identity as a knowledge economy on the global map. . According to the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), the apex body for software services in India, the revenue of the IT sector has grown from 1.2 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in FY 1997-98 to an estimated 5.5 per cent in FY 2007-08. The net value added by this sector, to the economy, is estimated to be 3.3 to 3.9 per cent for FY 2007-08. Direct employment in Indian IT-BPO crossed the 2 million mark, an increase of about 389,000 professionals over FY2007; indirect job creation is estimated at about 8-9 million.

MAJOR IT HUBS
Rank City Description Popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India and leading software 1 Bangalore exporter from India. Bangalore is considered to be a global technology hub of India. Chennai is a major destination of India and is the BPO hub of India. Chennai has the largest operations centers of TCS, and CTS. The Financial capital of India, but recently many IT companies have established offices. The National Capital Region comprising Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida are clusters of software development. Major Indian and International Firms present in Pune. Pune is also C-

Chennai

Mumbai

Delhi

Pune

DAC Head-Quarter. One of the largest cities in India, Kolkata contributes significantly to IT exports. The capital of Kerala, now houses all major IT companies including Oracle, TCS, Infosys, and contributes in IT export of India

Kolkata

Thiruvanathapuram

BIG FOUR IT SERVICES COMPANY

Firm

Revenues Employees

Fiscal Year

Headquarters

TCS

$10.17 billion

254,076

2012

Mumbai

Wipro Infosys HCL Technologies

$7.30 billion 140,569 $7.00 billion 153,761

2012 2012

Bangalore Bangalore

$4.3 billion 85,335

2012

Noida

HCL INFOSYSTEMS LTD.

HCL Infosystems is India's premier information enabling company. Leveraging its 28 years of expertise in total technology solutions, HCL Infosystems offers value-added services in key areas such as system integration, networking consultancy and a wide range of support services. HCL Infosystems is among the leading players in all the segments comprising the domestic IT products, solutions and related services, which include PCs, servers, networking products, imaging & communication products. Continuously meeting the ever increasing customer expectations and applications, its focus on integrated enterprise solutions has strengthened the HCL Infosystems' capabilities in supporting installation types ranging from single to large, multi-location, multi-vendor & multiplatform spread across India. HCL Infosystems, today has a direct support force of over 2000+ members, is operational at 300+ locations across the country and is the largest such human resource of its kind in the IT business. A majority of the team members have been specially trained in a variety of supporting solutions, the company's key focus area. HCL Infosystems' manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001 - 2000 & ISO 14001 certified and adhere to stringent quality standards and global processes. With the largest installed PC base in the country, four indigenously developed and manufactured PC brands - 'Infiniti', 'Busybee' 'Beanstalk' and 'Ezeebee' - and its robust manufacturing facilities; HCL Infosystems aims to further leverage its dominance in the PC market. It has been consistently rated as Top player in PC industry by IDC .The 'Infiniti' line of business computing products is incorporated with leading edge products from world leaders such as Intel. A fully integrated and business-ready family of servers and workstations, the 'Infiniti Global Line' is targeted at medium and large companies to help them to manage their enterprise-related applications. It has considerable dominance in verticals like Finance, Government, and Education & Research.

The Channel Business of HCL Infosystems has an extensive network of over 2500+ resellers across 300 locations. It has actively promoted the penetration of PCs in the home and the small

office/home office (SOHO) segments, through Beanstalk, Ezeebee & Busybee PCs and Toshiba Laptops.

HCL Infosystems has two focused business units. While HCL Infosystems concentrates on the IT products, solutions and related services business, HCL InfiNet focuses on the rapidly growing communication and imaging products, solutions and services industry. HCL InfiNet, with a presence in more that 35 cities, has the ability to service around 250 cities in its catchment area. It provides corporate networking services like Virtual Private Network, Broadband Internet Access, Hosting & Co-location services, designing & deploying Disaster Recovery Solutions & Business Continuity solution, Application Services, Managed Security Services & NOC Services over its state-of-the-art IP network to over 200 corporates. With the Office Automation (OA) Division being part of it, HCL InfiNet now has an exclusive sales and support partnership with Toshiba Corporation, Japan, for its photocopier products. The product portfolio covers a range of other office automation and communication products through alliances with world leaders - including Duprinters from Duplo, data projectors from InFocus, Telecommunication solutions from Samsung and Ericsson and mobile communication products from Nokia. HCL Infinet Ltd. has a strong and dedicated retail network of Nokia Professional Centres, Nokia Priority Dealers and Re-distribution Stockist across the country. HCL has closely seen the IT industry rise from scratch, and has actively participated in its progress. During the twenty-eight year journey, it has picked up valuable lessons in serving the IT needs of the Indian customer and gathered domain expertise to successfully service various businesses. As a leading information enabler, HCL Infosystems has long standing relationships with world technology leaders such as SUN for enterprise computing solutions, Intel and AMD for PCs & PC Servers; Microsoft, Novell and SCO for operating systems and software solutions; Toshiba Corp. for business automation equipment; SAP AG for specialist ERP solutions; and Oracle, Sybase and Informix for RDBMS platform, EMC, Veritas for storage solutions. The aim

is to straddle the entire landscape of information enabling technology far more comprehensively, effectively and competitively. Indeed, a vision to create enterprises of tomorrow.

CHAIRMAN & CEO'S PROFILE Ajai Choudhry

An engineer by training, Ajai Chowdhry is one of the six founder members of HCL, India's premier IT enterprise. HCL, a start-up in 1976, touched Rs.11,000 crores for the last 12 months. Ajai Chowdhry took over the reins of HCL Infosystems, the flagship company of the group, as President and CEO in 1994. He was appointed the Chairman of HCL Infosystems in November 1999. Under his stewardship, the company's turnover has grown to Rs.7783.6 crores in 2004-05 from Rs.400.6 crores in 1994. With employee strength of over 3600, it has emerged as country's leading information-enabling powerhouse.

Ajai has been a key force in driving the growth of HCL Infosystems. The credit of setting up

HCL's overseas operations, starting with Singapore in 1980, goes to him. During this tenure he extensively covered South Asian Markets including Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the People's Republic of China, expanding business operations, which paved the way towards enhancing HCL's core competencies in bringing the best international technologies to domestic market.

Driving the thrust on IT, Telecom and Imaging, Ajai perceives the role of his company as that of enabling information. Credited with providing momentum to key IT phenomena - within the company as well as in the industry - he has constantly added newer and cutting edge technology skills to the company's portfolio. Under his leadership, several new projects have been undertaken in the company that have had a lasting impact - getting into IT retailing, spearheading the company wide Quality movement, and the very recent low cost PC initiative and IT for masses are some examples. An absolute stickler for customer focus, he himself spends significant time, personally listening to customers. Ajai sensed an emerging opportunity early in telecom and imaging category and today HCL Infosystems is poised to exploit this opportunity to offer a richer bouquet to its customers. It is a recognition of his visionary status that Ajai was part of the IT Hardware Task Force, set up by the Prime Minister of India to give shape to the country's IT strategy. Ajai has repeatedly championed the cause of improving PC penetration in the country. He has worked closely with many Government bodies to take IT for masses agenda forward. Presently he is part of several government committees to take forward the course of IT and Hardware in India. He was awarded with 'IT Man of the Year' by The Skoch Consultancy and 'Best IT Man of the Year' by The Foundation of Indian Industry and Economists. Ajai also addressed CII's flagship hardware event 'India e-Hardware Summit 2004' at Hyderabad as a keynote speaker recently. Ajai has a bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering, and attended the Executive Program at the School of Business Administration at the University of Michigan, US.

Ajai is an avid reader and is fond of Jazz and the fine arts. He and his wife Gita live in New Delhi.

HISTORY
HCL Infosystems Ltd is one of the pioneers in the Indian IT market , with its origins in 1976. For over quarter of a century, we have developed and implemented solutions for multiple market segments, across a range of technologies in India. We have been in the forefront in introducing new technologies and solutions. The highlights of the HCL saga are summarized below:

YEAR

HIGHLIGHTS

- Foundation of the Company laid 1976 - Introduces microcomputer-based programmable calculators with wide acceptance in the scientific / education community

- Launch of the first microcomputer-based commercial computer with a ROM 1977

based Basic interpreter - Unavailability of programming skills with customers results in HCL developing bespoke applications for their customers

1978

- Initiation of application development in diverse segments such as textiles, sugar, paper, cement , transport

1980

- Formation of Far East Computers Ltd., a pioneer in the Singapore IT market, for SI (System Integration) solutions

1981

- Software Export Division formed at Chennai to support the bespoke application development needs of Singapore

- HCL launches an aggressive advertisement campaign with the theme ' even a typist can operate' to make the usage of computers popular in the SME (Small & Medium 1983 Enterprises) segment. This proposition involved menu-based applications for the first time, to increase ease of operations. The response to the advertisement was phenomenal.

- HCL develops special program generators to speed up the development of applications

- Bank trade unions allow computerisation in banks . However , a computer can only run one application such as Savings Bank, Current account , Loans etc.

- HCL sets up core team to develop the required software - ALPM ( Advanced Ledger Posting Machines ) . The team uses reusable code to reduce development efforts and 1985 produce more reliable code . ALPM becomes the largest selling software product in Indian banks

- HCL designs and launches Unix- based computers and IBM PC clones

- HCL promotes 3rd party PC applications nationally

- Zonal offices of banks and general insurance companies adopt computerization

- Purchase specifications demand the availability of RDBMS products on the

1986

supplied solution (Unify, Oracle). HCL arranges for such products to be ported to its platform.

- HCL assists customers to migrate from flat-file based systems to RDBMS

- HCL enters into a joint venture with Hewlett Packard 1991

- HP assists HCL to introduce new services: Systems Integration, IT consulting, packaged support services ( basicline, teamline )

- HCL establishes a Response Centre for HP products, which is connected to the HP Response Centre in Singapore.

- There is a vertical segment focus on Telecom, Manufacturing and Financial Services

- HCL acquires and executes the first offshore project from IBM Thailand 1994 - HCL sets up core group to define software development methodologies

- Starts execution of Information System Planning projects

1995

- Execution projects for Germany and Australia

- Begins Help desk services

- Sets up the STP ( Software Technology Park ) at Chennai to execute software

1996

projects for international customers

- Becomes national integration partner for SAP

- Kolkata and Noida STPs set up 1997 - HCL buys back HP stake in HCL Hewlett Packard

1998

- Chennai and Coimbatore development facilities get ISO 9001 certification - Acquires and sets up fully owned subsidiaries in USA and UK

1999

- Sets up fully owned subsidiary in Australia

- HCL ties up with Broadvision as an integration partner

- Sets up fully owned subsidiary in Australia

- Chennai and Coimbatore development facilities get SEI Level 4 certification

- Bags Award for Top PC Vendor In India 2000 - Becomes the 1st IT Company to be recommended for latest version of ISO 9001 : 2000

- Bags MAIT's Award for Business Excellence

- Rated as No. 1 IT Group in India

-Launched Pentium IV PCs at below Rs 40,000 2001 -IDC rated HCL Infosystems as No. 1 Desktop PC Company of 2001

-Declared as Top PC Vendor by Dataquest

2002

-HCL Infosystems & Sun Microsystems enters into a Enterprise Distribution Agreement

- Realigns businesses, increasing focus on domestic IT, Communications & Imaging products, solutions & related services

- Became the first vendor to register sales of 50,000 PCs in a quarter

- First Indian company to be numero uno in the commercial PC market

2003

- Enters into partnership with AMD

- Launched Home PC for Rs 19,999

- HCL Infosystems' Info Structure Services Division received ISO 9001:2000 certification

- Launches Infiniti Mobile Desktps on Intel Platform

- Launched Infiniti PCs, Workstations & Servers on AMD platform

- 1st to announce PC price cut in India, post duty reduction, offers Ezeebee at Rs. 17990

- IDC India-DQ Customer Satisfaction Audit rates HCL as No.1 Brand in Desktop PCs

- Maintains No.1 position in the Desktop PC segment for year 2003

- Enters into partnership with Port Wise to support & distribute security & VPN solutions in India

- Partners with Microsoft & Intel to launch Beanstalk Neo PC 2004 - Becomes the 1st company to cross 1 lac unit milestone in the Indian Desktop PC market

- Partners with Union Bank to make PCs more affordable, introduces lowest ever EMI for PC in India

- Launched RP2 systems to overcome power problem for PC users

- Registers a market share of 13.7% to become No.1 Desktop PC company for year 2004

- Crosses the landmark of $ 1 billion in revenue in just nine months

GUIDING PRINCIPLES
QUALITY POLICY "We deliver defect-free products, services and solutions to meet the requirements of our external and internal customers, the first time, every time"

OUR OBJECTIVES OUR MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES To fuel initiative and foster activity by allowing individuals freedom of action and innovation in attaining defined objectives. OUR PEOPLE OBJECTIVES To help people in HCL Infosystems Ltd. share in the company's successes, which they make possible; to provide job security based on their performance; to recognize their individual achievements; and help them gain a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from their work.

Core Values

We shall uphold the dignity of the individual We shall honor all commitments We shall be committed to Quality, Innovation and Growth in every endeavor We shall be responsible corporate citizens

ALLIANCES & PARTNERSHIPS

To provide world-class solutions and services to all our customers, we have formed Alliances and Partnerships with leading IT companies worldwide. HCL Infosystems has alliances with global technology leaders like Intel, AMD, Microsoft, Bull, Toshiba, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Ericsson, nVIDIA, SAP, Scansoft, SCO, EMC, Veritas, Citrix, CISCO, Oracle, Computer Associates, RedHat, Infocus, Duplo, Samsung and Novell. These alliances on one hand give us access to best technology & products as well enhancing our understanding of the latest in technology. On the other hand they enhance our product portfolio, and enable us to be one stop shop for our customers.

Recent Updates
HCL & Nokia decide on longer term strategy to further penetrate Indian market

Gist of Q&A with callers/ investors/ shareholders on the announcement relating to the long term Agreement with Nokia Toshiba in partnership with HCL Infosystems expands its retail presence in India by unveiling 'shopToshiba' HCL forms a strategic alliance with Bull to launch a new range of Scalable Enterprise Class Servers on Open Architecture AMD & IT Ministry unveil affordable computer to promote 50x15 vision in India.

HCL ADVANTAGE
HCL Infosystems ( HCLI) draws it's strength from 29 years of experience in handling the ever changing IT scenario , strong customer relationships , ability to provide the cutting edge technology at best-value-for-money and on top of it , an excellent service & support infrastructure. Today HCL is country's premier information enabling company. It offers one-stop-shop convenience to its diverse customers having an equally diverse set of requirements. Be it a large multi-location enterprise, or a small/medium enterprise, or a small office or a home, HCLI has a product range, sales & support capability to service the needs of the customer. Last 29 years apart from knowledge & experience have also given us continuity in relationship with the customers, thereby increasing the customer confidence in us. Our strengths can be summarized as: - Ability to understand customer's business and offer right technology - Long standing relationship with customers - Pan India support & service infrastructure - Best-vale-for-money offerings

TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP
HCL Infosystems is known to be the harbinger of technology in the country. Right from our inception we have attempted to pioneer the technology introductions in the country either through our R&D or through partnerships with the world technology leaders.

Using our own R&D we have - Created our own UNIX & RDBMS capability (in 80s) - developed firewalls for enterprise & personal system security - launched our own range of enterprise storage products - launched our own range of networking products We strive to understand the technology from the view of supporting it post installation as well. This is one of the key ingredients that go into our strategic advantage. HCL Infosystems has to its claim several technology pioneering initiatives. Some of them are: - Country's first DeskTop PC - BusyBee in 1985 - Country's first branded home PC - Beanstalk in 1995 - Country's first Pentium 4 based PC at sub 40k price point - Country's first Media Center PC

QUALITY

Philosophy of Quality

"We deliver defect-free products, services and solutions to meet the requirements of our external and internal customers, the first time, every time."

To exist as a market leader in a globally competitive marketplace, organizations need to adopt and implement a continuous improvement-based quality policy. One of the key elements to HCL's success is its never-ending pursuit of superior quality in all its endeavors. HCL INFOSYSTEMS believes in the Total Quality Management philosophy as a means for continuous improvement, total employee participation in quality improvement and customer satisfaction. Its concept of quality addresses people, processes and products. Over the last 20 years, we have adapted to newer and better Quality standards that helped us effectively tie Quality with Business Goals, leading to customer and employee satisfaction.

QUALITY AT HCL INFOSYSTEMS LTD

The history of structured quality implementation in HCL Infosystems began in the late 1980s with the focus on improving quality of its products by using basis QC tools and Failure Reporting and Corrective Active Systems (FRACAS). We also employed concurrent engineering practices including design reviews, and rigorous reliability tests to uncover latent design defects. In the early 90s, the focus was not merely on the quality of products but also the process quality systems. Our manufacturing unit at NOIDA was certified initially to ISO 9002:1994 by BVQI in 1994 and later on to ISO 9001:1994 in 1997. As of now, all our manufacturing units are certified by BVQI as per ISO 9001:2000 In early 1995, a major quality initiative was launched across the company based on Philip B. Crosby's methodology of QIPM (Quality Improvement Process Management). This model was selected to because it considered the need and commitment by an organization to improve but more importantly, the individual's need towards better quality in his personal life.

Under our Quality Education System program, we train our employees on the basic concepts and tools of quality. A number of improvement projects have been undertaken by our employees, whereby process deficiencies and bottlenecks are identified, and Corrective Action Projects (CAPs) are undertaken. This reduces defect rates and improves cycle times in various processes, including personal quality. Our certifications / awards in 2003 include ISO 9001-2000 by BVQI for our InfoStructure Services and award of First Prize by ELCINA (Electronic Component Industries Association) for Quality, 2002-03. The ELCINA award criteria considers two aspects. (1) Enablers (Leadership & Management commitment, Resource Management, Product Realisation, Measurement Analysis & Improvement) and Results (Product Quality, Customer / Stake holder satisfaction , Business results). The tryst for continuous quality improvement is never-ending in HCL Infosystems. We always strive to maintain high quality standards, which help us fulfill our mission to provide world-class information technology solutions and services, to enable our customers to serve their customers better.

MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVE
To fuel initiative and foster activity by allowing individuals freedom of action and innovation in attaining defined objectives.

PEOPLE OBJECTIVE
To Help HCL Insys people share in the companys success, which they make possible; to provide job security based on their performance; to recognize their individual achievements and to help them gain of satisfaction and accomplishment from their work.

CORE VALUES
It uphold the dignity of individual. It honour all commitments. It is committed to quality, Innovation and growth in every endeavor. It is responsible corporate Citizens.

MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY LEADERSHIP

Shiv Nadar Founder HCL, Chairman and CEO HCL Technologies Ajai Chowdhry Co-Founder HCL, Chairman and CEO HCL Infosystems J V Ramamurthy Chief Operating Officer HCL Infosystems Ltd Vineet Nayar President: HCL Technologies
Ranjit President and CEO of the HCL Technologies (BPO)

HCL MILEAP X: THE AFFORDABLE LAPTOP HITS THE INDIAN MARKET

HCL is now on the centre stage of attraction in the Indian PC industry ones again with the announcement of Mileap X range of low cost laptops which they prefer to call Leaptops. It is expected to be a giant Leap for the company who is not so much popular in Indian laptop industry dominated by international giants. There is a popular Zen Saying that Leap and the Net will Appear So HCL is decided to Leap ahead and they hope the net will appear . India is witnessing a real hike in sales of laptop computers for the past two years . Gone the days when the laptops where considered to be only for the rich and the famous. Now the average Indian computer buyer think twice before buying a desktop. For a Small office home office user a laptop is always a better bargain because the cost of computer at home and at office can be now more than the cost of a single laptop.

HCL s decision to bring out a laptop computer that cost only Rs14,000 was welcomed by the Indian computer industry with mixed reactions. It got the same news value as the much hipped about TATA Nano one lakh car.

This is technical and business review on the HCL Mileap X series of Leaptop which hit the Indian market on this republic day, and in general serve as a single point of reference for laptops from the basic history of laptops to latest trends.

Leap X series is a Linux based low cost version of the HCL family of leaptops which is surly an upgrade from from your PDA or smart mobile that is available in our market. It is not recommended for a serious computer user with lot of files to store , or a graphic designer . But surly it gives the value for money at Rs. 14,000 + taxes .

At a cost lower than your high end mobile phones that remains as fancy equipments when it come to real computing , MiLeap has strong reason to be in your business carry bag. First of all it is handy compared to bulky wide screen laptops (which will never fit in to an ordinary mans lap).

Even though the micro computing industry is active from early 80s in the developed countries ,it hit our market only by early 90s.We has to wait till end of 90s to see the computer as a common gadget uses by normal business and home. So it is quite obvious that the portable computing segment was also a latecomer in our market.

Initially the use of portable computer was limited to an expensive ego booster that catch the eye and help to make an impression in a business meeting.. The real portable computing applications as it is used in the western countries was not applicable to Indian scenario. We cant

expected to use our expensive laptops in busy metro rails , trams or buses. It was really prone to all kind of environmental tortures including heat, dust and humidity. Because of this these gadgets never left the comfort of their owners desktop and really did not serve the job of a portable computer.

The major fact that refrained a typical computer user from the laptop machines was the cost. In late 1990s a typical IBM ThinkPad will cost more that 150 thousand Rupees and a desktop with similar configuration cost around 40 thousand.

So majority of Indian users stay loyal to their desktops and did not show much interest in the laptop segment. The situation changed as the price came down and when laptops are available at sub- 50k price segment. The popularity of laptops in India is mainly attributed the new segments of IT related workers who telecommute a lot wish to extend their job to the non-business hours too. Slowly the laptops emerged as a serious business equipment which is indispensable to a working professional. The main hindrance yet was the lack of proper connectivity, but the boom of broadband connectivity and wi-fi support added the popularity of laptop systems in India.

The main segment that suffered from these revolution is a the small scale system integrators operating in small towns throughout the country. 100 % of the laptop industry is branded and there is no scope for a typical system assembler to compete against it. Naturally this segment was not happy with the new trend of invation of laptop into the desktop market and resisted this trend to some extend for their customer.

After the introduction of sub 30,000 laptops in to the industry , laptop sales gain momentum and an average customer was attracted to this segment. Now it is estimated that the share of laptop is one third of the whole segment.

Now with, laptop price is competitive to the price of a desktop with a TFT monitor it is all set to start a laptop revolution in India.

ROLE OF HCL

When coming to the point of succeeding in a business , the knowledge of local market is very important. India is a vast country which is a blend of so many cultures together . Most of the MNCs find a hard time understanding this market and so commit so many wrong decision which were based on a marketing expert from abroad. Being an Indian company HCL has many advantages on this industry. Established in 1976 when the Indian IT industry is in a nascent stage or not even properly formed , HCL is backed up by the industry knowledge of so many up and downs in this industry.Industry see the growth of HCL from a glorified assembler to a real computer company over these years. Being one of the first company in the IT industry in India they have strong root to even the remote townships in India, were as a MNC will focus its activities in Metros only HCL is deep rooted to small towns also with a large chain of distributors. In 1990s beginning when the computer industry begin to gain momentum in India , the common name in computing industry is HCL itself with their Busy Bee series of 486 machines. The HCL-HP alliance supplied the Busy bee series to all the major markets in India.

Apart from the hardware field , they offer software, training, networking, telecom, and peripherals to the industry establishing them self as one of the total solution providers for the Indian IT industry and has deep rooted influence in banking , insurance and Government sectors of this country. So it is quite natural that when Intel look for a local partner for marketing their classmate family of Low priced student PCs to India , they will end up in HCL.

HCL MILEAP

MiLeap X series is a Linux based low cost version of the HCL family of leaptops which is surly an upgrade from from your PDA or smart mobile that is available in our market. It is not recommended for a serious computer user with lot of files to store , or a graphic designer . But surly it gives the value for money at Rs. 14,000 + taxes . At a cost lower than your

high end mobile phones that remains as fancy equipments when it come to real computing , MiLeap has strong reason to be in your business carry bag. First of all it is handy compared to bulky wide screen laptops (which will never fit in to an ordinary mans lap).

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF MILEAP X

The technical specifications of HCL MiLeap X is that of the Intel classmate PC it self. It runs on a Intel Celeron Mobile processor ticking at 900 MHz enough for a normal customer with moderate computing requirements like internet and text editing .

Running on a motherboard with Intel 915GMS chipset. 512 Mb of DDR 2 memory which is comparable to any decent machines available . It has a 7 inch Wide TFT which is offering a resolution of 800 X 480 which will be fine for a small form factor LCD. Just like any laptop it features a build-in Speakers and Mic. And also provides a headphone jack. Build in network interface (RJ-45) and wireless Ethernet support ( 802.11 b/g ) ensures that you are connected to the world. SD card Slot make it easy to download your pictures from camera or mobile. Two high speed USB ports are part of it. Expected battery backup is 4 hours in Idle condition as HCL is claiming. And it will be available in Indian market in three colour choices , cool blue, rich black or hot pink.

HCL MILEAP X: OPERATING SYSTEMS AND APPLICATION SOFTWARES.

The original classmate has three choice for operating systems. It is Windows XP professional , Mandriva Discovery 2007 Linux or Metasys Classmate 2.0. HCL has made it clear that the X series will be a LInux based product. The Linux will take 500 MB from the 2 GB flash drive in contrast to the 1 GB required by the windows XP. Open Office will be naturally included for your business needs

MILEAP X USABILITY AND FEEDBACK

The blue protective cover makes this tiny piece of electronics almost shockproof and make it ready for the road. But it also gives a toy look to the product too. If you don't like that casing it can be detached from the leaptop and make your leaptop even thinner.

This model contains a 30 GB hard disk drive instead of a 4 GB Flash drive. It is a nice move but I will be happier I get the hard disk on the same price tag of Rs. 14,000. This product is convenient for a person who do a lot of commuting and want to spend his time productively.

HCL Mileap X Series Laptops

Made for indian environment the HCL MiLeap X Series ultra-portable range of Laptops sports and a unique dustproof, shock-proof and durable design and they are powered by 900 MHz Intel Celeron M ULV Processor 353, with 512 KB L2 Cache and upto 400 MHz Front Side Bus featuring Mobile Intel 915GMS Express Chipset Motherboard, 512-MB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM (Max. upto 2 GB in 2 slots) and removable 2-GB Flash Drive for data storage.

The RS. 13,990

ULTRAPORTABLE

HCL MILEAP X

SERIES LAPTOP

also offers option

for internal 2.5-inch hard drive in various capacities which would comes at extra cost.

This revolutionary new range of Ultra Portable MiLeap Laptops is targeted at consumer who needs to stay connected, informed, entertained and productive-anytime and anywhere. The laptop is designed lightweight and small in size making it convenient for use at all sorts of places like in home, gym, trains, bus, planes etc. where a larger size laptop might feel inconvenient.

Company claims the HCL MiLeap Series of Ultra Portables are uniquely suitable for Women and School Children due to its sleek and ultra light design.

The new HCL MiLeap X series laptop offers 7-inch (17.78 cm) WXGA Widescreen TFT LCD display powered by integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA 900 Graphics chipset with 8-MB dedicated memory offering maximum 800 x 480 pixels screen resolution in 16.7 million colors.

HCL MiLeap X series laptop, also being talked about as HCL Nano, does not sport any option for built-in Bluetooth, integrated optical drive (CD/DVD) or integrated webcam. HCL has also announced a MiLeap Y Series which provides enhanced features.

Weighing just about 1.4 kgs, the HCL MiLeap X Series ultra-portable Laptop PC is also equipped with integrated Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Network 802.11a/b/g LAN connection and it sports integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN connection. The ultra-portable laptop does not sports any built-in fax/modem card.In addition, the laptop offers 2 USB v2.0 fast ports for wired connectivity and also features a standard IEEE1394 expansion slot.

The HCL MiLeap X Series ultra-portable Laptop PC comes with Linux OS with limited functionality preinstalled and upgrading it to Microsoft Windows XP or Vista would require extra RAM and bootable internal hard drive all at extra cost.

The HCL MiLeap X Series laptop is equipped with Intel High Defination Audio hardware and build-in Stereo 2 stereo speaker system 1.5 Watts each and the laptop also features 4-in-1 Media Card Reader supporting Multimedia Card (MMC), Memory stick (MS), Secure Digital Card, and MS-PRO media cards.

According to HCL, Leaptop MiLeap X Series laptops are designed to be a eco-efficient consumer and business notebooks, and are fully compliant with the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive.

Ports on HCL MiLeap X Series Laptop PC

2 USB v2.0 ports IEEE1394 FireWire Port RJ-45 LAN Port 10/100 Mbps RJ-11 Fax/Modem Port External MIC Input External Audio Out VGA Port 15 Pin D-Sub 4-in-1 Media Card Slot PCMCIA Slot

ULTRA-PORTABLE LAPTOP FEATURES HCL MILEAP XSERIES

Intel Celeron M ULV Processor 353, 900 MHz 512 KB L2 Cache, 400 MHz Front Side Bus Mobile Intel 915GMS Express Chipset Motherboard 512-MB DDR2 SDRAM, 533 Mhz, Max. upto 2 GB (2 slots) 2-GB Flash Drive, option for 2.5-inch internal hard drive 7-inch (17.78 cm), WXGA Widescreen TFT LCD Display, 800 x 480 pixels screen resolution Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA 900 Graphics chipset with 8-MB dedicated memory Integrated WiFi 802.11a/b/g LAN connection Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN connection

 4-in-1 Media Card Reader, Multimedia Card (MMC), Memory stick (MS), Secure Digital Card, MS-PRO 2 USB v2.0 ports Touchpad with 2 button Intel High Defination VIA Vinyl AC 97 Audio Hardware Build-in Stereo 2 stereo speaker system 1.5 Watts each Linux with limited functionality preinstalled Dimensions: WxDxH 244 x 191.2 x 35.4 mm Li-Ion Battery pack, 4 Hrs backup

Weight: 1.44 Kgs (with power pack) 900 gms (without power pack) The HCL Leaptop MiLeap X-Series Ultra-Portable cheapest Laptop powered by Intel Celeron M ULV Processor with 2-GB flash drive storage is available in India for Rs. 13,990 (including 4% local tax) and comes with one year standard HCL warranty. Most expensive version of MiLeap X-Series laptop would perhaps be priced at INR 16,990 which comes with 40/80 GB 2.5-inch internal hard drive.