TATA, Wipro eye $400 mn Target outsourcing deal

Source: Economic Times of India

4 Nov 2009, 0616 hrs IST, Pankaj Mishra & PP Thimmaya, ET Bureau

BANGALORE: India’s top tech firms Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and several others are pursuing Target’s captive technology centre for a potential acquisition, in what could be a transaction bundled with a long-term outsourcing contract worth $300-400 million. America’s second-biggest discount retailer Target has around 1,500 staff employed at its Bangalore centre, currently doing software development and maintenance work.

“We have been in discussions with them for the past few months and the dialogue is still open,” a senior executive at one of the tech firms exploring this transaction told ET on conditions of anonymity. “There is no conclusion yet about how this transaction can be structured, and it’s very early days,” he added. Both TCS and Wipro count Target as one of their top retail customers.

Some of the world’s top retailers, including UK’s Tesco and America’s speciality retailer Home Depot, have been outsourcing projects to Indian third-party service providers, including TCS and Infosys, apart from their own captive centres in order to support their existing IT systems and also develop newer applications. Tesco, for instance, saves over $100 million every year by outsourcing its IT projects to India, and primarily drives projects from its own captive in Bangalore.



Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/ites/TCS-Wipro-eye-400-mn-Target-outsourcing-deal/articleshow/5194473.cms

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Guess there are no Americans qualified to do this. :sarcasm:

...there's an entitlement mentality in a lot of our industries, IT being one of them.

It took 5,6, & 8 months for the company I work for to find 3 good web developers over the last 2 years. Problem was, there wasn't that much good talent out there, people blatantly lied on resumes & people were generally much less qualified than what we needed. The ones who were qualified truly expected to make 120-140k (not even lying), and these were people with 5-7 years experience and undergrad degrees. Really an inflated sense of self. And the market does NOT pay those wages, especially in Cincinnati.

So, we had a very hard time finding 3 people. The rest of the work- we just shipped to India- where the people are qualified, good people, and work for around $20 an hour. We're a global economy anyway, so...

It sucks, but we're pricing ourselves out of jobs, in a lot of cases, and not bringing much to the table...

and not to mention that the savings your company realizes are passed on to the American consumers who ultimately benefit.

economy? I have a bridge I would like to sell you if you think this story is truly as it is represented.

...to find qualified people in this economy.

Most people are unwilling o change jobs right now, unless they get a raise, and they have hunkered down in their positions.

I found, in the 30 or so interviews that I did, that only about 5 of them were qualified for the position. The rest (and a lot of them had lost their jobs)...not what they said they were...

Truth of the matter is, we had hired 2 that were let go early: 1 in a week, 1 in about a month in a half. They both misrepresented themselves in their interviews about what they knew. We get them in there...not so much.

And by the way, this job paid in the 90's. So there should have been more then enough qualified peopel out there.

By the way: Bangalore or Mumbai?

California :P

There is something wrong with your company or the job. My guess is that if you could not find someone in 2 years and then the people you like quoted such a high wage they probably thought your company was a sweatshop or does not appreciate it's employees.

I have done this before. Even when I was out of work, if in the interview it becomes obvious the company doesn't respect their employees I will quote a very high figure. I may decide to put up with a shitty boss with an attitude, but you'll have to pay for the privilege.

I suspect from your attitude you are likely a shitty boss, but it just hasn't clicked yet that you are the problem in your "story".

That is, if this is really even a true story.

Call BS...that's fine...

Or maybe we just have high standards when we hire people...?
And we're not a sweatshop. We're a company that you would know and like and love to work for.


It takes a long time to hire people in general, especially in a Fortune 100 environment. Now when dealing with IT, it's even harder because the talent is so scarce.

I don't have to prove my story either. Look at any major company hiring experienced technical people out there. Not an easy feat.

Sorry if you go through a lot of bad interviews. No one should put up with a shitty boss.

but it's an endless cycle -- 'mega-retailers' offer us cheaper products that stretch our paychecks -- and TAKE JOBS AWAY FROM US!!!

spare me the paycheck stretching cheap, ok?

It does contribute to charity every month, but we need jobs.