Wednesday, August 13, 2008

INTEL, NASSCOM INITIATIVE FOR SOFTWARE COS

Shamik Paul, Bangalore
The Hindu Business Line
Chip-maker Intel Corp said on Tuesday that it has, in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), launched the Nasscom-Intel Product Connect, an initiative to provide technology and business benefits to Indian software companies.

A part of Intel’s Software Partner Program, the initiative would provide strategic planning and insights into Intel’s technology roadmaps, tools to speed up software design process and sales and marketing assistance, the company said.

The programme is open to any software company that develops a commercially viable application on Intel platforms or technologies, Intel said.

This comes at a time when the Indian software product industry is poised for disruptive growth, with Nasscom predicting annual aggregate revenue for the industry to be between $9.5 billion and $12 billion by 2015.

Intel too would gain from the growth in the software industry. Increase in software products would correspondingly mean an increase in the company’s hardware business, said Scott Harrison, Director, Partner Programs Organisation Developer Relation Division, Intel.

There are many software companies who try to align their product launches with Intel’s hardware product launches so that they can ride the wave, said Narendra Bhandari, Director, Asia Pacific, Software & Solutions Group, Developer Relations Division.

The initiative would provide tools that can speed up the software design process. Companies can connect with other software developers through online developer communities. They can also get advice from Intel engineers.

Companies would also receive marketing and sales assistance. They would get partner recognition logos from Intel.