Mumbai, June 8: Anand Deshpande is the managing director of Persistent Systems Pvt Limited, a decade-old Pune-based technology company. Persistent recently received investments from the Intel 64 fund and is the only company in the Asian region to have done so. The Intel 64 Fund is a $400 million fund set up by the Intel Corporation to make strategic investments in companies working on products based on the 64-bit Itanium processor to be launched by Intel later this year. Speaking to eFE Deshpande explains the nature of work Persistent has been into and the rationale behind Intel's investment. Persistent Systems was founded in May 1990 in Pune India and currently employs about 175 software engineers and computer scientists.What is Persistents's core area of activity?
The company's operations span three core areas - custom software development, database and directory products and consultancy services. We specialise in database servers, directories and Internet servers. Our clients include Microsoft, Informix, i2Technologies, Lucent and Veritas among others.
What is the specific area in which you plan to deploy the investments from Intel?
We have been identified by Intel to supply tools which will enable their customers to move from the 32-bit processor to the 64-bit one expected later this year. The Intel 64 Fund has invested in about 28 companies so far, all of which are engaged in producing products based on the Itanium processor. We have been identified as a company that can provide the tools to facilitate this transition. We are also into product development but these are not necessarily based on the 64-bit platform.
Which are the sectors most likely to adopt the Itanium processor first?
Sectors with huge memory requirements will be the first to adopt the 64-bit processor. These are likely to include e-commerce servers, database servers, graphics servers and the telecom sector.
How will this new set of customers help Persistent Technolgies move up the value chain?
We will identify the problem and then create solutions for these customers. We have moved up from simply delivering to specifications to actually identifying problems and then structuring solutions. It's a different value proposition altogether. We hope to garner revenues to the tune of Rs 26 crores by 2001. The company's turnover as of March 2000 stands at 15.5 crores.
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