"With the start of the new management, that is with Mr Ashok Sand as the new CEO, there will be a shift in focus to areas besides technology to vertical market segments," says Mr Mukesh Pherwani project manager, Birla Technologies. The five verticals they will be concentrating on are telecom, e-learning, financial sector, insurance and in e-business applications for professionals (in association with Lawson, for whom Birla Technologies has been creating solutions).

In their first venture into the telecom arena they had developed IT solutions for the US-based SpectrasiteTransco, an infrastructure provider to mobile operators and the other operators in need of wireless communications. Currently, Birla Technologies is leveraging the competence to develop IT solutions in India for a large telecom company.

In the e-learning arena they had formed a partnership with the US-based Knowledge Mechanics. Birla Technologies will convert existing training materials into e-Learning usable formats for Knowledge Mechanics' clients.In the financials arena, Birla Technologies is developing a mother portal www.MyBSFS.com for Birla financial services. These financial services include Birla Global, Birla Securities and Birla Insurance. These services are currently independent in nature. The mother portal will provide a platform where an individual will be able to deal with any of the above mentioned financial services through one window. In the insurance arena Birla Technologies will develop IT solutions for BirlaSunLife and provide them with online transaction systems. Birla Technologies has a strategic tie up with Lawson Software, that powers e-business application in areas like financials services, professional services, retail, telecom, healthcare and utility. Mr Gul Gidwani, GM, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Birla Technologies says that in this sector Birla is prioritising the professional services.

In the specific sector Birla Technologies will provide project management software for tracking, simplifying and enhancing project management. They are also targeting management consulting, engineering consulting, software companies, advertising agencies, event management companies and accounting firms. In the next stage, they plan to look into retail, finance and healthcare.

Commenting on the change in strategy Mr Gidwani says "we are going away from the model of time and material towards a company executing projects in specified lines of business. Everything that we do in terms of tie-ups, in terms of our customer base and our business partners globally is focus on working towards these lines of business".