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 Topspin
Communications, a US-based technology start-up delivering the foundation
for a new utility data centre computing model, announced that it
is setting up a research and development (R&D) base in Bangalore,
India. Avtar Saini, former director South Asia for Intel will join
Topspin Communications as vice president Asia operations. During
his 22 years at Intel, Avtar led the Pentium processor design team
and later managed the development of the Itanium processor, Intel’s
first implementation of the 64-bit architecture. In 1999, he relocated
to India to set up the Intel India Development Centre, which is
the largest non-manufacturing site outside the US. With seven patents
to his credit Avtar’s core interest has always been in product
design.
“We are very excited to be adding an accomplished
industry veteran like Avtar to our team,” said Krish Ramakrishnan,
CEO of Topspin Communications.
“Avtar brings to Topspin a unique understanding
of product development, industry dynamics, technology roadmaps,
and strategic management issues. He is a tremendous asset to the
company and we look forward to having him as part of our core team
in Asia.”
Commenting on his retirement from Intel, Avtar
said, “What do you do when you have crossed a colossal mountain?
You look for the next one to cross. I am very keen to work with
India’s young technical talent; mentor them in working on
core product design work and build the made in India brand.”
“Topspin has tremendous potential to lead
the next wave of growth in the data centre with its unique virtualisation
fabric that enables on-demand computing and broad resource consolidation,”
said Avtar. “There is a demand for large-scale improvement
in the data centre, and Topspin has the solutions to meet that demand.
I look forward to working with Topspin’s first-rate management
and engineering teams to contribute to the next wave of product
development for the company.”
 Mahindra
British Telecom (MBT), the telecom software joint venture between
the Mahindra Group and British Telecommunications (BT) announced
the appointment of Sonjoy Anand as the chief financial officer.
Bringing over 20 years of experience in financial controls, business
unit operations, mergers & acquisitions activities and information
technology, Anand in his new role will be responsible for the finance,
legal and secretarial functions at MBT.
Anand was previously a senior executive with
ICI where, as finance director of their global catalyst business
Synetix, he played a key role in improving performance and the subsequent
successful divestment to John-son Matthey. He was also chief executive
of ICI India’s speciality materials business, where he was
responsible for a $50 million business with three manufacturing
sites and 500 staff.
He said, “At MBT one of the prime objectives
is to improve the company’s functional framework to enable
it to manage revenue increases effectively as existing business
grows and new contracts are secured. Critically MBT must ensure
that its flexibility and customer-centric approach—two key
attributes—are sustained and developed as expansion plans
roll out. A key area of focus will be to introduce performance management
systems and processes that enable us to grow profitably, while maintaining
our capability to offer tailored, relevant solutions that meet customer
requirements.”
John Helleur, CEO of MBT, said: “Sonjoy
brings us considerable financial acumen and broad general management
experience that will be crucial when managing the positive challenges
created by growth. His appointment will be pivotal to our future
success.”
A Chartered Accountant, Anand is a BA (Hons)
Economics from the Hindu College, University of Delhi.
Datamatics has inducted a former senior director
at SAP, Pradeep Sen, on its Board of directors. Designated as the
new executive director of datamatics, Sen will drive the company’s
business strategy. With over two decades of IT business experience,
he is focussed on steering the company towards higher value added
services. His experience includes senior executive positions with
reputed companies like IBM, HCL Technologies, Eicher Gooerath, and
Far East Computers.
During his stint at SAP and IBM, he won several
accolades for his business acumen and creating high performance
teams. Sen is a mechanical engineer from IIT Delhi.
Datamatics had earlier inducted veteran IT professionals
Sriram Srinivasan as president, global software delivery.
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