Tata Infotech to focus on overseas corporate training

With the domestic IT education training industry hit by the tech slow-sown, the Education Services Division of Tata Infotech Ltd - a Tata group company is beginning to take a serious look at specialized training for corporates in the overseas markets.

Rahul Thapan, Head- Education Services Division, Tata Infotech was in Pune for the `Mindspan' series of seminars held by the company in various parts of the country. He said that they were seriously examining the possibility of conducting specialised training for large corporates in the UK and US. "We see this developing as a major revenue stream for the company. There are higher margins in the business,'' he told. Talks are in progress with a number of companies and Thapan was confident of carving a niche in this market.

There is a downside to this story. Tata Infotech would be competing with existing local players in a tough market. But Thapan believes that they could emerge as a strong player since they would be looking at long term training programs for corporates."We are looking at revenues to the extent of 20 to 25 percent from this market," he said 

He agreed that while the first quarter saw a dip in admissions to various courses, this quarter had seen a reversal of trend. Tata Infotech currently has a presence in 35 metros and 100 non-metros with around 20,000 students on their rolls. Thapan was quick to point out they were in no rush to dilute the quality of education with a number of centres across the country.

Tata Infotech has 12 centers overseas. These include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, Vietnam, Philippines, Colombia and the Middle East.The number is expected to increase to 25 by the end of this financial year and 50 a year after that.

The Mindspan series of seminars which is held in 12 cities in India is an attempt to educate the youth to cope with the challenges and opportunities faced by young students. Students use this as a platform to address their concerns on the obsolescence on technologies, career guidance and the industry trends. The seminars will be extended to 25 cities in a year.

(CNS)