UK firm Recreate Solutions bets big on Infocity unit

THE IT VALLEY - PART II

In a move which reaffirms the growing interest of information technology (IT) companies in setting up base in Gujarat, the London-based Recreate Solutions has set up a facility at the Creative Infocity in Gandhinagar.

The unit will develop customer relationship management (CRM) software for clients in the UK and US, in partnership with the Scotland-based company Miller Guthrie Technologies (MGT).

Recreate Solutions has appointed a team of 20-25 persons, who will be dedicated to prepare the CRM software called Brine, which will be on the Java platform.

According to Recreate Solutions, the Ahmedabad centre will bring in revenues of around Rs 1 crore in the first year of operation.

"We are partnering MGT in providing effective software solutions for its clients and will use the Gandhinagar base for the project. We have chosen Infocity as the project site because of the availability of good infrastructure and also because the project requires a dedicated team with no overlapping work," said Raj Parmar, chief executive officer, Recreate Solutions.

Parmar said all the 20-25 persons appointed for the Infocity project would be sent to the UK in two batches for training and familiarisation.

"I am happy and elated with the thousands of crores worth of promised investment made during the recent Vibrant Gujarat summit, but Recreate is the only company which had put its money on the table during the summit," he said.

Recreate Solutions is a leading provider of technology enabling services to the interactive television industry. It delivers solutions to some of the best-known interactive channel operators, video-on-demand service providers and broadcasters.

Parmar said Recreate Solutions operates in the core areas of interactive TV, mobile gaming and e-learning.

"While we have clients in the UK and US in interactive TV and mobile gaming, we have become e-learning partners for the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). In fact, we are doing digitalisation of the films that have been produced by FTII," said Parmar.

He, however, added that the Indian mobile gaming market is not mature enough as yet, although his company does mobile gaming solutions for both GSM and CDMA companies in the US and UK. In India Recreate has another offshore centre at Mumbai, with a staff force of 100.

The company uses a hybrid onshore-offshore development model to deliver enhanced value to clients.

The company provides an array of services from development and maintenance, to technology strategy and offers software technology requirements of a typical media and entertainment business, including broadcast, publishing, cable, production and other service providers.

Anil Mukim, managing director, Gujarat Informatics, who is also the additional principal secretary to the state chief minister, said: "Yes, it is indeed heartening that several IT companies are now moving to Gujarat. The state government has attempted to put in place the best possible infrastructure and other facilities required for the growth of the industry."

Mukim was confident that more IT companies will move into the state in the near future.