The Hindu Business Line : iSoft to transfer Torex work to Chennai centre

THE UK-based iSoft Group will shift the software product development being done by Torex PLC to its Chennai centre, following Torex's merger with iSoft last year.

Following this, about 170 Torex product developers will be transferred to other departments in iSoft's UK centre, Mr Ravan Boddu, Chief Executive Officer, iSoft, told Business Line.

"We do not have any intention to send away people. We do need them. However, I am not sure how many employees (product developers of Torex) will be with us following the transition. We will keep some (developers) as business analysts and as part of product business. Those employees will now report to Chennai centre, and not to UK," said Mr Boddu, who is in charge of iSoft's development centre in Chennai.

The transition will happen in the next two to three months. iSoft will identify products of Torex to be retained, and shift them to Chennai development centre. Later, Torex products will be integrated with those of iSoft's, he said.

In Chennai, about 100 employees would be recruited to support Torex products, he said. The intellectual property of Torex products would also move to Chennai, he said.

Torex, once iSoft's competitor in the healthcare information technology systems, has about 30 products. This include providing clinical, financial and information management solutions to hospitals, radiology units, labs, general practitioners, community care and large corporations. It also provides information technology maintenance and support services, and has over 2,500 customers across UK and Europe, he said.

The £700-million (Rs 5,500 crore) takeover of Torex was originally approved by UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which protects consumer interests, last year. However, an Australian rival launched an appeal, which held up the merger for six months. The merger was cleared by OFT a few days ago, but subject to iSoft agreeing to dispose elements of Torex laboratory business, he said. Isoft will sell its £2.1 million (Rs 15 crore) Laboratory Information Management Systems business (LIMS) to clear the deal, said Mr Boddu.

According to Mr Boddu, following the merger, iSoft's global employee strength is about 2,200. Before the merger, Torex had about 1,500 employees in UK, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland and Asia. iSoft has about 700 employees of whom 300 were in Chennai. iSoft will expand its Chennai centre by 650 employees in four to five months, and plans to invest about $100 million (about Rs 450 crore) in the next three years.