The Hindu Business Line : Thomson Corp in expansion mode

Hyderabad March 23 Information and workflow solutions provider, The Thomson Corporation, has announced its move to expand operations based in Hyderabad with a new facility at iLabs Centre, and expects to ramp this up to 1,000 people by 2009.

The $6.6-billion IT services company that operates in 37 countries, employing about 32,000 people, now plans to develop this centre to serve a host of areas including support for financial services and scientific research providing inputs for drug research and patents.

The Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice-President of The Thomson Corporation, Mr Robert D. Daleo, said that Indian centres based in Bangalore with about 2,200 employees and now Hyderabad fit well into the company's plans.

Research support

As a part of scientific research support, the company expects to induct about 250 scientists in Hyderabad and take this number to about 500 in both the centres. Typically, these researchers help drug researchers make informed decisions through well-documented patent information. These are available through its platform and services.

Mr Daleo said: "India has been an important element of Thomson's global network strategy. We are looking to this new centre to help us develop critical next generation technologies and products tailor-made for global markets."

The Indian centres would provide knowledge-based services to its businesses across areas including research, finance, accounting, technology and customer support, Mr Pradeep Lankapalli, Vice-President, Shared Services, Thomson, said.

The global software testing and development services market is on a growth curve and Thomson believes that it is strongly positioned to capture a substantial portion of this opportunity. The Hyderabad centre is in line with the company's focus to meet the growing demand for business and professional services.