The Hindu Business Line : Infrastructure managed services is Sify's interest

SIFY Ltd on Friday said it is on the lookout for acquiring a company operating in infrastructure managed services space, having a strong client base in the US.

"We constantly look at acquisitions as part of our strategy for growth. We are looking at how to grow our business internationally. Infrastructure managed services is an area of interest for us," Mr R. Ramaraj, Managing Director and CEO of Sify Ltd, told reporters on sidelines of a conference to announce the opening of 2,000th iWay cyber café in New Delhi.

Infrastructure managed services refers to remote management of infrastructure, monitoring of the network and security services.

While tapping acquisition opportunities in this segment is something that the company is "working on," Mr Ramaraj said that Sify did not have any takeover proposals on the table at the moment. "We do not have any proposal on the table yet. We are still in the process of looking," he said.

Elaborating on Sify's requirements with regard to acquisitions, he said, "If a firm has a good base of clients in the US and no offshore wing, it could bring immediate value."

He declined to comment on the size of companies that Sify would target. "It is a priority for us to grow our international business. There are lot of resources we are doing organically. If anything comes that will catalyse this, we will leap at it," Mr Ramaraj added.

Sify recently acquired Chennai-based EAP Global, provider of information assurance consulting solutions. '

EAP Global, which offers services such as information security, business continuity planning and certification and accreditation services, was acquired along with its 40 employees.

Meanwhile, Sify opened its 2,000th iWay cyber café in Delhi. Of the 2,000 iWays, 34 are owned by Sify while franchisees own and manage the rest.

"We currently have cyber cafes in 64 cities and we plan to take it to 100-110 cities and then ramp up to cover 500 cities," he said, but did not give a timeframe for reaching the target.