Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)--breaking barriers

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is an autonomous organisation, set-up by the Government of India under the Ministry of Information Technology. STPI has been started to facilitate development and export of computer software using data communication link, or in the form of physical media including export of professional services. It is a 100% export oriented scheme.

1. To establish and manage the infrastructural resources such as data communication facilities, core computer facilities,built-up space, common amenities, etc.

2. To provide services (import certification, software valuation, project approvals, etc.) to the users who undertake software development for export purposes.

3. To promote development and export of software and software services through technology assessments, market analysis, marketing segmentation, marketing support, etc.

4. To train professionals and to encourage design and development in the field of software technology and software engineering.

Formerly known as STP-Pune, the Pune-based Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) , was set up by the Government of India on 20th March ,1990 under the administrative control of the Ministry of Information Technology of Government of India. STP - Pune Complex was formally inaugurated in August 1990.

FACILITIES PROVIDED BY STP-PUNE
A . SoftLINK service
B. Value -added services

SoftLINK Services
SoftLINK has proved to be a viable option for small and medium sized export houses who have different clients located across the world. Today for IT organisations, along with skilled man power, accessibility over the Internet has become almost a necessity. Software Technology Parks Of India - Pune Offers SoftLINK services for Software Exporters in two ways :

1.STP-Local Area Network User (STP-LANU)
2.STP-Wide Area Network User (STP-WANU)

1. STP-Local Area Network User ( STP-LANU)
By availing this service, Datacom users will be a part of STP& #8217's Local Area Network (LAN).This service is provided from two Network Operation Centres (NOCs) as stated below:
I. At Kubera Chambers.
II. At MCCIA Chambers.

2. STP-Wide Area Network User ( STP-WANU)
This service will enable User to have STP Data Communication facility at their own premises through Microwave Link/any other possible Media. This facility is also provided from the three NOCs stated below:
I. At Kubera Chamber.
II. At MCCIA Chamber.
III. Earth Station Hinjawadi (International Gateway).

VALUE ADDED SERVICES
The following are the additional services provided to the SoftLINK customer:
1. IP Addresses to Customers (Limited Number)
2 .Primary or Secondary DNS service
3. Mail Relay Service
4. Consulting in Building the LANs, Obtaining the IP Addresses from APNIC (Asia/Pacific Network Information Centre) or Internet Network Information Centre (InterNIC).
5. Consulting in setting up Mail Servers, DNS Servers, assist you with questions regarding Network Security.

PUNE -EXPLORED VIRTUALLY
A city which is known as the Oxford of the East, Pune is situated at the Eastern foothills of the Sahyadri range of mountains within 48 kms of the highest peak. Pune has a moderate climate throughout the year. The environment in and around Pune is very conducive for software development. The city is better equipped with infrastructure than any other city in the country. There's enough land in and around Pune marked for setting up of industries. Pune offers another advantage in terms of availability of power. Unlike other cities it does not face any power shortage problem. In fact, some of the large software companies work without a dedicated backup power supply. Easy availability of power has been a major attraction for many software companies to come to Pune.

WIDESPREAD INDUSTRIALISATION
Pune is the base for major industrial units. It has led to an appreciation of professional management techniques and practices, a cosmopolitan culture and spread of IT usage in business. This has had an accelerating effect on the business climate in the city. There are about 384 software companies in Pune , out of which are large (over 100 developers), 50 medium size ( between 50 and 100 developers) and rest small software development companies. Pune boasts of the largest number of small software product development companies in the country .State of art telecom and datacom facilities are on the anvil. The city's telephone network runs on E-10B digital exchanges connected through optical fiber links. The existing earth station at Arvi near Pune has been connected to Mumbai for providing international link . STPI-Pune is coming with its on earth station, which will be made operational very soon. Pune as Centre of Education: Pune, aptly named as Oxford of the East, has a large number of educational institutes. Several of them offer graduate and post graduate courses in Information Technology. The annual output of IT trained students in Pune University is, of which 150 are post graduate and 450 are engineering graduates. Private training institutes supply another 3000 students. Taken together it represents a substantial supply of trained manpower. Pune also has the advantage of strong presence of defence establishments. There are a large number of Research and Development organisations of the national order. For example, the Centre for Development of Advance Computing (CDAC), the national initiative of Government of India for developing a parallel processing super computer, carries out R&D in the emerging areas of computing is based in Pune.

VICINITY TO MUMBAI:
This is an added advantage Pune is conveniently close to Mumbai which is the largest commercial centre and gateway to international trade also known as the financial capital of the country. Pune offers weekend relaxation centres with home 840 comforts only a coupleof hours drive through well developed highways. Pune is well connected by wide network of railway and airways making it easily accessible. Forging Pune's competence, recent initiatives: To exploit the potential of Pune as a leading centre of the software development business in India, new initiatives have been launched by various agencies. The Mahratta Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), is leading the campaign of making Pune a major IT center. For this purpose MCCI has constituted a software committee to sharpen the focus on software. The action has been initiated to forge a commercial link between the software and entrepreneurial communities in San Jose in USA and Pune.A common amenity centre called "Techie" for small software developers is on the anvil. The proposed centre will provide facilities for research, training, talent development and sourcing, product testing, consulting, and marketing initiatives. Procedures for software industry by Government agencies have progressively become very streamlined.

Software Industry in India
The software Industry in India is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Indian economy. Software has been identified as a thrust area by the Government of India for Exports as well as in the domestic sector. India, the world's largest democracy and home to nearly one billion people, is quietly but quickly emerging as a leader in the field of software engineering and web-based services. India's own competitive advantage in the software business is well-known: cost-effectiveness, world-class quality, high reliability, and rapid delivery, all of it powered by state-of-the-art technologies. It is a nation where more and more multinational companies are outsourcing their software requirements to retain competitive advantage.
The statistics
The Indian software industry, has zoomed from a mere US$ 150 million ten years ago to a whopping US$ 3.9 billion in 1998-99. No industry probably has done as much for the competitiveness of global corporations and, certainly, no industry has created as many millionaires in India in such a short span of time. In 1998-99, more than 203 out of the Fortune 1000, that's nearly one in five, outsourced their software requirements to India. And US customers bought almost 61 per cent of the software that Indian companies exported to 91 countries around the world. The ultimate tribute to the skill-base of the industry has already been paid by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who picked the Indian city of Hyderabad to house his company's first-ever development centre outside the U.S.A.
As per a recent analysis by McKinsey & Co., India is best positioned to offer competitive cross-border IT Services and enterprise IT solutions scoring high on multiple parameters of vendor sophistication as well as people sophistication. Is there a mystery behind this premium position? The geno-cultural factor could be India's mathematical tradition, inculcated in its people. But the more business-minded clients point to cost, speed, and delivery. According to international experts, ''Indian software companies have a unique distinction of providing efficient software solutions with cost and quality as an advantage by using state-of-the-art technologies, a very strong capacity to handle large projects, and, above all, the ability to execute them on time.'' For more information,

Contact: Software Technology Parks of India, Electronics Sadan - 2 MIDC Bhosari Pune -26 Website: www.stpp.soft.net.in