Is Quality Software Development a Science or an Art?

The software industry treats it as a science. It uses processes like MRDs, PRDs, and functional specs to convert customer needs into software that solves their problems. Various roles like product managers, engineering managers, project managers, architects, and programmers work together to drive the process like an efficient machine. Programmers are usually referred to as software engineers, but unlike mechanical, civil, and other kinds of engineers, software engineers don’t have any certification process or formal requirements. In fact, technically, software engineers aren’t engineers at all.

Many famous people in the field recognize programming as an art. Good code isn’t a commodity that’s just pumped out – it’s composed like a novel or music. Good software is created from good code using a good development process.

I’d argue that quality software is a melding of the two views – that software development is both a science and an art.

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Web Development Projects - Development of Real Estate Website

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 22605947

Category : Web Design and Development, Database Development Services

Title : Development of Real Estate Website

Total Requirement : To add a new feature "Search by map" real estate website

Description :

We are India based looking for service provider to add feature “search by map” on our real estate website, maps should be like yahoo or Google maps and linked with our database. Service Providers can use assembly language, MS SQL or we are also ready for the best technology that can be used for same. Approximate budget for this project is 200 USD and 10% will be paid in advance and balance amount after completion of work. Interested service providers are requested to contact us as soon as possible with their proposal and quotes

Budget Estimate : Up to 200 USD

Country : India

Status : Closed

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75% of Local web design companies ignore disabled people

Simpleweb a Bristol(UK) based web design and development specialist, recently discovered that over 75% of local web design companies have websites that are not accessible to the visually impaired or people with disabilities.

Mark Panay, MD of Simpleweb Ltd, revealed how he and colleagues tested hundreds of websites from web design companies offering website solutions that should be accessible to people with disabilities, but the majority of the time were found to be severely lacking.

"Out of the 200 websites that we checked we found that more than 75% didn't validate with W3C compliance (correctly made websites), with approximately the same percentage again not passing any of the current web based accessibility tests. We find this very disheartening for the current wave of websites being built for small businesses and their potential users."

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Made in IBM Labs: First IBM Software Development Lab in Malaysia

IBM (NYSE: IBM) has announced its first software development lab in Malaysia. The lab will help accelerate the creation of products for IBM's Tivoli Netcool software group that focuses on the communications service providers.

The lab builds upon IBM's deep R&D commitment focused on the designing and developing first-of-a-kind solutions that respond to customers' computing challenges. There are currently 120 software engineers working in the lab with plans to increase by another 30 in 2008.

"The software development lab highlights Malaysia's role as an important location to help fulfill our global research, development and business strategy," said Ou Shian Waei, Managing Director, IBM Malaysia. "As a globally integrated company, we are committed to drawing on locally established skills and talent to create value for clients worldwide."

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Software Project - Freelancers with Software Development and Web Designing Experience

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 21157167

Category : Software & Technology, Web Design and Development

Title : Freelancers with Software Development and Web Designing Experience

Description:

We are Sweden based looking for some experienced freelancers doing Software Development and Web Designing. We have a bulk of projects and we require freelancer with following skills C / C++, VC ++, C#, Dot Net, MS SQL, Oracle with experience in project management. We are looking for a long term relationship with approximate budget is around 200 to 500 USD per month and payment will be done by pay pal. Interested service providers are request to contact us as soon as possible with their profiles.

Budget Estimate :200 to 500 USD

Country : Sweden

Status : Closed

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Web Development Projects - Web Development with some Net Suite Customization

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 20188010

Category : Web Design and Development

Title : Web Development with some Net Suite Customization

Description :

We are India based company looking for service providers for our requirement of web design having experience with Net Suite. We have a website which we need to redesign, all the Designs and contents are ready for the website, service providers have to just put all the contents in the templates then integrate and customize Net Suite, database design and some other things as per our design. Payout would be between 500 to 1000 USD which will be made after completion of work. Interested service providers are requested to contact us with their profile as soon as possible.

Budget Estimate : 500 to 1000 USD

Country : India

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The Best Web Design Comics

Many web designers are also closet comic-book nerds.

Andy Clarke came out of the closet at Web Directions South earlier this year when he spoke about finding inspiration for web design in comic book art.

I’ve noticed that a lot of other geeks have not only been embracing their love for comics, but writing their own. In fact, when a web designer or developer with a creative streak turns his or her hand to drawing comics, it can produce very interesting results. More than just a lunchtime distraction, comic strips about our profession can lead to insights about how and why we do what we do. Plus, keeping oneself abreast of what is happening in our industry includes not only knowing what people are talking about, but what they’re laughing about.

Seeing as a Google search for the terms “web design comic” or “tech comic” either throws up nothing or just a bunch of rubbish, I thought I’d post my favourite comics about web design. I don’t pretend it’s an exhaustive list — I’m hoping you’ll help me out by listing your own favourite geeky comics in the comments.

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Software Project - Real Estate Management Software

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 41270691

Category : Software & Technology

Title : Real Estate Management Software

Description:

We are India Based looking for Software developers to develop our Real Estate management software with source code. We want application to be developed in VB (Visual Basic) with database as Ms SQL within time frame of 45 days. Approximate budget for this work is above 1000 USD and 10 % will be paid in advance. Interested service providers are requested to contact us as soon as possible with their quotes and proposal

Note - That software will be sold in the market only by us, developer do not have any right to sale.

Budget Estimate :1000 USD

Country : India

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IBM Opens Up Jazz-Based Collaborative Development

IBM has recently made Beta 2 of its evolving software development collaboration tool broadly available from its Jazz.net site.

IBM's new Rational Team Concert Express is expected to make it easier for development teams to work together writing software and better track changes and contributions more efficiently, according to reports.

The earlier June beta was available only to IBM customers, academicians and partners, while the latest release is said to be available to everyone.

However, IBM officials pointed out that the end product will not be, “strictly speaking, an open-source play.” The final Concert Express product, to be available later this year, will be a commercial for sale product, according to Scott Hebner, vice president of marketing and strategy for Rational group at IBM

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Software Project - E - Commerce related embedded system design

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 45538509

Category : Software & Technology

Title : E - Commerce related embedded system design

Description:

We are India based company looking for service providers for our requirement of Software development. We are looking for some highly dedicated and professional expert in ASP.net, c# for database design work of E - Commerce related embedded system design in C#, .net, MS SQL. Payout would be 500 to 1000 USD and payment will be made after completion of work. Interested service providers are requested to contact us with their profile as soon as possible

Budget Estimate : 500 to 1000 USD

Country : India

Status : Closed

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Web Design Project - Convert Existing Website to xhtml and CSS

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 37477977

Category : Web Design and Development

Title : Convert Existing Website to xhtml and CSS

Description :

We are UK based looking to outsource our requirement of website development. We are looking for the service provider who can convert the existing website from html to xhtml and CSS. We will provide with the graphic and the images for our website. The approximate budget for the project is less than USD 500 and payment will be done by pay pal after the completion of work. Interested service providers are requested to contact us as soon as possible with their quotes.

Budget Estimate : USD 500

Country :United Kingdom

Status : Closed

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Virtualization: Creating a new software development infrastructure

Software development is a fascinating industry that has changed over the years as developers have continually adopted newer programming languages, from Fortran to Pascal to C++ and beyond. But although developers readily look to software itself to drive innovation, few have considered their development infrastructure a possible vehicle for change. With the advent of virtualization in the development process, that's about to change.

When the first embedded devices appeared, software as we know it today simply did not exist; all functionality was built into hardware. With the introduction of the microprocessor, software content emerged but still comprised only a small part of the overall system. Over the past twenty years, the embedded industry has witnessed a complete shift as software has exploded in size and complexity. Today, software is the primary driver of increased functionality and innovation in embedded systems.

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Software Project - Develop a online Role Playing Game

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 14842800

Category : Software & Technology

Title : Develop a online Role Playing Game

Description:

We are Sweden based and looking for service providers for our requirement of Software development. We want to develop a Multiplayer online Role Playing Game on Java platform. Payout would be 200 USD or less than 200 USD and payment will be made after completion of work. Interested service providers are requested to contact us with their profile as soon as possible.

Budget Estimate : 200 USD or less than 200 USD

Country : Sweden

Status : Closed

Are you interested to work on this project? Post your contact details Now! Click Here

How to Build a Web Design Business

With all of the free HTML editors available, building a Web site is a snap. For those less savvy (and with a bit of money) there's Website in a Box, Website Wizard and Mr. Site Takeaway. Just think, with a little money and time, you too can build Web sites for profit. Are you ready to start a small business? No!

Publishing a couple Web pages can be accomplished by just about anyone, but to build a self-sustaining business one needs the right tools, planning, experience and training. Businesses paying $500 for a Web site quickly discover that their site rarely provides repeat business or referrals - the life blood of any business.

In this series of articles you'll learn about the must have tools and skills to build a Web design business. This week our focus is on tools.

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Web Design Projects - Need a Browser toolbar

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 77400897

Category : Software & Technology,Web Design and Development

Title : Need a Browser toolbar

Description :

We are a Sweden based company looking for a Service provider for creating a new browser toolbar for our software and website. We need some one who can make the browser toolbar as per the given link. Please find the attached file to get the link of the website. Service Provider can make the toolbar on some other site or with software. Interested service Provider is requested to contact us as soon as possible.

Budget Estimate : Need Best Quotation

Country :Sweden

Status : Closed

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Software Project - Need a Browser toolbar

Looking to work on Software & Technology Projects? Find here new projects everyday.

ITMatchOnline.com is the easiest way to find right partners across the world.

Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 77400897

Category : Software & Technology,Web Design and Development

Title: Need a Browser tool bar

Description:

We are a Sweden based company looking for a Service provider for creating a new browser toolbar for our software and website. We need some one who can make the browser toolbar as per the given link. Please find the attached file to get the link of the website. Service Provider can make the toolbar on some other site or with software. Interested service Provider is requested to contact us as soon as possible.

Budget Estimate : Need Best Quotation

Country : Sweden

Status : Closed

Are you interested to work on this project? Post your contact details Now! Click Here

Microsoft bows to pressure, offers IE8 update

A Microsoft Web evangelist hinted yesterday that news of Internet Explorer 8's development progress was disclosed months earlier than planned because Web developers recently stepped up criticism of the company's support for standards.

The news of IE8's ability to pass a widely used Web standards test also came just two weeks after Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates said he didn't know why the company's IE development team was keeping a tight lid on information about the next browser.

IE8, the next upgrade to Microsoft's browser, passes the Web Standards Project's Acid2 test, according to Dean Hachamovitch, the IE group's general manager. "On Wednesday, Dec. 12, Internet Explorer correctly rendered the Acid2 page in IE8 standards mode," Hachamovitch said in a post to Microsoft's official IE blog yesterday. "While supporting the features tested in Acid2 is important for many reasons, it is just one of several milestones for the interoperability, standards compliance and backwards-compatibility that we're committed to for this release."

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Microgaming Software Development

The internet has greatly facilitated communication and almost all information or data are available on the browser and is only a click away. Casinos are entertainment zones and are they are found in vogue in restaurants, hotels and market areas where a lot of people are expected to throng. In recent times, technological developments have facilitated the introduction of online casinos. Online casinos operate via the internet and are also referred to as virtual casinos and internet casinos respectively. The inception of online casinos have made casino gambling easier and more accessible as one need to travel physically to a casino parlor to engage in gambling but rather can sit back to the confines of his home and gamble with the aid of a personal computer possessing an internet connection.

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Virtualization: Creating a new software development infrastructure

Software development is a fascinating industry that has changed over the years as developers have continually adopted newer programming languages, from Fortran to Pascal to C++ and beyond. But although developers readily look to software itself to drive innovation, few have considered their development infrastructure a possible vehicle for change. With the advent of virtualization in the development process, that's about to change.

When the first embedded devices appeared, software as we know it today simply did not exist; all functionality was built into hardware. With the introduction of the microprocessor, software content emerged but still comprised only a small part of the overall system. Over the past twenty years, the embedded industry has witnessed a complete shift as software has exploded in size and complexity. Today, software is the primary driver of increased functionality and innovation in embedded systems.

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Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design

1. Bad Search
   
   Overly literal search engines reduce usability in that they're unable to handle typos, plurals, hyphens, and other variants of the query terms. Such search engines are particularly difficult for elderly users, but they hurt everybody.
   
   A related problem is when search engines prioritize results purely on the basis of how many query terms they contain, rather than on each document's importance. Much better if your search engine calls out "best bets" at the top of the list -- especially for important queries, such as the names of your products.
   
   Search is the user's lifeline when navigation fails. Even though advanced search can sometimes help, simple search usually works best, and search should be presented as a simple box, since that's what users are looking for.
   
   
2. PDF Files for Online Reading
   
   Users hate coming across a PDF file while browsing, because it breaks their flow. Even simple things like printing or saving documents are difficult because standard browser commands don't work. Layouts are often optimized for a sheet of paper, which rarely matches the size of the user's browser window. Bye-bye smooth scrolling. Hello tiny fonts.
   
   Worst of all, PDF is an undifferentiated blob of content that's hard to navigate.
   
   PDF is great for printing and for distributing manuals and other big documents that need to be printed. Reserve it for this purpose and convert any information that needs to be browsed or read on the screen into real web pages.
   
   
3. Not Changing the Color of Visited Links
   
   A good grasp of past navigation helps you understand your current location, since it's the culmination of your journey. Knowing your past and present locations in turn makes it easier to decide where to go next. Links are a key factor in this navigation process. Users can exclude links that proved fruitless in their earlier visits. Conversely, they might revisit links they found helpful in the past.
   
   Most important, knowing which pages they've already visited frees users from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over and over again.
   
   These benefits only accrue under one important assumption: that users can tell the difference between visited and unvisited links because the site shows them in different colors. When visited links don't change color, users exhibit more navigational disorientation in usability testing and unintentionally revisit the same pages repeatedly.
   
   
4. Non-Scannable Text
   
   A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience. Intimidating. Boring. Painful to read.
   
   Write for online, not print. To draw users into the text and support scannability, use well-documented tricks:
   
   • subheads
   • bulleted lists
   • highlighted keywords
   • short paragraphs
   • the inverted pyramid
   • a simple writing style, and
   • de-fluffed language devoid of marketese.
     
   
   
5. Fixed Font Size
   
   CSS style sheets unfortunately give websites the power to disable a Web browser's "change font size" button and specify a fixed font size. About 95% of the time, this fixed size is tiny, reducing readability significantly for most people over the age of 40.
   
   Respect the user's preferences and let them resize text as needed. Also, specify font sizes in relative terms -- not as an absolute number of pixels.
   
   
6. Page Titles With Low Search Engine Visibility
   
   Search is the most important way users discover websites. Search is also one of the most important ways users find their way around individual websites. The humble page title is your main tool to attract new visitors from search listings and to help your existing users to locate the specific pages that they need.
   
   The page title is contained within the HTML
   
   Page titles are also used as the default entry in the Favorites when users bookmark a site. For your homepage, begin the with the company name, followed by a brief description of the site. Don't start with words like "The" or "Welcome to" unless you want to be alphabetized under "T" or "W."
   
   For other pages than the homepage, start the title with a few of the most salient information-carrying words that describe the specifics of what users will find on that page. Since the page title is used as the window title in the browser, it's also used as the label for that window in the taskbar under Windows, meaning that advanced users will move between multiple windows under the guidance of the first one or two words of each page title. If all your page titles start with the same words, you have severely reduced usability for your multi-windowing users.
   
   Taglines on homepages are a related subject: they also need to be short and quickly communicate the purpose of the site.
   
   
7. Anything That Looks Like an Advertisement
   
   Selective attention is very powerful, and Web users have learned to stop paying attention to any ads that get in the way of their goal-driven navigation. (The main exception being text-only search-engine ads.)
   
   Unfortunately, users also ignore legitimate design elements that look like prevalent forms of advertising. After all, when you ignore something, you don't study it in detail to find out what it is.
   
   Therefore, it is best to avoid any designs that look like advertisements. The exact implications of this guideline will vary with new forms of ads; currently follow these rules:
   
   • banner blindness means that users never fixate their eyes on anything that looks like a banner ad due to shape or position on the page
   • animation avoidance makes users ignore areas with blinking or flashing text or other aggressive animations
   • pop-up purges mean that users close pop-up windoids before they have even fully rendered; sometimes with great viciousness (a sort of getting-back-at-GeoCities triumph).Violating Design Conventions
     
     
8. Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles:
   
   when things always behave the same, users don't have to worry about what will happen. Instead, they know what will happen based on earlier experience. Every time you release an apple over Sir Isaac Newton, it will drop on his head. That's good.
   
   The more users' expectations prove right, the more they will feel in control of the system and the more they will like it. And the more the system breaks users' expectations, the more they will feel insecure. Oops, maybe if I let go of this apple, it will turn into a tomato and jump a mile into the sky.
   
   Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience states that "users spend most of their time on other websites."
   
   This means that they form their expectations for your site based on what's commonly done on most other sites. If you deviate, your site will be harder to use and users will leave.
   
   
9. Opening New Browser Windows
   
   Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer's carpet. Don't pollute my screen with any more windows, thanks (particularly since current operating systems have miserable window management).
   
   Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. But even disregarding the user-hostile message implied in taking over the user's machine, the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites. Users often don't notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed out Back button.
   
   Links that don't behave as expected undermine users' understanding of their own system. A link should be a simple hypertext reference that replaces the current page with new content. Users hate unwarranted pop-up windows. When they want the destination to appear in a new page, they can use their browser's "open in new window" command -- assuming, of course, that the link is not a piece of code that interferes with the browser’s standard behavior.
   
   
10. Not Answering Users' Questions
    
    Users are highly goal-driven on the Web. They visit sites because there's something they want to accomplish -- maybe even buy your product. The ultimate failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for.
    
    Sometimes the answer is simply not there and you lose the sale because users have to assume that your product or service doesn't meet their needs if you don't tell them the specifics. Other times the specifics are buried under a thick layer of marketese and bland slogans. Since users don't have time to read everything, such hidden info might almost as well not be there.
    
    The worst example of not answering users' questions is to avoid listing the price of products and services. No B2C ecommerce site would make this mistake, but it's rife in B2B, where most "enterprise solutions" are presented so that you can't tell whether they are suited for 100 people or 100,000 people. Price is the most specific piece of info customers use to understand the nature of an offering, and not providing it makes people feel lost and reduces their understanding of a product line. We have miles of videotape of users asking "Where's the price?" while tearing their hair out.
    
    Even B2C sites often make the associated mistake of forgetting prices in product lists, such as category pages or search results. Knowing the price is key in both situations; it lets users differentiate among products and click through to the most relevant ones.
    
    Source : http://www.useit.com/
    

Software development companies eye China

Driven by demand from their customers, Symphony and GlobalLogic have expanded their development base to China in recent weeks.

Bangalore: Outsourced product development (OPD) firms such as Symphony Services Corp. and GlobalLogic Inc. that build products for software firms and write code for chip firms have set up centres in China to service global clients in the region even as they eye business from north Asian markets.

Driven by demand from their customers, Symphony and GlobalLogic have expanded their development base to China in recent weeks. Other vendors such as Aztecsoft Ltd and the Chennai-based Aspire Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd are evaluating plans for a China centre but have not made a final decision.

The market for OPD services rendered from India is expected to touch $11 billion (Rs43,450 crore) by 2008, according to a study consultant McKinsey & Co. did for software lobby group National Association of Software and Service Companies or Nasscom in 2005.

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Apache Wicket 1.3 set for Java Web development

Looking to make Web development easier for Java developers, the Apache Software Foundation began offering this week Apache Wicket 1.3, an open source component-based Web framework.

Formerly housed at SourceForge, the Wicket project moved over to Apache last year; version 1.3 is the first release bearing the Apache nameplate, said Martijn Dashorst, chairman of the project and a senior software developer at Web application development firm Topicus. Enhancements have been made in areas such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and portal support.

"The purpose [of Apache Wicket] is to make development for Java developers simple as a possible," Dashorst said. "We use a component model for that."

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Web Development Projects - E-Commerce Website Development and Maintenance

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Project Details:

Type : Project

Id : 35954629

Category : Web Design and Development

Title : E-Commerce Website Development and Maintenance.

Total Requirement : Developing a New Site and Redesigning our Exisiting Site.

Description :

We are India based and looking to outsource our requirement of Website Development and Maintenance. We are looking for some experienced service providers for our two requirements that are given 1. We are looking to develop our new ecommerce business website in English, French, and German. 2. Redesign our existing website as we are not getting traffic due to its dull look. We are looking for the service providers to work on Asp.net as front end and SQL server as back end. Our requirement is ongoing as we need the website maintenance on regular basis. The approximate budget of the project is above USD 1000 per month. Interested service providers are requested to contact us as soon as possible with their proposal and profiles.

Budget Estimate : Above USD 1000 Per Month

Country :India

Status : Closed

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Outsourced product development firms see no impact of rising rupee

Rupee appreciation and a possible slowdown of the US economy, is hardly having an impact on the growth of the outsourced product development (OPD) firms in India. They provide product engineering services to global software firms.

Apart from hedging to negate the impact of Re-appreciation on their margins, most OPD firms are adopting multiple ways like increasing the billing rates and going in for bigger customers to offset the impact of Rupee appreciation. In terms of business from the US, OPD companies are witnessing a strong rise in the number of new customers.

“On an average, we are adding 4-5 customers every quarter, and now even relatively larger ones. In many cases, our clients are open to any increase in costs, considering the problems we are facing due to the Rupee-rise. Customers are also approaching us for certain specialised areas like product globalisation, product migration and test automation,” said Gowri Shankar Subramanian, CEO of Chennai-based Aspire Systems.

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