Crunch time for outsourced chip design

According to a survey by market research firm Gartner, this year will be a make or break year for chip design service providers after the global recession slowed the growth of outsourced chip design starts in 2008, writes EETimes.

A survey of 40 vendors offering IC design services showed that outsourced chip designs grew only 6.5% in 2008, compared to 34% in 2007, Gartner said. However, outsourcing of back-end physical design starts at lagging-edge nodes (130nm and above) grew significantly in 2008.

With Asic design starts expected to be down almost 22% in 2009, it is "imperative that chip design service providers align their cost structure and sales and marketing strategies to the prevailing Asic design

HP has signed a six-year applications management outsourcing deal with MLP, an independent financial services and wealth management consulting company in Germany, that will enable MLP to increase business development, according to Welt Online.

The agreement reduces MLP's financial risk by offering pay-per-use pricing and increases the company's flexibility to respond to changing business priorities with adjustable service levels. In addition, HP will help MLP reduce costs by standardising technology processes and leveraging a global delivery model.

MLP also extended its existing infrastructure technology agreement for management of three data centres, network devices, distributed servers, Lotus Notes messaging and end-user PCs to 2015.

Nowadays, business process outsourcing (BPO) is fast emerging as a powerful and flexible tool with which business leaders can use to achieve a wide range of tactical and strategic aims, says BusinessDay.

The most prominent business process outsourced today is call centres. For instance, call centres and help desks of many multi-national companies globally are being outsourced to low-waged, English-speaking countries such as the Philippines and India. Obiora Madu, CEO and programme director of Multimix Academy, who revealed these facts recently at SAPICS 31st annual conference and exhibition, appraised the African potential in benefiting from inherent economic advantages BPO can offer the African continent.

Madu identified SA and Egypt as the leading BPO destinations in Africa today. “Although Kenya in the east is equally bracing up to meet up with SA and Egypt, while Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria are assiduously working towards evolving BPO markets in the west-African sub-region.