Japanese team visits Cerebra facilities
BANGALORE, Feb. 14

A 16 member Japanese delegation from the Fukouka Prefectural Government visited Cerebra Integrated Technologies Limited. The delegation was led by I Yokoi, Senior Investment Advisor for India, Japan External Trade Organisation-JETRO, Bangalore. The members of the delegation visited the various Cerebra facilities both in hardware and software units and evinced keen interest in entering into a partnership with Cerebra especially in outsourcing of software development and cementing of business relationships.

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Cerebra plans to double motherboard capacity
BANGALORE, Feb. 14

Vishwanath Kulkarni

CEREBRA Integrated Technologies Ltd, a Bangalore-based hardware manufacturer and software solutions provider, is planning to double the capacity of its motherboard manufacturing facility by the second quarter of next fiscal. At present, it manufactures about 30,000 motherboards a month.

The company was planning to set up another SMT (surface mounted technology) division with a capacity to manufacture 30,000 motherboards, for which plans were yet to be finalised, said Mr V. Ranganathan, Chairman and Managing Director, Cerebra. The proposed expansion involved an investment of Rs 4-5 crore, likely to be funded from internal accruals.

Cerebra also planned to look at the overseas market for motherboards and memory modules for which there was a huge demand, said Mr S. Krishnamurthy, General Manager (Marketing). It had plans to consolidate and expand its software operations by increasing its headcount by 60-70 per cent over the next six months, said Mr Rajan, Vice-President, Cerebra. It presently has a workforce of some 100 professionals. The software division develops solutions for e-business, eCRM, healthcare, WAP, telecom, network and systems management.

Cerebra's software division had developed some 10 products for the healthcare sector and these were expected to be launched by April, said Mr Ranganathan. It also proposed to showcase its software solutions at the forthcoming CeBIT fair at Hannover. It is hopeful of maintaining the revenues achieved last year, with a marginal growth for the current financial year despite the prevailing slowdown.

Cerebra had reported a revenue of Rs 18.5 crore for the first nine months of the current fiscal against Rs 52.37 crore during the year-ago period.

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ITI Cerebra to make equipment for call centers
16th December 2001

ITI and Cerebra Integrated Technologies have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop the switch-based equipment used in call centers, according to a press release from ITI.

The call centers designed by the two will be "webenabled" and cater to verticles such as banking and finance, insurance, hospital industry, public utilities, and telecom.

ITI will sell the jointly developed switches in the domestic market, focusing on the public sector and the banks while Cerebra will market the product through its branches in the U.S., Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region, the release said.

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Company has got presence in hardware and software sector. In case of hardware, it has presence in PC market and high value added products like Note Books, Uninterrupted Power Supply units etc. It launched surface mount technology(SMT) division, which manufactured motherboards, graphic cards, memory modules, hubs and switches, monitors, CD-ROM drives and keyboards all under the brand name "KRANION". Company has large dealer network through which it markets its hardware products. It also exports hardware to Africa and Australia.

Company is also concentrating on software side and has entered into various alliances in order to improve its presence in this segment also. It has six divisions namely E-commerce, Network Systems, Telecom, Banking & Finance, Medical Projects and WAP & Wireless. Its Banking & Financial division caters to the requirement of Banks and Non-Banking Financial Institutions. Further, this division plans to introduce new modular core banking products that will handle all types of retail and wholesale banking, forex, futures, derivatives etc. Company ha got joint venture with Firstsense, Australia. The new joint venture company will carry on the operations of marketing Cerebra products, Software development and IT enabled services in Australia and in the neighboring countries. It also has strategic alliance with the US based Software company. In its future plans, company is planning to expand its presence in the global software services market in the areas of e-business, e-commerce, Networking & Systems Management and Enterprise Application Integration.

In its financial performance for the year ending 31st March 2001, company's sales figure was Rs. 52.38 crore compared to Rs. 29.68 crore for the corresponding period in the previous year, showing an impressive growth of 76.48 per cent. Net Profit was Rs. 3.55 crore for the year ending 31st March 2001 compared to previous year's of Rs. 1.45 crore, showing a growth of 145 per cent . Book value was at Rs. 80 against previous year's of Rs. 44.77. Operating profit margin was at 10.48 per cent for the year ended on 31st March 2001 against 10.23 per cent in the corresponding period in the previous year. Earning Per Share for the year ended 31st March 2001 was at Rs. 6.40, compared to previous year's of Rs. 9.13. EPS has reduced due to increase in equity capital of the company. Company has announced 20 per cent dividend for the year ended on 31st March, 2001. The High/Low price of the share for the last year has been Rs. 27.65/13. The P/E ratio is 2.77, whereas industry average is 12.20. The current market price is Rs. 17.74. Share has good potential to move up in view of expansion plans and growth in profits.

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Keen on betting on horses and yet anxious not to be seen near the race course? The Bangalore-based Cerebra Integrated Technologies, the "Total IT Solutions" company, is now conducting trials with some premier Turf Clubs in India and abroad to provide WAP (wireless application protocol) communication through its network to enable punters to place bets through mobile phones and to know the details of racing events.

Cerebra, founded in 1992 with just three professionals, has now grown to over 400 employees, and will open its second office in Europe at Frankfurt by end of September.

Mr. V.Ranganathan, Chairman and Managing Director, told The Hindu that Cerebra had set up each in Amsterdam, Singapore and Australia covering the major IT markets overseas. The company's Peenya unit made hardware such as servers, laptops and UPSs while the Yeshwantpur unit manufactured motherboards and networking products. The two software units in Bangalore City provided software and solutions for e-commerce, telecommunications, banking & finance, healthcare and wireless/WAP applications.

While government enterprises and major corporates formed 80 percent of Cerebra's clientele, the home and SME segments showed large potential, Mr. Ranganathan said. Home users of PCs and peripherals were now turning from unbranded products to those which came with service guarantees at a slightly higher price. In the branded segment too, prices remained constant while products were being constantly upgraded. In the case of the company's software products and services, 10 percent of the customers were in the domestic market.

Some of Cerebra's hardware stand out in the range made in the country. The company's desktop is custom-built according to the user's specifications. It is available in two basic commonly-used models that can be configured depending on user preferences.

The desktops are manufactured at Cerebra's ISO 9002 certified factory, and each machine is a product made with great care that undergoes the most stringent quality control checks to ensure that a customer gets a PC that will meet his most demanding requirements. The Cerebra desktop has been rated by CHIP magazine as the best performer among competing brands including those of MNCs.

The Cerebra Mobile is a notebook packed with an amazing set of features and accessories. A built-in modem, floppy disk drive and CD ROM drive are all mandatory features. The configuration includes Intel Celeron or Pentium III processor, and the set comes with Microsoft Windows 98 and antivirus software in a specially designed leather bag. The company's Network Monitoring product has won and award at the recent COMDEX expo held in Singapore.

Cerebra now has a network of 10 branches across the country and 450 channel partners offering its products. Branch offices have been planned at Nagpur, Chandigarh, Siliguri and at centres to be identified in Gujarat and the North East to expand the distribution network.

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Cerebra Integrated Technologies Ltd, a Bangalore based total IT solutions company, has ventured into the field of providing total healthcare solutions. Cerebra started off as a hardware company covering a range of products, manufactured at its two state-of-the-art plants located in Bangalore.

The Systems Integrated Division manufactures Servers, Desktops, Notebooks, Rack Mounted Servers and High-end 8 way Intel Pentium Xeon based Servers. The Surface Mount Technology division is devoted to manufacture of Motherboards, Network Interface Cards, AGP Cards, Memory Modules in addition to integration of UPS, Hubs and Switches. Cerebra subsequently diversified into software solutions covering e-com Enablement, Network & Systems Management, Enterprise Application Integration, Wireless, eCRM, Healthcare and Software Development & Services thus repositioning itself as a total IT solutions company.

Cerebra has established its presence nationwide with 10 branches and over 400 channel partners. Keeping pace with global technologies, Cerebra has entered into tie-ups with a host of overseas IT giants and is a solutions partner of leading names like IBM, Microsoft etc.

A strategic business unit has been established at their software development facility to cater to the healthcare industry. The Strategic Business Unit will enter into strategic alliances, both locally and globally, to develop and market next generation products with AI features for the healthcare segment.

A team of dedicated software professionals is currently working at the Cerebra software development center in Bangalore on the advanced stages of Ceremed +, a physician practice management solution which offers total automation of all types of medical practice management solutions at affordable prices. Catering to the single and multi-user needs, the product is aimed at small to medium health care units like nursing homes, polyclinics etc. Scheduled for a pilot release in mid-October 2001 for the domestic market, Ceremed+ is designed to be a customizable and fully scalable product having advanced features such as auto-build up of unique knowledge database for various fields of medicine, graphical records, voice records, encryption, on-line consultation, web-enablement, auto alerts etc. and can be integrated with any standard accounting package. The domestic version, which will support multi-language features, will also cater to the needs of practitioners of native and alternative medical practices like homeopathy, ayurveda, unani, reiki etc.

The international version (Ceremed+AS), aimed at specialized healthcare including Ambulatory, Surgery, telemedicine and highly advanced image capture and retrieval techniques is scheduled for release by the year end.

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Cerebra entering new markets in Europe
12th June 2001

After making its mark in the Indian Hardware and software sector, Cerebra is entering the European IT market. A new office has been established at Amsterdam with encouraging response and another one in Germany is scheduled to open shortly. These two offices will cater to the European and other potential markets to identify new projects, businesses, joint ventures and explore formation of subsidiaries and other business development opportunities.

An imminent tie-up with an UK software major is on the cards and the coming month should see it coming to fruition.

With projects in the USA and Australia already in place and operations in full swing, Cerebra is rapidly heading towards global recognition. Already an ISO 9002 company, Cerebra is working towards achieving SEI - CMM Level 5 before the year end.

In keeping with the changing requirements, Cerebra has acquired an office in Bangalore with an area of 10, 000 sq.ft, where over 150 software professionals will be working on cutting edge technologies. The facility will be devoted to new age technologies like Wireless, Healthcare, eCRM applications and banking and finance.

If the current pace in software development is kept up, Cerebra will soon be in the forefront of the leading IT powers that India is capable of unleashing across the globe.

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Cerebra signs a MOA with Day Software, Singapore
30th May 2001

Cerebra Integrated Technologies Ltd., the Bangalore based Total IT Solutions provider of world class hardware and software products has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Singapore based Day Software Technologies Pte Ltd.

Cerebra started off as a hardware company covering a range of products, manufactured at its (SID) System Integrated Division and (SMT) Surface Mount Technology, both located at Bangalore.

The SID facility manufactures Servers, Desktops, Notebooks, Rack Mounted Servers and High-end 8 way Intel Pentium Xeon based Servers. The SMT division is devoted to manufacture of Motherboards, Network Interface Cards, AGP Cards, Memory Modules in addition to integration of UPS, Hubs and Switches. Cerebra subsequently diversified into software solutions covering eCRM, healthcare, WAP and Software Development & Services thus repositioning itself as a total IT solutions company.

Day Software has a turnover of 7.5 million dollars and projects a turnover of 10.75 million dollars for the current financial year. The company's core expertise is in the area of internet home banking, internet home shopping in addition to proprietary licensed Legal information systems and Accounting products.

This MOA is aimed at providing software and hardware products for the Asia Pacific region. Day Software hopes to initiate a Joint Venture with Cerebra in 2002. And plans are in the offing for the company to go public in Singapore in 2004.

Mr. David Tai, CEO of Day Software puts it succinctly when quizzed on why he chose Cerebra - " Dynamic leadership, good corporate governance, excellent business fundamentals and most importantly Cerebra is a multidimensional company with experience, expertise and infrastructure".

With this, Cerebra has added another notch to its string of successes, the most recent one being the company's major move into the European market by setting up an office at Amsterdam and plans for one in Germany.

Cerebra is certainly headed in the right direction and the future looks brighter than ever.

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Cerebra - Expansion
14th March 2001

Bangalore- IT watchers would have you believe that India's 'Silicon Valley' is rapidly heading towards a bright future. While this may happen in certain areas, the truth is clearly causing heartbreaks for most small businesses and entrepreneurs in IT. Investors are seeking greener pastures in developing cities where they can start from scratch. This situation has effectively put the skids on the city's economic growth which in turn has lead to a fallout in various other areas like employment, brain drain, new business etc.

A look at the city's economic scenario is bound to cause concern. While there is no dearth of skilled manpower, lack of opportunities has led to a high unemployment rate and brain drain. The future is slowly but surely beginning to turn bleak albeit focussed planning and positive restructuring can put Bangalore back on the rails to a sparkling future. Realising this, Cerebra hires professionals who can manage diverse areas of IT. The company, in fact boasts of a whole gamut of products and services instead of concentrating on any one niche area. Moreover, Cerebra is an equal opportunity employer.

Bangalore's infrastructure needs a definitive plan for revamping though some are of the opinion the city's infrastructure has reached its limit. A look at other Indian cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune etc. reveal a proactive state machinery. Moreover, these cities have the advantage of starting from scratch besides banking on the trials and errors of an IT city like Bangalore. These cities are therefore channeling their energies towards providing better services like electricity, water etc.-areas in which Bangalore has fallen short.

It is true that the state has been very benevolent towards the IT industry and credit is due to the Govt. for transforming Bangalore into the 'silicon valley'. But on the essential services and infrastructure front, the city is woefully lagging behind other cities. A case in point would be Penang in Malaysia which fell from its exalted place as the 2nd Silicon Valley of the world to almost nothing. Clearly, lack of infrastructure is a serious disadvantage that needs to be rectified.

Mr. Murthy from Infosys says that current trends reveal that small and medium industries will all but disappear and most of these are based in Bangalore. New comers will be more likely to choose stable places like Chennai or Hyderabad as the falling axe will not be so severe in these places. Reason why Cerebra has entered into joint ventures hoping to bring to the city top IT companies from overseas in turn leading to investments and enhanced business opportunities.

Another aspect that needs to be looked into is the internal growth of the IT industry in the country. India does not seem to experience the same internal growth as Japan and Korea did during the industrial revolution. The question being asked is "Will India be only for exports and not for internal growth-?. Focus should be on the level of internal growth in co-relation to other activities as this will make a major difference in the long run."

In order to aid and enhance internal growth , Cerebra has designed indigenous applications and products uniquely created for the Indian market. This will not only increase the company's prospects within the country but will also enable the country to be in sync with the world IT scene.

In the global arena, India has garnered recognition as an IT giant though competition is rife and the possibility of India being dislodged from its exalted position is imminent. In fact, Russia is fast catching up with India and is proving to be a serious competitor. This is attributed to the fact that English has lost its exclusive place as the language of IT. With the breaking down of the language barrier, hitherto smaller countries are now stepping into the fray. A serious rethink on this aspect of IT is necessary to ward of the threat of looming competition.

In view of this fact, Cerebra has already set up offices around the world in Holland, Singapore, Hong Kong and the USA while plans are on the anvil for an office in Germany and Australia.

The IT revolution has done for the country what the Industrial Revolution did for Europe at the beginning of the century. More so, in Bangalore where IT is firmly entrenched. The need of the hour is to ensure the city retains its position as a leader in IT. To achieve that objective, focus should be on key areas like internal growth, exports, investments, subsidies, infrastructure, essential services like electricity, water, transport, roads etc.

Towards this end, Cerebra has always been in the forefront of aiding in the development of the infrastructure. The company has set up both its state-of-the-art hardware plants in Bangalore. Besides, Cerebra has recently established an office of over 10,000 sq.ft. exclusively for software where over 600 software professionals work on developing innovative and indigenous software solutions.

In a nutshell, the IT industry in Bangalore can hope for a bright future provided the city wakes up to its needs, initiates a comprehensive revamping and rejuvenates the industry in the coming years. The future will then, certainly be glorious for this beautiful city-Bangalore.

Cerebra leads the way by orienting its focus on internal growth development, creating indigenous products in hardware and software, initiating new business in the city through JVs, opening new avenues for employment and more.

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Cerebra launches the Surface Mount Technology Division
18th January 2001

"Cerebra Integrated Technologies Ltd., shall continuously work towards providing Total Solutions in the field of Information Technology comparable to the Best in the world."-Mr.Ranganathan, Chairman & MD

His words have borne fruit in the form of the new SMT Division, which is expected to manufacture 30,000 units per month. The company has invested 10 crores in the venture with a projected turnover of over 30 crores and expected growth of 500% viz. 150 crores from this division.

With this venture, Cerebra Integrated Technologies Ltd. the Bangalore based total IT solutions company has paved the way for the country's hardware dominance. The state-of-the-art unit will manufacture mother boards, graphic cards, memory modules, hubs & switches, monitors and CD ROM Drives, keyboards, all under the brand name 'KRANION'. The unit houses a fully automated, antistatic environment incorporating the latest technologies to produce world class hardware products.

Lower prices, faster delivery schedules are some of the prerequisites of the new unit which will cater to both the domestic and overseas hardware market including the APac region, Singapore, Germany and Australia. Importing Motherboards, NIC, Graphic Card etc. attracts a tax of 15% whereas importing components reduces it by 8%. With reduced import duties the consumer is bound to benefit through lower prices emanating from the home grown products.

The company will market the Kranion range of products through its Authorised National Distributors Aditya Infotech Ltd. and Tech Pacific(India) Limited . All products will be backed by excellent after sales service for which Cerebra is already rated as one of the best in the country. In short, the Indian consumers can now acquire world class hardware right here, at home.

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Cerebra Brings Home Pentium 4
22nd November 2000

Intel Corporation's Intel Pentium 4 processor -the latest microprocessor for high performance desktops was launched on Nov 20th. The Bangalore based Total IT solutions company Cerebra Integrated Technologies Ltd. participated in the launch of the new processor and will soon begin marketing it in the country. The company plans to market the new processor through its vast dealer network spread and ten branches spread all over the country.

Among the innumerable benefits offered by the P4, one that stands out is the incredible processor speed. The 850's dual RDRAM memory bank with the Pentium's 400 MHz system, provides up to 3.2 gigabytes of data per second. The P4 will be a boon to those looking for high speed computing especially in areas like graphics, net applications etc.,
Cerebra plans to bring the benefits of the P4 to both corporate and domestic users looking for a faster processor.

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Cerebra Integrated Technologies Ltd.
A blueprint for Sri Lanka
12th October 2000

Glib 'Management Gurus' would like you to believe that the key to successful entrepreneurship lies in focus, focus and focus. The more you narrow your niche, the wider are your chances of success - they profess at every given platform to speak.

Mr. Ranganathan CMD of Cerebra Integrated Technologies has turned conventional wisdom on its head. Cerebra started off as a hardware company covering a range of products, manufactured at its (SID)System Integrated Division and (SMT) Surface Mount Technology, both located at Bangalore.

The SID facility manufactures Servers, Desktops, Notebooks, Rack Mounted Servers and High-end 8 way Intel Pentium Xeon based Servers. The SMT division is devoted to the manufacture of Motherboards, Network Interface Cards, AGP Cards, Memory Modules in addition to integration of UPS, Hubs and Switches. Cerebra subsequently diversified into software solutions covering e-com Enablement, Network & Systems Management, Enterprise Application Integration and Software Development & Services thus repositioning itself as a total IT solutions company.

Defining Growth

Cerebra has solicited active enquiries from Sri Lanka and has set the ball rolling to let the Lankans have a taste of international quality and sophisticated technologies that has been the hallmark of Cerebra.

An innovative, dynamic approach has ensured Cerebra's place among the top Indian companies besides enabling the company chart a growth rate of 35% p.a for the previous financial year and a projected growth rate of 350% for the year 2000 - 2001. Cerebra has established its presence nationwide with 10 branches and over 400 channel partners. Cerebra has also entered into a tie-up with AnyTech, USA to leverage and build on the contacts developed by this company with Fortune 500 companies across the globe. Cerebra also has an office at Maryland, USA helping it keep pace with global technology and market.

Making a mark overseas too.

Export orders are coming in from the developed world. Last month, Cerebra bagged an order from Australia's Revenue Department worth over a crore of rupees. Closer home, the Asia Pacific region holds great promise for exports and discussions are underway with companies from Singapore and Taiwan. Plans have been drawn up to tap the European market beginning with Germany and UK.

On the anvil, are software exports to South Africa and the SAARC region while Hardware and Software exports to Africa are already in full swing. Cerebra has recently signed a MOU with a Nepal based IT firm, for hardware as well as software.

Software Expertise

Cerebra's software division has attracted some of the best talent in the industry. The core competence of the division lies in handling software project models while developing quality products, which are highly user-friendly, and simple to use, however complicated the underlying task may be. The company's expertise covers almost the entire spectrum of software solutions though it addresses key areas like:
e-com Enablement, Network & Systems Management, Enterprise Application Integration and Software Development & Services.

The company seems to be headed top and the coming months should see them there.

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