We have created impact-measuring model

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'We have created impact-measuring model'

Patent-rich SETLabs moving to new phase of collaborative research; Labs around simulation soon

<b>Majnu Babu</b>

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

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BANGALORE: Infosys Technologies Limited set up its primary R&D center, Software Engineering and Technology Labs (SETLabs), in 2000. Today, half of the patents being filed by Infosys come from SETLabs.

CyberMedia News recently met the vice-president and head of SETLabs at an event in Bangalore. "I have a lengthy name," said Subrahmanyam Goparaju, as he handed over his visiting card to this correspondent.

Well, not exactly. The list of patents SETLabs, that he heads, had filed was lengthier.

And as he spoke, one thing became clear: simulation-related patent applications are likely from SETLabs shortly.

SETLabs was set up almost two decades after Infosys was established in 1981. What made Infosys start SETLabs and what was its mandate?

It (SETLabs) was set up in 2000. There were mainly three-four reasons. By around 2000, outsourcing and offshoring in India had already been accepted and Infosys gained recognition due to Nasdaq listing, etc. It was a time when e-commerce and e-business technologies were coming up. So suddenly the situation changed to the client deciding on something and seeking help. Clients actually started needing advice on what they are doing, what technology would tend leverage, etc.

So we recognized that what the client basically need was shifting from project management and project delivery to technology advice and technology based services. We need to be more proactive than the client. It was then a very strategy decision for us to set up the Lab to focus on emerging technologies and figuring out innovating ways of using them in applications.

What is the focus of SETLabs?

We are focusing on many areas in the space of ICT and information space. Our main purpose is innovative applications of ICT. We are looking at several areas like SOA, business process management, grid computing, wireless technologies, sensor networks, security and innovation. Security was set up in 2003. Once it grew up to a certain size, we made it a separate group and moved it to Bangalore, but the research still continues and it grows closely with us.

That is our operating model. We focus on emerging technologies and create new types of services and solutions, and when we reach a particular size or maturity, we take them off the Labs and they become independent groups.

So this can happen for others also?

Yes, there are other examples that had happened in a similar fashion and it continues to happen. There are things we moved to other groups as well and we continue to do so. So tomorrow, actually some of the products we are talking about now, could be moved to other businesses. So obviously things will have to move off the Lab and become independent.

By 2004 SETLabs had filed four patent applications. What's the scene now?

In the last one-and-a-half years we have actually increased our focus on patents and we are doing it in two phases, initially focusing on intellectual property and now we are entering the second phase of how do we apply IP patents and things like that. In the last one-and-a-half years we have 100 patents. There is a dedicated IP cell that is being functioning since the last two years.

Have you commercialized any patents?

In our case it's happening differently. The answer is yes. We have already been commercializing because lots of patents we have filed are actually new to our framework, methodologies and things like that. And to some extent we are already using them.

You don't have an exclusive marketing team

We have a team. It is not marketing alone. It is responsible for internal and external evangelizing.

How do you measure the success of SETLabs?

There are multiple things. From the creation point of view, it would be number of patents filed, and from the impact point of view it would be engineering productivity, commercialization, license value.

What kind of work is being done in the mobility space?

In the space of mobility there are two things: mobile middleware platform and wireless Internet middleware platform. Both are patent pending work. These are basically middleware platforms that accelerate development of enterprise mobile.

And in grid computing?

In grid computing, we have created products called Trip scale and gradient. It actually complements the pure infrastructure and kind of enables them to virtualizes, reduce the cost and if possible infrastructure services, utility model. There again, we are working with lots of partners plus it is being used in some of our plan situations also.

What has been the contribution of SETLabs to Infosys and to the Indian IT industry?

Contribution is mainly in the area of differentiation, given that we are big on the services and from there we have moved to incubating and creating new services like security, performance engineering, performance engineering and those kind of stuff. So that model will continue. Differentiation and creation of new services have been our contribution.

And to the Indian industry, I would say that when Infosys created SETLabs, it was a very strategic move. Till then nobody knew what R&D in services meant. Everyone was working in R&D in products. We got into innovative ICT applications or innovative systems for financial services, etc., which is a very serious R&D activity. I think that has been recognized. But I am sure several companies have different names for it, but several companies are looking at this model and some of them even started the model and others are trying to follow.

Going ahead?

Going ahead this will continue. Today, in the industry, there aren't very good models to measure the impact. Still we have created impact-measuring model. We will continue with this model of creating new services, product and help differentiate more and we are now actually moving into another phase where we are very proactively playing a role in collaborative research. Lots of interest has been generated in the industry and universities around the world in what SETLabs is doing.

Microsoft recently said that we are in the second phase of the digital world. In that scene do you foresee any specific trends this year or coming years?

Our research will continue around the themes of how do we innovate faster how do we help our customers innovate faster, how do we help our customers leverage technologies better etc. We continue to believe the technology we are working on will continue to be important. In addition, we are looking at things like how do we visualize technology. Simulation will become very big. Usage of simulation is very limited. We are going to have Labs around that soon.

Could you elaborate on collaborative research?

We are currently working with universities, we are working with some of our customers and third, there are already a designed model in areas like Indo-UK collaboration etc, where there are defined models, where it is not just two organizations coming together, but multiple organizations coming together and work on a larger theme. In many of those themes, we are taking the lead in defining the theme and defining what kind of technology is important and what kind of should be leveraged to achieve those themes.

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