Icon to open development centre, plans expansion in US

Bangalore-based Icon plans to open another

software development centre at Electronic City in Bangalore in the next one year. The

software solutions company, with Internet as its focus, would also expand its business in

the US market.

Speaking on its expansion plans, Icon Chief Executive

Officer S. Ramakrishnan said, "Icon is poised for major expansion in the coming

years. We are forging alliances with new partners to move towards more Internet-based

product development in the emerging e-commerce scenario in the US."

Icon is currently partnering with Xerox Corp. on Electronic

Document Commerce products, which involves buying and selling digital documents over the

Internet. Xerox research and technology centres have developed technologies referred to as

the Right Management Technologies. These technologies are built on basic Internet Security

and Commerce. Rights Management technologies solve the problem of copyright management of

digital documents on the Internet.

Icon's challenges include working with cutting edge

Internet technologies and Xerox inventions, object-oriented decomposition and development

of new technology-based products, working with and contributing to emerging Internet

standards and the mastery and use of the latest tools (such as Java, HTTP, CGI, etc.)

Icon was started in 1995 and has 70 people working in the

organization, with about 55 of them in the development team and the rest in the support

areas. Icon recorded a turnover of Rs 5 crore for the year ended March 1998-99 and its

projection for the coming year is Rs 12 crore.