SumTotal to increase Hyd headcount by 80 in '05

California-based, SumTotal Systems, a $60 million business performance and learning technology solutions provider, plans to increase the headcount at its India development centre in Hyderabad and also expand the existing infrastructure by mid 2005.

Addressing a press conference to announce the launch of a new enterprise suite, Sudheer Koneru, senior vice-president international operations, SumTotal Systems, said, "The company plans to increase the headcount in Hyderabad from the present 170 employees to 250 by mid 2005. We are also looking at a new location for our office."

According to him the company plans to invest around Rs 22 crore in operations and Rs 4 crore on developing the infrastructure. "We are also looking at investing in training and development and also launch brand awareness campaigns next year," Koneru said. He said that the company is currently progressing towards profitability.

"The non-generally accepted accounting principles (non-GAAP) revenue of the company increased 15 per cent to $16.2 million the current quarter as compared to $14.1 million in the corresponding previous quarter," he said.

Speaking about the new product, he said, "This is the first major product that the company has launched following its formation by the merger if Click2learn and Docent in March 2004."

According to him, the hallmark of SumTotal 7.0 is the flexibility and adaptability of the product.

"The product enables organisations to mould the specific characteristics of the business. It adapts to an organisation's changing needs, whether it is business process, terminology and workflow, evolving organisation structures and other needs," he said.

Koneru said that SumTotal 7.0 comprises of eight globally scalable business performance management application that enable companies to embed learning activities and relevant content into everyday business process.