It’s a wrap: News this week (April 26 — May 3)

There have been multiple developments this week on the tech front. From Yotta’s data centre in Nepal to Wipro-Nokia deal, this is the list of the most important developments for a quick catch-up:

Wipro-Nokia deal

Indian IT services company Wipro has signed a multi-million-dollar agreement with telecommunications major Nokia to overhaul the latter's employee service desk and offer real-time IT support to a global network of employees, in a multi-million dollar deal. Wipro team will build a bespoke AI-powered, cloud-based solution for Nokia's workforce comprising around 86,700 users globally in 130 countries of operations. Designit, a unit of Wipro that specializes in user experience strategy and implementation, will conduct user research to ensure personalised assistance is offered to employees at the right time, Wipro said.

Acquisitions of the week

Bahrain’s alternative asset manager Investcorp announced on Monday that it has entered an agreement to acquire the National Stock Exchange’s (NSE) digital technology business arm NSEIT. The acquisition deal is valued at ₹1,000 crore, touted to be one of the largest mid-market deals in the country. NSEIT’s business has two main components — digital examination business and digital technology business. As per NSE’s release in March, the current sale to Investcorp is exclusively for the digital technology business. 

Fintech firm UGRO Capital announced the acquisition of Bengaluru-based MyShubhLife for an enterprise value of ₹ 45 crore through a combination of 64:36 Equity Cash transaction, thereby making it a wholly owned subsidiary. With MSL seamlessly integrated into its ecosystem, U GRO Capital envisions onboarding 200,000 new retailers within the next three years.

IBM expands software services capabilities

IBM has expanded the availability of its software offerings on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, making its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions accessible to customers in 92 countries including India, up from just five previously. The move, part of a strategic collaboration between the two tech giants, aims to accelerate the adoption of hybrid cloud and AI among enterprises worldwide.

The expanded offerings on the AWS Marketplace include 44 IBM software products, with a strong focus on AI and data technologies such as Watson x.data, Watson x.ai, and the upcoming Watson x.governance. 

Yotta to build Nepal’s first supercloud datacentre

Data centre company Yotta will be establishing a supercloud data centre facility in Ramkot, near Kathmandu, Nepal, marking its foray into Nepal and and further expanding to digital markets in the Indian subcontinent. For this, the company is partnering with BLC Holding Pvt Ltd (BLC). The facility, dubbed K1, will adhere to Tier III standards and offer up to 4 MW of critical IT load upon completion in the next 24 months. It will be Nepal's first supercloud data centre, designed to ensure industry-leading uptime, reliability, scalability, and flexibility.