Indian company NIIT is one of the world’s largest trainers of IT software labour, with operations in 38 countries and partnerships with major global companies including Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Lotus Corporation. NIIT’s clients include the World Bank, General Electric, General Motors and Siemens. NIIT’s global strategy gives Asia Pacific markets a high priority, with offices opened in Singapore (1993), Malaysia (1998), Shanghai (1998) and Sydney (1999). For example, NIIT is Malaysia’s largest trainer of software labour. Over 25 per cent of its annual revenue comes from business in the Asia Pacific, where NIIT’s services have moved up the value chain much faster than they have in the United States. Unlike many other Indian IT companies, NIIT is multi-lingual. It currently provides IT education and training services in Chinese, Thai and Indonesian and now is developing Arabic services. NIIT also is doing well in the highly competitive Japanese market.

After opening its Sydney office in 1999, NIIT opened subsequently opened offices in Melbourne and Perth focusing on software training for the private and public sectors. They are now considering the desirability of establishing a Software Development Centre similar to the facilities they already have in Shanghai, Singapore and the United States. In December 2000, NIIT signed a ‘Partnership Development Agreement’ with Australia’s Commonwealth Government to promote IT training in the telecommunications area and expedite a Development Centre. NIIT considers the Australian market is an important extension of its international business.

Source: NIIT, 2001.