New Delhi: Keane Inc (www.keane.com), the global leader in application development and management (ADM) outsourcing, has announced major plans for expansion in India. The company anticipates an investment of approximately $15 million to expand its resource base, infrastructure and facilities in India to respond to customer business requirements.

This announcement comes as Keane India continues to emerge as a strategic differentiator for Keane Inc. Offshore application outsourcing has gained increased acceptance as the value it provides to North American clients is proven, and significant growth in this area is predicted by industry observers.

Keane's flagship solution is its ADM outsourcing service, under which the company manages and enhances a client's software portfolio, providing measurable business benefits. Keane's ADM outsourcing service incorporates project management processes, performance metrics and process improvement procedures to drive productivity and efficiency improvements from the client's application software environment.

The company measures its performance by having its major outsourcing engagements independently evaluated on the SEI CMM. Keane currently has 43 client engagements evaluated at SEI CMM Level 3 or higher. Keane India has strengthened the company's position as an application outsourcing leader with a reputation for quality delivery.

Keane India is one of the few CMM Level 5-certified software development companies with a special focus on ensuring highest possible levels of quality in their output. Recently, Keane India was awarded the 'Highest Quality Certification Award' by Hyderabad Software Exporters Association (HYSEA). This distinction proves that Keane is a leading offshore contender with a mature solution and an unparalleled commitment to quality.

Says Keane Inc president and CEO Brian Keane: ''Keane is committed to leveraging India as a part of its global delivery strategy to enable clients to capitalise on the economic and quality advantages of offshore delivery. We offer clients delivery options onsite, offsite, near-shore in Halifax Nova Scotia and offshore from India through our flexible seamless global delivery model. Keane has created an organisational structure and processes to ensure that the strength of its Indian ADCs is leveraged to its maximum potential.''

To capitalise on the emerging European IT market, early this month Keane signed a definitive agreement to form a transatlantic business alliance with the Unilog group, a European IT consultancy with operations in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Spain, and Switzerland.

The two firms will offer clients the combined resources of more than 18,000 business and IT professionals. ''Through our alliance with Unilog, we can immediately support our North American clients' requirements for service in continental Europe and leverage our combined breadth and depth of capabilities,'' says Brian Keane.

Since emerging into the Indian market a year ago, Keane has increased its headcount in India by more than 200 resources and is providing services to more than 25 clients from its ADCs in India. As the operation continues to scale, Keane anticipates increasing its manpower resources by recruiting additional 300-350 professionals in 2003 and upgrading its infrastructure. The company has already developed expertise in diverse technologies including enterprise resource planning (ERP).

Says Keane India managing director Parmindar S Miglani: ''Keeping in mind the ever-changing needs of our global clients, Keane India is fully gearing up to meet their demands in terms of manpower, infrastructure and expertise in emerging technology practices. Keane India has a track record of over 20 years of innovative offshore delivery and a proven scalable model with unsurpassed quality. Leveraging its comprehensive technology skills in mainframe, AS/400, client server, e-commerce and ERP and backed by sound processes and methodologies, Keane India is well poised to handle the anticipated aggressive growth.''