Monday, August 12, 2002		Feature

POLARIS Software Lab Ltd., one of India's IT services providers for banking and insurance industries, announced the launch of its first back-up software development facility in Singapore.

The new centre in Singapore has been set up with a view to ensure continuity of services and solutions if there is disruption at the company's main facilities in different parts of the world, said a Polaris statement issued here.

Indian software makers realised the need for setting up back-up facilities or business continuity centres, after India and Pakistan came close to the brink of a full-scale war in May. The border tension between nuclear-capable India and Pakistan had triggered concern among clients of the Indian companies about the safety of outsourcing IT projects from India. "In the wake of the recent development, there is an increasing dependence on critical data systems and services offered to various clients from remote offshore locations, making business continuity processes significant," said the statement.

"The Polaris BCC (Business Continuity Centre) takes into account the entire spectrum of risk, ensuring the continued availability, reliability and recoverability of resources," it added.— IANS