24/7 Customer to increase headcount by 3,500 in the next fiscal 
24/7 Customer is set to increase its headcount by 3,500 by the next fiscal, which includes adding 500 employees by March 2008. 24/7 Customer currently employs 7,000 people and aims to grow by 35% to 40% in the next financial year.  
   
Cipher starts BPO operation in India  
Cipher Dynamics IT Services commenced its India BPO operations from Gurgaon. The company offers strategy consulting, implementation, development and deployment of IT solutions to media & publishing, financial, retail and hospitality verticals. The company targets the mid-market in these verticals.  
    
Spanco moves its BPO operations to Spanco BPO Services  
Spanco Telesystems & Solutions is moving its BPO operations to a separate unit called Spanco BPO Services. The de-merger will lead to five BPO companies operating under Spanco BPO Services, which will be wholly owned by the parent company. The company currently has 2,000 employees and plans to increase its headcount to over 3,000 by April 2008. 
    
TCS and Nokia Siemens Networks sign contract  
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has entered into an agreement with TCS. As per the contract, TCS will offer product engineering and R&D services including certain operations and business software services to NSN. The agreement also includes transfer of around 90 employees from NSN's Dusseldorf, Germany unit to TCS.  
    
Visual IQ starts Indian BPO operations  
Boston-based company, Visual IQ that offers digital marketing business intelligence services has set up a centre in Kochi, India. The center has 30 employees and offers services 24*7. The company plans to increase its headcount and office space by three times in the next one year.  
    
Fidelity Business Services lays off 30 employees  
Fidelity Business Services India has asked 30 employees from its investment management division in Gurgaon to leave. The layoff is a part of reorganization at the unit. Fidelity Business Services offers research and information technology services to its parent company, Fidelity International. The company has around 7,000 employees across its three centers. 
    
MPS acquires Compset Inc.  
Macmillan Publishing Solutions (MPS) has acquired Compset Inc., a graphics and composition service provider based in Beverly, Massachusetts. This acquisition will help MPS gain expertise in elementary-high school textbooks, higher education and medical reference books.  
    
Boston Analytics expands its healthcare service offerings  
Boston Analytics has expanded its Healthcare Practice. The company will help companies operating in the healthcare space to adapt and benefit from changes like increasing competition. The company will use financial analytics, business research and predictive modeling to devise new models to face the challenges of globalization.

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