Bangalore: Ness Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: NSTC), a global provider of IT services and solutions, has announced that its Managed Labs centre in Bangalore, India, has been assessed at Level 3 of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for the inception, operation and stabilisation of extended development centres.

Ness Managed Labs builds and operates extended development centres (EDCs) in India for leading independent software vendors (ISVs) world-wide. Ness has developed a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) delivery model that safeguards ISVs' intellectual assets and maximises off shoring benefits. During the "build" phase, Ness provides strategic consulting to address customers' business challenges and ROI objectives. In the "operate" phase, Ness tracks progress and fine-tunes operations to meet defined goals. When an EDC becomes a self-sustaining unit, Ness offers the option of transferring the centre back to the customer.

"Ness' assessment was a unique one, in the evaluation of the organisational practices that have uniquely interpreted and deployed the tenets of CMMI in the business of developing extended development facilities for the clientele," says Srinivas Thummalapalli, director, management advisory services and SEI authorised lead appraiser, of TUV Rheinland.

Ness Managed Labs' client base features global enterprise software vendors such as Business Objects portal software, and Cartesis and Chordiant software.

"The CMMI certification is a significant milestone for our business model," said Satyajit Bandyopadhyay, Ness India's chief delivery officer. "This assessment means that there is an increased level of predictability to help our customers in coming to India and setting up development centres. This accomplishment will enhance our competitive positioning and give our existing customers an increased level of confidence to work with us. For potential clients, it means that they can set up their EDCs a lot quicker and better with Ness."