HCL Infosystems Ltd is India's premier information enabler and country's leading ICT system integrator and distribution company. The company is among the leading players in all the segments comprising the domestic IT products, solutions and related services, which include PCs, Servers, Imaging, Voice & video solutions, Networking Products, TV and FM Broadcasting solutions, Communication solutions, System Integration, ICT education & training, Digital lifestyle Solutions and Peripherals. They offer value-added services in the key areas such as system integration, networking consultancy and a wide range of support services. HCL Infosystems Ltd was incorporated in the year 1986 as HCL Ltd. In May 1986, the company took over Hindustan Computers, Hindustan Reprographics, Hindustan Instruments and Indian Computer Software Company. During the year 1987-88, HCL Employees Investment Co Ltd and HCL Finance & Investment Ltd became the subsidiaries of the company. In April 1991, the computer entered into a joint venture agreement with Hewlett-Packard Company of USA to align the computer operations of both companies in India. During the year 1991-92, Hewlett-Packard Company acquired 26% equity stake in the company. Simultaneously, the name of the company changed from HCL Ltd to HCL Hewlett-Packard Ltd. During the year 1993-94, the company launched the entire range of HP peripherals with tremendous success. They set up two Software Technology Park units, one in Chennai, Tamilnadu and the other in Noida, Uttar Pradesh for software development and exports during the year 1994-95. Also, they commissioned their second state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Sedrapet in Pondicherry during the year 1996-97. During the year 1997-98, the company acquired the business of HCL Infosolutions Ltd, HCL Peripherals Ltd and the Customer Support activities of HCL Automation Ltd. During the year 1999-2000, the company formed their internet subsidiary namely HCL Infinet Ltd. Also, they bagged some prestigious orders for high-end systems from organizations such as Sahara India, Western Air Command, ICICI, Mumbai Stock Exchange, NIC, C-DOT, Lucent Technologies, ST Microelectronics, EHPT, Southern Railways, Maharashtra Mantralaya, Karnataka Electricity Board, Kerala Treasuries, Karnataka Treasuries, EDCIL, Canara Bank and Dena Bank. During the year 2000-01, the company bagged a major networking order from Indian Overseas Bank involving implementation of Wide Area Network in 11 cities covering 200 branches. The software service business including the overseas operations was de-merged to HCL Technologies Limited from the appointed date of January 1, 2003. The Technical Help Desk business of the wholly owned subsidiary company namely, HCL Infinet Ltd was transferred to HCL Technologies BPO Ltd from January 1, 2003. Also, the office automation & telecommunication business of the company was transferred to HCL Infinet Ltd from January 1, 2003. During the year 2002-03, the company bagged large System Integration and hardware orders in Enterprise business from Vidyavahini, Canara Bank, SBI, AP Transco, NIC, DACNET, Ministry of Defence, Dept. of Posts, Sahara India Parivar, Hindustan Aeronautics, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, BSNL, ITI & Indian Overseas Bank. They launched new products in enterprise security area namely HCL Infowall & HCL SecuMon during the year. Also, in the Peripherals business, they launched a slew of new models & new products that included CRT monitors & TFT LCD monitors, Multilingual keyboards, Ethernet Switches, Structured cabling components and Touch screen enabled information kiosks. During the year 2003-04, the company launched some new products, which include Beanstalk with media center, Infiniti Indic PC, Infiniti Corporate PC, Infiniti Orbital PC and Beanstalk NEO. The company also launched next generation Xeon processor based Infiniti Global Line server 2700 series. During the year, the company's Infrastructure Services (ISS) wing has bagged good business from Banks, Utility Services providers, PSUs, FMCG for IT security services and consultancy for Network design, roll out and management, Wide Area Network, Facility Management Services and Data Center Solutions. Also, they bagged orders from Tata Teleservices, Federal Bank, Central Depositary services for Infiniti Storage products. During the year 2004-05, the company introduced new products, which include Konica Minolta printers, LCD TVs and Audio Visual System Integration (AVSI) solutions. They launched Toshiba LCD TV's, Ericsson range of solutions for Business conferencing, Broadband and Mini Link Radio. They also launched end-to-end solutions for IP telephony and Global IP VPN services. In the consumer PC front, the company launched several new models, which include 'EzeeBee Pride' During the year, the company commissioned and handover the country's largest Internet backbone network to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. Also, they executed and handed over the School computerization project from the 'Department of School Education', Government of Punjab. The networking business of the wholly owned subsidiary company, HCL Infinet Ltd was de-merged and transferred to Microcomp Ltd and the remaining Office Automation and Telecommunication business of HCL Infinet Ltd was amalgamated with the company with effect form April 1, 2006. During the year 2005-06, the company in association with Nokia, announced a long-term distribution strategy for developing the rapidly growing Indian mobile phones market. Also, the company was awarded the 'Department of Electronics & Telecommunications (DET) Corporate Award' for Performance Excellence in the field of Computer & Tele-Communication System. During the year 2006-07, Microcomp Ltd and Stelmac Engineering Pvt Ltd became the wholly owned subsidiaries of the company and the name of the Microcomp Ltd was changed to HCL Infinet Ltd. Stelmac Engineering Pvt Ltd was amalgamated with the company with effect from January 30, 2008. In May 2008, the company acquired the entire share capital of Natural Technologies Pvt Ltd, a company engaged in the business of providing banking software products & solutions, for a consideration of Rs 8.39 crore. The company is in the process of implementing the IT Infrastructure part of the Pan Africa project, which will connect 53 African countries into one network, providing electronic and knowledge connectivity to the African countries. In July 2008, the company made a tie up with Echelon Corporation of USA, to bring Echelon's Networked Energy Services advanced metering system to India.