• The Pune CoE is the Second in India after Hyderabad; Plans to Increase Headcount by 70% by 2020

• Columbus is the Largest Independent Partner to Infor M3 worldwide, a global ERP solution major for the manufacturing industry

Columbus, the leading digital business services provider in the Nordic region, today announced the opening of its new Center of Excellence (CoE) in Pune. The Pune CoE will complement the Global Development Center in Hyderabad, which currently employs 300+ employees. Columbus plans to grow its headcount by more than 70 percent, to nearly 500 by 2020, across the two centers in India.

Columbus Leadership at Pune Office Launch – (L- R) Lars Steen, Global Head, Infor M3 Practice, Kapil Mishra, Managing Director, Columbus India, Samaresh Mahapatra, Director, HR & Talent Acquisition

Sara Larsson, General Manager of The Swedish Chamber of Commerce India (SCCI), congratulated Columbus on this achievement. "Congratulations to the Columbus team on the opening of their new Center of Excellence in Pune. I'm excited about their growth plans that directly align with our mission to support Swedish companies to drive long-term, sustainable business in India. Columbus is a great addition and will further strengthen the identity of the Swedish business community in India."

The Pune CoE will act as a backbone to the company's Infor M3 partner practice, providing consulting and transformative solutions to some of the world's leading manufacturing companies. Headquartered in New York, Infor M3 is a global leader in business cloud software that helps companies achieve business-wide digital transformation. Columbus is the largest independent partner to Infor M3 worldwide, with 350 consultants globally.

"Our new center of excellence in Pune further fortifies our position as a global leader in the Infor M3 and Digital manufacturing space. It is also a testament to our confidence in India as a key growth driver for us. The Pune CoE will further accelerate our growth complementing our existing setup at the Global Development Center (GDC) in Hyderabad," said Kapil Mishra, Managing Director, Columbus India. “The market opportunity in India has never been greater. Our compelling portfolio of business applications, solutions and services are ideally poised to help companies in their digital transformation journey,” added Kapil.

“With more than 350 consultants and hundreds of global implementations – the Infor M3 practice, for long, has been a source of pride within the company. We're excited to be growing our team in India, which is going to be a huge competitive edge for our customers," said Lars Steen, Global Head, Infor M3 Practice.

He added, "Infor M3 is all about the community. We're fully invested in building and fostering a huge user community and ecosystem in India, over the next few years."

“At Columbus, our vision is to deliver a compelling customer experience through leading edge digital solutions using a ‘people first’ approach to attract and nurture the best talent. Pune has a vibrant Infor M3 ecosystem which we plan to tap into to grow our consulting practice,” said Samaresh Mahapatra, Director HR & Talent Acquisition at Columbus.

About Columbus

Columbus is a global IT services and consulting corporation with more than 2,000 employees serving our customers worldwide. We bring digital transformation into your business and position you to thrive far into the future.

We are experts in designing, developing, implementing, upgrading and maintaining digital business applications that help your business succeed in the digital transformation. Our consultants have experience in developing businesses in many different industries all over the world.

We offer a comprehensive solution portfolio with deep industry knowledge, extensive technology expertise and profound customer insight. We have proven this through 29 years of experience serving more than 5,000 customers worldwide.

To know more, please visit: www.columbusglobal.com.