Swedish telecom firm Ericsson will create 100 software engineering jobs at its facility in Athlone, Ireland to build on its research-and-development capabilities, according to published reports. The Irish government offers a research-and-development tax credit to entice multinationals to hire researchers inside the country. Ericsson already employs more than 1,400 people at that site. The new hires will help Ericsson maintain its strong position as a obile broadband provider. Thge Stockholm-based Ericsson employs about 9,000 people worldwide.

Affinnova, a marketing innovation software and services firm, is more than a third of the way through its creation of 105 new jobs. So far this year, Affinnova has hired 40 staff, mainly in its Massachusetts headquarters, filling positions such as software developers, research directors, and business development executives. Affinnova has current openings for another 35 staff immediately. An additional 30 jobs will be added in 2012.

“We recruit only the most talented people across many critical disciplines, including business development, client services, engineering, and marketing. We work hard, have fun, and value each others' contributions toward our common purpose - maximizing the success of our clients.”

Most of the new roles will be in its Waltham headquarters, with additional new hires in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Affinnova’s international offices. The company, which helps marketing professionals identify the product and ad concepts with the highest potential, is currently looking for research directors and software engineers.

The investment is being funded from profits as the organization’s revenue grew 50% from 2009 to 2010. With the 40 staff added so far this year, Affinnova employs 122 staff worldwide.

“Due to our phenomenal growth rate, we are continuously hiring and building a network of future candidates across critical areas of our business,” said Derek Garofalo, vice president of talent acquisition. “It’s an exciting time for the company.”

“Our philosophy is simple: you can't revolutionize the way companies innovate with anything less than an all-star team,” said Waleed Al-Atraqchi, president and chief executive officer of Affinnova. “We recruit only the most talented people across many critical disciplines, including business development, client services, engineering and marketing. We work hard, have fun, and value each others' contributions toward our common purpose - maximizing the success of our clients.”

Many executives are feeling worn down by confusion around project business objectives and recognize the need for more involvement from business stakeholders. These are the key findings of a new study of approximately 600 business and IT executives published by software development firm, Geneca.

The study, entitled "Doomed From the Start? Why a Majority of Business and IT Teams Anticipate Their Software Development Projects Will Fail," examines why teams continue to struggle to meet the business expectations for their projects. It surveys participants on such topics as requirements definition, accountability, and measuring project success.

"There is no question that the overall survey results shows that our single biggest performance improvement opportunity is to have a more business-centric approach to requirements," stated Geneca President and CEO Joel Basgall. "Unfortunately, poor requirements definition practices have become so common that they're almost tolerated. The gloomy results of this survey really drive this home."

Interestingly, survey responses from IT professionals and their business counterparts are fairly similar, indicating that both groups have many of the same concerns with regard to their projects.

Key survey findings include:

• Lack of confidence in project success: 75% of respondents admit that their projects are either always or usually "doomed right from the start."
• Rework wariness: 80% admit they spend at least half their time on rework.
• Business involvement is inconsistent or results in confusion: 78% feel the business is usually or always out of sync with project requirements and business stakeholders need to be more involved and engaged in the requirements process.
• Fuzzy business objectives. Only 55% feel that the business objectives of their projects are clear to them.
• Requirements definition processes do not reflect business need: Less than 20% describe the requirements process as the articulation of business need.
• Lack of complete agreement when projects are done: Only 23% state they are always in agreement when a project is truly done.

"Although most software projects begin with high expectations, this research reminds us that problems usually lurk below the surface right from the start," stated Basgall. "The key is to understand what we are seeing and what to do about it."

The survey consisted of 25 closed ended questions and was completed by 596 individuals closely involved in the software development process.

IBM and IT & T, Mohali have introduced a Career Education in IBM Software (CEIS) program to help engineering and management graduates acquire the skills, education, and experience they need to build successful careers.

The curriculum design incorporates a "blended learning" approach by integrating classroom, hands-on lab exercises on projects guided and designed by IBM's professional team, to provide students both the theoretical and practical training needed to build strong e-business application development skills.

IT & T Finishing School, Mohali is a sister concern of PAL InfoCom Technologies, which has been servicing global clients since 2005. IT & T has been envisioned as a means of grooming skills to create industry-ready professionals.

The following courses will be offered to January-to-June engineering graduates:

1. Java, MySql with IBM Project Certificate
2. Java, DB2 database with IBM Project Certificate
3. IBM Rational Testing tool IBM Project Certificate
4. Linux Administration
5. ASP.Net with MS-Sql database