Over the next nine months the company will have business partners in place to sell and service its products in India. The company is in the process of applying to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and Reserve Bank of India for the necessary approvals.

``Initially we are looking at recruiting 30 software professionals for our ED centre. They will be given 3 months' training and placed in our virtual organisation either on permanent basis or on contract,'' EDC managing director Stephen James said.

The ED centre will focus on providing development and human resource services to the virtual organisation in the US and Europe. ``We aim to maintain our growth at 60 per cent per annum and we are planning to increase developmentcapacity and human resources in the country shortly,'' James added.

Great Plains will work closely with EDC, providing the skills, tools and methodologies for software development. EDC will have two units--enterprise development centre and enterprise resource centre.

``We have also begun to research any adaptations that may be required to launch our products in India. Once this research is completed, we will scout for partners in the country to sell the product in the burgeoning market,'' he added.