• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Vishwanath Kulkarni

Bangalore , Sept. 21

IN a bid to expand its footprint in the banking sector, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans to offer its flagship banking software package, Quartz, on an application services provider (ASP) platform.

TCS plans to target small and medium-sized banks through this initiative, said Mr N.G. Subramaniam, Vice-President and Head (Banking Industry Practice), TCS.

The company expects to leverage the network of Tata Teleservices and the strengths of CMC in offering the ASP service, he said, adding that there was tremendous potential for hosted services in the banking sector, especially in the small and medium segment banks, co-operative and regional banks.

The ASP model is said to help smaller banks cut down investments on automation and also help them get rid of headaches like upgradation, hiring trained and expensive personnel and cost of maintenance.

"Initially, we are planning at launching the ASP service in India and may look at the overseas market later," Mr Subramanian said.

"We are also evaluating the option of taking the managed services route as banks, especially the larger ones, are now looking at outsourcing their technology functions to concentrate more on core banking operations."

Indian banks were becoming more open to technology consumption management and it was time they moved into it, he said.

"We expect the outsourcing trend to mature in the Indian context over the next two years."

The banking products division is witnessing good traction and has bagged about six deals over the last six months, according to Mr Subramaniam.

"We have a healthy pipeline," he said, adding that contribution of revenues from products was expected to go up this year.

Revenues from products business is expected to be 15-18 per cent of the earnings from banking and financial services practice, against 10-12 per cent last year.

"We expect the products business to account for 30 per cent of revenues from banking and financial services practice in the next three years."

The banking and financial practice accounts for nearly 30 per cent of TCS's overall revenues.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
`India is still the best bet for outsourcing'

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line