IBM, i-flex bag Rs 25-cr BOBL IT contract
By Venkatachari Jagannathan | 04 Sep 2002
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Chennai: The city-based Bharat Overseas Bank (BOBL) has awarded a Rs 25-crore contract to implement centralised banking solution to the IBM India and i-flex Solutions combine. The bank zeroed in on the duo with the help of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the project consultant that vetted around 105 proposals.
BOBL chairman G Krishna Murthy says his bank will first test the core banking solutions in three branches and later expand to 50 branches in a year's time. “At the end of 18 months all the bank branches will be fully computerised and networked.“
IBM India will be BOBL's single-point contact for implementing core-banking, tele-banking and Internet-banking solutions. Nine months back, IBM India and i-flex Solutions had entered into a strategic alliance to bid jointly for banking projects. The combine has since then won the Syndicate Bank contract.
i-flex Solutions CMD Rajesh Hukku says talks between the two companies are on to extend the strategic alliance on a global scale. That aside, i-flex Solutions is on the lookout for suitable acquisitions in credit card and insurance space.
BOBL will use i-flex Solutions' Flexcube as the core-banking solution, while the hardware will be pSeries and xSeries eServers from IBM India. Similarly, the phone-banking facility will be provided to BOBL by Servion, a call-centre player with whom IBM India has a tie up.
BOBL will soon be scrapping its existing IT solutions sourced from a Kolkata-based company. “All the staff will be trained to handle the new programme. The surplus staff will be deployed in the marketing and customer relationship management domain,“ says Murthy. “The bank will be expanding its branch network from 78 to 110 in two years' time.“
BOBL chairman G Krishna Murthy says his bank will first test the core banking solutions in three branches and later expand to 50 branches in a year's time. “At the end of 18 months all the bank branches will be fully computerised and networked.“
IBM India will be BOBL's single-point contact for implementing core-banking, tele-banking and Internet-banking solutions. Nine months back, IBM India and i-flex Solutions had entered into a strategic alliance to bid jointly for banking projects. The combine has since then won the Syndicate Bank contract.
i-flex Solutions CMD Rajesh Hukku says talks between the two companies are on to extend the strategic alliance on a global scale. That aside, i-flex Solutions is on the lookout for suitable acquisitions in credit card and insurance space.
BOBL will use i-flex Solutions' Flexcube as the core-banking solution, while the hardware will be pSeries and xSeries eServers from IBM India. Similarly, the phone-banking facility will be provided to BOBL by Servion, a call-centre player with whom IBM India has a tie up.
BOBL will soon be scrapping its existing IT solutions sourced from a Kolkata-based company. “All the staff will be trained to handle the new programme. The surplus staff will be deployed in the marketing and customer relationship management domain,“ says Murthy. “The bank will be expanding its branch network from 78 to 110 in two years' time.“
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