Indus Software to enter insurance sector

Nanda Kasabe

PUNE: After consolidating its presence in the retail financial services
segment, Indus Software Private Limited — an international software products
company headquartered in Pune — now plans to make forays into the insurance
segment.

Managing director Vivek Mannige, who founded the company 10 years ago, firmly
believes that the insurance sector could be the next major stop for the company.
Indus Software develops mission critical application software using appropriate
state-of-the-art technology. The focus is on software development for the
financial services and banking areas. The company primarily works in two
segments — lending solutions and custom-built software.

Indus Software, a 100 per cent export oriented unit, aims to achieve the SEI
CMM Level 4 this year. With core strengths in the finance and banking sectors,
Indus plans to build a presence in the areas of insurance too. From the sale of
its first product in February 1995, the company has come a long way. In a short
span of six years, it has an impressive array of products catering to the
lending industry. These products could either work independently or together.
Work is currently in progress on the fourth generation products, which are yet
to be released.

Unfolding its growth plans for the year, Mannige said that the company would
be establishing a new software development center at Bavdhan in Pune at an
investment of Rs 3.5 crore. The company plans to expand its workforce from the
present 210 to around 350 by the end of this year. The 12,500 sq. feet expanse
would initially house 160 professionals. The Chennai development center focuses
on lending solutions while the Pune center primarily works on the product suite.

The company’s product suite catering to a niche market, is quite enviable.
Lending Solutions from Indus (LSI) helps banks and finance companies manage
their businesses in the areas of consumer, equipment, home finance and personal
loans. The product addresses the cycle covering loan applications, repayment
management and collection management of delinquent loans.

The Loan Appraisal System for the Internet (LASI) helps banks and finance
companies exploit the reach of the Internet to offer their financial products at
the desktops of the customers. Finance Against Securities System (FASS) helps in
managing the business of loans against financial securities.

The company had recently launched eSpanWorld, an issue based collaboration
Internet portal to address the communication needs of managers across national
and international boundaries.

In line with its growth plans, Indus plans to tackle the US market this year.
"We plan to piggyback on our banking products. Our products are already
popular in Thailand and the SE Asia. However, the US market has been a tough nut
to crack simply because of the credit databases which are US specific," he
explained.

On the international front, Indus has tied up with IBM to become the first
independent software vendor in India. It has signed a global software license
agreement with GE Capital Worldwide. The company has been pretty active on the
domestic front too. Indus recently entered into a corporate license agreement
with ICICI for LSI NT Version 2.1. The company, which has a turnover of Rs 23
crore, plans to double this figure the next year.