Kale to build banking solutions on Microsoft architecture

Mumbai-based Kale Consultants recently announced an

alliance with Microsoft Corp India Ltd. to develop products for the banking and financial

industry. As part of this partnership, Kale will utilize Microsoft's middleware

strategy-Windows Distributed interNet Applications Architecture for Financial Services

(DNAfs)-to develop future versions of Winbank, its ready-to-use offering for the banking

industry. Winbank is probably the first banking solution available off-the-shelf for

retail bank with no customization requirements. Microsoft's middleware strategy,

DNAfs, is

likely to simplify the adoption of Winbank in banks with legacy systems.

The company is planning to come out with Initial Public

Offering in the current year. Talking about the company's future plans, Kale Consultants

MD Vipul Jain says, "We are looking at acquisitions internationally. By acquisition

we are primarily looking at increasing our product portfolio and to cross-leverage our

product portfolios. We will choose companies that will have at least 10 customers with

revenues in the range of $1.75 million to $2.5 million. We are negotiating with three to

four companies for alliances in technology, solution and marketing."

The company has also submitted a proposal to the Securities

and Exchange Board of India for approval to raise Rs 39 crore from an IPO. Part of this

money will be used for the acquisition. An employee stock option plan and infrastructure

upgradation will account for the rest. In the last six months, Kale has opened a

subsidiary in the US, Australia and New Zealand and is planning to set up a small office

in Europe.