Mascot plans for expansion

BANGALORE, September 4: Bangalore-based Mascot Systems has plans of

tying up with companies in the US and Europe in the business of e-commerce

(design, develop and front end services) and it is also looking at new

areas of business such as datawarehousing and ERP. As part of the

expansion plan, the company is opening another centre

adjacent to its present office in Bangalore.

Mastech Corporation, the parent company of Mascot Systems, recently

entered into a joint venture and has formed a strategic relationship with

GE capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric Company. The

relationship is two folds in the form of a business processing joint

venture in India, as well as an equity investment in Mastech by GE

capital. The 50:50 joint venture partners will provide business-processing

services for major global customers. The objective of this joint venture

is to become a leader in the business process outsourcing (BPO) market

projected to be at $44 billion, with double-digit growth expected over the

next five years.

Masot will provide processing and support services in areas such as

accounting, transaction services, help desk, call center services and

related BPO services. GE’s existing capabilities in India, coupled with

Mastech’s expertise in IT, will allow the joint venture to provide

world-class services to customers on a global basis by

creating high value.

The company will set up its main office for the BPO services in

Hyderabad, while its sales office would be in the US. GE Capital has also

agreed to invest $30 million in Mastech and to target providing $122

million in IT services business to Mastech from GE and affiliate companies

over a three-year period.

"What IT did to software professionals is what BPO would do to

commerce/business graduates," commented Mascot Systems managing

director S. Shekar. In the first year of operation, the company plans to

employ 700-800 employees, in the second year about 1900 and in the third

year about 4000 employees.

Mascot Systems Pvt. Ltd. is a provider of software solutions in areas

of Internet/Intranet solutions, client server application development,

Year 2000 solutions and conversions and migrations, on a time and

materials or fixed time/fixed price basis, with offshore delivery options.

The company currently has 700 employees with a turnover of $35 million.