SBT devises e-MIS for the first time in India

R Sreekumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Soon decision makers in Kerala's premier public sector

bank State Bank of Travancore (SBT) will get the performance summary of the bank

updated to the last day of the previous month at a click of the mouse from any

location. This has been made possible by `e-MIS', an Internet enabled management

information system developed by the bank, reportedly a maiden attempt in the

banking sector in India.

Under this `third generation' MIS data will be uploaded from the branches

through a web browser to the corporate web server (www.sbt.co.in). This will be

stored in an optimised database engine with a navigator capable of producing

effective summaries. The most vital statistics created by the branches referred

to as Flash Data or Dash Board Data (DBD) will be forwarded from the corporate

web server. The DBD will be instantaneously available for analysis by

decision-makers in any geographical location by logging on the appropriate page

in the corporate Website. Online submission of data avoids repetitive data entry

at different levels due to incompatibility of data formats and data demand at

various levels of decision hierarchy.

In the present MIS system, it takes 12-14 days to get a summary of the

monthly performance of various branches and this leads to delay in decision

making. The data generated at branches are sent to zonal office where it may be

re-entered for compiling in prescribed formats for statutory regulations. This

delay is negated under e-MIS and it provides conclusive data on fixed and

savings deposits, loans disbursed, revenue from services, defaulting loans etc.

in consolidated and branch-wise versions.

The e-MIS model developed by the SBT technical team led by T G Sudhakar Rao,

Chief Manager -Systems is currently under pilot testing and is likely to be

launched soon. In e-MIS, the laborious process of compilation of reports or data

generated from various centers is done away with. e-MIS will also reduce the

Cycle Time to Information (CTI), the elapsed time between the time a corporate

decision-maker asks a business query to the time the necessary information is

obtained.

In the new age, where knowledge within the organization is vital and

decisions have to be quick an e-MIS model is the most appropriate model for

banks to stay competitive. Unfortunately, Indian banks are still in the second

generation where data format and storage have been made electronic but further

compilation techniques are required to generate summaries required for decision

makers.

Currently, only 70 per cent of the branches of SBT are e-connected. However,

that covers over 70 per cent of the business transactions of the bank. The Dash

Board Data entered by branches will be available in zonal, headoffice, strategic

departments and top executives desktops. Access to DBD is restricted through

user-id and password.

SBT is reportedly the first to introduce an administrative home page for

internal use in the banking sector. This facility allows branches to

communicate, download software and directives from the head and zonal offices.