South African banks use Indian IT skills

Monday, 08 December 2003, 20:30 IST
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JOHANNESBURG: South African banking institutions are increasingly putting their faith in the skills and reliability of Indian information technology. Investec Private Bank has become the latest such institution to award a contract to Indian IT company Zensar, which already does work for major national group Nedbank. Investec Private Bank has outsourced IT maintenance contracts for its online banking and CRM applications to Zensar, which will send personnel to work with South African staff to handle all work on the project locally. But Investec emphasised that it had no intention of outsourcing all its IT functions offshore. It will still use a number of South African companies for various activities. Investec Private Bank's spokesperson Wayne Preston told IANS that due to the confidential nature of the contract, the bank did not wish to discuss the details of its activities with partners publicly. But the daily Citizen here disclosed that Investec Private Bank had undertaken an extensive appraisal process before it awarded the contract to Zensar. Preston told Citizen the decision was taken to ensure "bug-free" operations around the clock. He added that Zensar had been selected because it would help bring about greater efficiency, best practice and reduced costs through its local and offshore capability. Zensar is one of three Indian IT companies that works with Nedbank. Its speciality is internal innovation process work. Banks are the latest among a number of South African firms looking to India for IT expertise, citing the strength of the rand, superior Indian IT skills, and a shortage of suitable IT skills locally as the main reasons. But while negotiating partnerships with Indian IT companies, many are insisting that the deals include skills transfer to develop local capacity. The medical, education and broadcasting sectors in South Africa have all used Indian IT skills to assist in operational and management efficiencies.
Source: IANS
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