Thinksoft upbeat on BFSI segment

With most financial transactions now happening on a computer terminal, the risks of faulty financial transactions can be very costly for the customer, bank, authorities and anyone else involved. Developments like Internet /mobile banking/ online stock trading have made it absolutely critical for financial services organisations to get their software 'First Time Right' and this makes software testing very very critical.

The recent case on customer account debits due to faulty ATM transactions where court has passed a judgement that banks have to pay daily penalty of Rs 100 till the complaints are resolved for a client. This hit the news because there were several accounts where debit was done but no money was issued resulting in lot of pain for the banks' clients. This is just an example of how defects in financial systems can affect common man.

Where is Thinksoft positioned in the Indian market?

We are the only listed independent testing service provider in India. Our brand is fairly respected in the market as a specialist.

In 2004, we supported India's largest bank in testing its core banking implementation. Since then, we are working with Indian financial institutions, both public sector and private Banks. Some of the captives of MNC banks and service providers are also using our services in India.

In the capital market space also we work with mutual funds, stock exchanges in India.

How do you compete with industry majors, locally and globally?

Right from inception, we have been a two-dimensional specialist organization - only software testing only for financial organisations. This still resonates very well with our clients/prospects who see a clear difference in the excellence we bring in our specific area of expertise compared to IT services vendors who offer testing as one of the many services in their portfolio.

We have also enhanced our specialisation to go 'Inch wide, Mile Deep' i.e., further specialisation in each of the business areas of financial services, expertise in testing popular software products in each of the areas, developing intellectual property for testing within each domain area and so on. Test automation is effectively used to support growth in non- functional testing areas and also to enhance productivity in functional testing areas.

Clients are realising that size and quality are not necessarily related and are finding that specialist organisations like us are able to deliver on the promise when it comes to specific areas of expertise and this is evidenced by our client base which includes many Fortune 100 financial sector corporations.

Serving global clients help us to successfully support our clients niche areas such as anti-money laundering, Islamic banking, fraud control, business intelligence, etc. which gives us an edge over large players.

Is pricing a major factor for the success of software products?

Pricing is certainly a major factor, particularly in the last 2-3 years. As specialists, we are able to command premium in our services up to a point. Above that we strive to continuously optimise our services to deliver good value for money for our clients. We are also using innovative fixed price or unit-based pricing models for different clients to keep our competitive edge.

Any acquisition in your radar?

We are always open to such opportunities but not in the immediate future

Could you elaborate about Thinksoft products for mobile banking?

Thinksoft has delivered functional, security (penetration testing) and performance testing for mobile banking for one of the biggest banks in Asia.

These cover functionalities such as