Nucleus ramps up to boost growth

SHIPRA ARORA / New Delhi

Vishnu R Dusad

NUCLEUS Software, a major Indian banking and financial software package developer, is all set to ramp up its development activities. The company is adding 450 people, taking its total development strength in the country to 800 over the next year. Nucleus will also be increasing its investments in sales and marketing with plans to pump back almost 8.5 percent of revenues into these areas during the current financial year (FY), as opposed to 7 percent during the last FY. In addition, the company will also be investing around 10 percent of revenues in R&D this year.

Nucleus already has 350 people at a facility in Noida. By June 2004, the company will be shifting to its new development centre, which has the capacity to seat 800 people; the centre is spread over a sprawling five-acre campus at another location in Noida itself. According to Vishnu Dusad, managing director, the company will dedicate at least 10 percent of its total manpower for core development activities. Going forward, it has outlined a commitment to its product business. Nucleus wants to increase the product contribution to its total business from around 30 percent last year to almost 40 percent within the next two years.

On the sales front, the company will be doubling its global channel partner strength from the present 11 to 22 during this fiscal. It will also be scaling up its sales staff from 27 to 45 in the next few months. With the increase in its sales and marketing investments this year, the company will be focusing on building brand equity, apart from increasing marketing funds for its channel partners.

Nucleus had earlier reported a decline in revenues and net profits during Q3 2003-2004 as compared to the corresponding period last year. However, the company seems to be upbeat about the current FY. Says Dusad, “Nucleus has won a large number of product orders in the last three to four months. This has boosted our confidence to a great extent.” What has also stimulated the company is its debut in the US market. Nucleus recently won its first product order there after setting up its subsidiary almost four years ago. The company is now expecting further gains. “The American market can offer a very sizeable revenue stream since the realisations that one can get there are better than in other markets,” explains Dusad. Nucleus will soon be scaling up its US operations with plans to set up a support centre there.

During the current year, the company will be focusing its R&D efforts in the area of micro-credit financing. Niraj Vedwa, head, Global Sales & Marketing, informed that as a result of its R&D efforts during the last FY, Nucleus has lined up a series of new products for release in the market this year. These include an e-banking solution, Fraud Management System (FMS), Loan Origination System and Customer Acquisition System (CAS). The company’s earlier solution for Internet banking, which was on a very small scale, will be discarded with the launch of a new product catering to all Internet banking needs, including retail banking, corporate banking and card management. It will be integrated with other channels like WAP, SMS and e-mail. FMS is a pre-emptive fraud control system, providing features such as alerting, tracking, reporting and decision-making. CAS will be a common system for both retail and corporate banking. It will provide a solution for all credit application processing, including applications for retail loans, corporate loans, home loans, credit cards, etc.