Category Archives: Vendor of the Week
Southtech Limited: FS Vendors’ Vendor of the Week
What is your company name?
Please give a short bio of your company
Southtech Limited is one of the largest ISO 9001:2008 certified and SEI-CMMI L-3 appraised software companies in Bangladesh. Our customers typically engage us to analyze their business processes and thereafter assist them in their technology-driven business transformations. We have proven domain knowledge in areas of process engineering, banking and finance, human resource management, retail and wholesale management, and web-based application development. Our customers are typically financial institutions, large retail chains and hospitals. Southtech Limited has successfully implemented many complex and logistically difficult projects with the use of imaginative software, hardware, training, and communication solutions since its inception in May 1996.
When was your company started?
We started operation in October 1995 but we were formally registered as a limited liability company in May 1996.
What is your targeted market?
United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, South Asia and South East Asia
Who is your competition, and what do you do better?
Oracle FLEXCUBE, Teminos, Finacle, Fern Software, Craft Silicon
How many current customers do you have and what is your estimated yearly growth?
We have 100+ customers of different products. Our estimated growth is 40% for our own software products.
What types of products and/or services do you offer?
We mainly offer software products for Banking and Microfinance, Financial Management, HR Management, Recruitment Management, Program/Project/Task Management, Restaurant Management, Retail Management, ERP and Inventory Management.
We also develop customized software solutions, provide IT consultancy such as developing IT roadmap for large organizations, specialized IT related training and implementation of 3rd party software solutions.
How do you see your company in the next 2-5 years?
We see export growth of our own software products by 40% per year in the next 5 years starting from July 2013. As the only Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in Bangladesh, we also see 50-60% growth per year in outsourcing services relating to customizing Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft CRM and cloud-based solutions for our overseas clients. Furthermore, we see our overseas partner network to expand by appointing partners in at least five more countries in the next two years. On process engineering side, we aim to get assessed at CMMI Level 5 within the next two years.
How many employees and/or freelance contractors do you currently have?
We presently have 215 permanent employees. We do however hire freelance contractors as and when required on demand basis.
How much does your company embrace risk?
As a business organization we have to take measured risks every day. However, we maintain high liquidity such that we can pay for all our expenses for one year without any revenue generation during that period. Furthermore, we ensure that all productions are properly documented as per international standards (UML, CMMI Level 3) for optimal use of resources. For all projects, risks are carefully assessed, documented and mitigating factors identified as far as possible and effort variance and schedule variances are carefully monitored and managed.
What has been the biggest challenge you have had to overcome as a company?
In 2006 we tried to turn our company into a matrix organization because all material on the subject suggested that it would improve efficiency and thus reduce costs. After a lot of consultation with all the staff, we implemented a matrix organization but this caused very serious problems. We noticed that efficiency had dropped, team spirit had waned, project deliveries were getting delayed and customers began to show signs of dissatisfaction. We reverted back to our old structure and soon things got better. We discovered through this experience that we were very cost effective in the first place anyway and that not all theories are applicable to all organizations.
What else is interesting about your story?
Southtech Ascend Banking has been independently assessed by CGAP and placed amongst the best solutions in the world for microfinance institutions (18 starts out of 20). In 2010 Southtech was runners up for Innovative Use of Technology in the Microfinance Recognition Awards in Washington DC. Later in the same year in Singapore, Southtech Ascend Banking was placed amongst the Top 5 solutions for Microfinance Banks in a conference organized by Hanson Wade of UK. A new cloud-based version of Southtech Ascend Banking is going to be released by August 2013.
In 2011 Southtech won The Arch of Europe Award in the Gold Category from BID in Frankfurt for Quality and Technology. Southtech Limited was included in Bangladesh’s Top 500 Companies 2010 by Dun & Bradstreet.
Do you have a blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.?
We do have presence in Facebook and Linkedin. Search for Southtech Limited.
FS Vendors’ Vendor of the Week: Modis
What is your company name?
Please give a short bio of your company
Modis is the IT specialty division of Adecco, the world’s largest staffing company. Modis specializes in IT staffing with our largest client vertical Financial Services.
Modis provides resources to our clients on a permanenet, contract and project basis.
We are top vendor to many banking clients such as; Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, UBS, and many smaller trading firms both in the US and internationally.
Our greatest strengths are our global presence, financial stability as well as the unique qualifications of a firm dedicated to Information Technology in the Financial Services sector.
When was your company started?
Modis is part of the the Adecco Group. Adecco is the result of over 50 years’ expansion and growth by acquisitions around the world. The founding companies, Adia and Ecco, merged in 1996 to form the global leader.
Adia SA was founded in 1957 in Switzerland. The first US office was opened in 1972.
In 1996 Adia and Ecco merged to form the world’s largest staffing company, placing 250,000 peeople a day with annualised revenues of over EUR 5.4 billion. Operations are combined to form a global network of 2,500 branches.
Imn 2010 The acquisition of MPS Group (Modis parent) is officially closed. With MPS’s strength in North America and the UK, the Adecco Group also becomes world leader in professional staffing.
http://www.adecco.com/en-US/About/Pages/History.aspx
What is your targeted market?
Modis targets companies that utilize Information Technology. The number one sector Modis currently services is Financial Services and Insurance. Manufacturing is also a top market.
Who is your competition, and what do you do better?
We have a variety of reputable competitiors borth in the US and globally. Adecco is the largest and leverages our size to deliver economies of scale, single source partnerships. We have state of the art systems to deliver faster and more cost effective personnel solutions.
How many current customers do you have and what is your estimated yearly growth?
The Adecco Group, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is the world’s leading provider of HR solutions. With close to 33,000 FTE employees and over 5,500 branches, in over 60 countries and territories around the world, Adecco Group offers a wide variety of services, connecting close to 700,000 associates with over 100,000 clients every day. The services offered fall into the broad categories of temporary staffing, permanent placement, career transition and talent development, as well as outsourcing and consulting. The Adecco Group is a Fortune Global 500 company.
http://www.adecco.com/en-US/investors/StockOverview/Pages/AdeccoAtAGlance.aspx
Modis is the IT speciality division of Adecco.
What types of products and/or services do you offer?
IT Staffing, and specialty areas related to financial services.
Key areas are:
Application Development
Infrastructure
Quality Assurance
Project Management
Business Analysis
How do you see your company in the next 2-5 years?
Continuing to grow and own greater market share. Delivering robust solutions to our clients.
How many employees and/or freelance contractors do you currently have?
The Adecco Group is the world’s leading provider of HR solutions. With close to 33,000 FTE employees and over 5,500 branches, in over 60 countries and territories around the world, we offer a wide variety of services, connecting close to 700,000 associates with over 100,000 clients every day.
The services we offer fall into the broad categories of temporary staffing, permanent placement, career transition and talent development, as well as outsourcing and consulting. The Adecco Group is based in Zurich-Glattbrugg, Switzerland and we are a Fortune Global 500 company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
What else is interesting about your story?
Ever-evolving. Please go to our website for more information. www.modis.com
We have jobs and clients near you!
Do you have a blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.?
MARQUIS: FS Vendors’ Vendor of the Week
What is your company name?
Please give a short bio of your company
MARQUIS is the largest provider of MCIF solutions in financial services. We also have over 100 CRM installations. Our Direct Marketing division is the fastest growing Creative Agency in financial services. We help hundreds of banks, thrifts and credit unions manage CRA, HMDA and Fair Lending Compliance.
When was your company started?
MARQUIS began 25 years ago.
What is your targeted market?
For Marketing, we focus our attention on Banks, Thrifts and Credit Unions from about $100M to $50 Billion in assets. In compliance, we typically direct our sales efforts to banks and thrifts greater than $600M in assets.
Who is your competition, and what do you do better?
Regardless of the competition, we pride ourselves on providing solutions that are easy to use, complete and affordable. Differing MARQUIS solutions offer specific product advantages, such as an automatic daily updated MCIF with built-in direct marketing triggers, and turnkey fulfillment and measurement.
Our Compliance solutions live by the same Easy, Complete, and Affordable standard.
MARQUIS exceeds client’s expectations by actually doing what we say we will. It is simple really. We partner with clients and go out of our way to help them achieve measurable success.
How many current customers do you have and what is your estimated yearly growth?
Nearly 750 banks, thrifts and credit unions in the United States and abroad are clients. Our growth is found both with new relationships and in helping to solve new challenges for existing clients.
What types of products and/or services do you offer?
MARQUIS provides solutions that get provable results. Specifically we offer MCIF software and outsourced services, CRM software, Direct Marketing creative and fulfillment, marketing consulting, along with our solutions for compliance: CRA, HMDA and Fair Lending software, services and consulting.
How do you see your company in the next 2-5 years?
MARQUIS will contunue to assist financial instituttions with Marketing, Sales and Compliance. New products will enhance our standing in the financial services industry.
How many employees and/or freelance contractors do you currently have?
There are about 60 full time employees at MARQUIS. We perform all of the sales, software develpment, training, creative, printing/fulfillment, consulting, etc ourselves. We do not use outside resources to fulfill our obligations with clients. This insures that we can exceed their expectations!
How much does your company embrace risk?
MARQUIS helps clients manage risk. We are typically looking for ways to avoid unecessary risk of any kind.
What has been the biggest challenge you have had to overcome as a company?
Our biggest challenge has been in moving from a small family business to a sophisticated, multi-vertical enterprise.
What else is interesting about your story?
We are still a very private, family business.
