Logica to Expand Indian Operations

London-based software products and services
company
Logica Plc is planning to expand
its
Indian subsidiary in Bangalore, and make it the center for Logica’s
worldwide banking products development.

“The initial development in India will concentrate on financial
products and
services,” said Hamish Harding, managing director of Logica India.
“Later,
products from other sectors will be phased in for development based on
market opportunities,” he added.

With regard to banking software development, the retail banking
segments
have already been relocated to Bangalore, with the other segments in
the
process of being moved to the city.

Work on some of Logica’s products in sectors such as
telecommunications,
distribution, transport, and energy will also be gradually moved to
Bangalore in a phased manner.

The company has marketing and client support offices in Mumbai and New
Delhi.

“Logica, which has built a substantial product development center in
India,
recognizes that the availability of highly-educated, professional and
skilled software engineers in India provides a unique, economically
competitive business opportunity,” said Harding.

Logica’s Indian operations got a major boost after it acquired
Synectics, a
Bangalore-based company that developed the Quaestor retail banking
solution
in 1996, and won a global contract with a bank in the Middle East.
Quaestor
is now Logica’s flagship brand.

The company, whose payment systems are used by more than 150 banks and
employs over 10,000 people in 24 countries around the world, has
invested
about US$3.5 million in its Indian operations so far.