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We render out ‘Bank.IT’
Professional IT Consultancy Services from the view point of a
‘Banking Business Professional’. We
know the ‘pulse of banking and bankers’,
which is generally absent in most of the consulting organizations, who
merely depend upon the technological component of the Business. It is
well known fact that, the Technology in itself is not the business of
the Bank, but the ‘technology is a business
enabler’.
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We would like to submit that the
consultancy is a logical service
and measuring the consultancy deliverables is a very tricky task. We
have to put together all attributes of consultancy and the cost being
one of the attribute of that measurement. Following is the information
document on consultant vis-vis consultancy for your kind attention |
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We never
‘Globalize
our Services’, but our
services are always with a
‘Global
Perspective’ and
‘Global Standards’. We
call it as |
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SysFoCon
"Bank.ICT" Consultancy Services |
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Consultancy – The Definition – A Logical Concept |
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The word ‘Consultancy’ sometimes sounds new to us,
when it comes to actually hiring the services of consultants. But the
meaning is old. Human being is a thinking tank. This thinking is not
visible like other physical objects. Thinking is logical and can be
equated with digital information stored in digital Medias. This thinking
power is to be utilized in the right direction for optimizing the
‘thinking results’. The results of thinking can be the guidance,
analysis reports etc., based on which further decisions are made. Thus
there is necessity for guidance to move towards the right path. In our
real life, we have come across many issues and resolved the same with
the help of parents, teachers, and friends and so on. One way or the
other they do provide us the guidance. This is nothing but consultancy.
Consultancy is required for every minute. The ways of providing and
receiving the consultancy services may be different depending upon the
domain, the necessity and availability and quality of internal
consultancy. There are also occasions when a consultant is hired to
ensuring that the process conducted is as per standard requirements. |
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ICT consultant – The Innovator |
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Today there are many types of
consultants and one among them is ICT Consultant. We at
SysFoCon
are not only ICT Consultants, but we
implement the consultancy, which can be hardly seen with others. It is
‘Beyond Consultancy’ Concept. We go beyond ICT; we call it as
IS – Information Systems. This is very important for Banks who are
conducting their business totally manual viz., ledgers, books etc or who
have already have technology, but want to leverage their business with
latest technology. |
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ICT Consultant – The ‘Think Tank’ |
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A Consultant must be a ‘Think
Tank’ providing immense and immediate guidance and direction to the
organization to take faster decisions as to ICT implementations. Time
tested guidance is necessary to save time and cost. He/she should be
capable of deciding the best alternative among the sea of
alternatives available in the market. Such selection must perfectly
align with the ‘Business Requirements’ of the organization. The
optimal alignment can be achieved only if the consultant is a
‘Domain Expert'. |
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Why ICT Consultant? |
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Ever emerging and changing Technology |
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No business is stagnant.
Everything is subject to innovation for enhancing the business value
and customer value. Information Technology is not an exception. I.T.
is more prone to research and development. It is ever changing. In such
a scenario, it is difficult for many organizations to keep abreast with
such changes. The in-house efforts either may not be sufficient and many
a times it is costlier also. Here comes the necessity of an IT
Consultant who can provide immediate guidance and direction to the
organization in reaping the benefits of Technological innovations. |
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Lack of opportunities/availability for in-house Expertise |
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Today for many organizations the
in-house expertise, if available may be stagnant due to various reasons
such as lack of opportunities of learning. The in-house specialists are
generally busy with other tasks. Developing in-house expertise for such
tasks is costly because there will not be full time work. Not only this,
an in-house expert may leave the organization any time searching greener
pastures. |
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Pre-conceived ideas/Notions about Information Technology |
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Few organizations have their own
notions about technology and technological implementations. Just
purchasing the abundantly available hardware and software will not lead
towards technical success. The vendors of hardware and software are
generally interested in their sales rather than the actual utilization
to the organization. Thus just because the technology is available, the
acquisition of the same and the effort to implement the same may lead
to increased costs in due course. We must think of ‘Life Cycle
Costs’ of Technology rather than the just ‘Acquisition Costs’ |
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Who should be the ICT Consultant for
YOU? |
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The immense need for Domain Expertise – Banking Specialist |
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The first and foremost is the
‘Banking Domain Expertise’. The
Banking Technology is built on the strong foundation of ‘banking
business concepts and rules’. Just understanding or a study in
banking laws and practice is not sufficient. A Banking Trainer need
not be an effective IT Consultant, due to lack of practical experience
in banking related domains. The IT Consultant for Banks must have
gone through the process of a Bank Clerk, Officer, and Manager and so
on. The consultant must have experienced the ‘pulse of front
office clerk while facing the customer’. |
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The Technical Specialist |
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The next requirement is the ‘Technical
Expertise’. Not just general technical expertise, But Banking
related technical expertise. This can be hardly seen with many
of the consultants, even though they are strong in computer technology.
The banking technology deals with money and money only. Every
transaction or an action with banking technology deals with money either
this way or that way. Thus mere technical expertise is not sufficient.
The consultant must have years of on-line and live experience to
his/her credit, with many banking technologies/software. |
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The Bank.ICT Expertise |
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There shall be perfect alignment
between the ‘Banking Domain’ and the ‘Banking Technology’. We at
SysFoCon
call it is
‘Bank.ICT expertise’.
The IT consultant must be a blend of banking and banking technology
(not banking and technology). The consultant should have the
capability to churn the banking and the banking technology and produce
‘nectar’ (Amrut) out of it, that too in shortest period, which must be
most suitable to the Bank. Here understanding Banking is not only
sufficient, but understanding the Banking practices adopted by a
particular bank is important. ‘Customized understanding of the
environment’ is crucial for the success of IT implementation in
Banks. |
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The live vis-à-vis hands-on Expertise |
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We strongly believe that the live
experience in any field is most important to understand the underlying
‘successes and failures’. The Book knowledge may be helpful only to some
extent. Such limited knowledge slows down the process and its
effectiveness on the organization. We at
SysFoCon
have hundreds of person years of live experience in Banking, Banking
Technology, that too international experience. |
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The Qualifications and Certifications |
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Nevertheless Qualifications of Consultant are equally important. Our
team members have qualifications such as CISA (USA) – Certified
Information System Auditor, CISM (USA) – Certified Information
System Manager, CAIIB – Certified Associate of Indian Institute
of Bankers, LLB – Bachelor of Law, Post Graduates, BE.
Computer Science graduates, CQA (USA) Certified Quality Analyst,
OCP – Oracle Certified Professional, Network specialists,
IT Security professionals and so on. |
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What
shall be the Qualities of an ICT Consultant? |
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Impartiality the Decider |
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‘Impartiality’ decides the effectiveness of consultancy
provided by an IT Consultant. A particular technological solution (for
example banking software) may be suitable for a Bank, but it need not be
suitable for another Bank. Thus just knowing some software companies or
vendors and selecting one among them may not lead towards desired
results. Every issue/problem is to be analyzed first in an impartial
manner, irrespective of pressures from any corner. We at
SysFoCon
are a confident team of providing impartial services as
we neither produce nor sell any software or any hardware. We do not
have any sort of business partnership or business understanding with any
of these vendors. Even sometimes we have faced wrath from few
vendors/solution providers. But fact remains the same. Only the Best
can survive. |
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Assurance
Provider |
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The
technology and its implementation effects are comparatively new to many
of the Banks (management, stakeholders and the staff). The competing
vendors or service providers present different views, which may boost
their sales. The availability of enormous options at varying costs also
may create confusion while making strategic IT Decision. Still
the required assurance will be missing. |
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Thus, the
IT Consultant, through his analytical ability, practical experience,
deep knowledge and understanding of banking and banking technology,
should be capable of providing the most required ‘Assurance of
Success’ to the Management, Stakeholders and the Staff. |
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Investment
Optimizer |
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The
technological implementation does come cheaply. It costs. The costs are
not only the acquisition cost, But ‘Life Cycle Costs (LCC)’ of
such investments. Practically an organization may spend the same amount
as that of acquisition cost, in just 3-5 years of using such information
technology assets. Now the question is how to optimize the investment in
technology. This can be made possible by an effective IT Consultant
rather than a ‘suggesting consultant’. |
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The
Roles and Responsibilities of ICT Consultant |
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Guide the Organization in its Information Technology Efforts |
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Many
consultants provide guidance orally or written without providing
sufficient evidence for such guidance. The Guidance shall be based on
‘Base line Facts’, analysis of business environment, system study
and so on. A particular guidance shall be backed by reasoning for
such guidance and how it will benefit the most to the organization.
Selecting the best alternative is not a simple job. The consultant
should have capability to select the best among equals. |
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Such guidance
shall not be limited to mere selection of software or hardware. There is
lot before and after this. The success of any IT implementation lies in
this. That is ‘IMPLEMENTATION Guidance’. We are proud that, we
provide a ‘total consultancy solution’ beginning from Tender
notification till the Pilot implementation and further. |
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Ensure
the right Vendor recommendation and Selection |
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The task of selecting the right vendor or service
provider among equivalent competitors is a hurricane task. The financial
Quote does not bear any meaning as far as software is concerned. For
information sake, the softwares are available as low as Rs.10, 000-00
per branch to Lakhs of Rupees per branch. Softwares cannot be used as
data entry software. The software to ensure the security of banks,
information of assets and reduce the dependence on human thinking (prone
to errors). We think of a solution rather than software. In such a
scenario a normal consultant can fail in his decisions, which may
finally cost the Bank heavily. |
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Ensure ROI – Return on Investment |
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Any business
house requires the returns on its investments in the business and the
Banking business is not exception. As IT Implementation requires
investment in hardware and software and other related facilities, the
consultant should have capability to make a cost-benefit analysis of
every major IT investments and guide the Bank properly. |
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A Friend in
Need-Own the decisions |
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The
consultant or the consulting firm/company shall own the responsibilities
for the decisions, guidance and directions suggested to the Bank. All
such decisions etc shall be supported and evidenced by analysis and
documentation. |
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Does the NAME of organization represented by consultant
sufficient? |
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No. We
strongly believe in this. Just name of an organization need not deliver
the required and needed services. The consultant deployed by such
organizations need not be competent and qualified for the job.
Globalized services provided by such organizations may not effectively
assist the organization |
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We offer customized approaches and innovative solutions |
We welcome new challenges! |
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