Sometimes you just know you will like someone from the first moment you see them. And surprisingly, on rare occasions, that good first impression remains unchanged. That is how I felt when I first met Nucleus Software. Based in Noida, a city near Delhi, the company's friendly staff was outside of their sleek building to welcome me, leaving me with a warm impression that will stay with me for a long time.
Nucleus Software is a software development company focused on banking and finance services, which ranges from retail banking, corporate banking, cash management, internet banking, and credit card solutions. Despite the relatively small size, the firm is making their mark in the global market while competing with major software developers. Also, FinnOne, one of the company's major achievements, is the world's best-selling lending software.
They are currently operating in Korea providing services for Citi Bank Korea, as well as in eight other countries including China and Italy for General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) as part of the collaboration with GM. The company is planning to expand to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Vishnu R. Dusad has served as the CEO for the last 13 years and his biggest goal, he says, is developing and supplying a solution that will benefit the society as a whole, which gives yet another reassuring impression for Nucleus Software.
Under the command of Mr. Dusad, who defines the company's essence as 'reliability,' Nucleus Software has steadily grown for the last 25 years, and their remarkable performance in 2009 has established them as one of the most globally recognized banking software firms.
Perfect understanding, excellent track record, and intellectual property are the most treasured qualities of the company, according to CEO Dusad, who explained, "Our goal in 2011 is to present a new technology for the customers. And we are trying to improve customer satisfaction by accommodating the existing products to European needs."
"Entering the Korean market indeed does present many difficulties," he added, "but we believe that the cooperation will bring many opportunities and possibilities for the two countries. I am sure Korean customers will findNucleus Software's lending solution most satisfactory.
Flexibility is the biggest advantage of this solution, which is already being used in more than 40 countries, and, just to give you an idea, this service helps banks determine and apply the mortgage loan rule that is most suitable for each customer's situation: for instance, different rules are applied for the customers in their 20s and 30s and those in their 50s who are soon to retire. This solution is highly flexible in dealing with many different situations, and we are proud to introduce it to Korean clients."
With easy access and powerful supply chain, thanks to its proximity to the country's capital, Delhi, Nucleus Software is distinguished from other software development companies for a couple of reasons. First, the company has started and grown with banking alone. R P Singh, president of Nucleus Software Exports LTD concedes that, in retrospect, it was a very shrewd decision to focus on specialized banking. "There are many areas in IT, and we decided to concentrate on banking and finance as we have to provide our clients with better and more valuable solutions that are directly related to their business. And after many years of specialized banking, based on more experience and knowhow than any other company, we have now become an influential supplier in the 'banking software' industry," he explained.
"The second fact that differentiates us from our rivals is that we own our products," Mr. Singh added. "Our company achieved huge success as we have been solely specializing in banking after we decided to focus on product development 15 years ago. Because we can understand the customers' needs more quickly and clearly with actual products, it is much more practical and effective to own products than building software. Those two are our company's unique core strategies."
President Singh remarked that manpower shortage - i.e., lack of qualified workforce - is the biggest challenge that is faced with India's IT industry at the moment. Although the size of the market and, hence, overall demand is increasing, there is not enough supply of labor force to respond to such growth. He said, "It has led to the rise of wages in certain fields, which resulted in closing the gap of the labor costs between India and other advanced countries, therefore, hampering one of India's biggest advantages - cost competitiveness. So it is important to nurture more skilled workers and also improve product quality."
Nucleus Software is in fact making such efforts themselves. Apart from building trust among clients with improved quality of the products, the company is also taking the lead in fostering specialized workforce.
"In predicting the near future, as late as 2020, of the Indian IT market, NASSCOM claimed that plenty of IT-related jobs will be created. But the question is: are there such competent and talented people to meet the need A number of engineering majors are entering the industry each year, but they are often not ready to do the real work yet," said Mr. Singh, explaining the reasons he opened the Nucleus School of Banking Technology (NSBT).
Run by Nucleus Software, this foundation helps students gain practical skills for work. This 4-month program aims to nurture banking technology experts, overall training with the banking system, communication skills and self-management, etc., and it also helps the students to get a job after finishing the course, using its connections to many IT companies. President Singh emphasizes, "There is much weaker cooperation between schools and industries than people generally expect. The people within the industries must voluntarily participate in raising the workforce." Trained workers will naturally develop confidence and competence and that will lead to high production, he concluded.
Just as the CEO's hope to contribute to social development, Nucleus Software is strengthening Indian IT industry with reliable banking software and a new generation of industry experts.
