Pune : Chigago-based financial institution Household International has entered into a strategic tie-up with Kanbay International to create a WebSphere solution centre at Kanbay's Pune operations. This is a $15 million deal for Kanbay. Household has had a 10-year-relationship with Kanbay which was further cemented last month when Household picked up a five per cent stake in Kanbay.Mr Ken Harvey, director and chief information officer of Household International, said Household would be entering the Indian market with its products preferably with a partner.
Mr Harvey said the tie-up with Kanbay was important for Household as the Net had become an additional channel to deliver products - ranging from consumer finance, auto finance to credit cards and insurance products.
"Around three per cent of Household's products are delivered through the Net", Mr Harvey said. Household and its partner companies together run 39 Websites. "Competition from pure dotcoms has faded away as they did not have the delivery mechanism. For us, the Net is another channel to be exploited," Mr Harvey said.
Mr Dileep Nath, one of the founder and MD of the Kanbay's development centre, said the team has grown up from 30 members five years ago to 500 today. Kanbay is a global e-enterprise integrator in telecom, insurance, financial services technology, manufacturing, retail and distribution. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co is among the other international investor in Kanbay.
WebSphere is IBM's Internet infrastructure software. Utilising WebSphere, Kanbay and Household will deliver to companies solutions to implement their electronic business applications in the B2B area.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.