Thinksoft shifts gear to expansion mode - CIOL Thinksoft Global Services Pvt. Ltd, a financial software-testing specialist, is targeting $100 million in revenues in the next two–three years, and plans to go public.
According to the company estimates, the BFSI testing market in India is expected to grow fourfold from the current $400 million.
Gartner estimates the worldwide software testing market at $13 billion and the global market size of outsourced testing services is around $6.1 billion. India according to reports has the potential to corner 70 per cent share of the outsourced testing market ($4.27 billion). BFSI testing in this is likely to be $1.7 billion.
“We have touched only the tip of the iceberg of $13 billion,” Vanaja Arvind, executive director of Thinksoft told CyberMedia News.
The company is in talks with Indian BFSI IT product vendors for potential tie-ups. It already has one with Polaris.
Thinksoft, with independent functional testing of financial software as its core service offering, figured in the top 20 in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Indian companies in 2006.
Though the company’s current focus is on the BFSI vertical, it is likely to look at other sectors too. “Once we have the expertise, we’ll look at other areas. We are not averse to it,” Arvind said.
The company has expansion plans in Chennai and is also planning to scale up its headcount to 700-750 by March 2008. Arvind does not rule out the possibility of the firm expanding oversees.
It currently has presence in New York, London, Frankfurt, Singapore, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai,
Thinksoft hires 30 per cent of its employees from financial sectors, who has both IT and MBA backgrounds. “A lot of training is required for the recruits,” Arvind said.
She considers finding the right talent a tough job. The company jointly did a program with Thiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu-based Bharathidasan Institute of Management in 2003.
However, the result was not the desired one for Thinksoft, as the students were keener on joining well-known and big IT firms. On the positive side, the joint program benefited the students. A leading Indian IT firm absorbed most of them.
Thinksoft did not continue the program for the lack of desired returns.
According to IDC, the Indian software testing players would require more than 16,000-18,000 professionals within the next one year.
Thinksoft’s clientele include Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, ABN AMRO, Standard Chartered, ACE INA, MetLife, DBS Bank, RAK Bank, Global Investment House, Emirates Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, First Data in USA, UK, Europe, India and Asia-Pacific.
