SAS eyes banks for BI software

Buoyant on the sales of its enterprise intelligence platform to ICICI Bank, business intelligence software major SAS India is looking at offering EIP solutions to other banks in the country.

The company is also looking at a triple digit growth in revenues from India in the current fiscal and expects the business and financial sectors to be the major contributors.

Confirming the move, Sudipta K Sen managing director and CEO, SAS India said the company is targeting leading domestic banks. However, he declined to name the banks the company was in talks with.

Industry sources said that SAS India has made a list of banks, including the State Bank of India and HDFC Bank among others. SAS is eyeing the challenges faced by the players in the sector including risk management, anti-money laundering and regulations such as SOX that are complex yet essential in the banking industry.

"The BI market here is about $33 million with a growth rate of about 30 per cent. Banking is a key sector as the industry realises the benefits of a robust BI partner. BI solutions would aid the banks in managing risk, credit scoring, drawing from disparate sources and also operational intelligence. The banking industry is competitive, regulations are tough and customer expectations high," Sen said.

The company's deal with ICICI Bank was stated to be the first initiative of its kind in the banking industry and involves consolidation of its BI framework and replacing of existing disparate reporting systems in various divisions with a single enterprise-wide framework.

SAS India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based SAS Institute, a BI and analytics provider, and has global revenues of $1.53 billion. India provides more than 50 per cent of the company's total revenues.

In the country, the company provides its solutions to 140 business groups, including Standard Chartered Bank, GE Capital, Citibank NA, Hindustan Lever, Pfizer, HDFC Bank, Reserve Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

"We are online to register a triple digit growth in India in the current fiscal and a major chunk of this revenue will come from the business and financial sector," Sen said.