case study-Team building

Fund Management and Product Development Team

Motivation : A Fund Management Product development company in Luxembourg had a highly rated mutual fund management product that they had developed and supported via development centers in three European locations.Due to an increase in their market-share, they wished to augment these centers with a set-up in India to keep the product at the cutting-edge with customization and enhancements.

Solution : Ramsoft started interacting with the client in 1996. We supported their software development activities in Geneva, starting with one person and growing to over 45 people over time.A bit about the product – It maintains different mutual funds in any financial organization – It can create new funds and manage the fund details. The product can accept any kind of financial instrument, like futures and options. It automatically calculates the NAV for the share. It also works out fund valuations and analyses performance.It has a full accounting system, which can use both transaction and value date. It can manage the fund with any type of currency. It also keeps track of statutory requirements in various stock exchanges. It takes care of the security at various levels. The product is easy to use, with the user able to get relevant information by changing a few parameters. The product can generate the necessary reports. It is developed using Oracle Forms and Reports.

Implementation : Ramsoft with its excellent base in Bangalore created a technical team in Bangalore to primarily maintain and enhance this product.
We kick-started the activity by getting part of our team in Geneva back to India. We housed them in one of the wings in our Software Development Centre in Electronics City, with secured card access. We imported the necessary hardware and set up the environment. This team started delivering from day one. They also interviewed, inducted, and trained new members of the team – with the active support and involvement of the client’s personnel.

With efforts from our internal HR team and network of consultants, we quickly ramped up the team to 45 members. We closely interacted with two of the Directors of the client, to keep them involved at each stage of the exercise.
After about 18 months of operation, the client exercised its right to transfer the team to its own premises and management. Ramsoft dealt with various operational issues with regard to this transfer on behalf of the client during the transition.

Takeaways : Ramsoft’s long-term relationship with the client directly contributed to their growth. A team was ramped up from a single person on-site to a 45 member Offshore Development Centre (ODC). The client was quickly able to set up a development base in India without the initial time-consuming hurdles of dealing with statutory, HR, and administrative issues – implement right processes to ensure offshore deliveries and yet own the team and spin it off as an independent entity under their own management at a later date.