34 Mastek ltd - Looking For Solutions

alt="https://img-cdn.thepublive.com/filters:format(webp)/dq/media/post_attachments/fbf04f24596f81b147c046b6149e590e3d23fb4af0607dd388bd33d273e76e2b.jpg (20628 bytes)" border="0" hspace="2" vspace="2"> CMD: Ashank Desai ‡ PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: Software Consultancy, Turnkey Projects color="#FF0000">* AGENCY OPERATIONS: Computer Associates, Comshare, LBMS  color="#FF0000">* START-UP YEAR: 1982  * EMPLOYEES: 714   * QUALITY CERTIFICATION: ISO 9000   * ADDRESS: SDF IV, Unit No. 106, SEEPZ, Andheri (East), Mumbai 400096  * TEL: 8290635-37  color="#FF0000">* FAX: 8290557  * WEB SITE: www.mastek.com PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS l Growth at 35 percent, total revenue-Rs 95.05 crore l The US and UK markets brought in nearly 40 percent of the revenue each. l Software product revenue is Rs 8.42 crore. border="0" hspace="2" vspace="2">

With a 35 percent growth over the year 1996-97, Mastek's revenue has jumped to Rs

95.05 crore. Exports accounted for nearly 92 percent of it, and herein the company has

exceeded its growth targets. The US and European revenues grew by 80 percent but the Asian

economic crisis had its effect on the region's revenues. The Asian business grew by only

53 percent. Thus the company wound up the year without meeting the domestic and Asian

market targets.

The company's focus on products is coming down. Products business is primarily done in

the Asia-Pacific and domestic markets-last year it brought in 10 percent of the revenues,

this year the aim is to reduce it to 6 percent. However, it does not mean that existing

partnerships, with Computer Associates for example, would get any less attention. The move

essentially means that the focus on developing and marketing its own products would

decrease; and only key distributorships will be retained and served well. Even this year,

the company came quite close to its Ingres target. In other words, the company will not be

driven by the product selling paradigm.

The key initiatives taken last year are the formation of a business solutions group to

focus on specific areas like Supply Chain Management (SCM). Success has already come in

the form of projects from Videocon, Bausch & Lomb, and Prism Cements. This is a good

opportunity to integrate with any ERP and earn services revenue.

In the global business, the company prides on having created a good front-end marketing

infrastructure that is decidedly more local than others. Both the US and UK business has

grown favorably in the past two years. For instance, just two years back, UK got in only

Rs 2 crore, last year it has gone upto nearly Rs 40 crore. In Europe, the company plans to

start went local operations in Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland.

Mastek's strong point is applications for stock exchanges. The US operations focus on

an area called Customer Asset Management which includes sales force automation and

helpdesk. Another focus area is the branding of application development and management

methodologies. This helps in bagging outsourcing contracts where Mastek competes with

local companies on service levels.

As a strategy, the company follows a 'stepping stone' model-starting with purely onsite

consulting work, going onto onsite application management, and then offshore application

management. Again, the company wants to relate to a few customers and then provide them

the best service.