“We Are Supplying Our First Pilot Of Dept of Posts’ Computerization Through SIs”

For PC maker Acer, BFSI segment has been contributing the double digit growth and it has won several bank deal for its tablets. In an exclusive interaction with Channeltimes, S. Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India shared its plan, trends for this segment and how service providers can play a big role in this space by empowering banks with the latest technology infrastructure to improve reach and efficiency. Excerpts:

CT: How important is BFSI segment for Acer, what are the latest technology trends in this segment in India?

Rajendran: Our business is divided into the consumer and commercial business (in our parlance, they are referred to as transaction and relationship business respectively).The revenue split of our transactional and relationship business stands as 50:50. In the commercial business, BFSI has been a key growth segment contributing 15 percent to our total revenue 30 percent to our entire relationship business. Out the 26 banks that are currently present in the country, we have won orders from 23 banks, testifying to Acer’s strength in the entire BFSI segment.

We see the tablet adoption is a recent phenomenon that is expected to grow manifold in the near future. We have seen an uptake from Canara Bank where the bank management has started a pilot project of distributing our latest 8 inch Windows tablet to their senior managers. Our tablets are being used by the Bank’s senior management as a productivity tool running Enterprise applications.

From the perspective of stationary vs. mobile form factor consumption, most of the BFSI requirements are pertaining to desktops but we are seeing emerging trends where some progressive banks are looking at all-in-ones as a preferred form factor. Some banks have started looking at adopting notebooks as well. In terms of form factors, the split between desktops and notebooks stands at 95 and 5 percent respectively.

Most of the IT consumption has been from the public sector banks (including Canara Bank, SBIs etc.). Private sector banks including ICICI, AXIS Bank, and HDFC are placing orders for increased banking synchronization and automation. We estimate the ratio of PSUs and private sector bank orders to be 80:20.

CT: What has been the Acer approach to cater to this segment?

Rajendran:Acer has a strong 360 degree approach ensuring end to end support to our BFSI customers, including understanding their banking requirements, offering the right technology platforms, testing applications, delivering and installing the desired devices in the wide geographical spread of India, and providing round-the-clock service support for ensuring proper uptime.

The company provides desktops, servers, and notebooks to the banks. Tablet adoption has also gained momentum recently. While we provide the hardware, the desired software (operating system as well as dedicated banking software) is preloaded in Acer devices before they are shipped to our customers.

The actual project is executed by System Integrators. Acer is partnering with PCS, CMS, and HCL. In some locations, we are also partnering with Wipro. With the support of SI’s, Acer is supplying its hardware for the first pilot of Dept of Posts’ computerization also.

CT:Can you share some details of your large scale orders in the BFSI sector in the recent times

RajendranTypically the BFSI projects are region-specific, wherein Acer has won a large percentage of the entire order. The order value of each of these projects is in the range of Rs 1-1.5 crore to Rs 40 crores. In some instances, it is in the nature of an RC (Rate contract) where the procurement is spread over a quarter or a 6 month period.

CT: What is the company’s roadmap in the next one year in the BFSI domain?

Rajendran:Within the relationship segment, BFSI has been the fastest growing market for us with an expected growth rate of 25 percent this year. Acer will continue to stay focused in this segment and get its entire suite of product offerings (DTs, NBs, Servers, Tablets, Projectors and TFT displays) arrayed for this vertical. Along with our robust after-sales support network we are confident that we are well equipped to continue participating in this space in a very healthy manner.