Belgian IT firm to expand

Capco India, the Indian subsidiary of the Belgium-based IT services and consulting firm, plans on increasing their present staff strength of 100 to around 250 in the next two months.

According to Gopi Chelliah, newly-appointed executive VP, BPO/sourcing development, Capco this growth is a symbol of the challenging work that will be done out of the centre.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of the centre in Bangalore by Belgian crown prince Philippe. Earlier Rob Heyvaert, founder, chairman and CEO of Capco said the centre will look to 'double or even triple' their workforce here in the coming months.

Capco, a maker of software products for capital markets, made revenues of $100 million last year, selling products like clearing and settlement software packages to stock exchanges, corporate banks and other financial services firms, said Philip Ghekiere, a director of the company.

Ghekiere was part of a large business delegation from Flanders, one of the three major regions of Belgium, that is visiting India to boost bilateral ties.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on information communication technology (ICT). The seminar showcased capabilities of Belgian and Indian ICT firms to explore potential collaborations.

Capco's BPO centre here, which takes up 16,000 sqft of office space, was brought up to speed for it in a build-own-transfer model by Ness Technologies, an Israeli IT firm that also has its own centre here. Capco has invested about $1 million so far in its Indian operations.

"We will continue to invest in the Indian centre," Ghekiere said. The centre will be engaged in data management, 24/7 technical support for some component-based banking software sales and initially a small amount of applications maintenance and development.

Hiring talent in Bangalore was over 50 per cent cheaper than doing the same work in Belgium.

"But the advantage is eroding as pay expectations are on the rise and there have been significant increases in salary recently." Of Capco's current worldwide staff of 500, a fifth is now based at its Bangalore centre. The company has three other centres, at Antwerp, Frankfurt and New York.

The Bangalore centre will continue to be Capco's biggest office, which over time will become more integrated into the firm's global delivery model, serving such customers as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, ABN Amro and ING.

The firm also had "some partnerships" with third party vendors in India. Coming here has been an "eye opener for many firms in Belgium" and more will start offshoring work, Ghekiere said.