TCS signs co-development deals for EX NGN

TCS Country Manager Cyrus Shroff has said "This will help in extending the scope of EX NGN and will make it more relevant to the end-user.''

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The co-development objective is to enhance the capabilities of the business accounting software so that it penetrates market niches in the indigenous solutions business.

For instance, if EX NGN were targeted at the famed hosiery industry of Tirupur, it would be shipped with integrated software built specifically for the hosiery industry.

Of the 15 odd software solutions, four are in the beta phase already. Pune's Korel Developers has a mini enterprise resource planning product, Delhi's Mashbra Software Limited has a software product for excise and tax forms, Surat's Nemji Services has an inventory management software and Bombay's Cemaze Technologies has a portfolio management software.

"Currently we are working on making these products talk to EX NGN,'' Shroff claimed.

Microsoft India is also a partner for EX NGN. TCS is talking to Microsoft for SQL Server apart from having developed the accounting software for the Windows NT platform.

"We are talking to Microsoft on a variety of issues. We do not rule out the possibility of EX NGN being bundled with Microsoft's Office products,'' he said.

TCS is currently marketing the product in India and has plans to take it to other places in Asia.

In the meantime, TCS has launched its EX NGN in Madras. This is the second launch of the software after the one in Bombay.

EX NGN, the Windows 95/NT version of the six-year-old EX software, has over 10 modules and comes with 32 ready-to-use business models for sectors like wholesale, retail and manufacturing, and professionals like chartered accountants.

Shroff said, "EX NGN has been developed in close partnership with Microsoft. We intend to use this partnership for providing complete solutions including office automation and messaging along with EX NGN.''

Initially targeted only at the domestic market, TCS will market EX NGN through its network of 800 dealers. It has tie-ups with Tata-IBM for hardware and with Madras based First Computers for training on the software.

According to company officials, First Computers has already trained 850 staffers of TCS channel partners on EX NGN by integrating it into their First Accountant course being offered at about 150 locations across the country.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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