(1983?) 1984-1985: Projects with TKS for SNB: organisation size - 326: 13 member internal IT team.
TCS Delhi's first true offshoring project was through a partnership with Pierre Page's Teknosoft (TKS) on a joint development for the Swiss National Bank (SNB). This was SNB's largest technology project at that time. The SNB is Switzerland's central bank, acting in a banking regulation and policy role with responsibility for money supply, reserves, currency exchange, price stability and regulation of payment and securities settlement systems (link).
"Working with the Swiss presented us with our first experience of working with a demanding customer. Milestones for both sides were set, but there was no pressure on TCS to complete the project by a predetermined 'go live' date. Instead the bank trusted us as experts to define the schedule, after which they held us to it stringently."(Ramadorai, 2011: 60)1989: SEGA: fixed price contract, 300 person-year, 3 year turnkey project.
TCS's winning of the Swiss SegaInterSettle (SEGA) project in 1989 was seen as the next defining moment for the burgeoning business of delivering offshore software and IT services. TCS, partnering with Teknosoft (TKS) competed for the business directly against Andersen Consulting. The pricing of the two bids ended up being quite similar (Ramadorai, 2011: 61). Andersen's strategy was to have its offshore development teams in Manila, the Philippines. TCS planned to offshore from India (Madras) but TCS had limited domain knowledge in 'depositories' so they sent a team on-site for 3 months in advance to understand the customer's requirements in order to prepare the bid.
SegaInterSettle (SEGA) required the development of a second generation real-time settlement system; a crucial piece of infrastructure for the Swiss financial system. It would be used to clear and settle bonds, equities.
"The settlement Communication System went live as planned in October 1993 and handled 4.6 million transactions in its first year of operations. It was a pace-setting and visionary project for the industry. Today, almost twenty years later, it continues to run flawlessly and remains one of the most sophisticated systems in the world in terms of technology, functionality and its architecture which was way ahead of its time." (Ramadorai, 2011: 62).
