Mobility A Priority For Financial Services CIOs

The Indian financial services industry (FSI) will spend 377 billion rupees on IT products and services in 2012, an increase of 17.4 percent over 2011 revenue of 321 billion rupees, according to Gartner, Inc. This forecast includes spending by insurers on internal IT (including personnel), hardware, software, external IT services and telecommunications.

Telecommunications equipment and services represents the biggest spending category, and it is forecast to reach 131 billion rupees in 2012, up from 113 billion in 2011. However, spending on software is expected to grow the fastest in 2012, with revenue totalling 34 billion rupees in 2012, up 28 percent from 2011 revenue of nearly 27 billion. This is being driven by a very high growth in enterprise software applications such as financial and administration packages, and customer relationship management.

“The real spend drivers will be the Indian retail bankers, although all financial services sectors including insurance and securities are increasing IT spend as they build out their infrastructures, “said Derry Finkeldey, Principal Research Analyst, Gartner. “Mobile is really top of mind for CIOs currently, and enterprise spend on devices is increasing and expected to grow by nearly 50 percent in 2012. There is also a corresponding growth in mobile network services, of nearly 30 percent.”

“This focus on mobility is a global trend, but particularly pertinent to Indian FSIs,” said Finkeldey. “They are all focused on leveraging the high mobile penetration to bring banking services to a wider audience.”