IT major Wipro Ltd, and leading public sector bank Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) today announced that they have signed a 10-year contract for comprehensive IT outsourcing services for PSB. The contract was signed in Delhi in the presence of Sardar G.S.Vedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Punjab and Sind Bank and Anand Sankaran, Senior Vice President and Business Head, Wipro.

The partnership assumes significance in view of the Bank’s objective to become a Rs 100,000 crore bank by 2011 by increasing its branch networks and services. The strategic partnership is to enable centralized banking operations for PSB branches spread across the country. Through this partnership, the bank will be able to leverage technology to compete better and achieve operational excellence.

Wipro will be responsible for System Integration, provisioning and management of Finacle core banking solution and enterprise applications. This would include 24x7 management of the entire underlying IT infrastructure covering computing platforms and networking. As part of the program, Wipro will also undertake commissioning and management of the Data Centre and the Disaster Recovery centre, and Service and Support for the Bank. The solution is expected to completely transform the bank’s IT landscape in terms of improved agility for offering innovative banking services.

Speaking on the occasion, Sardar G.S.Vedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Punjab and Sind Bank said “The vision of the Bank is to leverage technology to achieve business transformation. We are re-engineering our IT processes and applications to deliver superior quality of service and products to accelerate business growth and achieve operational excellence. We are delighted to partner with Wipro in this journey towards business excellence, given Wipro’s track record in the BFSI segment, leadership position in India and strong IT and people processes.“

Anand Sankaran, Senior Vice President and Business Head, India and Middle East, Wipro said, “It is our privilege to be associated with PSB as it embarks on its journey towards business excellence. Wipro’s Total Outsourcing Framework and strong program governance will ensure the application suite and the underlying infrastructure is aligned to PSB’s business needs. Coupled with our deep domain knowledge, over two decades experience in the IT space and knowledge of global best practices, we are confident PSB will set new standards in Banking services and Customer Relationship Management in the years to come.”