Technology @ Janalakshmi

The use of technology, in its widest sense as constant learning, is an intrinsic part of all processes at Janalakshmi. This approach is driven by multiple benefits that the founder and senior management see from the use of technology - cost benefits, controls, scalable operations, and so on.

Vision for Technology

Since its founding in 2006, Janalakshmi has built the business model on bedrock of technology, considering its pivotal and historical role in the transformation of the financial services industry in general. Given also the innovations that are occurring in the larger technology world (SAAS, biometric technologies at affordable costs etc), we believe there is an unprecedented opportunity to leverage technology for microfinance. Janalakshmi was one of the early adopters of the Cloud Computing model. Strategic relationships with Technology partners have helped each of the entities to nurture their respective core competencies.

Operational Benefits

Janalakshmi is witnessing a dawn of a new intelligence at the operating level, due to the availability of integrated information and in a timely manner. The use of proven banking solutions for managing the financial accounting has ensured transparency and credibility for investors, employees and customers. The automation of work-flows has brought in several benefits like: control over turn-around times; accountability for credit decisions, performance management of employees, handling increased volumes of work at various levels. The power of the solution architecture is also its versatility, in terms of supporting multiple products by supporting add-ons in a plug-and-play mode.

The necessary operations and controls when automated reduce the overheads in terms of cost, delay and efforts.

User Experience

The empowerment of the Customer and User with information tools is another achievement of Janalakshmi. The customer receives a clear printed receipt with full details of the transaction. The Collection executive is provided with a hand-held POS Terminal, which enables him/ her to book a transaction in the field. The Area Manager is similarly empowered with the progress of sourcing and collections in his area thro' the CRM Application. Having crossed the initial hurdle of demystifying technology in an essentially non-technical type of user interface, we are now taking on the next continuous challenge of keeping it simple, available and flexible.

Implicit in this experience is a positive affirmation that clients and staff of MFI's are receptive to new technologies.

IT Architecture

Janalakshmi's technology infrastructure is defined by a three tier framework. At the foundation lies the IT architecture comprised of the technology services and infrastructure. The architecture enables growth and ensures scalability of the business. Next, the core banking system (CBS) complemented by the CRM application drives the business processes of the company. Finally, delivery mechanisms such as the Smart Card interface with CBS and CRM to cater to the needs of the customer. Each tier of the system work together to fulfill the company's key value drivers of customer satisfaction and operational excellence.

This architecture has been implemented by a combination of IT Outsourcing, usage of the off-the-shelf solutions and custom solutions for the frontend.

Challenges in the future

We believe that the technology journey at Janalakshmi has still a long way to go and many more challenges to face. The objectives in this regard are:

Technology solutions should enable us to become the preferred 'financial services organization' for our clients
Continue to further empower the user with information and tools
Develop new competencies with capabilities viz Customer Analytics Group, Data Warehouse, Dynamic Dashboards, Balanced Scorecard etc.,