Large banks with big in-house IT divisions are often caught in a dilemma -- whether to build or buy the applications they require, keeping in pace with the technological advancements and customer requirements. While in-house development of some generic banking applications -- mainly belonging to the processing side -- could become successful, the same does not work in the case of specialty applications. Hence, large banks sometimes fail to extract the best out of their specialty applications developed in-house! Relationship-based Pricing (RBP) is a classical example of such an application.

Banks around the globe are striving to find the exact balance between the two sides of a scale. On one side, they have to keep the interests of the customers alive by providing utmost convenience. On the other, they have to keep operational efficiency high, in order to ensure cost-effectiveness in operations.

IMS technology, after spending a few years in its embryonic stage, has now moved to the growth stage of the product life. VisionGain believes that the technology is now gaining ground, and is in the process of being deployed in various forms by network operators across the globe. Several large cable and wireless operators in North America, Europe and Middle East are now in the process of adopting the IMS framework.

Financial Institutions (FIs) around the globe are accelerating their efforts to increase profitability, even as the global economy is trying to wriggle its way out of the clutches of recession. Nonetheless, this is easier said than done, due to various implications of the economic downturn. Customer purchase patterns and market dynamics have significantly changed. Competition is still hot and customer expectations are still high. Moreover, increasing costs and operational silos are creating operational issues. Under these conditions, FIs are looking for strategies to improve customer revenue, and reduce customer cost to improve profitability. Now, the BFSI players should start exploring other industries, and adopt their best practices to meet these objectives. In order to improve customer revenue, FIs need to find out ways to provide offerings and prices according to customer expectations, better revenue realization, reward high-value customers, manage products and services effectively, and offer smarter pricing mechanisms. Some of these best practices include:

Vehicle leasing and fleet operational management service providers are having a tough time with the current economic downturn. On one side they are facing operational challenges within their business. On the other, they are tackling severe price pressure from the clients -- since the clients are always on the lookout for means to reduce logistics costs. Fleet management companies are in the race to grab the best chunk of the profitability pie, utilizing lesser cost. This, of course, poses the real challenge for them within the industry. The trend has definitely brought forth the necessity for a change in the way fleet management companies do their business.