Misys plc and HCL Technologies Ltd (HCL) today announced a strategic partnership to open new markets and drive innovation, quality improvements and speed to market for key Misys financial services solutions in high growth economies.

There are three key elements to this partnership:
" HCL selects Misys as its preferred banking software partner
" Joint creation of an upgrade solution centre to expedite upgrades
" Flexible global sourcing model for development to improve quality and speed to market and gain access to HCL''s world leading business processes and skills

Misys will be HCL''s preferred banking software partner and the two companies will jointly market Misys'' award winning banking and treasury & capital markets solutions in India, Singapore and Malaysia. This is a landmark announcement enabling both Companies to gain market share in fast growing economies.

India is experiencing strong growth and analysts anticipate IT spend in the banking sector will continue to grow at up to 20 per cent per year. The majority of software decisions in India are won by local players and HCL is one of India''s leading global IT services companies with a very strong footprint.

HCL and Misys will jointly market Misys'' award winning solutions, including Misys Opics, Misys Trade Innovation, Misys Summit and Misys Trade Portal. This will enable Misys to increase its share in this fast growing market. A similar arrangement is also in place for HCL and Misys to work together in Malaysia and Singapore.

Misys and HCL together will create an upgrade solution centre to leverage world class professional services skills and technical tools in order to more rapidly migrate customers to the latest versions of Misys software. Misys is experiencing demand for its award-winning financial services products and working with HCL will enable Misys customers globally to benefit from rapid access to the very latest products. Customers of Misys Opics upgrading to Misys Opics Plus and customers of Misys Midas upgrading to Misys Midas Plus will now have a streamlined upgrade path that is faster and more predictable in delivering tangible business results.

Misys has selected HCL as a preferred strategic development partner. Misys is establishing a flexible, global sourcing model for development and leveraging the expertise and capabilities of partners such as HCL, in addition to the growing Misys India development centre. Misys will collaborate with partners to accelerate the delivery of new products and more efficiently maintain existing products. It is anticipated that this relationship will grow over time.

"This is an exciting day for HCL, we have selected Misys as our preferred software vendor because of their track record and deep understanding of the financial services software market," said Shiv Nadar, chairman and chief strategy officer, HCL Technologies Ltd.. "Misys'' award winning solutions coupled with our proven business process expertise and market position make this a strong combination that will drive value for financial institutions in India and other key growth economies. In addition having Misys put their trust in us for services and development capability is a great endorsement of our strategy to deliver value add services for key global players."