As a niche player providing portfolio optimisation solutions to banks and financial institutions in the Asia Pacific, Protégésoft knows it cannot escape the effects of the global financial crisis. However, Founder and Chief Executive Officer Kumaran Pillai also believes that the downturn presents the company with a vast opportunity to help ailing financial institutions address critical issues they are facing with investors, and it is positioning itself to take advantage of this opportunity through its partnership with HP ( www.hp.com ).

In 2007, Protégésoft joined the HP Overseas Development Programme (ODP), which gave the company access to key markets, customers, and distributors in the region. "It also gave us the opportunity to co-brand our solutions on the HP platform, which gave us the credibility to win key accounts in the marketplace," said Mr Pillai.

Mr Pillai: HP opened new doors and introduced us to their partner network, which has produced good results.

Introduced by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), ODP is a partnership-driven programme that teams up Singapore's infocomm Local Enterprises (iLES) with leading infocomm multinational corporations (MNCs) or major local enterprises with an established international presence. This is to enable the iLES to tap into overseas markets.

Prior to becoming an ODP partner, Protégésoft was already a member of HP's Developer and Solutions Partner Programme and a HP partner under the Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Programme (iLIUP) , another initiative by IDA to foster partnerships that will help enhance local infocomm capability to compete in the international market. "Through the HP iLIUP, we were able to access HP technologies to develop a robust application and jointly market our product in the local market," said Mr Pillai.

Mr Freddy Tan, Vice President and General Manager, Alliances & Value Partners, Asia Pacific & Japan, Hewlett-Packard, noted that Protégésoft was one of the early development adopters of HP Integrity Servers and won the 2nd Global Itanium Solutions Award 2008, Enterprise Category. "We have been supporting Protégésoft in its development, sales and marketing efforts in the Asia Pacific region as part of the ODP and iLIUP programmes," he said.

The partnership has helped Protégésoft to acquire customers in key markets and to set up its overseas distribution and reseller networks. For example, Protégésoft meets up with HP channel partners through Partner Connect events in Thailand, China, Vietnam and Malaysia. These have helped build the foundation for the company's overseas expansion plans. "Working with HP has enabled us to share some of the business risks with them. HP has opened new doors and introduced us to their partner network, which has produced good results," said Mr Pillai. "Most important of all, HP gave us the brand recognition when dealing with overseas clients."

Going forward, Protégésoft is examining various go-to-market options as it grapples with the effects of the ongoing financial crisis. "The collapse of major banks and financial institutions has sent jitters around the financial services industry and has also affected suppliers to the industry, like Protégésoft," acknowledged Mr Pillai. "Our clients couldn't keep up with their project fees and licensing fees."

However, what he foresees happening is disintermediation in the marketplace, and more transparency in financial markets, costs structures and the investment process. "Asset management firms and financial markets would be further burdened by heavy compliance costs," he said. "Another trend that we foresee is for investors to switch to products such as Exchange Traded Funds rather than Unit Trusts or Mutual Funds. The primary reason for this would be lower overheads and costs and at the same time giving the investor more visibility in the management of assets."

Protégésoft has lined up a suite of new products to address these issues. It is also examining various go-to-market strategies, one of which is to build applications which can be used directly by the investor and to use alternate channels such as the Internet to reach a broader customer base. Even as the company responds to these new opportunities, its underlying mantra remains unchanged. "Stay focused. Make money!" said Mr Pillai.