Sonata Software Partners with Franklin Templeton India to develop a first of its kind Mutual Fund Website

Bangalore, October 29, 2001

Sonata Software developed for Franklin Templeton Investments' India office a new power packed web site www.franklintempletonindia.com, which will provide information and transaction services to Franklin Templeton's investors and financial advisors. This one of the first mutual fund web site to offer users straight through transaction capabilities and a quick and easy option to receiving information online.

Franklin Templeton in India was looking for a partner who could render solutions to make its mutual fund web site as one more channel for its customers (Investors) and distributors (brokers) to interact and carry out transactions. They were looking for a software development partner with balanced strengths in technology, application knowledge, delivery proficiency, skills in GUI and data security and a track record of handling large projects involving cross-functional teams.

The web site has been designed using component-based technology architecture to take care of possible additional channels like WAP and kiosks. Performance testing and benchmarking was done to make the application scalable to cater to ever-growing community of Internet users. The combination of both technical and domain expertise played a crucial role in the success of the project.

The Web site would have tangible business benefits for investors and financial advisors like better service standards by straight through processing of requests, instant access to information and personalized portfolio information.

Sonata has been focusing on and building its expertise in the area of Financial Services especially in the areas of mutual funds, credit and loans, accounting, investing, brokerage, portfolio management etc. In Banking, Sonata has domain expertise in the areas of consumer products banking, credit card services, investment banking and Internet banking. Sonata has proven expertise in component technology & web-technology for executing financial service projects.

Mr. B RAMASWAMY, President and Managing Director, Sonata Software Ltd. added, "Our people worked in perfect synergy with Templeton. They proposed various options, designed the architecture and finally deployed the solution that brought smiles to our customer and also their customers. The real harvest of our partnership and efforts."

This launch is in line with Franklin Templeton's global focus on leveraging technology to effectively enhance both customer service and empowerment of the financial advisor community. For Sonata this is another step towards consolidating its position as a preferred offshore software services and consulting company and in line with its vision to establish its industry domain skills in the financial sector.

About Franklin Templeton in India

Franklin Templeton Investments is one of the largest financial service groups based in US. The mutual fund web site is designed and developed for its Indian wing based in Mumbai. Franklin Templeton India started its operations in 1996 and offer 10 mutual fund schemes and manages assets worth over Rs. 3,600 crore. Templeton Mutual Fund in India has been set up as a trust by Templeton International Inc. with Templeton Trust Services Pvt. Ltd. as the Trustee and with Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd. as the Investment Manager.

About Sonata Software

Sonata is a software house with a 15-year track record of successful performance in both the domestic and international markets. It offers development and consulting services in the areas of eCommerce, Enterprise Applications, Business Intelligence, Customer Relationship Management, Data warehousing, Groupware, as well as specialized services for Software Product companies. Sonata has 6 regional offices in India and three offices in the US and the UK. Sonata has customers in 25 countries across North America, Europe and Asia. Sonata's Core Research Group, supported by alliances with Microsoft, IBM, CA and Oracle, enables seamless assimilation of new technologies for rapid benefit to clients. Sonata has been an ISO 9000 Tick-IT certified company since 1994. Sonata is an employee-oriented company, with 23% of the company being employee-owned.