Dun and Bradstreet, one of the biggest corporate database providers in the world, will shift more of its core data-modelling work to its Indian facility in Chennai.
The company, which maintains a database of around 10 crore companies 600,000 of them Indian, will also augment its training programmes in the country to an annual turnover of around $200 million (Rs 900 crore) over the next three to four years.
D&B, which established its forecast-modelling centre in Chennai last year, currently employs around 200 scientists and technicians at its Predictive Science and Analytics Centre in Chennai, said most of its developmental work for its predictive models would be carried out in India by the end of the next two years.
"Models form a crucial aspect of our product, which is to provide data on companies to companies. By March next year, we will have more than doubled the number of scientists and technicians to around 500 at the facility," David J Emery, president of International Partnerships and the Asia Pacific region, said.
The company uses mathematical models, integrated into its proprietary software, to generate points and ranks for companies based on factors such as growth, profits, size and previous credit records. Before establishing the Indian centre, D&B had tried to outsource its modeling work to other organisations.
The firm, which has been bringing out a performance rank list of Indian companies for the last 10 years, is also planning to spruce up its marketing in the country.
"Till around seven-eight years ago, nearly 95 per cent of the total inquiries used to come from lenders trying to find out the credit-worthiness of their applicants... Today, as a signal of the increasing importance of Indian companies, roughly 35 per cent of the inquiries are coming from those companies which seek to find a supplier, client or business partner in India," Emery said, pointing to the company's increasing emphasis on marketing to Indian companies.
He also said it is the Indian companies which are increasingly coming to D&B for information about others outside India than the other way round.
