Dy. Managing Director
State Bank of India
Mr. R. N. Ramanathan joined the State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer on 26th November, 1971. After going through different assignments in the Bank in various operational areas, Mr. Ramanathan was inducted into I.T. through a special selection process in 1984 as Manager of Data Processing Centre at Hyderabad LHO. This was a time when Mini-computers based on UNIX operating system were gaining popularity. Through this assignment, Mr. Ramanathan could gain considerable grounding in computer system basics. The assignment was focused on developing Management Information System reports for the Bank. After a brief stint of 2 years in Branch level computerization, Mr. Ramanathan was posted as Manager (Electronic Data Processing) of SBI, London. This assignment provided good exposure in IBM Systems and international accounting systems such as Kapiti Retail Banking System. The assignment at London Branch lasted for 4 years from April 1989 to March 1993. On return from the overseas assignment, Mr. Ramanathan was involved in the full computerization project known as TBA (Total Branch Automation). This assignment was followed by an operational assignment as Dy. General Manager of Pune Zonal Office of the Bank from September 1998 to November 2000. After successful completion of this assignment Mr. Ramanathan took over as General Manager (IT) at Corporate Centre of the Bank. During this period and the following period as Chief General Manager (IT) and currently as Dy. Managing Director (IT), several important IT initiatives have been taken in the Bank. Important projects include full computerization of all the branches of State Bank Group, implementation of ATM Channel made up of 5500+ ATMs from State Bank group, setting up a Core Banking project, and operationalising alternate delivery channel such as Internet Banking. Mr. Ramanathan has gained considerable experience in implementation of various IT projects supported by a strong domain expertise in banking.