Grameen Foundation and ThoughtWorks Partner to Extend Microfinance Technology Platform to Global Communities

ThoughtWorks Establishes Agile Engineering Initiative for Grameen Foundation’s Mifos® 

July 27, 2010 - ThoughtWorks, Inc., the global leader in Agile methods of software development, today announced a global initiative to provide software engineering services for Grameen Foundation’s Mifos [1] platform. 

ThoughtWorks has established a dedicated team to advance the next-generation Mifos technology architecture using the latest open source technologies. The project will extend Mifos’ capabilities to meet the changing demands of the microfinance industry. These efforts represent ThoughtWorks’ commitment to use its technical expertise towards alleviation of world poverty through microfinance.

“We are excited to join hands with Grameen Foundation to expand the outreach of microfinance to the world’s poor. We are confident that our passion to create value through technology will be a catalyst for this expansion,” said Rohit Bansal, head of ThoughtWorks’ Social Impact Program.

As a leader in applying Agile and Lean practices to deliver software excellence to customers globally, ThoughtWorks, through this initiative, will bring direct value to microfinance institutions (MFIs) serving the poor. A ThoughtWorks engineering team in India, along with a distributed Mifos engineering team and worldwide open source community, will work towards advancement of the Mifos platform to accelerate business efficiencies for MFIs, and thus increase their social impact. ENDA Inter-Arabe, the leading MFI in Tunisia, has benefited from the close collaboration between the ThoughtWorks and Grameen Foundation teams through the expansion of Mifos to include support for individual lending, agricultural loan products and a centralized data warehouse for extensive reporting.

”We have proven that technology can effectively enable MFIs to service the poor; now we have to accelerate the adoption,” said George Conard, Executive Director of Grameen Foundation’s Technology for Microfinance Initiative. “ThoughtWorks’ technology expertise and innovative approach complements our process for innovation. Their commitment and involvement in the microfinance movement is proving to be a tremendous asset to Grameen Foundation and the industry.”

Launched in 2006, Mifos is an advanced software platform for microfinance institutions that offers both an online hosted service, Mifos CloudTM, and a downloadable open source edition for use on premise. In a recent CGAP review, Mifos was awarded four out of four stars for its technical capabilities and comprehensive implementation, training and support provided by Grameen Foundation and its specialists. Mifos is currently used by MFIs in the Americas, Asia, Middle East-North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, in countries such as India, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Philippines and Tunisia, serving more than 800,000 clients. Mifos is spearheaded by the Technology for Microfinance Initiative based at Grameen Foundation’s Technology Center in Seattle, with support in Africa, Asia, Middle East and the Americas. 

About Grameen Foundation
Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit organization, helps the world’s poorest people access financial services and technology solutions by providing financing, technology support and management strategies to the local organizations that serve them. It also spearheads technology initiatives that create new micro-business opportunities for the poor, provide telecommunications access for the world's rural poor, and improve their access to health and agriculture information and other services.  Founded in 1997, Grameen Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C., Seattle, Washington, Hong Kong, Ghana, the Philippines and Uganda. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a founding member of its board of directors, and now serves as director emeritus.  For more information, please visit www.grameenfoundation.org [2].

About ThoughtWorks
ThoughtWorks, Inc. is a global IT consultancy providing Agile-based systems development, consulting, and transformation services to Global 1000 companies. It has pioneered many of the most advanced and successful Agile methods of software development and best practices used in the industry today. At its core, ThoughtWorks helps its clients maximize investment performance across a portfolio of complex, business-critical applications, while reducing time and risk. Its products division, ThoughtWorks Studios, offers tools to manage the entire Agile development lifecycle through its Adaptive ALM solution™, comprised of Mingle®, Go® and Twist®.  ThoughtWorks employs more than 1,500 professionals to serve clients from offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, the U.K and the U.S. For more information, please visit www.thoughtworks.com [3].