NEWS: GFT INVESTS IN BRAZIL’S FIRST SPECIALISED GOOGLE WEB TOOLKIT CENTRE OF COMPETENCE

GFT UK & GFT Brazil to provide financial sector clients with rich internet applications

London, July 2 2012 – International, strategic IT partner The GFT Group, has announced its investment in its Brazilian Centre of Competence, focusing on developing projects based on Google Web Toolkit (GWT), with the aim of accelerating the development of web applications for its customers. This complements the The GFT Mobile Finance Competence Centre based in Barcelona, which is already developing platform-independent mobile applications for financial services clients.

The presentation of information on the Internet is increasingly aligned with the habits of Generation C (Connected Collective). Their ability to connect and share causes an avalanche of information on the Internet by adding 'tera-peta-bytes' of new text, images, graphs, charts, audios and videos on an ongoing and cooperative basis. Users of this phenomenon invariably grew-up in 2.0 environments, in which the tools are intuitive and easy to use.

GFT recognises this generation’s use of Internet and new technologies.

According to the UK Managing Director, Christopher Ortiz, the use of GWT meets the 2.0 apps and communication requirements of Generation C.

"Our clients are already requesting rich internet applications. So, as a company and an industry, we must continue to be at the cutting-edge of working practices and content delivery, in order to satisfy people who are thoroughly familiar with 2.0 environments and are always in search of better resources". He continues, “working with our GFT colleagues in Brazil, we are able to deliver these new technologies to our UK clients”.

Among the advantages that are inherent in GWT is the reduction of hours invested in each project, as well as decreasing the participation of different specialists. Moreover, the resulting application allows the end user a more enjoyable experience.

According to Constantine Cronemberger, architect of the GWT team in GFT, the Google tool is much more than a simple framework. "This is a revolutionary kit that enables greater productivity for developers and more performance for users," he says.

For GWT projects, GFT Group has highly specialised resources in Brazil. "With the use of GWT, the number of specialists needed to engage in a web project and the development time are reduced" says Cronemberger.

GFT is developing a suite of tools focused on the Brazilian market to further facilitate the use of GWT. "This set of resources will assist in developing new applications, making the process even easier, faster and with better development quality. In other words; it won´t be necessary to reinvent the wheel. The features we use often will already be available in the suite of tools" says Cronemberger.

Traditionally, cutting edge web applications require extensive use of techniques and technologies popularly referred to as AJAX/RIA.

Thesetechnologies require professionals of various specialties, such as HTML/CSS, JavaScript, or tools like Flex/Flesh. The result of these combinations is an application loosely structured and of high maintenance complexity.

With the Google Web Toolkit, it´s possible to work on construction and maintenance of applications using JAVA. The GWT technology itself converts Java code into JavaScript and HTML code, operating automatically in all major browsers on the market, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.

Notes to Editors

About The GFT Group

The UK division of GFT is based in the City of London and focuses on the financial services sector. GFT UK is part of the GFT Group, which works as a strategic IT partner to its clients, helping companies optimise their business processes by providing intelligent IT systems and highly skilled specialists. Under the motto Inspiring IT, GFT converts cutting-edge technological developments into sustainable business models.

GFT is one of the world’s leading IT service suppliers for the finance sector. It enables financial institutes to quickly and securely utilise modern technologies in order to enhance their long-term competitive standing. GFT combines established technological experience with comprehensive industry expertise, in order to develop, implement and maintain customised IT solutions. With its international network of experts, GFT offers companies in all sectors the opportunity to flexibly manage the staffing of their technology projects.

For over 25 years, GFT has stood for technological expertise, innovative strength and outstanding quality. Founded in 1987 by its current CEO, Ulrich Dietz, The GFT Group is represented in seven nations by its 22 local facilities. A global team of over 1,300 employees and 1,300 external consultants implement complex IT projects across various nations. GFT is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard: WKN 580 060, GEX).

Kate Warwick, kate.warwick@prsavvy.co.uk, 078 1069 7282

Jan Howells, jan.howells@prsavvy.co.uk, 0771 388 3773

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About The GFT Group

As a strategic IT partner based in Stuttgart, Germany, the GFT Group helps companies optimise their business processes by providing intelligent IT systems and highly skilled specialists. Under the motto Inspiring IT, GFT converts cutting-edge technological developments into sustainable business models.

GFT is one of the world’s leading IT service suppliers for the finance sector. It enables financial institutes to quickly and securely utilise modern technologies in order to enhance their long-term competitive standing. GFT combines established technological experience with comprehensive industry expertise, in order to develop, implement and maintain customised IT solutions. With its international network of experts, GFT offers companies in all sectors, the opportunity to flexibly manage the staffing of their technology projects.

For 25 years, GFT has stood for technological expertise, innovative strength and outstanding quality. Founded in 1987 by its current CEO, Ulrich Dietz, GFT achieved revenues of around €272 million in 2011. The GFT Group is represented in seven countries by its 22 local facilities. A global team of over 1,300 employees and 1,300 external consultants implement complex IT projects across various countries. The GFT share is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard: WKN 580 060, GEX).