On the 28^th of this month CodeWeek will be celebrating its 2^nd birthday. Another year closes its journey, and is headed towards a new much more innovating and inspiring one. During this journey many people inspired us on our way.   Looking back not only makes us want to relive every moment and every meeting again but also makes us think how far we have now reached in terms of progress in our industry.

During this year we not only covered Android development, but ruby on rails and software quality assurance as a business. We also learnt how our software professionals are serving the non-IT world, how we are competing Skype with our product ‘Vopium’ and how we developed ‘Cricket Power’, the Official game for the ICC’s Cricket World Cup 2011.

Jamil Goheer, CEO Kualitatem, an entrepreneurs hared his experience of starting a software business with us. He said when starting a software company a neat idea is required. A unique idea which may have not been implemented previously, and promises a fortune. Every successful software engineer we’ve met so far has had a knack for creativity. Not just creativity but with an idea, a desire and passion to do something great.

Faizan Iftikhar, Head Mobile Product Development, highlighted the importance of Android in Pakistan and worldwide. In a conversation he said ‘It’s a mobile platform you can’t afford not to learn. Android is being used for development of amazing applications worldwide. In our country as well, it is being considered today’s most remarkable mobile communications platform.’ 

Nabeel Akmal Qadeer, the Co-Founder and COO at Technopsis is one of the most sought-after IT professionals in the local SME sector of Pakistan. His views are often thought to be unorthodox yet brilliant. CodeWeek interviewed him a couple of weeks back in his office at Shapes Pvt. Ltd. Head Office [which is the Head Office of Technopsis as well], where he treated us to a hot cup of coffee and some very interesting ideas.

Hasham Malik, Director of Engineering, OSM Invention (Pvt.) Ltd,   diverse experience in development spanning over 10 years. His areas of expertise have been e-commerce, social applications, web services and mobile back ends. But in the interview he highlighted the importance of Ruby and Rails in the developer’s community.

Tanveer Sharif, CEO Vopium told us about his product Vopium, Skype’s competitor. He said, ‘In 2008 we managed to raise 2 million Euros from a European investor, after which we expanded in numbers i.e. from 5 to almost 70 employees. This allowed Vopium to expand and introduce our service to the whole of Europe as well as Australia and the US. Then with the global financial crisis, the company was feeling the financial crunch. But in 2010 everything settled down when we signed a major investment contract with Mr. Raghuvinder Kataria, one of the early investors in Bharti Airtel, the largest mobile operator in India and one of the largest in the world.’

In a conversation, Shoaib Malik, Country Manager Mindstorm Studios, discussed how the idea of ‘Cricket Power’ emerged. In his interview he said, ‘Cricket power is the Official game for the ICC’s Cricket World Cup 2011. It is a browser based Cricket Game and it features offline single player, online tournament mode, statistic tracking and challenging AI opponents that learn from your every move. Whether you play offline in exhibition games or hit the Nets Practice mode, Cricket Power will bring you back to the online tournament for a chance to show off your newly mastered skills and compete for top spot on the leader boards.’

Mubashir Naqvi, CEO Qubee, met CodeWeek team in Karachi. With 25 years of experience of working with renowned brands in Pakistan he highlighted the growth and importance of Qubee in Pakistan.

Ali Jaleel, General Manager Dell, in an interview with CodeWeek said, Pakistan is a growing economy which has a significant population comprising of young people enabling technology rapidly. People here are adopting new technology, its latest trends and equipments including PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Tariq Malik, Deputy Chairman, NADRA, in an interview with CodeWeek highlighted NADRA ‘Catalyst for Change’. We are trying our best to change the way government does its business. We are transforming the e-Govt. agenda in Pakistan.  NADRA houses the world’s largest multi-biometric database, which gives us a national competitive advantage. We have very effectively used it to bring transparency in many government’s citizen-centric initiatives.  These programs have enhanced public convenience, improved service delivery and ensured transparency and above all, left an impression of good governance.

Computer projects are mega events for the computer students.

Many students built their entire projects on imaginary start-ups.

Wasted effort?

These projects could have been funded even if at very nominal price and the situation would have been win-win for both parties. Pocket money for the student and an A grade documentation built for the company.

The scenario is no different in colleges and universities. Gradually IT organizations are becoming aware of this cheap labor that is available to them in the form of students. Now and then somebody gets lucky to be spotted by a firm interested in their term or final year projects. In a similar way organizations should consider start-ups as potential investment areas. For start-up funding categories of investors that can be explored are as follows:

Angels are rich people. The word was first used for backers of Broadway plays, nevertheless applies to individual investors commonly. The contacts and advice can be more important than the money.

Seed firms are like angels in that they spend moderately little amount at premature stages, but they are companies that do it as a business, rather than persons making sporadic investments on the side.

The reality that seed firms are companies moreover means the process is uniform. Seed firms will in all probability have set deal terms they apply for each startup they sponsor. The truth that the deal terms are set doesn’t suggest they’re sympathetic to you, but if other startups have signed the similar agreements and things went sound for them, it’s a mark the terms are evenhanded.

Angel and seed financing play a role prior to a business has launched its product, or soon thereafter. It’s the capital you could do with to make it happen. Generally, there are a small number of sources of angel money:

1. Venture Capitalists are about “heavier” deals, but they’re more accessible than other investors.

2. Strategic Angels have industry or domain know-how in what you’re doing. Having strategic angels is grand, for the reason that not only will they provide ready money, they’ll make available skill, contacts and authenticity to your hatchling startup.

3. Non-Strategic Angels -affluent people looking to branch out their portfolios by investing in startups. Lots of people fit into this group: businesspeople, doctors, entrepreneurs, etc. They don’t often publicize their interest in angel investing, so finding them can be tricky.

Venture Capital firms locally are the best option to consider for a startup. They invest in other people’s money, and large amounts of it. But they tend to come later in the life of a startup, are harder to get, and come with tougher terms. However the lesser known VC firms are on the lookout for potentially successful startups all the time.

The nuisance of taking money from less recognized firms is that people will presuppose that you were turned down by the more glorious ones. But, performance is all that matters. So the more certain you are, the less you need a label. Another peril of less celebrated firms is that, like angels, they have not as much of status to guard.

For the reason that VCs put in hefty amounts, the capital comes with supplementary restrictions. The largest part only comes into effect if the corporation gets into a hitch. An added divergence with large investments is that the founders are more often than not required to agree to lay down their arms aka their stock and earn it back over the next 4-5 years.

For the most part perceptible change when a startup takes serious funding is that the founders will no longer have absolute power. Once upon a time VCs used to be adamant that founders step down as CEO and hand the post over to a business guy they supplied. That is not the case any more. At the same time as founders are all the time more able to hang on as CEO, they have to relinquish some supremacy, and make the board of directors yet more powerful.

This is not as bad as it sounds, however. Bill Gates is in the same position; he doesn’t have majority control of Microsoft; in principle he also has to convince instead of commanding. And yet he seems pretty commanding, doesn’t he? As long as things are going smoothly, boards don’t interfere much. The danger comes when there’s a bump in the road, as happened to Steve Jobs at Apple.

It is suspected that VCs agree to business plans more as a line of attack to maintain tabs on industry trends than as a cause of the startups. It is, regrettably, regular for VCs to put terms in an agreement whose consequences bombshell founders soon after, furthermore widespread for VCs to protect things they do by saying that they’re customary in the trade.

After all that has been said it is important to remind IT organizations to support bright young minds bursting with bright young ideas, after all they are our future! And it is just as important for these young minds to seek organizations to fund potential ideas they might be toying with. However they need to know it is important to be prepared to hunt down the right investor in the right way.

By Muhammad Yasir

Ali Jaleel, General Manager Dell (for South Asia Growing Economies), has 14 years of experience in his field. He has also been associated with Compaq Computers and Microsoft in Ceato.

He was given the opportunity of setting up Dell offices in Pakistan with which he expanded its business network in major cities.

Ali Jaleel, General Manager Dell.

Jaleel: Pakistan is a growing economy which has a significant population comprising of young people enabling technology rapidly. People here are adopting new technology, its latest trends and equipments including PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

CodeWeek: Will these Tablets be successful in Pakistan?

Jaleel: Pakistan is the country where different brands have introduced their tablets and got tremendous response from the market. The buying power of the people is limited but now people are more interested in technology and they want to explore new gadgets, tablets, laptops as a fashion to adopt in their lives. So Dell has entered into Pakistani market with the hope of attracting number of customers in the local markets.

CodeWeek: Which of the tablets is more in demand Streak 5 or streak 7, in Pakistan?

Jaleel: Streak 5 is the most favorite product of Dell fans worldwide due to its design and size. It is viable and user-friendly with its pocket sized specialty. Though Dell has launched its Streak 7, which is its latest product, however, Streak 5 is the most popular in the world and now it has been introduced in Pakistan with the expectation to get tremendous repute and response from customer’s side.

Streak 5 provides better solutions to youngsters and business owners as well depending how they can avail the features embellished in the Tablet.

CodeWeek: How do you see the potential market size of Tablet users in Pakistan?

Jaleel: There is a stiff competition among Tablets and Smartphones brands in Pakistan market. The market is limited to 20,000 to 25,000 but it is flourishing rapidly on the high demand of the users as they are becoming aware about technology and its benefit in their social and work life.

Dell’s strategy is based on one phenomenon, ‘crawl, walk and run’. Crawl is when we enter a market and set up our offices and focus on the enterprise. Once we are in the top three positions, first, second or third, we say we have started walking. But the only way to grow is to be in a leadership position in the consumer market. We have been through crawl and walk stage and now we are in the run position which includes both enterprise and the consumer markets. So we are focusing on the enterprise as well as the consumer market.

CodeWeek: What was the main idea behind launching a Tablet in collaboration with Mobilink?

Jaleel: Mobilink is leading the cellular sector with creditability and providing access to millions of customers’ base.  The partnership is vital and productive because Dell with Mobilink is targeting customers seeking best technology and services alike. The marriage of two brands established a value and reliability in the market. This helps both companies to strengthen their product and services through strong marketing and advertisement campaigns.

CodeWeek: What are the different potential areas of business for Dell in Pakistan?

Jaleel: Pakistan is an emerging economy amid unabated potential in its huge population.  The youth and business class are vibrant and eager to adopt latest technology in their life.

Dell’s business has been growing since 2007. Now, we have our main offices in three major cities of the country—Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Hundreds of distributors and channels are working with us besides our 250 family members.

Dell has been in Pakistan since three years and already expanding its sales channels and technology partners from quarter to quarter. Dell takes pride in being one of the greenest companies which also invests a lot in citizenship initiatives around the world, besides taking good care of its human resource.

CodeWeek: What is the major product of Dell in Pakistan?

Jaleel: The Laptop market is expanding rapidly in Pakistan, which is our targeted market. The PCs are being replaced by Laptops rapidly. Besides, Dell Notebooks have grabbed significant share in the market with its latest brands and user-friendly features. But it does not mean that PCs vanish altogether. There is a certain environment where a customer needs a PC or at least a terminal if not a full fledged PC. It includes places like banks, airlines offices, government offices, etc. In certain environments where notebook is not required, you will not require PCs. There you will only see a server and people at different places with LCDs and keyboards.

CodeWeek: Do you think Tablets and Laptops have identity on the pattern of IMEI for cell phones?

Jaleel: Some encryption software and hardware is available so that if your laptop is stolen, the data does not fall in the wrong hands. If your laptop is encrypted, the data will be useless for a thief. But the machine itself cannot be rendered useless.

CodeWeek: Does Dell provide after sale support?

Jaleel: We sell through our partners. We have representative and liaison offices and have authorized partners who are trained and certified by Dell. We have a parts exchange center with a warehouse in Karachi. We are keeping an inventory worth a million dollars in parts. We provide 3-year warranty to all our enterprise customers and a year warranty of parts exchange to the consumer segment.

Interviewed by Muhammad Yasir

Mubashir Naqvi, CEO Qubee

Mubashir Naqvi, CEO Qubee, has 25 years of experience of working with renowned brands in Pakistan; He has been associated with Qubee since inception of the project in Pakistan. He joined the industry during its early stages and acquired an extensive experience.

Before joining Qubee, he was working at Etisalat as an advisor. He has also served as the President and CEO of Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (Ufone).

During his professional career of more than 25 years, he has served at various high level positions in reputed organizations including Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Millicom International, Cable & Wireless Limited, Orascom and Etisalat.

CodeWeek: What is your opinion about the growth of broadband in Pakistan?

Naqvi: Growth of broadband has been extraordinary with almost 150% AGR over the last 3 years. The market is still young and it is online content which is increasing the market size every day. As far as the response from the market to broadband is concerned, it’s positive and promising. Wireless broadband in Pakistan have changed the perception of broadband and ever since 2007 the growth has been in triple figures with number of subscribers doubling every year since.

CodeWeek: How do you see the role of Qubee in the penetration of broadband in Pakistan?

Naqvi: Qubee’s mission is “Broadband for All”. We have lived up to the promise and delivered maximum value to our subscribers ever since we launched our services in 2007. Our packages have provided the best value in the Wimax arena and devices best in class. Qubee has given the concept of an affordable reliable internet service which is easy to acquire, use and pay. With our various promotions and reach out to the user model we have given broadband availability to so many users who were getting unprofessional services at almost the same cost. We have launched entry level packages for users new to the broadband experience which are not heavy on the pocket and also introduced Prepay Broadband in Pakistan. Which is a first in Pakistan!

CodeWeek: What are challenges in the promotion of broadband in Pakistan?

Naqvi: By virtue of being a developing country certain impediments to Broadband growth in Pakistan are inherent. Low literacy, Low PC penetration, lack of local content, high bandwidth cost by Pakistani standards, duties on Customer premises equipments and regulations are some of the main hindrances to the mass scale promotion of broadband in Pakistan. The Government is not aligning basic civic goals such as education and healthcare with the broadband policy to do away with some of the hindrances.

CodeWeek: How do you see the competition among the market players of broadband?

Naqvi: Broadband market in Pakistan is tough and exciting to be in. With a host of operators in every technology e.g. DSL, Wimax, Evdo etc there is huge consumer market potential. The market is huge with almost every kind of user, from seldom email checkers to rich media downloader’s. Every user group is willing to pay for the kind of services he is looking for. Whether it is speed, data, portability etc. All operators are grabbing a share of each segment they can serve, while on basic level it’s all about the operator who provides the best service and customer care.

CodeWeek: Where do you see broadband in the next five years?

Naqvi: Broadband will reach economies of greater scale in the next 5 years, though not equal to GSM, but it will be greater than what it is in the present day. As IP based services such as Skype and online commerce becomes popular, additional groups will be using broadband services on frequent basis. This coupled with new consumer devices like tablets will incline people to stay connected round the clock. So we will see broadband more commonly in more cities.

CodeWeek: Which strategy and business model should Wimax and broadband operators use in order to expand their services in small cities and villages of the country?

Naqvi: Broadband must reach all corners of Pakistan; there are no two ways about it. As far as the strategy for broadband and especially Wimax operators are concerned, unless the cost elements such as CPE and transmissions are lowered, the proposition of operating in small town and villages is not feasible.

CodeWeek:  What initiatives do you suggest the government should take for the promotion of broadband in commercial and education sectors?

Naqvi: To kick off the broadband revolution the Government should give a boost to the industry and overall economy by encouraging e-governance and de-regulating the financial system to allow more transaction capability to users. Once the users realize the full potential of the internet, the entire commercial landscape can change within a short span of time, as businesses and their consumers interact at a closer level. This will open up a large market for smaller enterprises and big businesses as well to reach their consumers more directly.  An example can be online payment mechanism with top-up capabilities everywhere and ability to transfer online in real time.

Making the education system more technology oriented at the grass root level, will allow students to have a collaborative and bi-directional academic experience. This will increase the use of broadband at almost a utility level for most students.

Qubee (Owned by Augere Pakistan (Private) Limited

To be the best Cricketer, you require coaching. The same way, to be the best software engineer you require training.

Pakistan Cricket Board, PCB, hires coaches hoping that they will train their cricketers better than a local coach would. The reason why they get hold of coaches from other countries is because they know that every country has its own way of playing the game thus, international experience is highly required while training.

Similarly, Software professionals require intensive training before they build or manage any software. IT companies face demise all the year round. About 70 per cent of them are in constant threat of failure either because of low quality code production or because of bad management. The other thirty percent are not, have you ever considered why?

The Ostrich

Our Industry is like an open field where software companies hide their heads in the sand, like an ostrich, ignoring the training of their employees.

Why?

Because it requires extra effort, it consumes their valuable time and above all they do not feel the need of such trainings.

We don’t have time for training

Such an attitude is a norm in Pakistan’s software industry. The only time of the year when our Ostrich Industry raises its head from the sand is when they need to hire new resource. For hiring they need to market themselves and they need to present the best outlook in order to entice the job seekers and lure him to their company.

Let’s find next new hires

The reason why I stated that 70 per cent of software houses are in constant threat of failure is because the aim of these software houses is to provide services to their clients earn chunky cash and hire resources on minimum wages. When these professionals fail to deliver projects on time due to lack of experience and expertise, the companies then fire the previous group and searches for the next new hires. Simply because they don’t have time for trainings, and they want their work done at minimum cost.

Just imagine, if PCB sends new entrants (with minimum experience and coaching) to play the World Cup what will be the result? It will be similar is you are made to handle a software project without having any clue about managing your work.

Have you been trained recently?

How many times have you been trained in your current company? Do you have any coach there who can direct you on the right track? When was the last time these companies hired resources that had the ability to critically analyze failure situations and the ability to direct the entire team towards the road of success. You probably don’t remember. And mind you, your boss is too bus for supervising every project.

Two Types of Hires
Software companies do not hire such resources as they believe that this will only waste their time and money (they fail to realize that such a resource can be their savior too)

Thousands of CVs are gathered every month through online advertising, but at the end of the day only two types are hired

1.      Developers- because a developer codes and coding brings money
2.      Managers- with an MBA- a manager who knows recruitment, who handles all the costs, knows budgeting, and is excellent at handling spreadsheets and office politics.

An all rounder or an expert of many roles, who can wear multiple hats at one time and take the lead, hence the company saves a lot of money and avoids suffering from the process of hiring. With these two types, the software companies conclude the entire team.

But they fail to realize that that they require one more type of employee within them. One who is a combination of both technical and managerial expertise, a Strategic Hire? His job designation is

“A Coach”

3.      A coach- a critic, who knows the psyche of a developer and manager both. Who has the ability to look through things and take decisions accordingly. One who looks for the loopholes and creates effective plans to fix them, knows where fixing is required and knows how to deal with the Ostriches.

Hiring of such a resource is rare in the software industry, especially ours.

WE Do Not Train.

Strategic Hire is not the norm here. Pay the resource and get the work done. If he lacks in his skills slash him out and hire experienced resource because the world to which we provide services has no time. If you don’t deliver on time, they will simply jump from one company to another.

Clients switch companies for their projects and so does the resource in search of better pays and better future and this happens within weeks. Companies are an expert in pulling out resources from one company to another; they make them work for longer hours on minimum pays until they burn out.

People in IT are crazy about the next big thing. But when they don’t have time to raise their heads then it is natural for them to lose out on the latest trends of the industry due to their ostrich existence. Since the bosses know that these employees are not going anywhere so they don’t really take heed towards the issue.

Time to move forward

So how many of you out there are working in that 70 per cent companies mentioned above? How many of you admit being the ostriches here?

Incase you are aware of the answers of the above two questions, you probably are also aware of their solution as well. It is time to move forward, because these days we are fortunate enough to be living inside the market segment that is still growing and offers growth in future as well.

I leave you with two options.

• Make your company hire that coach/ critic or
• Become one for them, because growth is guaranteed either way.

If you fail in both, then maybe it is best to switch because PCB would have trained you thoroughly before sending you for the world cup.

IT sector of Pakistan was brought in front of the world when ten fastest growing IT companies  (among 25 companies from Pakistan) broke AllWorld records for high growth challenging eight countries in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Around 100 companies competed for a spot on the Pakistan 25.  Only the fastest growing private companies made the list.  All the twenty-five companies are credentialed by AllWorld based on strenuous international standards.  Of the 30 companies that made the Pakistan 25, Lahore had the most number with 12 winners and Karachi came in a close second with 10 winners.

Amongst the top 25, the top 10 were IT companies. Who are not only growing rapidly but are also contributing towards employment opportunities for the masses.
The Pakistan Fast Growth 25 is a program of the AllWorld Network in partnership with Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter and was launched in collaboration with JS Bank Limited.  Joining the Pakistan 25 were Nominating Partners P@SHA,FPCCI, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, TiE, and Knowledge Partner Mishal (Pvt.) Ltd.

The Pakistan Fast Growth 25 is a program of the AllWorld Network in partnership with Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter and was launched in collaboration with JS Bank Limited.  Joining the Pakistan 25 were Nominating Partners P@SHA,FPCCI, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, TiE, and Knowledge Partner Mishal (Pvt.) Ltd.

The Pakistan Fast Growth 25 companies have grown an average of 81% a year for the past three years.  They paint Pakistan in a new light, suggesting that Pakistan is a strong country for entrepreneurship, said the Press Release.

Leading the Pakistan 25 growth rankings are companies in High-Tech and Telecommunications, and Agriculture and Textiles.  Many of these rising Pakistan 25 companies are not just serving local markets, but are competing on a global scale .

Joining the Pakistan 25 were Nominating Partners P@SHA,FPCCI, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, TiE, and Knowledge Partner Mishal (Pvt.) Ltd. You can view the lists on the following links

Pakistan 25 Ranked List

Pak25 Complete Winners List

The  top Ten Brilliant IT Companies are as follows

Arpatech

The uphill struggle and ardor of the employees at Arpatech was rewarded when it was ranked 3rd among the top 25 fastest growing companies of Pakistan.Arpatech is a leading global technology company that provides software development, back office operations, customer support/contact centers, and network/security systems support for some of the largest companies in the world.

Jamal Khan, CEO Arpatech, said that his strategy was to develop a small number of anchor relationships and grow with those firms.

“I am an optimist, about Pakistan’s potential and its people. Pakistan is a compelling market with a tremendous resource pool of talented engineers and entrepreneurs. Arpatech develops innovative solutions for complex problems, and they do this by aligning themselves closely with their clients. Arpatech seeks to grow by focusing on incubating ideas and taking those to market. They are also looking at setting up a second office in Malaysia or the Middle East.”TradeKey

At Number 5 was TradeKey.com which is the world’s fastest growing online trading platform. It connects over 4.9 million importers, exporters and traders in more than 240 countries including USA, UK, China, Germany, France, India, Pakistan and the Middle East. Aiming to make “doing business easier”, TradeKey.com was founded in 2005 and within a short span of just over 4 years. It is now ranked among the top 5 online B2B marketplaces of the world.

Junaid Mansoor, the CEO of TradeKey says that his vision for the next 5 years is to make TradeKey a name that would be trustworthy and well known to Worldwide SMEs and will become a core part of their business process. TradeKey will reach out to 20,000 different cities of the World by forming partnerships with local entrepreneurs, and provide a kick-start environment to nurture entrepreneurship.

Sofizar

Sofizar stands at number 6, a B2C Internet Marketing company with development and operations based out of Lahore. Sofizar is aggressively pursuing a very rapid growth path with its experienced management, excellent team and a great track record since its inception in April, 2004. While Sofizar has worked with premier clients such as government agencies and large multinationals, for exporting its technologies, their focus has been marketing directly to consumers. After clocking high growth rates over the past 3 years, Sofizar has annual sales of over $20 Million in 2009 through its Live Events Vertical Search Engine as well as its Events Tickets Business. Sofizar continues to be profitable by maintaining healthy margins as well as by rapidly growing its top line revenues.

Zafar Khan, CEO of Sofizar, said ‘our vision is that Sofizar will be the global leader in Search Engine based E-commerce and Lead Generation. They intend to be Pakistan’s first internet marketing billion dollar capitalization company.

Nayatel

NayaTel (Pvt) Ltd. (NTL) is a sister concern of Micronet Broadband (Pvt) Ltd. (MBL), www.dsl.net.pk the premier and leading DSL broadband service provider in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It was founded in 2004 and has grown to have over 500 employees.

Covering over 90% areas of Islamabad and business areas of Rawalpindi Cantonment, Nayatel’s network offers ultra broadband Internet, modern telephony and digital video services to business and home users centers. This state of the art fiber wiring serves 6,000 home and company users, and is key to providing the country’s capital city with a robust telecom infrastructure.

“Nayatel looks forward to supporting many IT entrepreneurs, expanding our services to other cities, and providing the country with a robust and reliable telecom infrastructure.” said Mr. Wahaj us Siraj, co-founder Nayatel.I2c Inc.

i2c Inc.

i2c Inc. is an experienced and trusted payments solution provider that helps card issuers and program managers deliver profitable prepaid programs.

Mr. Amir Wain, CEO of I2c Inc. states his vision: We have built a very scalable application and service delivery infrastructure to service a high growth market. We are growing very quickly and are well positioned to be a global leader in the Payments industry.Abacus Consulting

Abacus Consulting

For over 22 years Abacus Consulting has been offering cutting-edge business solutions helping organizations to transform their visions into realities through a combination of latest business methodologies and technological tools.

Abacus Consulting is one of the largest Professional Services firms in the region with over 2000 employees and offices in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Dubai.Mr. Asad Ali Khan, CEO of Abacus Consulting said, “the company’s vision is to be the transformation partner of choice for companies determined to succeed in the rapidly changing world.

Folio 3

Folio3 is focused on helping entrepreneurs and small enterprises successfully build and manage an offshore software development presence.

Folio has incubated offshore teams for a number of their customers, who have executed on a number of successful development, testing, support and marketing projects. They have also worked with larger clients, including Fortune 500 companies, to successfully implement project based work.

Adnan Lawai, CEO of Folio 3 would like Folio3 to be a globally recognizable name in Outsourced Software Product Development, and be the leading technology company in Pakistan.

Corvit Networks

Founded in year 2000 as a supplier of networking products, services, trained human resource and training, Corvit has rapidly evolved into a trusted business technology advisor and strategic partner with solutions spanning the entire spectrum of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Corvit has achieved the highest partnership levels with industry leading global technology vendors and is known for its ability to integrate end-to-end solutions and tailored services to meet the unique requirements of their operations. Corvit delivers distinctive and innovative yet practical solutions.

CEO of Corvit Kashif Haq aims to increase his company’s revenue from the International business to around 30% with regional offices in Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

Multilynx

Multilynx is a Systems and networking solution providing company that came into existence in 1996 as a result of the partnership between Mr. Nuaman Mazhar and Mr. Hamid Chaudhry.

In a time span of 14 years, Multilynx is recognized as an icon in Pakistani IT Sector. Their strategic move to become a solution integrator from a hardware vendor lent to its success today.

They are keen on understanding the customer’s business demands and offer products and services in sophisticated and advanced IT domains like Mission- Critical Data Centers, ERP and CRM Application Integration, Enterprise Information Portals, Messaging and Collaboration Applications, IT Infrastructure deployment, maintenance and management.

Rozee.pk and GCS Pvt Ltd were highlighted as Companies to Watch.

The fastest growing IT sector of Pakistan has many companies competing and struggling to reach the top tens. Let’s wait and watch which companies rank the highest in the coming years

Interviewed by Muhammad Yasir

M. Tariq Malik, Deputy Chairman NADRA

Tariq Malik was appointed to a strategic management role as Deputy Chairman by board members of the National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) in May 2008. Mr. Malik brings 19 years of strategic management experience to the implementation of high profile citizen-centric technology solutions for the governments of the United States of America, Canada, Germany, Bahrain and Pakistan.

He is well-known in project and technology management as a successful CIO, Senior Consultant Information Systems, speaker, writer, trainer and researcher on Information Technology in the public sector. Prior to joining NADRA, he worked as Chief of Technology at Wayne County in State of Michigan, USA. Mr. Malik has the honor of being the (former) IT Advisor of Ms. Benazir Bhutto, late Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Malik has completed a Masters degree in International Management from Heidelberg, Germany, after having completed a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

CodeWeek: Congratulations on winning the ID People Award. How does it feel?

Tariq: It feels good, but really this award belongs to the employees of NADRA: especially CTO and the team which developed the application and CPO and the team which  executed the project. Also the Chief of Datawarehouse, our Regional GMs and all the employees who were involved with empowering Afghan refugees with an identity so that they can become lawful ‘refugees’. And especially the people of Pakistan, who despite living hand to mouth were hospitable to their Afghan brothers and sisters. All these people won the award. Can there be any civilized nation which has welcomed more than 5 million refugees?

ID PEOPLE AWARD

Tariq: Well, part of it was that I got where I wanted to be in just ten years. Many among the Pakistani diasporas worried about the future of Pakistan, ever engaging in endless discussions in their cosy basements of what to do about Pakistan but none of them would sacrifice the good life to come and serve the country.  I saw an opportunity when NADRA advertised a position of GM Networks, and thought coming back to Pakistan would actually be ‘back to the future’!

CodeWeek: Despite all these new technologies, forgeries are still taking place, will this ever end?

Tariq: The battle against crime is ongoing. The fight will be lost if we stop improving our documents and systems. After all, stagnation means decline! The future is difficult to predict, the answer can’t be given easily, and if someone should have the final answer, do not trust them.

But on the other hand, do trust the scientists, who both in the academic world and in the world of business community try to invent and develop new tools to safeguard citizens against identity theft and to protect documents against alteration and forgery.

CodeWeek: What is the definition of an identity from NADRA’s perspective?

Tariq: The collective set of distinct personal and physical features of a Pakistan national, together with data and qualities that enable a Pakistani to be distinguished from others.  In the world biggest multi-biometric citizens’ database system, established by NADRA, identity is typically established when, after a client’s registration, fingerprints and photos are compared with all the CNIC holders are registered before him/her.

CodeWeek: NADRA’s slogan is “Catalyst for Change”, what change have you brought?

Tariq: Yes, we believe that NADRA is a Catalyst for Change. We are trying our best to change the way government does its business. We are transforming the e-Govt. agenda in Pakistan.  NADRA houses the world’s largest multi-biometric database, which gives us a national competitive advantage. We have very effectively used it to bring transparency in many government’s citizen-centric initiatives.  These programs have enhanced public convenience, improved service delivery and ensured transparency and above all, left an impression of good governance.

CodeWeek: How many adult citizens you have registered and how do you register?

Tariq: We have so far registered so far 84.73 million adult citizens in Pakistan which constitutes 91% of the adult population (18 years or older). This is an increase of 50% compared with 2008. There is a significant surge in the registration of women which has increased by 70%. We have more than 800 data acquisition centers which include static registration centers, mobile registration vans, motor cycle service and mountain trekkers registering citizens in the mountains. But the real asset is 14500 employees who make it happen!

CodeWeek: How complicated was the process of Afghan refugees’ registration in the country? What model has NADRA adopted to complete this task?

Tariq: NADRA completed the UNHCR sponsored project of the registration of 1.47 million Afghan refugees in record time using multi-biometric technology, thus enabling UNHCR to have the world’s largest refugee database.  There were many challenges and the biggest of all was to reach the refugees, often in remote situations or otherwise hidden. The refugees were living throughout Pakistan and many were not even aware that they needed to be registered to get assisted by donor agencies. NADRA proved its efficiency by getting 1.409 million of Afghan Refugees registered for Secure Card and also issued 769,542 Birth Certificates to Afghan Children (under18) in a record short span of time.

CodeWeek: What is the role of NADRA in supporting the banking sector and financial institutions of the country with its high-tech software?

Tariq: NADRA provides verification services to the banking sector through secure software called Verisys developed and patented by NADRA. This system verifies and authenticates a citizen’s identity for the banking community.  The requirement to ensure the identity of the customer who wants to open an account at a bank is regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan.  These regulations are part of the “Know Your Client” (KYC) regulations. NADRA helps the banks to comply with some of the KYC regulations by verifying the CNIC of their clients through Verisys system.  Verisys allows the banks to mitigate fraud and forgery in their financial transactions.  Today NADRA provides online verification of CNIC to the majority of the banks in the country.  To improve efficiency in the banking sector, NADRA has also developed a new facility for the banks to allow instant account opening.  This new service allows the banks to verify and receive client’s (identity-related) information for the account opening.  This new service will revolutionize banking processes in Pakistan.

NADRA also provides VSAT (DVB RCS) connectivity to the banks, especially their remote branches, through its satellite hub.  This facility allows the banks to be connected to their branches in a reliable and efficient mode, with 24/7 support services.

CodeWeek: How is the e-Sahulate project supporting financial transactions to different companies?

Tariq: NADRA developed e-Sahulat (another software patent of NADRA) to facilitate the general public in the utility bill payment process in 2008.  Through e-Sahulat, NADRA collects the payments on behalf of the utility companies. e-Sahulat was designed specifically for rural areas, low income population and high density populated areas.  This service was designed to help where payment facilities were limited or non-existent.  e-Sahulat is spread throughout Pakistan and serves the people up to the Tehsil level.  As the pioneers of e-payment platforms, NADRA and its system have revolutionized the bill payment process in the country.  Any utility bills can be paid online on any e-Sahulat location in the country.  e-Sahulat is a “Prepaid Franchise” system and in three years around 5,000 franchised locations have been established.  This also means that over 5000 jobs are created for the low-income population in the country.

CodeWeek: What is the role of NADRA in verifying users of the telecom sector (cellular and wireless) in the country?

Tariq: In order to control the sales of SIMS to verified citizens, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) required the telecom sector to implement a transparent process.  NADRA offered STS a service that authenticates the CNIC of the customer at the time of activation of SIM Card.  NADRA has enabled the call centers of the telecom sector to verify and activate the Sims in an online process.  This reduces the time needed to serve their customer and confirm authenticated sales of the SIM card. Prior to this service, unlimited SIMs were sold without proper authentication.  This resulted in fraudulent activities including terrorism.  All major telecom companies are using the STS for verification of their customers.

It’s a mobile platform you can’t afford not to learn.

Faizan Iftikhar, Head Mobile Product Development, The GameBoss

Android is being used for development of amazing applications worldwide. In our country as well, it is being considered today’s most remarkable mobile communications platform. Software companies out there are continuously updating themselves and churning out amazing applications under the supervision of their excellent managers. One of whom we recently came across at The Game Boss. Let’s hear what Faizan Iftikhar, Head Mobile Product Development, has to say about him being associated with the Androids.

CodeWeek: Briefly tell us about yourself? Your personal and professional background
Faizan Iftikhar: I completed my Bachelors in Computer Science from University of Central Punjab, UCP in 2004, after which I headed towards Techlogix as a Software Engineer. I worked there till December 2007.
Carnegie Mellon University was my choice for Masters in IT Management. After coming back in 2009 I joined LUMS as Business Analyst. I worked there on People Soft Campus Management Solution for one year until I landed up at The Game Boss as Head, Product Development.

CodeWeek: Tell us about major personal achievements in your life? Awards and Recognitions.

Faizan Iftikhar: I never was an over achiever. Just an average Joe. However since joining The Game Boss, I got a few notches. To mention a few:

• Our game Gang Wars won National Award at P@SHA ICT Awards Festival.
• Angry Monkey and Miss Jump made it to top 100 in International Android Market

CodeWeek: Tell us about ‘The Game Boss’.
Faizan Iftikhar: The Game Boss is a gaming division of GenITeam. We usually develop social games but recently we have also invested in 2D arcade games. Now we are going one step ahead in social gaming by creating a blend of social and arcade games. Our games are mostly on Android.

CodeWeek: What has been the biggest challenge for the Android market?

Faizan Iftikhar: For Android mobile market, the biggest challenge without a doubt is performance optimization. The largest memory an Android set has is 2GB, where iPhone on average is somewhere around 32GB. So creating rich UI games on sets with limited memory has been the pinnacle of challenges. So far we have kept on overcoming the challenges, but the war isn’t over.

CodeWeek: Tell us about your latest release(s) Fishland 2.0.?
Faizan Iftikhar: Fishland is doing extremely well. Recently, we had a major graphical uplift. The response was very positive. Now, it has a user base of around 100K and people have started taking care as if they were taking care of real fish!

CodeWeek: What is a cool gimmick or trick you can do with it?
Faizan Iftikhar: Well right now it’s quite basic. Buy fish, add plants and décor, view friend’s fish. But stay tuned. Some cool updates are coming VERY soon! ;).

CodeWeek: Where do you plan to take it next?
Faizan Iftikhar: Currently, we are focusing on developing expertise in 2D Programming. Once that is done, we will be moving towards 3D Programming and Mobile Social Networking Inshallah.

With new upcoming advancements we are waiting to see what Fiazan and The Game Boss have for Android users in future. Till then you can ask more questions from Faizan if you like as now it is your turn.

Farhan Ibrahim Chaudhry- Country Director

Farhan Ibrahim Chaudhry is currently associated with Oracle as its Country Director – Technology Business, Oracle Corporation Pakistan. In his interview with CodeWeek he provided very interesting facts about Oracle’s work in Pakistan and how Oracle is working hard towards the promotion of technology within the public and the private sector.

CodeWeek: Oracle is a huge brand name. Can you tell us more about Oracle’s businesses and functions  in Pakistan?

Farhan: Oracle has been serving the private sector since 1989. Pakistan is one of the largest markets in Oracle’s South Asia Growth Economies (West region) . This region also includes countries like Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

With sales, marketing, consulting, education and support for local customers, Oracle Pakistan provides the majority of its products and services through its head office in Islamabad, its office in Karachi and its extended channel partner network.

Oracle serves the Pakistani market through an extensive registered network of 56+ alliance and channel partners under the Oracle Partner Network Specialized program. There are more than 1100 customers in Pakistan, spanning top organizations in the public and private sectors.

CodeWeek: Oracle never stops producing great products for its customers. Our readers would like to know more about the latest products of Oracle in the world market.

Farhan: Currently Oracle’s Exadata is making waves in the IT world as it is a highly efficient data warehouse with online transactions, processing applications and intelligence systems in one box, making it the ideal platform for consolidating onto grids or private clouds.

Exadata is the only available solution in the world which allows its users to store data, online transactions and processing applications. The database server and storage have been designed in such a way that data for different applications is processed in an efficient manner, along with a network capacity of 40 GB and inbuilt flash.

CodeWeek: To what extent are professionals making use of IT-based technologies in their companies?

Farhan: Pakistan’s IT professionals are extremely keen to adopt the latest versions of technology in their businesses. This has been obvious through our interaction in various technical seminars and conferences organized by Oracle.

These professionals have shown their willingness and competence to adopt the latest technology for their companies and this is very encouraging news for IT firms operating in the country.

CodeWeek: Tell us about the Oracle experience of training IT professionals particularly for their products and solutions?

Farhan: Pakistan possesses highly-qualified and professional human capital that increases the value of business and contributes significantly to the country’s economy in different aspects.
We are aware of many talented IT professionals who are working at different high level positions in their companies.

The number of IT professionals with Oracle certifications has been increasing. Also an overwhelming number of IT graduates are being produced by local universities and institutes.

Pakistan has been producing highly skilled IT professionals, which is evident from the advanced IT infrastructure in Pakistani firms. Pakistani professionals perform their task tremendously at world class organizations and they are playing a key role at Oracle also.

There is great potential in the educational institutions of Pakistan and we can produce brilliant IT professionals. The growing population implies a growth of human resource also and we are extremely confident that a more skilled workforce will develop in different organizations in the future.

CodeWeek: What role has Oracle played in education sector of Pakistan?

Farhan: Oracle is actively promoting “Think.com” and “Oracle Academy” under Oracle Education Foundation (OEF) which is an independent charitable organization funded by Oracle. These projects are dedicated towards helping students develop 21st century skills through project learning.

Think.com is a widely acclaimed education technology program to K-12 schools globally. It is a protected, online learning platform that enables teachers to integrate learning projects into their curriculum and students to develop critical 21st century skills.

Around 276 students from 14 schools in Pakistan actively use “Think.com” to collaborate with other Pakistani students as well as students from across the world.

Oracle Academy provides educational resources which help students develop IT and business skills which are pivotal for their professional development. More than 4630 students from 25 universities in Pakistan have access to a world-class technical curriculum and have gained hands-on experience with Oracle’s industry-leading database, middleware, and applications software.

CodeWeek: What kind of response have you received so far from these educational initiatives?

Farhan: Response is tremendous from Pakistani students. In fact, a group of Pakistani students were outstanding in the Global ThinkQuest Competition 2009 run by the Oracle Education Foundation (OEF) held in San Francisco.

Muhammad, Muznah and Rida of Generation’s School collaborated with students in Singapore to create a website called “Portable Partners—Friends or Foes”, which examined common mobile devices used by young people. They were awarded 3rd Place in the 19 and Underage division out of 955 teams selected from 83 countries.

CodeWeek: What are the advantages for learners in using Oracle technologies?

Farhan: Oracle technologies and applications are being used globally by more than 370,000 organizations from various sectors. Having knowledge of these applications and technologies will help students in IT and business management, to grow in their professional careers.

Oracle, through Oracle Academy, provides students with exposure to Oracle’s world-class software, giving them a competitive advantage as they prepare to enter the workplace. The IT and business skills which they develop by learning this software helps them to become real assets for the organizations they work for.