When Ashraf Kapadia analyses Pakistan’s IT industry, he speaks not only from years of first-hand experience of its evolution and growth, but also from extensive high-level international exposure.
Naturally, he begins by noting challenges confronting the sector.
Apparently, difficulties are in abundance. “The biggest challenge for IT service companies such as Systems Limited, Netsol, TRG, etc, especially those working in the export market, is the image of Pakistan. That is so because the services that we offer or the IT sector offers are long term project-based services,” he notes.
“If you’re doing a project for a large US client which is an eight-month or a one year project, they will always worry whether we will be able to deliver or not because of the security situation in Pakistan. Consequently, Pakistan’s perception plays a role in attracting business for the sector.”
Systems Limited stands out because exogenous factors have not been able to interfere with its reputation of delivering on time. They have never lost a day of production.
“No matter what happens, work gets done in Pakistan because we are used to working in this environment, but it’s still very difficult for a US or European company to take the risk,” he says animatedly.
The other problem, apart from foreign perception, is that very few businessmen are willing to come to Pakistan due to travelling restrictions. Still, he is not without a solution. “I don’t think the IT industry can do anything about the current challenges.
We have to work on it as a nation. I think that all of us together need to project a better and positive image of Pakistan by highlighting our talent and capabilities in order to make our place in the world.”
Incentives to make the IT sector grow: IT exports are already exempted from taxation; however we do need infrastructural support in terms of good offices, space and buildings, internet connectivity and more importantly uninterrupted power supply. The power supply issues are creating a lot of problems and power cost is one the major concerns that we have.
The other issue that the IT industry is facing is the availability of quality human resource. This has the potential to become a serious issue in the future if Pakistani IT sector continues to grow the way it is today.
The government should consider building IT parks in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad in which IT companies can have access to uninterrupted power supply, connectivity and office space.
IT sector in Pakistan: Present & Future: Being Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA) Chairman facilitates matters. He is able to initiate important research-studies designed to improve industry operations as a whole.
Roughly speaking, there are about 1200 companies in Pakistan which are operating in the IT & IT Enabled Services (ITES) sector, and they are almost equally divided in three cities (Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad) with Karachi having a slightly bigger share than Lahore & Islamabad.
Just like any other industry, some of these 1200 firms are profitable while others continue to struggle. It all depends on which part of the cycle they are caught in at any given point in time. The common perception is that it is a good industry to be in, even if not the most lucrative one. The reason is that it is still in its early growing stage.
In the present situation, the company’s US subsidiary has been vital in staying competitive. “If it had not been for our subsidiary in the US, we would not have been able to sell our IT services abroad,” says Kapadia, adding that “it is essential for the client to know where the actual work is being done.
We have about roughly 80 people in the US, but 1200 individuals are working in Pakistan. Actual work is being done in Pakistan. We get all the specifications from there, develop them here and then send them back.”
Tiny turnover: A turnover of Rs1.5 billion is very small when compared to the global market, however, in the Pakistani market place there are very few companies having a turnover of more than Rs1 billion per annum. As such, Systems Limited is sitting comfortably as one of the largest companies of IT & ITES in Pakistan.
“We do not have any plans to expand our business to the Middle East or Far East at the moment, but we continually assess markets, our expansion plans and change them as required,” he says on plans to set up shop in more business friendly locations where information cross-currents are not interrupted by political and security considerations. The future plan is to continue to focus on the US market and on large projects in the Pakistani market. “We foresee that we will continue to have robust growth of at least 25 per cent annually. For the last 6-8 years, we have been growing consistently at 25-30 per cent.”
Systems Limited: Background Story: Systems Limited was established in 1977 as the first software house and computer services bureau of Pakistan. During the last 33 years, Systems Limited has been firmly anchored atop centre-stage of information technology, providing effective computing strategies and solutions to private and government organizations. Currently, it is playing a major role in some of the largest IT projects in the country. Internationally, the company operates as Visionet Systems Inc, and has established itself as a key player in critical areas of focus in the United States, providing services and products to a growing list of corporate clients that features several names from the “Fortune 500” list.
Systems Limited’s main products and solutions include SysDocFlow (Business Process Automation), SysFlow (Workflow Management System), SysDMS (Document Management System), SysHCM (Human Capital Management System), SysSFA (Sales Force Automation System), and SUMS (Spinning Unit Management System). Apart from its own products, Systems Limited also represents Oracle JD Edwards ERP and Microsoft Dynamics Navision ERP solutions.
Today, Systems Limited specialises in delivering a wide range of IT & IT enabled services including design, development, and implementation of custom software solutions, systems integration, software reengineering, and business process outsourcing services for a variety of industries.
The professionals of Systems Limited are highly proficient in a diverse range of leading edge technologies to meet and exceed the expectations of clients.
Client confidence: “Some of the reasons why our customers consider Systems Limited as their preferred IT solutions partner include: over 33 years of sustainable profitable growth, over 1,500 customer focused employees around the world; mature methodologies evolved over a period of over three decades, a long list of satisfied private and public sector clients; process centric with CMMI, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified company, and lastly, a best of breed software technology and business process outsourcing models,” says Kapadia, indicating the rarity of sustaining these qualities in similar organisations.
It is difficult to rate SL or any other IT company of Pakistan as there are no published figures to substantiate claims. But it stands proud as one of the oldest and largest software houses in Pakistan. Its large fleet of highly trained professionals, aptly dubbed the “strength of Systems Ltd”, ought to be a source of inspiration for contemporaries. Unflinching client confidence is hard to achieve these days, and that’s one feather in Ashraf Kapadia’s cap, among many others, that can set the standard for the rest of the industry to follow.
