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NetSol had a two-pronged progress path. It continued its relentless struggle at domestic front despite pathetic market
conditions; and also fought tooth and nail in the highly competitive and unforgiving global market. To the amazement
of competitors abroad, and grudging admiration of skeptics back home, NetSol emerged victorious at both fronts.
Today, NetSol is the only national company at CMM Level 4, and assisting others to follow suit. Its software solutions
are earning the company repute and revenue in several countries worldwide. Salim Ghauri, the forward-looking
President of NetSol, has now a different set of worries at hand. How to find human resource and more space for the
exponential growth of his company? Published May 2006
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TelecomPlus: How do you rate your visit to the US?
Salim Ghauri: It was an excellent experience to have, to be part of a delegation which was initiated by the Prime Minister himself. Personally, I am
looking forward to opportunities where Pakistani IT Industry will get exposure to the highest level. The Prime Minister attended two sessions, both very
well attended. One was for the US companies seeking update about the opportunities in Pakistan. The other one was for the ex-pat Pakistani
entrepreneurs. At both the sessions, the Prime Minister presented the true picture of Pakistani IT Industry.
To me this visit was very important. We need to create awareness about the Pakistani industry globally and make people realize that Pakistan has IT
capability as good as anywhere in the world. In that perspective, this visit was an achievement.
What business prospects do you see for Pakistan in the US?
The USA is a mature market and there has always been a need for good vendors. I believe we can get business from there. Pakistani IT industry is
reaching maturity. Also the buying power is more in the US. With the right effort in the right direction we can get the high-value business. We are
already getting business from the US. It is high time we exploit these opportunities.
What about the opportunities in the emerging markets?
We should always look around for opportunities where others have not worked a lot and emerging markets are a key to success. NetSol has been
doing the same for the past 10 years. We have customers in Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and we benefited from the emerging market in the
past. We at NetSol are looking at other areas as well. Pakistan itself is a big emerging market. We are also looking down in Asia Pacific. The need for
automation is extremely high, again it is an emerging market.
How can we generate local demand for IT?
We have been talking a lot about how the government should actually have an IT-based mindset and lately, there have been indications of a positive
change. Presently, we are very busy doing local work, which we did not do two years back. So there is a lot of awareness about automation within
Pakistan in public and private sector. I believe that the steps taken in the last five years are yielding results now. There is a lot of work to be done and
there are many opportunities. Right now my concern is that, unfortunately, there are not enough companies to take Pakistani automation work.
What do you suggest to generate demand for IT in the public sector?
There are two ways of doing it. One is to automate public sector and serve common people. That will also benefit the industry. The other is to create IT
based jobs. If all the public sector organizations are automated, we don’t have to look any further. Banks are another example. Like I can use my ATM
for multiple purposes. Projects like driving licenses, digitization of public data and MRPs are examples of automation. Recently we got a contract for
automating the Hajj processes for EGD. From year 2007 onwards, people would be registered through Internet for Hajj. Presently it takes hours even
to get the form. It would be readily accessible through Internet. This is a very prime example of how can we facilitate the common man.
Who should establish and run the proposed data center, the government or the private sector?
This is the role of the private sector to establish data centers. We are looking forward to the possibilities of establishing a backup center and disaster
recovery center and also an outsourcing center. There is in fact a need for multiple data centers. The growing demand for IT will need a lot of
bandwidth and data storage. In public sector, privatization is already going on. So, I don’t think that the data center in the public sector would be a
good idea. Even so, the data center should be housed in Pakistan. But it would not be appropriate if some overseas firm comes and establishes the
data center. I think it will be counter productive to IT industry. There is already a discussion going on to encourage local companies. Outsourcing data
center to local enterprises would be a very positive initiative by the Government of Pakistan.
Do you hire Pakistani ex-pats?
Pakistani expatriates are all over the world. We have received a number of resumes of Pakistanis who are settled in the USA and want to work in
Pakistan. We have hired a few and are still in the process of hiring. It is very encouraging that Pakistanis abroad are very successful, professionally
rich and are very keen to know about the opportunities in Pakistan.
How best can local IT Industry benefit from the booming Telecom Industry?
Any industry which is using technology will give boom to the IT Industry and the Telecom Industry has given new blood to it. They came, brought
technology and hard work and we expect that, by and by, most of the sophisticated software would be developed within Pakistan and, obviously the
local solutions would be most-cost effective. It will build confidence amongst the local clients in the solutions provided by the local IT developers which
will definitely bring more revenue to the IT Industry of Pakistan.
What future do you see for wireless broadband in Pakistan?
Wireless broadband is going to be there any way. It has no wear and tear, downtime is less, it is economical and thus affordable. Gradually we will see
wireless networking and communication within offices.
What about the scarcity of spectrum?
We need to overcome that and need to formulate an effective policy regarding it. Sooner or later we need to do that. It cuts the costs. Laying a
network of cable is a huge task. So we have to come up with strategies which can help us in implementing wireless networks. It makes good business
and technical sense.
What shape convergence is likely to take in Pakistan?
We are almost in step with the rest of the world. Previously the lag time was too long and new technology used to take years for making inroads here.
Now the adoption of technology and innovation is almost in real time. BlackBerry and Mobile TV are the recent examples. Full scale convergence,
Triple Play, even Quad Play, are not too far away in the future. Any innovation and technology that can establish itself in the mature markets, is likely
to find acceptance in the Pakistani market, sooner than later.
Is Netsol doing some project with Malaysian companies?
We have formed a joint venture with a Malaysian company and are already developing products jointly with them. Right now I cannot discuss the type
of product which we are working on. But yes we will come up with something fruitful.
Any possibility of work on post production of films like Malaysians are doing for Hollywood?
It would depend on the skill-set here. As IT industry is maturing day by day, we will have more skills available. Post production of films are good
revenue earning projects but on top of that, we need infrastructure support and resources to conduct the activity. But I believe it is not something that
can’t be done in Pakistan. It is impossible and doable here.
Is the Software Park facility with NetSol adequate for your requirement?
The way the growth is coming, we have to expand and expand very soon. We already are too overloaded, growth is very quick. Naturally the pressure
on resources would be very high. Right now we don’t have any land available, we need to look at different designs and how can we develop large
infrastructures in a short span of time.
At what stage is your CMM Level 5 plan?
CMM stands for Capability Maturity Model and the word maturity itself says that it takes time. We never rushed quality standards. We achieved level
four in 2004 and it’s already been 16 months. We are more concerned about quality rather than time frame. Until and unless we believe we are at the
maturity standard that we have set our sights on, we will not announce CMM Level 5. We are providing consultancy to 8 or 9 companies for achieving
various levels of CMM.
Where do you see NetSol 10 years down the road?
Ten years down the road we see Net Sol as one of the major global players with a wining product, which is LeaseSoft, and providing excellent services.
Looking back, we have already completed a very fruitful 10-years term. We have attained CMM Level 4 and are currently maturing at Level 5. From
here till 2016 we are looking forward to exponential growth with a lot many people working with us, a large revenue and a global name and recognition.
Any possibility of collaboration with India?
Well we intend to work with India but we need to be at par with them to work with them. Currently we are lagging far behind in IT. But as soon as we
grow, India would be looking forward for business opportunities with us.
Do you have plans for providing training in software development?
We intend to provide IT education in future. If we want to hire 10,000 people, we need to train them before we can hire them. We have made a set up
in Karachi specifically for this purpose.
Want to add anything?
The IT industry of Pakistan is maturing. There is a lot of work coming from within Pakistan and also from around the world. Whenever a new
technology comes, there is always an opportunity. So we are in to a good era. We have good years of business ahead. IT Industry will grow and
people will see that Pakistan is a place to do business. The companies in Pakistan will need to diversify for the emerging business options.
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