With over 30 years of national and international experience, Asim Haque is an IT & General Management Executive with cross functional and international experience in IT Strategy and IT Management, Sales Management and Sales Operations, Enterprise Relationship Management (ERM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Business Intelligence (BI), and Project Management.
Asim has recently taken up the position as the COO (Chief Operating Officer) at InfoTech Group Ltd. Before joining InfoTech, he spent 3 years at SAP PAKISTAN, as Director of Business, and responsible for the Financial Services, Telco, Logistics & Media, and Utilities vertical Industry segments. BR Research recently sat down with Haque, to discuss matters related to the IT industry, evolving trends and his company. Below are edited excerpts from the conversation.
BR Research: To start with, tell us about your company, and your key business focus areas.
Asim Haque: Infotech is a company which started a long time ago, under a different name. It is a privately held company. There were few different IT businesses, which were then consolidated under the Infotech umbrella in the mid-90s. Initially, it was purely a hardware infrastructure company, and gradually we matured into a solution oriented company.
Infotech started off as a local company, but over time, we have established a global office in Singapore, and international presence in Dubai, Africa and the UK. Our operations have expanded globally and we are now a local international organization.
In today's terms, we call ourselves a "systems integrator". We are one of the leading system integrators in Pakistan. Our product portfolio now encompasses working with the likes of IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Misys, Temenos, Huawei etc, and obviously each one of them has core competency in terms of its product and solutions.
When it comes to focus areas, we have outlined two to three key areas in terms of clientele. The first is the financial services industry, such as banks, insurance companies, and capital markets. We have both infrastructure and software solutions in this category. We also have specifically designed software solutions for sub-categories.
We have also started focusing on the utility industry in the past two to three years, which includes the likes of gas, water and electricity providers. We are also working on network monitoring, "smart grids" and smart meters so as to allow the data to be automatically transferred to the concerned authorities, eliminating human error and the need for meter readers. This is aimed at enhancing efficiency in terms of billing.
We are also working with the public sector, for instance, registration authorities and tax and revenue institutions.
BRR: What is the level of readiness in the public sector in terms of technology adoption and adaptation? Has the public sector evolved beyond Punjab in terms of technology sophistication?
AH: We work with very specific institutions in the public sector. We have worked with the FBR on infrastructure, licensing and solutions. We also worked with NADRA and their multiple projects, and the solutions are more often than not, well-rounded, ie both the infrastructure and technology aspect. We also work with the likes of SSGC, OGDCL and SNGPL, to implement and upgrade their solutions. Once we work with an organization, it usually follows return business. But in the public sector, the requirements are stiffer because of PPRA rules and you may end up not getting the return business.
BRR: Has the top line growth been steady in the recent past?
AH: Naturally, there are ups and downs, like any other business, deposing on variety of factors, such as political conditions. Fortunately, for us, our local business has been growing on an average of 20-25 percent annually in the past four years. Our team has also grown steadily and we are now a team of around 320 people, mostly in Karachi.
We generate around 70 percent of business from Karachi, primarily due to our key focus area of financial services. The business has also started to pick up in the North, as there are utility companies wanting to emulate the K-Electric model and we are currently working with a few companies there.
BRR: What is the key growth driver for your business? Is it the general economic conditions or are there some specifics?
AH: It is different for different industries. For example, when you look at the banking industry, it has to keep up with the global benchmarks. Secondly, the regulations that keep changing from time to time, might require a certain industry to conform to it, which opens business for us.
Another point is that Pakistan, in general, has been slow towards technology acceptance and there still exist a large number of institutions which do not even have the basic IT infrastructure in place. There is a need and the pressure is mounting to meet at least a minimum level. In the utilities sector, technology's role is increasing, particularly towards improving efficiency, and identifying and reducing losses.
BRR: Does the mushroom growth of E-commerce affect your business, positively or otherwise?
AH: E-commerce may not well be our primary focus in Pakistan, but whoever develops an E-commerce platform or offers those services, will require an IT platform, solution, integration and connectivity. All of them or at least one of the above mentioned will be definitely required.
BRR: What is the level of sophistication in the industry? Is it at par with the global standards?
AH: In terms of resources, intellect, and capability, we are right there competing with the very best in the world. Unfortunately, because of the conditions in Pakistan, nobody wants to stay here and the human resources get exported. Purely, because of the lack of facilities and lack of proper platform, we suffer in terms of intellect losses. The compensation is adequate enough and no one would want to leave Pakistan, if there is safety and security ensured, and a substantial number of projects.
BRR: Do you think there is a massive gap between academia and businesses, strictly in terms of IT?
AH: The gap is huge and we have had discussions with academia. The IT world is changing rapidly, and if you do not keep pace, you are invariably going to be at the wrong end. The IT curriculum in many universities is decades old, which is unfortunate. We are still teaching obsolete stuff to our students. Secondly, the academia needs to know that where the business world would be, by the time a graduate passes out in the next 4 years.
With the disconnect evident, both the IT industry and academia jointly need to take the lead, to tackle the issue. Internships should be mandatory to keep the students on track with what is trending.
This will also help create a flexible and more adaptable curriculum.
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