A really useful comment prompted me to create a quick info graphic that shows where some of the core banking projects are happening in the Pakistan financial services industry (Thanks Junaid). Out of the 25 or so scheduled Commercial/Retail Banks in Pakistan, many are now on global core banking solutions, showing a trend of buying and implementing (with varying success) best of breed solutions that have been proven in other markets.

The trend to implement custom in house solutions seems to be on the downward trend, and these systems are being replaced instead of further upgraded it seems. This is also a natural evolution of the market, where banks want to remain banks and leave the technology to the tech vendors, a good thing for sure. Soneri might still focusing on its own solution, and some Islamic banks have been focused on developing their own solutions but to be fair, Islamic Banking is a niche with very different requirements from a conventional bank. The next step for these banks would be to also start buying local, strong solutions for specific verticals such as treasury and trading instead of trying to build these complex systems in house…

You can click here for a bigger version.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Jehans done a great post on valley entrepreneur, Osman Rashid and his recent ventures, to read, click below:

http://jehanara.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/osman-rashid-named-2009-ey-entrepeneur-of-the-year-2/

Popularity: 35% [?]

The New post is finally up, go here to read: http://mohtashim.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/apples-ipod-nano-targets-the-flip/

Popularity: 52% [?]

As coke studio hums in the background I got to learn today about two great growth stories. So here goes my “rant in good mood”. In Lahore, Umar Saif’s SCI (pronounced SKY, Saif Center for Innovation), an incubation center for startups recently launched in its own 4 storey building.

In Karachi, the new TPS Tower hosted a lunch of about 30 CEOs from the technology industry, inviting them to celebrate the opening of the new TPS Tower building. TPS , as a software firm is now is big enough to have its own tower! And all this with the amazing live music of the Coke studio sessions playing in the background makes for a very resounding and optimistic feeling about the innovation and growth happening in Pakistan. Do I sound like an advertisement for music and tech industries in Pakistan?

On a side note, the FX reserves of the country are now at 12 billion, hitting a high for the year. (They were at 3 billion and everyone was freaking out a few months ago). The Taliban are on the run and all but brought down. All we need to do now is fire the KESC’s management (and the local Siemens guys) and get our local engineers to fix the problems that the organizational structure has not let them so far.

So, sooner or later, this resilient economy will explode with growth and even more opportunities. Where will you be when that happens?

Popularity: 63% [?]

Everyone has been talking and raving/criticizing/talking about Worldcall’s new EVDO wireless broadband service. Techlahore recently talked about the rival PTCL service that just launched in competition. We had been using the service in my old company for the last 3 months and after using it regularly, I think its time to share the experience of using this product nearly daily in a full review.

First of all, any good wireless broadband service is a Godsend for techies, consultants, generally people on the road. If you travel intercity, then even more so. Worldcall EVDO is very usable though it has some ticks that could make it better. In light of loadshedding and power issues I think a laptop with this dongle attached makes you invulnerable to KESC. That in itself, is something to pay for. Should you pay for this each month instead of your electric bill?  Read on more for the full review. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 100% [?]

I was pleasantly suprised that Dawn recently did an investigative article on the UAV Industry in Pakistan and followed it up with a media gallery as well. ITT did a post on this last November. It is great to see several other media sources realizing this new technology niche and recognizing the small but fast growing industry.  To date, several sources , including Wired Magazine and P.W. Singer on his TED talk have mentioned and written about the growing UAV industry in Karachi and Islamabad. This industry currently serves military and civilian customers in Pakistan, US and others. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 74% [?]

University of Texas (UT Austin) will kick Aggie’s sorry behind! GIKI will take over and rule the LUMS campus. Or will it ? OR will FAST or will MIT finally get its graces handed to it by Harvard? With this game, teams of students from each school would be able to face off each other and finally put such questions to rest….Think of “VarHereoes” as a turn based strategy game with a social networking element. Its like Risk or Civilization or Chess even, but your opponent is your rival university. The startup has built a strategy game around this concept of defeating your rival university. Time to quit the chess club and make a “varheroes” club and put up your battle page on Facebook….

There are a few startups I have seen that have killer business models, and you tend to think “why did i not think of that?!”. Varsity Heroes is one of those. The execution is also very well done, especially the awesome graphics, and the comic based approach to explaining the game, similar to Google Chrome’s. Hassan Baig and co have done a great job so far. If this is not VC-funded, it should be!

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 75% [?]

So first of, to clear up, Kraysis’s new name is Kualitatem. Ok now that this is out of the way,  lets get to the interesting bits….

The MIT GSW is a non-profit, student run, volunteer organization that believes in creating a global support network for entrepreneurship.  The goal of this network is to share best practices of entrepreneurship between different regions of the world, which in turn creates stronger more sustainable environments throughout the globe.

MIT Global Startup Workshop selected Kualitatem Pvt. Ltd as a case study in their Student Success Story panel, a part of their 12th global event being held in Cape Town from 25th – 27th March 2009. As one of only 3 cases to be selected, Kualitatem was also presented in the opening panel of the conference. Selection for this panel was based upon the work done as a founder of the company whose successful foundations were derived from the days as a student. Jamil Goheer, CEO Kualitatem was also invited as a speaker for the conference. 

Kudos to the team at Kualitatem for the achievement, their business plan is solid and the small QA startup seems to be going from strength to strength.

Popularity: 75% [?]

watching Jehan’s ITLOW show! Great interviews, we also need event coverage in it..better than all the crappy “IT” show attempts we still see on every other tv channel….

Here is a link to all the shows so far…

http://webstudio.ciopakistan.com/tag/jehan-ara/

That theme song is also stuck in my head with a stickman doing a funky dance to it!

Popularity: 75% [?]

Food is serious business in Pakistan. And really, the world over. Zagat , a website for reviews and eatery listings is a multi million dollar business.  Since i know Karachi best, alot of these sites have been covered from a karachi angle, though I think a Lahori would know food alot better…A few years ago when I started karachimetro.com, I felt frustrated that there was no one seriously looking into this space in the Pakistani market. After all, atleast 6 million connected pakistanis are looking to satisfy their need for good food everyday. Here are three websites/apps that I follow and use very frequently to find a place to order from when I’m in town…there are many more that are entering the fray, it seems like all of a sudden, everyone wants to be in this space!

Popularity: 77% [?]