IT Tazee - Covering the Technology Business in South Asia

Its actually free, most of the time. Anyone can read your source code if you have a web application. Indeed thats how alot of us work now, there is no harm in extending other peoples code (as long as you respect the license). Its called Open source. Linux was built this way, so are many other apps. Vertical expertise on platforms, yes there is some demand there. We do not need php developers anymore. We need wordpress experts, linux experts, facebook application experts, and iPhone/Mac coders. Coders with deep, geeky knowledge of one platform.

There are facebook clones, twitter clones, clones of clones. What does that tell you? It tells you that there are enough developers out there who can build your application or idea (which is usually the first, and simplest problem).

So Mr tech entrepreneur, while you are hip, cool, geeky, techie,etc , your problem eventually is never going to be the technology. You’ll figure that bit out. You need a guru marketer(s), and amazing, honest, decently dressed sales guys. Sell, sell sell, share, sell, market market market. Your brand, your domain, your service. That is the cycle you want to establish right after your beta is out there. So, whats your barrier to entry once your app is out there in beta? How will you make money (please dont say just advertising!) , kill the competition and build your brand? Not a very techie problem, but one you need figure out before version 3, nonetheless.

Then wait for it all to dissapear. Just like you use email, if your users use your app/service/product, and once it fades away into daily life, its timeless. And so is the revenue  

Popularity: 17% [?]

Emergen moves KESC to an asterisk based IP-internal voice/phone exchange. Hey, atleast now their phones might work

more here:

http://cyrenity.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/kesc-deploys-asterisk-across-hundreds-of-sites/

Popularity: 9% [?]

Orgoo has been down for more than a week. Not good news for the fledging internet startup, but let this be a lesson to everyone using the internet. Its a jungle out there! be careful with usernames, user policies and checks. Orgoo went down because one of their users misused their video feature and eventually forced their ISP to shut the site down. Now the ISP is not releasing any of Orgoo’s assets.

For a small startup, its very costly to run a datacenter, hence it makes sense to go to an ISP/hosting provider. But what does one go when a user goes rogue? How do you ‘fire’ a user effectively? How do you control massive amounts of data that can contain questionable material? Youtube, google, microsoft, everyone has this problem. Orgoo’s only fault really was that it was small, without its down datacenter. Orgoo is not and should not be held responsible since it acts as a middle-man to displaying content a certain way….

Maybe someone can offer a “co-op” datacenter to startups, or build software that scans user databases for questionable materials? An opportunity I smell, oh yes I do….smells like fresh muffins… yum!

Popularity: 10% [?]

Its (almost) over. The deplorable and horiffic Mumbai terrorist attacks are under control and the last of the militants has been killed, according to reports. Our prayers go out to everyone in Mumbai, and especially those directly effected by these attacks. Mumbai will come out of this, but now India is dealing with terror on a massive scale, just we are in Pakistan.

Fanatics are all over South Asia, using religion as a false basis for violence. First in Karachi, then in Islamabad and now Mumbai. This is now a regional problem and can be solved with government and intelligence agencies putting aside fears and cooperating. A strong willed population and determined authorities=a militant’s worst nightmare (esp since they were told that would never happen.) 

In this entire saga, one must notice the important role of blogs, tweets, flickr uploads, and other social media (Mahalo, Wikipedia) where ordinary citizens have been more proactive and sometimes have facts more helpful than the networks like CNN, BBC,etc. Citizen journalism that one can argue went mainstream in India after the Asian Tsunami has now come of age in South Asia, and interestingly much faster than in the US, Europe,etc. Maybe this has to do with our fundamental mistrust of state controller and large new networks  . The People’s voice is now digital.

As South Asians we have too many times been lied to by those in power, we would rather listen to each other than the authorities,right? and Web 2.0 tools let us do that. twitter, flickr, wordpress,blogs, these are now fundamental tools that allow for greater, faster communication than a television.

Popularity: 7% [?]

For all the news of US drones attacking targets inside Pakistan, many might think that the country lacks a strong, powerful UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) fleet of its own, which is quite contrary to reality. Also, I do not see why we asked for US predator technology. With Wired magazine taking notice, and the Air force already having 2 UAV squadrons with 4 more on the way, why do we want imported super expensive US drones when stuff like that is being built right here in Karachi and Islamabad: (see pics below)

      OR this :   

A UAV is the epitome of integrated engineering. Building a strong platform demands high software development skill, EE skill, mechanical and aeronautical engineers. You have to build a plane essentially, put it an robotic brain (software), advanced sensors and make sure all the motors and long range controls work.Build ground control stations that can operator off a laptop and do enough signal processing to make sure the video comes across clean and in focus. All at the same time. Not easy at all to do. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15% [?]

Popularity: 8% [?]

Netsol seems to be getting serious about its SAP ambitions. The news is out that it has accquired a small focused consultancy in LA,  Ciena Solutions for a combination of cash and stock. This gives Netsol an HQ in California, as well as some serious skill to tap into for local projects and a sales team (maybe) to get US projects, tho I dont think US projects would be as profitable as local projects at this point in time. There is more SAP work in his region of the world compared to the West, I would think, atleast for the next 2 years.

No word on the size, customer base or revenues of Ciena.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Netsol might be a good stock to buy at its current price of $1.72. Look for it going back up to above $2… Earnings are up, and so is net profit. Netsol’s net profit is about 45% now, up from 38% last year. By any yardstick, thats also a fairly good number. 

Another interesting thing Netsol has done is to get into the “green” business. Its recently revamped product suite, NFS (Netsol Financial suite) now allows for financing/leasing of renewable energy products. This is a niche area and Netsol’s gotten in at the right time.  Given that everyone out there in New York is getting hammered by the global crisis, its good to see the Pakistani software company performing way above and beyond. 

More details on the new upgrades to NFS below :

http://www.yourrenewablenews.com/news_item.php?newsID=12476

Popularity: 6% [?]

Hold on, its going to be a tough, long, painful ride. In the aftermath of Lehman, Merill, and the gang on Wall street , hundreds of millions of dollars in outsourcing contracts are in limbo. TCS, and Satyam are hurting, the Infosys will feel some pinch if not now, then soon enough. All together, the expectation is that over a billion dollars of revenue will be wiped out this year. AIG is next to cut down its IT outsourcing contracts.

Ofcourse, this is of little concern to the US government, but the Indian “Big three” will have to absorb this hit. This ofcourse leaves the door open for the smaller, cheaper, faster firms to step in and grab what they can… this has ofcourse, also hit the Pakistani companies (TRG might get hit some? ) but the effect has not been nearly as bad or as deep. This is because the numbers are smaller, the exposure is more limited and if anything, this opens more doors for the Pakistani tech industry than it closes.

Full story below:

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Lehman-effect-Outsourcing-deals-in-limbo/362216/1

Popularity: 5% [?]

While the US financial markets face their own version of Hurricane Ike and our local financial market slows down, one local sector that has actually grown strong over the last year is E-banking. SBP (The Central Bank of Pakistan) reports that transactions done through internet,phone, and POS (thats when you swipe a credit or debit card say at the store) is strong, healthy and growing.

Well, Ofcourse it is! who wants to carry cash nowadays? and do you want to stand in line in the heat to pay your bills?! I dont, I’d rather just logon to www.whateverbank.com or dial in and pay my bills, save some time and petrol. Still, most banks dont get this, and alot STILL do not have online banking for consumers.  One can only hope the banks wake up the thousands of retail customers they lose everday.  This means something that should be standard for all banks by now, is a compeititve advantage for a few.

Forget usability though. Almost all the online banking services I user (Especially ABN AMRO/RBS) are UN-userfriendly, slow, and painful to get registered on , all with terrible customer service. That i hope will change. Its not difficult..Banks just need a team or just a guy who understands consumers, marketing, technology and business all in one. Hmmmm plenty of MBAs…but very few like that around!

Popularity: 5% [?]