The P@SHA ICT Awards, (for pictures/wrap up of the amazing event, go here) , are known for picking out
some of the best tech talent in the county. This year, among others, Kraysis was also given the honor of being an ICT award winner in the “Best Startup” category. They have been chosen as part of the team to represent Pakistan in the regional awards in Indonesia this week.
The LUMS spinoff specializes in the niche market of Software Quality Assurance service delivery and caters to several global and local industry customers. We have been watching Kraysis and have covered it before here and here.
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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.
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Henry Blodget (Silicon Alley Insider) and Michael Arrington(Tech crunch) both have reported that Facebook’s CFO is in Dubai looking to talk to investors about getting their dollars. Does that mean the 270 million USD that Microsoft invested in facebook(for a measly 1.6%) is going or gone? For a Silicon Vallery star, going to Dubai would not be the first choice, so this indicates that US VCs are not interested in sending more dollars Facebook’s way.
Why not? Virtual gifts, to me, are the most obscene way to make a quick buck, esp at $1 a jpeg!!! 
But then again, I think that pitch was made $ 500 million ago to the current investors. Now that’s too much even for virtual gifts and lucrative online advertising all in the same package. So what is Facebook’s real valuation? Less than 15 billion USD that Microsoft though it would be, I suppose. Facebook’s current projected revenues of $265 million/year would sound very tempting if it were not, despite all that inflow, losing money. Which it undeniably is. So when do we see a virtual gifts go from $1 to $3? ;)
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The US Presidential election will come to a conclusion tomorrow. Will Obama win? Will Mcain throw a suprise? Will votes be “lost” then “found” like they often have done in the past in our country?
Either way, it will be a gripping finale, and one that will be historical if Obama wins. So, thats what i’ve been watching for the past few days,and thanks to the wondeful web (2.0) we all have a front seat via the awesome Yahoo! dashboard :
http://news.yahoo.com/election/2008/dashboard;_ylt=AnzTbGb5uKoY4YQg3peC4L5snwcF
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techlahore reports that Aisha Steel will be the latest user of SAP’s financials, project management and supply chain modules. Siemens will be implementing the project. Full details on techlahore’s blog below:
http://techlahore.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/siemens-pakistans-sap-business-going-great-guns/
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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
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P@SHA is holding its 4th Annual ICT Awards on October 31, 2008 at the Marriott Hotel in Karachi. This is the chance to get recoginition on a national and international level for all the hard work you are putting into your product/service. ITT will be there to cover the event and winners…. full details on the P@SHA blog below:
http://pashanews.org/?p=158
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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
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We already knew of the few that have opened in Karachi, Raffles has also opened one in Lahore, and there are atleast two now in Lahore… not bad for a country that so far was dominated by the Wintel brands…
Apple here is a still a “elitist” brand, expensive and bought mostly by geeks, media professionals and CEOs. You cant beat the volumes of MAC vs PCs…but who cares about that!!! I want one!!! 
..besides… It will look nice with my iPod touch 
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The marriot bomb blast also severely damaged neighbouring ETC’s infrastructure. This is where the Islamabad software park is and several companies have been severely affected. Two Inbox staff also lost their lives due to the roof caving in on ETC offices. Companies/Call centers: Please provide whatever help you can. Lost business is already becoming a reality. While we help the victims and recover from this tragic event we must pitch in and help the companies that have been affected. Some companies are already back up while others are recovering their data and starting operations.
In the picture here, the building on the left is the ETC/Software tech park. PSEB and P@SHA are on the scene and helping. Please contact Jehan Ara if you can help.
Another thought: Since we do live near a warzone (Afganistan) and such attacks are still probable, the associations could band together and build a disaster recovery center or designate certain volunteer company offices as DR sites for affected business in the future.
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