Menlo Park, California based oDesk has ranked the Philippines and Pakistan as the top two outsourcing destinations in terms of growth, value for money and customer feedback.
oDesk helps its clients with tools, technologies and services to hire and manage remote work teams. Other companies in its category, including Elance, Guru and RentACoder, create marketplaces in which employers and freelancers can contact one another. These sites often manage the payments, and make money by charging membership fees and/or take a cut of the payment. The cuts can range from 4 percent to 15 percent.
According to oDesk, Pakistan experienced 328% growth in its outsourcing business in 2007-8, second only to the Philippines (789%) on a list of seven top locations that include US (260%), Canada (121%), India (113%), the Ukraine (77%) and Russia (43%).
Pakistan ranks number one in value for money for developers and data entry and number two overall behind the Philippines where the cost of answering calls is about half of the cost in Pakistan. Pakistan is well ahead of India and just behind the number 1 ranked United States in customer satisfaction.
The growth of outsourcing within the US and Canada as well as the high customer satisfaction data for North America are particularly noteworthy. It seems to indicate that more and more North American companies are showing preference for outsourcing close to home. New technology appears to be helping close the cost gap between North America and the rest of the top seven outsourcing destinations.
In addition to oDesk's view of Pakistan as a preferred outsourcing destination, Gartner, in its 2008 report ‘Analysis of Pakistan as an Offshore Service Location’ said the major factor behind upgrading Pakistan to first tier status for outsourcing is the lower salaries and better infrastructure advantages than other offshore destinations. “The salaries of IT professionals in Pakistan are approximately 30% lower than those in India, while telecommunication costs are also lower as compared to any other offshore locations, which make Pakistan an attractive outsourcing destination.”
oDesk says that "the results … the Philippines and Pakistan rank the highest in this admittedly simplistic analysis, which must be taken with a grain of salt." It adds, "There are many factors to be taken into consideration when hiring contractors to your workteams. But, in the meantime, congratulations to providers in these two countries for topping the list! Fans of outsourcing to the Philippines and Pakistan will also be glad to know that they were also the fastest growing countries on oDesk, by hours worked, from 2007-2008."
Here are two videoclip about Outsourcing to Pakistan:
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
Jinnah's Pakistan Booms Amidst Doom and Gloom
Pakistan Third Most Popular For Online Outsourcing
Pakistan's Foreign Visitors Pleasantly Surprised
Start-ups Drive a Boom in Pakistan
Pakistan Conducting Research in Antartica
Pakistan's Telecom Boom
ITU Internet Data
Pakistanis Join Hunt For God Particle
NEDUET Progress Report 2008
Pakistani Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley
Musharraf's Economic Legacy
Should Pakistanis be Proud of Their Country?
25 comments:
Great.. Pakistan should concentrate on value added outsourcing like software development. Indian style body shop outsourcing is likely to be stagnate/disappear in coming decade as cost gap closes and new non-human automation technologies emerge. Many call centers are already moving back to U.S. from India.
To get more information about developments in Pakistan and in the region, please visit www.real-politique.blogspot.com
Anon:
"Many call centers are already moving back to U.S. from India."
You are right. You can see it in the data that shows US-based and Canada-based outsourcing grew by 260% and 121% respectively.
Pakistan Shining? Well recent development in Karachi and the self assured youth of Karachi and all major cities, hardworking and outstanding minds of rural areas can make it happen without depending on US inspired India Shining/Rising kind of propaganda. Continued friendship with China and assured peace with all neighbors is all Pakistan needs. This is the last batch of corrupt Pakistani leaders so the future is bright...Mujhay Mashriq sey Thandi Hawa aa rahee hai...
What Pakistan needs is a stable government that isn't busy taking it backwards rather than forwards. We need peace, law and order and good infrastructure with power topping that particular list. These things are not that hard to attain if only we're sincere enough and work together. The future is indeed very bright if we could some of this stuff right IMHO.
Razz,
I agree with your sentiments.
But I think Pakistanis can not serialize these things. It must all be done in parallel. What is needed is to stop the general, overwhelming talk of doom and gloom and inspire Pakistan's young people in the professional and entrepreneurial classes to do everything within their power to move the nation forward, in spite of all of the constraints imposed by the inept and corrupt political class.
Here's a piece in today's Dawn:
ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: Pakistan is not likely to face any adverse effect from US president-elect Barack Obama’s proposal to stop giving tax breaks to companies which ‘ship jobs overseas’.
In his speech after election victory, Mr Obama had said that as president he would stop giving tax breaks to companies that shipped jobs overseas and start giving them to businesses that would create work opportunities for the Americans.
That probably spelled trouble for Singapore, Philippines or India’s large outsourcing industry, which got most of their revenue from the US, compared to a very small portion received by Pakistan.
IT experts here see no threat, especially because the $300 billion outsourcing industry was growing five per cent a year.
“America will be shooting itself in the foot by implementing the policy,” said Pakistan Software Houses Association president Jehan Ara.
“This is one of the things they always say. Bush said it twice, once in each of his terms. It may be a politically correct thing to say, but not good for business,” she said.
“If we can continue to deliver on quality and innovate in cutting-edge technology, which our outsourcing companies are doing, then there can be no impact on the outsourcing business in Pakistan,” she said.Pakistan’s IT industry has been growing steadily for three years. A marked increase in software export is an indication of the potential of this booming industry.
Estimated to be worth more than $2 billion, the information technology industry engages more than 15,000 professionals in export-oriented activities - software development and call centres.
More than 1,300 businesses registered with the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) were supporting a mission of delivering high-quality and cost-effective IT solutions through quality engineering, analysts said.
Besides, medical transcription and healthcare outsourcing, the sector is growing stronger in delivering services such as financial insurance, accounts outsource mortgages, retail and media and entertainment as well as engineering design.
Asif R. Rizvi of the Digital Prodigy, IT consultants and outsourcing partners even predicts better times for the country’s outsourcers, despite Mr Obama’s pledge to give no tax sops to companies that outsourced work beyond their boundaries.
“The concerns are exaggerated. Impact will be stronger in the US because businesses are already in recession. They need to cut costs and only offshore outsourcing offer that best. In fact, the next two to three years are going to be very good because they will need cheaper well-trained IT personnel from this region,” said Mr Rizvi.
PSEB managing director Talib Baloch said: “Our companies need to realise that opportunity has knocked on their doors. It’s not just the US but the whole world that is looking at Pakistan and India to outsource businesses. Pakistan can sweep the market because it is cheaper than any other country in the region, Philippines or Singapore. It is 35 to 40 per cent cheaper than India.”
In his opinion, the US was not in a position to ban outsourcing.
“It’s a massive hundreds of billions of dollars market. Even if it does, Pakistan does not rely only on the US for the outsourcing business. Pakistani companies have diversified and penetrated into other markets that will soon dominate the US, like South America, Europe, South East Asia, Japan and the world’s fastest growing IT hub, the Middle East that is a colossal $73 billion sector and growing.”
Mr Baloch believes that at a time when the world is desperate for change, Pakistan needs to tap this potential.
“Businesses will survive only if they invest in technology for efficiency and advancement and cost benefits. Outsourcing offers all that,” Mr Baloch said.
http://www.dawn.com/2009/01/19/nat3.htm
Here's Babar Bhatti's report on broadband deployment in Pakistan:
When compared with cellular phone growth, Broadband has been slow to take off in Pakistan. However the last two years show some progress in terms of growth (a little over 20K subscribers per month), more choices of services in more places and most importantly a significant drop in cost for broadband access (~Rs.1200 per month on average). Another welcome trend is to move towards unlimited broadband.
PTCL has taken the lead with its DSL and EVO offerings while WorldCall, Mobilink Infinity, Wateen / WiMAX, Qubee, NayaTel and Wi-Tribe have also offered their services.
According to PTA, “broadband subscriber base grew by 146% adding 245,727 subscribers during July 2008 – June 2009, while broadband connection charges for 1Mbps connection dropped below Rs. 1000. There were 413,809 Broadband subscribers in June 2009 as compared to 168,082 in June of 2008.”
At the current rate of broadband growth we can cross the half-million mark by December 2009. We need to get to 1 million much faster.
Here's a Businessweek report on outsourcing in Pakistan:
Pakistan has become the 20th most attractive outsourcing destination, according to consulting management firm A.T. Kearney. Even as concerns increase about Pakistan’s stability and the growing displaced population due to ongoing military operations with the Taliban, the country made a significant jump on A.T. Kearney’s 2009 Global Services Location Index released May 18. Pakistan went from #30 in 2007 to #20 in 2009.
In fact, the report says that as a region, the Middle East and North Africa are becoming more attractive in the ever-shifting geography of popular outsourcing places. Both enjoy large, well-educated populations and proximity to Europe. The index ranks the top 50 countries worldwide for locating outsourcing activities including IT services and support, contact centers and back-office support. Both Jordan and Egypt have entered the top 10 locales.
Countries are measured on 43 different attributes related to financial attractiveness, people and skills availability and business environment. Yet, cost is a huge motivator for many companies and is one reason that places like Pakistan score so highly. When the same index was released in 2007, about 40% of its weighting was given to the financial attractiveness of a country.
This is a global index, so it takes a look at where companies worldwide are outsourcing their work. There are plenty of companies in the Middle East, for instance, that outsource work to Pakistan. I would venture to guess the percentage of U.S. companies outsourcing work to Pakistan is much smaller. Yet, I find it intriguing that even as concern rises about the stability of Pakistan that it can become a more attractive destination to do outsourcing.
CBS News reported on May 19, the day after this index was released, that Pakistan faces a growing humanitarian crisis with up to 2 million people displaced by fighting between the military and Taliban militants in the northern Swat valley. Similarly, Mexico has seen growing violence due to the drug wars since the last Global Services Location Index was released in 2007. Yet, it only dropped one slot in the index to #11 from #10 two years ago.
So, just how much do companies factor in violence and a country’s political stability before outsourcing there? Increasingly, it seems to me if it’s cheap enough, companies are willing to overlook quite a bit in this regard. What do you think?
i think the pakistan is one of the top destination as alot of professionals are coming and encouraging but still alot of things to be done from government side.
Here is an Indian report about Pakistani hackers attacking India's FBI (called CBI) website:
New Delhi, Dec 6: Exposing India's weakness in information technology, the premier investigative agency, Central Bureau of Investigation has failed to restart its hacked official website even after 48 hours.
The CBI website (http://cbi.nic.in/), which was hacked by Pakistani hackers, remained offline on Monday, Dec 6. The failure indicates the credibility of Indian IT sector, which is considered as one of the leading exporter of 'brainees' to the Western countries.
The official website of CBI was hacked on Friday, Dec 3 night by unknown hackers, who claimed themselves as "Pakistan Cyber Army". The hackers infiltrated to the root level and left a note saying that the attack was a response to the hacking of Pakistan websites by Indian hackers.
The note left by Pakistan hackers read, "This attempt is in response to the Pakistani websites hacked by 'Indian Cyber Army'. We told u before too...we are sleeping but not dead". The note ended with "Pakistan Zindabad."
Later on Saturday, CBI officials released a statement describing that they were working hard to fix he issue and also registered a case under Information Technology Act against 'unknown' hackers.
"A case has been registered in this connection in the cyber crime cell of the CBI and efforts are underway to restore the website with the help of National Informatics Centre and the CBI cyber security experts," the statement said.
Another Indian report raises questions about the vulnerability of outsourced work in India to hacking, and it says: "Once, our national leaders cried for the 'brain drain' happened to India. Even now, US President Barack Obama urging Americans to compete with India 'brainees'. But the hacking of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)'s website exposed the 'real' credibility of Indian IT power."
Nice Blog and Give us very useful info
keep it up
In calendar year 2010, India's software and BPO services touched USD 45 billion in outsourcing. That was a 27% growth over the previous year and this years target is USD 60 bn.
Pakistan total software exports adds up to less than the yearly profits of our largest software company TCS which made 2.5 bn this year.
I dont think theres even a comparison. So much so for raving about India going down etc etc You are entitled to feel good about your countries progress but why waste time with obnoxious comparisons.
Here's an Express Tribune report about Pakistan's IT export potential:
KARACHI: Pakistan could play host to an extreme growth spurt in the information technology industry in the next 10 years, according to a study quoted by IBM’s Country General Manager Hamayun Bashir.
Speaking at a ceremony held to celebrate a century of IBM’s existence on Thursday, Bashir informed Pakistan may have up to one million jobs in the information technology industry by 2020.
“IBA students are working on a study with assistance from the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s IT committee. The report, to be published in a few months, underlines that by 2020, Pakistan can easily have a million jobs and exports of $10 billion in the IT industry,” he asserted.
He expressed hope that the current figure of 0.15 million jobs in the industry could easily be increased. “I see a bright future for our industry, which is producing top-quality software,” said Bashir.
“We are meeting the IT ministry on behalf of Pasha – the chamber for IT in the country – to get officials to refocus on the sector,” said Bashir.
Commenting on the resignation of former IT minister Babar Awan, he said, “The minister was an important, focal point of the industry.”
“I have heard that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing funds and a data centre will be created in Islamabad,” he said while talking about the e-government programme.
Replying to a complaint that large organisations in the country, such as banks, did not give projects to local firms, he said that there were up to 60 large companies in Pakistan which needed tried and tested software.
He, however, explained that there were at least 10,000 small companies that would not be able to afford services of large international firms and would have to adopt local software solutions, which would help the economy grow.
While Pakistan fares badly, ranking 103 on a list of 125 nations, on CII-INSEAD Global Index of Innovation for 2011, it is included among the top 10 countries for the Innovation Efficiency sub-Index. These countries are Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, China, Pakistan, Moldova, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, India, and Bangladesh.
This places Pakistan in 4th place on CII-Insead's Global innovation efficiency sub-index, 5 places ahead of India in 9th place, according to Economic Times of India:
India has improved its ranking in the global Innovation Efficiency Index to 9th position in 2011 from 101th last year on factors like political stability, R&D, market and business sophistication, according to a study.
Surprisingly, Pakistan was placed ahead of India at 4th position, the CII-INSEAD study said.
However, India has slipped on its ranking in the Global Innovation Index to 62nd position out of 125 countries in 2011 from 56th last year while Switzerland was at the top,
It said that a lot of Indian talent is returning home to the country and the youth in urban India are now more global than ever, "and they are quite in tune with new technologies, even ahead of the curve in many cases, as early adapters".
"Multinational corporations are making large investments in R&D outside of their headquarter countries, setting up R&D sites in low-cost emerging countries such as China and India to access global talent and take advantage of their proximity to target markets," the report said.
Indian major players such as Tata, Godrej, and Mahindras are shifting their focus towards the rapidly expanding middle-income group of customers by coming up with frugal innovations, keeping in mind the price sensitivity of Indian consumers, it said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/india-moves-up-to-no9-on-global-innovation-efficiency-index/articleshow/9085252.cms
http://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii/GII%20COMPLETE_PRINTWEB.pdf
http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/12/intellectual-wealth-of-nations.html
http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/10/pakistans-28-billion-it-industry.html
Here's a summary of Call Center bill introduced in the US Congress, as published by Huffington Post:
Saying they hope to stem the tide of jobs heading overseas, legislators introduced a bipartisan bill Wednesday in the House that would punish American corporations for offshoring their telephone call centers, making such companies ineligible for grants or guaranteed loans from the federal government.
Introduced by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), the protectionist legislation would also put some aggressive mandates on call-center operations. Not only would customer service representatives working overseas for U.S. corporations have to disclose their locations upon request, they would also have to offer callers the option of being transferred to call centers back in America.
"Outsourcing is one of the scourges of our economy and one of the reasons we are struggling to knock down the unemployment rate and reduce the number of Americans who are out of work," Bishop said in a conference call with reporters. "We can't prohibit it, but we can certainly discourage it."
Although some call-center jobs have trickled back into the U.S. in recent years, the long-term trend has shown thousands of American-based customer service positions being outsourced to India and the Philippines, where workers come considerably cheaper. The Philippines' call-center industry recently surpassed India's as the largest in the world, according to a report in USA Today.
The call-center bill has strong backing from the Communications Workers of America, a union representing 700,000 workers, more than 150,000 of whom are customer service reps. Ron Collins, CWA's chief of staff, said that Americans have been losing decent-paying call-center jobs so that large corporations can save on labor costs. He praised AT&T for its decision to bring 5,000 customer service jobs back to the U.S. as part of its merger with T-Mobile.
"When I talk about this, I talk about it from experience," said Collins, a former Verizon call-center worker. "This bill is a very important step forward -- for jobs, for workers and for customers."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/overseas-call-centers-outsourcing-bill_n_1135147.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008
Here's ET on Freelancer.com launch in Pakistan:
KARACHI: With a self-employment boom and double-digit growth in internet subscriptions, Pakistan has become the third highest user of freelancer.com, the world’s biggest online marketplace in terms of user base, it was revealed at the launch of the website’s local version on Tuesday.
“Pakistan is the third largest country using the website [freelancer.com], closely following India and the United States,” said Adam Byrnes, International Director at freelancer who joined the ceremony through a video call from the company’s headquarters in Sydney, Australia.
“Pakistani freelancers have already earned more than $13 million from the platform,” he said.
Freelancer’s decision to launch the local website comes on the back of strong growth in subscriptions by Pakistani freelancers. The website presently has 240,000 Pakistani users.
According to a report prepared by freelancer, self-employed Pakistanis surged from 33.3% to 39.9% between 2009 and 2012. The report attributes this surge in subscriptions to the rise in internet use in Pakistan, which saw double-digit growth in the past five years. In terms of internet growth, Pakistan stands second in the Saarc region, the report said.
“I am excited about the launch of freelancer.pk because of the potential Pakistan represents for the platform,” said Byrnes who is responsible for expanding freelancer across the world. “This [Pakistan] is a high value market for employers abroad.”
With more than 30 million internet users, five million plus broadband users and a population approaching 200 million, according to Byrnes, it makes sense to have a presence in Pakistan.
“Going forward, we want to provide self-employment for a billion people, a significant portion of that is going to come from Pakistan,” he said.
Freelancer just hit seven million users globally and 4.2 million projects were facilitated by the website, Muhammad Umer Farooq, company director responsible for managing the freelancer website told The Express Tribune on the sidelines of the event.
“An amount of $150 million has been spent so far by users of freelancer.com,” he said, adding they make money by charging commission from both the employers and the freelancers who get projects.
Interestingly, Farooq pointed out, it is not only foreigners hiring Pakistani freelancers, but Pakistani companies are also giving contracts to Pakistani freelancers registered on the website. United States is the top country awarding 38% of total projects on freelancer while Pakistan stands fifth for it awards 4% of the projects.
The idea is to enable rupee transactions for Pakistani members for which the company is in talks with local banks, both Farooq and Byrnes said. “Secondly, we are soon going to have an Urdu version of the website,” Farooq said.
IT and graphic designing (logo design) are the top two categories at freelancer. Freelancers can bid for the projects posted by employers through a simple method, he said. Given that it is one of the top countries on the website, Pakistani freelancers can benefit from exposure to the international job markets – the UK, North America, Australia and Canada.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/516239/pakistan-3rd-highest-user-of-freelancer-as-self-employment-rises/
http://www.freelancer.com/work/paid-freelance-projects-pakistan/
Top four online outsourcing sites Elance.com, oDesk.com, reelancer.com, and Guru.com report that Pakistan ranks number 3, after US (#1)and India (#2), in terms of freelancers doing outsourced IT work on contract. Bangladesh ranks fourth.
It also shows US, Australia and the UK as the top hiring countries.
All of the above-mentioned websites work in a similar fashion: companies post job requirements on these sites. Next, freelancers or IT-companies offer their skills and price for the project listed on the website. Finally, the company chooses the best type of bid for its job requirements.
http://swproposal.com/Blog/Topic/How_to_work_with_Elance_oDesk_Freelancer_and_Guru
Here's a story of a Pakistani woman entrepreneur:
.. Before becoming an entrepreneur, (Maria) Umar was a full-time teacher. She quit after her job refused her maternity leave and subsequently began writing for a woman she found through Rozee.pk, Pakistan's premiere job portal. The money was good — almost double what she made as a teacher — but when Umar discovered her employer's oDesk profile, she realized she could make even more money by contracting with clients directly.
She set up her own oDesk account and began taking on extra jobs and outsourcing them. At first she gave the jobs to her nieces, then to their friends, and eventually to their classmates, until she realized that she had developed a small content-creation business.
Today, this company is called The Women's Digital League, an IT-solution company that trains rural Pakistani women in micro online tasks, from ghost-writing to social media management.
Ovidiu Bujorean is the Senior Manager of the GIST Initiative, which supports entrepreneurship in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. He met Umar after she won a GIST business plan competition, and recognized her ability immediately. "She is extremely passionate and persistent," he says of Umar. "She’s also very committed to her mission of helping female entrepreneurs find job opportunities...
http://mashable.com/2013/06/29/pakistan-woman-entrepreneur-2/
Groopic’s Rehan said that Plan9 helped in four key ways: mentorship, networking opportunities, office space, and stipend.
However, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
Plan9 conducts reviews every six weeks to ensure that startups are on track. After one and a half months they should have a business model developed based on real world feedback; at the three-month mark they should put their alpha product in front of early adopters; and at 4.5 months they should introduce iterations to refine their market strategy. If they can’t meet their goals, they’re out of the program.
Of the incubator’s inaugural round, only eight of the 13 startups graduated.
“The others were eased out. They weren’t serious or committed enough, or they just couldn’t pull it off.”
Rehan and his friends were just one of eight teams to have graduated from Plan9′s inaugural incubator class, but it appears there are more of their kind out there. More recently, Pakistan emerged as one of the world’s biggest locations for individual outsourcing via sites such as odesk, elance, and freelancer.com.
The social and political winds are also shifting.
Internet and cloud technologies have lowered the barriers to entry to compete in the global digital economy; and among Pakistan’s 183 million strong population there are almost 30 million internet subscribers. Meanwhile, voters recently appointed the second successive democratically elected government — the first time that’s happened in the 64-year troubled history of a country whose progress has been sabotaged by regular military coups.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/05/pakistan-government-backed-incubator-seeds-local-investor-appetite/
Here's an AFP report on growth of computer games development in Pakistan:
LAHORE: It's a city better known for its history and culture, but a new generation of mobile game developers is bringing a slice of Silicon Valley to Pakistan's Lahore.
With open plan offices, mixed gender teams, gourmet catering and an emphasis on a fun atmosphere, the small but growing IT industry worth an estimated $2.8 billion is being led by young entrepreneurs like Babar Ahmed.
Ahmed, 33, left a career as a circuit engineer in Austin, Texas to found Mindstorm Studios in the eastern Pakistani city in 2006 with his brother Faraz.
Today their studio employs 47 people thanks to hits like 2010's “Whacksy Taxi”, which shot to number one on Apple's AppStore in over 25 countries; “Mafia Farm” in 2012 and “Cricket Power”, the official game of the 2011 World Cup.
“The idea was to put Pakistan on the gaming world,” said Ahmed, explaining he was tired of “drawing room talk” among expatriates in the US about how something should be done for their homeland.
Smartphone revolution
Mindstorm is one of several games development studios in Pakistan — mainly based in Lahore but also in the capital Islamabad and Karachi — to have prospered with the spread of the smartphone.
“After the iPhone was launched, the definition of what a game is changed overnight. The definition of what a gamer is changed overnight,” said Ahmed.
While traditional “hardcore” games — typically played on home console systems or PCs — need multi-million dollar budgets and teams of dozens of developers, games designed for smartphones need far less start-up capital.
That has allowed countries in eastern Europe, Pakistan, and the Philippines to become prime destinations for software outsourcing, said Jazib Zahir, chief operations officer at Tintash, another Lahore-based studio that provided the back-office for “Fishing Frenzy”, another top-ten hit.
According to the government, some 24,000 people are now employed in software exports — though the figure also includes more traditional areas like financial software and healthcare.
“One of the advantages that Pakistan brings is we do have a critical mass of people with training and aptitude, an interest in developing software and art and combining them,” adds Zahir, who is also a part-time tech journalist.
Breaking boundaries
At We R Play, an Islamabad-based studio based in a converted warehouse on the outskirts of the city, rows of twentysomethings busy themselves on their computers surrounded by colourful posters, plush toys and action figures.
The company was founded in 2010 by Mohsin Ali Afzal and Waqar Azim, with a major emphasis placed on a modern office space.
“We were sure from when we started that we didn't want cubicles and I wouldn't have a big office,” said Afzal, who returned from UC Berkeley in 2010.
“We wanted to make sure we're sitting with everyone. We encouraged everyone to take ownership of their spaces and gave them (money) to get stuff for their tables.”
Workspace and play is also seen as key at CaramelTech, a Lahore studio founded in 2011 by brothers Saad and Ammar Zaeem which is responsible for coding global 2011 mega-hit Fruit Ninja (which had over 500 million downloads) for an Australian studio.
The office has a designated play room complete with pool table, table football, and X-box.
“Every day at 4 pm they're forced to leave their work and go play upstairs.
We want that culture where people aren't only working but also enjoy themselves,” he said.
Also notable in the games studios is near gender-parity, a striking fact in a country where female participation in the workforce has lagged behind for decades.
People are dressed in everything from Western jeans and t-shirts to hijabs.
For some, convincing their family they are working in a “real job” wasn't easy....
http://www.dawn.com/news/1091602/gaming-industry-breaks-culture-barriers
Pakistan-born Imran Aftab was traveling in 2004 when an AOL Time Warner colleague posed a rude question.
“Imran, you’re from Pakistan, yet you seem normal,” Aftab recalled. “What is the problem with the rest?”
Aftab, then director of global outsourcing at AOL, spent half an hour explaining that there was more to the millions of Pakistanis than the public perception after the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy.
“People see all bad news. I thought, ‘How can I change things even at a small scale through business?’ ”
After that trip, the chemistry major decided to use his knowledge of outsourcing at AOL to start his own business that could make money while also helping his fellow citizens in Pakistan.
The business he created is called 10Pearls, a profitable custom software company based in Herndon, Va., and Pakistan. The company has more than 150 software experts supervised by Aftab’s brother in a 33,000-square-foot office in Karachi. Only about 15 employees work in Herndon.
Aftab creates customized software for all kinds of interfaces, including mobile platforms, kiosks and Web sites. Clients include NVR, Time Warner Cable, Discovery Education, National Geographic and Zubie, a spinoff of Best Buy.
For Zubie, 10Pearls helped develop an Android and Apple application that allows people to see where their cars are located, diagnose auto repair issues and track historical routes.
Although 10Pearls is relatively small, with revenues of less than $10 million, Aftab said it has been profitable since it began 11 years ago making Web pages for handyman businesses.
The company, which Aftab calls a social experiment, reminds me of the “double bottom line” businesses that Washington sports mogul Ted Leonsis espouses. That refers to business that earns profits while accomplishing some social good.
“I see that business causes positive impact,” said Aftab, who makes three visits a year to his native country. “It can change things even at a small scale. Business is a good way for people to learn about each other.”
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“I see that business causes positive impact,” said Aftab, who makes three visits a year to his native country. “It can change things even at a small scale. Business is a good way for people to learn about each other.”
The enterprise isn’t all about altruism.
Pakistan is a good candidate for outsourcing because of its large English-speaking population — 180 million or so — that is tech-savvy, has mathematical skills and whose labor costs are far below that of the United States and other developed countries.
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He knew the bigger money was in developing software applications, but he had to build experience first. He quit AOL Time Warner in 2005 and worked as a consultant while he grew 10Pearls.
Bigger contracts started coming in, including one from a big telecommunications firm that needed help. During the Great Recession that started in 2008, business stagnated and 10Pearls pivoted to mobile applications.
“I could see that mobile was going to grow explosively,” he said.
The company’s big break arrived in 2011, when it won a highly competitive contract to build a mobile application for Social Radar, a Washington company started by Blackboard co-founder Michael Chasen. A key part of Social Radar’s business is that the app allows users to interact with people in the immediate vicinity.
The deal with Chasen helped establish 10Pearls’ credibility. That led to more and larger mobile app contracts....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/pakistan-native-tries-to-demystify-his-native-country-with-software-start-up/2014/12/20/c897fc30-8499-11e4-b9b7-b8632ae73d25_story.html
Services Trade Development Council (STDC) during its maiden meeting noted that Pakistan is the fourth largest IT service provider to the overseas clients ranked only behind US, India and Philippines with over 200,000 Pakistani professionals working in this field.
First meeting of the Services Trade Development Council took place in the Ministry of Commerce, which was chaired by the Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister for Commerce. The Minister said that Ministry of Commerce would put in place the regulatory framework necessary for enhancing the exports of services from Pakistan. The Council will consult the State Bank of Pakistan to devise a suitable mechanism to facilitate these IT professionals to bring the wages of their work to Pakistan directly.
In order to effectively market the Pakistani Technology industry, the Ministry of Commerce will enhance the participation of Pakistani IT companies in the international trade fares and exhibitions. The Government will also take measures to enhance the capacity of the free lancers working from their homes and small offices providing IT services to foreign clients. The Minister said that the Ministry will train its trade officers abroad to effectively market the Pakistani Technology industry.
The meeting also agreed to take necessary steps to enhance tourism especially religious tourism in the country as Pakistan hosts remains of various ancient civilisations and religions for example Indus Valley Civilisation, Gandhara, pertaining to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and other religions. The Council suggested taking measures to enhance intra-SAARC trade of services which is currently very low.
Meeting was also attended by the representative of Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, Secretary Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, representatives of Pakistan Software Houses Association for Information Technology, Pakistan International Freight Forwarders Association, Travel Agents Association of Pakistan, Insurance Association of Pakistan and Constructors Association of Pakistan.
http://nation.com.pk/business/21-Jan-2015/pakistan-ranks-fourth-in-world-as-it-service-provider-to-overseas-clients
Online #freelancing grows in #Pakistan, earnings reach $1b in 2016. #InfoTech #Software
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1379351/online-freelancing-grows-pakistan-earnings-reach-1b/
the Punjab IT Board chairman quoted a conservative figure of 150,000 Pakistani freelancers, earning combined revenue of roughly $1 billion. This fairly high number is despite the fact that so far the phenomenon of online freelancing in Pakistan has grown without any significant government support.
Pakistan among top countries earning through freelancers
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/03/31/pakistan-among-top-countries-earning-through-freelancers/
The ever-increasing broadband access in Pakistan has accelerated the growth of freelance marketplaces, according to a survey report. Due to internet proliferation, freelance jobs are growing as more than 10,000 IT graduates enter Pakistan’s market annually.
Freelancing is progressing in conventional job markets and it is estimated that by 2020, one in three workers worldwide will be freelancing online.
Online marketplaces help their clients with tools, technologies and services to hire and manage remote work teams and enable employers and freelancers to contact one another.
The arsenal of technology available today makes it possible to work from any location without requiring a physical office. Freelancers can now more easily find jobs and connect to businesses that need work.
This online revolution has improved availability, quality and affordability of workers, especially in Pakistan. Freelancing, if done professionally, can become a great way to supplement income, earn a living and get paid to perform.
Experts say freelancing has become a big business and is now expanding at an exponential rate. Pakistan is ranked among the top countries that are earning through freelancing.
Human capital in Pakistan has grown significantly over the last decade with almost 16% of the younger age group having a college degree. Pakistan is considered as one of the top two outsourcing destinations in terms of growth, value for money and customer feedback.
According to a survey, Philippines experienced 789% growth in its outsourcing business while Pakistan was second on the list with 328% growth.
Labour costs in many countries have risen sharply and in some cases more than the productivity. The reason behind freelancing is to get cheap yet competitive labour and Pakistan’s IT sector is carving a niche for itself as an ideal place to go for low-cost but equally competent freelance IT programmers and Mobile app designers/developers.
The MIT Technology Review Pakistan has reported there are an estimated 1,500 registered IT companies in Pakistan. Another survey revealed that freelancers in Pakistan work 34 hours per week.
The qualities of projects provided by the Pakistani freelancers are in line with top freelancer countries around the world. The availability of cheap digital labour in Pakistan has turned contractors towards it.
The rapidly growing freelance economy can play a dramatic role in achievement of development and economic goals. But there are some national objectives to be achieved including basic literacy, basic healthcare, business opportunities and employment to boost exports and to get better results.
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