Bangladesh's IT sector: Paving the right path
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Sabia Siddique
Bangladesh has been treading the ICT path for a long time. But what is the current situation? What path should the country follow? Outsourcing? Software development? Or an amalgamation of both? What is the need of the local entrepreneurs? The nouring India has been a source of inspiration for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in the ICT sector. But India's success story has been more or less relevant to the field of so-called "IT outsourcing".
As we all know, outsourcing is nothing but a sort of body shopping. The country has secured work from many countries in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. These are all project-based jobs. In obtaining jobs, Bangladeshi IT entrepreneurs and professionals have to compete with their counterparts in India, Egypt and Vietnam. Probably, India steals the limelight in the outsourcing world while Egypt and Vietnam are increasingly positioning themselves on the global outsourcing map. Bangladesh has only notched up a spot on the list of 30 countries, prepared by Gartners, while India, Egypt and Vietnam are among the top 5 on the list prepared by many prestigious agencies.
In outsourcing projects, one of the parameters of measuring one company's efficiency is some certifications. The most accepted certification is CMMI level. Highest level is CMMI 5. In Bangladesh, until now, there is no CMMI level 5 company whereas in India there are many companies have achieved the same level. Even countries like Egypt and Vietnam have quite a good number of CMMI 5-level firms.
Why doesn't Bangladesh, which has more than 1000-plus programmers, have even a single CMMI5-level company? This could be due to the non-availability of the right kind of manpower.
Then what is the future of the country's IT industry?
Rezaul Hassan, CEO of REVE Systems, one of the most successful IT ventures in Bangladesh, said, "Our IT sector has a bright future. We've deficiencies in some areas, but we have creativity, we have hard working people and we have skilled professionals, with all these we can win the world."
According to Mr. Hassan, REVE Systems, taking into all the shortcomings, has taken a different path. It has gone for product development instead of outsourcing.
He said, "We can show our creativity and better skill in product development and finally we can brand it."
REVE has done it successfully. They are focused on IP Telephony segment of the industry, a very niche segment (probably this is one of the major components of success-to be focused. Most Bangladeshi ICT companies are not focused). And today they are probably the No 1 in mobile VoIP in the world market. They have been competing with companies from Israel, Europe and the United States. The company has sold its products to a total of 1,250 clients from 65 countries.
From Bangladesh a few more product-based companies are also trying to go international. Last year in GITEX and CommunicAsia there were more than 10 companies from Bangladesh participated and displayed their products.
Mr. Hassan noted that initially they have struggled. It took time to make the industry understand that they have a great product. But once the industry accepted it, they did not need to look back. And now they are getting outsourcing jobs from the same industry at a very higher rate.
REVE Systems has a strong presence in international trade fair. In the last 12 months, they have showcased themselves in fairs like CommunicAsia, Singapore, Gulfcomm or Gitex, Dubai, World Mobile Congress, Cebeit, Germany IP Telephony Show, and many more. Their online presence is also strong.
REVE has also been participating in industry development by sponsoring as Gold Sponsor to the country's largest ICT event SoftExpo. Also, REVE Systems has organised different workshops and seminars on different topics The company organised an international seminar on 'Outsourcing Opportunity in VoIP Industry' and it drew good crowd. More than 200 people attended the event.
The present government has made software industry completely duty-free. The government is also supporting the sector by arranging equity fund at zero cost.
But how far the sector has advanced? BASIS, the trade group of software makers, has around 500 members. But how many of them are successful? The country's entrepreneurs require mapping out a strategy to shine in the global IT industry.
Bangladesh has been treading the ICT path for a long time. But what is the current situation? What path should the country follow? Outsourcing? Software development? Or an amalgamation of both? What is the need of the local entrepreneurs? The nouring India has been a source of inspiration for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in the ICT sector. But India's success story has been more or less relevant to the field of so-called "IT outsourcing".
As we all know, outsourcing is nothing but a sort of body shopping. The country has secured work from many countries in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. These are all project-based jobs. In obtaining jobs, Bangladeshi IT entrepreneurs and professionals have to compete with their counterparts in India, Egypt and Vietnam. Probably, India steals the limelight in the outsourcing world while Egypt and Vietnam are increasingly positioning themselves on the global outsourcing map. Bangladesh has only notched up a spot on the list of 30 countries, prepared by Gartners, while India, Egypt and Vietnam are among the top 5 on the list prepared by many prestigious agencies.
In outsourcing projects, one of the parameters of measuring one company's efficiency is some certifications. The most accepted certification is CMMI level. Highest level is CMMI 5. In Bangladesh, until now, there is no CMMI level 5 company whereas in India there are many companies have achieved the same level. Even countries like Egypt and Vietnam have quite a good number of CMMI 5-level firms.
Why doesn't Bangladesh, which has more than 1000-plus programmers, have even a single CMMI5-level company? This could be due to the non-availability of the right kind of manpower.
Then what is the future of the country's IT industry?
Rezaul Hassan, CEO of REVE Systems, one of the most successful IT ventures in Bangladesh, said, "Our IT sector has a bright future. We've deficiencies in some areas, but we have creativity, we have hard working people and we have skilled professionals, with all these we can win the world."
According to Mr. Hassan, REVE Systems, taking into all the shortcomings, has taken a different path. It has gone for product development instead of outsourcing.
He said, "We can show our creativity and better skill in product development and finally we can brand it."
REVE has done it successfully. They are focused on IP Telephony segment of the industry, a very niche segment (probably this is one of the major components of success-to be focused. Most Bangladeshi ICT companies are not focused). And today they are probably the No 1 in mobile VoIP in the world market. They have been competing with companies from Israel, Europe and the United States. The company has sold its products to a total of 1,250 clients from 65 countries.
From Bangladesh a few more product-based companies are also trying to go international. Last year in GITEX and CommunicAsia there were more than 10 companies from Bangladesh participated and displayed their products.
Mr. Hassan noted that initially they have struggled. It took time to make the industry understand that they have a great product. But once the industry accepted it, they did not need to look back. And now they are getting outsourcing jobs from the same industry at a very higher rate.
REVE Systems has a strong presence in international trade fair. In the last 12 months, they have showcased themselves in fairs like CommunicAsia, Singapore, Gulfcomm or Gitex, Dubai, World Mobile Congress, Cebeit, Germany IP Telephony Show, and many more. Their online presence is also strong.
REVE has also been participating in industry development by sponsoring as Gold Sponsor to the country's largest ICT event SoftExpo. Also, REVE Systems has organised different workshops and seminars on different topics The company organised an international seminar on 'Outsourcing Opportunity in VoIP Industry' and it drew good crowd. More than 200 people attended the event.
The present government has made software industry completely duty-free. The government is also supporting the sector by arranging equity fund at zero cost.
But how far the sector has advanced? BASIS, the trade group of software makers, has around 500 members. But how many of them are successful? The country's entrepreneurs require mapping out a strategy to shine in the global IT industry.