Cisco Country Manager Naveed Qazi talks about the progress of the local IT industry and in particular, the role of Cisco in the development of the local industry.
- First of all, briefly tell us about your professional career?
I have been associated with business and technology from the very onset of my career. After graduation in electrical engineering from University of Engineering and Technology, I joined Siemens Pakistan where I was initially responsible for designing solutions for customers. At that time, Siemens developed a new business unit, first of its kind in Pakistan, called ‘Internet Solutions and Broadband at work’, that provided me with global knowledge. Back then, internet penetration in the market was low and online services were expensive, which was later addressed with the growth of broadband services.
Then with Nortel Networks, Singaporean telecommunication company, I was asked to build up a business team in Pakistan. Back then, the telecom sector’s penetration here was low. Nortel later introduced big projects like Ufone, DSL subsidy and even worked on the inception of computerized national identity cards. Currently, Nortel has a huge network of 300 employees in Pakistan with a business of $150 million. Then in 2005, Cisco offered me a similar role of launching its brand in the local industry which I took as a welcoming challenge and I am glad to have been associated with it for the past 8 years.
- In your opinion, how has Cisco catered to the local industry needs and how has it contributed in its development?
Cisco is globally renowned as an industry catalyst and has always envisioned investing in the future. In light of the local market dynamics and in order to cater to the demands of local customers, Cisco decided to set up its offices in Pakistan while investing in transformational ideas and opportunities.
Then again, Pakistan also has an established communication setup and you don’t need to file petitions etc to develop a customized business infrastructure. This helped Cisco open three offices in Pakistan, with full infrastructure, life cycles and processes to serve clients’ IT business needs and become a market leader with good growth opportunities.
- How has Cisco Pakistan kept up with the competition in regional and international markets?
I think the Pakistan IT industry has seen comparatively better growth than other countries. For instance, the USA economy is not performing well while the economy in the Middle East markets is growing fast and creating opportunities for businesses. Keeping that in mind, Cisco Pakistan has helped export good talent to booming markets like the Middle East, at the same time providing them with greater exposure of the adjacent markets.
- How does our local IT industry compare with other neighboring industries like India’s?
I would say that other South Asian economies are performing well and are much more export-oriented than the local industry. India in particular has one of the largest IT exports industries where the growth is evident by the fact that there was investment in the industry by large conglomerates. In Pakistan, companies like Teradata have started to invest and develop infrastructure to create more opportunity for this vertical also. However, Pakistan still needs to show some stability in order to gain the trust of foreign investors.
- In your opinion, how can we bring an improvement into the local industry?
Pakistan, thankfully, has a strong foundation but local infrastructure can be improved further by reducing the gap between the industry and academia. Institutions are providing quality education yet the regulators need to ensure that experience and quality curriculum both, are delivered. Established players like Cisco, Oracle and Intel are also playing their part in this regard.
- What is Cisco doing in this regard to enhance the progress of the overall IT industry in Pakistan?
Cisco has its own training and development programs including the globally offered Networking Academy Program. Across the world, we have over 5 million students enrolled while in Pakistan we have 100 network academies with more than 15,000 students. A few years back, Cisco wanted more universities on board this program to provide students educational and industry-certified qualification. Later, Cisco also pushed for intermediate level students since some of Cisco’s courses do not require a university education.
Cisco also hopes to develop important citizen-related services by integrating ICT with the currently-existing working methods in sectors like education, health and security. For example, Cisco is currently working on bringing new technology to Pakistan which could help the health sector. With integrated technologies in medical engineering companies, we can get a patient’s details through an HD camera whereby the doctor can examine the patient on a real-time basis. Thus, we ensure patient and doctor live communication even though they may actually be miles apart.
