7 min read
Karachi has a lot of hidden talents. It takes a unique breed of people to meet unfavourable conditions head-on and thrive despite an increased risk factor. Their chutzpah is clearly visible in their underground music scene and their thriving IT industry. Even cases like the Axact scandal could not taint the reputation of prestigious IT consulting firms and software houses based out of a city which happens to be one of the biggest contributors to the tech scene in Pakistan.
Pakistan IT industry embarked on its journey in full form during the early 90’s. Since then the industry has seen many players and trendsetters making substantial progress with their novel ideas, and in some cases failing hopelessly.
There are hundreds of Karachi-based companies which are doing wonderful things to help Pakistan technology-wise, and they are all equally vital for revolutionizing the local IT industry! Here are 5 companies that should be in the average Karachiite’s knowledge, although only these select few names would not do justice to the abundance of quality software companies in the city.
1. Systems Limited
Systems Limited is one of the oldest software houses in Pakistan. It has always been one of those software houses which we used to hear about back in the 90’s. Ever since its inception in 1977, the company has progressed and adapted a key role in the ICT scene in Pakistan.
Currently lead by Mr. Aezaz Hussain as Chairman and Mr. Asif Peer as CEO, the company has evolved into an award-winning public venture. Under their management, the company has taken part in over 600 projects, completed in the US, Pakistan, Middle East and Africa. With over 30 years of experience, Systems Limited have excelled at delivering business solutions to local and foreign clientele which includes multiple Fortune 500 companies as well.
The products which the company offer to the market ranges from Human Capital Management System (SysHCM), a smart e-payment solution OneLoad, and Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP called EdgeAx.
Systems Limited has won the Pasha ICT award for BPO, Human Capital, Managed Services and Export categories. They have offshore facilities in the US, UAE, UK, and Pakistan, and a workforce of over 2,500 professionals. Systems Limited have local offices in Karachi and Lahore as well.
Want to know more about Systems, well, why not give them a ping as they are hiring!
2. TPS Online
Founded by Mohammed Sohail and Mobushir Rahim in 1996, the company is a pioneer in Pakistan regarding banking and financial solutions. TPS Pakistan started off as Transaction Processing Systems, it was incorporated with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as TPS Pakistan Private Limited in 2003.
TPS is attributed with the establishment of the e-banking infrastructure in Pakistan. They are largely responsible for powering 80% of the banks in Pakistan and the largest interbank shared switch called 1LINK.
Their broad range of financial and e-payments products works extensively in the areas of credit/debit cards and payment solutions. With over 120 customers spread across 30 plus locations around the world, including Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Their solutions and services enable banks, telecoms, central banks, payment processors, national switches and other institutions in mission critical digital banking, cards and payments services.
You can visit them for career information here.
3.10Pearls
Co-founded by two brothers Imran and Zeeshan Aftab in 2004, this high tech venture is gradually expanding with its award-winning mobile and web applications. The company is based in Karachi, with its roots in Virginia, United States.
10Pearls has a wide array of expertise in mobile applications, websites and games. With “gamification” as their motto, the company works in a high octane agile mode, and delivers critically acclaimed solutions.
The company has managed highly scalable technology projects and implementations which includes Fortune 500 companies and start-up ventures, such as; AOL, Time Warner, NVR, Spacenet, MicroStrategy, Discovery, National Geographic, Paxfire, and the Asian Pacific Institute of Technology.
Their key products include Social Radar, an enterprise analytics application for Time Warner Cable, Zubie, Prip, Discovery Education, Razor Sight, and Brightline. The company has no local foot prints and has a complete foreign project focus.
Last year in 2014, the company was named by InTheCapital as a 50 on Fire Award Winner.
“We are rewarded every day by the trust and appreciation of our customers. Yet it’s nice to get recognition from the community for the work we do,” said, Imran Aftab, Founder and CEO of 10Pearls. “It’s really an honor to be favorably compared with the other impressive winners in our category.”
Want to know more about 10Pearls? Why not apply for a post and join this vibrant team!
4. Elastica
Elastica is fairly new on the horizon, founded in 2013; the company carries a promising stronghold. Lead by Rehan Jaleel, a NEDian from Karachi, this startup first established itself at The Dot Zero, and then moved to a permanent location on busy Shahra-e-Faisal in Karachi. Since then the company has grown rapidly in resources and has been recognized internationally which has led to prominent funding of its core products.
What made Elastica tick was their solution to the lack of enterprise-grade security around SaaS applications. Elastica products are based on machine learning and data science-centric approaches to solve security needs for cloud apps. The venture is called Elastica CloudSOC and serves its customer with 4 apps called Audit, Detect, Protect and Investigate. Alongside these products the company also provides securelets or APIs for data across different cloud platforms such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Salesforce, and Yammer.
Elastica’s main product line is comprised of cloud Security and audit platforms, that provide them a niche over the international clientele and grant them a monopoly here in Pakistan. Recently, the company linked itself with Dropbox as a premier partner for its security solution and Elastica was also named a Box Trust Partner.
If you’re interested in a career in cloud based and security application development, then here is what you have to do!
5. Arpatech
Founded by Jamal Khan, a Pakistani-American who studied in the US and worked for five years with a leading Silicon Valley technology firm in 2004, this company was named at number 3 as the Pakistan’s 25 fastest growing software solution providers.
With a team of around 80 professionals, their main services cover a wide spectrum. The diversity of the products ranges from software development, mobile based solutions, BPO, networking and security, web application and web design and startup services.
The distinctive products include 1) Centurion, a real estate dealing solution, 2) Dawn, which is a online portal for human resource management, 3) ClaimLynx, a utility for secure connection to a server using SSH and 4) EatOye, Pakistan’s most successful online foodie venture.
Arpatech is also incubating and has invested in some of the budding startups, such as Forrun, Textually, Jambo, Viaduct, and Rava. The incubator is called the Hatchery.
If you want to work with this tremendous venture then see what they have for you here!
Closing remarks:
So here it is; as we said earlier that this list is merely a mention of the mantle holders and the hundreds similar to them. Each and every one of these wonderful ventures is creating good vibes for Pakistan and its talent across the globe.
The speed and prosperity to development which these organizations are reflecting in the past years has lead Pakistan to new heights of IT horizons. We are being labeled as the next IT hub and we are proud to have companies and individuals who are here to make a difference for Pakistan and its new technology-oriented generation.
