Home ›› 03 Oct 2021 ›› Biztech
After graduation from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Dhaka University, Shoeb Ahmed Masud engaged in the stock market and later in 1998 formed ‘Business Automation Limited’. He was also the chairman of the Infrastructure Standing Committee of BASIS. In a conversation with The Business Post’s Rifat Islam, he shared his insights and spoke about opportunities of the technology industry for young generations
The Business Post: Who inspired you to become an IT and software businessperson?
Shoeb Ahmed Masud: I am the first member of my family to engage in the IT business and through all the ways my father helped and motivated me to do better in my career.
TBP: Could you tell us about your IT products?
Shoeb: Our firm has been pioneering in many areas of IT solutions in Bangladesh including web development, customised software, software packaging with e-learning solutions, e-Governance solution, document archiving, content development, etc. Along with these, we offer a one-stop service system, customer management services, data analysis, IT service delivery, device integration and products based on Internet of Things (IoT).
The Queue Management System (Queue Pro), which is mostly used by government organisations and financial institutes, is the flagship service in our range of software products.
TBP: How many people work in your company?
Shoeb: My firm employs some 160 skilled professionals.
TBP: What are the problems and prospects of the software industry in Bangladesh?
Shoeb: I consider the real challenge of the IT sector is to build up confidence among the technological service-recipient organisations. In our country there is a long-standing belief among many policymakers that ‘whatever western or foreign is the best in quality’. They feel skeptical about the quality of Bangladeshi products.
I believe that a crisis creates opportunities but things have changed for the better. The tainted image of Bangladeshi IT professionals being inept has been almost fixed through our quality services. Now our industry is riding on the capabilities of some sound IT professionals who are catering to the IT needs of government and private sectors along with foreign clients.
For example, the Business Automation Ltd created “Queue Management” software which has replaced a range of foreign software.
We never let our clients feel like replacing locally-produced software with those of foreign ones as we have been continually developing our product for the past 16 years.
But it was possible as some organisations believed in our capabilities and we survived the headwinds in our initial period. If local companies have enough of this luck I believe the prospects are immense.
TBP: What are your tips for fresh entrants to the IT industry?
Shoeb: It fascinates me that we are seeing so many young talents in recent times entering the industry.
Back 23 years ago, when we started, things were not easy for us. What we did is market research and surveys which helped us to know about the product in high demand.
We researched on the feasibility and checked whether there is any importer of that particular product and who the competitors are. It is better to make customers your partner and do a collaboration to make your service better.
If a start-up runs after everything and expects success overnight then the goal will not be attained. So, if they can focus and constantly work towards specialising in two to three services, I strongly believe, they will taste success.
The market is a lot easier for our newbies to have an impactful business, which wasn’t in the time we started dabbling with IT products. There were many headwinds for us, though the competitors were small in number then.
Another thing is, it is important to think in the long term but not about the immediate profit.
Think about our time, when we were working to export our product ‘Queue Management System’ to a foreign country, the client was reluctant to give any payment for customisations. We landed in trouble but we were desperate at that time to expand our business overseas. Eventually, we did it well and that opened many doors for us.
TBP: What is the state of the overall software industry in the country and how do you visualise yourself after a decade?
Sheob: There are two aspects of a subject — positive and negative. It’s true the Covid-19 situation created not only headwinds for us but also opportunities. The world is experiencing a paradigm shift in technology. For example, the professionals of the 1990s, who tried to capitalise those opportunities, didn’t shine in the sector. Now it is obvious that we are entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Those who will be determined to try their luck in this paradigm shift, they’ll do better.
We have now woken up to immense possibilities of operating large businesses from home, without attending physical offices. This is an advantage the world is enjoying during the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
Though our millennial and Gen-Z generation are very much tech-savvy, we can still groom them properly with tech-based education. I belief, they can surely leave an impact on the global software market within a decade.
TBP: What is your future plan?
Shoeb: We have been sustaining in the sector for 23 years.We are constantly guiding them and upskilling the fresh entrants to make them more efficient.
