Beyond the horizon: Defying odds, expanding exponentially

Dubai-based IT entity’s tailor-made solutions leaving a global mark

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s small but agile Information Technology industry has yet to produce a technology giant with global recognition but the talent produced by the country certainly demonstrates the nation’s potential for making it big in the world of IT.

Though several Pakistani startups that earned some recognition globally have been covered, Wavetec – which originated from Pakistan and now operates as a Dubai-based multinational company – is clearly another successful case.

The company, which specialises in Customer Experience Solutions and Financial Market Displays (FMDs), is on a global expansion spree, acquiring large companies in Europe and South America. What is even more impressive is all of its acquisitions and expansion activities have been funded by the company’s own retained earnings.

With over half a billion people using their products every year, Wavetec has several major players as its clients in retail, aviation, banking, education, healthcare, telecom and capital markets.

The company, which keeps a low profile in Pakistan, is spread across four continents with eight regional offices in Karachi, Dubai, Riyadh, Nairobi, Barcelona, London, Lima and Santiago and a manufacturing base in Shenzhen, China.

Aggressive expansion makes it one of the world’s largest players in FMDs of stock and commodity exchanges. It has set up display solutions for as many as 23 financial markets: the Karachi Stock Exchange, Dubai Financial Market, Tadawul (Saudi Arabia), Bahrain Stock Exchange, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Bolsa de Barcelona, Bolsa de Madrid and Bolsa Mexicana de Valores to name a few – a significant reason why they define FMDs as their biggest revenue stream.

“Our cash flows are very healthy, we don’t need debt financing for these acquisitions or expansion,” Wavetec Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Fraz told The Express Tribune at his Karachi office recently.

Responding to a question about what drives their business, the electronics major from NED University of Engineering and Technology said they develop customised solutions, which gives them unprecedented advantage over competition.

The CEO refused to disclose the company’s revenues – but the officials say Wavetec ranked among top three in Dubai SME-100, a ranking for which 3,000 companies had applied.

Humble beginning

Started in 1987 as a small company that installed Dish and Satellite TV, Wavetec had first movers’ advantage in that area. However, as competition increased and market became saturated, it moved towards financial display solutions, according to officials.

The KSE was their first FMD client. The company’s turning point was, however, a contract from a Dubai-based delegation that asked the former to develop a display solution for the Dubai Financial Market – since then, the company never looked back.

In fact, their global expansion started from Dubai – the main reason the company is headquartered there.

Some of their projects include the Middle East’s biggest LED (circular) display for financial tickers setup in Bahrain and one of the biggest financial displays in South America: the FMD of Mexico Stock Exchange.

Besides doing large-size LED walls, the company has done major projects in the aviation industry – the UAE’s leading airlines Emirates and Etihad being their clients.

Explaining their success, the officials said they had edge over competitors globally because they developed customised solutions. Since the entire product from hardware to applications is made by Wavetec, it gives them leverage to customise it as per customers’ unique requirements, they say. It was this competitive edge that got them business in Dubai as competition could not do this.

They have opened an innovation centre in Chile, which along with the Karachi office, are the only two facilities where they do product development. The manufacturing is done entirely in the Chinese factory, also owned by them.

They are currently looking for acquisitions in Europe, South America and the United States – they recently bought majority stakes in a Finnish company, which is the country’s largest player in industrial design and service area design.

While its strong cash flows help drive the expansion, the company struggles to find right human resource to feed its growing operations.

“Finding quality human resource is one of the major challenges we face globally,” said the CEO, adding they have grown so much in Africa that it has become difficult to manage the business.

But that is not a new scenario for Fraz, who moved out of Pakistan after realising the market was very small for the kind of work he was doing.

“The mindset that hard work does not pay off needs to change,” he said, referring to how his Pakistani company became a global business. “If you don’t have opportunities here, you can expand the business abroad.”

THE WRITER IS A STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th,  2015.

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