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The recent boom in Pakistan’s technology sector has brought in a number of changes in the way businesses conduct their operations. However one thing which I have observed is that till recently Pakistan had lacked good quality market research. Yes, there were some research companies like AC Nielsen but their skills, reach and approach were rather limited. When it came to telecom and technology research, there was almost no local firm with this special skill set. Things are about to change. To fill this gap, Arif Hussain, a former Lucent executive, has launched SourceOne, a US company with an office in Karachi.SourceOne aims to deliver, for the first time in Pakistan , unbiased market based intelligence, insight and a strategic perspective for the communications industry. The Communications Practice of SourceOne offers a portfolio of market-focused services, each built around high-value, high-impact market analysis. There is a sample report, ARPU Strategies for Mobile Operators in Pakistan, available on the website. A flagship Newsletter “The Sourceâ€Â will also be available to subscribers.
According to my discussions with SourceOne leadership, their market intelligence services are different from others because their thoroughly researched market reports are built on data from primary and secondary sources. I think this is a key factor, as most analyst reports I have seen depend on assumptions which are removed from ground realities. One has to be embedded in the local environment in order to add real value.Â
Of course a highly sought after service is that of customized reports for specific client needs such as outsourcing and doing business in Pakistan. I posed this question to the CEO of SourceOne. Here was his response: “We offer a high degree of customization in terms of reports that can be tailored to the individual needs of clients. Potential clients that can best benefit from our services are Service Providers (fixed – wired or wireless and mobile), Vendors and Investors. We underscore everything we do with a total commitment to quality, accuracy and attention to detailâ€.
This is a welcome addition and I am certain that a large number of local and foreign companies and investors will benefit from the professional services of SourceOne.
| Written by Babar Bhatti on 09/28/07 in Marketing/Adv, Telecom, Software & I.T., General |
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September 29th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Exciting to know that research firms are choosing to position themselves as experts for a certain industry especially IT/Telecom.
However the following questions come to mind:
1. What are the professional credentials of such firms in
a. Research Methodologies
b. Research Team Resources
c. Industry Specific Background/Portfolio
2. If its all a new focus into IT/Telecom then might as well choose an established and resourceful firm, atleast that has a deep market/consumer insight w.r.t country.
3. However such focused entries are good to accelerate the specialization process of the research industry.
September 29th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Infact after reasonably browsing through the SourceOne site I could not gather any solid reference or a client portfolio.
Right now SourceOne does not “really” have a differentiating positioning except for a claim with focus on IT/Telco research. Such claim if made by, say AC Nielsen, would hold more weight to potential clients due to ACN’s deep understanding of the local economy, consumer patterns, demographic analysis and most importantly a trained and experienced field force.
September 29th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
SourceOne is a US company with Operations in Pakistan. We have PK local experience and market expertise we bring to bear on our market analysis/intelligence and strategy development practices. We principally have two types of clients,
1) Firms engaged in the ITC sector of Pakistan looking to leverage our international and local expertise to help them with specific market intelligence through primary and/or secondary market research.
2) International clients who are taking advantage of our lower cost structure in Pakistan to outsource certain routine Market Research tasks.
We consider Nielsen and Gallup partners we rely on to conduct specific market research campaigns on behalf of clients or to study a particular market attribute for a Market Report we plan to publish. SourceOne’s value add and focus, leveraging our global ITC experience, is working with ITC clients on the front end to identify requirements, design the study (including the questionnaire), recommending best survey methodology (including the use of our own in-house automated tools), employing a partner to administer the survey, and most importantly analyzing the results and developing client recommendations. For this last piece we rely on our global industry experience to benefit our client companies. We are currently working with a number of clients, however we have not listed any client testimonials; we will add those to our website at the appropriate time.
As the founder of SourceOne, you can view my personal credentials at LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/3/6b3/43b. Our staff in Pakistan comes from different backgrounds in Market Research.
Arif Hussain
SourceOne Knowledge Solutions
October 1st, 2007 at 1:24 pm
[Arif] If this information comes in response to the earlier posts then it is still incomplete.
However this information shall serve best on the company website that one is unable to find there.
Another observation, serious clients are more interested to know the “Team Profile” over an “Individual’s Profile” because that shows organizational strength, capacity and sustainable service levels.
Regards
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:57 am
the linkedin profile provided for SourceOne does not exist!!!
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:06 am
Remove the dot from the end of the URL, it works!
Arif, LinkedIn provides the facility to have a public profile like http://www.linkedin.com/in/salmanmunir
I guess that helps!
October 2nd, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Thanks for the tip Salman. New URL is http://www.linkedin.com/in/ahussain1
Aldo, this is my personal profile, not SourceOne. You can view the SourceOne website at www.thesourceoneco.com.
Asif, many thanks for your comments and feedback. I have taken note for when we update our site next.
Arif Hussain
SourceOne Knowledge Solutions
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:55 pm
[Arif]..You are welcome. Regards
November 13th, 2007 at 7:04 am
Hi Osma,
Thank you for publishing my request for “creatives”..we did not get a response..but am pressing on ..the office will be ready in february..with launch date April .Do you attend .startup launches ?
This will be at an internet enterprise center
we are opening in Mian Channu…we intend using TMI as a free user training platform with free high quality marketing information to
enable the students progress their idea ..”on the fly ”
I did read on your site you help students and i would appreciate any advice you can give to advance TMI for the benefit of Pakistani
students who normally cannot afford internet access…
We hope to translate into other lanquages.. Do you think using Urdu would improve the chances of TMI being successful in Pakistan ?
Thank you for your attention.. ian