A project report on "Problems and Opportunities of Software Industry in Kashmir" with the objectives to find the current issues and limitations faced by the Software Industry of Kashmir along with the future opportunities of the same.

1. PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF
SOFTWARE INDUSTRY IN KASHMIR
A CASE STUDY OF IQUASAR SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS LTD.
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE BACHELORS IN BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION (B.B.A) PROGRAM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR.
UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF
1. Prof. Aufaq Ahmed.
2. Mr. Mohammad Umar
AND THE CHIEF SUPERVISION OF
Dr. G.M.Lone.
Submitted to:
P.G Department of Commerce and Management
Govt. Degree College, Bemina Srinagar.

2. P a g e | 2
Govt. Degree College Bemina
P.G Department of Commerce and Management.
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation submitted for the partial fulfillment of B.B.A
program entitled “A PROJECT REPORT ON PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF
SOFTWARE INDUSTRY IN KASHMIR” is the original work carried out by the
following students for the first time.
S. No Name of the Student Roll No. Class
01 Junaid Rafiqi 19 BBA 3rd Year
02 Mohammad Sami 27 BBA 3rd Year
03 Khalid Mushtaq 28 BBA 3rd Year
04 Tauqeer Ahmed Mir 30 BBA 3rd Year
05 Mushtaq Hussain Bhatti 29 BBA 3rd Year
06 Muneer Ahmed Kashkari 18 BBA 3rd Year
It is further certified that this work has not been submitted so far to the University of
Kashmir or any other university for the Bachelors program in Management (B.B.A) or
any other degree/ Diploma.
_________________
Prof. Aufaq Ahmed
(Project Supervisor)
_______________
Dr. G.M Lone
(Chief Supervisor)
_________________
Mr. Mohammad Umar
(Project Supervisor)
_________________
Prof. Razia Sultana
(Head of the Department)

3. P a g e | 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ompleting a task is never a one man effort. It is often the result of invaluable
contribution of number of individuals in a direct or indirect manner that helps in
sharing a making of success.
This work of ours is a humble effort to analyze the Problems and Opportunities of
Software Industry in Kashmir. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “When an
adventure does come, somebody else is usually mixed up in it.” To us the completion of
this dissertation has been no less than a coup. This dissertation bears the imprint of
many persons, who contributed to the development of this dissertation in one way or
the other.
Obviously, we could not have accomplished it but for the guidance and assistance from
various quarters, especially we find no words to express our profound and humble
gratitude to out esteemed chief supervisor Dr. G.M. Lone, for his effective introductory
guidance which encouraged us to take this work. At all stages of the completion of this
dissertation he not only guided and supervised us but took pains to go through the
manuscript and suggest changes in it occasionally. It will not be an exaggeration to say
that without his able and matured guidance, this work of ours would not have seen the
light of the day.
We are greatly indebted to our respected teachers and supervisors, Prof. Aufaq Ahmed
and Mr. Mohammad Umar for providing us matured, efficient and intellectual guidance
during working in this dissertation. Their constant encouragement was great morale
booster for us. We take this opportunity to thank our supervisors for providing proper
direction, for sparing their valuable time and rendering all possible guidance and help
whenever approached.
We are also grateful to the H.O.D, Prof. Razia Sultana, whose advice and
encouragement helped us a lot. Without her active support and guidance, we would
have conceived of the completion of this work.
Our thanks are also due to Mr. Shahid Jameel, of the Software Technology Parks of
India (Srinagar office). We are equally thankful to Miss Anum (HR Manager
IQuasar/Musky), Mr. Fayaz Ahmed Bhat (Founder & Chief Executive Officer) of iQuasar
Software Solutions Srinagar for providing material for this dissertation and for rendering
help whenever we approached them for the collection of material.
C

4. P a g e | 4
Chapter1
INTRODUCTION

5. P a g e | 5
INTRODUCTION:
The state of Jammu & Kashmir is characterized by an agro-based rural economy.
Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. About 80% of
the people are dependent on the agriculture for their livelihood. The economy of
Jammu & Kashmir is largely dependent on farming and agriculture. The manufacturing
and services sectors are also growing rapidly in the region. In the recent times, several
consumer-manufacturing and services companies have shown their interests to set up
their units in this region. Before the insurgency of 1989 tourism formed an important
part of Kashmiri economy. But after that, tourism economy of Kashmir valley was worst
hit. However, Jammu and Ladakh continue to be popular sites of Hindu pilgrimages for
the past few decades.
Whereas, during the last five-year plans, agricultural sector of the state did attain some
commanding height, it is regretted, that much has not been done in the industrial
sphere. Therefore, the Jammu & Kashmir state continues to be lulled in lap of industrial
backwardness. This is a serious drawback as far as balance/growth and development of
the state is concerned.

6. P a g e | 6
SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES OF JAMMU AND
KASHMIR
The Jammu and Kashmir state is heavily dependent on its tourism industry. The
government is aware if the fact and they are trying to build an industrial atmosphere in
the state. They have invited leading industrial houses of the country. However, the
state has not been in a very good condition as it has faced severe terrorism threats and
insurgencies. The people of the state need jobs an since the industrial set up process is
time taking, only small scale industries of Jammu and Kashmir can help.
The following are the areas which have been preference to promote small scale
industries in Jammu and Kashmir.
 Priority sector lending by Banks and Financial Institutions.
 Excise exemption or concessions.
 Reservation of items for excusive production.
 Package of incentives.
 Emphasis now on promotion of quality, technology and efficiency.
 Price and purchase preference.
 Infrastructure development.
The main types of small scale industries in Jammu and Kashmir are:
 Food products
 Beverages
 Information Technology
 Machinery parts
 Plastic goods
 Chemicals
 Drugs
 Paper products

7. P a g e | 7
 Automobile equipment
 Handicrafts
These industries help to provide bread and butter to the people of the state, both in the
urban and rural sector.
The Jammu and Kashmir state is eager to introduce industrialization in the state with
the hope that it will support the state revenue to a considerable extent. The revenue
earning of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is largely dependent on the tourism
industry, but in the recent past the government is stressing on the hard-core industries
keeping in mind the positive effects of industrialization. Jammu and Kashmir Industrial
infrastructure is fast developing and the state government is emphasizing on the other
aspects of the state to make the state favorable for the outside industrial groups so that
they come and invest in and generate the existing business here.

8. P a g e | 8
Industrial Map of Jammu and Kashmir
(Image Courtesy: www.jksidco.org)

9. P a g e | 9
THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY IN INDIA
AN INTRODUCTION
The Information technology industry in India has gained a brand identity as
a knowledge economy due to its Information Technology (IT) and Information
Technology Enabled Services (ITES) sector. The IT–ITES industry has two major
components: IT Services and business process outsourcing (BPO). The growth in
the service sector in India has been led by the IT–ITES sector, contributing substantially
to increase in GDP, employment, and exports. The sector has increased its contribution
to India's GDP from 1.2% in Financial Year (FY) 1998 to 7.5% in FY2012. According
to NASSCOM, the IT–BPO sector in India aggregated revenues of US$100 billion in
FY2012, where export and domestic revenue stood at US$69.1 billion and US$31.7
billion respectively, growing by over 9%. The major cities that account for about nearly
90% of this sectors exports
are Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Bangalore is
considered to be the Silicon Valley of India because it is the leading IT exporter. Export
dominate the IT–ITES industry, and constitute about 77% of the total industry revenue.
Though the IT–ITES sector is export driven, the domestic market is also significant with
a robust revenue growth. The industry’s share of total Indian exports (merchandise plus
services) increased from less than 4% in FY1998 to about 25% in FY2012. According
to Gartner, the "Top Five Indian IT Services Providers" are Tata Consultancy
Services, Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro and HCL Technologies.
This sector has also led to massive employment generation. The industry continues to
be a net employment generator - expected to add 230,000 jobs in FY2012, thus
providing direct employment to about 2.8 million, and indirectly employing 8.9 million
people. India's growing stature in the Information Age enabled it to form close ties
with both the United States of America and the European Union. However, the
recent global financial crises have deeply impacted the Indian IT companies as well as
global companies. As a result hiring has dropped sharply, and employees are looking at
different sectors like the financial service, telecommunications, and manufacturing
industries, which have been growing phenomenally over the last few years. India's IT
Services industry was born in Mumbai in 1967 with the establishment of Tata Group in
partnership with Burroughs. The first software export zone SEEPZ was set up way back
in 1973, the old avatar of the modern day IT Park. More than 80 percent of the
country's software exports happened out of SEEPZ, Mumbai in 1980s.

10. P a g e | 10
Growth of Indian IT sector over the years

11. P a g e | 11
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The main purpose of this study is to determine and identify the problems and
opportunities of the software industry of Kashmir valley.
This study also deals with the brief history and introduction of the Indian software
industry.
This study aims at studying the role of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) in
developing the Indian software industry in general and the software industry of Kashmir
in particular.
The following are the main objectives of this research:
 To determine the problems and opportunities of the software industry of
Kashmir.
 To study a software company of the valley. (iQuasar Software Solutions)
 To conduct the SWOT analysis of the company under study.
 To give suggestions regarding further improvement in the strategies to be
adapted in future with a view to increase the market share of the company
under study.

12. P a g e | 12
HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF INDIAN
SOFTWARE INDUSTRY
The Indian Government acquired the EVS EM computers from the Soviet Union, which
were used in large companies and research laboratories. In 1968 Tata Consultancy
Services—established in SEEPZ, Mumbai by the Tata Group—were the country's largest
software producers during the 1960s. As an outcome of the various policies of
Jawaharlal Nehru (office: 15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964) the economically
beleaguered country was able to build a large scientific workforce, third in numbers
only to that of the United States of America and the Soviet Union. On 18 August 1951
the minister of education Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, inaugurated the Indian Institute of
Technology at Kharagpur in West Bengal. Possibly modeled after the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology these institutions were conceived by a 22 member committee of
scholars and entrepreneurs under the chairmanship of N. R. Sarkar.
Relaxed immigration laws in the United States of America (1965) attracted a number of
skilled Indian professionals aiming for research. By 1960 as many as 10,000 Indians
were estimated to have settled in the US. By the 1980s a number of engineers from
India were seeking employment in other countries. In response, the Indian companies
realigned wages to retain their experienced staff. In the Encyclopedia of India, Kamdar
(2006) reports on the role of Indian immigrants (1980 - early 1990s) in promoting
technology-driven growth:
The ground work and focal point for the development of the information technology
industry in India was led by the Electronics Commission in the early 1970s. The driving
force was India's most esteemed scientific and technology policy leader M. G. K. Menon.
With the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under project
IND/73/001, the Electronics Commission formulated a strategy and master plan for
regional computing centers, each to have a specific purpose as well as to serve as a
hub for manpower development and to spur the propagation of informatics in local
economies. The first center, the National Centre for Software Development and
Computing Techniques (from 1973 onward) was at the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research in Mumbai and was focused on software development. A key decision of the
strategy was to not focus on large-scale hardware production but rather intellectual
capital and knowledge development. The success of this decision can be seen in the
global leadership of Indian entrepreneurs and computer scientists in software
development. Jack Fensterstock of the United States was the program manager on

13. P a g e | 13
behalf of the UNDP and the key advisor to the Indian Government for the
implementation of the master plan.
The National Informatics Centre was established in March 1975. The inception of The
Computer Maintenance Company (CMC) followed in October 1976. During 1977-1980
the country's Information Technology companies Tata Infotech, ProcSys, Patni
Computer Systems and Wipro had become visible. The 'microchip revolution' of the
1980s had convinced both Indira Gandhi and her successor Rajiv Gandhi that
electronics and telecommunications were vital to India's growth and development.
MTNL underwent technological improvements. During 1986-1987, the Indian
government embarked upon the creation of three wide-area computer networking
schemes: INDONET (intended to serve the IBM mainframes in India), NICNET (the
network for India's National Informatics Centre), and the academic research oriented
Education and Research Network (ERNET).
In 1991 the Department of Electronics broke this impasse, creating a corporation called
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) that, being owned by the government, could
provide VSAT communications without breaching its monopoly. STPI set up software
technology parks in different cities, each of which provided satellite links to be used by
firms; the local link was a wireless radio link. In 1993 the government began to allow
individual companies their own dedicated links, which allowed work done in India to be
transmitted abroad directly. Indian firms soon convinced their American customers that
a satellite link was as reliable as a team of programmers working in the clients’ office.
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) introduced Gateway Electronic Mail Service in
1991, the 64 kbit/s leased line service in 1992, and commercial Internet access on a
visible scale in 1992. Election results were displayed via National Informatics Centre's
NICNET.
The Indian economy underwent economic reforms in 1991, leading to a new era of
globalization and international economic integration. Economic growth of over 6%
annually was seen during 1993-2002. The economic reforms were driven in part by
significant the internet usage in the country. The new administration under Atal Bihari
Vajpayee—which placed the development of Information Technology among its top five
priorities— formed the Indian National Task Force on Information Technology and
Software Development. Today, Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India and
contributes 33% of Indian IT Exports. India's second and third largest software
companies are head-quartered in Bangalore, as are many of the global SEI-CMM Level
5 Companies.

14. P a g e | 14
Mumbai too has its share of IT companies that are India's first and largest, like Tata
Consultancy Services and well established like Reliance, Patni, LnT Infotech, i-Flex, etc.
are head-quartered in Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai. And these IT and dot com
companies are ruling the roost of Mumbai's relatively high octane industry of
Information Technology.
Such is the growth in investment and outsourcing; it was revealed that Cap Gemini will
soon have more staff in India than it does in its home market of France with 21,000
personnel+ in India.
On 25 June 2002 India and the European Union agreed to bilateral cooperation in the
field of science and technology. A joint EU-India group of scholars was formed on 23
November 2001 to further promote joint research and development. India holds
observer status at CERN while a joint India-EU Software Education and Development
Center is due at Bangalore.
The Indian software exports have grown in spectacular fashion. Its success has, for the
most part, been a combination of resource endowments, a mixture of benign neglect
and active encouragement from a normally intrusive government, and good timing. The
bulk of the Indian software exports have consisted of fairly mundane services such as
low level programming and maintenance. The marked reliance on access to low cost
human capital has prompted considerable skepticism about the ability of the Indian
software industry to sustain its performance, given the rapid growth in the demand for
engineers and the relatively inelastic supply of engineers. This paper reports on the
results of research on the Indian software industry.
We use a variety of sources, including a questionnaire survey of Indian software firms,
and field visits and interviews with industry participants, observers, and US based
clients. Although, maintaining the current rate of growth will pose a number of
challenges, these challenges are not insurmountable. Not only can the available pool of
human capital be expanded by tapping and training the very large pool of English-
speaking college graduates, the leading Indian firms are making strong efforts to move
up the value chain by acquiring better software project management capability and
deeper knowledge of business domains, and reducing costs and improving quality by
developing superior methodologies and tools. Moreover, the greatest impact of the
software industry on the Indian economy may well be indirect, in its role as an
exemplar of the new business organizational form and as an inspiration to other
entrepreneurs.

15. P a g e | 15
Firm Revenues Employees Fiscal
Year
Headquarters
Tata Consultancy
Services
$10.17
billion
254,076 2012 Mumbai
Cognizant Technology
Solutions
$7.05 billion 185,045 2012 Teaneck, New
Jersey
Infosys $6.69 billion 153,761 2012 Bangalore
Wipro $5.73 billion 140,569 2012 Bangalore
HCL Technologies $4.3 billion 85,335 2012 Noida
Rank City Description
1 Bangalore Popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India and leading
software exporter from India. Bangalore is considered to
be a global information technology hub of India.
2 Chennai Chennai is the second largest exporter of IT and ITES of
India, and is the BPO hub of India.[17] Chennai has the
largest operations centers of TCS, and Cognizant.
3 Hyderabad Hyderabad is a major it hub in India which is also known
as Cyberabad which consists of many Multinational
corporation companies such as Google, Facebook,
Microsoft, Amazon and Electronic Arts, etc.
Major IT Hubs of India
Top Five IT Service Companies in India (2011-12)
(Source: The Economic Times)

16. P a g e | 16
S.
No
Company Name S .No Company Name
1.
Tata Consultancy
Services
11. Polaris Software Lab Ltd
2. Infosys Ltd 12. MindTree Ltd
3. Wipro Ltd. 13. Zensar Technologies Ltd
4. HCL Technologies Ltd. 14. Infotech Enterprises Ltd
5.
Mahindra IT & Business
Services
15. Hexaware Technologies Ltd
6. Mphasis Ltd. 16 KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd
7. iGate 17.
Honeywell Technology Solutions
Lab
8.
Larsen & Tourbo
Infotech Ltd.
18. NIIT Technologies Ltd
9. Syntel Ltd 19. Infotech Ltd
10. CSC India Ltd 20. Infinite Computer Solutions Ltd
Top 20 Software Companies of India (2011-2012)
(Source: NASSCOM Industry Rankings, www.nasscom.in)

17. P a g e | 17
SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY PARKS OF INDIA
(STPI)
Software Technology Parks of India' (STPI) is a government agency in India,
established in 1991 under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
that manages the Software Technology Park scheme. It is an export oriented scheme
for the development and export of computer software, including export of professional
services. The STP Scheme provides various benefits to the registered units, which
include 100% foreign equity, tax incentives, duty free import, duty free indigenous
procurement, CST reimbursement, DTA entitlement, deemed export etc.
STPI has played a seminal role in India having earned a reputation as an information
technology superpower. STP units exported software and information technology worth
` 215264 crore in FY 2010-11. The state with the largest export contribution was
Karnataka (see Bangalore) followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
STPI has a presence in many of the major cities of India including the cities of
Bangalore, Mysore, Trivandrum, Bhilai, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad,
Gurgaon, Pune, Guwahati, Noida, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kanpur, Lucknow, Dehradun, Patna,
Rourkela, Ranchi, Gandhinagar, Imphal, Shillong, Nashik etc.
Besides regulating the STP scheme, STPI centers also provide variety of services, which
includes High Speed Data Communication, Incubation facility, Consultancy, Network
Monitoring, Data Center, Data Hosting etc. STPI provides physical hosting for the
National Internet Exchange of India.
The tax benefits under the Income Tax Act Section 10A applicable to STP units has
expired since March 2011. While the Government has chosen not to extend the Sec 10A
benefits against the demand by the IT units, most of the STP registered SME units shall
be affected, who now will have to pay Income Tax on profits earned from exports.
A new incentive scheme for IT & ITES companies is under discussion. It will help
dispersal of IT industry in smaller cities and also support STPI-registered units which
have not come under SEZs as well as other units which are not covered under any
incentive scheme. This incentive scheme is seen as an alternate scheme to compensate
the STPI units, but the same would be restricted to those units located in tier II and III
cities. However, proposal is still under consideration and no announcement has been
made.

18. P a g e | 18
(Mapnottoscale.)
Location of STPI Centers across India
(Source: www.stpi.in)

19. P a g e | 19
About STPI
India has earned itself a reputation of an IT superpower. Software Technology Parks
of India has played a seminal role in accomplishing this status. Today, STPIs across
over the country are synonymous with excellent Infrastructure and Statutory support
aimed at furthering growth of Information Technology in the country. Software
Technology Parks of India (STPI) is a society set up by the Ministry of Information
Technology, Government of India in 1991, with the objective of encouraging,
promoting and boosting the Software Exports from India. STPI maintains internal
engineering resources to provide consulting, training and implementation services.
Services cover Network Design, System Integration, Installation, Operations and
maintenance of application networks and facilities in varied areas. Process
development is based on the Quality Management System. STPI centers also adhere
to ISO 9001 certification.
The Background
Software Technology Parks of India was established and registered as an Autonomous
Society under the Societies Registration Act 1860, under the Department of Information
Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of
India on 5th June 1991 with an objective to implement STP Scheme, set-up and
manage infrastructure facilities and provide other services like technology assessment
and professional training.
Objectives of STPI
Objectives of the Software Technology Parks of India are:
 To promote the development and export of software and software services
including Information Technology (IT) enabled services/ Bio- IT.
 To provide statutory and other promotional services to the exporters by
implementing Software Technology Parks (STP)/ Electronics and Hardware
Technology Parks (EHTP) Schemes and other such schemes which may be
formulated and entrusted by the Government from time to time.
 To provide data communication services including value added services to IT / IT
enabled Services (ITES) related industries.

20. P a g e | 20
Functions of STPI
The STPI performs all functions necessary to fulfill its objectives and include the
following:
1. To establish Software Technology Parks / centers at various locations in the country;
 To perform all functions in the capacity of the successor to the erstwhile
Software Technology Park Complex which were taken over by the STPI
 To establish and manage the infrastructural resources such as integrated
infrastructure including International communication / Data center / Incubating
facilities etc. for 100% export oriented units and to render similar services to the
users other than exporters.
 To undertake other export promotional activities such as technology
assessments, market analysis, market segmentation as also to organize
workshops/exhibitions/seminars/conferences etc.
 To facilitate specialized training in the niche areas to meet the above objectives.
 To work closely with respective State Government and act as an interface
between Industry and Government.
 To promote secondary and tertiary locations by establishing STPI presence to
promote STP/EHTP Scheme, and promotional schemes announced by
Government.
 To promote entrepreneurship through incubation programs / seed funds / IP
development and other awareness programs.
 To assist State Governments in formulating IT policies and liaison for promoting
the IT industries in respective states to achieve an exponential growth of
exports.
 To promote quality and security standards in the IT industries.
 To work jointly with venture capitalists for providing financial assistance to the IT
industries.
 To provide Project Management and Consultancy services both at national and
international level in the areas of expertise of STPI.
2. To perform financial management functions which comprise of the following
activities:
 To obtain or accept grants, subscription, donations, gifts, bequests from
Government, Corporations, Trusts, Organizations or any person for fulfilling the
objectives of the STPI.
 To deposit all money credited to the Fund in Scheduled Banks / Nationalized
Banks or to invest in such a manner for the benefit of the STPI as may be

21. P a g e | 21
prescribed. At least 60% of the funds shall be placed with the Public Sector
Banks or in such a manner as may be prescribed by the Government from time
to time.
 To draw, make, accept, endorse and discount cheques, notes or other negotiable
instruments and for this purpose, to sign, execute and deliver such assurance
and deeds as may be necessary for the purposes of the STPI.
 To pay out of the funds maintained by STPI or part thereof, the expenses
incurred by the STPI from time to time including all expenses incidental to the
formation and reorganization of the STPI and management and administration of
any of the foregoing activities including all rents, rates, taxes, outgoings and the
salaries of the employees.
 To acquire, hold and dispose of the property in any manner whatsoever for the
purposes of the STPI, with the prior approval of Governing Council as per the
procedure laid down by Government.
Services of STPI
World class One Stop Solutions Service Portfolio specially designed to meet your
organization’s needs. In tune with our mandate to cater to 100% export oriented units,
STPI broadly provides services specially tailored for Software exporters in the region.
Over a Decade’s experience of providing world class services ensures total satisfaction.
These services include:
 Data Center and DR Services
 Incubation Services
 Internet Services
 PMC Services
 Statutory Services
 Training
The headquarters of STPI are located in New Delhi. STPI has its centers located all over
the country.

22. P a g e | 22
STPI- SRINAGAR CENTER:
A BRIEF OVERVIEW:
Kashmir registered its appearance on the IT World map after the inauguration
of Software Technology Park center at Rangreth on 6th January 2001.
STPI srinagar center has been providing the High Speed Data communication facilities
to the IT industry through the International gateway (IBS F1 Earth station) The
customer premises in India will be connected to their client located abroad by gateway
which will be located at Srinagar through a radio link using either point to point or point
(CDMA) to multi point radio (TDMA) Link. This will facilitate any company operating in
India or abroad connected to Internet, and to access softNET.
It also provides accommodation for budding IT entrepreneurs who cannot afford the
same and also provides the required infrastructure and the necessary equipment
required to kick start their project. The entrepreneurs, in return, have to pay the
nominal charges to avail these services.
STPI acts as a beacon light for many IT entrepreneurs who wish to start their own
business in IT sector.
Clients of STPI Srinagar Center:
 Jammu & Kashmir e Governance
Agency
 BQE Kashmir
 iLOCUS
 Al-Muqeet Technologies
 Kashmir University
 NIELIT Srinagar
 Islamic University of Science &
Technology
 PC Planet Technologies
 Maple Business Group
 iQuasar Software Solutions

23. P a g e | 23
OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIAN SOFTWARE
MARKET
The Indian Information Technology industry is expected to see about 12% growth to
reach a market size of about Rs 1.8lakh crores by 2016, according to a new report.
IT services and software products will lead this growth due to an increase in IT
adoption by companies, shift towards outsourcing and emergence of new technologies,
said the report by Boston Consulting Group & Confederation of Indian Industries.
There is a vast untapped domestic opportunity in the country. India spends less than
1% of its GDP on IT. This is significantly lower than the global average of 2.5%.
The contribution of Internet to the GDP in India is expected to increase from 4.1% to
5.6% in 2016 with an annual growth of 22% to reach a size of Rs 11 lac crores by
2016, said the report. On the back of such opportunities, 700 billion dollar companies
are expected to be in India by 2020. Till the year 2010, India had 141 listed billion
dollar companies.
For the year of 2011, the IT market in India is estimated at 99,700 cr out of which
nearly half is made up of IT services segment followed by 32% by hardware segment.
Current IT adoption in Banking is Rs 18,500 cr. Indian banking sector is growing at
18% and there are opportunities in customer relationship management, back-end
management, data warehousing, e-payments and mobile banking, payment systems,
outsourcing of ATMs and solutions to cater to RBI regulations.
The Telecom industry spends Rs 15,000 cr in IT. There are opportunities in building
analytical tools to capture usage trends and track service levels. Enterprise solutions
catering to the needs of large mid-sized companies as well as the SMBs.
The Manufacturing vertical spends Rs 12,300 cr in IT and adoption level is low. There
will be opportunities in Value–adding industry specific applications for process
improvements and performance enhancement, greater infrastructure outsourcing by
large companies, low cost solutions and delivery model for msmes including use of
cloud.
Media publishing and entertainment spends are estimated to be Rs 10,700 cr. Analytics
& business intelligence, increased needs for social media and mobile based apps will
provide opportunities.

24. P a g e | 24
The Indian retail sector, growing at 12%, is estimated to spend Rs 6600 cr on IT. Tools
and dashboards for better CRM, retail POS etc, emerging technology like cloud and
analytics and solutions catering to needs of online retail are opportunities.
Insurance vertical which will grow at 20% for the next decade will create opportunities
for cloud based services to reduce cost, web 2.0 to improve customer service and
integration of platforms.
CHALLENGES IN THE INDIAN SOFTWARE
MARKET
Despite these bright and encouraging facets of the software industry there are certain
areas of concern, which need to be given the desired attention and weightage. Some of
these areas of concern or challenges are:
 The most formidable challenge facing Indian software industry is sustainability of
high growth rate of software exports in future. Foregoing analysis suggests that
while software export registered an annual average growth of above 50 per cent
during the period 1990-00, it has come down (or stabilized around) 28 to 30 per
cent since 2001. The main reason has been slowdown in US economy since 2000
as 60 per cent of our software exports are sourced to US. Hence, any slowdown
in US will have adverse impact on Indian software export. Further, a number of
countries such as China, Russia, Philippines, Canada, and Ireland etc. have
started emerging as competitors to India in the international market. Therefore,
there is diversion of business to these countries. There is another line of
argument as well. The argument is that ‘initially software industry had started
from zero and hence from a low base it could grow much faster at 50 per cent
but once it reached the peak it has started stabilizing around 28-30 per cent’.
Even to maintain this growth rate Indian software industry will have to focus on
innovation, high labor productivity, emphasis on software products, and market
diversification and so forth.
 Shortage of skilled labor is another daunting problem affecting software industry.
There is growing demand for skilled labor in software industry. Despite the fact
that country is known for its human resource for IT industry world over, it has
been struggling hard to meet the growing demand for IT professionals. IT task
force, 1998 predicted that IT industry will create over 4 million direct jobs and

25. P a g e | 25
another 5 million indirect jobs by 2008-09. Are our institutions capable of
supplying such a large number of IT work force? The answer is staunch no.
Further, there is not only shortage of skilled labour but also even a part of the
skilled labour available is not fit for employment. ‘According to Nasscom, among
the 3 million graduates and post graduates added to Indian workforce, only 25
percent of technical graduates and 10-15 percent of other Graduates are
considered employable by the growing IT/ITES segments’11. Added to this, the
problem of migration of knowledge workers to developed countries in search of
greener pastures make things worse. Demand for Indian software professionals
are increasing day by day in developed countries. They attract Indian
professionals by paying higher salaries and providing them with Green cards.
Very recently European Union decided to issue Green cards to Indian IT
professionals just like US do.
 Low diffusion of information technology in the domestic market i.e weak
domestic software market is a matter of serious concern for India. While
software export is growing very fast domestic software could not pace with
software export. For instance, when domestic software increased from Rs 64
crore in 1985-86 to Rs 47,300 crore in 2007-08, software export increased from
Rs 34 crore to Rs 1630000 crore in 2007-08. And also that share of software
export in total output, which was 34.69 per cent in 1985-86 leaped to 70.43 per
cent in 1999-00 and further to 77.51 per cent in 2007-08. Correspondingly that
of domestic market declined from 65 per cent to about 22 percent during the
same period. This is an indication of existence of weak domestic market. A
strong and vibrant domestic market is essential for sustained software export
and to insulate it from any fluctuation in international market. Therefore,
Government has to come out with appropriate policies to promote the diffusion
of IT into various sectors of the economy. Why India has a weak domestic
market? The reasons are not far to seek. The installed base of PCs (Personal
Computers) in India is too small to support a thriving indigenous software
industry. The total installed base of PCs is close to 20 million. This amounts to
less than 15 PCs per 1000 people. High cost of hardware and piracy are also
working as a stumbling block in the way of rapid growth of domestic software.
Another reason has been that in software sector profits on exports are
considerably higher than the domestic sales. However, domestic market is slated
to grow faster with the rigorous enforcement of copyrights laws, increased
government spending on IT, e- governance and e -schooling and also
implementation of zero import duty on software (this would have buoyant effect
on the market and the increasing trend of buying software through internet).

26. P a g e | 26
 India has marched ahead and demonstrated its competitive strength in the
international market in software field. But unfortunately, computer hardware
industry could not keep pace with the software industry. We have been able to
produce hardly 25 per cent of our hardware requirements. Rest we have to
import. It is perceived as bottlenecks in the sustained growth of the software
industry. More importantly, of late China has been emerging as a major
competitor to Indian in software. Given the solid hardware base, China is
perceived to have high potential for growth, which in turn calls for strengthening
India’s hardware base to sustain its high compound annual growth rate. The
major reasons for lagging hardware industry in India are: i). The computer
hardware industry is characterized by oligopoly with about 4 to 5 major players
and those too with a highly skewed distribution. ii) Unlike software industry
where entry is easy and does not require much investment, in hardware industry
entry is very difficult and requires huge investment. iii) India’s move (in line with
WTO’s Information Technology Agreement12 (ITA-1) signed in 1995) towards
permitting zero import duty on computer hardware components was a death
knell for domestic computer industry. Therefore, to promote computer hardware
more incentives are to be given by the Government.
 Rupee appreciation and US economic slowdown due to subprime (banking) crisis
are two most imminent challenges facing the software export. During 2007-08
Rupee has appreciated about 10 per cent against US dollar i.e. value of US dollar
came down roughly from Rupees 46 during the beginning of 2007-08 to Rupees
39 by the end of 20007- 08. This has drastically reduced the profitability of
software exporting companies. Almost all big software giants like Infosys, Wipro,
TCS and Satyam etc. have reported reduced profitability for the financial year
2007-08. For instance, leading exporter TCS had its net profit pruned just 4.15
per cent in 2007-08 as compared to previous year.

27. P a g e | 27
Source: Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology

28. P a g e | 28

29. P a g e | 29
Chapter2
COMPANY PROFILE:
IQUASAR
SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

30. P a g e | 30
ABOUT THE COMPANY
iQuasar (pronounced i-kwey-zahr) is a Northern Virginia headquartered Technology
Company dedicated to provide world-class products, services, and solutions to its
customers in US and globally to the expanding customer base in North America,
Europe, Africa, and Asia. iQuasar are a solutions and services provider with the
expertise and capabilities to serve the needs of organizations of all sizes. They provide
end-to-end information technology services through their flexible and cost efficient
delivery models that combine on-site and off-site resources. Rooted in quality processes
and frameworks, their goal is to fully satisfy client objectives, serving as an
accountable, flexible, and objective partner.
Through their vertical expertise in healthcare, banking, financial services,
telecommunications, education, hospitality, utilities, distribution, and retail, they provide
clients with a partner that is not only an expert in IT, but also rooted in their industries.
This combination of business knowledge and technology expertise allows them to help
their customers adapt as their industries change.
Their foundation is sound and their aspirations are grounded in a passion for
excellence. Their management team has worked on projects worth hundreds of millions
of dollars and spearheaded some leading-edge work in various capacities. Their vision is
clear and all their efforts are focused to realize that vision. They believe that their
passion for excellence, their customer-centric approach, their high-quality talent, their
ability and proclivity to create partnerships with others, and their disciplined approach
to get the job done puts them in a very distinct and unique position to compete at a
global level.

31. P a g e | 31
iQuasar was founded by a group of executives with global work experience in various
industries, who came together with a vision to create shared value for the company and
the communities where the company operates. The entrepreneurs started off by
establishing a software company in Jammu and Kashmir to create economic value in a
way that also creates other tangible and intangible value for the local communities by
addressing their unique needs and challenges. With persistence and hard work, iQuasar
LLC was established in Ashburn, U.S.A. in 2004, as well. The offshore arm of iQuasar
LLC, named Musky Software Solutions, was setup in Software Technology Park of India
(STPI).Both companies now operate under the same brand name – iQuasar and have a
unified team member strength of over 80 team members working across the globe
scattered over four continents – Asia, Europe, North America and Africa. iQuasar aspires
to be a global competitor as an equal to leading IT companies, harnessing the untapped
local talent and channeling it to stimulate local economies. We are a socially responsible
venture and support the cause of orphans and vulnerable children and the cause of
education, in general.
Services provided by iQuasar
 Staffing Solutions:
iQuasar meet the staffing needs of their customers by providing high quality
resources in tight time frames for their short term as well as long term staffing
needs. They offer staffing solutions in Information Technology and
Telecommunications verticals in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
 Custom Software Development:
iQuasar provide cost effective and innovative business application solutions,
customized to cater to their customers’ business needs. Their in depth
knowledge of different industry domains allows them to provide best and cost
effective software solutions. They have expertise in technologies including
Microsoft .Net, Java J2EE, Open Source, Oracle, SQL, etc. for customer software
development.
 Managed Consulting:
iQuasar provide their customers highly qualified resources, which work remotely
off-shore on customer projects and are managed by on-shore employees of the
customer. This facilitates continuation of their customers’ projects without need

32. P a g e | 32
to allocate big chunks of budget to expensive IT or telecom resources. This
service works for US based application development companies as easily as
internal departments of customers in various industry verticals. They have
significant expertise in banking, medical, and telecommunications verticals.
 Banking Systems Implementation
Their banking software implementation and support engineers have been trained
in leading banking software solutions like Oracle’s FlexCube and InfoSys’ Finacle.
Their implementation and support engineers provide services globally including
South and Western Africa.

33. P a g e | 33
A view of the office of iQuasar Solutions, Srinagar
iQuasar: An overview

34. P a g e | 34
2009 2012 2013
$198,743*
$3.3Mn*
$3.28M*
Revenue of iQUasar Solutions over the years
*All figures in USD, Mn=Million
$3.3Mn
$3.28Mn
$198,743

35. P a g e | 35
42%
36%
22%
Market Share of Software Comapnies in Kashmir*
BQE Software
iQuasar Solutions
Others
*Approximate market share as of August 2013
(Source: Independent study conducted)

36. P a g e | 36
VISION AND MISSION OF THE COMPANY
Vision
iQuasar was established with a vision to be a world class company with world class
strategy and execution.
People:
 Employ local youth and focus their energy on positive contributions to local and
global communities.
 Invest in our people and provide them unparalleled growth opportunities.
Products
 Develop world class solutions built on the creativity of our people.
 Create cost-effective products, services, and solutions focused on customer
needs.

37. P a g e | 37
Partners
 Delight our customers as partners.
 Earn the respect of our business partners by leadership, expertise, and
trustworthiness.
Mission
 To provide the very best in service and support for our customers.
 To provide high quality and reliable products, services and solutions at
competitive prices and create bottom line for the customers.
 To deliver services on time and within customers’ budget.
 To work with our customers hand-in-hand and to provide solutions that meet the
customers’ requirements and are according to their specific and unique needs.
 To make our products and services accessible and easy to use to the end users.
 Adopt the highest standards of ethics, probity and accountability.
IQUASAR AS A TECHNOLOGY PARTNER
(WHY THEIR CLIENTS TRUST IQUASAR)
 Customer Centric and Process Driven
iQuasar’s experienced and skilled team has a customer need driven view to provide
appropriate services and solutions. They pride themselves in the customer centricity
of their entire process that utilizes their strong team of professionals. They utilize
their processes with discipline to get predictable outcomes.

38. P a g e | 38
 Timely Completion of Projects
iQuasar has an excellent track record of completing projects within agreed time
schedules and budgets.
 Value Addition to Partners and Clients
iQuasar has the capability and competence to help transform the client's vision into
reality. They get fully involved in the client's endeavor by value addition to the
designs, specifications and project requirements using their strong project planning
and execution skills.
 Technology Competence
Their unique competence in various technologies enables them to deliver integrated,
scalable, robust solutions with the optimal cost/performance ratio.
“iQuasar has been our top level supplier of fully qualified and
available resources for Wymond Associates requirements for
many years. iQuasar's outstanding support for our requirements
continues to be a key success factor for our success"
Mark Adams, CEO, WymondAssociates, LLC
Customer Testimonial about iQuasar

39. P a g e | 39
CLIENTS AND PARTNERS OF IQUASAR
iQuasar has a wide customer base spread across India, USA, North America, Africa and
large parts of Asia.
Some of the major clients and partners are:
AT&T Rackspace Knights Apparel
Asea Brown Boveri Thomas Direct Sales Dimension Data
Comcast Smuckers Compu-Data
Bright House Cable Vision eWorthy
USPTO K-Force State of New Jersey
NASA Oracle Wymond Associates LLC
Hilton Group South African Post Bank State of Pennsylvania
BB&T US Department of Treasury Time Quantum
Euro RSCG Worldwide US Postal Service Turnberry Solutions
E-Plus VITA Virginia State Agencies
Monsanto HADS GBI
Independent Blue Cross Excelacom Joe Links
J.Spargo &Associates Computer Aid

40. P a g e | 40
Major Clients of iQuasar
(Image source: www.iquasar.com)

41. P a g e | 41
ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY
Organizational hierarchy of the Company

42. P a g e | 42
Satellite image of iQuasar Software Solutions Srinagar
office.
(Image courtesy: Google Maps)
iQuasar Solutions,
Rangreth Sringar.

43. P a g e | 43
WORK MODEL OF IQUASAR
iQuasar's custom software development service is tailored to develop custom software
solutions for our customers unique business needs in a timely manner, with high
quality, and within their budget. If the clients have a business process that needs to be
identified, developed, and automated, iQuasar will gather the requirements and develop
a solution for them.
By providing their customers with highly-skilled teams of consultants and a reliable
infrastructure, they ensure the quality and reliability of the software solutions they build
for their clients. Their software development teams support custom software
development and support for a number of their clients throughout the world.
The major part of the software development is carried out in their off-shore
development facility in one of the Software Technology Parks of India. A rundown of
custom software development services includes:
• Business Process and Requirements Definition and Design
• Custom Software Design and Development
• Component Design and Integration
• Full Product Testing Cycle
• Performance Testing and Tuning
• Prototyping Services
• Application Support and Maintenance
• Independent Testing Services
Their software development service is successfully driven by:
Flexible Software Development and Delivery Models
iQuasar understand that every customer's needs are unique and their unique needs
require flexibility in development and delivery models. As a result, they provide
following models to their customers.

44. P a g e | 44
 Onsite Model:
Entire project is done at customer location.
 Offsite Model:
Entire project is done at iQuasar locations in USA with visits to customer site when
needed.
 Onsite/Offsite Model:
Project Managers/Analysts of iQuasar work with customer teams onsite as needed;
Development and testing is done at iQuasar locations in USA.
 Offshore Model:
Entire project is done at iQuasar's off-shore development center in India with direct
customer liaison and coordination from US offices of customers.
 Onsite/Offshore Model:
Project Managers/Analysts of iQuasar work with customer teams onsite, as needed;
Development and testing is done at iQuasar’s offshore development centers in India.
Technology Teams and Expertise:
iQuasar's technology and process expertise is the foundation of all of their service
offerings. They have expertise in:
 Microsoft .Net Development
 Java J2EE Development
 Open Source Development
 Database Development, Administration, and Support
 Business Intelligence, Reports Development, and Customization
iQuasar views quality as an attitude, a culture, and a way of working to improve
businesses and their intended outcomes. Their focus is to deliver the best in-class,
defect-free solutions and services to their customers. They are committed to
improve processes by emphasizing that every member of their team becomes a part

45. P a g e | 45
of the quality processes and methodologies. They have an internal support unit that
takes care of all the Software Quality Assurance activities on the projects. THey are
also pursuing various industry specific standard quality certifications.
Expertise in Multiple Industries
We have significant expertise in developing custom solutions in various industries
and for various functional needs within those industries. We have solutioning
experience in the following industries:
• Healthcare
• Education
• Telecommunications
• Retail
• Manufacturing
• Hospitality
• Customer products
• Associations
• e-Commerce
• Apparels
• Automotive
• Biotechnology
• Insurance
• Banking

46. P a g e | 46
PRODUCT PROFILE
iQuasar has designed and developed very robust and powerful applications and tools
ranging from online collaboration to desktop based systems to e-Commerce tools.
These light weight applications use minimal computing resources and provide significant
product and business process automation lift.
They understand that their customers have their unique needs and one solution doesn't
fit all. So, they are very flexible with their delivery models to provide their products
through SaaS (software-as-a-service) model or license as independent Desktop
Applications. Such models are driven by customer needs, security requirements, and
other considerations. SaaS is a low cost way for customers to use software as they
need it without having to pay high license costs, make ongoing updates to the software,
incur hardware costs, or pay high implementation costs. They host these applications in
highly secure and reliable server environments. Their SaaS pricing is per user or a
group license based subscription service. Alternately, customers can purchase user
license from them and use their software as Desktop Applications.
Some of the popular products of iQuasar are:
iQCompliance
iQCompliance is a user-friendly web enabled/Desktop Application system which
automates the full Agent Recruitment life cycle in any size of organization. This system
is ideal solution for recruiting and hiring Insurance Agents or brokers and agents in
other businesses. iQCompliance allows for the appointment and management of agents
in an insurance company seamlessly. This system addresses the challenges faced by
organizations in managing, capturing, sharing and recruitment of agents in a real time
fashion. The system has in-built security for administration and user access and has a
full scope Document Repository and Management.

47. P a g e | 47
iQCapes
Carpet Processing and Export System (CAPES) is a windows based system that allows
clients to manage all the data related to carpets from the point of purchase till the sale
of the carpets. It facilitates your business by automating all your business needs
ranging from supplier information maintenance, quality control, sales, reporting etc.
iQSchool
iQSchool is a comprehensive web-based School Management System. It is an
interactive platform designed to cover each entity of a school like teachers, students,
parents, the school management etc. iQSchool being web based can be accessed from
anywhere in the world, which enables the students, teachers, parents and the
management be in touch with each other at all times.
iQBanto
iQBanto is a user-friendly online collaboration tool which not only facilitates easy
sharing of files and folders but streamlines any organization's Content and Document
Management System. From the easy user management profile to strong security
controls, the application has being designed to make online collaboration and file
management easy and very secure.

48. P a g e | 48
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths:
 iQuasar Software Solutions is one of the leading software company of the valley.
 iQuasar has a large customer base comprising of local, national and international
clients as well.
 The company is a leading market share holder in the U.S, North America,
Europe, Africa, and Asia.
 iQuasar employs more than 100 skilled people in its Kashmir center.
 Professional and dedicated manpower.
 More emphasis on market penetration.
 State of the art infrastructure in the valley.
 Increasing market share as compared to its local competitors.
Weaknesses:
 One of the main weaknesses of the company is that the company finds it difficult
to operate due to the official apathy, like not releasing funds on time, delay in
registration etc.
 Market in the valley is not as vast as expected.
 The infrastructure in the valley is not as advanced as required.
 Frequent political disturbances in the valley are a roadblock in the growth and
development of the company.

49. P a g e | 49
 Promotional activities in the market are not up to the mark as compared to the
rivals located outside the valley.
 Difficulty in completing order due to political and economic restraints.
 Lack of enough qualified manpower.
 Poor internet connection, the much required internet service remains out of
order frequently.
 Frequent power cuts leads to use of generators which results in cost
maximization.
Opportunities :
 The state government is providing a considerable amount of help to the private
companies if the state to boost industrial development.
 Subsidized internet and electricity connections provided by the government.
 More and more people of the valley are joining the private sector.
 iQuasar is becoming one of the leading employment generator in the valley.
 The market share is increasing at a swift pace.

50. P a g e | 50
Threats:
 Having a national and international customer base, the company is unable to
meet the demands during the strikes, curfews in the valley.
 There is always a threat of losing the customers to other companies due to
political disturbances in the valley.
 Non Kashmir software companies are posing a good deal of competition.
 Rival companies have better infrastructure and facilities available.
 Internet connectivity is better and available at cheaper rates in other places as
compared to Kashmir.
 Becomes very difficult for the employees to reach the office in strikes and
curfews.

51. P a g e | 51
PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF
IQUASAR: A BRIEF STUDY
2010 Unrest: Shifting the Company to
Jammu.
The following is an excerpt from a newspaper from 2010 when the political unrest in
Kashmir valley forced many entrepreneurs to either wind up or relocate their business
units. Among such units was iQuasar, which at that time was struggling to cater the
demands of its clientele and cope up with the competition. This forced the management
of iQuasar to wind up their operations in Kashmir and relocate to Jammu, which has
always been a comparatively better place for industrial set ups due to its political and
geographical stability.
“Fayaz Ahmad always wanted to prove that one could live in Srinagar and still be a
successful businessman. But six years after he and three friends set up a software firm
in the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, he is perhaps learning to unlearn. He called an
emergency board meeting of IQuasar Software Solutions, the company he co-founded.
Everybody knew what was on the agenda. A sense of resignation was overwhelming.
And after the long, gloomy silence was over, everybody was ready to face it: it was
time to leave.
It was becoming increasingly difficult for the company's 30 employees to reach the
office located at Rangreth industrial estate as strikes called by separatists and curfew
imposed by the government threw life in the city out of gear. Musky Software, a small
firm with a fancy name, was staring at closure as it struggled to service its clients in
Africa and North America.
The board meeting ended with a painful decision—to dispatch a team to explore shifting
operations to Jammu, the state's more peaceful winter capital. "Security forces and
stone throwers would not let us reach office," says Ahmad, 46, who had worked as a
software professional for 15 years with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and J&K
Bank before launching Musky Software.
"Initially, we managed our clients from home, but it is increasingly becoming impossible
due to lack of coordination to manage software development," he says. Now, most of
the male staffers live in the 2,500-sq ft office to ensure that clients do not suffer.
Jammu is slowly and steadily becoming a hub of activity for corporate as well. In fact,
corporate are following in the footsteps of politicians, businessmen and students. Nearly
90% of those who fled the Valley since insurgency broke out some two decades ago

52. P a g e | 52
made Jammu their new home while many others shifted to cities such as Delhi and
Mumbai. Leading the pack were politicians who set up huge housing colonies in Jammu
in the wake of militancy. And for Kashmir's affluent classes, Jammu is clearly their
second home.
Quite similar to IQuasar Software Solutions's is the plight of more than 20 other
software and networking companies based in Srinagar. One of them had already shifted
base temporarily to Jammu and two more are in the process of shifting out of the Valley
permanently. Kashmir's first software company, BQE, also relocated to Jammu in 2010
A few of them still tried doing business in Srinagar out of sheer love for the place, but
for businessmen, shifting to Jammu is simply tempting. Besides a peaceful business
environment, Jammu offers cheaper connectivity, with bandwidth available at less than
half the rates in Srinagar. Closure of the Srinagar airport for repairs and diversion of
part of air traffic to an air force base in south Kashmir have compounded Kashmir's
connectivity woes.”
But that was the past. Now the political conditions of the valley are normal to certain
extent and iQuasar has restarted its operations in Kashmir is growing at a steady pace
in its homeland: Kashmir.

53. P a g e | 53
iQuasar: Touching New Heights
“Undeterred by poor internet connectivity and official apathy, three friends started an IT
company from a small room in Srinagar, a decade back. We catch up with one of the founders
of iQuasar that he claims is now among America’s fastest growing software solution
companies.” - Reads one of the leading newspapers of the valley. Following is a brief
interview with Mr. Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, one of the founding members of iQuasar
Solutions.
With Yoga management software and mobile applications for Google Store ready for
world wide release, iQuasar is first Kashmir based software Solution Company to touch
global heights. Three friends came together, in late 2004, to start a software solution
company that has now spread outside the geographical borders of valley. The software
solutions company iQuasar, which employs around hundred software professionals
globally, has its clients spread across three continents.
The friends, Tahir Qazi, Amin Bhat and Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, left their lucrative jobs as
engineers to pursue their dream project, an IT company in Kashmir. It is the first
Kashmir based IT Company which has its offices in USA, Canada, Germany, South
Africa and Western African countries, besides offices in India.
With the help of Kashmiri IT professionals, iQuasar ventured into IT sector by
developing banking software for clients in Africa. Soon iQuasar started getting new
offers from America and Africa, which made them increase their staff. But before
iQuasar could stand firmly on its feet, 2008 recession affected banking sector badly.
Tahir and his friends then shifted their focus to other related sectors like lines-
professional services, software developing division, BPO services (technical writing)
besides managing consultancy.
The major breakthrough came when iQuasar was offered business by a company from
Ghana for software implementation, post implementation support and help desk
support. Currently iQuasar is working on products for e-commerce, web content
management, medical education and multiple site content management.
As iQuasar grew, Tahir Qazi and his friends decided to get it registered as a software
developer for various mobile phone Apps, like IOS, Andriod and Windows. Fayaz Ahmad
Bhat, one of the company directors and its chief operating officer in Kashmir, feels
iQuasar could have achieved more.
“If we would have been based in any other India state, we would have done better,” he
argues.

54. P a g e | 54
“In 2004, when iQuasar started its operations from Kashmir, there was no high speed
internet service available. We are growing but growth is slow,” says Bhat.
Bhat says that the idea behind iQuasar was to provide Kashmir based software
designers employment opportunities. “Kashmiri designers have nowhere to go after
they leave college. Out of 100 employees, 60 are based in Kashmir,” said Bhat.
iQuasar was started from a small room in Srinagar’s Regal Chowk, which was earlier
called Musky Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd. It was in 2010 that Bhat and his friends sat
together and changed it to iQuasar.
“The only support we have is from Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development
Institute,” says Bhat.
Bhat is hopeful that state government will finally recognize iQuasar as an emerging IT
company which has a potential to reduce unemployment in the state to some extent.
“If that happens then we can hopefully provide IT solutions to state government as
well,” says Bhat. iQuasar is among the fastest growing top 500 companies in America.
It is already Kashmir’s largest software development and knowledge process
outsourcing company.
All is not sugar and spice with life. And like all business institutions, particularly in
Kashmir, iQuasar too had to face some tough times. But undeterred by such hardships,
iQuasar is leading the way and becoming a top name in IT services industry of Kashmir.
iQuasar ranks in the top 500 fastest growing private companies in USA at 276th overall
and 29th in IT services. Strong growth is a result of focus on creation of shared value
and a purpose driven culture.

55. P a g e | 55
Chapter3
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

56. P a g e | 56
RESEARCH SCOPE
The main scope of this research is to ascertain the various aspects regarding the factors
that affect the growth and development of the Software Industry of Kashmir in both
positive and negative ways.
The methods include regular measures to confirm the brand position in the market. One
of the vital aspects of this research is to study the problems and opportunities of the
Software Industry in Kashmir.
Many more scopes of this topic may be as follows:
 Identify the market opportunities of software Industry in Kashmir.
 Identify major problems faced by the industry.
 Identifying potential market.
 Target market segment.
 Evaluating customer needs with the company product.
 Collecting information for product improvement.

57. P a g e | 57
DATABASE AND METHODOLOGY
The data used for the study was drawn from both primary and secondary sources. The
data from primary source is collected by personally visiting the office of the Director,
Software Technology Parks of India and of iQuasar Software Solutions, located at the
Industrial Estate Rangreth Srinagar.
Data was also collected from secondary sources, which include newspapers, the
Internet and journals.
The instrument used for conducting the study was EDS form, in which information
about the company was collected by visiting the office of STPI and iuasar Solutions and
personally interviewing the designated officials.
The data was then tabulated, analyzed and interpreted. To supplement the primary
data, information was drawn secondary sources such as Journals, Books, relevant
Publications, Internet, Organizational files , Office Bulletins and Records.

58. P a g e | 58
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Every study suffers from certain limitations and so does this project. So, the
applicability of the findings and recommendations is subjected to the following
mentioned constraints/limitations.
 It was not possible to understand thoroughly about the different problems and
opportunities of the industry in a short period of time.
 Due to time constraints, the marketing aspects of the company were not studied
thoroughly.
 We were only able to survey one software company due to unavailability of
sufficient time, and non-cooperation by other software companies approached.
 Respondents were reluctant to give their views on data or records openly.
 Money, as no stipend was given; it was difficult to cover a wider area.
 All the work is limited to Kashmir region only, so, the findings should not be
generalized. The findings of survey will be strictly based on the response of
consumers, officials of STPI/iQuasar, since it is difficult to ascertain the
authenticity of their statement.
 Findings are based on the views expressed by the officials. So it may suffer from
biased prejudices.
 The study has not been intended on a very large scale, have the possibility of
errors, which cannot be ruled out.
 The officials as iQuasar solutins refused to give any information on the financial
status of the company due to privacy issues. So the financial information like
annual turnover, profit etc. are not mentioned in this report.

59. P a g e | 59
Chapter4
CONCLUSIONS &
SUGGESTIONS

60. P a g e | 60

61. P a g e | 61
CONCLUSION
iQuasar, in a short span of its operations, has found a firm place in the hearts and
minds of its customer base that is spread across four continents. The success has been
possible only due to the hard work, dedication and passion of the management team
and employees of iQuasar which has been built over the years.
To sum up, the IT sector is still in its infancy in Kashmir; in last one decade around 25
new companies were established. At least six of them have their clientele scattered
across four continents – Asia, Europe, North America and Africa.
After analyzing the data, we conclude that the Software industry in Kashmir is growing
but the growth rate is not as expected and much better could be done provided the
companies are given the proper infrastructure and facilities which they require.
If the proper infrastructure and facilities are provided, the software companies of
Kashmir are capable of giving a tough competition to their rivals located in any part of
the world. The software companies also believe that they could provide world class
services to the state government as well.
Recently Union minister for Communication and Information Technology, Dr Kruparani
Killi, said that state governments should give preference to locals IT companies before
‘outsourcing’ anything abroad.
After studying iQuasar Solutions, we have come to the conclusion that the company can
do much better than it is doing right now it the state government provides them with
the necessary facilities. The company can employ up to 4 thousand employees if they
are provided with the infrastructure like big companies like Infosys.
As per the interview conducted by us, the software companies of Kashmir are facing the
issues of official apathy. The state government is not doing much to help boost the IT
industry of Kashmir. The only support which the companies are getting is from the
Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI).

62. P a g e | 62
The companies feel that they could have done much better if they were situated in
some other part of India.
Interestingly, iQuasar Solutions offer services to high profile customers like NASA,
Wymond, AT&T, E-Plus etc but the state government still prefers to give contracts to
non-local companies.
At present, the IT industry of Kashmir generates a revenue of Rs 40 crore annually, but
the companies believe that the figures could well go over Rs 100 crore annually if the
government extends their support to the Industry.
After visiting iQuasar, we found out that the management feels that Kashmir is not an
ideal place for IT industry. One of the basic facilities requires to run a software/IT
company is high speed internet, and Kashmir lacks even that. Lack of uninterrupted
electricity supply and security problems add to the woes of the companies.
But the software companies of Kashmir have learned the art of survival in hostile
conditions and are growing at a steady pace. We hope that this growth goes on and
continues to play its part in the industrial development of Kashmir.

63. P a g e | 63
SUGGESTIONS
 The Government of Jammu & Kashmir should provide the necessary
infrastructure and services to the companies in order to help them boost their
growth.
 The backbone of IT industry, high speed internet connectivity and uninterrupted
electricity, should be made available and at cheaper rates as it is available in
other parts of India.
 The software companies also should not rely on government. They should create
their own opportunities wherever possible.
 iQuasar still has potential to increase its market share. Presently, it has 36%
market share in the valley and can well capture more of it.
 The software companies of Kashmir should adopt better marketing strategies to
gain more customers.
 The state government should give preference to local companies rather than
outsourcing the services from non-local companies.
 The government should provide financial support to the companies in times of
need.
 The software companies should employ more and more local workforce
whenever possible.
 The management should often take feedbacks from employees as well as
customers on regular basis to improve their products and services.
 The companies should concentrate more on their employee satisfaction programs
and should also improve their employee retention policies as it has been
observed that most of the IT professionals of the valley relocate to other parts of
the country as they get better perquisites there.

64. P a g e | 64
BIBLIOGRAPHY
&
GLOSSARY

65. P a g e | 65

66. P a g e | 66
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Reference Books/Journals
 IT Management: Projects, Programs and Business change by David McKean –
BookBoon
 Digital Prosperity: Understanding the Economic Benefits of the Information
Technology Revolution by Robert D. Atkinson, Andrew S. McKay - ITIF , 2007
 Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
 The Indian Software Industry: by Ashish Arora, Ronald Fernandez, the H.
John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management.
 Other Sources
 Company Bulletins & Newsletters
 Company Brochure
 Business Today
 Greater Kashmir Newspaper
 Economic Times
 Business Today
 Websites
 www.iquasar.com
 www.INC.com
 www.NASSCOM.in
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.stpjk.in
 www.stpi.in

67. P a g e | 67
GLOSSARY
IT: Information Technology
ITES: Information Technology Enabled Services
BPO: Business Process Outsourcing
FY: Financial Year
GDP: Gross Domestic Product
NASSCOM: National Association of Software and Services Companies
SEEPZ: Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone
STPI: Software Technology Parks of India
SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
SEI-CMM: Software Engineering Institute Compatibility Maturity Model
CST: Computer Simulation Technology
DTA: Department of Transitional Assistance
SEZs: Software Export Zones
CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access
TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access