The Technology Group

95A C-2 Gulberg 3, Lahore, Pakistan.
Phone: 92-42-5712264, 5759981-2,
Fax: 92-42-5759983
Internet: info@ttgroup.lhe.imran.pk

Contents

Company Profile

TTG was founded by two MIT graduates in October 1992. The company's goal has been to develop innovative technology-driven software. Based on the range of technologies which we have pioneered in Pakistan: interactive voice response, commercial object oriented software, client/server deployment, we have experienced turnover growth in excess of 50% per annum since inception. Over this period, our client list has consisted largely of the top financial, industrial and retail companies in Pakistan.

While expanding rapidly within the local market, we have simultaneously developed a skill-set which is global in scope and applicability. It has been a constant endeavor to benchmark our development platforms and methodologies with the best that the world has to offer.

Areas of Specialization

Customized Client/Server Application Software:

We have worked with a number of business organizations to develop integrated operational and financial systems. Our server platforms are relational database servers such as Oracle 7 on Unix, Netware or NT. For client applications, we use PowerBuilder Enterprise and Visual Basic.

MFC C++ Based Products:

TTG has developed a range of products for the financial sector based on the MFC C++ platform. These applications range from 2Link, a real-time equities information system, through Electronic Banking and Electronic Brokerage. We have considerable design and implementation skills in this platform and can provide development services for either MFC based products or custom applications which require C++.

Interactive Voice Response:

As the pioneers of IVR technology in Pakistan, we have established TeleBanking systems for five major banks in Pakistan spread over eight cities. Our IVR applications have been successfully deployed in Pakistan since January 1993 and we have three years of development and operational experience in IVR. We have expertise in multi-line development in the DOS, Unix (for Dialogic hardware) and Windows platforms.

IT Consulting:

We have acted as consultants for the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and other clients. At the LSE, we proposed and designed an enterprise-wide networking architecture and outlined an applications framework design. Based on our work, the LSE has been fully networked and has developed its back-office systems.

CASE STUDIES

CASE: EQUITIES INFORMATION SYSTEM

Clients: Baring Securities, Finex Securities, etc Development Tools: Visual C++, Watcom SQL Platform: Windows, Novell Netware, Windows NT

With the rapid development of Pakistani equity markets, a strong demand for timely, high-quality equity information has arisen. The only service available in Pakistan was implemented as text based terminals logged in to a central Unix host over telephone lines. This architechture had severe performance, scalability and user-interface limitations. In November 1994, a Teletext service was launched which allowed viewing of real-time equity rates on televisions. The teletext decoder used in this system was also capable of being polled for data by a PC. Teaming up with this service presented an opportunity for TTG to introduce 2Link, a state of the art, Windows based scaleable Client/Server solution to the equities information problem.

The impact of this system on the local market has been tremendous. In the words of the President of the Lahore Stock Exchange, Dr. Yassir Mahmood, "2Link has revolutionized the equities information market in Pakistan. The capability of the Windows interface to show us many pieces of information all at once has changed the way I view the market and its movement".

The 2Link system is based on a Client/Server architecture wherein a single PC polls real-time equities data from the teletext decoder. The polled data is then written on a Watcom SQL database engine running on the network host (be it Netware or Windows NT). Client machines running MS Windows periodically poll the database engine for new data. As this data is received it is refreshed on to the screen. However, one equity trade may need to be presented in several ways simultaneously: For example, it might be displayed as text, it might update a price graph, or it may set off a price alarm. A key design goal for 2Link was the capability to perform these multiple updates of the user interface in real-time.

To meet these stringent performance requirements while keeping a reasonable time-to-market, both the client and data server portions of 2Link have been developed in MFC C++. Key User Interface elements of 2Link include data grids with bitmaps, splitter windows, font and color control, graphing of historical price data and Technical Analysis of equities, a persistent MDI desktop, right-button context sensitive popup menus, Toolbar with ToolTips, custom Status bar and context sensitive Help. All User Interface elements are updated automatically in response to background polling of the server database. The end product includes a professional Windows based setup program for direct installation by the customer and a detailed 60 page User Manual. The 2Link project was developed by a three person team over a period of 5 months. The system was tracked on Microsoft Project from start to finish and feature and bug testing was recorded using Track Record.

CASE: TELEPHONE BANKING

Client: Bank of America Development Tools: Borland C Platform: MS-DOS

Over the last few years, the banking sector in Pakistan has witnessed increasing competition. Banks are focussing towards improving customer services. For this reason, Bank of America chose to implement a 24-hour Telephone Banking service based on Interactive Voice Response technology. As the pioneers of IVR in Pakistan, TTG was a natural choice for the bank. In addition, we had a strong track record with Bank of America for whom we had previously developed a Windows based Electronic Banking system.

The Telephone Banking system at Bank of America is being introduced at all branches of the Bank in 4 different cities. Customers can now access their account information by placing a telephone call from a touch-tone phone to the bank's TeleBanking servers. Customers can listen to account balances, check updates, transaction histories etc. An up-to-date statement of account transactions can be faxed directly to a customer's fax number.

Since other banks had already introduced TeleBanking systems (developed by TTG!), Bank of America wanted to differentiate their product by providing live balance information from their AS/400 host. This information was also to be provided in all four cities, three of which were connected via a private X.25 link to the main Karachi branch. To provide real-time balances, we developed a gateway program which connected to the AS/400 and obtained live balance information. Due to strict audit requirements at Bank of America, this access could only be done at the screen level, i.e. by the gateway program logging in as a user into the AS/400 and querying for the balance as a human user would and then filtering the balance amount from screen data transmitted by the AS/400. The gateway program also had to connect to the four TeleBanking servers through a combination of LAN and X.25 links. In addition, the gateway had to provide multiple live sessions so as not to bottleneck the querying of balance information.

In addition, the TeleBanking system also serves as an IVR front end for credit card validation for Bank of America. This has allowed Bank of America to tremendously expand their merchant network for Visa and Mastercard transactions in Pakistan.

CASE: RETAIL AUTOMATION SYSTEMS

Client: PACE Pakistan Ltd. Development Tools: PowerBuilder Enterprise, Oracle 7 Server, C. Platform: SCO Unix, Windows.

PACE is going to be the largest chain of departmental stores in Pakistan. It has recently opened its first store in Lahore with nearly 100,000 sq. ft. of floor space. The management team of PACE has considerable experience at Tesco - a large British retail chain.

Although the top management of PACE wanted to start off operations fully automated, it was hesitant in buying an off-the-shelf solution from Europe or the US because the dynamics of a large departmental store in Pakistan are substantially different. The need existed for a flexible information system strategy that could quickly adapt to the expected changes in operational procedures. PACE identified TTG as a customized solution provider for a range of integrated applications.

We started off with a system architecture consulting phase. A comprehensive System Analysis yielded the necessary user requirements for the applications. The hardware and software platform requirements were also defined. For point-of-sale (POS) processing, specialized PC-driven tills manufactured by Fujitsu-ICL were used. These tills are connected via TCP/IP to a main Unix host. In addition, nearly two dozen client PCs are also linked up with the main host.

The POS application has been written in C. This application controls various peripheral devices such as a bar-code scanner, cash drawer, operator and customer displays and slip printer. Transactions are committed to an Oracle 7 database server on the host.

The user applications consist of integrated Inventory Contol, Sales and Financial Accounting systems. The client end software has been developed using PowerBuilder Enterprise. The operational aspects of these applications are already in production. Work is in progress to build a graphical Executive Information System that will enable top management to monitor the achievement of strategic objectives.

Director Finance, Mr. Faisal Bari, says, "The Technology Group has helped us in implementing our operational and strategic plans. They convinced us to adopt a sophisticated information system architecture and built it all in 4 months. I intend to keep them busy working for PACE for the coming few years."

LIST OF MAJOR PROJECTS

American Express Bank

Used Voice Response technology to develop a Telephone Banking system for the Karachi branch. Customers can now access their account information by placing a telephone call from a touch-tone phone to the bank's computer. By pressing appropriate keys on the telephone keypad, customers can listen to account balances, check updates, transaction histories, latest foreign exchange rates, etc. An up-to-date statement of account transactions can be faxed directly to a customer's fax number. The package has been written in C.

Developed a Signature Verification application for the bank. The signature database resides on a Netware host while tellers on PC's can view signatures in a Windows-based front-end. Developed in Microsoft Visual Basic.

Contact: Fareed Masroor Tel: (21) 2630343 Director Re-Engineering Fax: (21) 2631803

Bank of America

Developed an electronic banking package (EBank) for BOA's Pakistan head office at Karachi. The package consists of a server module that runs on the bank's database server and a client module that is used by the bank's clients on PC's lying at their premises. Clients are able to access the bank's server by dialing in over telephone lines. The client module has a Windows interface and allows clients access to their accounts data. Customers can download their account information into a local SQL database on their PC's. At the server end, a connectivity module obtains on-line financial data from a Reuters workstation. BOA is also using this package to monitor and transmit financial markets data to its clients. The EBank server module is written in C and runs on an SCO UNIX server while the client module is written using Visual C++.

Developed and installed our Telephone Banking product at Bank of America branches throughout Pakistan.

Developed a Voice Response front end to credit card authorization systems for Bank of America's nationwide Card Acquisition System.

Contact: Steve Domine Tel: (21) 2412520 Vice President Fax: (21) 2415371

Shoaib Capital, Finex Securities, Baring Securities and others.

Developed 2Link, a real-time Windows-based Client/Server Stock Market Information system. The system consists of a server which collects real-time information from a Teletext data source via serial port. The server writes to a central database which is polled by Client nodes for data updates. Both the server and the client software work in Windows Key User Interface elements include grids with bitmaps, splitter windows, font and color control, graphing of historical price data and Technical Analysis of equities, persistent MDI desktop, right-button context sensitive popup menus, Toolbar with ToolTips, custom Status bar and context sensitive Help. All User Interface elements are updated automatically in response to background polling of the server database. The system includes extensive reporting and data export facilities. Both client and server modules have been written in MFC C++.

Muslim Commercial Bank

Developed a Signature Verification application for the bank. The signature database resides on a Unix host while tellers on PC's can view signatures in a Windows-based front-end. The application is integrated within the Bank's COBOL based Banking application such that when the user presses a function key within the Banking application, the required signature pops up on his screen. To enable customers from other branches to use banking facilities, the application allows for distributed access of signature data. The Bank's TCP/IP based Wide Area Network and NFS are used to retrieve signatures from remote Unix hosts when required.

Contact: Abdul Ghaffar Tel: (21) 5688912 Executive Vice President Fax: (21) 5687996

Union Bank

Developed a Telephone Banking system for the Bank. Union Bank has installed this system at eight of their branches in different cities of the country. These systems have been operational since January, 93. Contact: Khalil Malik Tel: (42) 6362144 Director Fax: (42) 6311173

Askari Commercial Bank

Installed our Telephone Banking product at the Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi branches, soon to be installed on a nation-wide basis. A distinctive feature of the system is that all the account information of a customer is picked on-line from the main database server of the bank (SCO UNIX environment) using connectivity scripts activated from the voice processing DOS PC.

Currently, customizing our Signature Verification package for Askari.

Contact: Munir Ahmed Tel: (51) 586634 Vice President, MIS Fax: (51) 563704

Prime Commercial Bank

Developed customized applications for the bank that incorporate on-line connectivity to the bank's main server that runs a proprietary British banking application package - Bank 2000. The connectivity scripts are written in C.

Contact: Mr. Lutfullah Khan Tel: (42) 6368725 Head, MIS Fax: (42) 6369162

Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari & Co

Developed OneLink - an electronic brokerage application for this leading brokerage firm. The system enables stock investors to dial into the KASB server from their personal computers using modems over telephone lines. Investors can manage their personal portfolios, place buy and sell orders electronically, perform technical analysis on stock prices, download corporate financial data of listed companies and send and receive electronic mail. Implemented using Visual C++. Contact: Nasir Bukhari Tel: (21) 2631770 Chief Executive Fax: (21) 2630202

Lahore Stock Exchange

Provided consultancy services to the Lahore Stock Exchange in its effort to computerize all its trading activities. Work comprised of laying out a strategy to network more than 100 broker workstations and the central database servers.

Developed TeleStock, an interactive voice response (IVR) application for LSE. The system enables users to retrieve up-to-the-minute stock quotations by calling the TeleStock computer from touch-tone telephones. Users can punch in company codes from their telephone keypads and listen to the prevailing stock prices spoken out in a human voice generated from digitized voice recordings. Programmed in C.

Contact: Dr. Yassir Mahmood Tel: (42) 6368000 President Fax: (42) 6368908

Lahore University of Management Sciences

Provided consultancy services to LUMS. Work encompassed the analysis and writing of software specifications for financial and operational information systems.

Contact: Rizwan Rashid, Head, MIS Division. Tel: (42) 5722670

Packages Ltd.

Developed a Production-Planning information system for the Pre-Press department of Packages. The system will use a sophisticated algorithm to generate daily schedules of all the pending jobs in the Art and Camera departments so that work throughput is maximized. Unix/Oracle environment.

Contact: Rafi Iqbal Tel: (42) 5811541 Chief Executive Fax: (42) 5811195 Pharmagen Beximco Provided consulting to define the information system architecture for this pharmaceutical company. Currently, developing a complete range of integrated information systems including Purchasing and Accounts Payable, Product Tracking and Inventory Costing, Production Monitoring, Quality Control, Sales and Accounts Receivable, Payroll, and General Ledger. The application is being developed using PowerBuilder Enterprise as the front end tool and Watcom database on a Windows NT server. Contact: Parvez Sufi Tel: (42) 879385, 5751093 Haji Karim Bukhsh & Sons Developing an inventory and sales information system for Saeed Buksh (Pvt.) Ltd. In every store of this retail chain, point of sale terminals will transmit sales data to a server where the inventory levels will be updated on-line. All the stores will be inter-linked over telephone lines so that if a certain item is missing in a store, it can be ordered from another branch. The system is being developed in the SCO UNIX/Oracle environment for 486-based servers. Contact: Asim Buksh Tel: (42) 877386 Director

LIST OF MAJOR CLIENTS

Banks

Brokerage Houses & Other Financial Institutions Lahore Stock Exchange Baring Securities Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari & Co Shoaib Capital Tawakkal Modaraba 1st Allied Bank Modaraba Finex Securities Trust Securities and Brokerage Al-Amin Securities Industrial Firms Colgate-Palmolive Ltd. Packages Ltd. Crescent Steel Ltd. Crescent Knitwear Ltd. Pharamagen Beximco Sitara Spinning Mills Suraj Cotton Ltd. Schazoo Laboratories Kohinoor Edible Oils Regent Knitwear Retail Haji Karim Buksh & Sons Pace (Pvt.) Ltd. Others Lahore University of Management Sciences HARDWARE RESOURCES Servers: Pentium-90, Windows NT server (1) Pentium-75, Netware server (1) 486DX2-66 Unix server (1) Workstations: 486DX4-100 (6) 486DX2-66 (4) 486DX2-50 notebook (1) 486DX-33 (1) 486SX-25 (1) 386DX-40 (1) Network: Netware 3.12 Synoptics 2803 16-port Hub (1) 3Com EtherLink III Network Cards (12) Printers: Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4 (1) Panasonic KX-1695 dot-matrix (1) Scanner: Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 2CX (1) Modems: Practical Peripherals 14400FXMT (2) Intel SatisFaxtion 200 (2) Tape Drives: Colorado Memory Systems "Trakker" (2) CD ROM: Double-speed Sony (1) Terminals: Wyse-120ES (1) SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS Windows/DOS Platform Microsoft Visual C++ version 1.5 (Professional Edition) PowerBuilder 4.0 (Enterprise Edition) Microsoft Visual Basic version 3.0 (Professional Edition) Watcom SQL version 4.0 (Windows, Netware editions) Borland Delphi (Desktop Edition) Gupta SQLWindows version 5.0 (Desktop Edition) Delrina FormFlow (Electronic Workflow tool) Borland C++ version 4.5 Clipper Version 5.2 Windows NT Platform Windows NT Server 3.51 Windows NT Workstation Watcom SQL server for NT UNIX Platform SCO UNIX 3.2.4 for the 486 platform: Operating System (run-time and development) TCP/IP (run-time and development) NFS (run-time and development) ORACLE7 for SCO UNIX RDBMS PRO*C compiler SQL*ReportWriter JAM (Jyacc Application Manager) for SCO UNIX Character-based User-interface generation tool. PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS At TTG, we use three main tools for Project Management. These are: Microsoft Project This is the primary project tracking tool. Each project, at its beginning, is broken into tasks which are assigned to resources. An initial Gantt chart is generated showing the planned utilization of resources, milestones and completion dates. As the project begins, the project team reviews progress together on a weekly basis, while the project lead daily updates his version of the Gantt chart to reflect on-going progress. The merits of a sliding a particular task can be decided between the team lead and the developer. However, to alter a milestone requires the consent and understanding of the entire team. This is done primarily to enforce respect for milestones. MKS Source Integrity This is our revision control system operating on our Netware server. Source Integrity has hooks for Visual C++ , Visual Basic and PowerBuilder so that the Check Out / Check In process is seamless within the development environment. Track Record This is the bug and feature tracking software operating on our Netware server. The status of every bug in each project (unreproduced, reproduced, fixed, tested) is tracked within the program. A similiar exercise is done for each feature. This allows comprehensive tracking of the bug list and helps in maintaining a tight bug list.

MANAGEMENT RESUMES

Kewan Qadre Khawaja Partner EXPERIENCE Financial Accounting Led the development of fully customized financial accounting systems for various organizations. The system modules include: General Ledger, Fixed Assets, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll. The core accounting models lead up to Windows-based executive information systems that are especially designed for use by the top management to focus on strategic decision-making. Retail Automation Led the development of multi-user on-line retail automation applications for two of the biggest retail chains in Pakistan, namely PACE and Haji Karim Baksh & Sons. The applications provide integrated inventory and sales management. Bar-code technology has been used in these applications for rapid data entry and better controls. Signature Verification Led the development of a Signature Verification system for American Express Bank and Askari Bank. The system allows bank tellers to display and verify client signatures in a Windows-based graphical environment. A module allows the application to directly control a TWAIN-compatible scanner for scanning in new signatures. The application has been developed using Visual Basic and third-party VBXes for scanner control and image manipulation. The signature database has been implemented in MS Access. Information Technology Consulting Provided IT consulting services to a number of diverse organizations in Pakistan including Lahore Stock Exchange, Pakistan Railways, Kohinoor Edible Oils, Suraj Cotton Mills, Regent Knitwear and Crescent Knitwear. Areas of consulting comprised of Hardware platform selection, Design of local and wide-area networks, Networking hardware selection, Critique of existing applications, Identification and definition of strategic applications to be developed, Selection of suitable Operating Systems, Databases, Windows front-end development tools, CASE tools, and finally Human Resource Requirements for satisfactory operation of the information systems. Lahore University of Management Sciences Research Associate, MIS (Oct. 90 - Mar 91) Prepared case material used for instruction in graduate MBA classes. Worked on several in-house software development projects. Cambridge Technology Group, MA, USA Software Engineer (Sep. 89 - Sep. 90) Worked in a team to develop an application for the Engineering and Line Maintenance Division of American Airlines. This Unix-based application was networked using X.25 connectivity scripts with the SABRE reservation system of American Airlines. The system is currently installed at various airports around the US and helps the maintenance staff of AA to track the status of airplane parts repair. Also maintained and enhanced a hospital information system for Evangelical Health Systems. Stevenson & Associates, MA, USA Staff Engineer (Mar 89 - Aug. 89) Developed vibration analysis software for an IBM chip-manufacturing facility. Wrote device drivers for various American and Japanese manufactured signal analyzers using the GPIB protocol. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Associate, Intelligent Engg Systems Lab (Sep. 88 - Mar 89) Research Assistant (Jan 87 - Aug. 88) Converted the graphics library of the US Army's geographic information system - GRASS - into the X Windows environment. Developed software tools that integrate with GRASS to aid US Army installation planners in the design and placement of firing ranges on landscape. Research concentrated on the line of sight problem, trajectory motion of missiles through air and the representation and manipulation of firing range patterns in a geographic database. SKILLS C, C++, PowerBuilder, SQL, System Analysis & Design EDUCATION Massachusetts Institute of Technology Master of Science, 1988 University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, 1986

Salman Akhtar

Partner

EXPERIENCE
The Technology Group Managing the development of software applications for several business organizations. Specialize in Windows-based applications and voice response systems. (Oct. 92 - present.)

2Link StockWatch Led the development of the single-user version of 2Link, a Windows based real-time Stock Market Information System developed in MFC C++. Designed and implemented the core classes for the application. Developed the user interface with real-time updating of all UI elements including grids, graphs, and Status Bar. Designed C++ classes for the real-time communications engine which interfaces to the data source via serial port.

OneLink Developed OneLink, a Windows-based Electronic Brokerage application written in MFC C++. Application allows clients of the Brokerage house to use the Windows based application to dial into the OneLink:Server which is linked to the Brokerage database. Clients can retrieve data on executed trades, outstanding dues, exchange email, and receive other data including equity prices and information on listed companies.

EBank Led the development of EBank, an Electronic Banking system written in MFC C++. The application allows account holders to dial into the EBank:Server which is connected to the Bank database. Clients receive account information, foreign exchange rates and exchange electronic mail.

Telephone Banking Led the development of PC Telephony applications for Bank of America, American Express Bank, ABN-Amro Bank, Union Bank, and Askari Commercial Bank. These systems enable account holders to query account balance, transactions, and foreign exchange rates by calling the bank's computer from touch-tone telephones. Information is played back to callers using digitized voice recordings. Statements can be faxed back to customers on demand. In some cases, on-line connectivity to the main banking hosts is provided using terminal emulation code. Programmed in C. System developed for Bank of America included connectivity to their AS/400.

WinBank Led the development of a Windows-based customer information system for ABN-Amro Bank using Visual Basic. The system enables customers to obtain account information, Statements of Account and latest foreign exchange rates using a computer placed at the bank's premises. Foreign exchange rates were obtained from a Windows-based Reuters News Terminal. Requests for foreign exchange rates were sent by WinBank on a serial link to software running on the Reuters Terminal. This software were processed the request using a DDE link to the Reuters application and the resulting information was packaged and sent back via serial port to WinBank.

IBM T. J. Watson Research Laboratory (1990) One year Research Internship at IBM, to study the high-frequency and transient behaviour of experimental transistors fabricated for high-speed logic. Work involved porting IBM's semiconductor device simulation program from Silicon to Gallium Arsenide devices. High-frequency behaviour was analyzed by writing a general element level circuit simulator with non-linear optimization. Measurements on devices and simulation were used to derive a mathematical formulation of the behaviour of such devices in the > 40 GHz frequency range and link these effects to transient phenomena.

Teaching Assistant, MIT (1991-92) Served as a Teaching Assistant with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Taught courses in Electronic Devices and Circuits and Quantum Physics. Awarded the Fredric Hennie III Prize for Teaching Excellence in 1992.

SKILLS MFC C++, C, Visual Basic, SQL, Object Oriented Development, Realtime systems, Voice Processing Systems.

EDUCATION Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1985-92) S.M. Electrical Engg. and Computer Science, S.B. Electrical Engg.