After the startup boom of Pakistan in the mid-2010s, the country is experiencing a meteoric rise in the number of IT professionals on the market, as well as IT firms geared towards local and international services. By the end of 2023, the ICT industry was worth over $15 billion, and it’s set to grow at a rate of 2% every year.
New players pop up all the time in growing markets, but some companies have been going at it for decades and have pioneered entire pillars of Pakistan’s technology industry. In fact, several Pakistani IT firms have established global footprints that deserve recognition. Let’s take a look at some of the largest, best-performing software companies in Pakistan.
NETSOL
Netsol has become a global name in the IT industry, but their journey began in Pakistan in 1996. You can find them in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and several Southeast Asian countries, but the majority of their employees and operations are in Lahore, Pakistan. Most IT firms in Pakistan tend to focus on business process outsourcing services or software development in general, but NETSOL decided to specialize in the finance and asset management industry.
They’ve spent the past 2 decades creating software that streamlines the retail and wholesale operations for companies that deal in high-value products. Their services include:
Lease Origination: NETSOL creates and manages lease agreements (pre-determined template-based agreements as well as custom-specific lease agreements). They also offer centralized storage and calculate the total cost of the agreements.
Lease Administration: Once the lease is set up, they monitor and record all payments to manage collection and renewals. This helps them ensure the agreement is compliant with all relevant regulations. In the case of defaulting on payment, they initiate legal action.
Asset Management: High-value assets need attention, and NETSOL tracks their location and condition wherever they may be. They manage the maintenance and calculate the depreciation in the asset after each lease agreement.
Regulatory Compliance: NETSOL monitors any changes in local, national, and international regulations to ensure your company is compliant. They also provide support for audits and compliance reviews.
Systems Limited
Systems Limited, founded in 1996, has emerged as a leading provider of IT solutions in Pakistan and globally. At the end of 2023, they were generating $80 million USD a month and had a market valuation of a quarter billion USD. They’ve leveraged their expertise in developing innovative software at a cost local businesses can afford and established themselves as a leader in the finance and leasing industry.
With a strong presence in multiple countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Pakistan, Systems Limited has demonstrated amazing adaptability to local regulations and gathered a diverse clientele. Their flagship product has to be the NETSOL Financial Suite, their one-stop shop for high-value asset management. It streamlines the entire retail and wholesale operation so you can focus on quality assurance.
What sets Systems Limited apart is their deep understanding of the asset finance and leasing industry. Their solutions are tailored to the specific needs of businesses in this sector, helping them improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. Considering they made it onto this list, it’s clear that they’ve been pretty successful. They were the first Pakistani IT firm to cross the 100 billion PKR market cap and were recognized as the country’s top exporter of IT services. On the global scale, their success can be summarized through their place in the top 1% of Microsoft Technology Partners worldwide.
ibex. Pakistan
ibex. Pakistan is the flagship firm for TRG holdings, with nearly 36,000 employees from the nine countries and four continents the firm currently does business in. They started out as a pioneer in the country’s CX industry, opening the first contact centers in the early 2000’s. It’s impossible to be the top IT company in Pakistan for two decades if you don’t adapt; Ibex constantly innovates and expands to make sure their customers continue to find value in their services.
Their technology portfolio has been growing exponentially over the last decade and has become essential for their continued expansion. Their 40 service delivery locations worldwide are equipped with the latest AI-augmented workstations, their agents receive cutting-edge regulatory training, and they’ve developed AI-powered chatbots and CRMs.
However, that only scratches the surface of their IT service portfolio. Their flagship product suite, the enteract.ecosystem, is an omnichannel CRM that simplifies and streamlines all of your customer touchpoints in a single dashboard. From email outreach to social media management and data analytics, enteract’s got you covered. Other IT services include:
- Network and Database management for efficient data storage and communication
- Web and App development in over 20 programming languages
- Cybersecurity management
- Staff Augmentation services to support local teams with international talent with as little investment as possible
- IT infrastructure and IT Service Management
DevSinc
Having been established in 2012, DevSinc feels like the new kid on the block of IT companies in Pakistan, but don’t let the timelines fool you. These past couple of years have seen DevSinc on the top of most company rankings; from gross revenue to quality of clients, they’ve really stepped up their game.
Their commitment to cutting edge IT delivery and software development have attracted clients like IBM and Dell. It goes without saying that you can find the typical IT service offerings at DevSinc that you can find anywhere in the industry. However, the following services help them stand out from the crowd:
QA Testing and Automation: DevSinc conducts rigorous manual testing to identify defects and streamline operations with automated testing. Every step in their development process also goes through security testing to protect you from malicious invaders.
Dynamics 365 ERP: DevSinc has a department dedicated to integrating your company operations with Dyanmics 365 ERP solutions and tailoring the platform to your needs.
Cloud Migration: You can move any part of your IT infrastructure to the cloud, and DevSinc will handle the execution to minimize downtime.
DevOps: This may be DevSincs most coveted offering. They implement continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines to automate the software development lifecycle. Additionally, you use Terraform and Ansible to manage infrastructure as code.
Arpatech
Arpatech may not be as large as some of the other IT companies in Pakistan, but that’s only because they conduct business with a different philosophy. They focus on a smaller number of high-value clients, prioritizing quality over quantity. For instance, they developed the e-store and application for Daraz.pk, the country’s largest e-commerce platform. They’ve helped massive local brands like Junaid Jamshaid make the shift towards online retail, demonstrating a commitment to uplifting local brands.
This commitment is further exemplified in their suite of services. A company that exists completely offline can find everything they need to move into the 21st century, including:
Website development: The first order of business for any company that wants to make the shift is buying some virtual real estate. Arpatech has customizable websites for businesses of all sizes.
App development: With an increasing percentage of online activity happening on mobile phones, an application can introduce you to a larger market.
Digital marketing: Arpatech offers engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, content marketing, and content moderation to maximize engagement with your customers.
E-commerce store creation: Arpatech helps businesses establish online stores, integrating payment gateways, inventory management, and shipping solutions.
Managed cloud hosting: Digitizing your company goes beyond establishing a virtual presence. Arpatech will help you manage infrastructure and storage costs with their scalable cloud hosting solutions.
Business intelligence: Arpatech helps businesses monitor and record data to extract valuable insights using AI-powered analytics and reporting tools.
10 Pearls
10 Pearls is an end-to-end software development firm that generates over 50 million USD every year. Not only are they one of the highest-earning IT companies in Pakistan, they’re also one of the first players to enter the market. They’ve moved their headquarters to the U.S. and expanded into the Canadian, British, and Middle Eastern markets, but the core of their workforce is still Pakistani.
Their complete suite of services is extremely comprehensive, with all kinds of customer software development and enterprise software development, but their core competencies include:
Cybersecurity: Online security is crucial for modern business, and 10 Pearls protects you with threat assessment, risk management, vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, incident response, security awareness training, and compliance audits.
Data Analysis: The best way to optimize operations is through data analytics. 10 Pearls has developed cutting-edge data mining and warehousing techniques to inform their business intelligence strategies with predictive analytics and machine learning.
Product Development: This encapsulates their entire software development department. 10 Pearls has developed applications, websites, and enterprise software for behemoths in the tech, e-commerce, healthcare, and finance industries.
UX/UI Design: The firm sets itself apart from it’s competition with its focus on user-friendly UI/UX design. They offer wireframing, prototyping, user interface (UI) design, and usability testing.
Affinity
Following the trend of other successful IT companies in Pakistan, Affinity has expanded its operations into the United States, the U.K., and the Middle East. However, the vast majority of their 2000 workforce is located in Lahore and Islamabad. However, unlike their competition, Affinity has a culture of making significant investments into research and development.
Affinity is often the first company in their sector to introduce new machine learning and AI applications. For instance, their Lahore office constantly works to improve the call routing system for their CX contact centers. The programs use AI to analyze customer preferences, agent strengths, and advanced data analytics to maximize efficiency and satisfaction. Additionally, they help businesses understand their consumers on a much deeper level. They use predictive analysis to help visualize the customer journey and identify bottlenecks.
Additional services include:
Customer Relationship Management: Affinity creates CRM solutions that track sales pipelines and analyze customer interactions.
Deal sourcing: One of their more unique offerings is outsourced lead generation and business development.
Integrations: All of Affinity’s solutions can be integrated with existing software and applications.
Relationship intelligence: Afiniti's AI-powered tools provide insights into customer relationships and identify opportunities for cross-selling and upselling.
Company data: You can move towards cloud storage and outsource management of company information, including financial data, contact information, and industry trends.
Contour Software
Despite being founded in 2010, Contour Software has rapidly grown to become one of the most prominent players in Pakistan’s IT industry. They have footholds in three of the largest cities in the country (Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad) and have grown to a team of over 1000 professionals.
Contour Software has spread their tentacles into healthcare, finance, retail, manufacturing, marketing, and education to become a bedrock of software development in South Asia. Their services include:
Enterprise software development: Contour develops custom software applications to meet the unique needs of businesses.
Application support: They provide ongoing support and maintenance for existing software applications.
IT infrastructure: Contour offers a range of IT infrastructure services, including cloud computing, data center management, and network services.
They’ve managed to build an impressive roster of IT professionals because of their commitment to employee development. They finance training and professional development opportunities for all their employees, rewarding them for their commitment.
Pakistan’s IT sector has been booming for a few years now, and it doesn’t feel like it’ll be slowing down anytime soon. New companies and startups pop up every year, but the companies we’ve mentioned above have managed to stand the test of time and establish themselves as key pillars amongst software companies in Pakistan.
