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Profile of an entrepreneur and his business

BUS101
Group Report
6th August, 2010

Prepared By:
Syed Azizur Rahman 0737867030
S. M. Ishrak Rahman 1020360030
Mohammad Sazzadur Rahman 1020104030
Mushfiqus Salehine 0930300030
Abdul Ali Roni 1010167030

Prepared For:
MR. M. Saidur Rahman (SDU)
Section 7
Lecturer
Department: School of Business

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
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6th August, 2010

Mr. M. Saidur Rahman

Lecturer

Department of school of Business

Subject: Submission Of group report

Dear Mr. M. Saidur Rahman

Here is the group report on the “Profile of an Entrepreneur and his business” that you asked us to
prepare as a part of requirement for our BUS101 course.

In presenting this report, we have tried our outmost to include all the relevant information and
the clarifications to make the report informative and comprehensive.

It was a very enriching and thrilling experience for us to prepare this report. Our report writing
skills and communicating skills have improved a lot while doing it. If you should need any kind
of assistance in understanding this report, please do not hesitate to consult with us in the
classroom.
Thank you for having trust on us and giving us this wonderful opportunity.
Sincerely,

Syed Azizur Rahman 073786030 _______________

S. M. Ishrak Rahman 1020360030 _________________

Mohammad Sazzadur Rahman 1020104030 ______________

Mushfiqus Salehine 0930300030 ______________

Abdul Ali Roni 1010167030 _____________

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Almighty Allah for giving us the patience and the ability to work hard

with tremendous devotion. First and foremost thanks to our Course Instructor, Mr. Saidur

Rahman for his outstanding guidance, encouragement, inspiration and suggestions throughout

the entire BUS101 course. Without his help and guidance it would not have been possible to

complete and submit this report.

We are deeply grateful to our friends and entire family of Mr. Noor A. Alam Chowdhury without

whom this report would not have been possible. Their invaluable suggestions and information

have taught us much and as a result our preparing this report has been a very positive and

uplifting experience.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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The company Data-edge was established in 2002, with Mr Noor A. Alam Chowdhury and Md.

Asifuzzaman. Now they have 8 share holders. Since its inception data edge limited (Data-edge)

has been Bangladesh's leading technology consulting firm. Their ultimate goal is to understand,

design, develop and/or outsource, and implement innovative technology solutions that will help

their clients increase their bottom line. The team at Data-edge comprises of some of the most

experienced personnel from financial and IT sectors having experience within and outside the

country in international and local banks and large corporate houses, which in turn has years of

experience of serving customers all around the globe. The members have hands on experience in

implementing integrated banking applications, card management and switching systems, call

centre solutions, enterprise data centre, computing and network & security infrastructure in

Bangladesh.

They are the company who in a joint venture with two other companies helped in the processing

of the Machine Readable Passports MRP

Table of Contents

Topics Page
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Letter of Transmittal 2

Acknowledgement 3

Executive Summary 4
Introduction 7
Research Objective 8
Research Methodology 9
Team Work and Planning 9
Entrepreneur’s Background 10
Family Background and Academic Qualification 10
Career: The Places He Worked In 11
Core Focuses 12-15
Life Cycle of Data-edge 16
Employee Distribution 17
Major Competitors 17
SWOT Analysis 18
Management Hierarchy 19
Researcher’s Recommendation and Comments 20
References 20
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INTRODUCTION

Data-edge is an IT company which basically provides services such as Core Banking Solution,

Payment Card Management and Switching Solution, Power Solution, Call Centre & Telephone

Banking Solution. It was founded by Mr. Noor A. Alam Chowdhury and Md. Asifuzzaman. It

now stands quite firmly in the IT industry and is hopeful of extending its roots across the

national borders. The sectors on which Data-edge focuses on are as follows:

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Core Banking Solution.

Payment Card Management and Switching Solution.

Call Centre & Telephone Banking Solution.

Automated Clearing House Solution.

Surround Banking Applications.

Enterprise Server & Storage Solution.

Power Solution.

Enterprise-grade LAN Cabling.

Network, Security & Threat Management Solution.

Infrastructure Management Solution.

Data Centre Operations and Service Delivery.

Disaster Recovery and Storage Management Solution.

Systems Integration.

Research Objective

Although this report was made in a very short period, we have tried our best to provide the

best, accurate, true and relevant information without which the report is not considered to

be complete. The following group report on the “Profile of an Entrepreneur and his

business” was asked to prepare as a part of requirement for our BUS101 course.

The main objective about the research is to know about a successful Business Entrepreneur

and how effectively he manages and operates his business. The research will help us in the
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future to have elaborate information and real life experience about the risks and challenges

involved in being an Entrepreneur. This research has developed our public relation,

listening and communication skills as we conducted interview of the entrepreneur

We have got to learn the methods of preparing a formal business report which has

enlightened our knowledge of report writing. Also presenting our research materials in a

formal group presentation environment was a major motive which will help us to build

confidence of expressing our views openly. This will vastly improve our narration skills

Research methodology
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Knowing about a renowned and busy corporate individual such as Mr. Noor A. Alam

Chowdhury and his well established business was not an easy task for us. However, Mr.

Noor A. Alam Chowdhury was very cooperative in giving us his precious time. We did

have specific set of formal questions prepared for Mr. Noor A Alam Chowdhury but we

didn’t have discussion only about the questions set. We had an opportunity to have a casual

discussion with him which lasted for one and half hour which was very interesting and

informative for us.

Teamwork and Planning

Teamwork and co-ordination is extremely important to produce a report that requires

extensive research and analysis. Everyone contributed for the completion of the report. This

report was created by task distribution starting from planning, collecting information,

formatting report, report writing and editing. The focus of the members was always on how

to put their best effort in the report. There was massive cooperation and unity among the

members which helped in writing a very comprehensive report. This report has taught us a

great deal on how to work in a group. This experience of working in a group was truly an

enriching and memorable one for all the members.

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Entrepreneur’s Background

Mr. Noor A. Alam Chowdury comes from Senbagh, Noakhali. He is the partner of data-edge

limited. He owns the 65% share of the company. His foresight, endeavor, integrity made him a

successful businessman.

Family Background and Academic Qualifications

Mr. Noor A Alam Chowdury was born on the 14th January 1967 at Khilgaon, Dhaka. His father

was Shafiul Alam Chowdhury. Mr. Noor A Alam Chowdhury is the eldest son of his father. His

father was a high rank officer of house building.

He started his education from Ali Ahammad High school, Khilgaon. He completed his S.S.C.

from there. Then he completed his H.S.C. from Dhaka College. After that he got himself

admitted in Dhaka University. He completed his BBA from there by doing his major in

management. He completed his MBA from the same institution on management.

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Career: The Places He Worked In

Mr. Noor A. Alam Chowdhury had a dream to become an engineer. But unfortunately he did not

get chance in BUET. In lieu of engineering he started studying management by doing so he

found his interest turned into business. He set a new dream to become a successful businessman.

He started his career while studying in the university in a company named Sygenta. His

experience includes managing various large technology projects for Standard Chartered Bank

(SCB) including the SCB–Grindlays Integration, various Technology Platform Migration for

acquired Banks in Lebanon; introduction of automated service delivery channels across the

region, etc. Prior to joining SCB, he also worked as Manager IT for CIBA-GEIGY (currently

Novartis) and National Life Insurance, currently the largest private sector Insurance Company in

Bangladesh. Then in 1994 he joined Standard Chartered Bank. He served as a head of IT of this

company for seven years. There, Mr. Chowdhury headed the regional Technology Product

Management Team based in Dubai for Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) covering 10 countries in

Middle East and South Asia during the period of 1999 to 2001. Then in 2002 he started Data-

edge limited with one of his friends named Md. Asifuzzaman who is now managing director of

the company. It was a complicated task for him to start the new company. He started his

company by borrowing money from his friends and family.

Core focuses
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Core Banking Solution:

Data-edge represents FLEXCUBE from Oracle Financial Services Solutions Limited, OFSS,

(formerly i-flex solutions ltd.) - the number one core banking solution in the world as per IBS

(UK) rating since 2002, as well as other solutions portfolio from OFSS. OFSS is an Oracle

Company having more than 880 customers across 135 countries. FLEXCUBE supports the

complete business operations of commercial banks including retail, corporate & treasury

operations as well as interfacing with all common delivery channels. Based on open systems and

providing customers a wide range of choice of hardware & OS, FLEXCUBE ensures one of the

lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and highest Return on Investment (ROI) in the industry.

Data-edge has successfully marketed OFSS/i-flex’s products and services to several major

private sector banks in the country with all the banks running successfully for 4 years or above.

Payment Card Management and ATM Switching Solution:

Data-edge represents Payment Card Management and ATM switching solutions from

TietoEnator Corporation. Immensely modular, the solution can be used for a number of business

purposes by banks (issuers and acquirers), financial institutions with in-house processing

infrastructure, as well as multi-bank processing and clearing centers. Openness in hardware and

OS platforms enabling seamless API, reliable technologies (Oracle, BEA Tuxedo), immense

scalability in line with card business development, compliance with international standards

(VISA, Master, Amex and EMV readiness), support for all standard ATM and POS protocols,

etc. makes our solution unique and attractive.

Telephony, Voice & Call Centre Solutions:

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Data-edge represents Avaya GlobalConnect Limited, and offers full range of AVAYA IP

Telephony, Contact Center Solutions, Unified Communication, contact center/call center graded

switch, AVAYA IVR and CTI, Video and Audio conferencing, Voice logging, and Workforce

Management solutions. Data-edge also partners with Serviont Global Solutions, offering end-to-

end call center solutions to customer focused companies as part of their business response

solution.

Depending on customer requirements, Data-edge offers complete call center/telephone banking

solution to the Telecoms, Banks and other service providers based on Avaya and/or Serviont

components. We have customers in both telecom & banking sector using our solution.

Card Personalization Solution:

Data-edge represents card personalization solutions from Matica-Digicard. Matica offers a wide

range of products as per customer’s requirement for production volumes and speed and currently

provides world’s fastest card production machine. Matica products offer immense versatility in

terms of single pass or multiple pass production, photo-printers, combined embossing and photo

printing, combined embossing, indenting, etc. The equipment and printing software offered by

Matica has built-in EMV support ensuring investment protection for customers who are currently

using Magstripe, but plans to move to EMV at a later stage. Matica systems are also certified

with world’s leading EMV solutions. Several banks are already using our Card Personalization

Solutions.

Enterprise Server & Storage Hardware, IT Infrastructure Management and Optimization

Solutions:
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Data-edge also partners with Hewlett-Packard (HP) for providing Enterprise Server and Storage

(SAN, NAS) Solutions as well as IT Infrastructure Management and Optimization Solutions to

its wide customer-base. HP is world’s leading brand in terms technology innovations, product

portfolio and performance. Data-edge has a strong team well-versed with the HP range of

hardware and software products to identify customer requirements, assess performance matrices,

growth and capacity trend and chose the right products and solutions for the customer. With

world’s leading application solutions running on running on world’s leading and most reliable

hardware and IT management solutions – Data-edge’s offering remains unmatched in this

market!

Power Solutions:

Data-edge partners with Eaton, a leading global provider of comprehensive power quality and

power management solutions supplied under the Powerware brand, consistently delivering the

lifeblood of today’s digital economy: high availability. With more than 45 years of experience in

designing and producing power protection products, Eaton has a number of patents for its

incomparable technology innovations in power quality industry. Our product range includes AC

UPS from 350 VA up to 4000 KVA, DC systems of all sizes, Blade-UPS systems, rack-based

power distribution units, power management and control systems, etc. Powerware guarantees the

highest power factor in the industry ensuring big savings on power costs for enterprises

compared to other UPS.

Fiber and Twisted Pair Cabling:

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A robust network infrastructure is the heart of any mission-critical business enterprise. dataedge

partners with world’s leading Network Component Manufacturer, AMP NETCONNECT (Tyco

Electronics) to provide design and implementation of end-to-end passive network cabling for

enterprises comprising of Twisted Pair and/or Optical Fibre cabling along with all accessories

and components as required. Data-edge also promotes customers to undergo proper

“Certification of Cabling” to ensure quality and longevity.

Unified Threat Management (UTM) Solutions:

Data-edge offers end-to-end security solutions in Bangladesh market offering world’s leading

hardware and software based solutions including Check Point Software, Fortinet, Cyberoam,

Websense & others. As authorized resellers Data-edge also provides several anti-virus solutions

to customers based on customer’s requirements such as Symantec, e-trust and escan.

Project Management/IT Service Management:

Based on background and professional expertise of individuals Data-edge also provides

outsourced Project Management and IT Service Management Services to multitudes of

customers. For specialized projects Data-edge also partners with Accenture, Price Waterhouse

Coopers, Planetcom and other reputed SIs for Project Delivery.

Life cycle of data-edge

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Size

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Time
Current market position of Data-edge

Source: Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P.(2007). Principles of Marketing (12th edition)

Employee Distribution
In terms of numbers data edge currently have nearly 130 employees . These employees are
assigned in particular departments to work in, which include: Operation, Accounts and Finance,
Human Relations, Marketing and Sales. The working atmosphere is very friendly and according
to the employees there is a good amount of job satisfaction. All the employees are provided at
least minimum a handsome wage.
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Major Competitors

• Amra Group

• Data soft

• Infosys

• Tech Valley Company

SWOT ANALYSIS
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Strengths Weaknesses

• An Acknowledged market leader • No clear strategic direction

• The State of the Art and Technology • Lack of Financial and Accounting

knowledge
• Good working atmosphere for

employees • Poor advertisement

• Good market image • Less sales promotion

• Skilled Labor

Opportunities Threats

• Ability to serve additional customer • Political instability

groups
• Increase in Government tax

• Expand product line

• Corrupted legal and law enforcement

• Ability to transfer technology

• Slower market growth

• Ability to grow due to increase in

• Vulnerability to recession and business
market demand
cycles
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Management Hierarchy

Members of
the board

Business
Executive
advising
team
team

Manager of
Head of Head of Presale business
service network production Head of sales support (HR
management (SBU) manager admin
logistics)

Researcher’s Recommendation & Comments

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The heart and soul of Data-edge Mr. Noor A. Alam Chowdhury, whose relentless

hard work and dedication made his IT firm one of the largest in Bangladesh. In context of

Bangladesh, it seems to be in a very satisfactory position. But we think that more advertisement

would rapidly increase their turnover. A lot of potential customers do not know the name of the

company.

What we gathered from the interview was that Mr. Chowdhury is very dedicated towards the

company and through sheer perseverance; he has brought the company where it is today.

References

• Founder/Director Mr. Noor A. Alam Chowdhury was personally interviewed

• Website: www.data-edge.com

• McHugh, J., & Nickels, S. M. (2008). Understanding Business 8th Edition. New York:
The McGraw Hill Companies,Inc.

• Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2007). Principles of Marketing (12th Edition) (Principles of
Marketing) (12 edition.). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall.