About your understanding.

So, I have spoken with your Jabed sir. So, after speaking with Jabed sir, we specifically discussed a few things with him. We need to confirm a few things with him. Okay? So, my report... I mean, the initial report, I won't give an in-depth report, I'll just give an essence of it. Specifically, what we will talk about, what things we can work on.

One minute, one minute. Just a moment… one minute. Rasel vai probably is joining from his mobile.

Okay. Should I give him the code?

No, no, no, I have sent it, I have sent it.

Yes, Assalamualaikum Rasel vai, how are you?

Assalamualaikum, Walaikum salam. I am fine, Alhamdulillah. Are you well?

I am fine, Alhamdulillah. After you came, I haven't spoken with you. On this side, we got busy. My mother-in-law had a stroke, so I was a bit busy with her.

Innalillah. That's why I couldn't speak with you. How are things? How are you?

I am fine, Alhamdulillah. Allah has kept me well.

Your mother-in-law had a stroke, is she at home or in the hospital?

No, in the hospital. So, we were able to take her early. The ambulance arrived here within five minutes.

Okay, okay, okay.

So, although the doctors said she wouldn't survive because there was a lot of bleeding in the brain.

Oh. But you know what they say, who can kill the one whom Allah saves?

Yes, yes, right, right.

No one can do anything with their decision.

No.

So, it happened that they told us, you stay with her for 24 hours, she will not survive. But it turned out that... I mean, they said that, but I felt that no, nothing like that would happen, for some reason I felt that way. So I prayed to Allah, did my prayers. Then it was seen that... I mean, now she is in... in recovery. And there is no... The problem is no longer there.

Okay, okay, Alhamdulillah.

Alhamdulillah.

Anyway.

So, that's it. The time has become a bit of an issue for me. Again, the congregational prayer is about to start, I will go pray. But you... I think we should start the conversation.

Okay, no problem. I won't take much time. I have a few things to discuss here, I will submit the report to Jabed sir. So what I am doing now is giving a top-level report. It will take time for us to make an in-detail report, we will give that later. So, the things that are being included in the top-level report are the scope of gap analysis.

Rasel vai, I will just join the prayer and come back, you guys please continue talking.

Yes, Rasel vai, you go and pray, we will continue.

Yes, yes, yes, five minutes. Assalamualaikum.

Okay, regarding your policy's... that thing.

That one... actually, I haven't progressed much with that because here we already have work pressure plus resource issues. Yes, at this moment, I won't really be able to look at it. Just taking the work is not enough, I won't be able to look at the work. And they haven't given the work to anyone yet. Let's see, if it's in my fate, the work will come to me.

No, no, no, fate is fate, that's fine. But we also have to try, if you don't try, fate doesn't come.

No, actually, I mean, I don't have the resources right now, as this is not a small job, it's a big one. The way my ZARP resources are occupied and ZARP's work, even though the first phase is complete, the second phase is running. And the work that needs to be done constantly, now who will I assign to this? If I move myself, then this... I mean, if I always move, then ZARP will be interrupted. Yes, that's why I have paused it for now. And they won't give the work to anyone until the new government comes. They won't make a decision.

Okay, okay.

No, it's okay, no problem. I am coming to Bangladesh, then maybe I can make progress with that.

And the new government will be BNP. Besides BNP, there's no one else to come.

No, as a major party, there is BNP.

Yes, besides BNP, no one else will come. Yes, after the new government is formed, there will be another huge reshuffle. There will be a very big reshuffle at the very high levels. That's why no one... yes, no one will take this risk now. This is a big job.

Yes, yes, yes.

And how are things otherwise? How is the cold there?

It's gone to minus. Very cold. Minus eight, nine.

My God.

It's minus... it's been running in minus for the last few days. We can't survive in 11-12 here.

12 is the summer temperature here, in the morning.

Yes, indeed. Maybe it will drop tonight. It was 12 in the morning too.

But it has decreased in the northern region. It has dropped to around five or six.

Okay, yes, it drops there. Yesterday I saw something, I went to Bangladesh and am drinking date palm juice. I have such a strong desire to drink date palm juice, I haven't had it for the last, I mean, 30 years.

When will you come? When will you come?

I will come. The other day I visited Chuadanga, I went to Chuadanga and drank date palm juice right from the tree.

Okay, then I'll take you with me.

I want to come at the end of January, I will come, InshaAllah.

Going to Chuadanga... Chuadanga is where the best date palm jaggery of Bangladesh is made.

Okay.

I went there and brought date palm jaggery. My friend circle, all together, we brought about 130 kg of jaggery.

Oh my God. I didn't bring it with me. I went and placed an order. They made it specially for us. They have delivered it.

Okay. They made it and sent it to Dhaka.

Because that one... that one is made in a very special way.

Okay.

Yes, because I just said that I haven't had date palm juice for 30 years. I have a wish, since I'm going in January, InshaAllah.

It's not right to drink date palm juice from everywhere. You have to drink it from an authentic place. Date palm juice has some... I mean, it's raw juice. And raw juice is not always easy to digest. Then a few days ago, I went to the Combined Military Hospital, to get some diagnosis done for myself. The CMO there is my friend. A patient was leaving, a young boy. He studies at BUETEX. He was leaving, and I asked him what had happened? He said he drank date palm juice and was in a condition to be taken to the ICU. I mean, he couldn't digest it. It forms gas. So, date palm juice is very tasty, but there's a risk too. I mean, it's not right to drink too much.

You have to be able to digest it after drinking. I went there and drank seven glasses at once. Nothing happened to me.

You are very strong.

It tasted good, so I kept drinking. No one warned me then. But there was no problem, by the grace of Allah.

No, exactly.

How are your children?

Alhamdulillah, they are well.

The elder daughter is probably in university. Yes, yes, at North South.

At North South. Okay.

Your wife... okay, your wife doesn't work.

No, no, she has a job.

Okay, where is she working?

Uh, she is in a group. It's the EGS Group. They have many companies, they have garments, tours and travel agencies. She looks after the total central accounts.

Okay, okay. She looks after the accounts and finance part.

She is basically from an accounts background. BBA, MBA in Finance and Banking.

Oh, okay.

Rasel vai is a banking expert.

Okay.

Now, for us... when Rasel vai comes, I will recap the situation for him. So, a few things we need to do... when I was talking to you all, or when I'm talking to everyone, what I've realized, what has come to my attention, is that everyone is more or less busy. From top to bottom, everyone. Overworked and overloaded. So, I couldn't specifically identify this because many of your modules are finished. Now, if we consider all the modules, then it will be understood what work you are actually doing for which one, what everyone is overloaded with or why they are overloaded. Those things need to be identified in the next conversation, just like the conversations I've had with each employee.

So, this kind of overload situation will exist in a company, it's normal. It exists in any company, overloaded situations happen against projects, that's normal. But if we can't do the load distribution correctly, then this overload won't be fixed, that's number one. Number two is bringing the right people to the right work. Number three is to implement the technological enhancements. Where, for example, you can do a job in five minutes using technology, but that same job will take you one day if you want to do it using your own brain. Okay? These things need to be brought in. Plus, as I said, multi-tasking.

I have a task. Maybe I can't do a task because of someone else, another person is busy, if they finish that task, then I can do my task. Okay? This situation arises many times. In many companies. Where it is seen that I am sitting idle. Why are you sitting? Because I need this task to be done, if he doesn't finish that task, then this will happen to me, I can't work. This is why these delays are happening, the tasks that are paused for a long time, it's because of the lack of right distribution of work and alignment of work. Another thing is our knowledge. In these cases.

So we have to implement these things. Overall. From top to bottom. Yes, changing the skill levels of those who are working, bringing them to a multi-skilled level, and if they are in any problem, answering those problems correctly and figuring out how to solve these things. Another thing is to do the work distribution properly. That I gave someone a job, managing their KPI correctly to see who is working how. That I gave someone five jobs, in how many hours is he finishing those five jobs.

Brother, you've come, let me just give a recap.

Yes please, please.

I was talking to Arif vai. So, specifically when I was talking to your team, what came to me is that everyone is busy and everyone is overloaded with work.

But specifically, from the documentation that was shared with me, what I saw from there is that most of the modules are more or less finished, except for your HRM, I mean, the HR module. Some development is pending in all of them, some development is pending. Some have major development pending, and some have very minimal development pending, like the SD module. But the SD module that I saw, it has a lot of errors. There are many errors.

Another thing that came to my attention is that to maintain this entire service, you don't have any administrative panel.

What kind of error are you referring to? Do you mean errors based on messages, or what kind of errors?

Right now I'm looking at the top level of the application, right? We haven't started on the internal level yet. At the top level, for example, you want to do something, and that thing is not happening.

For example, you want to change a table through a script, I mean an execution, and it's not aligning. This is always present in all applications. It will be there. But those things need to be recovered slowly. Okay? Okay. Those things need to be recovered slowly and it has to go into a recovery plan.

Okay.

So, the administrative panel that you don't have, what happens is that these overrides that you do, those overrides are now happening through the database. So when overrides happen in the database, I've said this before, when columns are changed, changing one column means it affects 10, 15, or 20 other columns. We need to limit those things. We need to insert or develop an administrative panel with a methodology, and from there, when we can minimize these things, then you will see that the workload of the people will decrease. Otherwise, it is not possible to reduce the workload.

So what we do here, when we work with any business, is we align the software with the entire business process. After aligning it, for example, normally when we work on software development, say, X amount, let's say 10 developers are needed for a project. And that is certain, they will be needed. Now, these 10 developers, when they finish the project in a specific time, they... most companies recruit the majority of people on a contractual basis.

Let's say 30% of employees are on the permanent ledger, and 70% of employees are on the contractual basis ledger. Why? Because when the project is finished, those who are on contract will leave. In between, those who will come are the ones who provide technical support. And this technical support and the people in the application who are… the technical support, those are two different things.

Those who provide technical support for the application, they are your QA, testers, they do these things. And the technical support for the project, they are your in-between developers and they liaise with the end-users. The gap you have here is that your resources, those resources are the ones doing this work. They are directly liaising with the end-users. What is the problem here? The problem here is that the end-users are working directly with the developers, or communicating with them. There is a resource loss here. Why is there a loss? I will pay a technical guy 25 to 30 thousand taka. I am paying a senior developer over 1 lakh. Most of my time is being spent on dealing with end-users. In this case, there is no resource balance.

So it is seen that they are doing their work, managing the team, supporting the end-users, and all together, they are becoming overworked. Okay? I have spoken with everyone, everyone is working. It's not that anyone is not working. No one is taking a salary just for sitting around. Okay? Everyone is working. But if we can't fix this balance, then this cost minimization that we want, we won't be able to do it, or it will be delayed. This is one thing.

The second thing is a specific plan needs to be followed. That my SD module, it has a budget, it has specific user scenarios, specifically what I am building, what I am delivering, what will come in my five-year plan. In this plan, what will be in the first version, what will be in the second version, what will be in the third version, those things need to be aligned, and we need to proceed that way. Now, if I need five people for one module, and one module is my first priority, what people I will need for other modules, thinking about that, everyone needs to have resource allocation, time allocation, budget allocation, all these things need to be done correctly. If we can't do this, then our project will never be finished. It is never possible for it to be finished, anywhere. And it just keeps going on and on. What happens because of this? The company's resources are wasted, money is wasted, and in the end, a good project is not established.

So, the identifications I have made in the last one and a half to two months of talking to different people, your team has talent, and the talent is being used, but the allocation needs to be fixed for us. Or all the other necessary things need to be fixed. Plus, for example, when a system is developed, after that system is developed, we haven't been able to do the documentation yet. Jabed sir knows that, that the documentation hasn't been done. So, now if there is no documentation, you can't... for those who will come in the future, and everyone's knowledge is in their brains. Those who have worked on it. The loss of one resource, or their departure, they take everything in their brain with them. The company is basically back to zero.

Okay? In this, many people from your project have gone elsewhere. They have taken their knowledge with them. You are not able to regenerate that knowledge. So here, when you regenerate again, resources are being wasted, money is being wasted, everything is being wasted. So, this thing needs to be fixed from the root.

That my... a plan, the plan we are making, a plan needs to be made. With that plan, stakeholders need to be aligned. With them, resources need to be aligned. With the resource alignment, the project needs to be aligned.

Is Rasel vai there? Rasel vai seems to have become unavailable. Okay. So, what I talked about with Jabed sir, he told me, or what he said before, is that our resources need to be minimized, made versatile, plus, in the next six months, he is thinking of taking on big projects. How can we get ready for that?

Yeah.

So, now...

I am back.

Okay, Rasel vai is back. I was saying, I spoke with Jabed sir. So what he wants is resource allocation to be done correctly, with the resources we have. And after allocating those resources, we need to prepare in such a way that after six months, when he wants to take on big projects, and I am also proposing to him, since we will be working directly, we need to generate income. We can manage that. We can manage that.

Now, to manage that, what do we have to do first? The current resources we have, they need to be allocated correctly. From here, some people need to be kept for projects or modules, and they need to be transferred to other places or other things. I understand, Arif vai, that you all are very busy, doing many things. But that busyness needs to be identified. Okay? Identified and limited. That this is your job. Now, for the SD module, I spoke with Sumon vai about the SD module, he knows everything about it. Okay? He has huge knowledge. This knowledge is in his brain.

These descriptions, if we can't put them on paper and pen, if we can't create a knowledge base, if he leaves now, it will take years to teach people these things without proper documentation. And that is a loss for the company. And this is a very normal procedure, that people can leave. People... it can happen. So we have to work keeping that in mind. That's one thing.

The second thing is to limit everything for the time being. Limit it, and then start again. If you don't stop, if you don't align, if you just keep going, this process will not be right. The problem will remain. It won't go away. So, now we should go into recovery mode. We should go into recovery mode. Until and unless, development is stopped. You are serving the customer, let that happen. This is my suggestion, of course. The decision will be taken by the higher authority. The customer service that you are doing, let it be. We will keep some old faces here. This is Jabed sir's idea. We'll keep some old faces, bring in some new faces, and eliminate some faces.

Okay? This is our next plan. In this plan, Arif vai and Rasel vai, we will need the cooperation of both of you. So, why do we need to do this? We now need to go into the recovery phase. From the recovery phase, we will then go into execution. When everything is aligned.

Okay? In this, some people will be happy, some people will be unhappy, but that's okay. It's normal. But what is our ultimate goal? Our ultimate goal is to earn money and to align the way the business is running for the future. Now, if we can't do that, after six months when our capacity to take on work comes, the government is changing, the capacity to take work will come, if we still say then that we are not aligned, Jabed sir will...

A little interruption, if I can just share my understanding with you to see if it's correct. I mean, the matter is that I or Arif vai, both of us now have to think like businessmen. We have to think about earning money and expenditure, and by aligning these two, if we can survive ourselves, we have to think about that, right?

Yes.

I mean, not as service holders, we now have to think as business owners.

As business owners. As providers. As service providers. Okay, please carry on.

And Jabed sir wants that too. And I, we want that too. Because he will pay me. If I can't make the right decision now, my payment... if we can't work together for a long time, I won't be able to generate income from here, can I?

No, no.

So, if I have to generate income, I have to minimize costs. The team has to be managed in the right way and we have to move forward. And what I talked about with him, I will sit with Jabed sir again this week. I will give the report tomorrow. Before giving this report, I am sitting with you. Why? Because I can't reduce the team. I can't reduce the costs if I don't get cooperation from you. Right?

Exactly.

I need that cooperation. I can't align the process. Why can't I align it? Because it's not possible without your cooperation.

Now, what Jabed sir wants to achieve, we can achieve that only when we go into a recovery position. We have to go now. Okay? The things that are our main priorities that we have to do now, for those things, we will start working properly so that this mess doesn't happen next time. This mess will cause us a lot of trouble. That's why I have been continuing for a long time, the resources I am... I understand the matter. I understand every module, every business process, I am sitting with Ross on these things, working, figuring out how to align things. Since we work with a versatile team, our main resource is the employees' benefit plus the business's benefit. We have to look at both. We can't cheat someone to benefit another here. Whatever is right, we will do that for the business. We are working for the business. So, what is right for the business will be right for the employees, if the employee is right. Okay?

So, now my request will be, I am giving the report tomorrow. With Arif vai or with you, I need to sit specifically. So Arif vai will take one or two days' time. After taking one or two days' time, his allocation, there are about 26-27 people in his team. What I have seen is that 26-27 people are okay, but necessarily, do we need them all? That's number one. They are all overworked. I understand that. But what are they overworked with? And if they are overworked, we need to pause it now. That no, our... for customer service, as Jabed sir said or Rasel vai, you all said that everything is closed now, development is closed. So, taking this to a recovery position, we need to align future development or those things for the future. Okay?

I mean, the message you've given is Chairman Sir's message. Chairman Sir, in fact, every time we meet, he says the same thing repeatedly. He can't do it anymore. He's saying he's helpless. And let's say, he... that is... I and Arif vai, we've also talked about it ourselves. It's becoming a burden on Chairman Sir, and if we don't reduce this burden, it's coming back as a danger to us.

Let's say, now if Chairman Sir suddenly leaves it on me and you, that you guys run this, whatever you need, you can't ask me for it, you have to run it on your own, then we will... we will break our backs. It's a simple fact. I mean, we will have to think for ourselves. So, I know this is Chairman Sir's message. Now, let me talk to Arif vai a bit. I have talked, I and Arif vai have talked about these things several times before. How to do things so that we don't incur too much loss and we can also survive, all of us together, that can also be done. That is the thought that Arif vai and I will work on, hopefully.

I... I also say the same thing. The message you have, the same message has come to me. That's why he has brought us in, so that this can be organized. Okay? Now, in terms of organizing, that's why I am continuing our conversations, understanding each module, everything. Our SD module is finished. The remaining modules, InshaAllah, we will continue. I can't tomorrow, but from the day after tomorrow, we will start again. But what I need, Arif vai and Rasel vai, from both of you, is that we now have to go into a recovery position, in any way possible. Just recovery. Okay? Recovery means what? Booting position. So, when we go to the booting position, in that booting position, we will only see how many people are needed for our business process. How many developers are needed? Plus, to run our system, or what I said, to prepare system engineers or system support workers, how many people do we need? Okay? We will bring in new faces. We have no need for a 1 lakh taka person to provide our service. This is something I will never accept. Why not? Because the brain of a 1 lakh taka person, if he uses that brain for his own work, the benefit we will get, the person who earns 30,000 taka or 20,000 taka, the work he does, he should do that work. I mean, everyone should do their own job. Now, if I go and do someone else's work, okay? The company will not benefit from that. It's a simple fact. And I've said this, if you research everywhere, you will see that any project that runs, from Bangladesh to internationally, the projects that run, you know the percentage. How many are their own people and how many are contractual people. It happens this way. This is how it works all over the world. We won't need 30 people. It will never happen. Why won't it happen? Because work doesn't happen that way.

Now, say, the designer you have recruited, if all your modules are designed, then why will that designer be on your team? Or if you have a front-end... front-end is developed, you have three or four front-end developers here. So, for front-end developers, one would be enough. Why would you need the other three? These answers we have to give. Database engineer, you have four or five in your team. Why do you need four, five, or six database engineers? When the project becomes big, when the complication is over, then one or two are needed. Why do you need five? I have this question. Okay? And in every matter, for example, application development, you have about three or four people. Okay? Why, if your application is developed to a certain level, why do you need the rest?

Now, keeping them or not is the decision of the higher authority or your decision. But why am I asking these questions? Because it is my responsibility to ask these questions. Okay? It is my responsibility. Because if I don't ask these questions, Jabed sir will say after a couple of days, "Mister, I brought you here, but it's the same old story. I haven't seen any improvement. So what was the benefit for me?" That's why I have to ask these questions. That's why I have to ask the right questions. How do I want to steer the business to the next level? The level I want to take it to.

Is my point clear to you?

Yes, of course, clear. Clear.

Okay. So, what I will need from Arif vai, or Rasel vai, from both of you, you take two days' time, no problem. So, a plan needs to be prepared. I will also work with you. Since I know all the people now, the people in your team. Those whose interviews I haven't taken, I don't know them, but those whose interviews I have taken, I know them. That now we have to... specifically, we have to be rough. Very rough and tough. Why? For the business. Because Rasel vai just said that if Jabed sir stops funding, everyone's job will be gone anyway. We can't save anyone. So, when you get on an airplane, there's a message, right? "Save yourself first."

Yes.

That's what we have to do now. My job has to be secure. I will think about me. I will think about the business. Whoever is needed for the business, we will keep them. Whoever is not needed for the business, we will, for now, if we can reallocate them to something else, we will. Since we have to develop our future workforce, we will bring them into that. Or if Jabed sir says that no, we won't do it now, we will bring in new faces or keep these specific people, that decision will be taken by Jabed sir or you two. Okay? But the team alignment has to be done now. That yes, these three people will stay, now if our development starts, people will come on a contractual basis. When the development is finished, they will leave. They will get a permanent job only when a space is created for them. But other than that, they will leave. We don't need them. Why? Because that's how we will do it. We will keep the knowledge, create the knowledge. We will create the knowledge in such a way that these projects we are running do not face any problems. And this is how the entire world works. We will move to that methodology so that we are for the business, not the business for the employees. What has happened to us is that the business is becoming for the employees. Year after year, the business is paying the employees, but the employees are not taking it seriously. It's a careless attitude. We have to come out of this.

Okay.

Okay, Arif vai or Rasel vai, do you have anything to say? I was a bit rough and tough today, I'm sorry. But without doing this, our recovery position... we can't do this without going to a recovery position. It's not possible.

No, you are right. Right.

Okay, let's see, we have taken two days' time. Today is what, Sunday? Monday, Tuesday. So, shall we sit again on Wednesday, Arif vai? Or do we need to sit before that?

No, we will sit, and in the meantime, if we need to talk to Nesar vai, we will take some of his time and discuss it if needed.

Okay.

Otherwise, we will reach a decision on Wednesday.

Resource... resource planning.

Please, because we need this. Without this, we can't move forward, and there's no possibility of going back.

There's a threat like that too, Nesar vai, there's a threat like that.

The threat of going back.

Yes.

Then you understand that the situation is dire.

Let's say, Arif vai is directly involved with these things, so to not cause him mental distortion, I don't share a lot of things. But this kind of thing happens sometimes. For me, you know, my main client is JMI. I go to different points of JMI, I have access, I go, I talk. I understand some things sometimes.

Anyway, let's see. We will make a plan. Hopefully, everything will be recoverable, InshaAllah.

InshaAllah. And in the meantime, I am not having a session tomorrow, but our other modules' discussions, you can talk to them about it. Our SD is finished. After that, the modules we will do, who will talk to me about it?

We'll start with PP. Yes, Ferdous will sit with you. Sumon will also be there, he will be anchoring.

Okay.

Because since Sumon looks after the QA part, he will also just attend these parts. And you... Ferdous will describe it, his every module by module.

Okay.

Then after PP, we will look at MM, then FICO.

Okay, no problem. I am continuing with that, no problem. But my request to both of you is, I am giving the report tomorrow to Jabed sir. So, giving the report means I am aligning these talks with you. Why am I aligning? So that you can understand what the situation is now. Which way we will go. To prepare you mentally. Why? Because we have to... As I said, I do business, I understand that after making an investment, if there is no return, you have to cut it... cut the corners. You have to cut it down. Okay? There is no other way.

Okay, okay.

Okay?

Okay then. Then we will meet on Wednesday at what time? Can you kindly set a time?

Sure.

Arif vai, set a time.

The usual time, we'll do 4 o'clock. Yes. Our time is 4 o'clock, your time is 10 o'clock.

Yes, 10 o'clock. I'll copy this meeting and move it to Wednesday. Half an hour should be enough for us, InshaAllah, or if we need more time, we can take more time. No problem.

Okay, InshaAllah.

Okay then.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Nesar vai.

We will talk. Assalamualaikum.

Assalamualaikum.

Assalamualaikum.