"IT career potential escalates..."- Hussain Shabbir, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Operations at Aeturnum Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.

Ashan Kumar met Hussain Shabbir, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Operations at Aeturnum Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.. (www.prwire.blog.com)

Hussain Shabbir, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Operations at Aeturnum Lanka (Pvt) Ltd

Hussain Shabbir is one of the very few people who can look you in the eye and repeat the ‘been there, done that’ punch line with complete honesty.

At just 28 years of age, he is considered by many of his peers to be among the fastest climbers in the IT industry. And indeed, Hussain is proud to bear the battle scars that are witness to his phenomenal rise – he advanced from a humble Associate Software Engineer (ASE) to an accomplished Senior Consultant / Tech Lead at Virtusa within four short years and continues to live a highly successive life thereafter.

 Hussain’s first contact with IT came in the form of a computer, “A Laptop with a monochrome display and without a hard disk!” he laughs, back in 1991 – an interesting toy for a ten year old to play with, but who would have guessed that this ‘toy’ would push him towards a lifetime of commitment to the IT industry?

“My decision to enter the IT industry was genuinely based on my passion towards computers and its whole sphere of knowledge,” Hussain remembers. “And my parents were equally supportive and ecstatic about my decision,” he adds. Indeed, the IT industry certainly was a wise choice for any school leaver in 1999. The dot com boom was at its peak, IT was making inroads in Asia and there was an acute dearth of qualified personnel to man the offices which were springing up everywhere.

Hussain commenced his career in the IT industry with a stint as a modest 3rd year Intern, a requirement in completing his degree at the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT). “My internship at OPRO Lanka was great,” Hussain said. “Working at the World Trade Centre and under the direct supervision of the MD, a pleasant lady from Japan, was very memorable. I recall that the first task assigned to me was to maintain documentation for a desktop-based application. It wasn’t much at the time, but it is experiences of that sort that lead us to the paths we explore in the future.”
And so it was that opportunity came knocking on Hussain’s door just a few months into his first job as an ASE. An opportunity to go onsite to USA as a Tech Lead for three months.

This was just the beginning – and the rest as they say, is history. Hussain went on to mentor and lead offshore development teams, and then became the single point person between the client and the developers during his 3 year stay in Atlanta, USA. Promotion followed promotion. New opportunities appeared, new obligations, different responsibilities… but ultimately – always success.

About seven years later, Hussain is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Head of Operations for Aeturnum Lanka, and is pleased to be working together with his old batch mates, also key players at Aeturnum Inc, USA.

They say old habits die hard, and thus the alumni maintains strong ties with their institute – Aeturnum provides internship opportunities to a multitude of IIT students, whilst also accommodating students from other universities, like the Moratuwa and Colombo campuses. Overall, they have a strong commitment towards helping those who wish to pursue careers in IT, simply because they are aware of the importance that IT plays in the lives of people today. “We are extremely pleased with our interns,” Hussain says. “They come in with theoretical knowledge but leave with practical knowledge that they need to get a leg up in the industry. Many of us also started on our career paths through industrial placements, and of course we would be happy to lend a helping hand to those who are committed to launching a successful career.”

When asked about the scope and development of the IT sector in Sri Lanka today, he confidently says “The Sri Lankan software industry, even though still small, has grown quite impressively. Exports which stood at around US$ 5 million in 1996 increased to approximately US$ 58 in 2001 and were estimated by Central Bank to be about US$ 80 million at the end of 2003. The Software Exporters Association (SEA) has targeted to achieve exports of US$ 1 billion in 2012. To successfully achieve this target, Sri Lanka’s technologically literate workforce needs to be groomed with local as well as global opportunities. These prospects have begun to emerge with initiations by the Sri Lankan government as well as the private sector. As a result, we urge the budding generations to invest in pursuing IT careers as this sector is only going to grow.”

Hussain holds a BSc (Hons) in Information Systems from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Head of Operations for Aeturnum Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. Hussain is responsible for formulating a technical vision and strategy for advancing the state of practice in the engineering of software, services and products in the company, based on researched technology trends that lead to improvements in the state of practice. He also regulates Aeturnum’s Global Engineering Process (GEP).

Additionally, he is in charge of Aeturnum’s offshore development centre, whilst overlooking delivery assurance, offshore profitability, technology consultation, HR, PMO, MIS, pre-sales and business development. He also envoys Aeturnum as a Council Member at the Sri Lanka Association for the Software Industry (SLASI) – the national organization representing the Software Industry in Sri Lanka. He is the founding Vice President of the Sri Lanka Software Testing Board (SLSTB) – a non-profit, professional body established in order to nurture, promote and support the software testing sector in Sri Lanka and help fellow software testing professionals earn globally accepted qualifications. Hussain is a past pupil of Colombo International School (CIS) and Burhani Serendib School (BSS), and currently holds the post of President at the Past Pupils’ Association of BSS.