Executive Summary

Marketing analysis is an important part of any service related organizations because it gives an overall idea about the strength of an organization. Especially for ISP’S it has an immense importance. To identify the potentiality or weaknesses, ISP’S top management needs to  properly analyzed all of the important Marketing & financial ratios. As ISP deals with internet, software, hardware & different IT related product, they have to be very accurate with the management of their assets and liability and this will be possible only when they are taking decision based on the Marketing analysis & financial ratio trend.

There are different financial ratios which are the concern of the researchers. Mainly Liquidity ratio, Leverage ratio, and Profitability ratio value ratios plays an important role to indicate the efficiency of ISP management. Liquidity ratios provide information about a firm’s ability to meet its short-term financial obligations. Financial leverage ratios provide an indication of the long-term solvency of the firm Profitability ratios offer several different measures of the success of the firm at generating profits.

 The main objectives of this report are to explore the Marketing strength & financial ratios of Agni Systems Ltd, BDCOM Online Ltd, Bangladesh Online Ltd and Intech Online Ltd. improving the ratio trend Online limited, analyze the nature of the ratios, and make some recommendation about the way of.

Agni Systems Limited is an Internet Service Provider and commenced its business operation with the distinct objective of providing Internet service with a reasonable cost for the overall economic development of the country. Communication is an important part of the economic activities and internet is one of the fastest ways of communication.

Industry scenario Over 200 ISP licenses have been issued and only five companies are listed with the stock exchanges. When Agni started their journey in 1995, there was no other ISP in the country.

Our country is connected to the Information superhighway through submarine fiber optic cable since May 2006. This has changed the scenario in terms of usage and cost of Internet substantially. Dependency on Satellite (VSAT) has decreased. Good quality home broadband is now not a dream and is affordable to the mass. VSAT’s, however, are still partly in use as submarine cable bandwidth delivered by BTTB failed to prove its reliability in the past 18 months. It is important to mention here that the quality of services and technology is improving. So is the revenue. However, profit margin could be more if bad or unhealthy competition did not exist. We still believe that there is a huge opportunity to invest in the sector but a lot depends on the Government policy and development of infrastructure. Very recently, the Government invited applications for issuance of VOIP operator licenses in the form of 1GW and lOX. Unfortunately, the existing license holders from BTRC are not eligible to apply. Earlier, the regulators temporarily imposed bar on import and deployment of WiMAX equipment till further notice. We all know that the Government policies play a vital role in success and survival of any business. The ISP association of Bangladesh is working hard to overcome these regulatory barriers, specially, on the deployment of WiMAX. ISPs, however, are also going to be awarded with the Internet Telephony license as included in the recent ILDTS policy of the Government.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables 

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1              Origin of the Report:

For a student of MBA, it is a requirement for all the students to go for project in different organization. This will not only fulfills the requirement of the MBA Program but also facilitate the dissemination of practical knowledge in the respective area of study. My study is on Agni Systems Ltd basically an internet service provider organization which gives the internet service for the different corporate clients and dial up clients all over the country which has its ultimate objective to make profit .Making satisfactory level of profit depends on the financial strength of the ISP and an ISP’S financial strength depends on its better Marketing strategy & financial performance. To achieve better financial performance ISP’S have to be identify what is their weaknesses which is possible through details analysis or service of other internet service providers. For that reason I choose that topic and I work as a Manager of Sales of Marketing of Agni systems Limited so, the study made at “Agni Systems Ltd.” as my project topic. 

1.2 Objectives of the Study:

The objectives of this report are

1. To present an over view of Agni Systems Limited.
2. To identify the product of Agni Systems Limited.
3. Analyze the nature of the business & Marketing.
4. Compare the ratios of different ISP’S
5. Make some important recommendations about the way of improving internet facilities.

1.3 Methodology of the Study:

      Sources of information :

(A)  Primary Sources

1. Practical desk work.

2. Working experience in marketing department.

3. Face to face conversation with the clients.

4. Personal Observation.

(B) Secondary Sources

1. Annual report of Agni Systems Limited.

2. Corporate profile.

3. Published or unpublished or personally collected data from the offices.

4. File Study.

5.  Websites.

In methodology part, a highlight regarding how the study has been conducted is given.

The sequential steps of the methodology are –

Determination of Time Horizon:

For the purpose of the study five year time horizon have been chosen from 2004 to 2008 over the five years time period , the data relating to the performance of the Agni Systems Limited have been evaluated.

Reliability of the data:

The data collected are highly reliable in the sense that all data presented in the report are used by the ASL. The auditor report in the financial statement and the correspondent with different desks generate information to compose the report successfully.

1.4 Scope of the Study:

The report covers the operational and functional area of Agni Systems Limited. Mainly the importance has been imparted on the area of different products of the ISP. The report may be classified in two broad sections:

i. Organizational part.

ii. Learning part.

In the organizational part the focus has nearly been given on the background History and formation of the Agni Systems Limited, its structure, strategies and the expansion speed. The learning part emphasizes the theoretical explanation of different services of the organization and its related important dimension like the, facilities of those products.

1.5 Limitations of the Study

The Present study was not out of limitations. In preparing the Report, I have experienced some acute problems that have, to some extent, affected the presentation of the report. The acute problems were-

a) Secrecy: Every organization has its own secrecy that is not revealed to others. While collecting data the branch management did not disclose much information for the sake of organizational confidentiality.

b) Employee of Agni: It is something like impossible to uncover the entire aspect of all Marketing plan and strategy. I am very much afraid of Agni’s rival companies.

c) Inadequate Access to Information: The main constraint of the study is inadequate access to information, which has hampered the scope of analysis required for the study.

d) Personal Knowledge: Limitation of the personal knowledge in financial statement is another one. Since knowledge knows know bound, so this report is incapable to present all things with more depth.

2.1 An Overview of Agni Systems Limited

Agni Systems Ltd. started ISP service in 1995. Initially only dial-up service was offered and later on ADSL, fiber optic and wireless broadband was added. The company was converted to a public listed firm in 2003 and now trades on Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges under the symbol AGNISYSL. The company’s main office is located at Gulshan, Dhaka. It has access to well over twenty pops in the city and operates full branches at Dhanmondi,Motijeel,Uttara,Chittagong.

Licenses:
Agni Systems has the following licenses from BTRC:

• Nationwide ISP license
• VSAT Operator license
• DDCSP license (Domestic data circuit provider license)
• Radio Equipment vendor license
• 3.5 GHz Frequency allocation
• SEA-ME-WE4 Bandwidth (Backup by satellite bandwidth)

Paid-up capital:

Taka 148,000,000 divided into 14,800,000 shares of Taka 10 each.

Products and services

Agni Systems has been offering Internet and corporate network solutions to individuals and corporate offices since 1995. Current subscriber base for Agni includes around 6,500 dial-up subscribers (prepaid), 1500 post-paid dial-up subscribers, around 300 DSL/FTTH broadband subscribers and over 100 wireless broadband subscribers. Agni presently offers the following services to its customers:

• Dial-up internet access, up to 56 kbps connectivity
• High bandwidth internet access
• Fiber optic line – Shared and dedicated
• Wireless – dedicated wireless broadband using licensed frequency
• FTTH (active Ethernet PPPoE connection)
• Dedicated connectivity between Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong
• Domain name registration and hosting
• Website and virtual domain hosting
• Web design and hosting solutions
• Network design, installation and administration services
• Server co-location services

Expansion
Agni Systems is planning to deploy WiMAX technology to penetrate into the broader corporate and residential broadband market by providing interference free higher bandwidth at a relatively cheaper price.

Other activities

Besides the core business of providing Internet access, Agni also provides advanced training on Linux operating system as global training partners of Red Hat Inc. of the USA. Agni is also involved in import and distribution of network related products manufactured by ZyXEL Communication Corporation of Taiwan.

Trade body memberships

As a premier IT company in Bangladesh, Agni is an active member of the following associations:

• Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB)
• Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS)
• Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS)

2.2 Corporate Information

Registered Office                            :   NavanaTower, 11^th Floor, Suite A

                                                                45 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212

Corporate Office                             :   NavanaTower, 11^th Floor, Suite D

                                                                45 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212

Share Office                                     :  NavanaTower, 11^th Floor, Suite D

                                                                45 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212

Chittagong Office                            :  Shahjadi Chamber 6^th Floor, 1331/B

                                                            Sheikh Mujib Road, Agrabad C/A, Chtg-4100

Date of Incorporation                      :  November 4, 1995

Date of Commercial Operation       :  November 4, 1995

Auditors                                           :  Aziz Halim Khair Chowdhury

                                                               Chartered Accountants

Bankers                                            : Standard Chartered Bank (SCB)

                                                           Eastern Bank Limited (EBL)

                                                           HSBC

                                                           Premier Bank Limited

                                                           BRAC Bank Limited

                                                           Woori Bank

                                                           Dhaka Bank Limited

                                                           Dutch Bangla Limited

                                                           Bank Asia

                                                           Prime Bank

                                                           Sonali Bank

Insurer                                                 :  Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd

Legal Status                                        :  Public Limited Company

Authorized Share Capital in Taka       :  1000 Million

Member of the Share Market(s)          :  Dhaka Stock Exchange Ltd

                                                               Chittagong Stock Exchange Ltd

Regularatory Authority                       :  BTRC

Number of Employees                        : 150

2.3 Objective of the Company

 Agni Systems Limited is an Internet Service Provider and commenced its business operation with the distinct objective of providing Internet service with a reasonable cost for the overall economic development of the country. Communication is an important part of the economic activities and internet is one of the fastest ways of communication.

Industry scenario Over 200 ISP licenses have been issued and only five companies are listed with the stock exchanges. When Agni started it’s journey in 1995, there was no other ISP in the country.

Our country is connected to the Information superhighway through submarine fiber optic cable since May 2006. This has changed the scenario in terms of usage and cost of Internet substantially. Dependency on Satellite (VSAT) has decreased. Good quality home broadband is now not a dream and is affordable by the mass. VSAT’s, however, are still partly in use as submarine cable bandwidth delivered by BTTB failed to prove its reliability in the past time. It is important to mention here that the quality of services and technology is improving. So is the revenue. However, profit margin could be more if bad or unhealthy competition did not exist. We still believe that there is a huge opportunity to invest in the sector but a lot depends on the Government policy and development of infrastructure. Very recently, the Government invited applications for issuance of VOIP operator licenses in the form of IGW and IOX. Unfortunately, the existing license holders from BTRC are not eligible to apply. Earlier, the regulators temporarily imposed bar on import and deployment of WiMAX equipment till further notice. We all know that the Government policies play a vital role in success and survival of any business. The ISP association of Bangladesh is working hard to overcome these regulatory barriers, specially, on the deployment of WiMAX. ISPs, however, are also going to be awarded with the Internet Telephony license as included in the recent ILDTS policy of the Government.

2.4 Vision Statement of “Agni Systems Limited”

To be a market leader in providing internet services with special focus on creating values for our clients, shareholders, employees and communities. They want to be a preferred ISP of choice with a distinctive identity. So that customers feel that they are always there when they need Internet service, and can refer them to their friends with confidence.

So we may able to highlight them as follows-

i. To become a preferred ISP of choice with a distinctive identity.

ii. To provide best internet services to meet customer expectations so that customers feel ASL is always there when they need, and can refer to their friends with confidence.

iii. To build a sustainable and respectable Internet Service Institution.

iv. To be a leading ISP with a social focus, assisting in the economic development of the country.

 2.5 Mission Statement of “Agni Systems Limited”

To achieve corporate vision with special focus on creating values by:

• Partnering with clients to understand and fulfill their needs considering the development of Technology.
• Maximizing shareholders value through strong  Performance and returns Developing and rewarding employees to effectively manage client relationships
• Diligently serving our communities with integrity and pride

2.6 Goals

Understanding the clients’ needs and to connect with them. By doing so benefit our shareholders, employees and the community where we do business.

2.7 Agni Systems Value

1. Trustworthy.
2. Dependable
3. Professional
4. Dynamic
5. Professional.
6. Reliable
7. Fair

2.8 SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT Analysis is an important tool for evaluating the companies Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It helps the organization to identify how to evaluate its performance and can scan the macro environment, which is turn would help the organization to navigate in the TurbulenceOcean of competition. Following is given the SWOT analysis of The Agni Systems Limited:

Every organization is composed of some internal strengths and weaknesses and also has some external opportunities and threats in its whole life cycle. The following will briefly introduce Agni Systems Limited internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats as I have explored in the Last fourteen years (approx.).

 During the past one year we found out the our  competition regarding  the pricing issue  and future plan   which is implemented by  other companies , after evaluating  the market situation  we have  come across this new strategy.

 SWOT Analysis

During the past one year we have prepared a S.W.O.T Analysis which is given below

2.9 Management Team of Agni Systems Limited

Board of Directors

Chairman

Mr. Howard I. Golden

Managing Director

Mr. Mohammed Abdus Salam

Directors

Mr. Zia Shamsi

Mr. Filip Montfort

Mr. Yarden Mariuma

Mr. Javed Bukth

Mr. Murshed Sayeed

Company secretary

Muhammed shariful Islam

2.10       Nature of Business Activities

The main activities of the company are to render

1. Service of electronic mail
2. Internet access
3. Electronic data communication,
4. Computer networking
5. Electronic data processing,
6. Electronic data entry,
7. Software development
8. To provide service of consultancy
9. To buy, setup, install, produce, rent
10. Deal otherwise in all types of computer, computer peripherals, fax/data modem, computer networking equipment, related accessories, archiving contentment, access network,
11. Hardware supply
12. Web hosting
13. Web design

 2.11 Number of Employees

The numbers of employees at year-end were 150 (One Hundred Fifty Five) persons.

 2.12 Service Architecture

Following figure shows the network architecture of your connectivity to the internet through

2.13 MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher)

The Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) is a tool to monitor the traffic load on network-links. MRTG generates HTML pages containing graphical images which provide a LIVE visual representation of this traffic. Agni Systems Limited will provide MRTG to the customer for monitoring of their real-time bandwidth usage.

2.14 The Principal Products or Services of Agni Systems Limited

A) Services of Agni Systems Limited

I. Dedicated Fiber Optic & Wireless Internet Access

Enterprise Fiber Optic & wireless broadband provides enterprise-class connectivity to distributed enterprises as well as small to medium sized businesses with mission critical connectivity needs. This is supported by Industry-leading SLAs and mission critical service and support that are designed to give business and enterprise customers a cost efficient service.

Customer Support – Customer support to fit your business demands.

• Dedicated live phone support
• Expedited field dispatch within same day
• Commit target on field repair including after hours, on weekends and national holidays
• Dedicated Account Manager
• Email Support.

Speeds & Services – Enterprise Fiber Optic & wireless broadband has symmetrical speeds (same upload as download), asymmetrical speeds (different upload and download) and is available in various speeds (from 64kbps to 100Mbps) to fit your budget/service needs.

• 128/128 kbps
• 256/256 kbps
• 256/512 kbps
• 512/512 kbps
• 512 kbps/1 Mbps
• 1/1 Mbps
• 1/4 Mbps

Multiple Computers – Supports multiple computers within your office right out of the box.

Email – Comes with 15 email boxes on the agni.com domain (YOURNAME@agni.com)
Web Space – Has enough Web space to build your company’s own Web page or transition your existing site on agni.com domain (www.agni.com/~YOURNAME)
Networking – Comes standard with the ability to host your own Web site with Network Address Translation (NAT – will support up to 254 computer addresses internal to your company.

Dial-up – dial-up backup service during service outage

• 10 hours/month free dial-up for access to Internet while away from the office.

Fiber to Home

 CHAPTER-03

 Marketing Plan 2009

 Agni Systems Limited.

 3.0 Market Research and Intelligence

During the past one year we found out the our competition regarding the pricing issue and future plan which is implemented by other companies, after evaluating  the market situation  we have come across this new strategy.

Market Segmentation and Target Customers.

Segmentation and the target market are very important in any service-oriented organization. After the observation of the last two years we have come across many difficulties in the market understanding the patters of customers. So we have categories our Target Market.

Target Market for ASL

Network Extension Plan.

We have to increase our network to all Over Bangladesh

Marketing Strategies

As we are in a competitive market, advertising/ direct marketing is our main to tool to attract our customers. A we are the pioneers in Internet service in Bangladesh we have take the advantage of being number # 1. We have to utilize our brand name Agni. During the past  two years Agni have do  marketing aggressively so will continue to  do  that .The following tools we can use for our advertisement and direct marketing .

1. Advertising. (Newspaper, Television, Brochures, Newsletter, etc)

2. Public Relation.

3. E-Mail publishing.

4. Push and Pull

5. Tele-Marketing.

6. Press Conference

7. Door to Door sales

8. Data Base Marketing

9. Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM)

Direct Sales

• Persons to person sales (Our inside or hired Commission basis sales force)
• Direct mail
• Customer referrals

Indirect Sales

•  “Extensive” distribution (putting your sign-up CDs in every mass market retailer you can find or running ads on mass media)
•  “Selective” distribution (putting your CDs/ in just Circuit City or other electronics retailers or running ads in specific target media)
•  “Exclusive” distribution (working only with specific retailers, dealers and groups or using very specific media

This marketing strategy can change due to market situation any time.

Introduction of New Service

Value added service will play and important role in the coming years, as internet is growing everyday. We want to introduce couple of services

• VOD (Video on Demand )
• Gaming Zone
• IP Phone ( Which can connected any clients within our network )
• Clients can send SMS from our Web site to any mobile phone.

3.1 Product / Service and Pricing Strategy

 We are planning to introduce few new packages for Broadband Internet Services to increase our sales. As we are facing a fierce market competition from other Providers. To sustain in the competitive market we really need to make changes in our Packages.

Packages for Home User and Corporate Clients

Budgeting for the implementing ISP Marketing Plan.

• Advertising Cost.
• Distribution of sales material
• Fair Budget: SoftExpo 2008. Internet Fair , and BCS Computer Show

Advertising Cost

Advertising is very important when launching a new package. After it was learnt that there no mean of Advertisement of the company was done in the recent past.

1. Promotional Item should be given to the client when a new client is singed- up.

We can offer them-

• Mouse Pad
• Pen
• Key Ring
• Cap with the Logo.
• T-shirt.
• Press Conference when launching a new product.
• Advertisement  on Newspaper
• Banners, Festoons. Leaflets
• Brochure.
• A Billboard should put in Gulshan/ Dhanmondi and it’s adjacent area.

Total cost for the promotion for the broadband Connectivity. Prepaid including all the fairs will be around. Tk..50,00,000/- ( Taka Fifty Lac  Including newspapers Advertisement, Banners, Brochure, gift items including  the  fair expense.)

3.2 Projected Sales Growth

Statement of Sales and Revenue Forecast (For the Year 2008):

A complete Marketing Plan consists of the following sections:

•  Marketing Plan Summary
•  Situational Review
•  Strategic Opportunities and Threats
•  Marketing Goals
•  Marketing Strategy
•  Marketing Budget
•  Marketing Controls

i. Marketing Plan Summary

As with most sections of a formal business plan, the Marketing Plan starts with a summary, which is used primarily as a reference for outside readers.

ii. Situational Review

The main section that follows the Summary, gives readers an overall review of the lay of the competitive landscape in the market. I suggest three subsections within the Situational Review:

•  The Market
•  User Sign-up Process
•  The Competition.

The Market subsection should cover overall market size, characteristics, and buying patterns. Within The Market, a planner should be specific about how many households and businesses fall within his target market, how many of them are potential buyers, and why they would want to buy his service.

iv. Marketing Goals

Marketing plan is based on branding vs. user acquisition, for example, let readers know this. A typical Marketing Goals section addresses three main goals; number of users, gross profit, and market share. Other possible goals include; lowering churns, brand awareness, and product awareness, among many others.

A simple Marketing Goals section would look something like this:

v. Marketing Strategy

Typically the most detailed section of any marketing plan, the Marketing Strategy section will determine the marketing budget. A good framework of subsections for Marketing Strategy is:

•  Target Market
•  Positioning
•  Product
•  Service
•  Price
•  Promotion
•  Advertising.

vi. Marketing Budget

A complete, detailed marketing budget should go in an Appendix; a snapshot will do for this section of the main marketing plan. In addition to hitting the highlights of the spending plan, one should detail the metrics underpinning the plan. For example, is it tied to a percentage of sales, average user acquisition cost, or some other formula.

vii. Marketing Controls

The primary tool for this is the monthly budget with a concentration on the number of new users. The monthly comparisons are made by calculating a variance for each budget item. The variances of revenue are calculated at the actual value minus the budgeted value. Thus, a positive-valued variance indicates a favorable occurrence and a negative valued variance an unfavorable outcome.

CHAPTER– 04

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF AGNI SYSTEMS LIMITED

4.0 Industry Scenario

Over 200 ISP licenses have been issued and only five companies are listed with the stock exchanges. When Agni started our journey in 1995, there was no other ISP in the country. Agni started with dialup Internet service with a very few phones. Technology has changed since then and presently Internet is delivered by mostly broadband media such as Wireless and Fiber Optic cable to the Premises.

Our country is connected to the Information superhighway through submarine fiber optic cable since May 2006. This has changed the scenario in terms of usage and cost of Internet substantially. Dependency on Satellite (VSAT) has decreased. Good quality home broadband is now not a dream and is affordable to the mass. Good quality home broadband is now not a dream and is affordable to the mass.

It is important to mention here that the quality of services and technology is improving. So is the revenue. However, profit margin could be more if bad or unhealthy competition did not exist.

Agni still believes that there is a huge opportunity to invest in the sector but a lot depends on the Government policy and development of infrastructure. Very recently, the Government invited applications for issuance of VOIP operator licenses in the form of IGW and ICX.

Earlier, the regulators temporarily imposed bar on import and deployment of WiMAX equipment till further notice. We all know that the Government policies play a vital role in success and survival of any business. The ISP association of Bangladesh is working hard to overcome these regulatory barriers, specially, on the deployment of WiMAX. ISPs, however, are also going to be awarded with the Internet Telephony license as included in the recent ILDTS policy of the Government.

4.2 Going Concern:

The Directors have made an assessment of the company’s ability to continue as a going concern and they are convinced that the company has adequate resources to continue its operation in the foreseeable future and preparing the financial statements where the going concern concept was a basis.

4.3 Dividend

Considering the stakeholder interest and satisfaction the Board of Directors of Agni Systems Limited recommends 15% Stock dividend (15 Shares for existing 100 Shares) on 15,856,000 ordinary shares of Tk. 10.00 each for year ended June 30, 2008.

4.4 Appropriation of Profit

The Board therefore, recommending the dividend for the year 2007-08.

4.5 Capital of the Company:

The authorized capital of the Company is Tk.100,00,00,000 divided into 10,00,00,000 shares of Tk.10.00 each. Existing Paid up Capital of the Company is Tk. 158.56 million divided into 15.856 million ordinary shares of tk.10.00 each.

After issuance of 15% Bonus Shares the Paid up Capital of the Company would increase to Tk.182, 344,000.00 divided into 18,234,400 ordinary shares of Tk.10.00 each.