Janette Toral
Digital Filipino

LAST October 22, I got the chance to listen to NetSuite (http://www.netsuite.com) CEO Zach Nelson, who shared the news as to how his company is growing its presence in the Philippines. He talked about how the number of organizations availing themselves of their various solutions has gone up.

Most of it has been published in various newspapers in the past week.

I managed to ask one question during his briefing and that is on the future of software vendors or application service providers. These are entities who approach companies and sell packaged or customized software, where companies usually pay a hefty sum to get it done or to own it. In worse cases, some don’t see it becoming a finished product.

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However, in the past ten years, the Internet has provided a platform for applications to be built online, allowing entities to just pay a fee to rent it out.

For example, my DigitalFilipino Club site at http://www.e-commercephilippines.com is not a custom-made site. I availed myself of the services of WebsiteWizard (http://www.websitewizard.com) back in December 2003 and I’m still using it today. I pay around $600 a year for the convenience of having a site that is easy to maintain, has an email broadcast system, members’ area, polls, shopping cart, and all the other bells and whistles.

Although some may say that I can use free platforms or cheaper services for such a service, I think if one is working pretty well and your revenues are good enough to cover it, then that means the platform is working well for you.

That is where the answer of Zach rings well when he said that those who specialize in developing or customizing existing online software services (or even building applications on top of it) will have an advantage or competitive edge. I believe this is true as they can be availed by any party or entity anywhere in the world.

What also impressed me with the NetSuite presentation is that the clients they end up getting in the Philippines are mostly inquiries that they generated online. That only proves that with great technology offering and search engine marketing strategy, one can reach out to global markets.

On a personal note, the DigitalFilipino Club will be having its E-Commerce Summit this November 12 and 13 at Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City. Should you like to know more about it, visit http://www.e-commercephilippines.com/

(http://digitalfilipino.com)