Philippine Software Industry 2010 Flight Plan
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Philippine Software Industry 2010 Flight Plan
By Janette Toral
The Philippines has been able to make a great impression on the international market, showing its decisiveness in becoming an outsourcing location of choice, especially in call centers and business process outsourcing.
However, in the software development field, it is a reality that most outsourcers have opted for India more than any other country for their software development outsourcing, especially for high-end mission critical projects.
Knowledge worker ageThe Philippine software industry has been existent in the past three decades with more or less 400 companies. Its 2004 revenue is pegged at US$340 million. With an estimated labor size of 10,000 workers, the estimated revenue per software developer is at $34,000.
What makes this service sector special is it represents the age of the knowledge worker. In this age, the most valuable assets are the workers and their productivity. Intellectual capital is supreme as wealth is migrating from money and things to people.
Last June 3 and 4, there was a brainstorming session for the crafting of the Philippine Software Industry 2010 "flight plan." The country's three main software organizations led the discussion: the Philippine Software Industry Association, CebuSoft, and Association of Solution Integrators in Davao. Several government agencies also took part with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology taking the lead.
The workshop session was sponsored by Microsoft Philippines. It is part of the software company's effort to bolster the Philippines' competitive advantage and one-of-a-kind program in the region. The industry output will be presented in the Cebu ICT 2005 event this June. The brainstorming focused on how to boost domestic demand for software, increase business in the international outsourcing market, and develop capacity through education and advocacy.
Workshop highlights and personal insights
In order for local software companies to thrive: their expertise must be harnessed through domestic software development projects; access to knowledge on vertical segment needs and financing resources; increase industry awareness to value of software in boosting efficiency; and competitive opportunities in bagging government projects.
The Congressional Oversight for the E-Commerce Law chaired by Senator Mar Roxas and Representative Junie Cua will, in its limited capacity, perform intervention to explore the creation of financing programs for SMEs wanting to gain access to ICT resources and software development companies requiring loans to fund ICT projects. Equitable opportunities, performance impact measurements, transparency, and full accountability shall be pushed as well in current and proposed e-government projects. This shall be done in coordination with the Commission on Audit, Department of Budget and Management, and the National Computer Center.
As the world becomes knowledge-intensive, recruiting, retraining, and nurturing talented people is crucial. Academe has to participate aggressively in improving depth and breadth of labor pool. Our capacity development efforts should not only look into training our college graduates but also in re-tooling career shifters, meeting the certification-based skills demand today. This is where the efforts of organizations like TESDA, DepEd, CHED, PhilNITS, the Philippine Computer Society, CEDFIT, and Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines comes into play.
The private sector can contribute further by adopting a school, donate computers, and train its teachers and students. With 400 companies in the software development sector adopting a school each, it will gradually empower 400 schools, at a minimum, nationwide.
The global market for software is huge. The Philippines already has its foot in the door and have every opportunity to bag projects in this area. Having a software development company's software processes certified is becoming a requirement in the selection process, especially in big projects. International market intelligence on project opportunities and future needs are necessary for development of capacity building programs. Proactive marketing needs to be done, but must be industry-association driven, through resource pooling and publishing of success stories. Having access to incentives, grants, and loans will be critical to sustain the energy and momentum of these efforts.
The private sector must work closely with the Board of Investments and Export Development Council to continuously check-and-balance the sector strategy for growth and supply the necessary data for effective decision-making. Lack of data sharing contributed to minor attention given and slow growth of the sector in the past.
Flight plan
Instead of an industry roadmap, the flight plan metaphor was used to emphasize the need for a breakaway growth strategy for the software industry that will contribute to President Arroyo's 10-point economic program.
The industrial-age command-and-control management style is already old-school. The knowledge-based economy requires us to move simultaneously, all unified with a common vision. Each one of us, as a stakeholder, has a role to play and can contribute to achieve this. With a common vision and strategy, parties can take the identified or chosen flight routes to get to the destination the industry wishes to reach.
The challenge in its implementation is instilling a consistent and habitual 360 degrees feedback process so that alternatives can be taken into consideration by industry experienced navigators, as challenges are met in the course of the flight, so that we can all remain focused in meeting the target.
The Philippines may have a long way to go in becoming the leading software development player in the world. But if we all get aligned and committed in a common vision, our unrestrained creative excitement and cooperation will get us to our destiny. Towards greatness!
Philippine Software Industry 2010 Flight Plan
By Janette Toral
The Philippines has been able to make a great impression on the international market, showing its decisiveness in becoming an outsourcing location of choice, especially in call centers and business process outsourcing.
However, in the software development field, it is a reality that most outsourcers have opted for India more than any other country for their software development outsourcing, especially for high-end mission critical projects.
Knowledge worker ageThe Philippine software industry has been existent in the past three decades with more or less 400 companies. Its 2004 revenue is pegged at US$340 million. With an estimated labor size of 10,000 workers, the estimated revenue per software developer is at $34,000.
What makes this service sector special is it represents the age of the knowledge worker. In this age, the most valuable assets are the workers and their productivity. Intellectual capital is supreme as wealth is migrating from money and things to people.
Last June 3 and 4, there was a brainstorming session for the crafting of the Philippine Software Industry 2010 "flight plan." The country's three main software organizations led the discussion: the Philippine Software Industry Association, CebuSoft, and Association of Solution Integrators in Davao. Several government agencies also took part with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology taking the lead.
The workshop session was sponsored by Microsoft Philippines. It is part of the software company's effort to bolster the Philippines' competitive advantage and one-of-a-kind program in the region. The industry output will be presented in the Cebu ICT 2005 event this June. The brainstorming focused on how to boost domestic demand for software, increase business in the international outsourcing market, and develop capacity through education and advocacy.
Workshop highlights and personal insights
In order for local software companies to thrive: their expertise must be harnessed through domestic software development projects; access to knowledge on vertical segment needs and financing resources; increase industry awareness to value of software in boosting efficiency; and competitive opportunities in bagging government projects.
The Congressional Oversight for the E-Commerce Law chaired by Senator Mar Roxas and Representative Junie Cua will, in its limited capacity, perform intervention to explore the creation of financing programs for SMEs wanting to gain access to ICT resources and software development companies requiring loans to fund ICT projects. Equitable opportunities, performance impact measurements, transparency, and full accountability shall be pushed as well in current and proposed e-government projects. This shall be done in coordination with the Commission on Audit, Department of Budget and Management, and the National Computer Center.
As the world becomes knowledge-intensive, recruiting, retraining, and nurturing talented people is crucial. Academe has to participate aggressively in improving depth and breadth of labor pool. Our capacity development efforts should not only look into training our college graduates but also in re-tooling career shifters, meeting the certification-based skills demand today. This is where the efforts of organizations like TESDA, DepEd, CHED, PhilNITS, the Philippine Computer Society, CEDFIT, and Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines comes into play.
The private sector can contribute further by adopting a school, donate computers, and train its teachers and students. With 400 companies in the software development sector adopting a school each, it will gradually empower 400 schools, at a minimum, nationwide.
The global market for software is huge. The Philippines already has its foot in the door and have every opportunity to bag projects in this area. Having a software development company's software processes certified is becoming a requirement in the selection process, especially in big projects. International market intelligence on project opportunities and future needs are necessary for development of capacity building programs. Proactive marketing needs to be done, but must be industry-association driven, through resource pooling and publishing of success stories. Having access to incentives, grants, and loans will be critical to sustain the energy and momentum of these efforts.
The private sector must work closely with the Board of Investments and Export Development Council to continuously check-and-balance the sector strategy for growth and supply the necessary data for effective decision-making. Lack of data sharing contributed to minor attention given and slow growth of the sector in the past.
Flight plan
Instead of an industry roadmap, the flight plan metaphor was used to emphasize the need for a breakaway growth strategy for the software industry that will contribute to President Arroyo's 10-point economic program.
The industrial-age command-and-control management style is already old-school. The knowledge-based economy requires us to move simultaneously, all unified with a common vision. Each one of us, as a stakeholder, has a role to play and can contribute to achieve this. With a common vision and strategy, parties can take the identified or chosen flight routes to get to the destination the industry wishes to reach.
The challenge in its implementation is instilling a consistent and habitual 360 degrees feedback process so that alternatives can be taken into consideration by industry experienced navigators, as challenges are met in the course of the flight, so that we can all remain focused in meeting the target.
The Philippines may have a long way to go in becoming the leading software development player in the world. But if we all get aligned and committed in a common vision, our unrestrained creative excitement and cooperation will get us to our destiny. Towards greatness!
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