Thursday, January 10, 2008 Microsoft to help indie software vendors find markets overseas
MICROSOFT, the largest software company in the world, vowed to help Cebuano independent software vendors (ISVs) market their products abroad through its Information Technology (IT)-Ignite program.
Microsoft Philippines Inc. managing director Rafael Rollan said the company will arrange a partnership deal with Cebu Software Development Industry Association Inc. (CebuSoft) to assist homegrown software developers find a niche in the global market.
The Microsoft IT-Ignite program is one the company’s efforts to foster local innovation by helping talents in the Philippines market their products in other countries, like the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Part of the campaign is to provide business matching between the local ISVs with potential clients of software products all over the world, including Microsoft,” Rollan said in an interview.
He said the program has been introduced by Microsoft in Metro Manila and will be launched in Cebu this coming April as the company has realized the huge potential of ISVs in the province.
In preparation, Rollan said the Microsoft Cebu office will be providing a list of local ISVs who will benefit from the program.
In an earlier interview, CebuSoft president Richard Tiong said there are a lot of prospective software products developed by Cebuanos that need to be recognized in the international software industry.
However, lack of financial resources for further development, including international marketing capabilities, have hindered that growth, he said.
Tiong said that while Cebu has a great potential to become the innovation center in the Philippines, stakeholders have to develop the right ecosystem to achieve this bid.
This includes a vibrant community of “technopreneurs,” good capital market and a favorable environment for the software development workforce, he added.
Rollan said the Microsoft IT-Ignite program, which aims to promote the Philippines as a preferred business outsourcing location for multinational software companies, will help eliminate the negative impression that locally produced software is of poor or inferior quality.
“Now, local software quality can be at par with international software counterparts,” he said.
Rollan, however, said that to be globally competitive, local ISVs must comply with international certification systems, such as the Capability Maturity Model or the International Standard Organization. (MMM)
