As the ongoing global economic slowdown prompts companies to become more cost-conscious, conveying the business value of technology – or selling IT – is turning into an important job for CIOs.

Over the past few years, IT has gained wide recognition as a vital component of the business. However, much still has to be done to completely convince the non-IT corporate denizens – especially those in top management – that technology does play a key role in business operations and that the IT department is not just a cost center.

With the creation of a C-level position that is now the CIO, serving as the voice of IT, many organizations have taken a huge step toward acknowledging the business value of IT. But although it has already significantly narrowed, there still exists a gap between the business and IT departments. And fingers almost always point to the CIO as the one responsible for bridging this gap.

Promoting and “selling” IT’s mission and services, therefore, has become a top priority for CIOs nowadays. Computerworld Philippines, in its third CIO Roundtable discussion for the year, gathered five CIOs and IT heads from different industries to discuss what strategies and methods they are using to communicate the value of IT in their respective organizations.

Rufino Villaluna, country technology manager for the Philippines at Standard Chartered Bank, said that, at the beginning of each year, he holds discussions with the business heads on what their plans are for the year and then he comes up with an IT roadmap wherein he identifies the business requirements, the infrastructure and systems currently available and the gaps that IT can fill.

According to Jose Ismael Robles, assistant vice president for IT, Paramount Life & General Insurance Corp., it is all about matching the right technology with the right application to meet a particular business demand and effectively communicating IT’s initiatives to all stakeholders.

“When I come across a technology that could possibly solve existing problems and solutions that could make our people’s work easier, I try to explain to management what the technology does and what it can do for the company; define the concrete benefits we can derive out of it and make them understand the value they will get out of every IT investment,” said Edwin Bañas, assistant vice president for IT-Infrastructure Management Division, Quedan & Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation (Quedancor).

Asked how the current financial crisis may impact the perception and communication of the value of IT among companies, Raul Rodriguez, executive consultant at the IPM Group of Companies, believes a company’s reaction to the crisis may depend on whether it has already found value in IT or has yet to do so. “A company that has yet to find value in IT, upon facing this crisis, will react by cutting down cost,” he noted, “while those companies wherein the value of IT has already been established may take a different approach and even turn to IT to help get them through the recession.”

“IT in our company is at the core or heart of the business. Before, the IT department was viewed as just a support team but as the business relied more on technology, its value became more apparent,” pointed out Ryan Patrick Fernandez, IT manager, Philippine Survey & Research Center.

Sponsored by security firm, Sophos Plc, the Computerworld Philippines CIO Roundtable discussion was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Makati City.

Excerpts of the discussion follow:

CWP: How is IT valued in your company? As CIO, is this how you want IT to be seen in your company?

Villaluna: Our company values IT as a strategic partner of the business. We work together with the business units to help them deliver. They are the ones who bring in the numbers, and we help them do that. In some organizations, IT may just be a support unit but in our case, we have always been considered a partner.

Fernandez: IT in our company is at the core or heart of the business. Before, the IT department was also viewed as just a support team but as the business became more dependent on technology, IT’s value became more apparent. IT is involved in the company’s everyday operations from simple Intranet messaging and networking, to sharing of spreadsheet and presentation files, up to the more complex tasks of finding new solutions and tools to help the company be more productive and efficient in what we do.

Bañas: IT plays a vital role in our company, especially in terms of communicating with our field offices. Technology makes it very easy for us to communicate with clients and the people in our field offices. However, since we are on a tight budget, there are a lot of IT projects that I have to put on hold now like the upgrade of our hardware and software infrastructure and the implementation of a real-time reporting system so that reports from our field offices can be accessed in real time.

Rodriguez: I’d like the company to see IT as a partner and an enabler of business as it enables the business to operate more efficiently and move forward into becoming more competitive.

CWP: How do you think will the current economic recession affect IT? Will it make IT more valuable to the company or will it cause IT to be seen more as just a cost center?

Villaluna: People do tend to look at IT as a cost center and it may actually be a cost center, but in our organization we find ways to reduce these costs or we recommend a change in the process or in how things can be done more efficiently. We also try as much as possible to make sure that our equipment are working efficiently. We actually have a policy wherein we have a technology refresh every three years. We change our hardware this often because we actually did a study and found that it is in fact cheaper to replace them than spend on maintenance cost.

Fernandez: I believe this crisis makes IT more valuable as it hits not only a few but most of the major businesses across the globe, including ours. As a result, management is now looking for ways to lower the cost involved in their IT infrastructure. Auditing the current IT infrastructure gives the company a clearer picture of what can be done in order to save. Based on my experience, they were able to better appreciate the value of IT when I presented the open source solution. Management was actually hesitant at first but when they saw the potential cost savings, they easily gave me the go-signal.

Rodriguez: I guess it depends on whether the company has already found value in IT in the first place, even before the recession. The company I work in, for instance, has not really found value in IT yet. It has used IT as a business with its medical transcription and call center business but it has not really leveraged IT as an enabler of business. Thus, the reaction that we had upon the dawn of this economic recession was to cut down cost and reduce all expenditures in IT. We are, for one, looking at migrating to open source as a cost-saving measure.

On the other hand, for companies that have already found value in IT, the picture may be different. I know of a utility company, for instance, that uses business analytics in light of this crisis and takes advantage of this business intelligence to analyze and look into opportunities amid the crisis.

CWP: But that this only apply to a company that has already found value in IT?

Rodriguez: That’s right, yes. A company that has yet to find value in IT, upon facing this crisis, will react by cutting down cost while those companies wherein the value of IT has already been established may take a different approach and even turn to IT to help get them through the recession.

CWP: A recent issue of Computerworld US mentions five new skills that every CIO should possess to weather the global recession and one of them is to market the value of IT to the company, particularly to show that IT may be a cost center but it can be a business partner too who will be able to tell you where you can spend more wisely. Do you agree that this is the job of CIOs and IT managers and is a skill that they should have or develop?

Rodriguez: I agree with that. The CIO certainly has a marketing function because he serves as the link between the business and IT. Thus, a CIO should be able to effectively apply IT to the business and ultimately improve the business through technology.

CWP: How exactly do you sell IT to the company?

Villaluna: At the beginning of each year, I would have a discussion with the business heads on what their plans are for the year then I come up with an IT roadmap wherein I identify the business requirements – what we currently have and what gaps are there for IT to fill. Being an international bank, we also have systems that are being rolled out globally, in all countries where Standard Chartered has branches. Some of these we may adopt and there are some that we do not. So I would also talk to some regional people and ask what their plans are for the Philippines, whether they intend to roll out some applications or if there is a new technology that they want to look into.

Fernandez: One particular challenge that I encounter is how to discuss a solution to top management in a non-IT way, that is, in terms that they will understand. Since, nowadays, they are already hesitant to invest on any solution to begin with, we then have to lay out the complete plan and clearly define the benefits that the IT solution will bring to the company.

The way I communicate the value of IT to the company is three-tiered: first, I have to keep the managing director informed; second, I maintain lateral communication among department directors; and third, I make sure that the IT department knows what is going on in the business side. Keeping the managing director informed is my top priority – any changes in the IT infrastructure, any new technology to be implemented and any IT-related change that needs top-level approval should be always personally relayed to him.

If some of the services that IT provides are somewhat not working in the way they are supposed to, then it is important that all directors and department heads are informed. We make sure we give them reports on what the problem is, what we are doing about it, how we are going to fix it, and the estimated time it will take to resolve the issue. We always try to instill in all of the employees the mindset that IT is not that complex. We try to strip off the mystery by making them understand what we do and by showing them how we work.

Bañas: When I come across a technology that could possibly solve existing problems and solutions that could make our people’s work easier, I try to explain to management what the technology does and what it can do for the company. I define the concrete benefits we can derive out of it and make them understand the value they will get out of every IT investment.

CWP: How about in your case at Standard Chartered, what are the challenges in promoting the value of IT?

Villaluna: The biggest challenge for me is to look for funding for my existing budget because, right now, it is really difficult to convince the business to invest, especially given the current crisis where everybody is trying hard not to spend unnecessarily. I try to do what is within my control, that is, to juggle around with the numbers we have and find the most strategic IT areas to invest in. What we are doing is really just managing cost and keeping it at a certain level, at a particular ratio versus our income

CWP: In IPM’s case, you mentioned that your company has yet to realize the value of IT, how are you promoting IT and what are your challenges in doing so?

Rodriguez: Right now at IPM, I’m just trying to see where IT can add value to the business. For the construction business, for instance, most of the project management work is done through Excel spreadsheets so I try to introduce and expose them to certain project management tools and even accounting tools. I ask vendors to come in and make presentations to make them aware of the solutions available out there. Also, since we are on a cost-cutting mode, I look into even the littlest areas where IT can help cut cost, something as small as printer ink cartridges and how can we save on these by networking printers rather than having one printer for every department, things like those.

It helps a lot to sell or promote IT projects when, first, the one promoting the project is in a C-level position, this is why the CIO is really in a position to promote the value of IT because he is in a strategic position. Second, I think it will help a lot if the users themselves are the ones to initiate a major project. Even if the idea comes from the IT department, the requirement or the need almost always comes from the users so it would be easier if they themselves champion such projects.

CWP: In the of Paramount, is it difficult to sell IT to the company?

Robles: I think the kind of management we have is very IT-oriented so the push to develop our IT infrastructure is actually coming from the top.

CWP: How do you find the right balance between what the business demands and what technology can deliver?

Villaluna: Basically, what happens now is we have two types of projects: those that are IT-initiated and the others which are business-initiated. What we’ve done with the latter is we normally would get somebody from business to champion a project such that they become the project manager and we become a member of that committee. Before, the IT department is always expected to drive any IT-related project, but we have turned this around and now ask the business to spearhead the project while we support it.

Fernandez: Technology nowadays can range from the simplest to the most complex solutions you might want to implement. It’s just a matter of what or how and why you need such technology. Finding the right balance is about implementing a technology that will help your organization solve current issues while also keeping in mind how it can help the company in the future. My motto in finding balance is “use the right tool for the right job.” Implement a solution that fits your requirements, is scalable, efficient, and cost-effective.

Rodriguez: IT should naturally follow through on the business requirements and demands. For example, if there’s a requirement to shorten the receivable cycle in the company, IT becomes a natural solution, say by implementing something like hand-held computers, a faster billing system or having an electronic payment systems. These things can shorten the billing cycle. This is an example of meeting the business demands and, I believe, it’s not really about achieving a balance but more about marrying business demands with IT where IT and business become one and the same and the business demands become IT demands as well.

Robles: For me, this is like having a .45-caliber gun and using the bullets of a .38-caliber revolver; it simply does not work that way. So my philosophy is there has to a right technology and a right application to meet a particular business demand.

Bañas: I think it’s all about finding and implementing a technology that fits your needs and is necessary to the business. No matter what type of business demands you have, as long as you have the appropriate technology in place, it’s easy to manage a business.

CWP: Do you think that the commoditization of IT has somehow lowered its strategic value?

Bañas: I don’t think so, because if you really value IT in your company, no matter how much the value of the product is, you should invest on it so that you can efficiently and effectively manage your business.

Villaluna: I think it’s a case-to-case basis. Let’s say in my case, technology changes so fast and we sometimes think that we may be lagging behind in adopting the latest technologies, but in our organization, we look at it from a broader perspective and don’t just say “that’s a good technology, let’s implement it.” Being part of an international firm, everything is evaluated at the group level and controls have to be in place, because one of the worst things that could happen is if we take a step forward and implement something only to expose the company to risks.

There are, of course, some initiatives which we are able to push through on a local group level. We even do small program development ourselves but we still have to advise them about what we are developing and explain that it is designed to address a local requirement. When we develop these programs, everything has to pass the group standards and somebody from the regional office has to certify that it meets all the standards.

Fernandez: I believe we can look at this based on two situations: for an IT- related company, the strategic value of IT may have lowered especially for companies that offer IT services like BPO, software customization, technology builders, system integrators, because a drastic drop in prices will most likely occur. Competition in this space will rise and having many players offering the same services will just make the situation worst, causing not only the value of IT to become lower but such companies that offer similar services may end up closing down.

On the other hand, IT being a commodity for corporations and enterprises is good because, like in our case, we can choose what solutions we want to implement. We can pinpoint who among the wide variety of players can deliver the solution and we can also play around with the numbers and refine budget allocations for such projects.

Rordriguez: By strategic value, we mean something that gives the company competitive edge, right? I have two views about this. I could perhaps cite the deployment of ATM (automated teller machines) as an example. I think the first ATMs in the country were installed by BPI and when they did, that gave them a strategic edge. However, when ATMs became very prevalent or were commoditized, BPI lost that edge but they still had to maintain the ATMs. In that case, the commoditization or prevalence of a certain technology does not add strategic value any more. However, my other view is that commoditization of IT can, at times, provide strategic value. An example is the wireless technology. The mindset before was to get the most profits from the A and B market, but as the SMS has helped the telcos earn revenue from lower down the pyramid to include the C and D market. With the increasing prevalence of such technology, say I work for a water utility company, I can then consider sending our customers’ billing through SMS, which might speed up the collection and allow us to remind them when their due date is near, ultimately reducing the possibility of getting their water supply cut off.

CWP: What technologies have had an impact or may have an impact on how IT is being valued in your company?

Bañas: I think VPN (virtual private network) and IP-PABX technology may have a significant impact in our company. I have wanted to implement these because they could address our communication and report submission issues.

Fernandez: One technology that has had an impact on how IT is valued in our company is data management. Data for us is very important, which is why we implemented data backup and recovery in our company. It’s a serious business for us to make sure that the data is always available so we invested on hardware that will hold the data coming from desktop PCs, laptop computers and our main servers.

Security is another thing, we are all aware that threats such as adware, viruses, phishing, backdoors, spyware and spam are very cumbersome issues that IT heads face on a daily basis. In our office, we deployed a managed antivirus solution and implemented application control, content filtering, and spam filtering to make sure that e-mails going in and out of our network are secure. Lastly, we also make sure that firewalls on all our sites are secured and locked down to avoid potential break-ins and to avoid denial of service attacks.

Communication technology has also played a major role in promoting the value of IT in our company as all our employees access now largely depend on their e-mail for internal and external communication, even while they are out of the office.

Villaluna: Document imaging is probably one of the technologies that we believe may have an impact on promoting the value of IT in the company. Being a bank, we have customer data which we have to archive for as long as a particular account is in existence and even after the account is closed, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas regulations require us to keep it for another 10 years, so we are talking about a perpetual archive which would, of course, translate to cost, where the storage company is the only one making money. So what we have done recently is to conduct a study and consult the Central Bank about whether we could archive documents by scanning them and keeping digital copies instead. These are among the things that we are looking at now.

One other thing that we are looking at which I think has been implemented in Standard Chartered in Singapore, is the work from home policy which they call the “mobile desk” where you no longer have your own desk, such that, whenever you come to the office, you just plug in your laptop to connect to the network. But the premise is, of course, that you very seldom have to go to the office. We are looking at implementing this in our operations here in the Philippines as well, at least for the sales and marketing people, because this will translate to savings on rent and utilities. We might even be able to give up a few office floors.

Robles: One particular IT project, which is actually ongoing, that is very important to us right now is document imaging. We have a whole floor full of insurance policy documents, which we are trying to archive and make available over the Internet so that we can quickly and easily access any file or information that we may need in the future. We expect this to have a very big impact on our operations because, aside from the convenience of finding documents, this would also save us office space, which is very expensive nowadays.

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By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines

Taking advantage of promos that are light on the budget, Filipinos actually prefer by-the-bucket services offered by telcos, Smart Communications Inc. disclosed at the launch of their new unlimited voice calls offer recently.

Bucket promos essentially comprise more than half of network revenues, the telco said, ringing in majority of SMS sales from its 38-million subscribers. “Bucket promos have become a bigger portion of our revenue, and in some areas, it is even the lion’s share. It’s a growing trend,” shared Danilo Mojica, wireless consumer division head, Smart.

Their Alltxt offering is actually one of the well-received services they have introduced, easily attracting millions of Smart users nationwide, Mojica added.

Following this trend, the major telco player is rolling out an unlimited voice call service aptly dubbed “Smartalk,” which shall begin implementation on June 26, said Annie Naval, group head for marketing, Smart.

“We are introducing a new unlimited voice calls service through Smartalk, which lets you call anytime, anywhere for a limitless amount of time using only one sim, one number and one phone,” Naval explained, adding that users only need to send an SMS or buy from e-load resellers in order to avail of the service.

Mojica conversely dismissed issues of network clogging due to the rollout of the new service. “We have tested the service for a month in Cebu, and all the elements have satisfactorily passed our tests,” Mojica assured. “Our networks can definitely handle the traffic Smartalk will cause our stations.”

Orlando Vea, chief wireless advisor, Smart, seconded Mojica’s claim. “Everytime we introduce a new product, we setup the necessary facilities to accommodate the users,” he said, alluding to their recent HSPA network upgrade.

The new service, according to Smart, is available to both postpaid and prepaid subscribers, at P100 and P500 denominations for 5 days and 30 days respectively. Postpaid subscribers have the option to include the offer on top of their monthly bill.

The promo is currently limited to Smart-to-Smart and Smart-to-Talk N Text calls, because the company has no plans of extending to off-network calls as of the moment, Vea said.

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By Jenalyn Rubio

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In a world still significantly dominated by male leaders, Accenture top executive Beth Lui, was among the first few women who have managed to prove that IT is indeed, also a woman’s world.

Although gender is no longer an issue in this type of work nowadays, Lui shares that her manager back when she was just starting her career told her to “be better than the guys to clearly stand out.” “The advice worked because I learned to aim higher,” the IT veteran discloses.

A certified public accountant (CPA) by profession, Lui graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Sto. Tomas and has been in the IT industry for more than 20 years now. Right after taking the CPA board exam, Lui applied with the audit division of what was then Arthur Andersen (what is now the IT and outsourcing firm, Accenture) and was offered to join the management consulting division. She started as a software developer and eventually moved up the ranks to designer, team manager, and senior executive.

Today, Lui is the country managing director and concurrently the lead for technology of Accenture Delivery Centers in the Philippines, overseeing the overall delivery of technology services such as systems integration, application outsourcing and infrastructure outsourcing.

NO MAGIC FORMULA
According to Lui, when she started her career, she never imagined that she would someday be the country managing director of a giant IT and outsourcing firm like Accenture, sharing that she just took each challenge one day at a time.

“I do not think there is a sure route or magic formula for success. When I started working, my manager told me that in order to stand out; I should strive to be the best. And some 20 or so years later, I still continue to strive to be the best in everything that I do,” Lui says, adding that even in her current position, she still looks forward to learning new things.

According to her, the opportunities to find solutions to problems, to meet, interact and learn from people, and to experience life in various situations are what inspire her to get up each morning and go to work.

Her biggest challenge professionally, the veteran shares, is to constantly look for ways to do better. On the personal side, meanwhile, she says it would be striking a work-life balance. The executive also acknowledged that without a steadfast commitment to client service and a great team to work with, she would not be where she is today.

“At Accenture, we tell our people that there is great power in our personal expectations – we achieve what we believe we can achieve. It is also very important to have a work-life balance so that we can sustain the time and energy commitment to achieve high performance, everyday,” she further shares.

Looking forward, Lui says she wants to continue growing Accenture in the country, for it likewise continues making significant contributions to the outsourcing industry and the Philippine economy.

Asked what legacy she wants to leave behind, Lui says she wants people to realize that Accenture is capable of achievements and industry leadership in the Philippines. “I would like to be remembered as a leader that demonstrated a ‘can do attitude’ and this is something that I would also like my colleagues to espouse. For the industry, I hope that one day, the Philippines will become the globally preferred location for IT and BPO outsourcing.”

SIDEBAR
Favorite Technology: cellphone and laptop (Both allow me to stay connected while allowing me to stay back.)
Favorite non-work pastime: Traveling, playing piano, and being with my pets (of course in addition to my family and friends)
Philosophy in a nutshell: Embrace change. Because change signifies a new beginning.
Something people don’t know about you: I still have to think about this.

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By Elmar M. Gomez

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Internet and mobile phone are two technologies that have had great impact on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) during the last 10 years. This column will illustrate how MSMEs can use these two technologies to remain competitive. You will notice that I use the words “remain competitive” and not “gain business advantage.” To survive, MSME have to use these technologies in their business operations. MSME have to do better that just use e-mail, surf the Internet, and do texting on the mobile phone. They have to know how to use Search (e.g. Google Search), Friendster, Multiply, You Tube, Flickr, blogs, eBay, Facebook, Twitter. I hope this column will be able to help MSMEs.

Our company is an MSME. We hope that it will be grow big someday. We use the Internet and mobile phones for our business operations. We also use the Internet and mobile phones as platforms for the service which our company provides. Previously, I worked in local and multinational information and communications technology (ICT) companies. I consulted with businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and politicians on how to use ICT in their work.

Let me present some sample illustrations that demonstrate how to use ICT in MSMEs. To understand the context, I should let you know that I was born and raised in Aklan, and regularly return for visits.

GOOGLE SEARCH
Consider an entrepreneur we’ll call Naomi. Naomi has a spa business in a provincial capital. At certain times of the month, business is brisk especially on pay days. However, there are days when business is slow. She is willing to offer promo prices during lean days. She spends on posters, radio plugs on the local radio station, and flyers. But these cost money every time she uses them.

Since Naomi has broadband Internet access, I told her to do a Google Search on “0917 Aklan.” The results were mobile phone numbers that start with 0917, sometimes with corresponding names, that are most probably from the province of Aklan. She did it again for another mobile phone number prefix and ultimately did searches for all mobile phone operators’ prefixes. In this way, she acquired a harvest of mobile phone numbers that she can send SMS messages to promote her spa. Using a Globe number to send to Globe, Smart for Smart and Sun for Sun, she was able to send SMS at no cost by using the unlimited text service of the mobile phone operators.

The above example is not meant to suggest that MSMEs discontinue their existing ways of promoting their businesses. It shows that there is another cost-effective way to reach a certain market niche.

FRIENDSTER
There is another way for MSMEs to communicate their message to their target market. This is to use Friendster. This column assumes you know how to use Friendster. What I am going to illustrate is an example of using Friendster to send messages to your identified market niche.

Last April 27, I did a location search on Friendster for users who are from the different towns of Aklan. I added the number of registered voters as of April 30, 2007.
Tables 1 and 2 show the result. Table 3 has the election 2007 results in the province.

If I plan to run as a board member of the Eastern District of Aklan, this information provides the following insights:
1. Friendster users from the Eastern District make up about 70% of the total votes of an elected board member with the lowest number of votes.
2. Kalibo has the highest Friendster penetration, which is expected for a capital town.

I can bet my depreciated peso that for the same amount of money my opponents invest to communicate once with voters offline, I can communicate my campaign message better, with more relevance, and many more times and probably to more voters using Friendster. This means that I do not have to spend as much money as my opponents to communicate more effectively. That extra money I save I can allocate to more strategic needs like ensuring the integrity of the voting process.

This same search result on Friendster can be used by MSMEs to shout out their marketing message to their local target niches.

These two examples are some of the uses of the Internet and mobile phone in the business of MSMEs. In my next column, I will show examples on how to use other tools and networks like Multiply, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

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By Michael Alan Hamlin

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As Frank Holz notes in his Inside Outsourcing column in this issue, the latest periodic survey conducted by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) and Outsource2Philippines (O2P) revealed a mixed forecast for the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. While 49% of respondents said their firms will expand headcount at least 11% to over 200%, 51% said they would expand their workforce only marginally, stay the same, or decrease the size of their workforce. (Disclosure: My firm developed and deployed the survey for BPA/P and O2P, in which I have an interest.)
However, only six percent of respondents said they would actually decrease the size of their workforce suggesting that whatever impact the global financial crisis is having on the industry isn’t dramatically slowing development. Almost 40% of respondents said their firms will grow significantly, between 16% and 200%. About 85% of respondents said that the crisis has had an impact on their firms, but only five percent said that impact was very significant. Sixteen percent said the impact of the crisis was significant, and 35% said it was moderately significant. Forty-five percent said the impact of the crisis was minor or nil.
Those responses don’t tell us if the impact was negative or positive, but two thirds of respondents said it affected demand, and 36% said the crisis had an impact on expansion plans. Access to funding and payment terms were both identified by 28% of respondents as areas of their businesses impacted by the financial crisis, and 14% of respondents identified a variety of other issues.
When the respondents were asked how they were responding to the crisis, the results were perhaps their most revealing. More than half, 58%, said their response to the crisis was to introduce new services, suggesting that the crisis has created new revenue opportunities for these respondents’ firms. However, 36% of respondents said they had decreased capital investment as a result of the crisis, and only nine percent increased capital investment. This seems to suggest that new services are replacing old ones. But read on.
To determine the vulnerability of sectors to the financial crisis, we examined the results for a growing number of sectors (most respondents identified one of the 25 sectors provided). This showed that firms offering back office services (data processing, HR, finance & accounting, document management, claims & transaction processing, etc,) were most profoundly impacted by the crisis. These firms represented about 63% of respondents that indicated the crisis had very significant impact on their firms and 36% of the firms indicating that the crisis had significant impact.
Next we looked at response to the crisis by sector and found that respondents representing back office services providers accounted for more than 60% of respondents who said their firms are accelerating expansion and only 35% of firms that are postponing expansion. This sector also has the most firms that are introducing new services, about 38% of all firms that are doing so. These results appear to suggest that firms seeking opportunity in the recession are fairing much better than those that may simply be trying to wait out the downturn.
We also wanted to see how firms of varying size have been affected by the crisis. Back office services providers accounted for 66.7% of respondents representing firms with more than 15,000 employees, 71% with 5,001-10,000 employees, and 86% with 1,001-2,500 employees. Only 5.5% of respondents representing firms with over 15,000 employees indicated the crisis had moderate impact on their firms. None indicated any other degree of impact. This suggests that large firms have been substantially unaffected by the crisis.
That’s not necessarily the case for small firms. Firms with 101 to 500 employees represented 25% of respondents who indicated the crisis has had very substantial impact on their firms, 48% who indicated significant impact, and 22% who indicated moderate impact. But there is again a caveat. Respondents representing firms of this size also accounted for 42% of respondents indicating the crisis has had no impact and 29% of those indicating minor impact.
Again, these results seem to indicate that firms that respond in innovative ways to the crisis are faring better than those that aren’t, regardless of size. There’s one other related result that is worth mentioning briefly, and it has to do with value added.
Ninety-five percent of respondents said their firms provide moderate, high, or very high value-added services, and 69% indicated their firms provide high or very high value-added services. This result, along with the high propensity to introduce new services, suggests that the Philippine BPO industry is moving strategically up the value chain.

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By Ryan Flores

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According to a study conducted by Digital Philippines, SMEs account for 99% of the total number of registered business establishments in the country today. They employ 67% of the total population and comprise 60% of the total number of exporters in the country. The survey also found that 72% of SME employees use SMS via mobile phones to transact business, 23% use handheld devices such as Palm Pilots or Pocket PCs, and 90% use PCs, though only 70% of which have Internet access, putting themselves and their companies at risk every day amid the rapid proliferation of security threats.

Trend Micro examined the surfing habits of 1,600 SME employees in various countries and found that they were more likely to engage in activities that pose security risks to their employers’ businesses such as checking personal emails, launching downloaded executable files, and making online purchases at work. Pilferage and laggard or abusive staff have been identified as two of the most common problems SMEs face.

Extensive customer knowledge often set SMEs apart from their large counterparts. Many SMEs operate as family businesses and are managed by their founders or their descendants who know a lot about their customers and the business but may not know that much about systematizing business processes. More often than not, they don’t even see themselves as likely targets of security threats so they don’t really accord that much priority to IT security. Some of them may not even be aware of how important their assets are, particularly to their competitors, nor that hackers, spammers, and other malicious users don’t really care who they prey on. Everyone is fair game. A company’s size does not matter; all that matters to them is the number of successful malware infections, compromises, phishing attacks or stolen information.

Just like large enterprises, SMEs also need protection against the ever-increasing number of malware and digital threats. However, given the limited resources of SMEs, they should take three things into consideration before buying security software:

• All in one suite
• Easy to install and manage
• Support quality

All in one suite

Separately buying antivirus, anti-spam and web filtering software involves a significantly higher cost of acquisition compared to purchasing product suites that incorporate all these technologies into one package. Of course, this is not exactly applicable to large enterprises that require best-of-breed products to ensure the best protection possible, but for an SME, this purchasing strategy makes the most economic sense while providing adequate protection.

Easy to install and manage

Since SMEs do not have a dedicated IT staff, having a suite that is easy to install and manage is critical. It is counter-productive if a security suite needs to be configured, re-configured, and maintained. In the end, employees are better off doing their actual jobs rather than troubleshooting a complicated piece of software.

Support Quality

Murphy’s law states that “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong,” so expect your security software to crash at least once in the most unexpected circumstances. When this happens, having a technical support that can help you sort things out is gold. You wouldn’t want a vendor who takes your money, then leaves you alone to figure out what went wrong.

With these in mind, it is worth your while to do a little research. Various reviews are published in the Web, and vendors should be able to provide you with answers regarding total cost of ownership and technical support quality. In the end, security products are investments to make sure the business continues, and having a worry-free security suite takes out all the hassles of owning one.

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By Michael Alan Hamlin

As Frank Holz notes in his Inside Outsourcing column in this issue, the latest periodic survey conducted by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) and Outsource2Philippines (O2P) revealed a mixed forecast for the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. While 49% of respondents said their firms will expand headcount at least 11% to over 200%, 51% said they would expand their workforce only marginally, stay the same, or decrease the size of their workforce. (Disclosure: My firm developed and deployed the survey for BPA/P and O2P, in which I have an interest.)
However, only six percent of respondents said they would actually decrease the size of their workforce suggesting that whatever impact the global financial crisis is having on the industry isn’t dramatically slowing development. Almost 40% of respondents said their firms will grow significantly, between 16% and 200%. About 85% of respondents said that the crisis has had an impact on their firms, but only five percent said that impact was very significant. Sixteen percent said the impact of the crisis was significant, and 35% said it was moderately significant. Forty-five percent said the impact of the crisis was minor or nil.
Those responses don’t tell us if the impact was negative or positive, but two thirds of respondents said it affected demand, and 36% said the crisis had an impact on expansion plans. Access to funding and payment terms were both identified by 28% of respondents as areas of their businesses impacted by the financial crisis, and 14% of respondents identified a variety of other issues.
When the respondents were asked how they were responding to the crisis, the results were perhaps their most revealing. More than half, 58%, said their response to the crisis was to introduce new services, suggesting that the crisis has created new revenue opportunities for these respondents’ firms. However, 36% of respondents said they had decreased capital investment as a result of the crisis, and only nine percent increased capital investment. This seems to suggest that new services are replacing old ones. But read on.
To determine the vulnerability of sectors to the financial crisis, we examined the results for a growing number of sectors (most respondents identified one of the 25 sectors provided). This showed that firms offering back office services (data processing, HR, finance & accounting, document management, claims & transaction processing, etc,) were most profoundly impacted by the crisis. These firms represented about 63% of respondents that indicated the crisis had very significant impact on their firms and 36% of the firms indicating that the crisis had significant impact.
Next we looked at response to the crisis by sector and found that respondents representing back office services providers accounted for more than 60% of respondents who said their firms are accelerating expansion and only 35% of firms that are postponing expansion. This sector also has the most firms that are introducing new services, about 38% of all firms that are doing so. These results appear to suggest that firms seeking opportunity in the recession are fairing much better than those that may simply be trying to wait out the downturn.
We also wanted to see how firms of varying size have been affected by the crisis. Back office services providers accounted for 66.7% of respondents representing firms with more than 15,000 employees, 71% with 5,001-10,000 employees, and 86% with 1,001-2,500 employees. Only 5.5% of respondents representing firms with over 15,000 employees indicated the crisis had moderate impact on their firms. None indicated any other degree of impact. This suggests that large firms have been substantially unaffected by the crisis.
That’s not necessarily the case for small firms. Firms with 101 to 500 employees represented 25% of respondents who indicated the crisis has had very substantial impact on their firms, 48% who indicated significant impact, and 22% who indicated moderate impact. But there is again a caveat. Respondents representing firms of this size also accounted for 42% of respondents indicating the crisis has had no impact and 29% of those indicating minor impact.
Again, these results seem to indicate that firms that respond in innovative ways to the crisis are faring better than those that aren’t, regardless of size. There’s one other related result that is worth mentioning briefly, and it has to do with value added.
Ninety-five percent of respondents said their firms provide moderate, high, or very high value-added services, and 69% indicated their firms provide high or very high value-added services. This result, along with the high propensity to introduce new services, suggests that the Philippine BPO industry is moving strategically up the value chain.

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Even as a student, Rolino “Jun” Bucao has been a proponent of educating people about IT; so after getting a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at the University of the Philippines, he went to teach at the Central Colleges of the Philippines for two years. There he taught IT subjects to students in all levels while being laboratory custodian, a position he previously held when he was still a student.
“I have always been very fond of teaching and would have stayed being an educator. Unfortunately, other than being grossly overworked and underpaid, I found myself being behind in technology since there are not enough opportunities to learn and apply new things,” shares Bucao.
To address his desire for higher learning, Bucao decided to practice his profession and, thus, worked as the MIS head of Beatriz Marketing and Trading Corporation, the sales and marketing arm of the roofing division of the Jacinto Group of Companies. A year after, he transferred to Far East Bank and Trust Company and became an analyst/programmer, providing support to the Trust Banking Group (TBG). There he worked for 8 years, including his one year stint at BPI (where he helped with the integration of the Trust systems of both banks) before finally joining Banco de Oro (BDO).
“In my current job, it is a ‘must’ to stay updated; I am also able to mentor and teach the members of my team. I’m actually being paid to do something I like,” cites Bucao. At BDO, he was senior manager of the group handling outsourced IT projects. Now, he takes care of the bank’s front-end and channels system.
“I am currently heading the IT development team providing support to the TBG. Our team is in charge of the maintenance and development of systems primarily related to electronic channels for both retail and corporate clients including ATMs, POS, mobile banking, Internet banking, phone banking and the debit card system of BDO,” says Bucao. His team also manages the BDO systems interfacing with different partners, such as Megalink, ExpressNet, Bancnet, Mastercard, Visa and telco companies (Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular), in addition to providing support to the remittance unit of the bank.
According to Bucao, the banking industry is very competitive in nature, thus it relies heavily on IT for product development, which require ingenuity on the part of his team. “I find it fulfilling and challenging to find the technology appropriate to these business initiatives and try to deliver them in a timely manner without sacrificing the quality of these products once they are introduced,” he explains.
Quality means keeping the response time to the absolute minimum, resolving problems at the soonest possible time, and satisfying clients with the bank’s product offerings. “To be able to do all of these, my team and I have to be updated on the latest in technology to keep up with the business and the market,” relates Bucao.
Technology briefings, information from the Internet and the constant exchange of ideas among his team, keep them updated. “I have always made it a point to know and understand what everybody else is doing. I do not limit myself only to the people directly reporting under me but I check on all the other people who report to them as well,” notes Bucao.
What keeps Bucao going is finding fulfillment in what he is doing. “I will probably keep doing this job as long as the challenge is there and the hunger to learn still exists.” Right now, Bucao hopes to make all their systems stable and error-free, that’s why enhancements and modifications are being made continuously to cope with increasing transaction volumes, new requirements, regulatory compliance, and innovation.
Outside work, bowling, badminton, watching TV and doing online shopping are just some of the things that keep him busy. “I used to spend more time playing badminton (at least three times a week) but my current work load wouldn’t allow me to do so. I also enjoy going out with my family and friends to visit different tourist spots in the country,” states Bucao.
Aside from these, he also heads the reunion preparations (Silver Jubilee) for HS Batch 1984 of the PUP Laboratory High School, making him even busier. “I would normally keep my weekends for family and leisure but that alone is proving difficult since most of the systems I’m handling are up 24×7. Still, I do have people who can already handle the trivial issues so I’m now getting more out of my weekends (and my non-working hours). It only gets disrupted whenever we have shortage of personnel due to resignations,” quips Bucao.

DOSSIER
Name: Rolino “Jun” C. Bucao, Jr.
Title: Vice President and Head of ITD-Transaction Banking Systems
Company: Banco De Oro Universal Bank
Favorite Technologies: Java, Unix, any SQL database
Favorite non-work pastime: Badminton, shopping whether in the mall or online, and watching TV (sports, news and movies).
Philosophy in a nutshell: “We find ways!”

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By Tom S. Noda

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Surpassing failure and frustration indeed justifies destiny’s realness in life. And for Gladys Lumbuan, fate became true by simply keeping the dream alive and going along with the streams of the times.

Failing to achieve her goal of finishing an information technology (IT) course in college, Lumbuan still managed to become a successful IT professional. She is currently the chief information officer (CIO) of Sky Cable Corp., a top cable company in the Philippines, where she heads the company’s information technology and telephony division.

Lumbuan recalls she failed to pass an entrance exam in the University of the Philippines (UP) in 1983 for the BS Computer Science course.

“I did not make it,” she says. “I ended up taking my second choice course which was BS Social Sciences. But on my sophomore year, I applied and was accepted to transfer to the College of Engineering, for the BS Industrial Engineering (BSIE) course.”

But the IT college entrance exam was not Lumbuan’s final duel with the dream profession. After earning her BSIE degree, Lumbuan worked for a while as research assistant at the UP Engineering Research and Development Foundation in 1988, and then moved to SGV Consulting, Inc. in the same year, where she would have another crack on IT.

Lumbuan shares she took a battery of IQ tests at SGV where she scored high ratings in logic.

“The company considers high ratings in those areas as a necessary skill for computer-related jobs and my assessment was even strengthened when I was sent to Arthur Andersen’s training class called Computers in our Practice School, where I received the highest rating granted to any training participant in a class,” she says.

Lumbuan says there was just no looking back at that moment as SGV immediately assigned her to handle various computer programming projects related to the manufacturing industry—the area where most BSIE graduates like her were mostly employed. “The assignments had tapped both my skills in computers and IE,” she claims.

After her two-year stint with SGV, Lumbuan served in four different companies before joining Sky Cable, and these are: Avon Products Manufacturing, Inc. (EDP supervisor, systems analyst/programmer from 1990 to 1995); Digital Equipment Filipinas, Inc. (industry solutions team manager from 1995 to 1997); Eastern Telecommunications Phils., Inc. (information services manager from 1997 to 2000 and later as assistant vice-president, head of information services department from 2000 to 2003); and Institutional Synergy, Inc. (IT consultant from 2003 to 2004).

Lumbuan cites that “faith in God, self-confidence, hard work and a supportive spouse” were the factors that helped her attain a successful career in IT.
Being an IT professional for 25 years, Lumbuan advises IT professionals should know very well the business of one’s company, its product, customers, the supporting technology and processes.

“You should always be accountable to the results of your performance and must do the extra mile as you work on your deliverables,” she says, noting that establishing amiable relationships with peers is a plus; and that one’s integrity should never be compromised.

Lumbuan adds one’s subordinates will work effectively if objectives are clear with them and if their significant contributions are recognized, as well as if they know that they are known in some personal level.

“Job satisfaction is not all about getting good money. It’s being appreciated for the worth of the work that you give,” she says.

A mother of three children, Lumbuan dreams someday of having a Web-based business of her own that will provide professional services.

TIDBITS
Age: 43
Status: Married to Alex, an engineer. They have one daughter and two sons, ages 14, 12 and 7, respectively.
Favorite Technology: The Internet
Philosophy in a nutshell: “Integrity is the most valuable and respected quality of leadership. Always keep your word.” by Jim Rohn
Hobbies and Interests: Tinkering on tech gadgets, home decorating, shopping, fashion and entertainment magazines.
What people don’t know about you: I deliver inspirational talks to female inmates in the city jail. I can prepare Lasagna and Shepherd’s Pie.

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By the Computerworld Philippines Staff
Published in the March 2009 print edition of Computerworld Philippines

The company IT department, already commonly seen as a cost center, is now the focus of even more intense scrutiny by top management as news reports about the ongoing global economic slowdown fan anxiety in all industries. According to analyst firm, Gartner Inc., the IT mantra “doing more with less” is quickly being replaced by “doing less with less” as most IT departments across the globe begin feeling the pinch of the crisis.

In line with this, Computerworld Philippines, in its 1st CIO Roundtable discussion for the year, gathered CIOs and IT executives from different industries in the country to find out exactly how the global slowdown is affecting local firms, particularly their IT departments.

Sponsored by Sophos Plc, the roundtable discussion—a lively and insightful exchange among the Computerworld Philippines team and the six invited IT executives—revealed that, contrary to what most people expect, the present scenario is not “all doom and gloom” for local IT departments. IT in fact, tends to take center stage nowadays; as top management increasingly looks to it to help the business cut costs and improve efficiency through technology.

Dennis Bancod, executive vice president for IT at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), acknowledged that, being in financial services, their company is being impacted by the crisis. He said, however, that they are not changing any strategies, particularly in the IT department, as it has always been their philosophy to remain prudent and spend only on what they need.

Lorraine Belo, CIO of construction supply firm, Wilcon Builders Inc., agreed. “We more or less still operate the same way regardless of the economic situation, in the sense that we do not really overspend on things, even before the crisis,” she said. “We just spend on whatever is needed.”

Although situations may vary with each company, one industry that is not quite feeling the pinch yet is the real estate sector, according to Jay Estaris, CIO of the Century Properties Group. “I think people are still investing in the Philippines and, for a company like ours that is used to operating in adverse situations, you just try to operate the best way you can and assume the worst while hoping for the best,” he noted.

For his part, Marcelo Trinidad, IT manager of home and construction materials suppliers, Ceramic Plaza Inc., said that during tough times, the pressure is even greater for IT to help the business weather the storm. “It’s really up to us in IT to try to make all these processes more efficient, so this year we are really expected to do more,” he pointed out. “This year would be a very busy and challenging year for us because we have to reinvent ourselves and raise the bar to be able to do more for the business.”

“I think most IT departments have been trained to work on a minimum budget and to do multi-tasking. However, the owners of CDO have always been very supportive of the IT department and they recognize that if you do not spend on IT you end up spending more,” said Leonides Tolentino, senior manager, management information systems, Foodsphere, Inc., better known for the brand it carries—CDO.

“The crisis gives us more opportunity to align with management because, being a food manufacturing business, we were traditionally not IT-centric but now, management realizes that a lot of opportunity to weather the storm is actually coming from different technologies,” added Rogelio Tayamora, IT director, Pepsi-Cola Products Phils. Inc.

Excerpts of the discussion follow:

CWP: Is your IT department already feeling the effects of the global economic crisis?

Bancod: I guess our industry, among those represented here, is the most affected because the current economic crisis is really a crisis on the financial services industry and when the financial sector is hit, as a consequence all the other industries would eventually be affected as well. Now, as whether the IT department is feeling it, I would say “Yes.” But this crisis did not blossom overnight, the signals have been felt from as early as the middle of 2007 and the recovery is probably going to take another 12 to 18 months. So, at least from our perspective, as early as the middle of 2007, we knew that we had to do something to be able to weather the storm.

Estaris: I can’t really speak for everybody in the real estate industry but we have noticed that the sector is quite impervious to the effects of the crisis. I think people are still investing in the Philippines and, for a company like ours that is used to operating in adverse situations, you will try to operate the best way you can and assume the worst while hoping for the best. With our IT department in particular, we have not really experienced any difficulty that may be attributed to the ongoing global crisis.

Trinidad: Our industry is closely related to the real estate sector and, so far, I have been talking with architects and contractors and most of them are even looking forward to a good year because they say it is during these times that the price of construction materials goes down.

Tayamora: Our company sells food and beverage products so we are very much affected by trends and changes in consumer spending. On the IT side, since Pepsi here in the Philippines is part of the larger, global Pepsi-Cola family, we are also affected by the changes and directions that our parent company in the US puts in place. The direction for us now is to hold on to the “Cash is king” motto. We want to protect our cash so, in the process, we have become stricter with credit. The idea is not to spend ahead of the curve. Anything that we want to spend on, either in marketing or development, should really present a solid return. In the process, the IT department is also affected but we are actually quite used to this as we have always been quite conservative with our initiatives. The good thing is we have a long-term plan in place so we can better gauge which projects we can work on now and which ones could be shelved for a while.

Tolentino: People may stop buying construction materials or real estate properties, they can stop investing in banks, but people will always have to eat three times a day, so our company being in food manufacturing is doing just fine. We did well in 2008 and we are optimistic that this year, although we may see shifts in consumer spending or preferences, we can still do well. From the IT perspective, it being a cost center, I think most IT departments have been trained to work on a minimum budget and to do multi-tasking. However, the owners of CDO have always been very supportive of the IT department and they recognize that if you do not spend on IT, you end up spending more because of productivity loss or even loss of sales opportunities, say when the system goes down for example. So they realize the importance of IT. I even increased our budget for this year because we have to ensure our system is highly available and we will be working on a lot of additional projects for the finance department along with some initiatives on business intelligence.

CWP: What areas have been affected—or do you think will be affected—by the global crisis?

Trinidad: Among the companies present here, ours is probably the smallest, and this I think is a good thing given this economic crisis, especially because we are not highly-dependent on external providers and almost all of our systems are developed in-house. Reading about all these software companies that are being impacted by the crisis along with other big companies that have big investments in large banks that are in trouble, I can imagine how much of a nightmare it would be for IT professionals to wake up one morning and find out that they can no longer get support for their mission-critical systems. In that sense, I believe we are not that affected, also because we really have a good and devoted team capable of working on and fixing things internally.

Estaris: At Century Properties, all IT projects that we have dreamed up for the past two years are still going on. We are still delivering these projects, hopefully on schedule and on budget. Given that, while I believe in tested products, right now we are servicing the needs of the organization more with home-grown applications and most of these are Internet-driven applications. On the other hand, I would imagine that if I was still on the other side of the fence as a vendor, this crisis would be creating certain difficulties because the focus of the clients right now has shifted from those issues addressable by IT to concerns about prices. So I would imagine there maybe a slowdown in vendor driven-applications but, internally it’s not affecting us at all.

Bancod: First, you have to be prudent enough to make sure that you weather the storm and, at the same time, you want to also look at it as an opportunity and see which areas you can exploit in a crisis situation. For us, the way IT would react to that is not really with just IT per se but it is really about making sure that the we keep our close ties with the business and see how they are going to react in such a situation and be able to exploit and support the opportunities that they would identify to weather the storm.

Tayamora: For us at Pepsi, the key word is also “prudence.” IT follows whatever direction the business takes, especially in view of this slowdown. This crisis even gives us an opportunity to take a closer look at our current setup, review what we could do better and what we may be doing wrong. It also gives us more opportunity to align with management because, being a food manufacturing firm, we were traditionally not IT-centric, but now management realizes that a lot of opportunity to weather the storm is actually coming from different technologies. Thus, the crisis somehow has had a good impact on the IT department because it brought us closer to management.

Tolentino: All IT projects are a go for our company but a few of the areas that may be affected this year are in the acquisition of new technologies. That may slow down this year. We could also possibly delay the purchase of licenses and maybe wait for the best time within the year so we can buy in bulk and take advantage of discounts. On the training side, I know of some companies that have held back on training their IT people but I believe now is the best time to equip your people as IT gains more importance in times like these.

CWP: What technologies do you think will help your company respond to the expected tightening of economic conditions?

Tolentino: I am looking at two areas which I believe will be vital to the business: one is a security and productivity tool and the other is business intelligence. The reason I mentioned security is because our business is built around the formulation of all our products so we have really strengthened our security system and put in place the necessary layers of protection. Business intelligence, meanwhile, will also play an important role in the business because it will help us in the analysis, not only of day-to-day sales and production reports, but also in predicting possible changes in market behavior so we can better address and more quickly adapt to what the consumers want and would want in the future.

Tayamora: We are also looking at a business intelligence system that would allow us to mine all our transactional data. Pepsi offices are geographically spread out so data is also widely spread out and the key is to be able to narrow the gap between information turnaround and decision-making. Security, of course, is an ongoing initiative within Pepsi.

Estaris: I think I’m fortunate to be in a company that has a visionary for a leader. He has made it clear to us what the battle plan is and, simply put, it just means that all the departments have to work harder. Given that, we in IT are focusing our applications development work and even our network operations projects on three key areas: conventional efficiency and empowerment tools for the various departments so that they can operate their lean teams efficiently and cost effectively, and a non-conventional portion where we are focusing on executive decision agility. We need to provide information as quickly and as accurately as possible given that the decision-makers and owners have to react very quickly to whatever is happening in the market.

CWP: In Wilcon, are you looking at any particular technologies that you think will help you respond better to the tightening economic conditions?

Belo: In terms of strategy, I think we more or less still operate the same way regardless of the economic situation in the sense that we do not really overspend on things, even before the crisis. We use open source, for example, because it does not cost much so we channel the money in necessary spending, like, say, in hardware. Another technology that we are looking into is wireless. We are planning to have our sales staff use a wireless PDA (personal digital assistants) probably later this year because, right now, our sales staff takes the order then goes back to the computer. A lot of time is wasted on the side of the customer which also means less sales for our staff. Overall, our strategy in IT is really simple: we just spend on whatever is needed.

Trinidad: We are also looking at open source because it is really cost-efficient. One other technology is Voice over IP (VoIP) to reduce the communication costs between our branches.

Bancod: RCBC, as you know, has been in the market for so long and IT in the bank is really in a mature state already, so we have very few gaps. Our strategy with technology remains the same because we believe that it is not really technology but the business that dictates any changes. So it would really depend on how they would respond to the crisis. Say they see potential in the property sector, then it would be our task to come up with new products and services that could be launched to cater to that particular industry. Other than that, I do not see any major changes in our IT strategies.

CWP: How will this crisis affect, if at all, the IT manpower?

Bancod: My philosophy is the same with both IT manpower or resources—just get the resources that you need and maintain that. I don’t think this crisis has serious implications on IT resources. My view is we have to see the opportunity in this. Getting IT talent has always been a battle. In 2007, we lost all of our talent to a big business process outsourcing firm; I think it’s time that we try to get them back. So these layoffs we have been hearing of may be not be all bad. But, of course, you still have to be prudent so as not to upset your bottom line. Balance your needs based on your plans and match that with the human capital you require.

Estaris: With or without this crisis, the IT department is under constant reevaluation; we need to, at least internally, justify our existence and make our company understand that whatever manpower we have right now is the ideal minimum headcount. So, with this crisis, it is going to be “business as usual.” We will keep producing the applications that the business needs.

Belo: We are opening stores and we, in fact, just hired one more IT person so it is very unlikely that we will reduce our staff because we actually need more.

Trinidad: I think at times like these, the people in other departments should be more afraid about losing their jobs than the IT people because this is when the company really takes a close look at internal improvements and the IT department is usually the enabler of all these improvements because IT is needed now more than ever.

Tayamora: Our philosophy at Pepsi is we just get the resources that we need so our 11-man team does a lot of multitasking. We also outsource most of our processes because it’s working for us, so I don’t believe that we really need a very big team.

Tolentino: As I mentioned earlier, I am even spending more on training now because I believe this is vital to the development of my core team. IT people are a rare breed, you have to challenge them, you have to give them technologies to play with. So one way for me to retain my core team is to train and equip them.

CWP: Are there current IT strategies (either in terms of technology or management) in your company that you think needs rethinking to address any forthcoming downturns?

Estaris: Any good company or any good IT department should constantly reevaluate its strategies; it should change constantly depending on what the market requires. So all our projects are constantly being reevaluated. They always have to be aligned with corporate needs and corporate directions and we have our regular meetings with top management to make sure that what we are doing is right.

Bancod: When you talk about IT strategies and how these are being affected by the current economic situation, I believe there will be no significant changes. It would all still be about your bottom line, generating new revenues, reducing cost, and so on. What I think is unique in this situation and how IT units, particularly in financial services, may be affected, is you would want to anticipate how the regulatory bodies would react to the situation. During the 1997 Asian crisis, a number of reforms, like Basel II, were instituted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and all the banks had to comply. This crisis would institute a new set of reforms that would be triggered globally and the Bangko Sentral would probably adopt and, as a consequence, they would most likely ask all the banks to comply with those. So if there’s an area in IT strategy that may change that would probably depend on how we are going to respond to the reforms that they will institute.

Tayamora: In terms of strategy, we really just align our initiatives with those of management and support which direction they want to go. We’ve been doing a lot of planning and we have been executing projects based on a long-term plan, so every year we just build on what we had accomplished. If the business wants to rethink some strategies because of a new opportunity, then we do what is needed from our end to support that. We are still primarily a manufacturing firm so the IT department is just really there to ensure that business processes go well based on our long-term plans.

Tolentino: We also plan ahead so should there be any rethinking of strategies, this would depend on the company’s priorities, so we would probably be prioritizing less-effort-but-more-impact projects as we constantly strive to achieve cost benefits.

CWP: As the IT head of your respective companies what do you think will 2009 be like?

Tayamora: I don’t know if it’s unique in our industry, but competition is really tight nowadays and, because of that, we have to be really good at what we do. I’m quite fortunate because we have a parent company that directs what strategies to undertake; you can be a maverick at times but there isn’t much room for that nowadays.

Bancod: I guess if you are driving a car and you’ve been driving it for like two years at 60 miles per hour, in 2009 you would probably want to drive at 20 miles per hour. If you are used to checking your map every once in a while, now you may have to check your map more frequently than before. That’s how we look at 2009. We know we need to be more careful and we know we need to be more prudent but, at the same time, we know it is still a very dynamic market and we need to respond to the needs of our market. For IT, I expect 2009 to be a very busy year and, for us, it’s really again an opportunity for the CIO to try to lobby for his internal projects.

Belo: It’s going to be busy, basically because we have been expanding so much. One of my goals is to still have the same amount of people but to have more efficient systems in place. For example in HR, we do not want to increase our HR staff anymore, so we want to automate more processes. We are also putting in place a new ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, so we are going to be very busy making everything more efficient.

Estaris: In the IT department, we really just purchase what we need and always prioritize projects based on need. We do have to manage the expectations of other departments because they tend to keep on demanding stuff, say faster connections or faster generation of reports, etc. But this year, since we need to prioritize things, we probably would not be able to deliver all their wishes all at the same time.

Trinidad: During these tough times, it’s really up to us in IT to try to make all these processes more efficient so, this year, we are really expected to do more. This year would be a very busy and challenging year for us because we have to reinvent ourselves and raise the bar to be able to do more for the business.

CWP: Finally, how can IT vendors help your departments as well as your company as a whole hurdle the challenges that lie ahead?

Tayamora: Probably to be a bit more understanding because companies would definitely stretch their budgets now, and service quality should always be there. We don’t hook up with a lot of vendors; our philosophy is basically to establish long-term partnerships. So basically what we would want from vendors is for them to be more understanding, maintain service quality and also to have better control over their resellers.

Tolentino: On my part, it’s really my philosophy to not talk to sales people. I always ask to talk to the sales engineer who really knows the product because a sales person will sell you anything even when you do not need it and will tell you that something’s possible even when it’s not. My advice to principals, as well, is to not have too many resellers but focus on having a few reputable and reliable ones.

Bancod: I think because of the current environment what makes you re-think the way you deal with vendors is the support that you are getting from them, in other words, support capability. I think one new thing in this area, in response to the crisis, is somehow you now tend to be more comfortable with local partners because they are not that affected and you have to review the support capability of some multinational vendors. That, I believe, is one consequence of this crisis but, other than that, the way we deal with them will remain the same.

Belo: I always like to work directly with the principals because I have had bad experiences with sales people selling me products just for the sake of selling, even when you do not need the product. So what I do is, for example I want to buy a product from Microsoft, I talk directly to Microsoft and tell them what I want. I give them the specs and I ask them to recommend resellers, then I tell them “Okay, you can tell your reseller that I am interested.” I like how that is done because, if I go straight to the reseller, they will just call and call and, eventually, I will discover that I do not really need what they are selling, so that’s how we do things now.

Estaris: I think the struggle for us, rather than pricing or anything else, is that it’s very rare to find a vendor who really takes the time to understand your issues. Most of the time, they are trying to form-fit your issues according to their product and I don’t appreciate that. So my tip for vendors is try to understand the problem: what issues are keeping us awake and tell us how you are going to address those.

Trinidad: I guess, in general, vendors should really take a look from the point of view of the buyer. What we want is value for our money so, of course, price is an issue and good service should always be there. Also, they should provide real solutions and not just sell products. To do that, they should really assess what the client needs.

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By Paul Krill
InfoWorld (US

SAN FRANCISCO- Red Hat’s CEO, in a blog post on Monday, is endorsing the Obama Administration’s call for openness and participation in government by likening the President’s statement to the open source software movement.

Linking to a White House statement in which President Obama calls for transparency, participation, and collaboration in government, Red Hat president/CEO Jim Whitehurst said open source provides an answer to calls for transparency and participation.

“Red Hat is excited that the Obama administration recognizes the value of open source beyond software. Open source principles are changing how we learn, how we share information, how developers create, and how companies do business. Now it has the opportunity to change our government,” Whitehurst said.

“Open source can provide an effective way for government to cut costs and ensure open access to information,” Whitehurst said. “Lowering the costs of infrastructure will help provide resources for our government to focus on finding solutions to the challenges that lie ahead.”

[ See also: "Red Hat CEO questions desktop's relevance in Linux debate." ]

Linux and open source have brought choice and savings in the private sector, and some governments have adopted open source as an alternative to “expensive, proprietary technology,” said Whitehurst.

“Open source has already saved the federal government a substantial amount of money and can provide an opportunity to save millions more,” said Whitehurst, who also endorsed Open Document Format.

“We believe that the Obama Administration has an unprecedented opportunity to use open source to spark innovation and positive change. It won’t happen overnight, but all levels of government can make it happen if they work collaboratively and follow Obama’s rallying cry, ‘Yes, we can,’ ” Whitehurst said.

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By Leo King
Computerworld UK

LONDON - Some 46% of businesses have implemented open source software, or plan to pilot it this year, according to a Forrester Research survey of 2,200 IT executives in the UK, France, Germany, the US and Canada.

France and Germany lead the open source adoption, with 58% and 49% respectively, having implemented or planning to implement the software, Forrester stated in the ‘Open source software goes mainstream’ report. The UK is slightly behind this average, at 40 percent.

The main motivation to move to open source is cost savings, with 56% of respondents citing this. The “cost cutting crisis” during the recession should be seen as an opportunity to move to open source, the analyst house said.

And the planned implementation or expansion of open source software in businesses is higher than that of any other technology, including business process management, application lifecycle management and enterprise service buses.

According to Jeffrey S Hammond, principal analyst at Forrester, open source software is the “primary enabler of [open source] tech populism”. As more companies use open source, more levels in the IT department will gain a “proactive handle” on managing the technology, it said.

“Banning OSS will become an increasingly untenable option,” Hammond wrote. “The net result will reset pricing expectations in development shops and tilt technology selection away from single vendor stacks toward best-of-breed solutions at commodity prices - especially at the lowest levels of the application platform stack.”

In spite of this, businesses need to beware of “uncontrolled tactical use” of open source, and instead develop “sound OSS adoption policies”, Hammond said. A third of firms said they still have no formal open source policy.

Those working in firms that have not yet adopted open source should argue for it on the basis of the current economic climate, he said.

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By John E. Dunn
Techworld.com
April 15, 2009

LONDON- Small businesses uptake of cloud computing is heading for a mini-boom, UK online services vendor Gooroo has claimed, after carrying out its own survey of the sector.

The company found that 54 percent of those surveyed said they’d be using cloud services for key functions by 2010, 31 percent of whom described their plans as “firm”.

The fly in the ointment was that the sample size was very small - only 30 SME-level directors - and there is also the possibility that the survey was self-selecting because it was carried out using a survey of companies already interested in Gooroo’s services , but the detail offers interesting detail on motivation.

Around 65 percent of respondents said their primary motivation for investing in the cloud was to reduce IT costs, ahead of improved efficiency (50 percent), greater flexibility (50 percent), ease of setup (46 percent), and the ability to access business applications from any location (42 percent).

Important cloud apps for the sector were, predictably, accounts, (50 percent), e-commerce management (25 percent), enterprise resource planning (ERP, 21 percent), and customer relation management (CRM, 18 percent).

Another response suggested that the cost of conventional software licensing might be weighing on director’s minds - a total of 61 percent had postponed or were going to postpone software spending.

“The finding that surprised us was many SMEs were not just planning to use cloud applications to get new functionality: in many cases they wanted to replace software they already had; 90 percent of respondents said they already used an accounts package, yet this was top of the list of desirable cloud software,” commented Gooroo’s general manager, Dean Miles.

Drawing firm conclusions from a small survey carried out by a vendor with a vested interest in talking up the technology is treacherous. But it does suggest that the one sector for whom cloud computing could offer a technology boost for relatively little downside could be SMEs with under 50 employees, a segment not yet well served.

Surprisingly, the one application area not mentioned in the survey was security. Perhaps not coincidentally, Gooroo’s app focus is subscription access to ERP, accounting, and CRM.
Home

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By Thomas Wailgum CIO.com

FRAMINGHAM- For [small and midsize businesses, ERP implementations can be dicey endeavors. ERP rollouts involve not only huge capital outlays, but also long implementation times, significant IT resources and intense cultural change. These factors can be especially daunting to a small but growing business attempting to move off of familiar QuickBooks or Excel spreadsheets.

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The average SMB ERP implementation takes 10 months, though the installation work continues long after the go-live date hits, according to recent Aberdeen Group survey data of 920 SMBs. The financial costs can be just as significant: SMBs with less than $50 million in annual revenue will typically pay nearly $300,000 for ERP software and services, while larger businesses (revenues between $100 million to $250 million) will spend $1.4 million, the survey data states.

“Given this level of investment, one would think ROI would be top of mind for most companies,” writes Cindy Jutras, VP and research fellow at Aberdeen in a March 2009 report, “Measuring the ROI of ERP in SMB” (registration required).

But it’s not. The data shows that 52 percent of respondents “sometimes” or “never” estimate ROI in order to cost-justify an ERP project (48 percent “always” do it). And post-rollout, 75 percent “sometimes” or “never” measure ROI after the completion of ERP projects (just 25 percent do this “always”).

In other words, many SMBs feel “compelled to make this investment,” Jutras writes, “simply because they view ERP as a necessary infrastructure to support the business.”

Of course, Jutras’s point is that determining ROI pre- and post-rollout is key to achieving success with ERP projects, especially with resource-challenged SMBs in these tough times.

“A well-managed ERP implementation can be a continuing source of cost savings and operational improvements which help companies survive and thrive in these troubled economic times,” she states. “The strategic goals of standardizing and accelerating business processes and providing improved visibility are essential to improving business execution, which in turn supports the organizational goals of revenue and profit growth.”

During the last decade or so, enterprise software vendors and their customers have paid particular attention to cutting the total cost of ownership (TCO) of ERP applications. However, “focusing exclusively on TCO is no longer enough,” Jutras contends. “The focal point must now expand to include ROI of ERP projects in order to justify continued investment and maximize business benefits.” (For more on enterprise software, see the Enterprise Software Unplugged blog.)

The horrendous economic conditions that SMBs now face have pushed “reducing costs” to the top of the ERP strategies to-do list, according to the Aberdeen survey data. The mantra “must reduce costs” has displaced “growth expectations” and “customer service” as the leading ERP business drivers.

Jutras contends, however, that cutting ERP investment simply isn’t the right strategy right now.

“With the downturn in the economy, a knee-jerk reaction may be to stop any discretionary spending on ERP projects just when their cost-saving, operation-improving potential is needed the most,” she writes. “Given the current economic uncertainty, it is now more critical than ever to keep these projects alive.”

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By Tom S. Noda
Published in the March 2009 print edition of Computerworld Philippines

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Anyone can be a follower but not everyone can be a leader. And Victoria “Vicky” Agorrilla believes if you want to become a leader, you have to start acting like one and prove yourself.

“If you want to scale the corporate ladder, you have to prove your worth by being a good role model,” says Agorrilla, who currently serves as country general manager (CGM) of Lenovo Philippines.

Yet Agorrilla cautions in conditioning oneself in taking the leadership role. “You may start thinking and acting like a leader from the early stages of your career but should be careful not to give the wrong impression of being arrogant.”

An IT veteran for two decades, Agorrilla has been Lenovo’s CGM for almost four years now. She was even elected recently as president of the Information & Technology Association of the Philippines (ITAP) for 2009. She is also a member of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) since 2007.

Agorrilla notes “focus, good communications skills, and relationship building” are some of the elements for a successful professional career.

She says focus applies very much for sales people. She advises them not to spend too much time celebrating a successful deal since tomorrow is a new battle. “You can definitely have your 15 minutes of fame but every minute counts and someone is always waiting to outdo you.”

Agorrilla explains it is important to have good relationships with stakeholders, which includes business partners, customers and internal employees. “It is essential that we act in a professional manner. There should be a mutual understanding and respect for one another and in all circumstances.”

Having spent many years working with leading multinational IT companies, Agorrilla has equipped herself with a vast knowledge of the Philippine PC industry.

The executive shares “good education, experience and relationships” are the factors that contributed to her success.

“I’ve been through good times and bad times. And as the saying goes: ‘tough times never last but tough people do.’ And I am still here,” she quips.

Agorrilla adds good relationships are keys in any business and this applies especially if one’s job requires a fair amount of selling.

“Sometimes it is who you know that would help you seal that important deal,” she says. “If you’re an IT person looking to make a purchase, instead of approaching someone you’re not familiar with, it is only natural that you would go to someone you have dealt with before—be it your existing supplier, through referrals or even word of mouth.”

A graduate of prestigious schools in the country, Agorrilla toiled her way in finishing her studies at the St. Paul College of Manila and De La Salle University, along with some financial help from friends. She holds a degree on Industrial Communication and Public Relations as well as Bachelor of Arts in Economics, respectively.

Yet she says most of what she learned and applied in her career came from on-the-job trainings she received. “They provided very valuable lessons that I treasure.”

Prior to joining Lenovo, Agorrilla was with IBM PC Division as channel manager for distribution. She also served as PC business manager of Digital Equipment. She also worked with Compaq Corporation in various senior positions as dealer sales manager in ASEAN, Philippine country manager for Consumer Business, and Philippine country manager for Access Business Group. Agorilla also did a stint with HP Philippines as country channels manager.

“I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work in a number of fantastic IT companies, allowing me to accumulate solid experience in the IT sector,” Agorrilla says.

Prior to her experience in the IT industry, Agorrilla spent five years working in a non-IT environment in the field of insurance and advertising sectors. She says the experience gave her the foundation for working in a corporate environment as she held roles ranging from personnel and HR (human resources), to treasury and marketing, and also insurance sales.

Tidbits:
Hobbies and interests:
“Music. I want to be a theatre actress or sing in the opera. In fact, I have considered volunteering to put up performances for a good cause such as providing entertainment for the less fortunate especially the aged people.”

Role Model:
“I admire philanthropists and the commitment and passion they put in their work. I hope to be able to do my part and help the poor and in the process get an opportunity to enrich my life as well.”

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