October 27, 2011, MANILA, Philippines — Despite the global economic crunch in 2008, the local software development industry was able to post a 27.60% growth rate in both export revenue and employment by the end of 2010, as reported by services and investment advisory group Tholons.
According to the report, the Philippine software services industry export revenues hit US$725 million at the end of 2010 compared to US$568 million in 2009, which was considered the weakest year for the industry since 2004.

Of this figure, 57% of export revenues came from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom with 25 percent. Lesser but still significant revenue contributors to the software industry in the Philippines are Canada (5%), Japan (5%), and Europe (4%). Other markets like Australia, Middle Eastern countries, and those in the Asia Pacific region contributed to 1% each.

The study, “Tholons-PSIA Software Skills Inventory Report” was commissioned by the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) and funded by then Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to evaluate the status and the current landscape of the local software development and services sector.

PSIA president Nora Terrado said the Tholons study gives the PSIA a full view of the local industry performance. It also provides the organization the information on what areas of improvement it would focus on.

“The industry was able to survive the entire course of the global economic crisis, which pushed many industries to the brink. The PSIA remains steadfast in its goal to put the Philippines as a global hub for outsourcing services, particularly on software development and services,” Terrado said.

Employment rate also went up by 27.60% in 2010 as the number of FTEs hit 44,962, up from just 35,300 in 2008 and 2009 where hiring remained flat. The leading service line revenue sources of the local industry for foreign markets remain to be application maintenance (18.23%), followed by software testing (12.56%), and custom application development (11.54%).

Product engineering or actual software product development accounted for 7.01% of the local industry, closely followed by system infrastructure support service (6.75%).


Source:  Manila Bulletin www.mb.com.ph

October 25, 2011 

Despite the global economic crunch in 2008, the local software development industry was able to post a 27.60% growth rate in both export revenue and employment by the end of 2010, as reported by services and investment advisory group Tholons. 

According to a report released by services and investment advisory group Tholons, the Philippine software services industry export revenues hit US$725 million at the end of 2010 compared to US$568 million in 2009, which was considered the weakest year for the industry since 2004. 

Of this figure, 57% of export revenues came from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom with 25 percent. Lesser but still significant revenue contributors to the software industry in the Philippines are Canada (5%), Japan (5%), and Europe (4%). Other markets like Australia, Middle Eastern countries, and those in the Asia Pacific region contributed to 1% each. 

The study, “Tholons-PSIA Software Skills Inventory Report” was commissioned by the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) and funded by then Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to evaluate the status and the current landscape of the local software development and services sector. 

PSIA president Nora Terrado said the Tholons study gives the PSIA a full view of the local industry performance. It also provides the organization the information on what areas of improvement it would focus on. 

“The industry was able to survive the entire course of the global economic crisis, which pushed many industries to the brink. The PSIA remains steadfast in its goal to put the Philippines as a global hub for outsourcing services, particularly on software development and services,” Terrado said. 

Employment rate also went up by 27.60% in 2010 as the number of FTEs hit 44,962, up from just 35,300 in 2008 and 2009 where hiring remained flat. The leading service line revenue sources of the local industry for foreign markets remain to be application maintenance (18.23%), followed by software testing (12.56%), and custom application development (11.54%). 

Product engineering or actual software product development accounted for 7.01% of the local industry, closely followed by system infrastructure support service (6.75%). 

As for the types of foreign industries that the local software industry is servicing, the top in the list is still banking, financial institutions and insurance, which accounted for 17.61% of all revenues of the industry for 2010. 

On the other hand, the information and communications technology (ICT) sector accounted for 9.63%, followed by medical, healthcare, and bio-engineering at 6.26%. Other sectors are manufacturing for foreign firms (6.01%), energy (5.53%), wholesale and retail (4.65%), media (2.89%), government (2.72%) consulting services (2.72%) and logistics (2.60%). 

Terrado said that the data in the study can also measure the industry’s future performance especially in servicing foreign markets as the PSIA implements targeted programs in the coming years. Some of these targeted programs would be on manpower skills development, academic partnerships, infrastructure upgrades, and marketing campaigns for PSIA partners. 

She added that more government assistance is needed to fill in the gaps in critical ecosystem gaps, especially on building partnerships among various ICT stakeholders. 

Terrado also encouraged everyone involved in the software industry and outsourcing services sector to participate in PSIA’s endeavors in improving the local software development and services sector and promoting it globally. 

The Tholons report surveyed 40 software development companies in the Philippines, which are hiring around 17,000 full-time employees (FTEs). Wholly Filipino-owned firms accounted for 51.43% of the respondents, followed by 22.86 percent for foreign-owned firms. The remaining 25.71% are joint partnerships between Filipino and foreign investors. 

Source:  http://www.enterprise.ph/?_s=8&_ss=P&P=3&PN=11761&L=S&II=482&ID=S,482,B3,1-16

21 October 2011

A total of 65,000 prospective employees will reap the fruits of free training from the P500 million worth of scholarships that the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is infusing to help them find jobs in the information technology - business process outsourcing (IT- BPO) industry.

On Thursday, TESDA through Director General Joel Villanueva and the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), through its Chairman Alfredo Ayala, signed a memorandum of agreement for the use of P400 million to train the so-called near-hires of the IT-BPO sector. Signing ceremonies were held at the Stream Global Services at the 12th Floor of PBCOM Tower, Ayala Avenue in Makati City.

Near-hires are applicants who have applied for jobs in the IT-BPO sector but fell short of the requirements, and thus, require more training to meet the industry standard.

BPAP member associations have pledged to absorb at least 70 percent of the scholars after finishing their course.

The amount was part of the P500 million TESDA commitment to the BPO sector from President Benigno Aquino III's stimulus package for pre-employment training, re-tooling of incoming workers in the IT-BPO sector, and training of trainors.

The remaining P100 million has been set aside for the training of trainors and students, who need longer education to be qualified employee in the IT-BPO sector.

"Training will give the scholars the crucial skill sets and help improve the odds for them to be hired," Villanueva said.

"By creating a pool of qualified, globally competitive, and job-ready workforce needed by IT-BPO companies, we are also able to address the talent supply gaps that the burgeoning industry is experiencing today," he added.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the government resources poured in are reasonable investment to rev up employment and the revenue potential of the IT-BPO sector.

“This is the kind of partnership and support that the government is pursuing now in 2011, and for the remaining years of the Aquino administration,” Abad said.

The Budget chief announced that the Aquino administration will embark on the same government-industry partnership involving five primary industries identified as drivers of employment and growth, namely, agriculture and fisheries, tourism, general infrastructure, semiconductor and electronics, and BPO."

Villanueva said the training will beef up the sector’s work force and make them employable to IT-BPO firms.

“The Philippines has made a mark all over the world for producing call center and BPO workers who have exemplary language and technical skills and work ethics.  We will continue to enhance this,” Villanueva said.

TESDA designated BPAP to help implement P400 million worth of scholarships under the agency's Industry-Based Training for Work Scholarship Program (I-TWSP).

The amount will be used for pre-employment training  of near-hires to get them actually hired in  member companies of BPAP and its partner associations such as the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (HIMOAP), Animation Council of the Philippines Inc (ACPI), Game Development Association of the Philippines (GDAP), and National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP).

These associations will engage companies and training institutions with TESDA-registered programs to undertake the training of qualified near-hires.

BPAP-member associations have committed an employment rate of at least 70 percent of the total graduates within six months after they finished the course.

In line with the government's thrust of creating a public-private partnership to augment the limited public funds and share expertise, BPAP vowed to establish and maintain a training development fund, which will be used for future trainings of near-hires within the industry.

The amount that will be set aside by BPAP will be at least:  20% of the total training cost for each graduate hired in the case of call center training, and 10% of the total training cost for each graduate hired in medical transcription, software, animation and game development.

The training development fund will be managed solely by BPAP and will be utilized exclusively for the training of additional near-hires and for the promotion of training programs.


source:  http://tesda.gov.ph/page.aspx?page_id=339

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