Demand for ICT tools, solutions seen to go up

Updated March 17, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - Despite the unpredictable economic environment, demand for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) tools, and solutions is expected to grow significantly in Cebu.

Ng Khai Development Corporation president Wilson Ng said that regardless of the crisis, companies’ spending on ICT infrastructure can not be compromised, as this will aid businesses to weather the crisis.

Ng’s company is one of the largest distributors of ICT solutions, tools, gadgets in Southern Philippines. It recently inked a distributor-partnership deal with EMC Corporation, the world’s leader in information infrastructure solution.

In Cebu, Ng said there are still a lot of companies, specifically those that are family-run businesses that are now realizing to invest on technology infrastructure, most importantly its storage system.

“Companies now big or small are realizing the importance of data to their businesses. If they want to stay in the business, they have to invest seriously on technology,” Ng said.

Thus, crisis or no crisis, technology spending for businesses is seen to sustain and double its growth this year, specially in Cebu that there are still a huge number of companies that need to improve their technology and data system.

Besides, Ng said cost of technology solutions nowadays are becoming much cheaper, in order to penetrate the untapped market, which are the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In the past, EMC’s solutions were only availed of by multinational companies (MNCs), because of its high cost. This time, Ng said, EMC has formulated affordable packages that are easy to the pocket, or affordable to SMEs.

According to Ng, there are a lot of businesses here in Cebu that need to employ professional data base or storage system. Reliable storage system has become one of the most important tools for businesses right now, as “hackers” are continuously introducing several “viruses” that can easily destroy a storage system.

Losing database is one of the tragic ordeals a company can face these days, Ng said.

Ng is confident that small and medium companies in Cebu, are going to adopt what the MNCs are doing, in adopting professional storage system, while cost of these kinds of solutions are already made affordable to SMEs.

According to IDC, EMC is the leading external storage vendor in the Philippines from January to September 2008 with 37.6 percent share of the $12-million market.

Last year, despite the economic turmoil and decreased spending in various IT segments, EMC Corp. posted total global consolidated revenues of a record US$14.88 billion, an increase of 12 percent year-on-year, and representing EMC’S sixth consecutive year of double-digit annual revenue growth.

Ng added that as Cebu market has become mature in realizing the role of technology, businesses, may it be big or small are putting their money to secure their companies’ data base and other confidential information and files.— Ehda M. Dagooc