Software outsourcing improves

The Vietnamese software outsourcing industry is seeing good signs after the tough times of the global economic crisis, said Viet Nam Software Association general secretary Pham Tan Cong.

FPT Software Joint Stock Co announced that it had started implementing a US$2 million software outsourcing contract for a Japanese partner. The project, named Nina, aimed to develop core retail and e-commerce software for Nissen Co. This was the largest software outsourcing project the Japanese market had ordered in Viet Nam.

FPT Software set a goal of posting a 20 per cent growth rate for this year, pushing expected growth from several markets such as the US, EU and Japan, a company spokesperson said.

Other software companies have also revealed their high growth rate targets this year, such as VietSoftware International, with 200-250 per cent, and Run Systems Co, with 30-40 per cent.

VietSoftware International director Le Xuan Hai attributed the ambitious results to the company’s efforts to foster its management capacity and to improve its personnel during the previous year to better prepare for the recovery time ahead.

Meanwhile, Tinh Van Outsourcing Co deputy director Nguyen Ich Van described the previous difficult year as a good time for local software outsourcing firms to focus on training staff to raise standards.

This year would open up new business opportunities, as long as the firms made good preparations, he said.

However, Hai warned that the Vietnamese firms would be faced with harsher competition in prices and quality from foreign rivals this year.

A report released recently by the association and the US-based International Data Corporation stated that the software industry was facing key hurdles, including a shortage of human resources; IT infrastructure; foreign language capacity; copyright protection; capital; branding; supportive Government policies; strategic routes for the industry’s development; and funds for research and development.

At the same time, 40 per cent of software companies claimed ignorance of two important industry policies: the “software engineering development programme until 2010″ and the “Viet Nam digital content industry until 2010″, proposed by the MIC and approved by the Prime Minister in 2007.

Three popular products that 60 per cent of the participating companies provided were web-based applications, specific customer solutions and IT consultation. Fifty per cent were involved in software outsourcing

This was the first report to capture a big-picture view of the software engineering industry nationwide, with participation from 149 software companies, 19 of which were joint-ventures.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Tags: Vietnam Information technology, Vietnam Software outsourcing