FILIPINOS will continue to adapt to the fast-changing technological advances and innovations in the global market this year as IT services and products are expected to boom, Information Technology (IT) executives said.
They said that IT services like outsourcing and offshoring will continue to propel the growth of the local industry.
Foreign mobile gadgets are also expected to dominate the market as prices are seen to decrease this year compared with the previous years, the officials noted.
IT executives added that Cloud computing adoption among local companies is also being eyed to more than double this year, while social networking is expected to be utilized more for business purposes.
Calen Legaspi, CEO of local software firm Orange & Bronze, said that Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) and offshoring will continue to be the centerpiece of the Philippine IT industry, cornering around 90 percent.
Legaspi said that growth in ITO will continue at its current rate of 20 percent to 30 percent annually.
New multinational locators are seen to establish their IT operations in the Philippines, Legaspi said.
Legaspi noted that the abundance of educated, skilled, English-speaking and service-oriented workers at lower costs will continuously drive new multinational companies to establish their IT operations in the country.
People choosing to work in their home provinces and towns instead of the metropolises are most likely to be an emerging trend among young professionals this year, according to Legaspi.
Legaspi said that thousands of Filipino professionals, especially programmers, have already been doing so for years.
He, however, noted that this trend will further surge this year with the availability of stable broadband connection in remote towns.
"Because of the opportunities in online contracting through such sites as ODesk, Elance and Rent-a-Coder, many young professionals will opt not to work at a regular job and instead take on offshore contracts online, where they are paid more and they don't have to leave their homes," Legaspi noted.
"The opportunities are especially lucrative in programming, particularly Android and iPhone development," he added.
An increased competition for IT talent because of rapid industry growth should likewise be expected this year.
Legaspi said that local IT talents are filled with so much potential to excel well globally.
"We don't have as many IT professionals as India or China, but our average quality is better. By my own private conversations with various global business people, even Indian business people, they prefer to send IT work to the Philippines because the quality is better," he said.
"Filipinos are more creative and collaborative in finding solutions to IT problems," he added.
Read more: New technology, skilled Pinoys to boost IT industry growth by 30%
MANILA – Even though the country’s mobile and cloud space already have been evolving at a frenetic pace over the last several years, local tech organizations are anticipating these sectors to see explosive evolution in 2012 as both technologies gain mainstream reputation.
While the Philippines is already a hotbed for mobile improvements, industry observers said booming request for World Wide Web-capable smartphones and tablets are pushing the country’s mobile sector to extend in new markets.
"The intro of more accessible smartphones that are more powerful than most PCs denotes that cellular phones have outdone the contemporary Personal Computer,' said Ming Espineda, study analyst at XMG. "Undoubtedly, there’s a require to include mobility in the Personal Computer and its application through cloud tech."
Ramon Isberto, community business head of mobile professional Intelligent Communications, said social media will further speed up World Wide Web utilization in the country.
"As telcos roll out their broadband networks, more persons in more regions of the country will be capable to access the World Wide Web. The challenge is how to boost the penetration of these Web tools and services," noted Isberto.
Mobile creators should make a choice right focusLocal software creators in addition believe there’ll be enhanced startup action, particularly in the mobile and cloud space.
"In result of the low-obstacles to entry for mobile and cloud startups, a lot of creators will select to produce their personal goods," said Calen Legaspi, Chief Executive Officer of Orange and Bronze Software Labs.
"Since plans in mobile tend to be little, these could be done by people. It is going to, consequently, be tough for organizations to rival on cost with autonomous suppliers who are easily accessible through on-line contracting sites," he gave explanation. "Outsourcing organizations should concentrate on server-side talents, with mobile software development as a secondary offering."
Legaspi said local mobile software creators should in addition look at technologies for example HTML5, Javascript and PhoneGap to produce cross-platform applications since consumers would like to have their goods run on both iOS and Android.
Read more: Philippines to see mobility, cloud go into overdrive
