Vietnam
software segment lags in innovation, creativity
Although
several large multinational corporations have selected Vietnam as a location
for offshore software development, the industry segment still lags in
home-grown products and technological innovation, says the Vietnam Software
Association (VINASA).
“Vietnam is
still primarily an offshore engineering site, a software factory where work
can be done efficiently and cost effectively,” said Truong Gia Binh, chairman
of VINASA, at a software industry conference last May in Hanoi.
"It is
not that we are just running short of ideas, but our people are risk
averse," said Mr Binh, and they don’t have access to the needed
financial capital or the entrepreneurial talent to develop new products and
bring them to market.
Mr Binh said
the education system in Vietnam also does not encourage engineers to be
innovative and think creatively outside of the box, but instead focuses on
preparing students to work for software services companies where work is
divvied out to them by clients.
Additionally,
the focus of most software companies in Vietnam has been on lucrative, but
yet low-risk, opportunities such as software development and business process
outsourcing services, said Mr Binh.
"In
technology, Vietnam is still playing catch-up with the rest of the globe, and
innovation will take a lot longer to take root and flourish," said Mr
Binh.
The software
industry nationwide generated total revenue of US$4.6 billion in 2015, Mr
Binh said, further broken down into software development of US$1.6 billion
and business process outsourcing services of US$3.0 billion.
“Overall
industry revenue jumped by roughly one-third from US$3.06 billion in 2010 to
US$4.6 billion in 2015,” said Mr Binh.
Nguyen Tuan
Anh from TTSOFT, a company specializing in business administration and
accounting software, in turn pointed out that while Vietnam companies
have done a good job in the software services market, innovation has to grow if
they are to thrive in the competitive market.
The trends
in the marketplace show that the large multinational corporations are
choosing Asia as a prime location for their outsourcing and Vietnam faces
stiff competition from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
The biggest
deficit Vietnamese workers have competing with the aforementioned countries
is the poor foreign language skills in both English and Japanese, make them
less attractive outsourcing options.
"There
is no doubt that some of the work currently being done by local companies at
some of the Vietnam subsidiaries of multinational technology corporations
involves innovation," said Mr Anh.
Down the
line, some of these corporations may start getting their product ideas from
their staff in Vietnam, but we’re not at that juncture yet and more needs to
be done in the education system to fix the problem, he underlined.
Vietnam
subsidiaries of some multinational technology corporations and local
companies alike must start taking greater responsibility for product
development and engineering in order for the industry to take root and
thrive.
"It
will likely take several years or longer for that to happen,” he said.
Another
shortcoming for the Vietnam software development segment is that the Vietnam
government does not have adequate programs to support home-spun innovation,
said Mr Anh.
Technology
industries such as those in the US were spawned by government-sponsored
projects, he said, and similar programs could be highly beneficial to help
local start-ups get off the ground.
Lastly,
Nguyen Manh Tuong, business director of GetFly, specializing in business
administration solutions, reminded everyone of the old adage, "It's not
what you know. It's who you know."
In order to
succeed in the industry, said Mr Tuong, local companies need to master the
art of salesmanship and develop good relations with a wide network of
business and social contacts.
VOV
|
Thứ Ba, 31 tháng 5, 2016
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét