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| S. O.
F. T. W. A. R. E. |
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Global Economic Recession:
Growing Software As Alternative To Oil
By IFEANYI OSUEKE
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There
is something we are working out which I think will be
good for Nigeria's software industry. When it is worked
out and it is signed then, I can talk to you. I don't
belong to the class that just talks to the press,”
he swiftly replied.
“What duration are we looking at? I asked. “I
don't know,” he answered again.
With this short conversation, the President of Institute
of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Chief
Simeon Agu ended the call which this reporter put to
him and as such kept on hold, the need to extensively
discuss the dying multi-billion naira knowledge industry
under his watch.
It has become a known fact that the global economic
recession is gradually taking a toll on the country's
local economy leading to massive job-cut, salary slash,
and consistent reduction in both personal and national
income evident in the drastic fall of crude oil price
in the international market.
This catastrophic economic situation calls for national
sober reflection and re-strategisation on how best to
tap other fertile sectors to augment the national income.
The Nigeria software sector which industry pundits have
described as “neglected” yet, richer than
the oil sector readily comes to mind.
Although, the economic meltdown is global but countries
with mono economy (relying on one source of foreign
income) like Nigeria, are the worst for it. The truth
of the matter is that the inaugural statement of the
newly elected president of America, President Barrack
Obama that the USA will look into other sources like
wind and hydro rather than oil for the generation of
energy was a pointer to a further collapse of Nigeria's
national income more so, when Nigeria is one of the
largest exporters of crude oil to the US. It has therefore,
become imperative at this period of national economic
crisis for
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Nigeria to invest
more on the exploration of software development; an area
which it is believed to have comparative advantage given
its vast human resources and highly qualified manpower
in the area of engineering and computing scattered the
world over with stunning credentials of successes. Philip
Emeagwali is a quick reference. |
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Experts
have continually decried the lack of vision on the part
of the leaders to integrate both human and material resources
to build a formidable software industry in spite of naked
examples of successes by countries that have taken bold
steps.
Singapore and Nigeria, for instance, used to be at par
in terms of per capita income with each having $300 per
capita income.
Over a period of time Singapore developed its ICT and
software base thus creating a wide gulf between her and
Nigeria.
While Nigeria staggers at $1000 per capita income, Singapore's
stood at a whopping $35000- a feat which the prime minister
of Singapore, Lec Hsien Loong said was achieved owing
to the |
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development of
the knowledge economy-software. This singular effort by Singapore's
government has drastically improved the country's income base
making it the most out-sourcing destination in the world after
China.
Sales of software account for 12 per cent of Costa Rica's gross
domestic product, stiffly competing with India and China for
the about $50 billion out-sourcing market. |
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Software
growth has improved the fortune of every serious nation
and has been used as a tool to break the shackles of poverty
and over - dependence on a nation's economic mainstay.
It has worked like magic in national development in countries
like India, China, and Ireland among others.
Indian export for instance, is put at $50billion which
account for 10.5 per cent of its total export. Ireland
has 60 per cent of packaged software sold in Europe, essentially
because large proportion of investment in Europe by US
companies go to Ireland, making them the second biggest
exporter of software after US. |
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It is therefore,
disheartening to note that these testimonies of fortune from
other parts of the world are in variance with the state of Nigeria's
software industry, our huge human and material resources notwithstanding.
The Director General of National Information Technology Development
Agency-NITDA, Professor Cleopas Angaye, disclosed recently that
not less than $1 billion is spent on importation of software
annually for use in the banking sector. According to him, though
the cost of software importation to other sectors cannot be
ascertained by government, 95 per cent of software in Nigeria
is imported. |
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This revelation
is not by any means startling because over the years,
government and relevant agencies and organizations that
could champion the cause of software development in Nigeria
have remained apathetic.
For instance, the Institute of Software Practitioners
of Nigeria (ISPON) a body whose vision is “to position
Nigeria as the world leader in software development where
the indigenous software industry is the largest contributor
to national wealth”, has lived for everything except
its vision since the exit of the dynamic and indigenous
software advocate, Chris Uwaje as the helmsman.
The body is gradually going into oblivion as the helmsman
is |
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allegedly busy
with private concerns without any seeming interest in the development
of the industry.
For IT icons like Professor Oliver Osuagwu, everything must
be done to lift Nigerian software industry and ICT sector in
general to enviable height. For software guru, Christ Uwaje,
“indigenous software is capable of maturing with process,
it is capable of filling functions that will deliver some expectations
as foreign software”, explaining that the software industry
in Nigeria is richer than oil industry if well harnessed.
As the economies of the world continue to dwindle, Nigerian
government and other relevant authorities should reconsider
re-investing in the inexhaustible knowledge economy for reduction
of unemployment and increase in the nation's economic fortunes. |
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| Microsoft
Plans Global Retail Chain |
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Microsoft
has revealed that it plans to open a chain of company-branded
retail stores in locations throughout the United States
and the rest of the world.
To spearhead the initiative, the software maker tapped
former Wal-Mart executive David Porter.
“The
purpose of opening these stores is to create deeper engagement
with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what
they want and how they buy,” Microsoft said in a
statement.
The company didn't say specifically where or when it plans
to open the stores. “Defining the time frame, locations,
and specifics for planned Microsoft-branded retail stores
will be Porter's first order of business,” Microsoft
said. |
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| Porter spent 25
years at Wal-Mart in various roles, including store operations,
merchandising, and IT.
Microsoft indicated that it wants to use the stores as a platform
to hawk its forthcoming Windows 7 operating system. “This
is an exciting time with our strong lineup of upcoming product
releases including Windows 7 and new releases of Windows Live
and Windows Mobile,” said Kevin Turner, the company's
chief operating officer, in a statement.
Windows 7 is expected to be available in late 2009 or early
2010.
Porter said the retail market presents “tremendous opportunities”
for Microsoft. “We'll share learnings from our stores
with our existing retail and OEM partners that are critical
for our success,” Porter said in a statement.
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SAP
Posts Healthy Results, Plans 3,000 Jobs Cut |
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SAP, one of the
world's largest software-application companies, last month
released healthy results for its fourth quarter, but said
it plans to cut 3,000 staff in the face of tough economic
times.
In its preliminary quarterly results, SAP said its software
and software-related services revenue increased by 8 percent
year-on-year. However, revenue from software fell 7 percent,
from US$185 billion to US$173 billion.
The German software maker also issued financial results
for all of 2008. For the full year, software and software-related
services revenue rose by 14 percent, while software revenue
alone was up by 6 percent. Yearly net income was US$247
billion, down 2 percent. |
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| The results were
something of a positive note for SAP, which in October 2008
withheld its revenue outlook for the year because of the uncertainty
of the economic climate.
In announcing the job cuts, co-chief executive Léo
Apotheker said in a statement that SAP “intends to reduce
its workforce globally to 48,500 from 51,500 positions by
the end of 2009”, a drop of 3,000 posts. The company
didn't say where the cuts would be made, but noted that “all
countries... will contribute in some way”.
The first six months of 2008 had been successful for the company,
Apotheker said, noting it had started with “strong organic
growth” and “an excellent contribution from Business
Objects”, which SAP bought in October 2007.
Tim Payne, a senior analyst at research firm Gartner, agreed
that the purchase of the business-intelligence software specialist
had proved very successful for the company.
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Windows
7 Gets Pre-Release Makeover |
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In response to
user feedback, Microsoft has made numerous changes to the Windows
7 user interface as it readies the operating system, viewed
by many as a make or break product for the software maker-for
formal launch later this year or early next year.
Included in the changes, which number three dozen, is a new
keyboard shortcut that allows the user to launch an application
simply by pressing the Windows logo key in combination with
a number that corresponds to the apps' |
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| order in the Quick
Launch menu. For example, if an application is listed fourth in
Quick Launch, it could be opened by pressing the Windows key in
convert with the number 4 key.
Microsoft also made changes to alerts that signal when an application
needs attention. The icon for a so-called 'needy' application will
now flash up to seven times, as opposed to the previous three, in
an effort to grab the user's attention. Changes also include a more
noticeable flashing animation in a bolder color of orange.
Other changes include modifications to the taskbar pane that allow
it to display a greater number of application icons, a change that
makes it easier for users to pin new apps to the taskbar, and more
flexible icon and gadget view options.
Additional changes affect Windows 7's touch-screen capabilities,
Control Panel, and Explorer features.
“As is evident from this sample of changes, we've been very
busy improving Windows 7 based on what our customers are telling
us in many forums,” wrote Microsoft engineer Chaitanya Sareen.
Microsoft needs Windows 7 to be a hit. Vista, the company's current
OS, has failed to catch on with mainstream computer users while
businesses have shunned it outright. Many users have complained
about Vista's hardware requirements, intrusive security measures,
and lack of compatibility with older applications.
Dissatisfaction with Vista has allowed Apple to gain share against
Microsoft in the computer operating system market in recent months.
Windows' market share in November fell below 90% for the first time
in years while Mac OS is now flirting with the 10% mark, according
to market watcher Net Applications.
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IBM
Uses Amazon's Cloud For Software Delivery |
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IBM has said that
it plans to use Amazon.com's Web services infrastructure to
deliver software to customers via the Internet. Under the so-called
cloud computing arrangement, IBM will offer a number of products
through Amazon Web Services, including DB2, Informix Dynamic
Server, WebSphere Portal, Lotus Web Content Management, WebSphere
sMash, and Novell's SUSE Linux operating system.
“This relationship with Amazon Web Services provides our
customers with a new way to use IBM software and broadens our
distribution channels,” said Dave Mitchell, director of
strategy and emerging business for IBM's software unit, in a
statement.
IBM also has made available, at no charge, Amazon Machine Images-
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| a test environment
that businesses can use to assess whether their applications are
suitable for Amazon's cloud environment.
“Extending IBM software to the cloud via Amazon EC2 will help
even more businesses take advantage of the benefits of the reliable,
scalable, and cost efficient infrastructure in the cloud,”
said Terry Wise, director of business development for Amazon Web
Services.
Cloud computing represents a growing trend in which computer users
tap the Internet to access software that is remotely stored on centralized
servers, rather than on their own hard drives. In addition to IBM,
Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and many other software vendors have
released cloud-based offerings in recent months.
Advocates of the architecture say it's more cost-effective and efficient
than traditional client-server setups, and that it requires less
maintenance. The city of Washington, D.C., recently moved the bulk
of its software applications to Google's Web-based Google Apps service
in an effort to realize such benefits.
Skeptics, however, caution that cloud computing presents security
and uptime challenges, and note that an Internet outage could cause
a business to lose access to mission-critical applications.
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| Corporate IT shops
looking for more confidence to deploy Canonical's Ubuntu on servers may
have been handed one as the company announced it's working with Hewlett-Packard
to fully certify the open source operating system on all HP ProLiant servers.
Mark Murphy, Canonical's alliances manager, hopes the certification will
offer “another layer of assurance” to enterprise customers
looking to deploy Ubuntu in a more strategic role.
“This certification means HP will list Ubuntu as a supported operating
system and verify the work undertaken by Canonical to ensure full certified
compatibility. Both companies are fully cooperating at the engineering
level to provide full underlying confidence for HP customers using these
servers,” Murphy said.
What figures to boost sales of both Ubuntu and HP's servers is the ongoing
economic climate, where Fortune 100 companies down to mom-and-pop shops
are looking to save money on any and all pieces of their infrastructure.
By bundling the free operating system with HP hardware, smaller companies
can sidestep the licensing fees associated with Microsoft's Windows.
“Just last week we spoke to a Chicago-based finance house that runs
entirely on Ubuntu servers and runs both their open and proprietary stack
on Ubuntu on Hewlett-Packard machines mostly, with some Dell in the mix.
These heterogeneous environments are becoming pretty common and the range
of software on them is getting wider,” Murphy said.
The HP announcement is the second piece of positive news for Ubuntu relating
to its corporate strategies. Earlier this month in a survey among approximately
7,000 users, the overwhelming majority said they were increasingly using
the server-based operating system in a variety of mission-critical Web
and database applications.
While Ubuntu may appear to be on a roll, some analysts believe the company
has more work to do before it can be considered a serious contender to
Red Hat and Novell.
“In terms of noise level, Ubuntu has been hot lately. But the ecosystem
simply isn't as mature for Ubuntu as it is for Red Hat and SUSE Linux.
They do not have the level of application support and data base support,
and some other things that you need to be enterprise ready,” said
Al Gillen, VP in charge of system software research with IDC.
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