IBM official: Great potential for Vietnam’s software development

IBM introduces smart solutions to Vietnam's different economic sectors

Manuel made the statement at a press conference in Hanoi on November 18 when his group held a forum and an exhibition to introduce new smart solutions for different economic sectors in Vietnam.

The large population of 86 million people and fast growing development of internet and mobile broadband connectivity are advantages for the country’s software industry development, he added.

He noted that banking, one of the most fastest-growing economic sectors in Vietnam, is attracting many foreign IT giants who come here to bring local banks with advanced technologies for financial risk management.

They see much potential untapped in the Southeast Asian market where there is only a modest number of people using ATM cards.

Vietnam is among the top choice of big groups, including IBM, for its advantages, which include a cheap and abundant labour force and various incentives, particularly those offered for hi-tech projects.

Manuel, however, mentioned challenges that Vietnam are facing on the way to develop the software industry. “Vietnam is still in the middle of two choices: becoming a software outsourcing market or a place to produce value-added products”, he highlighted.

To stand steady in the market, software firms have to make products of real value and that cannot be copied by any rivals.

He also said that Vietnamese enterprises’ IT capacity is very limited, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, therefore, they are unable to make use of the benefits of IT solutions.

The IBM official urged Vietnamese businesses to take advantage of their knowledge of the domestic market, have wise investment strategies and chose right partners for software development. This will help them to stand firm in the competition with foreign rivals.

The exhibition of IBM on November 18 introduced the group’s latest improvements of intelligent storage systems such as the IBM Storwize V700, business analytics solutions Congnos 10 and many other advanced solutions designed for different economic sectors in Vietnam only.