Philippines’ small, medium-sized firms to help Microsoft’s business

Software giant Microsoft expects small and medium enterprises or SMEs to provide new business for the company as they begin to harness information technology, a key executive said. In an interview, Alain Crozier, vice-president and chief financial officer of Microsoft’s sales, marketing and services group, said "Microsoft is building a key market in the Philippines." "It is clear that [there is] potential in the Philippines ... with the economy growing and information technology growing," he said. SMEs in the Philippines, he pointed out, "are not equipped for information technology so we are not just looking at the enterprise level, we also aim to help SMEs find partners in information technology." In a study commissioned by Microsoft, the International Data Corp. noted that the Philippines would end 2009 with information technology spending of P126 billion and that spending would grow by 8.5 percent until 2013. In 2008, the total information technology spending of both the public and the private sector stood at P125.5 billion. The study also noted that employment in the information technology sector would grow 34,000 every year until 2013. Mr. Crozier said the Philippines offers many "growth opportunities" for Microsoft. "The Philippines is a large market for information technology with many private sector opportunities and the public sector is an area for growth. But there is not one sector that is the focus of Microsoft," he said. Mr. Crozier said Microsoft has a positive outlook for the coming year amid signs of economic recovery but added that "we need to be careful not to forget what happened 18 months ago." - BusinessWorld