Recession-proof technologies, government stimulus programmes and the continued IT spending of countries like China and India will continue to provide a lift for the infocomm industry despite the current economic climate, said Mr Dane Anderson, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President at Springboard Research.

Mr Anderson: Increased efficiencies in virtualisation technology will lead to the transformation of data centres.

Mr Anderson was one of the speakers at the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation’s (www.sitf.org.sg) 2009 ICT Business Outlook Forum, which also featured presentations by Mr Seah Chin Siong, Chief Executive Officer of IDA International; Mr Manoj Menon, Partner and Asia Pacific Managing Director of Frost & Sullivan; and Mr Andrew Knott, Vice President of Marketing, Asia Pacific, Salesforce.com. Guest of honour was RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

In his presentation "Gains and losses for Asia Pacific IT in a year of uncertainty", Mr Anderson said even with companies cutting costs, there are a few "recession-proof" technologies. These include:

Software as a Service (SaaS): Pay-per-use or pay-per-month software services provided through cloud computing, will appeal to companies looking to reduce IT infrastructure costs. Mr Anderson estimates the SaaS IT market in Asia Pacific — worth US$500 million in 2008 — will see growth of over 50 per cent this year.

Virtualisation: Increased efficiencies in virtualisation technology will lead to the transformation of data centres. Mr Anderson reported that only 6 per cent of organisations surveyed in the Asia Pacific had implemented virtualisation as of end-2007, but 50 per cent intend to do so this year. He cited the case study of a local trade union that used virtualisation technology to optimise resources and cut down on the number of servers it used. This also enabled it to handle growing demands on IT without a corresponding increase in IT budget or manpower.

Collaboration:  As more organisations put a freeze on travel, more will turn to collaboration tools and unified communications technology to hold meetings and conduct training through e-learning.

Green IT: With energy costs consuming anything from 10 per cent to 25 per cent of IT budgets, and with adequate electricity supply an issue in certain countries, firms are likely to turn to greener IT hardware to lower costs and improve efficiency.

Overall, barring any unforeseen developments, the Asia Pacific IT industry will see 7 per cent growth this year despite the poor economic climate, said Mr Anderson. 

He cited other reasons for optimism — the various government stimulus programmes that include IT spending being implemented across the globe, and the continued IT spending of countries like China and India — the "two hot air balloons lifting up Asia Pacific". "Things are going to get better, and there are opportunities out there," he said.

The topic of business opportunities and how best to address them was also the focus of a panel discussion at the Forum - "Does size matter in a flat world?"

The technologies available today enables big and small businesses to access the global market with much greater ease. However, Mr Lee Fook Sun, president of Defence Business at Singapore Technologies Electronics, believes that size, as well as a successful track record, are still important for companies that tackle major infrastructure projects.

However, smaller companies can overcome the size disadvantage by leveraging partnerships with indigenous technology companies, said fellow-panelist Mr Lau Shih Hor, CEO of Elixir Technology.

Within Singapore, it is also important to have a robust infocomm ecosystem which will help the infocomm industry to grow, said RADM(NS) Tay of IDA. In his opening address at the Forum, he emphasised the need to encourage sophisticated demand for infocomm; develop innovative services and build knowledge capital; and strengthen Singapore as an economic hub. He also highlighted that IDA will continue to roll out initiatives to help the infocomm industry – not only to meet the challenges of the current economic climate, but also to prepare the industry for the opportunities that will arise when the economy recovers.