Sybase keen on AsPac

Despite the sluggish economic recovery of the United States and Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, led by booming China, is forecast to be the world’s fastest-growing market for information technology (IT), according to California-based and New York-listed independent software firm Sybase. The International Data Corp. (IDC) confirms this optimistic forecast, reporting that the Asia-Pacific IT market (excluding Japan) is expected to grow by 13.5 percent to $76 billion this year.

"We will help accelerate technology transfers to Asia because these will help livelihood opportunities in this vast region. Technology is a great equalizer in Asia, where IT is growing faster than in the West. For example, adapting to cellular phone technology is faster in Asia than in the US and Europe. Much more creative and pervasive too is the SMS (Short Messaging Service) usage in Asia than in the West," said Sybase senior vice president and Asia-Pacific general manager Mark Wang.

Sybase is one of the world’s biggest and most successful independent software firms, with 17 quarters of continuous profits unique for any Silicon Valley firm in this crisis era. It has 68 percent of the total embedded database business through subsidiary iAnywhere Solutions Inc. Its financial services customers include 90 percent of the world’s securities and 60 percent of banks. It provides technology to 150 of the world’s top telecommunications companies, and over 450 major health care organizations worldwide.

Three top officers of Sybase recently shared their IT outlook on the world and Asia at Mandarin Oriental Hotel – Wang, Asia-Pacific senior director Horace Chow, and Sybase Phils. Inc. president and general manager Delfin Hallare Jr.

To illustrate the fast growth rate of Asia, the three executives said Sybase, in 2001, achieved a growth rate of 38 percent in the Philippines, 37 percent in China, 26 percent in India, 14 percent in recession-crippled Japan, 41 percent in South Korea, 24 percent in Thailand and a positive increase in Hong Kong.

Hallare, who has been with Sybase for five years, said, "IT is an important sunrise industry for the Philippine economy, it will become more important in improving the quality of life of the people. Sybase has consistently registered robust growth in the Philippines, at 38 percent in 2001. This year, our projection is a minimum 100 percent growth in Sybase business in the country. We were lucky to be part of big IT bids which had won projects which would dramatically modernize various aspects of Philippine national life and economic development."

These computerization projects involve the Department of Public Works and Highways (funded by the World Bank), Department of Budget and Management, Department of Health, and 28 local government units (LGUs). In the private sector, Sybase’s clients include the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Globe Telecom, Equitable PCI Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., East West Bank, the Bancnet ATM network, Development Bank of the Philippines, Standard Chartered Bank, Federal Express, Aetna and AIG.

The secret of Sybase’s success in the Philippines? "Our excellent technological innovations, high-quality products, focus and our trying to prudently allocate resources. Sybase is optimistic about the vast growth potentials and numerous opportunities in Philippine IT," Hallare said.

Wang, an Economics and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) graduate with roots in cosmopolitan Shanghai, said, "Sybase is strong in the Asia-Pacific region. Our growth in the Philippine market is impressive, and we look forward to do more business here and contribute to your economic modernization. We will continue to vigorously contribute to the Asia-Pacific IT growth momentum with enterprise products and services – enterprise portals, mobile and wireless technologies, and vertical solutions."

"Technology is changing the world. Banking used to be done over the counter, then through the ATM, and in the future, it will be transacted through the cellular phone or the PDA. In Asia, our biggest growth markets are China, Japan and South Korea. Sybase has captured 45 percent of China’s telecommunications market and 20 percent of the database market. We have five offices and 250 employees in China. Outside of Japan, China sales are the biggest in the Asia-Pacific region and constitute 35 percent of this regional market," Wang added.