Ties with global giants can drive growth of Pinoy IT firms

Filipino IT startups can accelerate growth through partnerships with global software giants, advised Gurango Software Corp. (GSC) CEO Joey Gurango in a recent interview.

According to Gurango, his Philippine-based global software firm intends to further strengthen its multi-level partnership with Microsoft as part of its strategic business objectives for 2008.

“Gurango Software has seen the value of building a strategic partnership with a dominant global company like Microsoft. In many respects, that partnership has been integral to Gurango Software’s growth both locally and globally,” Gurango said.

“As a result of this and other successful partnerships, I have consistently advised technology startups to explore partnership opportunities with ‘superpowers’ like Microsoft,” he said.

Gurango said GSC initially enrolled in the Microsoft Partner Program in 2003 as an independent software vendor (ISV) partner developing vertical software for the Microsoft platform.

GSC later became a Microsoft Dynamics partner offering implementation and customization of Microsoft Dynamics Enterprise Resource Planning solutions.

As a result of consistent acquisition of Microsoft technology competencies and regularly exceeding sales targets, GSC has maintained its status as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner since 2005, the highest partnership status in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Last year, GSC was inducted into the Microsoft President’s Club, an elite group composed of the top five percent of Microsoft value-add reseller partners worldwide, and awarded the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner of the Year award by Microsoft Philippines.

“The value that the Microsoft Partner Program brings to Gurango Software includes empowerment,” said Gurango managing director Tarcs Taruc.

“As an example, one of the benefits that have proven very useful to us in our global expansion efforts is access to Microsoft’s global network of partner communities. Microsoft’s worldwide partner and customer conferences also give us the opportunity to network and directly explore business opportunities,” Taruc said.

Pepeng Rollan, managing director of Microsoft Philippines, said the Microsoft Partner Program provides the basis for a synergistic relationship between Microsoft and its partners to deliver Microsoft-related products and services to clients locally and globally.

GSC has offices in Australia, Singapore, and South Africa, in addition to the Philippines which provides R&D and support services worldwide, including major developed markets in North America and the European Union.

“A recent IDC study commissioned by Microsoft showed that in the Philippines alone, every dollar spent on Microsoft products translates to $15.58 of revenue for partners that sell products such as hardware, third-party software packages that run on the Microsoft platform, and services that support Microsoft-related software,” Rollan said.

“The growth prospects for partners are even brighter when we look at 2008. We project IT investment in the Asia-Pacific to reach $16.4 billion for the year,” he added.