The digital economy of the Philippines continues to soar at a rate of 20% and is expected to reach US$20B this year according to the latest e-Conomy SEA 2022 report released by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company. The same report also noted that the local eCommerce industry will be pushing the particular growth from the country’s electronic economy to as high as US$35B by 2025.
The Philippine government is trying hard in order to promote the growth of the digital economy plus increase the particular country’s competitiveness in the global market with initiatives to improve infrastructure, promote the adoption associated with digital technologies, and support the development of local businesses.
As part of this effort, mainframe computers have played a significant role in the development of the Filipino digital economy. Mainframe computers are powerful computers that are used in order to process large amounts of data and perform complex tasks. These machines are often used by organizations for mission-critical applications, such as financial transactions, data analysis, plus the management of big databases.
Mainframe computers are used by a variety of organizations within the Philippines, including banks, government agencies, and large corporations. They are used to process and manage large amounts associated with data, assistance complex business processes, plus ensure the particular reliable operation of critical systems.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Praveen Kumar, Vice President with regard to Asia Pacific at Rocket Software as he was in town for a series of business meetings. Founded in 1990, Skyrocket Software [https://www.rocketsoftware.com/] is a software development firm that provides predictive analytics along with deep information, develop AI and machine learning capabilities, and design mobile and browser application using IBM Z, IBM Power, plus embedded database platforms. The company acquired ASG Technologies in April 2021.
“Rocket Software predominantly focused on traditional mainframe solutions. We are historically a technical-oriented company and over the past five years, Skyrocket has been pivoting towards a customer-facing sales company while not losing the technical orientation. While we grow the specialized OEM company along with IBM, we are furthermore spending a lot more energy trying to directly interface with the customer and have a larger sales field that is interactive, ” said Kumar when I asked him what keeps the company busy these days adding that their acquisition of ASG Systems last year is helping them the lot to focus on their clients.
Contrary to popular belief, the mainframe business is usually not yet a dying industry. As the architecture of computer chips evolved, the particular adaptability associated with older software (used inside industries like banking, finance, and insurance) to run on these newer machines is lagging. In reality, it is very hard regarding software vendors to build programs which are specific to the hardware architecture of a box (computer machine), as this is continuously evolving. Kumar pointed out that the mainframe segment has already been very stable since the architecture used in these types of machines was solidly designed.
Modernizing the Legacy Landscape
Companies that will still use mainframes today are faced with some challenges, particularly in addressing the technology talent space. With most legacy enterprise software written in RPG (IBM’s high-level programming language) or COBOL (the English-like programming language used within most business applications associated with yesteryears), both programming languages had been around because the late 1950s, finding the right programmer in order to modernize applications will be a tough job.
Rocket Software assists modernize the particular legacy landscape without touching the backend application. When businesses make use of Rocket Software, their software program developers do not need to learn RPG or COBOL to interface their mainframe data with the newer apps. Companies can now launch new products faster using low-code/no-code systems by using items for example Explode API, effectively saving upon costs up to 30% as they can now focus on managing the software and not on the integration processes.
“Look at solutions that don’t require you to rewrite, re-develop, or even change the particular application itself. Your modernization journey will be a lot better if you can integrate as a first choice. If you can’t, you may go in order to another package or re-develop, ” Kumar’s advice to Filipino businesses that intend to modernize their systems.
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