IT solutions now integral part of doing business<\/p>\n
Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Information technology (IT) has lately begun to show its
\nirresistible force in Indonesia and has been adopted by many
\ncompanies as an integrated part of their overall business.<\/p>\n
In the past, companies generally considered the IT division to
\nmainly be the concern of technicians, but as time has gone by,
\nand with the increasing range of problems that can be solved with
\nthe assistance of this technology, many business executives have
\nfinally woken up to the need, for example, for web-based
\nsolutions.<\/p>\n
Along with other corporate business divisions like marketing,
\nsales and services, IT is now regarded as playing an equally
\npivotal role in boosting corporate performance. Therefore, many
\nlarge companies have drawn up business blueprints that place IT
\nat the forefront.<\/p>\n
Imagine how difficult it was for one to track individual
\ncustomers manually when the number of customers reached into the
\nthousands. With database applications, however, tracking
\ncustomers only takes minutes.<\/p>\n
A broad range of business solutions is now available on the
\nmarket to meet customers' need, such as solutions in the finance,
\nrevenue, operations, logistics and human resources fields. Many
\nsmall-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) and large businesses have
\nalso taken advantage of business solution services related to
\nnetwork infrastructure, like Internet Banking, e-Procurement, and
\nsetting up corporate websites\/homepages.<\/p>\n
PT Oracle Indonesia, PT Cisco Systems Indonesia, PT Microsoft
\nIndonesia and PT SAP Indonesia are among the providers of the
\nsort of business solutions services that have been in increasing
\ndemand from customers.<\/p>\n
IT-based business solutions services started to enter the
\nmarket between 1997 and 1998 when many financially ailing
\ncompanies were taking efficiency measures to survive the
\ncountry's worst-ever economic crisis. These business applications
\nallowed them to detect and monitor the overall business
\noperations system so that management knew precisely which
\ndivision required cost reductions for efficiency's sake.<\/p>\n
\"With these systems, they (the company management) could
\ndecide on the best action to take to generate profit or at least
\nto survive the crisis,\" said PT Oracle Indonesia's Marketing
\nDirector Goenawan Loekito.<\/p>\n
Despite the improving macro-economic situation, the demand for
\nIT-based business solutions services continues to increase from
\nyear to year.<\/p>\n
However, Indonesia's total Internet spending remains small.
\nIndonesians spent about US$1 billion for IT purposes in 2002
\ncompared to the $2 billion spent by Malaysia and $3 billion by
\nSingapore in 2002.<\/p>\n
According to the International Data Center (IDC), of the
\ncountry's total IT spending in 2002, the financial sector,
\nincluding the banking, insurance and financial services sectors
\ncontributed 25 percent, the manufacturing sector 21 percent and
\nthe communications and media sector 16 percent. The money was
\nspent on IT components, including setting up network
\ninfrastructure, peripherals\/scanners, IT services, PCs, storage
\nand software.<\/p>\n
PT Microsoft Indonesia, in partnership with PT Astra Graphia,
\noffers QPR management software which can help corporate users
\nto monitor cost structure, business processes as well as
\nstrategies and performance. With QPR software solutions,
\ncustomers can manage and predict their business in a more
\neffective way.<\/p>\n
For human resources development, PT Microsoft Indonesia has
\ncreated a web-based application providing easy to use and
\ncomplete employee self-service (EES), covering such things as
\nexpense claims, medical claims, leave and approval processes.<\/p>\n
PT Oracle Indonesia's latest business solution, called e-
\nbusiness suite, enables executives to analyze sales performance,
\nrevenue position as well as customer segmentation.<\/p>\n
The system also helps executives analyze other issues like the
\nbusiness process flows, including the flow of goods, and cash and
\nsales, so that the management can detect if there are any
\ndeviations and take necessary steps.<\/p>\n
\"Basically, we provide business solutions tailored to
\ncompanies' needs,\" Goenawan said.<\/p>\n
Like software applications, business solutions also require
\nreliable IP-based network infrastructure to ensure that the
\napplications run well. Some Indonesian companies have installed
\nIP-based network infrastructure since the 1990s to support their
\nbusiness applications.<\/p>\n
The demand for IP-based network infrastructure has continued
\nto increase since then.<\/p>\n
According to IDC, PT Cisco Systems, which specializes in IP-
\nbased network infrastructure, still dominates the market, with a
\n61 percent market share for switches and over 94 percent for
\nrouters as of September 2003.<\/p>\n
Cisco Systems offers end-to-end solution intelligent
\ninformation networks. The solutions include LAN (Local Area
\nNetwork) Switch, IP Core Router, IP Communication Solution, Cisco
\nIP Telephony and IP Contact Center (IPCC).<\/p>\n
By using IP telephony that employs centralized Cisco Call
\nManager, a bank with an extensive network, for instance, no
\nlonger needs to install the PBX system in each of its branches
\nbecause the Cisco network infrastructure applies \"converged
\nnetwork infrastructure\" that enables the convergence of data and
\nvoice in the Cisco network infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\"With the IP-based IPCC, the call center agent can be placed
\nanywhere provided that there is connectivity between the agent
\nand the call center,\" said PT Cisco Systems Indonesia Technical
\nSales Director Budi Santoso Sutanto. .<\/p>",
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