Andal joins BSA in bid to boost sales
Andal joins BSA in bid to boost sales
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Local software provider Andal Software has signed an agreement to
join the Business Software Alliance (BSA) for Indonesia in a bid
to boost sales, which have been affected by piracy.
The company, which offers Microsoft-based software packages,
is the first Indonesian software provider to join the BSA -- a
non-profit organization promoting the safe and legal use of
software, copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-
commerce.
Andal Software director Indra Sosrodjojo said on Thursday that
by joining the BSA, his company hoped to improve sales, which had
plunged due to the rampant use of unlicensed software.
"We have lost (through piracy) opportunities to sell our
software," he said without specifying his company's financial
loss due to piracy.
"We hope to increase sales and grab our potential market --
local small-scale businesses and people in the lower income
bracket," he said, adding that locally packaged software had a 10
percent share of the country's software market potential.
According to market research firm International Data
Corporation (IDC), 87 percent of software installed in computers
in the country last year was pirated, causing the software
industry to suffer a loss of US$183 million. Indonesia ranked
fifth in the world and third in Asia for the highest incidence of
software piracy.
Andal Software, which provides software solutions for
enterprises and the mass market, plans to change its software
application for the mass market to dot net from DOS.
"We will launch dot net, which will be released with the price
of Rp 10,000 (US$1.03) per disc, in September," said Indra,
adding that his company also aimed to sell enterprise solutions
of up to 200 units.
BSA Asia Marketing director Roland Chan explained that the 27-
member organization had worked closely with the government, the
police, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights's Directorate
General of Intellectual Property Rights and the Association of
Computer Software Indonesia (Aspiluki) to fight piracy.
"We have been running a Software Asset Management (SAM)
program by holding seminars to improve companies' awareness of
using legal and licensed software, as well as to initiate a
policy on piracy," he said.
Chan encouraged the public to report on the use of unlicensed
software to its hot line: 0-800-1-BSA-BSA, assuring
confidentiality.
"BSA offers a reward of up to Rp 50 million for solid facts
leading to successful legal action against a company using
pirated or unlicensed software," he said in a statement. (001)