On B2B Indonesia

On B2B Indonesia

I read with dismay the letter from Uraini Umarjadi of PT
Dataindo Inti Swakarsa that appears in March 2 edition of The
Jakarta Post. I have no affiliation with her company, except that
in my column I once reviewed the product that is now being
pirated and circulated freely around.

Having been once in the direct mailing business, I know how
challenging it is to keep data up-to-date. Every day my employees
had to call each of the names on the database to verify that the
individual was still working in the same company and was still
holding the same position. It was a tremendous amount of effort
-- day in, day out. I quit after three months.

A database such as the B2B Indonesia is useful only to
businesses. Now, are these businesses not supposed to pay for all
the tools that they use to do business? If they invest in company
cars, or furniture, PCs, air-conditioners etc., should they not
also invest in the database that they use to get new business
contacts?

And then, even if the database can be easily copied and
duplicated, has it not occurred to these businesses that, if they
buy the original, they will be helping Indonesian small and
medium businesses grow and in turn, provide more jobs for
Indonesians?

ZATNI ARBI, IT Columnist, Jakarta