Scarcity of experts hampers computer networking growth

Scarcity of experts hampers computer networking growth

JAKARTA (JP): Computer networking is a fast growing business
in Indonesia which is limited only by the scarcity of experts, an
executive of Novell Inc, a leading network company, said
yesterday.

Rodney Yap, country sales manager for Indonesia of the
Singapore-based company, said human resources was the limiting
factor in networking business.

"Human resources development in Indonesia is slower than the
progress of information and computer technology," Yap told The
Jakarta Post at the sidelines of a road show to promote Novell's
products at the Jakarta Convention Center.

Some companies in Indonesia were unwilling to introduce
networking because the system required complicated expertise and
they were not willing to pay the costs, he said.

Despite this, Novell's networking market in Indonesia has been
growing at 35 percent to 40 percent a year, the fastest growth
rate in Southeast Asia, Yap said.

Novell's share of the Indonesian computer networking business
was more than 80 percent, he added.

"More than 70 percent of our consumers are large Indonesian
companies, banks, and government offices," he said, citing Bank
Bali, the state-run Central Bureau of Statistics, the state-owned
telecommunications company PT Telkomsel and state-run Bank Rakyat
Indonesia (BRI) among Novell's major clients.

Bank Central Asia signed an agreement in January to spend
US$650,000 on the installation of a Novell system, he added.

The road show is part of the Novell X-Net ASEAN Tour which
also covers Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Novell offers solutions to network problems and reduces the
cost of owning and managing a network system. It enhances
business operations by increasing network reliability and user
productivity.

Novell claims to be the world's leading network company, the
top vendor in network operating systems and in networking
software for personal computers, as well as the second largest in
personal computer application software after Microsoft. (08)