“Most Japanese still do not know this and this is the challenge we face in the lucrative but difficult to penetrate Japanese market” -- courageous words from Tsukiden Software Philippines, Inc.’s (TSPI) Engineering Director, Joseph Valdez, a Physics and Computer Engineering graduate of the Ateneo and Executive-MBA graduate of AIM.
Seventeen years in the business, TSPI has weathered the cyclic busts and booms of the software development industry. As one of the pioneers in embedded systems development outsourcing here in the Philippines, TSPI adapts to the changing trends and bleeding-edge technologies that are inherent of the industry.
Geared up for business
Tsukiden Software Philippines, Inc. was an offshoot of Tsukiden Electronics Industries Inc. (TEII). Back in 1987, TEII was engaged in floppy disk and hard disk assembly for a Japanese multinational company. Noticing the Filipinos’ talent for programming and debugging, the company decided to venture into software development as well. Thus, TSPI was founded in 1990 as a pioneer software development company.
The timing was great for TSPI. In the late 80s to early 90s, the famed Japanese bubble economy burst and many Japanese companies were looking for ways to cut costs. And as companies as well as government turned to IT to streamline their operations, Japan experienced a shortfall of their local talents in software development. The search for talents abroad, especially Japan’s neighboring Asian countries, to augment and at the same time to cut costs began in earnest. Consequently, the Philippines was one of the countries that benefited from this imminent decision of companies to outsource their software development.
TSPI was fortunate to have two Japanese clients courtesy of TEII upon their launch in 1990. These clients decided to try out the Filipino’s mettle for software development. The first 15 engineers of TSPI were trained in Japan, giving them the hands-on experience of embedded systems and ASIC (application specific integrated circuits) design and development.
Lost in translation? NOT
“One of our difficulties in catering to the Japanese market is the language and cultural barrier,” Valdez confessed. Filipino companies who have tried to dip their fingers in the market acknowledge this. Needless to say, foreign companies who want to get into the Japanese market, have to learn Nihonggo. But more importantly, companies need to adapt with the way Japanese do business.
TSPI finds ways to address language barriers between its Filipino and Japanese. One of which is teaching Nihonggo to Filipino employees, and English to the Japanese expatriates.
“Although in our company, the barrier exists for Filipinos and Japanese, we address the problem by providing Japanese lessons to our Filipino engineers and on the other, English lessons to the Japanese. But we understand that it will take much more to hurdle this. We need to have cross-cultural interventions in order to manage the gap. These misunderstandings and miscommunications are very costly. They lead to rework, loss of confidence and ultimately loss of client.” Valdez said.
Software development is not just about having the technical expertise. Perhaps more important is to understand the client’s needs. And that is why TSPI strives to listen to the expressed and unexpressed wishes of their clients.
“We try be in touch with our clients almost on a daily basis. Japanese want to know what is going on all the time. “Our clients also have a set of criteria for evaluating and ranking their vendors. We make sure that we follow these set of criteria. We try hard to continuously adapt, improve our processes, tweak our procedures and refine our services, if only to win that heartwarming smile and elusive approval of our Japanese clients.” Valdez adds.
Armor to success: innovation
TSPI is one of the first companies who have engaged in the business of custom software, firmware, and hardware. And with seventeen years of experience, the company has definitely withstood the ups and downs of the business and is continuously innovating new ideas, products, and services to suit the demands of the industry.
Among the company’s expertise include: embedded systems development , telecommunications applications, business applications, ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) design, and wireless applications.
A CMMI Level 3 company, TSPI is known for its embedded systems development. Working with some Japanese multinationals, the company has created embedded systems for handheld gadgets, office equipments and appliances. One of TSPI’s well-known clients for embedded systems is NEC.
The more, the better
Japan is one foreign market where Filipino service providers need not to worry. While Japanese outsource a huge chunk of their software development to China and India, the unserved portion of the pie will be more than enough to keep the few service providers brimming with work.
Competition among local software development companies is unnecessary. TSPI shares the same thoughts of other software development companies in the country. They, too, believe that the emergence of software development companies indicates that Filipino engineers are knowledgeable and can be trained in the fast changing technologies in software development.
“I think the more important task at hand is to achieve a critical mass of successes such that the Japanese continue to be convinced that the Philippines is indeed a reliable destination for their IT outsourcing needs. We need to serve each of our clients well so that the overall impression on the Philippine IT industry remains high,” Valdez advises.
Promoting the software development industry, TSPI and other software development companies often participate local and international trade shows. Among the trade shows which TSPI joins is the e-Services Philippines ands e-Services Philippines goes to SODEC (Software Development Expo and Conference) organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM). The company’s participation to SODEC gave them and the whole Philippine delegation a positive response. By just having a Philippine booth at SODEC, many Japanese companies are surprised but are becoming more aware of the country’s edge in software development.
“The presence of the Philippine booth at SODEC puts the country in the minds of the Japanese. During our first year at SODEC, there was this Japanese who kept on going back and forth glancing at the ‘Philippines’ block of letters festooned on top of our booth. He finally went in and inquired, ‘Can you do software in the Philippines? Why is there a Philippine booth here?’ He seemed so surprised that Filipinos can actually do software programs. We were also of course surprised ourselves. This only goes to show that a lot of Japanese are still unaware of the Filipinos’ capability to do software development. For this reason alone, the Philippine booth should always be at SODEC every year,” Valdez suggests.
TSPI, today and tomorrow
As our everyday lives begin to be intertwined with ICT, it is not surprising that more applications are being developed that makes information within the reach of everyone anytime anywhere. Many Filipinos are now constantly on the hunt for new technology and are also getting a hand on the development of applications that enhance the way we lead our daily lives.
TSPI is among the many companies in the Philippines that seek opportunities for Filipino software developers to take part of. The company is very determined to make their services available to other markets aside from the Japanese. Through this huge step, this will help the Filipinos be competitive and make them world-class in the field of ICT.
“We will open ourselves to opportunities not only in the Japanese market but also in other markets as well. This will not only spread our risks but also utilize the inherent capability of the Filipinos in the English language. This year we will also be participating at CommunicAsia 2007 in Singapore. This is our first time and we look forward to a noteworthy experience,” Valdez ends.
For more information on Tsukiden Software Philippines, Inc., visit their website at www.tspi.com.ph.
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