Software certification market to drop by 25 percent
By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 23 July 2009, 15:42 IST   |    2 Comments
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Software certification market to drop by 25 percent
Bangalore: The software certification and training market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness a 25 percent drop in investment from corporations and individuals in 2009 because of the global recession, according to Gartner, an information technology (IT) research and advisory company. Asheesh Raina, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner said that smaller training institutes and franchise setups in the region are under severe strain and are finding it difficult to sustain themselves in the current economic climate while larger organizations are also experiencing considerable decreases in revenue. Raina said, "Training budgets are usually among the first to be cut as part of cost containment efforts with the result that investments have been temporarily suspended and expansion plans deferred." However, Gartner is confident that the ongoing need for qualified IT personnel in Asia Pacific will fuel major opportunities for IT training and certification in the region. It is estimated that around 1.5 million IT experts will be needed by 2012. The ongoing need for skilled IT people will lead to growth rate of 19.5 percent 2008-2013. Gartner said that the entire certification and training ecosystem in the region is becoming increasingly vibrant due to the amalgamation of companies such as IBM, Oracle, SAP and HP; public sector undertakings such as HPCL in India, training enterprises such as Aptech, Genovate and NIIT and various niche and small players. The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has estimated that the Indian software industry will require 2.3 million professionals by 2010. Even during the global slowdown, Indian IT enterprises are investing in certification and training on a select basis. Software certification and training growth in Asia Pacific's key markets is also being driven by a number of different local factors. Although around 13.5 percent of employed Australians hold relevant qualifications, Australia still faces declining numbers of IT engineers to meet industry need because of demographic trends. Identifying and establishing this as a national competiveness development area opens up potential future opportunity for IT training and certification providers in the Australian market. In Singapore too, investment to expand the IT workforce is driving the market. Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) will invest $47 million by 2013 to expand the IT workforce. "Although the training and certification markets in Asia Pacific will experience a temporary decline in 2009 due to recession-induced budget cuts, the need for trained IT personnel continues to grow and enterprises and vendors need to work together to collectively deal with this scenario," said Raina. The enterprises need to recognize that it is a short-term tactical strategy and vendors need to support them by offering discounts and industry-specific programs. "Although the market is estimated to grow from $5.59 billion in 2008 to $13.58 billion in 2013, it will not escape the global economic slowdown," Raina added.

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