Thailand tops Asean in developers | Bangkok Post: tech

SOFTWARE

For the first time, Thailand has more certified software developers than any other Asean country, indicating the country's regional edge in this field.

Thanachart Numnonda, the director of Software Park Thailand, said more software firms are receiving CMMI-certification since March, allowing Thailand to topple Malaysia as the region's leading software developing country, after placing second for two years.

CMMI or Capability Maturity Model Integration is a process improvement approach that helps organisations improve their performance.

"This is crucial for us, as the number of certifications strengthens Thailand's position in the global software market," said Dr Thanachart.

The local software and software services market is forecast to grow by 17% to 34.4 billion baht this year.

"Thailand now has 63 CMMI-certified companies, ranking us 15th globally, sixth in Asia and first in Asean. This should help our export opportunities in the upcoming Asean Economic Community," said Dr Thanachart.

Certification saves costs for clients by eliminating duplication and mistakes in the software development process and guarantees on-time delivery.

Dr Thanachart said the certification is not easy to receive.

It requires a huge effort on the part of staff, while the process can cost anywhere from 100,000 baht to millions, depending on certification level and company size.

To help maintain Thailand's No.1 ranking, Software Park has joined hands with the Industrial Technology Assistance Program and the Software Industry Promotion Agency to set up a 30-million-baht subsidy fund under the park's SPI@ease II scheme to assist Thai companies seeking certification.

"We pay 70% of the CMMI certification expenses for small and medium-sized software companies through our SPI@ease scheme. Initially, we hope to see eight more companies certified by mid-2013," said Dr Thanachart.

Gartner Inc, the IT research and advisory firm, ranked Thailand a top 30 offshore service destination in 2010.

AT Kearney, the international management consulting firm, ranked Thailand seventh globally last year.

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