Software industry aims for 20% annual growth until 2010 - Guatemala

Source:  bnamericas.com
Guatemala’s software industry is expected to grow at least 20% annually for the next four years as the country seeks to focus more on exports, Francisco Sandoval, executive director of Guatemala’s software export agency Sofex, told BNamericas.
Last year software sales reached US$100mn, 40% of which was exported.
Of the total exported, 40% went to other countries in Central America, 40% to South America and the rest to the US, Europe and Mexico.
Core banking, accounting and billing solutions are the most common software applications produced in Guatemala, followed by risk control, CRM and microcredit administration software, according to Sandoval.
Among the two dozen Guatemalan software producers that have made considerable progress in the export market are ERP solutions provider Gyssa and software designers Byte Latin America and Plus Technologies and Innovations.
PIRACY AND SOFTWARE PRODUCTION
One of the problems facing the development of the local software industry is the level of pirated software, such as Windows, even by Guatemalan companies developing their own software solutions.
According to former Sofex coordinator Sergio Alarcón, small programmers and developers see certified software as an expensive luxury and are competing unfairly with larger software developers and IT services providers, which is hurting the industry as a whole.
The Business Software Alliance’s latest piracy study shows 81% of the software installed on PCs last year in Guatemala was obtained illegally.
“Licenses are not that expensive, but for a small company they are. And it’s a cost that companies can’t recover,� Alarcón said.
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
Hugo Barillas, sales director of local software developer Sisnova, has managed to grow the business and pay licensing fees at the same time. He believes piracy is a cultural problem.
“People are not used to paying for software and it’s difficult to convince businesses that it’s worth it,� Barillas told BNamericas.
Sisnova, located in Guatemala’s second largest city Quetzaltenango, took part in a Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) funded program known as Empower, designed to allow independent software vendors to create solutions using Microsoft products while receiving a discount on Microsoft licensing fees.
As a result Sisnova was able to design point of sales systems, administration software and biometric technology for companies of all sizes throughout Guatemala.
Last year the firm saw revenues of US$115,000, more than doubling that seen in 2005. This year Barillas expects sales to rise 50%.
The Guatemalan government has not yet begun to take measures to protect intellectual property and provide incentives to use licensed software. But the founding of Sofex three years ago, which forms part of Guatemala’s larger export agency Agexport, is a step in the right direction. Sofex has 25 members.