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S/w certification to drop in APAC: Gartner

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CIOL Bureau
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MUMBAI, INDIA: Leading analyst firm Gartner, today announced that the software certification and training market in Asia Pacific is expected to experience a 25 per cent drop in investment from corporations and individuals in 2009 because of the global recession, according to Gartner. 

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Gartner said that although the market is estimated to grow from US$5.59 billion in 2008 to US$13.58 billion in 2013, it will not escape the global economic slowdown.

“For some time now, the software certification and training market in Asia Pacific has played a pivotal role in developing quality resources and addressing the long-term skills shortage within the IT industry,” said Asheesh Raina, principal research analyst at Gartner. 

“However, 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,” he added.

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Raina 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. 

Despite the current challenging market, 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 and estimates that around 1.5 million IT experts would be needed by 2012. 

Key drivers for this longer term growth include enhancements in collaborative tools and technologies, backed by increasing Internet penetration to deliver online content.

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Gartner said that the entire certification and training ecosystem in the region is becoming increasingly vibrant due to the amalgamation of ‘mega vendors’ 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.

Software certification and training growth in Asia Pacific’s key markets is also being driven by a number of different local factors.

The Indian IT training market was estimated to be around US$700 million in 2008 and is mainly fueled by the demand for on-site deployment of certified training resources and the maturity and robustness of the domestic economy. 

Estimates from the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) indicate that the Indian software industry will require 2.3 million professionals by 2010, and based on the current supply has predicted a shortage of around 0.5 million skilled professionals. 

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Even during the global slowdown, Indian IT enterprises are investing in certification and training on a select basis.

“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,” explained Raina. 

He further said that enterprises need to recognize that this is a short-term tactical strategy and vendors need to support them by offering discounts and industry-specific programs. This will make enterprises ready for pent-up demand when the situation improves and demand increases.

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