HCMC - Applying information technology in business management, both enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and IT infrastructure, will help create a competitive edge for local companies in the wake of global challenges in the coming time, according to a seminar held in HCMC last week.
Enterprises encouraged to apply IT for competitive edge
By Dinh Dung - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC - Applying information technology in business management, both enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and IT infrastructure, will help create a competitive edge for local companies in the wake of global challenges in the coming time, according to a seminar held in HCMC last week.
“Business enterprises in Vietnam should prepare for challenges brought on by increasing global competition,” Rene Betia, director of international business development of Kaisa Consulting Co., told a forum themed ‘How to be a winner in the face of global competition’.
“Now is the time to take global competition seriously,” Betia said. “ERP software will help local companies [gain] a competitive edge in the growing global market place.”
Most speakers pointed out that with new foreign investments, more intense competition from foreign owned companies was expected and that one of the burning questions was how local companies would compete effectively, expand and sustain growth.
John T. Ditty, chairman of KPMG Limited, an international accountancy and professional firm, shared his experience with the seminar saying that poor planning and forecasting of processes and systems were at the core of much of the duplicated and unproductive time reported in most finance functions.
Ditty said that what was needed was to get to the root of inefficiency in the forecasting process, to understand the drivers of business results and of potential volatility, and to build tools to enable efficient and flexible forecasts.
Speakers at the seminar highlighted the importance of ERP saying it would help business managers with their daily decision-making processes by providing access to timely and accurate information.
Traditional ways require lots of time, even a month, for a company to make changes or recalculate costs for its products, but an ERP system can give a solution within hours.
“A collection of ‘intelligent’ information will help business leaders make better business decisions that enhance shareholder value,” Ditty said.
Some local companies are trying ERP written by foreign companies but this is not yet popular for several reasons, including the large investment and differences in accounting systems.
Francis Lee, chief representative and country manager of SAP Vietnam, a business software provider, said the company would gradually localize its products to meet the demand of local companies.