Reaffirms Its Commitment to the premier city and hub of Mindanao

IBM kicked off its centenary celebrations in the Mindanao Region last 21 July 2011 with an IBM Comes To You (ICTY) event for clients and business partners in Davao City, as part of the company’s commitment to help bring smarter business and technology solutions to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in key areas outside of Metro Manila. The event featured the IBM Mobile Solutions Kiosk and was held at the Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City.

The ICTY roadshow series is part of the company’s geographic expansion strategy to bring expertise and technology solutions to clients outside metropolitan areas at greater speed and efficiency. It showcases IBM’s comprehensive set of offerings, including hardware, software and services tailored for the SMEs.

“Businesses based outside the National Capital Region (NCR) see great value in information technology as a way to increase competitiveness and as an enabler for a smarter planet. It is our strategy to work more closely with the city and our clients outside Metro Manila and to empower them to drive innovation and business efficiencies, that is why we continue to bring various initiatives to this region,” said Joy Bellosillo, Geo Expansion Leader, IBM Philippines.

Mindanao is an important market for IBM. The company is committed to help businesses and governments in the region grow and innovate through its extensive network of technical consultants and engineers, resellers, integrated software vendors and distributors in Davao, the region’s main business hub.

The ICTY Davao leg is in line with IBM’s mission to increase smarter technology adoption in the region across all industries with strong focus on the retail industry.

According to the Philippine Retail Association (PRA), the retail industry is experiencing significant growth in the Philippines, mainly due to rapid urbanization happening especially in growth areas like Davao. It is also an important contributor to the Philippine economy as it accounts for roughly 15% of the country’s total Gross National Product (GNP) and 33% of the entire services sector. It employs some 5.25 million people, representing a significant 18% of the country’s work force, which means roughly 2 out of every ten (10) workers is employed in the retail industry.

“We are in the age of the ‘empowered customer’ where the consumer expectations have accelerated rapidly over the past 10 years. Consumers are demanding greater flexibility and choice, creating opportunities for companies of all sizes to innovate and change the way consumers connect, interact and transact. Successful companies are staying competitive by transforming their approach to commerce. At IBM we call the path forward: Smarter Commerce — a strategic approach that places the customer at the center of a retailer’s business operations. IBM’s new smarter commerce approach and innovative standards-based technologies specifically designed for retail will enable retailers in Davao and other emerging markets in the Mindanao region to deliver better and more meaningful customer experiences,” Bellosillo added.

IBM’s commitment and focus in the Mindanao region reaches beyond the business frontiers — it extends to the community. In 2008, IBM deployed a team of 10 top-performing employees from various parts of the world to Davao for the IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program. The volunteers were deployed to Davao Tourism Council to collaborate and work on strategic plans to establish a roadmap/framework for a master plan to achieve the council’s objectives. Another CSC team is set to be deployed in Davao in September.

IBM is also one of the founding members within ICT councils in the southern region. In November 26, 2009, IBM Philippines, Davao City Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (DCCCII) and ICT Davao, Inc. launched an SME Technology Center in Davao City. The center aims to help local enterprises to leverage IT as a strategic business enabler by providing partners and developers a facility to increase homegrown software development using IBM technology as a platform. The IBM-powered facility is located at DCCCII Building, Bajada, Davao City,

The company regularly partners with local ICT groups, government, business chambers and academic institutions to actively promote and harness technology for the region’s business and economic growth.

For more information, please visit www.ibm.com.

HP Laserjet Pro CM1415

Today’s growth in mobile device usage in the country has spawned new ways of accomplishing tasks. For example, mobile users now read news on their tablets or send messages via their smart phones. With the ease in communications afforded by mobile devices, users have also come to demand more conveniences in other ways. HP is addressing one of those through their ePrint technology, which is now enabled in all of their new printers.

On my Apple iPod touch, I can have PDF files, MSWord files, but due to the closed nature of the iOS environment, there’s not much I can do with those files on the device when the need arises for me to print them. But with HP’s ePrint-enabled printers, all I need do is to email the file directly to an HP printer for printing.

No more tinkering with drivers or worrying about supported file formats! When you email a file (attached to the email message) to your printer, it’s HP’s cloud-hosted printing service that’ll take care of determining the proper drivers to use for completing the print job. And you even get a confirmation email response to inform you whether or not the print job was successful.

At the ePrint launch in Makati last 15 April 2011, HP’s market development manager, Erwin E. Creencia, and his colleagues talked about this newfangled innovation. In answer to my question regarding file formats that are not yet supported, Creencia said that AutoCAD files are the only printable files that can’t be printed via ePrint. (Although, ePrint is now also enabled in HP’s large-format Indigo printers.)

What came to mind right away after learning of ePrint and how it works was spam. HP Philippines country general manager, Mandy Pascual, addressed this by apprising us of the safeguards built into HP’s cloud printing service. He said that the service allows for whitelisting of source email addresses, aside from having built-in anti-spam monitoring. (I just wonder how good their anti-spam software is…) The good news is, you can change your printer’s email address anytime, and for an unlimited number of times.

HP Officejet Pro 8500a

Printers that are equipped with the ePrint technology — i.e., HP’s printers that can be connected to the Internet either via LAN or Wi-Fi — need only be registered online. Once registered, it will be assigned its unique email address. An online account will be created where you can manage or monitor print jobs.

For those who are concerned about privacy, Pascual said that the online printer registration is secure and can be done anonymously. (I certainly hope HP won’t do profiling of their customers, or worse, sell the aggregated user data to advertisers.)

Currently, ePrint is enabled on the following printers: HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf Multifunction Printer, HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fn/fnw Color Multifunction Printer, HP LaserJet Pro CP1525 Color Printer, HP Photosmart Ink Advantage K510a, and the HP Officejet Pro 8500A e-All-in-One Printer.

According to HP Philippines, there is also an enterprise solution for corporations that require the ePrint service on their private networks. Normally, printers with their own email addresses are open to the world for receiving documents — this is what lets you print from wherever. But for companies that require a more secure system, HP can enable the use of their ePrint technology within a corporate Intranet.

With a growing number of individuals and businesses going online, it’s becoming more and more practical to use the ubiquitous email for communicating… and for printing. One day soon, HP’s ePrinting will most probably replace the fax machine. In fact, I’m trying to convince my friends in the travel industry to consider the shift. Since all of them have email already, and since they still need to print stuff regularly, upgrading to HP’s ePrint technology is but natural!

Consider this: when buying an airline ticket online, you could supply your printer’s email address to the online booking system. So that when your e-ticket is sent to you, it gets printed right away!

What about you? Can you think of other practical uses for printers that have their own email addresses?

Last week it was their new line of Ink Advantage printers. This week, HP launched in Davao City their new family of notebooks and desktops, as well as high-performance thin clients. The world’s #1 technology company in terms of PC sales in 2010 also opened yesterday its new HP Concept Store at the Gaisano Mall of Davao. The HP Concept Store will feature the latest products, enabling customers to experience first-hand HP’s most cutting-edge technologies. HP yesterday also revealed a redesigned consumer portfolio at A New HP World, with sleek looks and the latest technologies to enhance the way people connect, produce and experience entertainment, and manage information that matter to them. All in order to allow HP’s consumers to achieve their personal passions.

The redesigned HP Pavilion notebook PCs and the new HP TouchSmart Consumer PC are built on inspirations from culture, art, fashion trends and HP’s MUSE — Materials, Usability, Sensory appeal, and Experience — design philosophy.

What the MUSE design philosophy involves are a mix of materials such as metals, alloys and high-grade plastics; easy-to-use features for enhanced usability; a blend of artisanal elements for sensory appeal; and, intuitive features for streamlined computing experiences.

HP Pavilion DV6

The improved HP Pavilion lineup, featuring the dv series of notebook PCs, includes impressive features, such as HP CoolSense technology (for automatic sensing of the processor’s need for ventilation), HP TrueVision HD webcam (gone are the days of the low-megapixel webcams), and HP SimplePass (for biometric logins). Select models of the HP Pavilion dv series also feature Beats™ Audio for a mind-blowing audio experience!

HP Elitebook 8540W

Other new notebooks include the HP Pavilion dv4, HP Pavilion g4 (which is available in the Philippines in charcoal grey and sonoma red), and the Elitebook 8540w series. I was especially salivating over the Elitebook 8540w Mobile Workstation, a.k.a. Portable Powerhouse, which looks like a no-nonsense business machine that packs a punch. It boasts of an Intel® Core™i7 processor with Turbo Boost technology, and with 4 RAM slots that can accommodate up to 16GB of memory. (Of course, you’ll have to run Windows 7 64-bit on it to enjoy all that RAM.)

All in all, I was very impressed with the new offerings of HP in the Philippines — in terms of the awesome technologies and the wide range of products that address not only consumer requirements, but also budgetary considerations. Also, judging by the constant presence of HP in Davao, it would seem that this company is fulfilling its commitment to the city when it declared it its first HP City back in 2008.

I can’t possibly cover here all that was presented during the launch yesterday, so I urge you to go to the HP Concept Store at the Gaisano Mall of Davao in Bajada. Experience HP innovation yourself and be amazed as I was!

IRVINE, Calif. and SAN JOSE, Calif. – Mar. 7, 2011 – Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) and Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT / TSE:6501) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby WD will acquire Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $4.3 billion. The proposed combination will result in a customer-focused storage company, with significant operating scale, strong global talent and the industry’s broadest product lineup backed by a rich technology portfolio.

Under the terms of the agreement, WD will acquire Hitachi GST for $3.5 billion in cash and $25 million WD common shares valued at $750 million, based on a WD closing stock price of $30.01 as of March 4, 2011. Hitachi, Ltd. will own approximately ten percent of Western Digital shares outstanding after issuance of the shares and two representatives of Hitachi will be added to the WD board of directors at closing. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is expected to close during the third calendar quarter of 2011, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. WD plans to fund the transaction with a combination of existing cash and total debt of approximately $2.5 billion.

WD expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to its earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis, excluding acquisition-related expenses, restructuring charges and amortization of intangibles.

The resulting company will retain the Western Digital name and remain headquartered in Irvine, California. John Coyne will remain CEO of WD, Tim Leyden COO and Wolfgang Nickl CFO. Steve Milligan, president and CEO of Hitachi GST, will join WD at closing as president, reporting to John Coyne.

“The acquisition of Hitachi GST is a unique opportunity for WD to create further value for our customers, stockholders, employees, suppliers and the communities in which we operate,” said John Coyne. “We believe this step will result in several key benefits: enhanced R&D capabilities, innovation and expansion of a rich product portfolio, comprehensive market coverage and scale that will enhance our cost structure and ability to compete in a dynamic marketplace. The skills and contributions of both workforces were key considerations in assessing this compelling opportunity. We will be relying on the proven integration capabilities of both companies to assure the ongoing satisfaction of our customers and to bring this combination to successful fruition.”

“This brings together two industry leaders with consistent track records of strong execution and industry outperformance,” said Steve Milligan. “Together we can provide customers worldwide with the industry’s most compelling and diverse set of products and services, from innovative personal storage to solid state drives for the enterprise.”

Hiroaki Nakanishi, president, Hitachi, Ltd. said, “As the former CEO of Hitachi GST, I always believed in the potential of Hitachi GST to become a larger and more agile company. This is a strategic combination of two industry leaders, both growing and profitable. It provides an opportunity for the new company to increase customer and shareholder value and expand into new markets. Additionally, it is important to us that WD shares common values with Hitachi GST to create a more global company that is well positioned to define a broader role in the evolving storage industry.”

WD’s exclusive financial adviser on the transaction is Bank of America Merrill Lynch; its lead legal adviser is O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Goldman, Sachs & Co serves as financial adviser to Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi GST. Legal advisers to Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi GST are Morrison Foerster LLP and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates, respectively.

[Media Release]

Western Digital, WD, and the WD logo are registered trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

This may be a small matter, but for me, it’s a big deal. For a whole week, we didn’t have Internet at home. (We were on SmartBro Broadband before, but when the service deteriorated beyond belief, we transferred to PLDT myDSL. Not much of an improvement, I’m afraid.) The first time we called their helpdesk, the call center agent said that they were experiencing a “system-wide failure” at PLDT. One would think, when such a thing occurred, that a company would pour its resources into solving such a serious matter, yes?

It took a whole week, despite our calling PLDT everyday. We got ridiculous questions like “Are you using a Wi-Fi router?” — as if that ever mattered to problems at their end! I was telling them that their modem was registering a “DSL” connection but that the “Internet” lamp was dim, so that it was probably a server issue and not a local one. To that, I got canned answers that helped not one iota.

Turns out that they migrated their DNS servers. Changed the whole batch of IP addresses. After seven days, a PLDT technician (a contractor, I’m certain) comes over to the house and reconfigures the DNS server. That straightforward. From 58.69.254.69 to 124.106.4.2. And I got my crappy Internet connection back.

They couldn’t have conveyed this bit of information over the phone??

Last night I was chatting with a friend who’s in London. He has a BPO company in Davao and his office is connected to PLDT myDSL as well. And he was having the same problem. He told me that, for ₱1,000/month equivalent, his connectivity at home is very reliable and stable and maintains a bandwidth of 15 gigs. One thousand pesos for a fifteen gigabyte line?? Now that’s broadband!

Back here, we have to contend with abysmally dismal connectivity. And as if that weren’t enough, we have to put up with customer service that’s moving in retrograde!

So now I’m thinking, should we move to Sun Broadband? I’ve heard that their connection’s pretty good here in Davao. But the question is, up to when…?

Manila, 25 May 2010 — More than a year ago, WD® devised the WD Caviar® Blue™, WD Caviar® Green™ and WD Caviar® Black™ hard drive series, designed to help consumers make better informed choices in selecting their digital storage solutions. Now, in the Philippines, these hard drives have faces and personalities in the forms of Brent, Gus and Blake.

Brent represents the WD Caviar Blue hard drive, which is built for everyday computing. Gus represents the WD Caviar Green hard drive, engineered to be cool, quiet and eco-friendly for reducing carbon footprint and saving our Planet Earth. Blake represents the WD Caviar Black hard drive, which is built to be fast and powerful for gaming enthusiasts and overclocker fans who want speed at their fingertips.

Brent, Gus and Blake are fast gaining popularity and teasing chuckles out of netizens as their animated episodes pick up tens of thousands of views. Following the launch of the trailer episode last Christmas, the story of Brent continues with his misadventure with his extremely spontaneous girl. In episode three, Gus consults his disk doctor about his non-nature loving girl who is driving him up the wall. And in episode four, Blake is in therapy with his disk doctor and complaining of his girlfriend who is unable to appreciate the victory that he had achieved through his passion in racing. They all have something in common. Visit WD’s The Power of Choice website here to see Brent, Gus and Blake in action.

Together with the launch of episode four, WD introduces the new WD Blue, Green and Black Photo Hunt Contest. This is the 2nd online marketing campaign following the success of the BGB Photo and Digital Art Contest which had just announced the winners last April. Contestants for the Photo Hunt Contest are required to spot all the differences between the two photos before the time runs out. Pit against the clock for a high score and stand a chance to win attractive prizes like Canon EOS 550D digital SLR camera, Apple® iPad™ 64GB with Wi-Fi + 3G, Mac mini 160GB and more. Click here for the contest mechanics.

About WD

WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and media products.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site to access a variety of financial and investor information.

[Media Release]

Western Digital, WD, the WD logo and WD Caviar are registered trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in the US and other countries; Black, Green and Blue are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks herein are property of their respective owner. As used for storage capacity, one megabyte (MB) = one million bytes, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes, and one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

Davao City makes it to the Philippines’ 2008 Top 10 IT-BPO Outsourcing Destinations

Davao City has added another distinction to its cap by ranking 4th in the Philippine 2008 Top 10 Next Wave Cities for ITO-BPO Destinations. Conferred by the Commission on Information & Communications Technology (CICT) and the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) last 3 December 2008 at the BPO Summit of the Philippines at Crowne Plaza Galleria in Ortigas Center, Pasig, this Award should put to rest the speculation that the city is not ready to host multiple IT-BPO locators/investors.

The CICT and BPAP scored no less than thirty-one (31) ICT-ready locations in the Philippine Cyber-Corridor and their performance in four (4) major areas to include talent, infrastructure, cost and business environment.

Davao City bested 4 other Mindanao ICT locations by scoring well in the areas of talent and infrastructure. The depth of Davao City’s manpower pool is on account of the presence of 42 colleges and universities, which yield about 15,000+ tertiary graduates annually. Complementing the city’s performance in the talent area is the presence of major telecommunication providers, increasing number of upcoming BPO real estate, accessibility by air & land, among others.

The local IT-BPO stakeholders led by ICT Davao Inc and its private and public sector partners welcome the challenge of increasing the city’s competitiveness for attracting ICT locators and investments by working on improving performance in the area of business environment and risk management. “We need to act together in improving the overall imagery of Davao City as a safe IT-BPO destination by providing substantive evidence to counter the negative perception on the Mindanao region. By so doing, we can continue to attract more ICT investments, create more jobs and improve Davao City’s economy,” says Wit Holganza, current president of ICT Davao Inc.

The ten locations that made it to the top next-wave cities for IT-BPO are:

1. Metro Laguna
2. Metro Cavite
3. Iloilo City
4. Davao City
5. Bacolod City
6. Angeles – Clark – Mabalacat
7. Baliuag – Marilao – Meycauayan
8. Cagayan de Oro City
9. Malolos / Calumpit
10. Lipa City

One such magazine that was launched last 10 October 2008 is iCreate. It’s a publication that’s very narrow in focus, but wide in possibilities. To begin with, iCreate targets Mac enthusiasts and users of other Apple technologies. However, it also styles itself as a rich resource for those who are seriously considering a switch to the world of the Mac.

I’m not exactly a Mac user myself, but I do appreciate that there are Filipino-made niche publications out there for those who find themselves enamored of Steve Jobs’ creations.

Thanks to my friends, Otep Benavides and Niño Carandang (head of marketing for iCreate), for inviting me and my blogger-friends to the magazine’s launch. The first issue actually came out 15 August 2008, and it is currently the only Macintosh magazine in the country. It comes out bi-monthly and costs P295.

iCreate is published by Bella Luce Publications, the same outfit behind these magazines: Digital Photographer Philippines, Golf Punk Philippines and Wedding Belles.

To subscribe, see the magazine’s website: www.icreatemagazine.com.

Microsoft Corp.

It wasn’t mentioned in the official announcement, but this generous offer could most certainly be a response to SMEs’ clamor for more affordable business software applications.

Software has never been a priority among SMEs, most of whom consider such expense non-essential and even frivolous (and so resort to piracy). This new financing deal from Microsoft, whose programs are used by more than 90% of businesses, should therefore be a very welcome development.

Included in the deal are MS Windows, MS Office, and other applications that fall under Open License, Open License with Software Assurance, and Get Genuine Windows Advantage SMO. In short, most of the software needs of virtually all SME companies are covered.

In this financing program, Filipino companies need only make a down payment of 30% of the total purchase. The balance will then be payable across 9 months at 0% interest. To give you an idea, let’s say your company purchases software licenses valued at P250,000. The payment up front will be P75,000. For the next 9 months, you will be paying only a little over P19,000 per month.

Such a package could include several licenses for MS Windows Vista Business, and those for the Office suite (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

This financing program is available to registered businesses only. The Microsoft Philippines website lists SEC registration papers as one of the requirements; however, according to Lane Systems’ Rodney Jao, DTI-registered companies may also apply for it. Lane Systems Inc is one of the accredited ISV Partners of Microsoft in the Philippines.

The Microsoft Financing Program runs from 1 October 2008 to 31 March 2009.

Abreeza will be a multi-use commercial center that will house a mall, entertainment areas (including natural open spaces, comprising about 20% of the total project area), and locations reserved specifically for business-process outsourcing (BPO) operations. In fact, there are two buildings planned solely for BPO companies, according to the representatives of Ayala Land.

The first building is scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2009 and will have a total gross leasable area of 10,000 sqm. While ALI has not yet signed any particular BPO firm for Abreeza, they do have existing locators in their IT parks and buildings in Metro Manila and Cebu.

At the press conference following the groundbreaking rites Tuesday last week, ALI President Jaime I. Ayala explained that they do maintain a loyal group of BPO locators who may very well be expected to follow them to Davao once the facilities are in place. He further expounded that this was the case in the Ayala IT Park in Cebu City.

The groundbreaking of this much-awaited development, which is a joint venture between ALI and Anflocor, is a very clear and resounding signal of strong investor confidence in Davao City. The ALI executives expressed their approval of the region’s peace-and-order situation, as well as of the overall favorable business climate in the Philippine South. Hence their preparedness to sink in up to Php5 billion in the Abreeza project.

During the press conference, which was held at the Pearl Farm Marina in Lanang, ALI and Anflocor decision-makers made themselves available for interview by local media, as well as by a couple of bloggers – Ria Jose and yours truly. Sidebar: I am glad that more and more business entities are now recognizing the usefulness of blogs as an effective communications medium.

Being an active member of the city’s IT industry as well, I was particularly interested in the ICT component of Abreeza. Upon introducing the existence of organized ICT groups in Davao, both presidents of ALI and Anflocor immediately expressed an interest in interfacing with the Association of Solution Integrators in Davao (ASID) and ICT Davao Inc.

ASID is the organization of software development houses and companies offering software-based solutions. ICT Davao is the umbrella group of all ICT-related non-profit organizations in the city (of which ASID is a founding member). I act as the executive director of ASID.

It is indeed beneficial for Davao to be the investment destination of more foreign BPO companies that will locate in Abreeza. On the other hand, it is my hope that this Ayala development will also spell success for the local ICT industry of Davao.

Judging by the keen interest and enthusiasm of the ALI executives when they inquired into ASID and ICT Davao, I’m convinced that Abreeza will be able to contribute directly to the progress of Davao’s IT sector.

Already, Ayala Businesscapes representatives, as well as Anflocor President Alexander Valoria, have communicated their intent to participate in Davao’s IT associations. Their contributions are certainly very welcome!