Jordan Times
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
US expert to assess IT clients
of JUSBP
AMMAN (JT)— IESC US Volunteer Expert (VE) Douglas Fuss will be asssessing over
the next four weeks the current status of JUSBP's IT client companies and
preparing an action plan on how the Jordan US Business Partnership (JUSBP) can
better assist the IT companies in marketing and outsourcing their services and
products.
With more than 33 years of experience at IBM in sales, marketing and market
development, Fuss will meet with twelve JUSBP IT clients and the IT association,
intaj, to get a more comprehensive picture on their needs and concerns.
One of the first IT firms visited by Fuss was Aspire Services, specialised in
quality assurance testing and already in a partnership-in-purpose (collaborative
outsourcing) with the US firm Weight Watchers.com Inc.
Aspire is working towards a CMM Level 3 certification and has recently
established a development facility in India for WeightWatchers.com. Fostering
new business contacts is a key issue in Aspire's business development plans.
“To sustain growth we need more clients. Many companies can benefit and utilise
our services. A lot of these are US-based online businesses and an actual
presence in the US would be helpful to reach them, but the costs involved are
prohibitive,” said Arlette Gress, executive director of Aspire.
On the issue of outsourcing and marketing, CEO of Alliedsoft, Ra'ed Bilbessi, a
JUSBP IT client company whose flagship is processes information management
systems, said, “Many Jordanian IT companies have factored in the possibility of
outsourcing in their business strategies, but when compared to Asian countries,
competing on a cost level is very difficult.”
He added: “As for marketing, local companies need to substantially invest more
in developing strategic marketing plans to position their value-added offerings
and, therefore, create and promote global awareness on the many benefits end
users will gain by doing business with Jordanian technological firms.”
Certification, lack of it, or the wrong kind, were also some of the issues
raised by Jordanian IT companies. Touted by IT firms globally and in Jordan as a
quality benchmark and a marketing plus the Capability Maturity Model (CMM).
“It's a quality benchmark which allows for improved capacity building, enhanced
productivity and is ultimately used as a marketing tool. As an IT company, CMM
accreditation facilitates your entry to global markets. Through intaj, JUSBP has
helped fund an introductory workshop on the advantages of CMM to several of its
IT clients,” stated Rashad Bibars, JUSBP project manager for the IT sector.
“Any IT company with CMM certification instills a higher level of confidence.
It's an excellent marketing tool and enabler for prospective global contacts,”
said Bilbessi.
“Going international (at least outside the region) without CMM certification —
the hill is too steep to climb,” concurred Fuss. “CMM certification is expensive
but is extremely beneficial on the long run.” On JUSBP's role in helping SMEs
and the IT sector, JUSBP Vice President and Business Development Director Nayef
Stetieh said: “After a thorough assessment of the challenges faced by Jordanian
IT companies, VE Fuss will use his expertise to provide JUSBP with a scope of
work and recommendations on how Jordanian IT companies can more effectively
engage in outsourcing. There also seems to be a general consensus on the need
for companies to direct more resources towards marketing.”
“As a USAID-funded project managed by IESC, JUSBP is committed to supporting the
United States foreign assistance objectives for economic development in Jordan
by delivering strategies and opportunities to assist SMEs in pursuing their
goals and arriving to increased competitiveness,” he added.