In last Friday’s CIO Summit sponsored by Microsoft Philippines at the Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu, entrepreneurs and government officials were told how their customer-centric solutions can help their business processes and operations.
“Often we talk about how government should be run like a business so that it can improve its services to their constituents. By acquiring the right software and employing cloud storage for data security, government agencies and local governments can streamline their services and reduce paperwork, making them more efficient and extend more services to the public,” said Karrie Ilagan, Microsoft Philippines general manager.
In a press statement, Ilagan said Microsoft remains committed to keep Philippine businesses competitive owing to the role of digital technologies in changing the way they operate.
Microsoft has its Microsoft Cloud computing platform and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a customer relationship management software package it developed for sales, marketing and service sectors to offer to its clients in business and government.
Ilagan said their cloud services have passed standards for data privacy and security set by the European Union.
Ferdie Saputil, Microsoft Phils. public sector director, said any concerns by government agencies and local governments about data theft and privacy issues are refuted by the fact that it is being used by businesses and consumers abroad.
“We have cloud data storage services that are specific for business and for personal use and for now it is subscription based. With a little training it can be used by anyone and any information can be made available by the end user to the public for reference and transparency,” he said.
Saputil said using cloud services is nothing new, comparing it to email “which a majority of Filipinos uses nowadays.” “We are trying to raise awareness about these services to the public, to change their mindset on how information is processed and stored,” he said.
Lawyer Jose Tomas C. Syquia, executive director of the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) Procurement Services, said awareness of these solutions is slowly being introduced to government agencies.