More than 130 ICT foreign and local specialists gathered for a seminar late last week at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park to discuss IT innovations in computing issues on quality and service based on the SMAC.

The IT industry witnesses new innovations in computing every 15 years or so. These innovations change the way IT services are delivered to businesses and end users. After the eras of mainframe, mini-computing, personal computers and client servers, as well as the Internet, or more correctly called "Web" era, the industry is currently in what many call the fifth wave of corporate IT. This fifth wave is characterised by a new master IT architecture comprising social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies collectively known as SMAC.

During the SMAC Quality Conference 2014, specialists and participants focused on the main topics to test solutions on quality and services based on cloud and mobile computing.

At the seminar, FPT Software’s chairman Hoang Nam Tien stated that seizing the new tendency of SMAC would create value and strong growth for businesses. This was a global trend that ICT businesses must learn, since they cannot operate outside the "game."

Tien said the Vietnam ICT market had seen development and strong integration. In particular, SMAC had been given special attention.

Between 2014 and 2016, mobile tendencies and the number of 3G users was expected to continue to rise rapidly, he said. Services, such as OTT (over-the-top) and social, would contribute 80 percent to online communications, online video and mobile content. These would help enhance multimedia communications via personal computers, smartphones, tablets and smart TV. Therefore, people would witness a real boom in multimedia communications, with coverage of more than 50 percent of the Vietnamese population.

Neopost Software Community Director Jerome Modolo, one of the main speakers during the seminar, said SMAC and SMACT (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud, Internet of Things) were new trends that were growing rapidly, based on information from the International Data Group (IDG) and Technology Research Gartner Inc.

However, testing activities of SMAC technology were still in the early development stages. Vendors continued using their available resources, but they were gradually adjusting their products or services to meet the new trends and customer needs. He added that very few companies had made a breakthrough in the field of SMAC testing.

He added that this was an opportunity for young Vietnamese companies and IT workers to participate in solving the problem through knowledge and creativity.

The new trend of IT technology also entailed a great demand for IT workers. He called this a "big space" for local training and the human resource market.

FPT Software will need at least 600 IT workers next year. Of this number, 100 will comprise engineers with expert understandings of SMAC testing.

According to reports of IDG and Gartner there will be 2.18 million users of "Social" by 2015, bringing in revenues of 34 billion USD. Further, the number of "Mobility" users is expected to increase to 1.3 billion, bringing in revenues of 735 billion USD.-VNA