QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES, March 10, 2008. IT Group, Inc., an enabler and partner of businesses for service innovation, together with HP, Phil-Data Business Systems, Inc., and Kingston, successfully organized a free briefing on how information technology or IT can help accelerate the growth of companies in the Whoesale and Retail Distribution industries. Dubbed “Accelerate Business Growth, ” the event was attended by executives, managers, decision makers, IT heads, and end-users of some of the country’s fastest growing business at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas Center, Pasig City last March 6, 2008

The event started off with a welcome message from Ms. Bernadette Nacario of HP Philippines. Shortly after, the floor was given to the Keynote Speakers. First was Dr. Emilio T. Antonio, President of the Center for Research and Communication Foundation, and former Dean of the School of Economics of the University of Asia and the Pacific. He delivered a presentation on the Current Economic situation in the Philippines and the macroeconomic trends influencing the industry. The second speaker was Director Dennis Miralles, Director of BOI Investment Promotions Group who in turn discussed growth areas and investment opportunities in the Philippines as identified by the government.

Afterwards, the stage was then shared by Lauro de Vera of HP Philippines and Jan Pabellon of IT Group who delivered insights on how technology can help businesses capitalize on the growth opportunities in the economy.

Executive Roundtable

One of the highlights of the event was the executive round table , conducted by Jan of IT Group. With him on stage was Ms. Lorraine Belo, CIO of Wilcon Builders Supply and Mr. Dennis San Juan, President of Metro Gas Sales, Inc.. They were asked to share their own experiences on how they use IT in their respective businesses and to share their past, present and future growth plans for their business and IT’s role in those plans.

“[We] couldn’t survive retail without IT,” according to Lorraine, explaining how without IT and their automation of key business processes it would be impossible to process all of their data from their 15 branches for financial reporting. She also shared with the attendees to “not be afraid of IT. Don’t be afraid of technology. Basically, it’s just getting the right information at the right time. IT [at the end of the day] is just a tool.”

Dennis happily shared his own experience with IT, mentioning how he embarks on projects based on what his customers require. To him, “IT is a strategic enabler.” He goes to share that “first, I look at the market, looking at what your customers want, and using IT to execute a strategy to be able to meet the needs of my customers. He tells of how “IT Group [helped us] tailor fit to what our business needed to meet these customer requirements, within a budget we can afford.” IT Group helped Metro Gas automate customer order handling and back-office business processes—helping them become more efficient and effective. Metro Gas is one of the largest independent LPG distributors in the country.

Working Demos
Another highlight of the event were the working demonstrations and quick presentations of all the product solutions of IT Group running on HP Proliant, Procurve, and Presario platforms. The audience was able to see and touch working systems for IP-based telephony, database and reporting systems, network and systems management applications, and others specifically for the unique needs of businesses in wholesale and retail trade. Attendees were able to directly interact with the systems and ask questions from IT Group’s consultants who were on hand to assist them.

Mr. Cris Gamboa, IT Group’s President ended the event with a brief message: “we would like to thank all of those who helped make the Accelerate Business Growth briefing successful—specially our customers, partners and friends, We hope that we were able to inspire, enlighten and give them insights on how they can accelerate the growth of their business through IT.”