Nothing Special

The Computer Manufacturers Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines (COMDDAP) held their annual event in Davao this year at Apo View Hotel last July 2-4, 2009. I was not able to read the information about COMDDAP Expo in the forum so I have no idea about it until my ex-classmate asked me if I will be going to attend the said exhibit because she was on the way there. Luckily I was able to witness the latest in information technology’s fast-phase development.

COMDDAP is an association of the country's top information technology businesses. COMDDAP was created with the primary objective of promoting the sustainable development of the country's information technology industry through voluntary collaboration of its member companies. The associations objectives are: promote the use of information technology and elevate its standards in the Philippines; make computers affordable and available to the masses; provide and create opportunities for users to develop themselves to their fullest potentials; supply the market with quality products at reasonable prices with good after-sales support; to work closely with the government, the private sector, and international entities in promoting the use of information technology; provide a forum of discussion on matters relating to the computer industry; and foster and cultivate harmony, cordiality and camaraderie among the members so that they can work together as one for the benefit of the industry. Its primary objective is to promote the sustainable development of the of the country's information technology industry through voluntary collaboration of its member companies. It is the goal of COMDDAP to be able to provide its members general views and updates from different sectors - private and government, and highly regarded individuals to further uplift the morale and knowledge of its organization.

The vision of promoting and elevating the standards of Information technology (IT) in the Philippines fueled a group of prominent computer companies to form the Computer Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines or COMDDAP. Its initial member-companies represent the world's leading makers and providers of computer products, solutions and peripherals.

COMDDAP holds regular exhibits, more popularly known as the COMDDAP EXPO, which has become a consistent crowd drawer and has in itself set new records in terms of the quality of the exhibit area, of its exhibitors, visitors, and venues. The annual COMDDAP endeavor encourages its participants to launch their products and services, as well as hold seminars with a variety of topics in the areas of technology, trends, applications, and information management.

Indeed, COMDDAP has gone a long way from a mere assemblage of premier IT companies and enthusiasts. With the support and enthusiasm of its member-companies, COMDDAP expects and looks forward to accomplishing more worthwhile projects in the future as COMDDAP is committed to the stable growth of the Philippine computer industry.

During the COMDDAP Davao 2009, the first speaker at the event was Celmer L. Santos for ERIC Dealer Management System (DMS). He introduced the Dealer Management System (DMS) as an end - to - end software solution for automotive sales, parts and service businesses. We found out that ERIC Dealer Management System (DMS) covers the full range of dealer activities from marketing to sales and services. Aside from core business operations, Dealer Management System (DMS) includes a full ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and completely automates and integrates back office operations all the way to financial reporting. He presented us the core functionalities of their system and showed the details of it. With ERIC Dealer Management System (DMS), you can have full visibility over all operations, achieve total control over your dealership business, schedule prospects for test drives and follow an appointment, monitor and increase sales, delight customers with gentle reminders for appointments, manage vehicle inventory, deliver impeccable service, control parts and consumables cost, monitor and correctly implement warranty for parts and service and report your financial bottom line. He also explained to us that the system can also be used not only for automotives but also in any parts and service businesses as well. I observed how detail oriented and organize their software (based on Mr. Santos’ presentation) which fit and completely automates and integrates back office operations.

The second speaker of the event was Mr. Leonardo Zap, the Market Development Manager for HP Thin Clients. He discussed the different models of HP Thin Clients and the value proposition for using the HP Thin Clients. He said that the HP Thin Clients has several features and advantages when use compared to desktop computers. The Hp Thin Clients has an improvised security, easier administration and manageability, improved power efficiency, and lower total cost of ownership. He also presented some applications that can run on HP Thin Clients. The HP Thin Clients can run well virtually on all types of applications it can run applications from stand-alone, to client-server, to web-based. The machine can run embedded Operating System such as Linux or Windows. One of its unique features is that it does not have any moving parts like the hard drive and fan but still it is more capable of performing most of the normal functions of a personal computer. Because the HP thin Client does not have movable parts, the machine can run on a lower power and more robust and can boot faster. Heavy lifting for processor or disk intensive applications can be done on the server. thin clients have a much longer lifespan than standard computers and use significantly less power. Lower maintenance costs are another benefit as software application updates, virus scanning and patches can be executed on the server. Deployment costs are also reduced as thin clients can be remotely configured and do not need to be set up individually. Break-fix simply requires replacing the thin client.

The students who attend the event have now a better appreciation of new, innovative and better value solutions available on the market. We are now aware of the latest of information technology’s fast phase development in trends, applications and information management from the world’s leading makers and providers of computer products, solution and peripherals. Of course this would not have been possible without the help of COMDDAP.