2014 – 2018 Foresight for MSMEs dedicated to custom software development in Colombia

Abstract

This work was carried out in order to build and collectively adopt a Foresight Agenda for custom software development in Colombia for 2014 - 2018 through a process of reflection, consultation, and implementation of foresight tools. In this study, it was necessary to analyze the behavior of the software industry in Colombia, given that it is relatively recent, but “the country has the opportunity to capture a growing share of the market for Information Technology (IT), if committed to a longterm sector program that allows eliminating significant barriers”[11]. Currently, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology is promoting new strategies for its enhancement. To develop this work, foresight methodological tools were used to analyze: diagnosis of the situation, stakeholders implied, and review of tendencies on the topic. The tools selected were: Delphi method, IGO matrix structural analysis, morphological analysis method, and scenario method. Among the results obtained, after this work it is recommended to generate strategies among MSMEs custom software developers that allows these companies to seize the supports through venture laws  and  some  tax  benefits  offered  by  the  government, generate innovation to enable them to become competitive, manage knowledge so that it can be documented and keep from making the same mistakes of the past and present, check the current economic models given that these are inefficient – leading many of these companies to become financially unviable, and perform technological adaptations accompanied by technology transfer and human resource training to allow for evolution over time of companies and human capital. We can, finally, conclude that the development of scenarios, using tools involving uncertainty prospects for the generation of possible scenarios and important factors determining market and evolution of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises engaged in custom software development in Colombia evidence lack of management and valuation models for micro, small and medium enterprises engaged in custom software development in Colombia and that these can be built collectively with the help of industry experts, through active participation in different times.