Fujitsu Philippines, Inc.

Fujitsu Philippines Implements Sophisticated Enterprise Java Computing Course

To prepare Filipino software developers for global Internet projects

Manila, February 15, 2002 — In response to the increasing global demand for web-based application development services, Fujitsu Philippines, Inc. (FPI) has developed and implemented a comprehensive and technologically advanced Enterprise Java Computing (EJC) Course.

This fifteen-week course, possibly the first of its kind in the Philippines, will provide advanced Java skills to the over 600 Filipino software developers employed by the software subsidiaries of FPI.

Through the EJC course, FPI can enhance its capability to develop and implement the Web-based enterprise applications that global and local customers need for their e-Business initiatives.

Driven by Customer Demand

"As we win more sophisticated software projects from our customers in the USA, Europe and Japan, we are experiencing a much bigger demand for experienced Java designers and architects", says FPI President Felipe Manalang.

"Customers need more than just programmers who can cut code in the Java language. They are looking for experience in the practical application of Java technology towards real-world problems. This would include familiarity with popular technology standards (such as J2EE, CORBA, XML and UML), plus significant hands-on experience in the most popular tools for rapid application development, documentation, and application integration."

It is for this reason, according to Manalang, that FPI has embarked on the EJC training program, which is unique in the Philippines. The course provides the trainees with hands-on experience on the Java-related tools and standards commonly used in Internet-based software projects coming from first-world countries.

Every FPI software developer is already capable of writing Java code, as all newly-hired software engineers are required to undergo a four-month basic programming boot-camp, which includes C, Visual Basic, C++, Java, and Client/Server computing architecture. The new EJC course provides the advanced knowledge on top of this basic programming skill set. It is intended for selected veteran developers with two or three years of intensive software development experience.

"Think of our basic programming boot camp as the equivalent of a bachelor's degree, which has provided a software developer with foundation knowledge. The EJC course then becomes the equivalent of a master's degree, which builds very advanced skills on top of the foundation knowledge," says Manalang.

FPI's Java Gurus

In order to develop the EJC course, FPI turned to two of its veteran Java experts, Jun Elloso and Gilbert Gregorio, to conceptualize, architect and design the courseware. Both are battle-hardened veteran technical managers, with many years of actual front-line experience in FPI's software service business.

According to Gregorio, while Sun is the owner of the Java trademark, FPI has been largely self-sufficient with regard to software development in Java. "Our first Java-skilled software engineers learned the technology on their own, way back in the middle 1990's. We had then won several projects requiring Java programming skills, and we had no choice but to learn informally and quickly. Since then, we have incorporated basic Java programming into our programming boot camp."

Elloso adds, "While all of FPI's 600+ developers are theoretically Java-proficient, we have at least 100 software engineers with actual battle experience in Java. We have been quietly developing assorted Java applications since 1996. Modesty aside, I think that we have the biggest base of Java skills in the country. But our low-profile nature keeps that fact unknown to most people in the industry."

Elloso and Gregorio both agree that the constantly changing technology has presented challenges to them both as developers and as courseware developers. "The Java toolsets of our clients are very different now, compared to just a few years ago," says Gregorio. "Based on our experience and observations, we have made some professional judgments on which of these software tools are currently in great demand, and which will continue to become de facto standards. We have designed our course based on this judgment."

"Actual experience is the biggest demand of the market," says Elloso. "We had to design the EJC course so that it would contain a lot of hand-on problems, including a several simulated real-world projects, where the students are forced to actually use the tools that they have recently learned. This is definitely more valuable than the theoretical knowledge gained from just reading a book. I think this is what makes our course so different from the rest, and so valuable to a serious developer."

Another challenge is going beyond the code and seeing the bigger picture. "Often, developers get so focused on the technology. In the process, they lose sight of the reason for using the technology. To be an effective software architect or designer," says Gregorio, "you need to gain an understanding of the customer's business process and how the technology can solve typical business problems, such as improving customer service or increasing profitability. So, it was very important to select real-world examples and cases for the EJC course."

"Filipino Java developers need more exposure to real-world tools" continued Mr. Elloso. "For instance, UML is a modeling language often used to aid and document the object-oriented analysis and design process. For our first-world projects, one of the most popular UML tools is Rational Rose, from Rational Software. There are very few people in the Philippines who are familiar with the use of UML, let alone with Rational Rose. EJC hopes to cover such practical gaps."

The Actual Course

Gregorio and Elloso conceptualized and designed FPI's EJC course, with the following courseware parameters in mind:

• should assume that the attendee is a software developer already proficient in basic Java coding
• should provide a solid theoretical foundation for the desired Java-related technologies
• should emphasize the practical implementation of these Java-related technologies, using globally-popular development tools and deployment platforms
• should always employ real-world business examples during the course
• should be intensive in practical hands-on machine exercises throughout all the individual segments of the course
• should culminate in a large simulated real-world project, to give students the feel of an actual front-line environment

The actual course is a full-time 15-week program, with eight logical modules:

1. Object-Oriented Concepts and Programming Standards - gives a review of the Java Language and Object-Oriented concepts; discusses the Programming Standards; teaches Unified Modeling Language (UML) for application design and development.
2. Mastering Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) - discusses the theory and implementation of J2EE technology components, Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI), Remote Method Invocation (RMI), CORBA, Java Server Pages (JSP), Java Servlets, and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB).
3. Mastering XML - teaches the use of XML as a standard specification for a cross-platform data, with emphasis on integrating XML with J2EE.
4. Mastering Java Server Pages and Servlets - teaches how to use JSP as front-end for J2EE applications; discusses how to use Servlets for Java web-enabled applications and dynamic web sites.
5. Enterprise JavaBeans Programming - discusses how to use EJB for building high performance distributed transactional systems. Discusses also Java Transation Service (JTS), Java Transaction API (JTA), Java Messaging Service (JMS) and Java Mail.
6. Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) - teaches the use of application server software for EAI, using BEA WebLogic as the teaching tool
7. Process/Workflow Applications - teaches the development of Java-based workflow-based business applications, which is a very common customer project
8. Practical Application Using J2EE - an intensive hands-on workshop where participants will use the J2EE technology in developing several simulated real-world E-Commerce applications.

A Major Investment

The actual development of the EJC courseware was done in-house by internal FPI technical specialists. From planning until documentation, the courseware development process took almost one year to complete, translating to significant investment in the form of labor costs. To support the conduct of the EJC course, FPI has made another major investment in facilities and infrastructure.

The EJC facilities consist of three (3) classroom-laboratories with twelve (12) seats each. By intent, class size is limited to twelve students, because of the intensive nature of the interaction between the course instructor and the students. Based on FPI's own estimates, these classrooms will be just enough to train over a hundred experienced software developers over a one-year period.

Each student is assigned a top-of-the line PC workstation, running Windows 2000 Professional, loaded with all the client-side tools needed for the duration of the course. These PC's typically have twice as much memory, disk and CPU speed (compared to the typical developer's PC), because of the heavy-duty nature of the tools to be used. The laboratory PC's are connected via a fast LAN connection to multiple central servers, running both Solaris and Windows 2000 versions of the various Java-based tools.

"Over-all, we have allocated about ten million pesos for the facilities and courseware of our EJC course. The hardware portion is the smallest part of our investment," said Mr. Manalang. "We have spent more money for the licenses for all the different tools that the course will cover. We have also spent a significant amount of time and money in the actual course development."

But the biggest cost associated with the EJC training process is the labor cost of the students. For almost fifteen weeks, while they are attending the courses, the attendees will be on non-billable training mode. During this time, they cannot contribute any project revenues to FPI, even while their labor costs continue to accumulate. The training costs become more prohibitive, considering that the attendees are generally the more senior (and therefore more expensive) software developers of FPI. For a service company, this situation packs a double wallop, with lost revenues compounded by high personnel carrying costs.

Desired results

Despite the investment downside, Manalang believes that the EJC course is the only way to go. "This is a chicken-or-egg situation. Now that the economic outlook is bad, FPI has decided that this is the best time to invest in advanced skills," says Manalang. "One aspect of our investment is our massive recruitment program for entry-level technology professionals. The other aspect is our EJC course, for our experienced developers. We are betting that when the global economy turns around, we will be way ahead of the rest, in terms of being prepared to win business."

Mr. Manalang identifies several typical Java-based projects, all of which will demand the skillset produced by the EJC course. "There are many foreign companies with legacy systems, who want these systems to be Web-enabled. Another common project is using Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) tools, to glue together multiple legacy applications among themselves, or to join legacy applications with new Internet-based application."

He adds, "There are those enterprises (especially in Japan) with legacy systems, who want to junk them and build new Internet-enabled applications from scratch. Or sometimes, there are those companies who have purchased off-the-shelf Internet solutions, and need some level of customization or integration."

Despite the difficult economic conditions, FPI believes that global demand for their services will continue to grow. And FPI is betting a lot of money that the Enterprise Java Computing Course will become a major competitive advantage in the years to come.

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About Fujitsu Philippines, Inc.

Fujitsu Philippines Inc. (FPI) is a leading system integrator of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions for Philippine enterprises. With over one thousand full-time Filipino technology professionals and more than 25 years of operations in the country, FPI is uniquely positioned to apply the best-of-breed technology solutions to assist its customers in solving complex business problems. By leveraging the collective expertise, experience, and work ethics of its workforce, FPI has an unmatched track record in designing, building, implementing, and maintaining ICT solutions, especially in difficult projects with complex technology architectures, nation-wide geographic scope, and tight implementation schedules. FPI is an affiliate of Fujitsu Limited headquartered in Tokyo, which reported consolidated revenues of 4.6 trillion yen (about US$38 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003.
For more information, please see: http://www.fujitsu.com/ph/

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