ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses option-that of tackling software costs. In 1960, about 90 percent of the data processing budget in a typical organization was devoted to hardware and only 10 percent to software. Writing computer software is a relatively easy export area open to less-developed countries for two reasons: it has a low capitalization rate, and it consumes little more than brainpower. The Japanese learned early that a shortage of applications software severely limited the export potential of Japanese personal computers. They are keenly aware that to continue to be competitive internationally in hardware, they must start developing world-class software. With strict rules governing the import of hardware, India produces two-thirds of its total internal requirements in mini- and microcomputers. An emerging niche for software development may be found in the diversity of hardware which has been acquired by some of the smaller developing nations.
