Local versus foreign software is an ongoing debate in IT circles. According to Chris Stevenson, MD of Delta 9, a specialist SA hospital management company, there are three essential issues to consider, namely applicability, maintainability and cost.

Applicability refers to the fit of an application to local circumstances. In the health care arena, for instance, we have developed some unique methods of working, and these range from the way in which hospitals are administered, to the way in which governmental and medical scheme funding is structured. This takes into account the general level of exposure to computerisation in our clerical population and the level of network connectivity achieved so far in this country, says Stevenson.

I do not believe that there is such a thing as a turnkey system for the SA healthcare sector. IT cannot drive the business - it is purely a support tool to be used once one has clearly understood the market requirements and customised the technology appropriately.

Stevenson believes that foreign systems often fail to address these key issues. They tend to assume methods of administration that may be common in their countries of origin, but are completely foreign here. Often problems occur for example with accounting structures and approaches that are not applicable in the SA environment. They may assume a level of computer literacy that we have in many cases not yet achieved here and they also assume a level of network connectivity that is mostly not yet available in this country, says Stevenson.

The result is that in spite of being successfully implemented in their countries of origin, they simply fail to function effectively locally, notes Stevenson.

The second issue which needs to be taken into consideration is maintainability, he adds.

Local systems are typically supported by dedicated teams of development, training and support staff that have generally spent many years servicing the local industry. This leads to a level of involvement in, and commitment to, the provision of services and software that is extremely difficult to achieve by foreign companies, says Stevenson.

Stevenson points out that the ability to easily meet, discuss, understand, develop and deliver changes and additional features are a strength of local systems, and often a weakness of foreign ones.

Another key issue is cost. Local suppliers tend to have a better understanding of the pressures on local budgets, and are priced with a view to a long-term business relationship.

Stevenson says that foreign systems are accustomed to the much higher cost of software established elsewhere, and are often priced at high initial costs, so as to secure their return from what is almost always viewed as an insecure business relationship.

Finally there is another issue less easy to define and that is the matter of commitment to our country, says Stevenson. Local software and service providers are usually trying to make a difference here, in addition to making a living, while foreign suppliers are typically looking for easy extensions to their local business. Payments to local suppliers also remain in our economy in contrast to payments to foreign suppliers, which mostly do not stay in our country.

For all the above reasons we believe there should be significant preferential weighting for local suppliers in the tender evaluation processes. We have proven time and time again that locally provided solutions are more practical, effective and affordable than foreign alternatives and we should not fall into the trap of thinking that foreign is in any way better it is just foreign.

We should treat the idea of being 'proudly South African' with the enthusiasm and seriousness that it deserves, concludes Stevenson.