A quick question: what makes a software park competitive both at home and abroad?

Well-equipped infrastructure, timely and advanced training and education programs, value-added technological services, an efficient logistics system and a pleasing ecological environment, to name a few.

The Shanghai Pudong Software Park boasts all of these attributes.

Since its establishment in 1998, the national software base and software outsourcing base in Shanghai has attracted more than 200 domestic and international software companies, as well as 960 registered companies, one-third of those settling around the city, thanks to its rich operational experience and reputed services.

Result: the park is touted as an ideal software assembling ground witnessing rising financial figures.

In 2006, sales revenue from the 200-odd software enterprises rocketed to 10.4 billion yuan from merely 900 million yuan in 2000, accounting for 17 percent of the software market in Shanghai.

The annual software export value ballooned from $35 million in 2003 to $150 million last year, making up as much as 34 percent of the total software exports from Shanghai.

The momentum is getting stronger as the software park gears up for large-scale expansion.

In addition to the two current phases of research and development (R&D) projects with a dedicated floor area of 120,000 sq m, the third phase of construction that will cover 450,200 sq m is now under way and is due to be completed in 2009. By that year, software engineers in the park are expected to number 40,000, up from the current 12,000.

The park is also constructing another base in Kunshan, a city in Jiangsu Province close to Shanghai. The base will cover 440,000 sq m, which includes the fourth phase that's neighboring the Shanghai World Expo that will be held in 2010, and covers an area of 200,000 sq m.

There are reasons why Shanghai Pudong Software Park believes it could outgrow others of its kind in attracting software companies.

Training programs

Enterprise-oriented software training programs is one of them. Shortage of quality talents is the biggest obstacle that the software companies have to overcome. To help them create a larger talent pool, the park built up Shanghai Zhangjiang Institute of Information (ZIIT) through partnerships with well-known universities like Fudan University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, University of Science and Technology of China and Royal College of Technology Canada.

There are 15 majors and four departments available in the institute, and all of its 30 teachers are experienced in areas from management to software development and application.

About 9,000 employees from the 200 companies have gone through various training programs at the ZIIT for free.

ZIIT is now learning from the best practices of large software companies, a move to form its own training model to assist software companies within the park to get the best people in the most efficient way.

Venture capital

A slew of venture capital piling into the park is another attraction. Shanghai Pudong Software Park has set up a venture capital district covering 10,000 sq m in a bid to feed the increasing demand of the software companies.

Two foreign venture capital firms and three Chinese counterparts that hold 8 billion yuan in assets are in talks to enter the park, which provides software companies an easier access to funds and advanced management techniques.

Besides training and financial support, the value-added technological services it provides are also a major advantage of the software park.

Service platform

In December 2002, driven by support from the local government and industry authorities in terms of policy, funds and technology, Shanghai Pudong Software Park took the lead in setting up the Software Technical Services Platform.

Through the platform, software companies can share with each other resources and apply 10 services - including outsourcing, IC design, communication and IT testing - to reduce operating costs and shorten the R&D life cycle.

The park will, in the near future, expand the service contents and adjust the service model to meet more discerning demands.

The platform is one of the few software technological service providers around China that recorded sales revenue of 12.13 million yuan in 2006 only, through offering 1,184 services to 672 software companies including the 200 companies in the park.

Last but not the least, the park is also culturally friendly. The 80,000-sq m apartment block in the park is surrounded by a 45,000-sq m lake and 100,000-sq m of greenery. A cinema, gym, business center, tennis courts and golf course help corporate staff to relax in their leisure time.

It's costly to set up a human resources (HR) management division within an organization, especially for small-scale companies. Most software companies in the park have outsourced their HR work to the park's HR management section to cut costs and improve work efficiency. And the trend is catching on.

Last year, the HR section provided services to some 2,000 staff from 130 software companies within the park. The services ranged from recruitment to salary evaluation and training. The section is now trying some other new areas like salary investigation, policy consultancy, employee satisfaction surveys and staff administration.

The HR management section has held an annual open interview targeting graduates tailored for the software companies in the park for three years now. Every year, the number of attendees reaches 300, and 600 graduates have found their jobs through the platform in the last three years.

Business-friendly

Augmentum Inc entered the Shanghai Pudong Software Park in September 2003 and has grown speedily into a 1,000-employee company in four years.

Citi Corp Software and Technology Services (Shanghai) Ltd was set up in August 2002 and its technology and software development services target the world's financial behemoth Citigroup only. Now it has a team of around 1,000 engineers and its export value reached $40 million in 2006.

At the end of 2004, Shanghai Codeasy Inc (Codeasy), a subsidiary of Shanghai Pudong Software Park Co Ltd, was set up. With the help of the park, Codeasy has established a team of 30 engineers and take big strides in software development and outsourcing.

It has expanded its business into Fujian, Shandong, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and Chongqing.

Serving Augmentum, Citi, and Codeasy and creating business opportunities for them is only a small part of the Shanghai Pudong Software Park's efforts.

The park has dedicated itself to creating a more business-friendly environment for software companies, connecting them with their potential customers at home and abroad.

The software companies themselves have also been learning from each other, sharing information and providing support.

(Shanghai Start 09/07/2007 page5)