SA currently has only one lead appraiser able to provide certification on compliance with the international Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) process for software. This is something that is severely inhibiting the domestic software market, as well as its ability to contribute to general economic growth in the country, say market commentators.
According to Professor Barry Dwolatzky, director for the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), the centre has one lead appraiser for CMMI who is being supported by five team leaders and they are the only people in the country with these skills.
"International consultants for CMMI are hugely expensive and, in order to get them, you have to pay top dollar," he says. "For small players it is very difficult to do this and we are, generally, a country of small players."
Dwolatzky says the lack of CMMI accreditation in SA is the major reason the country is not yet a global software exporter as international corporations look to this as verification of a software company's competence and ability to mitigate risk.
"We have no level 5 CMMI companies in SA and only one each level three and four accredited company," says Dwolatzky, explaining that it is level 5 companies that are generally awarded international tenders as they are seen to be the best at what they do.
"We have very good software companies in the country," he says, "but they haven't gone out and gotten certification so they can't play at a global level". He says the lack of international participation in the software market is, therefore, not so much a reflection of SA's programming capabilities, but rather that domestic companies have not considered themselves as global players.
Recently, Business Unity SA CEO Jerry Vilakazi said the IT sector could be key in ensuring SA's economy continues to grow. However, this would have to happen through greater software exports, he maintains.
"Most businesses are run through foreign software - we need to lobby for more investment in local software," he said.
"We need to boost the economy's export capacity, which is generally defined only in terms of commodities and minerals and energy - there is great opportunity for exporting more software."
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