Revision of operating guidelines to be completed next month
Included in the budgeting process form
Self-check instrument... Quick settlement expected
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry o

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The government has taken the first step toward raising commercial SW maintenance rates, a long-awaited dream for software (SW) companies.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is pushing to revise the notice to specify SW maintenance rates in the process of budgeting for informatization projects. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Economy and Finance are also reviewing amendments to the budgeting guidelines to specify rates.
 
According to the Korea Software Industry Association, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is collecting opinions from related ministries to revise the 'Guidelines for Establishing and Operating Information Systems for Administrative Agencies and Public Institutions (Notices).' The goal is to complete all procedures, including administrative notice and publication in the Official Gazette, by next month.

The Guidelines for Establishing and Operating Information Systems for Administrative Agencies and Public Institutions include standards, procedures and budgets for establishing and operating information systems, and guidelines for calculating project costs.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety's newly revised Paragraph 3 in Article 9 (Budget and Business Cost Calculation) reads, 'When calculating the maintenance cost of the purchased SW, the standard for calculating the SW business price, announced by the president of the Korea Software Industry Association, shall be applied in accordance with Article 10 of the Software Promotion Act, and the rate shall be specified.'

The purpose of the revision is that specifying what percentage of commercial SW maintenance rates are in the budgeting form will serve as an opportunity for administrative agencies to inspect themselves and increase maintenance rates. It is not a guide, but a notice, so it is expected to settle down quickly.

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Yoon-kyung Lee, head of the Digital Service Policy Division at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "Some say that institutions that inevitably have to set low maintenance rates due to budget limitations will be burdened. However, it is not disclosed to the outside world, and the purpose is to operate an appropriate rate."

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety discussed the direction for raising maintenance rates with the Ministry of Science and ICT and took action first. The Ministry of Science and ICT is considering specifying rates in the guidelines for budgeting informatization projects like the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. It is known that the Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to review the detailed guidelines while collecting opinions.

Due to the low delivery price of domestic commercial SW, developers have no choice but to secure profits through maintenance costs. However, South Korea's SW maintenance rate has remained around 11% for years. In the public sector, it is often less than 10%.

The SW maintenance rates in developed countries range from 25-30%. Maintenance rates for global SW companies such as SAP and Oracle supplied to South Korea also exceed 20%.

The best way to increase the maintenance rate is to increase the budget for informatization projects and increase the maintenance cost of commercial software. Otherwise, there they no choice but to reduce the business scale or construction cost.

There is a lot of attention on whether specifying maintenance rates will be the answer to increasing maintenance costs in a situation where it is difficult to increase the budget.

〈Table〉Average maintenance rate of commercial SW in the public and private sectors (unit: %)

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By Staff Reporter Ho-cheon An (hcan@etnews.com)