It was a long time ago, with an IBM XT. Back then you would actually boot up from floppy disk drives to play your games. Gaming was the motivation for me back then to pressure my parents into buying me a PC. It's the same today—I'm still very much a gamer.

I did technical marketing at IBM for two to three years, starting from the PC Division and then moved into the server platform group. After that I got called in by Intel to do channel marketing for its server and mobile systems builder programs, to propel those platforms to the local channel. Then one of my customers said, "Hey, why don't you set up our infrastructure?" The company was called netGames, and after about a year its parent company acquired a majority share of Level Up! Games, which was a competitor. We are now a merged company.

There are many challenges with online gaming. First of all, online games are massive, and you have to ensure that the connectivity is always up. There's also the challenge of managing 500 servers running different games and applications. And we have to make new content available to the gamers at least once every quarter so they don't get tired and switch to another game.

We review technology based on stability, availability, and flexibility. We then review the level of support provided by the vendor and the reseller. Because we run a 24/7 operation, we expect that when something goes down, it will be fixed quickly. Every minute, every second that we are down—whether it's a game or a top-up service—that translates into lost revenue. Beyond that, we normally follow the recommendations of the game publishers, although we do make sure that we have the capacity to keep up with growth.

One thing that we're trying to do is find content that would suit a wider range of age groups. We believe everybody's a gamer; they just don't know it yet. So we're looking for content to open their eyes and make them say, "Hey, this is something that I want." We're also looking to drive our own social networking service, so the gamers can build a community of people networking and sharing their in-game experiences.

I'd say probably 90 percent of our servers are running on the Microsoft platform. That makes it easier for us to develop our own tools for use internally, as well as tools that help our gamers manage their accounts. So we pretty much standardize all of our development on Microsoft, largely using Microsoft® ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL Server™ database software.

Most of the game developers run their applications on Microsoft technology, so it doesn't make sense for us to use Linux-based applications or development tools. Plus, given the skill set of the general population here in the Philippines, it's safer to stay on the Microsoft platform because you can easily get well-trained people who are able to use the tools. Also, we've seen that the applications developed using Microsoft tools are very stable.

We're very happy with how Microsoft has supported us. Most sales people come in just to do a sales push, but Microsoft has been a very good partner, making sure that we are really on the right track and updating us about what's to come so we can make the right decisions when we purchase technology. The Microsoft platform itself has been very stable.

Try to learn as much as you can from the very beginning. Most people I've seen have been very impatient; they just really want to move up the ladder and become the boss. But you have to do it in such a way that you gain as much knowledge as you can. As you move from one rung to another, it's the learning, it's the knowledge that you need to absorb, so that when you get to the top you are able to manage your people well. If you don't know what's happening down below—how it's done and how it's made and the difficulties that every individual in IT encounters—it's going to be hard for you to manage them.

Star Wars. I've had these arguments with my friends about Star Wars and Star Trek for years, even back when we were small. I always joke that if I united Darth Vader and the Jedi, they could wipe out all of Star Trek in a second.