Small businesses embrace Open Source -- but when one examines operating systems across the Indian enterprise spectrum, 9 in 10 still swear by Windows: Springboard study is a reality check on OS adoption
The Linux server operating system has grown to a prominent position in the Indian server OS market, with its adoption rate increasing from 7.0% to 8.1% (and rising) over a 13-month period (since April 2009), according to recent studies by Springboard Research. The rise in Linux adoption in India has been fuelled by procurements coming from a wide range of verticals including the government, education and enterprise segments.
Small and Medium Businesses (1-999 devices) dominate the Linux server OS market with an adoption growth rate of 8.3%, 2.4 percent higher than that for large enterprises (>1,000 devices). Factors such as low cost of ownership, a perception of minimized security threats, lack of piracy-related issues and a strong online support community have been the main growth drivers for Linux adoption. Constrained by limited budgets, Linux proved to be the right product for SMBs who were looking for a solution that could help them meet their business goals at a low cost.
“An interesting trend that has gained momentum in the recent past is the SMB demand for customized solutions. Today, enterprises look for products and solutions specifically designed to meet both their and their customers' needs and open-source solutions offer that flexibility,” said Sameer Bhatnagar, Senior Research Analyst at Springboard Research. “Also, high technical skill availability is one of the key accelerators of greater Linux adoption in India.”
Engineering playerts lead Linux adoption
Springboard’s study notes that among all verticals, engineering led in Linux server OS adoption, with a healthy amount of Linux server OS installations coming from engineering, energy and entertainment sectors. Other verticals such as software, non-profit, education, government, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), and telecom have also actively started adopting open source solutions. Pricing coupled with a perception of strong server security are the key reasons for growing adoption of Linux-based servers across various verticals. This growing demand has led other OSS players like Red Hat and Novell, among others, to aggressively target the enterprise segment.
Linux vs. Windows
Despite the growing installed base of Linux servers across the large enterprise and SMB segments, Windows still holds the upper hand in server OS adoption (91.8%) in India. In particular, Windows 2003 showed the highest adoption rate of 70%, an increase of 2.8 percentage points over a 12-month period.
“Linux is still only a distant threat, especially considering that many customers are not convinced of Linux support for mission-critical business requirements,” says Manish Bahl, Director, India and Research Operations. “To make headway in the large enterprises segment, the priority should be to increase Linux awareness by building an ecosystem of ISVs that support deployment while training partners for better reach,” he adds
Source: www.springboardresearch.com
July 12 2010