Linux in emerging markets (page 1 of 4)

For example, a bank in New Delhi using a sophisticated IT system to empower employees and better service clients has the same ultimate goals as a similar institution in New York City. It's true that the circumstances, challenges and day-to-day operations these companies face can vary to a great degree.

Issues such as the state of the local economy and existing infrastructures shape the IT needs of companies that seek to thrive in their respective regions of the globe.

However, as markets develop and as IT systems continue to integrate themselves into all aspects of life—and all aspects of business—trends tend to converge. An online storefront in Guangdong, much like its counterpart in Texas, seeks to provide value to its customers, whether selling clothing or petroleum.

And customers worldwide react positively to similar incentives: convenience, reliability, efficiency and value. And so businesses across the globe continue to look for technological solutions to provide these very benefits, in the end helping them acquire and retain customers.

Ultimately, the basic hardware needed by these companies, no matter where they're located, tends to be very similar. Machines are needed to serve mail, power intranets, organize and store huge amounts of data, and support electronic storefronts and distribution.

The same is true for software. Applications are needed to allow employees to create and share files and to enable them to work together from remote locations. Software is also needed to power customer retention solutions, manage and plan finances and perform heavy statistical analysis.

But no matter how many similarities become evident as the world market matures, the routes used to achieve success varies, and it turns out there are some very basic differences. Operating systems (OSs), for instance, are not global currencies.

Markets outside the West—particularly in the Asia/Pacific region—although already to some degree entrenched in Wintel-powered IT solutions, are open to alternatives.

They seek solutions that help them save money, provide greater security, or increase freedom and flexibility. And as these economies seek to solidify their place in the world order, they evaluate many options before deciding on the platforms they'll build their systems around. And the more they look and the more they learn, the more Linux* seems like an ideal proposition.

Logical Progression

There's much about Linux that makes it attractive. The fact that its open source software means that organizations can fully understand how their systems function.

Unlike popular proprietary systems, where security holes seem to become apparent on an almost-monthly basis, Linux developers can see and understand the back-ends of their systems to a degree not possible with other commercial OSs. This is attractive to all types of institutions, and governments, companies and research universities are all seriously concerned with the privacy of their data and they seek the solutions most likely to guarantee it.

Additionally, the cost of ownership for Linux systems is often substantially lower than commercial alternatives. In traditionally price-conscious markets, it's no surprise that free and open source software like Linux is particularly attractive.

Factiva, a news aggregator powered by Dow Jones & Reuters, quotes Neeraj Bhai, chief technology officer at IBDI Bank in India, as he demonstrates this technology with a practical example: "Our mail server started off handling 15,000 e-mails a day and scaled up to 1,650,000 e-mails a day.