India is turning into a key market in the Asia-Pacific region for Red Hat, the world’s largest open source solutions provider with revenue of $1.33 billion (in fiscal 2013). Open source — or computer software whose source code users can customise to suit their needs — has now emerged as the driving force behind most new platforms, ranging from cloud computing to Android. In an interview with Business Line, Arun Kumar, who heads India region in his capacity as General Manager, said the open source community is now focusing on innovation, even as the subscription model keeps the numbers ticking. Edited excerpts:

The way software is used is itself changing. Hasn’t that made open source more relevant ?

Open source fundamentally changes the way software is developed. The only reason Android has innovated at a frenetic pace to the point where it actually controls the market now — over and above the iPhone — is because of the entire architecture. From the ground up, Google has built it on an open source platform. Facebook, Yahoo! and eBay are other examples. Software usage is moving to an on-demand, grid, and operational expenditure model. Now, a lot of companies are not selling licences anymore; they are selling services and, almost by default, everybody is using open source technologies.

How will telecom contribute to the growth of open source? What other sectors are you banking on?

With the evolution of data, various kinds of services and platforms would come on board in the next three-five years. I think you will see an explosion in that space. Telecom is a space that India has approached differently, in the form of revenue-sharing and outsourcing models. IT also contributes to value-added services. Banking, financial services and insurance, government and small and medium enterprises will pre-dominantly be the focus areas.

The cost factor made open source popular. Is innovation the driving force now ?

Between 2000 and 2004, it was all about cost, but from 2004-2010, it has all been about performance or a combination of price and performance. In the last three years, the focus is on innovation and the velocity of innovation. Now, cost has become the last thing people are worried about as innovation is on top of their agenda. The beauty is that innovations are user-driven. Secondly, the velocity of innovation is absolutely not contestable. Android is the classic example.

What were resistance points in India during the early stages of open source?

India is largely an independent software vendor -dominated market, unlike other developed markets. That was one challenge. Skill was another. In 2007, it was a chicken and egg situation because customers were asking for skills, while the skilled guys (developers) were enquiring about jobs.

How has the subscription model helped?

I think the whole software industry would kill to have a subscription model, rather than a licence model, because of the predictability of revenues. It bills predictable revenues on a quarter-on-quarter, on an annuity model versus the spikes in a typically licensing perspective. The customer also does not have to pay for the upgrades every year. In the subscription model, its ‘opex’ while under the licensing model it’s ‘capex’.

What will catalyse growth of open source going forward?

Everything new on the cloud is happening on open source. The small guys in sectors such as banking, telecom, healthcare are building their applications on open source, giving them a cost advantage. We see the new age independent software vendors , born on the cloud, as a catalyst. Big Data, analytics, crowd sourcing and Hyperscale computing are the other catalysts. I think, as the concept of open innovation, open source is taking root in every direction.

rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in

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