One would expect a high amount of activity in cloud computing in the major cities, but Unisys has found that people in smaller towns and non-metros are fascinated and even have the capability to write white papers on the subject.

“We have found keen students from colleges in Salem, Assam, Meerut, Ludhiana and Madurai,” said Mr L.N.V. Samy, Vice-President, Unisys Australia. For the past three years, Unisys has been conducting a contest around cloud computing and this year's contest saw participation from over 2,400 colleges. Around 2,000 of these were colleges situated in non-metros. In fact, Mr Samy said, the interest that one found in rural areas could even rival the appeal for cloud in bigger cities. “In Assam, while conducting a recruitment drive, we saw high participation from a small town called Silchar, which was higher than what we saw from some of the bigger cities,” he said. Down South, he said a university in Madurai requested an exclusive Webinar (Web-based seminar). “It was very pleasing to see this,” he said.

This will be useful when the job market for cloud takes off, said Mr Kumar Prabhas, Managing Director, Unisys India. “Reports say the cloud business will grow from the current $400 million to around ten times in five years. The number of jobs will go up from around 10,000 currently to around a lakh in five years.”

And the impact that the students from the non-metros bring to the table — both in cloud computing and otherwise — will transcend geographies, pointed out Mr Bob Supnik, Vice-President, Unisys. “India is a lab to find out what the future holds. India is teaching Unisys how to manage today's workforce globally.”

>balaji.n@thehindu.co.in

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