Need for Indian SIs to develop 'device drivers' for Linux

While India is already doing a lot when it comes to delivering cutting edge software solution and research for global companies, the big opportunity lies in front of the systems integration companies. It is in terms of providing the much needed 'device driver'-focused solutions for the global open source community.






“We have done so much for the software community and now it is time for Indian solution providers to seriously look towards this 'device driver business' opportunity. A lot of work still needs to be done on this front and I am sure that there are a lot of companies that can do it from India itself,” explained, Dr Deepak Phatak, from IIT Mumbai. He was in New Delhi to speak at LinuxAsia.





Voicing his concern about the unavailability of device drivers for the open source community, Dr Ajay Shah, Advisor, Ministry of Finance said that there is a big opportunity for Indian companies to get into this area. “Today a lot of organizations and enterprises look up to open source when it comes to solving their business critical problems. And availability of proper device drivers for open source is an important issue which needs to be dealt with appropriately,” he added.





Reacting to this important aspect of the availability of open source-based device driver management, Eric D'Angelo, Manager for Solutions Marketing, Dell Asia Pacific, Japan said that as a company, Dell has specifically made it mandatory for its suppliers to support open source. “We have realized that our customers want to have flexibility and freedom of choice. Open source delivers that. Hence, we always ask our suppliers to support open source drivers for their product offerings,” he added.
As a number of global IT majors try to set manufacturing bases in India, issues such as the availability of open source-based device drivers will hold the key in terms of further reducing the operating costs of products manufactured in India. And for system integrators and solution providers, it could just prove to be another way to move up the value chain.