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Software (OS, databases and mail servers)
Productivity and efficiency powers software spend
Whether running Linux or Windows servers, the usage of the
latest software, gives a boost to the medium business to improve efficiency
and productivity, writes Malabika Sarkar
 At
present the spending on advanced applications like Enterprise Software, WAN,
Security and Storage is low. However, there is likely to be a rise in expenditure
on these areas in the near future as MBs strive to reach the higher technology
adoption levels of their large counterparts.
Productivity, OS, databases and utilities have 95% penetration, accounting software
accounts 78%, network software 60 % and hosted applications 20%.
Talking to MBs about the patterns of software adoption, D.
Vasudevan, Senior Vice President and Head, Information Technology Services,
Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt. Ltd. said, “As far as
accounting software goes, we prefer to use the enterprise version of Tally for
the financial accounting. For all other accounting purposes, we use our own
software that has been developed in house. As far as networking software goes,
we use the Microsoft Windows Server platform and Office XP on client machines
that are connected over a secure Local Area Network (LAN). We have a number
of specialized engineering applications hosted on the server in addition to
library management and HRMS applications.”
Navneet Khanna, Senior Manager-IT added, “For accounting software, we use
Tally 7.2 and 9.0. We are using Windows Server 2003 for Networking Services.
We are also using applications like Wireshark for Network troubleshooting. Again
as far as the security is concerned we are using Symantec Corporate Edition
10.2. We have our Web site on a Linux box. We are also hosting Intranet (ICT
Internal Employee Website) for corporate News and Information. In ICT we have
a large library of books, manuals and research documents. We have hosted an
application through which employees can access library services.”
Susheel Kumar Bachheti, Assistant Manager EDP, Bihar Sponge
Iron Ltd, said, “As far as accounting software goes, we use Tally and ERP.
As far the hosted application is concerned, it is made by a firm called VNV
Software for us.”
Imtiaz, Manager- IT, M K Retail said, “We have already
implemented ERP software. 80% of the implementation has been completed, and
only the financial module is pending. We are now in the process of upgrading
inventory control software. There is no hosted application as such that we use
at present.”
- 71% of 194 MBs have a Web site. 41% have
set up an intranet for employees to communicate with each other and
for information to be disseminated.
- 25% use data mining tools. Wholesale/
Retail companies are the most ardent users of this technology with a
third (33%) behind it. Most of the other verticals have about 25% of
respondents having deployed data mining barring IT/ITES which has only
14%.
- 18% have invested in e-commerce (B2B).
15% use B2C e-commerce tools. An equal proportion use e-Purchasing.
The use of B2B is highest in manufacturing followed by Wholesale/ Retail
and Professional/ other services. Manufacturing also leads in B2C usage
and is second when it comes to e-Purchasing (Utilities comes first here).
- Web services have been deployed by 13%.
Professional/ other services and manufacturing are the biggest users
of this technology with 18% and 16% respectively.
- Content management is still in single
digits with only 8% of respondents having deployed this technology.
BFSI (19%) and Professional/ other services (18%) are the big users
of this technology.
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T S Rajagopalan, Director, Calber Construction Co Pvt. Ltd
shared his views on the same subject, saying. “For accounting software,
we use only Tally. For networking software, Windows-based software is used and
as far as the hosted application is concerned, Web-based servers run these.”
A breakup of these figures shows that in the Utilities, Transportation, Real
Estate and Construction sector 33% of the respondents are using productivity,
OS & databases. 63% have deployed Accounting software, 48% Network software
and 26% are consuming hosted applications.
In the manufacturing sector, productivity, OS, databases and utilities software
is used by 27% of the respondents, accounting software by 80%, network software
by 52% and hosted applications by 23%.
Talking about the adoption of operating systems, databases, and mail servers,
Vasudevan said, “We use both Microsoft windows as well as Linux. Microsoft
SQL Server continues to be the database for our applications. We use open source
for the mail and Web server applications.”
Rajagopalan said, “For operating system, database and mail servers, we
use Windows Server, SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange.”
Khanna said, “At ICT we are using the Sendmail Mail Server running on Linux.”
In the wholesale and retail sector, productivity, OS, databases and utilities
have been deployed by 38%, accounting software by 71%, network software by 71%
and hosted applications by 13%.”
In the BFSI sector, productivity, OS, databases and utilities
have been used by 24%, accounting software by 76%, network software by 67% and
hosted applications by 14%.
In the professional and other services sector productivity,
OS, databases and utilities have been deployed by 53%, accounting software by
84%, network software by 55% and hosted applications by 26%. In the IT and ITES
sector, productivity, OS, databases and utilities are used by 61%, accounting
software by 86%, network software by 79% and hosted applications by 11%.
The percentage figures represent planned technology penetration /usage within
MBs. These numbers may add up to more than 100% since a particular respondent
may plan to invest on multiple technologies. Base = 189 |
Planned investments
28% of the respondents are planning to invest in productivity, OS, databases
and utilities, 56% in accounting software, 53% in network software and 21% in
hosted applications.
Talking about the investment plans Vasudevan said, “We have switched over
to an enterprise license agreement for the Microsoft products for three years
and Enterprise License Subscription with Bentley for the engineering applications.
Similarly we have a subscription license with AutoDesk for our CAD applications
software. This helps us plan our IT budget.” He added, “We have standardized
on Dell machines for most of our hardware requirements, which when procured
in bulk directly from the manufacturing source results in achieving maximum
economy.” Khanna added, “We purchase a lot of software like desktop
OS and applications to software essentially for servers. We use software like
AutoCad 2006, AutoCad 2008, STAAD Pro 2007, MX Road. For Desktop PCs we have
entered into an agreement with Microsoft, called the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement.
We are using Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Windows XP etc.”
Gopalan said, “We have planned to invest Rs 50 lakhs on software.”
A breakup of these figures shows that 19% of the respondents in the Utilities,
Transportation, Real Estate and Construction sector are planning to invest in
productivity, OS, databases and utilities. 33% in accounting software, 26% in
network software and 15% in hosted applications such as SaaS.
In the manufacturing sector, 19% will invest in productivity,
OS, databases and utilities, 56% in accounting software, 50% in network software
and 27% in hosted applications. In the wholesale and retail sector, 21% of the
respondents plan to invest in productivity, OS, databases and utilities, 49%
in accounting software, 53% in network software and 13% in hosted applications.
- Reliable and Robust:
As Linux Servers are not susceptible to virus attacks, medium businesses
find them to be more reliable and robust. The Sendmail application is
available over the Internet and open source community from all over
the world ensures that the applications remains bug free and secure
from any vulnerabilities by providing regular updates. These updates
are also free and can be easily downloaded from the Internet.
- Free Availability of Add-ons:
All Add-ons like Mail Scanner i.e. ClamAV, Spam Scanners i.e. Spam assassin,
Squirrel mail (HTTP Interface), which are essential for e-mail clients
are available freely over the Internet and can be downloaded and customized
to user requirements as the source code is available. Whereas in Windows
access to the source code is not possible and that level of customization
is not possible.
- Cost Implications: Sendmail
and other Mail Solutions are freely available from the Internet so all
that it requires is the System Administrator’s time and effort.
For Microsoft Windows Exchange the company has to purchase a Microsoft
Exchange Server, which is approximately Rs 25,000, and per client License,
which is approx Rs 2,000 per user. So if a company has 400 e-mail users
than they pay 25,000 + 2000 * 400 = Rs 8,25,000.
Source: Navneet Khanna
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Talking about the benefits of software, that his company enjoyed, Imtiyaz said,
“We have recently upgraded the ERP software and are enjoying the benefits.
We can control different stocks very easily without mistakes and with clarity.
Moreover we can sit in one place and do anything.”
Vasudevan said, “We have achieved a lot of savings by the deployment of
open source technologies. We have reduced our downtime by the availability of
in-house expertise and resources for networking and hardware maintenance. Having
our own software development unit has increased both performance and the level
of automation. Well laid out IT polices and systems helps in increased security
and productivity.”
Rajagopalan added, “We enjoy quite a few benefits from the adoption of
these software applications including reliability, user friendliness, scalability,
uptime and managing resource availability.”
Khanna said, “With the adoption of latest software, the communication between
remote offices and head office is much faster. By hosting our own servers we
ensure least downtime of IT infrastructure and enhance the user’s productivity.”
In the BFSI sector, 24% will invest in productivity, OS, databases and utilities,
52% in accounting software, 71% in networking software and remaining 29% in
hosted applications.
In the professional and other services sector, 35% plan to invest in productivity,
OS, databases and utilities, 59% in accounting software, 54% in Network software
and 22% in hosted applications. Lastly in the IT and ITES sector, 54% will invest
in productivity, OS, databases and utilities, 79% in accounting software, 68%
in Network software and 14% in hosted applications.
Talking about the challenges that they are facing Imtiaz said, “We are
facing a lot of challenge in SQL index building, but we are sure that the in
house SQL team in our company will take care of it.” Vasudevan said, “Maintaining
high availability, compatibility across operating systems and information security
are some of the constant challenges that we face today.”
In general, talking about the challenges faced by the IT department with regard
to software deployment, Khanna said, “One of the major challenge that we
are facing is the end user acceptance of new software i.e. like shifting to
Vista from the earlier Windows XP. It all depends upon the mindset and to change
the mindset is a big deal. Another challenge is to keep the servers and desktops
updated to handle the latest security threats.”
However, most medium businesses agreed that there is no specific period to replace
the software installed, but as a company policy, they upgrade to latest and
improved versions of software at the earliest to ensure productivity and reliability.
- It offers robust performance from both
the OS and file system standpoint.
- It is the most cost effective option.
- The e-mail architecture is standard for
hi-reliability Internet infrastructure, with many options for exploiting
other open-standards and open systems.
- It enables safe programming.
- A broad development community is creating
key future innovations in messaging.
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Mail servers
Features on a Linux Server are entirely dependent upon the System Administrator.
The main difference between setup of a Windows-based Mail Server and Linux-based
one is that in the latter case the complete emailing solution is not from one
company or individual. For example in Linux SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
is handled by Sendmail or Postfix or Qmail, POP3 by Dovecot, Squirrel mail (Web
based E-mail Application) etc. These, at times, can deter administrators because
of the complexities in configuring all these applications. On the other hand,
these administrators, however, would find Microsoft Exchange easy to install
and configure. Of course, Sendmail, Postfix and Qmail are all Open Source Applications
that are available on Linux for free.
Talking about e-mail servers, Linux e-mail servers are powerful tools providing
excellent service at an excellent cost in both hardware as well as software.
In the case of Microsoft Exchange, licensing fees must be paid for the mail
software and the underlying OS which is not the case with the Open Source stack.
malabika.sarkar@expressindia.com
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