Interview: Scott Handy, VP, Worldwide Linux Strategy, IBM

As a key executive in Big Blue’s Linux business, Scott Handy, Vice President of Worldwide Linux Strategy at IBM, has been working to convince the world that open source is a viable market reality where open technologies like Linux and Apache are already doing a great business. Scott has played a pioneering role in establishing the market for IBM’s products on Linux. These include DB2, WebSphere, Lotus and Tivoli. Scott’s latest mantra is taking IBM’s open source initiative to emerging countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Korea (the so-called BRICK countries). Each country has a specific agenda, but the primary model is economic development through the collaboration of different stakeholders like the government and academics. Recent step in this effort include the investments by IBM to help fund a Linux technology center in Brazil as well as to set up an Open Source Software Resource Center (OSSRC) in India.

Recently, we caught up with Scott when he visited India. The following is an excerpt of the discussion Scott had with the editor of LFY, Alolita Sharma and Robert Adkins of Technetra. Scott shared details about IBM’s goals and his insights about a collaborative economic development model for India and South Asia.

Q: How do you find India as market place for open source?

SH: We came to South Asia with a very specific model that is built around economic development, especially here in India. You may think the country has only users of open source technology and very few developers. But I see the whole thing very differently. I see India as a country, where big players such as government and academics are using open source as a model for economic growth which is the fundamental for building a country’s infrastructure and that perfectly matches our objectives.

Q: What purpose would such a strategy serve?

SH: It would help pull in finances and other resources, which can back activities such as market research and educational ventures, and facilitate documentation of technical resources for solving a wide range of issues. There are a number of problems that are inhibiting the whole economic pie from getting bigger. And these problems are common to all the players. We are looking for partners who can come up with some ideas and would join this initiative for a common cause. This initiative would not be owned by any specific vendor. In fact it can’t be just one vendor, it has to be the government and customers, amongst others. It has to be the whole pool of the Linux community. We did talk to some of the groups that we hope will join in; so far everybody would like to join.

Q: Why have you chosen this collaborative economic development model for India?

SH: What I find here is what I find in most places. There is a very strong desire to push the open agenda for varied reasons. In India, I think the reason is economic development. There can be no better platform to build a program for economic development than Linux and open standards for several good reasons. One is that the operating system is growing four times faster than the overall world IT market. So, why not choose a platform that has a significantly higher growth rate? In fact Linux, over here, is growing seven times faster than the overall infrastructure market worldwide. So this phenomenal growth certainly works, especially when you are trying to attract other companies to do business here or implement additional business. Our emphasis in India concentrates on the government and the academics — both of whom are involved in economic development. For instance, if we do a technical project around Linux with university students, in time they will graduate and become part of the labor force, and there will be more companies who will try to extract this growth. So there will be economic development as well. And I think just about everything in India has a touch of community approach. This is why I am going to collaborate on a set of issues that are common to all. The aim really is to form a kind of collaborative communication and have people participate in it. We want to show how the power of open source can be used for developmental purposes as well as for business.

Q: What factors did you consider when looking for a market in South Asia?

SH: While considering different parameters for a viable market, we looked at the relevant population, which is considerably high in this region; the GDP growth, which is again pretty high over here. We also considered a bunch of other statistics in each country and the fundamental differences between them. For instance, in China, while you have pretty strong endorsement of the Linux/open source movement by the government, you also have an extremely high piracy rate. This region also has a very strong penetration of Microsoft Windows — that’s the most pressing challenge. There is a more visible tension between the use of proprietary and open source software in this region. So we are coming up with a relatively balanced strategy and have come up with solutions supporting all kinds of environments. This specially takes care of the government sector where the need of computing varies from project to project.

Q: Can you share with us your current activities in China?

SH: The government is very interested in moving onto e-Governance and considers Linux and open source as the best facilitator for this. So we have several interesting things going on. We are involved in some central government projects and government backed educational projects. We are also working with the Government of Shanghai to implement Linux. So, it is a situation where we have a lot of government support and collaboration.

Q: Is there any difference between India and China with regard to endorsement of open standards for government backed projects?

SH: In my view, I see them as more similar than different. In fact in both the cases, the endorsement of open source is mainly because it is the most cost effective and flexible solution. In fact that is a worldwide phenomenon. I feel, there is equal enthusiasm in India for the right technology.

Q: Most of the customers who have used Windows are reluctant to shift into any other platform. What is your take on this?

SH: I view this differently, where the main issue is related to a user being vocal. There are many customers who are installing and preferring Linux, but they will not come out and say we endorse Linux over other operating systems because such a statement is not really needed by the particular project. We are not looking for stakeholders who would say “I declare A better then B”. We are seeking balanced customers in sectors such areas as education and government, amongst others. We want to deploy Linux for incremental opportunities.

Q: What is the IBM Linux strategy for 2005-2006?

SH: The Linux market is so large that the strategy here is quite complex. First and foremost, we would look at Linux as a general infrastructure platform, because it has a tremendous growth rate. In the near future we will be looking at three segments.

First is the consolidation of our sever market which has grown phenomenally into a number as big as $US 1.15 billion with a 20% to 30% growth rate. We have with us some of the high-end players like SAP who support Linux and open source software very strongly. They have 3,800 production installations on Linux. Now this is very strong number. They are showing they can generate significant revenue through Linux. We will further strengthen our relationship with the IBM business partners. As of today we have around 6,300 partners worldwide. They are using and deploying Linux in different segments, much beyond just general infrastructure.

We also see significant growth in, not only the Linux on Intel, but also in Linux on power technology. This is another indicator that Linux is way beyond the general infrastructure. Over 50% of the clustering technology solutions are going with Linux. Just to give you an example, we also have a power-based Linux blade.

Our final and major focus will be those emerging countries where Linux is more than just an operating system. It is a foundation for economic development. This will be done through an open collaborative effort where we get the government, academics and the open source community as a whole to participate for a common cause.