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Vishwanath Kulkarni

Global vendors of embedded operating systems are eyeing opportunity in the Indian space. Time to make the most of business.

AS outsourcing gains momentum, Indian software companies are seen stepping up embedded-software development to tap apromising and lucrative segment of the global IT sector. And for their part, global vendors of embedded operating systems (EOS) such as Wind River Systems and Microsoft are aggressively targeting the Indian software developers with their solutions.

Considering the fact that a bulk of the IT development activity is being offloaded to India, EOS vendors such as Wind River and Microsoft are bullish on the market here. It is said that Indian software firms are already providing embedded solutions to over 60 per cent of the global Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), including Samsung, Texas Instruments, Delphi and Honeywell Industrial Controls. Indian companies have been developing reference designs for telecom systems and wireless devices, defence equipment, consumer appliances and the automotive sector.

The world market for embedded software solutions was estimated at $21 billion in 2003 and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 16 per cent over the next three years. Telecom and datacom applications account for a major share of the embedded software solutions market, followed by the consumer electronics, industrial automation, automotive and avionics segments. Moreover, the Indian market for embedded devices is also booming.

The increasing adoption of broadband and wireless is creating a big market opportunity for embedded devices in India, says Ashim Jaidka, Director, Embedded Software Group of Microsoft. Microsoft, the second largest embedded OS vendor, with a little less than 10 per cent global market share, sees a lot of potential in the embedded space, especially in the connected devices market.

"Terminal devices such as mobile handsets and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are becoming smarter with multi-functional features. Moreover, they are becoming more connected to the Internet and content is getting digitised. This is where we see a market for the Microsoft embedded operating system," Jaidka says. The company recently held a developer meet to popularise its embedded OS product and showcase the solutions built around it. "For Microsoft to be interested in India, it has to be a volume play. We see tremendous interest here and are investing significantly in developing this market," says Dilip Mistry, Director, .NET, Microsoft India.

Microsoft is engaged in developing an ecosystem conducive for embedded development and is creating awareness among the developer community, he says. The company has signed up with over 40 companies in the Windows Embedded Partner program, five training partners, and is forging relationships with the academic community as well. It has also tied up with design companies, system integrators, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and software developers. Microsoft largely concentrates on the terminal devices market with its operating system, while market leader Wind River, with a global market share of about 32 per cent, focuses more on the Real Time Operating System (RTOS).

Wind River, offering tools such as VxWorks, focuses mainly on defence, aerospace, automotive and consumer electronics. Wind River, which considers India one of the emerging markets alongside China, expects an increased growth here, says country manager, Ajit Edlabadkar. The Indian market is expected to contribute to over two per cent of Wind River's global revenues this year, up from less than half a per cent last year, he says.

According to a recent announcement by the company, Konkan Railways uses its product VxWorks for its anti-collision device project and Reliance for its set top box. Wind River recently tied up with Red Hat, a Linux vendor, to offer its development tools, middleware and service capabilities on a Linux-based platform.

The global EOS market, till recently, was limited to a handful of RTOS vendors and original equipment manufacturers preferred their own proprietary EOS. There is a shift to commercial EOS mainly due to the increasing complexity of embedded applications, says Jaidka. Microsoft sees a great opportunity due to this shift as the commercial OS have faster time to market as against the proprietary one, he says.

Picture by K. Ramesh Babu

vishwa@thehindu.co.in

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