Nearly two years after Microsoft announced the Windows Azure
Platform in India, the software behemoth is reaping the gains of
the seeds sown in a country that is attractive on multiple counts.
India has a powerful ecosystem of more than 1300 independent
software vendors (ISVs), 1.4 million developers and more than
11,000 system integrators (SIs and custom software development
organizations) – and Microsoft has played its cards well to
gain foothold in a market which is set to explode. For example, a
study by Nasscom and Deloitte estimates the Indian cloud computing
market to reach USD 16 billion by 2020. Similarly, a report by
consulting firm Zinnov Management Consulting estimates that the
cloud computing market will touch USD 4.5 billion by 2015.
The software behemoth has made huge inroads by notching up an
impressive set of numbers. Azure has over 2000 paid customers with
developers and ISVs creating over 10,000 applications in the last
18 months in India. Microsoft also claims that the Azure platform
has also attracted more than 30,000 developers (including students)
in India. From the numbers, it is clear that Microsoft is
definitely stepping up on the accelerator with Azure in India.
"In the history of Microsoft, no other country has attracted
more than 30,000 developers or built such a large number of
applications in a short period of time. Azure in India has grown
much faster than a lot of mature markets”
- Srikanth Karnakota, Director, Server and Cloud Business,
Microsoft India
“In the history of Microsoft, no other country has attracted
more than 30,000 developers or built such a large number of
applications in a short period of time. Azure in India has grown
much faster than a lot of mature markets,” exclaims Srikanth
Karnakota, Director, Server and Cloud Business, Microsoft
India.
Adoption across spectrum
Besides big ISVs and SIs such as Wipro, Infosys, TCS and HCL
Technologies who are building applications and solutions on Azure
across verticals, academic institutions are also showing interest.
Academic institutions such as the IITs are also building large
India-relevant projects leveraging Microsoft’s Azure
platform. In the private sector, NIIT will train over 100,000
students on Windows Azure over the next three years. Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore, is building a large-scale
application on Windows Azure to study the basic resource allocation
constraints and strategies required for addressing enterprise needs
on the cloud.
As India has a large number of software services companies,
Microsoft is gaining on two counts. IT services companies are
deploying the cloud internally to cut costs and also more
importantly are using Azure to learn and deploy applications for
their customers. A case in point is Bangalore-based Aditi
Technologies which is moving its entire infrastructure and
applications to Azure. Aditi Technologies is also extremely
confident that 70 percent of its new business would be cloud
driven. This has a catalyst effect, as the first wave of adoption
is driven by the implementers, and then by the adopters.
Accelerating startups
Azure is also becoming popular among startups – a segment
which is being aggressively targeted by Microsoft. Most startups
are targeting a fast growing but largely untapped SMB market. A
recent study by Zinnov estimates that India is home to around 50
million SMBs currently, of which only 10 million are
technology-ready. The study estimates that IT spending by SMBs is
expected to grow at a CAGR of 15 percent contributing USD 15
billion by 2015 – a huge market that simply cannot be
ignored.
Microsoft has also been clever enough to use this opportunity to
educate startup companies on targeting this opportunity. The
strategy has clearly worked -- today more than 300 startups in
India are using Azure – a significant number when you
consider the fact that most mainstream products or platforms
achieve this feat after a considerable amount of time. What is also
working in Microsoft’s favor is the fact that a large number
of startups are using Azure to create and host applications for
catering to needs that are not served by the traditional IT service
companies.
<See Interesting applications by Indian companies
on Azure>
With the Indian market consisting of close to 50 million SMBs
– which many market analysts believe is underserved,
Microsoft has the opportunity to use India as a base for propelling
Azure in the global and domestic market.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting applications by Indian companies on Azure
# QID Technologies: To tackle the
high cost of deploying RFID, QID Technologies offers hardware,
software, and the implementation of RFID on a pay-per-use
transaction model. To ensure scalability, QID has enabled its data
storage layer associated with its RFID ACT system (Automated Cargo
tracking) on the Microsoft Azure Platform
# Nustreet Technologies: Nustreet
specializes in building highly targeted micro vertical applications
for specific sectors such as small and medium hospitals,
stand-alone diagnostic labs, Yarn Spinning Mills, forging
companies, engineering workshops, and Metal Fabrication companies.
All NuStreet applications are offered in partnership with
Microsoft, on the Windows Azure cloud.
# Sportingmindz: Hosted on
Azure, the firm provides a video library with clips and analysis
that helps players and coaches understand strengths and weaknesses
in their performance. The biggest benefit of the cloud is the
fact that as sports is a seasonal activity, demand varies quite a
bit. The consumption pricing model and ability to scale up
and down with the seasons is an excellent fit for Sporting Mindz
and its customers.
# Gradatim: Has created MF Insure,
an end-to-end loan and deposit administration system focusing on
the microfinance chain. The business entities, business logic
libraries, and data access libraries run in web roles in Windows
Azure.