Technology

Open source software solution to the crisis

Gamini WARUSHAMANA

The global financial and economic crisis has hit all nooks and corners of the business world and almost all the industries are undergoing difficult period. The Chairman and CEO of the global Open Source Software (OSS) Company Dr. Sanjeewa Weerawarna said that the software industry too is not immune and is faced with difficulties.

Dr. Sanjeewa Weerawarna

Software companies sell their products to other industries and therefore when the economy is in a crisis software companies too are plunged into hard times, he said.

However coming out of this crisis means increasing productivity. It is the key in any domain and to improve productivity you need technology and finally software. Therefore the software industry will regain its position soon, Dr. Weerawarna said. Today the demand for open source software is on the increase, because it is the best cost effective alternative. If you want you can download it for free or you can get our maintenance service at a fraction of the cost of similar IBM, Oracle or other reputed solutions. Our licence fee is zero and maintenance cost range between US$ 8,000-12,000. Our effort is to develop open source software with a high productivity which can compete with any big global brand. Dr. Weerawarna said.

WSO2 has already reached this level and is challenging all big names in the industry. In the coming weeks WSO2 will sign a deal with a big US company in the healthcare industry and the open source solution of the WSO2 will replace Oracle system it uses today.

Today a small software company in Sri Lanka has dominated the global software industry. All the big players Microsoft, IBM, Oracle know us and are looking at us, he said.

When I first met Dr. Weerawarna, nearly a year ago, he said that his company was not even at break even. The open source model or as he says the next generation software company model was on testing. But he had strong confidence on the success.

Breaking even

Today he says that the company is about to break even. Today we have a big revenue flow but still not profitable. We will be able to earn profits this year, he said.

However, the future of the industry cannot be predicted because nobody knows the bottom of this crisis. It is clear that we are not at the bottom so far. The protectionist measures such as "Buy American" will make the situation worse. If all countries adopt similar protectionist policies it would create a lot of issues. For instance the IBM generates only 30 per cent of its revenue in the US and the rest come from other countries. So the IBM is not a US company but a global company.

According to Dr. Weerawarna, stable markets exist and new opportunities are emerging for the software companies in the government sector all over the world. As the big financial institutions and banks are nationalised and government is becoming the biggest business entity, there are lot of opportunities. Under this new environment the productivity improvement in the government agencies has become a priority.

Global company

WSO2 is a global company and it has customers all over the world. As its products can be downloaded free, Dr. Weerawarna said, the number of clients is around ten million. Over thousand customers get the service from the WSO2, which is the revenue source of the company. Big US companies such as CA, Ebay, Prudential, Lockheed Martin and the German mobile company Jamba and Concor are some of them. We are a middle ware company, which means we do everything in the middle. We have alternatives to any IBM or Oracle products. WSO2 continues its expansion and Dr. Weerawarna said that the new people are coming in while some software engineers are doing their PhD in the US. Today there are 20 in the US and we will send another six this year for PhD studies.

According to Dr. Weerawarna, the Sathyam scam would not create a big issue in the software industry in India, because the corporate frauds are highest in the US and this is not a strange situation. However, Sathyam may face difficulties and it will overcome them.

CAD lab opened at University of Moratuwa

The Department of Textile & Clothing Technology of the University of Moratuwa saw yet another landmark in its development, when the CAD laboratory No 2, was inaugurated recently.

The newest CAD laboratory is equipped with 20 workstations, and is equipped with cutting edge Lectra software. Lectra is one of the leading provider of CAD solutions to the textile and apparel industry in the world, and the Department's capacity to train students to meet the growing demands of a fast-changing global industry has been further enhanced with the introduction of this laboratory.

The software in the laboratory together with necessary licences formed a Rs. 35 million donation package from Lectra International on the recommendation of its local representative, Apparel Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, who were also involved in the refurbishment of the laboratory. The project was initiated by Dr. Ujithe Gunasekera, a senior lecturer of the Department, and was coordinated by Dr. T.S.S. Jayawardene on behalf of the University and Damitha Silva on behalf of Apparel Technologies.

A team from Apparel Technologies including its Chairman, Rohan de Silva, Deputy Chairman, Sujeewa Fernando and Director, Chula Ariyaratne, graced the occasion, which was also attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Ananda Jayawardene, members of the Department staff and students.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sandun Fernando, Head of Department, highlighted the importance of university-industry partnerships, and spoke of ways by which the university and industry could help each other in development. Dean, Prof. Ananda Jayawardene, highlighted the fact that the University of Moratuwa was currently ranked as the leading university in Sri Lanka and the 11th in the region, ahead of many prestigious Indian universities. Chula Ariyaratne, Director - Apparel Technologies, addressing the gathering, traced the history of the Lectra system and stressed his company's commitment to develop education in the apparel sector.

In addition to the opening ceremony, a highlight of the gathering was the awarding of certificates to seven members of the academic and technical staff of the Department, who had completed an inhouse training program on the Lectra system provided by Apparel Technologies.

Dialog and TM International Network offers cheapest data roaming services

TM International Berhad's (TMI) subsidiaries and affiliates have launched an initiative to enhance customers' data roaming experience by offering a daily unlimited data roaming plan.

At a daily flat fee of just US $ 10, this service is currently the cheapest in the region where travellers can use internet and data browsing services without worrying about data roaming charges.

In Sri Lanka, Unlimited Data Roaming is offered by Dialog Telekom - TMI's local subsidiary, and it can be used with TMI's network of mobile operators: Celcom in Malaysia, XL in Indonesia, M1 in Singapore, Aktel in Bangladesh and Hello in Cambodia.

The service intends to cater to the increasing demand of internet-usage amongst Dialog post-paid roamers.

Chief Executive Officer, Supun Weerasinghe of Dialog Mobile, said: "As data roaming gains momentum we are taking the opportunity to extend further value to users.

Research has shown that internet access is a growing priority demanded by consumers, so we aim to cater to their needs by offering cost-effective, convenient and unlimited data-roaming services. The high price of using data services whilst roaming has proven prohibitive for many customers who instead opt to use hotel broadband services as a cheaper alternative.

As such, we have carefully designed this offering to be both cheaper and superior in providing full mobility".The Unlimited Data Roaming plan is offered to all Dialog post-paid customers, whilst international roaming must be activated before departure.

Users must simply select the preferred roaming partner upon reaching the destination to enjoy this service.