Date:23/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/08/23/stories/2006082302000400.htm

Back Grid computing sees big growth in India: Survey

Our Bureau

Bangalore , Aug 22

Indian enterprises are adopting grid computing faster than their counterparts in US, Europe and APAC, according to a report by Oracle India.

Oracle's Grid Index IV report shows that the number of firms adopting grid computing (using a cluster of computers to solve a problem, or process data faster in enterprises) in India is rising at 38 per cent. This implies a readiness and maturity to invest in commercial grid computing.

About 45 per cent of leading Indian firms believe grid-based IT infrastructure will be the future, and will enable them to support multiple lines of businesses across organisations.

"Indian organisations have become part of a complex global supply chain. Their profitability depends on innovative use of information technology," said Mr S.P.S. Grover, Vice President, Sales, Oracle India. "Oracle Grid Index IV clearly reflects the increasing use of leading technology such as Grid Computing and Service Orientated Architecture, by Indian enterprises."

Conducted by an independent European firm, Quocirca, the report charts the development and rise in adoption of grid computing across various countries. Asia Pacific shows a strong standardisation and consolidation in IT infrastructure foundation, but is still behind Europe and the US. India has the highest adoption index across APAC, growing from 2.6 to 3.6 despite below average foundation readiness, knowledge and interest. This, said the report, indicates that India needs to focus on market education and encourage enterprises to promote IT standardisation and consolidation.

The Oracle Grid Index is now at 5.4 (on a scale of 0 to 10), and has risen by a small margin from 5.2 in November 2005. This slowdown is indicative of the end of the early adoption phase, the report states.

SOA

Service oriented architecture (SOA) is still not gaining traction in India, with over 40 per cent of the respondents claiming it would be difficult to switch to an SOA-based infrastructure. Grid computing enables SOA by providing a platform to bring so existing technologies can be brought together to form composite services that facilitate new business processes