'We'll target SMB and retail'

Sanjay Gupta, country manager India & SE Asia, SCO Software (India) is
bullish about the launch of SCO OpenServer Release 6 in India. In an interview
with CyberMedia, Gupta says his company is also focusing more on delivering
products through its channel and helping partners move up the value chain.

Sanjay Gupta, country manager India & SE Asia, SCO Software (India)

What is the current focus for SCO in India? How closely do
you work with the channel community in this region?

SCO forum announced a future roadmap for UNIX. It includes a major upgrade to
SCO OpenServer, which will capture the attention and loyalty of partners as well
as customers. The company has a worldwide presence through the channel of more
than 11,000 solution providers, a developer network of nearly 8,000, thousands
of direct account customers and an installed base of more than two million
systems. SCO India has 300 channel partners and they include ISVs, IHVs,
solution providers and developers, systems integrators and value added
resellers.

How can solution providers and systems integrators move up
the value chain by dealing with your platforms?

SCO platform is a very rugged and virus free platform. Once the SCO product is
installed, it runs for a long time, until the servers and hardware crash. Our
partners are some of the biggest names in the industry like Intel, HP, Dell,
Computer Associates, Progress Software and others. Many of the largest and
successful software and hardware companies in the world have joined with SCO to
provide powerful server-based solutions, vertical market products, as well as
turnkey solutions.

How do you view India when it comes to profitability?
Which verticals are you targeting in the subcontinent?

India has always been a profitable country for us. We are retaining a decent
market share. We have many key customers in verticals including Government
departments, defense agencies, railways and banks running SCO Open Server. We
look forward to showing them the benefits of SCO Open server 6. Since the retail
and SMB segments in India are growing at a slow and steady pace, we will target
them in the months to come.