Sun shines down on education

NEW DELHI: India being the fastest growing geographic location for Sun Microsystems, with revenues almost doubling up with every passing year, India’s education and research side is poised to be a big cash cow for the company. Sun VP (global education and research) Kim Jones was in India to reiterate Sun’s impetus on the education segment.

"India being the knowledge center has various potential for the IT services in the education and research segment. Our experience has told us that high performance computing (HPC), grid computing and e-learning are poised for a mammoth-sized growth in this country." Jones said.

Sun has recently launched Java Desktop System, which according to the company will be a catalyst in accelerating the education segment’s requirement. Sun is also planning to introduce twinning program (two universities coming together to work on a specific program) between Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and an Indian University, which will be extended throughout the region. It is also looking at strong tie-ups with Anna University on the HPC front for computational biology and scientific computing. Sun had deployed a super computer in the campus for this purpose.

On the investment front, Jones said, "It is more of the intangible investments that we are doing in the education segment. We are sponsoring various applications and helping institutes develop more sophisticated software. We want education and research to realize that they carry potential to make killer apps." The IP of the software developed by the institutes will be owned by Sun in the bargain.

Sun has also announced a training initiative- Sun Academic Initiative, which will have about 100 plus certifications and education institutes will be able to gain access to the course material for free.



On the focus areas, Jones said that e-learning, Web services, HPC, grid computing and life sciences will see a steep rise and Sun plans to tap these segments in India.

Elaborating the revenue splits, Jones did not give any numbers, but said, "Out of total revenues, this segment contributed about 10 percent. Out of these revenues, 90 percent constitutes of high-end applications and about 10 percent in the primary and secondary education segment." And in the coming years, the company plans to double its revenues year on year.

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