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MUMBAI, Feb. 13

"THE 1990s was the decade when the Internet arrived, but it was limited to our desktops only. However, now because of embedded systems, the Internet has come to where we actually live. And, that is the real opportunity. Indian companies have huge commercial market to tap in this embedded software space ," said Mr Paul Saffo, Director and Roy Amara Fellow, Institute of the Future, at the sidelines of Nasscom 2003.

Mr Saffo, however, added that Indian companies need to develop more flexible business models (in terms of building a risk-sharing model with customers) to take advantage of the potential in the embedded systems market.

Highlighting other challenges that Indian companies were likely to face in establishing themselves in this space, Mr Rajiv Mody, Chairman and CEO, Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd, said, " Indian companies would face challenges in terms of marketing and domain expertise. Also, they need to proactively invest in areas that may or may not yield successful results."

The National Association of Software and Services Companies has said that it sees exciting opportunities for Indian companies in the embedded software and systems arena. Mr Arun Kumar, Chairman, Nasscom, said " the worldwide market of $ 21 billion (2001) in embedded software offers a huge opportunity for Indian companies. With software becoming an important source of functionality enhancement and differentiation in many traditionally non-computing devices such as PDAs, cellphones and consumer electronics, the embedded software and system market is expected to grow at a healthy 16 per cent CAGR in the next three years."

According to Mr Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom," What is enabling growth are advances in underlying embedded technologies. Hardware is becoming more powerful and cheaper with 64 bit processing power available to $ 120-200 today. Additionally, automatic code generation tools are significantly accelerating the process of code generation. Therefore, development as well as values needs, in the future, will lie in the software."

Nasscom has identified four drivers that will make embedded systems an exciting area for Indian companies - rising software content, rapidly evolving hardware, lack of standardised protocols and lack of software skills in OEMs.

The association has also identified activities that can be carried out by third-party providers or offshore hubs in India which include product development, validation services, maintenance services and professional services.

" Over 60 per cent of the top global Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are already leveraging India for maintenance services and new product development. Many companies (both Indian and MNCs) have already started providing complete solutions in this area by leveraging existing design and programming capabilities within the industry while outsourcing the actual development of chips to external silicon wafer manufacturers," said Mr Karnik.

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