Technology innovation is critical and it should not become expensive at the hands of a few organisations, asserts Vikash Jha, Co-Founder, Unotech Software, in an interaction with Rachita Jha of Elets News Network (ENN).
What makes Open Source software a viable option for government organisations?
Open Source is the biggest platform of collaboration. I was amazed by the idea of people from all over the world collaborating to make top-class software that is then available for anyone to use in any sector of application. I believe this has profound, empowering implications for the government organisations, as it truly empowers any department for innovation, wherein you work closely with the customers and the customers decide what is required based upon their business priorities. The latter is what has actually proved to be the most successful form of software development where the customer’s participation in development as well as usage of the product drives major adoptions.
We strongly believe that technology innovation is critical and it should not become expensive at the hands of a few organisations, which is why we believe Open Source is extremely critical, and commercially, customers should never be locked into one single vendor who keeps them jinxed in product licences, restrictions on modification and of course, the huge costs involved in proprietary solutions. So, it is indeed aviable option for the government organisations to invest in.
Do you think that there is a resistance to adopt Open Source, especially in the BFSI sector?
There used to be a lot of resistance when the business impacts of the benefits of Open Source were not clear. But today, most organisations into BFSI, manufacturing, e-commerce, etc., have realised that Open Source brings in a fundamental strategic business advantage of being able to build solutions as per your needs and having the flexibility to manage them in a very controlled way. So today, the BSFI sector is using Open Source in many of its applications.
What is your flagship product and how has been the industry’s response to it? What problems does it solve?
We have looked at ourselves as ‘problem solvers’ through the use of Open Source software and are keen to keep it that way. We work in two streams; one is services where we basically implement Open Source projects for customers or Open Source products supported by OEMs like Red Hat, Exo, OpenIAM and others, where we are implementing their products and successfully implementing these in the enterprises; the other line is the solutions where we have Identity and Access management (Open IAM), Document Management (OpenKM) and Messaging, and collaboration solutions.
What is the future roadmap for the company’s further growth? What all can one look forward to?
Open Source is just not about selling software, it’s all about being open in the way you deal with customers right from the day you start engaging to the way you discuss commercials, the way you deliver your service, the way you finally implement the solution and even how you build the product when product development required. We have a mission to establish longterm relationship with customers on the path of Open Source. We can deliver value and assure our customers that we are here for a long-term partnership. In the next few years, we look at Unotech as an organisation that will also upstream to the community and also build a team of highly specialised unique skill sets, which will uniquely distinguish us as the only pure-play high-end Open Source consulting, implementation and product company.
To put it simply, we want to help people enjoy their work. Through our reliable, robust and flexible Open Source solutions, we want to inspire government organisation and their employees to be the best they can. We understand that each organisation has different needs and strongly believe that through innovations, customer-centric approach, open and transparent communication, we can enable businesses realise their optimum potential.