IBM, Canonical target emerging markets

IBM has made a significant stride to improve its market share in emerging economies by partnering with Canonical to help governments, businesses and educational institutions deploy open-source solutions.

The companies are introducing a personal computing software package for netbooks and other thin-client devices. The move in Africa, announced last week, is a pilot and if successful will be used in other developing markets.

The Linux-based netbook software package, which can be configured for cloud or on-premise computing, is calculated to help lower the cost of software and help businesses leapfrog from traditional PCs.

"Businesses in emerging markets are looking to gain the freedom and flexibility afforded by open standards," said Bob Picciano, general manager, IBM Lotus Software, in a statement. "The IBM Client for Smart Work builds on the movement toward open standards and Web-based personal computing by giving people the power to work smarter, regardless of device."

The package runs on Canonical's Ubuntu Linux operating system and provides the option to deliver collaboration through the Web in a cloud service model. The software bundle can also be extended to virtualized workspaces. IBM estimates that it delivers up to 50 percent savings per seat compared to a Microsoft-based desktop.

"Starting with Africa, we see that this smart client package can help realize our vision of eliminating barriers to computer access for emerging markets," said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical. "Our IBM partnership brings together the strengths of collaboration to help our customers work smarter using this new approach."

The partnership will target the rising popularity of low-cost netbooks to make software affordable to new, mass audiences in Africa.

The solution includes open standards-based e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, unified communications, social networking and other software for any laptop, netbook, or a variety of mobile devices.

IBM will work with its local service providers as well as leading universities to deliver the new package to people in educational institutions

"Software is an important enabler of the service industry," said professor Venansius Barya Baryamureeba, dean of the Faculty of Computing and IT at Makerere University in Uganda. "However most of the good software is unaffordable by most of the users in developing countries, hence most users in developing countries have resorted to pirated software and free software."

According to IDC East Africa, 70 percent to 85 percent of software used in the region is pirated. The firm blames the high cost of proprietary software fees and the lack of training and available resources in open-source software.

"Most free software packages can be a nightmare of setup woes, training costs and processes that just don't fit your organization. The hope lies in affordable software that is as good as proprietary software, which benefits from economies of scales as a result of targeting a mass market," Baryamureeba added.

IBM and Canonical are also hoping to deliver practical solutions to health ministries. Voice applications, for example, can allow a primary care physician to make visits to rural villages and collaborate with other medical experts without IT infrastructure. The doctor could send and receive messages with detailed documents to help diagnose a patient's condition, combining firsthand knowledge with stored and live, remote human expertise to determine -- in real-time -- the best treatment for the patient.