Ashok Chandran

India will be the fastest growing IT market in the Asia Pacific region with its domestic IT market set to grow at an estimated 19% in 2006 over 2005, according to IT and telecom consulting major IDC.

“Year 2006 will be governed by the underlying themes of mobility, convergence and infrastructure management,” said Kapil Dev Singh, country manager, IDC (India) Ltd. Dynamic IT in the enterprise space and increasing proliferation of digital devices in the consumer space, will drive the growth of IT market in 2006.

IDC’s top 10 predictions for the Indian IT market for 2006 are:

1. India to continue to be the fastest growing domestic IT market in the Asia-Pacific region, to continue to grow at 19% in 2006, with the other Asian giant China growing at 12%.

Domestic IT market growth in 2006 over 2005:

India 19%,Philippines 14%, China 12%, Malaysia 8%, Thailand 6%

(Source: IDC, 2006 )

The major growth will come in the following areas:

Hardware: WLAN equipment (94%), digicams (70%), IP phones (50%), IP-PBX systems (43%), Smart handheld devices or SHDs (30%), Inkjet MFDs (21%), and Notebook PCs (20%)

Software: Application life cycle management software (32%), security software (29%), content applications (24%), BI software (24%), system management software (20%), network management software (20%), information and data management software (20%)

IT Services: Application management (32%), software deployment and support services (29%), network consulting and integration services (24%), IS outsourcing (23%).

2. Servers, the fundamental building blocks of IT infrastructure to cross 100,000 shipments in 2006 in India.

The challenge facing CIOs in 2006 would be to deliver higher IT service-level performance to meet diverse business needs while lowering the costs of infrastructure - a tough balance to strike.

Users have realised their IT infrastructure has become quite complex over a period of time as they continued to add different types of servers, storage, and software.

Servers are among the fundamental building blocks of a solid infrastructure in the making. The trend towards dynamic IT will necessitate an increasing need for server consolidation in 2006. After struggling for years to register consistent growth, the server market in India is now poised for strong gains over the next five years.

For the past 10 consecutive quarters, server shipments in India increased year-on-year in excess of 20% until 3Q05, while growth in spending was equally impressive.

3. Outsourcing services to outgrow technology product services (standalone) in 2006 and will contribute largest chunk (24%) to the Indian IT services market.

IDC believes that the Indian market is moving towards an era of outsourcing services in the domestic space. So far, the domestic market has been dominated by plain vanilla support services like software and hardware deployment and support, which includes revenue streams like AMC (annual maintenance service contract) revenues.

With the emergence of end-to-end operators in the services space and with more confidence on outsourcing service providers, end-users are awarding more contracts with long-term perspectives in mind.

Deals like IBM-Bharti, HP-Bank of India, Wipro-Sanmar group, TCS-Department of Company Affairs, etc show a definite change in the mindset of even the PSU/Government vertical to go for similar deals, where the complete headache of IT Infrastructure can be taken up by the specialist providers.

IDC estimates that managed services (outsourcing services) would be 24% of the total domestic IT services market vis-à-vis 22% for technology product services (TPS) in CY 2006.

4. Anytime, anywhere information availability to drive shift towards policy-based security management and administration in India.

Businesses are rapidly changing with growth and competition, pushing enterprises for high availability of information to enable better and faster decision-making. Enterprises are networking with both their downstream and upstream partners in the ecosystem so as to streamline and optimise their value chain. The need for higher availability coupled with compliance to regulations will put Identity & Access Management (IAM) solutions in the mainstream in 2006.

Higher mobility and faster decision-making require information to be made available anywhere, anytime. This, in turn would enable enterprises to respond to changing market needs in a shorter time-span.

Therefore, enterprises will need to design a centralised security policy, which takes into consideration the needs of employees and partners alike. This trend will increasingly set the boundaries that govern security management and administration policies in enterprises.

5. 2006, the year of the digital home revolution in India: 100% growth expected in digital camera shipments and home Internet connections.

Finally the Indian consumer segment is coming into its own. IDC has observed phenomenal growth in the adoption of digital devices and technologies that clearly signals the trend towards fructification of the concept of a digital home.

All major indicators, i.e. home PC, broadband, digital camera, high-end television, satellite radios, MP3 players etc., have shown very healthy growth in the year 2005. IDC predicts that the next year is going to be even rosier for a host of digital products aimed for this mass market.

India will see a few products enjoying more than 100% growth with digital cameras and consumer broadband connections becoming the flag bearers of this triumphant march.

The digital camera market is undergoing a sea change in the country. Indian consumers are maturing from ‘casual clickers’ to ’serious buyers’, with increased attention towards higher pixels, zoom and other high-end features.

Low cost Broadband is another market where India is going to see unprecedented growth. The cost of owing a broadband Internet connection (primarily ADSL) has come down drastically, thanks to the bundling and offerings available from service providers.

6. Unrestricted IP telephony will boost IP-PBX shipments to over 25% of PBX line shipments by end-2006, but low PSTN tariffs will constrain VoIP usage in India.

The Indian IP telephony enterprise equipment market is finally emerging out of the shackles of government-enforced restrictions. The recent announcement further opening up IP telephony means that IP telephones and equipment will be able to freely interconnect with normal TDM lines, be it for calling within the user’s closed group or outside, irrespective of whether the called party is outside India or inside India.

And it does not matter whether the receiver is on an IP phone or a normal PSTN phone or even the now more common mobile phone. IP telephony, unbridled and with full features, is what 2006 will see becoming a reality.

Given the fast dropping costs of IP phones and IP-PBX equipment, IP telephony will stop being a tool used for niche applications by early adopters to become a multipurpose communication medium used by a diverse set of enterprises.

In 2006, it will not only be the call centres and software houses who will adopt IP telephony — many other organisations such as banks, manufacturers, educational institutions and government departments would begin adding IP telephones and IP-PBXs to their networks.

IDC expects that by the end of 2006, a quarter of PBX lines shipped will be IP lines compared to the 15 per cent today. The biggest drivers for IP telephony among enterprises would be investment protection and convergence — businesses would look at investing on the latest technology that will give them the best return in the long run.

7. Industry-specific solutions to be major driver of corporate IT spending in 2006 and beyond.

As the Indian economy integrates and aligns more and more with the global economy, industry segments facing the heat of competition are gearing up to compete internationally. This is visible across segments as diverse as automotive, banking & insurance, consumer durables, textiles & garments, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, retailing, telecom, et al.

This unprecedented scenario has made Indian companies scout for world-class enterprise applications/solutions from IT vendors to help them upgrade their legacy systems/applications in order to meet their goals as well as the expectations of their customers, business partners and shareholders.

IDC believes that this trend is going to gain traction in 2006. This in turn is forcing IT vendors/solution providers in India to realign their internal organisation structures as well as their go-to-market strategies in order to be able to adequately address these new market realities.

According to IDC IT vendors/solution providers will be:

Re-orienting their internal organisation structures to cater to the specific and emerging needs of their industry vertical focused customers, as against the traditional horizontal, product category-oriented structures.
Developing and providing specific, easily customizable and cost-effective (high RoI/low TCO) solutions to their customers.
Tying up with industry-specific solution partners who possess deep domain expertise and have access/proximity to local geographical industry clusters.
High revenue growth would be witnessed in vertical-specific applications across-the-board, which is expected to provide a positive boost to revenues (2006 over 2005) in such major product segments as servers (9%), PCs (21%), enterprise storage solutions (13%), packaged software (20%) and key IT services like application management (32%), ASP (20%), IT consulting (20%), network consulting & integration (24%), network management (26%), software deployment & support (29%) as well as enterprise-wide IS outsourcing services (23%).

8. Application integration, consolidation with business analytics will gain momentum in 2006.

Enterprises in India are growing rapidly and the need has arisen to have better control on growth and decision-making based on real time enterprise wide data. The business drivers across industries are different and range from compliance, better service to cost control.

Enterprises have deployed multiple applications with a mix of standardised packaged and custom-developed legacy applications. These disparate applications pose challenges like:

2006 will witness enterprises integrating multiple applications running within the organisation. They will also reduce the number of applications wherever possible and rollout applications from a single location, thus reducing the number of servers deployed.

9. Cost no more the key factor in colour adoption: Colour laser shipments growing by 50% in 2006 over 2005.

IDC believes that adoption of colour printing in the laser space will take off from 2006. While 2006 will witness an increased adoption of colour lasers in offices; the installed base will keep on increasing thereafter. Over the past two years there has been a concerted drive by the industry to develop and enhance the range of colour laser devices that they offer.

This drive will begin to see results from 2006 onwards. The CAGR for the next five years is predicted to be about 40%, while 2006 is likely to witness an increase of about 50% over 2005 shipments.

There are an increasing number of devices that employ technologies that deliver colour output to businesses, and there is an increasing awareness amongst organizations that colour can bring great benefits to their businesses.

The factors that will drive the adoption of colour printing are:

Prices to drop considerably across all products; Businesses have a latent need for colour printing and would really begin to look strategically at what benefits colour could provide; Vendors would continue to introduce products that will offer better print speeds, quality and consistency of print, which would enable a number of businesses to print many of their colour documents in-house.
To begin with, marketing and sales would drive the use of colour in offices. The phenomenon is likely to spread to other groups gradually. However there are a few challenges that both the printer vendors and offices (end-user organisations) themselves have to overcome. These are:

Increased costs — one time cost as well as recurring costs; Cost allocation between various departments; and
Colour printing through networked devices.
IDC expects a few organisations to act as innovators towards adopting colour printing cost effectively, thereby overcoming the above hurdles successfully. These organisations will gain an early advantage over their competitors and this would then lead to widespread adoption of colour in Indian offices.

10. Worldwide IT and business services: Focus on SMEs, global assets, global sourcing for innovation, and industry focused BPO.

In 2006, IT and business services vendors will continue to see major market changes, including a dramatic shift to more business process outsourcing, an increase in the number of players, and a reduction in total deal value.

These developments reflect increased competition and expansion in the marketplace and are continuing to put pressure on traditional outsourcers to alter their business models in order to successfully compete in the coming years - to include newer service capabilities, involve different ecosystems of partnerships, target ‘non-IT’ opportunities, and seek new customers in the SME and consumer spaces as well as emerging markets.

Vivek Pradhan wasn’t a happy man. Even the plush comfort of the First Class air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdi Express couldn’t cool his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and entitled to air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin guy, it was the savings in time. A PM had so many things to do!

He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use. “Are you from the software industry sir,” the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop. Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.

“You people have brought so much advancement to the country sir. Today everything is getting computerized.”
‘Thanks,” smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a detailed look. He always found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and stocky like a sportsman. He looked simple and strangely out of place in that little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably was a Railway sportsman making the most of his free traveling pass. “You people always amaze me,” the man continued, “You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things outside.”

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naivety demanded reasoning not anger. “It is not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it.”
For a moment he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development Lifecycle but restrained himself to a single statement. “It is complex, very complex.”
“It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid,” came the reply.

This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence came into his so far affable, persuasive tone. “Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in.” “Hard work!” “Indians have such a narrow concept of hard work. Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office doesn’t mean our brows don’t sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe me that is no less taxing.”

He had the man where he wanted him and it was time to drive home the point.
“Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking centers across the country.
Thousands of transactions accessing a single database at a given time; concurrency, data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?”

The man was stuck with amazement, like a child at a planetarium. This was something big and beyond his imagination. “You design and code such things.”
“I used to,” Vivek paused for effect, “But now I am the project manager,”

“Oh!” sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, “so your life is easy now.”

It was like being told the fire was better than the frying pan. The man had to be given a feel of the heat. “Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding!
That is the easier part. Now I don’t do it, but I am responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. And to tell you about the pressures!
There is the customer at one end always changing his requirements, the user wanting something else and your boss always expecting you to have finished it yesterday.”

Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realisation.
What he had said was not merely the outburst of a wronged man, it was the truth. And one need not get angry while defending the truth.

“My friend,” he concluded triumphantly, “you don’t know what it is to be in the line of fire.”
The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.

“I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire,” He was staring blankly as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.
“There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. There was no knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for whom. In the morning when we finally hoisted the tricolor at the top only 4 of us were alive.”

“You are a…”

“I am Subedar Sushant Singh from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a land assignment. But tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier. On the dawn of that capture one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and welfare of the men he commanded. His own personal safety came last, always and every time. He was killed as he shielded that soldier into the bunker. Every morning now as I stand guard I can see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me. I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire.”

Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of his reply. Abruptly he switched off the laptop. It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a word document in the presence of a man for whom valor and duty was a daily part of life; a valor and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes.
The train slowed down as it pulled into the station and Subedar Sushant Singh picked up his bags to alight. “It was nice meeting you sir.”
Vivek fumbled with the handshake. This was the hand that had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger and hoisted the tricolor. Suddenly as if by impulse he stood at attention, and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute.

It was the least he felt he could do for the country.

PS: The incident he narrates during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true life incident during the Kargil war. Major Vikram Batra sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight.
For this and his various other acts of bravery he was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra - the nation’s highest military award.

Find Work that You Love. Nothing complicates your life more than forcing yourself to go to work every morning when your heart tells you you should be doing something else. Find work that is fun and uses your natural gifts.

Wise people spend their days on pursuits that engage the fullness of their natural strengths. In doing so, they always meet with success. Go on a ‘News Fast’. One of the universal laws of the mind says that “as you sow, so shall you reap.” What goes into the mind determines what comes out.

Break your addiction to the news. The killings, the violence and the calamity do nothing to add to your inner peace. To simplify your life, spend the next 7 days away from the news. Read great literature or listen to soothing music instead.

Learn to Say No. The person who tries to do everything ultimately achieves nothing. What separates the peak performers from weak performers is that the first group says “no” to anything that is not important while the second group says “yes” to everything.

Have the inner courage to say “no” to all those things you really don’t want to do. As if by magic, you will begin to have time for the activities you truly value.

Connect with Nature. Nature has healing properties. It reminds us of what life is really about and connects us to the simple gifts that we all too often overlook. If you are feeling the stresses and strains of modern life, just imagine what a daily walk through the woods or a weekly hour spent watching the sun set would do for you. Even growing a simple garden in your backyard will bring a wealth of benefits.

Laugh Daily. Daily laughter will renew your perspective and rekindle the childlike enthusiasm that you may have lost. Most of us are too busy to laugh and too serious to smile. We have become caught up in our own sense of importance. We have forgotten to nourish the child within all of us, just waiting to get out and have some fun. Never forget that children come to us more highly evolved than adults to teach us the lessons we need to learn. Study children. Learn from their natural wisdom. They will remind you that if you haven’t laughed today, you haven’t lived today.

Sell Your TV. Do you have anything to show for all the time you have given to the box sitting in your living room. When you deeply reflect on all the hours, days, weeks and months you have given to your television, has it done anything to raise the quality of your life? While there are some excellent programs on tv, don’t be a slave to it. Don’t lose the best years of your life spending every evening on the couch.

Be Silent. Silence is golden. In this crazy age we live in, the average person doesn’t spend even an hour a month in silence. Yet silence renews us, it relaxes us and it allows us to reflect on how we are living and make necessary corrections before it is too late.

Get in the habit of taking daily ’silence breaks.’ At the office, shut your door for ten minutes, close your eyes and simply be still. It will be hard at first but after a few days, you will find yourself feeling calmer and happier than you have felt in a long time.

Eat Less. Benjamin Franklin once said “to lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.” Yet, in this age of over consumption, we seem to have forgotten this simple piece of advice. Eating less will allow you to become healthier, more energetic and live longer. It is also one of the best ways to build self-discipline because you are not giving in to the weaker impulses telling you to eat more. Instead, you are flexing your willpower and doing what you promised yourself you would do.

________
Robin S. Sharma, LL.M. is an internationally-known speaker on sales leadership, peak performance and creativity. The bestselling author of 3 motivational books including MegaLiving, he is the managing partner of Sharma Leadership International. He can be reached at 1-888-774-2762 or at http://www.robinsharma.com

I visited Jamshedpur over the weekend to see for myself an India that is fast disappearing despite all the wolf-cries of people like Narayanamurthy and his ilk. It is one thing to talk and quite another to do and I am delighted to tell you that Ratan Tata has kept alive the legacy of perhaps Indias finest industrialist J.N. Tata. Something that some people doubted when Ratan took over the House of the Tatas but in hindsight, the best thing to have happened to the Tatas is unquestionably Ratan. I was amazed to see the extent of corporate
philanthropy and this is no exaggeration.

For the breed that talks about corporate social responsibility and talks about the role of corporate India, a visit to Jamshedpur is a must. Go there and see the amount of money they pump into keeping the town going; see the smiling faces of workers in a region known for industrial unrest; see the standard of living in a city that is almost isolated from the mess in the rest of the country.

This is not meant to be a puff piece. I have nothing to do with Tata Steel, but I strongly believe the message of hope and the message of goodness that they are spreading is worth sharing. The fact that you do have companies in India which look at workers as human beings and who do not blow their software trumpet of having changed lives. In fact, I asked Mr Muthurman, the managing director, as to why he was so quiet about all they had done and all he could offer in return was a smile wrapped in humility, which said it all. They have done so much more since I last visited Jamshedpur, which was in 1992. The town has obviously got busier but the values thankfully haven’t changed. The food is still as amazing as it always was and I gorged, as I would normally do. I visited the plant and the last time I did that was with Russi Mody.

But the plant this time was gleaming and far from what it used to be. Greener and cleaner and a tribute to environment management. You could have been in the mountains. Such was the quality of air I inhaled! There was no belching smoke; no tired faces and so many more women workers, even on the shop floor. This is true gender equality and not the kind that is often espoused at seminars organised by angry activists. I met so many old friends. Most of them have aged but not grown old. There was a spring in the air which came from a certain calmness which has always been the hallmark of Jamshedpur and something I savoured for a full two days in between receiving messages of how boring and decrepit the Lacklustre Fashion Weak was. It is at times such as this that our city lives seem so meaningless. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata had created an edifice that is today a robust company and it is not about profits and about valuation. It is not about who becomes a millionaire and who doesnt’. It is about getting the job done with dignity and respect keeping the age-old values intact and this is what I learnt.

I jokingly asked someone as to whether they ever thought of joining an Infosys or a Wipro and pat came the reply: “We are not interested in becoming crorepatis but in making others crorepatis.”

Which is exactly what the Tatas have done for years in and around Jamshedpur. Very few people know that Jamshedpur has been selected as a UN Global Compact City, edging out the other nominee from India, Bangalore. Selected because of the quality of life, because of the conditions of sanitation and roads and welfare. If this is not a tribute to industrial India, then what is? Today, Indian needs several Jamshedpurs but it also needs this Jamshedpur to be given its fair due, its recognition. I am tired of campus visits being publicised to the Infosys and the Wipros of the world. Modern India is being built in Jamshedpur as we speak. An India built on the strength of core convictions and nothing was more apparent about that than the experiment with truth and reality that Tata Steel is conducting at Pipla.

Forty-eight tribal girls (yes, tribal girls who these corrupt and evil politicians only talk about but do nothing for) are being educated through a residential program over nine months. I went to visit them and I spoke to them in a language that they have just learnt: Bengali. Eight weeks ago, they could only speak in Sainthali, their local dialect. But today, they are brimming with a confidence that will bring tears to your eyes. It did to mine.

One of them has just been selected to represent Jharkand in the state archery competition. They have their own womens football team and whats more they are now fond of education. It is a passion and not a burden. This was possible because I guess people like Ratan Tata and Muthurman havent sold their souls to some business management drivel, which tells us that we must only do business and nothing else. The fact that not one Tata executive has been touched by the Naxalites in that area talks about the social respect that the Tatas have earned.

The Tatas do not need this piece to be praised and lauded. My intent is to share the larger picture that we so often miss in the haze of the slime and sleaze that politics imparts. My submission to those who use phrases such as “feel-good” and “India Shining” is first visit Jamshedpur to understand what it all means. See Tata Steel in action to know what companies can do if they wish to. And what corporate India needs to do. Murli Manohar Joshi would be better off seeing what Tata Steel has done by creating the Xavier Institute of Tribal Education rather than by proffering excuses for the imbroglio in the IIMs. This is where the Advanis and Vajpayees need to pay homage. Not to all the Sai Babas and the Hugging saints that they are so busy with. India is changing inspite of them and they need to realise that.

I couldn’t have spent a more humane and wonderful weekend. Jamshedpur is an eye-opener and a role model, which should be made mandatory for replication. I saw corporate India actually participate in basic nation-building, for when these tribal girls go back to their villages, they will return with knowledge that will truly be life-altering.

Corporate India can do it but most of the time is willing to shy away. For those corporate leaders who are happier winning awards and being interviewed on their choice of clothes, my advise is visit Tata Steel, spend some days at Jamshedpur and see a nation’s transformation. That is true service and true nationalism.

Tata Steel will celebrate 100 years of existence in 2007. It won’t be just a milestone in this company’s history. It will be a milestone, to my mind of corporate transparency and generosity in this country. It is indeed fitting that Ratan Tata today heads a group which has people who are committed to nation-building than just building inflluence and power. JRD must be smiling wherever he is. And so must Jamsetji Nusserwanji. These people today, have literally climbed every last blue mountain. And continue to do so with vigour and passion.

Thank god for the Tatas!

Excerpt from The Asian Age written by Suhel Seth

So, is Google launching a PC of its own?

According to the LA Times they are … From the article: ‘Sources say Google has been in negotiations with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., among other retailers, to sell a Google PC. The machine would run an operating system created by Google, not Microsoft’s Windows, which is one reason it would be so cheap — perhaps as little as a couple of hundred dollars.’”

There’s a lot of talk about an alternative to Windows. Having been a Linux user on and off and despite having enjoyed it, I have to admit that there is no credible alternative to Windows. If only because its so easy to get things done on a windows machine. And that’s not because Windows is a great software. It’s because someone who knows how to get it done is not more than a phone call away. Macs are much (MUCH) nicer … but they remain far more expensive. Though the move to Intel based machines should help bring Mac costs down some (hopefully).

Which brings us back to the Google PC. Here’s why I think it might work. Everybody knows Google. Like everybody knows Microsoft. Brand recall is a powerful thing in the world of technology, especially for newbies. Google has establised itself as being extraordinarily easy to use. It’s also established itself as being a lot of fun. That is a pretty potent combination. Especially for someone who doesn’t know a lot about computers. And if you throw in the price then we are talking slam dunks and home runs galore all rolled into one. But this isn’t why I think it’s going to be great.

Let’s get into a little bit of speculation. This is also known as la-la land in serious journalism.

It’s safe to assume that the Google operating system will be based on what they already have up and running for Google’s various offerings. Now the really big deal about this OS is data storage thanks to something called the Google File System (GFS). At the heart of every Google search and all the space that Google gives away at Gmail is the GFS. It supports near instant access to huge amounts of data, spread over diverse geographical locations.

A Google PC could very well be an extension — a private node — of this giant Google grid … You would have access to all of Google’s existing services. And some new ones. Like the often talked about but never confirmed Office suite. And the browser, though me thinks they’re going to go with Mozilla Firefox, or a version of it.

The big deal about this will be that the computer will have none of the software on it. They will all be like Gmail. You will need to be connected to a Google server.
A lot of people have talked about network PCs — computers that are whole only when connected to a network. But Google is in a position where this could soon be real.

And that’s what could make a Google PC truly revolutionary.

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