Adoption of Linux Server OS by Small Businesses in India

A study conducted by Springboard Research revealed that small and mid-size businesses in India use Linux operating system. An increase in rate of adoption of the Linux server was observed from 7.0% to 8.1% in a period of 13 months from April 2009. A wide range of departments including the government, education, and enterprise segments are using the Linux operating system in India.

The Linux server operating system (OS) market is dominated by the small and medium businesses in India with an adoption growth rate of 8.3%. It is 2.4 percentage points more than that for larger enterprises. The main growth drivers for enhancement of adoption of the OS include a perception of minimized security threats, low-cost of ownership, a strong online support community, and lack of piracy-related issues.

Use of Linux at limited budgets by the small businesses in India helps in meeting the business goals at low costs. According to a study conducted by Springboard and Spiceworks, it had been estimated that a lead of adoption of Linux OS is seen in India compared with other countries of Asia-Pacific. It was revealed that the Linux OS adoption was found to be 26% higher than that in the U.S. Further growth in adoption rate by small businesses is being observed in India.

However, the Windows Server Platform was used by 91.7% of the firms in India including large and small-scale enterprises. Around 70 percent of the firms adopt the Windows Server 2003. The data from the study was collected from 408,756 servers in the country.