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Indian developers `sought after’

September 22nd, 2008

NEW DELHI: There is more to India’s software revolution than its IT biggies. The country has nearly two million software developers who collaborate with the likes of Nokia, Motorola, Bharti, Google and Sun Microsystems on an unofficial basis to create products and services.

Sun Microsystems works with 7.6 lakh developers in India outside its workforce, the largest such community in the world for the firm. The world’s largest handset maker Nokia is assisted by over 140,000 independent developers in India, again the largest. These independent developers are not on the rolls of the companies they are collaborating with and are often employees of other companies. Some software majors officially allow their employees to pursue such activities in their spare time. These software developers also include freelancers and students.

And these developers are making their presence felt. The Indian division of Forum Nokia, the handset maker’s developer community, has helped develop applications such as a pattern-based predictive texting service, voice reminders and mobile applications for parental control. Nokia is now incorporating these applications in its handsets globally, the Asia Pacific developer relations head Kenny Mathers said. Similarly, in the case of Bharti, its band of developers has created an M-commerce platform and is now working on India-specific applications for the iPhone. Evans Data Corp predicts that India’s developer community will grow 20% over the next two years, the fastest in the world.

According to Evans, a typical Indian developer is a single, 31-year-old male who has been working as a programmer for less than six years and earns less than Rs 16 lakh annually. He is far younger, poorer, less experienced, and less tied down than North American developers. Indian developers are well-educated, nearly 88% of them have college degrees, and over 40% have masters or doctoral degrees. A majority of Indian developers said they create software because of the challenge and fulfillment. Only 30% said they do it solely for the money.

Sun Microsystems believes that these developers work as its partners in innovating and provide it feedback on its products and solutions. “The inspiration for innovation will come from Indians around us who are consuming IT innovations in every sphere from mobile, desktops, enterprise and government,” said Sun Microsystems Developer Outreach and Programs Worldwide senior manager Naveen Asrani.
Source:TOI

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