Sri Lanka poised for disruption with open source technology
While digitisation is conquering the world and open source technology is enabling easy access to businesses and governments, Sri Lanka is poised for an era of disruption with new and innovative technology, industry experts say.
At a media briefing organised by Red Hat at the Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo recently, Red Hat India Director, Presales, Amarjeet Manchanda stated that Sri Lanka is an exciting market that is primed for disruption and Red Hat is geared to play an important part in this transformation journey.
Red Hat is one of the world’s leading providers of open source solutions.
Mr. Manchanda added that Red Hat’s primary focus will be to help businesses accelerate digital transformation in the areas of banking, financial services, insurance, telecommunication and government in Sri Lanka. With the government’s big push in critical infrastructure to enable digital technologies, Red Hat’s innovative offerings are well positioned to help its expansion plans in Sri Lanka.
Red Hat will also focus on developing an ecosystem of partners to empower a framework for open source technologies in Sri Lanka. Industry interactions will also be held in academic institutions to help students understand careers in IT and open source, he noted.
The company is optimistic about the opportunities in Sri Lanka and has received a very positive interest from existing customers and new ones to extend Red Hat’s services in the region. He further highlighted that during their initial conversations with policymakers, partners and customers there has been a strong willingness to embrace open source technology.
“Within the last 10 years we have seen a huge change in innovation driven models. We want to create an enterprise product and open up connections between businesses and governments. No one in the world will be left untouched with Red Hat technology. We see Sri Lanka, a serious business territory and a nation that is growing while digital transformation is taking place widely. Open source technology has made a very seamless transformation around the world,” noted Mr. Manchanda.
Neeraj Bhatia, Director, Partner, Alliances and Commercial Sales, Red Hat India elaborated that Red Hat is one of the most engaged and collaborative partners in the ecosystem that is driving innovation and enabling businesses to benefit from the digital technologies. “Partners lead and deliver a high share of Red Hat’s business in the region and the company is keen to invest and strengthen its existing partner relations while also forging new ones in a nascent market like Sri Lanka,” he noted.
Red Hat is headquartered in North Carolina with 85 offices across 35 countries. With over 10,000 associates worldwide, it is the first to become a US$2 billion open source company.