German Software Giant Suse Begins India Operations; Taps Kerala Police As Client

Suse, the German-based open-source software major that develops and sells Linux, Kubernetes and Edge products, has begun its full-fledged operation in India by opening a first-of-its-kind ‘Centre of Excellence’ in Bengaluru. 

The company, which earlier had its sales operation in India, has already sold its Linux products and services to Indian entities like Indian Oil, JK Tyres and Industries, Mankind Pharma and the like. Besides business houses, Suse has also partnered with state-owned Kerala Police to transform the latter’s digital policing platform. 

SUSE’s Chief Customer Officer Imran Khan shared “India has seen a massive transformation in technology in the last few years and we are thrilled to be able to be a part of fueling the next wave of innovation. We are eager to tap into India’s strong talent pool and continue to drive innovation across our three product portfolios, including Business Critical Linux, Enterprise Container Management and Edge.” In Picture: Imran Khan,Chief Customer Officer, SUSE

Suse just celebrated its 30th anniversary, and India as a vibrant market is very much on its radar, Manu Dhir, General Manager and Vice President of Suse India, told BW Businessworld. 

Dhir said the newly launched Bengaluru Centre of Excellence will not be mere India delivery centres, but also global delivery points. “Our primary focus is to hire the best engineering talents from India to augment the country-centric operations to cater to the entire world. 

However, Dhir did not divulge details on the proposed investment outlay of Suse in India. We look to absorb atleast 80-100 new engineers to supplement the operations of our Linux property, Dhir said. “We presently have a work force of 80-85 talented engineers across India, and they are helping us in widening our vision. We intend to double our strength in the next 12 months,” he added. 

Suse offers wide ranging open-source products for businesses that are built on the Linux operating system. The company has presence across the globe, and caters to giants including Microsoft, Google, Amazone, Alibaba, Home Depot among others. 

Khan added that “SUSE has the right ingredients and solutions to power innovations for our customers. Just as importantly, our customers know they can count on us for best in class support and innovative technology to power their digital transformations.”

Police Story 

Suse began its full-fledged operations in India on 23 November. The company said it is already lending services to some of the top companies including Indian Oil and JK Tyres. Interestingly, state-owned Kerala Police have also embraced its open-source platforms for expanding digital policing services. 

In Picture: Manu Dhir, General Manager and Vice President of SUSE India

The Kerala Police is the first policing entity in the country to use our digital tech solutions and artificial intelligence platforms to transform its digital policing services, Dhir said. “They are very successful and have harnessed a new generation of networking, cloud and containerisation technologies to create microservices architecture. Kerala Police’s development team is provided with complete freedom in developing services that are cost effective for citizens as well as for the police force. This is an example, and I believe more state-owned entities would come forward to embrace our services,” Dhir added. 

Product Portfolio 

Suse offers three core solution areas to businesses: Business-critical Linux (BCL), Enterprise Container Management (ECM) and Edge. Linux has been Suse’s marvel since inception. The company addresses the market needs with Suse Linux Enterprise. While Linux is the traditional market, the company also offers cutting edge technology under the enterprise container management (ECM). The third one offered is Edge. Edge is a customer-centric product typically aimed at bringing the computer closer to customers. 

 According to Dhir, Businesses can bank on our fully completed Linux-based platform to save time and money. “Maintaining a free, open-source Linux distribution platform will help businesses. Our customers are offered a stable system with product, along with documentation and technical services. Our product will lead to a reduced cost of ownership as compared to using an unsupported version on Linux OS,” he maintained. 

We offer the best in class and outperform all of our competitors in customer satisfaction, Dhir said. “With the addition of some of our container management solutions, we help to be more compelling and more of a vendor of choice as well. We have the right ingredients to focus on our technological stack,” Dhir further said. 

Listed And Growing 

In 2021, Suse went public at Frankfurt Stock Exchange at an original issue price of Euro 30, with parent company EQT Partners retaining 75.7 per cent. The company has been witnessing double digit year on year growth rate. 

About 60 per cent of Fortune 500 companies use our technology and that is precisely the number, Dhir said. “We have been witnessing a double digit growth rate globally across segments. And we expect India operations to contribute big in number wise.” 

The company’s primary agenda is to tap the market by making its products available for Indian corporates and state-owned entities. 

Great opportunity 

Dhir is an engineer by profession and has been into the services domain. He has earlier associated with PwC in Singapore. Dhir has also worked with Net App, the American hybrid cloud data services and data management company, before joining Suse this month. 

Dhir said he is very excited to be a part of Suse. “You don't get to see the production level code at all, unless you join a particular company,” he said. “Our sources of source code are open to all. So I think it's a great opportunity for student engineers to get into that open source movement, while learning and contributing. They are not only making a difference to the community, but also to themselves,” Dhir concluded.