IBM is gearing up to try its hand at Linux diplomacy.
Buoyed by the success of cooperative ventures promoting Linux in Brazil and a few other developing countries, IBM plans to spread its open source philosophy to other parts of the globe in 2005.
The program involves sponsoring faculty awards at universities, erecting Linux competency centres where local application developers can hone their skills, and collaborating with venture capitalists to form indigenous start-ups that in turn could become the bedrock for local, autonomous IT activity.
"It is an even chance that someone in Russia or China will come up with the next big thing," said Andrew Clark, director of strategy and market intelligence for the venture capital group at IBM. "It is literally a war for the best and brightest. If we don't get there, somebody else will."
In 2004, IBM concentrated on establishing the program and spent most of its energy on the "BRIC" nations: Brazil, Russia, India and China. In 2005, the company will increase its efforts in those countries but will also begin outreach programs in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, Clark said. More details will be released later this week.
IBM is targeting geographical areas where open source is growing, analysts said.
"The greatest opportunity for the growth of open source software and Linux will be outside North America," said Stacey Quandt, an analyst at the Robert Frances Group.
"IBM has approached this from multiple points," she added.Everyone's going there
Microsoft, Intel, HP and AMD have all started to train their eyes on the growing mass of consumers and businesses in emerging markets.
Most of these programmes follow the same general outline. The multinational companies try to jump-start local Silicon Valley-type hotbeds of tech activity, in the hopes of one day turning a region into the next China.
IBM's strategy differs slightly. The company is not primarily interested in selling services or software to local markets. Instead, it wants to identify and groom local talent that, ideally, will develop technology that IBM can then sell to its mostly existing customers in developed nations, Clark said.
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