Sri Lanka growth potential figures big on HP's plans: Introduces MultiSeat technology for local schools

16-Mar-2010

By Sunimalee Dias

Hewlett-Packard has identified Sri Lanka as having the best IT potential for growth in South Asia, the company's local representative said last week.

Country Business Manager, Personal Systems Group Lakshman Fernando speaking at the launch of the HP MultiSeat Computing Solution in Colombo said Sri Lanka was ready to adapt to change and embrace the new technology.

HP, the fastest in growth in the South East Asian (SEA) and South Asian markets, is currently the third fastest growing product in SEA with a population of 600 million.

"We will increase our growth here and bring in new solutions and participate in the faster growth that Sri Lanka is in," HP South East Asia and Taiwan Vice President Ng Tian Chong said at the launch.

During the global downturn HP remained unaffected in many parts of the region including Sri Lanka in 2008/09, he added.

A highlight of the evening's launch was the introduction of HP Sri Lanka's brand ambassadors, leading cricketers Angelo Matthews and Jehan Mubarak.

HP's newly-launched MultiSeat allows multiple students to simultaneously share a single host computer, enabling schools to increase student access to technology at a reduced cost with better monitoring and supervision while in use as well.

This empowers students to learn at their own pace, and allows teachers to easily manage a classroom and free up IT managers from time-consuming maintenance.

Chong explained that this new technology "will benefit all segments of Sri Lanka's society as it is affordable and easily accessible".

HP MultiSeat ensures schools having limited student access to technology to create a technology-rich computing experience for every student in a classroom, lab or library.

A single host computer can be shared by upto 10 students, thereby allowing schools to maximise the number of computer seats without increasing their technology budgets.

This consumes only 2.5 watts of power, reducing energy costs by upto 80%.

HP South East Asia, Taiwan and Korea Business Development Manager Anthony Lim said: "The main thing we want to address is to have technology to be pervasive and more accessible to students today."

IT becomes an enabler, thereby allowing teachers to teach in a more innovative way to students, he explained, as per the use of HP MultiSeat or the Digital Classroom.

With most IT geeks finding an interesting space developing in Sri Lanka, the potential in Sri Lanka in terms of education has been keenly eyed by HP, which believes it is because of the population and the youth of the new era that the industry is making headway.

The geographic expansion outside Colombo, HP is currently trying to study the provinces to improve on its access to the regions, Vice President Chong explained.

There is a need to expand into the rural areas since IT penetration in Sri Lanka is in the range of 2-4%, he explained.

In response to query on the increased access to advanced technology emerging out of HP being accessible to Sri Lankans, he pointed out that the new Touch Smart technology would be coming in.

This has a commercial appeal since the Touch Smart technology can be used in a wide range of industries, including from the retail level of wedding shops to banks.

The Thin Line range of products for schools will bring in a cheaper option and ultra slim use of computing for communicating with students with increased coverage. In addition, the POS or Point of Sale systems will be introduced in the second half of this year in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka in this respect could be classified along with countries like Bangladesh as an emerging state and although the two may have different political situations, the characteristics of the markets were similar, Chong observed.

"Sri Lanka is at the juncture of entering into a time of growth of 15-20%," he added.

While also commenting on the fact that political stability was important, it was pointed out that for industry to develop, a process of healing also needed to take place within the country.

HP eyes Sri Lanka as an important market tipped to increase its customer base with plans already underway to work with partners outside Colombo, he explained.

HP branded shops and retailers with more services and service locations are likely to keep up the growth rate that has a further chance to accelerate in Sri Lanka, Chong noted.

The big opportunities awaiting the region can be also seen in Sri Lanka, one of which would be the streamlining process. And with IT no longer considered as a support function, HP is currently in the business of transforming business by simplifying business to be more efficiently designed in order to optimise solutions.

In this respect it is gearing to take on the trend sought in 2010 to simplify IT for the growth of green IT solutions, the Vice President noted. Plans for 2010 at HP include building up a diversified portfolio and share gains and optimise on the portfolio, he elaborated.

The new disruptive categories from which new technology is set to emerge are the Touch Smart and the All-in-One platform with more green and technology that occupies a smaller space on the desktop will be the future.

Some of the biggest trends noted in the core growth of the industry are: Notebooks going on the concept of thin and light; SMB (Small and Medium Businesses) being a key segment and number one market share in South East Asia; Home IT taking on the challenge of meeting IT adaptation in the homes and among individuals; and Emerging Markets in relation to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and now working on Indonesia.

Indonesia today is the biggest IT market in the region and is coming close to the size of Australia in the IT market, Chong stated.

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