Concerted efforts at checking piracy on the part of Nasscom and other agencies have succeeded in curbing piracy to a certain extent. There has been a 50% growth in sales of branded PCs due to bulk purchases by larger organizations and MNCs. Branded PCs are usually bundled with genuine operating systems. Users have accepted that pirated software is often of inferior quality and are gradually investing in genuine packages. Despite these buffers, it has been found that software piracy has actually increased by 51%.

Bundling software

It is a buyer’s market and software vendors have been bundling diverse products in an attempt to woo customers. The bundling strategy has worked in cases where target users have been identified accurately. The cost of overheads certainly goes up in such an exercise. But if the strategy works, growth in revenue far outweighs the combined expenses of shipping, brand promotion and advertising. For instance, SAP bundled complementary software like security, implementation services and hardware in its CRM solution. Oracle launched a performance bundle with 9iAS and DB. Customers today can purchase out-of-the-box, pre-integrated, pre-installed Compaq systems with Oracle9i real application clusters, resulting in faster-time-to-deployment and less risk.

While SAP and Oracle have exhorted the effects of bundling, Microsoft India Managing Director Rajiv Kaul does not agree. "We do not bundle diverse products from our company. We also do not bundle outsourced complementary products. We often package our software applications together to provide the end consumer with a complete solution. For instance, we launched the BackOffice Server 2000, a suite of server products designed to address the needs of medium to large enterprises. The suite comprises Windows 2000 Server, Exchange 2000 Server, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Internet Security and Acceleration Server and Host Integration Server 2000. In addition, the product also includes special tools that make it simpler and more cost-effective for businesses to build, deploy and maintain their information technology infrastructure" says Kaul.

Targeting SMEs

Another example of bundling, Microsoft’s Small Business Server 2000 also corroborates the fact that software is increasingly aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. The SBS 2000 includes Windows 2000 server and a suite of Microsoft’s .NET Servers, including the Exchange 2000 Server for e-mail and collaboration. Oracle 9i too was aimed at SMEs. Besides, about 48% of all Linux server-based installations are in small companies. Looking to boost Linux-based productivity among small businesses, IBM too launched its server-based Small Business Suite. This spurt can be explained by plotting the IT lifecycle of an organization (as explained in box).