No its not Google. Its Baidu ! The Chinese search Engine.

Baidu is the most successful Search Engine Company addressing the needs of emerging China. Why cant there be a Microsoft, Yahoo, Google coming out of China and India. Alibaba is already the world’s largest Manufacturer to Seller portal platform for enabling cross border trade.

With about 3 billion combined population, both India and China offers a huge consumption market and people there are hungry for social networking, mobile/sms communications, Innovative gadgets, Very creative media,…

No wonder Silicon Valley VCs are buying the growth story of these two giant nations.

Build or Buy ? Often this came up with every CIOs mind when deciding on any Application solutions. There is a new way of approaching investing into software applications through Assemble concept. Open Source softwares gives the flexibility of assembling software and implementing the business requirements straightway.

For some time I have been using some of these technologies for serious business use. Some of these software are giving proprietory software, in its category, a run for money.

1. Red Hat Linux - The most popular OS now

2. Mozilla - Firefox - The alternative to Internet Explorer

3. Application Development Environment - Java , Spring Framework, Hibernate, Maven, ibatis, Struts, …

4. MySQL - The biggest threat to Oracle, DB2 and Sybase. Everybody uses MySql for large sized database applications. www.mysql.com

5. Business Intelligence - Pentaho,..it surely valuable than the commercial ones,..www.pentaho.com

6. Content Management - Alfresco - Superb application and software ,..founded by the co founder of Documentum www.alfresco.com

7. Enterprise Service Bus - SOA - Mulesource - the best in class and co exist with any commercial EAI infrastructure www.mulesource.com

There are others like Wordpress, Drupal, Jhoomla, OScommerce,…all are making their marks in the internet world.

The business model of these new ventures promoting open source software are packaging the software and earning their revenues on support and consulting.

Also this is a way for BRIC countries, to look for more Open Source software to build their path for Information Systems model. This helps them to save a lot of money and gives them the best of functionalities. For sure the next Google is in the making somewhere in India or China or Russia.

As the BRIC countries develop faster their currency appreciates. Though it is good as a whole for the nation, it immediately impacts BPOs and IT cos who thrive on wage arbitrage between developed economy and them.

US-based Spectrum Global Fund Administration, providing back-office operations to hedge funds in the US and the UK, is closing its facilities in India. The company had started its operations in India two years ago.

The company, which is based in Bangalore, has close to 100 employees. The centre serves about 60-70 clients of the total 110 in the hedge fund sector. The company plans to close the centre by December-end.

“The decision has been taken by the US office. We have not been told about the procedures. Negotiations as to what happens to the people working here is yet to be conveyed by the head office,” said a source close to the development.

The company has cited reasons such as increasing attrition and rising costs for closing its Indian operations.