Infotel Chairman upbeat about Microsoft Windows Phone stall

Monday, 11 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

While commending Microsoft’s leadership in Sri Lanka’s IT market, Infotel Chairman Chinthaka Wijewickrama said that the company has remained a stable influence in the country’s ICT landscape.

“Without Microsoft ICT would not be here. So Microsoft has a done a great job as the most popular operating system in the country. Despite other competitors coming in, they are still the market leader. IT would not be what it is today in Sri Lanka, without Microsoft driving it,” the Chairman said on the sidelines of the 12th consecutive Infotel exhibition held at the Convention Centre in Colombo last week. Although the chairman commented on the cost of proprietary software as being an issue, he also said that open source was not the answer; “The main point of open source is its affordability; but it is not the price, it is the stability of the software that matters. I have been a windows user for more than 25 years and there is no doubt about its stability or reliability,” the Infotel Chairman added. At the exhibition, several students from the local university who played the role of ‘Evangelists’ of the Windows Phone, also explained as to how Microsoft software has assisted them in their academic aspirations. “The first computers we used in school were windows. From the time I was five years old I have used Windows products, which are extremely user friendly. Although I studied open source software at University I was not comfortable with that software,” Aminesh, a student who’s studying Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Information Systems at the University of Sabaragamuwa said. PrabathPeiris, an ‘Evangelist’ from the Rajarata University commented that where the corporate world is concerned the windows phone is the best option. Speaking about the security factor he said, “I was an open source customizer. When I customize any software I can add any kind of code. I can create my own version. So if I am a hacker I can get the data from the background task I have already done which is customizing it. But with Microsoft you cannot do that, due to the security feature which is key to the corporate world,” he said adding that the stability of Microsoft software plays a key role as far as software security is concerned. This year’s Infotel exhibition took place parallel to the World Summit Awards World Congress which was organised by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), primarily focusing on six sectors where ICT can be used to contribute towards the growth of the respective industry such as agriculture, communication, education, transport, medical science and tourism.