German tech firm SUSE expands footprint in India to support key markets

SUSE, a leading open source German software company, has said it is expanding its operations in India to support the company's growth in key markets.

The company has already set up a centre of excellence in Bengaluru at a time India and Germany are looking at boosting cooperation in the high-technology sector.

Founded 30 years ago in Germany, SUSE was the first company to bring enterprise Linux to the market.

"India has seen a massive transformation in technology over the last few years, and we see this expansion as a pivotal opportunity for us to contribute to the economic growth and innovation," said Imran Khan, SUSE Chief Customer Officer.

"This expansion demonstrates our continued global growth as a company and presents a wonderful opportunity to expand our already strong customer base in India by bringing even more innovation to market," he said.

The official said SUSE is driving innovation with its three interconnected product families: Business-critical Linux, Enterprise Container Management and Edge. Khan said SUSE plans to aggressively expand its footprint in India and hire a larger workforce within the country.

Located in Bengaluru's EPIP Industrial Area near SAP Labs (also a German software giant), the new office has been set up with a focus on SUSE's strategic investment into the Indian economy.

With this expansion into India, SUSE plans to leverage India's strong talent pool and bring on strategic new hires that will grow its Centre of Excellence, according to Khan.

SUSE said it is looking to grow their presence in the country tremendously in the coming months.

Khan added, "We are actively working on increasing our presence in the country and would ultimately like to get at least 20 percent of our total global workforce housed in the Center of Excellence in India."

"There is an emerging understanding and appreciation for open source technology, with more than 99 per cent of the Fortune 500 relying on such products. The Indian government has also recently stated that they are committed to 'promote the use of open-source technologies in e-governance/digital governance applications'," he said.

SUSE has a strong customer base in India, with companies such as Malayala Manorama, JK Tyre, Kerala Police, Indian Oil and Mankind Pharma, among others.

Many companies have been choosing India as their destination of choice to set up an Asia office, even as international agencies continue to be optimistic about the Indian economy's future.

The World Bank's recent report shows India is better positioned to navigate global headwinds than other major emerging economies.

Interestingly, Europe is also significantly opening its doors wide open to Indian IT companies, especially after the pandemic when countries like Germany have had to cut massive costs and outsource its IT jobs to keep up with global IT trends.

The conflict in Ukraine has not helped in Germany looking at options closer home, which were earlier seen as attractive destinations for IT hubs.

The world's fourth largest economy, Germany has an outsourcing potential of about 40-50 billion USD which is clearly indicative of the bilateral businesses being established in either countries, according to an official.

While Indian IT firms such as Infosys and Wipro have enhanced their European operations, especially in Germany, more and more German companies are tapping the Indian market for talent.

Recently, another German tech unicorn, Celonis had invested German tech unicorn Celonis to invest USD 100 million in India by launching its India operations.