CCCAM, the popular premium server service, has started selling a server for the cost of Rs 2 to the government.
This is a step up from earlier prices of Rs 1,500 to Rs 1.5 lakh and will make it the first country to offer a dedicated server for government agencies, said Prabhudas Thapar, CEO of CCCAMS, in an interview with ET.
CCCams servers are also being marketed as government-only servers, a move that is likely to boost the revenue of the government as it tries to woo agencies.
CACOM (Central Agency for Corporate Information) has a dedicated CCCAMI server which can accommodate a team of up to six employees and is free for commercial organisations.
But it is still being priced as government server, which could boost the revenues of the agency, said Thapal.
The government is also looking to expand its use of the service.
Earlier, the government did not want to invest in the CCCIM server, but it has been working towards a solution for a while.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, is using a dedicated cccami server for its employees, said K P Nair, a researcher with the institute.
He added that the CACAM server is more cost-effective.
“If the government wants to get the server for free, they can do so for as low as Rs 2.5 per month for up to 10 employees, which will save the agency around Rs 1 crore,” said Nair.
CACCAM, which was created in 2018, is a hybrid of the CECAM and CCCOM servers.
Its main difference is that it offers more space for customers to work on the servers.
The price of the server varies based on the size of the organisation, but CACCAMS servers can be leased for as little as Rs 1 per month, and are currently being leased for around Rs 2 lakh.
CACAOM, a government agency that provides a web-based portal for employees to access services, has a CCCACAM dedicated server that can support up to five employees.
It is currently being offered at Rs 1 lakh.
The Government of Kerala has a number of agencies that can avail a CACCAMI server.
These include the National Highways Authority of India, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Kerala State Public Sector Employees’ Association, the Civil Aviation Authority of Kerala, the State Revenue Department, the Central Reserve Police Force, the National Institute of Public Finance and Management, and the Central Statistical Institute.
According to Thapas, the Indian government does not want the government-owned CACCOM server to get a bad reputation.
“We will work hard to make it better,” said Thaps.
“In this case, we will try to create a hybrid server that is more competitive,” he said.
For the time being, it is a small step forward for the government to offer more servers for the public sector, especially since the government is still trying to attract private services.