Sun Microsystems has announced that GoFrugal Technologies, a software product company with a focus on complete automation of retail and distribution business has ported RayMedi HQ 3, an enterprise class retail solution, to Sun Microsystems' software and operating system platform.

With modules that are adaptable to any retail format from restaurants to pharmacies, from jewellery stores to supermarkets, the solution is ideal for any small and mid-sized retailer operating in the country. Further, with a price point starting as low as a lakh rupees or less per store inclusive of point-of-sale systems, back-end servers and storage infrastructure, networking, implementation costs, software licenses and support, the solution offers a compelling proposition for the small retailer to automate his billing, procurement, inventory management, accounting and customer relationship management needs.

GoFrugal's RayMedi solution has been ported to utilise the entire range of the Sun product portfolio – from Java as the application development language, the Sun Application Server, Sun's MySQL database, Solaris 10 to Sun's performance leading servers. Speaking about the association with Sun Microsystems, Kumar Vembu, CEO, GoFrugal Technologies said, "Sun Microsystems' products fit in perfectly with our requirements of performance, scalability and reliability that we were looking for while developing a low cost solution for the retail industry. The Sun platform helped us pass on to our customers features of low cost of acquisition, zero threat of viruses afflicting their systems and ease of maintenance, thus, ensuring peace of mind for the small retailer, who might not be able to spend a lot on routine maintenance of his technology infrastructure".

He further added, "As India gets ready to experience the onslaught of new retail formats by large retailers, the small and medium retailers, who make up for more than 95 percent of the Indian retail industry are realising the need to adopt state-of-the-art technology in order to stay in the game and increase their share of the Indian retail pie and thereby improve profitability. Due to the inherent nature of the retailing business as is a low-margin, high-volume, commodity business, where profitability gets strained as competition intensifies and consumer preferences mature; the use of technology to provide superior consumer experience is one way to differentiate one’s offerings from the competition."

According to Priyadarshi Mohapatra, director- retail, Sun Microsystems India, "Technology is no longer viewed as an optional investment by Indian retailers; it has become an enabler of their business. Small and medium retailers, who are the core of the Indian retail industry, are fast recognising this fact and are building a strong technology infrastructure backbone. RayMedi is a strong combination of Sun's vast experience and expertise in retail coupled with GoFrugal’s expertise in the retail, retail distribution and retail chain management solutions, making this product a must-have for those retailers who are looking for a robust and scalable IT solution."