CTRL+C (Copy)
CTRL+X (Cut)
CTRL+V (Paste)
CTRL+Z (Undo)
DELETE (Delete)
SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)
SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
CTRL+A (Select all)
F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)
CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)
Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)
F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)
RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)
LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
F5 key (Update the active window)
BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
ESC (Cancel the current task)
SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)
Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs)
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the tabs)
TAB (Move forward through the options)
SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the options)
ALT+Underlined letter (Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option)
ENTER (Perform the command for the active option or button)
SPACEBAR (Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box)
Arrow keys (Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons)
F1 key (Display Help)
F4 key (Display the items in the active list)
BACKSPACE (Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box)
m*cro$oft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts
Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)
Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)
Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)
Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)
Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)
Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)
Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)
CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)
Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)
Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)
Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)
Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)
Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts
Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)
SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)
NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off)
Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager)
Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
END (Display the bottom of the active window)
HOME (Display the top of the active window)
NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) (Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder)
NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) (Display the contents of the selected folder)
NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) (Collapse the selected folder)
LEFT ARROW (Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder)
RIGHT ARROW (Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder)
Shortcut Keys for Character Map
After you double-click a character on the grid of characters, you can move through the grid by using the keyboard shortcuts:
RIGHT ARROW (Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line)
LEFT ARROW (Move to the left or to the end of the previous line)
UP ARROW (Move up one row)
DOWN ARROW (Move down one row)
PAGE UP (Move up one screen at a time)
PAGE DOWN (Move down one screen at a time)
HOME (Move to the beginning of the line)
END (Move to the end of the line)
CTRL+HOME (Move to the first character)
CTRL+END (Move to the last character)
SPACEBAR (Switch between Enlarged and Normal mode when a character is selected)
m*cro$oft Management Console (MMC) Main Window Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+O (Open a saved console)
CTRL+N (Open a new console)
CTRL+S (Save the open console)
CTRL+M (Add or remove a console item)
CTRL+W (Open a new window)
F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the MMC window menu)
ALT+F4 (Close the console)
ALT+A (Display the Action menu)
ALT+V (Display the View menu)
ALT+F (Display the File menu)
ALT+O (Display the Favorites menu)
MMC Console Window Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+P (Print the current page or active pane)
ALT+Minus sign (-) (Display the window menu for the active console window)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item)
F1 key (Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item)
F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
CTRL+F10 (Maximize the active console window)
CTRL+F5 (Restore the active console window)
ALT+ENTER (Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active console window. When a console has only one console window, this shortcut closes the console)
Remote Desktop Connection Navigation
CTRL+ALT+END (Open the m*cro$oft Windows NT Security dialog box)
ALT+PAGE UP (Switch between programs from left to right)
ALT+PAGE DOWN (Switch between programs from right to left)
ALT+INSERT (Cycle through the programs in most recently used order)
ALT+HOME (Display the Start menu)
CTRL+ALT+BREAK (Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen)
ALT+DELETE (Display the Windows menu)
CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) (Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) (Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
m*cro$oft Internet Explorer Navigation
CTRL+B (Open the Organize Favorites dialog box)
CTRL+E (Open the Search bar)
CTRL+F (Start the Find utility)
CTRL+H (Open the History bar)
CTRL+I (Open the Favorites bar)
CTRL+L (Open the Open dialog box)
CTRL+N (Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address)
CTRL+O (Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L)
CTRL+P (Open the Print dialog box)
CTRL+R (Update the current Web page)
CTRL+W (Close the current window)
Showing posts with label IT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IT. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
SW Prof-Matrimon'e'y
SW eng always on Hardtime, either with work or Personally. Its Just an another example how s/w eng having hard time with Society too. Who cursed S/W engs?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
FMCG companies get IT savvy
Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are looking at 10-20 percent improvement in production and efficiency levels this year because of the adoption of newer technologies to track expansion of product portfolio and manufacturing locations, besides aggregation of godowns and shipment warehouses.
FMCG companies will spend around 10-15 percent of their net profit on technology. Companies like ITC Limited, Emami and Marico have forayed into diverse businesses in FMCG alone. This has not only led to the rapid expansion of the supply chain but has also increased complexities.
ITC’s manufacturing locations have increased rapidly to about 200 from about a dozen-owned manufacturing facilities for its different businesses. In addition to these manufacturing locations, ITC’s aggregating of godowns and shipment warehouses have grown exponentially in a couple of years.
Emami’s recent investment in IT has ensured finalisation of its balance sheet in a record 35 days against the 60-day norm.
Mohan Goenka, director, Emami, says: “We foresee an improvement of 10 percent in production and efficiency levels at Emami for financial year 2008-09. This will be achieved by implementing sales and operation planning, demand management and distribution resource planning which will enable system control to forecast sales, check inventories at locations, plan manufacturing resources and logistics to meet the customer schedules.”
Marico, on its part, is investing in better connectivity through enterprise portals; wi-fi enabled offices and in unified communications.
Marico is investing in automation of many workflows like Writeoffs, insurance claims, and media spend management portal.
According to Udayraj Prabhu, head, business applications, Marico: “We have commenced Project Edge, an initiative to improve the budgeting, planning and review systems using the TM1 tool of IBM-Cognos. This will enable us to strengthen our budgeting, planning and review processes by making them quicker, error-free and less tedious. This should lead to a significant saving in time for those involved in these activities.”
The company has also launched HR portal platforms as active channels of communication within the organisation.
ITC Ltd is building an IT infrastructure to bar code its produce at the warehouse itself, even before it reaches the retailers.
This is expected to help ITC keep track of product manufacturing time, thereby enabling implementation of first-manufactured-first-out (FMFO) strategy, which means items manufactured first are shipped out of the factory and the warehouse earlier than products manufactured later.
Among other projects, ITC will also implement this year usage of ‘push technology’ for its sales force.
VVR Babu, chief information officer, ITC Ltd, says: “Each salesman is allotted specific locations and he has to track sales and requirements of all shops and stores of a particular area. We are working on an integrated IT system which will gather and push information onto our salesmen’s laptops so that they don’t have to waste time looking up details on the company portal. For instance, if a salesman is covering 10 outlets of a region, every evening ITC’s systems will push onto his laptop the sales, distribution and requirements of that region and also the target to be met.”
FMCG companies will spend around 10-15 percent of their net profit on technology. Companies like ITC Limited, Emami and Marico have forayed into diverse businesses in FMCG alone. This has not only led to the rapid expansion of the supply chain but has also increased complexities.
ITC’s manufacturing locations have increased rapidly to about 200 from about a dozen-owned manufacturing facilities for its different businesses. In addition to these manufacturing locations, ITC’s aggregating of godowns and shipment warehouses have grown exponentially in a couple of years.
Emami’s recent investment in IT has ensured finalisation of its balance sheet in a record 35 days against the 60-day norm.
Mohan Goenka, director, Emami, says: “We foresee an improvement of 10 percent in production and efficiency levels at Emami for financial year 2008-09. This will be achieved by implementing sales and operation planning, demand management and distribution resource planning which will enable system control to forecast sales, check inventories at locations, plan manufacturing resources and logistics to meet the customer schedules.”
Marico, on its part, is investing in better connectivity through enterprise portals; wi-fi enabled offices and in unified communications.
Marico is investing in automation of many workflows like Writeoffs, insurance claims, and media spend management portal.
According to Udayraj Prabhu, head, business applications, Marico: “We have commenced Project Edge, an initiative to improve the budgeting, planning and review systems using the TM1 tool of IBM-Cognos. This will enable us to strengthen our budgeting, planning and review processes by making them quicker, error-free and less tedious. This should lead to a significant saving in time for those involved in these activities.”
The company has also launched HR portal platforms as active channels of communication within the organisation.
ITC Ltd is building an IT infrastructure to bar code its produce at the warehouse itself, even before it reaches the retailers.
This is expected to help ITC keep track of product manufacturing time, thereby enabling implementation of first-manufactured-first-out (FMFO) strategy, which means items manufactured first are shipped out of the factory and the warehouse earlier than products manufactured later.
Among other projects, ITC will also implement this year usage of ‘push technology’ for its sales force.
VVR Babu, chief information officer, ITC Ltd, says: “Each salesman is allotted specific locations and he has to track sales and requirements of all shops and stores of a particular area. We are working on an integrated IT system which will gather and push information onto our salesmen’s laptops so that they don’t have to waste time looking up details on the company portal. For instance, if a salesman is covering 10 outlets of a region, every evening ITC’s systems will push onto his laptop the sales, distribution and requirements of that region and also the target to be met.”
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
ITC Infotech acquires Pyxis Solutions
Its been a while in the internal I used to hear from higher officials that ITC Infotech is going to acquire companies in India, esp on companies who have projects on Semi Conductor or embeded. All the roots have been looking for a niche player to engrave market. Yesterday I heard the news tha ITC Infotech acquired US-based Pyxis solutions. Congrats Infotechians to stepping one more step on the ladder.
The news here..
ITC Infotech, a global IT services company and fully owned subsidiary of ITC Limited, has acquired Pyxis Solutions, a US-based niche player offering Quality Assurance (QA) solutions and testing services.
The deal has been closed at $25 million, ITC Infotech MD Sanjiv Puri told reporters here today. "It has been an all-cash deal and funded internally", he said.
Pyxis offers a full spectrum of services in software Quality Assurance ranging from user-interface testing to QA process improvements, including QA management and consulting, quantiative analysis testing and data validation testing.
Describing it as a "strategic acquisition", Suri said, Pyxis brings on board "differentiated capabilities, domain expertise in capital markets, unique testing methodology and an impressive roster of customers" which will compliment ITC Infotech's service offering and will further strenghten its presence in US, in addition to building up capabilities.
For Pyxis, the deal would bring on board the "benefits of scalability, a robust global delivery model, strong offshore base and institutional strengths of being part of a larger group", to provide better services to our customers, he said.
The synergies between the two companies is expected to create large opportunities for cross selling by leveraging existing customer relationship of both Pyxis and ITC Infotech. and help enlarging the geographic reach of services offered and create new opportunities for diversified offerings.
Pyxis would continue to work under its founders and would be a subsidiary of ITC Infotech (USA), he said adding the deal was in line with company's vision of actively seeking synergestic partnerships around key industry verticals, solution areas and focus technologies.
Thanks : PTI
The news here..
ITC Infotech, a global IT services company and fully owned subsidiary of ITC Limited, has acquired Pyxis Solutions, a US-based niche player offering Quality Assurance (QA) solutions and testing services.
The deal has been closed at $25 million, ITC Infotech MD Sanjiv Puri told reporters here today. "It has been an all-cash deal and funded internally", he said.
Pyxis offers a full spectrum of services in software Quality Assurance ranging from user-interface testing to QA process improvements, including QA management and consulting, quantiative analysis testing and data validation testing.
Describing it as a "strategic acquisition", Suri said, Pyxis brings on board "differentiated capabilities, domain expertise in capital markets, unique testing methodology and an impressive roster of customers" which will compliment ITC Infotech's service offering and will further strenghten its presence in US, in addition to building up capabilities.
For Pyxis, the deal would bring on board the "benefits of scalability, a robust global delivery model, strong offshore base and institutional strengths of being part of a larger group", to provide better services to our customers, he said.
The synergies between the two companies is expected to create large opportunities for cross selling by leveraging existing customer relationship of both Pyxis and ITC Infotech. and help enlarging the geographic reach of services offered and create new opportunities for diversified offerings.
Pyxis would continue to work under its founders and would be a subsidiary of ITC Infotech (USA), he said adding the deal was in line with company's vision of actively seeking synergestic partnerships around key industry verticals, solution areas and focus technologies.
Thanks : PTI
Thursday, May 01, 2008
US slowdown will keep India as hot IT offshore
The US economic slowdown will lead buyers of IT services to consider increasing the percentage of their labour in offshore, lower-cost locations. India will remain the dominant location for IT offshore services for North American and European buyers as a result of its scale, quality of resources and strong presence of local and traditional service providers, according to Gartner.
With concerns that the US economic slowdown could extend to other geographies, organisations are refocusing on IT cost reduction and taking steps to accelerate the use of offshore labour, Gartner said. Buyers of IT services will shift from cost-containment goals to a greater focus on cost reduction and productivity increases in their sourcing decisions.
This will lead to a steady increase in the adoption and expansion of offshore services - primarily from India, but increasingly from other countries as well.
“Factors that will give India the edge over other offshore locations are scale and quality of labour. North American and European buyers of IT services have been the force behind a growing offshore services market and India is central to almost any discussion of offshore services delivery for these buyers,” said Gartner research director TJ Singh.
Gartner sees two possible scenarios that will have an impact on offshore services adoption in the coming months: temporary economic downturn (best case scenario) or a more sustained recession (worst case scenario). According to Gartner vice-president Allie Young, “In the best case scenario, buyers will aggressively seek cost-saving measures by accelerating offshore delivery or, for first time users, moving IT services to offshore locations.”
In the worst case scenario, if a more sustained economic slowdown leads to a prolonged recession in the US, Gartner expects a more-aggressive movement to cut IT budgets
With concerns that the US economic slowdown could extend to other geographies, organisations are refocusing on IT cost reduction and taking steps to accelerate the use of offshore labour, Gartner said. Buyers of IT services will shift from cost-containment goals to a greater focus on cost reduction and productivity increases in their sourcing decisions.
This will lead to a steady increase in the adoption and expansion of offshore services - primarily from India, but increasingly from other countries as well.
“Factors that will give India the edge over other offshore locations are scale and quality of labour. North American and European buyers of IT services have been the force behind a growing offshore services market and India is central to almost any discussion of offshore services delivery for these buyers,” said Gartner research director TJ Singh.
Gartner sees two possible scenarios that will have an impact on offshore services adoption in the coming months: temporary economic downturn (best case scenario) or a more sustained recession (worst case scenario). According to Gartner vice-president Allie Young, “In the best case scenario, buyers will aggressively seek cost-saving measures by accelerating offshore delivery or, for first time users, moving IT services to offshore locations.”
In the worst case scenario, if a more sustained economic slowdown leads to a prolonged recession in the US, Gartner expects a more-aggressive movement to cut IT budgets
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
New business models for IT
The Indian IT industry has witnessed an exceptional growth over the last two decades, led by the 1990s, when companies were notching up 50-100 percent growth rates. Such was the momentum that even the dot-com bust of the early 2000 and the global economic slowdown only marginally impacted growth, keeping it above the 30 percent mark. The excellent performance was in large part due to the vast talent pool harnessed by industry leaders and their investments in process capability.
The global delivery model, created as a result, was a disruptive innovation enabling the industry to comfortably ride the economic downturn of the early 2000. The model is now being universally adopted, leading to commoditization of traditional IT services around vanilla technologies. Companies are differentiating their services by moving up the value chain and acquiring domain capabilities.
Seeing the rapid acceptance of the lower-cost offshoring model, global multinational consulting firms have dramatically scaled up their presence in India. From less than 10,000 people in 2002, the top six global consulting firms now account for a headcount of more than 150,000. This rapid growth and our own success in scaling business have put huge pressure on sourcing and retaining quality talent. As a result, wages are increasing, adding to the overall cost of doing business.
The twin challenges of the appreciating rupee and rising cost structures are accelerating the search for non-linear business models, where revenue expansion does not imply a proportionate headcount increase. The industry is exploring new services for exploiting the offshore potential, building Internet Protocol (IP)-based software assets that can be customized to rapidly deliver solutions, or simply creating innovative commercial models that shift the terms of engagement away from headcount. As I had mentioned at a recent Nasscom meet, three non-linear business options are promising.
Managed services: Services around applications, development and maintenance (ADM) were the first to be offshored. According to a 2006 Nasscom-McKinsey study, this is a $35 billion opportunity. It indicates that offshore services around IT operations represent a $75-$80 billion market. While more than 30 percent of the ADM offshoring opportunity has been penetrated, the field of IT operations is wide open for Indian IT services players.
IT infrastructure has traditionally not been offshored largely because of inadequate communications infrastructure, high perceived risks and limited automation tools. These notions are beginning to disappear.
The remote infrastructure management services segment is growing rapidly, with large organizations providing a complete end-to-end solutions portfolio. This market, incidentally, is not just for big players. Mid-sized organizations, too, have established their presence in it. Global research body Forrester in its report, Smaller India-Based Infrastructure Providers Can Be The Right Size For The Right Clients, has showcased a clutch of smaller organizations building successful models in this space.
IP asset-based services: Delivering solutions around IP assets (frameworks, reusable components, and productized services) is a powerful service differentiator and a significant margin lever. Implementing such solutions requires significant customization—a strength of Indian services providers. Contracts can include both licensing and services components, with support revenue streams, making it another good non-linear option.
Compared with the pure-play products business, IP asset-based solutions will be easier for the industry to adopt. Large players are investing in this capability although revenue streams currently are a small part of their business. Smaller players are taking the inorganic route to acquire such IP assets.
Software as a service (Saas): The philosophy behind Saas rests on the concept of positioning an application as a set of services as opposed to a licence. The customer is charged for usage rather than outright ownership. Recently, enterprise solutions giant SAP announced its “Business by Design” programme in the US, where it will offer its applications at a charge per user per month, which is a path-breaking development in the packaged software world. Saas by its very definition is non-linear, since revenues are linked to usage and the transactions performed. Being a relatively new concept, it’s too early for market sizing but it remains one of the most promising disruptive approaches to delivering IT solutions.
The global delivery model that emerged from India has changed the way IT services are delivered. The industry, in essence, redefined software development by converting the art form of programming into an engineering discipline. The industry has benefited from the early-mover advantage of adopting this innovative process. However, with increased global presence offshore and a challenging environment, Indian IT services providers will need to transform with newer services.
The global delivery model, created as a result, was a disruptive innovation enabling the industry to comfortably ride the economic downturn of the early 2000. The model is now being universally adopted, leading to commoditization of traditional IT services around vanilla technologies. Companies are differentiating their services by moving up the value chain and acquiring domain capabilities.
Seeing the rapid acceptance of the lower-cost offshoring model, global multinational consulting firms have dramatically scaled up their presence in India. From less than 10,000 people in 2002, the top six global consulting firms now account for a headcount of more than 150,000. This rapid growth and our own success in scaling business have put huge pressure on sourcing and retaining quality talent. As a result, wages are increasing, adding to the overall cost of doing business.
The twin challenges of the appreciating rupee and rising cost structures are accelerating the search for non-linear business models, where revenue expansion does not imply a proportionate headcount increase. The industry is exploring new services for exploiting the offshore potential, building Internet Protocol (IP)-based software assets that can be customized to rapidly deliver solutions, or simply creating innovative commercial models that shift the terms of engagement away from headcount. As I had mentioned at a recent Nasscom meet, three non-linear business options are promising.
Managed services: Services around applications, development and maintenance (ADM) were the first to be offshored. According to a 2006 Nasscom-McKinsey study, this is a $35 billion opportunity. It indicates that offshore services around IT operations represent a $75-$80 billion market. While more than 30 percent of the ADM offshoring opportunity has been penetrated, the field of IT operations is wide open for Indian IT services players.
IT infrastructure has traditionally not been offshored largely because of inadequate communications infrastructure, high perceived risks and limited automation tools. These notions are beginning to disappear.
The remote infrastructure management services segment is growing rapidly, with large organizations providing a complete end-to-end solutions portfolio. This market, incidentally, is not just for big players. Mid-sized organizations, too, have established their presence in it. Global research body Forrester in its report, Smaller India-Based Infrastructure Providers Can Be The Right Size For The Right Clients, has showcased a clutch of smaller organizations building successful models in this space.
IP asset-based services: Delivering solutions around IP assets (frameworks, reusable components, and productized services) is a powerful service differentiator and a significant margin lever. Implementing such solutions requires significant customization—a strength of Indian services providers. Contracts can include both licensing and services components, with support revenue streams, making it another good non-linear option.
Compared with the pure-play products business, IP asset-based solutions will be easier for the industry to adopt. Large players are investing in this capability although revenue streams currently are a small part of their business. Smaller players are taking the inorganic route to acquire such IP assets.
Software as a service (Saas): The philosophy behind Saas rests on the concept of positioning an application as a set of services as opposed to a licence. The customer is charged for usage rather than outright ownership. Recently, enterprise solutions giant SAP announced its “Business by Design” programme in the US, where it will offer its applications at a charge per user per month, which is a path-breaking development in the packaged software world. Saas by its very definition is non-linear, since revenues are linked to usage and the transactions performed. Being a relatively new concept, it’s too early for market sizing but it remains one of the most promising disruptive approaches to delivering IT solutions.
The global delivery model that emerged from India has changed the way IT services are delivered. The industry, in essence, redefined software development by converting the art form of programming into an engineering discipline. The industry has benefited from the early-mover advantage of adopting this innovative process. However, with increased global presence offshore and a challenging environment, Indian IT services providers will need to transform with newer services.
Monday, March 10, 2008
1 mn Jobs in India
Read a news today which states that
" New Delhi, March 10: It is good news for those fresh out of college or for those who are keen for a job change, as a leading HR consultancy firm has predicted one million new jobs in India this year.
Ma Foi Employment Trends Survey (METS), conducted by Ma Foi, one of India's largest HR consultancy firm has predicted a three per cent increase in employment in 2008.
The largest chunk of the new jobs according to the survey would be generated by hospitality sector which is riding high with the tourism boom in the country.
"The Hospitality sector will generate the maximum number of employment in 2008. 426,668 jobs are going to be generated by the Hospitality sector. This sector is closely followed by Health at 295,829 and Education Training & Consultancy at 166,005," says the survey.
It adds that an estimated USD 11.41 billion is expected to be seen in the Hospitality sector in the next two years and that India is likely to have around 40 international hotel brands by 2011.
"The boom in the tourism industry has had a cascading effect on the hospitality sector, which was a result of the increase in the occupancy ratios and average room rates. With the demand continuing to surge, many global hospitality majors have evinced a keen interest in the Indian hospitality sector," says K. Pandia Rajan, Managing Director, Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd.
While, IT and ITES sector continues with high growth in recruitment at 7.3 and 7.2 per cent, the survey says that it is the Health sector which shows the highest growth in recruitment at 8.9 per cent. "
Coming to the point //IT and ITES sector continues with high growth in recruitment at 7.3 and 7.2 per cent//, is nt crazy where people are getting fired everyday from top level companies with their (HR's) strong judgement, as recession being supplimentary and strategic of the HR?
" New Delhi, March 10: It is good news for those fresh out of college or for those who are keen for a job change, as a leading HR consultancy firm has predicted one million new jobs in India this year.
Ma Foi Employment Trends Survey (METS), conducted by Ma Foi, one of India's largest HR consultancy firm has predicted a three per cent increase in employment in 2008.
The largest chunk of the new jobs according to the survey would be generated by hospitality sector which is riding high with the tourism boom in the country.
"The Hospitality sector will generate the maximum number of employment in 2008. 426,668 jobs are going to be generated by the Hospitality sector. This sector is closely followed by Health at 295,829 and Education Training & Consultancy at 166,005," says the survey.
It adds that an estimated USD 11.41 billion is expected to be seen in the Hospitality sector in the next two years and that India is likely to have around 40 international hotel brands by 2011.
"The boom in the tourism industry has had a cascading effect on the hospitality sector, which was a result of the increase in the occupancy ratios and average room rates. With the demand continuing to surge, many global hospitality majors have evinced a keen interest in the Indian hospitality sector," says K. Pandia Rajan, Managing Director, Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd.
While, IT and ITES sector continues with high growth in recruitment at 7.3 and 7.2 per cent, the survey says that it is the Health sector which shows the highest growth in recruitment at 8.9 per cent. "
Coming to the point //IT and ITES sector continues with high growth in recruitment at 7.3 and 7.2 per cent//, is nt crazy where people are getting fired everyday from top level companies with their (HR's) strong judgement, as recession being supplimentary and strategic of the HR?
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Bits and Pieces of Feb-8
1) I just learned that PlateSpin, leader in the P2V migration market, has been acquired by Novell. Platespin, as per my concern and everybody's an expensive product for converting the Physical Servers(mostly) to Virtual servers(VMware).
I Started working with Novell Technology as my first networking OS which provided major jobs at that time on Networking, mid of 1997. Before completing my course Microsoft's WinNT gained the market and insisted me to get to GUI based OS which is feeding me till now, Touch wood.
Here is the news about the acquistion.
2) Information technology (IT) firms appear to have lost their appeal at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). Campus recruitment figures by major Indian and foreign IT firms have dipped this year, raising further concerns of an industry slowdown.
Firms like IBM, HCL, Hughes Software and CSC opted out of placements this year and hiring by firms like India’s largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro has dropped.
Bush, said that this is only slow down- a better political word. I know this is going to be a collapse in IT market and will take some to gain, at that time China will be the pioneer and we will fly to China for onsite. So I am packing my bags along with Chinese to Eng books.
3) JetAirways- My understanding and feedback thro friends, shows that it has good service and yes tickets are cheaper than others. AirIndia is the only flight which competes with the ticket prices obvsly not in the service. I guess, from this year onwards I may not get a chance to fly by my fav. BA.
4) Able to read more blogs thro blogkut and finding lot of friends thro blogs. Sameera is one among them who inspired me a lot in these days, she is really in enthu person. The other who is really amzing is Archana. roping them to my mind. I hope most of my CSC friends stopped blogging(seems they gotta work in these days after a decade).
5) Chinmayi- Again blogging more and rejecting my most of criticising comments. I guess, I am the only guy who criticise her for more than 3yrs of blogging tenure. Girls, never liked being suggested and criticised.. is it true?
6) Freezed the coding of BLOGKUT and concentrating more on my new venture classfieds.
I Started working with Novell Technology as my first networking OS which provided major jobs at that time on Networking, mid of 1997. Before completing my course Microsoft's WinNT gained the market and insisted me to get to GUI based OS which is feeding me till now, Touch wood.
Here is the news about the acquistion.
2) Information technology (IT) firms appear to have lost their appeal at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). Campus recruitment figures by major Indian and foreign IT firms have dipped this year, raising further concerns of an industry slowdown.
Firms like IBM, HCL, Hughes Software and CSC opted out of placements this year and hiring by firms like India’s largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro has dropped.
Bush, said that this is only slow down- a better political word. I know this is going to be a collapse in IT market and will take some to gain, at that time China will be the pioneer and we will fly to China for onsite. So I am packing my bags along with Chinese to Eng books.
3) JetAirways- My understanding and feedback thro friends, shows that it has good service and yes tickets are cheaper than others. AirIndia is the only flight which competes with the ticket prices obvsly not in the service. I guess, from this year onwards I may not get a chance to fly by my fav. BA.
4) Able to read more blogs thro blogkut and finding lot of friends thro blogs. Sameera is one among them who inspired me a lot in these days, she is really in enthu person. The other who is really amzing is Archana. roping them to my mind. I hope most of my CSC friends stopped blogging(seems they gotta work in these days after a decade).
5) Chinmayi- Again blogging more and rejecting my most of criticising comments. I guess, I am the only guy who criticise her for more than 3yrs of blogging tenure. Girls, never liked being suggested and criticised.. is it true?
6) Freezed the coding of BLOGKUT and concentrating more on my new venture classfieds.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Talent mismatch hits customer services
At a time when India Inc. is facing severe talent shortage, a recent study highlights existing talent mismatch in the customer service function across sectors. The survey estimates that only 20 percent of people working in customer service profile have the perfect orientation towards such jobs. India’s largest skill assessment firm MeritTrac has conducted the study.
The study also points out that if an employee has a high orientation towards the job/function, the productivity per employee increases by 314 percent. As a result, several local companies in the services sector are losing out on maximum return out of their employee talent pool.
“The situation is quite alarming since customer service jobs account for a large chunk of hiring across sectors, especially banking, financial services, insurance, retail and telecom,” MeritTrac vice president Arvind T said.
The study was undertaken with a total sample size of 507 people with 0-3 years of experience across sectors.
The study has also analysed candidates on three critical parameters of a customer service role — personalised service, persuasive service and helpful service.
On the personalised service (how an employee approaches a customer) parameter, the survey shows that 5 percent of the candidates have a high orientation with the majority 82 percent with medium-level orientation.
On persuasive service (how to convince customers) parameter, employees have fared better. The study notes that nearly 58 percent of the candidates have a high inclination towards persuasive service with just 1 percent having a low inclination. However, high level of persuasive service and less towards personalised service show a sense of detached professionalism,” said Arvind.
In helpful service (how fast employees respond to customer needs), 30 percent of the candidates have high orientation, 61 percent have medium-level orientation and balance 9 percent has low inclination.
This is the only parameter with a fairly equitable distribution showing they are more adaptive towards responding than going that extra mile to build a rapport — essential for repeat purchase and loyalty, the study notes.
“The study has analysed executives on their basic orientation towards the job. These are basic soft skills, which a person can hardly acquire through experience. Since customer service roles are becoming critical, companies need to focus much more on their selection process,” added Arvind.
The study also points out that if an employee has a high orientation towards the job/function, the productivity per employee increases by 314 percent. As a result, several local companies in the services sector are losing out on maximum return out of their employee talent pool.
“The situation is quite alarming since customer service jobs account for a large chunk of hiring across sectors, especially banking, financial services, insurance, retail and telecom,” MeritTrac vice president Arvind T said.
The study was undertaken with a total sample size of 507 people with 0-3 years of experience across sectors.
The study has also analysed candidates on three critical parameters of a customer service role — personalised service, persuasive service and helpful service.
On the personalised service (how an employee approaches a customer) parameter, the survey shows that 5 percent of the candidates have a high orientation with the majority 82 percent with medium-level orientation.
On persuasive service (how to convince customers) parameter, employees have fared better. The study notes that nearly 58 percent of the candidates have a high inclination towards persuasive service with just 1 percent having a low inclination. However, high level of persuasive service and less towards personalised service show a sense of detached professionalism,” said Arvind.
In helpful service (how fast employees respond to customer needs), 30 percent of the candidates have high orientation, 61 percent have medium-level orientation and balance 9 percent has low inclination.
This is the only parameter with a fairly equitable distribution showing they are more adaptive towards responding than going that extra mile to build a rapport — essential for repeat purchase and loyalty, the study notes.
“The study has analysed executives on their basic orientation towards the job. These are basic soft skills, which a person can hardly acquire through experience. Since customer service roles are becoming critical, companies need to focus much more on their selection process,” added Arvind.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Going global: Indian firms create jobs in US
Indian firms are not just taking up outsourcing any more, but have in fact invested a whopping $6 billion in the United States and created 40,000 jobs with quite a few of them going to the Americans. If a Janaki posing as Janet at call centres in India has been servicing customers in the US, many a Jane and John employed by India Inc. in the US is now helping travellers worldwide book a flight or send flowers and gifts to loved ones in America.
A group of 34 Indian companies represented in the India Business Forum (IBF), launched in June 2006, structured at the initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has made investments in such diverse sectors as technology, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and gems and jewellery. The Indian companies with 40,000 employees have invested about $6 billion in the US this year alone through acquisitions and mergers. While there are more Indian nationals in the service sector, the number of local employees goes as high as 95 percent in the manufacturing sector. The Tata Group alone has invested over $2 billion in the last couple of years through acquisitions and mergers in the US with 16 of its companies from hotels to manufacturing employing 16,000 people, about 5,000 of them local.
The local American employees work in all Tata companies, but heavy concentrations are in the hotels, manufacturing, telecommunications, engineering and software and in beverages besides two call centres in Ohio and Florida. The group provides engineering and software services through Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and INCAT/Tata Technologies with TCS earning 53 percent of its $4.3 billion revenue from the US. And in telecommunications, VSNL, a 74 percent Tata owned company, emerging as the largest voice provider in the US offering competition to the likes of AT&T and Verizon. Tatas' call centre business, SerWiz Solutions Limited, has 250 full-time employees at its Milton, Florida, centre and 260 such employees at Reno, Ohio. "Both centres are currently in a hiring mode," says Ricardo Layun, vice president, Customer Care Operations.
At the moment, the two call centres support one of the world's leading online travel companies, a large US airline carrier, and the American region of a large Asian airline carrier, large domestic and international airlines. They also seasonally support a leading telephone and online retailer of flowers and gift sales. The Tatas have been expanding these call centres since acquiring them in April 2006 as "we have found that the US communities in which we operate provide a strong workforce, competitive economic conditions, and positive growth potential," said Layun. Both call centres operate 24/7, but "We have not experienced an issue with staffing after hours. We have found that offering these night shifts provides employees opportunities to attend day-time college courses or avoid day-care costs," he said.
Crazy 'huh'
A group of 34 Indian companies represented in the India Business Forum (IBF), launched in June 2006, structured at the initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has made investments in such diverse sectors as technology, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and gems and jewellery. The Indian companies with 40,000 employees have invested about $6 billion in the US this year alone through acquisitions and mergers. While there are more Indian nationals in the service sector, the number of local employees goes as high as 95 percent in the manufacturing sector. The Tata Group alone has invested over $2 billion in the last couple of years through acquisitions and mergers in the US with 16 of its companies from hotels to manufacturing employing 16,000 people, about 5,000 of them local.
The local American employees work in all Tata companies, but heavy concentrations are in the hotels, manufacturing, telecommunications, engineering and software and in beverages besides two call centres in Ohio and Florida. The group provides engineering and software services through Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and INCAT/Tata Technologies with TCS earning 53 percent of its $4.3 billion revenue from the US. And in telecommunications, VSNL, a 74 percent Tata owned company, emerging as the largest voice provider in the US offering competition to the likes of AT&T and Verizon. Tatas' call centre business, SerWiz Solutions Limited, has 250 full-time employees at its Milton, Florida, centre and 260 such employees at Reno, Ohio. "Both centres are currently in a hiring mode," says Ricardo Layun, vice president, Customer Care Operations.
At the moment, the two call centres support one of the world's leading online travel companies, a large US airline carrier, and the American region of a large Asian airline carrier, large domestic and international airlines. They also seasonally support a leading telephone and online retailer of flowers and gift sales. The Tatas have been expanding these call centres since acquiring them in April 2006 as "we have found that the US communities in which we operate provide a strong workforce, competitive economic conditions, and positive growth potential," said Layun. Both call centres operate 24/7, but "We have not experienced an issue with staffing after hours. We have found that offering these night shifts provides employees opportunities to attend day-time college courses or avoid day-care costs," he said.
Crazy 'huh'
Monday, November 19, 2007
Wipro & Cap Gemini
The rumour is back again. This time, as i read in www, it’s Wipro that is planning a bid for France-headquartered IT giant Capgemini. In June this year, there were rumours of Infosys making a bid for Capgemini.
Wipro is now reportedly looking at a 60 euro-per-share bid for CapGemini, which will value the IT consulting giant at 8 billion euros.However, Reuters reports that Wipro has denied any comment on the acquisition buzz. “We don’t react to market speculation,” Wipro’s spokeswoman told Reuters. The Economic Times quotes Sudip Nandy, chief strategy officer, Wipro, as saying that “it is market speculation.”Reports, however, suggest that Wipro was indeed in discussions with Capgemini for a cash-plus-stock swap deal. The buzz had its effect on CapGemini share prices which rose 3.7 per cent on Friday.
Wipro’s largest acquisition so far was that of Infocrossing for $600 million.In the case of Capgemini, Wipro will have a huge challenge of managing the integration.
The Bangalore-based company has around 77,000 people while CapGemini has over 80,000 of which 17,000 people are in India. The French company plans to employ over 40,000 people by the end of 2010.
Hmm, anything can happen, it's all just matter of money and market value
Wipro is now reportedly looking at a 60 euro-per-share bid for CapGemini, which will value the IT consulting giant at 8 billion euros.However, Reuters reports that Wipro has denied any comment on the acquisition buzz. “We don’t react to market speculation,” Wipro’s spokeswoman told Reuters. The Economic Times quotes Sudip Nandy, chief strategy officer, Wipro, as saying that “it is market speculation.”Reports, however, suggest that Wipro was indeed in discussions with Capgemini for a cash-plus-stock swap deal. The buzz had its effect on CapGemini share prices which rose 3.7 per cent on Friday.
Wipro’s largest acquisition so far was that of Infocrossing for $600 million.In the case of Capgemini, Wipro will have a huge challenge of managing the integration.
The Bangalore-based company has around 77,000 people while CapGemini has over 80,000 of which 17,000 people are in India. The French company plans to employ over 40,000 people by the end of 2010.
Hmm, anything can happen, it's all just matter of money and market value
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
IT-Sept 2007
India to help build 2nd Silicon Valley in US
This could very well turn out to be the making of a second Silicon Valley in the US. Over 40 IT software companies who have been jostling for space and market share in the Silicon Valley are now moving on to set up Silicon Valley-II at New Jersey and Chicago backed by the commerce ministry. The government and industry would set up incubation centres in New Jersey and Chicago for providing easy operational facilities to the start-ups. The incubation centres would be set up on 50:50 financial support.
“The commerce ministry has agreed to provide support for setting up the incubation centres. The industry and government would put equal money to start the centres from where any new company can start operating without actually putting up their independent facilities,”
Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) executive director DK Sareen said. “It is for the first time ever that the government is setting up an incubation centre outside the country,” he said. Apart from providing support for setting up the centres, the government would also bear the operational cost of the facilities for a period of three years, after which the scheme would be reviewed.
“Silicon Valley is saturated. New software companies were finding it difficult to get orders and so they were in search of newer markets. Places like New Jersey and Chicago provide them an alternative,” Sareen said. Plans for setting up the first such centre in New Jersey is in its final stage and the facility would be operational by January next year, he said. “We are looking at markets where we can sell our softwares. At Silicon Valley already big software producers are there, so who’ll buy our products? Cities like New Jersey provide new marketing opportunities,” Alliance Infotech vice-president Rajendra Kukreja said.
Over 37 companies from across the country, including Alliance Infotech, Intrust Global eServices, Super Infosoft and Nippon Data Systems, have expressed their desire to start business from these centres, out of which the government is in the process of finalising a list of 20 companies, as one incubation centre could not accommodate more number of companies.
TCS plans aggressive hiring in north India
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest software exporter, is planning an aggressive recruitment drive in Northern India and intends to take 3,000 at the trainee level, and offer 2,000 lateral entry by the end of the fiscal.
“The north is showing a huge manpower potential, and we plan to leverage it. The net additions for TCS this year would be 30,000-32,000 people. Of this 12,000-13,000 will be trainees, with north accounting for a healthy 25 percent ratio,” Thomas Simon, Vice-President, Human Resources, TCS said at a conference here. For the first quarter, the company’s offers in the region was pegged at 1,809, of which 70 percent came from Tier II and Tier III cities. TCS’ sourcing channels include laterals, direct trainees, campus (management graduates), science graduates, Academic Interface Programme (AIP) and campus recruitments (engineers).
Commenting on the campus talent acquisition plans for the Northern region, he said that TCS visited 41 campuses in the first quarter of the fiscal, accredited 80 institutes so far and plans to have 35 more accredited campuses by the end of FY08. Hiring would happen for positions based in the NCR region apart from Lucknow. While experienced professional hiring would be done for pre-mapped positions, the selected would be sent to Thiruvananthapuram for initial training
This could very well turn out to be the making of a second Silicon Valley in the US. Over 40 IT software companies who have been jostling for space and market share in the Silicon Valley are now moving on to set up Silicon Valley-II at New Jersey and Chicago backed by the commerce ministry. The government and industry would set up incubation centres in New Jersey and Chicago for providing easy operational facilities to the start-ups. The incubation centres would be set up on 50:50 financial support.
“The commerce ministry has agreed to provide support for setting up the incubation centres. The industry and government would put equal money to start the centres from where any new company can start operating without actually putting up their independent facilities,”
Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) executive director DK Sareen said. “It is for the first time ever that the government is setting up an incubation centre outside the country,” he said. Apart from providing support for setting up the centres, the government would also bear the operational cost of the facilities for a period of three years, after which the scheme would be reviewed.
“Silicon Valley is saturated. New software companies were finding it difficult to get orders and so they were in search of newer markets. Places like New Jersey and Chicago provide them an alternative,” Sareen said. Plans for setting up the first such centre in New Jersey is in its final stage and the facility would be operational by January next year, he said. “We are looking at markets where we can sell our softwares. At Silicon Valley already big software producers are there, so who’ll buy our products? Cities like New Jersey provide new marketing opportunities,” Alliance Infotech vice-president Rajendra Kukreja said.
Over 37 companies from across the country, including Alliance Infotech, Intrust Global eServices, Super Infosoft and Nippon Data Systems, have expressed their desire to start business from these centres, out of which the government is in the process of finalising a list of 20 companies, as one incubation centre could not accommodate more number of companies.
TCS plans aggressive hiring in north India
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest software exporter, is planning an aggressive recruitment drive in Northern India and intends to take 3,000 at the trainee level, and offer 2,000 lateral entry by the end of the fiscal.
“The north is showing a huge manpower potential, and we plan to leverage it. The net additions for TCS this year would be 30,000-32,000 people. Of this 12,000-13,000 will be trainees, with north accounting for a healthy 25 percent ratio,” Thomas Simon, Vice-President, Human Resources, TCS said at a conference here. For the first quarter, the company’s offers in the region was pegged at 1,809, of which 70 percent came from Tier II and Tier III cities. TCS’ sourcing channels include laterals, direct trainees, campus (management graduates), science graduates, Academic Interface Programme (AIP) and campus recruitments (engineers).
Commenting on the campus talent acquisition plans for the Northern region, he said that TCS visited 41 campuses in the first quarter of the fiscal, accredited 80 institutes so far and plans to have 35 more accredited campuses by the end of FY08. Hiring would happen for positions based in the NCR region apart from Lucknow. While experienced professional hiring would be done for pre-mapped positions, the selected would be sent to Thiruvananthapuram for initial training
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
IT-Aug 2007
Fame drives web contribution: Mc Kinsey
The biggest motivation for Internet contributions is fame and not financial considerations, says a recent McKinsey study. It suggests that online companies would do well to nurture these contributors with money and other motivators. The study conducted by Jacques R. Bughin, a director of McKinsey in Brussels, combines the results of other McKinsey research activities to reach its conclusions. Bughin says that a small number of participants still contribute the bulk of popular items on contributory web portals.
Websites that thrive on video uploads and Wikipedia-type of contributory content need to hook the small percentage of contributors who bring in quality content. It does admit that while people come in driven by the urge to achieve fame or share something within their community financial considerations can lead them to contribute regularly Bughin says: "Visitors under 25 years of age made up the bulk of the video-viewing audience we measured, but members in the 25- to 44year-old age group contributed equally to postings -suggesting that working-age people would be open to participation in enterprise settings." He says the presence of tools like ones that show a most viewed list that make it easy for users to see what's popular or to send favourite videos to friends corresponded, by as much as 30 percent, with more downloads for popular videos.
The study found that in video sites, around three to six percent of the contributors accounted for 75 percent of the videos up- loaded and two percent of the contributors accounted for half of all the popular videos uploaded. Bughin suggests that in companies where there is an effort to build up internal content through contributions from employees, the manager must identify the employees with the best networking within the company He suggests that a track of the internal mails will help executives find out the best net-workers within the company "Companies should make sure that their employees can access collaborative tools with a minimum of bureaucratic hassle," he writes.
ITC e-Choupal to focus on product traceability
ITC Ltd through e-Choupals is working on traceability of farm produce aimed at providing buyers products of their choice.
Traceability is the ability to track the origin of a product and its attributes.
Speaking here at The Custommerce meet on Friday, Sivakumar said that ITC had planned to invest about Rs 5,000 crore in e-Choupals by 2012. From 6,450 kiosks in 38,000 villages touching about four million farmers, it is proposed to enhance this to about 20,000 kiosks, spread across 1,00,000 villages to serve around 10 million farmers by 2010.
Compuware ties up with HCL Tech
Compuware has announced a partnership agreement with HCL Technologies. The partnership would focus on India's fast growing IT governance opportunities, combining Compuware's IT portfolio Management, Application Development Management and IT service Management solutions capabilities with advisory and implementation services capabilities of HCL's IT Transformation practice, Bob Donald, V-P, Partner Business Development, has said. Compuware also announced the expansion of its management team in India with the appointment of Hariharan Ganesan as Managing Director for India and SAARC.
Wipro weighs funding options for buyouts
Wipro Technologies is on the prowl for more buyouts — especially in Germany and Canada — and is ready to look at acquisition modes other than all-cash deals.
“We generate over $100-million reserves every quarter and all-cash deals are not the only mode. Funding is not a problem. We can look at equity, joint ventures or any mode that suits us best,” Sudip Banerjee, president — enterprise solutions and chief strategist — Wipro Technologies, said.
Banerjee added that cash reserves till June 30, 2007, amounting to Rs 3,200 crore, would be used for the Infocrossing deal worth $600 million (Rs 2,460 crore). Over the years, Wipro has gradually increased the value of its acquisitions.
The company started with the $10-million computer-aided design company Quantech and went on to buy the $246-million FMCG company Unza.
Its latest acquisition is the $600-million Infocrossing. The Infocrossing deal will help Wipro expand its infrastructure management solutions business. The company plans to increase combined revenues to $1 billion from $0.5 billion in two to three years.
New centres
Wipro Technologies is also planning to set up centres at university towns in the West. The first such centre in the US will be in Georgia.
“This will give us access to a ready talent pool. Such towns surround a renowned university and therefore there will be students wanting to work in the vicinity,” Banerjee said.
The biggest motivation for Internet contributions is fame and not financial considerations, says a recent McKinsey study. It suggests that online companies would do well to nurture these contributors with money and other motivators. The study conducted by Jacques R. Bughin, a director of McKinsey in Brussels, combines the results of other McKinsey research activities to reach its conclusions. Bughin says that a small number of participants still contribute the bulk of popular items on contributory web portals.
Websites that thrive on video uploads and Wikipedia-type of contributory content need to hook the small percentage of contributors who bring in quality content. It does admit that while people come in driven by the urge to achieve fame or share something within their community financial considerations can lead them to contribute regularly Bughin says: "Visitors under 25 years of age made up the bulk of the video-viewing audience we measured, but members in the 25- to 44year-old age group contributed equally to postings -suggesting that working-age people would be open to participation in enterprise settings." He says the presence of tools like ones that show a most viewed list that make it easy for users to see what's popular or to send favourite videos to friends corresponded, by as much as 30 percent, with more downloads for popular videos.
The study found that in video sites, around three to six percent of the contributors accounted for 75 percent of the videos up- loaded and two percent of the contributors accounted for half of all the popular videos uploaded. Bughin suggests that in companies where there is an effort to build up internal content through contributions from employees, the manager must identify the employees with the best networking within the company He suggests that a track of the internal mails will help executives find out the best net-workers within the company "Companies should make sure that their employees can access collaborative tools with a minimum of bureaucratic hassle," he writes.
ITC e-Choupal to focus on product traceability
ITC Ltd through e-Choupals is working on traceability of farm produce aimed at providing buyers products of their choice.
Traceability is the ability to track the origin of a product and its attributes.
Speaking here at The Custommerce meet on Friday, Sivakumar said that ITC had planned to invest about Rs 5,000 crore in e-Choupals by 2012. From 6,450 kiosks in 38,000 villages touching about four million farmers, it is proposed to enhance this to about 20,000 kiosks, spread across 1,00,000 villages to serve around 10 million farmers by 2010.
Compuware ties up with HCL Tech
Compuware has announced a partnership agreement with HCL Technologies. The partnership would focus on India's fast growing IT governance opportunities, combining Compuware's IT portfolio Management, Application Development Management and IT service Management solutions capabilities with advisory and implementation services capabilities of HCL's IT Transformation practice, Bob Donald, V-P, Partner Business Development, has said. Compuware also announced the expansion of its management team in India with the appointment of Hariharan Ganesan as Managing Director for India and SAARC.
Wipro weighs funding options for buyouts
Wipro Technologies is on the prowl for more buyouts — especially in Germany and Canada — and is ready to look at acquisition modes other than all-cash deals.
“We generate over $100-million reserves every quarter and all-cash deals are not the only mode. Funding is not a problem. We can look at equity, joint ventures or any mode that suits us best,” Sudip Banerjee, president — enterprise solutions and chief strategist — Wipro Technologies, said.
Banerjee added that cash reserves till June 30, 2007, amounting to Rs 3,200 crore, would be used for the Infocrossing deal worth $600 million (Rs 2,460 crore). Over the years, Wipro has gradually increased the value of its acquisitions.
The company started with the $10-million computer-aided design company Quantech and went on to buy the $246-million FMCG company Unza.
Its latest acquisition is the $600-million Infocrossing. The Infocrossing deal will help Wipro expand its infrastructure management solutions business. The company plans to increase combined revenues to $1 billion from $0.5 billion in two to three years.
New centres
Wipro Technologies is also planning to set up centres at university towns in the West. The first such centre in the US will be in Georgia.
“This will give us access to a ready talent pool. Such towns surround a renowned university and therefore there will be students wanting to work in the vicinity,” Banerjee said.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
About Budget 2007-By IT Giants
Union Budget 2007 has disappointed India Inc. The IT industry seems particularly miffed at some of the proposals. Here are some of the voices from the industry on the Budget and the impact it would have on the sector.
"The impact would be substantial for the industry, but a little less for us as we pay slightly higher withholding tax in most key overseas markets such as the US and Europe and enjoy double taxation avoidance credit. The net negative impact for Infosys, therefore, would be about 1.5 % of our total net income."
- V Balakrishnan, CFO, Infosys Technologies
“We are dismayed at the proposal to extend MAT on export incomes which are exempt under Sections 10A and 10B. This is a regressive step that withdraws government’s commitment to provide tax incentives till 2009, on the basis of which companies have made their business plans and investment decisions. This could affect investor confidence and growth in this sector,”
- Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom
"This is totally negative for the software sector since none of our issues have been addressed. He did not say anything about the continuation of STPI scheme nor was there anything concrete on SEZs. On the other hand, he has extended minimum alternate tax (MAT) to IT companies. They have also imposed a 1 percent education cess."
- Deepak Ghaisas, CEO, I-Flex Solutions
"It will definitely have a very negative impact on the sentiment. It is like the government has decided to pull back the support to IT industry mid-way through,"
- Manoranjan Mohapatra, President and CEO, Flextronics
"It would have been better if the government had looked at the positive benefits of getting higher personal income tax from the IT professionals rather than trying to erode our margins so seriously."
- Vishnu Dusad, Managing Director, Nucleus Software
"The good thing is that the government's overall push for e-governance projects, higher outlay on IT education, computerisation of PDF and FCI will result in a positive demand for the demand for PC hardware."
- Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, MAIT
"There are some positives in the budget for the software sector like the increase in the allocation for e-governance projects, "pass through" status for tech VC funds and doubling of allocation for secondary education. But the negatives are that they've not spoken about the STPI. The introduction of MAT will have a significant impact on smaller IT companies. Bringing ESOP under fringe benefit tax has to be clarified because ESOPs are meant to retain talent."
- Ashank Desai, Executive Chairman, Mastek Ltd
"We appreciate the reduction in the rate of customs duty and the increased outlays for e-Governance. At the same time, the imposition of MAT on the deductions applicable to IT companies and increase in the Dividend Distribution Tax could have been avoided."
- Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India
"With respect to MAT, though there is an increase in coverage of MAT for 10A/10B companies, there is the facility of carry forward of MAT which is available to all companies. So in effect we will not have much impact on profits."
- Amar Chintopanth, Executive Director and CFO, 3i Infotech
"We are also happy that the government has decided to increase expenditure on infrastructure and education, which will have a positive effect on the BPO industry. However we are disappointed with the introduction of MAT for companies which were formerly exempted from MAT under Sec 10A and 10B."
- Susir Kumar, CEO, Intelenet Global Services Ltd
"The imposition of MAT on the ITES industry is dissappointing as is the lack of any announcement on the exemption of the 10A-10B benefit beyond 2009."
- Ananda Mukerji, MD & CEO Firstsource
"A key task for industry and government is to increase the PC penetration rate by making the PC more affordable. We were hoping for drops in CVD (currently 16%) and SAD (currently 4%) on components/ peripherals to help the PC become cheaper. So no news, while being perceived as neutral impact, is actually bad news."
- Moninder Jain, Director, South East Asia & India, Logitech
"It is heartening to see that the Government is committed to e-governance, having increased the allocation both at the Center and state level, with a new scheme for manpower development in the software export industry. Computerization programmes for the public distribution system and FCI will also enhance efficiency and benefit the common man."
- Jangoo Dalal, President, India & SAARC, Cisco
"There is no change in the IT hardware industry, so prices remain the same. We had not expected any changes; in fact, we had recommended that no changes be made. We are happy with the budget."
- Raj Saraf, CEO, Zenith Computers
"The impact would be substantial for the industry, but a little less for us as we pay slightly higher withholding tax in most key overseas markets such as the US and Europe and enjoy double taxation avoidance credit. The net negative impact for Infosys, therefore, would be about 1.5 % of our total net income."
- V Balakrishnan, CFO, Infosys Technologies
“We are dismayed at the proposal to extend MAT on export incomes which are exempt under Sections 10A and 10B. This is a regressive step that withdraws government’s commitment to provide tax incentives till 2009, on the basis of which companies have made their business plans and investment decisions. This could affect investor confidence and growth in this sector,”
- Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom
"This is totally negative for the software sector since none of our issues have been addressed. He did not say anything about the continuation of STPI scheme nor was there anything concrete on SEZs. On the other hand, he has extended minimum alternate tax (MAT) to IT companies. They have also imposed a 1 percent education cess."
- Deepak Ghaisas, CEO, I-Flex Solutions
"It will definitely have a very negative impact on the sentiment. It is like the government has decided to pull back the support to IT industry mid-way through,"
- Manoranjan Mohapatra, President and CEO, Flextronics
"It would have been better if the government had looked at the positive benefits of getting higher personal income tax from the IT professionals rather than trying to erode our margins so seriously."
- Vishnu Dusad, Managing Director, Nucleus Software
"The good thing is that the government's overall push for e-governance projects, higher outlay on IT education, computerisation of PDF and FCI will result in a positive demand for the demand for PC hardware."
- Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, MAIT
"There are some positives in the budget for the software sector like the increase in the allocation for e-governance projects, "pass through" status for tech VC funds and doubling of allocation for secondary education. But the negatives are that they've not spoken about the STPI. The introduction of MAT will have a significant impact on smaller IT companies. Bringing ESOP under fringe benefit tax has to be clarified because ESOPs are meant to retain talent."
- Ashank Desai, Executive Chairman, Mastek Ltd
"We appreciate the reduction in the rate of customs duty and the increased outlays for e-Governance. At the same time, the imposition of MAT on the deductions applicable to IT companies and increase in the Dividend Distribution Tax could have been avoided."
- Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India
"With respect to MAT, though there is an increase in coverage of MAT for 10A/10B companies, there is the facility of carry forward of MAT which is available to all companies. So in effect we will not have much impact on profits."
- Amar Chintopanth, Executive Director and CFO, 3i Infotech
"We are also happy that the government has decided to increase expenditure on infrastructure and education, which will have a positive effect on the BPO industry. However we are disappointed with the introduction of MAT for companies which were formerly exempted from MAT under Sec 10A and 10B."
- Susir Kumar, CEO, Intelenet Global Services Ltd
"The imposition of MAT on the ITES industry is dissappointing as is the lack of any announcement on the exemption of the 10A-10B benefit beyond 2009."
- Ananda Mukerji, MD & CEO Firstsource
"A key task for industry and government is to increase the PC penetration rate by making the PC more affordable. We were hoping for drops in CVD (currently 16%) and SAD (currently 4%) on components/ peripherals to help the PC become cheaper. So no news, while being perceived as neutral impact, is actually bad news."
- Moninder Jain, Director, South East Asia & India, Logitech
"It is heartening to see that the Government is committed to e-governance, having increased the allocation both at the Center and state level, with a new scheme for manpower development in the software export industry. Computerization programmes for the public distribution system and FCI will also enhance efficiency and benefit the common man."
- Jangoo Dalal, President, India & SAARC, Cisco
"There is no change in the IT hardware industry, so prices remain the same. We had not expected any changes; in fact, we had recommended that no changes be made. We are happy with the budget."
- Raj Saraf, CEO, Zenith Computers
Friday, November 03, 2006
Microsoft Partners with Novell for Suse Linux
According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has entered into a partnership with Novell Inc. to offer sales support and technology sharing for Novell's Suse Linux product.
While the deal has yet to be finalized, it represents a surprising new alliance between two warring sides in the operating system world. CEO Steve Ballmer made the announcement at a San Francisco news conference that Linux plays an "important role" in many companies, including Microsoft itself. "We see huge potential upside in these markets."
Novell's Suse Linux is currently the second largest commercial Linux distribution, with first place going to Red Hat. As a result of the announcement, shares in Novell jumped 16% to $6.79.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but one of the high points is the expected construction of a joint research facility where the two companies can design and test their software together. Improvements in compatibility between Microsoft Office and OpenOffice are also expected.
Speculation about the long-term outcome of this union has begun already. Frank Artale, vice-president of XenSource, noted that Microsoft's embracing of Suse Linux as opposed to another particular variant could cause a "halo effect" in that the association between the two could make users choose it over another distribution. The open-source community also may have reservations about using a distribution that is "sleeping with the enemy."
As another part of the deal, Microsoft agreed not to file patent infringement charges against Suse users, and Novell has agreed not to sue users of Windows.
Thanks:Daily Tech
While the deal has yet to be finalized, it represents a surprising new alliance between two warring sides in the operating system world. CEO Steve Ballmer made the announcement at a San Francisco news conference that Linux plays an "important role" in many companies, including Microsoft itself. "We see huge potential upside in these markets."
Novell's Suse Linux is currently the second largest commercial Linux distribution, with first place going to Red Hat. As a result of the announcement, shares in Novell jumped 16% to $6.79.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but one of the high points is the expected construction of a joint research facility where the two companies can design and test their software together. Improvements in compatibility between Microsoft Office and OpenOffice are also expected.
Speculation about the long-term outcome of this union has begun already. Frank Artale, vice-president of XenSource, noted that Microsoft's embracing of Suse Linux as opposed to another particular variant could cause a "halo effect" in that the association between the two could make users choose it over another distribution. The open-source community also may have reservations about using a distribution that is "sleeping with the enemy."
As another part of the deal, Microsoft agreed not to file patent infringement charges against Suse users, and Novell has agreed not to sue users of Windows.
Thanks:Daily Tech
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Google on Wireless
Google has opened a wireless Internet umbrella over its hometown in northern California's high-tech Silicon Valley, enabling anyone in the city to connect online for free.
"It worked smashingly," Chris Sacca, Google head of special initiatives, said on Wednesday. "We have really been looking forward to this day. The citizens have embraced it as their network."
Google spent one million dollars creating a network that lets people with wireless-enabled computers, telephones or other devices to link to the Internet nearly anywhere in the city of Mountain View, which covers almost 31 sqkm.
Google affixed WiFi antennae to city-owned lamp posts and was working with residents who have offered their homes as antenna spots in 'dead zones.'
The cost of running the system was "phenomenally cheap" and the network was in keeping with Google's belief in universal access to the Internet and the world's information, according to Sacca.
"One of the main goals of the project was to inspire citizens to realize there is this promise of access and at the same time to inspire entrepreneurs to develop networks," Sacca said.
"What better way to go ahead and put your money where your mouth is than to build a network and show that it works."
The wireless network also provides Google's more than 1,000 employees in the city opportunities to experiment with new technologies and services.
"It worked smashingly," Chris Sacca, Google head of special initiatives, said on Wednesday. "We have really been looking forward to this day. The citizens have embraced it as their network."
Google spent one million dollars creating a network that lets people with wireless-enabled computers, telephones or other devices to link to the Internet nearly anywhere in the city of Mountain View, which covers almost 31 sqkm.
Google affixed WiFi antennae to city-owned lamp posts and was working with residents who have offered their homes as antenna spots in 'dead zones.'
The cost of running the system was "phenomenally cheap" and the network was in keeping with Google's belief in universal access to the Internet and the world's information, according to Sacca.
"One of the main goals of the project was to inspire citizens to realize there is this promise of access and at the same time to inspire entrepreneurs to develop networks," Sacca said.
"What better way to go ahead and put your money where your mouth is than to build a network and show that it works."
The wireless network also provides Google's more than 1,000 employees in the city opportunities to experiment with new technologies and services.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Leading Outsourcing Vendors
Forrester evaluated leading outsourcing vendors on their ability to implement IT sourcing deal transformation management across 55 criteria and found that EDS is the clear winner for its current ability to launch sourcing deals and transform customer environments. IBM has strong capabilities and leads with strategy for future supremacy. Because of its balance between current implementation strength and well-articulated future strategy, CSC is the overall leader and is challenging for supremacy in both current offering and strategy (although rumors of acquisition continue to surround the respected firm). Despite companywide troubles with revenue and margin, Capgemini’s current delivery ability helped it hang onto a leadership position. CGI Group is the smallest vendor that we evaluated, but it emerged as a Strong Performer largely because of its ability to satisfy customers. EMEA-based
Atos Origin showed solid reference customer scores but still needs to mature its IT sourcing deal transformation management capability. This report includes an interactive vendor comparison tool that provides detailed service evaluations and customizable rankings.
Atos Origin showed solid reference customer scores but still needs to mature its IT sourcing deal transformation management capability. This report includes an interactive vendor comparison tool that provides detailed service evaluations and customizable rankings.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Oracle Bid for Redhat
Tech Sector shopaholic Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, seems to be looking for his next fix. This in itself is not unusual, but the fact that he is taking Oracle ‘beyond the brochure’ by considering the purchase of an operating system vendor is cause for reflection. Oracle actually already has a majority stake in a little operation called Miracle Linux. However the database vendor may seek revenge on Linux distributor (distro – in Silicon Valley parlance) Red Hat for winning their battle to acquire open source middleware vendor JBoss. By launching a hostile bid for Red Hat, Oracle would fill the missing pieces needed for the software giant to offer a complete software solution. This will put rivals such as Sap and Microsoft on the back foot. A natural extension of this strategy would be to add hardware to the portfolio. So Sun (for servers) and Dell (for PCs) might consider beefing up their defences.
Monday, April 24, 2006
CSC- The Best
It was 22-April 2004, with smile on face, tears in heart I left CSC-Noida with lot of best wishes. I worked in 5 companies in my work experience and I found CSC is best in work culture and policies. I heard from lot of X-Csc'ians saying that CSC is best ever. It's been 2 years out of CSC though, my memories are still swirling around Sector-62. CSC was my dream company before joining and so now. Thanks a lot to CSC ever and ever. I dunno whether I will go back to CSC or not, however If I get a chance to work with, I am always happy to be and expecting the same at anytime.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
History of Yahoo!
Yahoo! began as a student hobby and evolved into a global brand that has changed the way people communicate with each other, find and access information and purchase things. The two founders of Yahoo!, David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D. candidates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, started their guide in a campus trailer in February 1994 as a way to keep track of their personal interests on the Internet. Before long they were spending more time on their home-brewed lists of favorite links than on their doctoral dissertations. Eventually, Jerry and David's lists became too long and unwieldy, and they broke them out into categories. When the categories became too full, they developed subcategories ... and the core concept behind Yahoo! was born.
The Web site started out as "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web" but eventually received a new moniker with the help of a dictionary. The name Yahoo! is an acronym for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle," but Filo and Yang insist they selected the name because they liked the general definition of a yahoo: "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth." Yahoo! itself first resided on Yang's student workstation, "Akebono," while the software was lodged on Filo's computer, "Konishiki" - both named after legendary sumo wrestlers.
Jerry and David soon found they were not alone in wanting a single place to find useful Web sites. Before long, hundreds of people were accessing their guide from well beyond the Stanford trailer. Word spread from friends to what quickly became a significant, loyal audience throughout the closely-knit Internet community. Yahoo! celebrated its first million-hit day in the fall of 1994, translating to almost 100 thousand unique visitors.
Due to the torrent of traffic and enthusiastic reception Yahoo! was receiving, the founders knew they had a potential business on their hands. In March 1995, the pair incorporated the business and met with dozens of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. They eventually came across Sequoia Capital, the well-regarded firm whose most successful investments included Apple Computer, Atari, Oracle and Cisco Systems. They agreed to fund Yahoo! in April 1995 with an initial investment of nearly $2 million.
Realizing their new company had the potential to grow quickly, Jerry and David began to shop for a management team. They hired Tim Koogle, a veteran of Motorola and an alumnus of the Stanford engineering department, as chief executive officer and Jeffrey Mallett, founder of Novell's WordPerfect consumer division, as chief operating officer. They secured a second round of funding in Fall 1995 from investors Reuters Ltd. and Softbank. Yahoo! launched a highly-successful IPO in April 1996 with a total of 49 employees.
Today, Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services to more than 345 million individuals each month worldwide. As the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and reaches the largest audience worldwide. The company also provides online business and enterprise services designed to enhance the productivity and Web presence of Yahoo!'s clients. These services include Corporate Yahoo!, a popular customized enterprise portal solution; audio and video streaming; store hosting and management; and Web site tools and services. The company's global Web network includes 25 World properties. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo! has offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia, Canada and the United States.
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