Jobs IN India

NTPC’s move to light up Games will trigger loadshedding in rest of India

2010-09-18T14:36:00.000+05:30

Come October 3 and the country is likely to plunge into darkness as NTPC diverts the states’ share of power to New Delhi for the Common Wealth Games (CWG). Delhi will require 5,000 mw for the Games. Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project, Pragati Power Corporation and NTPC’s Dadri Thermal Power Station were to meet the requirement, however, except NTPC’s Dadri unit (2x490mw), none of the project have come up to power the Games.

While only a 490-mw unit of NTPC’s newly commissioned Dadri unit was supposed to supply power for the Games, the entire 980 mw generated will have to be diverted to Delhi during the CWG, said an NTPC official. According to the formula agreed upon, Uttar Pradesh was to get 5% of the 980 mw generated and 50% would have been distributed across the country. Delhi was to get 45% of Dadri’s generation. Even after drawing the entire generation of Dadri project CWG would fall short of 4,020 mw, to be managed from the states’ share of NTPC generation. This would violate the Gadgil power sharing formula, overdrawing from the grid, also virtually breaking grid discipline.

According to a Power Grid Corporation official, there are already instructions that the uniformity of frequency for supplying the common pool power to the north, east, west and north east India has to be broken during the CWG and power to north should flow at a higher frequency. In fact the eastern, western, northern and north eastern power zones’ power evacuation is done through a synchronised grid maintaining a uniform frequency level. So while power would flow at higher frequency to the northern part of the country, the grid connecting National Capital Region would overdraw from the northern grid to power the games. Hence, heavy load shedding is expected across the country, especially in the east, north, north east and west India during the Games.

However, the Central Electricity Authority is more eager to look at western India for drawing maximum power since it has the highest installed capacity of 51,454 mw of the country’s total 1,64,509 mw.

Being a clear case of breaking grid discipline in powering the CWG, it would be most interesting to watch the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission act to punish the Delhi government, which in turn would try to shift the blame on to the Centre, said the Power Grid Corporation official.

Source : The Financial Express

MMTC Seeks to Buy 1.3 Million Tons of Coal for India State-Run Utilities

2010-09-18T14:24:00.000+05:30

MMTC Ltd., India’s largest state- owned trading company, is seeking bids for the supply of 1.3 million metric tons of coal to feed power plants run by NTPC Ltd. and other government utilities, an MMTC official said.

The fuel, which will be supplied from Indonesia over six months starting November, will have a calorific or heating value of 6,300 kilocalories, said the official, who declined to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak to the media.

India’s thermal coal imports rose to 44 million tons in the year ended March 2010 from 38 million tons a year earlier, according to data from the nation’s coal ministry. The International Monetary Fund revised India’s 2010 economic growth forecast in July to 9.4 percent from its earlier prediction of 8.8 percent in April.

The coal will be used in power plants located in northern and central India, the official said.

MMTC has asked for 300,000 tons of coal for the Bhilai plant operated by a venture between NTPC, India’s largest power producer, and the Steel Authority of India Ltd., 360,000 tons for a venture between NTPC and the Haryana state utility in Jhajjar, 175,000 tons for the Haryana utility and 500,000 tons for the Uttar Pradesh state utility, the official said.

Tender documents for the two NTPC facilities will be opened on Sept. 23 and the rest on Sept. 28, the official said.

Source : Bloomberg

BHEL to invest Rs 1,200 cr in R&D by 2012

2010-09-18T14:15:00.000+05:30

India's biggest power equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) is revamping its production processes to develop low cost and more efficient equipment as it seeks to counter the threat of cheap imports from China. The company plans to increase its expenditure on research and development (R&D) by almost 50% to Rs 1,200 crore by 2011-12, said Bhel’s chairman and managing director B Prasada Rao at the 46th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company.

“The engineering & technology character of the organisation will be enhanced with increased focus on innovation and R&D,” he said. In 2009-10 Bhel invested `829 crore in R&D with prime focus on economical power equipment that have high efficiency.

With its R&D initiatives, Bhel has been able to expand the load on existing power equipment to generate more power without much additional cost. For instance, it has introduced rating sets of 600 mw in the sub-critical league that match Chinese 660-MW super critical sets in efficiency without escalating the cost of the equipment. The company has introduced new range of equipment and enhanced the rating of 500 mw sets to 525 mw and 250 mw to 270 mw. The company recorded a jump of 37% in profit-after-tax (PAT) to a record `4,311 crore for the fiscal ended March, 2010.

Its turnover during the fiscal also grew 22% to an all-time high of Rs 34,154 crore.

The company has secured orders worth Rs 59,037 crore from domestic and international clients in 2009-10, of which about 90% came from the private sector. The current order book of the company stands at Rs 1,44,000 crore. Mr Rao said that against the backdrop of climate change, there would be increased focus on low carbon path technologies such as Ultra Supercritical technology, IGCC and Solar Power.

“Bhel proposes to play a lead role in ‘development and deployment’ of advanced Ultra Supercritical Power Plants under the proposed National Mission for Clean Coal (Carbon) Technologies,” he said. The company also proposes to expand its global footprint by establishing manufacturing and service presence in all its major export markets.

Currently, Bhel has the capacity to manufacture power equipment with a cumulative generation capacity of 15,000 MW per annum, which the company plans to scale up to 20,000 MW by the end of the 2010-11 fiscal.

Source : Economic Times

Let’s understand what fair trade is

2010-07-22T11:31:00.000+05:30

India is warming up to fair trade. But the concept remains a niche market as companies are hesitant about taking it to the masses.

Indian farmers have been selling their fair trade produce to developed markets for years by getting certified by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). Now the FLO wants to invert that model. It will introduce a fair trade label for the Indian market next year. The Spice Board of India is looking to follow suit with a fair trade label for the domestic spice market.

First, let’s understand what fair trade is. Fair trade is an organised movement that helps producers in developing countries get a premium for their products if they follow better social, labour and environmental standards.

More than $4 billion worth of fair trade products were sold internationally in 2008, up 22 percent since the previous year. While sales of products like fair trade tea, coffee, flowers, wine and beer have grown in double digits for the last several years, cultivation has outpaced demand, according to reports.

If the fair trade movement is implemented in India, it could open up a huge new market for fair trade farmers, giving them stability against foreign exchange fluctuation.

For the movement to be successful, however, it requires the customers to be sensitive about this. “The size of the market is very small because Indians are not really concerned about this,” says Arvind Singhal, chief executive of retail consulting company KSA Technopak. “Companies are trying to create fair trade brands for their own reasons but if the customer is not sensitive then this will have only a limited impact.”

The Indian market and other domestic markets in producing countries are increasingly important for the fair trade movement because they could each be larger than the European market, which is the largest market for fair trade products. For instance, take Chetna Organic Farmers Association, which works with 9,000 cotton farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, and Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi region of Orissa. It sells most of its cotton in Europe at a premium of Rs. 320 a quintal. But even now it is able to sell only half the produce; the rest gets sold in India without any premium.

It is no wonder then that Seth Petchers, chief executive of Shop for Change, a marketing and labelling organisation for domestic fair trade products, is trying to launch this movement in India. Shop for Change launched a range of fair trade clothes along with designer Anita Dongre’s prêt label AND. The collection featured an ad campaign that starred fair trade cotton farmers along with former Miss India, Gul Panag.

This collection was made with fair trade cotton from Chetna’s farmers in Orissa, who were paid Rs. 35 per kilo of cotton rather than the market price of Rs. 30 per kilo. The FLO also fixes a fair trade price, which includes a minimum price for the product and a fair trade premium. Says Reykia Fick, external relations co-ordinator, FLO, “On top of stable prices (usually the fair trade minimum price), producer organisations are paid a fair trade premium — additional funds to invest in social or economic development projects.”

Farmer members of Chetna, in Andhra Pradesh’s Karimnagar district, have used this premium along with an international grant to build a storage warehouse for their cotton. During the off-season, they rent out the warehouse as a marriage hall and distribute earnings for the co-operative. Another farmer group in Maharashtra’s Akola district has used the premium to build a school. In Kerala’s Kannur district, the premium is used to create a fund for distressed farmers. It has also allowed the community to set up solar sensing technology as a benign blockade warding wild elephants off the cashew nut trees. Their cashew produce is labelled Jumbo Cashews in the European market.

All of this may or may not result in a price premium for a consumer depending on whether a retailer chooses to crunch its margins. Increasingly, retailers have started selling fair trade products without a price premium for consumers. Dongre’s fair trade collection sold at the same price as her other clothes. Cadbury’s launched a fair trade version of its Dairy Milk chocolate internationally at the same price as the rest of its Dairy Milk chocolates.

In case of fair trade products “it is the imagery which is different rather than a product differentiation,” says Shital Mehta, COO of premium menswear brand, Van Heusen. Right now fair trade numbers are small. Companies want to portray themselves as fair employers but are just experimenting with a small percentage of their products. Will they ever get all their products under the fair trade umbrella?

That change will come when it becomes a civil society movement as it has in the West, says Tomy Mathews, founder of Fair Trade Alliance of Kerala. Mathews’ alliance has been supplying through the FLO for years and he says, “Attempts to create independent labels diverting from the uniform global message on global trade justice is doing disservice to the philosophy of fair trade. I don’t look fairly on [the] Spice Board initiative or the Shop for Change initiative. The moment you confuse market with different logos you’re already losing the game before it begins.”

Retailers that have included more equitable conditions for artisans and weavers, such as Fabindia and Anokhi, have done well here already and this movement can get extended to farmers as well, says Roopa Mehta, president of the Fair Trade Forum of India.

But there may still be some distance between promise and scale in the market. Devangshu Dutta, CEO of retail consulting company, Third EyeSight, says he sees a market developing for fair trade products, albeit slowly. “Things will change. But that change will have to come from the customer side. Currently, it is a very limited market but it could be a business proposition for a few companies.”

by Saumya Roy, Shloka Nath

Source : www.business.in.com

Start up Saturday Seminar on Social Media

2010-06-12T18:41:00.000+05:30

Today I had the opportunity to attend a seminar on Social Media organized by Startup Saturday which is an initiative by Head Start Network to provide entrepreneurs in each city with a monthly community driven forum that is structured in agenda but open in discussions. A Startup Saturday provides a forum for entrepreneurs to discuss, present, network and learn from peers, prospective customers, adopters, partners and investors.

The fundamental idea is to have all parts of the innovation ecosystem interact with each other with high frequency and through rich conversation. We strongly believe that this would lead to faster evolution of the entire ecosystem.

The key not speakers were

Mr.Aditya Gupta from iGenero http://bit.ly/bSRkvG

Mr. Karthik from 84Ideas http://bit.ly/a9E4bP

Mr. Shameek Chakravarthy from Ohana Media. http://bit.ly/ddZ7OT

What fascinated me was the key note speakers were all below 30 years of age bracket and were very composed, main discussions revolved around various pros and cons of social media.

The first presentation by Karthik talked about “Why” there is a need for someone/organization to jump into the social media band wagon and social media is one latest tool in the arsenal of an effective brand promoter and is not a replacement of conventional brand building exercises. The presentation also talked about the various pitfalls to be avoided while increasing your reach to your customers / potential customers.

A second presentation was followed by Shameek which mostly talked about different evaluation metrics/analytics which could drive your brand marketing strategy and understanding the consumer patterns. How effectively one can analyze the data and fine tune their marketing strategies. The presentation also talked about the quality of the audience whom you try to reach through social media than the quantity. There were some detailed case studies presented.

Third presentation was done by Aditya Gupta of iGenero his emphasis was on the tools and the quality of the content marketed through various social media tools. His take on external tools like Twitter or Facebook were that these are the latest medium which might get outdated by time but the content on your website and the info on that should be more dynamic than static, and companies should design and develop content on their website's/blogs which would strike conversations rather than providing the normal info.

All in all the entire seminar was food for though, which has tinkered my brain cells to do social media differently.

.Net Technical Architect For a Global Product Development Company @ Chennai

2010-05-26T11:15:00.003+05:30

My client is A Swiss company focused on innovation and quality, they design personal peripherals to help people enjoy a better experience with the digital world. They are a NASDAQ listed company and the are distributed in more than 100 countries worldwide through retail channels.

Position : . Net Technical Architect
Location : Chennai
Years of Exp : 8 to 12

Roles and Responsibility

My Client is looking for .Net Technical Architect who should be

Hands-on, ideally 50% or more of their time is writing code

Experienced in design patterns, scalability, security and designing maintainable solutions (SOA)

Guru level in .NET

Excellent communication skills

Up to date on the latest .NET framework and early adopter of new releases

Quick learner

Mail me a copy of your latest resume if this position is of interest to you @ abijith@optionsindia.com

Rupee Vs. India Inc.

2007-08-03T14:37:00.000+05:30

Reserve Bank of India, the nation's central bank, has had a tough first six months at office -- first to keep inflation under check and then to delicately address the runaway rise of the Indian rupee (against the dollar).

A series of measures linked to curbing credit growth and lowering short-term interest rates twice this year, have pegged inflation to 4.27 per cent for the week ending July 4 from a two-year high of 6.73 per cent in January-end. Currently, India's inflation is within the medium-term range set by the RBI.

A variety of factors are, however, keeping the rupee firm against the dollar, which has risen by nearly 10 per cent between January-July this year. The rupee stands at a near-decade high of 40.3 against the dollar, from 44.2 when the year began.

Rupee appreciation has been the sharpest in three decades in the April-June quarter this year. And analysts expect the rupee to gain further.

The impact of a rupee rise

As the rupee rises against the dollar (or conversely the dollar weakens) Indian exports firms earn less and thus begin to lose their competitive edge -- whether it be textile, jewellery, software, drugs or automobiles.

India's 'big four' in the software pack -- Infosys], TCS , Wipro and Satyam have already seen their net income in the first quarter ending June, fall due to the sharp rupee rise. This is because India's software companies bill several clients in dollar terms.

A weak dollar thus hits currency-linked earnings.

The impact is seen through:

Lower exports, as exporters are unable to maintain necessary profit margins if their dollar-linked earnings fall. Analysts now predict that India's export target of $160 billion may not be met. A more 'realistic' export target for this year has been pegged at $135-140 billion.
If the rupee continues to gain against the dollar, India's competitive strength in world trade (which is already negligible) will weaken. This, in turn, shrinks new job avenues.
Exporters are keener to sell their product/services locally, if possible. This would increase local supplies and lower prices and inflation.
Export lobby groups and trade analysts are now urging the government to act to curb the rupee's rise. The equation is simple. In a competitive business environment where operating margins will determine survival, export houses are in a fix.

Jobs may be lost

However, on the other hand, if the rupee keeps strengthening, a lot many people may actually lose jobs. Exporters are also considering layoffs, which may eventually affect 275,000 jobs by the year-end.

Yet another fallout of the rupee rise is the proposal by the IT and BPO companies in India which plan to increase the working hours of their employees and doing away with a 5-day week and making them work on Saturdays too.

According to a study by the Union commerce ministry, the worst hit sectors are infotech, textile, leather, handicrafts, marine products, engineering, sports goods, toys and agri products.

How will the Rupee surge impact you?

With factors suggesting that the rupee could rise, we could see a scenario of an increasing percentage of goods and services being offered locally, which would lead to lower prices and hence curb inflation further.

Industries, where domestic prices are linked to the cost of imported raw material -- like metals, have and will lead to further lowering of input cost of imported aluminium and copper. A reduction in the domestic prices is expected. Obviously, importing price-sensitive electronics and gadgets would also be cheaper, as would other retail items.

An appreciating rupee shows the strength of the economy, which can be seen when one travels overseas, if you try to convert what the dollar is worth. So maybe you should plan your overseas trip now, if you have enough disposable income.

You obviously have concerns if you are an exporter or work in an export-house. Another groups of people who may not be happy to see the rupee rising, would be those who hold dollar-denominated accounts.

"Blind Men and the Elephant" - A first step in understanding IT services

2007-07-30T10:40:00.000+05:30

So here are two young IT professionals turned- writers, Was Rahman and Priya Kurien, who have attempted to rewrite the story exploring the intricacies of today’s ‘least understood’ IT industry. It would be wrong to say Was Rahman and Priya Kurien are trying to demystify Information Technology (IT) in their book "Blind Men and the Elephant". The industry is too much of a behemoth for one book to be able to do that.

Elaborating on the book, Was Rahman, a post graduate in Management and IT from Coventry University says, “In the poem, the six blind men described each part of an elephant and guess it was the elephant. Similar is the case with the industry as nobody has given its full history. Each group gives its own descriptions, based on its perspective.’’

Priya, an engineering graduate from Guindy Engineering College, says, “The book talks about almost all aspects of the industry from its fascinating past to the future.’’ Was and Priya’s experience in the industry has helped them gain a good understanding of the inner conflicts.

Was Rahman, who started his career in investment banking, has been in the industry for the last two decades. With five years’ experience in Infosys Technologies, he was also responsible for the company’s European Strategy, which included leading its transformation journey from supplier of commodity IT services to solver of Business problems.

Priya, who had a distinguished 13-year-career on the technology front of the industry, also co-developed the firm’s European Strategy and solutions programme.

“The industry had a fascinating history and all are talking about it. But nobody knows where it actually started,’’ she quips.

Like John Godfrey Saxe's parable, the IT services industry is slippery as the "snake", is "a tree" under which the wise man as well as the fool find shade, blows in fresh air like a "fan", ties one up in knots "like a rope" or...

To hit the stands in early August, the book wants "to make people think of the future" and "where the industry is headed" and about the pitfalls in its being and growing.

"We are trying to start a debate, what is the role of the IT services industry?" say Rahman and Kurien in their must-read.

"History repeats itself," Rahman told IANS at an interaction ahead of the release of the book in India, recalling that busts inevitably follow booms and that the IT services industry is reaching an equilibrium, which both the service sector and the customer have to come to terms with soon.

"Most people don't understand what the IT industry is all about, though in the 21st century, most people use IT in their lives in one way or the other," explained Kurien.

This rings a bell, especially when we come face to face with the jargon-filled world of COBOL (common business oriented language), ERPs (enterprise resource planning) and MRPs (material resource planning).

Each specific IT service sector is getting more specialised and more "driven by profit", but not becoming meticulous enough to cover its back, thus exposing itself to technology that can make it not only outdated but the service entirely redundant.

The book looks in some detail at some great IT service sector stories, but they all end with a cautionary note - the euphoria needs to be contained.

The industry is not about technology. Let's not forget, said the authors, "it is about the service, it is about the investment, about leadership and empowerment", and any of these missing can make the industry crash.

Mastering the art of Job Hunting !!

2007-07-27T13:13:00.000+05:30

Where do I start for a job change or a job hunt ??
What would be the right career move ??
How do I market my curriculum vitae ??

Do you ask yourself these questions before a job change ?? Most of us do and are worried how to headhunt for the right opportunity for the position matching our aspirations.

So I thought to pen down some universal tips and tricks.

1. Preparing a presentable resume.
2. Marketing your resume
3. Handpicking the employers
4. Attending interviews
5. Negotiating your CTC
6. Picking the cream of offers

1. Preparing a presentable resume

Analyze your resume : The resume is a selling tool that outlines your skills and experiences so an employer can see, at a glance, how you can contribute to the employer's workplace.

The most effective resumes are clearly focused on a specific job title and address the employer's stated requirements for the position. The more you know about the duties and skills required for the job--and organize your resume around these points--the more effective the resume.

Optimize your resume : “You will need information to write a good resume.” Not just information about jobs you've held in the past but also information to select the most relevant accomplishments, skills and experience for THIS position. The more you know about the employer and the position, the more you can tailor your resume to fit the job.

2. Marketing your resume

“Your resume has to sell you in short order.” While you may have all the requirements for a particular position, your resume is a failure if the employer does not instantly come to the conclusion that you "have what it takes." The first hurdle your resume has to pass--whether it ends up in the "consider file" or the "reject file"--may take less than thirty seconds.
Below are a few tips to effectively market your resume

Executive Search Firms : Submitting your resume to Executive Search Firms are the hassle free way of headhunting a job, they are professional’s who have a wide gamut and reach of employers / opportunities to offer . They can even help you in preparing your resume, interview process and offer negotiations; half of your work is done if you submit your resume to these firms.

Referrals through friends : Let your friends know that your are on a job hunt and looking out for a good opportunity, ask them to refer your candidature to their employers.

Job Sites : Jobsites are an effective way to market your profile. Update your resume in their respective database and wait for the responses. Always keep a tap on the different jobs posted by employers

Career / Job Fairs : Career Fairs / Job Fairs are good medium to gather info about different employers and the kind of opportunities they advertise.

3. Handpicking the employers :

Once you are done with the marketing and you start getting responses for your “Marketing Drive”, analyze the response and hand pick a few employers where you might be interested to work and continue with the process further.

4. Attending Interviews :

Lot has been written on this topic I am not elaborating much on this you can have a detailed info here.

5. Negotiating Your Salary :

This is a crucial part of every interview. Before you accept a job offer, you have to make sure the offer is one with which you are pleased. If not, you may have to negotiate. You can find more guidance from this article.

6. Picking the cream of offers :

By the end of this exercise you will be having at least a couple of offers with you. Now you have to make a decision depending on what would be your learning curve with the employer, Work Culture, Projects / Clients / Products, Other Benefits, Brand name of the employer etc.

I guess I have covered most of the things, if missed out anything please comment would be glad to add it up to this posting.

Cheers and Happy hunting !!!!

Password to crack the new IT matrix

2007-07-27T11:59:00.000+05:30

For a while now the two words that have characterised the IT industry are “cost arbitrage”. Investors and analysts now want the industry to learn two new words: Pricing power.

Hit on the cost side because of an increase in employee costs and on the revenue side because of a rise in the value of the rupee against other currencies, the industry needs to figure out if its clients need it enough to allow them to raise prices.

“I think it is obvious that these companies do not have power to renegotiate prices to completely offset the adverse circumstances,” says the India head of a multi-strategy fund that currently managed about $2.5 billion. Most companies are negotiating a price increase of 1-2% on contracts coming up for renewal. This is unlikely to nullify the 5-6% decline in profit margins. No wonder then that most frontline IT stocks have underperformed the Sensex by more than 10% over the last six months.

One stark indicator of the state of the industry is the return on incremental capital employed, essentially the additional profits generated by deploying additional capital in the business. On this criterion, most top firms have shown a decline over the last two years. “These guys have a great business. Profits are growing at 25-30%, and revenue growth is strong. It is just that they may not be great stock market investments because the capital efficiency of the business may have declined,” says the fund manager.

For many industry experts IT companies may not be doing enough. “IT companies have done a reasonable job till now but if the rupee and the wages keep rising then they will need to do a lot more,” says Gartner regional research director Partha Iyengar. The IT industry has always relied on external triggers to show the way.

It was Y2K in 1999 and then the Internet mania in 2000 that shaped the business model of the industry. And that was setting up a process to move work offshore quickly and delivered in a “factory environment”. “Everybody then followed this business model that won the Y2K battle for India. I suspect we may be at a similar inflection point and we will see people now choosing differentiated strategies,” says the head of a private equity firm that has large investments in the IT sector.

For almost all the companies the core of the strategy will really mean figuring out how they deliver their bread-and-butter service: The application development and maintenance or ADM business. Since the ADM business is close to 50% of the revenues any strategic move has to deal with this chunk carefully.

So TCS is talking about using much more automation while Cognizant has set up a software factory at Coimbatore where they will use both scale as well as automation to be more efficient in delivering such services. There are other companies that are taking their ADM businesses away from Mumbai or Bangalore to smaller towns like Nashik, Bhubaneshwar or Pune.

All these are the cost-side measures. Things that can get better margins are as yet unaddressed. “The consulting businesses of these companies are yet to take off and these companies have not been able to identify any high-profit niches,” says the fund manager.

To be fair to the IT companies, they have developed deeper relationships with their clients but not in new areas. So, in normal ADM contracts Indian companies do it almost like a turnkey contract today while four to five years ago they would get all the requirements and only do the programming.

In enterprise solutions (SAP software related work) many India companies have moved ahead from doing just grunge work and writing small time programmes for SAP software. “Most of the global rollouts of enterprise software and its customisation in large companies is being handled right out of India and that is a huge step,” says Mr Iyengar.

But there is nothing spectacular in the pipeline that will transform these companies over a five-year horizon. “I think they need to become much more choosy in where they direct their resources. For example, HCL is not going to rebid for almost $16 million worth of contracts,” says Mr Iyengar.

Choices such as these are clearly difficult. Indian companies do not want to walk away from contracts and give smaller companies an opportunity to enter their accounts. Something they had benefited from when large companies like IBM and Accenture and Cap Gemini chose to focus on higher-end business 7 years ago. But clearly something has to give for the industry to get the buzz back. And no, we are not talking about small-fry acquisitions or sponsored ADS programmes.

Infy’s Finacle head puts in papers

2007-07-27T11:01:00.000+05:30

Infosys Technologies is seeing the exit of another top level official with the head of its banking product business leaving the organisation. Merwin Fernandes, who was heading Infosys’ banking product business — Finacle — has put in his papers.

Mr Fernandes has spent close to a decade in Infosys and was the VP and global head — Finacle. He moved into the role following the elevation of Girish Vaidya as senior vice-president, Infosys Leadership Institute. However, it is not known what will be the Mr Fernandes’ future plans, though speculation is rife is that he will be moving into one of the rival businesses of Finacle. Confirming the development, Infosys in a statement said: “Yes, we can confirm that Merwin Fernandes has resigned from the services of the company to pursue his personal interests. At this stage the organisation is in the process of appointing a successor. The successor will be announced shortly to ensure a smooth transition.” Sources said Infosys has asked Mr Fernandes to stay on in the organisation till a successor has been found. Already, Infosys has sent letters to the various banks which are its customers, notifying the change. This will probably be another top level official exit from Infosys after Akshay Bhargava left its BPO business. Its other high profile exits have been Hema Ravichander.

Finacle — a core banking solution has been doing well for Infosys having recorded over 50% growth year-on-year (YoY). For 2006-07, it registered revenues of Rs 538 crore recording 50.7% YoY growth. Finacle constitutes 4% of Infosys revenues which has 91 customers with presence in 55 countries. It has a dominant share among the Indian PSU banks. Syndicate and Canara Banks have chosen to implement Flexcube of i-flex.

Finacle has been positioning itself as a global player and is targeting the global tier 1 and tier 2 banks. It had recently bagged an order from Emirates Bank of Dubai. It is also looking actively at the regions of South East Asia, western Europe and Australia and New Zealand where deals might start off from anywhere between $40 million and go up to $500 million.

At the marketplace, Finacle is competing not only against the Indian players like i-flex, FNS of TCS but also against the established global players like Misys, Temenos and Metavante. The current market size of core banking solutions is expected to be in the multi-billion dollars range spread over a longer period of time.

Lenovo to invest $11m in HP factory

2007-07-27T10:54:00.000+05:30

PC major Lenovo on Thursday announced it would invest $11 million in setting up a new manufacturing unit in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. The plant, Lenovo’s second in India, would have a capacity of two million units a year and will manufacture both desktop and notebook PCs.

Lenovo’s investment in the new plant will be spread over a period of five years. The plant will be operational in the third quarter of the current fiscal.

The Baddi plant, which will employ 350 people, will support regional customer requirements, including product assembly, distribution services and reverse logistics. It will also offer additional value-added services like product configuration, the company said.

“India is an integral part of Lenovo’s global manufacturing strategy.

The company already has a plant in Pondicherry that has a capacity of one million units a year. It also opened an innovation centre in Mumbai last year, its third in the world after those in USA and China.

MS tool to rival Google Analytics

2007-07-26T11:14:00.000+05:30

The software giant Microsoft is upping the ante in its war against the search giant Google. The company is readying a tool which is aimed at taking on Google Analytics product.

The software maker is gearing up to release a beta version of its Web analytics tool called Gatineau says Ian Thomas, who works for Microsoft's Digital Advertising Solutions Group in his blog. The service promises to offer features beyond Google and is expected to go live later this year.

According to the posting, the tool will allow users to segment Web traffic by both age as well as by gender. However, Thomas stresses that Microsoft will extract the demographic data anonymously from users' Live ID profiles.

The Gatineau project is based on the technology Microsoft acquired from DeepMetrix in 2006.

Thomas said that the target audience is similar to that of Google Analytics, though he says it won't just replicate its functionality.

Thomas added that Microsoft has been ramping up the project slowly to avoid the teething problems Google had when it launched its free Web Analytics service in November 2005. Google was forced to suspend new subscriptions for the service a week after its launch due to an unforeseen demand which affected its performance. The service was later reopened to new users in January 2006.

Microsoft is yet to announce an official release date for the software.

Sony unveils new Vaio range

2007-07-26T11:10:00.000+05:30

Aiming at the burgeoning population of youngsters in India, Sony has unveiled a range of its 'Vaio' laptops to lure youth of the nation and double its market share in notebooks' production.

Currently Sony enjoyed around 5.6 per cent share of the retail notepad sales, but the two-month long campaign would help the company double its market share.

The new CR range of 'Vaio' notepads featuring different colors and designs is priced between Rs 54,990 to Rs 64,990.

The company is also offering zero per cent financing scheme to make them affordable.

Sony would run a 90-day long promotional programme in print media, electronic media and even in night clubs and shopping malls.

For establishing a connection with people in 18-35 age group, Sony India has launched a Rs 10 crore promotional campaign for shopping malls and night clubs besides print and electronic advertisements.

Earlier Sony India had announced a sales target of two billion dollar for this year, of which 11 per cent is expected to come from the sales of 'Vaio' range.

Top four IT players lose 10K employees in Q1

2007-07-25T12:35:00.000+05:30

Indian IT companies, grappling with an appreciating rupee eating into their profits, are also finding it hard to retain employees with the top-four firms - TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam - witnessing an exodus of about 10,000 people in the first quarter.

Although, all the four firms collectively hired more than 25,000 employees in the April-June period, the net addition was just about 16,300 - taking their total headcount to 2,85,357 employees.

Except for Satyam Computers, attrition rate went higher at Infosys, Tata Consultancy Service and Wipro from both the previous quarter as well as the year-ago period.

All the four companies reported an adverse impact of rupee rise on their profitability and margins, and are looking at various hedging measures, which include improving employee utilization rates.

However, analysts believe the high attrition rates, mostly triggered by employees seeking higher salaries, could adversely impact the companies' plans to improve utilization rates.

TCS, the biggest in terms of revenue as well as headcount, saw an exodus of about 2,500 employees, while just over 2,000 people quit the country's second largest software exporter, Infosys.

The employee loss is estimated to be much higher at about 3,500 at Wipro, the country's third-biggest IT firm, while Satyam, the smallest of the four, saw the lowest number -- about 1,600 people -- leaving.

Interestingly, April-June quarter is the period when most of the software firms implement annual wage hikes and see a sharp surge in new hiring’s.

TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam had net additions of 5,512, 3,730, 4,319 and 2,716 employees respectively in the quarter.

TCS reported an attrition rate of 11.5 per cent, up from 10.6 per cent a year ago and 11.3 per cent in the previous quarter, while it stood at 13.7 per cent for Infosys, unchanged from the previous quarter but higher than 11.9 per cent in the April-June period last year.

Satyam saw its attrition rate falling to 14.9 per cent from 15.7 per cent in the January-March period this year and 19.2 per cent in the year-ago period, where as Wipro witnessed a sharp surge to 20 per cent from 17 per cent in the previous quarter and 15 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Wipro says its high attrition rate was driven by various factors such as seasonality and a spike in the number of employees
going for higher studies during the quarter, as well as the company's practise of implementing annual wage hikes in the third quarter.

The annual hikes are fully reflected in first quarter results of Infosys and TCS, while some of the other front line IT firms do the same either in the second quarter or spread it over a number of quarters.

Oracle forms R&D network for innovation

2007-07-25T12:26:00.000+05:30

Enterprise software company Oracle today said it will form a research and development (R&D) network for its 19 centers across Asia Pacific and Japan to build, test and showcase technology innovations.

The new single network will link 19 development and solution centers - six Oracle Asia R&D Centers (OARDC) in India, Japan, Korea, Singapore and two in China as well as 13 solution centers in the Asia-Pacific region. These centers focus on developing effective solutions for the local markets in addition to contributing to global product development, a Oracle release said here.

"This new collaboration will enhance their Asia Pacific innovation development process as well as benefit their customers and partners in the region.

"With all sides of the globe participating in contributing to technology solutions, our customers will gain access to some of the most cutting edge IT projects in the world. Customers and partners will also be able to collaborate with Oracle's vast R&D network to apply new thinking in the way software can be used to stimulate global growth and innovation in any industry or country", he added.

The OARDC would focus on product development, solution development, strategic projects and partner enablement.

The Asia Pacific and Japan R&D network is also linked into the global Oracle development centers worldwide. Oracle recently reported an investment of 2.2 billion dollar on global research and development during 2007, a 17 per cent increase from the previous fiscal.

Infy may announce European buy today

2007-07-25T12:19:00.000+05:30

Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second-largest software services exporter, may announce an acquisition in Europe on Wednesday.

The size of the deal, expected to be in the back-office services segment, could be around $200 million, they said, citing unnamed sources.

Infosys, whose customers include ABN AMRO, Goldman Sachs and Airbus, was close to acquiring the finance and accounting back-office services arm of Dutch consumer electronics group Philips.

BPOs too outsource processes!

2007-07-24T13:23:00.000+05:30

Faced with rising operational costs and higher-than-the-industry attrition rates, captive centres in India are turning to third-party BPOs/vendors to manage their centres and take over the less strategic work, while retaining control over some of the key functions.

Smaller captives, with up to 200-250 employees, are learnt to have approached third-party BPOs for a tie-up of this kind. Wipro is learnt to be looking at deals in this area.

A recent Forrester Research report pointed out that 60% of captives in India are currently struggling due to high operational costs, skyrocketing attrition rates and lack of management support.

The report also said that about 20% of existing captives are expected to adopt a hybrid approach by using third parties for less critical work and keeping more strategic work to themselves. Attrition rates for captives hover around 40%, against the industry’s 30-35%.

Companies like Wipro enterprise solutions, WNS Global Services, Infosys BPO, ExlService Holdings have been approached by captives, both for complete buy-outs and for taking over operations.

Patni buys US co Taratec for $27 m

2007-07-24T12:56:00.000+05:30

Patni Computers has made its fifth acquisition by buying out US-based life science information technology consulting company Taratec for $27.2 million in an all-cash deal.

The acquisition, funded through internal accruals, will see an upfront payment and a three-year contingent payment depending on the performance. This gives Patni an entry into the life sciences segment. Taratec provides integrated business, IT and regulatory compliance products and services, and has over 150 people on its rolls with centres in the US and Puerto Rico. Taratec, with a topline of $20 million, has over 75 clients in some of the leading companies in the life sciences industry such as Aventis, Glaxo Smithkline and Pfizer, among others.

According to industry statistics, IT spend by life science firms is expected to reach $22 billion by 2009 with IT services and software representing the largest growth areas. Typically, life sciences companies can spend over $1 billion and take over 7-10 years to launch a product with a heavy dependence on IT.

The life sciences market is going through a change with increasing pressure on growth and margins. Leading pharma companies are trying to use IT to drive research and development (R&D) and business objectives and performance.

Taratec also brings in long-term customer relationships which will be valuable for Patni in getting a headway into the segment.

The primary markets for Patni through Taratec will be the US and Europe, though Japan is a strong future potential.This is the second biggest acquisition for Patni after its buyout of Cymbal for $78 million in November 2004.

Patni for some time has been acquiring a few companies with a consulting capability, and in the first week of July 2007 had acquired a telecom consultancy firm called Logan-Orviss.

US IT spend to rise, Indian cos say amen

2007-07-24T12:20:00.000+05:30

IT investment and spending is set to rise in the US, according to a forecast by Forrester Research. This may be good news for Indian vendors hurt by the rising rupee and worries of troubles in the sub-prime lending space spilling over into other areas.

“With a moderate tech investment slowdown mostly behind us, the tech sector should experience improving prospects in the second half of 2007.

The US has been witnessing a slowdown in spending on computer and communications and to a lesser extent in areas such as IT services and outsourcing. The demand environment for Indian IT firms, however, has been strong and this was re-affirmed in the current quarter where the tech leaders posted strong growth from the North America region.

For Infosys Technologies, North America revenues were at 62.6% of its total revenues, unchanged from the previous quarter, and for Tata Consultancy Services up from 51% to 61%. Even smaller players, such as Tech Mahindra, with British Telecom as it largest client, maintained US revenues at 19% of total revenues, unchanged from the previous quarter even as its revenues grew.

“As has been true for the past two to three years, the Indian vendors of Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro outpaced the rest of the industry,” the Forrester analysts noted.

Sector-wise, in the first quarter of 2007, the computers and peripherals saw a fall in demand, while growth in communication equipment was flat. Software witnessed as healthy demand of 11%, while services saw a 6% growth.

As the slowdown tapers off, Forrester predicts that IT services spends in the US will grow by 8% in the second quarter, as will spends on computers and peripherals. Software and communications equipment are predicted to grow 10% and 9% respectively. However, the analysts did not totally rule out the possibility of a recession threat.

“The depressing effects over time of a slumping housing market on consumer spending could turn out to be greater than they have been so far. A spike in oil prices could drive gasoline and heating oil prices back to the peaks of 2006,” the report said.

TCS, Infy, Wipro top employers in IT-ITeS

2007-07-23T17:00:00.000+05:30

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies and Wipro Technologies have emerged the top IT and ITeS employers in Nasscom’s top 20 employer rankings for financial year 2006-07 .

The top 20 companies collectively employ over 0.5 million people — or just over 31% — of the 1.6 million employed directly in the industry. The rankings are based on the India headcount of firms with IT-ITeS operations in India, as reported to Nasscom in its annual survey. Other companies to figure in the top ten, in the order they’re ranked, are HCL Technologies, Cognizant, Satyam, HP, Genpact, Oracle and Intelenet Global Services .

The IT-ITeS industry, the country’s largest employment generator in the organised sector, is projected to employ over 10 million people directly and indirectly by 2010, from over 7.5 million currently, according to Nasscom. The industry body has attributed the growth in employee base to factors like healthy growth environment, attractive remuneration, various employment opportunities based on varying skill sets, and availability of talent. “What we do need to work on is the quality factor to ensure we remain the highest employment generator and maintain our share of the global offshore IT and ITeS industry ,” said Nasscom president Kiran Karnik.

Mastek acquires US-based LLC (Vector) for $9 mn

2007-07-23T15:07:00.000+05:30

IT solutions provider Mastek Ltd on Thursday announced the acquisition of US-based Vector Insurance Services LLC (Vector) for $9 million.

Vector is a technology solutions provider and third party administrator that focus on the North American life and annuity insurance industry, having two of America's largest insurance carriers as its customers.

The acquisition will be done by Mastek's wholly-owned US subsidiary MajescoMastek which will be acquiring a 90 per cent equity stake in Vector in an all-cash transaction for $4.5 million, as quoted by its Chairman and Managing Director, Sudhakar Ram.

"This is payable at closing and a similar amount payable over the next two years as earn-out based on business performance. The acquisition is being funded through internal accruals," Ram said.

This acquisition is revenue and earnings accretive to Mastek and is expected to strengthen the opportunity pipeline for the company in the insurance vertical.

Mastek will now be able to offer a more complete solution for insurance carriers including new business, underwriting and policy administration products by adding 'software as a service (SaaS) capabilities to its existing end-to-end enterprise software solution offerings.

The Vector operation is currently in the process of getting integrated with Mastek's existing operations, which should get implemented by August 2007.

The existing management team of Vector will continue to look after the business, led by its founder Harold Apple who has extensive insurance sector experience and will report to William McCarter, President of MajescoMastek.

Commenting on company's performance, Ram said "we are targeting a 35 per cent growth in dollar terms in FY08. We believe this level will be sustainable going forward."

Mastek is looking at adding three more verticals, which includes healthcare in the near future.

On the company's expansion plans, Ram said that Mastek has taken up expansion plans by adding 1,500 seating capacity at its Mhape unit. It is also planning to set up a 5,000 seating capacity unit near Chennai.

The company's headcount will increase from the present 3,500 to 10,000 in the next 2-3-year period.

For the July-September 2007 quarter, Mastek expects its consolidated revenues to be in the range of Rs 205-210-crore.

Net profit after tax and minority interest is likely to be around Rs 25-26-crore.

For the full year ended June 30, 2007, the company posted revenue of Rs 812.7 crore as compared to Rs 701.1 crore last fiscal. The net profit stood at Rs 90.4 crore, translating into an EPS of Rs 31.8.

China eyes India's slot as top outsourcing hub

2007-07-23T13:06:00.000+05:30

India, which has emerged as the back-office of the world in recent years, is expected to face stiff competition from countries like China, Malaysia and Singapore even as the global outsourcing industry is pegged to reach a market size of $1,430 billion by 2009-end.

A survey conducted by global consultancy firm Frost and Sullivan has ranked India as the top destination for shared services and outsourcing (SSO) across various verticals. The country is followed by China, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Czech Republic, Poland, the Philippines and Canada.

Low labour costs and abundant supply of skilled manpower are the key factors behind India's sustenance as the top outsourcing destination globally. Outsourcing sector in India is experiencing consolidation and SSO providers are moving up the value chain, expanding their onshore presence to strengthen global delivery capabilities, the report said.

But there is a threat from countries like China which is fast emerging as an attractive destination for outsourcing IT, research and development and procurement services, it added.

India's growth is beleaguered by factors like high attrition rates, poor infrastructure, rising wages and appreciation of rupee against US dollar, the report said.

"SSO is no longer just about cost arbitrage, instead SSO operators are adding value through their skill sets and competencies wherever they are located," Frost & Sullivan Vice-President Asia-Pacific (ICT Practice) Nitin Bhat said.

The study also forecasts the global SSO market will grow at a compound annual rate of 15 per cent to reach a market size of 1,430 billion dollars by end-2009.

Malaysia, which boasts of excellent infrastructure and low attrition rates, also makes for an ideal outsourcing hub, the Frost and Sullivan study said. The south-east nation is already a strong player in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), transportation and energy verticals.

Besides, companies such as Dell, Satyam and IBM have recently made outsourcing investments in Malaysia, making it a hub catering to the technology sector, it pointed out.

The study covered Fortune 500 and Forbes 2000 companies and was conducted across seven major industry verticals -- banking, financial services and insurance, technology/ICT, healthcare industry, transportation and logistics, energy, fast-moving consumer goods and media and entertainment.

A report by audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has also said although India remains the most favoured destination for outsourcing, countries like Singapore were gaining favour.

A number of financial services companies, including Barclays and Credit Suisse have expanded their support operations with the Monetary Authority of Singapore actively promoting the country as a financial centre.

"Service providers are gaining domain specific capabilities to move-up the value chain. This trend is expected to boost further consequence to decreasing cost arbitrage, increased competition, and the relentless search for value," Bhat said.

Intel, HCL launches classmate PCs

2007-07-23T12:53:00.000+05:30

The world’s largest chip maker Intel and leading computer manufacturer HCL Infosystems on Saturday announced the launch of classmate PCs.

The mobile PC is priced in the sub-Rs 18,000 range and will be available in the market for schools starting August, HCL infosystems executive vice-president Rajendra Kumar as informed.

“Rs 18,000 includes the cost of installing supporting connectivity infrastructure, teachers’ training and customised learning solutions through our tie-up with content developers and education service providers.

The cost will further go down,” he said. A classmate PC is an educational tool developed by Intel to aid students in their classroom learning. It is powered by Intel processor 900 MHZ and comes with WIFI and ethernet connectivity.

Classmate PCs will be retailed through schools and HCL Infosystems expects to deploy 3,000-5,000 such PCs over the next nine months to an year.

Google to bid for wireless airwaves

2007-07-23T12:52:00.000+05:30

Google Inc said that it would take part in a major auction of wireless spectrum Airwaves, meeting a minimum required bid of $4.6 billion, if US regulators added a sale condition that Google said would promote an open wireless market.

The prospect of Google's participation in the auction escalates the debate over how the valuable airwaves should be used.

Ten days after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin floated a proposed set of rules for the auction, Google said it wants the FCC to require the winning bidder to offer to resell access to some of the airwaves to competitors on a wholesale basis.

"When Americans can use the software and handsets of their choice, over open and competitive networks, they win," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in a letter to Martin.

Martin's plan would require support for any wireless device or software application, but it did not include the so-called "wholesale" requirement.

"While these all are positive steps, unfortunately the current draft order falls short of including (all of the) tailored and enforceable conditions, with meaningful implementation deadlines, that consumer groups, other companies, and Google have sought," Schmidt wrote.

Google also called for another provision which would require other companies to be allowed to interconnect "at any technically feasible point" with the winning bidder's network.

Schmidt has said an open telecommunications network drives Internet usage and directly benefits Google's business strategy of selling advertising over the Internet. Some analysts have also speculated that Google could have plans to develop and sell mobile devices.

Google's position is at odds with existing major wireless carriers that say a requirement to resell the airwaves would reduce the value of the airwaves.

Google's offer was denounced by most existing wireless carriers, who accused the company of trying to rig the auction in its favor.

"This is an attempt to pressure the US government to turn the auction process on its head by ensuring only a few, if any, bidders will compete with Google," AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi said in a statement.

AT&T is supporting Martin's proposed auction rules, while the No 2 wireless service provider, Verizon Wireless, has staunchly opposed any conditions on the auction as "corporate welfare" for Google. Verizon Wireless is owned by Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

Currently, wireless carriers restrict the models of cell phones that can be used on their networks and the software that can be downloaded onto them, such as ring tones, music or Web browser software.

Martin and the other four FCC commissioners are mulling different scenarios for how the auction should be conducted amid intense lobbying by existing wireless carriers, consumer groups and potential new bidders such as Google.

The airwaves to be sold in the 700-megahertz band are considered valuable because they can travel long distances and penetrate thick walls. The auction, to be held later this year, is seen as the last opportunity for a new player to enter the wireless market.

Later on Friday, a key House committee announced it had asked all five FCC commissioners to testify at an oversight hearing on Tuesday.

In a letter to the FCC, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell asked a series of questions about how Martin's proposed open-access rules would be enforced and whether they would increase costs to wireless carriers and consumers.

Google and some consumer advocates have pushed for a list of open-access conditions for a large piece of the airwaves and argue that the wholesale requirement should be among them to promote more competition for wireless service.

A source familiar with Martin's auction plan said the minimum bid requirement was set at $4.6 billion. If no bidders met the minimum amount, the auction would be run without the open-access conditions.

Blair Levin, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, said Google's offer "is a way to take that (money) issue off the table."

"It certainly helps those who are supportive of Google's position to be able to say the treasury is going to make at least as much as the treasury thought it was going to make," Levin said.

Levin said he did not think there was enough support currently among the five FCC commissioners to pass the wholesale requirement sought by Google.
But, he said, "The odds have gone up." The 700-mHZ airwaves are being returned by broadcasters as they move from analog to digital signals early in 2009.

The move to bid on the wireless airwaves was overshadowed on Wall Street by disappointment over Google's second quarter results, issued last week, which were hurt by a costly hiring spree that saw its shares close Friday down 5.2 per cent to $520.12.

Indian geeks rated good citizens in cyber city

2007-07-20T11:09:00.000+05:30

Indian geeks are among the most sought after worldwide to tweak, maintain and test code but when it comes to cyber crime, thankfully they are not among the leaders. Research by US-based IT security and control firm SophosLabs shows that though India is one of the world’s most technologically booming nations, it ranks surprisingly low when it comes to churning out malware.

The study shows that only 2.8% spam is relayed from India, whereas the US tops the chart at 19.8% followed by China at 7.5%. The study suggests that the onus for low cyber-crime in India goes to a ‘cultural difference’.

Though the US still produces more malware , viruses and spams than any other country in the world, such jobs are increasingly getting outsourced to countries where labour is cheap and legitimate IT jobs are scarce. So scammers in these countries (like China ) are insulated from laws that protect their victims .

That explains China, Brazil and Russia’s inclusion in the top 10 spam-relaying countries of the world. India ranks 11th in the dirty dozen list.

When compared to other countries which feature in the list, India has legitimate IT jobs and good programming knowledge, which can reasonably establish why Indians shy away from the illegal use of such knowledge. “In India, strong cultural values act as a dampener for any illegal activities and we have already seen cyber-crime cells cropping up in different parts of the country, further reducing chances of relaying malware,” contends Nandkumar Saravade, director of cyber-security at the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

There are 20-million computers in India, under 2% of the population, which indicates below par penetration. “Cyber-crime increases with PC penetration,” claims Deepankar Sanwalka , head of KPMG’s forensic department.

He cites stringent control measures by the ITeS sector off late as a reason why cyber-crime in the country has been under check. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan’s ‘World Anti-Malware Products Markets’ reveals that the world market for anti-virus solutions reached $4.7 billion in 2006, up 17.1% from about $4 billion in the previous year and expects this market to grow at a 10.9% CAGR from 2006 to 2013, reaching $9.7 billion by 2013. According to the Sophos study, the overall volume of spam rose by around 4.2% during Q1 2007, when compared to the same period in 2006.

Highest Paid Executives in India

2007-07-19T11:32:00.000+05:30

In another marker of India’s economic might, salaries of top executives have started scaling new heights. Gone are the days when a Rs 60 lakh package was hailed as a lofty achievement. Now, a Rs 1 crore salary cheque has become commonplace not only for CEOs, but also for lesser people in the pecking order. And entry level executives getting dream salaries is no longer headline news. Indian execs are the luckiest ones for their average pay increase of 14 per cent is the maximum in the Asia Pacific region this year. Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani is the highest-paid head honcho in the country according to a list of highest-paid executives compiled by Business India magazine.

Mukesh Ambani

Leading the pack, India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani earned Rs 24.51 crore in 2005-06 as Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries. Ambani’s pay check has seen an increase of 12.8 per cent compared to his salary of Rs 21.72 crore last year. His brother Anil Ambani is way behind at No. 15 earning Rs 7.32 crore a year.

The Munjals

Hero Honda’s Munjals are the second and third highest paid executives in the Business India list. While Hero Honda Chairman Brijmohan Lall Munjal took home Rs 15.58 crore, the company’s MD and CEO Pawan Munjal comes third with a remuneration package of Rs 15.22 crore.

Naveen Jindal

Jindal Steel and Power MD and Rajya Sabha MP Naveen Jindal has climbed 20 places to be at No. 4 in this year’s Business India list. Jindal earned Rs 13.54 crore in 2005-06, which is a whopping 71 per cent increase over his 2004-05 salary of Rs 3.88 crore.

Sunil Bharti Mittal

The No. 5 slot also sees a new entrant. Bharti Airtel CMD Sunil Bharti Mittal was richer by 12.61 crore this year. The more than 100 per cent pay hike has pushed him to the present fifth position gaining nine places since last year.

Miki Yamamoto and Takao Eguchi

If Mukesh Ambani is the clear leader in individual terms, Hero Honda is the sure winner in company terms for it has contributed four people to the Top Ten list. The sixth and seventh places in the Business India list go to Honda executives Miki Yamamoto and Takao Eguchi respectively. While Yamamoto took home Rs 12.63 crore, Eguchi earned Rs 12.55 crore.

The Marans

Media mogul Kalanithi Maran and his wife Kaveri Kalanithi are the new entrants in the Business India list at No. 8 and No. 9. As CMD Maran earned Rs 11.13 crore in 2006, while Kaveri earned Rs 10.26 crore as Joint MD.

A J Agarwal

Shipping giant Mercator Lines’ Joint MD A J Agarwal occupies the tenth place in the Business India top executives list. Agarwal earned Rs 1 crore in 2005-06

Reliance Communications Acquires US Based Yipes For $300 Million

2007-07-18T20:56:00.000+05:30

Reliance Communications Limited today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire US based Yipes Enterprises Services ("Yipes"), the leading provider of managed Ethernet services.

Accelerates Reliance Communications penetration into the lucrative Rs 400,000 crore ($ 100 bn) global enterprise data market Yipes is strongly positioned in Ethernet, by far the highest growth segment in the US datacom market, with an annual growth rate of over 30% Yipes has strategic network presence in the top 14 US metros, which account for 40% of the total US datacom market

Yipes has nearly 1,000 enterprise customers and provides mission critical communications platforms for entire industry communities. Reliance will rapidly expand Yipes coverage within the US and take Yipes to nearly 40 new markets globally where Reliance is already present in Middle East, Asia and India.

By synergizing FLAG and Yipes, Reliance is poised to become the global leader in Ethernet, a Rs 100,000 crore ($ 25 bn) market wordwide by 2010.

Anil D. Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Communications, said "This is the largest acquisition that Reliance Communications has ever made. The acquisition of Yipes drives forward our strategy to offer the most sophisticated, cutting edge data communication products and services, specialising in application and content distribution, spanning developed and emerging markets. We see enormous potential to rapidly expand Yipes coverage in the US and to globalise Yipes service by leveraging our customer relationships and network reach around the globe. We confidently expect this acquisition to significantly enhance the growth rate, profitability and returns of our global data business."

Highlights of Yipes business

Yipes is the leading provider of managed Ethernet and application delivery services for the global enterprise. Established in 1999, Yipes has pioneered Metro Ethernet and has developed leading edge proprietary products to meet the exacting requirements of its customers. Ethernet is the fastest growing segment of the data communications market, driven by the migration of enterprise customers from older private network technologies. Infonetics Research forecasts the Ethernet services market will surge by over 30% CAGR from 2006 to 2010 when it will top $ 25 billion worldwide.

Yipes has nearly 1,000 enterprise customers, concentrated across 4 industry verticals - financial, legal, government and healthcare - which currently account for 50% of the Ethernet market. Yipes has developed communications platforms that act as the oxygen for entire industry communities. For example, Yipes is the leading direct communications provider to the New York Stock Exchange, Chicago Mercantile Exchange and NASDAQ and interconnects with multiple market participants and intermediaries.

Yipes, headquartered in San Francisco, owns over 22,000 route kilometres of fibre across 14 US metros, which covers around 40% of the total US datacom market. In addition, Yipes is present in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Pramod Haque, Yipes Chairman and Managing Partner of Norwest Venture Partners, said "We saw long ago the impact Ethernet services would have on the telecommunications industry. Yipes has consistently brought fresh ideas and tangible innovation to this market. This acquisition of Yipes by India's powerhouse, Reliance Communications, sets the stage for a major transformation within global telecommunications."

John Scanlon, CEO of Yipes, said "Yipes pioneered Metro Ethernet services, extended it across the US and is poised to expand globally. With Reliance Communications, we aim to replicate our success in the US across the rest of the world. The financial sector, in particular, presents a key opportunity for us as we are well positioned to capture the market by meeting the fast-growing and stringent connectivity requirements of financial exchanges around the world. The financial connectivity market alone is expected to reach $ 6.3 billion by 2010 and grow at around 35 percent per annum."

Strategic fit with Reliance Communications

Reliance Communications vision for its Global Data business is to be a leading provider of sophisticated, cutting-edge data communication products and services, specializing in application and content distribution, which will span into developed and emerging markets, delivered over the FLAG Global Network.

The acquisition of Yipes is a key step in Reliance Communications plan to move up the value chain and closer to its customers in the Global Data business. It significantly increases Reliance's revenues from the enterprise segment internationally.FLAG and Yipes are highly complimentary in terms of their products, services, and networks.

With the acquisition of Yipes, Reliance will accelerate its penetration into the lucrative Rs 400,000 crore ($ 100 billion) global enterprise data market and will be better able to serve its international customers directly in the US.With the backing of Reliance, Yipes will rapidly double its coverage of the US market. At the same time, Yipes Ethernet services will be overlaid on FLAG's global next generation network, allowing Yipes to expand its reach worldwide and enabling FLAG to create significantly more value from its network assets in the strongholds of India, the Middle East, and East Asia.

Reliance Communications, through an affiliate, is acquiring 100% of Yipes in an all-cash transaction. This constitutes Reliance Communications largest acquisition to date. Yipes will operate as a strategic business unit, fully integrated strategically and operationally within FLAG Telecom. The key senior management of Yipes has committed to remain with the business and will continue with their present responsibilities.

Punit Garg, President, Global Business, Reliance Communications commented "The acquisition of Yipes will place Reliance Communications among the top three Global Ethernet service providers in the world. Reliance Communications with FLAG has a strong foothold in India, the Middle East and Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. We plan to leverage the significant headstart of Yipes in Ethernet services, double the coverage in the US domestic market, and rollout Yipes services over the FLAG Global Network. We are fully committed to bringing Ethernet services to nearly 40 new countries."

Persistent Systems on an ACQUISITION SPREE

2007-07-11T21:45:00.000+05:30

After a long hibernation of acquiring ControlNet India, a 100% subsidiary of Campbell, CA based ControlNet Inc., for approximately US $ 2 Million (Rs. 9 crores)in the year 2005, Persistent Systems, a outsourced software product development services provider, today announced the acquisition of assets of the Indian arm of Metrikus Inc, USA. Through this acquisition, Persistent Systems and Metrikus Inc have entered into a revenue sharing agreement to jointly market business intelligence solutions.

All of Metrikus India's employees are now part of Persistent Systems family. The acquisition has enabled Persistent Systems to establish a foothold in Hyderabad.

Anand Deshpande, MD & CEO, Persistent Systems quoted: “This acquisition brings on board BI solutions expertise and a development centre in Hyderabad.”

How to Actually Execute Your To-Do List

2007-07-10T15:39:00.001+05:30

Have you gotten good at organizing your tasks in a to-do list, but have trouble actually executing them? You’re not alone.Getting things on your to-do list actually done is difficult because it’s really a collection of habits that most people don’t think about. Today, we’ll look at addressing those issues that stop you from doing things, and the habits needed to overcome those issues.

read more digg story

10 Essential Habits for Freelance Workers

2007-07-10T12:55:00.001+05:30

The key, I’ve found, is to develop certain habits that will keep you not only disciplined but successful. Simple habits, to be sure, but ones that can go a long way towards taking you from a broke freelancer to a happy and productive one. Here are 10 essential habits for freelance workers...

read more | digg story

Rupert Murdoch gets Dow Jones for $5 BILLION

2007-07-10T12:53:00.001+05:30

Rupert Murdoch has succeeded with his $5bn (£2.5bn) bid for Dow Jones, owners of the Wall Street Journal, according to a report in The Business.Negotiations are finished and the board is confident the terms of the deal will be accepted by the Bancroft family, which controls a majority of voting shares in Dow Jones.

read more | digg story

Emerging Opportunity - Testing Services

2007-07-10T12:14:00.000+05:30

The market for offshore Testing Services is growing at a rapid rate and presents a major, untapped opportunity for Indian outsourcing vendors. Most key players in the industry, have in fact, built robust Testing Services portfolios and deployed Best Practices within this segment.

According to Gartner Inc., the worldwide market for Testing Services is forecast to grow to US$ 13 billion by 2010, with 45-50 percent (around US$ 6 billion) getting outsourced. Indian IT-BPO players generated export revenues of about US$ 280 million from Testing Services in 2006. A significant potential therefore exists for Indian IT-BPO companies providing solutions in this space.

The challenge facing the Indian testing services industry

The rapid growth in demand for software testing services has had a corresponding impact on the supply side. Of all the challenges faced by the industry, the most crucial was the paucity of skilled manpower In 2006 alone, there was a shortfall of 15,000 software testing professionals in India. This shortfall is stated to be a result of the following:

- The fact that young professionals are not aware of the career potential of the testing market.

- The lack of higher business domain knowledge, process knowledge and client
management skills among testing professionals, a major requirement for the
market.

- The absence of training and learning programs that cater specially to this
market. As specialized software testing as a career has emerged only in the
last 7-10 years, academic institutions as well as corporate entities are
not geared fully to nurture software testing professionals.

Clearly, Indian IT-BPOs focused on the Testing Services marketplace have to tune themselves to the emerging technology and business trends shaping this opportunity. Investments in the right testing tools, relevant testing methodologies and skilled manpower is becoming a must today. Indian IT-BPO organizations need to keep these factors in mind to step up their share in the fast growth Testing Services segment.

Is Recruiting a Profession by Kevin Wheeler

2007-06-29T11:09:00.000+05:30

Taking out myth from all the people starting their profession in HR, let us all be very clear that recruitment is not an entry level job to get into the HR generalist role.........Recruitments has its own significance

Improving the fragile relationship between HR, hiring managers, and recruiters

Many people do not regard recruiting as a profession. HR generalists are prone to think that anyone can do recruiting. Managers expect unqualified people to act as interviewers and to give them advice on whom to hire. Even recruiters have mixed opinions, as many of them were not formally trained and were also HR generalists at some point.

Within many organizations, there is an uneasy relationship between human resources generalists, recruiters, and management. HR generalists often try to intermediate among everyone, sometimes creating confusion or generating animosity. Recruiters tend to work alone or to bypass the HR generalist, also creating bad feelings. Managers go to whichever one they have the best relationship with.

In some organizations, hiring managers simply bypass both and go directly to third-party recruiters outside the firm. They do this because these agency recruiters are seen as professionals. They meet three requirements: they are perceived as experts who have access to the right candidates, they are able to immediately respond to the hiring manager's needs, and they are free of corporate politics and bureaucracy.

While this problem has existed for decades and is probably a normal part of corporate life, it can be different. Part of the problem is that HR is in the midst of changing from being administrative and transaction-centered to being value-centered.

HRIS systems have automated many of the administrative tasks of HR, and intranets and self-service philosophies have taken over some of their service elements. This has led to a need for fewer people within most HR functions and to an identity crisis for HR professionals who now have to re-establish a value-adding role for themselves. Many people see recruiting, or finding the right talent, as one of these and want to be part of the process.

Recruiters are faced with daunting challenges as well. They can no longer rely on volume to meet demands. For some positions, few people, if any, apply. For others, there are hundreds of applicants. The recruiter has to source people for the tough positions and screen them for the others. And they have to do the screening and assessing in a deeper manner than before and are held to tighter quality standards.

To be successful, they too have had to adopt technology that removes much of the clerical side of their work. They find that it is critical to know who the best performers are and what their competencies and skills are. Yet the HR professional often won't facilitate an interaction or can't identify the best performers and throw up procedural blocks to prevent recruiters from doing it themselves.

Hiring managers don't care about any of this. They just want good people fast. Because the HR professionals most often have the relationship with the hiring manager, they should be able to act as a broker between the hiring manager and the recruiter. Yet the two often work at odds to one another. Many HR people feel threatened by their own systems and by the recruiting technologies and easily fall back into their more familiar administrative roles of regulator and police.

Professionals usually have some set of established qualifications that give them the right to call themselves professionals. HR has struggled to formulate these criteria and has done so with the Society of Human Resource Management's Professional Human Resources and Senior Profession Human Resources certificates.

No one has done this yet for recruiting, although there has been talk among groups such as the old Employment Management Association (now part of SHRM) and other such groups to create standards. Until some organization creates the standards, recruiters need to self-regulate. They need to formally learn skills such as how to conduct a behavioral interview, how to recruit ethically, and how to use the Internet and other tools to source candidates. They need to have formal training in the laws of their state and government. Recruiting is getting more difficult and more complex every year.

Flying by the seat of their pants is rapidly becoming a liability to both the recruiter and the organization who hires them. Until such standards are defined, here are five things to improve the fragile, difficult relationship between HR, hiring managers, and recruiters:

1. Be responsive. Hiring managers want (and should get) attention and focus on the positions they have open. The HR professional is in the perfect position to facilitate the communication process between hiring managers and recruiters. In one organization, the HR professional acted as a team leader for a group composed of hiring managers, recruiters and a few technical experts. Together they identified competencies, developed interview guides and even made referrals.

2. Educate. Make sure that hiring managers understand the market and appreciate how easy or difficult a particular placement may be. Agencies do this by negotiation and price. Internally, HR professionals and recruiters have to do more explaining. Recruiters need to know and explain the talent marketplace. The HR professional needs to facilitate and broker relationships, gather and share information about people and make sure that the talent of the organization is "managed" in a way that maximizes productivity and minimizes turnover.

3. Reduce bureaucracy, employ technology. Make sure that the recruiting process is clearly understood by all the parties involved. Be sure that roles and responsibilities are well defined. Whenever possible, develop a service level agreement to actually spell out what each party will do (or not do) and when they will do it. Remove administrative responsibilities from the hiring manager and from recruiters and HR professionals by employing technology more effectively. Make sure whatever you want a manager to do with technology works flawlessly, quicker than it did before, and yields better quality. Would you use an ATM if it were twice as complicated and took more time than to go inside to the teller?

4. Measure what you do. Just because the HR professionals and the recruiters have taught the hiring managers about the market or redesigned roles does not mean that they all understand the impact those changes have. Both HR professionals and recruiters need to gather data, test hypotheses, establish metrics and make the recruiting process as empirical as possible. Managers will understand and respond to hard data. Show them the cost and time saved and the value added.

5. Use an evolutionary approach. Take things one step at a time. Don't expect hiring managers to become recruiters, at least not right away. Don't expect HR professionals to give up all their recruiting tasks. Those tasks will eventually disappear anyway. Don't expect recruiters to become completely versed in all the rules and politics of the organization. Make people want to use the new approaches because they are faster, better, or cheaper. Remember to start by giving hiring managers what they want and need: good talent as fast as possible.

None of this is rocket science, just some very basic things that are often overlooked. Change is difficult for both HR and line management, so guide and teach managers about how to recruit while you continuously figure out how you can support their efforts from a behind-the-scenes, value-added approach.

Finally, lobby to get a set of professional standards in place so that you can truly say you are a professional and not just an amateur subset of HR.

Hyderabad best place for business: World Bank

2007-02-15T22:47:00.000+05:30

Doing business in Patna and Ranchi is easier than Mumbai or Kolkata. This is a conclusion drawn by the funding agency World Bank in its latest report on business friendliness......

Among Indian cities Hyderabad tops the list followed by Bangalore and Jaipur.....Hyderabad is becoming the next big happeneing thing....in not only IT but infrastructure, real estate, retail, outsourcing and the likes...

Read here

IT companies shower love on womenfolk

2007-01-01T16:45:00.000+05:30

I chanced upon this piece of work on HR headlines(naukri.com)
Though the title sounds partial towards women, but infact India has also understood the need of women empowerment in terms of economic liberation a vital element in improving the economic status of a country....

IT COMPANIES SHOWER LOVE ON WOMENFOLK

It is women unlimited! And IT companies are leading from the front, heralding a change to make the workplace a better experience than ever before. While scanning a resume, all qualifications being equal, most IT companies are showing a penchant for women talent. This global phenomenon ushered in by MNCs is now becoming an IT industry best practice in India. While women-friendly policies like flexihours and gender diversity are par for the course, IT companies are now going one step further. Companies such as IBM are actually encouraging their placement agencies to circulate more resumes of women. Headhunters confirmed that they are being incentivised for doing that. While Adobe Systems ensures that women have help, by creating women communities and networks , Sapient creates role models of women in high positions to highlight the absence of a glass ceiling. Meanwhile, TCS has created work policies for women which result in eight out of 10 women resuming work after maternity leave. IT companies such as Accenture , TCS and IBM also focus on attracting more women in technology by either tying up with academia or training women from science streams to become software engineers. Nasscom estimates the proportion of women working in the IT industry will touch 35 pct in 2007, up from 24 pct in 2005.
Source: 23 Dec' 06 The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

HP's new enterprise strategy in India

2006-11-21T15:14:00.000+05:30

This is one very good news for all those techies out there who are waiting to join HP........

New Delhi: Hewlett-Packard announced its new enterprise strategy and product portfolio and plans to strengthen its sales forcein India

Read More

Who is the world's worst accountant?

2006-11-11T13:33:00.000+05:30

The problems at Enron have highlighted what can happen when an accountant goes off the rails. Indeed, the energy giant's former CFO Andrew Fastow was sentenced to ten years in a US jail for his sins.

But a brief trawl through the AccountancyAge.com archives reveals a surprising number of finance professionals, fake accountants and just plain fraudsters who have been tempted to fiddle the books.

Read More

Hindujas set up 1,000-seater BPO in Mysore

2006-11-11T13:12:00.000+05:30

HINDUJA TMT, a leading IT and ITES player, has forayed into its first tier II location with a 1,000 seater BPO facility in Mysore and this is expected to grow into a 2,000 seater in the next two years. It is expected to make an investment of around Rs 20 crore in two years.

The Mysore centre will initially cater to the domestic market and later on to overseas clients once the operations are in full swing.

"The talent that is available here is at par with the talent base that we have pan India and hope that by moving here we will have better access to manpower which will also help in containing attrition rates," says Satya Sai Sylada, head of HR, HTMT. B N Narasimha Murthy, senior vice president, domestic markets and transition, HTMT said: "The opening of HTMT's Mysore Centre of Excellence signals the start of our expansion into tier II cities in the country.

Read More

US engg jobs continue to go to India

2006-11-11T13:06:00.000+05:30

US engineering jobs are being "offshored" to countries like India and China, a trend that is "gaining momentum", says a study just out.

But it says that it is still "not clear" whether this would erode US competitiveness or provide long-term benefits to the West.

"What is clear is that there is insufficient independent research on this study," says the study by the Durham, NC-based Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering Research. The study is titled "Industry Trends in Engineering Offshoring".

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1,000 trainees inducted into Gems SEZ institute

2006-11-11T13:02:00.000+05:30

Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (Andhra Pradesh) today handed over one thousand appointment letters to on-job trainees (including 600 women) who had been selected to be trained at the newly opened Diamond Training Institute of the Hyderabad Gems SEZ, promoted by the Gitanjali Group.

Formally handing over the appointment orders to the trainees at Secretariat, the Chief Minister expressed happiness over creating jobs to local unemployed youth and congratulated the group of youth, which included a disabled person.

Delhi among top hubs for outsourcing

2006-11-11T12:54:00.000+05:30

Indian cities led by Delhi’s national capital region (NCR) have grabbed the top seven slots in a global ranking of the competitiveness of cities as outsourcing destinations. Close on the heels of Delhi are Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai, according to a study released by US-based consulting firm neoIT.

The other three Indian cities at the top of the list are Pune, Chennai and Kolkata in that order. Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Manila (Philippines) and Shanghai (China) are the three non-Indian cities which figure among the top 10 offshoring destinations.

Hotel Industry Salaries To Move Up The Ladder

2006-11-11T12:36:00.000+05:30

The salaries of hotel employees have increased by 20 pct-25 pct in the last one year. According to the latest report of HVS International, a hotel consulting firm, salaries at the managerial level have taken a quantum leap, anywhere between 60 pct-100 pct in the last three years and are expected to rise further. The shortage of manpower, especially of skilled manpower for the hotel industry, is one of the main reasons for the hike in salaries. According to the HR heads of various hotels in India, only 20 pct of fresh hotel management graduates choose to work in hotels, with a major chunk being employed by airlines and BPOs. With this kind of demand, salaries will further rise. As salaries are rising and the industry is facing manpower crunch, various solutions are being considered by industry heads.

Source: 30-10-06 The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

IBM second largest BPO employer in India

2006-11-05T14:32:00.000+05:30

IBM has emerged as the 2nd largest BPO in India today. After acquiring e-Daksh in 2004 which had a headcount of 6000 employees at the time of aquisition has grown to 20, 000 employees. IBM-Daksh added over 10,000 staff in the last 12 months ( phew ! I wonder how they recruited).

But what would be quality of the services of these companies. At the same time, some of the problems that have dogged the sector could become bigger. For starters, quality, so essential for the tasks, could get diluted. As companies hire in large numbers, managing growth is going to be a key challenge.

TCS to invest $109M in new Pune facility

2006-11-05T14:00:00.000+05:30

IT - Services industry is on the boom breaking all the barriers, more and more companies are investing in new facilities, Thus opening further more opportunities for jobseekers.

Recently TCS announced that they will be investing $109 Million in their New Pune facility. After the BPO Industry - IT Service companies like TCS, Wipro, Infy etc are eyeing the small towns in India to find talent for thier needs. As India Inc is growing at a faster pace they will further venture into more smaller towns, thus providing a golden opportunity for the youngsters in these towns.

So you ppl in small towns dont worry may be some of these companies are coming to your town soon .... keep your fingers crossed.

Do go through the article below. Comments appreciated.

===================================

MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's top software services exporter, said on Saturday it plans a new software development center in Pune.

The company also said it plans to hire 9,000 people by March 2007 for its existing unit in Mumbai and the one in Pune.

Read More

AMD To Double Staff In India

2006-11-05T13:45:00.000+05:30

Amd one of the leading microprocessor and graphics and media solutions company is planning to ramp up its engineering staff in India to 200, as it seeks to step up sales in the country.

Besides platform engineering and R&D, the firm is also strengthening its sales and marketing teams at its centre in Bangalore.

Amd also want to capitalize on the talent pool and the opportunites India can present as there is ample of talent for R&D activities in India. India is fast becoming a R& D hub for companies worldwide.

Jobs In India-infocus

2006-11-03T12:17:00.000+05:30

This article gives you a quick snapshot of all the hotjobs coming up into the Indian job market in near future.......................

Read Here

Genpact to hire 3,600 in 2 months

2006-11-02T10:53:00.000+05:30

HYDERABAD: Genpact is now looking at expanding delivery base to tier II cities. The company is planning to take its overall headcount to 45,000 by 2008, besides targeting revenues of $1-billion. Genpact is looking at recruiting about 3,600 people in the next two months in India to add to its current workforce of 19,000.

3,75,000 network pros needed by '09

2006-11-02T10:50:00.000+05:30

HYDERABAD: India is staring at a huge shortfall of 1,00,000 networking professionals, the plumbers of the Internet, by 2009. The demand for networking professionals, currently at 1,55,000, is expected to touch 3,75,000 by 2009, while the supply would remain at 2,75,000. The demand is growing at almost 26% year-on-year, according to a study by the International Data Corporation.

Read More

Source : Economic Times

Campus placements not an entry ticket to Infy anymore

2006-11-02T10:46:00.000+05:30

BANGALORE: All is not well at Infosys Technologies’ Mysore Campus — touted as the world’s largest training services facility — where the company puts thousands of freshers through their paces before moving them to the workplace.

Infy freshers at Mysore are learning the hard way that campus placements do not necessarily guarantee a job after the IT major changed its training policy. Until recently, recruits had six options, including two vivas, to clear the training programme. Those who failed had to undergo training again.

Source : Economic Times

Hinduja TMT buys US BPO co AFFINA

2006-10-31T16:36:00.000+05:30

Hinduja TMT has acquired a US-based BPO company, AFFINA, as part of its move to grow the BPO business and substantially expand the number of employees.

HTMT’s turnover will nearly double to about $130m due to the acquisition. Its total number of employees is expected to rise to about 9,000. Hinduja TMT decided in April this year to demerge its BPO business into a separate company and list it on the stock market.

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Capgemini to double headcount in India

2006-10-28T15:32:00.000+05:30

BANGALORE: France based IT services company, Capgemini plans to double its headcount in India to 10,000 by the end of next year and is looking at three more cities in the country......

For more info ..
Read here

Payscales In India - Ask what you are worth for !!

2006-10-26T15:21:00.000+05:30

Are you being paid peanuts ??

Not aware how to negotiate your salary with your potential employer ??

Awaiting a hike ??

Difficult to predict what would be your next hike ....How to know what would be right pay package you can negotiate with your employer ...These are a few questions pop into your thoughts.This post is dedicated to all those brain stomers who are worried about their hikes / negotiating thier pay with their present / potential employers or just for people who are just figuring out what is their market value.

At times it's really a mess to think about what would be the right package .... Lot of my friends are in a dilema when it comes to the pay packet "What to ask for".... in the background we always keep figuring out "Am I expecting more" or " What I expect is less according to my skills".

According to a salary survey conducted by Payscale.com the projected figures are below :

Median Salary by Job - All People in All Surveys (India)

Currency: US Dollars (USD) Updated: 10/25/2006 Individuals reporting: 17,427

Median Salary by City - All People in All Surveys (India)

Currency: US Dollars (USD) Updated: 10/25/2006 Individuals reporting: 17,422

Median Salary by Years Experience - All People in All Surveys (India)

Currency: US Dollars (USD) Updated: 10/25/2006 Individuals reporting: 17,418

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For personalized salary projections visit www.payscale.com

Mobile handset firms see roaring business in India

2006-10-26T15:02:00.000+05:30

More and more global mobile handset manufacturers, including Motorola, Haier and Sony Ericsson, are planning to set up manufacturing units in India to “be where the business is”.

Motorola, the world’s second largest mobile phone firm, is setting up its first manufacturing unit in India during the first quarter of 2007.

How to Evaluate a Job Offer

2006-10-25T11:04:00.000+05:30

How to evaluate your Job Offer ? A tough call to make - for most of us. What are the minutes which need to be analysed before accepting a Job Offer.

You've spent the last few months answering help wanted ads, visiting recruiters, and networking. You've sent out your resumes and gone on a bunch of interviews. And now the moment you've been waiting for is here. It's your turn now. You have some job offers to consider. During those long days pounding the pavement, you didn't think making a decision would be this difficult. But this is serious business. The job you take now may be yours for a long time to come.

What's the most important thing to consider? Is it salary, health benefits, or vacation time? Or could it be the corporate culture or the length or your commute? What about your boss and co-workers -- will working with them be pleasant? As you can see there are a number of factors to take into account and only some are negotiable.

Read More

Fujitsu, Hitachi to outsource software development to India

2006-10-24T12:37:00.000+05:30

Fujitsu Ltd, Hitachi Ltd and other Japanese technology companies plan to farm out software development to India in order to lower costs and cope with staffing shortages.......

A whole lot of new employement opportunities awaiting.........

Read here

When its time to GO -- !!!!

2006-10-24T11:12:00.000+05:30

I was just cruising different blogs this morning and came across this interesting post "When its time to GO" by Mr. Ben Gothkin. He has penned down his views, why and what are the reasons for his job shift.

According to him its not his boss, his job, his compensation, etc which pushed him to look for a change. He's only leaving because he'd been presented with an opportunity to move up into a strategic leadership role, an opportunity that would not have happened with his current employer for at least a few more years.

Do you agree on the same ???

Unions protest BBC's plan to move jobs to India

2006-10-24T11:07:00.000+05:30

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is moving its finance-based work from Britain to India.

In a statement, the corporation said it was outsourcing the work to Indian tech company Xansa in a contract worth around 85 million pounds over 10 years.

10 Powerful Career Strategies for Women

2006-10-24T10:57:00.000+05:30

The general impression is that women are becoming incrementally more successful in the workforce -- and some of the news is good. Women are represented in the workforce in greater numbers than ever and holding a higher percentage of managerial and executive jobs than in the past. Women-owned businesses have doubled in the last dozen or so years.

Lack of pay equity and the ever-present glass ceiling continue to be obstacles to women's career success. But women have secret weapons, opportunities to deploy their special strengths, and the ability to adapt talents typically thought to be men's domain. If our 10 strategies seem to suggest male-bashing or a war between the sexes, that's not the intent. It's just about leveling the playing field in a work world that has been inequitable for women for far too long

Here are 10 strategies women should consider for advancing their careers:

Read More

Is Technical Writing a viable career option?

2006-10-23T16:08:00.000+05:30

Ever thought about what goes into creating the user manuals or instruction brochures of your music system, mobile phones or even the car maintenance guides? Most of us just manage to glance through the item, leave alone going into the technical details.

Since such information is meant for the layman, simplifying the jargons associated with any particular product or process is the key function of technical writers. A bridge between technology and its users, technical writing is also the ‘science’ of designing, validating, and packaging the information created to meet a certain objective. The irony of the situation is that in spite of playing such a crucial role, not much work has been done to assess the number of technical writers in the country. The IT industry, which absorbs a major chunk of technical writers has also shied away from giving due credit to this work

In today’s customer-centric business model , the very process of acquiring and losing deals depends on the effectiveness of the technical writers. According to Priyadarshi Tripathi, consultant, HCL Infosystems, “Any organisation that is conscious about the information/messages catering to its customers, employees or business partners employs technical writers who are specialists. ” Pradeep Henry of Cognizant Technology Solutions adds, “ For a software services organisation, its user manuals and technical write-ups act as its public face and reflects its level of professionalism.”

Technical writing as a niche profession

Top Jobs for the future

2006-10-23T15:34:00.000+05:30

How would you feel if the job you've been doing for most of your life just moved offshore without any warning?

What if you just spent several years getting an education for a job that was no longer in high demand?

How would you like to know the secrets to choosing a satisfying career that will also be in high demand?

By understanding the major trends that are affecting our lives, you will be able to play an active role in planning and directing your career. By understanding these trends you will have a better chance of seeing the big changes before they hit.
This look into the future will show you the careers that are expected to have high demand and some that aren't. But more importantly this article will show you the basics of "trend spotting" so that you can make your own intelligent career choices.

If you are not interested in "the how and the why" of looking into the future of careers and jobs, simply click here to jump to the list of "Top Jobs For The Future."

Premier IT event to focus on IP development

2006-10-23T15:18:00.000+05:30

Bangalore: The eighth edition of India's premier IT event, BangaloreIT.in 2006, slated from Oct 28, will focus on intellectual property (IP) developments taking place in the country to create high-end products for global markets.

Among the foreign countries to be represented by their companies are Australia, Belgium, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, Singapore, Spain and the US.

Read Here

Organisation Behavior

2006-10-23T12:38:00.000+05:30

Well friends i am not going to brief here anything on this topic...ya but would recommend you all to read the book by Fred Luthans-'Organisation Behavior'.

Its a must read book for all who are about to take the plunge and those who are already into the feildwork.

Some amazing case studies ,a good lot of relevant examples are illustrated and you can get a close look on how important every aspect of human behavior is and its impact on the organisation as a whole.

Corporate Policy Making,due you have any clue.......

2006-10-20T15:31:00.000+05:30

Well, I am not really going to talk about corporate policy making techniques here. Just wanted to share with you a little piece of internet humor, that is going around as email forwards. Most of you probably have already read it, but no harm having a hearty laugh once again.

Put eight monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which makes them miserable. Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed with cold water, set upon him and beat him up.After a while, none of the eight monkeys ever wants, or attempts, to climb the ladder.

One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he wonders why none of the other monkeys are doing the obvious; undaunted, he immediately begins to climb the ladder. All the other monkeys fall upon him and beat him silly. He has no idea why!(??) However, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder.

A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeyshammer the hell out of him. This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he’s not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it. However, he hasno idea why he’s attacking the new monkey.

Kanbay opens new campus in Hyderabad

2006-10-20T13:15:00.000+05:30

Kanbay International Inc, a US-based global leader in delivering end-to-end IT solutions, Wednesday opened its new software development campus in Hyderabad.Inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the campus with world-class infrastructure has come up on 15 acres of land in the IT park.

Kanbay India managing director Cyprian D'Souza said the company would also look at other potential locations for expanding its operations in India.

BODY LANGUAGE,makes all the difference

2006-10-19T16:52:00.000+05:30

How to appear defensive

Avoid eye contact and looking away. Cross your arms and keep your hands clenched. Keep rubbing your nose or one eye or one ear. Lean as far as possible from the other person; cross your legs if seated and swivel your feet towards the door if standing. These tactics should get the other people on the defensive too and ensure failed communication.

How to appear anxious

Blink frequently and lick your lips. Try clearing your throat regularly too. Tug at one ear and put a hand over your mouth when speaking to make all conversation in distinct. Open and close your hands frequently. If you are sitting down, keep fidgeting in your chair and jig your legs up and down. Such behaviour should ensure a total atmosphere of nervous tension, which is bound to stifle any real communication.

How to appear aggressive

Stare at the other person, preferably over the top of your spectacles. If you don’t wear spectacles, try raising your eyebrows in exaggerated disbelief or amazement; or you could always wear an 'I've heard it all before' smile. Point your finger at the other person or thump the table. If that fails, grab the back of your neck and rub it while frowning. Stand while the other person remains seated and then stride around so they have to keep moving to keep you in sight. If you decide to sit, lean back in your chair, legs splayed and hands clasped behind your head. This approach should terrify even the strongest of individuals and ensure total communication failure.
Of course, if you would rather encourage communication and solve people problems, try the following three patterns of behaviour:

How to seem friendly and co-operative

The other person in the face without staring. Smile when you see them and nod your head as they talk. Keep your hands open, occasionally moving one hand to your face. Do not cross your arms. If you are sitting, keep your legs uncrossed and lean forward to show interest. If you are standing, move closer to the other person, but not so close as to be threatening.
The behaviour will ensure a relaxed and friendly response from your colleagues and give every chance for successful communication.

How to seem confident

Look into the other person’s eyes, thrusting your chin forward and avoiding blinking. Stand straight and at ease with your hands behind your back, or steeple your fingers; but at all times keep them away from your face. When you are seated, lean back with leg stretched out in front of you; at all times avoid sudden movements.
These tactics should ensure the other party is aware of your strength of resolve and confidence in the outcome of any negotiation.

How to seem thoughtful

When listening, tilt your head to one side and make small agreement noises without interrupting the flow. Stroke your chin, or pinch the bridge of your nose. Lean forward to speak and back to listen keeping your legs still.
This approach should ensure that you seem thoughtful and willing to listen to the other person’s point of view.

Indian Pros To Get Long-Term Visas

2006-10-17T11:54:00.000+05:30

In what is turning out to be a major bonanza for Indian professionals, Mauritius is working on a long-term visa that will allow them to work there for years. There will be no limit on their stay in terms of duration. Mauritius plans to grant them all privileges except the right to vote. Indian professionals working in Mauritius would also be allowed to purchase property after putting in certain years of work, according to Mr Madan M Dulloo, the Mauritian government’s minister for foreign affairs and international trade. The visa liberalisation programme would be part of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) that is being negotiated between the two countries. The move would allow Indians to explore the opportunities available in the southern and eastern parts of Africa as Mauritius has strong economic relations with countries in the region. Besides, Indian companies setting up business in Mauritius will also enjoy the freedom to hire from India without restrictions. The move would be subject to reciprocal benefits for Mauritian professionals in India.

Source: The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

94,000 Heads Needed To Manage Hospitality

2006-10-17T11:52:00.000+05:30

With hospitality industry set to add 53,000 new rooms across 40 properties over the next five years, the industry needs about 94,000 fresh heads to manage these new hotels. Apart from the major metros - Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore - the big demand for hospitality manpower is slated to come from tier II cities like Pune, Jaipur, Goa, Hyderabad and Cochin. Tech city Bangalore will add over 7,700 rooms over the next five years. This is slated to increase its stock of human resources in the hospitality sector from 3,300-level to over 17,000 in the next five years, a jump of over 400 pct The pink city of Jaipur which adds over 2,700 rooms over the next five years, will need to over 4,700 heads more to manage the extra inventory. According to Mr Saurabh Gupta, head, Hospitality Executive Search, HVS International , the hospitality industry will start feeling the impact of manpower shortage from 2008 onwards when bulk of additional supply starts flowing in. Over 40,000 new rooms are set to enter the market between 2008 and 2010.

Source: The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

Infosys - Hire And Fire

2006-10-17T11:46:00.000+05:30

Buoyant market conditions and increasing demand for people will see Infosys Technologies adding a little more than 28,000 people during the current fiscal as against its projected number of 25,000. Meanwhile, for the first time perhaps, there is ‘involuntary attrition’, with Infosys firing people who don’t measure up performance wise. For the second quarter of the current fiscal, Infosys made a gross addition of 10,795 people, which is the highest for any quarter in its history, the company said during the announcement of its second-quarter results. For the quarter, it made a net addition of 7,741 and takes its total headcount to 66,150 as against 58,409 people in the first quarter. The distribution of its headcount was also spread across its different business units, while software services added 7,900 followed by its BPO operations at 2,628. The rest were among its various subsidiaries like Australia, China and consulting business. Mr TV Mohandas Pai, director, human resources, said they would be adding 9,500 people in the next two quarters of the current fiscal and has already made offers for 13,000 freshers for the coming fiscal. The fresh hirings will see bulk of them coming from Karnataka as Bangalore has already reached the saturation point, he said. However, in line with its increased hiring, the attrition rate of Infosys also showed a 1 pct increase from 11.9 pct in the first quarter to 12.9 pct in the second quarter.

Source: 12 Oct' 06 The Economic Times New Delhi Edition

Hot Sectors of the next decade in India

2006-10-17T11:40:00.000+05:30

If 1990s was the decade of privatization of the Indian industry, this decade promises to be the one in which the private sector achieves its full potential, while new industries find a place in the top ten list. We have brought to you a list of happening industries, which promise to take centrestage on the Indian industrial scenario in the next decade - Writes Meha Khanduri

BIOTECH
IT ENABLED SERVICES
MEDIA
IT (Software)
TOURISM
PHARMACEUTICALS

Reversing the Brain Drain !!

2006-10-17T11:34:00.000+05:30

For each foreign student eyeing internship options and job opportunities in the booming Information Technology (IT), Information Technology enabled Service (ITeS) and services sectors in India, there is today a swelling number of Indian professionals working abroad, who are keen on returning to their motherland. The widening canvas of lucrative career options to choose from is proving to be a major draw for the high-quality Indian expatriate manpower, writes Upasna Pandey.

Read More

Welcome back ... Do feel free to reach me for any more inputs. Would be glad to assist you.

How to sail through your first job !!

2006-10-17T11:28:00.000+05:30

By Pallavi Jha

After all those grilling sessions and competitive academic trails, you have finally landed yourself that dream job. But you somehow find it completely different from what you had expected. Does this sound familiar? If it does, relax.

The trick is not to get bowled over, but to learn a few strategies that will take you through the little hurdles and help you retain the enthusiasm of the dream job.

Dont you think this would be the right strategy :-)

Leadership and Team building

2006-10-16T15:09:00.000+05:30

Organisations are gradually realising the importance of effective, high performimng teams as the most essential ingrediants of organisational development and growth.One of the most effective methods of building teams is by letting them go through an experiential learning experience in outdoor environment.

Globalization has created intense competition. To survive in the market, it is extremely important for a company to have a motivated and efficient workforce..

We need team building, self empowerment, self confidence, creativity, communication skills, risk management, handling failure, business etiquettes and social graces, corporate dressing and deportment, body language, presentation skills, motivation and group discussions etc...

Read More

Why to have a Career Goal

2006-10-16T11:10:00.000+05:30

Why to have a career goal? Does a career goal limit your future?

Many of us spend most of our working hours engaged in work. Yet over 75% or working population is not happy with their current job situation. Here comes the importance of having a Career Goal. A career goal helps you focus on what you want to do for a living. A career goal can be a specific job you want to do – such as doctor, teacher or engineer – or a career goal can be a particular field you want to work in, such as IT, Education etc.

Rather than limiting your future, a career goal may help you discover career opportunities that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. There are several job opportunities with ......

Developing a Career Plan

2006-10-16T10:56:00.000+05:30

With all kinds of career possibilities available, how do you make a decision? Once you know what career path you want to follow, how do you get there?

Following are simple rules to follow - Develop a career plan. Think about what you want to do and find out more about the kind of training, education, and skills you will need to achieve your career goal.

Assess your skills and interests. Think hard about what you enjoy, what you are good at, what kind of personality you are, and the values you hold.

Research occupations. Find out more about the nature of the jobs that interest you, such as education requirement, salary, working conditions, future outlook, and anything else that can help you narrow your focus.

Analyze and evaluate your skills and capabilities.
Set career goals.
Create a high profile resume.
Grab information on Industry Trends and specific companies.
Develop sophisticated networking capabilities.
Develop winning interview skills.
Prepare yourself for salary negotiations.
Use marketing techniques to get a competitive edge.
Use an approach that meets your needs.

Desi IT cos flock to South America

2006-10-16T10:46:00.000+05:30

P P Thimmaya BANGALORE

LATIN America is now a favourite destination for a large number of Indian IT companies. It’s closeness to the US is driving these companies to set up delivery centres in the region. Even the cost differential is not much when compared to other centres.

A host of companies —TCS, Wipro, Mphasis BPO, 24/7 Customer and most recently ICICI OneSource — have set up their in Latin America.

Mr Siddharth A Pai, partner, TPI India, said that Latin America is an ideal location to offer services like remote infrastructure management and maintenance services.

TCS, for example has already got development centres in Brazil and Uruguay providing its services for ABN AMRO as well as its other clients in South America. According to Mr Sudip Nandy, chief strategy officer, Wipro, this region as a delivery centre would evolve over time. “It is a critical market not just for the export of services but also for the domestic market.”

Wipro got a foothold in Latin America through the acquisition of Portugal based company Enabler, which has a development centre in Brazil. There is also competition for Indian IT services from MNCs like IBM, Accenture in the region .Mr Sudin Apte, country head-India, Forrester Research, said that the multinational IT firms have been supporting their US clients from these locations for some time and believes that the Indian companies are catching up.

But the expansion would be more evolutionary as the Indian players will have to get used to the local language and culture. Mr Pai said that there would be operational issues as the Indian players will have to understand these local markets though the replication of IT global delivery centre is not very difficult. Mr Apte felt that as the brand identity of Indian companies is quite limited it would be difficult to attract talent.

Source : Economic Times

HR ALIGN:A Unique Product Linking People Strategy

2006-10-13T13:11:00.000+05:30

Neterson Technologies Pvt. Limited the IT arm of the Neterwala Group* has embarked on an ambitious project of filling a much needed gap in the integration of workforce management with best in class HR practices. This business-critical HR suite is called HR Align®.Unlike other workforce management and HR products in the markets HRAlign® permits you to seamlessly align and unleash the hidden potential and latent talent of your human capital into achieving your company’s objectives. A lot of effort has gone in to make this software, process friendly by linking People, Strategy and Performance in an organized and efficient manner. It improves performance and accountability, by providing a matrix of critical tools, workflow and information that helps companies drive business results from your HR activities.

Any takers may contact the below and do visit their site for more info: http://www.netersontech.com/

manoj@netersontech.com

HR Align® has just been launched and we have received excellent feed back wherever we have demonstrated the product. We have received orders from several large to medium size companies. We believe this to be a benchmark product of the future a must for all IT & HR personnel in getting positive results from your workforce and managerial team in attaining your company’s goals.
Manoj...

BPOs

2006-10-12T12:05:00.000+05:30

BPOs are the most happening sector in the Indian employement market today.A close look into the present senario and we can forcaste the future employement gaps and fills..............
Read here for more info:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articlelist/26865660.cms

Job aspirants cheer up, more hiring in Oct-Dec 2006 !!

2006-10-12T11:16:00.000+05:30

BANGALORE: It’s a good news for those in the job market right now. All major sectors are expected to increase their hiring activities in October-December quarter, according to the TeamLease Employment Outlook Survey. The main recruitment drivers include retail, media, FMCG (all at 95 index points), IT (94 index points) and financial services (91 index points). The five sectors are expected to hire at a rate faster than the growth of their business.

Read More : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2154051.cms

Pay them, pamper them and add 20% to your bottomline

2006-10-11T12:52:00.000+05:30

Companies which lay stress on human resource activities and provide their employees incentives such as pay hikes and flexitime may get several benefits, says a new study.

Such companies could enjoy a 10-20% improvement in employee retention, employee productivity, profitability and stock price, said the study that is to appear in the upcoming issue of the journal Personnel Psychology.

For countries like CHINA & INDIA where the cost advantage matters, what would be the diverse effects of this kind of a policy. Raise your comments ...

Satyam to add 4,000 staff in Asia Pacific

2006-10-11T12:26:00.000+05:30

SINGAPORE: Satyam Computer Services is planning to expand its footprint in the Asia Pacific region with the addition of 4,000 employees this year.

A large part of the increase in headcount will be in China where the company is planning to set up a 3,000-seat development facility. The company is also close to clinching an acquisition in Japan in the IT services space.

Read more : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2062328.cms

Leadership styles-Management styles

2006-10-11T11:51:00.000+05:30

There has always been a thin line between the basis of leadership and management.lets see what the 'big and successful' define both by their real life experiments.

Read here:
http://www.secretsofsuccess.com/leadership/

So how do YOU define both.........?

7 lakh IT jobs to be created in 2006

2006-10-11T11:06:00.000+05:30

Indian Economy has seen a rapid growth in these couple of years, and we have seen up's and down's in the job markets as well. The Ma Foi Employment Survey has pegged the new number of jobs in ’06 at 10.3 lakh plus.

The IT and ITES sector will account for over 7,00,000 jobs ....

A detailed article has been published by Economic Times

Read : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2143003.cms

Any comments are welcome on this subject.

The essence of Leadership

2006-10-10T09:55:00.000+05:30

The essence of Leadership, according to Mr Vivek Man Singh of Dell lies in the building trust and connecting with people

He says “A manager can tell his team what to do, but it is the leader who makes them want to do it.’

Read http://www.thesmarttechie.com/Leadership/StoryDetails.asp?stid=240&cat=Leadership

Hospitality sector may add 94,000 new recruits !!

2006-10-09T10:33:00.000+05:30

WITH the hospitality industry set to add 53,000 new rooms across 40 properties over the next five years, around 94,000 fresh heads are required to manage these new hotels. Apart from the major metros, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, big demand for hospitality manpower is likely to come from tier II cities like Pune, Jaipur, Goa, Hyderabad, and Cochin.

As per latest research by hospitality consultancy HVS International, around 53% of the fresh room inventory is entering the luxury and first-class segment across ten key markets in the country. To manage the additional inventory, the hospitality industry will need to increase its current stock of hotel professionals by over three times from 45,000-level to over 1,38,300 over the next five years.

The Pune market will add over 4,600 rooms between 2005-06 and 2011-12, and the city will see 900% growth in hospitality manpower in the same period. Hyderabad will see its stock of hotel-related human resources grow by over 500% from current levels of around 2,500 to over 15,000 in the next five years.

The Nizam city will add over 7,400 rooms in that period, the bulk of which will be in five-star and five-star deluxe category. Tech city Bangalore will add over 7,700 rooms over the next five years, over 50% of which will be in luxury and first-class category. This is slated to increase its stock of human resources in the hospitality sector from 3,300-level to over 17,000 in the next five years, a jump of more than 400%

Another market that will register almost 300% growth in its hotel manpower stock is Cochin, growing from current figure of around 600 to beyond the 2400 mark by 2012. The port city will add over 1,000 rooms in that period, 60% of which will be in the mid-market and budget segments. Chennai will have over 11,400 hotel professionals by 2012, growing its current stock by 214%. The southern metro is set to add over 4,400 rooms over the next five years to its current inventory, with close to 60% in five-star and five-star deluxe categories.

The pink city of Jaipur, which adds over 2,700 rooms over the next five years, will need to hire over 4,700 heads to manage the extra inventory. Sun and sandy state of Goa will add another 2,600 rooms and an additional 4,500 heads in the next five years. Delhi and NCR will see its stock of hospitality-related pool grow by 155% to cross the 31,000 mark in the same period while in case of Mumbai, the figure would be touching the 30,000 mark from the current 13,000.

Delhi/NCR and Mumbai would see the biggest growth in room inventory over the next five years, adding between them over 20,000. The Eastern metro of Kolkata will see its pool of hospitality professionals grow to more than 6,700 from the current 2,300 level over the next five years, as it adds another 2,400 rooms to its inventory, the bulk of which will be in mid-market and budget segments.

According to Mr Saurabh Gupta, head of hospitality executive search, HVS International, the industry will start feeling the impact of manpower shortage from 2008 onwards when bulk of additional supply starts flowing in. Over 40,000 new rooms are set to enter the market between 2008 and 2010. The average employee-to-room ratio in India is 1.8, across all markets, with the only exception being three-star hotel category where the ratio drops to 1.5 per room. Incidentally, Indian hotels remain overstaffed by 20-25% compared to international standards, where the average is 1.6 person per room.

Top 10 geek business myths

2006-10-04T14:26:00.000+05:30

Myth #1: A brilliant idea will make you rich.

Reality: A brilliant idea is neither necessary nor sufficient for a successful business, although all else being equal it can't hurt. Microsoft is probably the canonical example of a successful business, and it has never had a single brilliant idea in its entire history. (To the contrary, Microsoft has achieved success largely by seeking out and destroying other people's brilliant ideas.) Google was based on a couple of brilliant ideas (Page rank, text-only ads, massive parallel implementation on cheap hardware) but none of those ideas were original with Larry or Sergey. This is not to say that Larry, Sergey and Bill are not bright guys -- all three of them are sharper than I can ever hope to be. But the idea that any of them woke up one day with an inspiration and coasted the rest of the way to riches is a myth.

Myth #2: If you build it they will come.

There is a grain of truth to this myth. There have been examples of businesses that just built a product, cast it upon the ether(net), and achieved success. (Google is the canonical example.) But for every Google there are ten examples of companies that had killer products that didn't sell for one reason or another.

Myth #3: Someone will steal your idea if you don't protect it.

Reality: No one gives a damn about your idea until you actually succeed and by then it's too late. Even on the off chance that you do manage to stumble across someone who is as excited about your idea as you are, if they have any brains they will join you rather than try to beat you. (And if they don't have any brains then it doesn't matter what they do.)

Myth #4: What you think matters.

Reality: It matters not one whit that you and all your buddies think that your idea is the greatest thing since sliced pizza (unless, of course, your buddies are rich enough to be the customer base for your business). What matters is what your customers think. It is natural to assume that if you and your buddies think your idea is cool that millions of other people out there will think it's cool too, and sometimes it works out that way, but usually not. The reason is that if you are smart enough to have a brilliant idea then you (and most likely your buddies) are different from everyone else.

Myth #5: Financial models are bogus.

As with myth #2 there is a grain of truth here. As Carl Sagan was fond of saying, prophecy is a lost art. There is no way to know for sure how much money your business is going to make, or how much it will cost to get to market. The reason for doing financial models is to do a reality check and convince yourself that making a return on investment is even a plausible possibility. If you run the numbers and find out that in order to reach break-even you need a customer base that is ten times larger than the currently known market for your product then you should probably rethink things. As Dwight Eisenhower said: plans are useless, but planning is indispensible.

Myth #6: What you know matters more than who you know.

The truth is, who you know matters more than what you know. This is not to say that being smart and knowledgable is useless. Knowing "what" is often an effective means of getting introduced to the right "whos". But ultimately, the people you know and trust (and more importantly who trust you) matter more than the factual knowledge you may have at your immediate disposal. And there is a sound reason for this: business decisions are horrifically complicated. No one person can possibly amass all the knowledge and experience required to make a broad range of such decisions on their own, so effective business people delegate much of their decision-making to other people. And when they choose who to delegate to, their first pick is always people they know and trust.

Myth #7: A Ph.D. means something.

Reality: The only thing a Ph.D. means is that you're not a moron, and you're willing to put up with the bullshit it takes to slog your way through a Ph.D. program somewhere. Empirically, having a Ph.D. is negatively correlated with business success. This is because the reward structure in academia is almost the exact opposite of what it is in business. In academia, what your peers think matters. In business, it's what your customers think that matters, and your customers are (almost certainly) not your peers.

[UPDATE: this is not to say that getting a Ph.D. is useless. You can learn a lot of useful stuff by getting a Ph.D. But it's the knowledge and experience that you gain by going through the process that is potentially valuable (for business endeavors), not the degree itself.]

Myth #8: I need $5 million to start my business

Reality: Unless you're building hardware (in which case you should definitely rethink what you're doing) you most likely don't need any startup capital at all. Paul Graham has written extensively about this so I won't belabor it too much, except to say this: you don't need much startup capital, but what you do need is a willingness to work your buns off. You have to bring your brilliant idea to fruition yourself; no one else will do it for you, and no one will give you the money to hire someone to do it for you. The reason is very simple: if you don't believe in the commercial potential of your idea enough to give up your evenings and weekends to own a bigger chunk of it, why should anyone else believe in it enough to put their hard-earned money at risk?

Myth #9: The idea is the most important part of my business plan.

Reality: The idea is very nearly irrelevant. What matters is 1) who are your customers? 2) Why will they buy what you're selling? (Note that the reason for this could very well be something like, "Because I'm famous and I have a huge fan base and they will buy sacks of stale dog shit if it has my name on it." But in your case it will more likely be, "Because we have a great product that blows the competition out of the water.") 3) Who is on your team? and 4) What are the risks?

Myth #10: Having no competition is a good thing.

Reality: If you have no competition the most likely reason for that is that there's no money to be made. There are six billion people on this planet, and it's very unlikely that every last of them will have left a lucrative market niche completely unexploited.

Six Tips for Redirecting Highly Charged Conversations

2006-09-27T10:14:00.000+05:30

Let us imagine a scene when we are a part of some tough and highly charged conversation.Whether we react, or slam the door or handle it tactfully ?

Here is a short but very meaningful article by Jamie S. Walters on the subject.

Hope you all will like it.

":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":":

Almost everyone, at some point, has found him or herself in a conversation that takes an unfortunate adversarial turn. Whether one of the conversation participants is stressed and has "a short fuse," or begins to forcefully protect a belief that seems to have been threatened, the conversation takes on a heated, and decidedly uncomfortable and unproductive, tone. In facilitated meetings, different opinions and conflicting beliefs are more easily navigated, thanks to meeting ground rules and skillful facilitation. But what about your average workday conversations that have neither specific agendas nor third-party facilitators? When someone "goes off" into an attack or diatribe, it can seem frightening, embarrassing, and unpredictable.

In some cases, the aggressor is simply having a "short-fuse" moment, but in other cases he or she might be purposely trying to shut down conversation by using hostile -communication tactics such as attacking, name-calling, blaming, or using forceful body language, tone and wording. Being caught off-guard by a conversation that becomes super-heated often produces one of three outcomes: both parties react to the "hot buttons" and become agitated and confrontational (or just unskillful); or one party simply backs down and shuts up, which can lead to resentment and jeopardized relationships; or a hybrid of both. There are several tactics that can be pulled, as needed, from your "interpersonal-communication skills toolbox," so that a heated dialogue can be self-facilitated or cooled off to allow for a more productive, less harmful interaction. And remember: these tactics are for heated and conflict-prone conversations, not hostile situations which threaten bodily harm (in which cases, fleeing to safety is probably the best tactic!). For other heated conversations, though, the following tactics offer pathways to more productive dialogue:

1. Stay aware and centered

In some cases, the aggressor is simply having a "short-fuse" moment, but in other cases he or she might be purposely trying to shut down conversation by using hostile -communication tactics such as attacking, name-calling, blaming, or using forceful body language, tone and wording.

Being caught off-guard by a conversation that becomes super-heated often produces one of three outcomes: both parties react to the "hot buttons" and become agitated and confrontational (or just unskillful); or one party simply backs down and shuts up, which can lead to resentment and jeopardized relationships; or a hybrid of both.

There are several tactics that can be pulled, as needed, from your "interpersonal-communication skills toolbox," so that a heated dialogue can be self-facilitated or cooled off to allow for a more productive, less harmful interaction.
And remember: these tactics are for heated and conflict-prone conversations, not hostile situations which threaten bodily harm (in which cases, fleeing to safety is probably the best tactic!). For other heated conversations, though, the following tactics offer pathways to more productive dialogue:

2) Respond, don't react

Always a good interpersonal rule, choosing to respond rather than react is to remember that we can be conscious, civil, gracious, and calm in our communications even when someone else chooses quite differently. We might choose to say nothing at all for a moment, preferring instead to listen rather than to interrupt with a "yeah, but..." or other type of reaction. In responding, we choose to listen, to inquire, and to resist our own desire to defend a position, belief, or comment. We also release our need to be right, realizing that it is sometimes the only route to a more productive dialogue (or at least one that doesn't escalate into a screaming match).

3)Inquire and validate

Another potential interpersonal tactic in the face of someone's heated reaction is to inquire and validate the intentions, beliefs, concerns, etc. that are "behind" the heated words. For example, one inquiry might be, "It sounds like we've really hit on something that's very important to you. What's most important to you about this?" The person may or may not respond, but the inquiry breaks the escalation in the "conversational thermostat" and offers an opportunity for dialogue. A potential follow-up question, if needed, is, "What's most concerning to you about this?" Once the concerns or "prized positions" behind the defensive (or aggressive) conversation are revealed, you can validate the person's right to think, feel, or hold those concerns or priorities. And then you can reorient the conversation back to the primary intentions or priorities.

A primary challenge when someone seems to be bowling you over with a caustic reaction (or even a verbal/energetic attack) is to stay fully present and centered, so that you can make good choices regarding how to respond. Staying aware and centered is like an internal conversation, where we say to ourselves, "Gosh, this seems to be an overreaction, and I don't want to go there," and then plant our feet and take a breath and go into "deep listening" mode. The opposite of staying aware and centered? Letting the force of the other person's heated communication send us into "fight or flight," where we tend to shut down and flee, or shoot off an unskillful reaction that only fuels the fire.

4) State your intention

Once the pattern of verbal escalation has been broken (by inquiry and validation, for example), you can begin to reorient the conversation to either a relatively pleasant close (even if temporarily) or shift the focus to the more important priorities of the conversation. One way to reorient is to state your positive intention for the conversation or interaction, e.g. "My intention for the conversation isn't for us to end up in a screaming match, but to calmly and respectfully exchange ideas so that we can make a decision on this project." Stating your intention -- a positive one -- can also serve as one way to break the pattern of escalation to allow for a slight "cooling off."

5) Redirect or reschedule

If you're unable to redirect the conversation back to a more productive course, it may be best to state your intention for a positive, productive conversation and suggest that "this conversation seems to be getting too heated for us to do that, so maybe we should allow for some cooling off and revisit the issue later." It may well be that this tactic, too, acts as a pattern-breaker, or it might simply allow the postponing of the conversation.

6) State your appreciation for the interaction

Regardless which outcome occurs for any particular conversation, it's good form -- and skillful communication -- to express your gratitude and appreciation for the person's time, honesty, willingness to redirect, etc. Doing so allows an open door for continued dialogue.

TWEAKING THE NOSE OF FAILURE

2006-09-26T12:07:00.000+05:30

Sometimes, life may hit you on the head with a brick. But there are those 'hard-headed' people, who are just brick-resistant. So, if you are happy in your skin and love what you do, nothing can stop you, believes Kunal Guha.

He dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months. He didn't have a dorm room, so he slept on the floor in friend's rooms and returned coke bottles to buy food. But he didn't give up and gave in to his fascination which led him to calligraphy classes which helped him later while he was designing the first Macintosh computer . Ten years of toiling , took the garage venture to become a $2 billion company with 4000 employees. Nothing could fall apart after that, right? Think again. He got fired from the company he started himself at the age of 30, because of divergent visions with the board.The man was none other than Steve Jobs. Getting fired from Apple was one of the biggest public failures for global business case books. But as Jobs believes, "Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. Five years after being fired from Apple , I started a company named NeXT and another company named Pixar. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance ." This story tells us that if you've found what you love to do, you shouldn't let any form of setback pull you down. You will find below similar stories of dreamers who've hopped all odds and yes, tweaked the nose of failure.

THE TEST OF GREY

Nirvik Singh, President South East Asia and Chairman, South Asia of Grey Worldwide, a strong believer of 'from failure comes success and strength' , remembers, "The year was 1997. Ravi Gupta (the founderchairman of the then Trikaya Grey) had just passed away. From a well-defined path of growth and grooming, I was suddenly thrown into the pilot's seat and asked to take charge of the agency. The overall economic mood in Asia was recessive, and the mood within was no better !

" I found myself... dealing with senior management scepticism within and clients questioning our capabilities, instead of charting a path of profitability for the agency when we were burdened with financial instabilities. Adding to all, the agency was also moving from a Trikaya to a Grey management, which brought about many cultural changes and reservations. I believe my best skills came to their fore... in the face of these adversities . I always thought I was here for my advertising capabilities . But in the face of pending failure, I discovered a leadership style in me that brought out not just the best in me when the need arose, but I was able to draw out a wealth of latent talent that existed in people around me. The one thing I learnt... was that however grim the situation, never show it to the people who are looking to you to lead them and especially those among them that you believe are going to be key and instrumental in helping you through the crisis .

NEVER SAY DIE

He braved two major blows- as two of his ventures had failed due to the negative labour environment . Yes, this is Mr. Never-Say-Die , Deepak Puri, Chairman and Managing Director, Moser Baer. I don't like the word failure... rather I use disappointment . I looked at the disappointments as hurdles, which have to be jumped and cleared. Also, it is a great help that you have a strong family support backing your decision; especially my wife has been very supportive during those tough times. There were a lot of learnings... from my previous disappointments . One of the key learnings was the importance of people, IR and HR in business. I am proud to say that in over 20 plus years of Moser Baer's history, we have never had any labour related issues. I think that one of the important facets of an entrepreneur is that he is always open to learning and not just learning from disappointments .

BRAVING SWEETS

He was full of energy and enthusiasm, having freshly graduated from SIBM. He had a burning desire to do something different. But being different doesn't always spell success. Yes! We are talking about our vada pav maverick - Dheeraj Gupta. His previous vision was to brand Indian sweets like kaju katri, rasgullas and gulab jamuns . His dream failed to gain market acceptance. But he bounced back with Jumbo King Vada Pav, with the knowledge that he has to score from the first ball itself. Branding Indian sweets... meant going against the grain. Mithai was always accepted fresh, while we were trying to brand it as a packaged product. Here, shelf life was a challenge since the packaging industry in India is so basic. The product had a very niche category and hence it would have taken at least 4-5 years to gain acceptance. And I couldn't wait that long to realise my efforts. So, I had to shut it. When you've just shut a business... you're trying not to start another. But I'm big fan of "Focus" which talks about how niche products can be scaled up. I took to reading autobiographies of how ventures like McDonalds and Walmart started off with a simple idea. If you're not exactly a Tata or an Ambaniâ€¦ â€¦you have to have a product which has ready acceptance and then you provide a value-add as a differentiator in the market . And when I started Jumbo King, the product was already there in the market, we just gave a value for money offer with the size differentiator and some packaging modifications.

Source Economic Times : 26.09.2006

Does higher employee empowerment improve productivity?

2006-09-25T14:15:00.000+05:30

I believe empowerment is a good thing as long as you don't empower just anyone for a particular position.

Some people are good at organizing and getting the job done, but they may not be effective at getting other employees motivated or in line with the company's goals.

Some people are excellent at employee retention because everyone they manage absolutely loves them. But is the work getting done? Or do they gain popularity through socializing? How many of the employees a company retains are actually working?

These are serious considerations for a company that wants to stay in business.

Eventually, the people who need to be empowered are the ones who have a gift for instilling a positive go-getting attitude in others, while maintaining an open door policy for those who need additional motivation and assistance in improving job skills so they can feel good about the quality of their work.

Managers who encourage new concepts and/or ideas in how the work gets done will be pleasantly surprised at the results.

I've worked for companies who only hire or promote people who "manage through intimidation".

Because of the fact that lesser jobs, requiring little or no experience, are easy to get employees are often treated like sheep.

Over time they start acting like sheep. Basically, they just shut down and do as they're told and hope that the next raise they get will cover the cost of living and the medical plans they chose.

They also lose hope of aspiring to the next level, too, and companies will lose alot of potentially good managers.

When that happens, you lose alot of the creativity that keeps a company strong. Eventually it will inhibit growth and the business will lose steam and credibility in its particular industry.

LINDA HALL
US

First American IT company Board Meeting in India - importance of India seen in historic Perot systems board meeting

2005-04-02T17:23:00.000+05:30

Perot Systems (NYSE: PER), the Plano, Texas-based IT, BPO and consulting concern, is expected to underscore the importance of India and the Asia-Pacific region to its long-term growth strategy at a meeting of its Board of Directors in Bangalore later this week. The meeting is historic, as it is probably the first Board meeting of a major U.S. multinational IT corporation in India. In bringing the Board to India to review its corporate strategy, Perot Systems is signaling its commitment to seizing the global opportunities in the technology services industry.

As part of that commitment, Perot Systems now holds land for future expansion of its existing facilities, which are in Bangalore, Noida and Chennai. The company has 13 acres of land in Bangalore, 25 acres in Noida and recently significantly expanded its facilities in Chennai. These significant holdings highlight the company's focus on India as a key driver for business and as a source of talent. Perot Systems is fully aware of India's competitive human resource pool and diverse skill-sets and hence plans an aggressive recruitment posture, casting a wider net and looking at a broader spectrum of colleges and universities across the country. This, coupled with land banking, will provide scalability for future growth.

Other highlights of the India visit included the announcement and official induction of Mr. Anuroop (Tony) Singh (Member, Board of Directors) and Ms. Padma Ravichander (Senior Executive - India/Asia-Pacific Region, Managing Director - Technology Services) into Perot Systems.

Commenting on the emergent business opportunities for India, Mr. Ross Perot Jr., Chairman - Perot Systems said, "The Board of Directors of Perot Systems is here as a result of the hard work that has gone into building a strong global business. The company has achieved a lot in a relatively short time frame, but in many ways we are only just beginning to reach our potential, given the opportunities before us and the strength of our capabilities -- especially in India."

Perot systems President and CEO Peter Altabef said, "Perot Systems'' India operations are a cornerstone of our emerging global delivery model of integrated IT, BPO and consulting solutions. It is important for the Board to meet here as work to provide more solutions for our customers, opportunity for our employees, and value for our shareowners."

Source : Media Release Compiled by : Abijith I P

Quarter million more BPO jobs by 2009

2005-04-02T17:11:00.000+05:30

Call centre markets of India and the Philippines are set to see further boom through 2009, a study says.

The report, "The Future of Contact Center Outsourcing in India and the Philippines", published by Data monitor, an American analyst firm, predicts that over 2,50,000 new call center agent positions will be created in two countries by 2009.

And Philippines will be poaching the market increasingly, which India currently dominates.

USA and UK are the biggest clients in the call center industry. According to Data monitor, both India and the Philippines will see substantial growth in call centers.

With the US presidential elections are out of the way, US businesses will now be able to ramp up their offshore operations, via call centres, the report also said.

More firms are set to follow the likes of British Airways, Citibank, General Electric and HSBC, all of which have spun off a part or all of their operations to India. "Outsourcing providers are competing to run entire customer processes for their clients, rather than merely the voice-based call centre part," said Ryan Powell, call centre analyst at Datamonitor and author of the study.

"The fact that they are able to win this kind of work is testament to the efforts that have been placed on assuring quality control over the past year or so," Powell said.

Source : PTI Compiled by : Abijith I P

India following America in jobless growth – in 2003-04 Indian corporations eliminated 3.1% manufacturing jobs with healthy growth in the economy

2005-04-02T17:08:00.000+05:30

Indian corporations eliminated 3.1% manufacturing jobs while the economy grew a healthy 6 to 7% in that time frame. While the Information technology and Business Process Outsourcing created jobs, even including these jobs, the country lost 0.6% jobs.

The fact that the country lost jobs while growing at a brisk pace is scary. In United States the labor cost is high. Automation and Productivity rise make sense. But with already deflated labor cost in India, it does not make sense to lose jobs while the economy is growing. Experts are asking questions – what will happen if India hits a recession, which is very probable later this year. According to some, if a recession hits, India can lose in excess of 12% manufacturing jobs and 6% overall jobs. If the Western nations go into recession at the same time, outsourcing industry can actually lose a staggering 38% jobs and the country can lose close to 46% jobs. Hopefully nothing like that will happen. But just focusing and servicing on IT and Business Process Outsourcing can be catastrophic.

According to media reports in India, all is not that gloomy.

The services sector, in particular, created plenty of jobs, particularly in software and private banks. IT companies in software, hardware and data sourcing, created more jobs than any other sector: 26 IT companies increased their staff strength by 45,872 or 39.5 per cent, taking the headcount in the IT industry to 161,882 in 2003-04.

Private banks, which are expanding their retail business reach, added 5,551 employees.

Infosys Technologies remained the largest single recruiter in 2003-04, adding 7,988 IT engineers and managerial staff. Wipro added 7,422 employees, while TCS increased its headcount by 4,607 to 30,121.

Satyam Computer and HCL Technologies increased their manpower by over 4,000 each, while Digital GlobalSoft and ICICI Bank increased their staff strength by over 2,500 each.

Source : Indiadaily.com - Sunil Sen Compiled by : Abijith I P

Indian companies start providing technical know how for Pakistani BPO and IT companies – start of a new trend!

2005-04-02T17:03:00.000+05:30

A midsize IT and BPO Company from Mumbai has entered into an agreement with a Pakistani firm to set up a call center in Pakistan.

According to media sources, Mumbai-based Spanco Telesystems and Solutions will help Millennium Software of Pakistan to set up and manage the call centre in Karachi for the latter's international and domestic customers. The call centre will provide complete customer relations management (CRM) solutions for Pizza Hut in Pakistan.

"We will provide know-how for setting up the call centre and also advise Millennium Software for operations, human resource practices and training," Ketan Choksi, chief financial officer of Spanco Telesystems, said.

"As the relationship matures between the two companies in the coming years, we will also look into the possibility of expanding the areas of business cooperation," he added.

This is not an isolated case. Many Pakistani companies are looking at Indian companies to provide the technical know how to jump ahead in the field of IT, call center operations and BPO in general.

Source : Indiadaily.com - Prabeer Laha Compiled by : Abijith I P

Outsourcing's Next Phase Has Begun

2005-04-02T16:59:00.000+05:30

Outsourcing in India has reached a near-term peak, and meaningful expansion from this point forward will result in higher costs and lower-quality delivery. Business leaders in Asia have been saying such things to one another for months now. Today, we are seeing deliberate action to move capacity from India to next-step destinations like the Philippines, China and Vietnam.

Even major business publications have picked up on the evolving situation. Both Forbes ("India: Good Help Is Hard to Find") and BusinessWeek ("India's IT Challenge") recently published feature articles that directly address the growing problems in India and the viability of the next-step destination countries.

Looking at current events in the Philippines, we can get a better idea what is going on. Sykes, a large U.S.-based contact center and IT support organization, has operations in both India and the Philippines. The company said it would shift much of its Indian capacity to the Philippines, where it already has 7,000 employees. "We moved calls to other facilities in Asia to get a higher rate of return," was the official statement from Dan Hernandez, Sykes'' vice president for global strategies. But knowledgeable observers in the region say that the rate of return differential must be large for a company of Sykes'' size and prominence to forgo India after already putting capacity in place.

Ambergris Solutions is another large contact center organization with operations in the Philippines. The company just received a $43.5 million investment through Telus International, a Canada-based global IT provider. Jim Evans, who played the key local role in coordinating the deal, says his company wanted a "strategic investment" in the outsourcing industry in Asia, and the Philippines offered the best long-term opportunity given all the options, including India.

As Asia-Pacific vice president for global business-to-business services provider GXS, Victor Lee oversees the professional and customer services operations in the region. His company made the decision to direct functions with a strong customer component to the Philippines because of better economics and results there. His company's analysis also indicated that costs were increasing disproportionately in India. As well, Lee feels that "having product development in India and professional and customer services in Philippines reduces risks."

More outspoken than most, Rick McGonegal is clear that India won''t be part of his company's plans for the foreseeable future. He is the managing director of RCG Information Technology, another good-size IT provider. The company already has a strong offshore presence in the Philippines and has assessed the Asia-Pacific region for future expansion. India, he feels, is already too crowded, with numerous companies all scrambling to hire from each other. The result is destructively high staff turnover rates, mounting salary costs and poorer English communications skills compared with that available in the Philippines. He also cited overstretched infrastructure in India as a further reason RCG wouldn''t consider this destination at present. According to McGonegal, his company has its "radar set on Vietnam and China" should its current best option of the Philippines give way.

Others that appear to be moving work to the Philippines include Hewitt, which has just started hiring staff for its newly commissioned business process outsourcing facility, and HSBC, the global banking organization, which got its BPO under way a few months ago. I am currently meeting with numerous early-stage entrants to the Philippines -- more than at anytime during the past three years.

As another anecdote, I spoke recently to the Texas-based global recruitment manager of a multinational technology company who needed help attracting Indians living in the U.S. and Canada to jobs back in India. This is no surprise, since there is strong demand for returnee management talent. But this fellow wasn''t looking for managers; he was looking for individual contributors with three years of Java/C++ experience -- a core skill that was once available in seemingly infinite quantities. He described, with great exasperation, the challenges his company faced hiring such people within India these days.

Long Live the King

No one is saying that the king of outsourcing will lose its dominance or its long-term attractiveness as an outsourcing destination. India created the offshore outsourcing model, and it will continue driving the industry forward because of its huge size and the remarkable competence of its managers.

If India does experience slower growth because of constrained resources in the near term, it is only because of its tremendous success over the past few years. India's recent hiring growth has been roughly double that of the crazy dot-com boom times in North America. So, current alleged constraints aren''t indicative of weakness but of great success.

Besides, while rising costs may be a big deal to business leaders who have to somehow budget for them, they probably don''t warrant the same degree of concern for individual workers, who see their paychecks rise by 30% from a well-timed job change.

If countries like the Philippines and Vietnam are better options today, it's only because they have been less successful at developing and attracting quality outsourcing employers in the past. The pioneering accomplishments made by India have now opened the door for these countries to receive their share of the blessings. And as for India, we can be sure it will soon be back stronger than ever.

Source : Richard Mills, CFA, is director of executive search firm Chalre Associates, based in Manila Compiled by : Abijith I P

Unisys and Cognizant to add 10,500 more to their India outsourcing workforce

2005-04-02T16:00:00.000+05:30

IT services major Cognizant Technology Solutions, today said it would hire 6500 people in the next nine months and announced that its Chinese centre would start operations in April. Addressing a news conference here, Lakshmi Narayanan, President and CEO, Cognizant, said the company planned to add 7,200 employees in the 2005 calender year, of which 85 per cent would be employed at its software development centres in India. "During the first two-and-a-half months of this calender, we have hired 700 people. In the remaining months, we will add another 6,500 people," he said, adding that the total employee strength of the company would exceed 22,500 by December 31, 2005. In 2004, Cognizant hired 6000 people. On the Chinese operations, Narayanan said the company's new development centre at Shanghai would commence operations next month. About six Chinese persons are currently undergoing training in Cognizant's Chennai office. Narayanan said about 25 local people would manage the facility. In 2007-08, Cognizant would consider ramping up its operations in China, he said. On the revenue front, he said Cognizant was aiming at USD 845 million for the 2005 calender, a growth of 44 per cent compared to 2004.
American IT services and product firm Unisys Corporation plans to ramp up its India workforce, including with its partners, to 4,500 by 2008, up from the existing 1,150 professionals, Unisys officials said on Monday. "Unisys has sourced globally for more than 25 years. Our current expansion in India is an extension of this strategy and is integral to growing our global capabilities," Unisys Chairman Lawrence A Weinbach said at the launch of its 1,000 seat new building in the city. Unisys outsources software work with four Indian partners - Hexaware, Caritor, NIIT and Tata Infotech - who jointly employ about 1,000 people. "The partners will add 1,000 more people while we will hire 1,000 more people in 2005," Unisys India Managing Director Mukul Agrawal said. He said Unisys has a roadmap to reach a strength of 4,500 people by 2008, which includes 2,500 people at its captive centre. "India offers lower cost of operations and there is a demand from our clients to move work to offshore locations," Unisys Global Sourcing Vice President Cal Killen said. Unisys last April said it would invest $180 million (Rs 810 crore) in India till 2008 and it has spent $10 million on the new facility, officials said. Unisys India will provide end-to-end IT services for its global customers, besides technical help desk support, BPO and IT sourcing.

Source : Media Release Compiled by : Abijith I P

Oracle and Peoplesoft operations in India to be merged by June

2005-04-02T15:49:00.000+05:30

Integration of operations of Oracle and PeopleSoft in India will be completed by the end of June this year.

"Full integration of operations of Oracle and PeopleSoft will be done by June end," Derek Williams, Oracle's Executive Vice-president for Asia-Pacific, said in a conference call.

Oracle had acquired PeopleSoft late last year and both companies have significant operations in India.

"All the operations of the two companies in India will be integrated by June end," a company spokesperson said.

So far, the merger of six of the 26 offices of both companies in Asia-Pacific has been completed.

After the merger, Oracle retained more than 75 per cent of the sales, marketing, consulting and back office staff of PeopleSoft in Asia-Pacific.

On the support and development side, the company has retained 90 per cent of the staff.

Going forward, Oracle sees India, China and Australia as key growth markets in Asia-Pacific.

"India is an important market for us and we continue to invest heavily in it. Development centres in India are churning out as many patents as the ones in the US," he said.

For growth, the company plans to focus on quality and execution and concentrate on financial sector, manufacturing, government, education, media, telecom and retail.

The focus for Oracle worldwide is business application software market where it wants to get the better of SAP.
Through acquisition of PeopleSoft and Retek it is building scale and solutions to take on the German giant.
Williams said Oracle has done well against SAP in India and made good progress.

"We are pleased with our strategy in India in application space," he said.

Source : PTI Compiled by : Abijith I P

Need for reengineering IT outsourcing – will TCS and Satyam chiefs elected as NASSCOM leaders be able to save Indian outsourcing boom?

2005-04-02T15:42:00.000+05:30

What happens when a technology become dinosaur? Yes we call it the legacy system. India’s IT outsourcing has become a genuine “vintage car” – better put a legacy system waiting for a complete reengineering. The lack of talent, rising prices and lack of innovative products is hitting Indian IT companies hard. How long can you survive on exploiting cheap labor opines experts and International outsourcing pundits.

Indian IT needs new leadership. Otherwise India IT Outsourcing Inc. will face the same stagnation that Microsoft faces. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) chief S. Ramadorai was on Thursday appointed chairman of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the country's IT industry umbrella group. B. Ramalinga Raju, chairman of Hyderabad-based software maker Satyam Computer Services, was appointed vice chairman of Nasscom for fiscal 2005-06. The million dollar question is can these old guns who created the legacy of “taking someone else’s requirements and sit and write code blindly” be able to guide India into the next phase of software engineering?

In Europe and America, Oracle (Peoplesoft) and SAP faces a strange newborn competition from smaller companies that they never thought about. Large back office processing systems based on large traditional databases are being challenged by smaller Web based tools from companies one hundredth the size. India’s outsourcing will be now slowly replaced by US and European companies that have mastered the techniques of software engineering productivity in the last few years. Three or four very talented software engineers who also understand business and systems analysis can replace fifty Indian coders. The software engineering field is finally going through the maturity process where coding and traditional testing is replaced with business and systems analysis driven system generation through “configurations”. The new technology is astounding and will employ far less people but those who will work as software engineers will make four times what they make today.

Can Ramadorai of TCS and Raju of Satyam provide that kind of forward looking leadership as India faces the competition storm from all directions? Experts say these legacy systems reengineering experts will provide traditional leadership but will need others in their team to really compete with smaller and sharper companies from America and Europe.

Source : IndiaDaily.com Compiled By : Abijith I P

How to Spot "Red Flags" on a Resume

2005-03-29T15:30:00.000+05:30

The purpose of a resume is to market a candidate by presenting their skills and achievements in the best possible light. But in difficult or static job markets there is more temptation than ever to bend the truth a little to get the job. This can leave the company with employees who can't do the job they were hired for or worse still, one whose mistakes cost money and undermine hard won customer relationships.

Identifying "red flags" will help you ensure that you can identify candidates with a depth of experience and expertise. Here are a few pointers:

Before sorting through your pile of resumes, have a checklist of essential skills, qualifications or attributes that are the "benchmark" for finding the right person. These include education, general and specific job experience, as well as skill and performance requirements.

Look for unexplained time periods that might indicate unemployment or a job the applicant doesn't want you to know about. Date-stretching to cover gaps is not uncommon. Check references to detect this.

Though employee mobility has increased, as a general rule more time in once place shows loyalty. You don't want to be hiring again in six months. However, even the best employees can sometimes have a short period in a specific role due to unforeseen, personal or uncontrollable circumstances.

Watch out for resume filled with vague responsibilities and claims. Enhancing job titles is common practice. Check for inconsistencies between title, responsibilities and salary. Look for very specific details of achievements and outcomes.

At the same time, don't be "dazzled" by an achievement-based style of resume. Go behind it to consider actual roles and responsibilities. Flag achievements and require the candidate to elaborate in the interview.

Salary is a common area for embellishment. This can be hard to detect, especially when you can't check with a present employer. Ask for evidence such as a contract, pay slip or bank statements. If you are suspicious, aim to uncover half truths in interviews by asking probing questions.

Check references. Always! Flag specific items to check with referees.

In today's market place employees can be highly mobile — both domestically and internationally. The internet has made it even more tempting to lie on a resume. There is no substitute for thorough checks on every critical aspect of a resume.

Source :

How to Manage Stress !!

2005-03-23T18:30:00.000+05:30

Stress Management

What is Stress?

Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. With the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a job promotion, or a new relationship, we experience stress as we readjust our lives. In so adjusting to different circumstances, stress will help or hinder us depending on how we react to it.

Everyone experiences stress from time to time, so it is perfectly normal. However, normal doesn't necessarily mean healthy. Nor is it inevitable! Believe it or not, you can learn how to largely eliminate stress. I don't mean eliminate the pressures in your life - those will probably persist. The way I think of it, pressure is what is happening to you, but stress is how you react to those pressures. So, you can keep the pressure and get rid of the stress.

How Can I Eliminate Stress from My Life?

As we have seen, positive stress adds anticipation and excitement to life, and we all thrive under a certain amount of stress. Deadlines, competitions, confrontations, and even our frustrations and sorrows add depth and enrichment to our lives. Our goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us. Insufficient stress acts as a depressant and may leave us feeling bored or dejected; on the other hand, excessive stress may leave us feeling "tied up in knots." What we need to do is find the optimal level of stress which will individually motivate but not overwhelm each of us.

How Can I Tell What is Optimal Stress for Me?

There is no single level of stress that is optimal for all people. We are all individual creatures with unique requirements. As such, what is distressing to one may be a joy to another. And even when we agree that a particular event is distressing, we are likely to differ in our physiological and psychological responses to it.

The person who loves to arbitrate disputes and moves from job site to job site would be stressed in a job which was stable and routine, whereas the person who thrives under stable conditions would very likely be stressed on a job where duties were highly varied. Also, our personal stress requirements and the amount which we can tolerate before we become distressed changes with our ages.

It has been found that most illness is related to unrelieved stress. If you are experiencing stress symptoms, you have gone beyond your optimal stress level; you need to reduce the stress in your life and/or improve your ability to manage it.

How Can I Manage Stress Better?

Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of its effect on our lives is not sufficient for reducing its harmful effects. Just as there are many sources of stress, there are many possibilities for its management. However, all require work toward change: changing the source of stress and/or changing your reaction to it. How do you proceed?

1. Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and physical reactions.

Notice your distress. Don't ignore it. Don't gloss over your problems.
Determine what events distress you. What are you telling yourself about meaning of these events?
Determine how your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset? If so, in what specific ways?

2. Recognize what you can change.

Can you change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely?
Can you reduce their intensity (manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis)?
Can you shorten your exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical premises)?Can you devote the time and energy necessary to making a change (goal setting, time management techniques, and delayed gratification strategies may be helpful here)?

3. Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress.

The stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger...physical danger and/or emotional danger. Are you viewing your stressors in exaggerated terms and/or taking a difficult situation and making it a disaster?Are you expecting to please everyone?
Are you overreacting and viewing things as absolutely critical and urgent? Do you feel you must always prevail in every situation?
Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you.
Try to temper your excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Do not labor on the negative aspects and the "what if's."

4. Learn to moderate your physical reactions to stress.

Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal.
Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension. Electronic biofeedback can help you gain voluntary control over such things as muscle tension, heart reate, and blood pressure.Medications, when prescribed by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating your physical reactions. However, they alone are not the answer. Learning to moderate these reactions on your own is a preferable long-term solution.

5. Build your physical reserves.

Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week (moderate, prolonged rhythmic exercise is best, such as walking, swimming, cycling, or jogging).Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals.
Maintain your ideal weight.
Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine, and other stimulants.
Mix leisure with work. Take breaks and get away when you can.
Get enough sleep. Be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.

6. Maintain your emotional reserves.

Develop some mutually supportive friendships/relationships.
Pursue realistic goals which are meaningful to you, rather than goals others have for you that you do not share.Expect some frustrations, failures, and sorrows.Always be kind and gentle with yourself -- be a friend to yourself.

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Fortunately, stress management is largely a learnable skill. Most people can learn how to take the heat in their lives. Before we talk about how, let's consider what stress is in more detail. The way I think of it, stress is a "false alarm". What I mean is that it is the erroneous activation of the "danger alarm" system of the brain. I visualize it as a big red fire alarm inside the head. This is a system we are all born with and it is a good thing to have. However, the biological purpose of this system is to help prepare us for dealing with real, physical danger. When the danger alarm is turned on, it produces a physiological response called the "fight or flight" reaction, which helps us to fight the danger or flee it.

When you are in real, immediate physical danger, it is appropriate to feel afraid. Getting your body charged up with adrenaline may well help to keep you alive. However, most of the time when we feel stressed, there is no immediate danger, so it is a false alarm. The fire alarm is sounding, but there is no fire!

So how do you learn how to manage stress? There are basically two main ways:

1. Learn how to turn off the alarm system through various relaxation methods.
2. Learn how to not turn it on inadvertently in the first place.

Relaxation methods work on the idea that you can't be relaxed and uptight at the same time. Basically, anything you do that is the opposite of what the danger alarm system does will tend to shut it off. Some examples include:

- Deep breathing - taking deep, slow breaths rather than the shallow, fast breathing we feel when we are stressed. This really works physiologically to help shut off the danger alarm.
- Muscular relaxation - tensing and relaxing various muscle groups can work wonders. Try your neck and shoulders, your shoulder blades, your forehead and eyes, tensing these groups for a few seconds, then relaxing them. You can also combine this with deep breathing by inhaling while you tense, then exhaling when you relax the muscles. There are more sophisticated versions of these muscular methods, like the shower of relaxation and progressive relaxation.

- Visualization - imagine a very peaceful scene, like laying on the beach, out in a fishing boat on a lake, in a mountain cabin or whatever. It can be a real place or you can make it up. Try to invoke all your senses as you imagine being in this very peaceful, relaxing place. What do you see? What sounds are there? What sensations of touch, temperature or smell? For example, you might imagine the sun on your skin, the cool breeze on your forehead, the salt tang of the ocean, the grit of the sand.

Try all these methods and see which works better for you. Some people do better with muscular methods, others with visualization. All these can be learned quite readily and often work very well.

In the long run, however, it is better to learn how to avoid getting stressed out in the first place. So how do you do that? Well, the clue is in the visualization method. Thinking peaceful thoughts makes you feel relaxed. In imagining a peaceful place, you have also distracted yourself from whatever thoughts you were having before. This points out the basic premise of cognitive/behavioral psychology, that our feelings and behaviors are largely caused by our own thoughts. This is oversimplified, because there are many feedback loops that make the connection between thoughts, feelings and behaviors sort of like a chicken and egg problem. But the simple version of the cognitive theory is that peaceful thoughts cause relaxation and stressful thoughts cause stress.

In other words, the reason we get stressed out is not what is happening to us and not what happened in the past (at least not directly), but rather, how we are thinking about what is happening. Past experience does influence us strongly, but the medium of that influence is beliefs or thoughts. For example, if you were abused as a child, you might have developed the belief that you are worthless. It is this belief today that is making you feel depressed, not the fact of the abuse itself. This is a really neat, powerful idea because it means we can overcome the bad experiences of the past. It means we have power over ourselves, so we don't have to be victims of the past or of present circumstances!

The best way to manage stress is to learn to change anxiety to concern. Concern means you are motivated to take care of real problems in your life, but your danger alarm system is not erroneously activated. Changing your feelings is largely a matter of learning to identify and change the upsetting thoughts that are the immediate and proximate cause of upset emotions.

Staff shortage hits Pvt. banks

2005-03-19T14:56:00.000+05:30

Attrition, Limited talent pool takes its toll; Salaries Witness a steady climb

INDIA'S private banking segment may well be growing at a fast pace but bankers are now encountering problems of attrition and inadequate manpower.

Over the last few months, bankers have been finding the going tough at a time when some of the foreign banks have been expanding their private banking business. Given the shortage of trained manpower for these operations, salaries have grown by close to 25 to 30% annually.

Says ABN AMRO Bank's country representative Romesh Sobti "There is a paucity for trained manpower. There is a limited pool in the industry and so there is movement happening between the players. Salaries are also going up." The problem is more acute in some of the other metros like Delhi and Bangalore.

"Other than metros it is very difficult to get people as supply is limited. There are not enough people with advisory and relationship management skills as the market is not deep." says Sharad Sharma head of private bank BNP Paribas.

Some foreign banks had been hit badly as they have lost 20% of their employees. These banks have around 20 to 30 people in private banking and last year most of them have seen four to five of their staffers leave on an average. ABN Amro Bank, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Bank offer private banking in India other than private sector banks like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. Other players like HSBC, Citi, StanChart and ABN Amro offer high end retail banking which straddles between mass retail banking and private banking.

Manpower problems are commen in these segments. Players like Citi, HSBC and JP Morgan are looking at offering private banking in India while new players like UBS are also looking at entering the country.

In the private banking segment, a staffer who joins normally makes the progression from arelationship manager to a financial advisor and then to a private banker.

Bankers are adopting different methods to surmount the problem of attrition and the paucity of manpower. Some like ABN Amro are creating a pipeline. They are also picking up people from other segments like debt and equity capital market, mutual funds and insurance companies.

Others like BNP Paribas are promoting people from their own ranks to go for programmes like CFP and capital market programmes other than fresh recruitments

Private sector banks are not as badly affected as the foreign banks. Banks like ICICI Bank have one of the highest strenght of around 200 people which they plan to grow to more than double the strengt.

Source : The Economic Times, 19th March 2005.