The new Big Boy in IT?

I read this article with great interest. HP is going to end this year at around $100 Billion… What a turnaround for this company! Interesting also would be that it makes HP the BIGGEST IT company , taking over from IBM, the defacto leader in the Industry… Now that is something for a company everyone thought had lost its way.. (remember HP=Printer company… ). The Compaq purchase WAS worth it. On a personal note though, the HP Smartphone I have, is a dummy!!! (a piece of brick, as I like to call it!).

The news article: HP reported a great quarter Wednesday. Revenue jumped 13 percent, to $25.5 billion, helped by tremendous sales in industry-standard servers, PCs, and the hot laptop market. HP forecast revenue to increase to $100.5 billion to $100.9 billion for its fiscal year, ending Oct. 31. The prior forecast was $98 billion to $99 billion. If it hits its new revenue target, it would be approximately a 9 percent increase over its 2006 revenue. Most companies HP's size are expected to grow at 6 percent at the most.

Offshore Model in India evolving

I read this article in Infoworld with interest. This is from IDG… What this article does not necessarily address is that Indian Outsourcing Industry is also at a crossroad now. The salary structures in India has reached levels, where it makes it expensive to outsource to India on pure cost basis. Some companies like TCS and Infosys, have already started thinking ahead, and they are proactively opening up outsourcing/development centre (call it what you will), in other "emerging" countries – like Eastern Europe or even China ("Emerging" for Development related work). NOW, that is an interesting take on the state of the business. Imagine, a company sitting in Europe, outsources work to a company in India, which actually does many of the work out of East Europe – which could be just next door!!! J Here is the article… a snapshot of it. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (InfoWorld) - Foreign companies aiming to take advantage of India's less-expensive IT and back-office employees often take one of two routes -- they set up their own operations in the country, commonly referred to as "captive centers," or they outsource work. But new market research suggests there are cost benefits to turning over software development or business processes to an outsourcer rather than setting up a subsidiary. Forrester Research Inc. found that hidden costs raise the baseline expense per person per month at a subsidiary to $4,944, compared to the baseline cost of $4,231 per person per month to hire an outsourcer. A number of companies are shutting down their captive centers and turning to outsourcers, said Sudin Apte, senior analyst and country head for India for Forrester. "Captives centers run as cost-centers and cannot be as competitive as a vendor offering services," Apte said. The size of the captive center also matters. "My experience suggests that generally the minimum economic size for a captive operation is about 1,000 staff," said Siddharth Pai, a partner at outsourcing consultancy firm Technology Partners International in Houston. A smaller staff means the expenses of real estate, infrastructure, and other overhead keep the cost per person at levels too high to appeal to the parent company, he added. More than 60 percent of the captive centers in India are struggling with escalating staff attrition and costs, according to Apte. Most of these centers have been set up with the expectation that they can do the work more cheaply than outsourcers as they will not be paying vendor margins. Money saved on the outsourcer's margins is outweighed by the inefficiency of the captive operation, he added. Because they usually don't do leading-edge work, subsidiaries spend more than outsourcers to attract and retain staff, according to Forrester. Conversely, outsourcers provide staff growth opportunities and the chance to work on a variety of projects from various customers, Apte said.

 

Microsoft

Microsoft has at last started its upward spiral. Nothing but a ton of innovation to a market that just does not reward innovation- the hard work begins to pay off… Way to go, MS.

 
 

 
 

Cambodia Visit

First trip to Cambodia. It was a very interesting trip. Considering what people had told me about it.

"Dirty, no good roads, poor country, no infrastructure, unsafe, dangerous" etc. etc.

With that background, I went in with a bit of trepidation. And it turned out to be one of the more pleasant surprises for me. I landed at the airport expecting it to be some old building and was absolutely stunned to see a well designed albeit small, airport which was on par and in most cases better than many of the airports in the Region. The city was impressive considering what my mental picture of the city was. Well planned and people who mostly were very friendly. The roads were good! (so much for "mud roads"). I went out for dinner with a couple and the restaurants were good, well organized (along the river), and mostly looked safe J

What I was most impressed with, was the SIZE of the houses! I just cant get over it. They were HUGE houses, and more interesting- almost all of them COVERED with Metallic posts to avoid thieves (was that the "safety" issue everyone spoke about?).

For a country with such a painful history, the people looked at peace with themselves, and helped where they could.

Most understood English and spoke it much better than the Vietnamese do.

All in all a memorable trip which I enjoyed and I hope to go back – this time to see the Angkor Wat temples.

Here are some snaps.. Yeah, the traffic was a challenge J

Robo Repo – Car Buyers Beware

This came in Business Week – May issue

"Car buyers with lousy credit have a new digital rep man to worry about. Sekurus, a Temecula technology firm, is racking up sales of its On Time device, a $250 under-dash gadget that disables a car's starter if the owner falls behind on loan payments. Its main customers are car dealers who cater to subprime borrowers! "

This to me was very interesting news. A reminder service is great –but something that disables the owners car, is something quite something. Interesting are these times- when we get technology supporting us for the oddest things… what next? If you default on your home loans, the doors don't open anymore?

Another thought – does it affect the equity of this brand?

The Trusted Advisor – by David H Maister

Yet another business classic! Sometimes, a lot of effort in managing a business relationship (or even a personal relationship) – ends with limited results. And as in most other things in life, this also seems to have an equation that goes to solve our problems J

This book was a suggested reading by a Trainer who took a class for me earlier this year! And one thing that made me sit up & think real hard was the following equation:

T= (C+R+I)/S

Where T= Trust Factor

C= Credibility

R= Reliability

I=Intimacy

And most importantly S= Self Orientation

And after some introspection, I find it to be Simple & Brilliant!

One can have a very high score on C,R & I and still be so full of themselves (S), that it lowers your trust factor. Go figure!

And some very good tips on how to build the trust factor to maximize what you do in life!

Worth Reading.

Great Article: When NOT to trust your gut

Have a look at this picture. What do you think? Are they similar or different?

My gut told me they are different!

I found this article from the Harvard Business School Professors very interesting & apt for many decisions we come to in life. To check out this article & the 4 steps they have recommended before you take any major decision here is the HBS Article

Getting Organized: Read this book: Organizing for Success : Kenneth Zeigler

Trying to read books on getting some good tips on becoming more & more effective and maximize your day.

I realized, that while I was doing everything I could to get more from my day (clear desk, keep diary, have task lists, follow through on activities etc.), I was still not very happy. Hence, this extra piece of work to start looking at books that could help me get to the next level.

Was this useful?

Absolutely.

I wanted to share some of the key learnings – which I thought was unique in this book…

Goals & Setting goals

• This is something every Personal Productivity guru talks about & this was the same. What was however, different, was the 9 step process to set goals. It made it a whole lot simpler to go through the steps.
  


• Again- not something that is not logical –but still something you may want to read & Try out.
  


• I am tempted to put those 9 steps – but just wary of the copyright issues related to that J
  

Daily,Weekly and the Master List

• The Master List was something totally new for me! I am used to working through the Daily Lists (Courtesy-Franklin) or the Weekly Lists (Courtesy Covey-Franklin)- but never looked at the Master List before. I tried it out and I find it to be a quite a unique and interesting concept. Does it work? Not sure – but testing & working on it. I find I can put a lot more into it. Developed a small excel sheet which I use to put my master list on – and can put dates into it as and when needed. Hopefully it will work out.
  

Veggie Principle

• A Different view of looking at the most difficult job!
  


• What was refreshing was to focus on 1 or 2 Veggies in a day and not more than that
  


• Know what the "veggie" is….
  


• I found this portion very useful!
  

The other elements were all ok & as per any other standard book you would find in the market – but these 3 key areas were, in my mind, unique & something which we can learn from.

From Hanoi, Vietnam

Writing this from Hanoi, and it is a great day here. Coming from the Haze filled Singapore, this is welcome relief, and I am amazed at the way things have changed in Hanoi.

I was last here in 2000, and with repeated trips to Ho Chi Minh City, I had imagined Hanoi to be what it was 6 years ago, and my -what a change. It is terrific now, and I have fallen in love with the place. The drive from the Airport (which by itself is very different from earlier), to the Hilton, was great. With a great view of the Opera House next door, it was just the perfect stay, before all the meetings I had to attend to.

Getting ready to move to Ho Chi Minh city later this evening and looking forward to going back to Singapore soon...

Next post hopefully from Saigon :)

Deepavali Lightings in Singapore

Deepavali is the festival of Lights. Serangoon Road in Singapore is especially a sight to behold these days- and the lighting this year is especially classy. For visitors visiting Singapore, don't miss this as part of your itinerary - and also the lighting in Chinatown (I will try and take more snaps of them in the next couple of days). Here are some snaps I took earlier today. It was a quick trip to Serangoon road to get something for my daughter (and I was sick throughout the day). Quick snaps taken in the peak hours (not a good time to take photos anyways).

For more on Deepavali: I have taken this from Wikipedia just for those who find clicking on links to be painful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepavali

The date of Diwali is based on the Hindu calendar, which has solar sidereal years and lunar months. Although the festival is worshipped on exactly the same set of days across India, it falls in different months depending on the version of the Hindu calendar being used in the given region.

The Amanta ("ending on the no-moon") version of the Hindu Calendar has been adopted as the Indian national calendar. According to this calendar, which is prevalent in southern India and Maharashtra, deepavali falls in the middle of the month of Ashwayuja. According to the Purnimanta ("ending on the full-moon") version prevalent in northern India, the 5-day celebration is spread over the last three days of the month of Ashwayuja and the first two days of the new month of Kartika. According to this calendar, the festival of Deepavali marks the new year's day of this calendar and is therefore an especially significant festival.
In the Gregorian calendar, it falls generally in the months of October or November. In 2005, the new moon day which is the third and most important day of the festival fell on November 1. In 2006, it will be celebrated on October 21 (Saturday).

The Five days of Diwali
Diwali is celebrated over five days in most of North India. All the days except Diwali are named using the designation in the Indian calendar. A lunar half-month is 15 days. Diwali as a new-moon day, marks the last day of a 15-day period.

Diwali has emerged as one of the most famous Hindu festivals. An integral part of Diwali decorations, Rangoli is a colorful pattern drawn on the floor.

Dhan-trayodashi or Dhan teras: Dhan means "wealth" and Trayodashi means "13th day". Thus, as the name implies, this day falls on the 13th day of the first half of the lunar month. It is an auspicious day for shopping. (Gujarati: Dhan Teras)

Naraka Chaturdasi: Narak means 'of a new era of Light and Knowledge'. Chaturdasi implies fourteenth day. (Gujarati: Kali Chaudas)

Diwali: the actual day of Diwali, is celebrated on the third day of the festival, when the moon completely wanes and total darkness sets in the night sky.

Varsha-pratipada or Padwa: Beginning of the New Year (Kartikadi Vikram). Pratipada means the first. (Gujarati: Bestu Varas)

Bhayiduj (also Bhayyaduj, Bhaubeej or Bhayitika) -- on this day, brothers and sisters meet to express their love and affection for each other. (Gujarati: Bhai Bij)

The celebrations vary in different regions:

In Southern India, naraka chaturdashii is the main day, with firecrackers at dawn.

The main festival is on Amavasya evening with Lakshmi Puja which is followed by lighting of oil lamps around the house.

The Haze in Singapore

The Haze is back. I am amazed at the sufferings that people in a Region go through because of a bunch of people who do not want to think beyond themselves. Singapore is just getting into the brunt of the Haze and though the last 2 days were good, it is coming back again.

Here is a view of how it looked last Saturday... The PSI rating was around 130 on Saturday, but has dropped down to 30 yesterday.

It is coming back to the 80's over the last few hours, and it does not look good :(

I must say the Government website makes it very good to look at. Check the details here - www.nea.gov.sg which gives a great update on a hourly basis. Talk about Singapore Government efficiency :)

If these things could only be managed in the same manner.

Haze is a terrible thing... I hope it does not get any worse that it already is...