I have been working in software field for last 8 years. However, one thing that my experience taught me was importance of human angle in this whole business.
As a coder, as a project manager or as a business analyst or any role, you have to understand all stake holders carefully and you have to know them as you know your close friends. This is a critical success factor which none of the software engineering books teaches you.
Also, we run behind the technology and processing power and turn-around-time of various business processes on our systems, but we often neglect the human part. Stupid, it is not about technology. It is more about the people involved. It is more about staying one step ahead of these people and this can happen only when you know them as your friends.
The whole software business is very much perception based. The success of any project or any new enhancement depends on all stakeholders involved. I do not think there is any method which can clearly document all the aspects in writing of what user wants. And nobody can guarantee that user's mind will not change after sending that last requirement specification document in the e-mail.
I find requirement gathering similar to like asking somebody how you would like your chicken biryani to taste? Just try to answer it yourself and imagine how software guys make user's life difficult. However, a good chef knows how to make a good chicken biryani after asking may be 2-3 questions or just by knowing back ground of the client.
So, the trick is to be the chef one who knows how the chicken biryani should taste!!! Sooner you know this, higher you go otherwise your manager will keep writing 'work on customer satisfaction' in every appraisal report.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Blessing in disguise
Anybody who has followed Pakistan cricket tour in Australia and is truly well wisher of Pakistan cricket may have felt that IPL controversy is blessing in disguise for them.
Pakistan as a country is breaking day-by-day and is growing way. ICC has already barred Pakistan to host any international matches after attack on Sri Lanka players in Lahore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_attack_on_the_Sri_Lanka_national_cricket_team ) . The cricket board has no money (no matches and hence no money). There are only twenty-twenty domestic tournaments all around Pakistan because crowds love it and they pay for it.
This set-up has devoid Pakistan completely of 5-day cricket and is slowly breaking back-bone of real cricket. Pakistan batting display in Australia indicates towards this decline and if you have any doubt, read what Pakistan captain said after every test match defeat.
It would be better for Pakistan cricket to forget IPL and concentrate only on 3-day, 4-day and 5-day cricket. Otherwise Pakistan may go to a stage where ICC allows them to participate only in twenty-twenty cricket -:)
Pakistan as a country is breaking day-by-day and is growing way. ICC has already barred Pakistan to host any international matches after attack on Sri Lanka players in Lahore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_attack_on_the_Sri_Lanka_national_cricket_team ) . The cricket board has no money (no matches and hence no money). There are only twenty-twenty domestic tournaments all around Pakistan because crowds love it and they pay for it.
This set-up has devoid Pakistan completely of 5-day cricket and is slowly breaking back-bone of real cricket. Pakistan batting display in Australia indicates towards this decline and if you have any doubt, read what Pakistan captain said after every test match defeat.
It would be better for Pakistan cricket to forget IPL and concentrate only on 3-day, 4-day and 5-day cricket. Otherwise Pakistan may go to a stage where ICC allows them to participate only in twenty-twenty cricket -:)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Brands and Sports
A thought was passing through - why our companies pay exorbitant money to connect with Cricket. Why our companies do not associate with other sports...Like a Mr. Muscle company can be sponsorship of Indian wrestling team.
Forget government bodies or our Indian Olympic federation, corporate India has to wake-up and connect brands to various sports. It will not only help penetration of brands in rural area but also facilitate provide much needed capital for those sports.
Like, a group of Indian banks can take care of Indian Hockey or any game like Football. They can constitute a body of ex-Olympians who will administer the game of Hockey. The banks will sponsor various hockey events and in-turn they will get tax benefit from government. This arrangement has benefit for all stake holders. The sports will be professionally managed, the banks can penetrate their reach further and work on inclusive growth concept.
Any takers?m.
A simple question
Is defining failure a simple exercise? Think. We have a education system where pass and fail definitions are crystal clear in numbers.
However, why as a country we fail to define failure when it comes to government delivery system, or any system, be it a sports body, an infrastructure project or anything? Are we being too much democratic even going to the extent of being indiscipline people? Or is it because our justice delivery system is an utter failure (again can I say it or do as a country we accept it?). In my view - Justice delayed is justice denied.
Why we do not want to fix our justice delivery system? Partly because a clear and quick verdict from judiciary will take away hidden power from government employees which they wield to extract illegal money from citizens to carry their work. or a quick justice delivery system will disable half of sitting MPs and MLAs to even contest in any kind of elections next time...
The recent events and trends do not indicate we are going in right direction. A state chief minister says that all taxi drivers must learn local language and then backs away next day. Why he did so? Our prime minister wants major ies to go global...taxi drivers of Shanghai are learning English and we are going backwards.
Can we as a country instill some discipline in ourselves?
However, why as a country we fail to define failure when it comes to government delivery system, or any system, be it a sports body, an infrastructure project or anything? Are we being too much democratic even going to the extent of being indiscipline people? Or is it because our justice delivery system is an utter failure (again can I say it or do as a country we accept it?). In my view - Justice delayed is justice denied.
Why we do not want to fix our justice delivery system? Partly because a clear and quick verdict from judiciary will take away hidden power from government employees which they wield to extract illegal money from citizens to carry their work. or a quick justice delivery system will disable half of sitting MPs and MLAs to even contest in any kind of elections next time...
The recent events and trends do not indicate we are going in right direction. A state chief minister says that all taxi drivers must learn local language and then backs away next day. Why he did so? Our prime minister wants major ies to go global...taxi drivers of Shanghai are learning English and we are going backwards.
Can we as a country instill some discipline in ourselves?
Economics from Gandhi
Can we as a nation draw economics lessons from Life of Mahatma Gandhi and put it in a book and give to our kids/college students.
Well! I was just wondering how Mahatma Gandhi would have given incentives to our government employees to work efficiently and honestly. If the man could inspire million of Indians to fight for freedom, I assume his economics would have been very subtle and easy.
Having said that, he was best marketing man India has ever produced. He used to travel in general class to mingle with Indians whom he wanted to inspire to fight for India.
We as a country need Gandhi economics lessons to stay connect with India and its core values. And If you browse through some quotes of Gandhi, you understand that his quotes go beyond time limit. The whole world is crying for climate change and etc (without doing anything). If you live the life Gandhian way, probably we would had been better-off.
If anybody knows a book on this topic, please let me know.
Well! I was just wondering how Mahatma Gandhi would have given incentives to our government employees to work efficiently and honestly. If the man could inspire million of Indians to fight for freedom, I assume his economics would have been very subtle and easy.
Having said that, he was best marketing man India has ever produced. He used to travel in general class to mingle with Indians whom he wanted to inspire to fight for India.
We as a country need Gandhi economics lessons to stay connect with India and its core values. And If you browse through some quotes of Gandhi, you understand that his quotes go beyond time limit. The whole world is crying for climate change and etc (without doing anything). If you live the life Gandhian way, probably we would had been better-off.
If anybody knows a book on this topic, please let me know.
A quick Pass
When I saw Virender Shehwag advertising for Hockey World Cup, I thanked god. Hockey world cup is scheduled to be held from February 20th in New Delhi, but you will not see a single bill board in Delhi for Hockey world cup.
If you ask this to our IHF, they will say - Well! We did not put bill boards because we knew people will not be able to see it due to heavy fog!!!
Jokes apart, Hockey fell sick after 1984 and situation deteriorated. The most embarrassing moment was when we failed to qualify for Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The question needs to be asked is when we as a country will take measured steps to put hockey on track. What will be the event which will instigate this country to reform this game or we are happy watching cricket? No qualification for Beijing Olympics passed like just another day.
I guess it is the time and year when we are organizing common wealth games where all sports bodies should be managed by professionals and government should pass appropriate bill in parliament.
A hockey player gets INR 4,50,000 per year when he participates in all games. If he becomes unfit or is dropped from the team, he looses money. Add to this that the player has to spend his money to remain fit. Apart from it, he has to travel in sleeper class of train and stay in a low grade hotel during the hotel.
And we as a country want Olympic medal from these bunch of men who had to go on strike to get the money they deserved. These bunch of men are hungry, live in sub-standard conditions, do not get best training facilities, their coaches change with drop of a hat and above all, a sick Indian Hockey Federation who do not understand 'H' of Hockey.
I feel ashamed as an Indian to say Hockey is our national game. If we can't do anything else, let us choose some other game as a national game.
If you ask this to our IHF, they will say - Well! We did not put bill boards because we knew people will not be able to see it due to heavy fog!!!
Jokes apart, Hockey fell sick after 1984 and situation deteriorated. The most embarrassing moment was when we failed to qualify for Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The question needs to be asked is when we as a country will take measured steps to put hockey on track. What will be the event which will instigate this country to reform this game or we are happy watching cricket? No qualification for Beijing Olympics passed like just another day.
I guess it is the time and year when we are organizing common wealth games where all sports bodies should be managed by professionals and government should pass appropriate bill in parliament.
A hockey player gets INR 4,50,000 per year when he participates in all games. If he becomes unfit or is dropped from the team, he looses money. Add to this that the player has to spend his money to remain fit. Apart from it, he has to travel in sleeper class of train and stay in a low grade hotel during the hotel.
And we as a country want Olympic medal from these bunch of men who had to go on strike to get the money they deserved. These bunch of men are hungry, live in sub-standard conditions, do not get best training facilities, their coaches change with drop of a hat and above all, a sick Indian Hockey Federation who do not understand 'H' of Hockey.
I feel ashamed as an Indian to say Hockey is our national game. If we can't do anything else, let us choose some other game as a national game.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Deja Vu
It was a deja vu sense...I had posted in my blog on September 30, 2008 that economic crisis will bring business for Indian IT companies (the link is http://anything-under.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-next.html)
The exact text from the blog is below:
"One thing is certain - All financial risk analysis guidelines must be reviewed and re-written to evolve a robust risk model in future with an incentive process to adhere to it (There is potential business for Indian IT companies). "
When TCS declared result for its third quarter (Q3 2009-2010), TCS Belgium country head, Mr. Kiran Gupta said the same thing. You may read full story on below link:
Monday, January 18, 2010
Quick Bits
Next set of Quick Bits:
1) Total number of Banks failed in US till date: 140
2) Greece government may default on its short term bond (If a government defaults on short term bond or any bond, you have it). This should be first big news of year 2010. Greece has adopted Euro as its currency and it will bring unnecessary and undue pressure on Euro and thereby igniting the debate that how countries with Euro should manage their currency, monetary policy and interest rate policy because every country is independent but action of one country affect economy of other country.
3) Rajeev Gandhi had assigned P. Chitambaram independent charge of Home Ministry following his difference with then Union Home Minister. Mr. P. Chitambaram is credited to have conceptualize and implementation of elite forces for specialized jobs such as SPG (Special Protection Group) and MARCOS (Elite commando force used to neutralize Mumbai Terror attack).It was this background which made him as obsvious choice as Home Minister post Mumbai Terror Attack.
4) Supreme Court has reserved judgments on few cases for more than two years. According to rules, if any of the judges on the bench retires before the judgment is delivered, the entire hearing has to start from scratch. That is why you see many judgments are delivered when one of the judges is about to retire. The Ambani case may meet similar fate and judgment may be delayed by April 2010 because Chief Justice (who was on bench) will retire in May 2010.
5) Indian signed commonwealth games in year 2003. No work happened till May 2008. When UPA-II came into power and assigned Mr. Gill (Former Election Commissioner) as sports minister, things started moving. Only less than 10 months are left and we have not yet completed many of the stadiums.
1) Total number of Banks failed in US till date: 140
2) Greece government may default on its short term bond (If a government defaults on short term bond or any bond, you have it). This should be first big news of year 2010. Greece has adopted Euro as its currency and it will bring unnecessary and undue pressure on Euro and thereby igniting the debate that how countries with Euro should manage their currency, monetary policy and interest rate policy because every country is independent but action of one country affect economy of other country.
3) Rajeev Gandhi had assigned P. Chitambaram independent charge of Home Ministry following his difference with then Union Home Minister. Mr. P. Chitambaram is credited to have conceptualize and implementation of elite forces for specialized jobs such as SPG (Special Protection Group) and MARCOS (Elite commando force used to neutralize Mumbai Terror attack).It was this background which made him as obsvious choice as Home Minister post Mumbai Terror Attack.
4) Supreme Court has reserved judgments on few cases for more than two years. According to rules, if any of the judges on the bench retires before the judgment is delivered, the entire hearing has to start from scratch. That is why you see many judgments are delivered when one of the judges is about to retire. The Ambani case may meet similar fate and judgment may be delayed by April 2010 because Chief Justice (who was on bench) will retire in May 2010.
5) Indian signed commonwealth games in year 2003. No work happened till May 2008. When UPA-II came into power and assigned Mr. Gill (Former Election Commissioner) as sports minister, things started moving. Only less than 10 months are left and we have not yet completed many of the stadiums.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Quick Bites
Well! A posting after almost 16 months. Sharing something which may amuse you may find interesting:
1) According to latest Economist, pharmaceutical companies are working on smarter pills in an effort to diversify and stabilise their revenue. Proteus's technology, which enables pills to relay data about a patient back to doctors after they have swallowed, is a prime example. You can read the whole article on http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15276730.
2) Cricinfo jury, comprising retired and current test cricketers and eminent cricket journalists, declared Ricky Ponting the cricketer of decade (2000-2009). Think about it for a moment and you seem to agree. Ponting has indeed made runs in important matches in both forms of the game. The only black spot is loosing ashes twice but more as a captain.
3) Food inflation and general inflation in India is showing rising trend. The government is more worried with food inflation which has come down slightly to 17%. However, views in the government is interesting. Mr. C. Rangrajan (Head of Economy Advisor panel to PM and a former RBI governor) is advocating for hardening interest rates, Mr. Kaushik Basu (eminent economist and head economist in Finance Ministry) is saying nobody takes loan or no bank gives loan to buy lunch or dinner meaning hardening interest rates will be like using a hammer to kill a mosquito. Finance Minster has hinted that raising interest rate while government stimulus is on, will be contradictory.
Reserve Bank Governor is silent. I guess RBI will revise only Cash Reserve Ratio.
4) Bankers in India are headed towards Technology. Earlier private banks proved how technology can be instrumental in increasing reach and increasing per employee profit. Now, Public Sector Banks are after technology and implementing in their respective banks. The latest revolution is in mobile banking where RBI has revised guidelines and encouraged banks to launch mobile banking applications. The purpose seem to be marrying mobile with banking. The launch of 3G will spur internet browsing on mobile by Indians because there is hardly any broadband penetration in India (2-2.5%). But still there are miles to go as far as mobile banking is concerned.
5) 3G launch will change complexion of mobile phone market in India. The demand for powerful and internet-browsing friendly phones will rise. Further, we may see Apple and Google focussing on Indian middle class needs and launching India specific phones. Nokia is already sweating with launch of Google 'Nexus One' in USA and it may sweat in India if Google and Apple become serious in Indian market.
Visit this site tomorrow for next of quick bites.
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