Indian IT Industry
56th Session of the EMERGE Friday’s 2.0 on The 5 Steps to innovate Within an organisation by V.R. Ferose, SAP Labs
So, we again have an almost full room at the NASSCOM HQ, with Avinash, introducing Mr. Ferose and the NASSCOM EMERGE Friday’s 2.0. I am glad to be bringing you LIVE the 56th session which leaves me, with another session to be completing my half century with the EMERGE Friday’s 2.0 :)
ITIL V3, Helping Businesses Enhance Business Value
Last November the 20th anniversary of ITIL was celebrated. For the uninitiated, ITIL or “Information Technology Infrastructure Library” is a Best Practice Framework for IT Service Management. It has evolved over the years from version 1 released in 1989, with a version 2 being released around the year 2001 and in 2007, a new version, V3 being introduced. When Version 3 or V3 was introduced, Version 2, or V2 was not withdrawn. This happened only recently in December 2009. This simultaneous existence of two versions between 2007 and 2009 created a huge churn over the respective merits of ITIL V2 and ITIL V3.
Innovation leaders: a breed different from corporate managers
Ian MacMillan and Rita McGrath (both taught at a Spring 08 Columbia Business School program I attended) in an HBR article say “Most profitable strategies are built on differentiation: offering customers something they value that competitors don’t have.” And Harsh Mariwala, Chairman & MD, Marico Ltd says, “… innovation is the fountainhead for differentiation.” The importance of innovation in business is clear.
Small & Medium Business (SMB): The Next Frontier: Playing the Long Tail – Talk By Raman Roy at the NASSCOM CEO Forum
Once again, it was Mr Vishnu Dusad who introduced Raman Roy to the participants. A man who really needs no introduction! the Quatrro Chief has many firsts to his name. And certainly not the least among them being a visionary, who is credited to have created half a million jobs for the BPO sector. His bio was so impressive that we were absolutely enthralled, as it was being read out. Raman Roy was even compared to F C Kohli, the father of the Indian IT industry in more ways than one. Mr Roy accepted the praise very gracefully and even remarked on a lighter vein, that he can now look into the mirror with a renewed sense of self respect. He was also rather apologetic and looked quite sheepish, for losing his way and being late. Brilliant raconteur that he is, he went on to share his views, his thought process and what he had learnt over the years at Spectramind, and now at Quatrro.
EMERGing Out at NILF 2010
NASSCOM’s flagship event, the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum is around the corner. How can emerging companies make the most of this exciting three day event? Read on for some ideas on how you could plan your visit.
Putting your Mynd to it – Featuring EMERGE 50 Leader Mynd Solutions
Mynd Solutions
Started as a small accounting shop with a few people a decade ago, Mynd Solutions is today an outfit with large teams specializing in accounting, financial and HR KPO services. It was designated a leader in the Emerge Growth category. NASSCOM spoke to Sundeep Mohindru, Director, to trace the company’s growth path and find out what makes it successful.
Revamping Practices
I received a letter by courier yet again last week from a well known financial institution. It took me a while to reach the letter since the envelope in which the letter was enclosed had been fortified by no less than 9 staple pins. In addition, the envelope was tightly sealed with gum and two strips of sticky tape. I finally retrieved the letter but not after some cursing and a bruised finger. This was the nth such letter I had received from the company, complaints notwithstanding!
Growing the SME Space
SMEs are defined in various ways in India, typically via amounts of capital invested. The RBI has defined Micro Enterprises as those with less than 10 to 25 lakhs (depending on whether the business is engaged in Services or in Manufacturing) in capital employed, Small Enterprises as those with not more than 2 to 5 Crore and Medium Enterprises as those with not more than 5 to 10 Crore in capital employed. Other countries use the number of employees and total revenue also as parameters for classification. Worldwide, it is estimated that 99.3% of all enterprises are small or medium in size.
Year-end euphoria: Dreams for 2010
Before the season of festive good wishes and good resolutions wears out, here’s a list of the policy changes that I would like to happen in the new year, to promote growth and innovation
Not one, but many Microsofts in the making
Even before Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to join Paul Allen’s efforts to build a BASIC interpreter, firms like IBM, ICL, DEC, Data General, Cray and yet some more existed. However, Microsoft (MS) did not come out of their cradle. It was born in an unlikely place called Seattle, from the efforts of two very unlikely people who would not have been candidates for beatification in the first four decades after ENIAC.
