To be, or not to be :: that is NOT the question, for Indian IT Services

There are many views on how to resurrect Indian IT services industry. But indulging in such a question assumes Indian IT services industry needs a resurrection. Does it really? Is that the question the industry should ponder? In isolation their growth may seem to have slowed down a little. This may be a reason to worry. But is the reason good enough for sweeping fundamental changes? Pitch them against global software product companies. You see a different picture...

All that glitters may not be gold yet, but can grow up to yield gold in some time

May 11, 2016

Nay sayers are busy writing obituaries of Indian startup ecosystem in general and e-commerce startups in particular. The frenzy shown by the venture capitalists of getting into the gravy train before it gathers momentum seemed to has ended. The blame game has started. I don’t want to waste your time recounting what could have been. Let us look at what is likely to happen. Unlike the majority, I don’t see this as a bad thing at all. This will bring about a much needed rethinking and transformation in the ecosystem where only the right ones will thrive.
It will be interesting to quickly review what is the likely scenario.

Shall we tell the customer :: The horn or the thorn of Indian Unicorn?

February 18, 2016

A “surf-stopping” message pops up every now and then on most social media sites which sings the odes of new age companies - “Uber which dont own taxis, Facebook don't own content,..... so on.” Most of us will agree that the message has a great hidden meaning. While there can be many a possible interpretations, they all make one fact clear to Indian e-businesses. You have to tell the customer. Uber, Air BnB and others do a great job of telling all in the network with clarity and verity, on time every time.The new rule is “Content is king, Context may be queen but RELEVANCE is the emperor”

Strange case of a missing on-line payment :: What will it take for the elephant to dance

January 20, 2016

On 4-Nov-2015, I was trying to buy a laptop as a gift for someone for Diwali. Since I was value hunting I decided to use eBay India to do my shopping. Instead of it being a pleasant shopping experience, I ended up with a long drawn process of chasing my missing payment. The payment which got debited from my credit card online and should have credited to PaisaPay, took two months to be traced by eBay. Finally, on 2-Jan-2016 - full two months post the transaction date, eBay agreed that this was a miss from their side where “systems misbehaved” and credited the money back to my account. If this can happen to a technologist while transacting on one of the most trusted e-commerce platforms in the world, something is a miss here and surely it is not technology related.

Why are geeks a must in marketing? :: Its all digital

October 6, 2015

In the pre-social age, the marketers decided what products to produce, where they will place at what price and how they will promote it. Now consumers decide what products marketers should produce, at what price they will consume and where it should be placed. If marketer, get this right, consumer will promote. Else you market and waste money.

Data data every where, not a byte to crunch :: Ever elusive RoI

September 30, 2015

As a leader, moving your business from gut hunch to data crunch mode of decision making is no more a choice. The winds of change have already forced you to be data driven. Else your business will balk. But a good percentage of initiatives have a positive RoI missing in their advanced analytics investments. Here is a practitioner view of having lead many such initiatives even before it was called analytics.

Employee loyalty is dead :: Long live partnerships

September 24, 2015

Before the new era of startup eco system became the norm, organizations and employees used to see longevity in their relationship as a “win-win”. Is it any more? Doesn’t seem to be.
A quick look at the changing professional profiles in LinkedIn show that tenure of employee’s in organizations is shrinking rapidly. If it’s the numbers you are after, the American Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2010, that the average person born the latter years of the baby boom holds or will hold 11 jobs from ages 18-44. Today, people in their 20's change jobs an average of every 2 years.

David v/s Goliath :: 8 learnings for startups from Delhi elections

February 10, 2015

It went against the popular plot this time around. If David takes on Goliath today, people (customers) will clap for David (startup) and put their money on Goliath (the market leader). But leading a startup idea is to lead David’s life taking on Goliaths. Careful planning and persistence in execution is the only way forward for startups in markets infested with big boys.

Metamorphosis of Indian IT has begun

January 28, 2015

Lets focus on what is right about Indian IT industry, the recent whipping boy for most India watchers. On all metrics of progress Indian IT industry has delivered. Whatever be the price of Oil, whoever is in charge at White House, Indian IT delivery triumphs. But for the naysayers, this is a magic fountain is going to dry up. Stop and think a little, calmly. Like good wine, the more Indian IT matures more value it is going to create.

A pluck in time saves nine :: Sustainable development through analytics

January 20, 2015

One of the reports peg India’s agriculture product wastage at 40%. Some estimates it is INR.44,000 crores (USD 8 Bn at local prices). Which ever you cut it, it’s a big opportunity for improvement. Along with this if we can ensure the benefits goes to deserving farmers and end customers, all the while better. How can smAc or most importantly analytics help?

Microsoft .net open sourced :: Head or Tails, MS wins

November 27, 2014

As usual, a strategic master piece from Microsoft. While people are trying to find out what Micorosoft’s .net on open source means to their business, this is clearly end of an era. One of the strongest proponents of “rich takes it all” has moved camps – at least figurately

Defend your internet privacy :: Big brother, boss and marketers are snooping

November 12, 2014

The technology has reached a place where it is difficult to have that lonely moment which is precious to you, without others attempting to make money of you. For example, when you are having a candlelit dinner with your beloved, your mobile knows where you are and might invade the privacy with a sudden advertisement about great flowers which your beloved loves available in the next street.

Enjoy the freedom :: Blast off your analytics strategy using Open Source

October 30, 2014

Sunk investments in data warehouses, big data and analytics projects in the past might leave you with various stages of despair. The returns are nowhere near to what you were convinced and sponsored. Is it because big data analytics is just another fad??? No. Data explosion is reality and information has become a chief factor of success.

Mobiles let fishermen off the hook: Its SMAC again

October 20, 2014

Till 2006 fishermen of Kerala used to loose more than 6% of the catch due to information asymmetry. Not any more. They also get better price. What can we learn about innovations in product extension from God’s Own Country? Quite a lot, mainly about #smac.

Storm in a Data Cup: Lessons from Hudhud – where analytics literally helped to weather the storm

October 13, 2014

A very severe cyclonic storm, HUDHUD made a landfall on India’s eastern cost yesterday. Not many were aware of this and only a very few panicked. Similar storms in a decade or so ago would have taken hundreds of human lives. This time losses to life are minimal, thanks to excellent analytics by IMD.

Great Indian Price Trick – Why you should SMAC the customer?

October 8, 2014

Jury is still out whether the recently concluded big price drop by #Flipkart, India’s largest (arguably) ecommerce site is a fiasco or PR coup. They seem to have hogged front pages of print media and prime time on English India TV, they could achieve sale of only 20% of what they targeted. This puts the focus right back on criticality of your #SMAC strategy.

To engineer is human, to productise is divine

October 3, 2014

Many of us want to create world class IT products.
The reasons are many. Some want to make money, some others are plain bored with the body corporate, some want to re-invent the career…..

How many colleagues can you count on, who can count what really counts?

September 26, 2014

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – Albert Einstein
Build your tomorrow’s analytics talent today… As explained in the previous post, the focus of most big data initiatives is on three of the four critical elements –Data, Infrastructure and Tools. But this is to help you count everything. While this was near impossible or was prohibitively expensive earlier, doesn’t make any difference to your business apart from bragging rights about how big your data really is.

Will you succeed in BigData and Analytics? The X factor

September 23, 2014

“If you are heading a business function, irrespective of the size, business or your style, you would have got a query or equivalent of “What should our BigData & Analytics strategy be”? Depending on your involvement in technology and your background the answers could be: