TechiePulse

Bringing Two Titans Together

2007-02-15T03:42:00.000-08:00

Just as Wipro and Infosys are as different organisationally as one could imagine and yet similar in their drive to be among the best in the world, Mr Murthy and Mr Premji are different and yet similar as their companies are. Now, is there a contradiction? Not really. Both of them go by the book, are sticklers for correctness, honesty of purpose and, above all, ethical to the core.
We will leave that nitty-gritty aside. Mr Premji invited Mr Murthy for breakfast before the interaction. That is how it began on the terrace of Mr Premji's office over idli, vada, uttapam, scrambled eggs and corn flakes. After quickly, and somewhat frugally, gulping down a couple of mouthfuls, the two IT titans settled down to talk about some of the issues we raised
Expectedly, the conversation began with the weather. "It is a bit colder this year," Mr Murthy said. "I love that," Mr Premji responded even as some of us tried our best not to shiver in the chilly Bangalore morning. Then, they answered questions on what it takes a company to be a global entity, what it took them to shape, reshape and constantly exploit opportunities to expand, grow and reach where they are. From how external environment shaped their ambitions to how they saw and used a commercial opportunity.
On how some of them, certainly their two companies (though they did not specifically say so out of modesty) will be among the top ten globally in the next few years, on challenges for the IT industry, on how manufacturing is looking up and so on.
On how, way back in 1979, Mr Murthy had met Mr Premji for a job in his company - Mr Premji, "He was too big for us"; Mr Murthy, "It was for him (Premji) to decide. He did not get back to me (with the job offer)". This is a story some knew for a long while, but did not get the opportunity to ask both of them together. Mr Premji wanted the conversation to move away quickly. "We were trying to put together an act then and we met over drinks," he tried to explain.
But then, it was Mr Murthy who put another spin. "I am grateful to him for that. We now have two companies (Wipro and Infosys) instead of one. I believe when God closes a door, he opens a window." He went on effusively to say how Mr Premji had always treated him with kindness, respect and how he was bowled over by his value system and openness. "We have differences just as we now differed on taxing the IT industry. He (Premji) does not smile here, and then go out and say he does not believe in that. He openly said so now and that is one of the things I admire in him."
Mr Premji was equallly effusive. "Infosys and Murthy, because he has led the charge for many years, have been pioneers in many ways. They are growing faster than us which is a challenge and an incentive for us because it helps me raise standards and humbles me all the time".
Even as we were planning the event, we plotted quite a bit on getting a picture of Murthy standing in front of a Wipro logo or some such thing and were not very sure whether he would oblige. (We actually have a picture of him drinking coffee from a mug with the Wipro logo. There was no prompting).
If we wanted some association between him and Wipro, Murthy had more to give than we asked for when he narrated an incident. "One day we had a visitor from Nortel who walked into my office and found me working on a Wipro desktop. We still did not have laptops those days. Then he found the bulbs in my rooms were made by Wipro. He cheekily asked me whether the tiles were also from Wipro. I said Wipro does not make them but the day they do, I will use them," he went on. "The point is that they make products of quallity," he added. No qualms about using each other’s product. Or for that matter, co-operating with each other and even working together in some specific projects and markets. Will such co-operation deepen and go further. That is another story we will tell you some day.
Meticulous about time management as they always are, Premji quitely reminded us when the time was up. We sought another ten minutes (it actually went beyond that as well). As the interaction was closing, Mr Murthy said, "Azim, I want two minutes of your time".
Mr Premji responded, "I want five minutes of yours. I will take you around the Premji Foundation, we will talk as we go." The two got into Mr Murthy's car and drove away to the Foundation building. ET was not privy to what they discussed in that two or five minutes. Sometimes many things are kept out of our radar. It is a bit of a humbling experience. But then, as Premji said, it is good to be humbled once in a while. Otherwise, as he put it, you may walk around with a swollen head and that is not good. Excerpts from Interview

Wanna check your right salary? Click here

2007-02-14T04:05:00.000-08:00

IT professionals across all levels can now check whether their employers are paying them adequately or not. IIM-A, IISc along with nation-wide ITPF (IT Professionals Forum) have launched ITPaycheck.com, which provides latest compensation status of different positions across the IT and BPO sector.
From software engineer and sales executive to project manager and vice president, the site caters to all.
According to ITPaycheck.com, the total remuneration for a vice president in the IT industry is Rs 22,95,163 approximately. The total variable pay of a V-P in the industry is approximately Rs 19,70,658.
In contrast, a software engineer in the industry gets about Rs 4,61,774 as total pay and Rs 4,32,334 as total variable pay.
The site also displays the highest paid professionals across the IT Industry today. According to ITPaycheck.com, Rajesh Hukku, chairman i-Flex Solutions is one other highest paid with an annual salary of Rs 432.00 lakh for 2005-06. Other highest paid professionals are - Ramesh Emani, President Wipro Technologies (Rs 84.50 Lakh), S Ramadorai, CEO & MD,TCS (Rs 214.43 Lakh), S D Shibulal, Director HR, Infosys (Rs 101.74 Lakh), Jaithirth Rao, CMD Mphasis (Rs 129.46 Lakh) and Phaneesh Murthy, CEO & MD, iGate (Rs 273.85 Lakh).
The salary can be displayed in minimum, maximum or weighted brackets along with number of years of experience. The site will also be expanded to include other sectors, as well.
ITPaycheck.com acts as a source of collection and sharing of salary break-ups across all levels. Over the next three months, the site aims to collect data and start another project called Freshers-paycheck.com .

standards across all countries.

Windows Vista Arrives to India

2007-01-31T05:35:00.000-08:00

In New York, they hired acrobats to display the Windows logo, In Australia, they had skywriters grab attention, while in Agra they had dancers perform in front of the Taj Mahal, and all this to try and get PC users the world over take notice of its latest offerings — Windows Vista and 2007 Office System. Redmond-based software maker Microsoft launched its latest version of Windows, called Vista, on Tuesday, ending one of the most challenging periods in its corporate history.

Says Microsoft India MD Neelam Dhawan: "We are expecting 1,500 outlets to sell Vista and train 1,800 resellers for Vista. The enterprise edition of the OS that was launched in November last year already has 885,000 users till the last count, in addition to 150,000 developers working on the Vista platform."

The company launched Vista for business users two months ago. Now Vista has been released to consumers, who can buy four home versions, namely Vista Starter, being the basic to Vista Ultimate, the high-end one. At the same time, its 2007 Office comes in two versions — Home and Student and Basic.

It is the world's largest software producer's first significant launch in the last six years after Windows XP in 2001. Microsoft had previously delayed the launch of its new OS, originally due in the second half of 2006 to 2007. Says Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan: "In the meantime, Microsoft also came up with Service Pack 2 for XP, which is as good as an OS itself.

In addition, efforts to improve security and building user interface from ground level took a long time for the launch of Vista." The OS required Microsoft to invest nearly $6 billion. However, upgrades from the existing OS to Vista still remain a concern for the software maker.

While Microsoft has pledged to continue support for XP users until 2011. But because only about 15% of existing computers have memory and graphics cards powerful enough to run premium versions of Vista, most users will have to buy a whole new computer if they want to upgrade.

Says Doug Hauger, COO, Microsoft India, "PCs which have been in the market for the last 3 years may be capable to run Vista but may not get all effects which the OS offers." Microsoft simultaneously rolled out its two flagship products in over 30 countries. The new operating system boasts an improved interface and security tools. Vista marks a complete overhaul of its previous OS - Windows XP.

Hottest Technology of 2007

2007-01-22T03:39:00.000-08:00

What gizmos are you going to buy this year?
If what was on display at CES and Macworld was any indication--and it usually is--you'll soon be shopping for networked televisions, cellphones with video and touch screens and a host of other products that take advantage of breakthroughs in HDTV, multicore computing, ubiquitous broadband and third-generation cellular networks.
So if last year was the year of HDTV--digital TV sales topped an estimated $23 billion as prices on digital sets fell through the floor--this year will go further. Consumers who bought up the screens in droves--almost 24 million were sold--now hunger for content that would truly exploit the capabilities of their new sets. They'll get it in 2007.More Details..

BRIC Nations Fastest Growing International IT Markets

2007-01-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

Recognising India and the other three BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia and China -- among the fastest growing IT markets globally, US-based technology giant IBM anticipates over two times the worldwide growth rate from its operations in these regions in the next four years.

The global major, which recorded total revenue of 91.4 billion dollars in 2006, foresees an opportunity of 150 billion dollars by 2010 in the four BRIC countries alone.

Collectively, Brazil, Russia, India and China contributed 4.5 billion dollars in 2006, representing nearly five per cent of the the company's annual revenue. "The emerging markets of India, China, Brazil and Russia are among the fastest growing IT markets in the world and grew at 16 per cent in 2006," IBM's Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said at an analyst conference to discuss the company's fourth quarter results.

While the company's India and Russia businesses witnessed growth of over 30 per cent in the quarter ended December 2006, China and Brazil registered growth rate of 18 per cent and nine per cent respectively.

The company CFO said IBM was continuing to invest to strengthen its leadership position in the emerging markets.

IBM has expanded capabilities to its centres in India, Brazil and Argentina, while adding 20,000 employees in the low cost countries, he said. IBM's India headcount is estimated to be at 50,000 for the year 2006. "We continue to invest to build capabilities in these countries (BRIC markets) to address the fast-growing domestic market opportunities and to enhance IBM's globally integrated operations," Loughridge told the analysts.

The four markets collectively witnessed an annual growth rate of 18 per cent in the quarter. With a growth rate of more than two times the worldwide rate, the BRIC markets have an opportunity to grow to 150 billion dollars by 2010, Loughridge said.

IBM's worldwide fourth-quarter revenue rose seven per cent to 26.3 billion dollars, while its income from operations rose eight per cent to 3.5 billion dollars in the period ended December 2006.

Asia Pacific, which delivered revenue growth of 5 per cent in the quarter, remained strong led by India and China, the company CFO said.

"IBM had a terrific quarter and a good year with record cash performance, profit and EPS as well as record payouts to shareholders. We are well-positioned in the growth areas of a changing IT industry, focussed on our evolving business model and poised for long term success for our clients and shareholders," IBM Chairman, President and CEO Samuel J Palmisano said in a statement.

Hewlett-Packard Tops in global PC sales - End of 2006

2007-01-19T02:46:00.000-08:00

US computer maker Hewlett-Packard reveled in news that it had extended its lead as the world's top personal computer vendor late last year, pressuring arch-rival Dell.
HP ended 2006 with annual sales growth of 24 percent and took "a clear lead in worldwide shipment volume" in the last three months of the year, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.
Dell Inc., meanwhile, did not recover from a slow third quarter and "stumbled through the end of the year" with international growth dropping to 1.5 percent, IDC said.
HP basked in its sales triumph in a difficult year marked by a boardroom spying scandal and a soft US commercial market.
"We are particularly pleased with the momentum HP experienced this holiday season," said HP vice president Todd Bradley.
"Our market-leading growth is further evidence of the sound, well-executed business strategy we've put in place."
The rivals ended the year in a virtual tie in 2006 worldwide computer shipments. Dell narrowly held on to the number-one position, with 17.1 percent of the market, compared with HP's 17.0 percent share, according to IDC.
Overall PC shipments in 2006 reached 228.6 million, 10 percent higher than the previous year. More Details..

What is a Multinational or Transnational Corporation?

2007-01-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) or transnational corporation (TNC) or multinational organization (MNO) is a corporation or enterprise that manages production establishments or delivers services in at least two countries.

MNC Types:
Multinational corporations (MNC) are often divided into three broad groups:
Horizontally integrated multinational corporations manage production establishments located in different countries to produce the same or similar products. (example: McDonalds)
Vertically integrated multinational corporations manage production establishment in certain country/countries to produce products that serve as input to its production establishments in other country/countries. (example: Adidas)
Diversified multinational corporations manage production establishments located in different countries that are neither horizontally or vertically integrated. (example: Microsoft)
Very large multinationals have budgets that exceed those of many countries. Popular claim is that out of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are multinational corporations.[1] Actually the claim is based on miscalculation, where two numbers descriphing totally different things are compared: the GDP of nations to gross sales of corporations. Problem with the comparison is ofcourse, that GDP takes in account only the final value, whereas gross sales don't measure how much was produced outside the company. According to Swedish economist Johan Norberg, if we were to compare nations and corporations, we should be comparing GDP to goods only produced within the particular company (gross sales do not take in account goods purchased from 3rd party vendors and resold, just as GDP doesn't take to account imported goods). That correction would make only 37 of 100 largest economies corporations and all of them would be in bottom box: only 5 corporations would be in top 50.
Multinational corporations can nevertheless have a powerful influence in international relations, given their large economic influence in politicians' representative districts, as well as their extensive financial resources available for public relations and political lobbying.
Multinationals have played an important role in globalization. Given their international reach and mobility, prospective countries, and sometimes regions within countries, must compete with each other to have MNCs locate their facilities (and subsequent tax revenue, employment, and economic activity) within. To compete, countries and regional political districts offer incentives to MNCs such as tax breaks, pledges of governmental assistance or improved infrastructure, or lax environmental and labor standards. This process of becoming more attractive to foreign investment can be characterized as either a race to the bottom, a push towards greater freedom for corporate bodies, or both.

World's First MNC Corporation
There is a dispute as to which was the first MNC. Some have argued that the Knights Templar, founded in 1118, became a multinational when it stumbled into banking in 1135. However, others claim that the British East India Company or the Dutch East India Company were in fact the first proper multinationals. More Details..

Wipro Q3 Net Profit up 46% at 738.9 Cr

2007-01-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

A relaxed Wipro Chairman Azim Premji at the company's headquarters in Bangalore on Wednesday. The country's third-largest software major announced that its Q3 net profit was up 46% at Rs 738.9 crore, helped by continued outsourcing orders from overseas.

Software major Wipro on Wednesday posted a 46.28 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 738.9 crore for the quarter ended December 31, as compared to Rs 505.1 crore for the same quarter last year. The total revenue of the company increased by 45.82 per cent to Rs 3,651.1 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, from Rs 2,503.7 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, Wipro informed the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday. “Our global IT business delivered good volume growth primarily driven by robust performance of our energy and utilities vertical, technology infrastructure services and enterprise application services. Our financial services and retail businesses delivered more than 50 per cent YOY growth,” Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said. Premji also said that the software biggie has brought down its attrition rates in both the IT and BPO businesses. He said that he expected revenue from the global IT services and products businesses to be approximately around $685 million for the quarter ending March 2007. The group posted a net profit of Rs 765.4 crore for the quarter ended December 31, as against Rs 543.5 crore in the same quarter last year. The total revenue of the group increased to Rs 3,979 crore for the December quarter from Rs 2,743.9 crore in the year-ago period.

Wipro Shares rise more than 2%:

Shares in Wipro Technologies Ltd rose more than 2 per cent in early deals on Wednesday after it reported a 40 per cent rise in quarterly net profit but warned that profit for January-March may be in a tight range. By 9:59 am, the shares were trading at 1.52 per cent higher at 646.50 rupees in a weak Mumbai market.

Tech Mahindra to Setup Software Centre in Hyderabad

2007-01-16T05:37:00.000-08:00

Tech Mahindra is planning to set up a 3,000-seater software development centre in Hyderabad. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the AP government for land acquisition. The centre will come up in Kokapet, near Golconda, and will be part of an upcoming SEZ(Special Economic Zones). The campus will house 3,000 engineers and have training and entertainment centres.

About Tech Mahindra:

Tech Mahindra Limited (formerly known as Mahindra-British Telecom Limited) is the global leader in providing end-to-end IT services and solutions to the Telecom industry. Over 15000 professionals service clients across various telecom segments, from multiple offshore development centers across 7 cities in India and UK and 13 sales offices across Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Having serviced premium telecom companies worldwide, for nearly two decades, Tech Mahindra combines deep domain expertise in OSS (Operations Support Systems) and BSS (Business Support Systems) systems, intellectual leadership and a global workforce advantage to provide services to leading players in the telecom ecosystem. Tech Mahindra provides a wide variety of services ranging from IT strategy and consulting to system integration, design, application development, implementation, maintenance and product engineering. Through a rich Telecom heritage, Tech Mahindra has built long-term sustainable relationships with telecom customers through delivery of IT services that help them achieve significant ROI and the greatest competitive advantage in the telecom marketplace.
Committed to quality, Tech Mahindra adds value to client businesses through well-established methodologies, tools and techniques backed by its stringent quality processes. Tech Mahindra is ISO 9001:2000 certified and is also assessed at SEI-CMMi Level 5. Tech Mahindra is also BS7799 certified across all development centers.
Majority owned by Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s fifth largest commercial group, in partnership with BT Plc (BT), Europe’s second largest telecom service provider, Tech Mahindra has grown rapidly to become the 8th largest software exporter in India (Nasscom 2005).

The Apple iPhone - First Look

2007-01-12T01:57:00.000-08:00

Capping literally years of speculation on perhaps the most intensely followed unconfirmed product in Apple's history -- and that's saying a lot -- the iPhone has been announced today. Yeah, we said it: "iPhone," the name the entire free world had all but unanimously christened it from the time it'd been nothing more than a twinkle in Stevie J's eye (comments, Cisco?). Sweet, glorious specs of the 11.6 millimeter device (that's frickin' thin, by the way) include a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display with multi-touch support and a proximity sensor to turn off the screen when it's close to your face, 2 megapixel cam, 4GB or 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP, WiFi that automatically engages when in range, and quad-band GSM radio with EDGE. Perhaps most amazingly, though, it somehow runs OS X with support for Widgets, Google Maps, and Safari, and iTunes (of course) with CoverFlow out of the gate. A partnership with Yahoo will allow all iPhone customers to hook up with free push IMAP email. Apple quotes 5 hours of battery life for talk or video, with a full 16 hours in music mode -- no word on standby time yet. In a twisted way, this is one rumor mill we're almost sad to see grind to a halt; after all, when is the next time we're going to have an opportunity to run this picture? The 4GB iPhone will go out the door in the US as a Cingular exclusive for $499 on a two-year contract, 8GB for $599. Ships Stateside in June, Europe in fourth quarter, Asia in 2008. More Details..

Azim Premji - An Inspirational Business Leader to Reckon with

2007-01-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

A Business Leader Azim Premji is the Chairman of Wipro.

In 1966, at the age of 21, Premji took on the mantle of leadership of Wipro. He began his stint in Wipro with a simple Vision - to build an organization on a foundation of Values.
Under his leadership, the fledgling $ 2 million hydrogenated cooking fat company has grown to $2.1 billion IT Services organization serving customers across the globe. Wipro is also one of the largest BPO services provider based in India. Wipro is today ranked among the top 100 Technology companies globally (Business Week). Forbes counts Wipro in its list of Fab 50 Firms of Asia. Wipro’s growth continues be driven by its core Values.
Over the years, Azim Premji has received many honors and accolades, which he believes are recognitions for each person who has contributed to Wipro. He was adjudged the Business Man of the Year 2000 by Business India and as the Business Leader of the Year 2004 by the Economic Times. Financial Times included him in the global list of 25 people who are “dramatically reshaping the way people live, work or think” and have done most to bring abut significant and lasting social, political or cultural changes (October 2005, November 2004). Time listed him (April 2004) as one amongst 100 most influential people in the world. He was named by Fortune (August 2003) as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US, Forbes (March 2003) listed him as one of ten people globally, who have the most “power to effect change” and Business Week (October 2003) featured him on their cover with the sobriquet “India’s Tech King”. In 2005 he became the first Indian recipient of the Faraday Medal.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education have both conferred honorary doctorates on him, while XLRI, Jamshedpur has conferred the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace. He is a non-executive Director on the Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Committee for Trade and Industry in India. In January 2005, the Government of India conferred upon him the Padmabhushana, one of the highest civilian awards in the country.
Premji firmly believes that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things. He believes that the key to this is creating highly charged teams. He takes a personal interest in developing teams and leaders. He invests significant time as a faculty in Wipro’s leadership development programs.
Premji has a fanatical belief in delivering Value to the Customer through world-class quality processes. This belief has driven Wipro’s pioneering efforts on Quality. Wipro was the first Indian Company to embrace Six Sigma, the first Software Services Company in the world to achieve SEI CMM Level 5 and it also became the world’s first organization to achieve PCMM Level 5 (People Capability Maturity Model). Premji equates Quality with Integrity – both being non-negotiable.
In the year 2001, Premji established Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a Vision of significantly contributing to quality universal education to build a just, equitable and humane society. This means every child receiving quality education. The financial resources to this foundation have been personally contributed by Premji. The current programs of the Azim Premji Foundation engage 3.2 million children across more than 17,000 schools.
Azim Premji is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, USA.

The Tigers of Bangalore

2007-01-10T23:33:00.000-08:00

WHEN it comes to brand management, it may be hard to beat the ineptitude of the politicians of Bangalore. No sooner has their city’s name become a global byword for all that is exciting and cutting-edge about the new India, than the elected custodians of the brand decide to rename it Bengalooru. And you thought New Coke was daft.
Happily, the bosses of Bangalore’s (ahem, Bengalooru’s) tech tigers are guilty of no such incompetence. They turn out to be grand masters of brand building. Tech firms such as Infosys and Wipro were behind a decision to promote India’s claimed advantages over China at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. A modest investment (reportedly, $4m) paid off handsomely in the boost it gave corporate India’s reputation among the global business elite.

Nandan Nilekani, the charmingly down-to-earth boss of Infosys, is the man who persuaded Tom Friedman that “The World is Flat”. Mr Friedman's best-selling book of that name has persuaded millions of Americans that Indian firms now present a serious competitive threat (or, as the management jargon would have it, opportunity) to corporate America.
In a new book called “Bangalore Tiger”, published by McGraw Hill, Steve Hamm argues that “Indian upstart Wipro is rewriting the rules of global competition”. According to Mr Hamm, the success of Indian information-technology, consulting and outsourcing firms such as Infosys, Tata Consulting Services, and, above, all Wipro―which cooperated with him―is not simply a product of lower labour costs. He says that Indian firms have come up with a better model for operating globally that should have even their biggest Western competitors quaking in their boots, much as the just-in-time management and the lean production of Japanese firms such as Sony and Toyota shook Western rivals two decades ago.
Indian entrepreneurs are understandably delighted by this expert appraisal, not least because it ranks them ahead of China in establishing firms that are real global leaders. Chinese firms such as Lenovo and Hauwei may have the global ambitions, but so far it is Wipro and Infosys that are having the global impact.

Mr Hamm describes a “Wipro way” that he thinks companies of all sorts should study hard―including rivals such as IBM, Accenture and EDS. This “Wipro way” has several ingredients. They include: clear core values; intensive planning combined with flexibility when things do not go according to plan; zero politics among executives (can this really be true?); quick decision making; clear rules of doing business that are vigorously enforced; an obsession with measurement; working closely with customers; and world-class human-resources management. That last is a vital edge. The intensifying battle for talent may be as fierce in Bangalore as it is anywhere in the world.More Details..