The Axis Technical Group Blog

Companies large and small are continuing to seek out new ways to maximize their technology investments to drive new business and lower costs. Over the last 18 months companies have executed numerous plans to reduce cost and maximize efficiency, and in many cases this led to an increased focus on technology. However, technology itself is not cheap either.

With an increase in the development (and use) of software to help save costs and increase productivity, the development cycle has been heating up at organizations coast to coast. But the multitude of platforms and environments organizations need to support are leading to new cost concerns. The fact is, testing software applications or products that support multiple active versions and/or multiple operating systems can be very expensive and time consuming activity.

Many of the clients and IT Executives that Axis Technical Group works with have focused on ways to deal with this challenge. One such solution is to use virtual environments for software maintenance and testing. By using this solution, The Axis India team is helping several clients realize substantial benefits from reduction in overall costs, to improved turnaround time and increased reliability of the test environment.

Axis Technical Group has just published a new white paper on the subject, and it is available for download by clicking here. We would also like to hear from you about the money-saving efforts your organizations are using as we all continue to navigate this new global economy.

Download: Virtual Environments for Software Maintenance & Testing

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So many brains have spent so many brain cycles on this very single puzzle- the right project metric. In simpler terms a measurement method that determines if the project is on track through the life of the project.  Each individual in the group of the ‘stake holders’ and a few outside it has keen interest in the value that this metric delivers. But what is the right metric? We can probably get a couple of hundred finalists and this can easily overwhelm an already burdened project manager. Leaving the right exact single solution to people from the world of academia we still need to find the right substitute as we await the golden answer.

Experience speaks that that there is one single metric which many high performing managers on the ground swear by and that is (thanks to Ron Jeffries) “Running Tested Features” or RTF. This is a simple common sense approach that tries to capture where the project is in terms of its ‘shipability’. Though using this metric in the polarized worlds of waterfalls, Agiles and others, can be a bit tricky, understanding the concept behind the metric often does the trick.

The focus on delivering “real software” is the gist. Right from the word go the team would need to focus on delivering the real features that the end users can actually use. As long as this number is steady in its growth it can be safely assumed that all is well with the project. Any “dead zone” would indicate trouble and would need immediate attention. The team will have to be consistent in the delivery throughout the project and not just at the end as with most of the projects.

What do you think about RTF?
Does it work? Is it possible to game it?

Please post your comments. We are eager to hear back from you.

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We have heard of dark clouds, white clouds, and clouds with a silver lining but now the clouds are D-for-digital (d-clouds) or I- for-internet (I-cloud), not to mention the 24 more possibilities for rest of the alphabet. Well, if you need to pick an alphabet you need to pick it fast as most of them are “going going” and will soon be “gone”. In the “gone” state is the G-Cloud – the “Government Cloud” (It could have been green, growing, gaming or g-whatever) . Yes. Just as is obvious, it does mean a cloud that is of the public sector for the public sector and for the public sector.

In theory this would be huge achievement. Firstly, it would mean hefty cost savings in the IT infrastructure and most significantly energy. Secondly, the availability of the resources will be easier than ever and from the public sector point of view, standardization of all the underlying requirements will make it a dream project. If you think this concept is out of a “vision 2020” book you are wrong. The UK government had announced commencement of work on the G-cloud and that it will be available soon. If this turns out to be a success, this one event is sure going to be a game changer.
Everyone including the software product vendors, hardware vendors, support personnel, software services companies will have to pause and re strategize to meet the enormous transformation that this one single event will cause. But isn’t this taking things too far too soon? Where will all the critical, highly sensitive data lie? “There somewhere on the cloud?” Everyone knows that even the most publicized private clouds place their most sensitive data at the most secured locations.

So will the G-Cloud stand true to the expectations? Will you be comfortable with the Government offices working on the “server in the air”?  Will a single failure be a failure “en masse”?  Will a single security breach compromise the security of a whole nation? Are people behind this really sure of what they are doing or is this one of those policies that can never be realistic. The questions are more and answers are few. An issue for a  rigorous debate that we simply cannot ignore.

What do you think? Which side would you take? We would love to hear from you.

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India is home to a large and diverse population that has added to its vibrant character since ages. There are about 3,000 communities in India. So wide and complex is the mix of the Indian population that two-thirds of her communities are found in the geographical boundaries of each of her states. They are a mingling of the Caucasoid, the Negrito, the Proto-Austroloids, the Mongoloid and the Mediterranean races. The tribals constitute eight percent of the total population of India.

Based on their physical type and language, we can easily divide Indian people into four broad classes. First, a majority of high class Hindus, who live in North India and whose language is derived from Sanskrit. Secondly, those who live in that part of India that is south of the Vindhyas and whose languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam – are entirely different from Sanskrit. These are known by the generic name of “Dravidians”. Thirdly, primitive tribes living in hills and jungles of India, who as mentioned above constitute eight percent of the total population in India. The Kols, Bhils and Mundas belong to this class. Fourthly, there are a people with strong Mongolian features inhabiting within India the slopes of the Himalayas and mountains of Assam. The Gorkhas, Bhutiyas and Khasis are striking examples of this.

To add all this, India is perhaps the only place in the world where twenty religious streams flow together. If that sounds clichéd, here is a surprising piece of information. About 500 communities of India say they follow two religions at the same time! India has a population of over 1 billion people, the majority of whom are Hindus.

The caste system in India is a social system where people are ranked into groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification. The caste is a group whose members are restricted in their choice of occupation and degree of social participation. Marriage outside the caste is traditionally prohibited. Social status is determined by the caste of one’s birth.

The Indian term for caste is ‘jati’, which generally designates a group varying in size from a handful to many thousands. There are thousands of such jatis, and each has its distinctive rules and customs. Varna (meaning, “color”) refers to the ancient and somewhat ideal fourfold division of the Hindu society: (1) the Brahmans, the priestly and learned class; (2) the Kshatriyas, the warriors and rulers; (3) the Vaisyas, farmers and merchants; and (4) the Sudras, peasants and laborers. Below the category of Sudras were the untouchables, or Panchamas (meaning “fifth division”), who performed the most menial tasks. Although there has been much confusion between the two, jati and varna are different in origin as well as function. The various castes in any given region of India are hierarchically organized, with each caste corresponding roughly to one or the other of the Varna categories.

Reservations

The Indian government follows a policy positive discrimination towards the Backward Classes. In accordance to this policy, 15% of the government jobs and 15% of the students admitted to universities must be from Scheduled Castes. For the Scheduled Tribes there is a reservation of about 7.5%. There is also reservation for other backward classes. Along with the central government, the state governments of India too follow a policy of reservation. Different states have different figures of reservation based on the population constitution of each state.

In recent times this has led to tensions because the high caste communities feel discriminated against by the government. In many cases a large number of high caste members compete for a few places reserved for them. Sometimes some reserved positions remain unmanned because there were few candidates from the lower caste causing more tension between the castes. The caste identity has become a subject of political, social and legal interpretation.

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For many in the United States (and many other countries as well), this is the best time of year – The start of the Major League Baseball Season. The game of baseball has entrenched itself in American culture and is often used as a metaphor in lessons of both business and life. But in other parts of the world, a similar, yet very different game gets the crowds whipped into a frenzy.

Super Ball

Pace of life in India is picking up and it is 40 times of what it was 10 years ago.  Curious? Let me explain. As cricket is “The Sport” of India, the pace of things can very well be benchmarked against it.   The game of Cricket used to be a 5 day affair and many of the matches would end in a draw with no winner or loser.

But gone are those days.  The latest fascination of the “junta” (read people) is the 20-20 cricket and the game is played in just 3 hours.  So the earlier 5 days x 24 hours divided by 3 hours gives the figure of 40.  Easy isn’t it?

And now the 20-20 cricket is here to stay with the Indian Premier League growing stronger with each passing day. India now has its very own variant of the National Football League and thus the Super Bowl.    Along with everything else (read cheerleaders, fireworks, movie stars and all the glitter), the money involved is incredible as well. It looks like the IPL is already ahead of the long established English premier league in terms of the team worth.

The rights for the Pune IPL cricket team were sold recently at a whopping $ 370 million! That is a lot of money for a country of per capita yearly earnings of $2200. This speaks volumes about the changing face of the game and of the people following it. There are speculations that the change will help in gaining popularity in areas where cricket is barely known and the most coveted will be the US. Well Cricket is a distant cousin of Baseball and people should not mind watching it.

The interesting point here is the convergence of cultures. With every passing day, it is becoming easier for the people in India to relate to the people around the world and the IPL is just another example. That in turn means better understanding, better communication and of course better effectiveness in working together.

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Enjoy another post in our series on India….

You cannot run away from it anymore. “Just for calculation sake” statements are just not acceptable now. Contrary to the popular usage, 20 US dollars is not equal to 1000 Indian rupees. Gone are the good old days when multiplying by 50 worked. The math is just not simple anymore. The rupee hits a 19-month high against dollar today. I get just 44 rupees and 95 paisa for 1 Good Dollar.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20100327/1238/tbs-rupee-hits-18-month-high-as-euro-wei.html

With more turbulence expected in the next few months, the lows and the highs are going to be a key concern for IT exporters with most of the revenue coming from the US.  By now the ups and downs have become a part of the game and most of the corporations are well versed with it. The real concern is with the individuals who spend and probably earn money in different currencies and thus have a higher “Risk Exposure”. How does it change the personal money equation?  The humble Purchasing Power Parity equations does not seem to work and considering the Big Mac index (http://www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/) things get even more convoluted. The Big Mac index interestingly measures the purchasing power with the fair value benchmark of price of a Big Mac.  In the multi currency world one is not sure where will the next Big Mac (Or Maharaja Mac in India) purchase (if ever) be!

Leaving all the mix aside, this sure means happy time to go shopping from India (if not shop for burgers online!).

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Today Axis continues its look at the home of our India Operations….

That’s India for you! A Land of Many Cultures

In a country as diverse and complex as India, it is not surprising to find that people here reflect the rich glories of the past, the culture, traditions and values relative to geographic locations and the numerous distinctive manners, habits and food that will always remain truly Indian. According to five thousand years of recorded history.

From the eternal snows of the Himalayas to the cultivated peninsula of far South, from the deserts of the West to the humid deltas of the East, from the dry heat and cold of the Central Plateau to the cool forest foothills, Indian lifestyles clearly glorify the geography. The food, clothing and habits of an Indian differ in accordance to the place of origin.

Indians believe in sharing happiness and sorrow. A festival or a celebration is never constrained to a family or a home. The whole community or neighborhood is involved in bringing liveliness to an occasion. A lot of festivals like Diwali, Holi, Id, Christmas, Mahaveer Jayanthi are all celebrated by sharing sweets and pleasantries with family, neighbors and friends. An Indian wedding is an occasion that calls for participation of the family and friends.

Ethnically Indians speak different languages, follow different religions, eat the most diverse varieties of food all of which add to the rich Indian culture. The beauty of the Indian people lies in the spirit of tolerance, give-and-take and a composition of cultures that can be compared to a garden of flowers of various colors and shades of which, while maintaining their own entity, lend harmony and beauty to the garden – India!

The land speaks in a myriad languages:

India is a land of a variety of linguistic communities, each of which share a common language and culture. Though there could be fifteen principal languages, there are hundreds of thousands dialects that add to the vividness of the country.

Eighteen (18) languages are officially recognized in India of which Sanskrit and Tamil share a long history of more than 5,000 and 3,000 years respectively. The population of people speaking each language varies drastically. For example Hindi has 250 million speakers, while Andamanese is spoken by relatively fewer people.

Tribal or Aboriginal language speaking population in India may be more than some of the European languages. For instance Bhili and Santali both tribal languages have more than 4 million speakers. The vividness can be ascertained by the fact that schools in India teach more than 50 different languages; there are Films in 15 languages, Newspapers in 90 or more languages and radio programs in 71 languages!

Indian languages come from four distinct families, which are: Indo-European, Dravidian, Mon-Khmer, and Sino-Tibetan. Majority of Indian population uses Indo-European and Dravidian languages. The language families divide India geographically too.

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Axis Technical Group is a global company with offices in the US, Mexico and India. Starting today, we are going to share some blog posts introducing the city of Pune, India, where our office is located. So sit back and and enjoy reading our first post, “Pune – A Melting Pot of Cultures.”

Pune - A Melting Pot of Cultures

Pune city is well known as the ‘Queen of Deccan’ due to its scenic beauty and rich natural resources, and famous for its religious and historical places. It is known on the world map for its educational, research and development institutions. The district also has an importance as an important military base and famous IT hub in the country. Pune’s proximity to Mumbai, the financial capital of India, makes it an attractive destination for many a corporates.

Culture:

Pune exemplifies an indigenous Marathi culture and ethos, in which education, arts and crafts, and theatre are given due prominence. It is the home of great freedom fighters like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Agarkar and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Jayant Narlikar, the famous contemporary scientist, is from Pune.

Pune is the seat of North Indian Classical music. Annually, in the month of December, it hosts a three nightlong cultural program of vocal and instrumental classical music, called “Savai-Gandharva”. Pune has been an example for the blending of the culture and heritage with modernisation. With the Pune festival, Osho Commune International and other cultural festivals, Pune is indeed the cultural capital of the Maharashtra.

Today, Pune is known for its educational facilities, having more than a hundred educational institutes and nine universities. Additionally, Pune is known for various cultural activities like Classical Music, Spirituality, Drama, Sports, Literature, Foreign language learning and Administrative, Economics, Social Science studies. The city is an educational hub and a corporate haven, attracting talent across the globe.

Economy:

As one of the largest cities in India, and as a result of its many colleges and universities, Pune has emerged as a prominent location for Information Technology (IT) and manufacturing companies. Pune has the sixth largest metropolitan economy and the highest per capita income in the country.

The automotive sector is prominent in Pune. It is home to the Automotive Research Association of India, which is responsible for the homologation of all vehicles available in India. Several automotive component manufacturers like TATA Autocomp Systems Limited, Robert Bosch GmbH, Visteon, and Continental Corporation are also located here. Other automotive companies including General Motors, Volkswagen and Fiat have set up greenfield facilities near Pune, citing it as India’s “Motor City”.

The Hinjawadi IT Park (officially called as the Rajeev Gandhi IT Park), is a project undertaken by MIDC to promote the IT sector in Pune. Major software companies in Pune include Infosys, Wipro, Satyam, TCS, Cognizant, Tech Mahindra, IBM and the likes.

Check back soon for the next blog post about India, titled “Rupee High”

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The following is an excerpt from Axis Technical Group’s free report titled, “Outsourcing – Critical Factors for Success”. The entire report can be downloaded for free by clicking here.

The realities of today’s economy demand that companies large and small “do more with less”. This rallying cry is familiar to everyone in the business world, and in many cases, the recent stability in the marketplace is in large part because organizations have successfully found ways to make every dollar they spend truly count. However, technology executives are continuously faced with new challenges to ensure that their company’s critical systems can keep up with the objectives of the business.

Dramatic shifts in revenue streams over the last couple of years have forced management to cut costs by becoming more efficient and productive. Huge demands have been placed on Information Technology departments and vendors to provide solutions that streamline process and demonstrate extreme cost effectiveness. Whatever the solution is for a particular or industry, the demand to reduce cost through automation is extremely high on the to-do list of most organizational leaders in every industry. Given the financial impact on a business by failing at this, the urgency to accomplish key technology objectives as quickly as possible places additional pressure on what is usually already an understaffed IT department.

These challenges combined with shrinking IT budgets, are leaving technology leaders with very few options. Generally, their choices boil down to just two: use fewer resources, or do more with the current resources they have. One way many IT leaders have found they can get more done within their current budget constraints is to outsource a portion of their work to a near shore or offshore IT partner. Outsourcing vendors provide a wide range of services from custom software development and maintenance of existing enterprise applications to Business Analysis, software Quality Assurance, and Documentation, all the while being sensitive to organizational budgets.

Click here to download the entire free report or email us and we will reply with a copy.

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As the State of California continues to face choking financial pressure with a huge budget deficit, new ideas are constantly being floated around Sacramento. The latest however would not only affect California’s blue-collar resources, but would hit home hard in the service industry, from Lawyers to CPA’s to IT Professionals.

According to this article in the Ventura County Star, politicians in the Capital are,

“advocating tax withholding on payments to independent contractors (1099) as a way to boost state revenues by $1.7 billion.”

What do you think about about Sacramento’s proposal and will it really help close the state’s budget crisis? Share your thoughts here, or by email.

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