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

Comments about the Axis Technical Group Blog? email us here.

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

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.

* * *
Comments about the Axis Technical Group Blog? email us here.

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

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!).

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

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”

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

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.

Learn more about about Axis’ Strategic Consulting Services and the Axis in Motion Team.

Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Comments about the Axis Technical Group Blog? email us here.