Talk to a non-technologist and they will tell you that Technology is nothing more than a hype and as with any other trends it will disappear soon. Here is an interesting example of how technology can make a real difference to a business especially in these tough times. A leading nationwide, retailer offers deep discounts every now and then (think of the diwali bumper sale offers at Big Bazaar!) in order to attract consumers and boost sales. This is also a great way to reduce inventories and stay in tune with the latest product trends. Today, the retailer offers these discounts in all stores i.e across the nation. But think about this for a second. It could very well be that in some states or regions, certain products are doing really well and there is no need to offer discounts. So we need a way to control discounts by region and by product. You can add more dimensions to this - There are certain common seasons like christmas, back to school, etc. But there are also seasonal variations (for instance end of winter, ethnicity specific events, etc). And then there is consumer profiles, age demographics, income levels - you get the idea! Here is where technology comes to the rescue! Within a couple of months, an application can be developed that takes into account all these variables and shows you the most optimal prices. Reports can be customized to slice and dice the data. Feed historical data and low and behold - the savings are very visible!
So next time you talk to a poet or a dramatist - dont let them belittle technology so easily ;)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Impact of Recession on Indian IT Industry - Part 1
Introduction: In these times of global recession and economic slowdown, the news about layoffs, cost cutting and reduced profit margins dominate the print and electronic media. In this three part article, I would like to cover :
The root cause: Record levels of debt
This global recession is the outcome of years of public debt which originated in US. Debt – GDP Ratio: 400% in last quarter of 20th century. It is not one single crisis but a heady mix of three crises.
- The bubble in the US mortgage market resulted into Asset devaluation
- The leverage in banks’ balance sheets resulted in Low capital ratio
- The increased reliance of banks on short term funding has resulted into liquidity squeeze
Vicious Cycle- Sub Prime Crisis – Asset Devaluation -- Low Capital Ratio (concern about banks’ solvency) -- Dysfunctional Funding Market (credit squeeze) - Derisking and Deleveraging - Asset Devaluation.
To some extent all industries are feeling the heat of recession. This is especially true for those companies which depend on US for the greater part of their revenue such as IT industry. IT industry has always been considered as a privileged industry firstly because of the tax breaks that it enjoys and secondly because of the nature of its work. This is one of the industries on which the global recession has had a huge impact. Here are some interesting statistics that quantify the current scenario:
Annual Global Employment Trends:
- Global Unemployment in 2007: 161 million
- Global Unemployment in 2008: 179 million (increase in number of jobless by 18 million)
- Global Unemployment in 2009: 198 million jobless or 230 million incase it is severe. (Increase of 30 million
or 50 million in 2009)
India specific trends:
The contribution of IT and ITeS to national GDP in 2007-08 : 7%
Av.Growth rate of IT companies during last 15 years – 20% -30% /annum
Av. Growth rate of IT companies during recession – 10%- 15%/annum
IT & ITeS yield indirect employment with four additional jobs being created in the economy for every one job created in the sector. Given this, we get an idea of the scope of impact of this recession on our IT industry.
To be continued......
- Magnitude & Origin of Global Recession
- Impact of the crisis on Indian IT
- How to mitigate the adverse effects of this crisis
The root cause: Record levels of debt
This global recession is the outcome of years of public debt which originated in US. Debt – GDP Ratio: 400% in last quarter of 20th century. It is not one single crisis but a heady mix of three crises.
- The bubble in the US mortgage market resulted into Asset devaluation
- The leverage in banks’ balance sheets resulted in Low capital ratio
- The increased reliance of banks on short term funding has resulted into liquidity squeeze
Vicious Cycle- Sub Prime Crisis – Asset Devaluation -- Low Capital Ratio (concern about banks’ solvency) -- Dysfunctional Funding Market (credit squeeze) - Derisking and Deleveraging - Asset Devaluation.
To some extent all industries are feeling the heat of recession. This is especially true for those companies which depend on US for the greater part of their revenue such as IT industry. IT industry has always been considered as a privileged industry firstly because of the tax breaks that it enjoys and secondly because of the nature of its work. This is one of the industries on which the global recession has had a huge impact. Here are some interesting statistics that quantify the current scenario:
Annual Global Employment Trends:
- Global Unemployment in 2007: 161 million
- Global Unemployment in 2008: 179 million (increase in number of jobless by 18 million)
- Global Unemployment in 2009: 198 million jobless or 230 million incase it is severe. (Increase of 30 million
or 50 million in 2009)
India specific trends:
The contribution of IT and ITeS to national GDP in 2007-08 : 7%
Av.Growth rate of IT companies during last 15 years – 20% -30% /annum
Av. Growth rate of IT companies during recession – 10%- 15%/annum
IT & ITeS yield indirect employment with four additional jobs being created in the economy for every one job created in the sector. Given this, we get an idea of the scope of impact of this recession on our IT industry.
To be continued......
Future of Medical Transcription & SPI
Medical Transcription (MT) business has been there for more than a decade in India now. There is speculation that MT business will not survive for long due to research being done in Speech Recognition. The author feels that this is incorrect. People will still be needed to edit the output of speech recognition software since there will be a lot of errors. People with good listening skills and good grasp of English fundamentals and common sense will not only survive but will flourish. Amongst other BPO areas, MT is lot better than working in call centres with the graveyard shifts as MT can be done during any part of the day or night (usually there are standard shifts and MT can also be done in the comforts of one’s home).
Here at Software Paradigms, MT business has been growing steadily. In the last 2-3 years, head count has increased as new clients are added. In a few years, SPI could very well be the largest MT company in the world. If one has the skills required for MT he/she can easily give a try and learn the comforts of working hard. It is a great opportunity for those who want to work hard in a growing business area.
Here at Software Paradigms, MT business has been growing steadily. In the last 2-3 years, head count has increased as new clients are added. In a few years, SPI could very well be the largest MT company in the world. If one has the skills required for MT he/she can easily give a try and learn the comforts of working hard. It is a great opportunity for those who want to work hard in a growing business area.
Monday, February 23, 2009
APART from US
23-Feb-2009 -
Apart from us (Some of the Team SPIrit members and support staff) we had only the
"APART from US" at SPI Offshore office today due to Shivarathri - holiday.
(Tough to decipher right? I thought this was the right one for this occasion - "Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Team from United States").
After the customary welcome and intro, "APART" had a walk around SPICity and were really impressed with it.
They would be closely working with Rajesh and his team in the coming days with some training sessions and live activities planned.
Wishing the APAR Team a great time in Mysore and SPICity!
Apart from us (Some of the Team SPIrit members and support staff) we had only the
"APART from US" at SPI Offshore office today due to Shivarathri - holiday.
(Tough to decipher right? I thought this was the right one for this occasion - "Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Team from United States").
After the customary welcome and intro, "APART" had a walk around SPICity and were really impressed with it.
They would be closely working with Rajesh and his team in the coming days with some training sessions and live activities planned.
Wishing the APAR Team a great time in Mysore and SPICity!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
"Way to Go" - Mangalore!
19 Feb 2009 is going to be remembered for two special reasons in the history of SPI.
1. Formal announcement to the world about SPI's intentions to open a center in Mangalore in support of a rapidly growing Medical Transcription business!
2. An excellent meeting with one of the potential customers in systems integration.
Both of these have been examples of SPI diversifying during these tough times.
To add to this, another customer visit on Feb 23rd 2009 for a confirmed AR BPO work augurs very well for Inspinity (SPI's BPO).
Come Feb 26th 2009, the SPI team will be chugging to its new destination - Mangalore.
The new "Way to Go" :-)
1. Formal announcement to the world about SPI's intentions to open a center in Mangalore in support of a rapidly growing Medical Transcription business!
2. An excellent meeting with one of the potential customers in systems integration.
Both of these have been examples of SPI diversifying during these tough times.
To add to this, another customer visit on Feb 23rd 2009 for a confirmed AR BPO work augurs very well for Inspinity (SPI's BPO).
Come Feb 26th 2009, the SPI team will be chugging to its new destination - Mangalore.
The new "Way to Go" :-)
Who said we are in recession times?
Last week, “Team SPIrit” happened to witness a unique and first of its kind experience during a potential customer visit.
The numbers displayed and discussed made everyone look at each other in awe as they were hard to believe. Sanjay at this moment aptly said “who said we are in recession times?”
Need to wait and see if SPI could strike a deal here.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The Business of Technology
What drives the business of technology? Discuss wide ranging topics like Outsourcing, Domain expertise, disruptive business trends and more in this forum!
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