TechFools

Deloitte identifies 10 most disruptive and emerging technologies for CIOs to consider over the next 18 months

2011-03-21T21:48:00.000+05:30

NEW YORK, USA: Deloitte has issued a new report identifying 10 disruptive and emerging technologies that are expected to play a crucial role in how businesses will operate globally over the next 18 months.

"With 2011 well underway, CIOs should be evaluating the progress made on their New Year's resolutions and taking full advantage of technologies that have the ability to dramatically improve and advance their business operations and decision-making," said Mark White, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and a co-author of the report. "We have evaluated, industry-wide, what is working and what is not when it comes to IT and have identified 10 technologies that are likely to transform the enterprise over the next 18 months."

Deloitte's report, "Tech Trends 2011: The Natural Convergence of Business and IT," groups the technologies into two categories: "(Re)emerging Enablers," which is described as five technologies that many CIOs have spent time, thought and resources on in the past, and "Disruptive Deployments," five additional technologies that showcase new business models and transformative ways to operate. The 10 technologies are:

(Re)Emerging Enablers:
Almost Enterprise Applications: Quick and agile solutions like the cloud and Software- and Platform-as-a-Service (SaaS, PaaS) appeal to the business, but are they "enterprise enough" for IT? Almost enterprise applications are being eagerly embraced by many business leaders, and CIOs should get in front of this democratization and self-service trend.

CIOs as Revolutionaries: With the cloud, social computing and mobility shaking up business models and transforming how business is done, the technology agenda should be considered as tantamount to the business agenda—and CIOs are the executives positioned to pull them into alignment.

Cyber Intelligence: While it still may be necessary to build a rapid detect-and-respond cyber security function, organizations should consider going beyond adding tools to learn and adapt, protect against upstream threats, and connect the internal and external dots to assess probable risks, and in the process move from reactive to proactive.

End of Death of ERP: ERP can be an enabler of tomorrow's innovations, not a fading footnote of yesterday's legacy. Organizations are still able to tap ERP applications to transform processes with reduced risk — at a lower cost and at a quicker pace.

Visualization: Visualization deserves a fresh look given the evolution of the underlying tools and the rich potential represented by unstructured data. It can provide a new way to tap into millions of internal emails, instant messages and documents, as well as trillions of social media objects, Twitter tweets, text messages, blogs and other content of potential concern or opportunity for the enterprise.

Disruptive Deployments:
Applied Mobility: New mobile solutions are being designed to serve the full spectrum of transactional, analytical and social computing capabilities, and present the opportunity for organizations to define real and lasting value in applied mobility solutions and business enablement. This could be the year that businesses will truly begin harnessing these features into rich, yet simple and intuitive applications to solve real business problems.

Capability Clouds: Capability clouds have the potential to move beyond the building blocks of capacity clouds to deliver finished services that can address business objectives and enterprise goals. CIOs should be prepared to answer how they leverage the ecosystem of capabilities, services and value networks delivered by the cloud.

Real Analytics: As the economy resets, analytics can offer improved visibility to help companies drive operational efficiencies. Analytics can also offer an opportunity for growth by helping companies in their efforts to address heart-of-the-business questions that can guide decisions, yield new insights and help predict what's next.

Social Computing: As more of our personal and professional lives are transacted via technology, rich trails of preferences, opinions and behaviors are being created. Beyond the immediate benefits of empowering stake-holders, this "digital exhaust" can be mined, providing a rich source of insight on market positioning.

User Engagement: The proliferation of consumer and Internet technologies has raised expectations for IT tools at work, and can empower employees to find new insights and improve how business occurs. Enterprises should seek to learn and understand how to turn newly-connected consumers into new revenue channels and identify ways they can empower employees to better connect dots and improve efficiency and effectiveness.

"It's evident that the next 18 months will be pivotal for widespread adoption of technologies such as cloud, social computing, analytics and mobile technologies," said Bill Briggs, director, Deloitte Consulting LLP and co-author of the report. "Whether they are re-emerging enablers that are already somewhat at play at large among enterprises or disruptive deployments that offer new, transformative ways for organizations to operate, CIOs should keep ahead of these trends to help generate top returns not just of IT, but the business of the business."

Don't help cybercriminals exploit Japan tragedy

2011-03-14T20:58:00.001+05:30

INDIA: Several countries and international organisations have offered to assist with relief efforts from last Friday's earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Three days after the earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan, the rest of the world is still trying to make sense of what's happening. Citizens around the world are also looking to extend assistance in their own way.

But, as the death and injury tolls continue to rise, there are some malicious people who attempt to exploit such situations, under the guise of charitable institutions and governmental organizations. Emails marked URGENT, requesting for help by appealing to the humanity in every internet user, or urging consumers around the world to offer donations to those affected, are doing the rounds.

Symantec observed more than 50 domains with the names of either “Japan tsunami” or “Japan earthquake” within the first few hours of this unfortunate event. These domains are either parked, available for sale, or are linked to earthquake sites. Don’t be surprised if you see these domains been used in phishing and spam attacks. Below are a few of the samples:
3-11-2011-[removed].com
3-11[removed].com
earthquake-[removed].com
earthquaketsunami[removed].com
earthquakerelief[removed].com

Symantec has also observed a classic 419 message targeting the Japanese disaster. The message is a bogus "next of kin" story that purports to settle millions of dollars owing to an earthquake and tsunami victim.

Previously, when such disasters occurred, Symantec observed a sudden surge in virus attacks in the form of nasty attachments and .zip files embedded in spam sent from such predatory attackers. Do not open them, especially if you don’t know the source! Use caution when opening forwarded messages related to the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and any other tragedy or event that stirs international news coverage, legitimate and otherwise. Nefarious attackers may be sending malicious Java scripts and other threats that could compromise both your personal data and your computer.

Other methods that the cyber mafia uses during such events include search engine poisoning. With several internet users searching for earthquake-related news and information online, cybercriminals can poison search results for malicious websites to appear at the top of the results. Users who click on these links assuming that the information will help them make sense of the tragedy, may end up downloading malware instead.

Symantec has witnessed a rise in malicious websites of late. The recent Symantec report on Attack Toolkits and Malicious Websites revealed that Symantec observed more than 310,000 unique domains that were found to be malicious. On average, this resulted in the detection of more than 4.4 million malicious Web pages per month. It is likely that attackers will use Japan-related terms in order to attract people on to these websites.

While our hearts go out to those grappling with this unprecedented catastrophe, we at Symantec want to urge users to be cautious about unscrupulous elements. Symantec recommends that our readers reach out to the affected through legitimate and secure channels so that the help sent by you reaches the intended recipients.

Don’t let cybercriminals stump you online!

2011-02-15T19:19:00.003+05:30

INDIA: The upcoming cricket World Cup 2011 has generated huge excitement not only among fans in India and across the world, but cyber criminals as well. Symantec has observed that big-ticket sporting events open up a vast playing field for attackers and the cricket world cup is no exception.

What’s different this time, however, is that we anticipate more sophisticated and targeted attacks, particularly against Indian users since the tournament will take place in the subcontinent.

With Internet usage in India growing rapidly (McKinsey estimates that the number of Internet users in India will grow fivefold by 2015 to 350 million), and the fact that tickets to matches are selling out very fast, cybercriminals are focusing their efforts on luring Indians with attractive ticket offers. Tactics used include spam campaigns, black hat search engine optimization (SEO), the injection of code into
legitimate websites, and malicious advertisements.

Watch out for fake tickets in PDF: These tricks, however, are likely to be “blended” threats, where spam emails and fake websites promoting cricket-related goodies can cause users to download malware on their systems. For example, emails with PDFs of tickets attached are a common vector.

Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report XV revealed that the top web-based attacks involved applications that process PDF files, accounting for nearly half of the total attacks. This was a sizeable increase from just 11 percent the previous year. This attack is popular due to the common use and distribution of PDF files on the Web, and also because they can be executed across PCs, laptops and smartphones.

Search, and a cybercriminal may find you: Once the tournament begins, Indians are also likely to closely follow the matches online, searching for scores and updates. Cybercriminals know this; watch out for search engine results for terms like “World Cup”, “Cricket”, “Score” or “Cricket Schedules” that throw up malicious sites which can infect a user without his knowledge.

Rise in malicious websites: Websites that are set up for phishing attacks or to deliver malware, luring users by mimicking legitimate sites with a high degree of accuracy, may also increase. Symantec detects almost 4.4 million malicious web pages per month, according to the latest Attack Toolkits and Malicious Websites report. Symantec also observed more than 310,000 unique domains that were found to be malicious. Expect an increase in these sites using cricketing terminologies during the period of the world cup.

Website owners need protection too: This poses a threat not only to users, but also legitimate businesses that sell tickets and other World Cup gear online. Website that sell tickets and ask for financial or personal information should also be protected by SSL certificates and provide visible trust marks to verify their authenticity.

Cyber attack toolkits dominate Internet threat landscape

2011-01-19T14:41:00.000+05:30

BANGALORE, INDIA: Symantec Corp. announced the findings of its report on Attack Toolkits and Malicious Websites. The study reveals that as attack kits become more accessible and relatively easier to use, they are being utilized much more widely. This has attracted traditional criminals who would otherwise lack the technical expertise into cybercrime, fueling a self-sustaining, profitable, and increasingly organized global economy.

Attack toolkits are software programs that can be used by novices and experts alike to facilitate the launch of widespread attacks on networked computers. These kits enable the attacker to easily launch numerous pre-written threats against computer systems. They also provide the ability to customize threats in order to evade detection, as well as automating the attack process.

Attack kits control landscape
The relative simplicity and effectiveness of attack kits has contributed to their increased use in cybercrime— these kits are now being used in the majority of malicious Internet attacks. For example, one major kit called Zeus poses a serious threat to small businesses. The main objective of Zeus is to steal bank account credentials; unfortunately, small businesses have fewer safeguards in place to guard their financial transactions, making them a prime target for Zeus.

The profitability of malicious code attacks using Zeus was recently illustrated by the September 2010 arrests of a ring of cybercriminals who allegedly used a Zeus botnet in the theft of more than $70 million from online banking and trading accounts over an 18-month period.

As cyberattacks have become more profitable, the popularity of attack kits has dramatically increased. This in turn has led to increasingly robust and sophisticated kits. These kits are now often sold on a subscription-based model with regular updates, components that extend capabilities, and support services.

Cybercriminals routinely advertise installation services, rent limited access to kit consoles, and use commercial anti-piracy tools to prevent attackers from using the tools without paying.

Faster proliferation of attacks
The speed at which new vulnerabilities and their exploits spread around the globe has increased due to innovations that attack kit developers have integrated into their products. Attack kits are now fairly easy to update, which allows developers to quickly add exploit code for new vulnerabilities. The result is that some exploits are in the wild just days after the associated vulnerability becomes public. Attackers who can easily update their attack kits with recent exploits are able to target potential victims before they apply necessary patches.

A new entry into underground economy
Since attack kits are becoming easier to use, cybercrime is no longer limited to those with advanced programming skills. Participants now include a mix of individuals with computer skills and those with expertise in traditional criminal activities such as money laundering. Symantec expects that this much larger pool of criminals entering the space will lead to an increase in the number of attacks.

“In the past, hackers had to create their own threats from scratch. This complex process limited the number of attackers to a small pool of highly skilled cybercriminals,” said Shantanu Ghosh, VP, India Product Operations, Symantec. "Today’s attack toolkits make it relatively easy for even a malicious novice to launch a cyberattack. As a result, we expect to see even more criminal activity in this area and a higher likelihood that the average user will be victimized.”

Additional facts:
* Popularity and demand has driven up the cost of attack kits. In 2006, WebAttacker, a popular attack toolkit, sold for $15 on the underground economy. In 2010, ZeuS 2.0 was advertised for up to $8,000.

* Secondary services have emerged to direct unsuspecting users to malicious websites, where their computers can be compromised. Tactics used include spam campaigns, black hat search engine optimization (SEO), the injection of code into legitimate websites, and malicious advertisements.

* Symantec observed more than 310,000 unique domains that were found to be malicious. On average, this resulted in the detection of more than 4.4 million malicious Web pages per month.

* Of the Web-based threat activity detected by Symantec during the reporting period, 61 percent was attributable to attack kits.

* The most prevalent attack kits are MPack, Neosploit, ZeuS, Nukesploit P4ck, and Phoenix.

* The search terms that most commonly resulted in malicious website visits were for adult entertainment websites, making up 44 percent of the search terms.

Mitigating attacks
* Organizations and end users should ensure that all software is up-to-date with vendor patches. Asset and patch management solutions may help to ensure systems are compliant and deploy patches to systems that are not up-to-date.

* Organizations should create policies to limit the use of browser software and browser plug-ins that are not required by the users of the organization. This is especially prudent for ActiveX controls, which may be installed without the knowledge of the user.

* Organizations can also benefit from using website reputation and IP black listing solutions to block outgoing access to sites that are known to host attack toolkits and associated threats.

* Antivirus and intrusion prevention systems can be deployed to detect and prevent exploitation of vulnerabilities and installation of malicious code.

Cloud.com, Kumoya to bring open source cloud computing technologies to Japanese IT market

2011-01-12T22:07:00.002+05:30

CUPERTINO USA & TOKYO, JAPAN: Cloud.com, Inc., a leading provider of open source cloud computing software for public and private cloud environments, and Kumoya Inc. announced a strategic partnership granting rights to distribute Cloud.com’s technology and products to the Japanese IT channel market.

This is also the official launch of Cloud.com’s cloud computing platform solutions into the Japanese market, where cloud computing is emerging as the fastest growing IT segment in the industry.

“There is a tremendous amount of interest and excitement around cloud computing technologies in Japan, yet there is a wide gap between what is offered today in Japan and what is needed to deliver a truly automated cloud environment,” said Yosuke Shindo, CEO of Kumoya. “We believe that CloudStack and the Cloud Portal architecture effectively resolve this gap. With Cloud.com’s tremendous success in helping companies build large scale cloud environments, we are excited to be representing them in Japan.”

Through this agreement, Kumoya, will actively market and promote Cloud.com’s technology in Japan, working with the increasing number of cloud computing-focused SI and VAR channels in Japan. Kumoya will be hosting a series of training sessions, promotional events and evangelism activities to deliver true cloud computing value in the Japanese market.

“Japan is a very promising market for Cloud.com, and we are excited to partner with Kumoya, which truly understands the user-driven nature of cloud computing solutions and has a successful track record of bringing cloud technologies to the Japanese market,” said Shannon Williams, VP of Business Development at Cloud.com.

Cloud.com solutions are available immediately, and a series of promotional activities for potential resellers are planned for 2011.

S&P Equity Research issues tech sector predictions for 2011

2011-01-06T14:30:00.003+05:30

NEW YORK, USA: S&P Equity Research is looking for slower growth in the technology sector in 2011, compared to 2010, but still believes the growth will be healthy. The S&P tech equity analysts and strategists have a positive fundamental outlook and overweight recommendation on the sector.

"We expect notable developments regarding new products, international activity, and M&A deals," said Scott Kessler, Information Technology analyst and tech sector group head at S&P Equity Research.

Following are select predictions for the tech sector from industry analysts at S&P Equity Research for 2011.

1. We think Intel will finally gain some traction in the handset and tablet markets.

2. We forecast that global solar system installations will increase at least 20 percent in 2011, well below our 2010 estimated growth rate of a two-fold increase.

3. We expect solar manufacturers that have a greater proportion of sales devoted to the US to outperform peers.

4. We project 2011 to show a continuation of the computer hardware recovery since the deep cyclical trough of 2009. We project global PC unit shipments to rise 14 percent in 2011, after an estimated rise of 17 percent for 2010.

5. Computer hardware should continue to make inroads into new markets such as self-serve kiosks in the transportation, healthcare and retail areas, based on an ongoing desire to automate transactions and offer consumers more ways to handle business.

6. We see the wide-spread emergence of visualization and cloud infrastructures requiring improved integration of datacenter switches and servers with more advanced delivery functionality. We believe companies with strong application delivery and WAN optimization capabilities, such as F5 Networks and Riverbed Technology will be attractive acquisition candidates for 2011.

7. We believe Microsoft will continue to lose market share in smartphones, as Windows Phone 7 fails to capture the interest of consumers.

8. We expect sales in the video game industry will be slightly up in 2011, after declining for the two prior years, driven by strong sales of Microsoft Kinect.

9. Consolidation in the data storage industry should continue in 2011, by our analysis, with most of the M&A activity being centered on storage software, as opposed to hardware.

10. We expect sales of tablet computers to surge and begin to cannibalize sales of netbooks and mini notebooks.

11. Despite having less functionality than tablet computers, sales of e-book readers will continue to surge in 2011, in our view. We see unit sales increasing from 7 million in 2010 to 11 million in 2011, led by Amazon.com's Kindle.

12. We expect to see at least one major strategic move from an IT services company that caters to the Department of Defense. Companies in this category include ManTech and SAIC.

13. Despite continuing revenue growth, the major India-based IT outsourcers, including Infosys and Wipro should experience margin declines in 2011.

SonicWALL releases top 9 tips to protect against online threats, scams and frauds this holiday season

2010-12-11T15:05:00.000+05:30

Interesting read!

BANGALORE, INDIA: SonicWALL, Inc. the leading provider of intelligent network security and data protection solutions, today released tips on how to recognize and avoid the top holiday threats that well-wishers and online shoppers face this holiday shopping season.

With the holidays fast approaching, phishers, hackers and scammers are preparing to attack by perfecting social media scams, developing new and different merchant phishing techniques, cultivating data harvesting methods and perfecting greeting card malware. Consumers can prepare by being aware of the top online security-related frauds and scams awaiting them this holiday season and by learning how to best protect themselves.

“During the holidays, consumers the rush to quickly buy presents drives consumers to let their guard down and bypass their normal security precautions. Phishers and scammers are expecting this,” said Boris Yanovsky, vice president of software engineering at SonicWALL.

“We already see an increase in malware, Trojans and phishing attacks before the holiday season begins. This year, Facebook targeting is rampant. Unfortunately, consumers won’t learn the extent of any damage until it’s already too late and the holidays are over. Consumers should arm and prepare themselves now against the flood of holiday-related threats.”

Malware and phishing threats tend to show up in a variety of forms consumers often wouldn’t expect during the holidays. For example, malware disguises itself as a multimedia Christmas greeting card from a long lost friend. A new Facebook “friend” nudges you to play a special holiday game or directs you to “favorite” sites. Your favorite online retailer offers you a special discount if you “click here.”

To stay protected during this holiday season, SonicWALL’s Yanovsky gives tips to avoid the top 9 threats of the season:

1. Purchasing and payments: This is a big one! Phishing for additional personal information such as your credit card number is common during the holidays. Phishing threats posing as communications from retailers like Amazon.com, eBay or PayPal will notify you that they “were unable to process your credit card transaction” or need more details to process your transaction.

Be sure a site is secure and reputable before providing your credit card number online. Don't trust a site just because it claims to be secure.

There are two general indications of a secured Web page:

A) Check the Web page URL
Normally, when browsing the Web, the URLs (Web page addresses) begin with the letters "http". However, over a secure connection the address displayed should begin with "https" - note the "s" at the end.

B) Check for the "Lock" icon
There is a de facto standard among Web browsers to display a "lock" icon somewhere in the window of the browser (NOT in the web page display area!). For example, Microsoft Internet Explorer displays the lock icon in the lower-right of the browser window.

2. Holiday offers from your favorite retailer: Each year, anticipated holiday offers from spammers increase. Consumers may find “Special Shopping Offer” or “Special Discount” spam campaigns in their inboxes. But those may have nothing to do with a holiday bargain. Be aware that this may be a drive-by Trojan download. Never purchase anything advertised through an unsolicited email.

Ensure that the offer you receive is legitimate by double-checking with the Web site of your favorite retailer. If you do respond to a legitimate offer, use a primary email address for people you know and get yourself a secondary address for all other purposes. Never respond to suspicious offers, as this will confirm to the sender that your email address is “live.”

3. Social media threats: Social media applications are top destinations to browse. With access to Facebook and MySpace now accessible via mobile devices, consumers are easily able to upload and share photos and other online information. Be on alert when you get “nudges” and suggestions from “friends” to view pictures, receive special holiday “offers” or invitations to play “games.” You may become the victim of a malware or a phishing threat.

Also, be aware that phishers are using social media for spam related purposes as spammers are looking to attract names. Change your Facebook privacy settings and configure them to meet your needs; you never can be careful enough about who views your information.

4. Discounted gift cards: With cash-strapped consumers looking at their wallets this holiday season, discounted gift cards may seem like an attractive gift option for stocking stuffers. Before you make your purchase, however, be sure that the Web site and the discounted offer are legitimate. Check with the retailer and use PayPal when making your purchase. If the site asks you to mail in an order or does not accept PayPal or credit cards, be aware, as you may become the victim of fraud.

5. Greeting card threats: During the holiday season, the number of electronic greeting cards, sent via email grows exponentially. Clicking on an e-card or video holiday card, can direct you to a link, ask you to download Adobe Flash, another type of animation or a PDF. This can install dangerous malware on your computer. No matter whether or not you know the sender - assume that suspicious links, Flash video, animation or any PDF card, document or invoice are potentially malicious and dangerous.

6. Delivery threats (UPS and FedEx): This type of phishing threat (aka “Bredlow” or “Fake Antivirus” spam) takes the form of a friendly notice from UPS, FedEx or DHL. Typically, the email message includes a few lines such as, “We tried to deliver your package, but were unable to reach you. Please click here to reschedule your delivery.” In the phishing case, once you click, malicious code gets installed on your computer and it will harvest your personal information.

As with any online business transaction, never click on links that arrive unsolicited. When shopping or doing business online, instead go to the company website directly by typing the URL in your web browser instead of clicking on a link.

7. Holiday-themed games and videos: Consumers should be on the lookout for any “click here” messages associated with holiday games and videos, such as the Elf Bowling game. Do not open suspicious links. The links may open malware. For those asked to view videos, users may be asked to activate a plug-in and wait for a download of a java applet—essentially a fake video codec that may be cross platform malware or Java based malware.

8. Popular Google search results: While Google and other search engines have taken precautions to eliminate URLs that contain malware, searches using popular keywords like “Christmas” can still result in the download of malware. For example, a search for "free printable Christmas stickers” may lead to links that initiate a malware attack. Make sure that your system is updated with the latest virus protection and the latest security patches.

9. Harvest attacks after the holidays: Scammers frequently focus on November and December, the busiest shopping months, to gather email addresses of potential victims for later use in January. In fact, Trojan downloads are at an all-time high during November and December. Online shoppers should brace themselves for online fraud and phishing attempts during the second and third weeks of January—about the time December’s credit cards bills arrive.

“Be wary of any email or social media interaction that requires your account or financial information even if it does not look suspicious at first,” said Yanovsky.

“Scammers and phishers will be looking for new ways to lure in consumers, especially with Facebook traffic at an all-time high, and with more and more consumers looking for discounts. When shopping online, know how the online merchant communicates, especially in case of shipping delays and credit card matters.

"Assume that any email that either directly or indirectly asks for your account, financial or identity information is fraudulent. Lastly, double-check your credit card statement—especially in January—for incorrect expenses. Using these steps as a baseline, consumers can stay protected this holiday season.”

Facebook email: Latest strike to dominate communications?

2010-11-16T03:53:00.000+05:30

Eden Zoller, Principal Analyst, Ovum

AUSTRALIA: If Facebook positions this as a full web email service it will put Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! on the defensive. It should also give telcos a lot to think about as Facebook is becoming an increasingly rich communication platform. All it needs to do now is put search into the equation.

An email service from Facebook makes a lot of sense. It has a huge base of 500 million users that already love to communicate and share, and Facebook is giving them richer ways to do this through virtual gifts, games, location and even voice thanks to the recent integration deal with Skype.

Adding email to the mix is a logical step and Facebook could tap into user data to provide an attractive, highly personalised service. You would also expect it to push mobile features given its big move in this direction.

Nearly all my Blogger blogs are being targeted by cybercriminals! Please help me, friends!

2010-10-31T03:16:00.007+05:30

Interesting! Nearly all my blogs on Blogger -- Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog, Pradeep Chakraborty's Point, PC's Semicon Blog, have been targeted by cybercriminals from early last evening!

Incidentally, I had bought one of the domains from Google itself. And now, it is reportedly under attack!

I have been reporting this strange phishing site message to Google, and don't know whether they can help me out!

I have also been sending regular emails to a contact at Google India with the hope that I can get help.

Otherwise, there is very little I can do. I do not have the resources to check what is really happening.

The same story happened last year as well! My main blog was injected with malware and taken out, while all other blogs were marked as spam. While I could not save my main blog, I did manage to save all of the others.

This time, I have no idea!

If Blogger and Google cannot protect bloggers like us, then who can?

I am also wondering: how can a blog -- with hardly any links, and not carrying porn or other sex or fashion related stuff, or even entertainment stuff -- keeps getting attacked like this! :)

Can someone throw some light? I need help, my dear friends!

By the way, I have also posted this message and blog link on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. So, you all know what is really going on right now!

Just in case, friends, I do go on to loose all of my current blogs by the morning, will try and get all of them them up and running with different URLs.

Right now, I am really, really irritated, angry and tired!

I'll be back!

My old blog address is back! Am so happy!!

2010-10-14T03:16:00.008+05:30

My dear friends, this is a great day for me! Rohit Basa, manager - Business Development (North America), ProcSys, who is currently in the USA, just responded to an email I'd sent out inviting him for Durga Puja celebrations in town!

In his mail, Rohit very kindly informed me that my old blog address -- http://pradeepchakraborty.blogspot.com -- is again available for fresh registration. His message to me was crystal clear: "Book it before anyone else does and direct a link to your new website. I'm a great fan of yours, your blog and articles."

Indeed! I was overjoyed when I re-registered the same old blog address, and got it back! I even brought back the same old look!! Well, at least, most of it!!!

The sheer pain of losing my original blog and blog address last August is something extremely difficult for me to get over! The effort I'd put in to develop that blog had been immense, and the loss was really shattering, to say the least! In fact, I even used to constantly check Blogger to find out whether the old blog address was still available.

While the pain has eased a bit on getting back my old blog address, I know very well that I simply cannot bring back the original traffic that it used to have. I moved my old blog to Wordpress since that day it was taken off Blogger. The blog's doing very well on Wordpress. Still, the loss of my original Blogspot blog last year has haunted me every single day!

Thanks a ton, Rohit! I am so very touched and will remain forever obliged to you!!

I chose Sagar Desai of Symantec, from the US, a very close friend, as the next one to be informed that I'd got back my old blog address. Sagar stood by me in my darkest hour -- when my old blog was injected with malware and removed by Google in August, last year.

In fact, Sagar had commented just a while ago, on seeing my Durga Puja invite -- "Did not know this cultural side of yours. Good to know that your life is just not semiconductors! ;)"

I'd then asked him whether I'd got typecast. His reply was -- "That’s probably more to do with the way you brand yourself. Image set ho gaya hai! You need to break the stereotype." :)

It is so very nice and touching to hear such remarks from a close friend! It shows that he cares, a lot! Perhaps, I am getting typecast as a semicon blogger.

Guess what! The other day, I was at a National Instruments event. A journalist friend and an ex-colleague, actually, found some new names for me. One was 'Semicon Bong' -- since I'm a Bengali, and the other was 'Semicon Bomb'! Ok, whatever that last one means.

Well, now I simply can't wait to inform Usha Prasad, my associate and buddy, that I've managed to get back my old blogspot address. Usha stood by me during that time and has steadfastly been by my side since that time. I just can't wait to see her reaction when she hears this news! She's fast asleep now.. come morning, and this is the first thing I'm going to tell her!

Finally, many, many thanks to all of those friends who've stood by me all this time!

And, a very special thanks again from the bottom of my heart to Rohit! You really made my day, sorry, my year, buddy! :)

Here's wishing everyone a very happy Durga Puja and Dusshera!

Facebook's down! Get 'social'!! For real!!!

2010-09-24T02:00:00.000+05:30

If you happened to try log into Facebook tonight, am sure that you would encounter a strange message saying -- Service unavailable, DNS failure. The server is temporarily unable to service your request. Please try again later!

Excellent!

This gives all of us anti social beings an opportunity to really become social and call up or chat with our real life or 'real' friends! :)

Twitter is full of messages from users lamenting the fact that Facebook isn't currently working. In fact, the current global trends on Twiter shows topics such as:

* DNS failure.
* Facebook Isnt Working.
* Mark Zuckerberg.
* Service Unavailable.

One Twitter user has posted an interesting message, saying that since Facebook is down, it means that nine months from today, too many children will be born! Hahahahahahaa! Nice!!

Another tweet says, Facebook RIP 2004-2010. Sincerely, one hopes not!

Yet another says, 'Facebook is currently down with a DNS failure. Businesses are reporting a near impossible 480 percent increase in productivity.' Hilarious!

The Facebook page on Twitter has posted this note -- "Facebook may be slow or unavailable for some people because of site issues. We're working to fix this quickly."

One hopes that Facebook will be restored soon and everyone will be happy.

Update: Even as I was logging off this post, I tried Facebook, and it worked! I managed to log in and log out. Hope that friends across the world are able to do the same. Best wishes.

Spot fixing? What's wrong with these youngsters?

2010-08-31T18:57:00.006+05:30

This post has much more to do with cricket! What a lovely game it is! Only, it is getting constantly tarnished by match fixing claims!

The most recent one being the Lords Test between England and Pakistan, where two of Pakistan's fast bowlers -- the hugely talented Mohammad Amir and the brilliant Mohammad Asif -- are said to be part of spot fixing! What did they do? They are said to have delivered no balls, during a specific time of the test match, and received some payment for it, as alleged by the News of the World in its telecast.

When I see Amir and Asif bowl in tandem in test matches, I wish India had such a pair of fast bowlers. But when I read about what they have 'supposedly done', I wince! Why? Just look at Amir, he is not even 20 years old! And Asif, barely 27!

Why is it so easy to sell you country for the love of money? Don't you love your country guys?

We in India are always very pleased to welcome and see cricketers from Pakistan in action. They have always been a talented bunch. And well, and India-Pakistan game has its own charm.

Post 26/11, all such bilateral tours have come to a standstill. Following a brutal attack by terrorists on a bus carrying Sri Lanka cricketers in Lahore in early 2009 has led to nearly every country boycotting Pakistan. And then, not a single player from Pakistan made it to IPL 3.

Given this status quo, it is a wonder whether we will see the likes of Amir and Asif bowl to greats such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid anytime soon in a test match in India.

What's wrong with these youngsters? Perhaps, it's the quick money, silly! Perhaps, it is the background they hail from, where youngsters want a better life for their families. Perhaps, at this age, their minds are really naive, and they are easy to fall into bad company.

Perhaps, youngsters of today need serious mentoring, a father figure to hold their hands and show the way.

Do not ever disrespect work!

2010-08-31T02:34:00.009+05:30

If you do not like this headline, please do not read this piece! :) Cheers!

I had a friend with a very peculiar habit of disrespecting any work given to him. I always wondered why he had this nature! As I could understand, he always considered work = money, which is correct, but not completely. And, he probably did not respect the person who was bringing him all this work, simply because the money involved was perhaps, too small.

Neither was he a good communicator. He was either very slow or late to respond to messages to contact or call, which irked people no end! This led many times to him receiving angry messages, especially from his boss/mentor asking to get in touch at the earliest. And invariably, this led to verbal and personality clashes.

Further, in case the work was small, in terms of the money earned, the effort put in by this friend was either lacking or not quite visible. Also, there was a tendency to take such kind of work for granted.

Very soon, this friend lost projects he was working on, or could barely manage to sustain projects. Time and again, one aspect stood out -- the effort was seriously lacking. Finally, the mentor also gave up!

Work, which could have provided him with more opportunities to grow, turned on its head, and consumed him! No one wanted to give him any more work thereafter. It is frightening. However, he was lucky, and got into some other job. Hope he is doing fine now.

Work does not always equal money. You are getting the relevant experience to handle a variety of work. You are getting several networking opportunities, which will stand you in good stead in the years ahead -- provided, you respect your network. Next, you come into great association with a lot of people, and particularly, your good bosses and mentors -- if you have such people around you! Finally, knowledge, which is simply priceless!

No amount of money can buy these four things, ever! And, no amount of money can ever substitute either experience or knowledge!

I have a tendency of loosing my cool when I see such people who do not respect work. Maybe, I am wrong, and I will always be wrong. My behavior and action is not correct. I am not related to such people and should not loose my cool. I have lost friends as I used to loose my cool and say things, which I should not have said in the first place.

Today, some of those friends or people, who received my wrath sometime in the past, are doing quite well. Some among them have even cared to thank me for showing them the importance of work, however small it may have been.

For all such people, who think that work always equals money, here's an advice -- DO NOT EVER DISRESPECT WORK, and DO NOT DISRESPECT THE PERSON who is giving you that WORK.

No one knows what the future is going to be like. What you sow today, you will reap tomorrow. If you do not keep positive thoughts and maintain necessary action that is required for doing work, you will carry that negativity and lazy action on to your future jobs. You may even succeed for a while. But, not for long!

And that's when you will wish: hey, I should have listened to that voice, which wanted me to hear it! Chances are, that voice -- of another friend, or well wisher, or a mentor, or a teacher, or even your parent -- would have been lost by then!

New intelligent summarizing software provides solution to information overload

2010-08-18T01:12:00.003+05:30

This was sent to me by Smarbee. You decide if it is worth a look!

OMAHA, USA: Smarbee Inc. has launched the GetRecap family of products, intelligent software that “reads” through documents and delivers meaningful, executive-level summaries – right on the desktop.

The family of products includes GetRecap for the education market, GetRecap PRO for the business market and GetRecap DOC that integrates with Microsoft Word. In addition to providing summaries, GetRecap PRO and GetRecap DOC identify keywords, phrases and themes, and allow the user to select words to exclude when summarizing.

All of the recaps delivered to the desktop provide links back to the original content. This saves the researcher time by knowing whether there is content of specific interest inherent in the document, and being able to get right to it to learn more.

“As the US economy becomes dominated by knowledge workers, more and more people are responsible for research and analysis,” said Kelly L. Kirchhoff, CEO of Smarbee. “The information explosion caused by digital media means people have to sift through mountains of information to do their jobs. The GetRecap family of products is the hot, new software available now that helps them do their jobs well, saving time – and money. There really is nothing else like this in North America.”

According to a March 2007 report titled “The Expanding Digital Universe,” the amount of digital information created, captured and replicated in 2005 was 151 billion gigabytes, which is about three million times the information in all the books ever written. That number has now increased six-fold to 988 billion gigabytes.

The GetRecap family of products digests most digital documents, including
Word DOCs, PDFs, html, website pages and more.

Free 30-day trials are available via Smarbee.com. GetRecap PRO sells for $199.00 for a lifetime license. GetRecap is available for $49.00.

Enterprise 2.0 – drop the Web 2.0 myths

2010-08-10T13:30:00.001+05:30

This one's an Ovum comment! Up you, to agree or disagree, folks!

Dr. Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director, Ovum.

AUSTRALIA: When Enterprise 2.0 first hit the radar, many of us were excited by the new social collaboration tools and their power to usher in new collaborative behaviors.

Some of this promise has indeed been realized. The market for Enterprise 2.0 software is strong and growing, with social computing functionality such as profiles, wikis, blogs, microblogs, tagging, and presence now widely available, both in specialized Enterprise 2.0 products and embedded into office productivity and unified communications suites.

Organizations that are happy with their Enterprise 2.0 platforms find that they actually do lubricate interactions in ways that earlier, more rigid, groupware and content management solutions did not.

Sustaining participation in Enterprise 2.0 is harder than it first appeared
While some organizations naturally embrace the collaborative paradigm that lies behind Enterprise 2.0, others remain recalcitrant. Participation in Enterprise 2.0 platforms can be slow to take off and fragile once the initial burst of enthusiasm from the passionate is over. It is becoming apparent that many organizations find it more difficult than it first appeared to sustain an architecture of participation in the workplace in the way that it appears to happen naturally in the Web 2.0 world.

Challenge the myths
One theme that is emerging more clearly is the folly of assuming that innovations and behaviors that work in the consumer realm will simply self propagate in the enterprise. In the consumer realm anything goes, and whatever survives and prospers is deemed to be “good”.

The enterprise realm, however, is more constrained in its purpose and population. Enterprises exist to pursue their mission, and are rife with processes and behaviors that stifle the social dynamics that exist in the wilds of the Internet.

It is time to confront some common myths. Enterprise 2.0 is not just about appealing to “Generation Y” and digital natives – we must engage workers of all ages. Not all people will leap to Enterprise 2.0 platforms without training and support. Not everyone in the workplace loves hyper-transparency.

It is not OK that 1 percent write, 9 percent comment, and 90 percent passively consume; workplace collaboration needs more pervasive participation to be useful. Not everyone is naturally collaborative – collaborating, or not, is a learned behavior at work. Collaboration doesn’t necessarily “just happen” when a platform is provided.

Web 2.0 is a survival-of-the-fittest jungle, where people opt in to sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn for their own self-actualization and entertainment. Enterprise 2.0 is a designed, purposeful space, where particular behaviors and activities need to be created and nurtured.

Think like a gardener, not an engineer
Enterprise 2.0 requires a different approach to traditional IT systems implementation. Implementing a transaction processing system can be viewed as an engineering task because the users really have no choice. They must use the system to do their jobs. User participation in Enterprise 2.0 platforms, in contrast, is entirely voluntary. People choose to collaborate, or not.

Organizations that are experiencing disappointing outcomes with Enterprise 2.0 need to take a fresh look at how they are going about it.

Thinking like a gardener rather than an engineer is helpful. Choose the right business problem to solve, create the initial structure sensitively, seed the conversations, moderate them carefully to stimulate engagement and shape behavior, show commitment to “feeding and weeding” the collaboration, acknowledge good behaviors, and manage the lifecycle of topics and threads to keep things vibrant.

Successful implementation of an Enterprise 2.0 initiative is a social thing. It is all about changing people’s behavior. Enterprise 2.0 platforms are simply the gardener’s tools – if the garden dies it is seldom the tool’s fault.

My WOT (Web of Trust) rank is higher than some leading sites!

2010-07-25T16:36:00.007+05:30

I just signed up for WOT -- or Web of Trust -- for a month! In fact, I'd been seeing this sign across several web sites for some time now, and was wondering whether I could check and see how my blog was ranked on the web.

What's WOT?
According to the site, Web of Trust (WOT) is the world's leading community-based, free safe surfing tool that helps all web users stay safe as they search, surf and shop online.

The WOT add-on tells you which sites you can trust when using Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Wikipedia and other popular sites. Web site ratings are powered by a global community of millions of trustworthy users who have rated millions of websites based on their experiences. The free add-on works with Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer and is a free download.

WOT Trust Seals?
WOT Trust Seal helps all web sites, especially e-commerce, use their excellent reputation to increase sales, stand out from the competition and manage their reputation. Reputation data comes from the world's leading community-based safe surfing tool, Web of Trust.

The WOT Trust Seal show visitors that you are trusted and give them the confidence to buy, click and sign-in online.

My WOT rank is better than several leading sites!
Well, I signed up and it offered me WOT Trust Certificate for free, for a month. Thereafter, one is supposed to pay, should one wishes to carry on!

There's a box on WOT, which allows you to check your website's reputation. Naturally, I checked for my site, as well as the ones I have been associated with recently, as well as in the past.

To my sheer surprise and delight, I am pleased inform you that my WOT rankings for Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog (Pradeep's Point) is either on par with or better than some well known websites such as CIOL, EM Asia, Voice & Data, ISA Online, Elcina, etc. NASSCOM and MAIT are understandably ahead.

I am also very happy to learn that Photonics.com is ahead of me -- or alternatively, I've more work to do to catch up with it! However, I'm wondering how Global Sources is trailing me, although EE Times Asia is ahead. Also, Wireless Week is trailing me. Wonder why! I also believe that the rankings keep changing by the day, if not hour.

I'm not really sure why some of the country's leading websites are trailing me. My guess is: they have not been rated by WOT users. Or, what most folks dread: their sites are incorrectly rated, and sometimes, as a prank, not rated properly at all! For instance, you know a site deserves a good rating, but as a prank and fun -- or simply to play the fool, you give it a low rating.

Nevertheless, I am really grateful to have been considered someone to trust by people. Ranks don't matter much; it is the trust of people that matters more!

WOT is a great initiative by WOT Services Oy, a Finnish company, to make the Web a much safer place and to let us all know what are the best practices to follow on the Web. And yes, word of mouth remains the best agent to enhance your reputation online and in life. Best of luck, my friends.

CIOs should have a plan in place now to tackle a second economic downturn

2010-07-09T00:50:00.003+05:30

This one's from Gartner. Don't quite agree, but nevertheless, enjoy!

STAMFORD, USA: In 2008, most CIOs were forgiven for being unprepared to deal with the global recession, but if another recession unfolds in the next 12-18 months, no CIO will be forgiven for being unprepared a second time, according to Gartner Inc.

In May 2010, investor doubts about the health of the global economy returned to the world's capital markets with a vengeance. The possibility of nations defaulting on repaying massive loans, high unemployment rates, depressed housing prices, limited access to consumer and business credit, a growing belief that a sustained economic recovery may not be possible this year, and an array of other factors have all combined to shake investor confidence to its core.

As these and other factors were unfolding, many economists were still maintaining that 2010 and beyond would be a period of modest recovery and growth. Because so much uncertainty exists about the sustainability of the current recovery, CIOs should confront such uncertainty with clear and decisive action. They should augment current near-term plans by preparing for a second recession.

"Just the potential for a second business downturn should be sufficient to compel CIOs to plan for another business downturn," said Ken McGee, vice president and Gartner fellow. "However, most CIOs will not have a response strategy prepared if a second business downturn occurs."

McGee said CIOs today are uniquely placed to tackle a second economic downturn, if they plan accordingly.

"As questions, or even doubts, grow about the ability for economies to recover, CIOs in 2010 have one advantage over their predecessors. For the first time in the history of the IT industry, more than 90 percent of CIOs today possess extremely recent and practical experience dealing with a recession," McGee said.

"In light of this fact, we strongly urge these recession-hardened CIOs to leverage their recently acquired and economic battle-scarred experiences by proactively preparing their entire enterprises should another economic downturn occur within the next 12 to 18 months."

Gartner recommends that CIOs take the following key actions to ensure that their enterprises are best placed to weather any potential financial storms over the next 12 to 18 months:

Enlist C-Level Action Now: As IT leaders learned from the recent recession, executives will once again have to make a multitude of decisions to minimize the effects of a second business downturn. Because most official national recession declarations are announced well after the actual start of a recession, IT leaders should suggest that their enterprise executives convene now, so that business downturn response guidelines may be established before capital markets, customers, suppliers, creditors, etc. panic in the wake of bad economic news.

Focus on the Current Fiscal Year: To save money as quickly as possible in the event of another business downturn, CIOs should work with executives to determine which IT projects scheduled and approved under the current IT budget may be postponed and which may be entirely canceled. Likewise, once all projects for the next fiscal year are identified, CIOs should determine which of those projects may be postponed and which may be entirely canceled.

Focus on the Next Fiscal Year: Once all projects for 2011 are identified, simultaneously determine which of those 2011 projects are relatively expendable and, therefore, may be postponed and which may be canceled, should deteriorating business conditions warrant such steps. Of course, the decision process for determining which projects may be postponed or canceled must include an assessment of the contractual exposures that may exist or arise with IT vendors for hardware, software and services.

Use Zero-Based Budgeting for Projects: As CIOs begin preparing for their 2011 budgets, they should adopt zero-based budgeting for projects in 2011. CIOs need to strongly suggest to C-level executives that all business unit executives sign documents affirming their understanding of:
* The one-time costs that will be incurred to implement their 2011 projects; and
* The annual recurring costs required to maintain those projects once they are completed.

Use Zero-Based Budgeting for Existing Applications: CIOs should compile an inventory of existing applications that are maintained by the IT staff and assign a reasonable estimate of the annual cost incurred to maintain each application. Once calculated, Gartner recommends having the business unit executives sign a document affirming their understanding of the estimated annual cost for overseeing and maintaining their applications.
"Our bottom-line advice is to prepare the 'second recession' plan, rehearse the 'second recession' plan and hope that you never have to use the 'second recession' plan," McGee said.

I've been ranked on IndiBlogger!

2010-06-23T02:54:00.005+05:30

I had chanced upon IndiBlogger just last month and well, became a member! Rather, my flagship blog on Wordpress -- Pradeep's Point -- was only approved as recently as May 29th.

Today, I received an email from IndiBlogger stating that my blog had been ranked 83rd among all Indian blogs! Of course, there are several bloggers who share a rank. Wow, that's brilliant! For someone who has not really gone about publicizing his blog -- at least for the first two years -- this is a real treat!

As per IndiBlogger, IndiRank is like runs in a game of cricket - the higher the score, the higher ranking one has! Blogs are ranked on a scale of 1-100. So, I hope the 83rd rank means that I am on the higher side! ;)

According to IndiBlogger, its IndiRank system has been built to rank the blogs in the IndiBlogger network. Although IndiBlogger manually verifies each and every blog, and correctly so, before it's allowed into the network, the IndiRank system is said to be completely automated.

Well, I only managed to find one other person blogging about semiconductors -- which is my main subject. So, does that make me no. 2 in that area? I don't really know!

Also, according to IndiBlogger, it has combined traditional ranking mechanisms such as a blog's Google PageRank, Incoming links and Alexa ranking. The system also checks to see the frequency at which a blog is updated -- well, I definitely try and update frequently -- as well as two other secret ingredients. Some of these factors have more weightage than the rest.

Fair enough! I am happy with whatever rank I can manage inside a fortnight or so of my joining. Thanks a lot, IndiBlogger.

Google Places helps build your online presence!

2010-05-05T03:56:00.012+05:30

Google Places has not really impressed me! It could have been much better! Perhaps, I go back a long time in web development, hence, this impression.

I was part of a significantly huge exercise at Global Sources, Hong Kong, back in the late 1990s in developing the search engine -- specifically, developing a four-layer deep search, as well as the product specifications search for the massive site I independently managed -- Global Sources Telecom Products -- along with my colleague, Len Sangalang. Of course, all of this was made possible with the guidance of Raj, and Rita's assistance with the actual web development, and the backing of Spenser Au and Daniel Tam. We were trying to achieve all of this before GSOL was listed on the NASDAQ on 14 April 2000. Hence, the tremendous pressure and rush to complete all of our projects!

In those days, thanks to the backing of Raj Gopinath and Rob Nelson -- my bosses, I had actually rolled out four big sites under Telecom Products -- incorporating Wireless, Broadband, Telephones & Systems, and Telecom Accessories & Parts -- all of this inside one month -- post the NASDAQ listing of GSOL! Hope, my friend, Romy Udanga (in Auckland, New Zealand) is reading this post, as he also made this happen, by passing my proposal!

We had a lot of SMEs in place as well, and had to really do a lot of hard work. Remember, in those days, there was no Google, Yahoo was coming up, and well, there were no good models of online search and web presence. We did it all by ourselves! Heady days, those! Okay, let me get back to Google Places!!

Having said all that, Google Places is a cool Web tool for startups and those looking to make a very quick online presence, especially on Google! It is especially useful for those who do not want to invest in a website, but can have an online presence about their business up and running in a matter of less than five minutes!

Google Places, previously known as Local Business Center, helps a company verify and supplement business information, including hours of operation, photos, videos, coupons and product information, etc., thereby providing a way to communicate with customers. It will give businesses new insights that enable should them to make smart decisions.

Giving a demo of Google Places, Manik Gupta, product manager, Google India Pvt Ltd, highlighted the really easy procedure that anyone can use to set up the online presence. The best thing is: all of this comes free!

According to him, India is a nation of small entrepreneurs and it is estimated that there are more than 30 million small businesses in India. However, only a fraction of these are online.

He added: "We have also observed that one out of five searches on Google is related to a user's location, and very often people are looking for local businesses. As small businesses in India are realizing the advantages of having an online presence, Google Places is the ideal solution since it’s free and easy. The growth of Google Places in India has been phenomenal and we have seen over 40 percent growth in businesses registering on Google Places over the past six months."

The online presence is a customer verified listing, based on the information provided by the customer. Thereafter, Google crawls through all of the relevant information associated with the content provided by a company/entity, and summarizes it for the user. This concept is called a 'place page.'

Once you've signed up for your page, an SMS is sent to your mobile phone containing a PIN, which the user is required to add in the relevant place. Gupta added: "We do not believe in regulating. Users would need to verify themselves."

There's no provision as yet, to directly link to your Twitter or Facebook accounts, although, you could use your social media web address -- as a web address, if required, while filling up the information table.

Google is not looking at monetizing Google Places in India at the moment. At some point, it may introduce certain relevant products.

I wonder whether Google could work with the leading B2B and/or B2C websites of the world and extend Google Places. A debate regarding who controls the content may arise, but then, it is expected that such issues can be sorted out. Best of luck!

Worldwide IT spending to grow 5.3pc in 2010

2010-04-12T19:59:00.004+05:30

This release is from Gartner!

STAMFORD, USA: Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $3.4 trillion in 2010, a 5.3 percent increase from IT spending of $3.2 trillion in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc. The IT industry will continue to show steady growth with IT spending in 2011 projected to surpass $3.5 trillion, a 4.2 percent increase from 2010.

"Following strong fourth quarter sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up 2010 for solid IT spending growth," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner.

"However, it's important to note that nearly 4 percentage points of this growth will be the result of a projected decline in the value of the dollar relative to last year. IT spending in exchange-rate-adjusted dollars will still grow 1.6 percent this year, after declining 1.4 percent in 2009."

Worldwide computing hardware spending is forecast to reach $353 billion in 2010, a 5.7 percent increase from 2009 (see Table 1). Robust consumer spending on mobile PCs will drive hardware spending in 2010. Enterprise hardware spending will grow again in 2010, but it will remain below its 2008 level through 2014.

Spending on storage will enjoy the fastest growth in terms of enterprise spending as the volume of enterprise data that needs to be stored continues to increase. Near-term spending on servers will be concentrated on lower-end servers; longer-term, server spending will be curtailed by virtualization, consolidation and, potentially, cloud computing.

"Computing hardware suffered the steepest spending decline of the four major IT spending category segments in 2009. However, it is now forecast to enjoy the joint strongest rebound in 2010," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.

"Consumer PC spending will contribute nearly 4 percentage points of hardware spending growth in 2010, powered by strong consumer spending on mobile PCs. Additionally, professional PC spending will contribute just over 1 percentage point of spending growth in 2010 as organizations begin their migration to Windows 7 toward the end of the year."

Table 1: Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of US Dollars)Source: Gartner (April 2010)

Worldwide software spending is expected to total $232 billion in 2010, a 5.1 percent increase from last year. Gartner analysts said the impact of the recession on the software industry was tempered and not as dramatic as other IT markets. In 2010, the majority of enterprise software markets will see positive growth.

The infrastructure market, which includes all the software to build, run and manage an enterprise, is the largest segment in terms of revenue and the fastest-growing through the 2014. The hottest software segments through 2014 include virtualization, security, data integration/data quality and business intelligence.

The applications market, which includes personal productivity and packaged enterprise applications, has some of the fastest-growth segments. Web conferencing, team collaboration and enterprise content management are forecast to have double-digit compound annual growth rates (CAGR), in the face of growing competition surrounding social networking and content.

"Cost optimization, and the shifts in spending form mega suites to the automation of processes will continue to benefit alternative software acquisition models as organizations will look for ways to shift spending from capital expenditures to operating expenditures," said Joanne Correia, managing vice president at Gartner.

"Because of this, vendors offering software as a service (SaaS), IT asset management, virtualization capabilities and that have a good open-source strategy will continue to benefit. We also see mobile-device support or applications, as well as cloud services driving new opportunities."

The worldwide IT services industry is forecast to have spending reach $821 billion in 2010, up 5.7 percent from 2009. The industry experienced some growth in reported outsourcing revenue at the close of 2009, an encouraging sign for service providers, which Gartner analysts believe will spread to consulting and system integration in 2010.

"We continue to see a long-term recession 'hangover' as a more-cautious mind-set continues as the norm among a lot of buyers who keep looking for small, safe deals where cost take-out is a key factor, said Kathryn Hale, research vice president at Gartner. "In the face of that ongoing strong pressure to renegotiate contracts, and in the absence of equivalent pressure from stockholders, we believe vendors will generally choose to maintain margins over revenue growth."

Worldwide telecom spending is on pace to total close to $2 trillion in 2010, a 5.1 percent increase from 2009. Between 2010 and 2014, the mobile device share of the telecom market is expected to increase from 11 percent to 14 percent, while the service share drops from 80 percent to 77 percent and the infrastructure share remains stable at 9 percent of the total market.

Worldwide enterprise network services spending is forecast to grow 2 percent in revenue in 2010, but Gartner analysts said this masks ongoing declines in Europe and many other mature markets as well as an essentially flat North American market.

"Longer term, the global enterprise network services market is expected to grow modestly, largely on the back of growth in Internet services, such as hosting," said Peter Kjeldsen, research director at Gartner. "Ethernet services will also grow significantly, albeit at the expense of both legacy services and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS)."

I've moved to http://www.pradeepchakraborty.com

2010-03-28T03:16:00.004+05:30

Okay, this should have been done long ago! As they say, better late than never!

I have now moved my flagship blogspot blog to a proper domain -- again, using my name as I really don't know what else to use! :) Maybe, it will be easier for people to search by my name as they are already familiar with my blog's name for so long.

The new address is: Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog.

The link is already working, although Google indicated that it will take a couple of days. So, thanks a lot, Google.

Storage software market has typical Q4 jump, as well as slight increase from last year

2010-03-09T01:19:00.005+05:30

This is courtesy, IDC.

FRAMINGHAM, USA: According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Storage Software Tracker, the worldwide storage software market experienced a slight increase in year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 (4Q09) with revenues of $3.09 billion, representing 0.5 percent growth over the same quarter one year ago, as well as 6.3 percent growth from the previous quarter (3Q09).

"The storage software market was able to increase in typical fourth quarter fashion, with all top six vendors showing positive growth from the third quarter," said Michael Margossian, associate research analyst, Storage Software at IDC. "Data protection and recovery was once again a strong market with the top four vendors showing growth from a year ago. IBM had the strongest year-over-year growth with revenues up 19.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008, while EMC enjoyed the greatest gains over the third quarter – a 13.1 percent increase – with the help of strong hardware growth."

"Sequential and year-over-year growth has returned for storage software, suggesting the market has started to show signs of recovery, said Laura DuBois, research director, Storage Software. "Another sign that bodes well for the segment is that, as storage consumes larger portions of IT budgets, driven by the exponential growth of data, the need for storage management and efficiency increases. Into 2010, storage capital investments are aimed at making more efficient and reliable use of data, data storage, and data management resources."

EMC led the overall market with 23.7 percent revenue share in the fourth quarter of 2009. Symantec held onto the second position with 17.5 percent revenue share, while IBM finished in the third position with 13.2 percent revenue share. NetApp finished in the fourth position with 7.9 percent revenue share, while HP and CA rounded out the top 5 with a statistical tie with 3.9 percent and 3.8 percent revenue share, respectively.
For the full year 2009, EMC led the overall market with 22.7 percent revenue share. Symantec held onto the second position with 17.9 percent revenue share, with IBM finishing in the third position with 13.5 percent revenue share. NetApp finished in the fourth position with 8 percent revenue share, along with CA rounding out the top five with 4 percent market share in 2009.

Deloitte's top trends for technology industry for 2010

2010-01-27T22:44:00.002+05:30

This is courtesy, Deloitte.

BANGALORE, INDIA: The Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice at Deloitte announced its 2010 predictions for the technology sector, forecasting that 2010 will be the breakout year for net tablets.

The connected portable devices are expected to offer a more appealing balance of form and function, and are anticipated to be purchased by tens of millions of people in the year ahead.

Rajarshi Sengupta, Senior Director, Deloitte & Touche Consulting comments: “The rise of the net tablet could constrain the growth of the nascent e-reader market. For every million net tablets sold there will be a corresponding impact on e-readers. We also predict that in 2010 many enterprise purchasing decisions will be based more on the preferences of individual employees, rather than traditional IT department criteria.”

Deloitte also forecasts that Virtual Desk Infrastructure, a computing model based on thin or stateless clients, centralised applications and processing power, will be taken far more seriously than in previous years. An anticipated 1 million seats are expected to go thin client in 2010, with the largest deployments involving tens of thousands of seats. By 2015, thin client may reach 10 percent of all enterprise client devices.

The CleanTech sector’s performance is anticipated to be mixed, according to Deloitte. Although solar demand is likely to grow strongly in 2010 and 2011, some subsidy cuts and cheaper-than-expected electricity rates may prevent that growth from being as strong as some might hope. It is expected that the solar technology subsector will be outperformed by the broader CleanTech industry.

Rajarshi Sengupta said: “2010 will also see the world’s first laboratory scale carbon-negative cement plant delivering significant reductions in global CO2 emissions. In contrast, solar power technology could struggle in 2010 due to the cost of solar equipment, tools and raw materials, overcapacity and weak economics.”

Thinking thin is in again: virtual desktop infrastructures challenge the PC
Deloitte predicts that in 2010 thin client will be taken far more seriously than in previous years, even if it does not outsell its thick client counterpart. Over the next five years, thin client should reach 10 percent of organisations’ computers, with the majority of medium to large businesses considering a shift to virtual desktop infrastructure.

Thin client can help to deliver direct savings by minimising and making IT support and maintenance more efficient, as well as reducing hardware costs and licensing fees. There are other less tangible benefits to virtual desktop infrastructure including; mobility, increased productivity, lower real estate costs, lower power consumption and better security.

Those charged with deploying thin client may need to convince workers who begrudge the lack of a local hard disk drive that pure forms of thin client entails. However, abetted by a backdrop of recession or slow recovery, employers may consider it a good opportunity to reshape working conditions.

IT procurement stands on its head
In the past, technology and telecommunications hardware and software manufacturers have targeted products to the enterprise market, specifically the gate-keeping IT department. In 2010, many enterprise purchasing decisions will be based more on the preferences of individual employees.

With the rise of the ‘prosumer’—employees who buy a phone for both work and play—more and more enterprises are likely to allow employees to choose their own phones, or at least allow prosumer-selected phones to integrate better with enterprise networks.

Enterprise-focused vendors will need to alter sales techniques originally designed to sell to monolithic buyers whose concerns were enterprise in scale. While IT departments will have to become more flexible, best practices are still necessary, such as deleting data on employees’ devices if they change jobs.

Also, given the faddish nature of consumer sentiment, processes that reduce product churn will be needed. The future of many enterprise computing and telecom tools will likely involve compromises between work and personal life, that is, employees being available 24/7 but allowed to choose their own smartphone.

CleanTech makes a comeback. But solar stays in the shadows
After the CleanTech industry’s near-collapse during the economic crisis, government stimulus and investor interest has caused a sharp recovery. However, not all areas are sharing the bounty.

Although the CleanTech Index is up 75 percent since its market lows, the view for the dominant solar technology—crystalline silicon photovoltaic (C-Si PV)—and its infrastructure is less positive in the next year or two. Currently, C-Si PV faces two challenges that could limit its recovery: overcapacity and weak economics.

Prior to the 2008 economic downturn, governments created a spike in demand for C-Si PV manufacturing capacity and installation. Capacity expansion continues unabated, largely in China and the United States. By 2010, over-capacity will mean C-Si PV utilisation will be barely above 25 percent.

The economic crisis has also caused conventional energy prices to be lower than forecasted and some developers of PV installations are seeing payback on investment remain at around 15 to 20 years without subsidies. Consumers and utilities will benefit from the significant drop in PV silicon prices, making solar more affordable for those with longer-term investment horizons.

From grey to green: technology re-invents cement
In 2010, technology’s contribution to CO2 reduction could result in electric cars, more efficient airplanes and leaner data centres. Yet there is another largely-overlooked industrial segment that may deliver equal benefit: cement. Cement production represents about 5 percent of global emissions – almost double that of the aviation sector – but is an essential driver of economic growth.

2010 should see the world’s first laboratory scale carbon-negative cement plant, with an industrial scale plant expected in 2011. The total resulting reduction in global CO2 emissions and construction costs could be significant. The full benefits of carbon-negative cement could be realised after five to 10 years, with sidewalks and driveways likely to be the first carbon negative constructions rather than skyscrapers.

Smaller than a netbook, and bigger than a smartphone – net tablets arrive
NetTabs, connected portable devices will be purchased by tens of millions of people in 2010. These devices have an advantage over smartphones—which are small for watching videos or web browsing—and notebooks, netbooks, and ultra-thin PCs, which are too heavy or expensive.

The likes of Apple and Microsoft teaming up with Hewlett-Packard, are anticipated to launch their products early this year, following news out of the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2010. Custom-designed tablets are also likely to be released by start-ups, some existing phone and PC makers, netbook leaders, and various smaller manufacturers using open-source phone operating systems.

Since netTabs are designed to connect wirelessly over WiFi, wireless carriers are likely to try to push users off cellular networks and onto WiFi as much as possible. NetTabs are also more expensive than most smartphones, and consumers are likely to demand big upfront subsidies.

Moore’s Law is alive and well in 2010
Despite forecasts of a gloomier scenario, Moore’s Law will probably work in 2010, with advances allowing for greater transistor density. However, this may not yield more powerful chips. Moore’s Law — the traditional ability of the global semiconductor industry to double the number of transistors in a square centimetre of silicon every 18-24 months — is not expected to come to a screeching halt in 2010, or even slow down.

The increased density is unlikely to be used to produce larger or more computationally powerful chips. Instead, “good enough” chips that are smaller, use less electricity and cost less money could emerge. With current growth of lower cost laptops and ultra low-cost netbooks, the next generations of PC chips are likely to be optimised for price, with consideration given to power consumption, but little focus on performance.

Other hot markets - smartphones, and perhaps tablets - will likely be optimised for power consumption, and possibly price, however, performance will be almost irrelevant. Although some chips will remain performance-driven, this segment may not see much growth.

Many IT applications (server farms, etc.) are large users of electrical power, so more efficient chips are a good thing. New equipment that uses less electricity and requires less cooling may allow for re-architected or larger data centres without necessitating increased refrigeration or power supplies.

Strong rebound for domestic Indian IT services market: Ovum

2010-01-22T16:57:00.001+05:30

INDIA: Ovum, the global ICT advisory and consulting firm, predicts 2010 to be a good year for the domestic Indian IT Services market.

According to a market sizing and forecasting model titled “India Market Trends 2009: IT services forecast”, the Indian IT Services market is anticipated to grow about 23 percent during 2010. Despite the positive outlook, the market will not see pre-recessionary growth levels until the tail end of the forecast period in 2013.

End users are expected to remain cautious with discretionary spending not picking up until 2011. By the end of the forecast period in 2013, the Indian IT services market will grow to over $24 billion, from $11 billion in 2010, mainly propelled by large e-governance projects being undertaken by central government.

2008 was a particularly buoyant year for the Indian IT Services market as strong economic growth helped propel IT spending. However, the latter part of 2008 and 2009 witnessed slowing growth as the global economic crisis made customers tighten purse strings. But India never technically went into recession, and with the global economy on its way to recovery, economic activity has also picked up in India.

"The recession did impact the IT services market in India, with spending growth across all service lines witnessing a decline. However, growth in the Indian IT Services market is picking up as customers have renewed spending and are putting out work that was on hold during the past year. The resilience of the Indian economy and its rapid progress to normalisation should bring more investment, driving growth in the sector," commented Hansa Iyengar, co-author of the forecast, who is based out of Ovum’s India office.

"The pent-up demand from key verticals has resulted in a strong rebound. Still, the market remains fragmented with the top 10 vendors accounting for only 33 percent market share. We anticipate deal sizes to get larger as customers look at the consolidating contracts to reap greater cost benefits which ought to play well to the strength of the top vendors in the region," added co-author Nishant Singh.

Symantec 2010 state of the data center study shows mid-sized enterprises emerging as data center vanguards

2010-01-21T02:14:00.003+05:30

This release is courtesy, Symantec

BANGALORE, INDIA: Symantec Corp. released the India findings of its 2010 State of the Data Center study.

Now in its third year, the study found that mid-sized enterprises (2,000 to 9,999 employees) are more likely to adopt cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, de-duplication, replication, storage virtualization, and continuous data protection than small or large enterprises to reduce IT costs and manage increasing complexity.

Further, mid-sized enterprise data centers show more activity, with more IT managers predicting major changes to the data center and new applications in 2010. Mid-sized enterprises also place a higher importance on staffing and training than their small or large enterprise counterparts.

“Although mid-sized enterprises tend to evaluate and adopt new technologies at a faster rate than larger organizations, they still face similar data center complexities that are compounded by adopting new initiatives,” said Anand Naik, director, systems engineering, Symantec. “Standardizing on cross-platform solutions that can manage new technologies and automate processes will drive immediate cost reduction and make their jobs easier in the long run.”

Study highlights:
* Mid-sized enterprises are more aggressive and pioneering than either small or large enterprises. They are adopting new technology initiatives such as cloud computing, replication, and de-duplication at 10-15 percent higher rates than small or large enterprises.

* Top data center concerns include increased complexity and too many applications. Most enterprises have 10 or more data center initiatives rated as somewhat or absolutely important and fifty percent expect “significant” changes to their data centers in 2010. Half of all the enterprises say applications are growing somewhat/quickly and half of them are finding it difficult and costly to meet service level agreements (SLAs).

One-third of all enterprises say staff productivity is hampered by too many applications. Adding to the complexity is the continued increase in data causing 52 percent of organizations to consider data reduction technologies such as de-duplication. Controlling storage growth is also one of the major data center objectives for Indian mid- sized enterprises for 2010. Forty-six percent of enterprises consider that controlling storage growth is an absolute requirement while another 32 percent think it is somewhat important for 2010.

* Security, backup and recovery, and continuous data protection are the most important initiatives in 2010, ahead of virtualization. Sixty-eight percent of enterprises rated security somewhat or absolutely important. Sixty-two percent said backup and recovery is somewhat/absolutely important and 60 percent rated continuous data protection as one of their top initiatives.

* Staffing and budgets remain tight with half of all enterprises reporting they are somewhat/extremely understaffed. Finding budget and qualified applicants are the biggest recruiting issues. Seventy-nine percent of enterprises have the same or more job requisitions open this year.

* There continues to be room for improvement in disaster recovery (DR). One-third of disaster recovery plans are undocumented or need work and important IT components, such as cloud computing, remote office and virtual servers are often not included. Compounding the issue, almost one-third of enterprises haven’t re-evaluated their disaster recovery plan in the last 12 months. But at the same time, 65 percent of the companies seemed confident on their organization's DR plan unlike last year.

Recommendations
* Software that supports heterogeneous environments and eliminates islands of information is particularly important for mid-sized enterprises that are aggressively adopting new technologies because they can reduce complexity in the data center.
Organizations should deploy de-duplication closer to the information source to eliminate redundant data and reduce storage and network costs.

* Data center administrators need to manage storage across heterogeneous server and storage environments in a way that enables them to stop buying storage by leveraging new technology adoption such as storage resource management, thin provisioning, de-duplication, storage virtualization and continuous data protection and recovery. Organizations leveraging a holistic approach to storage management can control storage budget growth and often postpone storage purchases.

* Disaster recovery testing is invaluable, but can significantly impact business. Enterprises should seek to improve the success of testing by evaluating and implementing testing methods which are non-disruptive.

* Organizations should deploy a single, unified platform for physical and virtual machine protection to simplify information management.

Forrester: IT spending to rebound in 2010

2010-01-13T03:22:00.001+05:30

Happy new year, dear friends. Here's a release from Forrester, for the enterprises.

CAMBRIDGE, USA: After a dismal performance in 2009, the technology sector will see a recovery in 2010 as businesses and governments in the US and around the world begin spending again on information technology, according to a new report by Forrester Research Inc.

After declining 8.2 percent in 2009, US IT spending will grow 6.6 percent in 2010 to $568 billion. Global IT spending, which dropped 8.9 percent last year, will rise 8.1 percent in 2010 to more than $1.6 trillion. Software and computer hardware will see the greatest growth, as Forrester forecasts a new multi-year cycle of technology investment growth and innovation defined by Smart Computing. The Forrester forecast provides Vendor Strategy professionals with recommendations regarding how to align their sales and marketing efforts to the current and future environment for IT spending.

“The technology downturn of 2008 and 2009 is unofficially over,” said Andrew Bartels, Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst. “All the pieces are in place for a 2010 tech spending rebound. In the US, the tech recovery will be much stronger than the overall economic recovery, with technology spending growing at more than twice the rate of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.”

With regard to sector growth, hardware and software will lead the charge. Measured in US dollars, global purchases of computer equipment will be up 8.2 percent, communications equipment buying will rise by 7.6 percent, software spending will increase by 9.7 percent, purchases of IT consulting and systems integration services will grow by 6.8 percent, and IT outsourcing services will be 7.1 percent higher.

On a regional basis, Europe will be the strongest performing region. Measured in US dollars, the strongest growth in 2010 will be in Western and Central Europe, where tech purchases will rise by 11.2 percent, boosted by the dollars decline against the euro. IT purchases in Canada will grow by 9.9 percent, Asia Pacific by 7.8 percent, and Latin America by 7.7 percent. The weakest market will be Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, rising by just 2.4 percent.

When measured against local currency, however, the US will actually post the strongest growth of all the regional tech markets.

“We are entering a new six- to seven-year cycle of IT growth and innovation that Forrester calls Smart Computing,” said Bartels. “New technologies of awareness married to advanced business intelligence analytics make computing smart. Smart Computing rests on new foundation technologies such as service-oriented architecture, server and storage virtualization, cloud computing, and unified communications. 2010 marks the beginning of this next phase of technology advancement.”

Top 10 storage investment priorities for 2010

2009-12-23T13:15:00.004+05:30

Here's a set of predictions sent by Hitachi Data Systems. Merry X'mas and a very Happy New Year to everyone.

BANGALORE, INDIA: Hitachi Data Systems Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and the only provider of Services Oriented Storage Solutions, today announced the top storage investment priorities for IT professionals in 2010.

“Data centre virtualization, cloud storage and data security continue to be top priorities in India as companies seek to drive competitive advantage. At Hitachi Data Systems, we believe that our role is to help our customers build cost-effective and sustainable storage solutions that help them build the business now, yet scale up and out to meet future challenges,” said Vivekanand Venugopal, Vice President and General Manager, India, Hitachi Data Systems.

Storage investment priorities in 2010

Data Center Virtualization: Virtualization is a critical enabler of the dynamic data center of tomorrow. In 2009, we saw a trend towards lower cost modular storage that scaled out, through switch technologies like Ethernet or RapidIO. The shortcoming of scale-out modular storage is the inability to scale up.

In 2010, we expect to see demand for storage systems that both have the ability to scale-up as well as scale-out depending on performance and capacity requirements. This will help companies meet the increasing demands of faster networks, processors, and virtual operating systems such as VMware and Hyper V.

Cloud Storage: Cloud computing is often used as a metaphor for the Internet. Cloud storage serves to mask the complexity of IT infrastructure and enables access to storage capacity as “a pay as you grow” service.

The cloud will continue to grow in awareness into 2010 with a continued focus by private cloud builders and public cloud service providers on elasticity, reliability, multi-tenancy and security. We expect an increasing adoption of cloud storage as advancements are made on key capabilities such as security, multi-tenancy, and payment models.

Security: IT managers must strike a balance between mitigating security risks and delivering the best infrastructures in terms of throughput, availability, scalability, cost and complexity.

Each organization must make its own trade-off decisions based on its unique situation and the importance of its data. In 2010, IT managers planning storage investments or use of third party services will need to take into account key priorities like data confidentiality, privacy, sanitization/eradication and security.

Automated Tiered Storage: Many IT organizations are moving towards tiered storage management automation that is policy-based to achieve economic efficiency while maintaining service level objectives for the business. Combining automated tiered storage management with storage virtualization and dynamic, thin provisioning will provide the greatest reduction in capital and operational costs.

Greater Adoption of Dynamic (thin) Provisioning: The single greatest tool for reducing operational costs is dynamic (thin) provisioning.

Thin provisioning can: eliminate the waste of allocated unused space; reduce the cost of moving and copying fat volumes by eliminating unused space; reclaim up to 40 percent or more capacity from existing fat volumes; reduce the provisioning of storage from hours to minutes; facilitate wide striping to increase performance by spreading the I/O across more disk spindles. Given all of these advantages, we expect dynamic (thin) provisioning technology to be a top investment priority for customers.

Sustainable IT: 2010 will see greater rationalization of green IT projects. IT managers face internal competition for limited investment available, and will find that green IT projects are gaining more support from corporate programs. There will also be a new role within IT organizations – the Sustainable IT manager – responsible for identifying and managing Green IT programs.

Continued Growth for Content Archive Platforms: IDC estimates that content data will be the fastest growth area of data with a compounded annual growth rate of 121 percent. Since this is the fastest growing type of data, a content platform must be able to scale to tens of Petabytes and be able to support multiple data formats, and we expect to see growing demand for Content Archive Platforms that meet these requirements.

Managed Services: In today’s IT organizations, provisioning for new apps or SAN performance reporting are now being managed through remote managed services. As this demand grows, expect new service offerings to be adopted as an efficient and cost effective alternative for fully managed, 24/7 real time storage expertise where resource skill sets gap or head count constraints exist. Utilizing services also eliminates the need to pull experienced staff away from revenue generating projects for critical, yet administrative tasks.

Improved Performance with Flash-based Drives or SSDs: While flash-based drives are considered cost-prohibitive compared to traditional hard disk drives, they do offer advantages in performance – specifically very low latency and very fast I/Os -- and have the added advantage of superior energy efficiency.

We expect to see more flash-based technologies integrated into solutions portfolios as customer awareness and potential demand grows, but adopters should look for the added security of data encryption capabilities at the SSD drive level before moving forward.

Ethernet Convergence in the Data Center (FCOE/DCIB): We expect to see adoption on the storage side of the switch pick up as additional industry standards are formed to enable multi-pathing and network decongestion. There is also a huge investment in Fibre Chanel (FC) infrastructure which will be transitioning to 8 Gbps FC. Since transition to 8 Gbps FC is less disruptive than the transition to 10 Gbps FCoE, we expect the adoption of FCoE for storage may take longer.

One year on since winning the world title!

2009-12-03T03:49:00.001+05:30

Today, it is exactly a year since my blog and I won Electronicsweekly.com’s World Title for the Best Blog in the Electronics Hardware category in Dec. 2008! Alun Williams from Electronicsweekly.com recently told me: “There is no EW blog awards this year, by the way. We’ll do it bi-annually, so you get to keep your crown for another year!” Thanks to Alun and Electronicsweekly.com.

Thanks for all of your kind support, dear readers, friends and well wishers, who have cared to stop by my blog now and then. Some of you also leave comments from time to time. I personally don’t know most of you who leave comments, but many thanks to all of you for doing so. Hope that you continue to find my blog and my work useful.

If there’s something missing in my blog, do understand that I have several constraints, and also do not have access to lot of companies, regions, shows, etc., as I’m merely a blogger. Nor am I part of any large media house! Nor am I any authority on semiconductors, solar or telecom, and so on and so forth!

If, at any stage, I am forced to stop writing, or otherwise, this blog belongs to all of you!

Have a merry X’mas and a very Happy New Year, lest I forget to wish everyone. Best wishes and good night!

Bloggers are fashionable and popular? But, do you address their problems?

2009-11-17T04:07:00.012+05:30

I was recently invited to conduct an interview with a large MNC! On receiving the invite, I told this company's PR team that I no longer represented any IT magazine, nor did I hold any job, and was merely a blogger. So, why was this company interested to speak with me?

Here's the reply I received -- "I know you don't work with any magazine anymore -- don't you know "bloggers' are very popular and fashionable these days?"

God bless those who believe that bloggers are fashionable and popular!

I’ve always maintained that I love writing (or blogging) about things that are close to my heart. Semicon and telecom are prime in that category -- two topics that I am really very fond of.

My blog had started off as a regular affair. There are a whole lot of great bloggers out there, who also write on similar topics. Nor have I ever looked for traffic, etc., as it is my contention that people will only stop by and read your blog post or article IF there’s something of interest to them. So, I'm really my only reader!

It has been an interesting year as far as I'm concerned. First, I gave up a job to turn full time freelancer. Then, my losing spree started! First, I lost my notebook, and later, my blogspot blog (Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog) was found infected with malware, and subsequently removed by Google. I also lost a dear friend! All this while, I've made attempts to stay afloat in the industry! What I found out was: yes, bloggers are somewhat popular, but then, several 'old' problems still remain!

The problems I've faced are: some folks ask me about blog traffic! Well, this isn't a portal! Or, who are you affiliated with? Why should I give you work? Who works with you? Why do you write about semicon? Who will read that stuff? How will you survive in India writing on semiconductors? Why are you trying to develop content around semiconductors? Why can't you blog about easier topics? How much do you expect to get paid for blogging? And so on and so forth!

Any one associated with me is bound to have serious nightmares -- if faced with such questions -- as to why he or she is associated with me in the first place!

Well, I think I've done okay so far. Those who have liked what I write about have indeed given me work for money! Some have invited me to far off places, even overseas. The best part has been the semicon and solar industries -- and the number of people who have got in touch with me over the years for various things!

However, can a blogger survive in India? Or, can someone make a career out of blogging? The answer to both questions -- NO! At least, not yet! However popular or fashionable blogging is today, people don't quite yet realize the value add! Not everyone will get lucky either. Nor will everyone always have compelling content to write!

There are basic questions that need to be answered, such as:
1. Why should anyone choose blogging as a career?
2. How can he or she make money by blogging?
3. What are the services he or she can offer via the blog?
4. What kinds of services are being made available by bloggers?
5. Should bloggers get advertising? What types? To what extent and duration?
6. What should be the advertising charges? Would it be different from print media or the Web portals?
7. How can PR firms work better with bloggers?
8. How can PR firms develop a win-win situation and help bloggers gain financially?
9. How can companies or enterprises work with bloggers?
10. Should bloggers charge a fee for queries received from elsewhere?
11. How good or popular are sponsored posts? Are PR firms doing anything to boost this and help bloggers?
12. There are so many blogs (including mine) on Blogger and WordPress. Is it still a blog or a web site — especially when PR firms look for online coverage?

Despite all of this, I continue to blog and thanks to God, get some work as well! I do believe and see a future for blogging! It is the specialty media we all love to talk about! It will bring in money -- it is just a matter of time.

Why are blogs influential -- as some say? For one, blogs are generally not affiliated to or linked to any large media house, and so, the comments are independent. Two, if you want facts about something, you better head to a relevant blog, rather than read some marketing material. Three, never believe that negative reporting or writing will be a sure shot way to get eyeballs. Just write stuff, as it is!

Do I influence people and companies, and the tech industry? Well, I've really no idea! A lot of people do stop by to read what I write, and I thank them for it. That's all I know!

You still think bloggers and fashionable and popular? Maybe, they are! But, do you care to address their problems?

P.S.: Let me post this on Facebook and LinkedIn, and see what other bloggers have to say as far as their problems are concerned!

Tech industry revival on our doorsteps? Hope it helps the jobs market too!

2009-11-06T04:02:00.003+05:30

Well, well, well! The revival in the tech industry seems to be at our doorsteps! So far, there's been quite a lot of positive news coming in from all over!

Mobile phones are seeing some sort of a turnaround. The semiconductor industry is also seeing the first signs of a recovery after what's been a horrible 2009! I hope that the solar photovoltaics industry takes off well in 2010, as this has been a difficult year as well.

However, there's a major event coming up next week on solar in Hyderabad -- the Solarcon India 2009, organized by SEMI India and supported by the ISA. Once the solar National Mission Plan is available on Nov. 14, expect this segment to take off! I do hope it does!

There's another very interesting conference next week -- the SystemVerilog Users Group -- which does promise much. Following that, the ISA has a session at the BangaloreIT.biz event, titled, E3 -- focusing on embedded systems and software in India.

So, the next week promises to be quite a busy one!

Let's hope that the global technology industry continues its recovery. More so, one wishes that all of those jobs lost in the turmoil that 2009 has been, are restored -- if not all, then a majority. That'll be the best gift to welcome the new year!

ADCOM-2009 conference on green computing

2009-10-21T22:21:00.002+05:30

I really didn't know about this conference till I was told by a friend. Well, since we all, including me, deal with and in IT. and green computing is a hot topic, I would surely be interested to take part in this conference in some manner.

To be held at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), Bangalore, the ADCOM-2009 will run from Dec. 14-18.

For those who are unaware, the Advanced COMputing and Communications Conference (ADCOM) is a major international conference which is also supported by the IEEE Computer Society and the NASSCOM. A large number of delegates from all over the world take part in this conference every year to share and disseminate their innovative and pioneering views about recent trends and development.

This is the 17th year of ADCOM and is organized annually by the Advanced Computing and Communication Society (ACCS). ACCS is a registered scientific society founded to provide a forum to individuals, institutions and industry to promote advanced Computing and Communication technologies.

Hope I can get a seat at this conference.

Gartner's top 10 strategic technologies for 2010

2009-10-21T03:55:00.003+05:30

Here's another release from Gartner.

Must admit, I am not in agreement with these findings! For instance, cloud computing was meant to be hot in 2009, but is again said to be strategic in 2010! In other words, give it another year to succeed!!

Same goes for IT for Green (or Green IT), reshaping the data center, have also been talked about a lot. What's new there? Nor do I think that technologies such as flash memory, virtualization (for availability), social computing (and media), and mobile applications are that earth shattering. Nevertheless, this is just my opinion, and I could well be proved wrong. I am definitely not an analyst, am merely a layman.

Enjoy the article!

ORLANDO, USA: Gartner Inc. analysts highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in 2010. The analysts presented their findings during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, being held here through October 22.

Gartner defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years. Factors that denote significant impact include a high potential for disruption to IT or the business, the need for a major dollar investment, or the risk of being late to adopt.

These technologies impact the organization's long-term plans, programs and initiatives. They may be strategic because they have matured to broad market use or because they enable strategic advantage from early adoption.

“Companies should factor the top 10 technologies into their strategic planning process by asking key questions and making deliberate decisions about them during the next two years,” said David Cearley, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “However, this does not necessarily mean adoption and investment in all of the technologies. They should determine which technologies will help and transform their individual business initiatives.”

The top 10 strategic technologies for 2010 include:

Cloud Computing. Cloud computing is a style of computing that characterizes a model in which providers deliver a variety of IT-enabled capabilities to consumers.

Cloud-based services can be exploited in a variety of ways to develop an application or a solution. Using cloud resources does not eliminate the costs of IT solutions, but does re-arrange some and reduce others. In addition, consuming cloud services enterprises will increasingly act as cloud providers and deliver application, information or business process services to customers and business partners.

Advanced Analytics. Optimization and simulation is using analytical tools and models to maximize business process and decision effectiveness by examining alternative outcomes and scenarios, before, during and after process implementation and execution. This can be viewed as a third step in supporting operational business decisions.

Fixed rules and prepared policies gave way to more informed decisions powered by the right information delivered at the right time, whether through customer relationship management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) or other applications. The new step is to provide simulation, prediction, optimization and other analytics, not simply information, to empower even more decision flexibility at the time and place of every business process action. The new step looks into the future, predicting what can or will happen.

Client Computing. Virtualization is bringing new ways of packaging client computing applications and capabilities. As a result, the choice of a particular PC hardware platform, and eventually the OS platform, becomes less critical.

Enterprises should proactively build a five to eight year strategic client computing roadmap outlining an approach to device standards, ownership and support; operating system and application selection, deployment and update; and management and security plans to manage diversity.

IT for Green. IT can enable many green initiatives. The use of IT, particularly among the white collar staff, can greatly enhance an enterprises green credentials. Common green initiatives include the use of e-documents, reducing travel and teleworking. IT can also provide the analytic tools that others in the enterprise may use to reduce energy consumption in the transportation of goods or other carbon management activities.

Reshaping the Data Center. In the past, design principles for data centers were simple: Figure out what you have, estimate growth for 15 to 20 years, then build to suit. Newly-built data centers often opened with huge areas of white floor space, fully powered and backed by a uninterruptible power supply (UPS), water-and air-cooled and mostly empty. However, costs are actually lower if enterprises adopt a pod-based approach to data center construction and expansion.

If 9,000 square feet is expected to be needed during the life of a data center, then design the site to support it, but only build whats needed for five to seven years. Cutting operating expenses, which are a nontrivial part of the overall IT spend for most clients, frees up money to apply to other projects or investments either in IT or in the business itself.

Social Computing. Workers do not want two distinct environments to support their work – one for their own work products (whether personal or group) and another for accessing “external” information.

Enterprises must focus both on use of social software and social media in the enterprise and participation and integration with externally facing enterprise-sponsored and public communities. Do not ignore the role of the social profile to bring communities together.

Security – Activity Monitoring. Traditionally, security has focused on putting up a perimeter fence to keep others out, but it has evolved to monitoring activities and identifying patterns that would have been missed before.

Information security professionals face the challenge of detecting malicious activity in a constant stream of discrete events that are usually associated with an authorized user and are generated from multiple network, system and application sources. At the same time, security departments are facing increasing demands for ever-greater log analysis and reporting to support audit requirements.

A variety of complimentary (and sometimes overlapping) monitoring and analysis tools help enterprises better detect and investigate suspicious activity – often with real-time alerting or transaction intervention. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of these tools, enterprises can better understand how to use them to defend the enterprise and meet audit requirements.

Flash Memory. Flash memory is not new, but it is moving up to a new tier in the storage echelon. Flash memory is a semiconductor memory device, familiar from its use in USB memory sticks and digital camera cards. It is much faster than rotating disk, but considerably more expensive, however this differential is shrinking.

At the rate of price declines, the technology will enjoy more than a 100 percent compound annual growth rate during the new few years and become strategic in many IT areas including consumer devices, entertainment equipment and other embedded IT systems. In addition, it offers a new layer of the storage hierarchy in servers and client computers that has key advantages including space, heat, performance and ruggedness.

Virtualization for Availability. Virtualization has been on the list of top strategic technologies in previous years. It is on the list this year because Gartner emphases new elements such as live migration for availability that have longer term implications. Live migration is the movement of a running virtual machine (VM), while its operating system and other software continue to execute as if they remained on the original physical server.

This takes place by replicating the state of physical memory between the source and destination VMs, then, at some instant in time, one instruction finishes execution on the source machine and the next instruction begins on the destination machine.

However, if replication of memory continues indefinitely, but execution of instructions remains on the source VM, and then the source VM fails the next instruction would now place on the destination machine. If the destination VM were to fail, just pick a new destination to start the indefinite migration, thus making very high availability possible.

The key value proposition is to displace a variety of separate mechanisms with a single “dial” that can be set to any level of availability from baseline to fault tolerance, all using a common mechanism and permitting the settings to be changed rapidly as needed.

Expensive high-reliability hardware, with fail-over cluster software and perhaps even fault-tolerant hardware could be dispensed with, but still meet availability needs. This is key to cutting costs, lowering complexity, as well as increasing agility as needs shift.

Mobile Applications. By year-end 2010, 1.2 billion people will carry handsets capable of rich, mobile commerce providing a rich environment for the convergence of mobility and the Web. There are already many thousands of applications for platforms such as the Apple iPhone, in spite of the limited market and need for unique coding.

It may take a newer version that is designed to flexibly operate on both full PC and miniature systems, but if the operating system interface and processor architecture were identical, that enabling factor would create a huge turn upwards in mobile application availability.

“This list should be used as a starting point and companies should adjust their list based on their industry, unique business needs and technology adoption mode,” said Carl Claunch, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.

“When determining what may be right for each company, the decision may not have anything to do with a particular technology. In other cases, it will be to continue investing in the technology at the current rate. In still other cases, the decision may be to test/pilot or more aggressively adopt/deploy the technology.”

IT spending to rebound in 2010 with 3.3pc growth after worst year ever in 2009

2009-10-20T04:24:00.002+05:30

This is a Gartner release!

ORLANDO, USA: The IT industry is exiting its worst year ever, as worldwide IT spending is on pace to decline 5.2 percent, according to Gartner Inc. Worldwide enterprise IT spending will struggle more with IT spending dropping 6.9 percent. The IT industry will return to growth with 2010 IT spending forecast to total $3.3 trillion, a 3.3 percent increase from 2009.

Gartner provided the latest outlook for the IT industry during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, which is taking place here through October 22. While IT spending will increase next year, Gartner cautioned IT leaders to be overly optimistic.

“While the IT industry will return to growth in 2010, the market will not recover to 2008 revenue levels before 2012,” said Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research. “2010 is about balancing the focus on cost, risk, and growth. For more than 50 percent of CIOs the IT budget will be 0 percent or less in growth terms. It will only slowly improve in 2011.”

The computing hardware market has struggled more than other segments with worldwide hardware spending forecast to total $317 billion in 2009, a 16.5 percent decline. In 2010, spending on hardware spending will be flat.

Worldwide telecom spending is on pace to decline 4 percent in 2009 with revenue of nearly $1.9 trillion. In 2010, telecom spending is forecast to grow 3.2 percent. Worldwide IT services spending is expected to total $781 billion in 2009, and it is forecast to grow 4.5 percent in 2010. Worldwide software spending is forecast to decline 2.1 percent in 2009, and the segment is projected to grow 4.8 percent in 2010.

On a regional basis, emerging regions will resume strong growth. “By 2012, the accelerated IT spending and culturally different approach to IT in these economies will directly influence product features, service structures, and the overall IT industry. Silicon Valley will not be in the driver's seat anymore,” Sondergaard said.

From a budget perspective, there are three important items that IT leaders must consider in 2010:

A Shift from Capital Expenditure to Operational Expenditure in the IT Budget — Concepts such as cloud services will accelerate this shift. IT costs become scaleable and elastic. CIOs need to model the economic impact of IT on the overall financial performance of an organization. For public companies, they must show how IT improves earnings per share (EPS).

Impact of the Increased Age of IT Hardware — With delayed purchases of servers, PCs and printers likely to continue into 2010, organizations must start to assess the impact of increased equipment failure rates, and if current financial write-off periods are still appropriate. Approximately 1 million servers have had their replacement delayed by a year. That is 3 percent of the global installed base. In 2010, it will be at least 2 million.

“If replacement cycles do not change, almost 10 percent of the server installed base will be beyond scheduled replacement be 2011,” Sondergaard said. “That will impact enterprise risk. CFOs need to understand this dynamic, and its the responsibility of the CIO to convey this in a way the CFO understands.”

IT Must Learn to Build Compelling Business Cases — 2010 marks the year in which IT needs to demonstrate true line of sight to business objectives for every investment decision. IT leaders can no longer look at IT as a percentage of revenue. CIOs must benchmark IT according to business impact.

Sondergaard said three additional topics that were important in 2009 will continue to dominate IT leaders agendas in 2010. These three topics include:

Business Intelligence — Users will continue to expand their investments in this area with the focus moving from “in here” to “out there”

Virtualization — IT leaders should not just invest in the server and data center environment, but in the entire infrastructure. In 2010, users will create the cornerstone for the cloud infrastructure. They will enable the infrastructure to move from owned to shared.

Social Media — Organizations are starting to scale their efforts in this space. The technologies are improving and organizations realize this is not only about digital natives. Its about all client segments including the most significant: the population in the next 10 years, the above 60 year old generations.

While those topics are key to IT agendas today, Sondergaard highlighted three themes that will become important going forward. They include:

Context-Aware Computing — This is the concept of leveraging information about the end user to improve the quality of the interaction. Emerging context-enriched services will use location, presence, social attributes, and other environmental information to anticipate an end users immediate needs, offering more sophisticated, situation-aware and usable functions.

Operational Technology (OT) — OT is devices, sensors, and software used to control or monitor physical assets and processes in real-time to maintain system integrity. The rapid growth of OT is increasing the need for a unified view of information covering business process and control systems. OT will become a mainstream focus for all organizations.

Pattern-Based Strategy — This is a new model about implementing a framework to proactively seek, model, and adapt to leading indicators, often termed “weak” signals, that form patterns in the marketplace, and to exploit them for competitive advantage.

A Pattern-Based Strategy will allow an organization to not only better understand whats happening now in terms of demand, but also to detect leading indicators of change, and to indentify and quantify risks emerging from new patterns rather than continuing to focus on lagging indicators of performance.

When will the IT industry get over its "2.0" fetish?

2009-10-11T16:50:00.003+05:30

The other day, some friends were discussing Web 2.0 and social media with me! Well, it left me with this thought -- what is exactly this 2.0 anyway? A new version? Or, a new generation, perhaps? Or maybe, a better way of doing things?

Wonder when we'd get to hear of things such as virtualization 2.0, storage 2.0, security 2.0, open source 2.0, green IT 2.0, DRM 2.0, and so on and so forth! Oh, by the way, there was an SMS 2.0 doing the rounds in the telecom industry! There's something called community and marketing 2.0 as well!

Well, as though Web 2.0 wasn't enough, we are getting to hear a lot about Enterprise 2.0! There we go again!! The moment enterprises start making use of social media platforms -- it is probably up for an 'Enterprise 2.0' title! Or well, those who are in the process of updating or adding new equipment to their network infrastructure can easily go with 'Infrastructure 2.0.'

Never mind! I've not really understood this '2.0' thing anyway, and am truly amazed at the fetish of the technology/IT industry with its fascination for this term!

Great! The word '2.0' really makes for great reading and brilliant copy! However, I am really grateful that there's never been any talk of telecom 2.0 and semiconductors 2.0, at least, not so far!

Ever wondered how GSM would appear, if GSM 900MHz was referred to as GSM 1.0 and GSM 1800MHz as GSM 2.0? Or, for that matter, Intel's brilliant chips as Intel 1.0 or Intel 2.0?

The IT industry has taken pride in coining new buzzwords. Perhaps, it has overdone that a bit! Let's not get carried away by this 2.0 and 3.0 waves. Every new version of any technology or application is next generation anyway.

Instead of selling the version -- in its various avataars such as 2.0, or next-gen -- the IT industry could try selling ONLY the benefits -- of that particular technology -- for the masses at large. Anything 2.0 does have a habit of fast disappearing from sight as well!

A friend once told me jokingly about 'Friend 2.0' -- 'Social media is meant for all of those anti social folks, who don't know what it means to chat and hang out with friends, or don't even bother to either call or email their friends, who, they either haven't met for long, or can't meet anyway, because of the location or other reasons, but are quite happy to stay connected on a social network for ages, without bothering to connect with them realistically!"

Hmmm, perhaps, he's right! I fall in that anti-social category -- who's all enamored with 'everything Web 2.0', so much that even I forget to either call or email friends I haven't met for ages. Maybe, this needs a correction on my part!

Otherwise, I surely belong to the Friend 2.0 category! Do you?

India ranks 44th in Global Index of IT Competitiveness; moves up four places

2009-10-08T15:43:00.002+05:30

Findings of a new study undertaken and issued by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

INDIA: India ranks 44th in the world in the 2008 IT industry competitiveness index, moving 4 notches up from its 2008 ranking of 48 in the index. India has an overall score of 34.1 on the IT competitiveness index*. These are among the findings of a new study undertaken and issued by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The study, now in its third year, assesses and compares the information technology (IT) industry environments of 66 economies, to determine the extent to which they enable IT sector competitiveness.

“We are pleased to see that in this year’s index, India has shown strong improvement in its overall IT competitiveness ranking which is a very positive indicator of progress for one of the country’s most dynamic industries.” said Keshav S Dhakad, Chair of the BSA India Committee.

“India has maintained its ability to develop strong talent and maintain a conducive business environment, which is reflective in the six drivers of competitiveness. This year’s ranking is indicative of the progressive initiatives taken by the government & the industry on human capital and support for IT development.”

“Although India continues to perform well in enabling an open, transparent business environment and providing support for IT industry, development of a sound IT infrastructure and enhancing the R&D environment in the country still remain areas, which need strong improvement.

“We are hopeful that with greater government and industry focus in these critical areas, India will not only continue to be an IT power but will become a global leader of IT innovation, products and services. India’s true potential in near future will rest on its ability to indigenously innovate on cutting edge technology, increase domestic investment in R&D activities, promote the value of intellectual property and drive down menace of counterfeiting and piracy”, he added.

“In today’s economic climate, it is critical that governments in the Asia Pacific continue to support the growth of a strong technology sector. The IT sector remains an important engine of economic growth, and economies in the region that are supporting innovation and taking steps to stimulate technology sector output are placing themselves in a strong position to accelerate economic recovery,” said Jeffrey Hardee, BSA Vice President and Regional Director, Asia Pacific.

“However, challenges for Asia Pacific governments remain. Economies like China and India must address issues such as balancing large pools of skilled IT personnel with progress in IT infrastructure. With broadband access becoming a prerequisite for many parts of the IT sector, economies with pervasive broadband penetration have a big competitive advantage over those where the infrastructure is lacking,” he said.

“Additionally, the study shows that economies that have strong legal frameworks for the protection of intellectual property (IP) are generally the IT leaders and score higher in the index. In contrast, economies where IP protection has not been well enforced are not traditionally seen as innovators. Some rely instead on their low-cost labour markets to remain competitive but this is hard to sustain over time. By improving on the factors that contribute to IT competitiveness, Asian economies will not only improve their ranking but also generate long term economic growth,” said Hardee.

Category wise, India has shown improvement in its R&D environment, moving from a score of 0.6, last year to 22.0 this year. It has also shown strong performance in the business environment and encouraging improvements in the legal environment. India still continues to have the advantage of human capital. However fluctuating performance in IT infrastructure needs improvement.

In fast growing markets like India, large pools of skilled IT employees remain a significant advantage but uneven progress in other areas, such as IT infrastructure remains a drag on sector competitiveness. As the Internet becomes all pervasive, slow uptake in broadband and PC penetration has had a significant impact on the IT infrastructure in India.

Robust IP protection remains essential to IT sector competitiveness. As innovation gradually becomes more important than low-cost labour to IT firms in India, improvements in IP enforcement and the overall legal environment would make the country more competitive in the IT landscape.

Within Asia Pacific, India ranks amongst the top ten countries, with the top three positions held by Australia, Singapore and Japan. Coordinated efforts among governments, universities and IT firms in the region are needed to improve the quality of technology training. As in India, robust IP protection and broadband penetration are some of the key concerns in the Asia Pacific region.

"While the outlines of good IT policy are the same in good times and bad, the deep global recession has made it all the more urgent to prioritize support for the technology sector," states Manoj Vohra, Director of Research with the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Governments and industry leaders must pay closer attention than ever to ensure they have the right policies in place to maximise the benefits of a globally competitive IT industry."

Six key competitiveness enablers
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, six factors work together to create a sound environment for the IT sector:

* An ample supply of skilled workers,
* An innovation-friendly culture,
* A world-class technology infrastructure,
* A robust legal regime that protects intellectual property,
* A stable, open, and competitive economy, and
* Government leadership that strikes the right balance between promoting technology and allowing market forces to work.

Those economies that perform well in these six “competitiveness enablers” generally are home to high-performance IT industries. The study is intended to provide a roadmap for governments in addressing their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to supporting a strong domestic IT sector.

Other findings from the Economist Intelligence Unit research and BSA recommendations include:

* Broadband networks are a vital factor for IT competitiveness, and the competitiveness gap could widen for economies with slower adoption. Technology firms demand fast, reliable, and secure Internet access, and the importance of broadband will grow as more IT services and applications are delivered over the Internet.

* Investment in skills development remains a long-term imperative. Those economies that deliver a combination of IT, business and language skills training will generate a stronger IT workforce.

* Protectionism and support for ‘“national champions” will hinder recovery efforts — and longer term sector competitiveness. Governments must strike a balance between support that encourages industry growth and investment, and that which introduces unfair market practices and protectionism that can harm competitiveness.

* IP regimes are improving in many emerging markets, but further progress is needed. Intellectual property protection remains critically important to IT competitiveness and is a relatively low-cost way of stimulating long-term economic development.

My blog’s been nominated again — by Computer Weekly, UK!

2009-10-08T02:35:00.000+05:30

Wow! It has happened again! What a relief!! I am overwhelmed!!!

For those who are unaware, during the middle of August, my original blog — http://pradeepchakraborty.blogspot.com — was suddenly found to be containing malware, and then, without any information, Google removed my blog. That was really devastating!

Not knowing what to do, I quickly rolled out a fresh blog – http://pradeep-chakraborty.blogspot.com — only to find out two days later that it also had malware, and subsequently, Google blocked it too!

Despite mails and requests, nothing happened, and none of the two blogs were returned!

If this alone wasn’t enough, five of my other blogs — on telecom, semiconductors, components, solar and electronics — were marked as spam blogs! All of this, within a space of one week, as though someone, somewhere was out to get me! Rather, remove me from cyberspace, so it seemed!

It was only then, that I moved everything to WordPress — and hence, http://pradeepchakraborty.wordpress.com really came into being. It had been around since 2007, but I only re-activated it when I was literally forced to move my blogspot posts to wordpress.

Not only did I lose traffic, there were lots of emails and messages from folks who were followers of my earlier blog!

Today afternoon, after returning from meetings, I get a mail from Computer Weekly, UK, with this message:

Congratulations, you’ve been nominated for an Award! You are now entered for a Computer Weekly Blog Award, under the category of IT Consultant and Analyst.

I was also pointed to a link: http://epidm.edgesuite.net/RBI/computerweekly/CWAWA/nomin_notification20091006.html

And,

Download your badge here:
http://email.computerweekly.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBz6e0bTQjI0BCI10F7FO0EP

This is just the first stage on your way to winning. The awards will be judged by readers of Computer Weekly and users of ComputerWeekly.com, so start building up support right now – brag about your nomination on your site by downloading a Blog Awards badge onto your homepage.

I tried adding the badge to WordPress, but for some reason it does not appear. So, I’ve added a jpeg image above.

Computerweekly.com also left this message for me: Check out Computer Weekly and ComputerWeekly.com on 27th October to see if you’ve been shortlisted. Voting for shortlisted entries will open on 27th October.

Save the date!

All shortlisted bloggers and tweeters will be invited to our Awards evening on 25th November 2009 at London’s exclusive Shoreditch House. More details to follow in your shortlisted announcement.

Irrespective of my blog getting shortlisted and whether I win this time or not, it is a relief to know that folks still like my blog.

Friends, August 2009 was a testing month with my blogs either getting knocked out or blocked. Three great friends, particularly, Usha Prasad, Sagar Desai and Jo Kuo, along with my family, stood right by me at all times during those testing times!

Scott Weitzman left a lovely message, Poornima Shenoy gave me good advice, Sandesh Advani kept his faith me, as did Intel. Rahuldev Rajguru decided to wait and maintained his faith, as did Meghna Bhutoria, and lately, LK Pathak. The semiconductor and the solar/PV industry stood by me, steadfastly, all this while!

There were good wishes from several others — the list is so long that they can’t be all accommodated here.

My other blog — http://pradeep-chakraborty.blogspot.com — was also eventually returned by Google, without the malware warning, this month.

All I can say is: thanks a lot, my dear friends and dear readers. Whether I get shortlisted or win — these things hardly matter! What matters to me is: I shall always have folks such as you to lean on during tough times. Thanks a lot, everyone.

Finally, thanks a lot for selecting my blog, Computer Weekly.

Indian SMBs to spend $48.8 million on unified communications in 2009

2009-10-07T23:33:00.000+05:30

Here's a report from AMI Partners on Indian SMBs.

BANGALORE, INDIA: Small and medium businesses (SMBs, or companies with up to 999 employees) in the Indian subcontinent are set to spend $48.8 million on unified communication (UC) in 2009, up over 2008, according to a new study by Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc.

Medium businesses (MBs, or companies with 100-999 employees) will account for over 40 percent of the country’s total SMB expenditure, while small businesses are increasing their adoption of basic UC solutions.

“India SMBs are looking at UC as a low-cost tool to communicate effectively with customers and suppliers as well as facilitate communication across multiple branch locations,” says Sumeeta Misra, AMI’s Bangalore-based Research Associate.

“These SMBs seem to be finding smarter ways to cut travel costs, maximize operational efficiency and improve business & customer strategies by streamlining their communication infrastructure. Conferencing and collaboration tools such as video, audio, web conferencing and instant messaging will account for a majority of the total UC spending.”

As India SMBs become more willing to invest in new technology, vendors are developing alternative modes and platforms in UC. The rise of hosted unified communication and offering UC in open and interoperable platforms are a few examples.

Communication-as-a-Service, which is an extension of the SaaS model, will provide UC over a service provider’s network. Knowing the current economic constraints, the India SMB market is attracted more to on-demand collaboration applications and network-based solutions for delivering a seamless business-to-business partnership. Hosted VoIP spending among India SMBs will be close to $18 million in 2009.

Many vendors feel that the open source UC suite will raise the interest of users that are looking for a solution with a minimal initial investment. System integrators are migrating to a solution-selling approach for UC from their conventional box-pushing strategies.

India SMBs are beginning to adopt UC solutions to enhance the customer experience and enhance business continuity. For unified communication to become the accepted best practice for India SMBs vendors and channel partners must overcome some significant challenges such as clarity in TCO, the need for higher bandwidth, maintenance of IP networks, and hardware expense to list a few.

Unified communication being a collaborative tool is no longer a point solution that businesses look at like a voice or a video conferencing solution. Today companies start off with IP telephony, and then add video application and finish off with an application to integrate both audio and video. India SMBs are progressing from using IM and click-to-call services solutions that will enhance business processes and line-of-business applications.

Google has returned Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog!

2009-10-02T23:35:00.003+05:30

Thanks a lot, Google!

In the middle of August, my main blog (Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog) -- http://pradeepchakraborty.blogspot.com -- was infected by malware and suddenly removed.

Not even aware of the reasons, I was left with no choice but to replace it with a new blog -- http://pradeep-chakraborty.blogspot.com -- which later, also gave a message from Google that it was also infected by malware!

Subsequently, and very reluctantly, I was forced to move everything to Wordpress -- http://pradeepchakraborty.wordpress.com -- and that's doing very well!

Now, I find that Google finds my blog -- http://pradeep-chakraborty.blogspot.com -- good to run, and well, I've added all the relevant posts back there. What I've done is: I've also removed all links and comments. There were so many of them! How am I to know which ones of those will turn bad?

Anyhow, my blog's back and running! That's all that matters and that's what I want!

Why do we hurt those we love the most?

2009-09-14T04:02:00.006+05:30

When it hurts, people break down and cry! Maybe, the idea wasn't intentional, but it does happen. It is a flow of emotions, that overwhelms you for a minute and your mind refuses to think straight, and tears flow out!

Perhaps, the other person didn't realize what was said that he/she ended up hurting the person.

Yes, we all love, and we hurt the people we love the most! We all do it, don't we?

Maybe it is purely unintentional! The best thing to do is to apologize sincerely and try and not repeat this -- though it can be a very difficult task. So, why do we hurt those we love the most? It is a puzzle I've never ever managed to crack!

Maybe, you have someone very important in your life. Can you afford to see that person go away, for really no reason? I certainly can't! It is simply terrifying to suddenly lose a person you've grown to love and adore so much! It is as though you are suddenly walking without your best friend! Who will you discuss your life, your pains, your successes, your problems, everything?

I have a friend, who once did all the spadework for a particular technology project. An unintentional remark from his friend hit that person somewhere, who broke down.

When such things happen, we realize then that we probably crossed the line somewhere!

My advice to both these people: please maintain your friendship. Friendships are meant to be cherised. It is no one's intention to hurt people, am sure of that! Since I know both very well, I know that they love each other a lot. They can't stay without each other! This can't be happening to such good people, really!

I would be certainly devastated and distraught if I ever lost a best friend in this manner. What would I do? Go down on my knees with folded hands, and try and win him/her back!

You should do that too, if you really love your friend so much. After all, small or big, or for that matter, any differences, should never take precedence over good friendship.

What is the Twitter spam invasion? And how can you prevent it?

2009-08-27T00:22:00.002+05:30

Here's a release sent to me recently! Reproduced here for readers.

UK: With the popularity of social networking platforms such as Twitter on the rise, cyber criminals have found an easy target among unsuspecting users. BitDefender offers advice on how Twitter users can avoid falling prey to some of the most common tricks regularly employed by hackers.

One of the biggest spam related security problems facing Twitter are the many link-shortening services utilized for hyperlink posting. Users are limited to 140 characters per tweet; these URL-shortening services allow tweeters to post a longer link under such tight character limitations.

Hackers use these link-shortening services to disguise malicious links. Some infections could be easily prevented by allowing users to see the real URL before clicking on it.

BitDefender’s senior antispam researcher Catalin Cosoi says, “Another big problem is the fact that search engines, such as Google, index Twitter profiles. This allows malicious pages that are built and marketed with good social engineering tactics to end up high in the rankings. Additionally, because Twitter messages are so short lived, users could unknowingly send spam messages without having the opportunity to notice that someone else is using their account.”

Some of the common types of Twitter spam include:
1. Tweet spam: Tweet spam comes from someone a user is currently following and everyone following that user will see the tweet.

2. Direct Message: A direct message comes from someone a user is currently following and only the user will see the message.

3. ReTweet Spam: ReTweet spam searches for legitimate tweets and reposts them in the system but with a different, malicious URL.

4. Trending Subjects Spam: Trending subjects spam searches for hot topics on Twitter (like Michael Jackson’s death) and posts similar tweets with different, malicious URLs.

5. Following Spam: Following spam happens when a user’s profile receives a lot of followers he/she doesn’t know. If the user does not start following them back within a week, they stop following the user.

Statistics show that one in two users will follow back. Usually, these profiles are bots which are programmed to acquire as many followers as possible before they can start broadcasting spam.

Fortunately, Twitter users can protect themselves from falling into spam traps by following five tips:

1. Install a comprehensive security solution on your computer - preferably a suite containing antivirus, firewall and a phishing filter.

2. Follow the spam profile on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spam. Users can find good advice here. For example, a recent post states: "If you gave your login and password info to TwitViewer, we strongly suggest you change your password now. Thanks!"

3. Don’t click on all the links you receive.

4. Disable the "auto followback" option. This will allow you to pick and chose who you want to follow.

5. Make sure you know who you are following.

Cosoi adds: “By following these simple tips, users of social networking sites like Twitter can protect themselves from spammers and other cyber criminals.”

Blogger turns 10! Many happy returns of the day!!

2009-08-25T02:29:00.007+05:30

Last week, Google's well known Blogger platform turned 10! Many happy returns of the day!

How did I learn of this? From a follower on Twitter, named TechPupil. Apologies, I can't paste that particular story link here, lest that link turn into a malware host or some bad link later on! :) So, please search for this site, and the post on Blogger turning 10!

I may have been having some tough times in the recent weeks with Blogger -- first with it marking my blog -- Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog -- as having malware, and later, removing the site, and later, it also blocked five of my other blogs -- on electronic components, electronics, semiconductors, solar/PV and telecom -- as spam blogs, only to release it later, on request.

My troubles apart, I am the first to admit to being a massive fan of blogger, and find it a great, very user friendly platform with super features. Hey, those are the very reasons that I've so many blogs on Blogger in the first place!

Would definitely hate to leave Blogger, some day! I personally share an emotional history with it -- as this very blogging platform also won me a best blogger's world title in early December 2008, and another, in February 2009 -- for Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog.

Am quite sure that Blogger has made a mistake somewhere regarding my blog and sincerely hope that sooner or later, it will be returned to me. If, for some reason, it remains unreturned, let that famous and well known blog rest in peace!

And well, as I've told a couple of friends, if I can write that particular blog, I can very well write other such blogs quite easily, especially on semiconductors and telecom! Besides, my identity starts and ends with me, and not with that particular blog, or any other, for that matter.

Till this last week, I've never had any problems with the Blogger platform and in fact, have recommended it to several of my friends and colleagues. Keeping with its trend, it is quite certain that Blogger will be introducing great features in the future for bloggers such as you and me!

Keep up the good work, Blogger (and Google)!

Google blocked my blog! So, I moved to another URL!!

2009-08-19T22:26:00.012+05:30

Wonder why Google has done so! A few days ago, I kept receiving messages that there was some malware within my blog -- Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog -- with the url http://pradeepchakraborty.blogspot.com

The next thing I know late evening is -- this blog is first blocked and then it disappears!

Since then, I've received lots of messages from friends and people from far away, who've been searching for my blog and blog posts. Thanks a lot for your support, guys!

I've sent requests to Google to return my blog, but till now, no reply has come from them!

Nevertheless, within one hour of this event, I changed to a new blog address, which is: http://pradeepchakraborty.wordpress.com! Yes, I've finally moved this blog out of Blogger, even though I didn't want to! I've been literally forced to do so!

I'd added a new site -- http://pradeep-chakraborty.blogspot.com, only for that too to be blocked for malware. I've no idea what's happened, and now, I have stopped bothering.

I have added a site with the same blog posts -- http://testlinksonblog.blogspot.com -- but I don't know how long it will be before this gets blocked for malware.

I wonder why Google said I had malware on my blog, when I only blog about technology related subjects, and especially, semiconductors and telecom. There's no post on sleaze or pornography or sex! Even then?

I didn't know that semicon and telecom were just some other bad words! Apologies!!

Well, most importantly, why on earth will I promote spam or malware? And, how am I to supposed to know what links will later go on to become malware or spam? And even if some links did become like those, isn't it Google's job to protect bloggers like us? They are the online experts, and not I!

How can blogging ever be safe, when the leading global company promoting a blogging platform can't protect itself, leave alone bloggers!

I've tried to do work as honestly as possible. Even then, if I am penalized for no fault of mine, there's nothing much I can do!

About a month ago, Google found my Electronics blog a spam blog! Why will I spam anyone, when I don't even have a newsletter? Nor have I told anyone to spam my posts. It is up to readers to visit that particular blog and read what they wish!

Today, I receive another mail from Google, saying my Solar PV blog is a spam blog!

Come on guys! This is just too much!!

Coming back to my main blog, I have a dedicated follower of readers -- who visit Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog to read that content. If I were, some day, to stop blogging -- because of Google's actions -- please don't blame me!

Or, perhaps, I should move over to Wordpress, or some other blogging platform, where I don't have to break my head over being a spam blog or an attack site, etc. etc.! Nor do I wish to make scores of backups for my blogs! Or, to change URLs. Where's the need? There's much more to life beyond all of this!

Really, this is extremely irritating and frustrating! So much for blogging!!

Maybe, next time this happens, I'll have to bid goodbye to Blogger.

Am also very sure that the semiconductor and telecom worlds can find much better bloggers...

P.S.: Well, after locking three other blogs -- solar, telecom and later, semiconductors, Google unlocked those. Thanks a lot, Google.

Update: August 24 -- Now, Google has blocked my Electronic Components blog! This, after removing my main blog, and then blocking (and later releasing) Solar, Telecom and Semiconductor blogs... and earlier, Electronics! Just don't know what to make of all these...

Thanks to Maxitweet, 140 characters no longer Twitter limit!

2009-08-14T18:38:00.003+05:30

A new service, called Maxitweet, seems to have found a way to extend the limit of your tweets to beyond 140 characters. Read on...

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND: Type "140 characters" into Twitter's search box and the resulting tweets come flooding in -- predictably the majority of them lamenting this constraint. A new Twitter service, has found a way around the restriction by clever use of letter-like symbols called Unicode characters.

"Maxitweets" are up to 200 characters long, an increase of nearly 50 percent, and have opened up new possibilities for the fast growing Twitter communications platform.

For example, tweeted recipes ("twecipes") are easier to read with the extra space available. A number of poets have also responded enthusiastically. A limerick aficionado, who had given up on trying to tweet the humorous five-liners because they tend to be around 180 characters long, now posts them several times a day as @limerik. And breaking news services -- among the more prominent users of Twitter -- are able to tweet the news item, rather than just a link to it.

How does it work?
Twitter caters for users in many countries and therefore transmits in a universal font language called "Unicode." It contains over 100,000 glyphs in hundreds of languages. Maxitweet was the first to realize that glyphs resembling two or more normal letters can help to transmit text more efficiently.

In the word "lions," for example, two characters are saved by replacing the vowels with a Cyrillic letter resembling "io," followed by the Unicode symbol for nanosecond "ns."

"We spent weeks combing through thousands of glyphs in many languages -- Cyrillic, Thai, Arabic, Hiragana," says Wytze Hoekstra, project manager at FrisianStyle Productions, which runs Maxitweet.com. "We then wrote a javascript engine that compresses text in the background and delivers a user-friendly experience."

Will the new limit improve the Twitter experience? Even though 140 was enough to produce many memorable tweets, like those collected by http://www.besttweets.com -- "Museum for the Art of Micro-Elegance" -- it remains to be seen whether the expanded limit will take Twitter to new heights. Some say 140 characters is too many. "I'd only call about 30 of them 'characters.' The other 110 are quite boring." -- Aimee Brock (@Aimee_B_Loved on Twitter).

Perhaps, the argument is best summed up by Jason Shellen (@shellen): "When people ask me about the brevity of Twitter I always tell them 'You can really say a lot in just 140 characters. More than you would th '."

Is Twitter hyped? Research indicates otherwise!

2009-08-04T00:55:00.003+05:30

UK: Underneath all the hype about Twitter, evidence is emerging that it can bring genuine value when used in the business environment, particularly for the younger generation.

Business-to-business industry researcher AIIM found that 27 percent of 18-30 year-olds agree that Twitter is an important rapid-feedback tool for business use, compared to only 7 percent of those over 45.

Users feel it gives them unprecedented access to answers from experts, and they find it useful for running mini polls, sharing opinions during conferences and events, and making contacts whilst travelling. In total, 34 percent of the survey population has a Twitter account.

The survey also found that business users of Twitter are much more engaged than personal users, with half of the business users actively contributing and posting, rather than merely following.

As regards following, 55 percent of users feel it has given them a useful insight into other professional's lives and businesses. However, even among committed users, there is a concern that Twitter might steal too much of their time, with 74 percent using it during working hours.

“We’ve been tracking the rapid growth of Enterprise 2.0 -- the business use of social media - for a couple of years,” comments Atle Skjekkeland, VP of AIIM, “but Twitter has grown much faster than anything we’ve seen before. It seems to me that Twitter brings back such quick answers from any expert community that it cannot fail to have a lasting place within the general business toolbox.”

The AIIM survey, which polled 788 respondents, indicates that LinkedIn is twice as popular as Facebook for business networking, with over 50 percent of participants having an account.

Two thirds feel that professional networking on the web is vital to their career progression –- even more so in the current difficult times. Pressure is growing on IT departments to replicate social networking tools within the work environment, with a third expecting to use the same type of networking tools with their business colleagues as they do with friends and family, and 71 percent finding it easier to locate knowledge on the web than it is to find it on internal systems.

The AIIM research report is entitled “Collaboration and Enterprise 2.0: work meets play or the future of business?” Part of the AIIM Industry Watch series, the report is free to download from the AIIM website,
www.aiim.org.uk. It is underwritten by Allyis, Ektron, EMC Corporation and
Oracle.

Microsoft and Yahoo -– together at last! Oh well... should Google be scared?

2009-07-31T20:16:00.009+05:30

Given below is a comment from Ovum on the Yahoo-Microsoft deal.

While a lot of noise has been made about Microsoft's Bing, I personally don't feel that it is such a great search engine. I've tried searching for various things several times, and haven't been really impressed. All those add-ons, etc. are of little help, if I as a user am not satisfied with the results. Am sure that this is a rule of thumb that applies equally to every other user.

So, I don't really know how Yahoo stands to gain from this deal, or whether Google should be scared!

What's interesting is that, earlier, it was Microsoft that everyone wanted to beat! Then Google happened, and well, left Yahoo behind in the search engine space. And, then, it has taken on Microsoft as well in certain areas!

Now, the wheel has turned a full circle -- the two erstwhile competitors -- Yahoo and Microsoft -- have joined hands to take on the might of Google. Remains to be seen whether two are better than one (Ek se bhaley do!) ;)

What I also don't quite really enjoy is the idea of having Yahoo! Mail, which I've been using since 1997, to be part of Hotmail or something else. Perhaps, time for me to give up those Yahoo! IDs forever! Oh well...

Nevertheless, it is up to the end users -- like you and me -- who search for stuff on the Internet to decide who would go on to lead! Enjoy this Ovum comment!!

Comment from Mike Davis, senior analyst at Ovum

It was a long time coming
UK: Microsoft’s original bid for Yahoo back in January 2008 made the most popular Internet destination in the world worth $47.5 billion. The offer was rejected by then CEO Jerry Yang, resulting in Microsoft walking away from the table.

Yang then attempted to tie up Yahoo with Google and use that company’s search technology. However, that deal fell at the regulatory hurdle. Yang’s subsequent departure and the drop in quarterly earnings resulted in the layoff of 5 percent of Yahoo’s workforce in April 2009 and showed that new CEO Carol Bartz had to do something.

When Microsoft’s new search engine Bing was released in June, with technologies gained from the FAST and Powerset acquisitions, outgunning Yahoo seach capabilities, Bartz knew that that something had to be dramatic.

Microsoft should be happy; Google should be a bit worried
Under the terms of the agreement (and still subject to regulatory approval on both sides of the Atlantic), Yahoo gets to use Microsoft’s Bing search engine rather than its own, and Microsoft gets to pay Yahoo 88 percent of search revenues arising from Yahoo sites for five years -– but of course Microsoft also gets to keep $47.5 billion in the bank.

Microsoft gains exclusive licence to Yahoo’s search technologies, which Microsoft will be free to integrate into its own. It also gains access to all of Yahoo’s long-standing and loyal customers –- this author has trusted and relied upon Yahoo! Mail for over ten years –- and Yahoo’s self-serve advertising will migrate to Microsoft AdCenter. Basically, both companies are playing to their core competencies: Microsoft to the technology and Yahoo to its domain knowledge in advertising and media.

As Ovum has previously stated, Bing is not a ‘Google killer’. However, with the addition of Yahoo’s customer base and its targeting of higher-yield advertising, the new so-called ‘decision engine’ should start to give Google a serious run for its money, and provide better competition on price for prospective advertisers.

Furthermore, as Ovum has previously described, the now bitter rivalry between Google and Microsoft should ensure that improvements to the functionality and usability of the respective search engines will continue apace.

Nothing will happen tomorrow -– certainly not in Asia
Even if it gains regulatory approval, Yahoo’s use of Bing will not start until 2010 –- and then on a geographical basis, with the priority being the US and then Europe.

This will give Baidu, the strong Chinese Internet search provider, and Naver, the most popular player in South Korea, plenty of opportunities to reinforce and expand their positions in that geography. Given the potential size of that market, this could be a missed opportunity.

Yahoo and its shareholders appear to be the losers
While the deal is cited as boosting Yahoo’s operating income by $500 million and reducing costs by $200 million, the company’s shares are currently trading at only half the value offered by Microsoft in January 2008, and fell a further 10 percent after this announcement.

This does give Yahoo’s CEO Carol Bartz a period of time and some money to develop the organisation into its vision of being the world’s “largest online media company”.

However, 10 years is a very long time in the true market that is the Internet, and the use of Bing will not start until early 2010. Microsoft, or others, might still take the opportunity to buy the former Internet search leader at a marked-down price in the near future if Bartz cannot deliver that vision.

Is the PR industry challenged by social media?

2009-07-30T15:43:00.009+05:30

I came across a very interesting discussion on LinkedIn, titled: A Tale Of PR And Social Media. Apparently, the message is: for many PR agencies, working or even grasping social media is a nightmare.

So, is the PR industry really challenged by social media? Perhaps, yes!

Can it overcome this challenge? Of course!

Business social media, or even social media, surely helps speaking in the language your target audience appreciates and understands.

However, it seems that PR folks haven't really come to terms with all of this. The PR industry should realize that bombarding press releases to bloggers don't help at all and neither do requests to write about specific companies and their initiatives.

In fact, I haven't even seen PR take help of bloggers and other social media platforms immensely.

What I did find some PR folks doing was to try and send media invitations over some social media networks, or even open some specific page for a particular company and then send requests to join that page or group!

Maybe, these will work in the short run, but definitely not in the long run. Friends in the PR, that's definitely not going to help you meet your needs!

On a personal note, I sometimes get tired of PR folks asking me for leads so they can make new clients. I have helped a few in the past, but that's when I used to be part of the media.

Well, would such PR folks pay me -- if I did provide solid leads? No, they would not! And well, would PR agencies share their client details with me? No, unless, I have a particular story to write, which would feature that company, and well, am part of a big publishing house.

A lot of PR folks and even companies get in touch with me daily with some request or the other. However, the moment I speak about some payment, I receive mixed responses. Perhaps, they all are not ready yet to pay bloggers since we are all used to content being available free. However, this free thing won't stay for long... :)

This is also a reason why bloggers like to avoid PR firms and probably, even some companies, for that matter! Why publicize someone when that person getting publicity won't even pay you? Fair enough!

If you also notice, some of the best content is available on blogs. That's the reason why companies are now having bloggers on their payrolls, or have independent blogs! Not only is it cheaper to host content, you are also assured of real quality content from top-notch bloggers.

I'd like to highlight a case here, and this one is not from me, but from a well known blogger covering DAC 2009.

ATRENTA BLOGFEST
Why are we doing this?
We want to reach out to the press/bloggers at DAC, but not with a traditional press conference. Rather than discuss new product announcements, etc., we’d rather discuss design trends and have a lively debate about what they mean!

A panelist discusses a point of view on the topic for three minutes (and no more). No slides, but strong opinions are solicited. We then open the floor to the bloggers for a spirited discussion.

Wow! I am really elated to even read this! Wonder when we can have such events or blogfests here in India!

Well, how many PR firms, or even companies, would be bold enough and like to do such a thing? Both of them should try to find a win-win situation where they can make full use of social media and bloggers, and also help bloggers make some money too!

I feel that a huge opportunity is out there for companies, PR, bloggers, etc.

So many well known bloggers have their own tweets...those can be made use of so successfully! Why, even placing a Twitter or Facebook link on a print magazine or newspaper would help immensely! :)

Google finds my electronics blog a spam blog!

2009-07-18T02:35:00.005+05:30

What an interesting thing to happen!

As usual, I was adding press releases to this particular blog, which only focuses on electronics. The moment I published a post and returned to the dashboard, I get this message -- This blog has been locked due to possible Blogger Terms of Service violations. You may not publish new posts until your blog is reviewed and unlocked. This blog will be deleted within 20 days unless you request a review.

Well, immediately, I sent off a blog unlock review request. On clicking that page, I found this message -- Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

Brilliant! When and whom did I spam? I don't send out newsletters. And these releases are for my personal consumption, so that I may keep up with what's happening in the electronics industry.

So, how is it a spam blog? Can someone help?

I recently wrote a blog post about a bloggers' survey, where I had indicated that perhaps, it is time that I should close down all of my other blogs -- which I recently started to host all of those press releases that I get bombarded with.

Seriously, after this 'spam blog' thing, I am greatly tempted to do so! Maybe, I should also look at other blogging platforms in future.

P.S.: I must thank Google for taking very quick action and taking my electronics blog off my spam blog within hours of my request. Thanks again!

Can't wait to use Google Chrome OS!

2009-07-09T04:34:00.003+05:30

Yesterday, or rather, the day before, there was an announcement on Google's Blog -- Introducing the Google Chrome OS!

This is such pleasant news, especially for folks like me who try out new things all the time! At least, we will have an option against Microsoft Windows, for starters! What I do know is: it is too early to even predict how the Google Chrome OS will overtake or beat the Microsoft OS. Nevertheless, we all will have a choice!

I've been a long-time user of the Google Chrome browser, and that's really light and fast. It is expected that the new Google Chrome OS will be equally light and fast!

According to the blog, the Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. That is really smart thinking! Going open source, perhaps, even better.

Just yesterday, I was visiting the Croma electronic store browsing the various netbooks on display. It won't be that long when netbooks with Google Chrome OS will be available -- by H2-2010, as per Google. Even better, the Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 and ARM chips. Some really very serious thought seems to have gone into this project!

I am also a user of Open Office, along with MS Office. Wonder when will we see a Google Chrome Office! Nevertheless, I just can't wait to get my hands on the Google Chrome OS!

Union Budget 2009: Reactions from Indian IT industry

2009-07-06T21:15:00.005+05:30

Several friends in the PR community have very kindly shared some of the comments made by leading captains of the Indian IT industry. Thanks a lot to all those good friends in the Indian PR community. Some of the budget reactions are given below for readers:

Ajai Chowdhry, CEO and Chairman, HCL Infosystems
Overall, this budget is good for the IT sector with certain facets that are encouraging for the sector. However, the ICT industry was looking for more support from the government. We had recommended a 100 percent depreciation on financing of IT equipment, which was not included.

On taxation aspect, the excise/CVD exemption is unclear as it was not stated whether VAT is included in this or not. The government has also put a huge focus on R&D and it is good to see continuity of fiscal stimuli by the government. Various projects and schemes announced by Govt, will require increased role of IT, for example -- the UID project. It is critical now to implement these projects at the earliest.

Other encouraging measures include the ‘Mission in Education through ICT’ which has been substantially increased to Rs.900 crore and the provision for setting up and up-gradation of Polytechnics under the Skill Development Mission enhanced to Rs. 495 crore. More and More should be done to give an impetus to ICT in education and literacy. It was also discouraging to see that the extension of the sunset clause was only for one year, which ideally should have been extended for a longer period.

Naresh Wadhwa, President and Country Manager, Cisco - India and SAARC
On the face of it, the budget put forth by the government is positive and focuses on inclusive development. It is encouraging, especially the fact that there is a thrust on infrastructure development, rural development, education and social welfare. The impetus to infrastructure development –- both urban and rural -- is a highly visible and much welcome component of this budget.

Leveraging technology as a tool for accountability, better governance, in business and administration is a step in the right direction. The allocation of funds for e-governance investment schemes like the unique identity number for every Indian and the formation of a Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) in Bengaluru to process electronically filed tax returns will enable effective delivery of public services through public private partnerships.

The increased budgetary provision for the scheme ‘Mission in Education through ICT’ will help take the benefits of IT to the grass roots in a critical sector like education.

The ‘Aam Aadmi’, i.e., the individual tax payer, will definitely appreciate the abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax and raised exemption limit for income tax.

S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies
The Finance Minister has talked about the creation of 12 million jobs, reaching a growth rate of 9 percent and investment in infrastructure at the rate 9 percent of GDP. From a taxation perspective, increasing the income tax slabs, removal of the surcharge on personal income taxes and FBT stands out.

For the IT industry, extension of 10A/10B exemptions by one more year is a move that is more emotional than of actual benefit since most STPs would have come out of the tax holidays. The government’s focus on IT investment for enhanced governance is encouraging. The move to increase investment in higher education, especially in the IITs and NITs, will greatly benefit the industry in the medium and long term.

On the whole, directionally it is a good budget given the current economic situation. However, I would have liked to see a clear road map on how the FM would bring down the deficit from 6.8 percent to perhaps 3 percent. The second thing I would have liked to hear about is how he intends to enhance foreign direct investment.

Pramod Bhasin, Chairman and Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM
NASSCOM welcomes the budget proposals 2009-10 aimed at achieving the dual objective of enhancing inclusive growth in India and boosting economic activity in the country. The budget recognizes the contribution of the IT-BPO industry to India’s economic progress and has provided the necessary measures to boost the sector.

Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM said, "The Finance Minister’s decision to extend fiscal benefits available to the industry under Section 10A/10B for one year will help the industry mitigate the impact of the current economic environment and help India retain its competitiveness."

Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, NASSCOM said, "Many of the initiatives in this year’s budget recognize the role the IT BPO industry can play in promoting inclusive growth and creating substantial employment opportunities in the country.

"The industry will be keen to partner with the Government in expanding e-governance initiatives, including modernization of employment exchanges, the UIAD project, and smart cards for healthcare services so as to achieve enhanced governance. Increased capital outlays on the education and infrastructure sector will also address growth challenges that the country has faced."

The budget proposals also address NASSCOM’s recommendations relating to multiplicity of taxes on packaged software, creating a dispute resolution mechanism on transfer pricing, abolishing FBT and issues on service tax refund.

The combined effect of these proposals will facilitate the industry and its 2 million workforce to compete effectively and sustain India’s advantage. NASSCOM will continue to examine the fine print and seek clarifications as needed.

NASSCOM would like to express its gratitude to the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and IT Minister Thiru A. Raja for their unstinted support.

R.Chandrasekaran, President and Managing Director, Global Delivery, Cognizant
The extension of the sunset clause on STPI by a year is welcome. While this will benefit the entire industry, it will specifically benefit the small and medium sized companies in the industry that needed this critical impetus for growth.This is also important in this turbulent global economic environment, in the context of emerging locations such as China, Philippines or Vietnam continuing to offer attractive tax incentives.

A substantially higher outlay for institutions of higher learning such as IITs and NITs should increase the R&D throughput and innovation quotient in a material way. At a time when industries are undergoing structural changes globally, it is innovation that can catalyze the next phase of growth. The support provided by way of subsidy for poor students pursuing higher education should provide the required impetus for enhancing the overall employable talent pool. The modernization of employment exchange under the PPP (private-public partnership) mode will help align skills with available employment opportunities at the national level and on a real time basis.

The abolition of fringe benefit tax is also welcome since the administrative hassle involved in FBT compliance was very high.

The clarity on transfer pricing assessments and the setting up of an independent dispute settlement mechanism is something that the industry sought. That the Finance Minister has announced an industry-specific safe-harbour provision will be notified, will help in resolving assessment issues relating to transfer pricing.

Remembering the times with Michael Jackson!

2009-06-27T01:19:00.008+05:30

The sudden and untimely death of King of Pop -- Michael Jackson -- is something very hard to digest. I was working late last night when I happened to glance at the headline news! Since then, I've been literally glued to the TV till close to 5am Friday morning, when CNN finally confirmed this news, and most of the evening!

I remember, way back in the early 1980s, my mentor, Shankar Ghosh, showed me an audio cassette in Allahabad -- telling me -- this chap is really good! I looked down at the cassette cover, which simply said "THRILLER." And the name of a singer I'd never heard of till then!

Soon, Grammy Awards were telecast, and I caught my first glimpse of Michael Jackson's now very famous videos from the same album.

We kept hearing about the overwhelming success of this particular album for years and years thereafter. No party was a party without the MJ numbers in full blast. No party was a party till someone tried Michael Jackson's signature 'moonwalk!'

The magical "We Are The World" soon came in 1985, a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced and conducted by Quincy Jones, and recorded by a supergroup of popular musicians billed as USA for Africa, as per Wikipedia. Most of us have seen that video! For most of us, including yours truly, it remains one of the best songs of all times!

Came the Gulf War in 1990, which also brought satellite TV to India. That was the first time I saw MJ's "Black or White" video, as well as "Remember The Time." Then came "Heal The World," which, to my pleasant surprise and happiness, my two sweet nieces, especially, the younger one, had started humming!

Then, there was this famous tour to Mumbai, when on November 1, 1996, at the Andheri Sports Complex, he gave a fascinating performance. The Indian Internet sites are all buzzing with that particular visit. I was unlucky to have missed that one! All I remember today is seeing glimpses of that show on the local news channels.

What else can I say? Like many other fans, I mourn his death, but he shall always remain in our hearts, controversies notwithstanding, the one and only 'Smooth Criminal'!

Five attributes of cloud computing: Gartner

2009-06-23T15:52:00.002+05:30

This release on cloud computing was sent to me by Gartner.

STAMFORD, USA: As cloud computing begins to move beyond the pure hype stage and into the beginning of mainstream adoption, Gartner, Inc. has identified the five attributes of cloud computing. By using these attributes, it is possible to see how strongly a cloud solution (or service) adheres to the cloud computing model.

Gartner defines cloud computing as a style of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities are delivered as a service to external customers using Internet technologies.

This is a slight revision of Gartner's original definition published in 2008. Gartner has removed "massively scalable" and replaced it with "scalable and elastic" as an indicator that the important characteristic of scale is the ability to scale up and down, not just to massive size.

"When approaching cloud computing, providers of cloud services and potential consumers of cloud services must examine the attributes of cloud computing to determine whether their services will deliver the expected outcomes," said Daryl Plummer, managing vice president and chief Gartner Fellow.

"If a service is not scalable and elastic, then it may not be shareable enough. If it is not metered by use, then it may not allow for flexible pricing. Support for more of the attributes opens the door to a great value proposition to the consumer, and greater flexibility and potential cost reduction for the provider."

"We recognize that services may adhere to some attributes more effectively than others," said David Mitchell Smith, vice president and Gartner Fellow. "The degree to which the service exhibits all these characteristics indicates how much it adheres to the cloud computing model. One must examine a combination of these attributes to evaluate cloud services. Focusing on one attribute in isolation is not recommended."

The five attributes of cloud computing are:

Service-Based: Consumer concerns are abstracted from provider concerns through service interfaces that are well-defined. The interfaces hide the implementation details and enable a completely automated response by the provider of the service to the consumer of the service.

The service could be considered "ready to use" or "off the shelf" because the service is designed to serve the specific needs of a set of consumers, and the technologies are tailored to that need rather than the service being tailored to how the technology works.

The articulation of the service feature is based on service levels and IT outcomes (availability, response time, performance versus price, and clear and predefined operational processes), rather than technology and its capabilities. In other words, what the service needs to do is more important than how the technologies are used to implement the solution.

Scalable and Elastic: The service can scale capacity up or down as the consumer demands at the speed of full automation (which may be seconds for some services and hours for others).

Elasticity is a trait of shared pools of resources. Scalability is a feature of the underlying infrastructure and software platforms. Elasticity is associated with not only scale but also an economic model that enables scaling in both directions in an automated fashion. This means that services scale on demand to add or remove resources as needed.

Shared: Services share a pool of resources to build economies of scale. IT resources are used with maximum efficiency. The underlying infrastructure, software or platforms are shared among the consumers of the service (usually unknown to the consumers). This enables unused resources to serve multiple needs for multiple consumers, all working at the same time.

Metered by Use: Services are tracked with usage metrics to enable multiple payment models. The service provider has a usage accounting model for measuring the use of the services, which could then be used to create different pricing plans and models. These may include pay-as-you go plans, subscriptions, fixed plans and even free plans.

The implied payment plans will be based on usage, not on the cost of the equipment. These plans are based on the amount of the service used by the consumers, which may be in terms of hours, data transfers or other use-based attributes delivered.

Uses Internet Technologies: The service is delivered using Internet identifiers, formats and protocols, such as URLs, HTTP, IP and representational state transfer Web-oriented architecture.

Many examples of Web technology exist as the foundation for Internet-based services. Google's Gmail, Amazon.com's book buying, eBay's auctions and Lolcats' picture sharing all exhibit the use of Internet and Web technologies and protocols.

TwitGeek? Follow geeks like yourself on Twitter!

2009-06-16T18:42:00.005+05:30

TwitGeek! What will these folks (or web developers) think of next?

I was quite amused to come across this site, which clearly states: TwittGeek is a Twitter application that automatically follows 200 targeted people based on keywords you write!

I haven't tried it out though for a simple reason: I am quite selective as far as my choices and interests are concerned. In Twitter's case, I've basically decided only to follow those web sites/industry associations that are of interest -- or 'of a technical nature' -- to me!

As a friend mentioned jokingly over chat to me -- "I just added you on to my Twitter -- love that you said that you are a 'simple' guy when your interests are so technical!" God bless this friend of mine! :) I find that 'simple guy' and my 'interests being technical' bit quite open to interpretation! :D

I have another friend, who calls herself PR Chick! Funny names!! Recommended she change it to Ozbabe or something, since she hails from Australia.

Anyhow! I wonder, what will I encounter, if I do indeed sign up with TwitGeek? While it may automatically make me follow 200 people based on the keywords I type, I really don't want to be following people having fancy, and funny names! At least, their names should be clear enough for me to understand! How will I know who's say, BrokenMac, KillOpera, or even, I Hate Windows??

Well, in case you are a geek, and wish to follow fellow geeks like youself, TwitGeek is just meant for you! Best of luck Tweeple!

Seven practical ways to save costs in data center

2009-06-12T21:52:00.002+05:30

This is a release sent to me by Gartner, which outlines seven practical ways to save costs in a data center. Indeed, this is something for CIOs and enterprises to pay attention to!

STAMFORD, USA:In the face of organizational budgetary cuts, there are seven effective ways enterprises can reduce costs in the data center during a 12- to 18-month period, according to Gartner Inc.

"While responding to contracting budgets, IT managers are expected to deliver an ever-increasing level of service to users, and many are charged with showing tangible financial savings as part of cost-cutting measures," said Rakesh Kumar, research vice president at Gartner. "Significant savings can be made in the data center. For example, removing a single x86 server will result in savings of more than $400 a year in energy costs alone."

Gartner has identified seven important ways to cut data center costs:

Rationalize the hardware
Hardware rationalization will result in savings in several areas. First, it will help with asset and inventory management and provide a clear picture of the boxes that are being used effectively and those that are not.

Second, server rationalization should lower maintenance and support charges. Third, server rationalization will lower energy costs, typically more than $400 per server, per year. Finally, hardware rationalization projects usually yield savings of 5 percent to 10 percent of the overall hardware costs, when measured post project.

Consolidate data center sites
Most organizations still have multiple data centers for their IT operations, ranging from large complex installations to small machine rooms. Consolidating these multiple sites into a smaller number of larger sites will often result in financial savings.

Such economies go beyond real estate savings and include getting rid of redundant IT assets, software, maintenance and support, and disaster recovery contracts. While these projects often result in reducing the number of data center operational staff needed, Gartner advises users not just to get rid of people but to retrain them to fill skill gaps in other parts of the data center or wider IT organization.

Site consolation can typically result in savings of between 5 percent and 15 percent of the overall data center budget.

Manage energy and facilities costs
Energy costs are rising for most data centers because the energy consumption of the underlying hardware continues to increase as new technologies, such as blade servers, are more widely used.

As the floor space runs out, more hardware is crammed into the space, thus requiring higher levels of cooling. Gartner recommends employing the following tools and techniques to manage the energy cost curve: raise the temperature of the data center to 24 degrees Celsius to reduce the level of cooling required; use outside/free air as an alternative to expensive air conditioning; use hot aisle/cold aisle configurations, blanking panels and economizers; and use server-based energy management software to run workloads in the most energy efficient way, such as taking advantage of lower energy tariffs.

Renegotiate contracts
Data center managers must work with finance and procurement teams to revisit all hardware, lease, software, maintenance and support contracts. In some cases, it may be appropriate to terminate a contract because it's too expensive, while in others, new terms and conditions may secure a lower payment schedule. Vendors are used to reviewing contracts during downturns.

Manage the people costs
People costs still form the largest single cost element for most data centers, sometimes running as high as 40 percent of the overall costs. Gartner advises users to review staffing levels and the types of skills needed for the next 24 months and to make maximum use of labor arbitrage benefits by using skills in regions with cheaper labor rates, such as India, Brazil, Poland and Romania.

Sweat the assets
Delaying the procurement of new assets should be considered a necessary step for all data center managers. Upgrading based purely on the book value could incur unnecessary costs earlier in the life cycle.

This may result in a performance disadvantage and possibly an energy use increase but will defer the capital expense of a new acquisition. Users should negotiate on maintenance and support costs in such instances, as well as ensuring that software is still supported on servers whose working life is being extended.

Virtualization
Virtualization of hardware should be encouraged to improve operational efficiency, as well as to support consolidation, decommissioning and cost management programs. For most users, the net benefits will include a smaller hardware estate, which, in turn, will mean lower operating depreciation costs and less-expensive maintenance and support.

Virtualization is also a good way to control energy costs. Although virtualization requires license and project costs, users can expect to see net savings within 24 months, and the effective use of virtualization can reduce server energy consumption by as much as 82 percent and floor space by as much as 86 percent.

And now, Carnalpedia -- wikipedia for porn!

2009-06-06T23:25:00.004+05:30

Gosh, now they have a wikipedia for porn, called Carnalpedia! I wonder whether there is a need for such a website, with all the porn already floating around in the cyberspace. Wonder, what this will do to Playboy and other such adult magazines!

Here's a press release on the launch!

SAN DIEGO, USA: After several months of development Carnalpedia is opening its doors to the public. Built on MediaWiki, the same platform that powers Wikipedia, Carnalpedia is a free, peer-editable resource on all things sex and porn related.

Carnalpedia is a free, peer-editable adult graphic encyclopedia about sex. After only a few weeks it is already home to over 120,000 articles, making it the largest online sex encyclopedia. Everyone, including adult companies, webmasters, porn stars and sex enthusiasts are invited to share their wealth of knowledge on the site, including the creation of pages for any products or services they would like to increase awareness of.

"The fact that Wikipedia has a certain type of audience leaves a lot of information about sex and the adult industry either blocked or censored. Having a wiki geared exclusively for the topic of sex, as well as having all the articles using the Restricted to Adults website labels, allows us a lot of latitude in what we can provide," said site creator Jeremy Haddock.

The site allows images to be added only by authorized individuals from approved sources to ensure compliance with copyright law and the legal age of the models. All pages within Carnalpedia also carry the RTA label, which allows services like NetNanny to block access to those not of an appropriate age.

Despite recession, now is the time for IT leaders to prepare for return to business growth!

2009-06-04T02:21:00.004+05:30

This release is from Gartner, reproduced here for readers! The advice given here applies across the world, including India.

STAMFORD, USA: While the recession is still under way, now is the time for IT leaders to prepare for business growth, and organizations should aim to complete these plans by July 1 of this year, according to Gartner Inc. This advice especially pertains to the nations that first entered the recession, such as the US and the UK

Gartner acknowledged that many countries are experiencing ever-increasing levels of unemployment, rising home mortgage payment delinquencies and business bankruptcies while also seeing reductions in consumer confidence, business earnings and overall economic performance.

However, in recent months, analysts have observed that many organizations are reporting that their staffs are working at near- or full-capacity levels. This demand level will almost certainly increase when businesses start detecting a resurgence in demand from customers, a more stabilized economic climate and a far-healthier lending environment from which to access credit.

“As these improvements translate into new IT project demands to help businesses identify new revenue and profit opportunities, companies will need a way to manage the already high project load with a new wave of projects,” said Ken McGee, vice president and Gartner fellow. “However, waiting until that new demand arrives will be far too late to appropriately meet it, and we are recommending that companies start preparing for business growth now with a view to having these plans completed by July 1, 2009.”

Gartner believes that the July 1 "deadline" will well serve those organizations believing that modest business growth could occur during 2010. Such a belief would require placement of new IT project and other related expenses in the 2010 budget, whose preparation period is between August and the end of 2009.

“We’re not trying to predict when the end of the recession will take place, nor are we trying to speculate when credit market stability will occur, or when we will see consistent investment appreciation return to the world’s equity markets,” said Mark Raskino, vice president and Gartner fellow. “What we are saying is that due to the lag in time between the point at which the economy begins to grow again, and when it’s officially declared to be growing again, companies simply can’t wait for an ‘official’ declaration before they begin planning for better times.”

While Gartner’s recommendations call for the resolution of key preliminary cost optimization and governance-related issues before the era of business growth returns, Gartner said that it is not necessarily advocating that organizations automatically revert to the same management techniques they were using in the years leading up to the recession.

Gartner said that it plans to present an array of new cost-optimization-related actions that its clients should take during future technology selection, vendor selection, procurement, contract negotiation, asset management, and other post-recession efforts as they enter the next chapter of supporting business growth.

“Since no one knows when business growth will resume, organizations may need to file away their completed return-to-business plans for up to a year or more. The plan in waiting should be reviewed on a monthly basis and revised according to changes in the business climate,” McGee said. “Having a completed plan will enable the near-immediate allocation of funding and staffing for IT projects, thus avoiding the need to take weeks to devise a plan after senior executives mandate the need to support business growth initiatives.”

Open web platforms for developers to foster next wave of entrepreneurs in India

2009-05-29T16:22:00.000+05:30

BANGALORE, INDIA: India today is arguably the land of the highest number of developer population in the world, said a recent study on the subject by Zinnov Management Consulting, a leading Management Consulting firm.

Over the next three to five years, over 50 percent of the developer population, across technologies and platforms in the world, will be based out of India.

Revealing numbers on how this segment of the industry is poised to grow, it read that India today is home to more than 500,000 members of Oracle's online developer community, has approximately 6,50,000 highly skilled JAVA developers and close to 70,000 Cisco Certified Professionals. Infact in 2004 alone, there were around 150,000 "Microsoft Certified Professionals" in India.

"With the advent of open-web platforms, a couple of years back, there has been a paradigm shift in software development. Proprietary software makers are now opening up platforms to commoditize their products/solutions to customers and increase reach and scale", said Chandramouli, Director - Advisory Services, Zinnov Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

With cloud computing gaining traction, not just consumer products but even enterprise product companies are embracing this route, for e.g., Salesforce, NetSuite etc., the report highlighted. Currently, out of the total number of 900 product companies in India, there are about 15-20 Indian companies that have created applications on open platforms like Orkut and Facebook (consumer focused).

Highlighting some classic examples, the study read that companies like Minglebox, Games2Win are some Indian companies which initially did start off as independent websites, but have now also started porting their applications onto open platforms such as Orkut. Several others like Chakpak, Lifeblob, Mycantos, Nautanki, Dhingana, Zoomtra are examples of some Indian startups making applications on open platforms.

Forecasting the trend on why this genre will foster the next wave of entrepreneurship in India, the study drew attention to a lot of reasons. It explained that in comparison to a conventional software product startups, which required on an average 12 to 18 months for product development effort, applications on open platforms require an average development time of two to three months.

Therefore, the cost involved with creating an application software product startup is much lower than creating proprietary software with the entire stake being recreated. Also, the ROI is greater for applications on open platforms, since the life cycle is limited to about only nine to 12 months.

Lastly, the sales and general administration costs of these companies are much lower than software product companies and thus require less funding in the initial stages.

Better audience reach is perceived to be the biggest benefit of open application platforms because the open web platform companies can leverage the customer base of platform players (very little investment required on GTM).

The leading open web-platforms globally have been Facebook, Myspace, Google (OpenSocial), while top open mobile platforms are Apple iPhone and Windows mobile. In fact, we see several players making an entry similar to Apple AppStore, such as RIM Blackberry App Store and Nokia's Ovi Store.

While the growth is expected to be robust, some challenges that might become a hindrance are the risk averse nature of Indian engineers in general, limited awareness of the opportunity available and realizing the potential to monetize.

Last but not the least, to ensure that the entire ecosystem evolves a strong involvement from the investment community is required.

The study very promptly highlighted that open web platforms (OWP) today are challenging the way products are developed and distributed. And the present state of economic crises has only emphasized the importance of open web platforms further. OWP are increasingly offering start-ups the opportunity to reduce product development times, extend distribution reach and enhance brand image.

"What began as entertainment and lifestyle applications for consumers some years back is gaining serious traction among enterprise software users today. Indian entrepreneurs now have tremendous opportunity to build product businesses worth millions of dollars and establish a niche for themselves like never before. It will be interesting to observe how the land of million software developers will ride upon this opportunity", added Chandramouli.

IBM to make available $5 billion for financing IT initiatives in Europe, Apac

2009-05-28T03:44:00.000+05:30

ARMONK, NEW YORK: IBM announced that it is making up to $3 billion available to finance IT initiatives in key economic stimulus projects in Europe and Asia-Pacific through IBM Global Financing, IBM’s lending and leasing business segment. The announcement follows the availability of up to $2 billion announced by IBM on April 30 to help jump start US economic stimulus programs.

Specifically, IBM will make available up to $2 billion in financing in Europe and up to approximately $1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region. IBM Global Financing also will extend its North American coverage to include financing for smart technology projects in Canada.

The financing will help organizations move ahead with IT projects in 2009, while awaiting government funding, to build the technological and environmental infrastructure of the 21st century.

“There is a great connectivity among nations,” said John Callies, General Manager of IBM Global Financing. “While the various stimulus packages in different countries were designed to keep their own economies on track, it is as joined economies that we can rise from this global downturn together. In this context, IBM Global Financing is extending its stimulus financing program to countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific to help global recovery.”

IBM has already been helping enterprises and local governments in these areas build their infrastructures to spur growth in key IT projects such as Smart Grid, Health Information Technology, and Smart Transportation. The financing will be targeted to companies and organizations in countries with government funding committed to help economic stimulus, create new industries and enable infrastructure improvements.

The bulk of the $5 billion will be for financing (where available based on local financing practices) for smart technology projects for credit-qualified clients. The financing could be in the form of:
* Low rates and flexible financing options.
* Deferred payment plans.
* Enterprise Financing facilities that offer structured lines of credit.
* Specialized project financing packages that allow clients to align payment streams to anticipated benefits throughout the project.

"The recession is going to drive many organizations, public and private, to make transformational changes in their IT environment. However, without access to the correct financing offerings, a significant set of opportunities will be lost and society-wide projects, like SmartGrid, will be substantially delayed.” David Mitchell, Senior Vice President, UK-based IT Research, Ovum. “This is a bold move by IBM to help accelerate stimulus benefits into the current time frame.”

Web 2.0 gains momentum in Europe

2009-05-26T20:01:00.004+05:30

Here is an interesting release put out by Frost & Sullivan! I don't know for sure how much we in India have adopted blogs and bloggers, and with it, Web 2.0 tools, though we all love to use Web 2.0 as a buzzword at all conferences.

Have we understood Web 2.0 enough? Some folks have even gone on to tout Web 3.0 as the next big thing! Have enterprises and SMBs in India made enough use of Web 2.0? Have they received measurable benefits out of those tools?

Well, do have a look at Frost's take on Web 2.0 in Europe!

LONDON, UK: The year 2008 and economic downturn have changed the way companies are going about their daily business. In response to the current recession in Europe, businesses are seeking new ways to stay productive while significantly cutting costs with the help of Web 2.0 solutions.

From lower-cost versions of enterprise applications, to utilising cloud computing, ‘crowd sourcing’ business owners are taking advantage of what Web 2.0 has to offer.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan: Web 2.0 Technologies in the Recession-hit Europe as a Solution for Small and Medium Businesses, finds that Web 2.0 will supplement both Web and Audio-web markets that were valued at $190 million in Europe in 2008 and are likely to grow to $860 million by the end of 2014.

“Web 2.0 solutions may be part of the cure for the recessionary headache that many European businesses are now experiencing; social networking sites, wikis, and blogs are just some of the more well-known examples of Web 2.0 technologies that can play an important role here,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Iwona Petruczynik.

“These solutions are becoming more prevalent in the European small and medium businesses (SMBs) arena, especially at a time like this, when workers are being forced to do more with less.”

There has been an increase in the usage of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 solutions like Blogger and WordPress. Until recently, they were primarily associated with consumer applications; however, currently, they are finding usage in more professional areas.

“As an interesting side note, social networking sites are gaining popularity in unexpected places, for instance, the world’s most popular online virtual reality, Second Life, was used by Sweden to open their ‘embassy’ in the virtual world to promote Sweden’s culture and image,” remarks Petruczynik. “In addition, Second Life is used in the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration, where the Ministry has a room, which a person can visit to find out what the Ministry is doing and even ask the Minister questions.”

However, experts are unable to agree on one definition of Web 2.0 and this becomes a challenge in defining its market size. Yet, it is unlikely that Web 2.0 will become a standalone market, as it is a set of technologies and ideas driving the development of existing products and services.

The full potential influence of Web 2.0 is only now playing out, as the concepts and technologies are finding their use in manufacturing, customer service, product development and sales.

Innovative modes of interaction among workers, enabled by Web 2.0, contribute to company cohesion and employee retention. Telecommuting staff too can collaborate with each other speedily and effortlessly, outside of the formal e-mail stream.

Despite the evident advantages, some businesses are apprehensive about fully embracing Web 2.0 tools. The popularity of companies’ in-house intranet and concerns about security and confidential information leaks are just a few examples of the restraints faced by the European Web 2.0 market.

Moreover, a culture of ‘busyness’ retards the adoption of Web 2.0. If employees are not seen working all the time, they are assumed to be inefficient and unprofessional, when, in fact, they could be conducting their business through utilising solutions such as blogs or social networking sites, like Twitter or LinkedIn.

In addition, Europe tends to be more conservative in accepting new solutions. Therefore, the adoption rate of Web 2.0 in Europe is lower than that in the United States.

“In Europe, there is a common misconception that a true deliverable is measured in how many kilograms of paper one produces and hands over to a client,” explains Petruczynik. “This belief is hindering the adoption of Web 2.0 solutions, as more end products are being delivered in the form of a wiki or a blog.”

Moreover, the security concerns that many chief information officers (CIOs) face are equally important. Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX), a programming technique used by Web 2.0 programmers, poses security risks that in the worst-case scenario include uploading malicious codes onto someone’s computer or hijacking an account.

According to the European Commission, small and medium businesses (SMBs) constitute 99 percent of all enterprises in Europe and provide almost 75 million jobs. With such significant market potential, Web 2.0 vendors should not have problems with deploying their solutions in the SMB sector.

“The best practice for those employing Web 2.0 solutions include creating and implementing clear and easy policies, describing how to use social media to avoid security risks, and leaks of confidential information, adapting their corporate culture to promote openness and collaboration, and educating employees on how to use Web 2.0 tools to become more productive and efficient,” concludes Petruczynik.

“On the other hand, Web 2.0 vendors should help in creating supportive policies, providing seamless integration with existing advanced corporate communication tools, and offering a variety of ‘a la carte’ Web 2.0 technologies.”

The Mathworks PolySpace products deliver enhanced checking support for JSF++ rules

2009-05-22T17:16:00.002+05:30

BANGALORE, INDIA: The MathWorks announced that its PolySpace Client for C/C++ and PolySpace Server for C/C++ code verification products now support all checkable JSF++ rules for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Air Vehicle program, providing extensive and complete JSF++ rule checking capability.

The PolySpace JSF++ checker helps engineers comply with the Joint Strike Fighter Air Vehicle C++ coding standards (JSF++). These standards, developed by Lockheed Martin for the JSF program, are designed to improve the robustness and maintainability of C++ code.

The checker enables PolySpace software to generate messages when code does not comply with checkable JSF++ rules, including those related to overflow/underflow analysis, unreachable code identification, dereferencing null pointers, and initialization.

In addition to updated JSF++ checking capabilities, the checker provides engineers with the ability to integrate PolySpace as an Eclipse plug-in that will help software engineering teams working within the Eclipse-based integrated development environment (IDE). It can also be used with multicore computers to speed up the completion of the code verification process.

"The latest release of PolySpace tools will help engineers spend less time reviewing, debugging, and testing code and more time designing and developing next-generation aircrafts," said Jon Friedman, aerospace defense industry marketing manager at The MathWorks. "This capability adds to our ongoing commitment to provide engineers with tools that will improve the design process, reduce errors, and help lessen the costs of high-integrity aerospace systems."

Quite an eye opener! Since I've been on my own!!

2009-05-21T03:53:00.006+05:30

Ever since I left CIOL and have been on my own, here in India, it has been quite an eye-opening experience!

First, and well, isn't it always so -- I've come face to face again with real friends! Those who really have best interests for me at heart, and those who care a lot about the technology industry!

As for the rest of the experience, oh well, just let it be! Those things happen, and well, will keep on happening, irrespective!

Interestingly, some folks have tried to tag along with me, for reasons best known to them! I don't claim to have a winning formula. However, let such people be cautioned that my path could be quite a difficult one -- they may face subjects that won't be that easy to fathom, and will require lot of hard work on their part.

However, the best thing that's happened is: all of a sudden, I've been inundated with a variety of requests -- especially for blogs on a variety of topics. I have managed to roll out some of them, and as for the others, I can't commit as yet! What is evidently clear is that there is a crying need for information, portals or web sites that deal in-depth, that dig deep, rather than focus more on the surface. That's encouraging!

The nature of other requests are quite interesting -- starting from helping with finding jobs, to selling stuff, career counselling, building PR, and so on!

Another nice thing -- and although I've always enjoyed this freedom right through my career -- I can now pick and choose the stories and topics I'd like to do!

Another revelation -- I am simply overwhelmed and humbled by the variety and the number of folks -- from different parts of India and the world -- who have approached me for various activities. I am trying to do some of those!

Friends, if you have the self belief and confidence to go on your own -- do give it a try! It is always better to fail while making an honest attempt to succeed, rather than fail without even making any sort of attempt! The experience will make you sronger, and hopefully, tolerant and better!

NASSCOM statement on election results

2009-05-17T01:54:00.002+05:30

NEW DELHI, INDIA: NASSCOM welcomes the results of the election, which are indicative of a stable government at the Centre. In the current global economic environment, it is important that India has a stable and progressive political environment that can focus on long-term policies for the sustainable development of the country, even as it takes decisive steps to immediately put the economy back on a high-growth trajectory.

The Indian IT-BPO sector is both an engine and a catalyst for the development of the Indian economy and we are confident that the government will continue to partner with this sector for leveraging the benefits of IT for India’s domestic economy and through international trade.

We also look forward to working with the government to promote inclusive growth and social benefits through the innovative use of IT. It is noteworthy that the biggest electoral process in the world – the globally-admired Indian elections –- is through the use of EVMs, itself symbolic of the significance of IT for the country.

Some of the immediate priorities that NASSCOM would suggest for the consideration of the government include:

* Specific policy initiatives to sustain industry’s growth through extension of tax benefits, particularly for SMEs; removal of inequities and multiplicity of taxes on issues like FBT, Service Tax and overall uniform policy environment to enhance India’s competitiveness and attract foreign investment.

* Develop public-private partnerships to accelerate implementation of the already-approved e-governance programs and evolve appropriate new programs; increase government IT budgets so as to provide a strong stimulus to the IT-BPO industry and to the economy.

* Partner with the industry to implement unique identity card for each citizen using IT, as mentioned in the manifesto.

* Implement the nation-wide skill development program and leverage IT expertise both for enabling education and imparting employable skills that can be deployed in the industry.

* Leverage international relations and build perspectives with key developed nations for continued bilateral trade development with no deviations on protectionist moves through visas and taxation.

* Continue and expand infrastructure development programs across the country and build integrated IT-BPO townships; provide fiscal incentives for growth of the IT-BPO industry in Tier II and III towns.

India's General Elections 2009: UPA to continue in government: Advantage reforms and development!

2009-05-16T16:11:00.003+05:30

NEW DELHI & LONDON, UK: The verdict of the people in the General Elections for the 15th Lok Sabha or the House of the People, in favour of the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is an affirmation of its economic policies of continued liberalization.

The results so far indicate that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will likely form the government. The outcome will usher a new wave of confidence globally in the Indian economy with expected ramp up in economic activity, brought about by the urgent need to develop world class infrastructure, globally competitive pharmaceutical sector, telecom and augmentation of power generation.

“The government will have its task cut out with more than $700 billion worth of investments to be channeled in to India’s infrastructure, power, telecom and pharma sectors over the next five years to provide the country a strong foundation to achieve the aspirational growth of 10 percent.” says Bundeep Singh Rangar, Chairman, IndusView Advisors Ltd, the India-focused cross-border advisory firm.

The General Elections this time witnessed a three-way contest between the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Third Front, comprising of the Communist Parties and smaller regional parties, attempting to offer another alternative.

Both the Congress and BJP led governments have successfully accelerated India’s GDP growth rate to about 7 percent today from 1.4 percent in 1991-92. This momentum peaked at 9.7 percent in the fiscal year 2006-07 before slowing down on account of the worldwide recession.

“The Government would be best served if it continued and augmented the ‘India Shining’ policies that currently sustain a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of more than 7 percent as India continues to defy negative GDP growth seen in many Western economies.” says Rangar.

Investment in energy
India’s power deficit entails an estimated investment of up to $150 billion by 2012. To meet the growing demand, the government plans to add 90GW over the same period to its existing generation capacity of 145GW.

“India will become a lucrative market for nuclear energy equipment makers as soon as The United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 between India and the US starts to show the benefits of investments coming in to the country.” says Rangar

Nuclear energy makes up only 3 percent of total installed capacity in India and its domestic uranium reserves are also limited. India’s Atomic Energy Commission estimates that domestic resources could support only 10 GW of installed nuclear capacity, signifying the potential of a multifold ramp-up.

Favourable policy initiatives could see global energy companies such as Areva SA, Alstom SA and Électricité de France (EDF) of France; the US-based General Electric Co., Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corp. and Toshiba Corp., a diversified Japanese conglomerate, among others vying to enter India’s nuclear energy market.

Infrastructure: Foundation of growth
India's challenge is not only to augment its antiquated infrastructure, but also to build new infrastructure to keep up with its $1 trillion economy and the aspirations of its 1.2 billion population that grows by 16 million people each year.

Recognising that good infrastructure are a vital pre-requisite to build a strong nation, infrastructure development has been accorded key priority for the 11th Five-Year-Plan for the years 2007-2012 and the 12th plan period 2012-2017 with projected investment requirement of $500 billion and $1.5 trillion respectively by the Prime Minister's Committee on Infrastructure.

“The Interim Budget for the financial year 2009-10 announced in February by the Finance Minister of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), focused on infrastructure development, easing of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) norms and economic stimulus packages announced last year had set the ground for how the alliance was approaching the General Elections.” said Rangar.

The government’s spotlight on Infrastructure Development heralds the importance it attaches to the sector as a means to counter the prevailing economic woes. The minster responded to an urgent demand for new infrastructure, announcing that 9 percent of the country’s GDP will be spent on infrastructure by 2014, from the current 5 percent. Estimates suggest that a third of this investment will come from private companies, paving the way for unprecedented investment opportunity.

Telecom: Dial India for growth
“India’s mobile telecommunication services sector has defied the economic recession. The incumbent mobile telecommunication service providers collectively add about 10 million new subscribers a month, which is more than the population of Finland, home country of largest mobile handset manufacturer Nokia Corp., taking the country’s total tally of wireless subscribers to 362 million.” explains Rangar.

To ensure quality service to match the growing subscriber base and achieve the target of 45 percent teledensity, the telecom sector is estimated to need about $73 billion during the next five years.

The world's fastest-growing mobile telecom services market estimated to reach a subscriber base of about 650 million by 2012, exposes the growth potential for global mobile telecom service providers who are not yet present in India.

Such service providers are missing out on opportunities to grab a share of the projected mobile services revenues of more than $37 billion by 2012 growing at a CAGR of 18 percent, while the profitability of their operations in saturated developed markets continue to be under pressure.

Of significance is the fact that the government has granted new licenses and spectrum to aspiring operators such as Datacom Solutions a subsidiary of one of India’s leading consumer durables company Videocon Industries Ltd; Loop Telecom, a BPL Mobile Communications group company; S Tel Ltd, joint venture between Skycity Foundations and Telecom Investments (Mauritius) Ltd; among others, which are likely targets -– but within the regulatory purview as an overseas entity’s stake in the domestic company cannot exceed 74 percent.

Indian pharma: Prescription for growth
The Indian Pharmaceutical sector is positioning itself to be among the top five centres of global innovation as the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Government of India outlines its roadmap for the sector up to the year 2020 (Vision 2020). It foresees investments of about $2 billion annually, under the public-private partnership model.

The initiative will open avenues of growth for global pharmaceuticals companies and fuel the next wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in a market where consumer spending on healthcare increased to 7 percent in 2007 from 4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1995, and is likely to rise to 13 percent of GDP by 2015.

India also offers the benefits of low cost R&D, a domain in which it is estimated to capture about 10-20 percent share of the world’s R&D business by 2020 from less than 1 percent currently.

Expansion by global pharmaceutical companies in to emerging markets like India becomes imperative as about $103 billion worth of patented drugs will go off patent in the next few years. This will further hit the already sagging fortunes of global pharma companies which are trying to augment their revenues by acquiring or aligning with companies in the generics business.

With such sectoral growth indicators, the need of the hour is to take existing initiatives to the next level of implementation and completion, with enough scope of ramping up and innovation.

Clouds gather over Google with Hulbee launch?

2009-05-14T17:57:00.000+05:30

SWITZERLAND: Leading Swiss software company, Grossbay AG, has launched its new search application http://hulbee.com to challenge the dominance of Google by providing users with a more intelligent search capability.

Based on the Hulbee knowledge management programme developed by Grossbay to assist companies in managing their knowledge databases, Hulbee provides the first truly “intelligent search” facility, allowing users to access information intuitively via a data cloud.

Users searching via http://hulbee.com will not get the normal long list of pages containing their search words, but will instead get a data cloud containing a number of other key words that will help the user define their search in a more natural way.

This new way of searching narrows results by searching for thematic connected keywords, which are then displayed as a data cloud. This enables the user to see the complete context of a search term, which otherwise would still be hidden in long lists of results.

Hulbee uses knowledge management software, originally developed to assist enterprises in managing their information by proposing related topics when a search word or term is entered, therefore narrowing the results. Hulbee builds on the comprehensive search indexing provided by its partner company, Yahoo!

If you carry out a topical search for “swine flu symptoms” on http://hulbee.com, you would see a data cloud as a result (see visual below). From that cloud you are then able to refine your search more easily without having to open up endless websites hoping to find the information you want.

Andreas Wiebe, CEO of Grossbay, said: “Searching for information on the internet is taking too long: there is just too much. Hulbee reduces search times by presenting information in a manageable list. It’s intuitive so everyone will find it easy to use.”

Hulbee adds to the search engines list

2009-05-13T21:52:00.005+05:30

If you thought you'd had enough of search engines, wait, there's a new one on the block -- HULBEE! In fact, my attention was drawn toward Hulbee via a discussion forum on one of my groups on LinkedIn.

Interestingly, the discussion was started by a gentleman who calls himself Mr Hulbee, Owner, Hulbee, from Ireland, with the question: can it change the way we search?

Quite interested, I headed for Hulbee!

In its 'About' page, Hulbee states: "Hulbee is a new search solution empowered by Grossbay map technology. Hulbee has high-usable intuitive interface and is using Yahoo API. With Hulbee building of search query is a matter of a few clicks.
Now there is no need of puzzling over query exact wording because Hulbee offers a set of suitable words to pick." There's much more on the page, if you care to read.

Currently, Hulbee has a very low Alexa ranking, so it seems to be a brand new search engine that few have heard about! So, it will take time to catch on.

On the home page, there's a search block, followed by a tag cloud -- perhaps, of the key words that people have been searching on Hulbee. Or maybe, those are popular words, according to the site. Either way, I am not sure.

I did check the search engine and received good results. The search works quite fast too! Along with the search results, it also throws up interesting tag clouds with the related search. Maybe, you should check Hulbee out as well! Happy searching!!

Now, Google's Internet Bus in Karnataka!

2009-05-05T12:48:00.000+05:30

I received this release announcing that Google India's 'Internet Bus' will now tour Karnataka. Starting its journey from Bangalore, the bus will travel through 15 towns in the next 50 days.

This campaign is aimed at people with limited knowledge and exposure to the Internet and the experience has been designed to create awareness of the benefits of this powerful medium.

The Karnataka leg of Google's Internet Bus will continue to focus on four themes -- information, communication, entertainment and education. The video driven content will showcase how even with basic knowledge of the Internet people can make their everyday lives simpler. The content will also provide familiarization on using services like search, email, social networking, online maps and mobile. All this information will be available in English and Kannada.

Dr. Prasad Ram, Head of Google R&D, India, said: "Tamil Nadu was a big learning for us and it was inspiring to see that people wanted to know about the internet and share their needs with us. This experience has reinforced our belief that awareness is the key challenge in the growth of the Internet in India and we are excited about bringing this campaign to yet another state. In this phase besides popular services like email, search and videos, we will be focusing on how mobile phones can be used to access useful local information even without data plans. Access to the Internet in local languages will continue to be a focus area."

The success of the Internet Bus in Tamil Nadu was evident from the number of interesting stories that followed each time the bus visited a city. In Krishnagiri, an elderly couple came on board the Google Internet Bus and, after experiencing Gmail, decided to buy a computer and use it to communicate with their son who was abroad.

A young businessman who dropped out of high school said that "since visiting the Google Internet Bus, I have found a way to improve my knowledge of the stock market." In Coimbatore, a young boy, who sold flowers for a living and had never been exposed to the Internet managed to learn about Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Search in Tamil, his mother tongue.

Users across India will be able to follow the bus through its journey, see pictures and videos and join online communities.

Download YouTube videos, movies via Tube2Keep

2009-05-04T04:01:00.000+05:30

While browsing the Internet, I came across an interesting story titled Tube2Keep - Easily Download YouTube Videos And YouTube Movies!

On visiting Tube2Keep, the site does say that it allows easy video download from your favorite sites -- such as YouTube, Google Video, DailyMotion, CollegeHumor, Break.com, Blip.tv, RedTube, etc., using this site's bookmarklet.

Now, I haven't tried this out, largely because I am not such a big fan of online videos, unless those are really of interest. Am more happy if I can instead watch the same video on a TV screen!

Surely, you should try this out, given that YouTube has a high ranking of 3 on Alexa, which means, lots of folks visit that site. Therefore, lots of friends out there may be interested in downloading videos. Enjoy!

Celebrating World Press Freedom Day!

2009-05-03T02:35:00.000+05:30

May 3 happens to be the World Press Freedom Day. It is annually observed to inform the international community that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are fundamental.

Like most fellow bloggers, I wholeheartedly support the freedom of the press. Like most of my fellow bloggers, I too am a member of Bloggers Unite!

We do get to hear a lot of news about journalists being badly treated, captured, even killed, in the line of action. Such things need to stop. If folks try to curtail the freedom of expression, what's the fun left in reporting? Or for that matter, blogging?

One main reason that blogs have become popular is that bloggers have more or less expressed their opinions freely. Now, they say, there should be a code of conduct for bloggers!

Why? If you don't like someone's blog, simply don't read it! Not everything written about everything else in this world would be rosy!! At least, learn to appreciate the written word. Writing itself isn't an easy job, and engaging text, quite a task!

On our part, definitely, the press, we also need to be careful sometimes not to step on someone else's shoes! Not that the press enjoys doing this, deliberately!

I've seen on many occasions, why fellow members of the press have had to go overboard! And, they have valid reasons for doing so! They were simply provoked! I personally don't believe anyone ever has the intention of giving someone else a bad name through the press. That's not what press and journalism's all about! Is it?

Curtailing bloggers' rights, and suppressing freedom of speech and press is similar to censorship. That should not happen! Otherwise, how will you, the reader, get to know the inside stuff on a whole lot of things happening around the world?

As the famous BeeGees song goes: "Its only words and words are all I have, to take your heart away..."

Please respect and applaud the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression! The world needs it!!

Freelance jobs available on Twitter

2009-05-01T04:31:00.000+05:30

I didn't know there were a whole lot of jobs out there on Twitter, till I bumped into this site, thanks to one of my fellow Tweeter.

One of the tweets you can follow is right here -- freelance jobs on Twitter!

There is yet another site, which lists 50 people on Twitter that job seekers should follow!

Then, there is also the Freelance Supermarket!

Right then folks! Here are three links that you may find useful. I haven't tried any so far, and therefore, look forward to your feedback.

Good luck with your search for freelance jobs!

Opera Mini usage up 157pc YoY!

2009-04-27T19:47:00.000+05:30

OSLO, NORWAY: There has been a major jump in usage, page views and data transfers for Opera Mini this month. In March 2009, more than 23 million people used Opera Mini, a 12.1 percent increase from February 2009 and more than 157 percent increase from March 2008.

Those users viewed more than 8.6 billion pages in March 2009. Since February, page views have gone up 17.4 percent. Year over year (YoY), page views have increased 255 percent. The full State of the Mobile Web report is available here! http://www.opera.com/smw/.

The growth in data transfers also highlights the value Opera Mini offers global operators. In March 2009, Opera Mini served 148 million MB of data to handsets worldwide. Since February, the data consumed went up by 19.3 percent.

Data in Opera Mini is compressed 90 percent on average. If this data were uncompressed, Opera Mini users would have viewed nearly 1.4 PB of data in March. Since March 2008, data traffic is up 319 percent.

A surge of Opera Mini usage in Nigeria pushed that country into the top 10, displacing Germany.

Opera Mini use over the course of a day
We looked at one 24-hour period (Tuesday, March 17) to see how Opera Mini is used throughout the day in the top 10 countries. In this case, we measured usage according to data transferred. For analysis, the 24-hour day was split into six four-hour slices (using local times).

Here is what we observed:
* In all but two of the top 10 countries, the highest level of Opera Mini use is at the tail end of the day -- from 8pm to midnight. In Indonesia, Opera Mini is used most between noon and 4pm. In China, Opera Mini is used most between 8am and noon.
* More than users from any other top 10 country, Nigerians are likely to be browsing with Opera Mini between 4am and 8am.
* More than users from any other top 10 country, Chinese users are likely to be browsing with Opera Mini between 8am and noon.
* More than users from any other top 10 country, Ukrainian and Chinese users are likely to be browsing with Opera Mini between noon and 4pm.
* More than users from any other top 10 country, Polish users are likely to be browsing with Opera Mini between 4pm and midnight.
* Users in all of the top 10 countries are least likely to use Opera Mini between the hours of midnight and 8am.
* In all of the top 10 countries, except Indonesia and China, usage of Opera Mini between 4pm and midnight outweighs Opera Mini usage between 8am and 4pm.

The difference in Opera Mini usage during peak hours versus off-peak hours varies in each country. The biggest difference is noticeable in Poland (28 percent between 8pm and midnight versus 5 percent between midnight and 4am). The smallest difference is noticeable in Nigeria (20 percent between 8pm and midnight versus 14 percent between midnight and 4am).

"A mobile phone will be the device most people use to access the Web," said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. "As millions of people each month discover the Web through Opera Mini, content providers have an incredible opportunity to seize competitive advantage in this new medium. By simply ensuring their content works on any device, they will open themselves to the next generation of Web users."

Snapshot: India
Page-view growth since March 2008: 153 percent
Unique-user growth since March 2008: 53 percent
Page-views per user: 359
This month, GameJump fell off of India's top 10 list. GetJar, on the other hand, is new to the list.

Top 10 sites in India (# of unique users)
google.com
orkut.com
yahoo.com
gmail.com
rediff.com (up from 6)
wikipedia.org (up from 8)
songs.pk
peperonity.com (up from 9)
my.opera.com (up from 10)
getjar.com (new)

Top handsets for March 2009
Nokia N70
Nokia N73
Nokia 3110c
Nokia 6300
Nokia N72
Nokia 3500c
Nokia 6233
Sony Ericsson W200i
Sony Ericsson K750i
Nokia 5310

Malicious activity continues to grow at a record pace globally and in India

2009-04-27T18:37:00.000+05:30

BANGALORE, INDIA: Symantec Corp. announced that malicious code activity continued to grow at a record pace throughout 2008, primarily targeting confidential information of computer users.

According to the company’s Internet Security Threat Report Volume (ISTR) XIV, Symantec created more than 1.6 million new malicious code signatures in 2008. This equates to more than 60 percent of the total malicious code signatures ever created by Symantec -- a response to the rapidly increasing volume and proliferation of new malicious code threats. These signatures helped Symantec block an average of more than 245 million attempted malicious code attacks across the globe each month during 2008.

The Internet Security Threat Report is derived from data collected by millions of Internet sensors, first-hand research, and active monitoring of hacker communications, and provides a global view of the state of Internet security. The study period for the ISTR XIV covers January 2008 to December 2008.

Symantec Internet Security Threat Report -- Global

The report noted that Web surfing remained the primary source of new infections in 2008, and that attackers are relying more and more on customized malicious code toolkits to develop and distribute their threats.

In tune with the global trends, India too saw a substantial increase in its proportion of malicious activity in almost every category. India had the fifth highest number of broadband subscribers in the APJ region in 2008 and the third highest volume of malicious activity, with 10 percent of the regional total. Computers from the United States and China were the leading source of Web-based attacks targeting India, accounting for 84 percent and 5 percent respectively.

“Due to a rapidly growing Internet infrastructure, a burgeoning broadband population and rampant software piracy, India is expected to witness increased malicious activities,” said Vishal Dhupar, managing director, Symantec India. “Unless enterprises improve security protocols and measures to counter malicious activities, India will continue to be a soft target of Internet threats.”

According to the report, India had an average of 836 bots per day during 2008 and there were 1,03,812 distinct bot-infected computers observed in the country during the period. This was a staggering increase of nearly 250 percent from the previous Internet Security Threat Report.

Globally, in 2008, Symantec observed an average of more than 75, 000 active bot-infected computers each day, a 31 percent increase from 2007. India also saw a huge surge in bot command & control servers from 40 in 2007 to 70 in 2008. Bot command-and-control (C&C) servers are computers that botnet owners use to relay commands to bot- infected computers on their networks. The sharp increase in bot-infected computers in India points towards low adoption of security measure that includes Anti -Malware, Intrusion Prevention and Intrusion Detection.

Among the cities in India with the highest number of bot-infected computers, Mumbai figured at the top with 37 percent followed by Chennai at 24 percent and Delhi at 7 percent. Cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta, Surat, Ahmadabad, Cochin and Pune too had a sizeable share of bot-infected computers.

Another alarming trend for Internet users in India is the threat landscape being heavily infested with worms and viruses. In the APJ region, India ranked first on worms and viruses attacks prevalence chart. 9 of the top 10 malcodes found in India consisted of worms (55 percent) and viruses (15 percent) that disabled security related processes, downloaded additional threats and stole confidential information.

While the global averages for worms and virus attacks increased only marginally, India continued to rank high on these vectors of infection. A perfect case in point was the Downadup/Conficker worm, which left over thousands of computers in India infected during the initial stages of attack.

“Enterprises with a lack of ‘defense in depth’ strategies are more likely to see worms and viruses infiltrate their environments and easily access their information and infrastructure,” said Dhupar. “It is time Indian enterprises adopt ingress and egress filtering on perimeter devices to prevent unwanted activity.”

Sixty-five percent of worms and viruses in Indian enterprises are propagated through the File Sharing/Executables mechanism. This indicates that endpoint security and policy are still missing in many organizations as this level of security protection would have allowed IT administrators to scan removable drives for threats. A large number of infections in India have also occurred due to filesharing programs, free downloads, and freeware and shareware versions of software.

Apart from the issue of worms and viruses, spam and phishing continued to plague India as well as the rest of the world. Over the past year, Symantec observed a 192 percent increase in spam detected across the Internet as a whole, from 119.6 billion messages in 2007 to 349.6 billion in 2008. The report found that phishing continued to grow. In 2008, Symantec detected 55,389 phishing Web site hosts, an increase of 66 percent over 2007, when Symantec detected 33,428 phishing hosts.

Twelve percent of spam detected in APJ in 2008 originated in India, making it the third-ranked country for this category. In 2007, India was the fifth-ranked APJ country, accounting for only 4 percent of spam in the region. It had the second highest number of spam zombies, with 17 percent of the regional total, and the fourth highest number of bots, with 5 percent of the total.

The high ranking of India in these categories is the main reason for the high volume of spam originating there.

Who should I follow on Twitter?

2009-04-26T02:37:00.000+05:30

I am sure this is a question most of us ask ourselves. At least, I do! Since my interests are very specific, I find it challenging to determine who to follow. In that dilemma, I actually end up following very few! Now, I don't know whether this is good or bad. However, like a friend told me recently -- it is not in the quantity you follow on Twitter, or your followers, but the quality!

Indeed, a very wise suggestion! If I have less than 100 followers, but if I find that they have a genuine interest in what I write, my day's done! At least, I know that those who read my blog posts seem to have an interest in the subjects I write on.

Who Should I Follow
Right! I also came across a web site called: Who Should I Follow! This web site asks you to put in your Twitter user ID, and promises to give you suggestions on interesting people to follow.

Well, I did try with my own user name, but I don't think I received the desired results. As I said, my needs are very specific. I'd like to follow those who write on topics of my interest, and well, at least, write something new all the time, so I get to learn even more. However, that's me. I have a suggestion for this site -- please add a line for interests, besides, searching by the Twitter username, for example, cooking or photography or mobile phones. Maybe, that will lead to delivering more quality results.

Perhaps, it may not be a bad idea for you to try out this web site. You may find those you'd like to follow and make new Twitter friends.

By the way, may I add here that among those who are following me on Twitter, I've managed to strike up some sort of friendship as the interests are quite common. In fact, a few have even gone ahead with some business related discussions.

So, those new to Twitter, there's more to having followers or simply following others. Think business, think relationships -- and long term! Best of luck

Welcome to Pradeep Chakraborty's Telecom Blog!

2009-04-25T02:34:00.000+05:30

Welcome to PC's Telecom Blog!

Hi friends, I've been thinking about adding a telecom blog to my network for a very long time! The reason being, I started my career in electronics and telecom back in 1989.

I had the privilege of being part of Asian Sources Telecom Products -- a site, which I managed and built, with the help of my team and colleagues at Asian Sources Media, and later, Global Sources. Later, I moved on to Wireless Week, USA, as Asia Pacific Editor for the Asian Edition.

Back in India, I managed Convergence Plus for a short while, before launching four sites for CIOL in 2004 -- Mobility, Networking, Storage and Security.

Given this background in telecommunications, it is apt for me to start a blog on this subject as well. Telecom has been my forte, and well, it is a subject that has also won me four awards in technology journalism, while at Global Sources.

Again, this blog has been spun out off my award winning blog! That blog remains unchanged, and will continue to carry top-quality, world class content!

This blogs will now include specific blog posts related to telecommunications, as well as press releases, industry updates, new products, features, statistics, etc. It will cover wireless, wireline, broadband, networking, optical networking, Test & Measurement, etc.

Thanks for your kind support as always. Suggestions for improvements are always welcome! :)

Came across the Fake IPL Player blog!

2009-04-24T02:26:00.000+05:30

I didn't even knew such a blog existed, till now! Perhaps, you too should have a look.

It does not matter whether the characters, as the blog says, are fictitious. It does not matter whether the blog posts are authentic! Mann, this blogger is extremely creative! The blogger really has a way with words and knows how to capture the audience.

If this blogger is to be believed, then the gossips mentioned in the blog are really entertaining. I've been laughing and laughing!! Can't stop myself! Hey blogger, way to go mann! You should be in the creative writing/advertising business. And well, carry your pseudonym! You'd make a really great career! Best of luck! Now, let me read the Fake IPL Player blog some more!

Separate blogs on semiconductors and solar photovoltaics

2009-04-19T16:30:00.000+05:30

This is just to let all of my readers, friends and well wishers know that I've rolled out two separate blogs on semiconductors and solar photovoltaics.

Friends, based on feedback received from some of you, I have set up these new blogs.

1. PC's Semiconductors Blog

2. PC's Solar Photovoltaics Blog

These blogs have been spun out off my award winning blog! That blog remains unchanged, and will continue to carry top-quality, world class content!

These two blogs will now include specific blog posts related to either semicon or solar/PV from my award winning blog, other specific blog posts, as well as press releases, industry updates, statistics, etc.

Thanks for your kind support as always. Suggestions for improvements are always welcome! :)

Upsets ensure smashing start to IPL Edition 2

2009-04-19T00:46:00.000+05:30

What a smashing start to IPL2! What a day!! Two games, two big upsets!!! Perhaps, no one anticipated such a start to the Indian Premier League 2009, which kicked off in South Africa today!

In the first game, Mumbai Indians, led by Sachin Tendulkar, defeated last year's runners-up Chennai Super Kings by 19 runs. In the next game, last year's winners, Shane Warne led Rajasthan Royals were thrashed by 75 runs, besides suffering the humiliation of recording the lowest total -- 58 -- in the competition's history!

Standout performers -- the old guards of Indian cricket -- Sachin Tendulkar in the first game, and Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble in the second! Kumble's was a class act!

Lessons from day 1 of the second edition of the IPL are stark:

* Big hits won't be that easy!
* Bowlers will have some impact due to the conditions in South Africa!
* Teams need to develop some serious batting strategies -- some of the shot selections were pretty awful!
* Good, solid batting techniques are now going to play a key role in South Africa -- a point evident by the way Tendulkar and Dravid batted in their respective innings!
* Good old fashioned line-and-length bowling could be the key -- just look at the way Anil Kumble, Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Lasit Malinga, Jesse Ryder, Joginder Sharma, Dmitri Mascarenhas and Zaheer Khan bowled today! Harbhajan Singh, too!
* Cricket lovers should not expect very tall scores in every game.
* Power scores could well be in the realm of 140-150, especially during night games, where the ball could do something extra!
* Oh yes, batters, you need to adjust to the 'spungy bounce' of South African wickets!

The way Anil Kumble cleaned up wickets, the zip with which Shane Warne bowled and the manner in which Matthew Hayden was shaping up indicates that there is no substitute for experience in cricket.

In the middle of all of this blitz by experienced hands, Abhishek Nayar played a super cameo, smashing Andrew Flintoff for three sixes in an over! Can't get better than this!

There are lots of games to be played, lots of stars to be unveiled. One bad start does not mean teams going down early cannot bounce back!

Watch IPL II for free on the Internet
Finally, for those who wish to watch IPL for free on the Internet, my friend, Abhigna, reported that Microsoft India, in association with IPL, unveiled an online IPL viewing experience on the official website of IPL, promoted by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Happy watching!

Tried Tweetdeck and Twazzup?

2009-04-14T11:40:00.000+05:30

All you Twitter lovers, users and fans, am wondering whether you've had the chance to use TweetDeck and Twazzup!

First, TweetDeck! This is a very simple and a fast way to experience Twitter! It acts as a browser, and allows you to stay in touch with what's happening on Twitter real time, besides connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook, etc.

The latest version, v0.25, is said to have a fix for a memory leak issue, and new features such as short URL previews, Twitpic thumbnails, recording of 12s video clips and Facebook integration.

Twazzup is a search engine that allows you to search Twitter and find relevant information. For example, I searched for my account on Twazzup and was elated to find all of my recent tweets listed there, even nicely arranged as per topics -- such as AMD, Intel, MCUs, PV, etc.

In case, you've uploaded any images using TwitPic, it shows up on the right side of the page. And so do the most popular links of articles that you may have posted!

Well, enjoy using Twitter, friends! Power to micro blogging!!

Keep track of popular content with PostRank Discovery engine

2009-04-08T01:23:00.000+05:30

For those of you using PostRank to keep track of the most popular content on your respective sites or blogs, here's another useful tool -- the PostRank Discovery engine.

The PostRank Discovery engine enables everyone to:
* discover the most timely, relevant, and engaging content online.
* search and segment content by specific topic areas and interesting and influential publishers.
* create, share, and subscribe to the the best curated and auto-updated reading lists.

Best of luck to those who wish to use this service from PostRank.

Twitpic -- upload your pictures on Twitter!

2009-04-05T02:00:00.000+05:30

Folks, if you haven't tried, Twitpic, suggest you do!

First, if you have a Twitter account, which I believe most of you do, please use that to log into Twitpic. Once there, you have several options to upload photos on to Twitter.

According to Twitpic, you can upload pictures to TwitPic from your mobile phone, or use Twitpic's API, or through the website itself. It is as simple as that! There are some popular twitter clients that have built-in support for TwitPic.

So, with your micro blogging, you can also share images for everyone to see. Now, won't that make your posts look great? I've tried it, and it really looks marvellous.

SMEs, want a free Web site? Try Yola!

2009-04-04T03:05:00.000+05:30

I came across a very interesting article on TechNewsWorld, titled: How to build a small business web site... part 9! Very interested, to know more, I proceeded to read it. Well, there are eight other parts to this article, all linked very nicely from this page.

However, I'd like to draw the attention of those small businesses who don't have a web site or web presence yet, to Yola, formerly, SynthaSite.

Three things caught my eye: At Yola, you can find all the tools you need to build a website just the way you want. Next, no problems, if you aren't Web or HTML savvy. Simply, point and click. Drag and drop. That's all you need to know! Finally, and well, amazingly enough, you can build and host your website for free!

Even the Yola blog suggests that it has extended more choices with domain names. An SME/SMB can easily register domains with .net, .org, and .biz, extensions, besides the .com extensions. Yola will automatically configure those domains for the users.

An observation about Yola: According to its FAQs, Yola exemplifies the creativity and excitement that people bring to their websites. The name comes from the Hindi word for 'hatch' (jhola). Yola is where you hatch your big ideas on the web. Interesting!

So, here's a chance for all of those SMEs/SMBs, who are looking at hosting their own web sites, to do it largely for free.

Top 10 media predictions for 2009: Deloitte

2009-03-28T17:10:00.000+05:30

Deloitte recently came out with its TMT (telecom, media and technology) predictions for 2009. Here are some bits from the media predictions for 2009. May I also take this opportunity to thank V. Srikumar, partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, for sharing this study.

1. Putting the print out of peril may require stopping the presses.
Obviously, the print media industry would be required to accelerate steps and re-establish profitable business models again in 2009. Also, those print titles that have gone online, but whose Internet revenues are not balancing falls from print, need to evaluate why this is happening. Are salespeople actively promoting online? The advertising support model, in its current form, does not appear to be working. M&As may not be a major source of liquidity or capital in 2009.

2. Television rediscovers its self belief.
The year 2009 could well prove to be a renaissance for the small screen. Viewing hours is likely to increase -- by as much as 30 minutes per week per viewer. The TV sector should also ensure its advertising impact is given due credit. An example could be a unique URL for those guided to the website via an advertising spot. UGC could get fundamentally challenged in 2009. Online sites specializing in UGC may look at offering viewers regular TV programming as it could attract more advertising.

3. 3D becomes an obligation, not an option, at the movies.
To convince movie goers on spending this year, 3D could well turn out to be a key differentiator. The industry may have to decide between 3D or higher resolution, and which one would have a higher impact on the consumer. Makers of 3D technology should also look at other areas, besides entertainment, such as peer-to-peer communications, medicine and teaching.

4. The growing cost of free online content.
We all know that the days of free lunches are over or will soon be over! Those sites hosting UGC would need to re-evaluate how best to increase the monetization of their offerings. One way could be to charge consumers for making their content available online. Online content companies also need to be realistic about charging consumers. Those who really wish to put up their content online, are very likely to pay, and could also pay more for premium services.

5. Rising stars take on the megastars.
This aspect is quite frightening! For example, blogs wielding more influence than say, news sites or even portals. It is already happening! However, this study from Deloitte, looks at the entertainment. Best bands may prefer reducing capacity, rather than reduce prices. Megastars may have to be part of a longer bill, playing longer sets, or offering additional acts -- to provide value for money. For record companies, creating a deep pool of indie bands may lead to riches. Live theater, emerging bands and folk music could all benefit.

6. "Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, listeners": the dawn of WiFi radio.
The Internet radio never really took off the way I thought it would. Adding Wi-Fi to the Internet radio may help. Nevertheless, this Deloitte study feels that Internet radio, particularly, in the form of WiFi based portable radio sets, may take off in 2009 -- in terms of audience and revenues. People at work also represent a growing audience for the Internet radio. A growing installed base of smartphones, with WiFi, that can act as Internet radio sets, could help. Internet radios definitely promise a powerful platform for advertisers, if tapped well!

7. Mobile advertising finds its meaning.
The potential of mobile advertising can be realized once the industry takes note of its strengths and accepts its limitations. I do find folks trying to push PC-type ads into mobile phones, but that's not the game! Deloitte advises advertisers to create campaigns targeted for mobile and work within its limitations. Campaigns based on text messaging can still be highly effective. The mantra: An advertising that can be sent to the entire mobile community with a single click, will be successful!

8. The markets get anti-social with social networks.
We are all aware of how social networks tend to get abused or misused. However, this is not the point Deloitte is making. A harsh 2009 and contracting online advertising could likely see this free ride come to an end. Profitable social networks should ensure that they differentiate themselves. Social networks should also evaluate how the elements of their technology can be applied in the enterprise context. Social networks and enterprises -- heard that line several times. Concrete action -- yet to be seen!

9. Re-inventing mobile television (mobile TV).
Every year, we hear that mobile TV will take off! It hasn't happened yet, has it? Deloitte calls on content companies to adopt a wider view of the mobile phone. The mobile phone could be used, for instance, to control DVRs remotely. Or, it could be used for order-and-pay programming. Or, for providing CRM. For instance, mini trailers could be sent to smartphone users. The mobile phone could be enable more to measure TV viewing.

10. The rise of malvertising and its threats to brands.
As Deloitte says: "Anything that makes large numbers of Internet users decide that clicking on online advertisements could be a bad or dangerous thing, threatens the current business model of almost every company that does business online." It calls upon website publishers to educate employees of the malware threat. Detecting malware and remedies are key! Similarly, website administrators also need to have better control over their third-party suppliers. The Internet advertising community should come together to combat this growing menace of malware.

For more information, do contact Deloitte.

Looking for jobs? Try TwitterJobSearch! Where jobs meet Twitter!

2009-03-18T02:28:00.000+05:30

I haven't written any of this really! It is from a wonderful press release sent to me! What happens when jobs meet Twitter? Read below to find out nore!

OK, I also tried this out! Wow! I am really overwhelmed! This has to be the MOST efficient job search engine! OnTwitterJobSearch my first search was "Jobs in Semiconductors." Hey, TwitterJobSearch threw up a whopping 14,221 results found in 0.047 seconds!

My next test was "Jobs in Embedded"! Well, no surprises!! It threw up 14224 results found in 0.062 seconds! And "IT jobs in Bangalore" returned 6,548 results found in 0.062 seconds!

The release on TwitterJobSearch
Rounding off the buzz at this year’s SXSWi is the launch of TwitterJobSearch, the first ‘smart’ search engine that extracts meaning from Twitter content to create a real-time, global online resource of all jobs posted onto the platform.

Using relevancy algorithms developed by Workhound, the UK's largest job search engine, the technology will build out into further social media channels and topics, providing semantic intelligence capabilities for social media platforms, business and consumers.

“ TwitterJobSearch is an early example of how social media search needs to evolve and signals how solid business models can be built;” commented Howard Lee, CEO of Workhound. "The pronounced shift into social media and cloud computing is already changing the Internet landscape and evolving consumers’ expectations. Search and social network providers are in real danger of losing their relevance and traction unless they can get this right.”

Twitter now attracts more visitors than Digg, with traffic increasing over 974 percent through 2008 (Hitwise) suggesting it will soon become a mainstream, mass market proposition.

According to the GigaTweet counter, there have been over 1.3 billion tweets posted on Twitter, yet this wealth of raw data has previously only been searchable via keywords, trends or popularity. Hashtags are useful for the categorisation and searching of subjects but there is no way of controlling the number of tags created or used per topic, while popular tags such as #jobs have quickly turned into
catch-alls for anything vaguely ‘job’ related.

“If the value of Twitter is going to extend beyond one's social graph, better search tools are required;" added William Fischer, Director of Workhound. “By applying contextual search to billions of really quite random tweets, we're helping social networks to evolve from communication tools to become powerful publishing platforms."

TwitterJobSearch looks at the content of every tweet in context to determine its intent and break out filterable data. Getting beyond the 140-character limit of Twitter by going beyond the tweet, the technology also looks at biography information and crawls the destination URLs to find additional information and context.

The real-time relevancy engine and algorithms determine everything from whether the source of the post was a feed, retweet or original message, what language was used, whether the tweeter has previously posted job vacancies and how the words used categorize the content. Additional context is added wherever possible to ensure the tweet appears in search results if it is missing vital data such as location.

A couple of example searches show the difference in results attainable if contextual search is incorporated. “Sales director London job” on search.twitter.com brings back four results, while the same search on TwitterJobSearch provides 6,202 opportunities, while “Marketing manager New York job” provides 19 and 4,122 respectively.

This initial launch means that anyone online can now access the wealth of job opportunities posted onto Twitter, regardless of whether they are a member. There were 26,090 unique English language vacancies posted onto Twitter over the last seven-day period, which equates to around 3 percent of live vacancies.

Due to the immediacy and ease of use of the platform, Twitter is often used as the primary communications channel, meaning that vacancies posted can be found and applied for before they even reach blogs, job boards or other online resources. In light of the increasingly alarming global unemployment figures, which could rise from 179 million in 2007 to 230 million by the end of 2009 (International Labour Organisation), any tool that supports re-employment and recruitment will become of greater importance as the recession bites harder.

TwitterJobSearch requires no registration, is free to use and automatically incorporates all unique vacancies posted onto Twitter at no charge. A range of low cost, premium positioning features will be added in the future to provide an opportunity for recruiters and employers to ensure extra exposure on the service.

Based on Workhound’s search technology, the suite of recruitment services will evolve to incorporate iPhone-specific applications and further highly-trafficked networks such as Facebook and FriendFeed. The company is also using its core infrastructure to create intelligent semantic services in a number of other popular search categories which will be brought to market over the course of the year.

For those of you looking for jobs, best of luck! And, if you find one, using TwitterJobSearch, please do remember to share your experience with me! And well, hats off to TwitterJobSearch! You just made searching for jobs so much easier!!

Technorati Attention Index: Top 50 media sites bloggers link!

2009-03-10T01:49:00.000+05:30

This is actually taken from Technorati, and isn't an original post.

Technorati recently tried to determine the influence of mainstream media sites in the blogosphere. The result: the Technorati Attention Index. Given below are the top sites with highest number of blogs linking to them in the past 30 days. These will be updated every month by Technorati.

1. YouTube
2. New York Times
3. BBC News
4. CNN.com
5. MSN
6. guardian.co.uk
7. Washington Post
8. Yahoo! News
9. Reuters
10. Los Angeles Times
11. Telegraph.co.uk
12. MSNBC
13. The Wall Street Journal
14. Time
15. Wired
16. USA Today
17. boston.com
18. FOX News
19. Daily Mail
20. ESPN
21. CBS News
22. Financial Times
23. Forbes
24. San Francisco Chronicle
25. Chicago Tribune
26. The White House
27. New York Post
28. New York Daily News
29. International Herald Tribune
30. PBS
31. Salon.com
32. BusinessWeek
33. Slate
34. Newsweek
35. New York Magazine
36. Economist.com
37. CBC.ca
38. San Francisco Examiner
39. MarketWatch
40. Chicago Sun-Times
41. US News & World Report
42. Houston Chronicle
43. Yahoo! Sports
44. Entertainment Weekly
45. Seattle Times
46. E! Online
47. People
48. Science Daily
49. Style.com
50. The Christian Science Monitor

Celebrating International Women's Day... celebrating some of my colleagues and friends!

2009-03-08T22:23:00.002+05:30

Today happens to be the International Women's Day. It is the day to celebrate the success of women in all walks of life. Ladies, I take my hat off to you! As a mother, wife, friend, teacher, professional, IT professional, and so on, I don't think you have any parallel!

I have been very lucky to have several female bosses and also interacted with them during my career. The first name that comes to my mind is that of Ms Sarah Benecke at Global Sources, Hong Kong. According to a Forbes' listing she has been a director since April 2000, and, since 1993, was a director of Trade Media. Sarah was principal executive officer from Jan. 1994 through Aug. 1999.

I do remember the tenure when Global Sources went from strength to strength under her leadership. I had the opportunity of rolling out online specification tables for Telecom Products during 1998-99, an exercise that was also conducted by Electronic Components. I did interact very briefly with Sarah, for a project, Reverse Auction, probably shelved later. Nevertheless, it was an experience where I learned a lot!

I had a set of great colleagues as well, notably, Cindy Fung, Helen Lam, Denice Lai, Pauley Wong, Joyce Wong, Jex Balde, Lou Corpuz, Jo Kent, Vanessa, Sue Pace, Mick Lee-Pollack, Len Sangalang, Jen Tuason, Christo Leung, Jesse Ng, Kitty Wong, Phyllis Ng, Gal Roma, Sylvia Gilkes, Jen Calubad, Reche Cuyco, Georgina, Kennis Kwok, Sylvia, Georgia Zhuang, Catherine Yu, Canis Ho, Camelia So, Bertha, Kennis Kwok, Karmei Tse, Michelle Beck, Pamela Yu, to name a few! Of all the editors, Len is still around at Global Sources, and going great guns.

During my later stint at Global Sources, I again worked with several top-notch journalists and other colleagues -- notably, Melanie Victoriano, Doris Yu, Yuri Chon, Amber Ip, Emper Mendoza, Evelyn Berdera, Marianne Carandang, Esther, Jo Kuo, Sofy Weng, Sammy Lee, Allyn Baldemor, Cecile De Veyra, Nina Villena, Lynn Cacha, Rech Tangcangco and Rose Raguindin -- 'murderers' of my beauty sleep ;).

Janice Poon, co-proprietor, Sharper-I, Hong Kong, remains a good friend till date! Holly Au at Fook Tin, is another great manager that comes to mind!

Among other great colleagues at Global Sources, there's Frances Tai, Rosa Chan, Zoe Lam, Agnes Yim, Agatha Chan, Mayo Leung, Elsa Zheng, Deepa Paul, Jacy, Lillian, Maggie Luo, Melinda Hui, etc. I am in touch with all these great folks and cherish their friendship.

Moving on to Singapore, for Wireless Week, US, brought me in contact with Debbie Denton, and Judith Lockwood Purcell, besides my immediate boss, Margeret Liu. Again, it was a delight to work with them. I had several outstanding colleagues too -- Monica Alleven, who is now Editor-in-Chief, Wireless Week, as well as Peggy Albright, Sue Marek, Heidi Jeter -- all outstanding journalists. Am still in touch with Monica, Judy and Debbie after all these years!

At Reed, I cultivated close ties with a lot of women professionals, notably, Selina Teo, Rajika Mitra, Iris Kwan, Serene Teo, Joy Lee, Geraldine Lek, June Tan, Grace Wong, Pauline, Cynthia, etc.

Interestingly, most of these women were/have been in leadership positions! And, what a great job they all did and continue to do!

Closer to home, a talented journalist, who I think can go a long way, is Geetanjali. Keep up the good work! Priya Ramachandran was another great colleague, and remains a friend till today!

At CIOL, I've had the pleasure of working with great folks such as Latha Chandradeep, Sigi Achappa, Priya Padhmanabhan, Usha Prasad, Radhika Nallayam, Ambika Prakash, Deepa Damodaran, to name a few. All hugely talented, with the capability of doing really great in their careers, should they choose to pursue it.

Last year, I came in touch with Aude Borliataux, who is now Chef de Project at Webdesign International Festival, Limousin, France. I've seen the great work she has done and is capable of! Kaye Lim, formerly of Infineon, Shih-ying Tan of Siemens, Genevieve Haldeman of Symantec and Mohd Sidi Norazah at Dumex, Malaysia would fall in the same category.

I interact regularly with India Semiconductor Association's president, Poornima Shenoy! Then, there's Michelle Prunty at SEMICO and Debra Jaramilla at iSuppli, USA.

In the PR community in India and elsewhere, there are lots of names, especially, Pravin Rikhy, Tarana Uthayya, Poornima Chikkananjaiah, Lakeri Raut, Saswati Panigrahi, Shaili Jani, Sharmita, Bipasha, Shakambari, Sanjana, Aditi, Priyanka Kalia, Edna, Iwin, Farah, Gargi, Suhana Basu (the BBS), Deepa I. and Kauser, and so on and so forth! This list is endless! There are so many names I haven't even added!!

There's Puja Bhattacharya at TI, and Angela and Pooja Bhalla at ST, who interact closely with me. Karen Bartleson from Synonpsys, US, is another great friend and a leader. Can't forget Caan Chui from Hong Kong, either!

In fact, when people tell me, hey, women don't make good managers, or when I find them not getting pushed up to leadership positions, I just look back on my career and find all of these names staring right back at me! If only others could know or see these people, and their potential along with the achievements, they'd be compelled to eat their words!

Well done ladies! It has indeed been a pleasure working with and knowing you! Hope you too feel the same.

This is a test blog for live coverage!

2009-03-04T22:57:00.000+05:30

Hope you like it! Thanks to CoveritLive.com

Test Blog

Don't focus on beauty, focus on function: Adam Lasnik, Google

2009-03-01T03:50:00.000+05:30

The Google India Searchmasters 2009, held today at RMZ Infinity on Old Madras Road presented an excellent opportunity to interact with Googlers and learn more their work.

The gathering of webmasters, bloggers, and other search engine optimization (SEO) specialists made the event memorable. It is rare to find so many Googlers in India interacting with this community, but then, this conference aimed to change that! And it did!!

Presenters ranged from Adam Lasnik, Google's first Search Evangelist, Koti Ivaturi, Strategist in Google's Search Quality Team, Dr. Rajat Mukherjee, Group Product Manager who is working on Google's Custom Search platform, Ankit Gupta, who is working on making mobile products discoverable and accessible, to Deepak Kumar from the Google Analytics team, who also works on Google's Website Optimizer.

The photo shows Google's Adam Lasnik making his presentation!

Of course, there were Vivaik Bharadwaaj, manager of Google's Search Quality Evaluation team in India and Korea, and product manager, Alok Goel. Both were responsible for putting together this event in India, for the first time ever! Kudos, guys!

Bharadwaaj set the tone, stating Google's desire to build a strong relationship with the Indian webmasters' community. He touched upon some of Google's India specific initiatives, such as Orkut, India Corporate Blog, Google Bus (which has just been launched in Tamil Nadu), Transliteration Tool, Mobile Search, Onscreen Keyboard, Webmasters' Forum, and now, Searchmasters!

Speaking on Webmaster Central and Best Practices, Adam Lasnik highlighted three areas for best practices: discovery, accessibility and promotion. Google's guiding principles are fairness, effectiveness and stability. Google's tools and blogs are its two key resources.

How to get good links?
Commenting on good links, he said those were essentially from trustworthy, relevant and from choosy resources. These links are similar to votes that are given consciously.

There are ways your website can get good links. First, create a notable site with original and compelling content. [Wow, I just did a check on Google for my other blog, and received a whopping 4,950 results! Hope I am on the right track!] Next, participate thoughtfully in communities. Also, make your page easy to share and link to.

"Don't focus on beauty, focus on function," Lasnik advised. "Content is really the foundation." Be original, by having your own information and commentary. Make that content compelling, especially the kind that people would be willing to share with others. Also, make that content accessible.

Website accessibility tips and tricks
First, make sure that your web page or website is accessible to both users and to Google. Ensure that all of the pages load and that users can navigate the site successfully. There is a need to ensure that everyone can see what's available on each page. Most importantly, everyone should be able to understand the content provided.

It helps when users are able to bookmark their favorite pages and also share pages with others. They should also be able to transact appropriately on the website as well. "The most important thing here is TEXT," stressed Lasnik. "Your core content and navigation should be in text," he advised.

Lasnik further provided some tips for testing accessibility. One, access your site with different browsers -- a golden tip, most webmasters generally overlook! Next, make sure that you not only browse the website but also transact! Also, have your colleagues explore and complete specific tasks on your website. "Ensure that people and search engines understand what your web pages are all about," he added.

Moving on to page titles, he advised the webmasters to create title tags that are brief, descriptive and compelling. Good titles are specific to the page. You can also consider adding the organization's name. However, care should be taken that the title tags are phrase based, and not a sentence!

Those of you who aren't doing it yet: make the most of your website's images! "Use Alt text, and use descriptive filenames," said Lasnik. Describe the image appropriately in plain text as well. A key note: be kind to other web users and optimize your images!

Some next steps
It is important that searchmasters and webmasters make their web pages discoverable. "Ensure that your site has an HTML sitemap. Add an XML sitemap as well," advised Lasnik.

Next, help users to access and understand your content. Create descriptive and distinct title tags. Annote all images with appropriate Alt text, and all media, with thoughtful surrounding text.

Touching on keyword density, he said that was not something Google really looked at! He added that keyword stuffing actually violated webmaster guidelines. According to Wikipedia, keyword stuffing is considered to be an unethical search engine optimization (SEO) technique. It occurs when a web page is loaded with keywords in the meta tags or in content.

Tackling copied content from your sites
Most bloggers and leading Web sites are plagued with their content being copied by others on to other web sites or even blogs. In fact, I myself spend some time on the Web searching for copied content from my blogs. Well, there's really nothing much I can do about that!

When posed this question, Lasnik referred to bloggers and web sites making use of the DMCA or The Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

As per Wikipedia, The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures (commonly known as Digital Rights Management or DRM) that control access to copyrighted works and it also criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, whether or not there is actual infringement of copyright itself. In addition, the DMCA heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet.

Google Webmaster tools -- see your site like Google sees it!
Koti Ivaturi drew everyone's attention to Google's Webmaster Help Forum. He urged Webmasters to use these tools so that they can see their own sites as Google does!

He referred to the sitemap tools as well, which provide links to tools and code snippets that allow you to generate sitemap files. Google has recently added the Webmaster Help Forum, a new platform.

In the next post, I will discuss the salient points needed to design your site for mobile phones. In fact, Google seems to have a great solution, using the GWT (Google Web transcoder!

Google SearchMasters Conference 2009 is here!

2009-02-25T15:32:00.000+05:30

I consider myself really lucky and delighted at being invited to attend The Google SearchMasters Conference 2009, which will be held this Saturday in Bangalore.

It will present me a great opportunity to learn all about how Google functions, or at least, how its well known search engine functions.

It will be wonderful opportunity to learn about how Google's webmaster resources can help folks develop and build better websites. Attendees will learn how to leverage the different webmaster support tools and improve their website's performance.

There's this brilliant resource from Google for Webmasters. They can connect with the webmaster community, and research and ask specific questions. Users can also learn and see how others are reaching their websites. Besides, you would get to learn how to make your website more search engine friendly. I would surely like to know a bit more about Google Analytics.

Well, I certainly look forward to the Google SearchMasters Conference 2009!

Virtualization overdose at C-Change 2009

2009-02-24T00:50:00.000+05:30

The recently held C-Change 2009 in Kathmandu was exciting and fun! However, I felt that most of the vendor sessions were quite drab! Especially, having two sessions on virtualization were a bit too much! Turns out, it was a virtualization overdose!

I sometimes wonder, this technology has been around for quite a while now, and it is still being touted as a hot technology! Wonder, whether IT is really slipping, sometimes!

I did meet up with several CIOs as well and the majority wasn't really impressed with this line-up of discussions. Even I, as a tech journalist, attend conferences, hoping to see and hear something new. In that context, even the presentations from Frost and IDC disappointed.

The panel discussions stood out well, and it was quite clear that the CIOs want to have more say and involvement with the event. Peddling vendors alone, or having some overdose of technologies isn't really going to help anyone.

It was so good to see CIOs totally captivated by the sessions taken by Dr. Ganesh Natarajan and Som Mittal of NASSCOM, Jagdish Khattar and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.

One other heartening thing to note was the interest of CIOs in undertaking some team exercises, a la C-Change 2008. Maybe, the organizers will include it all over again in the next edition.

My next blog could be on photonics!

2009-02-15T04:00:00.000+05:30

My semiconductor blog has been doing fairly well, with God's grace and my parents blessings. This blog, as I said earlier, is more of my fun blog, where I can afford to NOT do serious writing.

I would just like to inform those who are interested that I propose to roll out a new blog on photonics -- another topic very close to my heart!

Bordeaux in France, recently hosted the "Invest in Photonics" show, which was a grand success, despite the ongoing recession. Initiated by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, it was co-organised with ALPhA (Aquitaine Laser Photonics and Applications) and the CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission). The second edition of this event will be held in 2010.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to be part of the Webdesign International Festival (WIF 2008) in Limousin, Limoges, in France, thanks to the initiative of good friend Aude Bourliataux. While researching on photonics in Europe, I came across Elopsys, the competitiveness Cluster for 'microwave, photonics, secure network technologies and digital design' in the French Limousin region. And, that increased my curiosity! How did I miss this, while being actually present at Limoges?

Aude was very quick to help me out, and even re-introduced me to Claire, head of Pôle e-Design, whom I also know from the WIF 2008 event.

According to information from Aude, Elopsys has been developing technologies to cover the entire signal emission-transmission-reception-processing chain. Its expertise covers cutting edge fields in electronics, information technology and microwave technology, electronic and photonic components for communication systems and networks. Since 2009, Elopsys Cluster has integrated a new skill in digital design.

The Elopsys Competitiveness Cluster comprises: 70 members, 70M€ financed, 100 projects approved, more than 150 partners, 20 start-up created and three setting-up! Wow, that's quite a lot! Firms such as Thales and Cisteme are based here as well, so that's very interesting!

I need time to mull over photonics, folks! :) And, many thanks, Aude!

What are my reasons for blogging!

2009-02-11T19:57:00.000+05:30

Recently, my main blog -- Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog -- was nominated for the Best Technology Blog by BlogNet Blog Awards.

Well, my friend, Jonathan Lloyd, from the UK, sent me a very nice congratulatory mail and also asked me what made me take up blogging! By the way, we met on LinkedIn, and also share a group -- the FastTrack 100!

Jonathan is the founder of BusinessMedia, UK, and plans to feature a post that looks at business related (B2B) blogs. The eventual plan is to recommend the top 10 business blogs for their readers. He specifically wanted to find out a little more about what made me set up my blog.

Well, my reasons are fairly simple and straightforward!

1. I am realy tired of searching Google and Yahoo, and other search engines for information, and hence, decided to write on key information on semiconductors.

2. My blog is also my archive -- I am really frustrated at NOT being able to FIND my old articles on the Web. The few, I found on other sites, actually wanted me, as a user, to sign up! To read my own articles... really! So, Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog now archives all of my articles written over the past two years.

3. India DOES NOT have any magazine on semiconductors yet, and till I also spun of a semiconductor site off the blog for CIOL, there wasn't even a semicon portal in India! I hope I have managed to give India a small and decent site on semiconductors!

4. I wanted to be THE resource for the semiconductor industry... again, I have miles to go. It is not easy being a lone ranger :)

5. The sheer thrill of doing something difficult -- sitting in India -- which does not have such detailed blogs on semiconductors, especially. And well, it has really been difficult :) but very thrilling! My colleague, Usha, pokes fun at me -- saying, go, light your bulb (a la the Sharukh Khan movie, Swades!) Ok, I've done nothing of that sort, as this movie showed...

6. My blog posts are all exclusive pieces, as I'm a believer in: great content = great traffic! Again, it is really difficult writing exclusive posts, especially on semiconductors.

7. I wanted to see where I stand, as against my former employers :) -- EDN, US (Reed) and EE Times (Global Sources). Yes, I can never match them! ;) These are the places where I developed myself as a writer and an editor, and I will forever remain indebted to Global Sources and Reed!

8. I also attempted to create a brand out of my name, using semiconductors, essentially, as a platform. I have yet to see how successful it has been :)

There you go! These are my reasons!!

TechFools, is what I call my fun blog, where I can write leisurely blog posts such as these.

If you notice, traffic has really not been among my top priorities. These blogs and blog posts are my own, and so are my opinions, and well, for my own consumption. If readers on the Internet find something useful on my blogs, and choose to stop by, that is a bonus and very humbling.

One other reason for my blogging: I really enjoy meeting new people, and my blog has managed to bring a whole lot of new friends to me -- from all over the world. That's really priceless!!

I am sure you have your own reasons for blogging. :) Keep it up, my dear friends!

What it takes to be a professional? The three Ds!

2009-02-07T03:18:00.000+05:30

Yes, everyone loves calling himself or herself 'very professional', and I am no different! What defines professionalism? Let me make an attempt.

One, the ability to do your work in the best possible manner, and to deliver what's required of you, as scheduled or even before! Two, to be highly skillful in what you do. Three, to be very knowledgeable about your line of work. Four, to be very quick at your work, simply because you've become so adept at it -- like it is second nature.

Some others could be: conforming to the work related standards of your job in a highly focused manner. Perhaps, being deeply involved in any activity as a source of your livelihood or career; an example, blogger. Or even, doing performances for a fee, such as tennis or soccer stars. Maybe, even some having great skill in some activity; an example, a Kung Fu exponent like the late Bruce Lee.

Well, what does it take to be a professional. Blood, sweat and tears! Or, the three Ds: discipline, dedication and devotion!!

You've to put in long hours of practice at your profession. There's a saying that goes something like -- anyone should never be concerned about the thousands things that you do, but that person will surely be concerned about that one thing that you do a thousand times! Hope, I've got the meaning right! :)

What does this mean? You become very good at something specific -- for example chess. Or, you are simply exceptional at the trapeze. How did you achieve this? By hours and hours of practice. And, constant practice! They say, practicing is boring! Hey, those long boring hours eventually lead you to great success.

Just take a look at some folks who are experts at gaming. They've achieved this status by constant hours of practice. The gaming industry is thriving because of them. I am reminded of one such friend, Jambi Reyes, my ex-colleague in Global Sources. He is a class act! Wonder, why he's not yet taken up gaming as a full time profession!

Right actions, along with the right approach and attitude, will lead you to success as a thorough professional! And, a leader!!

Cut the chirp! Get Filttr, with Twitter!

2009-01-28T21:42:00.000+05:30

How many of you, like me, are on Twitter? Possibly, everyone! How many of you feel there is an overdose of information on Twitter? Again, possibly, everyone!

So, here's a chance to cut the chirp and get to the relevant! I guess, that's what Filttr sets out to achieve!

According to the Filttr site, its amazingly intelligent birds fetch you, the user, only those tweets that are relevant for you.

Interestingly, I could not sign up, as the "NEXT" link on the sign-up page refused to work. Maybe, it is a beta flaw or something. Hence, I was unable to test the system. I will surely try again later, so nothing much to report otherwise!

Nevertheless, more power to micro blogging!

PS: Later, I was able to email Filttr, and get a response as well. And yes, the site did work. Thanks Swaroop!

Twingly helps searching blogs!

2009-01-25T04:26:00.000+05:30

After a long list of web search engines, and then music search engines, now we have blog search engines as well. Well, I am referring to Twingly! Try it!

First up, I am always thrilled to see my blog and posts featuring high on search engines. So, it was no different this time! My first attempt -- semicon -- threw up a lot of my current blog posts from my award winning blog (some more of shameless, self promotion, ;) ok!).

Some of the blog posts that showed up on page one, as per TwinglyRanks, were:

1. Reviewing global/Indian semicon industry in 2008 -- top posts! Well, this was also the top or first search result for semicon!
2. Semicon outlook 2009: Global market could be down 7pc or more.
3. Top 10 captivating moments in Indian semicon during 2008.

I was particularly pleased to see the third post (above) figuring in the search results. Tells me, Indian semiconductor industry is still in good health and attracting interest from all over!

Coming back to Twingly, it is a blog search engine featuring a spam-free, faceted, social search for the global blogosphere. The site claims that without any marketing, Twingly currently serves 25M+ search results per month, most through its API. Also, the Twingly Blogstream is used by 50 newspapers, magazines and TV channels in eight countries to get more attention from bloggers, generating 200M+ monthly widget views.

What I liked about Twingly is that the search results also link the user straight to my blog's RSS feeds! Somehow, it also throws up a blog profile for my blog. So, I imagine, it is the same for all of the other blogs. You can also get your search results as widget for your blog!

There are some other features like microblog search, ping your blog, etc. If you join, you can also create email alerts for blog updates.

However, adding the widgets is not so easy! For instance, my profile page shows options for three widgets -- Recent posts, Most linked posts, and Recent linking posts. However, instead of embedding easily into Blogger or Wordpress, the site asks you to add codes on to your blog's HTML page, which can be a challenge! And well, this made me NOT add the widget. Well, Twingly's worth a try!

To all of my Chinese friends from all over the world -- Kung Hei Fat Choy :) 恭喜發財

Watch your favourite music videos at Jogli; and don't miss Slumdog Millionaire!

2009-01-23T01:01:00.000+05:30

January 22nd has been a great day for the Indian cinema fraternity, with the widely acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire getting nominated for 10 Oscars! What an achievement for the underdog!

Yes, it is a movie about the triumph of an underdog in the biggest game show -- "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"! The fact that the underdog wins this competition -- based on his knowledge of all the answers, which were all associated with his growing up -- first, in the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai, and later, as a young man in a call center. And all along, he feel in love too! Never mind, I've always been a poor story teller!!

Okay, what has this particular blog post got to do with technology? Well, since the movie only releases today, those who follow Indian cinema are well aware that Slumdog Millionaire's brilliant music director, A.R. Rahman, has been nominated for three Oscars for his wonderful music score! Therefore, I wanted to find some site where I could watch vidoes of the songs from this movie!

That's how I came across Jogli!

Jogli, my friends, is a music search engine! To my sheer delight, I was also able to locate videos of Abba, Beatles, Beegees and Bomey M as well, while listening to Jai Ho, from the Slumdog Millionaire! And that made my day!!

For all of you music buffs, Jogli has recently launched a widget as well -- the Jogli Widget! You can embed albums and playlists into your Web pages. Like all widgets, this can be customized too!

The site has a very interesting message on its home page -- register and be the DJ! I haven't tried it myself, but am sure most of you would definitely love to!

It also has a feature, called Scrobbler. You need to type names of some of your favorite artists and Jolgi will scrobble those for you! Means, it selects your choice of artists and prepares a playlist for you too! Wonderful! You can save the list as a playlist if you like! Surely, I can think of at least 50 artists I like, and I can't wait to have a massive playlist of over 500 videos or more!

Yet another feature allows you to upload your iTunes playlist or Last.fm and make it a video playlist! Great! Hope you find the music that you love!!

Now, please allow me to get back to the music, for a change, away from semiconductors and telecom, and all sorts of technologies! Dance, while the music still goes on (Abba)! :)

PS: Don't miss the Slumdog Millionaire! ;)

Print your blogs and make money!

2009-01-20T21:11:00.000+05:30

Bloggers, especially those, who are just joining the blogosphere, there is a tool, which allows other people to print your blog!

Blog2Print has been around for a while, I believe. However, this site allows bloggers to have their blogs printed and convert those into 'blog books.' As of now, the Blog2Print supports Blogger and Wordpress blogging platforms.

According to the site, a 20-page softcover Blog Book is just $14.95, and a hardcover is $24.95. Extra pages can be added for only 35 cents (per page, I guess).

As a user, you can choose the blog book's cover and the images, as well as the number and the order of blog posts. The site allows you to edit the book, and add/remove comments, and add/remove pictures.

Blog2Print also allows bloggers to sell their own blogs. A blogger would need to add Blog2Print to his/her blog. Each time a blog book blog is bought, the blogger gets to receive 20 percent of the sales of the books sold from his/her blog.

Well folks, here's your chance to make some money! Write super blog posts having unique, relevant content. Soon, you'd be laughing all the way to the bank ;)