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The 3 P’s that make an IT company

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Revisiting an old stack of papers could be so much fun and insightful at the same time! It’s real fun to look back at the old targets in a rugged diary and feel proud over the ‘tick’ marks representing accomplishments. So here’s the lowdown of what ALW CEO Vivek Singhal found in his 2008 notes.

“I remember while I wrote them, I was fully aware of the challenges of recession which began that year. And that’s when I wrote about the three P’s, that I intended to work on, namely: People, Projects and Processes. These are exactly what an IT company is composed of,” he shares.

People – really develop and run a system. That way they are assets. If you have the most right people at the right place and in a right proportion, they become valuable assets. “I have realized over the years that a right mix is important. You ought to have opportunists, pessimists, optimists, goal setters, followers, leaders and so on to make a complete mix that can go a long way in helping an IT company really progress and keep moving forward,” he adds.

However, the people’s P wouldn’t be so effective without the projects’ P. If you don’t manage to get the right kind of projects, even the best of people wouldn’t be able to contribute efficiently. So a company needs the right kind of clients and the right pricing i.e neither too expensive nor too cheap.

Procedures or processes – without these neither of the two P’s can really deliver an output. This is the thread that really binds the company and enables its smooth running.

Incidentally, ALW is all spruced up for a performance evaluation this month and the three P’s are going to be guiding lights in the process. As always, the team and team leaders are committed to reward the best performers and fix new targets for the forthcoming better half of the year.

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AnyLinuxWork to launch plug-n-play products at CeBIT Australia

Monday, April 18th, 2011

A ShopNetwork, Rent A Property and mFIT Fitness Portal – the three most awaited and innovative products of AnyLinuxWork are all set to be launched during the CeBIT Australia Show that commences on May 31st this year.

AnyLinuxWork, apart from representing as a web development company from India in CeBIT Australia 2011, will launch three of its most prestigious plug-n-play products which are unique in many ways. Among the products, there is a shopping network application that also has many social networking features apart from the facility of running online stores. Then there’s an extremely useful real estate rental project directed at people who want to have a second home during vacations. It is a unique concept and offers a variety of options to the users. Last but not the least is mFIT Fitness portal – an extremely upbeat and trendy website for fitness enthusiasts, fitness trainers and fitness experts. This is a great platform for almost anyone and everyone connected and interested in fitness. This portal also offers a variety of unique features like calorie calculator apart from several useful platforms and forums.

The following is a detailed account of the three plug- n- play products of ALW to be launched at CeBIT 2011.

1) A ShopNetwork: This is a shopping network application based on B2B and B2C model built on MVC architecture. A ShopNetwork is basically a network of shops where shop owners can run their stores on their own domain or as a subdomain. The registered users on this platform are able to switch membership from basic (Buyer) to premium (Store Owner) and vice-versa anytime. The portal enables the store owner to upload the products under specific category/sub category and can manage the theme of the stores.
Technologies used: Zend 1.6, PHP 5.2.9 and MySQL 5, VBulletin for Forum, WordPress mu for Blogs

2) Rent A Property: This project has been developed keeping the real estate rental industry in mind. With the trend of more and more people opting for 2nd homes at holiday locations, the property owners can use this portal for renting out their properties online. The holiday goers can get registered on this portal and choose their rental property for their next holiday destination at any part of the world.
Technologies used: Zend, LAMP, AJAX, Multi-lingual, Tableless CSS and Web 2.0 features

3) mFit Fitness Portal: Looking at the increasing fitness awareness coupled with social media features, AnyLinuxWork has created a unique fitness portal mFit. It can be deployed as plug-n-play system with client specific module customization. Fully developed on web 2.0 standards, mFit can be highly customized thanks to the modular coding approach followed in the development. It is a community portal for fitness enthusiasts with diet and fitness tracking tools along with Gym, Personal Trainer and Dieticians Customer Fitness management modules.
Technologies used: MFT is created on Zend Framework with jQuery plugins for different functionalities like banners, lightbox etc. Integrated WordPress for Blogs and phpBB for Forum on the site.

AnyLinuxWork has a vision of being a leading company in the world of open source world to be able to contribute positively towards the growth of Software Industry in India. India is currently world’s 11th largest economy, with a GDP growth rate of around nine percent. It produces 600,000 engineering graduates annually and is a growing cohort of innovative geeks.

However, what is now evoking so much interest is that expertise in western software is starting to transform into a culture of originality in India, and therefore, it won’t come as surprise that by 2015, the country’s software industry will be worth 12 billion dollars. And this has been steadily attracting companies from US, Europe and Australia. AnyLinuxWork wishes to use this opportunity at CeBIT through showcasing its products.

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AnyLinuxWork ready for CeBIT, seeks to target start-ups

Friday, April 8th, 2011

AnyLinuxWork is all decked up to participate in the 10th CeBIT Australia Show due to be held from May 31st to June 2nd in Sydney. Like always ALW is focused. And this time the company is targeting the growing need for software start-ups in Australian Software Industry.

ALW considers it an absolute honour to be among the 600 companies showcasing their software products and services before as many as 30,000 visitors in CeBIT Australia 2011. Team ALW is focused towards its offerings and is mainly targeting two areas namely outsourcing of open source development in LAMP – PHP, and joint venture/collaboration with a local IT Company. AnyLinuxWork is also going to use its existing client references to generate more business from Australia.

But there’s always a reason behind what we do. We aren’t targeting Australia because we are participating in CeBIT. There is enough number of reasons as to why Australia could be a great market for companies like us.

First of all, Australia is the 13th largest economy in the world. Even during the financial crisis, Australia had kept growing and managed 0.732% economic growth, all thanks to its commodity exports. For the record, over the last two decades, Australia’s economy has experienced positive reforms that have boosted its economy, and raised its standard of living. In 2009, Australia GDP was estimated to be $920 billion. And if forecasts were to be trusted, its growth will continue at least for the next five years, peaking at 3.4% in 2012.

At the software industry front, Australia has been experimenting. Australia is ranked 31st in the world for the maturity of its software industry. In order to regain its former position, start-ups are set to be crucial in reviving Australia’s flagging software sector. Also, start-ups need to develop applications that are relevant to local companies and industry.

“This is the reason why ALW sees CeBIT Australia 2011 as a wonderful platform to seek fresh partnerships with local IT companies there. We also get an opportunity to showcase what we have especially in the field of open source development in LAMP-PHP,” informs ALW CEO Vivek Singhal, who will be flying in with his senior team including COO Nidhi Mongia and senior Project manager Dinesh Panchal.

As a web development company from India at CeBIT Australia, we believe the show offers a chance for comparing notes on current industry trends, networking, and product presentations. We at ALW come fully prepared with Linux-based answers and end-to-end SEO/SMM services. By offering these services, we wish to enhance clients’ enterprise operations, get them noticed on Online Space and ensure value for their money. In addition to participating as a PHP web development company at CeBIT Australia, AnyLinuxWork has a vision of being a leading company in the world of open source world to be able to contribute positively towards the growth of Software Industry in India.

AnyLinuxWork is an Internet web development and marketing company based in India with its core expertise in Offshore Website Development. With ISO 9001 quality certification and 100+ strong professionals, we work on Web 2.0 concepts offering products and tailor made PHP software development services like E-commerce, CMS and social networking applications along with Social Media Marketing and SEO.

Our participation at the India Soft 2011 had been successful in every way and we could generate not only business but a great professional reputation. Now we as an Indian company at CeBIT Australia, are very excited about CeBIT participation and look forward to contributing from our side. CeBIT Australia, here we come.

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India Soft 2011: Lessons in innovation

Monday, April 4th, 2011

April 4th 2011. India is great at imitating software products. No problem. Everyone started off like that. But viagra next stage has to be of some real good innovations.

This and many more such sentiments were expressed by clients visiting India Soft 2011 in Pune organized on March 25 and 26. Most clients from abroad expressed joy over viagra organization of the Pune Exhibition. Said a client from Dubai, “It was great to meet local companies offering their software products to an international client base. It was professionally handled.”

Expressing his views over the Indian Software industry, he said, “India is at par with the West as far as the availability of technology is concerned. The level of professionals and their availability are an advantage for sure. However, I want to see India now getting seriously into some innovation. And I am positive, it would reach that stage as well.”

Most visitors appreciated the B-to-B networking, the organization and the outsourcing opportunities offered at the show. A lot of companies from Tier II and Tier III cities got a chance to show what they had. “Like ALW, there are many Indian companies having a 100 per cent international client base. I want to see a flourishing domestic market in India in IT development in future,” opined a visitor from France. “Yet, the approach in India towards clients is different. Even the top officials of software companies are vivacious enough to reach out and hold open discussions. And this reflects very well in the kind of business India gets,” he said adding that the country badly needs e-governance services at a large scale. This is yet another potential market for private players.

A client from Sweden, however, noted that when it comes to doing business, Indian IT professionals show great enthusiasm. But they still need to learn a few things like paying attention to detail, developing a thinking employee base and not just a management that controls them and takes decision on their behalf. He outlined small yet significant points like Indians still do not have free access to internet. And the potential of building such an infrastructure can open up an array of opportunities for IT companies in India.

Another client from Sweden said that Indian professionals essentially have three important qualities that distinguish them from their counterparts in other countries. And they are: ambition, education and hospitality. He expressed happiness over the fact that India mass produces developers and qualified engineers.

On the organization front at the Show, many delegates suggested that a proper indexing of the participants would have given another level to it. The same people were seen on the second day of the show too, which was disappointing.

However, the visitors as well as the clients lauded AnyLinuxWork for its focused approach towards its offerings apart from its excellent hospitality skills.

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ALW strikes a chord at India Soft 2011

Friday, April 1st, 2011

For AnyLinuxWork, the India Soft 2011 Show was more than a success in very many ways. With a clear objective in mind and a comprehensible focus for sourcing of open source development in LAMP – PHP and ROR; joint venture with global product Development Company and attracting strategic partners/investors, ALW held talks with clients under a systematic strategy.

However, what made ALW really stand apart in the crowd was the perspective with which it participated and tried to attract clients this year during the show. The team was determined to get a low-down on project management from the client’s point of view. The focus of this year’s participation had been to get into the shoes of the clients and look at projects from their eyes.

And this is what made us look not only focused but also genuinely interested in fostering long-term business relationships with potential as well as existing clients. “Team ALW knows what it is doing and is very professional and focused. This is a reflection of Vivek’s (CEO) vision for the company,” was what a Swedish client observed.

“What I really liked about Indian software industrialists in general and ALW in particular is that they really reach out to clients without qualms and hold personal interactions. This goes a long way in understanding each other,” commented another client from France.

“For me, building strong personal bonds with the people I work with is key to doing business. And ALW Team did just that. I feel comfortable working with them,” opined a client from Dubai.

ALW’s approach right from the preparation level of the show to the stall showcase was nothing short of professional. Meetings were scheduled beforehand for the India Soft Pune show and apt management of the showcase of products and services added up to a successful participation. The company interacted with a lot of potential clients and is currently busy doing the follow-up.

ALW later invited a client delegation of six members from France, Dubai and Sweden to its Indore office for interaction at a more personal level. Here too, the company’s focus was getting the feedback of clients about project management so that steps could be taken to improve the project cycle. The team invited the clients to share their points of view so that it could understand their needs even better.

Says senior Project Manager (eCommerce) Manish Pathak, “ I came to know about their thinking direction so that we can avoid a lot of problems on issues related to the site design and data representation. It was a pleasure learning their point of view.”

“ I am inspired by their culture of enjoying work instead of taking it like work. Also now I know that if they said something, why they said it,” shares Senior Project Manager (CMS) Dinesh Panchal.

After the meetings, an informal dinner was organized during which teams working directly with the client delegation showed their presentations on project management cycle. This was a gesture to show our point of view to the clients.

Clients’ Rule Book: During the informal interaction with Team ALW in Indore, clients were candid enough to share some very useful tips from the team. The team vowed to imbibe some of the tips like:
• Mean it: There is no difference between what the Western world says and what it believes. It believes when something is said and expects the same honesty from others. So when something is said, it must be taken as cent per cent true.
• Two-way traffic: For a successful project delivery, an effective two-way communication is important. So a team member must not just listen to a client because he is a client. Come up with a suggestion if required. And say NO whenever necessary.
• Time, time time: The Western world is punctual. So stick to time schedules – both for client interaction and work delivery.

These tips have now been circulated to each team member for effective implementation. In addition, the team also learnt many things from our clients.

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Beware of the new kid on the block!

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Child is the father of man. Never before has it become so apparent than now when we take these two names in one breath- China and India. From sops to concessions to lures- the Chinese are trying every trick in the book to make IT rake moolah for them. China recently waived operating taxes on offshore service outsourcing business in 21 of its key cities. Conditions apply. Employ at least (pun intended) 75% of the Chinese in the company.

Sops are too alluring for the IT industry whose technical expertise relies on the availability of capital. Hence, so far it looks so good. And no, India isn’t jealous at all. However, often the first impressions are not the last. China has caught the same bus that India had a few decades ago. That too at the cost of snatching away the Indian seat. China is definitely intending to end India’s dominance in the information technology outsourcing industry. And it has made it pretty clear.

The icing on the cake for the Chinese is that they are finding their biggest ally in their biggest rival i.e India. The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme, dubbed as the tax holiday for IT parks, will end (after extension) on March 31, 2011. And everybody on the government front is seeing this as another opportunity for the growth of IT sector in India. It seems that the IT parks have gotten addicted to tax holidays. However, the point that is badly missed in this entire bid of providing sops is that this may hamper the long-term and a matured growth of our IT industry, which is what is required at the moment.

In the meantime, NASSCOM has written to the government for a minimum of a two-year extension of the scheme. Here too, it is important to note that the sops provided under the STPI scheme will finally lead to bringing up the Chinese IT industry, resulting in a long-term loss for the Indians. Also, no attention has been paid on currency fluctuation risks for exporting companies.

Ours is a matured IT market and we must encash this forte. Thus, it is very important that collective talks are held involving the IT industry representatives to see through the Chinese intentions and work for the betterment of the Indian IT industry. Hope someone up there right at the centre is listening!

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Is there a counterpoint to attrition?

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Tech town looks pretty upset lately. The obviously visible reason is the rising attrition rates. The attrition rates have gone up to 20% in a quarter’s time in giants like Infosys, HCL, Wipro and others. Organizations are forced to redefine stability. Employers feel cheated. Ironically enough, attrition has entered IT industry during prosperous times.

Even as the worries of attrition keep increasing by leaps and bounds every day, AnyLinuxWork prefers to look at the other side of the picture. Says ALW CEO Vivek Singhal, “There were two options available to organizations during recession. One, staff cutting to save costs and adjust with losses. Two, refuse lay-offs and focus on employee productivity. We chose the latter one.” Instead of resorting to lay-offs, ALW chose to face the situation by employee encouragement through pay hikes. And today most people who have stuck with it are those who value this.

The message is clear. We must adjust and customize depending on the situations but we can never afford to ignore future. We cannot refute the effects of global recession during the past few years on Indian IT industry, being worst hit. Yet it has risen above the troubled waters in record time. Ever since the industry has been sailing on an optimistic ship with the workforce as its strength.

In the midst of this, with attrition hitting the scene, it is difficult to imagine how fast loyalties can shift as a major chunk of workforce leaves for greener pastures. And this is happening to organizations that refused lay-offs during recession and stood by their employees. So here’s the deal. If people who can shift loyalties so fast depart from an organization, it leaves room for the new talent who are ambitious, fresh and open to learning. Attrition, in fact, is creating opportunities for the talented young people with clearly defined professional objectives.

Adds Vivek, “I feel attrition has forced us to reconsider the way we look at a crisis. Ironically, the seeds of destruction are laid in the seed itself. And every such destruction leads to something better. Destruction inevitably leads to construction.” This should be the thought to take home. Shouldn’t it?

Posted in Company blog, Office Space | 34 Comments »

Corporate Social Responsibility: Use Electricity Wisely contd…3

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Proud to be ‘power smart’

A very interesting research conducted recently has found its way into our blog space of CSR this time. This study comes as a fitting support to our cause of Using Electricity Wisely. While in the last blog, we shared about how leaders at AnyLinuxWork were setting good examples, this time lets explore how has this cause influenced our employees.

The aforesaid study by Kenexa Research Institute (KRI), a provider of business solutions for human resources, reveals that three out of every five employees in India want to work for socially responsible organizations. It has suggested that an organization’s participation in corporate responsibility and environmentally friendly business practices has a significant influence on employee engagement and business outcomes.

The research has outlined a few key points on the impact of CSR on employees: 1. Employees feel a sense of pride in their organization. 2. Having a CSR adds to their overall satisfaction and possibility of recommending it as a good work place. 3. Employees stay longer in such organizations. 4. CSR plays a key role in attracting employees to an organization.

AnyLinuxWork is proud to share that our employees’ attitude is no less different from the results of the above research. The way they have emulated IO leaders is evident from little things that they practice everyday at the workplace. One of the major reasons why our employees have happily embraced the CSR is because of the IO philosophy of practicing before preaching. Two, IO always takes into account the views of the employees before implementing CSR policies. IO employees share how they have adopted certain habits that contribute into the cause of Using Electricity Wisely. Says an executive – “Using electricity wisely is not just a company obligation to me, it has become my habit. I always turn off the charging switch as soon as the mobile shows full battery.” This is simple yet effective. Many Nokia and Motorola users would have noticed that the phone auto-generates a message when the battery is full.

The habit of using electricity wisely has already traveled to the homes of many of the employees. Another employee shares, “I have started using CFL bulbs at home that save up to 30% of electricity.” Many others testify that they feel extremely delighted to be part of such an initiative and it has added to their ‘pride’ factor in AnyLinuxWork. While Earth Hour is being observed periodically, at AnyLinuxWork using electricity has become a part of life. Please do share your own ‘power smart’ ideas with us.

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Corporate Social Responsibility: Use Electricity Wisely…contd 2

Monday, April 5th, 2010

AnyLinuxWork Leaders set ‘powerful’ examples

Even as the world recently celebrated Earth Hour turning off lights for the cause of Saving Electricity, AnyLinuxWork felt so proud to have gone a step ahead of that. We have efficiently been able to instill a culture of Using Electricity Wisely through setting examples. Instead of passing the buck on others and expecting the rest of the world to change, we have chosen to become the change.

Here’s how.

The moment an IO member enters the cabin of CEO Vivek Singhal, the first thing he notices is a well-lit room without the sound of the mercury. A beam of light that oozes in through two wide windows close to which is his desk and computer welcomes a visitor. Vivek practically switches on the lights only after 5.45 pm when the sun rays have gone down.

A similar scene is visible at Nidhi’s (CTO) cabin too. She has quite wisely placed both her white boards on two places where natural light falls on them directly. Nidhi uses the first white board that hangs at the right of her window for her daily reminders. In addition, while she has a meeting when she needs to draw charts, she uses the bigger board on her left. Nevertheless, this serves the purpose without practically switching off many lights. To top it all, Nidhi regularly waters a tiny Christmas Tree kept near her window that adds to the coolness of her room.

Of course, not every IO member gets a cubicle near the window, yet the
example set by these two leaders is enough to inspire thoughtfulness in using electricity smartly. Much of the part of IO headquarters enjoys the coming of direct sunlight and many employees have been inspired to use this natural boon towards using electricity wisely.

Last month, many leaders worldwide joined hands with the cause of Earth Hour. At IO, our leaders became epitomes of our corporate social responsibility.

Please do feel free to mail us about what you think.

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Posted in CSR, Company blog | 69 Comments »

Corporate Social Responsibility: Use Electricity Wisely

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Lets be ‘power smart’!

Every company, each CEO, every minister and each individual strives to be powerful. However, nobody is really concerned about the real and tangible ‘power’ that is bestowed to mankind by technological advances and some natural resources. How many of us have ever thought of electricity to be one of the biggest boons of modern lifestyle. A power failure of 10 minutes leaves us perplexed, helpless and jobless.

Talk about how many industries literally depend on electricity for their
moment-to-moment production. IT industry is one such territory that would be arid without electric power. However, there is not much awareness in the IT industry about using this blessing smartly and with responsibility. And that’s what drove ALW to take this issue up as its Corporate Social Responsibility.

ALW team has pledged to use electricity as wisely as possible in order to contribute in prevention of power wastage. We are so much committed to the cause that we have an internal audit system to keep a track of individual consumption of electricity by each team member. This checks any power wastage and makes all of us accountable for the same. Moreover, in future we wish to implement many more mechanisms like a power-saving device etc to serve the cause.

We also intend to set an example and offer a model of using electricity wisely for all the other IT companies who feel so strongly for the same. Through this section, we urge all such companies to join hands with us and offer ideas, feed backs, suggestions, tips or even feelings about how electricity can be used wisely.

Please do feel free to mail us about what you think.

anumita@anylinuxwork.com

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Posted in Company blog | 91 Comments »

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