Managing Offshore IT

Most of us watching the news are probably up-to-date on the Swine Flu outbreak. The Media, bloggers and others are generating awareness . . . and a lot of buzz. I was reflecting on what this mean to those of us in the Business of Globalization. Such epidemics certainly a cause for concern. The way I look at it:

• In the short run the pandamic will certainly impact trade and business as people become hesitant to get on a plane, travel and attend critical meetings. Companies, especially multinationals, will send out travel advisories based on their individual corporate risk assessments. More governments may issue travel advisories. Cross-continental and international travellers may have to undergo additional screening. . . . etc . etc.

• In the mid-term, say next few weeks: one should be watching with caution, use common sense while travelling and of course have confidence that the authorities around the world are going to do their best to contain the epidemic. Of course, HR departments, corporate security groups and governments are perhaps doing a quick scan of lessons learnt from that the SARS era. Note to self: there is an irony that the SARS scare also came at a time of global slowdown (in the tech sector)
• Most of us in the business of globalization remember SARS virus scare that had a similar short-term impact on global trade . . . but was soon forgotten. In the long run, things will settle back into a pattern. And of course there will be new lessons learnt.
  

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

During the past few weeks, one couldn’t glance through the international headlines without reading about the saga of Piracy unfolding in the Gulf of Aden and at high-seas. To those of us in the software IT services business, another version of this scourge continues to impact us: software piracy. 

Given that Piracy is noteworthy and the pirates at sea are operate offshore, I am surprised that some smart alec writer or blogger hasn’t picked up on offshoring piracy. It is probably because large software services firms, Infosys included, take Intellectual property rights seriously. Most have strong policies and guidelines preventing employees, consultants and service providers from indulging in such acts and violations are not tolerated.

The numbers in terms of dollars lost to software piracy are hugh. For instance, this article talks about how “Software ranks among the most popular categories of counterfeited goods, and the Internet is only contributing to the rise in intellectual property violations, according to research by a piracy-prevention consultancy .  .   . During the month of June 2005, $91 million worth of entertainment media and software was pirated worldwide, up 13 per cent from December 2004, according to research from Canada's Gieschen Consultancy.”

Though companies discourage the practice by strong enforcement within their environments, software piracy continues. Pervasiveness of wi-fi and broadband has made piracy a cottage industry. Many of us may support or actively participate in piracy without even blinking. Here is a dipstick: Do you feel guilty about making copies of the latest music hit that your friend bought? (or the other way around) While doing so, you may not feel as sinister as a gang of Somalis taking the captain of Mersk Alabama hostage, it is still about the owner of the “rights” not getting their due share. Which makes one wonder if there such a thing as Harmless piracy?

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

Most of us in the technology industry are observing the recent hype over cloud computing, some hoping that it might provide a boost to the tech sector in an otherwise bleak economic climate. And if one goes by the assumption that technology trends peak when the business press begins featuring them, cloud computing must be peaking the hype curve.

As we head into the easter holidays, I decided to catch up on the chatter on cloud computing. I began with Kris Gopalakrishnan`s views express during his trip to Davos for WEF earlier this (Infosys CEO Sees Brightness in Clouds) Wall Street Journal recently featured a story (The Internet Industry Is on a Cloud -- Whatever That May Mean) that begins by explaining “Ever since Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt publicly uttered the term "cloud computing" in 2006, a storm has been gathering over Silicon Valley.”
 

What I liked about the WSJ piece was the author’s ability to distil the essence of the cloud paradigm:
Despite its recent surge in popularity, the cloud is among the oldest pieces of computer jargon, says Alex Bochannek, a curator at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. For decades, engineers drew them in schematic diagrams to show where their own network joins another whose inner workings are unknown or irrelevant. "You symbolize that with a cloud, or some amorphous shape," says Mr. Bochannek.

The author also builds on how software vendors are beginning to replace Cloud Comupting for other tech buzzwords including ASP, “online services” and "on-demand business services."

The debate among digirati is getting a bit polarized with the recent publication of the “Open Cloud Manifesto”  My colleagues from our Microsoft practice also continue to scan the horizon for clouds, much like Indian farmers will be doing so in a few months with the advent of Monsoon season. Not surprisingly they are siding with folks at Redmond on Open Cloud Manifesto though I personally find the debate a non-issue. When is the last time the “entire tech industry” and “all” vendors agree on anything?  For instance, do we have a global standard for all facets of SOA - yet another hyped technology paradigm - that all vendors agree to? Of course, just to stretch an argument on cloud computing, one can throw some bit of offshoring mantra: as long as a strong cloud paradigm is defined, your cloud might as well be managed from offshore.

Should the rest of us be peering at the looming clouds of a darkening economy, or as Kris Gopalakrishnan was quoted in CNBC await Brightness in the Clouds?

There are several interesting viewpoints and analysis on cloud computing on including

• Troy Angrignon`s compilation of interesting links.
• Steve Hamm A Tech Industry Imperative: Make the Cloud Open
• The year of the cloud
• Cloud computing: A catchphrase in puberty

Posted by Mohan Babu K. at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)