SIP- The key to Convergence
With the advent of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) Architecture, SIP is largely going to change the way the world will communicate. Inspite of the emerging RFC’s day-in day-out SIP will eventually be throned as the most versatile End to End VOIP protocol.
Although SIP only does call setup and signaling it establishes good connectivity with PSTN through gateways and going forward RTP(Real time protocol) and RTCP(Real time control protocol are going to make streaming data a easy reality. RTCP will also manage QOS and enable the user to receive some very high quality data transmission. One more favourable feature of SIP is ,it can act as a carrier for many protocols. For example in media sessions, SIP acts as a carrier for SDP(Session Description protocol) and RTP.
SIP Messages are very easily decodable. Following are examples of few message responses in a SIP call flow. Any user can understand the call flow in the network.
1xx—Informational Responses (100 Trying , 180 Ringing ,181 Call Is Being Forwarded ,182 Queued ,183 Session Progress)
2xx—Successful Responses (200 OK ,202 accepted: Used for referrals)
3xx—Redirection Responses (300 Multiple Choices,301 Moved Permanently,302 Moved Temporarily,305 Use Proxy,380 Alternative Service)
4xx—Client Failure Responses (400 Bad Request,401 Unauthorized: Used only by registrars. Proxys should use proxy authorization 407,402 Payment Required (Reserved for future use) ,403 Forbidden ,404 Not Found: User not found)
And now some gyan on what are the typical request messages in SIP,
INIVITE,ACK,BYE,CANCEL,SUBSCRIBE,NOTIFY.
(Source :Wiki)
To sum up this beginner level article,
SIP is similar to SS7(Signaling system 7). But SS7 is a much versatile protocol as it interacts with the entire system. SIP can be classified as a peer to peer Protocol and this makes it scalable and adaptive. The key to success these days is De-centralisation :) (The seed for my blog is already here). This also ensures this protocol is here to stay!
Much detailed architecture explanations will continue some time later!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Rising salaries Vanishing workers!
Rising salaries Vanishing workers!
Recently I heard from one my colleagues who had been to our office in Romania. On his first day at the office they proceeded to have lunch at the canteen. Interestingly one lady who was a Romanian working for Alcatel, Romania called upon them and asked if he was an Indian? On immediately saying yes the lady prompted saying
“You Indians keep changing your employer every year is it?”
Embarrassing for the country at least!
And who can forget the Hari Sadu. H for Hitler, A for Arrogant, R for rascal and I for Idiot ad by Naukri.com. :)
So where are we heading? Are we getting too much carried away by the sudden Buzz that’s around the Indian industry? Are we getting too ambitious and tantalisingly over-confident? Where is the maturity and Ethics for which Indians are known all over the world?
Somebody asked me “How different it is to changes jobs every year from changing wives every year?”. No prizes for guessing that he was a HR. You obviously promise commitment in the relationship with your employer as you do to your wife. Just because you find a girl richer than your wife you cannot divorce your wife! If yes then why do you divorce your job? If no, you better be less influenced by people around you who like kangaroos keep hopping.
Hang On! My subconscious mind now is forcing me to write what is so called practical! And I will not disappoint him. :)
What’s wrong in switching jobs? After all my parents never thought about one because they were secured by their employer with pension but I will never be. Also because my parents never re-skilled themselves, never were ambitious but I am. Concisely they didn’t see growth inside or around them. I don’t have any security in life. I am seeing so many growth opportunities blooming around me. So I will seek a high paying employer and hug him as long as the high becomes mediocre!
Someone I talked to two days back exclaimed “WOW an ISB grad got a 1 crore package!!” and someone I talked to yesterday regarding the same issue said “Did you know how worthy that individual was. She deserved such a pay because she was an IIT Grad with some promising exp and a ISB MBA” . So what am I trying to say here?
The person I talked to first was more carried away by that money. The person I talked to second was more carried away by that person and who got that money! Now slightly tuning my statement we seldom look at the company. We often look things monetarily.
On further insights I think we are very myopic in our views. We need to think long term and plan for a period of life rather than plan for short periods of time. And if you still thought you need to hop then its pretty logical and an intelligent move.
So the next time, at least the next time you type that resignation letter weigh the pros and cons, on a short term and on a long term. Do a SWOT. Do a PEST.Remember that if you still felt you should get out of this job, the last time you did a SWOT you miserably failed. So you could fail this time as well :) .
Remember,
"What we are today is the result of our own past actions. Whatever we wish to be in the future depends on our present actions. Decide how you have to act now."
Caution: The writer quit his job recently!
Recently I heard from one my colleagues who had been to our office in Romania. On his first day at the office they proceeded to have lunch at the canteen. Interestingly one lady who was a Romanian working for Alcatel, Romania called upon them and asked if he was an Indian? On immediately saying yes the lady prompted saying
“You Indians keep changing your employer every year is it?”
Embarrassing for the country at least!
And who can forget the Hari Sadu. H for Hitler, A for Arrogant, R for rascal and I for Idiot ad by Naukri.com. :)
So where are we heading? Are we getting too much carried away by the sudden Buzz that’s around the Indian industry? Are we getting too ambitious and tantalisingly over-confident? Where is the maturity and Ethics for which Indians are known all over the world?
Somebody asked me “How different it is to changes jobs every year from changing wives every year?”. No prizes for guessing that he was a HR. You obviously promise commitment in the relationship with your employer as you do to your wife. Just because you find a girl richer than your wife you cannot divorce your wife! If yes then why do you divorce your job? If no, you better be less influenced by people around you who like kangaroos keep hopping.
Hang On! My subconscious mind now is forcing me to write what is so called practical! And I will not disappoint him. :)
What’s wrong in switching jobs? After all my parents never thought about one because they were secured by their employer with pension but I will never be. Also because my parents never re-skilled themselves, never were ambitious but I am. Concisely they didn’t see growth inside or around them. I don’t have any security in life. I am seeing so many growth opportunities blooming around me. So I will seek a high paying employer and hug him as long as the high becomes mediocre!
Someone I talked to two days back exclaimed “WOW an ISB grad got a 1 crore package!!” and someone I talked to yesterday regarding the same issue said “Did you know how worthy that individual was. She deserved such a pay because she was an IIT Grad with some promising exp and a ISB MBA” . So what am I trying to say here?
The person I talked to first was more carried away by that money. The person I talked to second was more carried away by that person and who got that money! Now slightly tuning my statement we seldom look at the company. We often look things monetarily.
On further insights I think we are very myopic in our views. We need to think long term and plan for a period of life rather than plan for short periods of time. And if you still thought you need to hop then its pretty logical and an intelligent move.
So the next time, at least the next time you type that resignation letter weigh the pros and cons, on a short term and on a long term. Do a SWOT. Do a PEST.Remember that if you still felt you should get out of this job, the last time you did a SWOT you miserably failed. So you could fail this time as well :) .
Remember,
"What we are today is the result of our own past actions. Whatever we wish to be in the future depends on our present actions. Decide how you have to act now."
Caution: The writer quit his job recently!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The letter I wrote to Mr.Azim Premji- My Chairman!
AHP(Azim Hashan Premji) writes to us once a month. I had once replied to his mail and underneath you will find both his address and my feedback about his thoughts!.
Memorable days those! :(
Dear Wiproite,
I delivered a speech at India Leadership Forum organized by NASSCOM, Mumbai- India . I am happy to share the same thoughts with you. Globalization seems to have descended upon Indian organizations in a way that would look like a dream come true. Apart from the well known role of IT in the global arena, many other industries are now moving swiftly into it. These include diverse sectors of the economy such as engineering services, hospitality and health services, tourism, medical transcription and education. The future therefore holds in front a new mirror, in which both hard and soft elements of leadership are visible. On the hard side, we see that global strategies are being heavily served by information technology and enterprise wide planning that includes suppliers and customers into the firm's strategy. On the soft side, we see that effective cultural integration involves learning in context and behaving in a manner that elicits continued business engagement.
The recent NASSCOM estimates show that the IT Software Services and ITES in India are estimated to reach a little over USD 17 billion by the end of March 2005. This represents an overall blended growth rate for Software and ITES exports is 35% over last year's revised estimate. IT in India is known more for exports to overseas countries. But it has an equally important role within the country as an engine of economic expansion. IT has been contributing significantly to the growth of nations in the global economy. A 2001 study of major technological revolutions over the last three centuries by the IMF has revealed that IT enhanced the growth rate of the US economy by 1.8% per annum between 1995 and 2000 and contributed to 7.9% of its GDP. In Japan , IT accounts for 9.7% and makes up 9.6% of UK 's GDP. If you were to consider India , our IT industry size was $20.6 billion in 2003-04 and it constitutes 3.3% of the Indian GDP. Indian IT exports have the potential to grow to 7% of the GDP by 2008. Some of the enablers that have aided India 's march in the global race are cultural enablers.
First, is the respect for knowledge. Indian society since ancient times has recognized the importance of knowledge. Even Kings have paid homage to the knowledgeable sage. The trend continues to be visible in Indian society. Successful companies have capitalized on this long-standing strength of Indian culture.
Second, is the educational rigour. Indian professionals have gone through the grind of competitive educational systems, from nursery schooling to professional college education, and the hustle and bustle of corporate life. The Indian society seems to have become adept at filtering talent progressively. Competition has pervaded educational spheres as early as school and assumes significant force for professional courses. In corporate reality, this has implied that only few can reach the top management levels.
Third, is the tolerance for ambiguity. Ever since the institution of the Indian joint family, tolerance for diverse opinions has been in the Indian social fabric. Fathers and sons, uncles and nephews within the same joint family would debate over complex family issues and still remain undivided. A similar spirit of accommodation of viewpoints prevails in successful organizations.
Fourth, is the exposure to multiculturalism. The Indian educational setup has the three language formula, which has implied a multilingual dimension to the Indian workforce. Diverse Indian languages make for a natural adaptation right from school to work life. The key in all such adaptations has been tolerance for diversity and the capacity to learn in different situations. In work context, this has guided creation of harmonious business relationships.
Fifth, has been the quality of processes. This has been more apparent in the Information Technology area where companies have pursued rigorous Quality standards such as SEI- CMM. Some of them have achieved the highest level in these models and related models like the People CMM. The rigour has been even stronger in companies that followed simultaneously other approaches like the Six Sigma. This has ensured quality output for the client even as development cycle times were crashed on a continual basis. An important cause of success of these initiatives has been the commitment from top management in process initiatives.
Looking forward, there is optimism in the air when analysts speak about India . According to one of them, India could well be the world's third largest economy in less than 30 years from now, after the United States and China . In fact, India could grow the fastest among all countries at an average 6 per cent, going past Italy , Germany and France in the 2015-2025 time frame and past Japan in 2032. Even post-2050, India may continue to clock some of the highest growth rates in the world. But achieving this is not going to be easy. We need leadership that is not only transactional or one that moves from task to task. We need leaders who are truly transformational.
Transformational leaders do not depend on authority or charisma. The attributes needed are more intrinsic to the personality of the leader. I would like to briefly mention some of these.
First, transformational leaders identify themselves as change agents. They are not content to let things remain as they are even if it seems very comfortable.
Second, they are courageous and value driven. They are willing to look ahead and work towards creating a better future. Their vision creates a sense of purpose both for them and their organizations.
Third, they are lifelong learners. They pick up the ability to deal with complexity and uncertainty. They are also able to guide others when they are lost in the maze of ambiguity.
Fourth, transformational leaders communicate high expectations and express important ideas in simple ways. They give individual consideration, personal attention and continuously coach and advise their team members.
Also, they delegate enough to promote a culture of pro-activeness in problem solving. They anticipate many problems before they happen and do not wait for one crisis to strike after another.
In order to achieve business leadership, we must realize that IT is not an end in itself but a means to impacting the Customer's business. The challenge is to target IT applications in such a manner that it impacts business. And this is where both the Customer organizations and the IT Solutions provider have an important role to play.
First, we must identify what really drives productivity in the Customer organization. Is it the numerator, number of units or Value or the denominator, cost and effort? We must focus on what matters the most. This needs in-depth Customer knowledge. This also means understanding the Customer's business model and priorities. This varies not only from industry to industry, but also between organizations in the same industry. We must not be trapped by generalizations about industries as they could be misleading.
Second, we must have a holistic view on prioritizing investments for our Customers and also help them find value in sunken IT investments. IT investments are built on one another, often in complex ways. Many companies with apparently lifeless IT investments may be missing one final piece of technology that needs to be found. This is an interesting opportunity. If IT companies can help the Customer in a systematic manner to find the missing link, it could lead to unleashing enormous benefits for both. Identifying such links and building on them could be an enormous transformation tool.
Third, we must ensure that technological and managerial innovation go hand in hand. Many companies have discovered that when technology innovations outstrip managerial innovations, the benefits fall through the crack in between. It is like a car with a powerful engine but a wobbly chassis. It cannot get far. For customers to achieve higher returns on their IT investments, organizational structures and business processes need critical improvements. Partnering with IT vendors, who have tremendous managerial depth and understanding of business process changes, will help customers maximize on their ROI.
Finally, we must realize that there cannot be a silver bullet to achieve leadership. Out of the myriad opportunities ahead, we must decide what to focus on and what we should ignore. If we chase after a wrong goal, we will end up getting exhausted. Let me end with a parable that makes this clear.
A small kitten had just returned from cat philosophy school. He was running around in circles, trying to catch his tail. A seasoned old alley cat looked on and asked the kitten what she was doing.
"I have learnt that happiness is in the tip of your tail, and I am trying to catch mine, so that I will always be happy."
The old Tom replied: "You have learnt well. I never received a fancy education, but I too have heard that happiness is in the tip of my tail.
What I have also discovered is that if you forget about trying to catch it, it will follow you wherever you go."
Thank you once again for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts.
Azim Premji
My mail to AHP
15-3-2005
Be it yesterday when in train I was reading Louis V. Gerstner Jr ‘s “Who said elephants can’t dance” or today as I am reading through the transcript of your speech at NASSCOM I am amazed at the Simplicity and continuous Sanguineness that leaders like Louis V. Gerstner Jr and Azim Premji deliver through their speeches.
Dear Sir,
As I am writing to you I might have read the speech transcript you had sent to employees a nine times in completeness. And to extract every drop of juice of your Sugarcane Speech I have rolled it over and over from top to bottom a dozen times.
As I thought I had got 50-60% of the message into my mind ,I decided I must write to you my emotions and thoughts on your Speech. But I am sure that tonight your thought mosquitoes bit me more than live ones as I am drafting my views to you.
As rightly started ,Globalisation has been the Ubiquitous word in the industry. In my view the most globalised thing since 1991 has been the word Globalisation in India. Every effect of it and every moment since has been researched.
It has been quite comical to note the change of events since globalisation in two parts of the world. As America the nation that indirectly forced India to liberalise stands at a precipice amidst huge Trade and Fiscal Deficit ,a local laborer at Tirupur down South in India who at his age of 40 headed the movement against Globalisation now at his 60’s is a Millionaire and says that he has a potential to double his wealth every 2-3 years. He (a illiterate then) now is worried about the depreciating rupee and writes to the finance minister. This is globalization of Mind…!
Your second paragraph emphasizing on Statistics surrounding the IT industry takes me to the times of Late Dewang Mehta who projected the software industry to earn 88b$ by 2008. But there has been a lot of stability and pruning that has effected the industry since then and the earnings are now(2005) at a modest and realistic 17 b$. I foresee a similar stabilisation to occur across countries of the world post globalization.
Further I would like to focus the statistics away from GDP. Rather than looking at what percentage IT contributes to GDP ,we should look at what percentage of various sector's contribution to industry is done by IT. For instance IT will win, if in agriculture that contributes close to 35% of GDP ,IT is responsible for 4-5% of agri sector's growth. Similarly IT should be seen as a partner in every sectors growth rather than being looked upon as a separate one.
With regard to your usual way of Enumerating points to the reader, I was making a classical analysis of the parameters that you had quoted as cultural enablers.
With regard to the respect for knowledge I believe our ancestors had a foccused array of thoughts which influenced every following generation. This was the success of Indian gene that produced very smart and capable pass outs against western compatriots.
With regard to the education rigour I believe that our educational system failed to channelise the rich cultural repository that India is known for .As a result today be it the IT industry or as a Nation we have a abundant resource of technical talent but very few leaders. This is because of the absence of case studies and motivational tonics which did not supplement our well known tech. adept Curriculum.
With regard to the tolerance for ambiguity that you have specified as a cultural enabler, I believe this gain flows from our Ancestors. This comes from the quality of Simplicity. This one quality is fast eroding in Organizations as people begin to live false lives and develop ego ,amidst their peers at work and Siblings in their family. The ordeal of simplicity and down to earth thinking must be imbibed into minds to nurture this rare quality of tolerance to ambiguity.
With regard to Quality, I have always found that quality comes with age. The quality that we believe we have gained before age is later realised to be just a mirage. As we grow we understand the efficiencies of people around us and start to re-engineer ourselves continuously until we become benchmarks for others to follow and this seamlessly improves this world.
Before I close I would like to thank you for the patience you have shown to read this amateur’s writing and I hope I get a feedback for my efforts as you did from me.
Finally on your optimism of India becoming a superpower I believe we should be maturely aiming for it by 2050, to escape from being another Dewang Mehta. :)
Best regards
Your Proud Employee,
Jayaram Mahalingam
Memorable days those! :(
Dear Wiproite,
I delivered a speech at India Leadership Forum organized by NASSCOM, Mumbai- India . I am happy to share the same thoughts with you. Globalization seems to have descended upon Indian organizations in a way that would look like a dream come true. Apart from the well known role of IT in the global arena, many other industries are now moving swiftly into it. These include diverse sectors of the economy such as engineering services, hospitality and health services, tourism, medical transcription and education. The future therefore holds in front a new mirror, in which both hard and soft elements of leadership are visible. On the hard side, we see that global strategies are being heavily served by information technology and enterprise wide planning that includes suppliers and customers into the firm's strategy. On the soft side, we see that effective cultural integration involves learning in context and behaving in a manner that elicits continued business engagement.
The recent NASSCOM estimates show that the IT Software Services and ITES in India are estimated to reach a little over USD 17 billion by the end of March 2005. This represents an overall blended growth rate for Software and ITES exports is 35% over last year's revised estimate. IT in India is known more for exports to overseas countries. But it has an equally important role within the country as an engine of economic expansion. IT has been contributing significantly to the growth of nations in the global economy. A 2001 study of major technological revolutions over the last three centuries by the IMF has revealed that IT enhanced the growth rate of the US economy by 1.8% per annum between 1995 and 2000 and contributed to 7.9% of its GDP. In Japan , IT accounts for 9.7% and makes up 9.6% of UK 's GDP. If you were to consider India , our IT industry size was $20.6 billion in 2003-04 and it constitutes 3.3% of the Indian GDP. Indian IT exports have the potential to grow to 7% of the GDP by 2008. Some of the enablers that have aided India 's march in the global race are cultural enablers.
First, is the respect for knowledge. Indian society since ancient times has recognized the importance of knowledge. Even Kings have paid homage to the knowledgeable sage. The trend continues to be visible in Indian society. Successful companies have capitalized on this long-standing strength of Indian culture.
Second, is the educational rigour. Indian professionals have gone through the grind of competitive educational systems, from nursery schooling to professional college education, and the hustle and bustle of corporate life. The Indian society seems to have become adept at filtering talent progressively. Competition has pervaded educational spheres as early as school and assumes significant force for professional courses. In corporate reality, this has implied that only few can reach the top management levels.
Third, is the tolerance for ambiguity. Ever since the institution of the Indian joint family, tolerance for diverse opinions has been in the Indian social fabric. Fathers and sons, uncles and nephews within the same joint family would debate over complex family issues and still remain undivided. A similar spirit of accommodation of viewpoints prevails in successful organizations.
Fourth, is the exposure to multiculturalism. The Indian educational setup has the three language formula, which has implied a multilingual dimension to the Indian workforce. Diverse Indian languages make for a natural adaptation right from school to work life. The key in all such adaptations has been tolerance for diversity and the capacity to learn in different situations. In work context, this has guided creation of harmonious business relationships.
Fifth, has been the quality of processes. This has been more apparent in the Information Technology area where companies have pursued rigorous Quality standards such as SEI- CMM. Some of them have achieved the highest level in these models and related models like the People CMM. The rigour has been even stronger in companies that followed simultaneously other approaches like the Six Sigma. This has ensured quality output for the client even as development cycle times were crashed on a continual basis. An important cause of success of these initiatives has been the commitment from top management in process initiatives.
Looking forward, there is optimism in the air when analysts speak about India . According to one of them, India could well be the world's third largest economy in less than 30 years from now, after the United States and China . In fact, India could grow the fastest among all countries at an average 6 per cent, going past Italy , Germany and France in the 2015-2025 time frame and past Japan in 2032. Even post-2050, India may continue to clock some of the highest growth rates in the world. But achieving this is not going to be easy. We need leadership that is not only transactional or one that moves from task to task. We need leaders who are truly transformational.
Transformational leaders do not depend on authority or charisma. The attributes needed are more intrinsic to the personality of the leader. I would like to briefly mention some of these.
First, transformational leaders identify themselves as change agents. They are not content to let things remain as they are even if it seems very comfortable.
Second, they are courageous and value driven. They are willing to look ahead and work towards creating a better future. Their vision creates a sense of purpose both for them and their organizations.
Third, they are lifelong learners. They pick up the ability to deal with complexity and uncertainty. They are also able to guide others when they are lost in the maze of ambiguity.
Fourth, transformational leaders communicate high expectations and express important ideas in simple ways. They give individual consideration, personal attention and continuously coach and advise their team members.
Also, they delegate enough to promote a culture of pro-activeness in problem solving. They anticipate many problems before they happen and do not wait for one crisis to strike after another.
In order to achieve business leadership, we must realize that IT is not an end in itself but a means to impacting the Customer's business. The challenge is to target IT applications in such a manner that it impacts business. And this is where both the Customer organizations and the IT Solutions provider have an important role to play.
First, we must identify what really drives productivity in the Customer organization. Is it the numerator, number of units or Value or the denominator, cost and effort? We must focus on what matters the most. This needs in-depth Customer knowledge. This also means understanding the Customer's business model and priorities. This varies not only from industry to industry, but also between organizations in the same industry. We must not be trapped by generalizations about industries as they could be misleading.
Second, we must have a holistic view on prioritizing investments for our Customers and also help them find value in sunken IT investments. IT investments are built on one another, often in complex ways. Many companies with apparently lifeless IT investments may be missing one final piece of technology that needs to be found. This is an interesting opportunity. If IT companies can help the Customer in a systematic manner to find the missing link, it could lead to unleashing enormous benefits for both. Identifying such links and building on them could be an enormous transformation tool.
Third, we must ensure that technological and managerial innovation go hand in hand. Many companies have discovered that when technology innovations outstrip managerial innovations, the benefits fall through the crack in between. It is like a car with a powerful engine but a wobbly chassis. It cannot get far. For customers to achieve higher returns on their IT investments, organizational structures and business processes need critical improvements. Partnering with IT vendors, who have tremendous managerial depth and understanding of business process changes, will help customers maximize on their ROI.
Finally, we must realize that there cannot be a silver bullet to achieve leadership. Out of the myriad opportunities ahead, we must decide what to focus on and what we should ignore. If we chase after a wrong goal, we will end up getting exhausted. Let me end with a parable that makes this clear.
A small kitten had just returned from cat philosophy school. He was running around in circles, trying to catch his tail. A seasoned old alley cat looked on and asked the kitten what she was doing.
"I have learnt that happiness is in the tip of your tail, and I am trying to catch mine, so that I will always be happy."
The old Tom replied: "You have learnt well. I never received a fancy education, but I too have heard that happiness is in the tip of my tail.
What I have also discovered is that if you forget about trying to catch it, it will follow you wherever you go."
Thank you once again for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts.
Azim Premji
My mail to AHP
15-3-2005
Be it yesterday when in train I was reading Louis V. Gerstner Jr ‘s “Who said elephants can’t dance” or today as I am reading through the transcript of your speech at NASSCOM I am amazed at the Simplicity and continuous Sanguineness that leaders like Louis V. Gerstner Jr and Azim Premji deliver through their speeches.
Dear Sir,
As I am writing to you I might have read the speech transcript you had sent to employees a nine times in completeness. And to extract every drop of juice of your Sugarcane Speech I have rolled it over and over from top to bottom a dozen times.
As I thought I had got 50-60% of the message into my mind ,I decided I must write to you my emotions and thoughts on your Speech. But I am sure that tonight your thought mosquitoes bit me more than live ones as I am drafting my views to you.
As rightly started ,Globalisation has been the Ubiquitous word in the industry. In my view the most globalised thing since 1991 has been the word Globalisation in India. Every effect of it and every moment since has been researched.
It has been quite comical to note the change of events since globalisation in two parts of the world. As America the nation that indirectly forced India to liberalise stands at a precipice amidst huge Trade and Fiscal Deficit ,a local laborer at Tirupur down South in India who at his age of 40 headed the movement against Globalisation now at his 60’s is a Millionaire and says that he has a potential to double his wealth every 2-3 years. He (a illiterate then) now is worried about the depreciating rupee and writes to the finance minister. This is globalization of Mind…!
Your second paragraph emphasizing on Statistics surrounding the IT industry takes me to the times of Late Dewang Mehta who projected the software industry to earn 88b$ by 2008. But there has been a lot of stability and pruning that has effected the industry since then and the earnings are now(2005) at a modest and realistic 17 b$. I foresee a similar stabilisation to occur across countries of the world post globalization.
Further I would like to focus the statistics away from GDP. Rather than looking at what percentage IT contributes to GDP ,we should look at what percentage of various sector's contribution to industry is done by IT. For instance IT will win, if in agriculture that contributes close to 35% of GDP ,IT is responsible for 4-5% of agri sector's growth. Similarly IT should be seen as a partner in every sectors growth rather than being looked upon as a separate one.
With regard to your usual way of Enumerating points to the reader, I was making a classical analysis of the parameters that you had quoted as cultural enablers.
With regard to the respect for knowledge I believe our ancestors had a foccused array of thoughts which influenced every following generation. This was the success of Indian gene that produced very smart and capable pass outs against western compatriots.
With regard to the education rigour I believe that our educational system failed to channelise the rich cultural repository that India is known for .As a result today be it the IT industry or as a Nation we have a abundant resource of technical talent but very few leaders. This is because of the absence of case studies and motivational tonics which did not supplement our well known tech. adept Curriculum.
With regard to the tolerance for ambiguity that you have specified as a cultural enabler, I believe this gain flows from our Ancestors. This comes from the quality of Simplicity. This one quality is fast eroding in Organizations as people begin to live false lives and develop ego ,amidst their peers at work and Siblings in their family. The ordeal of simplicity and down to earth thinking must be imbibed into minds to nurture this rare quality of tolerance to ambiguity.
With regard to Quality, I have always found that quality comes with age. The quality that we believe we have gained before age is later realised to be just a mirage. As we grow we understand the efficiencies of people around us and start to re-engineer ourselves continuously until we become benchmarks for others to follow and this seamlessly improves this world.
Before I close I would like to thank you for the patience you have shown to read this amateur’s writing and I hope I get a feedback for my efforts as you did from me.
Finally on your optimism of India becoming a superpower I believe we should be maturely aiming for it by 2050, to escape from being another Dewang Mehta. :)
Best regards
Your Proud Employee,
Jayaram Mahalingam
Monday, September 18, 2006
NAM –India striking its neutralism
NAM –India striking its neutralism
I hardly derive admiration for a communist. But communism is one topic that can shake anybody’s will. People who preach or follow communism are always very erudite thinkers. They don’t get carried away by the misleading optimism that is present both in a society and economy. They always predict and warn about a imminent defects of a cosmopolitan society and economy. I am drawing so much praise for communism after following closely a person and his ideologies. This person when he met our prime minister a few days back said few words which need to be closely assimilated and thought about.
“The financial system was faced with uncertainty with countries like the United States absorbing the bulk of the world's savings”
I remember Sudharsan of RSS also say this a while back. The world is investing a lot of its wealth in US treasury without thinking how US economy would transpire. The US economy is already reeling under some mighty Current account deficit. What if the deficit becomes unmanageable? What if the currency weakens? It would be counter productive for every other economy and particularly the Asian countries like Japan,China and India which have a major chuck of their Forex reserves in Uncle Sam’s kitty!
The Asian economies should stop supporting the US fiasco at large. The economies need to be insulated from a possible American depression influence. In the current scenario it seems like the Asian economy will just slither like a pack of cards in case an American downfall happens. And this is exactly what, the great thinker Fidel Castro is hinting at. Food for thought :)
Hats off to India for striking its neutralism and participating in dialogues with countries like Cuba, which always hated American Hegemony!
I hardly derive admiration for a communist. But communism is one topic that can shake anybody’s will. People who preach or follow communism are always very erudite thinkers. They don’t get carried away by the misleading optimism that is present both in a society and economy. They always predict and warn about a imminent defects of a cosmopolitan society and economy. I am drawing so much praise for communism after following closely a person and his ideologies. This person when he met our prime minister a few days back said few words which need to be closely assimilated and thought about.
“The financial system was faced with uncertainty with countries like the United States absorbing the bulk of the world's savings”
I remember Sudharsan of RSS also say this a while back. The world is investing a lot of its wealth in US treasury without thinking how US economy would transpire. The US economy is already reeling under some mighty Current account deficit. What if the deficit becomes unmanageable? What if the currency weakens? It would be counter productive for every other economy and particularly the Asian countries like Japan,China and India which have a major chuck of their Forex reserves in Uncle Sam’s kitty!
The Asian economies should stop supporting the US fiasco at large. The economies need to be insulated from a possible American depression influence. In the current scenario it seems like the Asian economy will just slither like a pack of cards in case an American downfall happens. And this is exactly what, the great thinker Fidel Castro is hinting at. Food for thought :)
Hats off to India for striking its neutralism and participating in dialogues with countries like Cuba, which always hated American Hegemony!
I would intensively follow this topic in my future blogs….
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Hare and Tortoise story Retold
Hare and Tortoise story Retold
Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race.
This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with. But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this story. It continues.
The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.
This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.
But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed — until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race. The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.
In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable senior management to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
The story still hasn't ended. The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.
The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.
There are more lessons to be learnt from this story. Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both.
The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better. When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time.
Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth. He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a coke whenever they felt like drinking something. To this end, coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since.
To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things. Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers; never give up when faced with failure; and finally, compete against the situation not against a rival.
IP-ImPossible
IP-ImPossible
I have a little knowledge in this telecom domain. To weigh it myself I thought I will try writing something away from philosophy regularly. To see if thoughts can even flow in my mind when I think techie. Hence this attempt.
Caution: The entire transcript is influenced and not original. And with due respects to engineers defining standards and protocols at IEEE,IETF,RFC.
I always thought there are two things that caused a rapid change in the growth of technology. One was computing and the other communication. IP (Internet protocol) changed the way we communicated and the way will be communicating in years to come. It’s just made ImPossible communication dreams possible .
IP’s success must be attributed to its scalability. If someone said Wired communication was the made possible though IP, it’s only half true. IP had a tremendous role to play in Wireless advancements as well. And now let us not rhetorically keep speaking about evolution but get some insights into the latest trends! to follow.
WIMAX:
Wireless Maximum is my expansion of WIMAX although IEEE’s is Wireless interoperability in microwave access. It is aimed at providing last mile access for so many new access technologies that are rising. Wimax promises high speed wireless broadband internet with mobility. This technology promised data rates of 70Mbps(Incredible). But the promised throughput in the Rev e version(mobility) is 3Mbps(equally incredible for wireless tech.) .Once this technology is a reality its going to change the way this world communicates, courtesy IPV6.
Triple play:
How exciting to hear when someone says in a single cable I will get access to Interactive cable TV (IPTV), Telephone and broadband internet without OFC? Yes this is will be possible. And to add more glamour to this technology , IP TV is going to change the outlook of the traditional TV with a load of interactive features like mail access over the TV, Recording, Choice based viewing, online gaming , Online gambling/betting. And what’s more all this can happen wireless with a router in one corner of my house !!
VOIP:
Are you bored of the analog telephony over SS7 that keeps wasting bandwidth because of dedicated channel allocation? HANG ON! Telephony is gonna change as well. All those costly copper wires will be gone. Voice over IP ,telephony or Intelligentphony(my abbreviation :)) will introduce optimization and cut heavily on costs and investments. Its gonna be a very very small and cheap world going further!
Mobile TV:
Did u miss that Soap (Mega serial!) yesterday because you were at work.. Here comes MobileTV another technology which is going to revolutionise life courtesy again IP and Wimax. This technology is also proposed to be linked with Triple play and called Quadraplay.
One of the magical teachers I met at Wipro told me this “Network is world” .That’s the mantra these days.
I have just given few HOT technologies which were incredible a while back but not IP is making all these look very much possible. Further deep insights will continue !! Food for thought for googling :)
I have a little knowledge in this telecom domain. To weigh it myself I thought I will try writing something away from philosophy regularly. To see if thoughts can even flow in my mind when I think techie. Hence this attempt.
Caution: The entire transcript is influenced and not original. And with due respects to engineers defining standards and protocols at IEEE,IETF,RFC.
I always thought there are two things that caused a rapid change in the growth of technology. One was computing and the other communication. IP (Internet protocol) changed the way we communicated and the way will be communicating in years to come. It’s just made ImPossible communication dreams possible .
IP’s success must be attributed to its scalability. If someone said Wired communication was the made possible though IP, it’s only half true. IP had a tremendous role to play in Wireless advancements as well. And now let us not rhetorically keep speaking about evolution but get some insights into the latest trends! to follow.
WIMAX:
Wireless Maximum is my expansion of WIMAX although IEEE’s is Wireless interoperability in microwave access. It is aimed at providing last mile access for so many new access technologies that are rising. Wimax promises high speed wireless broadband internet with mobility. This technology promised data rates of 70Mbps(Incredible). But the promised throughput in the Rev e version(mobility) is 3Mbps(equally incredible for wireless tech.) .Once this technology is a reality its going to change the way this world communicates, courtesy IPV6.
Triple play:
How exciting to hear when someone says in a single cable I will get access to Interactive cable TV (IPTV), Telephone and broadband internet without OFC? Yes this is will be possible. And to add more glamour to this technology , IP TV is going to change the outlook of the traditional TV with a load of interactive features like mail access over the TV, Recording, Choice based viewing, online gaming , Online gambling/betting. And what’s more all this can happen wireless with a router in one corner of my house !!
VOIP:
Are you bored of the analog telephony over SS7 that keeps wasting bandwidth because of dedicated channel allocation? HANG ON! Telephony is gonna change as well. All those costly copper wires will be gone. Voice over IP ,telephony or Intelligentphony(my abbreviation :)) will introduce optimization and cut heavily on costs and investments. Its gonna be a very very small and cheap world going further!
Mobile TV:
Did u miss that Soap (Mega serial!) yesterday because you were at work.. Here comes MobileTV another technology which is going to revolutionise life courtesy again IP and Wimax. This technology is also proposed to be linked with Triple play and called Quadraplay.
One of the magical teachers I met at Wipro told me this “Network is world” .That’s the mantra these days.
I have just given few HOT technologies which were incredible a while back but not IP is making all these look very much possible. Further deep insights will continue !! Food for thought for googling :)
Looking back!
Looking back..!
“Its kinda funny how life can change ,Can flip 180 in a matter of days!”
How true is this lyric of Blue as they sing ONE LOVE. I have a reason behind getting philosophical this day. This is the day I am two years old. Not in life but in my professional career. And what prodded me to write this ,is a mail that I wrote exactly 2 years ago when I started my career with Wipro. A mail full of innocence ,excitement and overall so naïve in content. But today as I look back it’s no longer me. I cant resist to believe I have changed so much. But the ultimate question that I keep asking myself. To be or not to be!.
Have I changed for the better or….I should say I have grown a lot matured. A lot mature in views, thought, mannerism etc.. But an inner feeling, the so called subconscious mind keeps rattling its tail. It says it’s more important to be static than to be dynamic. Static here means consistency. Dynamic here means unpredictable.
I started with my dream company, Wipro. I enjoyed every moment of innovation that kept happening around me. But today it’s a lot more different. Life seems so different every day. What I thought yesterday as good today seems dubious. And what seemed dubious yesterday seems exciting today . If the human mind is this dynamic(unpredictable) how can I Live? How can I decide what is best to me? How can I feel happy about what I did and feel happy about what’s coming my way?
I ended with my not so dream company this June. But the disappointment was less felt. The excitation that was there the first day wasn’t matched by the disappointment on the last day with Wipro. Is that because Wipro has changed? Nay! It was because I have changed. Changed for better? Questionable today. Answerable tomorrow and questionable again the day after!
Now what Iam trying to say? Let me try for some clarity hereon…
Why are we so confused at life. Is this because of the choices we have?. Is it because we don’t have a fixed thought process?
The answer to this is simple. The root cause of this is abilasha (wish). When we can feel satisfied in life then we can predict our life easily. We can live life the way we want to. We can live happily. So my dear reader ,Optimism starts from the mind and ends in the mind. Feel satisfied about what you do Big or Small. Don’t take the law of relativity to the mind and compare.
I just want to become Innocent! :)
“Its kinda funny how life can change ,Can flip 180 in a matter of days!”
How true is this lyric of Blue as they sing ONE LOVE. I have a reason behind getting philosophical this day. This is the day I am two years old. Not in life but in my professional career. And what prodded me to write this ,is a mail that I wrote exactly 2 years ago when I started my career with Wipro. A mail full of innocence ,excitement and overall so naïve in content. But today as I look back it’s no longer me. I cant resist to believe I have changed so much. But the ultimate question that I keep asking myself. To be or not to be!.
Have I changed for the better or….I should say I have grown a lot matured. A lot mature in views, thought, mannerism etc.. But an inner feeling, the so called subconscious mind keeps rattling its tail. It says it’s more important to be static than to be dynamic. Static here means consistency. Dynamic here means unpredictable.
I started with my dream company, Wipro. I enjoyed every moment of innovation that kept happening around me. But today it’s a lot more different. Life seems so different every day. What I thought yesterday as good today seems dubious. And what seemed dubious yesterday seems exciting today . If the human mind is this dynamic(unpredictable) how can I Live? How can I decide what is best to me? How can I feel happy about what I did and feel happy about what’s coming my way?
I ended with my not so dream company this June. But the disappointment was less felt. The excitation that was there the first day wasn’t matched by the disappointment on the last day with Wipro. Is that because Wipro has changed? Nay! It was because I have changed. Changed for better? Questionable today. Answerable tomorrow and questionable again the day after!
Now what Iam trying to say? Let me try for some clarity hereon…
Why are we so confused at life. Is this because of the choices we have?. Is it because we don’t have a fixed thought process?
The answer to this is simple. The root cause of this is abilasha (wish). When we can feel satisfied in life then we can predict our life easily. We can live life the way we want to. We can live happily. So my dear reader ,Optimism starts from the mind and ends in the mind. Feel satisfied about what you do Big or Small. Don’t take the law of relativity to the mind and compare.
I just want to become Innocent! :)
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