– IT Consolidation and the Bottom Line

Last updated on: October 25, 2005 at 3:00 pm By Desh Kapoor

"There are few more ready means of improving earnings per share than the consolidation and rationalization of IT systems, hardware, networks and other infrastructure. In fact, this isn't about technology at all: It's a business decision with profound balance-sheet implications." say Richard M. Melnicoff, Marc E. Snyder and Rockwell Bonecutter in their article <bIT Consolidation and the Bottom Line Here is an excerpt: Once upon a time, there was a company committed to running its business better by giving managers the IT systems they needed. Given the economics and the technologies prevailing at the time, executives knew that rolling out new systems built on a distributed, server-based computing model would be the most cost-effective way to do this. They were even more pleased that managers in the company’s five divisions could incrementally add new servers to meet growing processing demands or when new offices were established. Read more

– Outsourcing: A long term commitment

Last updated on: October 25, 2005 at 2:59 pm By Desh Kapoor

Here is an article from Accenture on their research in this area. They surveyed over 500 companies on outsourcing. When the typical company tries outsourcing for the first time, its priorities tend to be pragmatic: fix the problems, cut the costs. Increasingly, however, companies with deeper outsourcing experience are learning a more profound and potentially far more valuable lesson: The bigger your outsourcing vision, the more satisfying the results that can be realized. A recent Accenture global survey of more than 500 companies, combined with 32 in-depth interviews with experienced outsourcing executives (see “About the ResearchAbout the Research Read more

– Bernanke will replace Greenspan

Last updated on: October 25, 2005 at 5:37 am By Desh Kapoor

President George W. Bush on Monday nominated top White House economist Ben Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chairman, and the former Fed board governor pledged to keep faith with the Greenspan era. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Bernanke, a widely respected monetary economist with a rich academic resume, would have huge sway over the world's mightiest economy. Greenspan, 79, is set to step down on Jan. 31 after leading the central bank for more than 18 years through a period in which he cemented a reputation as a monetary policy "maestro." "Ben Bernanke is the right man to build on the record Alan Greenspan has established," Bush, flanked by Greenspan and Bernanke, said in a brief Oval Office ceremony. Read more

– Indians get lost, say angry UK staff

Last updated on: October 25, 2005 at 5:21 am By Desh Kapoor

Here is another article (from Times of India) on the reaction of the British to outsourcing of their jobs. It is interesting how some take jobs and wealth to be their birth right... not something to earn by effort. Call centre workers in Newcastle -- who lost their jobs due to outsourcing to India -- have criticised a local college for providing call centre training to students from India. Newcastle College had to close its call centre training facility three years ago when companies began switching jobs abroad. But it has now re-opened its course for students from India where the industry is booming. Read more

– Rosa Parks passes into history…

Last updated on: October 25, 2005 at 5:06 am By Desh Kapoor

Today, Rosa Parks died. She was the black lady who did not give her seat to a white man... who insisted it was his. She thought otherwise. The resolve to disagree started a movement that would change the shape of this country.. USA... irretrievably! Rosa Lee Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the modern civil rights movement, died Monday. She was 92. Mrs. Parks died at her home of natural causes, said Karen Morgan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich. Read more

– How to wow your CEO?

Last updated on: October 24, 2005 at 5:42 pm By Desh Kapoor

What should the CIO's be doing? Here is something from the Gartner as reported by techtarget McDonald said business intelligence and security were the areas in which CIOs reported the most spending in 2005. Because IT has extended to the front office, CIOs must be concerned with security and risk throughout the company, he said. Gartner outlined six priorities for CIOs: * Keep tight control over IS. * Create a stable core of IT services. Read more

– Myanmar building a secret Nuclear reactor

Last updated on: October 24, 2005 at 4:24 pm By Desh Kapoor

Source: <a href = " http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1272049,curpg-4.cms">Times of India News Highlight: Myanmar's military government is allegedly preparing to build a secret nuclear project near the western slope of the Shan hills, some 42 miles from the central Myanmarese city of Mandalay, according to an independent website. Quoting sources, the site run by the ' Shan Herald Agency for News ' said the project was being constructed at a "secure site" near Maymyo, officially known as Pyin Oo Lwin near Mandalay. It also published a map of the location of the project. The site is located in "a flat land surrounded on all sides by steep hills. In addition, the area remains shrouded in mist all round the year, an aspect which the project's planners believe will make it virtually invisible from the air". Read more

– Caux Program: annual one month long study programme on the moral and spiritual dimensions of peacemaking

Last updated on: October 24, 2005 at 4:08 pm By Desh Kapoor

This is a useful piece for people who are interested in this kind of program: What is the Caux Scholars Programme? This annual one month long study programme focuses on the moral and spiritual dimensions of peacemaking and on the relationship between individual transformation and change in the world. Twenty youth from across the globe are selected based on their commitment to the community and the world, their academic credentials and their cultural background adding diversity to the global classroom. This year, the group hailed from 14 different countries. The classroom was a melting pot of diversity, with scholars from US, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Germany, Cambodia, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Australia and India. Read more

– Malappuram, India's 1st e-literate district

Last updated on: October 24, 2005 at 4:00 pm By Desh Kapoor

This is a news article from Rediff. It is interesting to note the innovation on part of Tulip the Indian IT company to cover such a large and uneven land terrain with Wireless Internet at high speeds for the advantage of Rural folks! This kind of project should be taken up at the scale of AMUL/NDDB etc. for it has the power to transform the Rural Areas of the country trremendously! Imagine the disruptive nature of timely and more information.. and later education on the age-old stuck polity of the country that such a connectivity can possibly unleash! Read more

– Blogging took him to Switzerland

Last updated on: October 24, 2005 at 3:59 pm By Desh Kapoor

I started blogging three years ago, and my blog has literally taken me places. I have met many interesting people online, one of them being Daniele -- a career coach and my online agony aunt -- from Paris. She used to visit my blog regularly. We connected, she came to India and we met. She told me all about the Caux Scholars Programme, a peace and conflict management programme conducted in Caux (pronounced Co), a tiny village in the Swiss Alps. I have always been interested in conflict management and worked on my application for six months before I finally got selected ... <a Read more