Will Cloud Computing get Thin

Thin Computing…Sounds familiar !!! I surely had joined the people who thought this was now an elapsed innovation until recently when it rang a bell while I was thinking about Cloud Computing. What has Thin computing got to do in or with Cloud? I wanted to share what I drew out of my thoughts.

Either newly forming or expanding Small and Medium enterprises spend a lot on the technical infrastructure. while Cloud Computing gives them the advantage on scalability and accessibility fronts, Thin Computing can double the benefit by reducing the initial TCO on the tech infra significantly by having most of the Server-Ware and App-Ware pushed on to cloud. This not just saves the enterprises’ costs upfront but in a long term too as they expand further beyond geographies and into any new lines of business (by mergers and acquisitions). All the new employees/entities can access the App-Ware from across geographical locations and there again enabling Thin Computing across the geographies would increase the savings.

With companies (very few today but increasing by every month) offering a variety of services on cloud (remotely set up tailored hardware) it has now started to get commoditized. With new equipments like Smart Phones and Tablets getting more and more advanced I do foresee a time when some of these equipments will be used as extended clouds for any lighter Applications to made run for a small number of employees/people :-)

A thorough diagnosis to gauge your adaptability and readiness to Thin/Cloud Computing will undoubtedly be the first good step towards knowing what’s in it for you. There are quite a few firms which can offer this kind of assessment, I would recommend you to go with a larger player just for the assessment piece as they would be able to set the perspective right not just for your current state but future too and will be able to point out the gaps and solutions through their experience and expertise.

Most importantly both Thin and Cloud Computing are very environment friendly initiatives which message I request all the readers to spread within their known circles and groups.

Any questions/remarks, please feel free to share at your leisure

Business, the B2P way

I am sure I am not the only one thinking and writing about this – B2P (Business 2 People). Most of us know the very usual sound alike tags B2B and B2C. What is B2P, is it new, does it co-exist with B2B and B2C or does it have it’s own identity.

With software vendors and software services providers all focusing on B2B and B2C (not to forget the reverse directional C2B and in addition C2C) B2P has already started gaining steady market share. By People in the B2P I mean the entire set of people/citizens across the world who continuously shape and influence Customer’s decisions. Let’s go an inch deeper to understand what it means and how it happens.

Across the Social Media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and many others there are People some of who are not Customer/Consumer at all within the targeted media, some of them might become a C later on and some might be active Cs.

If the Bs can target all the potential influencing Ps within and beyond the social channels by means of number of potential Cs they are connected to or by number of public forums they are a part of and position their offerings tuned in P’s view that’s perfect Localization and Internationalization for me

Many of us might think that the regular marketing, advertising and sales activities do target these Ps but the only difference according to me in all or most of those approaches is that they target the Ps as they target any potential C which wouldn’t be the most effective way.

Just would like to illustrate this through an example before we reach the last dot of this post, chances of me or someone like me buying an iPad if marketed by any B directly via email, social media or online (news sites, search engine ads, etc.) compared to suggested by someone who has recommended me on Linked In or who writes regularly on my wall on Facebook or whom I follow on Twitter.

Ps are heterogeneous and based on the relationship B establishes with P the wallet share of C can grow.

Hope I have succeeded in conveying the significance of the P in the growing multi channel communication world, please feel free to reach me to query, share your opinion on this at your leisure

Ideas around Agility in Technology Services Sales in this emerging era for beginners

What is now being dubbed as ‘Crowd-Sourcing’, ‘Out-Sourcing’ certainly has reached the masses through masters and otherwise. As companies out there demand more and more agility in the solutions it raises the bar for us the sales professionals to get equally or more agile to create that successful end to end experience. Enclosed below are few ideas which I felt could offer certain help, these could be of benefit to sales/business development professionals who have just recently taken up their career in this technology solutions/services sales or are at the initial stages of it

2 Ps and the P : I could as well have said 3 Ps but the symmetry between the 2 and the 1 prompted me to keep them that way … the 2 Ps are Play and Pause which signify the judgement we as sales professionals make while dealing with a client/prospect, this is at its best and successful when is truly personal without any external influencing. It would be tough to understand and justify the reactions of people in the first go but the more we interact (exchange ideas, try understanding their needs, point them to few good sources of information, take help of any of the contacts you would know in common who could value add to the interactions) the stronger the bonding gets. The third P which plays a critical role complimenting the two Ps is Perseverance. Many a times Perseverance is taken too literally where a contact is not made for the duration agreed between the client/prospect and the Sales individual, it doesn’t have to be that way. Professional relation is as important (sometimes more, but certainly not less) as personal, vital care and contemplation is involved in selecting a partner as people would otherwise do in personal life, as most of us would have noticed many a professional relation extend becoming allies sometimes cutting the borders, cultures and languages.

Intermittently people get judgmental on the basis of prior experiences (of interactions with people), yes, it does work but not for the majority, reason being people are people. If I were to say that I experienced a Sony Vaio or an Apple Mac or Windows XP in the States and I found them to be different or similar in UK it makes a case, but if I say a person from a line of business in the States would transact largely the same way to a person of a similar profile in UK or Europe I am going awfully off beam

Mode of communication : is as crucial as the communication itself. It is for us sales people to know which means of communication is our client/prospect comfortable with – eMail, Snail Mail (there still are people/organizations which are comfortable, ritually may be, in dealing initially this way), Phone (Mobile and/or Landline) and Mobile-Text, this does now and then would make or break a contact

Whether it is about involving relevant subject matter experts or someone who would influence the relation/decision making you are the best judge on timing their entry into the relation.

Prescriptive to Facilitative : Selling has come a far way from just being a part of trade, it is much more today than getting the show on the road. Client/Prospect expects the sales individual and the transactions with him/her to be educating to either party involved in the discussions, a true partnership is envisaged. Lot of times with the outsourcing organization limiting the scope of work to their business perspective technology companies will have to shape up considerably being a consulting arm to an outsourcing arm, then an architecting arm and eventually a delivery one. Sales professionals have to fervently accept this need of the hour and equip themselves with knowledge of the arena they operate in much beyond their own offerings. More than mapping client’s needs to the organizational capabilities or offerings sales individuals would have to engage in knowledge-sharing, brain-storming sessions of course along with the key stake holders from both the parties involved which would not only result in sound solution ideas but leave very few stones (almost negligible) unturned along the way.

Subject Matter Expertise (SME) and Selling : The SME has been in existence for long, in fact due to the longer existence it has shaped up to a robust matrix with the organizational divisions (Operations, HR, Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, of late Procurement, Outsourcing and more) as subjects on one axis and on the other axis it would be the service(s)  offered by the consulting partner in areas like and including Productivity assessment and enhancement, Operational Management and many other quantifiable RoI oriented ones.

SME was largely practised by one or two Tier 1 players for long before becoming a part of the portfolio of many of the Tier-1 players and only a handful Tier-2 ones, I mean in an established and thoroughly practised sense. Many Tier-1 companies have budgeted to have around 40-100 or more SM experts each on permanent rolls this year (2010) alone who bring wealth of SME with them to the organizations and to the larger community in a wide range of subjects

Knowing more about our client/prospect : Market expansion is chiefly being driven by demand as a result of which most of the companies are exploring places they hadn’t planned or thought of. It would be momentous for us sales professionals to possess knowledge of any foreign languages  (widely spoken ones to start with) which would not just help us help our  organization but enrich our own knowledge on international cultures, cuisines, people and a lot more, travelling (as a visitor/tourist) indubitably would help extensively, virtual at times though not ideal ;-)

Latent Transparency : Lot of times both the client/prospect and the individual(s) representing potential partner organization tend to shy away from discussing few things assuming the aspects either aren’t of relevance or are not of immediate importance which unnoticingly slip through the cracks. So we from the sales front would have to capture this delicate information by holding talks with both client/prospect and the team(s) involved from our end. We also have to perseveringly carry out this activity of bridging the gaps and as we do that it is also imperative for us to document the transactions as otherwise the essence vanishes


Being adaptable : With signs of market upturn now being seen and felt there would be many reorganizations taking place in both our own and the client/prospect organizations at times posing new challenges, we have to be ready to face the switch boldly and come out with flying colours.

wishing you the best always, all ways

In-Sourcing, Out-Sourcing & Multi-Sourcing

In-Sourcing, Out-Sourcing & Multi-Sourcing

If the last 100 years have brought to us (internet, WWW, Mobile etc…) what the last few centuries prior to them haven’t in general, the last 20 years have embraced every channel available to explore new territories, people, cultures and have succeeded in establishing trend-setting partnerships across the globe.

Getting into sourcing what was just ‘In-Sourcing’ for many years until few decades ago has been experimentally expanded by deploying team(s) in different location(s) within the country, outside of it, outside the company’s framework and so on, the need drove companies to be creative and so eventually sourcing evolved to what it is today

We will in this post get introduced to In-Sourcing, Out-Sourcing and Multi-Sourcing

In-Sourcing

Assigning the responsibility of a project to a team which is internal and which has been either set up specifically to deliver the task or has been in the system for some time and has been trained to deliver the task.

There are multiple aspects to be noticed in this mechanism like for example the team need not be Full Time Employees, they can be either part time or be contractors hired just for the task. Also the team need not be based in the same location as the (IT) Head Quarters or the location where the solution needs to be deployed. With an effective Programme and Project Management the task can be executed from any location that has decent network connectivity.

The most critical of all aspects in this model is Profit and Loss (P&L) ownership which is vested in the team which is given the responsibility of the deliverable. Many a cases this becomes the Achilles Heel, in very few a boon.

This model has been and is favoured by many organizations and there are few very big labels which pursue this route to this day like Tesco, Vodafone, Boeing etc…Yes, these companies also do some Out-Sourcing

Out-Sourcing

Out-Sourcing wont be a lot onerous because of a fair bit of commonality it has to In-Sourcing; let us see how and why. In Out-Sourcing too drawing the requirements together and weaving a scope happens very similar to as it does in In-Sourcing but because of the work being sent outside the legal walls of the outsourcer due diligence becomes de rigueur (Essential). The inquiry happens two ways, by the Outsourcer and by the Outsourcee

It would be hard to itemize all the aspects that are vital in Outsourcing; I have attempted summing up few.

The most crucial factor for success of an engagement or a partnership is the relation between the parties involved. Success and failure coexist in an outsourcing relation, quite a few companies fail not because having botched delivering the project but because of not having established a sincere affiliation with the client. There certainly are companies even today on the supplier’s side of the business which do not maintain a ‘open book’ policy with the clients specially around highlighting any hiccups as they come up, sharing the impact the hitches would have on the delivery of the task. In most of the times it is usually in the eleventh hour the client gets to know about the damage; not in all the cases but surely in few the setback is irreparable.

Cost, is not everything, but definitely plays a big role in clinching a relation. Costing differs a lot based on the experience both the organization has in delivering similar projects in the past and the individuals involved in estimation have experience in delivering that too. With many clients having learnt the hard way that cheapest option is not always the best they do wish to see both quality and quantity but just not money in a relation especially when someone envisages a long term one. Also because of the economy crisis if any suppliers can do their bit in offering cost effective solutions by lowering margins clients would absolutely be ready to consider such proposals

It is an endless debate to have whether a project lost is a relation lost, I would agree that the supplier who wins the deal has demonstrated that extra care in a relationship perspective which goes a long way beyond that assignment but the other suppliers involved in the process would undoubtedly stand a chance in the future provided they have showcased strong commitment throughout. Relationship, a lot is about understanding the priorities of the client, accepting or sharing the inability as a supplier on any of the aspects with the client upfront. We have seen in many occasions client setting out to procure a service/solution on a specific technology and with the rapport the supplier establishes with the client they make the client change their mind/approach by suggesting that some other technolog(ies)y would best suit their needs.

Because of the variety market/Supplier today has got to offer clients are expecting suppliers to be proactive than reactive. Proactive here means supplier engaging with client in a series of discussions which will give the supplier a fine understanding of the client’s the then existing business, technology scenario and needs and will help to get back to the client with a winning proposition of what new and unique benefit can the client get from them if given an opportunity. Here sometimes a supplier might have to demonstrate the technical and operational deliverability and knowledge by offering a portion of the target deliverable as Proof of Concept at their expense, history has many examples which have proven that client does get into a relation with that supplier further to that

An aspect worth citing would be that no definitive scope of work is required as highlighted in most of the forums, yes it would aid in accelerating the whole development but it surely is not the ‘show-stopper’ ingredient. It infact has been demonstrated many a times that without a strict scope of work projects were delivered to mutual satisfaction of the vendor and the client solely because of a worthy exchange of expectations.

Multi-Sourcing

This is still evolving conceptually but indubitably offers best of both (Insourcing and Outsourcing) worlds. By parts the concept was and is being practised and serviced across various geographies. In this model the client goes an extra mile backward to invite a supplier (of course after due diligence) to assess their current set up/investment and map out the benefits the client can get out of it with minimal or some changes and define what would they need in addition. Further to this another partner selection programme is conducted by the client to identify the right supplier who can deliver what they want, here comes the benefit and inimitability of Multi-Sourcing. The client should from the earlier exercise have got an output that offers the clarity on what’s missing and what needs improvement; that report when appropriately synchronized with the potential supplier’s capabilities client will realize that each of the potential supplier has something distinct to offer and they have proven expertise within that space.

Yes, it would be challenging to coordinate with multiple suppliers on a single assignment as the task would be broken into multiple modules and outsourced amongst few but if we look at the precision each of the suppliers would offer, the amalgamation would result profits.

For example: if we consider a company wanting to start offering their business online or enhance their existing online portfolio depending on the business if it is a retailer they can fragment the target chore into multiple tasks like building an appealing User Interface which can be outsourced to a supplier who has demonstrable expertise in that space, then look at the layout, design and architecture and partner with a supplier who specializes in those, then partner with a testing services provider to gauge and ensure that the solution in hand is robust and scalable enough, then a good hosting partner and so on. Also there are suppliers who are good in support and maintenance of this kind of solutions who can offer quality service economically once the solution has gone live.

Not to forget Multi-Sourcing can be applied to a project or to multiple projects based on a technology stream.

If we consider the above example in a typical ‘In-Sourcing’ or ‘Out-Sourcing’ angle the client will be able to find very few suppliers who can offer everything (specially when the project is of very large scale) which indeed does reduce the cost of having to evaluate suppliers and coordinate with quite few of them to achieve desired results but as we are all aware the investment would be so significant compared to the ‘Multi-Sourcing’ mechanism.

I am sure you would appreciate that there is a lot to In-Sourcing, Out-Sourcing and Multi-Sourcing; we will try digging Multi-Sourcing more as that’s going to dominate the Sourcing arena in the coming years.

Outsourcing X.0

OutSourcing X.0

Food, Shelter, Money, many out there know about outsourcing as much as they know about these aspects. Historically outsourcing has proven to be a significant way of doing business as the outsourcer gets to focus on their core business areas by offloading the aspects which are better done at a location and by people or organization(s) economically and quality wise apt

If I could recall relatively older success stories like the ‘Ford’ to more recent ones like DELL, companies have prospered by choosing the outsourcing conduit. There are very successful stories on the Insourcing and Multisourcing side too

From the need and the action came the processes to qualify the quantification. 

We have seen the CMMs, the CMMi’s, the ISOs, the SIX SIGMAs circumscribing Outsourcing in the last couple of decades making it a more stronger, indispensable and trusty course

With the upsetting economical climate in the last few months outsourcing, by few, has been translated being anecdotal which is alarming. This should in fact be the time for an organization with outsourcing potential to look for the right partner as companies which have the capability to deliver have stood up with time and have a great lot to offer. The key is though for both the buyer and the seller to evaluate each other unlike one evaluating just one in many cases till now

Increasingly as I find organizations wanting to find the key aspects of any project management process that would reduce the risk in an outsourcing assignment I feel like sharing with them these thoughts:

As the acceptance of Six Sigma has grown and is penetrating deeper into common business culture, a question arises when is the right time to determine when a process needs to be improved versus designed?

Let’s examine two established and proven methodologies Six Sigma DMEDI and DMAIC which would benefit companies from many industry backgrounds and people working on various projects of both technical and non-technical in nature if implemented for the right variety of projects. In many occasions organizations are convinced/sold on Six Sigma ‘DMAIC’ as a quick fix to internal organizational issues and problems. However, the true benefit Six Sigma can be realized when it is applied in scenarios involving building processes from scratch than fixing issues or processes

DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control)

DMAIC is an analytical, data driven approach to eliminate weaknesses in active processes, products and services. DMAIC brings incremental improvements.

DMEDI (Design, Measure, Explore, Develop, Implement)

DMEDI is more of a creative approach to designing new robust processes, products and services. This roadmap is focused purposed to obtain significant competitive advantages or quantum leaps over current environments. However DMEDI Projects tend to be more time and resource intensive.

Enclosed below is a high level comparison of DMAIC and DMEDI Six Sigma methodologies

DMAIC	DMEDI
Define – Review project charter, Validate problem statement and goals, Validate voice of the customer and voice of the business, validate financial benefits, validate high level Value-Stream map and scope, Create Communication plan, Select and launch team, Develop project schedule and Complete Define gate	Define – Almost similar to Define in the DMAIC methodology
Measure – Value Stream map for deeper understanding and focus, Identify Key Input, process and Output metrics, Develop operational definitions, Develop data collection plan, Validate measurement system, Collect baseline data, Determine Process capability and Complete Measure gate	Measure – Define Customer’s needs using VOC and QFD, determine CCR’s
Analyze – Determine critical inputs, Identify potential root causes, Reduce list of potential root causes, Confirm root cause effect on output, Estimate impact of root causes on key outputs, Prioritize root causes and Complete Analyze gate	Explore – Develop Design concepts, and High-Level design
Improve – Develop potential solutions, Evaluate, select and optimize best solutions, Develop ‘To-Be’ value stream maps, Develop and implement pilot solution, Confirm attainment of project goals, Develop full-scale implementation plan and Complete Improve gate	Develop – Develop and optimize detailed design
Control – Implement mistake proofing, Develop SOPs, training plan and process controls, Implement solution and ongoing process measurements, Identify opportunities to apply project lessons and Complete control gate. Transition Monitoring/Control to process owner	Implement – Validate design with pilot, establish controls, full scale implementation

Both the methodologies bring strengths when used in a right environment, right situation, right industry on the right project (ideally when being built from the scratch as highlighted in one of the aspects above), with the right team. A thorough monitoring (checking and re-checking) should yield best results

We will look at how Insourcing, Outsourcing and Multisourcing are different in their approach and what benefits do they bring to a client in the coming posts