Bemused…

The hole above and us below

Saw an ad in paper from a leading network integrated solutions company which talked about one of their managed solutions (computer/server/storage stuff). The ad went like this .. ‘our xxxxx solution reduces cost of ownership, enhances multimedia functions including streaming video and IP telephony and is environment friendly‘. Well, with my limited IT knowledge, I could make some sense of the first few benefits of their solution, but I’m still scratching my head over the last one - the ‘environment friendly’ thing. Maybe they are talking about reduced energy consumption, environment friendly technologies et al, but I’m not sure. If I were to pick the odd man out in that sentence, I would pick ‘environment friendly’. A similar ad from a paper bag manufacturer - I would’ve digested easier.

Reminds me of another time when we got an email from one of our top bosses - The mail urged us to cut down on our flight travels and take to more video conferences so that we do our bit to reduce carbon emissions. (’Market is bad, and we need to take out all your perks’ would’ve been another way to put it, but that would’ve sounded cliched)

‘Eco-friendly’, ‘Environment-friendly’, ‘Green’ etc are the new marketing buzzwords today. Here’s a tip: If you are planning on getting a new product into the market, make sure you wrap it in green, use recycled paper and add an ‘eco friendly’ catchline (however out of place it may appear). Should work even if you manufacture weapons of mass destruction.

Technorati Tags: environment friendly

Posted in HUmor, IT, Life | No Comments »

Web 2.0 and the art of keeping in touch

Some people just have it in them. I, for one, definitely don’t. I am talking about the art of keeping in touch. It’s gotten so much easier these days with web 2.0, but I should admit that I still haven’t mastered the art. And I am thankful that I have wonderful friends who don’t get peeved at me for not keeping in touch. Even after a zillion mails and calls that I don’t return. I know some of my buds keep a diary with birthdays, anniversaries, and other important details regarding friends so they could call up and wish them. How I envy these folks. I know it’s impossible for me to do it.

Maybe that’s why Twitter doesn’t make any sense to me. I read all these articles about how great an application Twitter is, and what potential it holds. I can’t seem to understand what sense it would make to broadcast everything you do every other minute on the web. Now, come on, admit it - not many of us live a life that lends itself to spicy stuff that could interest anyone. Unless you are Britney Spears. Or for that matter our own Imraan Hashmi (That guy who goes around kissing girls. Lucky Bum). If I were to Tweet (I’m not sure if that’s the right Twitter lingo - My guess), it would go like this:
(more…)

Technorati Tags: web 2.0, Twitter, potential, Britney Spears, Imraan Hashmi

Posted in HUmor, IT, Life, Self depreciation, Technology | 1 Comment »

Could it get any better than shooting yourself in the back.

Today was just one of those days when nothing seemed to go right. End of the day, here I am, frustrated and restless. I feel like shooting myself in the b***. And shoot I will. Through this quick fire, simple (and silly and visually-not-so-appealing and a lot of other things) game. Try it out if you are in the mood: >> Shoot yourself

Game requisites: Grumpy mood, A total lack of design sense, A hole for a brain, and yeah - windows vista (Perfect for a ’slow’ day. )

Posted in HUmor, IT, Life, Technology | No Comments »

Chillout at Chennai

It’s been a hectic 3 weeks. Our product was finally done, and we had to sell it. We’d created several sales leads over the course of last few months, and had to go around for scheduled meetings. And that’s what we did last week. Boy, the reaction from the market has been very encouraging. And that would be an understatement. Couple of our prospect customers liked the product very much, but suggested some additional cutting edge stuff to be added. Back in Mangalore, that’s what we are doing now. Putting our heads down, and back to work for the next 2 weeks. Meanwhile, here’s an account of our sales trip (forgive me for certain exaggerations, my humble but valiant attempt at humor)

Tuesday, 17 Jun 2008 10:00 AM.
So, we’ve to travel to Chennai. Tomorrow. We are all set with the demos, brochures, wires, nuts, bolts, and the almost fully squeezed out tube of tooth paste. But there’s one thing missing. Oh, yeah - we needed to travel to Chennai. As in, we needed to get our a** moved from Mangalore to Chennai. (more…)

Technorati Tags: cutting edge, Mangalore, Chennai, brochures

Posted in HUmor, IT, Life, Mangalore, Self depreciation, Travel | 1 Comment »

In pursuit of happiness..

Well, it feels like it’s been a while since I left Infosys (although it’s just been a month and half now). But I feel happy that I don’t miss Infosys anymore. Happy because it reassures me that my decision to leave was the right one, Happy because it tells me that I am confident about my future even without the safety and security of a high paying job and Happy because I have the freedom to do what I need to do. But maybe the single biggest factor for not missing Infy could be that I don’t feel like I have moved away (more…)

Technorati Tags: Infosys, high paying job

Posted in IT, Life, Management, Technology | 13 Comments »

Higher Pay, Lower Satisfaction?

My friend Brijesh referred me to this report on Dataquest 2007 Salary Survey report (related to IT). It had an interesting line that goes like this: “high salary didn’t always mean high satisfaction, but the sheer extent of disconnect is amazing. There was less than 8% correlation between salary and satisfaction with salary!” . The report goes on to say that while some of the companies were rated higher on the salary pay out, they fared lower on the ‘employee satisfaction with salary’ parameter. (Eg: TCS was ranked higher than HCL Infosystems in terms of salary, but HCL Infosystems came higher on employee satisfaction with salary). Now, how can that be possible, considering these companies are in the same industry providing similar services? What are the influencing factors for such a scenario? Was trying to figure this out, and could think of the following:

- The quality of people in the organization and their mindset (their education background, level of ambition, expectations on work etc). The higher this is, greater are their expectations

- Image of the company (A company’s market image creates certain salary expectations. And a -ve gap in what the employee expects the company to provide versus actuals could lead to dissatisfaction) 

- The extent of disparity in salaries of employees with similar profile and experience (in the same org)

- Complexity of Salary structure: how much is tied to performance, how easy it is to decipher the payout components,  and what is the final take home.

Maybe I am totally off-track on this one, but this is what my (walnut sized) brain could come up with.

IT, TCS, Salary, HCL

Posted in IT, Management | 1 Comment »