Capgemini research uncovers fundamental changes in consulting market
Capgemini has just released key findings from a research project aimed at identifying the fundamental changes taking place in the global consulting market. The survey ('The Voice of the Customer') sheds light on two critical issues:
i. areas where clients perceive consulting firms need to change and adapt
ii. types of assignments for which clients are likely to hire consultants in today's market
Read more here:
Apr 13, 2004
Infosys sets up consulting subsidiary in the US
While the rest of the consulting industry is busy setting up offshore centres in India, Indian IT services firm Infosys has taken the reverse direction and is taking the battle straight into the US by setting up its fully owned consulting subsidiary called Infosys Consulting
Read more about the news here
But if I'm not mistaken Infosys already had a consulting business unit in the US which contributed a miniscule part of their revenue. But this venture shows that they are trying to take this to an entirely different level of scale and profile.
In the meantime they also announced the fact that they have become a $1 billion in revenue player, the second after TCS in India.
While the rest of the consulting industry is busy setting up offshore centres in India, Indian IT services firm Infosys has taken the reverse direction and is taking the battle straight into the US by setting up its fully owned consulting subsidiary called Infosys Consulting
Read more about the news here
But if I'm not mistaken Infosys already had a consulting business unit in the US which contributed a miniscule part of their revenue. But this venture shows that they are trying to take this to an entirely different level of scale and profile.
In the meantime they also announced the fact that they have become a $1 billion in revenue player, the second after TCS in India.
Apr 8, 2004
Fast Company Now#more
Martin Bower's memo on behaviors he wanted to be admired in McKinsey
This was written a long time ago says Fast Company Blog, and is listed in Bower's new biography by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim a former McKinsey partner:
"I want the newcomers to know what kind of behavior we admire, and what kind of behavior we deplore:
1. First, we admire people who work hard. We dislike passengers who don't pull their weight in the boat.
2. We admire people with first-class brains, because you cannot run a great (organization) without brainy people.
3. We admire people who avoid politics--office politics, I mean.
4. We despise toadies who suck up to their bosses; they are generally the same people who bully their subordinates.
5. We admire the great professionals, the craftsmen who do their jobs with superlative excellence. We notice that these people always respect the professional expertise of their colleagues in other departments.
6. We admire people who hire subordinates who are good enough to succeed them. We pity people who are so insecure that they feel compelled to hire inferior specimens as their subordinates.
7. We admire people who build up and develop their subordinates, because this is the only way we can promote from within the ranks. We detest having to go outside to fill important jobs, and I look forward to the day when that will never be necessary.
8. We admire people who practice delegation. The more you delegate, the more responsibility will be loaded upon you.
9. We admire kindly people with gentle manners who treat other people as human beings--particularly the people who sell things to us. We abhor quarrelsome people. We abhor people who wage paper warfare. We abhor buck passers and people who don't tell the truth.
10. We admire well-organized people who keep their offices ship-shape, and deliver their work on time.
11. We admire people who are good citizens in their communities--people who work for their local hospitals, their church, the PTA, the Community Chest, and so on. In this connection, I am proud of the example set by some of my colleagues during the year."
This was written a long time ago says Fast Company Blog, and is listed in Bower's new biography by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim a former McKinsey partner:
"I want the newcomers to know what kind of behavior we admire, and what kind of behavior we deplore:
1. First, we admire people who work hard. We dislike passengers who don't pull their weight in the boat.
2. We admire people with first-class brains, because you cannot run a great (organization) without brainy people.
3. We admire people who avoid politics--office politics, I mean.
4. We despise toadies who suck up to their bosses; they are generally the same people who bully their subordinates.
5. We admire the great professionals, the craftsmen who do their jobs with superlative excellence. We notice that these people always respect the professional expertise of their colleagues in other departments.
6. We admire people who hire subordinates who are good enough to succeed them. We pity people who are so insecure that they feel compelled to hire inferior specimens as their subordinates.
7. We admire people who build up and develop their subordinates, because this is the only way we can promote from within the ranks. We detest having to go outside to fill important jobs, and I look forward to the day when that will never be necessary.
8. We admire people who practice delegation. The more you delegate, the more responsibility will be loaded upon you.
9. We admire kindly people with gentle manners who treat other people as human beings--particularly the people who sell things to us. We abhor quarrelsome people. We abhor people who wage paper warfare. We abhor buck passers and people who don't tell the truth.
10. We admire well-organized people who keep their offices ship-shape, and deliver their work on time.
11. We admire people who are good citizens in their communities--people who work for their local hospitals, their church, the PTA, the Community Chest, and so on. In this connection, I am proud of the example set by some of my colleagues during the year."
Seth Godin warns: The portal wars are going to get ugly
In his Blog (which I regularly frequent, and suggest you do too) Seth Godin talks about his experience about Yahoo's (of all people!) PayDirect service that tries to get him to surrender his data
Read more here, you have been warned ....
In his Blog (which I regularly frequent, and suggest you do too) Seth Godin talks about his experience about Yahoo's (of all people!) PayDirect service that tries to get him to surrender his data
Read more here, you have been warned ....
Professor Sadagopan's Weblog
e-Education turning out e-diots?
This bit is from Prof. Sadagopan's Weblog:
"excessive focus on computers, e-education, digital library, knowledge portals, learning management systems etc., that put technology and information at the center-stage is taking away the spirit of inquiry and learning processes that form the core of education. Well said indeed!
It is particularly relevant today when countries like India are seeing large-scale fund deployment (World Bank, IMF, USAID etc.,) that run into billions of dollars being diverted to computers, networking and others while the plight of the teachers remain pathetic as ever. "
Coming from India's most respected Academicians in the computer field that is a really telling comment!
This bit is from Prof. Sadagopan's Weblog:
"excessive focus on computers, e-education, digital library, knowledge portals, learning management systems etc., that put technology and information at the center-stage is taking away the spirit of inquiry and learning processes that form the core of education. Well said indeed!
It is particularly relevant today when countries like India are seeing large-scale fund deployment (World Bank, IMF, USAID etc.,) that run into billions of dollars being diverted to computers, networking and others while the plight of the teachers remain pathetic as ever. "
Coming from India's most respected Academicians in the computer field that is a really telling comment!
News
The End of the Internet???
I discovered this alarming news through the FCNow Blog, and its from the UK's Independent :
"The internet's watchmen have discovered that their network tumbled into the world with a potentially fatal birth defect. The cause? 'Background radiation'. The constant chatter of machines that lie awake while we sleep, and their long memories, pose a threat to future health of the system.
Some of the internet's most senior figures now think this issue needs urgent attention. Karl Auerbach, one of its pioneering technicians, wrote last year: 'There are indications that the internet, at least as we know it today, is dying.' He was referring to the flow of 'junk' traffic; a sort of background static in the world of the Net. Unnoticed by you or me, it is the result of neglected machines making eerie 'zombie' calls.
The problem is that while we expect machines to work smartly, the internet was designed with stupidity foremost. Stupidity - that is, a small pool of shared assumptions about the world, and a tiny pot of residual trust - is baked into the architecture of the internet, and was valued by the its sponsor, the US Department of Defense, which wanted a protocol malleable enough to create a network that would work after a nuclear attack."
Phew !
I hope they come up with a solution to this problem !
Imagine, a life without Blogging !!!
I'm just kidding...but it is scary when so much of our lives has moved to the virtual mode to even think about the whole system going down. I think the fundamentals of internet architecture is pretty sound...but with its edge growing to talk to wireless and moving out of just computers.
I know they'll solve the problem...they have to!
I discovered this alarming news through the FCNow Blog, and its from the UK's Independent :
"The internet's watchmen have discovered that their network tumbled into the world with a potentially fatal birth defect. The cause? 'Background radiation'. The constant chatter of machines that lie awake while we sleep, and their long memories, pose a threat to future health of the system.
Some of the internet's most senior figures now think this issue needs urgent attention. Karl Auerbach, one of its pioneering technicians, wrote last year: 'There are indications that the internet, at least as we know it today, is dying.' He was referring to the flow of 'junk' traffic; a sort of background static in the world of the Net. Unnoticed by you or me, it is the result of neglected machines making eerie 'zombie' calls.
The problem is that while we expect machines to work smartly, the internet was designed with stupidity foremost. Stupidity - that is, a small pool of shared assumptions about the world, and a tiny pot of residual trust - is baked into the architecture of the internet, and was valued by the its sponsor, the US Department of Defense, which wanted a protocol malleable enough to create a network that would work after a nuclear attack."
Phew !
I hope they come up with a solution to this problem !
Imagine, a life without Blogging !!!
I'm just kidding...but it is scary when so much of our lives has moved to the virtual mode to even think about the whole system going down. I think the fundamentals of internet architecture is pretty sound...but with its edge growing to talk to wireless and moving out of just computers.
I know they'll solve the problem...they have to!
BusinessPundit: Outsourcing? What About Innovation?
Blogosphere watch - Outsourcing/Offshoring
Interesting discussion at the BusinessPundit's blog on Outsourcing and Innovation !
Go check it out
Another good site that Blogger points to is Blame India Watch which tells Americans "Lost your IT job? Blame HR and your management. Don't blame India, or Indians.". It also points folks to some good ongoing debate on Outsourcing like Don't get Bangalored where they sell T-shirts (talk about American Innovation to make money !) and The Outsourcing Times
Interesting discussion at the BusinessPundit's blog on Outsourcing and Innovation !
Go check it out
Another good site that Blogger points to is Blame India Watch which tells Americans "Lost your IT job? Blame HR and your management. Don't blame India, or Indians.". It also points folks to some good ongoing debate on Outsourcing like Don't get Bangalored where they sell T-shirts (talk about American Innovation to make money !) and The Outsourcing Times
Apr 7, 2004
IBM takes over Daksh to throw its hat firmly into the BPO ring!
The whispers had been gaining ground for sometime but both IBM as well as Daksh had been stonewalling queries. But the news is out now.
IBM has taken over Daksh - one of India's biggest third party BPO vendor- for $ 160-$ 170 million
IBM had entered the BPO business by it's own Business Transformation Outsourcing Centre in Bangalore, but this takeover makes it a really serious player in the BPO segment.
More here
The whispers had been gaining ground for sometime but both IBM as well as Daksh had been stonewalling queries. But the news is out now.
IBM has taken over Daksh - one of India's biggest third party BPO vendor- for $ 160-$ 170 million
IBM had entered the BPO business by it's own Business Transformation Outsourcing Centre in Bangalore, but this takeover makes it a really serious player in the BPO segment.
More here
Apr 6, 2004
Guru Nation | workforce.com
Workforce's Article on the Guru Nation takes a look at the world of the Management Guru:
Some snippets
- Management gurus have become the rock stars of the business world, complete with entourages of support staff and private jets. They command fees as high as $100,000 for a single appearance.
- (Tom) Peters, a 62-year-old dynamo who pulls in $65,000 or more for a speaking engagement, takes a no-nonsense approach to the business of addressing the business world. He buys 100 or so books each month in search of a few new ideas he can use at the podium.
- (Gary) Hamel’s Strategos, for example, now has 20 consultants traveling the world with this message: executives should think of their companies as "a portfolio of competencies" and understand the fundamental preconditions for developing complex strategies. Hamel rakes in $50,000 for delivering keynote speeches at events such as the Microsoft CEO Summit, the World Economic Forum and the Fortune 500 CEO Roundtable. At 49, he clearly has established himself as a thought leader.
- But perhaps no one’s machine is as well oiled as Stephen Covey’s. His firm, FranklinCovey, the result of a merger of Franklin Quest and the Covey Leadership Center in 1997, had grown into a $307 million behemoth by 2003, with more than 6,000 clients worldwide, including 90 of the Fortune 100. The company also operates 143 retail stores, as well as e-commerce and mail-order operations. It sells audiotapes and videotapes, binders, books and planning and productivity software. Altogether, FranklinCovey operates in 50 countries and has 2,000 employees.
- "The ideas always sound good, but making them work requires ongoing consulting fees and a boatload of products," says one Fortune 500 executive. "Getting people to buy in and follow through over the long term is a hit-or-miss proposition."
- Crainer, who ranks top management gurus at a Web site called Thinkers 50, believes that their popularity is unlikely to fade anytime soon. "Practical application of most business ideas is a rarity," he says. "Management is a magpie science, picking up pieces of wisdom from all over the place, and managers are natural magpies, picking up pearls of wisdom where they find them." Perhaps The Economist magazine best summed up the guru game in a 1994 article. It noted: "The only thing worse than slavishly following management theory is ignoring it completely."
Some snippets
- Management gurus have become the rock stars of the business world, complete with entourages of support staff and private jets. They command fees as high as $100,000 for a single appearance.
- (Tom) Peters, a 62-year-old dynamo who pulls in $65,000 or more for a speaking engagement, takes a no-nonsense approach to the business of addressing the business world. He buys 100 or so books each month in search of a few new ideas he can use at the podium.
- (Gary) Hamel’s Strategos, for example, now has 20 consultants traveling the world with this message: executives should think of their companies as "a portfolio of competencies" and understand the fundamental preconditions for developing complex strategies. Hamel rakes in $50,000 for delivering keynote speeches at events such as the Microsoft CEO Summit, the World Economic Forum and the Fortune 500 CEO Roundtable. At 49, he clearly has established himself as a thought leader.
- But perhaps no one’s machine is as well oiled as Stephen Covey’s. His firm, FranklinCovey, the result of a merger of Franklin Quest and the Covey Leadership Center in 1997, had grown into a $307 million behemoth by 2003, with more than 6,000 clients worldwide, including 90 of the Fortune 100. The company also operates 143 retail stores, as well as e-commerce and mail-order operations. It sells audiotapes and videotapes, binders, books and planning and productivity software. Altogether, FranklinCovey operates in 50 countries and has 2,000 employees.
- "The ideas always sound good, but making them work requires ongoing consulting fees and a boatload of products," says one Fortune 500 executive. "Getting people to buy in and follow through over the long term is a hit-or-miss proposition."
- Crainer, who ranks top management gurus at a Web site called Thinkers 50, believes that their popularity is unlikely to fade anytime soon. "Practical application of most business ideas is a rarity," he says. "Management is a magpie science, picking up pieces of wisdom from all over the place, and managers are natural magpies, picking up pearls of wisdom where they find them." Perhaps The Economist magazine best summed up the guru game in a 1994 article. It noted: "The only thing worse than slavishly following management theory is ignoring it completely."
Apr 1, 2004
Top-Consultant.com - Global Opportunities in Consulting
Some Consulting news from Top-Consultant.com
Accenture CEO to resign; company quarterly profit better than expected
Accenture said Joe Forehand will resign as chief executive on September 1 but the 32-year company veteran will remain chairman. The announcement came as Accenture reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, boosted by strong gains in its outsourcing business.
During his five years at the helm Forehand led Accenture from a private consulting partnership to one of the world's largest and most profitable publicly traded consulting and services concerns. The company said its board of directors has been actively involved in succession planning for the last two years and has identified a preferred internal candidate to succeed Forehand, whom they expect to name in mid-April after input from Accenture’s 2,300 partners. "
Accenture CEO to resign; company quarterly profit better than expected
Accenture said Joe Forehand will resign as chief executive on September 1 but the 32-year company veteran will remain chairman. The announcement came as Accenture reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, boosted by strong gains in its outsourcing business.
During his five years at the helm Forehand led Accenture from a private consulting partnership to one of the world's largest and most profitable publicly traded consulting and services concerns. The company said its board of directors has been actively involved in succession planning for the last two years and has identified a preferred internal candidate to succeed Forehand, whom they expect to name in mid-April after input from Accenture’s 2,300 partners. "
Blogroll time
The Monster Blog has the following post on Personality Assessments
Another interesting post is , if you have a career coach how you should get the maximum out of him/her !
while the Fast Company Blog talks of Knowledge Mismanagement Do check out my comment on that site as well :
one of the reasons why people might not feel comfortable is that KM is seen as an "extractive" practice by employees (you said that bit about the Big Brother feeling!)
However, if that feeling is removed and people get to share and learn from each other then they will surely do so !
Wasn't that the essential difference between Communism and Capitalism? And don't we know which one has triumphed today?
It's the overwhelming sense of Analysts watching that pressurises companies to track RoI of each and every initiative wasting time and resources which could be better placed on knowledge creation !
The Monster Blog has the following post on Personality Assessments
Another interesting post is , if you have a career coach how you should get the maximum out of him/her !
while the Fast Company Blog talks of Knowledge Mismanagement Do check out my comment on that site as well :
one of the reasons why people might not feel comfortable is that KM is seen as an "extractive" practice by employees (you said that bit about the Big Brother feeling!)
However, if that feeling is removed and people get to share and learn from each other then they will surely do so !
Wasn't that the essential difference between Communism and Capitalism? And don't we know which one has triumphed today?
It's the overwhelming sense of Analysts watching that pressurises companies to track RoI of each and every initiative wasting time and resources which could be better placed on knowledge creation !
Google Gets the Message, Launches Gmail; User Complaint About Existing Services Leads Google to Create Search-Based Webmail
Google Gets the Message, Launches Gmail!!
The wait is over ! Google promises email with 1000 MB !!
Man ! The 1000 pound gorilla of web searches is now coming into the territory with direct confrontations with MSN and Yahoo !
I'm looking forward to this fight :-))
Amidst rampant media speculation, Google Inc. today announced it is testing a preview release of Gmail -- a free search-based webmail service with a storage capacity of up to eight billion bits of information, the equivalent of 500,000 pages of email. Per user.
The inspiration for Gmail came from a Google user complaining about the poor quality of existing email services, recalled Larry Page, Google co-founder and president, Products. "She kvetched about spending all her time filing messages or trying to find them," Page said. "And when she's not doing that, she has to delete email like crazy to stay under the obligatory four megabyte limit. So she asked, 'Can't you people fix this?'"
The idea that there could be a better way to handle email caught the attention of a Google engineer who thought it might be a good "20 percent time" project. (Google requires engineers to spend a day a week on projects that interest them, unrelated to their day jobs). Millions of M&Ms later, Gmail was born.
"If a Google user has a problem with email, well, so do we," said Google co-founder and president of technology, Sergey Brin. "And while developing Gmail was a bit more complicated than we anticipated, we're pleased to be able to offer it to the user who asked for it."
Added Page, "Gmail solves all of my communication needs. It's fast and easy and has all the storage I need. And I can use it from anywhere. I love it!"
Today, a handful of users will begin testing the preview version of Gmail. Unlike other free webmail services, Gmail is built on the idea that users should never have to file or delete a message, or struggle to find an email they've sent or received. Key features of Gmail include:
-- Search: Built on Google search technology, Gmail enables people to quickly search every email they've ever sent or received. Using keywords or advanced search features, Gmail users can find what they need, when they need it.
-- Storage: Google believes people should be able to hold onto their mail forever. That's why Gmail comes with 1,000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of free storage -- more than 100 times what most other free webmail services offer.
-- Speed: Gmail makes using email faster and more efficient by eliminating the need to file messages into folders, and by automatically organizing individual emails into meaningful "conversations" that show messages in the context of all the replies sent in response to them. And it turns annoying spam e-mail messages into the equivalent of canned meat. hmm? - What does that mean?
The wait is over ! Google promises email with 1000 MB !!
Man ! The 1000 pound gorilla of web searches is now coming into the territory with direct confrontations with MSN and Yahoo !
I'm looking forward to this fight :-))
Amidst rampant media speculation, Google Inc. today announced it is testing a preview release of Gmail -- a free search-based webmail service with a storage capacity of up to eight billion bits of information, the equivalent of 500,000 pages of email. Per user.
The inspiration for Gmail came from a Google user complaining about the poor quality of existing email services, recalled Larry Page, Google co-founder and president, Products. "She kvetched about spending all her time filing messages or trying to find them," Page said. "And when she's not doing that, she has to delete email like crazy to stay under the obligatory four megabyte limit. So she asked, 'Can't you people fix this?'"
The idea that there could be a better way to handle email caught the attention of a Google engineer who thought it might be a good "20 percent time" project. (Google requires engineers to spend a day a week on projects that interest them, unrelated to their day jobs). Millions of M&Ms later, Gmail was born.
"If a Google user has a problem with email, well, so do we," said Google co-founder and president of technology, Sergey Brin. "And while developing Gmail was a bit more complicated than we anticipated, we're pleased to be able to offer it to the user who asked for it."
Added Page, "Gmail solves all of my communication needs. It's fast and easy and has all the storage I need. And I can use it from anywhere. I love it!"
Today, a handful of users will begin testing the preview version of Gmail. Unlike other free webmail services, Gmail is built on the idea that users should never have to file or delete a message, or struggle to find an email they've sent or received. Key features of Gmail include:
-- Search: Built on Google search technology, Gmail enables people to quickly search every email they've ever sent or received. Using keywords or advanced search features, Gmail users can find what they need, when they need it.
-- Storage: Google believes people should be able to hold onto their mail forever. That's why Gmail comes with 1,000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of free storage -- more than 100 times what most other free webmail services offer.
-- Speed: Gmail makes using email faster and more efficient by eliminating the need to file messages into folders, and by automatically organizing individual emails into meaningful "conversations" that show messages in the context of all the replies sent in response to them. And it turns annoying spam e-mail messages into the equivalent of canned meat. hmm? - What does that mean?
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