August 28th, 2009 § § permalink
Here I am LIVE Blogging, Ankur Lal one of a closely related NASSCOM EMERGE community fellow and Sanjiv Mital from Saarthi Enterprises and Alok Mittal from Cannan Partners. this is surely going to be an interesting session.
Ankur Lal, CEO Infozech Software leads the session with Alok Mittal – Partner, Canaan Partners, Sanjiv Mital – CEO, Saarthi Enterprise.
Ankur starts by giving the example of a company which has grown from a 10 employee to a 400+ employee company with a revenue over 100 crores.
We have Ankur sharing abotu how the mobile industry is attempting the SaaS based model. Telecom procurement is what Ankur is talking about. What was it like 10 years back, Ankur takes the delegates back in time.
there was lot of outsourcing in procurement, but there was not much in management
SaaS kind of came in and changed all that and something of the similar sort happened in the mobile world. People started sourcing managed services rather that procurement and hence the story of someone like Airtel in India happened. when CAPEX combines with delivery capability it becomes better.
Last year Airtel went out to outsource customer care. It surely was a BIG step as when outsourcing started in the mobile world it was just the back end which was getting outsourced. Interestingly Ankur now talks about the VAS outsourcing space.
If you are selling into a telco, the picture in front of you is that you cant say I have equipment or software
We are now getting a good insight into where this all is heading by Ankur. A very major point that Alok has touched is the platform now. What it delivers, what value does it create etc. Alok says it all int erms of the evolving developer context. And well, there is the entire ppt which shows everything from the 80′s to 90′s and now the 2000 and what has happened, in terms of the technology.
Discussing technology how could have iPhone not have gotten mentioned, we have Alok talking about the iPhone and how the technology has leveraged Open Source. I am particularly interested in knowing more about this space.
With his closing remarks, Alok closes the session. I have been listening to Alok since a good time now and this was surely an interesting piece of gyan.
We now have Sanjiv Mital – CEO, Saarthi Enterprise, talking about The emerging business model. Interesting to know that Sanjiv invested into Bharti telesoft when it was going through a tought phase in 2001 and went ahead with a management buyout. What did he do which gave it the major push?
- Migrated the software services to VAS products
Sanjiv is talking about the traditional software business model which is followed generally. This is soemthign that I call a cost Plus model. When you do the same in a software as a service model, what you do is value based pricing.
You are not just worried about developing the product, installing and its over. You not only get revenue but you get high revenue. In bharti Telsoft we hence started a new revenue enhancemenet department. Sanjiv is essentially talking about hwo the entire businessm odel changes with SaaS, which is less to do with cost ad more to do with what value you deliver to the customer.
Interestingly, in my personal opinion, the cash Flow implications that Sanjiv is showing is surely an eye opener. Each bit is supported by the phases of the various steps yoru product goes through in the SaaS model.
As the consumers keep on using your service, your revnue goes up and in a small time your revenue could be a good part of your client’s earning
SaaS, is much easier to sell. What you are sayign is, I’ll make money only when you do. But the risk that you are taking is much more. It could be years when you start generating good profits. It could take fair amount of time when significant revenues start coming in.
Sanjiv is now talking about RBT, and how the moel got up. Interestingly Sanjiv is talking all surprises…how a large number of the consumers in the country subscribe to this concept. I can no less agree to Sanjiv as I am closely realted to a major telecom company which used RBT as a major concept.
Sanjiv says surely in the longer run SaaS pays off. All the companies we have talked about grew very significanlty in the longer run.
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August 28th, 2009 § § permalink
India market and the SaaS/Cloud Computing landscape – Session three of the NASSCOM EMERGEOUT Conclave
Speakers: Kishore Madhyam – CEO, ImpelCRM, Sharad Sanghi – CEO & Founder NetMagic Solutions, Chandra Prabhakar – Global Head, OnDemand Solutions, Ramco Systems
Moderator: Ibrahim Ahmed – Chief Editor, Dataquest, Cyber Media group
Now we have Mr. Ahmed moderating the session, adding a quick point, I think one of the earliest propagators of cloud computing was an Indian professors in the US. The entire mindset about cloud computing and on demand computing is rising and therefore I am very very positive about the same.
We are glad to see the rising interest and concepts like this are going to be very very powerful. Ibrahim is now introducing the speakers on stage.
Interesting to understand from Mr. Sharad Sanghi from netmagic solutions on how netmagic understands cloud computing. I am particularly interested in knowing how easy it is to scale up and scale down applications using cloud. Making things simpler for the delegate to understand, we have Sharad simplifying the cloud and showing us the silver lining with it, along with some very interesting numbers.
Driving factors in india:
- Low cost
- High operational efficiency
- Elasticity
- Scalability
Sharad is creating the picture of how start-ups and emerging businesses are adopting the technology and what factors really are pushing the same out.
As long as you do your capacity planning well, cloud computing surely works
Energy efficiency is a crucial point Sharad has taken up, with cost of power going up every-time, Cloud is surely a solution. Sharad now ends his session with an introduction to the architecture.
And now we have Kishore from PK4 software. Kishore is a friend and I surely have seen him EMERGEOUT connected through the NASSCOM EMERGE community. Kishore starts sharing some very interesting numbers showing the delegate the Indian market. There are phenomenal names to follow in the saas space.
I personally like Narasimhan’s way of sharing his own learning’s saying that he may not be an expert but he has learnt
And we’re still not talking of the bottom of the pyramid says Narasimhan. Its amazing what people can do with software out in the field.
Narasimhan is now talking about how they as a company operates. We have got one of the largest optical brands in the world. Interestingly Narasimhan is now sharing his companies sales model.
- Adwords
- Website
- Eva
- Purchase
- Renewal
Being a Social Media evangelist myself, I can surely agree and connect to what Narasimhan is talking about. Sharing an example how the bounce rate to his site drastically reduced with a redesign of his website.
We dont have the freemium model, but yes you can have a free eval fo 15 days
Pricing is always an issue says Narasimhan. the biggest issue in this model is that companies don’t pay periodical. systems don’t exist in these companies. Training is a big issue, its critical but its expensive. There are always engineering choices to be made.
Narasimhan is actually creating the real picture for the delegates. I am particularly likeing the way he has simplistically made sense of the challenges and the headroom both which is available in the space.
What we don’t know:
- Decisions happen very quickly here
- Web – 2.5 % EVAL – 2.5 % purchase
- Feet on street
- traditional model is beguiling
- Partners
- “pull” more important than “push”
- Mobile client software
Now we have someone from Ramco Systems sharing theri experience as how did they deploy the technology. We have been focusing predominantly in the ERP space since its inception. We have been in the business with the SaaS model since the last 2 years making it available to the SME segment specifically.
Sharing his learning’s, he speaks of the challenges SME’s go through.
- Business challenge
- IT challenge
There is a lot of SME segment who are looking for such applications to counter these challenges
We are now seeing what the Ramco OnDemand ERP has for the enterprise scale operations. Talking about numbers, we are now understanding how Ramco has expanded with over 1500 customers who are satisfied with the deliverable(s). We have our own data center in Chennai.
The inability of the SME segment in deploying solutions in their own premise, creates a reference for us
We are now looking at the industry wise break up and how ramco is present across the various business verticals. Talking about the benefits in the various verticals, its interesting to know how technology is spanning across the business arena and how value is getting created far across.
This particular product will always be evergreen
We are now in the Q&A mode after a very comprehensive session. I am glad to be blogging the session and create value for many followers who are reading this blog.
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February 18th, 2009 § § permalink
In one of the conferences I was scheduled to speak in, a gentleman shared his thoughts on a crucial topic, which in my belief, is affecting the industry as a whole, and not just emerging companies.
The question was: what should one expect of a fresher to the industry?
A number of answers came, hinting at what should be done and what lacks! Till that moment I was in the conference, but the speaker before me left everyone with a thought that everyone could relate to, but not many could suggest a solution to. After a long haul I feel its a concern worth sharing at the Emerge Forum!
What is lacking in our system are proper training and development methodologies, which could be implemented right from the first year, when a student enters college, till the time the student graduates out. The principle applies to all (management, engineering, IT etc.)
A unique industry-academia partnership, which has been tried before many a times on several occasions and platforms, but hasn’t been able to make an impact, as the corporate vision is again “nurturing” and “nurturing profits”!
Today such a question arises, because we all know the quality of majority of the graduates being pumped into the market each year. And again a majority of them still are either unemployable by industry standards or simply not upto the mark, which forces the corporate to invest into the individual intellectually again.
Expectations from the “fresher” should be:
- He/she should already be aware of the fact that college is over!
- Domain knowledge (which could be honed upon as per the requirements by the corporate)
- Understanding of hierarchy, work ethics of the organization
- How do they contribute to the company’s growth (which most corporate forget to share with the “employees” )
I strongly feel that, instead of investing into a “fresher” post recruitment, the industry should collaborate together, to hone the future prospective taskforce according to their own requirements.
- The Startups/Emerging companies!
Situation becomes difficult to answer for a startup/emerging company, which could not afford highly experienced professionals nor can they take a chance of being happy employing everyone who comes cheap!
Having these stalwarts from the industry as mentors could be one option. Moreover, any startup/emerging company/SME, looking to hire freshers could be highly instrumental in establishing such a training and development knowledge grid, which links the industry and the academia.
The emerging companies can use the “social networking” and “web 2.0? tools in a unique and innovative manner, in knowing their candidate in and out before joining in.The step involves minimal costs and high level of innovation!
I feel startups and emerging companies can take innovation to new heights and in the process, create a platform which allows for the existence of a unique knowledge grid which aims at increasing the employability of the graduates from India.
As goes one of the major agenda’s of President Kalam’s Mission 2020.
Link to the post at the NASSCOM EMERGE blog: http://blog.nasscom.in/emerge/2008/07/28/the-fresherr-debate/
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February 18th, 2009 § § permalink
At the NASSCOM EMERGEOUT Conclave on 29th September, New Delhi, we will be putting forth an interactive session on “On-Demand business in India”.
The session would be led by Kishore from PK4 technologies and Arvind from Movico Technologies and this would be a unique mix of a segmented approach with the platform providing enough space for the participants to interact and seek clarifications and share experiences.
We invite the EMERGE community to share what value would they like to take away from the session. Your responses would help us in creating a more customized session with a high value proposition for the participants.
Companies, world over, are investing large sums of money to grow their top-line revenue while maintaining their focus on profit. They are being cautious about over heads, and when they do invest, they are looking at measurable returns, broken down in months and not in years.
Call it survival tactic in a rapidly changing business world, where change is driven by a whole new set of emerging business development tools as SaaS, which support the model of On-Demand Business and SOA.
With new business models such as SaaS, Cloud Computing in place, more and more companies are leveraging web technologies, thereby supporting enourmous economies of scale in deployment, management, and support for the application through the SDLC.
The session on the “On Demand business in India” would be structured on the SaaS model, which would have anchors introducing the key issues which would be presented to the audience, (acting as the multi tenant’s), thus we invite high interactivity and creativity.
We intend in creating high value propositions through all the sessions at the EMERGE OUT Conclave, which would be possible only through your inputs.
Looking forward to your suggestions.
Link to the post at the NASSCOM EMERGE Blog: http://blog.nasscom.in/emerge/2008/09/08/on-demand-business-in-india-unconference-session-at-nasscom-emergeout-conclave/
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February 18th, 2009 § § permalink
I am LIVE blogging The NASSCOM EMERGE OUT Conclave! Well its 10:59 a.m and the room is already full of buzz. The NASSCOM EMERGE OUT community has truly evolved!
In the initial session, we had Mr. Som Mittal, Mr. KrishnaKumar Natarajan and Mr. Subroto Bagchi taking the court. With Pradeep’s post above, all would be aware of what great value add the session was! Particulary emphasizing on Subroto’s speak, well rules have been broken. And enough space been created for the Emerging Companies.
People talk statistics so did Subroto. And all were glued and all ears. How often do you get to get a lesson from a wild fish? You do! and the entire room did!
What do you do when one of the biggest clients that you are visiting for a sales pitch tells you, “I can chew you and spit you out, even before you know it”…you dont lose grip, you smile and create a MindTree!
The session was highly engaging and if you think how long can a human hold his breath and still be alive? Well today I know (30 minutes) that’s what happens when you have a Subroto Bagchi speaking! When they say a mentor’s hindsight is your foresight, its true!
While interacting with Subroto and Krishnakumar post the session one on one…I learnt something that I’m sure would be a lesson worth for many a Emerging companies. One of the founders of MindTree Ltd. Subroto started off with some other venture initially, which didn’t work and he again went back to Wipro, worked for another 10 years and founded MindTree! Entrepreneurs here’s a definition of dreams and commitment for you, from a dreamer.
The session concluded with an interesting Q&A.
The video would be posted soon!
Link to the post at the NASSCOM EMERGE OUT Conclave: http://blog.nasscom.in/emerge/2008/09/29/the-nasscom-emerge-out-conclave-go-kiss-the-world/
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February 18th, 2009 § § permalink
The valedictory session @ the NASSCOM EMERGE OUT Conclave!
Its been a good long day of learning and a multitude of valuable lessons for startups and emerging companies.
What better than Mr. Kiran Karnik and Mr. Raman Roy delivering the session. A fiery charged up entrepreneur, discussing his Four ventures! Four ventures one may say, well he dared and created 35000 jobs! An answer worth to people who challenged Raman!
I cant write a great business plan, do you think DELL, Microsoft knew precisely all the problems? Did they know all what the problems could be? Well, I respect simple thought dare, and all these companies did dare, says Mr. Raman Roy, the founder Quattro BPO.
Initiating his talk by defining the word ‘WIN’ for the audience, Raman took the whole room to a different high! Sharing his story on how he stormed out of his American Express office and still be in touch with the HR guy who dropped the shell by daring him to either be successful or be sacked! Well a true spirited guy, Raman evolved! And today Quattro is the proof.
With strong learnings in the presentation, Raman has effectively conjured up the thoughts of all the business concepts.
Talk about Ford motors, well did you know they grew trees? Implementing quality control is an absolute essential today.
- Raman Roy!
Answer to one of the questions from the audience on in-sourcing.
Somebody stood up and dared to say, I’ll make a one lakh car with the words, a promise is a promise, point well taken Raman. Well when Mr. Tata said it, it was taken as stupid, silly…well, look at it now!
Nowhere in the world KFC offers full Veg meals, call it silly? Pretty revolutionary says Raman!
The session is being concluded by Mr. Karnik by re-iterating Raman’s high energy words which have truly inspired people in these difficult gloomy times for the markets, to which Raman simply replies yeah they are going bad, but there is still money to be made out of it! Somebody would have to go security by security leveraging something. There is an opportunity. The needs have undergone a change and we have to be nimble enough to understand. In the short term there is an issue, I agree, says Raman, but now the kind of opportunities that will now EMERGE are different.
Its time for new opportunities says Mr. karnik to the issue.
Video to be uploaded soon.
Link to the post at the NASSCOM EMERGE Blog: http://blog.nasscom.in/emerge/2008/09/29/who-dares-wins/
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