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STAG Software
 EMPOWERING TECHNOLOGY LEADERS OF TOMORROW

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 In
Contents - October 2010

20

Pursuit
COVER STORY

STAG
software
of Clean Software By Vimali Swamy

T Ashok

[Guru Talk] 8 [Technology] 38

The Great Indian Testing Dream..!
[Buyers Perspective] 56
By Pradeep C, Edista Testing Institute
[Tech Products] 59
40
Test Automation Framework [People Manager] 60
Challenges in the Ever Changing Developing Adaptability
Technology Scenario By C Mahalingam,
By Ramesh Krish, Symphony Services
Sashi Reddi
Indium Software India

26
The Changing Face of Software Testing
By Sashi Reddi, AppLabs 42
NPD for Handheld Devices
By Tushar Bhatnagar, Infinite
[In Focus] 10
Computer Solutions

10 Software
Most Promising

Testing
[Venture Beat] 14
[Management] 46
The Power of Whole Brain Thinking
[VC Talk] 16 By Prashad Deshpande, Empowered
Startups We Would Like to Fund
By Jagannath Rao, Headstart Ventures
Learning Systems Companies
LLP (HVP)
[Business] 48
A Case for Policy Initiative for Indian
[Tech Buzz] 18 Fabless Company Amity Soft 27
By Ganapathy Subramaniam, Cosmic
[Feature] 34 Circuits Indium Software 28
Software Testing: Riding on the Era of
Transformation 50
Infostretch 29
By Christo Jacob DLP Prevention is Better than a Cure Prakat Solutions 30
By Bhaskar Bakthavatsalu, Check Point
[Technology] 36 STC Technologies 31
Software Testing The Old & The New
By Shubha Sridhar, Torry Harris [Event] 54 QA InfoTech 32
Business Solutions Showcase the Thriving Mobile App
Market at MAC
By ST Team

AIMT, Greater Noida: No.1 Emerging Engineering College in India

The Smart Techie
|6|
October 2010
 Face
GURU TALK By Sashi Reddi
The author is Founder, Chairman and CEO of AppLabs.
A
The Changing
Software Testing
of
s companies focus on deriving added business value from their IT services suppliers, more
and more enterprises are trying to separate testing from development. A good number of
enterprises try and entrust their application development work to development specialists
and separate testing from development by handing over testing to independent testing
services providers. Currently, more than 25 percent of clients deliberately award their ap-
plication development/systems integration and software testing to two different parties. This prima-
rily helps organizations to have an objective and external view of the quality of the software
developed. Remarkably, the transformation has come about almost entirely within the last decade.
Over the last few years Quality Assurance (QA) has
shifted from being tactical to strategic. In the ‘80s / early
‘90s, during the emerging phase of QA, enterprises had
a tactical view of QA and an approach that was ad hoc
and lacked any defined processes. As the industry con-
tinued maturing in the transitioning stage, during the
late ‘90s/ early ‘00s there was increased acceptance of
QA value propositions, most companies had or at least
Over the last few years Quality
Assurance has transformed from
being tactical to strategic.
tried having dedicated test teams and started using some
kind of test processes. This phase was lead by several
banks and telecom services providers who were among
the first to realize that they needed to conduct testing
separately.
Then came the transformative or the advanced phase
that we are witness to today and is the calling of the fu-
ture. A chapter that started unfolding in the late ‘00s and
will continue to profoundly influence the future of IT
services. The tactical to strategic shift in QA - estab-
lishment of QA Centers of Excellence and use of ad-
vanced metrics for ongoing improvement highlight this
phase. This phase is also characterized by organizations
trying to abate the pain of testing and putting responsi-
Sashi Reddi
bility on testing vendors by awarding managed testing
service contracts.
The Smart Techie
|8|
October 2010
The software development busi-
ness is massive and approximately
30 percent of that business is testing.
The growth is primarily in three di-
mensions. Quality management or
consulting on Quality Assurance,
offshoring - expanding from onsite
staff augmentation services to in-
clude specialist testing services de-
livered from an offshore destination
like India and last but not the least,
innovation, so that customers can
benefit from productivity enhancing
tools, methodologies and new offer-
ings.
ERP testing, virtual test environ-
ments, management of test data and
IT infrastructure testing are strong
growth/ expansion areas with respect
to software testing services. Also as
in all other areas of the IT industry,
cloud computing is having an effect
on testing. When looking at the test
infrastructure, the cloud is an obvi-
ous area for expansion. But if a client
already has the test infrastructure
services providers will need to make
a private cloud for them. Many ap-
plications are being cloud enabled
and opportunity for testing many ap-
plications that are being converted
for the cloud is tremendous.
Today, more than ever, organiza-
tions seek to improve productivity
and reduce application operating and
maintenance costs while speeding
time to benefit and improving quality
of the applications they move into
production by using independent
testing services providers. The major
reason attributed for this shift is as
testers working for a different com-
pany are even more likely to view
software with a critical eye than
testers who work for the same com-
pany as the software’s developers.
Organizations around the world
using independent testing services
providers are benefiting with signif-
icant improvement in their business
strategies that include risk mitiga-
tion, validation of new products/ser-
vices, being able to support faster
time-to-market with reduced test-cy-
cles and improving real-time busi-
ness performance and monitoring.
On the operational front cus-
tomers are better able to meet secu-
rity audits, develop custom testing
solutions that focus on their industry,
better use packaged application test-
ing for ERP implementations and up-
The software development business is
massive and approximately 30 percent of
that business is testing.
grades, leverage transaction testing
in support of revenue assurance and
ensure applications’ country/ region
specific readiness.
The technology benefits reaped
by calling in the experts include stan-
dardization and optimization of test
After a decline of 2.9 percent
last year, that research firm
Gartner says that worldwide
enterprise software revenue is
expected to rise by 4.5 per-
cent, as it will be pushed by
aging systems and the demand
for security.
In the report, it is predicted
that the enterprise software in-
dustry will touch $297 billion
by 2014 with a five-year com-
pound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of six percent. How-
ever, the growth will not be of
equal across regions, while
Western Europe will a 2.7 per-
cent rise in the revenue, there
will be 11.5 percent growth in
Asia Pacific.
tools, processes, QA environments,
ability to leverage the right third-
party tool expertise, use turnkey test
solutions for performance testing,
benefit from automated regression
testing, use third-party for infra-
structure testing and above all bene-
fit from frameworks that help drive
validation into upfront SDLC. Also,
the deliver models of the future will
be more moving to T&M framework
agreements, contracts based on SLAs
primarily based on productivity.
Before the advent of the strategic
outlook to testing it was typically
constrained by lack of budgets, time
and resources. Now there is a visible
shift and in most enterprises testing
has a budget of its own. Software
testing spending is at €79bn in 2010
and the figure is to climb to €100bn
by 2014 (PAC). Today testing clearly
gets a larger slice of the IT budget
pie. Testing can comprise as much as
33 percent of the labor hours of a
typical application life cycle with
sometimes the needle moving to as
much as 50 percent.
In the present day it is not so
much about being a tier one or tier
two service provider, the differentia-
tor for most enterprises while choos-
ing a vendor is about two things -
one, how much value the vendor
brings to the table and two, how
much does the vendor value the cus-
tomer and his business. In short all
they ask for is, ‘treat me as a valued
customer’. It is in this context more
and more enterprises are appreciat-
ing the value of a specialist. Going
forward, it will be an extremely ex-
citing time for IT and for independ-
ent testing services providers in
particular.
The Smart Techie
|9|October 2010
in
B I
India to become largest Security Market by 2020
y 2020 India will become one of
the largest players in global
homeland security market, ac-
cording to a recent study.
The Associated Chambers of Com-
merce and Industry of India (AS-
SOCHAM) & KPMG report titled
‘Homeland Security in India’ says,
India, along with Britain, Germany
and France will out grow U.S., which
currently enjoys a 34 percent market
share in this filed.
India, which currently shares 3.6
percent of global homeland expenditure,
will require to take it upwardly to an ex-
tent of six percent over the next decade
to effectively take on emerging security
risks. The report has predicted that
China, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and
UAE are expected to exhibit the fastest
market growth in this sector, driven by a
I
Indian Entrepreneur Makes Device to Help Cerebral Palsy Kids Talk
nnovation for a common good and
cause is not everyone’s cup of tea.
But Ajit Narayan is one among
those who thought of the differently
abled. His company Invention Lab
has invented Avaz, one of the
most useful talking de-
vices for those affected
with cerebral palsy.
Avaz, which means
‘speech’, gives speech to a
child. The device is
mounted on the wheelchair
which the child uses. It can
be kept on the desk or on the
child’s lap. They used the T9
method used in mobile phones. These
children do not have the dexterity to
touch the exact word on the screen. So
once they touch anywhere on the
screen, a color moves to each word
The Smart Techie
|10| October 2010
combination of economic growth along
with increasing threats of terrorism faced
by these countries.
“By 2020 about six percent of global
procurement in the field of homeland se-
curity is expected to be emanated from
India,” says Dr. Swati Piramal, Presi-
dent, ASSOCHAM.
As per current estimates homeland
security expenditure projection as a per-
centage of global spending in case of
India is 3.6 percent, France - 3.4 percent,
Germany - 3.7 percent, Saudi Arabia -
4.5 percent, UK - 3.9 percent, China -
5.2 percent, U.S. - 33.3 percent.
The report added that India offers a
large potential for firms looking to lever-
age the opportunity manifested in this
sector in the country on account of high
GDP growth, challenging relationship
with neighbors that are unlikely to re-
and when it reaches the right word,
they need to touch again, anywhere on
the screen.
Visiting the disabled at Vidyasagar
(formerly called the Spastic Society of
India) and getting
to know those
children with nor-
mal intelligence
who could not
express them-
selves in
words, gave
birth to the
idea of design-
ing a communication device sim-
ilar to what is used in the U.S. but is
affordable to people here. Spending
hours with the children at Vidyasagar
and doing experiments with the up-
dated prototypes at every session over
in
Teens develop washing machine with junk,
runs without electricity
solve in the years ahead, aging and ob-
solete equipment and high spending on
n a drive towards raising aware- useful in big textile industries. We’re
modernizing military capabilities and in-
ness about environmental issues, planning to give our idea to one of
dustrial infrastructure.
two teens, Sourabh Siyal and India’s leading garment manufacturing
The paper points out that a signifi-
Tushar Agarwal, have developed a units,” says Siyal, who too wants to
cant market opportunity exists in several
washing machine made out of junk pursue research work in the field of
domains consisting of larger homeland
material. The machine, named ‘Eco- science.
security sector, such as police reforms,
wash’, runs on mechanical and kinetic In another such showcase of inno-
critical infrastructure protection and
energy, without the use of electricity. vation four students of from a school
counter-terrorism activities. Homeland
“The main washtub is built with in Bangalore, under the guidance of
security will have to enhance further
junk materials like discarded plastic their Physics teacher developed an
since India has opened up its nuclear
bottles and a pulley is attached to the ‘Earthquake predictor’. “The earth-
sector post signing Civil Nuclear Co-op-
plastic bottle to run the machine. The quake predictor is nothing but a
eration Treaty with U.S. which is likely
pulley moves with the help of kinetic borewell. The borewell is attached to a
to create a large demand for nuclear/ra-
energy and helps to wash clothes,” ex- buzzer. The buzzer makes sound if the
diological mitigation approaches. Nu-
plains Agarwal, who wants to be a sci- underground water level increases,
clear market requirements will be
entific innovator. which means that the movement of ment of lava will force the water level
extremely critical and India will have to
“Our idea is to do away with elec- lava in the underground is moving at a to increase, which in turn will make
spend a great deal to keep its nuclear in-
tricity and come up with an alterna- faster rate, an indication of the likeli- the buzzer give out signals,” said Sub-
stallations completely fool-proof against
tive. The washing machine can be hood of an earthquake. The fast move- ramanian K, one of the students.
all possible security threats.
two years, they launched Avaz in Feb-
ruary 2010 at Vidyasagar.
Upon completing his graduation
from Indian Institute of Technology-
Madras, Narayan went to U.S. with
the plan of returning to India after a
few years to be an entrepreneur. In
2007, Ajit was back in India and with
a few like-minded friends, he started
Invention Labs. “I was very im-
pressed with the way America had
adopted technology in day-to-day life.
I wanted to invent things that would
improve the lives of Indians. So it was
my dream that I should start a com-
pany that would create products
which are useful to the people of
India,” said Ajit.
Invention Labs’ next plan is Avaz
for autism, dyslexia, mental retardation
and people affected by stroke.
in
M
India lost $27 Billion Worth Deals in
Soured Mergers
ergers and acquisition had a
major role in the post reces-
sion economy. But the Indian
economy has also seen some major fall
off in terms of mergers. Merger deals
worth $27 billion have soured so far this
year in India. According to the data com-
piled by research firm VCC Edge, as
many as nine deals have been called off
this far in 2010.
The biggest non-starter was that of
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Indus-
tries’(RIL) $14.5 billion bid for Lyon-
dellBasell. This was followed - in terms
of deal value - by the cancellation of his
younger brother Anil Ambani run Re-
liance Communications’ $10.8 billion
merger deal with GTL Infra.”The failure
of the mega deals was primarily due to
valuation concern. Management control
issues and strategic unsuitability of the
deals was another reason for cancella-
D
Poor Logistics costs India $65 Billion Annually
espite the Indian retail sec-
tor being in the high-growth
mode, the country is losing
$65 billion every year due to ineffi-
cient supply chain systems. The
supply chain costs in India are
about 12 percent to 13 percent of
the gross domestic product (GDP)
compared with 7 percent to 8 per-
cent of GDP in developed countries,
according to a report titled, ‘Global
competitiveness of retail supply
chain-Challenges, Strategies and
Recommendations’ published by in-
dustry body Confederation of In-
dian Industry (CII) and Amarthi
Consulting.
The report says that India is at
The Smart Techie
|12|
October 2010
tions”, says SMC Capitals Equity Head,
Jagannathan Thunuguntla.
Interestingly, the Ambani brothers, who
have been most active in merger and ac-
quisition activity this year, accounted for
over $25 billion of the deals in 2010 that
could not take off in 2010.
Mukesh Ambani led RIL, last
month, had made foray in the hospitality
sector by picking up a 14.18 stake in
EIH Ltd, promoted by Oberoi group of
hotels and resorts. However, early in the
year, EIH also witnessed a deal cancel-
lation of $272 million in which Max
Hospital’s founder and chairman Analjit
Singh was interested in 17 per cent stake
in the hospitality major.
Another significant deal that did not
work was Singapore’s GIC Special In-
vestments’ $84.7 million bid for 6.58 per
cent stake in Fortis Healthcare. Naveen
Jindal led Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL)
47th position on logistics and is be-
hind countries such as Japan, U.S.,
Germany and China. The supply
chain costs in India deal with the
procurement, manufacture and dis-
tribution of products and services,
and drive the success of the retail
sector.
The retail industry in India,
which is expected to grow over $879
billion by 2018, is a $410 billion
market. Food and groceries account
for 70 percent of the retailed items
followed by textile and apparel at
seven percent. The textiles and ap-
parel segment represents about 40
percent of the organized sector,
which account 95 percent of the re-
was also denied a stake in Zimbabwe
Iron & Steel, estimated to be in the
range of $600 million- $1 billion by the
government, as it did not approve of
selling the ailing company to large cor-
porates.
Other transactions that turned sour
so far this year include – U.S. based
Scripps Networks Interactive’s attempt
to buy stake in NDTV Lifestyle, drug
major Abott Laboratories’ interest in
Wockhardt, multiplex chain PVR Cine-
mas’ bid for DT Cinemas and Ingersoll
Rand USA’s attempt to merge the In-
dian subsidiary into itself.
tail sector.
The retail industry in India faces
supply chain challenges like inade-
quate supply chain infrastructure,
complex taxation laws, high levels of
intermediaries, product proliferation
and lack of supply chain visibility.
Some of the key recommendations of
the report are improving supply
chain infrastructure, implementation
of goods and services tax (GST), re-
ducing intermediaries, and adopting
green supply chain practices. Green
supply chains involve integrating en-
vironmental thinking into the core
operations of a company, starting
from material sourcing to delivery to
end-of-life recycling.
 Compiled by ST Team
Vriti Infocom raises $5 Million
in Series B Funding
V
riti Infocom, an exam prepara-
tion platform company based
in Noida, has raised $5 million
in Series B funding led by JAFCO
Asia along with a follow-on invest-
ment from its existing investor, Intel
Capital. Founded in 2006, Vriti has
created a cloud, SAAS-based platform
where students can assess their per-
formance for various tests on a larger,
pan-India scale by logging on to its
platform. Besides the continuous in-
vestment on technology the company
plans to use the fresh investment to
ramp up its sales activities.
“While large test preparation
chains like FIITJEE (for engineering)
Discoveri Raises $10 Million from
G
Lighthouse India
urgaon based education
company iDiscoveri India
has raised $10 million in pri-
vate equity funding from India 2020
Fund in return for a minority stake
in the company. India 2020 Oppor-
tunity Fund is a $125 million fund
managed by Lighthouse Funds. It
invests in financial services, educa-
tion, logistics, light manufacturing
and food processing companies.
Founded in 1996, iDiscoveri will
be use the investment to expand its
services. “We have established a
good proof of concept and now we
will look to bring in new technology
and take it across rest of India,” says
The Smart Techie
|14| October 2010
and IMS (for management) provide
students mock exams on a large scale,
Virit’s platform enables even the
smallest distributor such as a coaching
centre run by an individual - to offer
students the benefits of quality con-
tent, online testing, benchmarking
against peers nationwide and person-
alized assessment,” says Swapnil Shri-
vastav, Co-Founder and CEO of Vriti
Infocom. Vriti provides comparative
performance assessment reports and
personalized study tips, besides con-
tent aggregated from various authors
and publishers.
Vriti’s business model involves
partnering with tutors, coaching insti-
Ashish Rajpal
Ashish Rajpal, Founder & CEO,
iDiscoveri.
iDiscoveri enables schools to de-
velop curriculum through its pro-
tutions, publishers, schools, colleges
and universities and charging them on
a per-student basis. For instance, pub-
lishers who have tests on their books
can give the option to students for their
comparative standing by accessing
Vriti’s online platform. This sort of
model also creates recurring revenues
for publishers, because when this book
is passed on to a sibling or a relative, a
new login is required after expiry.
Some of its key clients today in-
clude Punjab Technical University and
Brilliant Tutorials. The company,
which is currently focusing on domes-
tic expansion, also has clients in Lon-
don and Dubai.
gramme called
XSEED and is also in-
volved in corporate
training. XSEED in-
volves services like
student curriculum,
assessment, teacher
education and instruc-
tional leadership. The
X-seed initiative has
expanded to more
than 400 schools and
140,000 students
across the country. Some of these
schools include Padma Sheshadri
Chennai, Bombay Scottish and Hy-
derabad Public School.
 Startups
VC TALK By Jagannath Rao
The author is Partner, Headstart Ventures LLP (HVP)
B
We Would
Fund
Like to
efore Surya, Kallol and I founded
Headstart Ventures LLP, we had
seen many queer things in the
startup land. But topping it all
was an invite to a theme park ride
by Subhash who was an old classmate of mine.
After a couple of rides and a roller coaster that
left me gasping for breath, I gave up and com-
pelled Subhash to get down to a serious dis-
cussion.
In his usual nonchalant manner he replied,
“What happened to you? Don’t you enjoy this
anymore? You know, I come to a new joint like
this every weekend just to break the lethargy at
work”.
Then he went on to tell his story. That he
had been working on an idea for a few months
over the weekend with friends, and that they
were all excited but did not want to take the
plunge yet. The glass office that fattened him
had, by now, also ad-
There are three things for an dicted him to comfort
idea to be a success: A pain levels of a couple of
homes, a chauffeur
point, a value point for the driven car, and still leav-
customer, and a way for the ing enough to take a
market to adopt it by doing year as well.
couple of vacations a
something that appeals
So I asked Subhash,
“What do you need in
order to take the
plunge?” He said his dilemma was that he was
comfortable paying his debts and couldn’t just
change his lifestyle. So I asked how much time
did he need to change. He said six months was
enough to tone down his comfort. Quizzingly,
I then asked him if he trusted me. Did he com-
pletely believe in his idea? How long did he
think the venture will live? He interrupted me
The Smart Techie
|16| October 2010
and said, “Of course I believe in it,” and then
went on to describe his idea.
The idea was a great one. But he was wise
enough to realize that the idea was but a tenth
of the road ahead. The big challenge was to
ride on the technology roller coaster – the hype
curve. Having crossed that, also onward to
cross the unknowns in the chasm; and having
straddled the chasm, then to create a sustain-
able biz model that wins customers in the mar-
ket; and then scales.
To goad him along, I asked him, “What
comes first? The market? Or the idea? Or the
technology? The glint in his eyes told me that
he had been through this many times. “Well,”
he pondered and hesitated a bit. “You know it’s
kind of a complex thing. Sometimes it’s un-
derstanding the market opportunity and doing
something cleverly. Sometimes it’s putting a
new idea in a new market. And sometimes it’s
applying a new technology to solve an old
problem. So it’s a complex combination and
one has got to really figure it out. But there are
three things it has got to solve for sure to be a
success: A pain point, a value point for the cus-
tomer, and a way for the market to adopt it by
doing something that appeals. So it is innova-
tion everywhere around.”
Seeing this coming from a glass office per-
son, I was truly amazed and asked him how he
learnt all this? He said he had invested in three
startups, which had all failed. In the first ven-
ture, the idea was great and he thought it would
just be a winner pants down. He was shocked
when the market did not adopt the idea despite
the unquestionable benefits. In the second, he
insisted that winning in the market was impor-
tant and got a market expert to drive the ven-
ture. Again it failed after some time because it
did not have any “real” edge espe-
cially in technology. So in the third
venture that he had invested in, he
brought in a technologist who created
an unconceivable product. But again,
it failed because the timing and mar-
ket forces were not right. By this time
he had lost all his money and had to
get into a glass office. He realized
how the VCs who wanted to co-in-
vest had provided inputs to him and
politely delayed financing when he
did not pay attention to their caution.
It is the confidence tempered by experience
that forms the best foundation of a new startup
He was broke but still full of zeal
and passion to invest further. That’s
when his uncle asked him to ap-
proach an angel investor network.
And this time, he had a great idea that
solved a pain point, he had the tech-
nology that created value to the cus-
tomer, and he had a strategy to create
the market buzz and signup paying
customers. He sold his car and fi-
nanced the venture along with the
angel network. To his joy, the venture
was a huge success within a year and
he was very happy to exit the venture
as a very rich man. Rich in experience
as well. But it left his family gasping
for breath and so he was now in a lu-
crative job that kept him in the com-
fort of a glass office.
Ending his story he asked me, “I
am itching for the next ride. Do you
want to join me? How about the Drop
Zone. It’s the biggest one I have
seen.” I will tell you about my idea
after the ride.
I politely refused the offer and
asked him how much money he
wanted. “Oh, $250,000 to kickstart
things but don’t you want to hear
about the venture?” I said, “No.
Please come and collect the cheque at
my office tomorrow. And here is a
‘blue card’ I hand out to everybody
Jagannath Rao
out there.”
You don’t seem to need it but
keep it if you want. I have more
cards like this that I will keep hand-
ing out as we work together. You
will need those for sure even if you
apply all the experience you have
learnt so far. Also make sure you
keep the same execution team.
While he looked at my blue card
I put my arms around him and said
“Great. I will give you six months
for all of you to work on weekends
and build this venture keeping your
day job. I want you to use my
money only after you quit. You will
need it to pay your bills and keep the
show running. As you realize, it’s a
long run.”
Subash was a bit surprised and
looked up saying, “I have never
seen an investor sign a cheque with-
out hearing about the venture. Are
you doing it because I am an old
friend?” I told him, “In our business
we tend to lose friends. They either
get disappointed because we did not
fund them or because we told them
how naïve they were to enter the
startup land. So long as your idea
falls within the realm of telecom, In-
ternet services, healthcare, media
and entertainment, education, and
energy, I will be able to discuss with
my partners and then fund you. But
remember, I want you to adapt the
experience you have gained and
keep your execution team,” leaving
him staring at me as I turned and
walked away.
Returning to our office, my part-
ners who were tired of meetings and
turning down venture proposals all af-
ternoon, asked me why I looked kind
of dizzy. I said I had lots of fun at the
theme park and had found a good ven-
ture to invest in while they were slug-
ging it out all afternoon!
The Smart Techie
|17|
October 2010

Compiled By ST Team
Amit Bansal, CEO, PurpleLeap
PurpleLeap teams up with Robhatah for
robotics education in India
PurpleLeap, an entry level talent manage-
ment company, is venturing in the robotics
education in the country. The company has
teamed up with Robhatah, a Singapore-
based robotics education firm to offer spe-
cialized courses to engineering colleges in
tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Amit Bansal, CEO, PurpleLeap, said,
“Robotics in India is still at a nascent stage.
Since the adoption rates are low here, it cre-
ates a huge potential for the field to grow.
PurpleLeap, along with Robhatah, aim to
spread the growing field, which worldwide
is a $100 billion industry.”
The robotics education initiative will
reach out to 1500 students in 30 colleges,
across 12 states, including Tamilnadu, Ra-
jasthan, Haryana and others. PurpleLeap
will set up the labs required for the course,
which will cost the students an affordable
Rs. 10,000. The course will comprise train-
ing in a hybrid learning fashion. This would
include VSAT learning, online and onsite.
John L Flannery,
President & CEO,
GE India
Paul Writer unveils new community for B2B marketers
Jessy Paul founded Paul Writer, a B2B marketing hub, has unveiled a
new community dedicated to B2B marketers. The site developed as a
platform provides the B2B marketing community access to high-qual-
ity content, discussion, and research in a single location. The site has al-
ready attracted more than 750 members, over 40 authors and has
garnered over 21000 views within a month, claims the company.
The aim of the community is to become the platform of choice for
B2B marketers for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and continuous
learning. "At the broader level, by involving marketing service
LSI opens new R&D Center in Bangalore
As a part of the company's expansion plans for its India-based Research
and Development (R&D) operations, LSI, a provider of innovative sili-
con, systems and software solutions for storage and networking, has
opened a new R&D Center in Bangalore. As a part of the move, LSI
plans to double the head-count in its India-based engineering organiza-
tion in the next three years.
Jeff Richardson, Executive Vice President and General Manager,
Semiconductor Solutions Group, LSI, who inaugurated the new center
said, "With excellent technical education infrastructure and talent, India
is a key component of our long-term strategic vision. The R&D capa-
bilities in India will allow us to innovate and deliver storage and net-
working technologies that enable our customers to outpace the
competition."
The Bangalore development center will support new as well as on-
going research and development across the company's entire portfolio of
solutions for storage, networking and custom silicon, said Richardson.
GE India to hire 3000 more
General Electric (GE) is planning to increase the headcount for
its India Technology Centre in the next three years by adding
3000 people more to its 5,000-strong workforce. The company
is also planning to set up a $50 million manufacturing plant in
India. But it has yet to decide the location for the plant, which is
likely to be finalized by the end of this year.
Emphasizing on the importance of local market, John L Flan-
nery, the President and CEO of GE India said, “The company is
focusing on the needs of the local market in the areas of infra-
structure and healthcare by developing local capabilities, tech-
nologies and partnerships. The key local partnerships include
Wipro for healthcare services, SBI for financial services and
BHEL for oil and gas services.”
providers, showcasing relevant technologies, and providing advisory
and educational services, we hope to create a vibrant eco-system that
enriches India's B2B marketing infrastructure, and leads to the cre-
ation of more global brands," said Jessie Paul, Founder & CEO of
Paul Writer.
PaulWriter, offered at free lifetime membership, has extended its
reach through social tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook,
YouTube, SMSGupShup, and Slideshare. The site is built using open
source Joomla technology and is hosted on a cloud to enable scala-
bility and flexibility.
Jeff Richardson and senior management of LSI
at the inaugral of new R&D center in Bangalore
EMC inaugurates two service
centers in India
EMC Corporation, an information infrastructure
solutions provider, has inaugurated its second
Global Command Center (GCC) and Critical
Incident Response Center (CIRC) at its India
Center of Excellence based in Bengaluru. The
new GCC and CIRC will play a key role mir-
roring EMC’s existing facilities located in the
U.S., enabling the company to employ a round
the clock delivery model of service and sup-
port.
“The opening of the GCC and CIRC is a
significant milestone along our journey. Both
Sanjay Mirchandani and Sarv Saravanan inagurate GCC
& CIRC at EMC center of excellence in Bangalore
teams employ highly skilled and experienced
professionals with both technical and process
expertise and this will add tremendous value
to EMC’s global IT organization,” said Sarv
Saravanan, Vice President and Managing Di-
rector, EMC India Center of Excellence.
The GCC leverages EMC and VMWare
technology to manage EMC’s private cloud in-
frastructure and continues to drive automation
and operational efficiencies across the com-
pany’s IT environment.
“The India COE is a significant part of
EMC’s network of COEs around the world and
it was a strategic decision to place the second
GCC and CIRC in India because of the skilled
IT professionals and mature infrastructure the
country has to offer,” affirmed Sanjay Mir-
chandani, Senior Vice President and Chief In-
formation Officer, EMC Corporation.
 In
Pursuit
COVER STORY

STAG
software
of Clean Software

T
By Vimali Swamy

here has been significant make guarantees, it is imperative that

STAG Software at a glance
Founded: 2000
CEO: T Ashok
Headquarters: Bangalore
Other Offices: Chennai, San Jose
(U.S.), Tokyo (Japan)
Employees: About 200
Customers: Over 100
Website:www.stagsoftware.com
T Ashok
progress in the field of
software testing in re-
cent years. However,
one finds it hard to pro-
vide a logical means to get closer to
perfection. A typical approach to test-
ing based on the activity-based
model consists of strategizing, plan-
ning, designing, automating, execut-
ing, and managing. Over the years,
the industry has moved from com-
pleting these activities in one go in to
an agile version consisting of these
activities done in short increments
and the field of software testing has
been littered with jargons, process
models, and tools. Yet the notion of
‘guarantee’ seems elusive.
Is it possible to guarantee qual-
ity? ‘Guarantee’, implies that the de-
ployed software will not cause
business loss and that the means of
validation can be proven to be cor-
rect. It is generally understood that
testing is a process of uncovering de-
fects done via a good mix of tech-
niques, tools, and people skills. To
the approach to evaluation be sharply
goal-focused. It is to achieve this
quality of guaranteed clean software
that STAG Software is striving on.
Founded in 2000, STAG Software is
a boutique test engineering company
headquartered in Bangalore.
By goal-focused evaluation, the
company means that one should
have clarity as to what potential de-
fects we have to go after. Once the
potential defects are discerned by
employing a scientific approach, it
is possible to arrive at an effective
validation strategy, a complete set
of test cases, better measures of
cleanliness (quality), and appropri-
ate tooling.
Having pioneered a scientific
approach to testing – Hypothesis
based testing (HBT), it is attempt-
ing to swim against the current by
defying the traditional approach to
testing. Today, a decade since its
humble beginnings, HBT is being
slowly accepted as a more result-
oriented option by the industry.

The Smart Techie

|21|
October 2010
HBT – Hypothesis Based Testing
Hypothesis Based Testing (HBT) is a
test methodology based on solid sci-
entific principles, It is like a Sherlock
Holmes-ian approach to testing - hy-
pothesize potential defects and then
scientifically construct the strategy,
test cases, measures, and tooling. HBT
is a personal test methodology con-
sisting of six stages of cleanliness. It
is powered by STEM (STAG Test En-
gineering Method), a scientific test en-
gineering method consisting of eight
personal thinking disciplines aided by
thirty two core concepts that aid sci-
entific enquiry. Evaluation of a soft-
ware or system in HBT consists of
setting up cleanliness criteria, then
identifying potential defect types, stag-
ing them in an optimal order to create
a cost-effective staged evaluation
model, formulating the various types
of test and corresponding techniques, a
formal design process to ensure that
the test cases are sufficient, and then
automating them as needed.
“The core theme of HBT is hy-
pothesizing potential defects and then
scientifically constructing the strategy
and test cases, measures, and tooling.
It is a goal-centered methodology
wherein the goal of software cleanli-
ness is set up (i.e. a collection of clean-
liness criteria), potential defect types
that can impede the cleanliness crite-
ria identified, and then activities per-
formed to ensure purposeful testing
that is indeed effective and efficient,”
explains T. Ashok, CEO, STAG Soft-
ware. Based on sound engineering
principles geared to deliver the prom-
ise of guarantee of cleanliness, its core
value proposition is about hypothesiz-
ing potential defects that may be pres-
ent in the software and then allowing
one to engineer a staged detection
model to uncover the defects faster
and cheaper than the other typical test
methodologies.
“The concept of applying HBT on
software is similar to visiting the doc-
tor where he or she hypothesizes po-
The Smart Techie
|22|
October 2010
tential problems based on one’s symp-
toms, performs diagnostic tests to con-
firm the hypothesis, and then
prescribes the treatment regimen,”
quips Ashok. “It’s a personal test
methodology that fits any develop-
ment methodology and weaves into
any organizational test process. The
business promise of HBT is to slash
test and support costs and accelerate
development.”
The tesing methodology is applied to
validating products, requirements, and
architecture, quite different from the typical
review or inspection process
HBT has been applied by STAG in
various applications in areas like Mo-
bile, Healthcare, ERP, Media, eLearn-
ing, and Supply Chain Management
over the last nine years. This has re-
sulted in lowered defects escapes (up
to 10x lower), increased test coverage
(at least 3x), better RoI on automation,
lower support costs (by 30 percent)
with no increase in effort, time or
costs. HBT has been implemented in
various process models including
Agile. HBT has not only been applied
to validating products, but has been
applied to validating requirements and
architecture, quite different from the
typical review or inspection process.
HBT has also been applied in assess-
ment of test assets to ascertain effec-
tiveness and improve them.
One such example is of a company
that provides online banking solution.
The company has three major products
catering to over 100 top financial in-
stitutions (FI) including the top five
FIs in the world. It has a successful
product line, growing rapidly with
major releases almost every year, in-
corporating new features to cater to the
various needs of the market place. As
the code base evolved, the test assets
were also modified to reflect the
changed product. The challenge faced
was that most of the test cases were
not detecting defects and the rate of
uncovering new defects was low.
As the product became huge and
the company decided to re-architect it
in order to enable rapid feature addi-
tion with low risk. That is when the
company decided to have a re-look at
its test assets and re-architect the same
to increase the test coverage, improve
defect finding ability, and ensure that
the test assets were future-proof. It had
about 8,000 test cases then.
The company approached STAG
to analyze the existing test cases for
completeness and modifiability and
re-architect the same after filling the
gaps and to ensure that the future test
cases were easily pluggable. Apply-
ing STEM, STAG performed a thor-
ough assessment of the existing test
assets and discovered holes in the
same. Using the STEM Test Case Ar-
chitecture (STEM-TCA), it re-engi-
neered the test cases by first grouping
them into features, then by levels of
tests and segregating into various
types of tests, and then finally by sep-
arating them into positive and nega-
tive test cases. During this process of
fitment of existing test cases into the
STEM-TCA, STAG uncovered quite
a few holes. These were filled by de-
signing 5,000 test cases additionally.
Not only did the STEM-TCA increase
the test coverage by uncovering the
missing test cases, it also provided a
sharper visibility of the quality as the
test cases were well organized by spe-
cific defect types. This improved the
test coverage by about 250 percent
and the technical management staff
was confident about the adequacy of
test assets and was also convinced
about its future upgradeability and
maintainability.
In another example, early imple-
mentation of HBT yielded significant
results for a global chip major. STAG
had to set up an effective validation
practice for their video decoder soft-
ware. The challenge that the company
faced with their complex product that
involved both hardware and software
and later system integration on multi-
ple realtime OS on various platforms
was that of high defect escapes i.e.
post-release field defects.
Ashok and his team spent about a
month understanding their domain and
the associated technologies. Post this,
a detailed analysis yielded interesting
data – test cases were primarily con-
formance oriented, coverage of test
cases was suspect, escaped defects
seemed to propagate from early stages,
and finally the process of validation
was loose. Having understood the
types of defects that were being found
and the post-release defects, they fig-
ured out the various types of probable
defects and the various combinatorial
aspects that needed to be considered to
form a test case. The team then staged
the validation as consisting of three
major levels, the first one at API level,
the next one at a system level, and the
last one made up of a customer-centric
level that involved using reference ap-
plications.
Applying the HBT approach to test
design, the test cases were developed,
yielding about 6,000 test cases at level
one and about 800 at the subsequent
levels. Also, whereas the ratio of +ve
vs –ve test cases was earlier towards
the +ve side; after their re-design, the
ratio shifted to 60:40 percent at the
lower and about 85:15 percent at the
higher levels. Moreover, the number
of test cases increased significantly by
a factor of 1,000 percent, allowing for
a larger and deeper net to catch many
more serious defects. Over the next 9
months, the rate and number of defects
detected increased dramatically, re-
sulting in post-release issues reducing
by a jaw-dropping 10x times.
Once the test effectiveness prob-
lem was solved, the yield of defects in-
creased, the focus shifted to
streamlining the process by setting up
Product
Productivity enhancement
Tool adoption
Diagnostics & control
Organization
UT assessment
IT assessment
Skill enhancement
COMPASSTM
e
People Skilling
Finishing school
Co Training
Corp
STEMTM Hypothesis BT
Retail Robust TD
Purposeful strategy
Successful automation
proper gating in the test process and
creating a centralized Web based test
repository, and finally setting up a
strong defect analysis system based on
Orthogonal Defect Classification
(ODC) method. This enabled a strong
feedback system, resulting in shifting
the defect finding process to earlier
stages of SDLC and thereby lowering
cycle time. Complementing this,
STAG focused on setting up a custom
tooling framework for automating this
non-UI based software, resulting in a
significant cycle time reduction – an
entire cycle of tests on a platform took
only less than 15 hours of time.
STEM is the basis for intelligent
testing to deliver compelling business
results as it enables early detection of
defects and enhances ability to find de-
fects by at least three times, resulting
in reduction of cost and time by over
30 percent.
“We establish a clear goal and
then perform activities that will indeed
get us to the goal. The goal translates
to ‘uncovering potential defects’.
These potential defects are hypothe-
sized and all the later activities are
about proving that the hypothesized
defect(s) do or do not exist,” explains
Ashok.
Optimization & reduction
Test reengineering
Maintenance test
Quality enhancement
LSPS solution
Coverage enhancement
Evaluation suites
E-Learning validation suite
Mobile app validation suite
ERP validation suite
Bluetooth validation suite
mentt
System enhancement
DevQ system
QA system
EBA Test services
Outsourced testing
Managed QA
E&T JumpStart QA
Quality injection
atiion
Req validation Assessment services
Archi. validation
tionTA Custom tooling
Functional automation
LSPS validation
Boutique solutions from STAG Software
One of the USPs of HBT is its
simplicity. Since it is a methodology
governed by 32 core concepts and
disciplined processes, it is easier to
learn and defies the common notion
that effectiveness in testing depends
on the experience of the test staff. It is
a general belief that the more experi-
enced people in the QA team is the
better for the quality of work. At
STAG, teams are not merely assem-
bled based on number-of-years-of-
experience, but on what key
disciplines are needed to perform the
role and therefore the required com-
petency. STAG evaluates the fitness
of a person to a team based on his or
her role and therefore the required
competencies to perform the role.
Measuring the increase in a QA’s
competency while working with
HBT, STAG derived a competency
model – CREAM.
CREAM enables it to evaluate an
individual’s test-related competencies
in terms of test lifecycle activities,
The Smart Techie
|23|
October 2010
technology aspects, and business do-
main aspects. Based on this model,
competency gaps are analyzed, ap-
propriate training plan for the indi-
vidual is formulated, and the person
Today, STAG has firmly positioned it-
SO WHAT DO CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT STAG SOFTWARE? self as a boutique company offering
testing solutions and services, which
he believes is quite different from
those of other vendors that were
5 "& ,! , % &1 "*%+ ' -+ '& '+, ( * * +'-* -, "& %1 0( *" & ,!"+ "+ ,!
As the software becomes complex
day by day, there is also an increase in
bugs or software defects that slip into a
software program when it is written. Tra-
ditionally, software testing, depending
with customers spanning industries -
Avionics, BFSI, Consumer Electronics,
eLearning, ERP, Healthcare, Logistics,
Mobile/Wireless and CDMA, Realty,
Semiconductor, Shipping, and popular

is trained. founded at the same time. on the testing method employed, can be Internet search engines – STAG truly
/*'& % ,*" ! * $ # 1 ,' + $ ,"& & ' +!'* . $'(% &, ( *,& * "+ (*'

Most testing services players com- implemented at any time in the develop- proves that its methodologies are do-
- ,".",1 ( * '$$ * '* ('-& . *+-+ '+, * +'-* ' ,!"+ 0, &, / ! . '-&

Engaging the Customers pete on the ‘volume game’. Every ment process. However, most of the test main independent. The ultimate recog-
,' (*'." 0 (,"'& $ . $- 6

As a method oriented organization, the project is won on the basis of the size effort occurs after the requirements have nition for the company is STEM 2.0
*,". "* $ ++

art of customer engagement is as of the team or number of service loca- been defined and the coding process has being featured in the Unisys Technology
unique as the company itself. Since the tions they can offer to their customers. been completed. As such, the methodol- Review, a well known journal in the
5 % . *1 "%(* ++ /",! 4+ ((*' ! ,' , +,"& ! "* )- $",1 ' , +, +" &

industry is yet to fully understand the
company’s approach, STAG first edu-
cates its customers about the better
quality and RoI by deploying STEM
and HBT. At present, STEM and HBT
are primarily deployed by the com-
pany’s customers only in certain parts
of a project. Ashok has also started to
license the methodology to companies
“This is the fundamental difference ogy of the test is governed by the soft- Japanese software industry and acade-
&'%($ , & ++ ' , +,"& + * +-$, ' ,! "* % ,!' '$' 1 "+ ." &, "& . *1 *
$ + ! '%%",% &, & $ 0" "$",1 +!'/& 1 ,! , % ,' '%%' , * +
between STAG and other independent ware development methodology mia, and part of the Japanese National
+". * $ + , + "+ (* "+ /'*,!1 6 testing vendors,” Ashok points out. adopted. “As software services compa- Archive. “Japan is a research and tech-
&# 2 * '% STAG essentially is a ‘methods’ nies graduate from plain coding work to nology oriented industry and it is a huge
company and not a product or services full development (not necessarily devel- honor to be recognized by them,” Ashok
5 ,*- ( *,& * ,' ! + /'*# /",! $%'+, $$ ,! *'-(+ & ! + $+' one. The core foundation of the com- oping shrink wrap products) testing be- smiles.
(*'." '-,")- +'$-,"'&+ $"# +, +" & + *." + & & ,' & -,'% ,"'& ' pany lies in the fact that it develops comes crucial. But unfortunately, many With its path breaking research ori-
methodologies or concepts that can be programmers are forced to do minimal ented approach to software testing,
used in testing irrespective of the do- testing to beat the last minute project STAG has managed to disrupt the way
,! * "& *" -+"& & *$ 6

who wish to deploy it internally and main or technology. deadline,” he says. testing has been practiced over the
*' * % & *

customize it to their requirement. This ideology of working on test-

These include software development ing methods was influenced by IBM Start with establishing a clear goal and then
5 ! + $/ 1+ * +('& +/" ,$1 ,' '-* * (" $1 *'/"& * +'-* & + '* , +,

companies and other independent Rational that had worked long years
perform activities that will indeed get you to
"& ! "* $ 0" "$",1 ,' &+-* -+"& ++ '&,"&-",1 "+ !" !$1 ((* " , ! '%%",

service providers amongst which is to set up methods for software devel-

translating the goal into ‘uncovering
% &, & ,! $ 0" "$",1 +!'/& 1 ,! "* , % ,' % , !" !$1 * ++". * $ +

one of the top five Japanese system in- opment and over the years came up
,"% $"& + "+ '%% & $ ! . $/ 1+ '-&, '& & /"$$ '&,"&- ,'

tegrators that today deploys STEM as with a standard called UML (Unified
potential defects’
' +' 6

a part of its services. Modeling Language). Today, UML is

* & * % * # *

“We are very serious about the
economics of testing and its contribu-
tion to the bottom-line of our cus-
tomers. At every instance, we
question ourselves the value being
delivered and how it has impacted our
customer’s business,” says Ashok.
When engaging with a customer,
STAG pays a lot of attention to un-
derstanding. HBT takes a scientific
approach to the act of understanding
the intentions or expectations by
identifying key elements in a require-
ment or specification and setting up a
rapid personal process powered by
scientific concepts to quickly under-
stand the intentions and identify the
missing information. This enables the
engineers to come up with intelligent
questions leading to a deeper under-
standing. This results in rapid ramp-
up, higher business value being
delivered, and leveraging this under-
standing to build a rich asset base.
5 ' -+ '& + " &," " / 1 ' '"& , +,"& /",! ,! "* % ,!' '$' 1
$ , "& ,! ,". & ++ ' , +, *," ,+ * ,
+ &"'* % & *+ "& * ." /"& & % &, ! $,! ( *"' " $$1 & , #"& ((*'(*" ,
+, (+ , ! +, * $$1 ! $(+ "& ,,"& +,
+'$-,"'&+ 6 3
! "*% & & '-& * -* / . +
STAG offers unique solutions and
services like test assessments, valida-
tion suites, release worthiness assess-
ment, people competency assessment
(in testing), test-case re-engineering,
custom tooling for test bench, require-
ment and architecture validations, in
addition to standard offerings like out-
sourced QA Lab, managed validation,
functional test automation, and per-
formance assessment.
Developing a Methods Company
Software testing, though critical in
software development, for years has
been considered the most jaded and
/ +*
1 ,! "* , % ! '%%",% &, '
'* ,! "&. +,% &, / % # "&
mundane task in software develop-
ment life cycle (SDLC). Though India
has carved a niche for itself in the test-
ing industry, it is true that most entre-
preneurs have shied away from getting
into the business testing. Industry
watchers attribute two probable rea-
sons for this - one, the general mis-
conception that testing, unlike
software services or products business,
is not a lucrative proposition and the
other is the feeling that testing would
figure at the low end of the market.
Neither of these fears is based on
facts, says Ashok whose passion for
testing resulted in STAG Software.
the basic framework around which
software is developed despite what
the technology may be.
A Masters in computer science
from the Illinois Institute of Technol-
ogy, Ashok had always had a knack
for research oriented approach to
problems. It was while leading the
worldwide software test analysis
group (WW:STAG) at Verifone India,
formerly a division of Hewlett
Packard, that he started dabbling with
the idea of finding more effective
methods for testing.
“WW:STAG was a large inde-
pendent test organization in Veri-
fone/HP responsible for certifying
client server and electronic commerce
software. This group built ground up
a test group well recognized within
and outside the company. It was the
ideal platform for me to experiment
on the scientific approach to testing,”
says Ashok.
It was the lax approach towards test-
ing and the challenges faced by quality
analysts that sparked Ashok’s thought
process: could there be a methodology
for testing that could work as a scanner
wherein if one ran a piece of code, it
could immediately highlight the bugs.
Thus, he came up with the concept of
hypothesis based testing.
Today, a decade since its beginning,
STAG has successfully worked with
over 100 customers and conducted
around 350 cycles of various types of
test viz., functional testing, load/perfor-
mance/stress/volume test,
reliability/scalability test, test automa-
tion, Beta testing, Installation testing,
configuration/compatibility testing,
L10N testing, document testing, API
testing, and more.
Having worked on 170+ projects in
the areas of enterprise applications, em-
bedded software, and test automation
decades. “I believe this is quite an
achievement but there is still some time
before the industry as a whole adapts it,”
says Ashok. In order to evangelize the
adoption, STAG itself has taken the ini-
tial steps by offering a full fledged edu-
cation division to train people in STEM
and HBT and make them industry ready.
The programs offered from its Banga-
lore and Chennai facilities have already
proved quite effective as a majority of
the trainees are being absorbed by the
company’s clients themselves. Also, he
plans to publish all the research on
STEM and HBT and bring out a book
soon that could perhaps one day be an
academic reference in software testing.
Ashok often quips that software test-
ing is like the ‘ugly duckling’ that not
many prefer to step into, but it is just a
matter of time that it will transform into
a beautiful swan and hopefully STAG
will be the catalyst.

The Smart Techie

|24| October 2010 The Smart Techie
|25|
October 2010
 10 Software
Testing
Most Promising

Companies

Amity Soft

A
Carving a Niche

10 Software
Most Promising

Testing
in the Testing World!
K.R.Jayakumar

sk a software engineer, as vendors who are expert in software tion Point approach used by the IT in-
which is the most boring testing. AmitySoft fits the bill in such dustry. Amitysoft’s client include top
job in the software devel- cases. But competition is huge and more Multinationals, Indian IT giants, Small &

Companies
opment life cycle, you
will quickly get an an-
swer- Testing. The grinding concentra-
tion and repetitive nature of the tasks
By ST Team serve to drive many techies around the
bend. Testing has been the most over
looked, underfunded, most rushed but
most critical part of the software devel-
opment lifecycle. But not for K.R.
Jayakumar, Founder and CEO of Amity
Soft. In the 1990s when the software in-
dustry was growing, none of the top IT
NAME CEO DESCRIPTION services companies had testing as a sep-
Amity Soft
A decade old company with suite of services including Software Quality Management, Soft- arate division. But Jayakumar was quick
to recognize that the world over, defec-
Chennai K . R . J a y a k um ar
ware Testing, ERP on the Internet and training.
amitysoft.com
tive software systems create havoc. Thus
Indium Software
Chennai H a rs h a N u t al a p at i
An independent software testing company specializing in Software Testing, QA Validation started the journey of AmitySoft, about a
decade back in 1998.
and Testing products across verticals like BFSI, Telecom. Healthcare and more
indiumsoft.com
testing companies have sprouted in the
market over the decade. However what
sets Amity Soft is the engagement model
which they have worked out based on
their experience. The Amitysoft Archi-
tectural Approach to testing is a strategy
evolved by the company. There are mul-
tiple stages under this approach. The
most important being -understanding
the customer requirement, especially the
end users of the productand their us-
ability. The next stage involves verifi-
cation and validation. The company
believes that to be a value adding out-
sourcing partner, they need to go that
extra mile. Hence their approach also
involves understanding the product and
process risk factors and drawing an in-
Medium IT houses in India and abroad.
Amitysoft has again become one of the
first to introduce Green IT consulting
services in India.
As the old adage goes, ‘one can un-
derstand the person from the friends he
keeps;’, Amitysoft’s impressive set of
partners speak about its reputation. Soft-
ware Measurement Services, UK is a
partner in providing measurement serv-
ices in onsite/ offshore model. Other
partners of Amitysoft include ‘Standard-
isation, Testing & Quality Control’
(STQC) Directorate of Ministry of In-
formation Technology, Govt of India and
QAI Global Institute, the largest global
institute for Software Quality.
Apart from all this, Amitysoft is

Jayakumar proved right and tegrated implementation plan. This also involved in activities that will
cashed in on the opportunity. “Testing brings in significant benefits like in- help the growth of the community.
InfoStretch
A provider of services and solutions for Mobile Application Development and Testing, Qual-
Santa Clara, CA R u te s h S h ah
ity Assurance Testing and Automation, SaaS solutions and ERP Testing solutions.
which used to be a rushed and last creased accountability and control, cost Competency Center Software Quality,
infostretch.com

Prakat Solutions
Bangalore
An independent services company whose service offerings include Testing Services, Con- minute activity but now it has evolved and time reduction, defect reduction, in- the education arm of Amitysoft, which
into a mainstream activity” says he. creased productivity and quantitative innovated career courses in software
A n u ra d h a B i sw a s
sulting and Training that span across Process Optimization, Testing and Technology.
prakat.com

QA Infotech Jayakumar claims his company has management of software delivery. quality & testing, 12 years back, pro-
shown resilience over the years and Staying ahead of competition means vides employment oriented training
A Software Quality Assurance and Testing Company that specializes in providing Independ-
Noida M u k es h S h a r m a
ent and unbiased services to product companies including Fortune 500 companies
qainfotech.com
revenue from quality and testing serv- staying ahead in terms of technology and programs and corporate training pro-
ices has been steadily increasing with delivery processes. Amitysoft, with its gram in software testing & quality.
QAI A global workforce development and consulting organization addressing the education and
Bangalore N a v y ug M o h n o t 'Operational Excellence' needs of IT, IT enabled organizations and knowledge intensive or-

some big names as clients in his kitty, moto ‘ quality and technology for world Tens of thousands of CCSQ trained
qaiglobalinstitute.com ganizations

STAG Software
Bangalore
A boutique test solutions & services provider with specialized solutions to accelerate prod- inspite of intermittent setbacks. class performance’ provides process en- people are now working for the IT in-
Increasingly companies are coming gineering services for CMMI Assess- dustry in India and abroad. The com-
T. A s h o k
uct development, lower development & support costs, and de-risk deployment.
stagsoftware.com

STC Technologies to realize that delivering high-quality ments/ Re-assessments, ISO 9001:2008 pany also has a capacity to give
software on time and on-budget requires migration services, Information Security classroom sessions to over 50 testing
Offers an integrated suite of software testing services and certification programs for organi-
Chennai T h i ru m a l a R aj
zations and individuals alike.
stctek.com
that they partner with the best-of-breed Services and COSMIC based software professionals at a given time. With a
vendors for all aspects of the software de- measurement services. Incidently Ami- deep knowledge of the industry, years
TestingCzars A global independent Test Engineering and solutions provider that offers end-to-end soft-
Bangalore G i r is h N . B as i d o n i ware test solutions across industry verticals like ERP, Finance & Insurance, Healthcare,
testingczars.com CME, Mobility, Retail and more
velopment process. The companies want tysoft is the first and only organization in of experience and by lending a hand in
Thinksoft to use more than one vendor, or multi- Asia Pacific providing training, consult- the growth of the community, Ami-
source, allowing them to select vendors ing and implementation services for tySoft is creating a niche for itself in
A pure-play software testing company that specializes in banking and financial software
Chennai A . V. A s vi n i K u m ar
testing.
who are expert in development, as well COSMIC, the better alternative to Func- the testing industry.
thinksoftglobal.com

The Smart Techie

|26|October 2010 The Smart Techie
|27|
October 2010
10 Software
Testing
Most Promising
Companies
I
Indium Software
One stop Solution End to End Testing Services
ndependent software testing
has been witnessing a good
growth in the past few years. It
is evident that the demand is
growing as the customers con-
tinue to reach out to independent QA
service providers for flexible en-
gagements, unbiased review and for
their need for a specialized skill or
expertise. But, Indium Software rec-
ognized the potential in independent
software testing way back in 1999.
Since then it continues to innovate
and strengthen its foothold in this
highly competitive market.
With a decade long expertise in
testing SaaS, Web 2.0, SoA, Cloud
and wireless applications, Indium
provides a full-suite of software test-
ing services. This includes Func-
tional Testing & Test Automation,
Performance Testing, Compatibility
Testing, Security Testing, Accessibil-
ity Testing, Installation Testing, User
Acceptance Testing, QA Validation
and Test Process Consulting.
Apart from its services, the com-
pany’s quest for enhancing software
quality has also led to development
of IP products such as iScoute (Web-
site Monitoring Solution), iFrame
(Indium’s framework for Test Au-
tomation) and iFACT (Indium’s
Framework for Accelerated Compat-
ibility Testing).
In a space that is quickly crowd-
ing, what differentiates Indium is its
focused approach. “As an independ-
ent verification and validation firm
we ensure we provide an unbiased re-
The Smart Techie
|28| October 2010
view. Our transaction based pricing
guarantees our customers that they
pay only for the value of delivered
services. Also, a lot of man hours
have been spent on gaining in-depth
domain and industry
knowledge that is per-
haps unmatched in this
space. We have a pool
of talented professionals
who are well versed in
all technologies and
their pain areas, which
span across domains
such as Banking and Fi-
nancial Services,
Healthcare, Telecom,
Retail, Digital Media, Educational
institution to name a few,” says Har-
sha Nutalapati, CEO, Indium Soft-
ware. Today, Indium has its presence
spread across geographic locations
with three offices in U.S. and 2 off-
shore delivery centres in India.
Customer engagement is a key to
any business and to provide ample
flexibility and ease of business, In-
dium practices three different en-
gagement models — Point
Engagements, Testing Center of Ex-
cellence (CoE) and Test Consulting.
Point engagements could be regres-
sion testing or test automation, load
testing for a release or for specific
application. There are also customers
who have matured outsource/off-
shore vendor engagement and seek
for end-to-end QA services in a Test-
ing CoE model. Many other cus-
tomers have shown interest in
& '+,* , !
M
Stretching Its Testing
leveraging QA, as a strategic asset
Services across Mobile Industry
and to build a higher maturity
process and governance that is ana-
obile today is one of
lyze and improve their current QA
the biggest and
via some standard models and best
fastest growing mar-
practices. As an or-
kets, especially in
ganisation, Indium
India. The splurge of
follows an open-
Smartphones and mobile applications
door culture and
has created a wealth of new opportuni-
works in a flat and
ties for mobile devices, applications,
low power distance.
content and websites. Thus in such a
The emphasis is on
competitive market, there arises the
customers with a
need for QA services and solutions that
strong belief in a
give the ability to ramp-up quickly,
strategic partnering
with flexible engagement models and
Harsha Nutalapati approach of co-cre-
processes that have been proven. This
ating value.
was the opportunity that Rutesh Shah,
With new advancements in the
CEO of Infostretch Solutions, a
field of technology, especially with
provider of services and solutions for
advent of cloud computing and virtu-
Mobile Application Development and
alization, Indium’s current and future
Testing, Quality Assurance Testing and
focus areas include cloud, special-
Automation, SaaS solutions and ERP
ized technology/domain services,
Testing solutions was quick to realize.
and specialized application services.
Quality and test engineering serv-
“With Organizations rapidly leverag-
ices have been central to InfoStretch
ing cloud and cloud based services,
since its inception in 2004. It has
we at Indium are striving to refine
worked with IT organizations and
and mature our offerings for these
tested a wide variety of applications,
customers. A continued demands for
enterprise software, financial software,
specialized testing service for certain
SaaS offerings and ERP/CRM sys-
competencies around ERP testing,
tems. The company provides mobile
SOA, Web 2.0 and more will also
services and solutions to the complete
help drive the future growth,” says
range of mobile industries and busi-
Nutalapati. At Indium, the focus was
nesses that leverage mobile for their
and will be to provide a solid career
customers — whether to reduce opera-
progression through shaping key tal-
tion and testing costs, expedite appli-
ents and building a core engine of in-
cation or device to market, or increase
ternal leaders who can steer the
revenue by expanding into new mar-
organization to the higher levels of
kets. Its expertise, experience, flexibil-
growth.
ity and unique SLA-based approach
10 Software
Testing
Most Promising
Companies
ket - InfoStretch has realized the po-
tential of similar service in growing
markets of India.
Infostretch has widened the spec-
trum of its mobile testing services by
striking key partnerships like Perfecto
Mobile and thus provided one stop
testing solutions to its clients. Perfecto
Mobile Handset Cloud service enables
you to access and control a
multitude of real mobile
devices, physically located
around the world, via the
Internet. Through the ser-
vice’s web-based GUI,
you can quickly and easily
install your mobile appli-
cation onto any handset
you choose. Then, you
simply use the phone in
the same way a real-life
Rutesh Shah
user would - through its
keys, touch-screen, or
QWERTY keyboard - to
verify that your application
ensures that devices, applications and
or service works properly and displays
content are available on any device,
correctly on the phone. The Perfecto
any network, anywhere in the world in-
Mobile service significantly reduces
cluding T-Mobile.
the complexity and cost of developing,
These unique strengths in this
deploying and maintaining mobile ap-
space has helped Infostretch to win
plications and content across devices,
clients including application develop-
networks and geographies.
ers, content providers, manufacturers,
The company plans to continue to
carriers and businesses – from Fortune
leverage its testing expertise and
100 firms to start-ups, banks and fi-
widen its geographical presence. It
nancial institutions, ISVs, game devel-
plans to expand its portfolio of serv-
opers, retail, media and entertainment,
ices in Europe, Australia and India and
mobile aggregators, and some of the
will continue to focus on industries
largest mobile carriers in the world to
like Mobile Software Developers, Mo-
customize solutions that are unique to
bile Content Creators, Global
their industries and business needs.
arriers, OEMs, Gaming, VAS
“InfoStretch’s Team continues to im-
providers, AppStore Providers, Media
press me with their passion and ability
& Entertainment, BFSI, Retail and
to exceed expectations. The team un-
Travel. Other plans include creating
derstands technology and its strengths
huge device labs in different geogra-
which enables them to deliver excel-
phies and will include new devices
lent solutions,” says Aniket Tapre,
like Tablets, Gaming Machines, Em-
CEO, Vividways. After seeing a suc-
bedded Systems and more.
cess with Mobile services in U.S. mar-
The Smart Techie
|29|
October 2010
10 Software
Testing
Most Promising
Companies
Prakat Solutions
Testing
Clouds
T
in the
he software testing market
is growing both in size and
complexity. Testing func-
tionality is no longer a big
need but dealing with the
newer complexities of production en-
vironments is. Enterprises today are
consolidating their datacenters and
using technologies like virtualization
and private clouds extensively. The
ability to deploy production applica-
tions needs deep understanding of ar-
chitecture, infrastructure technologies
and testing. Performance Testing is
passé. CIO’s now need to address Per-
formance Engineering.
It was with this vision that Anu-
radha Biswas founded Prakat Solu-
tions, a technology solutions company
specializing in Cloud Computing, Vir-
tualization, Independent Testing, Test
Consulting and Open Source.
“Many large organizations have
evolved organically or inorganically
over a long period. Their quality
measures and processes have evolved
but without control. For example,
product companies have different
product groups and different
processes and tooling. Management
of these organizations face challenges
in getting right the organizational
views impacting ROI, productivity
and time to market. Mere Quality
Testing will not address the issue.
Quality Engineering, which includes
quality maturity assessment, R&D,
right tooling and integration of these
The Smart Techie
|30| October 2010
tools combined with testing, is be-
coming critical,” explains Anuradha.
Prakat’s vision is to provide a
software testing ecosystem which is
flexible, with mature processes and
with the ability to leverage its pay-
as-you-go test environments to pro-
vide its customers predictable
outcomes. With several of the com-
pany’s founders hailing from large
companies, we understand the need
for mature processes and have the
ability to scale up the operations.
The company has three core offer-
ings — Software Testing, Consulting
and Training. The testing services
which include Enterprise Testing, Per-
formance Testing, Data Warehouse
Testing, Application Security Testing
and Test Automation, ensure end to end
testing services to the customers. “We
realize the pains our customers face
with some of the larger companies
where they are not willing to be flexi-
ble to meet some of the critical re-
quirements or concerns. We have also
seen the increasing requests from cus-
tomers for taking up an end-to-end
testing project where the platforms and
tools are also provided by the testing
vendor,” explains Anuradha. To lever-
age in the customer demands, Prakat
has also begun specialized offerings
that include end to end performance
engineering, quality maturity assess-
ment and creation of test center of ex-
cellence and domain specific test
delivery accelerators. The company
Anuradha Biswas
also has a sophisticated datacenter with
a team equipped to handle systems,
software, networks and virtualization
that can help quickly setup the required
test environments.
In line with its vision to offer end-to
end testing services, the company also
offers training services. The company
offers India Security Innovation’s in-
dustry leading eLearning courses which
are designed to give development, IT
and risk management teams the security
knowledge they require. With Team-
Professor courses caters to the student
populace through an interactive learn-
ing process that includes module-based
navigation, built-in assessments, simu-
lations, and course completion
While there are several players in
this competitive market, Prakat is trying
to benchmarking itself against the niche
providers and not the giants. “We
would like to deliver the innovation and
customer wow created by the niche
players while also bringing in the serv-
ice delivery maturity of the large
providers,” says Anuradha.
With a focused vision for the future,
the company has several plans for a
hockey stick growth. Very soon, Prakat
aims to rollout a massively distributed
test workforce which will use its “test
workbench” to deliver large proj-
ects. The ultimate vision is to bring to-
gether industry experts, academia,
mothers taking a career break, consult-
ants, students and effectively leverage
them in a distributed model.
STC Technologies
Aiming to be One Stop solution for Enterprises
A
in Software Testing Services
t $13 billion global
market, the software
testing industry today
has grown to heights,
unimagined a decade
ago and Chennai based STC Tech-
nologies plans to leverage this oppor-
tunity to become one stop solution for
all testing needs.
Envisioning a huge opportunity in
the software testing space, STC was
started in 2000. Today, it offers an in-
tegrated suite of software testing certi-
fication programs and services that
transform the way companies learn by
linking employee development di-
rectly to business objectives.
“We provide a one stop solution to
all our clients. We have our own ex-
pertise which we created within a
decade experience and it is backed up
by people who are out in the industry
with our own certification,” says
Thirumal Raj, Chief Executive Offi-
cer. The company with its 15 centers
in India caters to trainings of all the
levels of testing programs, which is
specifically into testing certifications.
We have our own branded portfolio
certifications called as CSTP stands
for Certified Software Test Profes-
sionals and Certified Automation Test
Engineer (CATe). The programme al-
lows the candidate to learn about the
advance level of testing programmes
in India and this is endorsed and sup-
ported by many of large MNCs in In-
dian market.
Raj felt that just grooming the right
10 Software
Testing
Most Promising
Companies
talent is not enough to leverage the specialized on verticals like retail,
whole ecosystem. Aiming to solve banking, finance, insurance, heatlth-
this, he envisioned to have two care, telecom, embedded systems, and
pronged business under software gaming is hav-
one umbrella of STC ing a very positive re-
Technologies- STC- sponse. “Flexible
Third Eye, an Inde- delivery and process
pendent Software transparency are the cor-
Testing Company and nerstones of ThirdEye’s
STC V-Serve, a Re- service,” says Raj. The
cruitment Consulting company works on on-
company focused on site, offshore, and combi-
the growing needs of nation of onsite-offshore
recruiting IT profes- Thirumal Raj model. All its client proj-
sionals specialized in ects are completed using
software testing domain. the most appropriate combination of
Followed by a favourable re- one, some, or all of these delivery
sponse, the company is also into pre- models based on the client require-
employment training partnership ments. ThirdEye delivery model helps
programme. The objective is to source, leverage capacity, capabilities, com-
identify right people for a corporate petitive pricing, and competencies
and give them the training based on across geographies to improve deliv-
the corporate requirement and place ery and predictability, and achieve cus-
them in the right companies. “We are tomer satisfaction.
promoting as a training certification To add value to the customer, the com-
programme where in it as an assured pany is working on ‘Pay Per Defect’
skill for job placement in our clients model. “The models helps the clients
place,” says Raj. With this pre-em- to pay if there is any defect is de-
ployment model, the company has tied tected,” Raj says. Moreover, to give
up with large MNCs and have already more stickiness to the customers, STC
done 400 placements. ThirdEye is promoting Testing Centre
Based in Chennai, STCThird Eye of Excellence to its clients and getting
has a pan India presence and all the into more product testing space. With
partners are based in UK, U.S. and Eu- its 82 clients, the company is in a
rope in terms of project. As independ- hockey stick growth. STC is planning
ent software testing company STC to expand now in North America and
ThirdEye has been providing mission- Australia with maximum traction
critical software testing services to for- coming from BFSI, ERP and software
tune clients, globally. The company gaming market.
The Smart Techie
|31|
October 2010
 10 Software
Testing
Most Promising
Companies
A
QA InfoTech
Taking Testing to Greater Heights
s IT has become more
critical to business per-
formance, the role of In-
dependent Software
Testing services has be-
come increasingly important and even
strategic in current market landscape.
The independent software testing service
industry is growing, with many opportu-
nities in North America and EMEA, as
well as in growing markets like APAC.
Cashing in on this opportunity is Noida
based QA InfoTech, which specializes in
creating and innovating QA / Testing so-
lutions to challenging technical projects
by using a range of customized service
models which are aligned to client’s
needs and goals. Established in 2003, QA
InfoTech has grown leaps and bounds
with five QA Centers of Excellence.
Today, QA InfoTech, is a $10 million
company (estimated FY 2009-10 rev-
enues) and among a handful of players in
this niche and growing industry.
“In late ‘90s, Testing
was considered as a
secondary job. But I
enjoyed it because it al-
lowed me to see the
bigger picture, an end-to-
end idea of the overall
system, a greater
sense of ownership,
and more interac-
tion with people
across the develop-
ment chain includ-
ing customers,”
says Mukesh
Sharma, Founder
and CEO of
Mukesh Sharma the com-
pany talk-
ing about
The Smart Techie
|32| October 2010
the evolution of the company.
The testing industry is estimated at
$13 billion worldwide.QA InfoTech is
one of the dominant players in this in-
dustry along with other renowned play-
ers like Mindtree, Virtusa, and Applabs.
Mukesh strongly believes that the suc-
cess of the company depends on the level
of accuracy in the results, followed by the
capacity to detect early and the costs.
Hence the business approach is guided
by transparency and fairness in policies,
processes and practices. The processes
through which QA InfoTech transacts
business comply with internationally rec-
ognized quality standard such as ISO
9001:2008. QA InfoTech is ranked 62nd
among the Top 100 list at India’s Best
Companies to Work For 2010 survey re-
leased recently.
QA InfoTech is strong in verticals
like Publishing, Telecom/Mobile, Fi-
nance and Healthcare and offers a wing
to wing coverage from functional testing
to Localization testing, Automation
frameworks, Performance testing, Secu-
rity testing, Usability testing and Mobile
testing. QA InfoTech, with its specialized
competency and state of the art lab at
Noida helps its client in Telecom/Mobile
domain with specialized services for test-
ing mobile hardware, software and ap-
plication. The lab supports exhaustive
field testing covering areas like call per-
formance, signal strength monitoring and
battery testing.
The primary advantage that the com-
pany has is its knowledge domain and
expertise. While testing, Mukesh be-
lieves that it is important to be able to un-
derstand the customer interests and needs
and the kind of customers that the prod-
uct is going to serve. At QA InfoTech, es-
sentially a tester is expected to serve as a
siliconindia
October 30, 2010 Mumbai
quality gatekeeper for our customer be-
St art u p city
fore the product is released. “The value ...the big event for
or startups
sta
that we add to quality assurance comes
from our domain expertise; the kind of
tools that we use for testing - from open
source and off the shelf tools created
Highlights
from test automation framework and
processes; and performance testing,”
adds Mukesh.
Over 50 Startups to showcase their products
The rising growth in the digital in- More than 25 VC firms to attend & judge the presenting Startups
formation space would create a sig-
nificant market opportunity for cloud Awards to Best Startups
computing thereby expanding the can-
vas for specialized Testing services in Significant presence of partner companies and potential customers
this niche area. The use of cloud com-
puting and Test Automation is another Over 400 Startup companies to participate
emerging area and Mukesh says early
results with some clients have been Over 3000 delegates to attend the product demos at booths
well-received and encouraging.
QA InfoTech also carries out re- Come Meet the ‘Cool Startups’
search work in the testing industry.
The company has created an automa-
tion framework called DIAT ®- ‘Dis- Watch live product demonstrations Exhibitors
tributed Intelligent Automated Test
Harness’. The idea is to cater to a wide
Get a peek into cutting edge technologies
range of customer needs. Testing not
only involves checking the functional-
Lay hands on the best-of-breed solutions
ity of a particular product on single
user material but checking the same on
Meet young, energetic, passionate geeks
multiple browsers and operating sys-
tems. Through its research projects, Platinum Sponsor
QA InfoTech is making it possible for
software testing engineers to be able
to click on just one link, run tests on
the products and crosscheck the con-
figurations. The idea is not creating a
product but primarily creating a frame-
work where these kinds of services can Badge Sponsor
be offered to the customers.
With a clear focus on the business,
investment in technology research and
customer satisfaction, QA InfoTech is
today certainly a market leader in the
Testing space.
For more details visit:
www.siliconindia.com/events/startupcity_2010
Or kindly mail us at events@siliconindia.com or call 080 43402006
 FEATURE By Christo Jacob

competition in the international mar-
ket has forced organizations to adapt
to the recent quality practices to patch
up with the industry requirements.
Therefore, there has been a big shift
from just testing to quality testing.
During the initial days, testing was
largely a manual exercise; today the
testers wear the hat of the end users.
Every application or software is made
considering the end user experience,
emphasizing defect prevention.
Around four to five years ago, there
was a gradual shift from manual test-
ing towards automated testing, and
today we are talking about grey-box
and white-box testing.
models. Typically, the product develop-
ment lifecycles and go-to-market
(GTM) cycles are shrinking in the light
of ever changing business dynamics.
Everyone wants to put the product out
in the market as soon as possible, cap-
turing the customer share as soon as
possible to gain control on the chang-
ing business dynamics. Agility, it
seems, is paying dividends for such
short GTMs and providing a quick RoI.
Software as a Service (SaaS) and online
solutions are moving towards perpetual
beta platforms that can rapidly adapt to
the customers’ needs. This also holds
true for ERP implementation cycles,
which are shrinking by the day. What
of 39 percent of their revenues on cus-
tomer acquisition. This number varies
dramatically according to company
size. Larger companies with revenues
greater than $5 million spend only 17
percent, whereas small companies with
annual revenues of less than $100,000
spend approximately 54 percent on cus-
tomer acquisition. Hence, many of them
are innovating on reducing the customer
acquisition costs and deepening the de-
livery experience. There are many or-
ganizations that are investing internally
on developing these processes and mak-
ing them much more robust and data-
centric so that it becomes much more
transparent and helps them to get real-

Software Testing
Organizations have realized that
improving the final quality through var-
ious means and methods is of para-
mount importance. Earlier, they were
interested in functionalities of the prod-
ucts as their main stay and that is where
they counted on testing as a specialized
used to take five years is now being re-
duced to one year implementation cycle
with rapid customizations. Many ISPs
(Independent Service Providers) are
pitching their testing processes to their
clients. But on the flipside, the corpo-
rates are internally feeling the pinch.
time updates on the project delivery.
Moreover, the testing companies have
realized that talent acquisition costs
have gone up. Hence, the ISPs are re-
ducing the cost on the mid level and the
senior level and they are trying to have
more people at the ground level that can

‘Y
Riding
Era
manner even reflecting the perform- actually perform most of the
ance, reliability, and more. But doing specialized activities in testing.

on the
of
Transformation
our pain is my gain’ - India, having the legacy and advantage
the software testing in- on the offshoring model, is quick in terms
India’s global
delivery model is dustry has evolved of realizing that the problem is not about
over the years based just testing the problem, it is about pro-
at a competitive on this simple mantra. viding good quality software. This is evi-
advantage in the According to the classic definition of Myers, dent from the fact of all IT majors having
“Software testing is the process of executing testing centers of excellence and offering
software testing a program or system with the intent of find- independent testing service. According to
ing errors.“ Today, software bugs are costing a 2008 report, the global market for soft-
the US economy an estimated over $59.5 bil- ware testing stands at $13 billion, of
space; there has
been a big shift lion each year, with more than half of the which about $6 billion is being outsourced
cost borne by end users and the remainder by to offshore locations including India. “Of
from just testing developers and vendors. The federal study the $13 billion market, India is acquiring
to quality testing states that the improvements in testing could around 70 percent of the market that is
reduce this cost by about a third, or by $22.5 $9.1 billion, and is expected to grow by
billion, but it won’t eliminate all software er- 40- 45 percent,” says Pradeep C, CEO,
rors. Now, the Indian companies have real- Edista Testing Institute.
ized the potential opportunity of testing as a India’s global delivery model is at a
business and it is no more only part of soft- competitive advantage in the software
ware development, as it used to be earlier. testing space too. The ever increasing
this will not help the organizations to
create stickiness among the customers
now and deepen the relationship, and
they are now talking about improving
the quality internally in terms of reduc-
ing the testing cycle and thus making
the outsourcing model more meaning-
ful. More and more customers are look-
ing at agile methodologies, which
results in faster time-to-market, being
more receptive to customer require-
ments, reduced cost of delivery, and im-
provement in quality.
Some organizations, especially the
SMBs, are looking at accelerators and
re-usable frameworks to further cut
down their costs. Another trend is the
ongoing inclination of customers to-
wards an outcome-based pricing model.
They are aligned with the demand for
cost-effectiveness, time-to-market, and
reliability. The belief is that two to three
years down the line around 50 percent
of the contracts would use a hybrid
model, where you have elements of
both traditional and outcome-based
Today the testers wear the hat
of the end users. Every
application or software is
made considering the end
user experience, emphasizing
on defect prevention
Followed by global recession, the
pressure on margins for corporates (not
to mention survival) is high. They are
looking for operational efficiencies to
increase the margins to retain the oper-
ating profits while the top line sinks.
Corporates are increasingly betting on
digitizing and automating all processes
that can be automated, which shall con-
vert to cost savings by downsizing the
cost centers.
In the last three to four years, com-
panies have spent a lot of money on cus-
tomer acquisition. According to a
survey by TrialPay, a software provider,
software companies spend an average
This has opened the doors to
many of the people who can ac-
tually provide industry ready
talent.
“Now companies are look-
ing for ready talents who can be
immediately put on a project,
so they don’t need to pay them
more. So, we have a model in
which that kind of outsourcing
is happening in domestic market where
the entire training and talent supply
function is being outsourced to Indian
market,” says Pradeep. Today, ISPs are
looking to include training as a part of
their business, wherein they are able to
get their students placed in their own
customer portfolio companies. “For
India to be prepared to grab the $9.1 bil-
lion pie of the outsourced testing mar-
ket, the major challenge is to overcome
the shortage of skilled resources. Ac-
cording to estimates, there is a shortage
of 22,000 testers and potentially there
will be a shortfall of 40,000 more in the
years to come,” says Pradeep.

The Smart Techie

|34| October 2010 The Smart Techie
|35|October 2010
 TECHNOLOGY
The author is Regional Manager – Technical Services,
Torry Harris Business Solutions
SOFTWARE TESTING
S
The Old & The New
oftware testing has evolved
considerably over the last
decade from single dimen-
sional test approaches to
multi-dimensional ones.
Testing now encompasses broader as-
pects such as test management through
‘push button test environment creation
on the Cloud’ to dedicated tool eval-
uations for each kind of testing.
There is general consensus world-
wide though, on the need for flexi-
bility and creativity in testing and
the need to treat testing as more than
just another ‘phase’ performed to-
wards the end of the project.
Traditional software testing that
focused on code-level testing has
evolved with Distributed and Web
Service architectures. Security takes
on more importance as there are
now multiple integrated systems
and multiple interfaces, internal and
external. In this context, I would
like to delve more into the details of
testing Service-oriented architecture
(SOA) and SOA based solutions, a sub-
ject close to my heart!
The V-Model:
For Web Service architectures and
SOA, the V-Model is typically a suit-
able test methodology that enforces
testing discipline throughout the proj-
ect lifecycle. The project starts with
defining the Business User Require-
ments. The V-Model would recom-
mend that the Business Acceptance Test
Criteria for these defined requirements
The Smart Techie
|36| October 2010
By Shubha Sridhar
are defined and agreed before moving
to the start of the technical design
phase. Before moving to the next
phase/level of technical design, the
model recommends test criteria defined
for that level of technical requirements,
and so on. The V-Model is simply en-
couraging the project team to continu-
ally determine how they would
successfully test the project deliver-
ables.
The V-Model is a suitable test
methodology to deliver SOA projects
for the following reasons:
 It encourages a top-down approach
with respect to defining the busi-
ness process requirements, high-
level functional technical design,
security etc.
 It then encourages a bottom-up test
approach – test individual functions
within a service, test an individual
service then test a composite set of
services through to testing an inte-
grated process and finally testing a
complete business system. SOA is
‘loosely’ coupled services and that
is why a bottom up test approach is
recommended.
 The levels reflect different view-
points of testing on different levels
of detail.
 The V-Model encourages testing
throughout the entire Software De-
velopment Life Cycle.
Challenges:
Some of the new challenges in testing
SOA solutions as opposed to the tra-
ditional applications, typically, are:
 Services that do not have a user in-
terface
 Data driven business logic within
services
 External services to the organiza-
tion
 The quality of ‘service’ software
will be vital to promote reuse and
facilitate business agility. Services
that have known bugs and quality
issues will not be reused by the de-
velopment teams. A significant in-
crease in testing activities and test
assets (functional, performance and
security regression suites that in-
clude sophisticated harnesses and
stubs) will be required at a service
(program) level
 Predicting the future usage of serv-
ices to assist with performance,
load, stress, scalability
 As your SOA evolves, security test-
ing will have a higher priority and
profile within your organization’s
test strategy
In SOA, Services are based on het-
erogeneous technologies. No longer can
we expect to test an application that was
developed by a unified group, as a single
project, sitting on a single application
server and delivering through a stan-
dardized browser interface. The ability
to string together multiple types of com-
ponents to form a business process re-
quires unconstrained thinking from an
architect’s perspective, and test planning
and scheduling complexities from a
tester’s perspective.
In SOA, application logic is in the
middle-tier, operating within numerous
technologies, residing outside the de-
partment, or even outside the company.
We know that to test SOA, you need to
go far beyond merely testing a user in-
terface or browser screen. Web Services
(WSDL/SOAP) will be an important
component for many SOAs, but if
you’re only testing Web Services, you
are not likely to test the entire technol-
ogy stack that makes up the application.
What are the transactions happening at
the messaging layer? Is the right entry
being reflected in the database? In fact,
many perfectly valid SOA applications
will house business logic entirely outside
of the Web Services.
To address the above challenges, or-
ganizations need to review and enhance
their current test methodology. Many
Test Tool vendors have now recognized
the new SOA test challenges and have
developed a new breed of tools to help
organizations to plan, manage and auto-
mate SOA functional, performance and
security testing.
Testing SOA solutions:
How do you test SOA architecture? You
don’t. Instead, you learn how to break
down the architecture to its component
parts, working from the most primitive
to the most sophisticated, testing each
component, then the integration of the
holistic architecture. In other words, you
have to divide the architecture into do-
mains, such as services, security, and
governance and test each domain sepa-
rately using the recommended approach
and tools. SOA is loosely coupled with
complex interdependencies and a SOA
testing approach must follow the same
pattern.
You can broadly categorize SOA
testing into the following phases:
 Governance Testing
 Service-component-level testing
 Service-level testing
 Integration-level testing
 Process/Orchestration-level testing
 System-level testing
 Security Testing
Test Tools:
As discussed earlier, tools are key in
every phase of testing. SOA requires a
comprehensive test tool strategy. Some
of the commercial and open source tools
available in the market that could be ex-
plored for SOA testing initiatives would
be:
Commercial:
 Green Hat GH Tester
 Mercury suite of products
 Parasoft SOAtest
 AdventNet QEngine
 Borland SilkPerformer SOA edition
 iTKO’s LISA product suite
Open Source / Freeware:
 SOAP UI
 PushToTest TESTMAKER
 AutoStub (an internal tool devel-
oped by Torrry Harris, belonging to
the SOAizer™ stack)
Conclusion:
As conclusion, a few key recommen-
dations for testing SOA initiatives
would be:
 Design your SOA project test ap-
proach alongside the definition of
business requirements and high-
level technical design. Ensure the
test teams are involved right from
the start.
 Static test techniques such as for-
mal inspections are a must to ensure
the business requirements and tech-
nical designs are defined to stan-
dards and are complete. Strong
governance and discipline are es-
sential to successfully delivering
SOA.
 SOA is driven by business and not
technology. The test team will have
to ensure the key business stake-
holders and users are actively in-
volved throughout the project life
cycle and not just at the start and
the end.
 The Test team must be aligned to
business domains not technologies.
This will enable a successful im-
plementation of a Risk Based ap-
proach to testing. The test team
must also be technical and be able
to ‘white box’ test the entire SOA
platform.
 Security assessment and testing
must take place throughout the en-
tire project life cycle.
 Many organizations will need to
perform a ‘leap of faith’. The ma-
jority of testing activities now need
to be performed during the business
requirements analysis, design and
service build phases. To achieve de-
livery agility and true service reuse,
each individual service must be de-
livered to the Integration and UAT
test phases with well-defined func-
tional test coverage and guarantees
on performance, scalability and se-
curity. Simply put, services must
come with a Quality statement!
 Test Tools are now a must. Organi-
zations must invest appropriately in
a test tool strategy.
You should not be surprised that
many of the recommendations outlined
in this paper are not new. Many of them
are already defined as best practices.
SOA demands strong governance,
well-defined standards, processes and
disciplines. If Quality is at the heart of
your SOA, then the promises of SOA
will be delivered.
The Smart Techie
|37|
October 2010
 TECHNOLOGY
The author is CEO, Edista Testing Institute
The Great Indian
Testing Dream..!
S
oftware Testing sure does
present a great opportu-
nity for growth for major
Indian IT Service
Providers. With 70 per-
cent of the worldwide outsourced
testing services coming to India, we
could not ask for anything better.
However, the question to ask our-
selves is if the enterprises are mak-
ing the right moves at the right speed,
in the right direction to capitalize on
the opportunity at hand, and maintain
our leadership position.
For the past 6 years starting 2004,
Indian IT Service Providers have re-
alized a great business opportunity in
Independent Testing Services. The
opportunity has grown from a small
business of $10 million to a whopping
$9.1billion, demonstrating an average
CAGR of 47 percent over the past
years. With over 132,000 members
employed purely in Independent Test-
ing Services, the line of business is
certainly recognized as an important
The Smart Techie
|38| October 2010
By Pradeep C
growth segment and contributor in the
Indian IT Industry, and certainly a re-
cession proof business to invest in.
The growth of business has cre-
ated a new set of challenges, and
does question a few paradigms on
how the business is really run. The
question really is on how the new
challenges are being addressed by
our enterprises.
Product Quality is the main focus.
Many customers have learnt and have
started to demand their partners to im-
prove product or deliverable quality.
By shifting focus to reducing the cost
of quality in their operations, cus-
tomers have clearly given the status
of Business Criticality to the Software
Testing activities and projects.
Not just functionality. Traditionally,
the testing was focused on Function-
ality of the system. However, in-
creasingly, organizations are
focusing on Performance, Reliability,
Security, and Usability as important
aspects to be demonstrated for the
product. In addition, given the re-
quirement to do Integrated Develop-
ment; issues like compatibility,
installation, internationalization have
been seen as necessary to test by
many organizations today.
Rise of the Cloud. Cloud computing
takes the web to the next level of chal-
lenge in terms of performance, secu-
rity, compliance, and alignment with
the business. While Cloud enables
much larger opportunity, it poses in-
teresting challenges for testing in a
virtualized, distributed environment
with multiple configurations. Addi-
tionally, cloud can enable the reduc-
tion of automation costs for
enterprises in a direct manner.
Gold is at the bottom of the pyra-
mid, and so should the cost of find-
ing it be. Organizations have realized
that many customers still treat Testing
as a cost, and unless we reduce the
cost of operation it would not con-
tinue to grow at the same rate in India.
Given this, there has been a constant
thrust and effort to move the costs
down the pyramid, by using junior re-
sources for the job at hand.
The technical and business chal-
lenges are compounded and magni-
fied, when coupled with the challenge
of required, available and ready-to-
employ talent.
Shortage of Talent. Interestingly,
many organizations continue to face
the shortage of ready-deployable tal-
ent. This rapid growth in demand for
software testing services has had a
corresponding impact on the supply
side. In 2006 alone, there was a short-
fall of 15,000 software testing profes-
sionals in India.
Some of the many reasons for the
widening gap are lack of educational
institutes providing structured and
well-designed training programs;
poor understanding and implementa-
tion of software testing practices;
lack of a unified competency frame-
work, lack of common body of
knowledge (standards, methods,
tools); lack of common forums for
exchange of best practices. If India
can so effectively deliver and scale
up testing services, which are based
on manpower, it must be good at
training in all forms. For testing, spe-
cialized integrated industry ready ed-
ucation is the need of the hour.
Given the shortage, and the
growth of business demand, organi-
zations have started partnering with
educational institutions to produce
talent to specification and , just-in-
time with no additional costs being
incurred by the enterprise.
Testing is a preferred career option.
Many professionals have now begun
to look upon software testing as a pre-
ferred career option. This is due to the
imbalance of demand and supply of
deployable resources. Another reason
for this is a faster career progression,
which is also a result of the same im-
balance. For instance, a trainee can
rapidly progress through the levels of
test engineer, senior test engineer,
team lead, test manager and then into
other management roles within the or-
ganization.
Organizations on their part have
also taken initiatives to ramp up their
existing workforce in-line with client
demands. Many organizations have
comprehensive induction and orienta-
tion programs for new team members.
Mentoring and training is imparted to
them through international certifica-
tions, like CSTE offered by QAI
Global Institute.
Structured Skill Enhancement In-
vestment is a Must. Many Indian or-
ganizations are allocating significant
amounts towards skill enhancement
of their staff to achieve competitive
advantage in this field. Organizations
need to understand that learning
should be a continuous process and
organizations need to help employ-
ees, at all levels, to aid them in iden-
tifying their learning paths and
support them to achieve it by provid-
ing enhancement avenues and en-
couraging them to acquire skills to
get to their desired role. The benefit
of this initiative is two-pronged – the
employees will feel empowered and
have more clarity on where they are
headed and helps in reducing noise
and issues relating to job stagnation,
role enhancement, etc. To supplement
the learning paths and to assess the
skills acquired, companies need to in-
stigate the need for certifications.
Learning paths act as a step-by-step
guide providing competency assess-
ment at each step, skill acquisition for
the next step and certification mile-
stones at designated intervals.
The complexity of software sys-
tems and the demand of customers
and users are increasing every day.
With the current state of practice and
lack of educated test teams, projects
often are unable to perform adequate
testing of software systems that con-
trol different aspects of our lives. In
spite of all this, formal academic pro-
grams seldom provide even rudimen-
tary coverage of software testing, let
alone teaching it as a discipline.
Each company does what it be-
lieves will work, creating more of a
confusion, rather than a solution. The
current scenario mandates the indus-
try stakeholders seriously consider
collaborative ecosystem focusing on
consolidating, creating, applying, and
amplifying the need and practice of
structured software testing. One of the
most effective ways to establish a pro-
fession is education. That education
must cover all areas of study that can
serve the profession. Developing a
Body of Knowledge (BOK) and a
universally accepted competency
framework is an essential first step to
establishing software testing as a pro-
fession and educating our testers.
That body of knowledge needs to be
mastered by everyone who performs
software testing.
Education is the only way to es-
tablish testing as a discipline and to
change the perception that it is an ad
hoc activity that requires minimal
training.
Customers will want to ensure
that software bugs don’t eat up their
dollar investments, and will demand
better testing. This would make the
total investments in Testing only
grow, and this would mean that Test-
ing is here to stay, and there is a
great career for individuals with this
skill sets.
As the great hockey legend Wayne
Gretzky, once said - we should skate
to where the puck will be, not where
it has been for realizing the goal, if we
do not prepare ourselves for the sce-
nario of where the puck will be, the
great Indian Testing Dream may be
short-lived...!
The Smart Techie
|39|
October 2010
 TECHNOLOGY
The author is Chief Technology Officer, Indium Software India
Test Automation Framework
Challenges in the Ever Changing
Technology Scenario
The Background
Test automation has matured over a pe-
riod of time; from the crude form of au-
tomated tests that were set up just to run
specific or stop gap runs, we today have
much refined and well defined automa-
tion tests. According to a study, in the
year 2004 the number of automated
tests that were conducted globally as
against manual tests were a mere 5 per-
cent. However, by 2006 this increased
to 20 percent. Going by this rate, we
may be around 50 percent today. Ac-
cording to a study conducted by the US
NIST, software producers lose 21.2 bil-
lion dollars annually because of inade-
quate testing. Based on market
estimates, software companies world-
wide invested 931 million dollars in au-
tomated software testing tools in 1999,
with an estimate of at least 2.6 billion
dollars in 2004. This certainly tells us
one thing: Customers are seeing the real
benefits of test automation. The last 5-6
years has seen a considerable run in
commercial testing tools and we now
are seeing the trend of customers re-
questing for ‘opensource’ tools, thanks
to changing economic situations.
One of the key factors in choosing a
test automation tool is the technology
The Smart Techie
|40| October 2010
By Ramesh Krish
that is used to build the application. Not
all tools support all technologies and
that throws up the challenge of maxi-
mizing test automation returns with lim-
ited capabilities of tools. For example,
an application developed in .NET or
Java may require test automation tools
to support such technology. Some of the
tools come with specific plugins to ad-
dress such challenges. So, choosing the
right tool goes a long way in getting the
expected RoI.
Spending enough time on choosing the right
framework and designing it is the key to test
automation success; and a good and robust
framework should be quite flexible
Technology, a Show-Stopper?
One would certainly run out of business
if technology becomes a show-stopper.
While that could be a very generic state-
ment specific to test automation, tech-
nology has been one of the biggest
challenges. With every new patch or re-
lease of an OS, browser, languages, or
for that matter even test automation
tools, the challenges to maintain au-
tomation scripts are undeniably com-
pounded. By the time you start a test au-
tomation project and complete it, you
may find changes in the environment it
is set to work. The script that you have
developed, while the customer agreed
for a specific version, will not be of any
use to him if the customer is going to
upgrade their systems to the new ver-
sion of the browser, for instance. Here
is when a robust framework and good
coding practice facilitate a smooth tran-
sition.
Develop framework that is inde-
pendent of test automation tools. Since
every tool has some limitation, it is best
to use a combination of tools to take the
maximum returns out of test automation
investment. A combination of commer-
cial and opensource tools is a good mix.
Having a framework that best supports
such a mix will give the best advantage
over other frameworks.
Never Ending CRs
CRs or change requests have become the
norm of the day. Today, CRs not neces-
sarily include change in functionality and
features due to changing business re-
quirements but also the impact the appli-
cation goes through because of the
technological changes. Let us consider a
situation like this: an application that is
stable has about 1,250 automated test
scripts that are run every other day and
being used by 100s of customers
worldwide. Due to business reasons
the company decides to change the
technology or architecture of the
application. Now this is going
to have an impact on the au-
tomation scripts as well. Ei-
ther the scripts will have to
be discarded completely, which
is money into the drain, or evaluate
the possibility to modify the scripts
to suit the new architecture or tech-
nology. In case the latter being a pos-
sibility, an evaluation of time and effort
required for such modification and asso-
ciated costs need to be considered. Since
users are realizing the benefits of au-
tomation, this aspect should not be
missed when someone is considering
changes to the application. Thus, it is im-
portant to integrate test automation in the
purview of CRs, i.e., whenever a CR is
raised, it is important to evaluate its im-
pact on the automation scripts. A robust
test automation framework will make
such impacts minimal.
Build Framework that Works
Test automation framework is a set of
rules, procedures, and tools that drive au-
tomated testing. One of the main advan-
tages of using a framework is the low
cost of maintenance. For any changes to
the application, only the concerned test
case(s) need to be updated while the rest
of the script remains the same.
Some of the most common frame-
works are data driven, keyword driven,
modular, and hybrid. There are again
custom built frameworks that fit to spe-
cific needs of the application. Spending
enough time on choosing the right frame-
work and designing it is the key to test
automation success. A good and robust
framework should consider as many as-
sumptions as possible. This will eventu-
Considering the devel-
opment of framework
as a typical develop-
ment project goes a
long way in getting the
required RoI
ally make the framework quite flexible.
While it will be difficult to prove due to
lack of data but the general belief is that
most of the test automation projects fail
in the long run as the framework is not
flexible enough to adapt to the changes
that the application or the environment
has undergone.
Let us take an example to explain
the above situation. Consider a Web
application that is developed in .NET
technology compatible to WinXP,
Vista, and Win7 and browsers such as
IE and Firefox. A version 5.0 of a test
automation tool is used to automate a
set of sanity test cases. A test au-
tomation framework is developed to
ensure that as the application under-
goes changes, there are re-usable
functions that are developed so that
with less effort you can address those
changes. Most of the frameworks
today address this basic need. How-
ever, consider a situation where a
new version of OS, browser, and
the test automation tool need to
be addressed in the framework
itself. It is not an easy situa-
tion or assumption to imag-
ine or incorporate within a
framework.
The next generation frame-
works should address the best
of the following:
 Coverage
 Business Process
 Extended Environment
 Multi OS
 Multi Test Automation Tools
 Best of Reporting and Analysis
 Defect Analysis
 Metric
 Compliance such as HIPPA or
SOX
 Recovery Scenario
 Addressing Technology Chal-
lenges
Conclusion
Building a test automation framework
needs skills such as designing, analyt-
ical, and a lot of foresight. While
testers bring in a lot of value and in-
sight into developing the framework,
it is the designers and developers who
eventually build it. Considering the
development of framework as a typi-
cal development project goes a long
way in getting the required RoI. Build
the best software engineering practices
while developing a framework. Some
of the critical aspects, as the fig 1.0 de-
picts, make the framework dependable
and robust in the long run.
The Smart Techie
|41|
October 2010
 TECHNOLOGY
The Author is Project Leader, Infinite Computer Solutions
A
NPD
bout a year ago, I was
trying to find software
to automatically sync
my Windows Mobile
based Pocket PC to my
computer using Bluetooth when the
computer is in range. I did a lot of re-
search and found that no such soft-
ware was available in the market.
This surprised me because there
seemed to be many people, including
me, who would love to have this type
of software. It was then that I decided
to develop one for myself.
Pocket PCs and other handheld
devices either need to be connected
by wire or paired by Bluetooth to
synchronize the contacts, emails,
files, and so on. To connect either
way, one has to manually connect the
Pocket PC with the PC. The feature I
wanted would allow the Pocket PC,
when in Bluetooth range, to auto-
matically connect to the PC, syn-
chronize itself, disconnect after sync
and then go back to sleep in order to
save battery power.
The Smart Techie
|42| October 2010
By Tushar Bhatnagar
for Handheld
Devices
With desktop computing came millions of
concepts and ideas to incorporate into
desktop and Web applications. Now, all
those ideas and features can be ported to
handheld devices
Let us relate it to a typical new
product development cycle, which
outlines the process of bringing a
new product or service to the mar-
ket. The process involves the impe-
tus of change, the concept, market
research and analysis, product de-
sign and development, and launch-
ing the product into the market. Few
may realize that there is a rapidly
growing market for these small de-
vices and related products and serv-
ices. Microsoft’s Windows CE has
evolved into Windows Mobile v6.1.
Palm OS has evolved into Palm
Centro based smartphones and an
all-new breed of smartphones and
handheld devices have started flood-
ing the market including the latest
iPhone 3G. With all these platforms,
the Software Development Kit and
thousands of APIs and libraries to
develop diversified applications
come. Microsoft Visual Studio .Net
is my choice for Mobile and Em-
bedded development for Windows
mobile and Windows smartphone
based devices. Visual Studio and the
Windows Mobile SDK make it pos-
sible to create software for the Win-
dows Mobile platform in both native
code (Visual C++) and managed
code (Visual C#, Visual Basic .NET)
With the dawn of desktop com-
puting came millions of concepts
and fresh ideas to incorporate into
desktop and Web applications,
leveraging the power of the Internet.
Now, all those ideas and features
can be ported to handheld devices
leveraging upon the form factor,
portability, and ease of use. For ex-
ample, how cool would it be to have
an application on your favorite PDA
or Phone that could tell you the gas
prices at the gas stations around you
and if required, it can navigate you
to the pump using turn-by-turn
voice and visual guidance. How
about an application, which reminds
you to post that package sitting in
your car for weeks, when you are
near the post office? Different peo-
ple have different requirements as
well as features they wish for, but
one thing is for sure - this is an area
in which there is a wide scope to put
forth effort.
I
Accurate Institute of Management and Technology, Greatetr
Noida as “No.1 Emerging Engineering College of India
n the last issue Silicon India declared Ac-
curate Institute of Management and
Technology (AIMT) as No. 1 Emerging
Enginearing college of India. Here is a
small account of the facts which are re-
sponsible for the confirmation of the honour.
An ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14000:2001 cer-
tified institution ,the institute is located in a 16 acre
lush green campus at 49, Knowledge Park-3,
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Greater Noida is in
the suburbs of the National Capital Region of New
Delhi. The Institute has various engineering and
management programmes i.e. MBA , B.Tech,
MCA, PGDM. All programmes are approved by
AICTE, Ministry of Human Resource Develop-
ment, Government of India and all degrees are
awarded by Uttar Pradesh Technical University.
The Institute was established in the year 2006 and
with in one year of its establishment the Accurate
Institute was awarded for the Best infrastructure
Award in Delhi/ NCR by Business and Manage-
ment Chronicle in the year 2007. Since then it has
has won many accolades to its name by different
independent rating such as Best Placement in
Delhi/NCR Award and Best Academic Excellence
in Delhi/NCR Award in Management Institutes by
Times Research.
Currently Accurate Engineering College is
functioning under the able guidence of Prof.
V.K.Srivastava (Director General of Accurate In-
stitute of Management and Technology). A product
of IIT, Kanpur and IIT,BHU Prof V. K. Srivas-
tava is Ex-Dean Industrial Research and Develop-
ment and Professor of Chemical Enginearing, IIT
Delhi. He has also been designated as National
President of National Institute of Chemical Sci-
ences this year. The Accurate compromises of a
rich pool of highly qualified and dedicated team of
faculty
The institute is imbibed with modern infra-
structure with 24x7 Wi-fi facility and technologi-
cal support to facilitate teaching, learning and
personality development. It has a good collection
of books and Journals in the liabrary. The volume
of books are more than 50,000 whereas the num-
ber of subscribed National and International Jour-
nals are more than 700. The library has all the state
of the art facilities and all leading E-Journals and
magazines are also available. Library subscribes to
various national and international database includ-
ing Ebsco, Emerld, Proquest, Prowess, Indianjour-
nal.com etc. Excellent computer labs and other
engineering labs have been provided for students
comprising of latest configured machines linked to
wide range real time learning experience.
Faculty members are encouraged to peruse re-
search, presentation in National and International
Conferences as well as communicating papers in
peer reviewed Journals. There are various research
schemes offered by institute for faculty to support
their field work. Few specific workshops and sim-
ulations are organized to meet the capacity building
need in new areas of research. The office also pro-
vides information regarding international and na-
tional opportunities of funding for research projects.
Incentives are given to faculty for producing best
results with innovative teaching to students. Fac-
ulty members devote lot of time after class teaching
to students for further clarifications.
Accurate has made rapid strides in the last four
years facilitating academic excellence and industry
interface. For wider dissemination of knowledge
among the business community and academia and
in its knowledge creation and dissemination activ-
ity, Accurate enforces working on applied areas of
business and technology and provide thought lead-
ership to industry and academia. In the Session
2009-10 Accurate Team has conducted five FDP’s
And five MDP’s including three seminars out of
which one MDP was dedicated for Top Level man-
agement and rest were for both the middle and top
level Management on the common topics.
Advertorial
Placement is on top agenda at campus for all.
The entire gamut of academic activities are oriented
to provide the best possible placement in leading
corporate houses/MNC’s. Accurate Institute has es-
tablished a dedicated Centre for Corporate Re-
lations for enhancing the exposure of the students
to the corporate world and to act as an interface be-
tween the Institution and the corporate world. This
year a total of 201 companies and corporates in-
cluding Public Sector company participated in
the placement activities and multiple offers was
achieved for individual students.
When contacted, Miss Poonam Sharma, the
Group Director of the Accurate Institute of
Management and Technology said that, “Accu-
rate has a vision to produce the students having the
knowledge comparable to the top Institutes of the
Country Our motto remains to impart vibrant, com-
prehensive and innovative learning to our students
enabling them to be managers, entrepreneurs and
leaders with strong cultural values and to provide an
ideal teaching environment and ambience to de-
velop their skills to meet the challenges of the
global environment. We are going to start very soon
sponsored research and consultancies for private,
public and goernment undertakings, patents, tech-
nology transfer and TBIU (Technology Business
Incubation Units)”
For other deatails please contact
Mr. Mohammad Ehtesham, Secretary- Ad-
vancement and Development, Accurate Insti-
tute of Management and Technology,
Greater Noida. Contact No. 9810476594,
9212558010)
The Smart Techie
|43|
October 2010
Advertorial
Dreams @ BVB
Give Wings to Your Engineering
Can you tell us about BVB?
B V Bhoomaraddi College of Engi-
neering and Technology (BVBCET),
coming under the aegis of KLE Society
Belgaum, was established in 1947 at
Hubli. The programs offered by the col-
lege are affiliated to Visveswaraya
Technological University, Belgaum and
recognized by All India Council for
Technical Education, New Delhi. The
college offers 12 under graduate and 8
post graduate programs in various dis-
ciplines. Over the six decades
BVBCET is known for its strong aca-
demic credentials and reputation. A
constant endeavor to keep abreast with
technology has resulted state-of-art in-
frastructure that supplements every en-
gineering discipline. The faculty
consists of qualified and dedicated aca-
demicians whose commitment has re-
sulted in a number of accolades
worldwide.
With the autonomy mode of opera-
tion, how do you differentiate from
other engineering institutions?
The academic excellence achieved has
led the college to attain academic au-
tonomy under VTU. The college has
NBA accreditation and ISO 9001-2008
certification. What differentiates us
from all other engineering colleges is
our holistic educational process, aimed
at not only producing a technically pro-
ficient graduate but also a professional
with broader set of skills and abilities
to meet the intricate needs of the global
market. The academic structure, teach-
The Smart Techie
|44|
October 2010
ing-learning and campus experiences
are designed to address the learning
pace of heterogeneous students’ com-
munity.
What measures do you take in de-
signing the curriculum?
Each program designed and offered by
the college has a board of studies con-
sisting of competent people from aca-
demia, industry and alumni. The
syllabus is revised periodically by the
board to be at par with industry needs.
The core courses help to build strong
fundamentals in science, mathematics,
humanities and engineering. Further,
these courses also build in-depth tech-
nical competence in the chosen engi-
neering discipline. The courses like
‘social innovation’ help students to un-
derstand societal contexts of engineer-
ing. Innovative array of electives
expands upon a strong foundation built
by core courses and help to gain ex-
pertise in the specialized areas in each
stream. Open electives give an oppor-
tunity to grow in the areas beyond one’s
discipline and provides multi-discipli-
nary dimension to the education.
Explain about special initiatives
taken to make learning more expe-
riential?
Active learning, collaborative learn-
ing, problem based learning, semi-
nars, discussions, course-projects and
case studies are some of the tech-
niques used by the faculty not only to
enhance student understanding of the
Dr.Ashok S Shettar
Principal,BVBCET
subject but also to gain equally in the
development of generic skills like
leadership, effective communication,
team work, analytical thinking and de-
cision making. The students carry out
two minor projects and one major
project in their course of study. These
projects provide students the experi-
ence and techniques to investigate and
solve engineering problems based on
the knowledge and skills learned from
the relevant course(s) and/or the pro-
gram as a whole. The integrated learn-
ing experience at BVBCET is geared
towards providing knowledge, skills
and abilities that our graduates are
going to need in this new century.
How are the placements at BVB?
Over the years quality of the academic
education at BVBCET has ensured
that the college is regarded highly by
various leading industries. A proactive
placement cell invites organizations to
visit the college for campus place-
ments. It also provides students with
training and resources to equip them
with the necessary skills needed for
professional life. BVBCET placement
cell has won the confidence of major
corporate and this has enabled the col-
lege to place their outgoing students
in reputed organizations such as IBM,
Microsoft, Intel, CISCO, Toshiba, Ju-
niper Networks, Robert Bosch, In-
fosys, Wipro, TCS, Mind Tree etc. A
close bond with the alumni associa-
tion further enhances the services of
the placement centre.
Engineering Success @ APIIT
Yours is the first international engi-
neering college of India offering B
Eng. (Hons.) of Staffordshire Uni-
versity, UK. How does an interna-
tional engineering college get an
edge when compared to its Indian
counterpart?
The difference is in the course cur-
riculum which when meets the indus-
try requirements makes all the
difference. The course curriculum is
regularly updated and is responsive to
the changes in the industry. The
Staffordshire University, UK, offers a
well defined academic plan focusing
on problem solving approach. Skills
are transferred in such a way that
graduate engineers developed an abil-
ity to solve the problem.
How APIIT is an Engineering col-
lege with difference?
Asia Pacific Institute of Information
Technology (APIIT) SD India Panipat
is an Institute with difference offering
a Bright Career in Engineering. It is
the ideal place to discover where tech-
nology & innovation come together
and play a significant role in our
everyday business and society glob-
ally. It is evident from the fact that
APIIT wins awards for excellence in
education, research and development
for the achievements. The five ‘I’s
Models lead the Institute where learn-
ing for employability occurs in true
sense. The five ‘I’ are Innovation
through the design of curriculum, the
module content and the learning ap-
proaches, Integration through devel-
oping your capabilities to interrelate
knowledge and to work in multidisci-
plinary teams, Information through
developing your knowledge and also
Advertorial
your abilities to com- Ours is the first inter-
municate effectively national engineering
and also your abilities college in the country,
to communicate effec- approved by the
tively and persuasively, AICTE. Unlike be-
Interactivity through fore, the government
the use of group of is now opening up to
work to develop your foreign university
teamwork skills and collaborations. This
through the use of is sure to improve the
technology to achieve existing academic
interactivity of devices quality in India, open-
and people, Imagina- ing up opportunities
tion in relation to new Prof. (Dr.) R.K. Choudhary, of better exposure
products, ideas, appli- Director, APPIIT SD India, Panipat
and competitions. As
cations and solutions. we are attached to a
British university, we are more con-
Can you tell me the commitment of cerned about research and quality of
your organization to produce true education, unlike the highly commer-
professionals? cialized private educational institutes.
APIIT is focused on providing an en-
vironment where a student is trans- What are the international trends
formed into a true researcher, and into innovative Engineering Pro-
professional with a zeal, and enthusi- grammes?
asm for innovation, and entrepreneur- Interdisciplinary programs is the new
ship. The approach of working on live trend in Engineering Programmes.
projects, real life problem is an inte- Electrical & Electronic Engineering
gral part of all the modules in every (EEE), Mechatronic Engineering,
semester. The students also get an op- Electronic & Information Technology
portunity to work with APIIT Re- (EIT) and Electronics & Telecommu-
search and Development cell to nication Engineering are new innova-
develop their research skills. In addi- tive courses offered by leading
tion to that, weekly, we have arranged university of world.
interaction with industry experts
through video conferencing, so that What is your advice for school
students are updated about the rele- leavers?
vance of their studies with industry The most important thing in higher
practices, and are aware of the chal- studies is that one should have good
lenges facing the industry in the cur- understanding of the basic principles
rent scenario. and ability to apply them in an imagi-
native way. Instead of just viewing the
What are the prospects of an inter- subjects to pass exams, they much ap-
national engineering college in proach it with a learning mind and
India? allow the transfer of skills.
The Smart Techie
|45|
October 2010
 MANAGEMENT By Prashad Deshpande
The author is Director, Empowered Learning Systems
How We Think Matters
The image of the Titanic sinking, im-
mortalized in a movie is a defining visual
of how the unimaginable can become
possible and how ‘rock solid’ assump-
tions are mistaken for facts. Those clos-
est to the Titanic were the ones most
convinced of her invincibility.
“We believe that the boat is unsink-
able.” - Philip Franklin, Vice-President
of White Star Line, 8-00 a.m., April 15,
1912.
“I cannot imagine any condition
which would cause the ship to founder. I
cannot conceive of any vital disaster
happening to this vessel. Modern ship-
building has gone beyond that.” - Cap-
tain Edward Smith.
We all, at some point of time, fall a
victim to the Titanic mindset, “Since I am
so sure, I can’t be wrong,” and some of
us most of the times. This is because the
way we think influences the way we be-
have and we all ‘see’ the world through
the prism of our own attitudes shaped by
the forces of nature and nurture. The first
step to make a shift in our mindset is to
understand how we think and our domi-
nant preferences.
Whole Brain Thinking Background
In the 16th century, when Rene Descartes
The Smart Techie
|46| October 2010
The
Power
of Whole Brain Thinking
declared “I think, therefore I am” he put
a spotlight on the importance of think-
ing. Four hundred years later, Ned Her-
rmann took this question further when he
experienced an epiphany after reading an
article by Henry Mintzberg in the HBR.
The article asked a powerful question
that haunted him - “How come managers
can be so smart and yet dull at the same
time?”
Ned Herrmann was a polymath, a
singer (he sang at Carnegie Hall), a
sculptor, a physicist by training from
Carnegie Mellon, and he was also the
head of Management Development at
GE, at that time.
This question intrigued him in the
sense it was a question vital to help him
understand himself better.
GE supported Ned’s experiments
and applications and the pursuit of the
‘aha’ of the Mintzberg Moment during
the late ’70s, and it was these activities
that led to the development of the whole
brain concept and the Herrmann Brain
Dominant Instrument HBDI®.
The Whole Brain Thinking Concept
Ned Herrmann combined Sperry’s work
and MacLean’s research (both renowned
Nobel Prize winning scientists) to create
his Whole Brain Model, which empha-
sizes the fact that there are really four
parts of the brain where dominances
exist: Cerebral left, Limbic Left, Limbic
Right, and Cerebral Right. These four
styles or ‘mindsets’ are known as quad-
rants A, B, C, and D .
This is of course a metaphorical
mode that describes how each of us has
a preferred way and mode of thinking
that affects the way we receive and
process information. The awareness of
one’s own thinking style and that of oth-
ers, combined with the ability to act out-
side of one’s preferred thinking style is
known as Whole Brain Thinking
Tuning in
For a good metaphor to understand how
the Whole Brain Thinking model works,
consider for a moment that our brain is a
radio and that we have our favorite sta-
tions that we are ‘tuned to ’ and listen to
more often. These favorite stations are
our dominant thinking preferences - we
all have at least one dominant prefer-
ence.
The model helps us understand
which ‘stations’ we have a preference for
and which we ‘avoid’, and there is noth-
ing right or wrong if some of us prefer
tuning into different stations. It also tells
us that each of us has an access to each
station. If we don’t listen to a station
often, it may require some work for us to
tune in. The faster we are able to tune
into the right station given the situation,
the more effective we will be. We don’t
need to stay tuned in to stations we do
not prefer but tune in only when re-
quired.* (for more please read ‘The Cre-
ative Brain’ by Ned Herrmann.)
Whole Brain Thinking and the
HBDI®
The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instru-
ment (HBDI®) is the instrument that ac-
curately identifies one’s thinking
preferences. This instrument is very easy
to administer given that it is online ,takes
only 20 minutes to fill in and provides an
accurate, visual , validated profile of how
one thinks and more importantly, how
one thinks under pressure.
Over 2 million people world-wide
have been administered the profile and
in India, we have administered the pro-
file to over 1,200 managers from 32
companies.
Real life profiles (masked) are given
below.
Examples of HBDI profiles reflect-
ing the dominance of each quadrant.
The white lines indicate how the indi-
vidual thinks under stress conditions.
The inner concentric circle indicates
avoidance in that quadrant, the circle
next to that indicates secondary think-
ing preferences and the last two con-
centric circles indicate primary thinking
preferences in that quadrant.
People Behind Profiles – the
‘Adamant’ CEO
The funny part of our consulting work is
helping managers understand the impli-
cations of their profiles. Every profile is
a ‘story’ and in interpreting the story,
people gain insights that help them make
significant changes in the way they ap-
proach issues and change their behavior
toward the team, colleagues, clients, and
at home.
Please refer to the profiles mentioned
earlier. The CEO of a large manufactur-
ing company was a ‘high blue’ - a very
analytical, fact based, and precise person.
He was impatient with people who took
too long to get to the point. He was also
very sure of his approach, had a high
focus on task and numbers, and saw no
need to change. After all, he was very
successful having steered the company
to new heights, the quintessential ‘Cap-
tain of the Titanic”. Under pressure, he
became even more analytical and as his
people would say privately he was the
‘iceman’ apparently bereft of emotion.
Not completely true of course, he was
emotional, but he prided himself on his
ability to keep his feelings under check.
He ‘saw’ the world very differently
from his deputy – the Vice President of
Service who was more people focused,
believed in relationships, and who was
very approachable. He respected the abil-
ities of his deputy, however, but was wor-
ried that he was too soft on people. On
their one-on-one’s, he repeatedly sug-
gested to his deputy that he should be
tougher and develop the ability to take
‘hard’ decisions.
Their weekly meetings were be-
coming increasingly strained and un-
productive and when both of them
completed their HBDI profiles, it
was as if the lights went on - a ‘aha’
moment.
They both saw how differently
they ‘viewed’ the world and this ac-
ceptance of differences made the CEO
open to change. The CEO requested
his deputy to address the monthly
staff meetings, which earlier, the CEO
used to do. The outcome of this
‘small’ change was that while it was
very difficult for the CEO in the initial
meetings to control his impatience,-
his deputy took 15 minutes to ‘warm
up’ - he found that when he spoke
later, the team was much more recep-
tive to his messages. For the deputy,
he began to understand the impor-
tance of being succinct and precise.
Harnessing Potential
The power of the Whole Brain
Thinking model is the ability to help
people and teams change their mind-
sets. The HBDI is a cognitive tool, it
is visual, it does not pigeonhole you
in a box nor label you as a certain
type, and there lies its almost univer-
sal acceptance.
A greater realization for people is
that there are four equally valid and
relevant ways of thinking and the
goal is really to stretch oneself into
quadrants where one has an avoid-
ance and become ‘situationally
whole’ when required.
We believe that the larger goal for
individuals, teams, and organizations
is to move three levels to harness the
full potential of their people and
teams: From the first level of just ‘tol-
erating’ differences to the next level
of ‘accepting’ differences to third
level of ‘ honouring’ differences.
This journey can be extremely re-
warding in terms of personal growth
as well as for organizations in terms
of unleashing the power of true col-
laborative working.
The Smart Techie
|47|October 2010
 Business: By Ganapathy Subramaniam
The author is CEO, Cosmic Circuits
worldwide semiconductor market will
grow year after year.
Design is the key aspect in fab-less
Policy Changes Needed to Encourage  Design is value add in fab-less
Fab-less Companies in India companies and policies have to
It is clear that the Indian government be drafted with this in mind since

T
semiconductor companies and is the
biggest value add. As the services of
A Case for Policy Initiative for fabs, assembly, and test are available to
all, the only way to differentiate is in de-
needs to follow China, Korea, and Sin- current policies are structured to-
gapore and come up with policy initia- wards local manufacturing and
tives for fab-less companies in India. or testing, which will not be the
Most of our policies are structured to- case with fab-less companies

Indian Fabless Company sign. Without innovation in design, fab-

he worldwide semiconduc-
tor market is around $275
billion, and the India market
is around $8 billion. The
world market is expected to
grow in double digit CAGR for the next
several years, but sadly Indian chip com-
panies have negligible share in this.
Worldwide, semiconductor market,
which once used to be dominated by
IDM (integrated device manufacturers),
i.e. companies that had their captive
manufacturing units like Intel and Texas
Instruments ( fabrication plant) are now
losing some of their share to fab-less
semiconductor companies like Qual-
comm and Broadcom [companies, which
rely on external manufacturing plants
(fabs) like TSMC, Global Foundry, and
SMIC]. Most of the policies in India are
towards encouraging IT industry and
manufacturing industry, which are serv-
ice oriented and employ a large number
of people. This article outlines the policy
changes that need to be done to encour-
age fab-less semiconductor companies in
India, which also would result in intel-
lectual property creation and ownership,
both of which are must for a stronger
India.
Semiconductor Industry in India
The private semiconductor industry is
approximately 25 years old in India, with
Texas Instruments starting its office in
Bangalore in 1985. SCL (which belongs
to the government of India) also designed
and fabricated ICs in India. There are an
estimated 10,000+ people working in the
area of VLSI design in India. Many
multinationals create worldclass products
from India. Almost all the top US, Euro-
pean, and Japanese SC companies have
their subsidiaries in India. Apart from the
MNC’s there are semiconductor startups
like Redpine systems and Hellosoft,
which are headquartered in the US (some
in Europe) but with bulk of their engi-
neering in India. There is a handful of In-
dian semiconductor companies doing
products or intellectual property licens-
ing. Cosmic Circuits is one of them,
which is focused on intellectual property
licensing and has some analog ASICs in
production. There is a decent number of
Indian companies like KPIT Cummins,
Mindtree, Wipro, and HCL that are en-
gaged in semiconductor services.
Clearly, there is talent in India to cre-
ate a worldclass semiconductor com-
pany. When demand in local market
happens, it is believed that the local tal-
As the services of fabs,
assembly, and test are
available to all, the
only way to
differentiate is in
design
ent and also Indians with semiconductor
experience abroad will return to India
and create successful semiconductor
companies.
Opportunities for Semiconductor In-
dustry in India
The Indian semiconductor companies
would possibly take the same route taken
less companies will find it difficult to
survive. Summarizing,
wards the services and manufacturing
industries. It is important to create a
strong intellectual property base to cre-
where the products could be
manufactured and tested outside
India. SEZ is also not financially
a. Fab-less companies are taking up a ate a stronger India. The semiconductor advisable for fab-less startups.
by the semiconductor companies in Tai-
major segment of semiconductor mar- companies are important, as they can  Government tenders should in-
wan or Korea when they started, i.e.
ket. play a highly significant role in this. clude a certain percentage of
when significantly supported by local
b. Majority of startups today are fab-
It is important to create a strong intellectual
market or local buying. Semiconductor
less.
companies in Taiwan were benefitted by
property base to create a stronger India. The
c. Fab-less companies work with exter-
the presence of ODMs (original design
nal fabs, assembly, and test houses for
semiconductor companies are important, as
manufacturers) initially. Semiconductor
their products.
companies in Korea are largely benefit-
they can play a highly significant role in this
d. Since fab and assembly is common
ted by OEMS (original equipment man-
to all, the biggest differentiation they
ufacturers), like Samsung and LG.
can make is in design.
ODMS and OEMs in India are largely
Fabless companies are usually of
multinationals where a decision on using
medium size of, say, 150 to 200 people STPI was formed with the intention mandatory local intellectual
a particular IC is made in their respective

to create $100 million revenue. A signif- of supporting IT companies. The property content. This will en-
headquarters. We expect this trend to
icant part of this strength is in design, SEZ are ideal for manufacturing courage the equipment manufac-
change and some of the decision making
sales, and marketing since most of the plants or large IT Companies. Semi- turers to use the ICs designed by
will happen in India, fuelling the growth
manufacturing is outsourced. conductor companies were also in- Indian fab-less companies. Gov-
of semiconductor companies.
cluded under STPI since majority of ernment labs should actively en-
Indian fab-less companies have got
Role of Governments to Boost Semi- the companies do services or li- courage the local companies for
opportunities in the following areas:
conductor Fab-less Companies censing work and STPI is not ex- their needs in Semiconductors.
The Chinese government has been play- pected to extend beyond March  Set up a Reliability and Failure
a. Energy meters (Owned mostly by In-
ing an active role in creating fab-less de- 2011. mode analysis lab to assist the
dian OEMs)
b. Inverters
sign companies in China.
An article published by EETIMES
Fab-less companies sell prod-
ucts, and India has a negligibly
fab-less companies as part of
government labs or institutes.
c. Identification (RFID)
d. Lighting
in May 2010 states that China’s planners small marketshare in worldwide Set up a seed fund to encourage
e. Gadgets related to Education
are cranking up their initiative to seed as
many as 30 fab-less semiconductor start-
TAM and also not even able to full-
fill a fraction of her own demand.
entrepreneurs in the fab-less semicon-
ductor space and also actively invest
f. Gadgets related to Security
g. Automotive (specifically two wheel-
ups that could grow to $200 million or The fab-less companies have to be in startups to create semiconductors
ers) Defense and aerospace, etc.
more in annual revenues.
China is also actively inviting In-
encouraged with a new policy. The
fab-less startups are sized at about
for government projects such as low
end laptops, epassport, smartcards, etc.
Fab-less Semiconductor Industry
dian companies like Cosmic Circuits 150 to 200 people, making it diffi-
to set up their unit in Suzhou technol- cult to move into a SEZ, and they Summary
Fab-less companies are taking a big por-
ogy park and others. also have a limitation for fab-less The challenges of fab-less compa-
tion of the worldwide Semiconductor
He Korean government is also companies where the products will nies are unique and are not covered
market and even IDMs are becoming
known to seed fab-less semiconductor be manufactured and tested outside by the SEZ and STPI. Also, India is
fab-lite (relying on external fabs like
companies and also to give attractive India. lagging behind in Semiconductors
TSMC for some of their business). Most
grants. Broad policy changes that irequired and Indian companies have negligi-
of the large Japanese companies, which

The economic development board of for fab-less companies are: ble share in the worldwide market.
used to have their own technology till
Singapore also gives attractive support  Tax exemption and R&D Grants A new policy needs to be drafted to
40nm, will align either with IBM or
for companies to start operations in Sin- to encourage the fab-less semi- encourage fab-less companies from
TSMC for 28nm. We expect this trend to
gapore, specifically if you are engaged conductor companies for next 10 India that also increase the intellec-
continue and the fab-less segment in
in intellectual property creation. years. tual property content.

The Smart Techie

|48| October 2010 The Smart Techie
|49|
October 2010
 TECHNOLOGY By Bhaskar Bakthavatsalu
The author is Regional Director – India & SAARC,
Check Point Software Technologies

DLP Prevention is Better

D
than a Cure
ata loss occurs every day through corporate email. In fact,
given the sheer number of emails an organization sends
every day, data loss incidents via email are bound to happen
easily and frequently. Common email mistakes include auto-
filling the wrong email address, attaching a different file than
the one intended, or sending out sensitive data that really shouldn’t be
emailed.
Anyone within an organization could potentially cause a data breach,
at any time and in a matter of seconds. What’s even more worrying is
that employees may not actually realize what they’ve done until after
the email has been sent. Unfortunately, it sometimes only takes
one such incident to damage a businesses’ reputation and result
in loss of customers.

Involving individual
employees in the corporate
security process is the only
viable approach to avoid
data loss incidents

Protecting People against Their Mistakes

A CSO from a large organization recently confessed to
me that a substantial part of his time is spent
trying to protect users from their own mis-
takes. This was no surprise to me. When it
comes to securing a key business tool
such as email, companies should think
about educating employees even before
deploying any technological net.

The Smart Techie

|50|October 2010
 Our research found that about 90 per-
cent of data loss incidents are uninten-
tional errors, with no malicious intent.
Most of the time, such incidents happen
quite innocuously and result from very
simple actions, such as an employee
sending a file to their personal Web mail
account, so they can work on the docu-
ment from home. Although the employee
has good intentions, such practice is often
against corporate policy and could turn
into a data breach for the company. The
majority of data loss is caused by em-
ployees’ simple mistakes, with no mali-
cious intent, so why not give them more
responsibility to help avoid future leaks?
So, how can businesses efficiently
prevent data incidents from happening?
Involving individual employees in the
corporate security process is the only vi-
able approach to avoid data loss inci-
dents. It is also the only way to turn a
DLP solution into a truly preventative
tool - as opposed to a reactive tool. For
businesses, proactively educating users
about the potential security issues that
can arise from seemingly innocuous ac-
tions, like sending an email and reinforc-
ing their overall DLP awareness, will
provide the first and ultimate shield
against data breaches.
Let’s take a closer look at this user-
focused approach to DLP and how it
could work.
Taking Control
First of all, in order to increase the user
awareness, an effective DLP solution
will alert the user before they can send
a suspicious email that may cause a
loss incident.
Let’s take the scenario of an em-
ployee who has composed an email, ad-
dressed it, and clicked on the ‘send’
button. A useful DLP solution should
analyse the body of the email with its at-
tachments compared with a set of pre-de-
fined characteristics to identify
potentially sensitive data. This could in-
clude, for example, certain key words in
the email body text such as ‘financial’,
‘report’, ‘specifications’, ‘confidential’,
The Smart Techie
|52| October 2010
and so on. In addition, file types such as
spreadsheets or presentations with finan-
cial data, confidential records, or even
some strategic material may need to be
carefully scrutinized.
Technology combined with educating
users about the impact of their actions is
the best method to prevent data loss in
the corporate environment, and to
minimize the security risks
Once the DLP solution detects a po-
tential breach based on this analysis, it
will override the ‘send’ instruction and
present the user with a pop-up alert to
inform them of the potential data loss
and ask how they wish to proceed. The
user will have to decide whether they:
a) want to send the email and its at-
tachment(s) as it is; or b) realise that
they have made a mistake and correct
the body text or remove the suspicious
attachment(s). There should also be the
option for the user to leave a brief ex-
planation as to why they overrode the
DLP solution’s alert.
Decision Points
But what happens if, after seeing the
pop-up alert, the employee decides to
send the email anyway, resulting in data
loss? The DLP solution keeps records
of all of the user’s actions, of the fact
that he or she was alerted, as well as the
justifications they provided, giving an
audit trail for subsequent analysis and
review. This establishes a clear chain of
events when reviewing the data-loss in-
cident, which will come in very handy
for internal review and external com-
pliance purposes.
The system aims to increase the
users’ responsibility, to encourage them
to review what they plan to send, and
help them correct any digressions from
the company’s security policy before a
data loss incident occurs.
Preventing Loss, Gaining Benefits
To summarize, the benefits of this DLP
system fall into two main areas:
First, and most importantly, compa-
nies can significantly reduce the num-
ber of data loss incidents upon
deployment. As employees experience
the DLP solution in action, they will
learn more about data loss, how it typi-
cally occurs and how to avoid it. This
encourages adherence to company se-
curity policies. Over time, pop-up alerts
to users will most likely decrease as
users become more conscious and in-
creasingly aware of the types of activ-
ity that triggers an alert.
Second, engaging the users in the
data-loss prevention process will di-
rectly benefit the organization, by re-
ducing the burden of day-to-day
security management from IT staff.
The majority of decisions about
whether content can be sent or not, is
taken by users directly - a sharp con-
trast to previous-generation DLP solu-
tions that require IT staff to check
every email flagged as a potential risk.
Eventually, empowering the user en-
ables IT teams to concentrate on more
strategic tasks, instead of getting
bogged down in email approvals.
When it comes to preventing data
loss in the corporate environment, tech-
nology alone is not the answer, but it
can be used as a safety net. Technology,
when combined with educating users to
become more aware of the impact of
their actions, is the best method for min-
imizing the overall security risks. After
all, the old adage had it right: Preven-
tion truly is better than a cure.
JANATA SHIKSHAN PRASARAK MANDAL’S
BABASAHEB NAIK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING PUSAD- 445 215 (M.S.)
History
Ex. Chief Minister of Maharashtra Late Shri. Sudhakarraoji Naik foresaw the need for an Engineering Institution & his dream institution
was realized in 19th July 1983, at Pusad with the blessing of Ma. Renuka Devi of Mahur. The town Pusad is only 45 km away from the
town of Mahur which is one of the Shaktipeeth that stands amongst the green hill in the District Yavatmal. The Institution has continu-
ously been provided indigenous technology manpower for industrial development of the country.
UG COURCES Eligibility for admission Salient feature
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cal Education Maharashtra State on the basis of
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MHCET Score. 15% seats are reserved for ing as finishing school
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PG COURCES  4 times best ISTE chapter award winner
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Graduate in relevant discipline of Engineering search centre by Sant Gadge Baba Amravati
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Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
Shri Jai S. Naik, President
( Digital Electronics)
Janata Shikshan Prasarak Mandal’s
Prominent Recruiters
Pusad-445 215 (MS) India
Infosys, Tech Mahindra, IBM, Cognizant technologies, Persistence Technologies,
Mahindra and Mahindra, L&T Infotech, Indian Armed forces, MICO (BOSH), HCC, HCL, Prof. N.M. Gatphane, Principal
ADANI Group, ACC, BILT Ballarpur, Tata Motors, SAPIENT Technologies, ONIDA etc.
Babasaheb Naik College of Engineering, Pusad
Ph: (07233) 246316 ,245229
Campus Accredited by “Cognizant Technologies”. Email : principal@bncoepusad.ac.in
Web site : www. bncoepusad.ac.in
 EVENT By ST Team

MAC
SiliconIndia
Showcase the Thriving
@

T
Mobile App VCs share their views onMobile App

Market Chic Mobile Apps Throng @ MAC

Whether it’s the India Radio, which provides 104 Indian Radio sta-
tions, or the web-based Instant Messenger tool for organizations to
he excitement around mobile applications is expected to explode over the ‘Connect to their customers, instantly’, the applications created a thrill
coming years. With more than 50 billion downloads per year the market for among all. With more than 15 mobile application firms showcasing
mobile apps is expected to touch $17.5 billion. Realizing the importance of their products, the event buzzed with several helpful apps all around.
the space SiliconIndia Mobile Applications Conference provided the platform “There is lot of complexity involved with mobile applications. Mobile
to all those app enthusiasts to witness the chic app market and the promis- device is not a PC. It has different versions, editions, feature packs,
ing scope it provides. More than 1000 developers, several exhibitors, Venture Capital- firmware updates and all of them have to be dealt separately,” said
ists and top executives flocked into the event on 25th September at the Nimhans Vishwanath Alluri, Chairman, CEO & Founder, IMImobile. As
Convention Centre. pointed out, solving technical challenges is much easier than dealing
The event witnessed some of the brightest minds in the mobile apps space like, with the understanding of consumer needs.
Vishwanath Alluri, Chairman, CEO & Founder, IMImobile; Mouli Raman, CTO & Co-
Founder, OnMobile, Rakesh Verma, Managing Director & Co-Founder, MapmyIndia.com
and Shiva Bayyapunedi, Founder & Director, Apalya share their thoughts and inspire the
The Smart Lifestyle
gathering at the conference.
When Sunil Rao, the Head of Forum Nokia India connotes a smart
“It was an exciting platform for the developers to participate in the application con-
lifestyle he notes that five trends needs to be analyzed - smartphones,
test with the unique creation that works on mobile devices, a good networking platform
internet connectivity, internet on mobile, convergence and mobile apps
to know each other, and listen to the expert to understand the changing trends. Of-
and contents. It is here he stressed on the point
course, why many of us are here is to see the most talked about attempt of Nokia, the Companies display niche mobile apps in about ‘living the smart life in India’. It’s through
Nokia N8,“ said DP Samantarai, one of the participants. respective booths Permeative Technologies awarded the best Mobile app startup engaging applications like Nokia’s Burrp which is
a local search engine or the social apps which
Best Application Rewarded shares sites like YouTube, Facebook, Flickr the
Startups like Catchon, Divum, Ennovasys, Experion smart lifestyle is experienced.“From a company
Technologies, GeniusPort, Interworld Commnet, perspective, social networking is a cost-effective
Latchiya Software Systems, Permeative Technolo- aid to convert the sellers into ambassadors and at
The Eye-Popper of the Show - Nokia N8 Preview gies, Softtrends, SMS160, Trignon, The India Mar- the same time increase the brand awareness
The excitement resonating from the crowd was re- ket, United Mobile apps, Vernalis systems and Win throughout the globe and herein comes the role
ally electric as they chanced to touch and play with Information Technology showcased their applica- of apps, which determines how a mobile user in-
the Nokia N8 which was showcased for the first tions and participated in the contest. A panel of five teracts with the internet,” says Prashant Pawan,
time in India at MAC. Experts in the smartphone judges including Kumar Shiralagi, Managing Direc- Product Manager at Rediff.com.
industry see Nokia N8 as the company’s weapon to tor, India, IndoUS Venture Partners, Samir Kumar, In similar lines, Sridhar Ranganathan, Vice
regain its lost glory in the smartphone market. Managing Director, Inventus, Shekhar Kirani, Vice President of Product Management of InMobi ex-
With a high definition 12MP camera, integrated President, VeriSign India & Angel Investor and plains the business perspective, “As maximum of
social networking, web TV services, the Symbian^3 Sachin Maheshwari, Principal, Draper Fisher Ju- the users are lured towards free games, the devel-
powered Nokia N8 is touted to regain Nokia’s lost rvetson India evaluated the participants. opers introduces upgrades with more features as a
glory in the smartphone market. The smartphone is Among all, the app firm Permeative Technolo- paid version and once a user upgrades to the paid
equipped with a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen dis- gies whose applications Freecell, Typing Class and model, it definitely boosts up the revenue. For a
play with a resolution of 640x360 pixels,16GB of Radio Recording, stood out to be the best won the developer the cost of installation of new features
built in storage, a microSD card slot that can accept best won the title of the best mobile app startup. The into an app is zero so whenever any user with free
up to 32GB cards and a new visual task manager, educational application “Typing class” enables one Sunil Rao
cash pays for an app, it a profit for them.” A smart Head of Forum Nokia (India)
which makes multitasking easy and one can switch to learn fast typing, while through Radio Recording developer always tries to build a channel for his
The Forum Nokia Booth between open apps with a single tap. a user can connect the radio to the server. paid apps through the free ones.

The Smart Techie

|54|
October 2010 The Smart Techie
|55| October 2010
 BUYERS PERSPETIVE >>>>
Opening a New Era in Storage
Solutions
What is the market size of the
storage solutions globally?
The market for such solutions
globally could be anywhere be-
tween 1-1.5 billion
dollars. In India,
the market would
be about 5-6 per-
cent of the size.
What are some of
the emerging
trends in the stor-
age solution
space?
I see a lot of de-
mand for Tape for
back up, archives
Sunny John, Country Man- and restore. I see
ager India, Spectra Logic disc coming to pic-
ture in the area of
back and pushing
tape to archive. There were tech-
nologies like Virtual Tape Library
(VTL) and data de-duplication and
other disc based solution which
came to lime light and created a
short hype. But in terms of reliabil-
ity, Tape is still ruling the space. It
is emerging as a reliable option for
mission critical storage and for long
term archives.
LTO technological advances
have improved tape reliability by
more than 700 percent over the tape
technology that was available a
decade ago. Tape libraries now have
the intelligence to proactively alert
the user if media or hardware issues
are developing. Gone are the days of
not knowing if a tape has been used
beyond any manufacturer thresh-
olds, if there has been environmen-
tal damage to media, if failures are
The Smart Techie
|56|October 2010
drive or media related, or if data is
on the tape media.
What are the challenges you face
in the market?
The hype over disc gaining momen-
tum and the technology of tape going
dead is creating a lot of issues in
terms of customer conviction and we
have quite a bit of challenge there.
Disc in fact is much vulnerable than
tape.
How has the journey been in the
Indian market and how do you po-
sition yourself?
Over the years Tape has evolved and
matured. A combination of tape and
disc technology is also evolving and
SpectraLogic plans to invest in this
combination technology as we see
more market for such products. The
company started direct operations the
Indian market in July. We will lever-
age on the MNC’s entering the Indian
market by cashing in on our popular-
ity/credibility in U.S. and European
market. With 30 years experience in
the market and over 20,000 installa-
tions across various verticals, we see
a bright spot in the Indian market.
What are some of the future
plans?
We recently launched the largest
Tape library in India also recently
and have received positive response
from large corporations. We are
looking to expand the operations in
India. The target is to get about 10
large accounts in a year. For this we
are joining hands with various re-
sellers and distributors to expand in
the Indian shore.
Samsung PX2370
LED Monitor
The PX 2370 is world's first LED
Monitor to support RGB 100 per-
cent thereby delivering nature-like
picture quality. The Magic Lux
function adjusts brightness by
sensing surrounding intensity of il-
lumination for releasing optic
stress. Magic Angle offers the
same picture quality from any
angle and supports 5-mode angle
management. The Samsung PX
2370 is an eco-friendly LED moni-
tor which is 40 percent more en-
ergy efficient than comparable
LCD Monitors. The Magic Eco
function exhibits four energy sav-
ing options which allows users to
choose from 100, 75 and 50 per-
cent power consumption as well
as "power saving off".
Price : `15,300.
Kingston
Digital USB 3.0
Flash Drive
The DataTraveler Ultimate
3.0 has a read speed of
80MB/sec.and a write
speed of 60MB/sec. It is
available in 16GB, 32GB
and 64GB capacities with
five year warranty. The
combination of speed and
size makes it ideal for data
backup or fast transferring
of large files including
music, photos and videos.
To ensure backwards com-
patibility, Kingston is also
including a Y cable as
some USB 2.0 ports re-
quire it to initialize USB 3.0
drives. DataTraveler Ulti-
mate 3.0 Supports Fast
Transfer Rate.
Price – Yet to be an-
nounced
Targeting the Growing BI Market
How big is the Business Intelligence mar-
ket for you?
According to Gartner, the BI is estimated to
be a $14 billion market globally of which
the Asia and India are expected to be $1 bil-
lion and $100 million respectively. Of this,
Distil Info seeks to address the decision
support needs for companies in the < $250
million segment globally with our Distil
DSS vertical suites, which forms close to 60
percent of the present market size.
What are the emerging trends you see in
this space?
We feel that commoditization and pre-pack-
aging is a main driver for falling deal sizes
as companies (especially the Tier II ones)
come out of the complex, ‘value added’
proposition of the BI solution in favour of
much simpler and more effective decision
support systems. Collaborative decision
support systems, which leverage the orga-
nization’s capabilities across levels is the
need of the hour today. A scenario tailor
made for our pre-built content rich DSS of-
ferings.
What are the challenges you see in the
market?
The decision making community in the in-
dustry is still split on what the actual needs
of the enterprise are from a DSS perspec-
tive. Companies look to buy decision sup-
port systems and end up evaluating for
reporting systems today. DSS software has
to be designed to address the conflicting de-
mands from both sides. The challenge is in
impressing IT teams with the solution’s
ruggedness, scale and usability while reas-
suring business about the ability to evolve
with minimal IT intervention. Budgets are
being redefined southwards and expecta-
tions are breaking through the ceiling.
How do you plan to position yourself
against competition?
All the products that come out of our labs
are easy to implement and use, while being
technologically superior. We guarantee that
information finds its way to the right per-
son at the right time to help him do the right
thing. We are inspired by the positioning
adopted by Volkswagen for the Original
Beetle (Small & Reli-
able) and Google’s ap-
proach to simplicity
when delivering complex
technology.
Give an insight into the
competition you face in
this market
Competition ranges from
small time players who
Boby Mohan, Jt. Executive
ride on the hype and buzz Officer &Head - Biz Dev, Distil
to the large organizations Information Systems
with their all or none ver-
tical stacks. The market is quite muddy with
bevy of claims viz. Corporate Performance
Management, Balanced Scorecard, Analyt-
ics, Real-time analytics and many more
such, backed by poor results post imple-
mentation. What we bring to this scenario
is a refreshing freshness inspired by plain-
speak and our ability to deliver on promises.
What are your future plans?
Distil DSS for Healthcare providers, a prod-
uct that is designed with the needs of the US
and APAC markets is slated for launch in
mid-2011. We have already launched our
platform based services for Decision Sup-
port as a SaaS based offering for mid-Tier
IT services/consulting firms looking to start
up Analytics based KPO businesses.
Our sales thrust moves westward from
today’s presence in India and West Asia to-
wards Europe and the U.S. in the next two
years. To achieve economies of scale and
stay ahead of the curve, we are actively
looking at companies with synergistic of-
ferings, which could be acquired to
strengthen the bouquet of offerings from
Distil Information Systems.
The Smart Techie
|57| October 2010
BUYERS PERSPETIVE >>>>
“Aiming Towards Market
Dominance in Netbooks”
How big do you hope will be the
Netbook market for Acer in India?
In India netbooks holds around 14
percent of the laptop market and this
number is expected to grow further
by Q4 2010. Industry experts esti-
mate the total netbook sales in India
to touch 0.4 million units (about
` 840 crore) in 2010. Acer, which cur-
rently tops the netbook market glob-
ally, sees a tremendous potential in
India having already shipped 51,286
units in Q1 + Q2 10.
Acer has introduced a new range
of netbooks with sleek designs,
longer battery life and a plethora of
OS offerings to suit the requirements
of the customers ranging from stu-
dents to business travellers. We re-
cently launched 3G embedded
netbook in India, designed with an in-
built CDMA/HSPA broadband
+ modem facility. Acer is the only
vendor in the market to launch this
technology with an embedded data
card facility. This technology will
bring a whole new experience to the
users, as the performance and con-
nectivity will change the dynamics of
the internet experience and enhancing
battery life of the product.
How has been the laptop market for
Acer till now and what is its pene-
tration region wise in this product
category?
India is fast becoming an upcoming
consumer hub for diverse computing
products. The well – appointed de-
vices and features in the netbook cat-
egory will enhance the buying power
of the consumers - low pricing, porta-
bility and longer battery life will
The Smart Techie
|58|October 2010
boost the netbook market. We expect
the Indian netbook market to be
around (4.5 ~ 5 Lakh units – Jan to
Dec 2010 as per IDC Q2 2010 fore-
cast) this fiscal year. At present, ac-
cording to market estimates, Acer
holds 24 percent market share in the
netbook segment in India (As per
IDC reported figures for Q1+ Q2
2010). Worldwide demand for these
products is forecast to grow rapidly
over the next few years, with demand
from a variety of sources, including
early adopters, consumer and enter-
prise PC customers seeking a smaller
or secondary notebook PC, as well as
new PC customers in emerging mar-
kets. We expect the netbook market to
settle at approximately 16 percent
share of the notebook PC market by
2011.
What are the challenges you see in
the market?
Acer believes that it has a compelling
value proposition that is ideal for Web
browsing, e-mail, social interactions
and reliability. We believe our latest
additions on the Netbook front will
only strengthen our position in the
market further. The pricing decisions
of the other laptop vendors acts as a
prime catalyst.
Acer recently launched its em-
bedded broadband Netbook with a
multitude of benefits like longer bat-
tery-life, convenience, tighter inte-
gration, security and lower Total Cost
Ownership. This is a new category pi-
oneered by Acer and this first-to-
market initiative would further
turbo-charge the growth for Acer Net-
book in the Indian market.
S.Rajendran,
Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India
Give an insight into the competition
you face in this market
The highly portable netbooks, owing
to their cost competitive pricing and
easy internet access facility, have wit-
nessed growth drivers among the edu-
cational institutions and corporates
apart from the ‘digital lifestyle’ ori-
ented consumers in India. Most play-
ers expect netbooks to be positioned in
India as a companion device for digi-
tal content consumption and for run-
ning an application or two.
Priced around ` 20,000 for basic
sets, this category has proliferated with
variants featuring higher screen sizes
and gesture sensitive touchpads, avail-
able at price bands stretching up to no
more than ` 25,000.
What are your future plans?
Acer has diversified into two segments
- server and smartphones and also is
focusing on the LCD monitors and
projectors range. We will leverage our
growing presence in the server space
to boost PC sales.
TECH PRODUCTS
By ST Team
Acer’s First Wireless
Broadband 3G Embedded
Netbook
Acer has tied up with Reliance Communications to offer
the new range of 3G enabled netbook and the company
plans to sign up with more wireless providers as partners
in the near future. The embedded WWAN (Wireless Wide
Area Network) technology helps in conserving energy
which offers up to 8 hours battery life enabling all day
computing.
Features : First high speed mobile broadband
equipped netbooks designed with an inbuilt
CDMA/HSPA broadband + modem facility.An Embedded
broadband Netbook with a multitude of attendant bene-
fits like longer battery-life, convenience, tighter integra-
tion, security and lower TCO.
Price: Starts at `19,499 with two months free data
usage worth `2198.
MSI Unveils
F-series Laptops
With the F-series laptops FX600, FX400 and FR600,
the Taiwanese laptop manufacturer Micro Star Inter-
national (MSI), has introduced an industry first in the
form of Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) technology which
allows the user to stream videos, photos and music
from your laptop to your digital TV using an adapter.
F-Series is equipped with Intel Core i3 and Core i5 The
processors, the nVIDIA GeForce GT 325M discrete laptop supports
graphics card with 1GB GDDR3 of display memory THX audio technology
bestowing them with high performance graphics pro- – which is a Hollywood cinema
cessing capabilities. This is coupled with MSI's own audio standard – which gives you a 7.1 channel sur-
GPU Boost technology which automatically switches round sound. There are some interesting features like
graphics processing modes.Despite using high per- Dialogue Pass, which enhances voices in movies so
that you are able to hear the dialogues clearly; Smart
formance processors and an internal DVD Super-Multi
CD-ROM, the MSI F-Series still boasts extended bat- Volume adjusts the loudness of your audio to avoid
tery life.MSI Turbo Drive Engine technology allows you sudden changes in volume output.
Price: Between `37,000 and `53,000 depending
to overclock your processor and enhance CPU and
memory performance by the press of a hotkey. on the model and configuration.
The Smart Techie
|59|October 2010
 PEOPLE MANAGER
The author is Executive Vice President & Chief People Officer, Symphony Services.
He can be reached at mahalingam.c@symphonysv.com
I
Developing
Adaptability
n the earlier issues, we dis-
cussed various competencies
needed to succeed in organiza-
tions. E-MBA or no MBA,
being able to adapt is increas-
ingly becoming one of the most criti-
cal leadership competencies. The
business environment today is in-
creasingly complex and marked by
rapid change. Being adaptable on a
real time basis becomes a key success
factor. While by nature most of us
build flexibility and adaptability over
time, three specific types of adaptabil-
ity become critical for leaders to suc-
ceed in corporate. This has been the
subject of study and research for many
years. Prof. Steve Zaccaro from
The Smart Techie
|60| October 2010
By C. Mahalingam
George Mason University has done
some seminal work in the area of flex-
ibility including the three types we
will cover in this issue.
Adaptability is no longer a nicety
or a coping mechanism. It is a leader-
ship imperative. Organizational chal-
lenges are becoming more and more
adaptive challenges. This is also oth-
erwise known as systemic challenges
with no clear-cut solutions. The three
types of flexibility that leaders need to
build are:
Cognitive flexibility: this involves the
ability to use a variety of thinking
strategies and mental frameworks.
These are particularly useful in plan-
ning processes while this can be very
helpful in daily operations as well.
MBA curriculum teaches scenario
planning, but the key requisite for sce-
nario planning is flexibility in cogni-
tive skills. This indicates nimble and
divergent thinking, an interest in de-
veloping new approaches, the ability
to see and leverage new connections,
and the propensity to work across the
organization. Managers with flexibil-
ity readily learn from experience and
recognize when old approaches do not
deliver. How do you know you have
this flexibility or are building this?
Three specific things characterize peo-
ple with this flexibility:
 Scanning the environment: Alert
managers scan their environments
all the time. They are able to iden-
tify changes as they occur. This
capacity increases with under-
standing the context of the busi-
ness environment. Soliciting
information from knowledgeable
sources and more importantly
using that knowledge to reshape
understanding and perspectives
become a habit for managers with
this flexibility
 Sense making: Sense making in-
volves detecting the change at it
appears on the horizon and under-
standing it. Being a keen observer
of what is happening in the indus-
try and in the neighborhood helps
hone this skill
 Creating strategies: Responding to
changes in the environment re-
quires the ability to identify multi-
ple strategies and choose the most
optimal one for implementation.
No one can predict with complete
accuracy how the changes will fi-
nally play out. However, cognitive
adaptors are known for seeking out
new approaches rather than look-
ing to the past for familiar solu-
tions.
Emotional flexibility: Managers with
emotional flexibility vary their ap-
proach to dealing with their emotions
as well as the emotions of others they
work with. Without this flexibility,
managers will be seen as dismissing
other’s concerns and emotions. The re-
sult is they tend to shut down discus-
sions and dialogue. Demonstrating
emotional flexibility requires mangers
to do the following:
 Understand and manage their own
emotions: Leading is emotionally
demanding work. Managers who
deal only with “reality” and ignore
“emotions” will be less effective
and will eventually suffer from
stress and strain.
 Connect with the emotions of oth-
ers: Emotionally intelligent lead-
Organizational challenges are becoming more and
more adaptive challenges, otherwise known as
systemic challenges with no clear-cut solutions
ers know what their peers and jun-
iors are feeling. Armed with this
understanding, they respond to it
in helpful and positive ways.
Being open and forthright while at
the same time creating a safe
ground for people to express their
emotions wins them great latitude
in gaining the commitment of their
colleagues.
 Engage emotionally: Many man-
agers and leaders tend to assume
that people will automatically be
motivated and engaged. Far from
it. Such an assumption leads often
to apathy and at best a compliance
that cannot be sustained for long.
 Maintain balance between emo-
tion
As per the findings of the re-
search firm Zinnov Manage-
ment Consulting, the
country's nascent cloud com-
puting market, a platform
where software applications
and related resources can be
shared online, is expected to
touch $1 billion in the next
five years. The emerging field
would function on a pay-per-
use model, helping technol-
ogy companies to bring down
cost. The cloud computing
platform is expected to
mainly benefit enterprise
SMB (small and medium busi-
ness), SOHO (small office,
home office) and consumer
segments.
and action: Smart managers allow
expression of negative emotions
and also discourage wallowing in
them.
Dispositional flexibility: Managers
with this flexibility operate from the
place of optimism grounded in realism
and openness. They are comfortable to
acknowledge a difficult or bad situa-
tion, but at the same time they also vi-
sualize a better future. They figure out
what they must be optimistic about de-
spite the current difficulties and chal-
lenges. They are neither blindly
positive nor defeatist in their tenden-
cies. Such flexibility reveals the fol-
lowing behaviors on the part of the
managers:
 Show genuine optimism and share
the same with others
 Balance expressions of uncertainty
with a positive attitude
 Support others through the process
of change
 Know their own tendencies related
to change
In today’s word, change in the busi-
ness landscape is real, fast and constant.
For corporate leaders across different
levels, the implications are both per-
sonal and organizational. And the con-
sequences of not being flexible and
adaptable can be severe. The key suc-
cess factor here is consciously learning
about and deepening their cognitive,
emotional and dispositional flexibility.
It is back to basics in every sense: re-
member the old saying that the fittest
will survive. The new version for those
in the fiercely competitive corporate
environment is: the most flexible and
adaptable would survive. Keeping the
time tested values constant and as the
true north, managers will do well to
hone these three flexibilities.
The Smart Techie
|61|
October 2010
Advertorial
Upal Chakrabarty
Founder and CEO, Wonder Group,
talks about his company and
entrepreneurial stint.
How was Wonder Group formed?
The journey for Wonder Group
started in 2005 in the trade of Gar-
ments and Leather products with the
brand name “Wondermall” under the
organization “M/S. Chakraborty As-
sociates Inc.” As the business scaled
to new heights, the organization di-
versified into other verticals in 2010.
Since then the company has wit-
nessed a progressive growth and has
earned an unmatched reputation in
the industry. With the unprecedented
growth and presence in new verticals
the company felt the necessity to
change the name from “M/S.
Chakraborty Associates Inc.” to
“M/S. Wonder Group”.
What was the idea behind it?
The core idea was to setup a self
owned business to indentify the gaps
between the demand and supply of
The Smart Techie
|62| October 2010
ABusiness
Personal Touch
with
better products and better services at
best affordable prices across all seg-
ments of people.
What are the areas of your pres-
ence?
Today, Wonder Group perfects itself
into the business of Manufactur-
ing & Trading, Electronic Media, Ex-
ports, Exhibitions, Events,
Publication, Public Relations, and
Marketing Services & Interiors. We
have also done a Joint Venture with
Print Media. For further details about
the company one can visit
www.wondergroupindia.com
Any influential instance that you
remember, encouraged you become
an entrepreneur?
I am an independent person who
loves challenges and being an entre-
preneur gives you that freedom. As an
entrepreneur you are one’s own boss
and are not answerable to anyone. At
the end of the day, I feel that running
one’s own business is better as it of-
fers more freedom in terms of im-
provement, growth and definitely a
better social status.
What are the opportunities in the
market for your company?
Market opportunities are enormous.
With our presence in a myriad of ver-
ticals we see healthy business in our
cards. With economy back on an up-
ward swing and corporate sector in a
growth trajectory, I see great traction
for our services.
What is your mantra to keep up
with competition?
Identify core competitors, find out
what works (and what doesn’t work)
for them, know how they interact
with other vendors / clients, remem-
bering what makes us different and
making sure that we cut a deal.
How do you differentiate yourself
from your competitors?
People buy products or avail serv-
ices from whom they like. So we en-
sure to add our personal touch to the
products and services that we pro-
vide. This is where we differ from
others.
How is the employee culture at
Wonder Group?
Employees are the backbone of any
organization. Therefore we have de-
signed an exclusive employee pro-
grams which would actually help
them to grow in their career and also
bring our attrition level to zero per-
cent.
Where do you want to see yourself
10 years later?
As a company we want to be an or-
ganization that transforms the lives of
the customers we serve. With our
presence in every consumer vertical,
this would be our goal. Personally I’ll
definitely be in the race for the award
“Businessman of the year”.
Regn. No. KRNA/BGE-1046/08-10 RNI REG.NO. KARENG/2006/16955