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Tech Blowback

Heard this really interesting anecdote from friends at Infosys.

Infosys’ Enterprise Solutions group implements ERP and other packaged software for their clients. Infosys also does ongoing maintenance for software companies on their packaged software. Sometimes ongoing maintenance involves what is called Level 3 support where a software developer needs to take the call from a user because it goes into detailed technical stuff.

So the story goes like this. Infosys ES while implementing a package for some client in the US encountered a problem with the software that they needed help with before they could proceed. They talked to the client who told them to call the software vendor’s help line. The Infosys consultant in Pune then calls the vendor’s toll-free number. He starts talking to the guy at the other end. He’s getting this echo on the phone. He walks towards the voice and lo and behold, the guy on the other end of the phone is right there in Infosys Pune on the same floor!

The Unfinished Business of Labour Reform

Property rights form the fundamental bedrock of capitalism. In a capitalistic society an individual’s right to own property and dispense with it as he deems fit, must be protected. Only then is the individual encouraged to invest money and effort to add to his property. (Here the term property applies to all assets, not just real estate)

If India is to keep the momentum going on its recent economic growth, it must strengthen the pillars that hold up the edifice of capitalism in the country. Property rights are the most important ones. There are many laws like the rent control act that impact an individual’s right to property. In some cases, the inability of the state to protect its citizens’ property may be construed as something that erodes property rights. I see labour inflexibility in India in the same light. Many will not agree with me on this. I believe that shareholders of a company ‘own’ the company. Not allowing the company to conduct its business as it deems fit, including hiring and firing employees, is in effect constraining the shareholders’ rights to property.

The Future of Business English

If you are in India you probably hear the phrase ‘Tell me’ many times a week from someone who just answered your call. The phone conversation goes something like this. ‘Hi, this is Basab.’ The other guy says ‘Oh hi Basab. Tell me.’

‘Tell me’ is a literal translation of ‘Bolo’ in Hindi or something equivalent in other Indian languages. This is a uniquely Indian phrase. Good English would require ‘Tell me’ to have an object at the end of it. Like ‘Tell me why’ or ‘Tell me something’.

Any Press is Good Press: Tell that to Dell

You may have heard of this adage – Any press is good press. In this new world where news is not news until the blogosphere gets a hold of it, I propose that we retire it. Its a quaint idea but its time is past.

On August 14th Dell announced that it would recall 4.1 million lithium ion batteries made by Sony. Then news weighed heavily on the already drooping stock price of Dell and seems to have had some impact on Sony’s as well.

Review: Never Say Goodbye

So you can’t say you never saw a Bollywood movie reviewed on this blog, here’s one.Last night my wife and I went and saw Kabhi Alvida Na Kahna (Never Say Goodbye). We got a baby-sitter for the kids and went and saw the 7pm show at Naaz8, the local Indian cineplex. This was the first day and the shows were all sold out. I haven’t done this in a while and it was great fun.

Go South, Young Man

A few months back in a post on ‘Paperbacks in India’ I had talked about how information products have some interesting challenges when it comes to pricing in the developing world. I believe that in what is called Software as a Service (or SaaS) – basically web-based hosted software like your internet banking software or even Yahoo Mail – there are significant opportunities for Indian technologists.

Indian websites haven’t earned my trust

The other day I had to create a user id on an Indian financial news web-site. I wanted to create a portfolio that included mutual funds and Yahoo Finance doesn’t cover Indian mutual funds. The portfolio worked alright, but eventually I decided to keep it on Yahoo Finance after all. That should have been that.

But then I started getting email from that web-site. One email a day about products, investment ideas and news summaries that I had no interest in. I did not opt to get these emails. That was foul number one.

Salaam Bombay

Last week the dastardly terrorist bombing of Bombay’s suburban trains brought global terrorism another step closer to the largest democracy in the world – India.

Bombay is a city very dear to me and my wife. We started our working life in Bombay and worked there for 5 years. Took the train from Andheri to Churchgate and back everyday. I traveled in the same first class coaches that seem to have been targeted by the terrorists. Life wasn’t all roses – the 3.5 hours total commute didn’t leave us much time to enjoy Bombay. But when we did we fell in love with it. We loved the theatre (Prithvi), restaurants (Samraat, Mahesh lunch home), movie halls (Eros, Regal). The heady mix of high finance and Bollywood. The professionalism at work. They all endeared us to Bombay. But most of all it was the people of Bombay.

IT industry bashing – the wrong reasons

I write this in response to Giridhar Rao’s comment. He brought a scholarly paper to my attention that in a section on the Indian IT sector claims that the sole basis on which India is competing is wages. (You can find the paper here. You can directly scroll down to the section on The IT sector if you like). It also claims that India should not be called a ‘knowledge economy’ but a ‘low wage economy’. The article seems to be well researched but reaches odd conclusions at least for the IT industry.

My response to the thrust of the entire paper, if it has one, is ‘So what?’

Namaste America

Last week Al Gore was a guest on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show. He was there of course to talk about the Climate Crisis and his new movie the Inconvenient Truth. Since the audience at the Daily Show is fairly liberal, Gore got a very warm welcome from them. But what was strange was that Gore greeted them with folded hands. Damned if it didn’t look exactly like a Namaste. It was very casually done, no theatrics around it. I suspect he had done the very same thing many times before.

I was of course very tickled about it. I have long held the view that Namaste is a superior greeting to the handshake in the age of the Avian Influenza. Handshakes transfer germs and are a surefire way of spreading the virus when there is an outbreak. The WHO realizes this and has come up with the ‘elbow bump‘ which is just too hokey to work. Asian greetings like Namaste and the Japanese bow are, in this respect, superior. Although in Japan the formal greeting in business is still a bow, while Indian business (though not politicians) has completely adopted the handshake. Pity.

The other thing going for Namaste in the US is that it is closely associated with India and India is hot right now. India is of course in the news because of the nuclear deal still winding its way through Congress. As an investment destination for business it has to be number one or pretty close. Bollywood dancing is all the rage. You can find Kurti inspired women’s fashions all over the place. And Indian food in the grocery stores.

The big news is that from next summer, Indian mangos will be available in the US. Being that they are much superior to the Mexican variety I think that will win us a few more fans state side. Some say that the mangos are a fair trade for nuclear technology. Some say that we’re giving away the mangos too cheap! The mango deal was done during President Bush’s visit to India along with the nuclear technology deal.

The affinity between the two countries is good for both countries and for democracy everywhere.