Applying Thoughts

Introduction to Ansible

2016-08-27T08:33:00.005+05:30

Ansible is a software platform for configuring and managing computers. It combines multi-node software deployment, ad hoc tasks execution and configuration management.

Salient Features:

ØDocumented and reusable machine configuration
     Øwritten in Ansible playbooks.

ØAgentless
     ØNo client daemon required on target machines.

ØIdempotent
     ØCode defines states instead of actions.

ØMulti-node orchestration
     ØConfigure many nodes simultaneously.

Why Ansible

It is a free open source application

Agent-less – No need for agent installation and management

Phython/yaml based

Highly flexible and configuration management of systems.

Large number of ready to use modules for system management

Custom modules can be added if needed

Configuration roll-back in case of error

Simple and human readable

Self documenting.

Ansible: getting started

Installing:

$ (sudo) pip install ansible [--upgrade]

Can install via apt, yum, pkg, Homebrew in addition to from source

Configuration of ansible

Ansible has a configuration & default inventory file used to define which servers it will be managing
Create a inventory file with list of client machines you wish to access via this server under /etc/ansible/hosts. Below is sample inventory file.

[Servers]

192.168.85.135

192.168.85.136 [Local]

127.0.0.1 [Prod Server]

114.9.75.65

114.9.75.63

114.9.75.61 Run the ping command below to see if indeed you are reaching both client nodes

$ ansible -m ping all

÷all - Use all defined servers from the inventory file.

÷-m ping - Use the "ping" module, which simply runs the ping command and returns the results.

Ansible: structure

Ansible uses playbooks written in the YAML language for orchestration

Inventory file = definition of your architecture

÷Static / dynamic supported

Playbooks

÷can run multiple Tasks and provide some more advanced functionality that we would miss out on using ad-hoc commands

Roles

÷Roles are good for organizing multiple, related Tasks and encapsulating data needed to accomplish those Tasks.

Roles have a directory structure like this:

Files

Handlers

Ansible: further reading / meta

Ansible Tower

¡Front end to Ansible

¡Manage team privs etc.

¡RESTful API

¡Audit, scheduled jobs etc.

¡Fairly expensive

Ansible Galaxy

¡out-the-box Ansible roles

¡don't have to reinvent the wheel each time

¡still relatively new so not too mature

¡installed via simple CLI.

For more information, please refer below links:

Ansible Docs: http://docs.ansible.com/

How Ansible is helpful in SDN - Openstack space:

Openstack: http://docs.openstack.org/developer/openstack-ansible/

Ten Ways To Become More Energtic Every Day !! Lets Try Out

2015-10-12T21:58:00.000+05:30

There are many other options to get more active that don’t include jogging, weight lifting or other “traditional” ways to work out.

Here are a few ideas to get you moving
1) Chase your Kids around the Yard
You’d be surprised at how much of a work out you’ll get playing catch with your kids. Time will fly while you are having fun and your children will enjoy the extra time with you. Just get out there and play.

2) Turn up the Music and Dance around the Living Room
While you’re dusting, putting up dishes, straightening up the kids’ rooms, or after you’ve been sitting around for too long, just play some of your favorite upbeat music and dance around in the house. Not only will you get your heart rate up, but you’ll also have more fun doing some of those chores.

3) Plant some Flowers
When the weather is nice, just get out there and plant some flowers. Or you could start a little vegetable garden, trim some hedges, cut the grass, or plant a tree. You get the idea. Just get out there, enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, and play in the dirt. Yes, this actually counts as exercise in our book.

4) Go for a Walk with a Friend
Take a walk and invite a friend to come along. I’ve had some of the best conversations while on a walk. Getting to chat with a friend makes the time fly by and before you know it you’ve been walking for 30 minutes.

5) Listen to some Music or an Audio Book while you Walk
Again, keeping your mind on something else will make the time fly by and you’ll get some extra fun out of your walk. You may even want to consider getting an MP3 Player. You can easily add what you want to listen to and go for your walk.

6) Sign up for a Yoga or Pilates Class
Consider starting a yoga or Pilates class. Both of these workouts are pretty low impact and won’t leave you sweaty and sore (mostly). You may also enjoy meeting some new people in the class.

7) Take some Dance Lessons with your Partner
Ok, here is the tough part: Convince your partner to take some dance lessons. Dancing will give you quite the workout and it’s just plain fun and of course romantic. Think about all your options here. You can pick from anything from Ball Room Dancing, to Line Dancing, to Latin etc. Pick something that sounds fun to you and go for it. You’ll enjoy the extra one on one time with your partner as well.

8) Go for a Swim at Your Local YMCA or Aquatic Center
Swimming makes for some great exercise. It is low impact and easy on your joints. Start by swimming a few laps, or play in the pool with your kids.

9) Go for a Bike Ride
Take the entire family on a bike ride. You can ride through your neighborhood in the evenings or plan a longer trip for the weekend. Pack a picnic for extra fun and start peddling.

10) Go for a Hike
Look for some hiking trails in your area and go for a hike. This could be a fun activity for you and a friend, or take the entire family along. Start with some easy trails and work yourself up to some longer or steeper trails.

Go ahead, pick one or two of the activities and get moving. I’m sure you’ll come up with plenty of versions of your own. The most important thing is to find something you enjoy, so you’ll stick with it. Get out there and get moving today.

Benfit with ConceptWave Order Care @ Ericssion

2015-04-20T20:33:00.003+05:30

CATALOG MANAGEMENT :- is a system that defines all the detailed components that a product consists of, including e.g. price, eligibility rules as well as interdependency with other products.

• Product and Service Catalog
• Product Maintenance Console
• Distributable Operational Server
• Service availability rules
• Product bundling
• Product translation
• Promotions/Offerings
• Discounts
• Pricing
• Taxation

ORDER NEGOTIATIONS:- supports various operations such as MACD with business rules and order inquiry through out the flow.

• Supports CSR/SSR channel
• Proposal/Quote lifecycle
• Multiple services per order
• Full MACD support
• Dynamic forms
• Full business rules
• Dynamic order contents
• Order inquiry
• Internationalization

ORDER MANAGEMENT:- is the discipline of handling and optimizing complex fulfillment flow by scheduling and orchestrating tasks, materials and activities over time.

• Order decomposition
• Work queue management
• Order tracking and reporting
• Jeopardy, management
• BPM workﬂow
• Commercial order management
• Technical order management
• 3rd party system ﬂow
• Activation and Inventory

ORDER ANALYTICS:- is to provide real time operational status with various metrics available such as Order volume, service availability and reports customization based upon the user/client needs.

• Real-time operational status
• KPI metrics
• Order volume / transaction
• Order error reporting
• Service inventory availability
• Manual work pool capability and availability
• Historical trending
• Decision support
• Complete report customization

ConceptWave Setup & Debug

2014-04-25T20:34:00.000+05:30

ConceptWave contains a set of services and tools that helps to build, deploy and manage metadata-based solutions. A J2EE Application Server is required for metadata deployment.

Applications are metadata-based, which is developed in Velocity Studio, an IDE. It can run the metadata, which is capable of serving the web interface of the application without any external application server. An Oracle DB is required to run the application.

· ConceptWave Installation and Configuration

•Install JDK:

JDK 1.5 or JDK 1.6 or higher

•Oracle Express Edition

Any version 10+

· Debugging Skills of ConceptWave

Step 1. Right-Click the script,click on the menu of Debug Script.

Step 2. Initialize the input parameter’s value.

Step 3. debug

Debugging Framework

Step 1. Debugging Framework

Step 2. Start up the JSDebugger

Step 3. Set the break point.•Another way of set the break point. Click the menu of More Windows

Step 4: Select the script which you want to debug, then click the ”Select” button.

Bhagavad Gita in 18 tweets

2014-04-17T07:51:00.001+05:30

Devdutt Pattanaik, well-known author, mythologist and columnist, demystifies what he describes as "the rather complex Sanskrit Bhagavad Gita, composed 2000 years ago, and containing the essence of Vedic thought." On the social networking site Twitter, Pattanaik gives a practical understanding of 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, one tweet for one chapter...could one ask for more?

1. Your World Is Based On Your Perception

"Ur world is a perception based by ur prejudices, shaped by ur fears, fuelled by ur ignorance..."

2. Their World is Also What They Perceive

"The world of those around u is also a perception created by prejudices, fears and ignorance."

3. Having Empathy Is Being Wise

4. What Makes Krishna God"Wisdom is the ability to appreciate ur perceptions and other people’s perceptions with empathy."

"I, Krishna, appreciate all subjective realities, without judgement, with affection, hence am God."

5. See God When You Stop Seeing Yourself

"God is eternal, undying, within u; ur self-absorption prevents u from realizing it."

6. Make Room For Others' Limitations

"Ur reality is limited. So r others’ realities. Break ur limitation and make room for theirs, even if they can’t or don’t."

7. What Are Your Expectations?

"U seek outcomes to match ur expectations; so u seek control; when control slips away, u r angry, upset, unhappy, frightened."

8. Act, Even if You Don't Know The Outcome

"U avoid action because u cannot control outcome; you rationalize withdrawal with nobility, to mask ur helplessness."

9. Karma Governs Our Fate

"All outcomes are governed by karma: it is reaction to various inputs, not all urs, many beyond ur control."

10. Nature Versus Your Mind

"Ur mind interprets this world as good/right if it favours u, and bad/wrong if it does not favour u; nature favours none."

11. Who's The Victim?

"What gives u pleasure may cause others pain; when they retaliate, u declare them villains and c urself as the victim."

12. Ignorance Is Inertia

"Many prefer to let others shape their point of view (tamas guna). This is ignorance, born of inertia."

13. The Desire To Control

"A few choose to see the world only from their own point of view (rajas guna). This is control, born of fear."

14. In Others' Shoes

"U have the ability to see the world from others' points of view (sattva guna). This is wisdom, born of empathy."

15. Be A Karma Yogi

"When u do your tasks, focussing on the input and accepting the output, whatever it may be, u are a karma yogi."

16. Bhakti Yogi Is The Ultimate Yogi

"When u do ur tasks by placing faith in God, who will take care of u, no matter what, u are a bhakti yogi."
17. Many Forces Are At Work

"When u do your tasks by appreciating that there are many forces at work, not all under your control, u are a gyan yogi."

18. Do Dharma

"Do dharma: Don’t grab/dominate as animals do; outgrow ur fears as humans can by observing others struggle with fears & control."

Wasn't that a wonderfully illuminating glimpse into the one of the holiest Hindu scriptures, what has been described as the Divine Song, straight from the lips of Krishna, the Vishnu avatar? It is not only a treasure-trove of wisdom, but a guide for daily life...may we all gain from it in a thousand ways...

BSS vs OSS

2014-04-13T23:56:00.001+05:30

OSS stands for Operational Support Systems.

BSS stands for Business Support Systems.

What are Operational Support Systems?

Software (occasionally hardware) applications that support back-office activities which operate on telecom’s network, provision and maintain customer services.

OSS is traditionally used by network planners, service designers, operations, architects, support, and engineering teams in the service provider. Increasingly product managers and senior staff under the CTO or COO may also use or rely on OSS to some extent.

What are Business Support Systems?

Software applications that support front office activities such as customer interactions. Billing, order management, customer relationship management, call centre automation, are all BSS applications.

BSS may also encompass the customer-facing veneer of OSS application such as trouble-ticketing and service assurance – these are back-office activities but initiated directly by contact with the customer.

This basic relationship between OSS and BSS, where OSS is passed service orders and supplies service assurance information to the BSS layer is often referred to as ‘Orders Down, Faults Up’.

above. Super simple relationship between OSS and BSS

Is the integration between OSS and BSS clear?

In the past, OSS/BSS had a clearer separation. A common job like capturing a customer order and provisioning it required a simple BSS-to-OSS interface. “Deliver product X to customer Y”. BSS would capture the order, set-up the billing and pass the order to OSS for fulfillment.

Now, networks and services are more complicated, more flexible, and telcos offer a range of differentiated products. OSS and BSS must liaise over what could be ordered by the customer, based on what service they already had, based on the network they would use, based on current available resources, based on how far they were from the telephone exchange… and so on. Offering a customer a service is now a negotiation between the commercial products managed by BSS and the ability of OSS (and the local network) to deliver certain products.

As a result, a number of systems now straddle OSS/BSS:

· Service Assurance systems are now integrated across OSS/BSS in order to track service performance and ensure customer service-level agreements (SLA) are met. Service Assurance may also pro-actively identify network failures, initiating resolution action and notifying high-priority customers.

· Service Catalogs (a.k.a. Product Catalogs) give the telco one place to list products offered to customers and define what network resources can be used to deliver the service. Service Catalogs offer product managers a tool that joins-up the service offering and fulfillment processes across BSS and OSS.

· Service Management applications allow greater interaction between OSS and BSS processes when the service order and fulfillment process is complex. If a service order comprises multiple technical resources, which are delivered by multiple OSS systems, Service Management is responsible for orchestrating the fulfilment process and keeping the customer-facing team informed about progress, changes or deliver issues.

For more information, please refer to below links:

http://www.ossline.com/2010/12/definition-oss-bss.html

http://www.ossline.com/what-is-oss

ConceptWave Order Care

2014-04-13T22:53:00.000+05:30

ConceptWave, now part of Ericsson, is a leading telecom product and order lifecycle management solutions that enable rapid delivery of communication products to new markets and empower superior customer experience. It provides an end-to-end catalog-driven suite of order fulfillment automation software with ConceptWave Order Care and Rapid CRM. ConceptWave helps communication service providers to address competitive requirements and simplify the management of products and orders on any network across any geography using any communication channel.

ConceptWave Order Care®

ConceptWave Order Care® automates product and service lifecycles, from initial product conception, through design and rollout, to eventual retirement. Once a product is created, ConceptWave’s out-of-the-box solutions manage individual customer orders, from order entry and validation through to the decomposition of that order as it interacts with downstream systems like inventory, delivery, and billing.

The ConceptWave Order Care portfolio includes these modules:

Ø Catalog Management: A comprehensive product and service catalog solution that reduces time-to-market for new product launches and provides a consistent and high-quality customer experience.

Ø Order Negotiations: A fully customization order entry system that lowers the cost per order, speeds time-to-revenue, and improves cross- and up-sell.

Ø Order Management: An order management solution that increases customer satisfaction and loyalty, and decreases costs and revenue leakage through accurate, successfully fulfilled orders.

Ø Order Analytics: An analytics engine that maximizes order-to-cash with a 360° real-time view of the order lifecycle.

This comprehensive, integrated, catalog-driven approach to product and order life cycle management enables service providers to accelerate the time from product conception to customer order to revenue.

ConceptWave’s catalog-driven order management solution enables cost-effective, automated order management and exceptional customer care as well as customized product roll outs and service delivery within days rather than months. This flexibility also simplifies partner management, which is so important in M2M solutions.

Order Care’s catalog-driven approach speeds time-to-market, reduces costs, and increases customer satisfaction.

What business leaders say about the conceptWave, refer the below link for details
http://www.tmforum.org/Conceptwave/12844/home.html

ConceptWave is Now Part of Ericsson which further strengthened the industry’s most comprehensive BSS/OSS portfolio

http://www.ericsson.com/ourportfolio/conceptwave-landingpage

Zarar Rana, President & Co-Founder of ConceptWave, says: “Joining Ericsson today adds great value to ConceptWave, as we become part of their global organization and leverage their industry-leading technology and services competence.“

http://wireless.sys-con.com/node/2376475

BE A SUCCESSFUL LEADER

2013-10-19T22:23:00.001+05:30

“The Winning Edge”

Find a role model. Choose someone you believe has good leadership skills, whether from inside or outside NALS. Observing a role model helps keep you directed in what kind of leader you want to be and how you want to develop. Networking through professional organizations can help you find role models and other professionals with whom you can share leadership concerns and issues.

Volunteer for projects. Working as a team member will help you observe how other people lead. Consider how you like to be treated as a team member and remember that when you are in charge of a project or committee.

Be humble. Just because you are the leader does not mean you know all the answers. You need help from others.

Demonstrate loyalty. Do not try to outshine your members. Avoid backstabbing and gossip. Your purpose as a leader is to ensure smoother operation – not to make a name for yourself. Be a leader for the right reasons.

Be professional. Follow proper business etiquette in your dress, speech, and conduct. Speak clearly and avoid slang such as “yeah” or “uh-huh” when speaking with your members.

Think of every project as a learning opportunity. When you assume a leadership role, go into it expecting to be successful!

Be flexible. Realize that situations may occur that you were not prepared for, but that you, as a leader, will have to handle. For example, you may need to give up lunch to meet chapter deadlines, or do your president reports. Flexibility will help you better manage unforeseen problems.

Listen. Seek input from chapter members, and really listen to their suggestions and feedback. This encourages everyone to stay involved. AVOID THE DREADED – we already tried that and it did not work!!!

Delegate. Leaders have the responsibility of dividing work into tasks that can be assigned to chapter members. Talk to your chapter members to find out where their strengths and interests lie. Ask for volunteers before randomly assigning tasks.

Read and observe. The more in tune you are with what is happening in your chapter, the better prepared you are to lead people, and the more likely you will be chosen as a leader.

Show appreciation. Thank team members for work well done. You can even create certificates of appreciation, send complimentary memos or cards. The e-mail is also a good source to share accomplishments.

Sales Funnel vs Sales Forecasting

2013-10-10T10:42:00.000+05:30

Sales Funnel
Sales funnel looks at the overall health of all the deals in the pipeline. The forecast maps customer’s buying cycle to specific business periods. This helps predict what business will close in the specific window of time. A sales funnel is a good leading indicator of medium to long-term health of sales efforts. It dampens wild unpredicted gyrations in forecasting.Sales funnel management helps estimate the probability that enough opportunities are moving towards closure. This allows the organization to keep revenue flowing for a period of time. Sales funnel opportunities estimates are compared against sales target and historical performance and conversion ratios. This helps to determine whether there is enough business in the intermediate term.

A sales funnel is a visual representation of the steps required to sell your products or services. A sales funnel should reveal how many prospects you have in each stage of your sales cycle, and also detail your conversion rates for each stage.

for more information: http://www.telesalesus.com/sales-funnel

Stages in the sales funnel (5 Stages). (1-3 Stages)
Lead (Suspect): A lead is someone you have not spoken to. But if a lead appears similar in profile to your target customer, you may decide that they are worth pursuing. Track your most fruitful sources of leads.

Prospect: A prospect has confirmed interest in your offering. You have had a conversation, provided the person with information about what you do, and both of you have agreed to a next step in the sales process.

Qualified prospect: Qualification is the most critical and demanding stage of the sales funnel. In the qualification process, you verify that the prospect has a need for your product, that the prospect sees value in your offering, that there is sufficient budget for a deal, that you have access to the decision-maker, and that there is an agreed-upon timeline for the sales process. The qualification process can be complex and lengthy, and can be managed with a Sales Call Talk Track and stakeholder management chart.

The sales funnel visually describes the sales process from initial contact to final sale. It uses the metaphor of a leaky funnel, into which a seller can “drop” sales opportunities. At some point, sales opportunities are removed from the funnel because potential customers become uninterested or you determine their lack of fit. The stages of a sales process refer to a potential customer’s degree of readiness to commit to a deal (from the seller’s perspective). Or put in a different way, readiness may be seen as the probability of the sale taking place.

As a sales opportunity moves down the funnel, time to closing decreases and the probability of the sale occurring increases. The sales funnel metaphor enables you to analyze and manage a portfolio of sales opportunities. ... More

There are 3 key metrics that can measure the health of your funnel:

■Number of opportunities in your funnel (#). You should also know the rate at which you are acquiring these opportunities – or arrival rate.
■The total possible value of every deal in your funnel – or funnel value. ($)
■Average amount of time prospects are in the sales funnel until they are acquired - or flow rate (days).

Sales Forecasting
Sales Forecasting is the process of estimating what your business’s sales are going to be in the future. It is an integral part of business management. Without a solid idea of what your future sales are going to be, you can’t manage your inventory or your cash flow or plan for growth. The purpose of sales forecasting is to provide information that you can use to make intelligent business decisions.

Sales forecasting inaccuracies can result from over-eager expectations as reporting periods near an end. Also, a lack of understanding of where opportunities are in the sales process leads to inaccuracies. Apply sound process, organization, management and analytic's to ensure predictable and accurate forecasts.

To the majority of organizations the most relevant measure is gross dollars that are projected to close in the next business period. Other forecast metrics include closed deals, recognized revenue, profit, and units sold. Decide which metric, or combination of forecast metrics work best for your company to create an accurate and impaction forecast.

Sales funnel and sales forecasting combined with analytic's and technology will help your company achieve improved sales performance, better business visibility, and better team management.

Sales Funnel Management
Sales funnel management helps estimate the probability that enough opportunities are moving towards closure. This allows the organization to keep revenue flowing for a period of time. Sales funnel opportunities estimates are compared against sales target and historical performance and conversion ratios. This helps to determine whether there is enough business in the intermediate term.

A sales funnel provides a clear view of the opportunities currently available to your sales team. With proper sales funnel management we can create an accurate map that details how you can improve your chances of making or breaking your revenue goals.

Leaky Funnel -
If a sales opportunity does not move down the funnel, the sale will not happen and the opportunity should be removed, hence the “leaky” funnel. A leaky funnel is not necessarily bad; as a salesperson, you want to focus on opportunities that are likely to yield results. It is the nature of sales to have to remove an opportunity from your funnel. It does not mean that you will not sell to that account (a positive action by the customer can put them back into the funnel), but for the time being, your should centre your attention on opportunities that remain in the funnel. ... More

Enterprise Architecture

2013-10-06T23:28:00.002+05:30

Enterprise architecture is the organizing logic for business processes and IT infrastructure reflecting the integration and standardization requirements of the company's operating model. The operating model is the desired state of business process integration and business process standardization for delivering goods and services to customers.The intent of an enterprise architecture is to determine how an organization can most effectively achieve its current and future objectives

Purported advantages of having an enterprise architecture include improved decision making, improved adaptability to changing demands or market conditions, elimination of inefficient and redundant processes, optimization of the use of organizational assets, and minimization of employee turnover.

An Enterprise Architecture framework (EA framework) defines how to create and use an enterprise architecture. An architecture framework provides principles and practices for creating and using the architecture description of a system. It structures architects' thinking by dividing the architecture description into domains, layers or views, and offers models - typically matrices and diagrams - for documenting each view. In short, is a prefabricated structure (i.e., a framework) that organizes the system architecture of an enterprise into complementary projections called Views or Viewpoints.

A View is a projection of the system architecture model of an enterprise that is meaningful to one or more system stakeholders. For example, a Business Analysis View might project business requirements and business process workflows that are vital to Business Analysts and Clients, but less meaningful to other system stakeholders (e.g., Hardware Engineers, Network Architects). Conversely, a System Design View might project software design details that are essential to Software Engineers, Hardware Engineers, and Network Architects, but less meaningful to Business Analysts and Clients.

An Enterprise Architecture (EA) framework is a repeatable, consistent methodology to classify the relationship between business and IT, (in simple terms). There are several “EA Frameworks” available depending on where you look, who you work for, and how you plan to apply them. Almost every large organization has attempted to create some form of Enterprise Architecture model, often aligning business services with a repeatable and consistent method of mapping IT-related characteristics to known business drivers.

The components of an architecture framework provide structured guidance that is divided into three main areas:

*Descriptions of architecture: how to document the enterprise as a system from several viewpoints. Each view describes one slice of the architecture; it includes those entities and relationships that address particular concerns of interest to particular stakeholders; it may take the form of a list, a table, a diagram, or a higher level of composite of such.

*Methods for designing architect: processes that architects follow. Usually, an overarching enterprise architecture process, composed of phases, breaks into lower-level processes composed of finer grained activities. A process is defined by its objectives, inputs, phases (steps or activities) and outputs. It may be supported by approaches, techniques, tools, principles, rules, and practices.

*Organization of architects: guidance on the team structure, the governance of the team, the skills, experience and training needed.

The relationship between an enterprise Architecture Framework to its Views is analogous to the relationship between a building blueprint and its complementary

EA is a journey, not a project. It evolves over time and needs to maintain the flexibility required to adjust to changing market conditions, strategy shifts, and new innovations in technology. EA frameworks have emerged to manage the increasingly complexity of innovation and change.

EA frameworks were created to simplify the process and guide an architect through all areas of architecture development. An Enterprise Architecture framework provides a collection of best practices, standards, tools, processes, and templates to assist in the creation of the EA and architectures of various scopes.

Today’s most commonly used frameworks are:-

The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architectures
The Open Group Architectural Framework (TOGAF)
The Federal Enterprise Architecture
The Gartner Methodology

There are a few other EA frameworks of note developed by individual companies or communities probably most notably the FEAF (Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework).

•The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architectures—Although self-described as a framework, is actually more accurately defined as a taxonomy. It can be used to align communication and ensure you consider all of the important perspectives and dimensions of an enterprise.

•The Open Group Architectural Framework (TOGAF)—Although called a framework, is actually more accurately defined as a process. It is a more complete framework consisting of both a classification structure and progress guidelines aimed at asking the right questions and creating an enterprise architecture.

•The Federal Enterprise Architecture—Can be viewed as either an implemented enterprise architecture or a proscriptive methodology for creating an enterprise architecture

•The Gartner Methodology—Can be best described as an enterprise architectural practice.

In alignment with the Enterprise Architecture definition and model, the TM Forum member community produced the standards for the communications industry. Now, with over 900 member companies, the Forum is the largest global trade association focused on bringing together the digital ecosystem, including communication service providers, digital service providers and enterprises, with the goal of enabling an open digital world. The Forum delivers a wealth of knowledge and practical tools for it's members, including unique research, best practices and standards.

They have produced the following standards.

1. Business Process Framework (eTOM - Enhanced Telecom Operations Map)
2. Information Framework (SID - Shared Information Model)
3. Application Framework (TAM)
4. Integration Framework Architecture & Governance
5. Business Metrics

A New Vision for Enterprise Architecture
http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/enterprise/2009/09/fixing_enterprise_architecture.php

Social Media & Enterprise tools

2013-10-05T09:40:00.002+05:30

Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks It differentiates from traditional/industrial media in many aspects such as quality, reach, frequency, usability, immediacy, and permanence. There are many effects that stem from internet usage -- from Wikipedia

Social networking platforms are effective in the following ways:

Building a collaborative culture.
Establishing more effective two-way communication.
Creating more engaging learning experiences.
Sharing current practices through a knowledge network.
Improving employee involvement and engagement.
Helps in finding the right talent for business
Wizard-like functionality leading you through the process
Improved opportunity tracking
Better status updates
Easy administration and maintenance ... More

Some of the well-known collaboration tools on the market as of 2011

•Adobe Acrobat – Acrobat.com allows teams to work collaboratively on documents through their browsers. Options for web conferencing and screen-sharing provide additional communication channels.

•Atlassian Confluence – offers a powerful wiki-based solution to enterprise collaboration. Content can be simply dragged and dropped from the desktop to the platform, eliminating the need for keeping track of attachments sent via email.

•Basecamp – collaborative messaging and file sharing. Project management can be easily tracked with milestones and deadlines, and templates for saving time with common projects. Campfire by Basecamp implements real time chat for collaboration.

•Broadvision Clearvale – a Cloud-based platform that can be established without the need for any additional IT resources

•Colaab – offer real time browser based collaboration by allowing annotations to appear simultaneously on other collaborator’s screens. A “DeepZoom” feature allows work and annotation to take place on very specific areas of large images, such as design documents.

•Chatter – provided by Salesforce and free for existing customers. It allows communication and sharing of projects by employees from their browsers, desktops or mobile devices.

•Episerver relate – collaboration and community software. Also turns out-of-date intranets into a social community where employees collaborate and share information.

•FMYI – a private collaboration site where you can store and share information securely and sustainably with your team.

•Google Documents – simultaneous editing of files makes Google Docs ideal for students and other casual collaborative groups. The upgraded Google Apps version offers additional security options for business.

•Huddle - project management and collaboration software that allows you to connect, share and invite people to work on projects.

•nu+/Yooplus – a team collaboration and social software platform for the SME market.

•Offbureau – Offbureau fuses on-line collaboration, document management, and a social network.

•Open Atrium – drupal based team collaboration tool.

•Podio – a collaboration platform with a new and radical take on work tools: you build it yourself.

•Sharepoint – provides a single platform for employees to work collaboratively through various methods such as wikis and work flows. Personal profiles allow a team to better understand each other’s skills, experience and interests.

•Socialcast – allows employees to discuss projects remotely through a microblogging service, which is also accessible from a smartphone. The Town Hall extension enables discussion between executives and employees.

•Socialtext – uses a Facebook-like interface and claims to increase typically increase productivity by 20% or more.

•Sosius – a hosted online workspace, accessible from any PC or Mac, that lets you create and collaborate and share.

•Teamlab – enterprise collaboration, project management, document sharing and instant messaging solution.

•Tibbr – uses a design that is familiar to Facebook users, providing an intuitive experience. One key feature is the ability for employees to follow subjects, to stay informed on news and developments in their area of business.

•Wiggio – a free service that simplifies keeping track of multiple groups. Collaboration on documents, polls, and communication by text are some of the offered services.

•Wikispaces – wikis for organisations, individuals and groups to enable online sharing and collaboration. The power of online collaboration is perhaps best exemplified by Wikipedia. The Wiki platform is a great collaboarative tool.

•Yammer – enables companies to create their own private social network, requiring a company email address to access the community.

•Zoho – a large variety of collaborative and sharing tools for individuals, groups and businesses.

Source: http://www.freshnetworks.com/blog/2011/03 ... More

Its Life Cycle

Interesting article on Enterprise social network

http://www.citeworld.com/social/21922/enterprise-social-networking-success-story-socialcast-humana?page=0

Acts of Kindness | KindSpring.org

2013-10-02T23:46:00.001+05:30

Acts of Kindness | KindSpring.org

What is Sales Force?

2013-09-19T07:47:00.000+05:30

SalesForce CRM is an online web-based "cloud" computing application from Salesforce.com for Customer Relationship Management (CRM). As with all CRM software, it captures and organizes communications and information from current or prospective customers from many departments across a company.

Salesforce.com is the enterprise cloud computing leader. social and mobile cloud technologies—including flagship sales and CRM applications—help companies connect with customers, partners, and employees in entirely new ways.Its solutions are broken down into several broad categories: Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud, Collaboration Cloud and Custom Cloud. On the high side, Saleforce is aiming be the first cloud computing company to hit the $4 billion annual revenue by 2014

Salesforce.com was founded in 1999 by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff who pioneered the concept of delivering enterprise applications via a simple website

Below sample diagram which depicts SFDC flow & helps to identify the flow in diagram

1.The prospect fills out an enquiry form on your website or calls your office requesting more details.
2.A new Lead record is created in Salesforce.com.
3.Leads can be filtered into lists and bulk emailed.
4.When more is known about a Lead (qualified), the record can be converted to a Contact and associated with an Account.
5.Contacts can be filtered into lists and bulk emailed.
6.Accounts have Opportunities that typically relate to the sales process of a Product (or service). Opportunities can have Quotes and Products.
7.Products have individual Assets. If an Asset has an issue, it can have one or more Cases registered against it.

As a worldwide leader in cloud services, more companies trust their vital customer and sales data to Salesforce.com than to any other CRM company. It creates and tracks Inquiry, Leads , Opportunity , Accounts, It also has sophisticated approval automation for virtually any process,proposals and workflows. Some of the competitors are Oracle's Siebel CRM, SAP's Business ByDesign ecosystem,Microsoft Dynamics CRM , SugarCRM,etc

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solutions allow you to manage the relationships you have with your customers, using a combination of people, processes and technology. It helps your business attain and retain happy customers. CRM is an overall strategy to help you to learn more about your customers and their behaviour so you have the skills to develop stronger, lasting relationships which will benefit both you and your customers. It's impossible to manage a successful business without a strong focus on CRM. After all, your business is all about the customer

CRM Grows Revenue :
To grow revenue you need a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application that helps you track sales activity—every lead, opportunity, and customer, especially when you’re on the go. In today’s mobile business environment, there’s no reason for a big up-front software investment that's expensive to install and maintain.

Salesforce Is Customer Focused :
With Salesforce CRM applications and its mobile cloud-computing model, you can follow your customers and your budget at the same time from anywhere. You’ll be up and running in 30 days with the world's most proven and loved customer relationship management solution. With our pay-as-you-go model, the price of success is dramatically lower

No Hardware, No Software :
No software, no hardware means you’re up and running and positively impacting your business in no time at all. With Salesforce everything comes to you—accounts and contacts, leads and opportunities, forecasting, analytics, contact management, all wrapped around powerful workflow that helps you customize the Sales Cloud to your business requirements.

Complete Customer Management Solution :
Salesforce covers every customer touch point and every stage of the customer lifecycle, especially as you close deals on the go. Sales activity tracking ensures instantaneous customer updates so there are no surprises when you are on the road. Salesforce makes it easy for you because everything is connected.

World’s #1 CRM Solution:Today, over 100,000 of the world’s most innovative companies—large, medium, and small—use Salesforce to close bigger deals faster. Using Salesforce is as easy as buying a book on Amazon.com. That means your employees will use it, so it will be a more effective tool for your business to collaborate, mobilize, and grow revenue.

Customers, analysts, and industry experts agree: Salesforce = ease of use

Benefits of SFDC
1. Unparalleled time to value :: Salesforce.com minimizes the risk involved in implementing business applications like CRM by eliminating up-front capital investment making the path to CRM success exceptionally short.
2. Less expensive initially.
3. Easy upgrades.
4. Better service delivery.
5. Better scalability.
6. Easier to customize.
7. Users are more satisfied.
8. Easier for administrators :: Administrators can tailor processes and define how data is viewed for different departments and work groups, while ensuring that users can access only that data for which they are authorized. Salesforce’s ease of use extends to its administration functions

Top Five CRM Applications available in the Market as of today.
1. ORACLE / SEIBEL
2. SAP
3. Sales Force
4. Microsoft Dynamics CRM
5. RightNow

For more information on its recent activities, you can refer below
http://salesforce.meetup.com/

Open Source Software

2013-09-17T22:40:00.000+05:30

Open source software, or sourceware, defined as "software whose source code is available, so that users can customize or extend it." This is in contrast to most commercial software, whose source code is not available to the public.

"Source code" is the part of software that most computer users don't ever see; it's the code computer programmers can use to change how a piece of software works. Programmers who have access to a computer program's source code can improve that program by adding features to it or fixing parts that don't always work correctly.

Most important aspects of open source software
1. Flexibility: Each open source community has tremendous flexibility in modifying the program
2. Innovation: The development model encourages tremendous innovation
3. Reliability: Quality assurance program for open source software is far more reliable and efficient than any commercial effort can afford to be
4. Faster development time:

Some famous Open Source Software's are
1)The Firefox Web browser
2)Open Office
3)Redo Backup and Recovery
4)Feed Reader
5)Pidgin
6)Mozilla Thunderbird
7)FileZilla
8)GnuCash
9)VLC
10)NotePad ++
11)PDF Creator
12)Joomla
13)osCommerce
14)mySQL
15)PHP
16)gimp
17)Magento
18)Handbrake
19)Freemind
20)Apache

Doesn’t "open source" just mean something is free of charge?
No. This is a common misconception about what "open source" implies. Programmers can charge money for the open source software they create or to which they contribute. But because most open source licenses require them to release their source code when they sell software to others, many open source software programmers find it more lucrative to charge users for software services and support rather than for the software itself. This way, their software remains free of charge and they make money helping others install, use, and troubleshoot it.
... More

What kind of license is needed to use Open Source software?
The license provides the right to have the source code, change the source code, run and distribute the program. When you modifying Open Source software you must agree to provide others the same rights over the alterations you perform to the code. Some licenses prohibit users from putting all or part of the Open Source code into proprietary licensed software, the rational being that vendors should not profit from the community work

What is the speed of development of Open Source software?
Given the lose association of the individuals in the community one might have expected uneven and slow development. In reality the opposite is true. Because there are so many people working on the software, and because they focus on the areas of most pressing interest, development is fast especially on issues of concern to many of the members of the community. The fact is that Open Source communities have developed software much faster than their commercial counterparts. Linux, for example, typically puts out a new release every 18 months vs. Windows which does so every 3 years ... More

Quality of Open Source software
Quality tends to be high in spite of the frequent releases. The large number of eyes in the community probably account for so many bugs being caught early on and addressed quickly. Commercial developers tend to try to hide their software shortcomings until a later date. In Open Source focus is brought upon the bugs to resolve them as there is no financial interest prompting anyone to hide such bugs, on the contrary, the community has a vested interest in having things fixed as soon as possible ... More

Following are list of Criteria that must comply for open-source software
1. Free Redistribution
2. Source Code
3. Derived Works
4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code
5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups

Purpose of Open Source Software:
There are plenty of contractors having expertise in the language the code is written in and they make money from those that want to make alterations to the code to tailor it to their institutional use or to contribute some enhancements. Going Open Source and building a community of users is just their business model.
Quality of Open Source software
Quality tends to be high in spite of the frequent releases. The large number of eyes in the community probably account for so many bugs being caught early on and addressed quickly. In Open Source focus is brought upon the bugs to resolve them as there is no financial interest prompting anyone to hide such bugs, on the contrary, the community has a vested interest in having things fixed as soon as possible

Legal Issues when using Open Source Software (OSS):
1. Under the terms of an OSS license we are generally permitted to access, copy, modify and distribute the underlying source code, provided that we do not place any additional restrictions on access to the source code when passing it to others (say our customers). This clearly creates a problem for businesses that have their own software terms and conditions, which usually state the exact opposite.

2. OSS licenses only contain limited warranties about the quality and functionality of the OSS being provided. They often state that the OSS is provided “as is”. In addition no guarantees are given to protect us against claims made by third parties that the OSS breaches their intellectual property rights (i.e. patents or copyrights).
This creates a serious problem for commercial users of OSS, as due to the number of people involved in developing the OSS, it is virtually impossible to verify the source and originality of the OSS. However, our customers will expect us to be liable for and protect them against breaches of third party intellectual property rights

3. If selling software is the core business, we need to carry out a technical and legal due diligence before using any OSS and maintain a system thereafter to monitor the use of OSS within organization. We should clearly state in our terms and conditions that the OSS, or components which incorporate OSS, are licensed to customers subject to the terms of the applicable open source license

Top Factors Driving Open Source Adoption
1. Better quality software.
2.Freedom from vendor lock-in.
3.Flexibility of and access to large software libraries.
4.Competitive features and technical capabilities.
5.Open source community is a good resource for attracting and retaining top development talent

Does it play a role in enterprise applications? Do you see open source options in the enterprise space like CRM? or a quoting/ordering/billing stack?
No, open source may not be able to play a good role in enterprise application like ours, especially when it involves a big product catalog, complex pricing, global availability, complex contracting roles etc etc. In open source contributing developers code in their own comfort zone. They may not think all business cases and scenarios. For enterprise application development, developers need detailed product requirements, which are always delivered by a business-savvy product managers. In open source, this pairing is difficult ... More

Some of the characteristics of Open Source software

*Control resides with the user
*Highly stable
*Proven security
*End-User input to evolving functionality
*Excellent quality
*Highly flexible
*No or reduced License Fees
*No vendor lock-in
*Self-determined upgrade path
*Can run on less expensive hardware
*Very cost-effective
*Freedom of vendor choice
*Fast development cycles
*Ongoing evolution

It's important to realize just how successful and widespread open source development is. Much of today's most innovative and important software has been built using this model.

Top 10 open source CRM softwares :
1.SugarCRM
2.vTiger
3.SplendidCRM
4.Xtuple
5.Concursive
6.Compiere
7.Opentaps
8.CentraView
9.XRMS
10.CiviCRM

Pioneers of Open Source movement:
1. Richard Matthew Stallman: He is best known for launching the GNU Project, founding the Free Software Foundation
2. Michael Tiemann: First major contribution

For More information on CRM opensources:
http://www.crmsearch.com/top-10-open-source-crm-systems.php ... More

Way 2 Money Transfer with in minute!!

2013-09-15T20:41:00.000+05:30

What is IMPS?

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is an instant, interbank (similar to NEFT) electronic fund transfer service that can be initiated only through mobile phones or online banking or SMS

All domestic bank account holders who have registered mobile numbers can send and receive money using IMPS. Money can be sent via SMS channels or Mobile or Online

Beneficiary details required are:
a. Beneficiary’s mobile number as registered with his/her bank
b. Beneficiary’s Mobile Money Identifier (MMID)
or
a. Beneficiary’s Account number
b. Beneficiary’s IFSC code

What is MMID or Mobile Money Identifier?

Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) is a random seven digit number issued by banks to their customers. If you wish to send money using IMPS, you should have the mobile number and MMID of the beneficiary (person whom you wish to send money to). If you wish to receive funds using IMPS, you should generate an MMID for your account and share this with the remitter (person whom you wish to receive money from). You can generate only one MMID per account.

All IMPS transactions executed through Mobile or Online or SMS using Mobile number and MMID or Account number and IFSC code have a combined daily limit of Rs.50,000/-. One-time fund transfers through IMPS via SMS or Mobile have a daily limit of Rs.1000/-.

While sending money using IMPS, how do I come to know that my account is debited and funds have been credited in the beneficiary’s account?

You will get a confirmation SMS on your registered mobile number which informs you of the debit in your account.

While receiving money using IMPS, how do I come to know that funds have been credited to my account and the remitter’s account has been debited?

You will get a confirmation SMS on your registered mobile number which informs you of the credit in your account.

What happens in case a wrong beneficiary mobile or beneficiary account number is input during a transaction?

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is an instant, interbank (similar to NEFT) electronic Fund transfer service that can be initiated through mobile phones or online or SMS. The beneficiary details required for sending money are mobile number and MMID or Account number and IFSC code. The transaction will get declined in case any one of these two numbers is erroneous and the transaction will get reversed instantly.

What are the timings for initiating and receiving IMPS remittances?

IMPS is a 24x7 service. IMPS transactions can be sent and received at any time and any day. There are no timing or holiday restrictions on IMPS remittances.

If the transaction is not completed successfully when will the money be returned?

The funds will be returned immediately for unsuccessful transactions. There might be cases where status of the transaction cannot be determined immediately. In such a scenario, the reversal of funds will happen on the next working day.

When can I use the funds received through IMPS?
The funds received through IMPS can be used immediately upon credit.

Can I withdraw and / or deposit money using IMPS?
No. Deposit and withdrawal of money cannot be done using IMPS.

What are the charges for sending and receiving funds using IMPS?
There are no charges for sending or receiving funds using IMPS.

Are there any subscription charges to avail of the IMPS facility?
There are no subscription charges. IMPS can be availed free of charge. SMS and GPRS charges for using the service via the mobile phone apply.

How can customers get MMIDs for their accounts?
Customers can do this way:-
SMS: Customers need to send MMID XXXX to 52484 to generate MMIDs for their accounts. XXXX denotes the last 4 digits of your Debit Card Number.

If MMID is already generated then this will retrieve the existing MMID.

How can customer delete the MMID for their accounts?
Modified - Customer can do this way:-
SMS:
Send MMIDCANCEL <7-digit mmid=""> to 52484 to delete the MMID

If mobile number gets updated what needs to be done to receive funds?
Customers need to share the new mobile number and the existing MMID with remitters in order to receive funds. Customers can also alternately use the account number and IFSC code combination of the beneficiary to transfer funds using IMPS.

For more information, please refer to below links
http://www.npci.org.in/aboutimps.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immediate_Payment_Service

mHealth (aka mobile health)

2013-09-13T22:44:00.000+05:30

Mobile eHealth or mHealth broadly encompasses the use of mobile telecommunication and multimedia technologies as they are integrated within increasingly mobile and wireless health care delivery systems.The field broadly encompasses the use of mobile telecommunication and multimedia technologies in health care delivery.
The term mHealth was coined by Professor Robert Istepanian as use of "emerging mobile communications and network technologies for healthcare".

A definition used at the 2010 mHealth Summit of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) was "the delivery of healthcare services via mobile communication devices".

mHealth (aka mobile health) is a term used for the practice of medicine and public health, supported by mobile devices. The term is most commonly used in reference to using mobile communication devices. The mHealth field has emerged as a sub-segment of eHealth, the use of information and communication technology (ICT). mHealth applications include the use of mobile devices in collecting community and clinical health data, delivery of healthcare information to practitioners, researchers, and patients, real-time monitoring of patient vital signs, and direct provision of care (via mobile telemedicine).

Many of these technologies, while having some application to low- and middle-income nations, are developing primarily in high-income countries. However, with broad advocacy campaigns for free and open source software (FOSS), applications are beginning to be tailored for and make inroads in low- and middle-income countries. Some other mHealth technologies include:

1. Patient monitoring devices
2. Mobile telemedicine/telecare devices
3. MP3 players for mLearning
4. Laptop computers
5. Microcomputers
6. Data collection software
7. Mobile Operating System Technology

Mhealth has two service components:

1) CHM (Converged Health Management) will support capturing of health data from patients for one or more medical conditions by utilizing specialized, remotely available mobile biometric devices. The collected health data would then be analyzed and correlated with other available health data to suggest ways to improve management of the specific condition and overall health. In addition, informational messages would be sent with the intent to promote healthy habits by positively influencing patients’ behavior and choices.

2) VV (Virtual Visit) will provide a virtual face-to-face environment for delivery of health services by healthcare professionals, when an actual face-to-face interaction between patient and physician is not possible or is cost prohibitive

Some of the emerging trends in mHealth

1. Emergency response systems (e.g., road traffic accidents, emergency obstetric care)
2. Human resources coordination, management, and supervision
3. Mobile synchronous (voice) and asynchronous (SMS) telemedicine diagnostic and decision support to remote clinicians
4. Clinician-focused, evidence-based formulary, database and decision support information available at the point-of-care
5. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Integrity & Patient Safety Systems (e.g. Sproxil and mPedigree)
6. Clinical care and remote patient monitoring
7. Health extension services
8. Health services monitoring and reporting
9. Health-related mLearning for the general pub

The global healthcare services market is forecast to reach $3 trillion by 2015, according to research from Global Industry Analysts. Investment in sectors such as home healthcare, healthcare IT and telehealth are expected to continue fuelling market expansion. Due to the world’s aging population, the demand for home healthcare is likely to continue climbing over the years to come.

The M2M mHealth Market Revenue will reach $138 billion by 2020
BOSTON, July 18, 2013 /PRNewswire
Source- http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/strategy-analytics-verizon-partner-program-highlights-increased-mobile-operator-focus-on-mhealth-solutions-216051861.html

http://www.mhealthnews.com/

Ways 2 Productivity

2013-09-05T23:34:00.001+05:30

There are numerous strategies to employ that will boost your productivity: learn to manage your time efficiently, put business systems in place, plan and prioritize your tasks, work in bursts, meet deadlines, and just simply get more done.

We all want to be more productive. Getting home an hour earlier or making more money per week are dependent on our productivity. Without a boss keeping an eye on us we need some tricks to keep us away from distractions, like TV, and at our desk on task.

Here are 10 ways to prioritize your life and your to-do lists for increased happiness and fulfillment:

1. One thing at a time, with full presence.

In other words, make the thing you have chosen to do the number one priority while you’re doing it. Focus with your full attention. See the value in where you are, while you’re there. Enjoy what’s happening, while it’s happening.

In the end, you will come to realize that the best days are the days when you don’t need anything extreme or special to happen to make you smile. You simply appreciate the moments and feel gratitude, seeking nothing else, nothing more. That is what true happiness is all about.

2. Family and close friends are at the top.

Nurture your important relationships in such a way that when you tell the people you care about that you care about them, you’re simply reinforcing what they already know based on how you have prioritized them into your life.

Give them your full attention. Let them see their own beauty in your eyes. Let them find their own voice through your listening ears. Help them discover their own greatness in your presence.

Make the people you love a top priority, always.

3. Focus on importance, not urgency.

As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

Truthfully, the most important thing in life is knowing what the most important things in life are, and prioritizing them accordingly. Sadly, most of us spend too much time on urgent things and not enough time on important things.

So do yourself a favor and implement these three action steps every time you’re building or sorting your to-do list:

Think about the difference between what is urgent and what is important.

Review all the obligations on your list.

Do what’s important first.

Sometimes everything on your list will look important, which might be true to an extent. But as you practice prioritizing, you will get better and better at it. And eventually you will know, without question, when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones, like spending quality time with loved ones. (Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.)

4. Keep your efforts aligned with your purpose.

Getting anything worthwhile done is a matter of connecting with why you have chosen to do this thing in the first place.

Don’t allow others to confuse you. Don’t let them convince your heart what is right for you. Your heart already knows. Listen to it. Don’t let anyone else dilute the power of your inner voice. You’ve got to stand up for something specific, on your own two legs, or you will achieve nothing worthwhile in your own mind’s eye.

Within you there is a formidable and undeniable sense of purpose. Happiness comes from making a solid and persistent connection to that purpose. When your intentions are supported by a “why” that has meaning, you will find the “how” to bring them to life.

5. Play to your strengths and delegate when it makes sense.

When it comes to tackling big projects, you can try to do everything yourself, or you can reach out and find the right people to help you. The first choice will raise your stress and blood pressure; the second choice will raise your consciousness and effectiveness.

Choosing the right perspective is so important; you CAN see life’s challenges as opportunities. When an unexpected obstacle is suddenly standing in your way, don’t get overwhelmed. Take a breather and regroup. Someone else nearby knows how to get around it. Find and engage them.

For example, if your website is suddenly having glitches with a new web browser, don’t read a giant book on web design. Hire a professional web designer. See the problem as an opportunity to delegate. Life is trying to teach you that most long-term, worthy endeavors are team efforts, and so much more palatable when shared with others. Every unexpected obstacle in life is a lesson on teamwork in disguise, solvable with the right team of people.

6. Socialize and share with peers.

Regardless of what you’re trying to accomplish, it’s always easier if you have a group of people who understand what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what challenges you’re facing. Staying in touch with these people and sharing ideas with them will accelerate your effectiveness and happiness. Best selling author, Seth Godin, refers to these people as your tribe members.

A tribe is a group of people connected to one another via an idea, movement or common goal. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. Godin says, “A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.”

Every single one of us craves the feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves. By nature, we are tribal, but oftentimes we become disconnected from our tribe. We know our people are out there – somewhere – but we feel lost and disconnected from them. If you’re feeling disconnected, open up to your peers and initiate a conversation. Tap into your tribe.

7. Give what you can, as you seek what you desire.

In many ways, life is a circle – what you put in to it comes back around. When you make a positive impact in the world, the world will have a positive impact on you.

If you want to be rich, be generous. If you want to make friends, be friendly. If you want to be heard, listen. If you want to be understood by others, take the time to truly understand them. If you want to live an interesting life, be interested in the happenings around you.

You won’t always get back exactly what you wanted or expected, but when you give what you can you almost always receive what you need. (Read The Secret.)

8. Leave the past behind as you plan ahead.

Let old problems remain where they belong – in the past. No matter how many times you revisit the past, there’s nothing new to see. Don’t let what once happened get in the way of what is happening. Just because you’ve made mistakes doesn’t mean your mistakes get to make you. If something important didn’t work yesterday, figure out what changes can be made today.

Tame your inner critic; let go and move on productively. You must make a conscious effort to do this, it won’t happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, “I don’t care how hard this is. I don’t care how disappointed I am. I’m not going to let yesterday’s problems get the best of me. I’m taking the lessons and moving on with my life.”

9. Commit to self-respect, regardless of the issue at hand.

Whenever you catch yourself in a rambling bout of negative self-talk, stop and ask yourself, “If I had a friend who spoke to me in the same way that I sometimes speak to myself, how long would I allow this person to be my friend?”

Remember, the way you treat yourself sets the standard for others, and the world at large, to follow. Above everyone else, YOU deserve YOUR respect. So make sure your decisions, behaviors and actions reflect your self-respect as you carry out your plans.

10. Leave room to breathe.

Things don’t always go as planned. Good things can’t always be planned. Be flexible and open to life’s twists and turns.

Organize, but don’t agonize. Keep your space and time ordered, but your schedule underbooked. Create a foundation with a soft place to land, a wide margin of error, and room to think and breathe…

Freeing yourself from an overbooked schedule lets you experience more of life’s good surprises, and also provides you with flexibility when the unforeseen disrupts your foresight.

Afterthoughts

So, in summary…

Focus on your priorities, but take things in stride. Make decisions, not excuses. Live one moment at a time. Count your blessings, not your troubles. Let the wrong things go. Look for lessons in unforeseen obstacles. Ask for help. Give as much as you take. Make time for those who matter.

Laugh when you can. Cry when you need to. And always stay true to your values.

What is BYOD

2013-09-01T21:00:00.000+05:30

"Bring Your Own Device" - It Takes the complexity out of managing multiple devices.

BYOD (bring your own device) is the increasing trend toward employee-owned devices within a business. Smartphones are the most common example but employees also take their own tablets, laptops and USB drives into the workplace.Today mobility isn’t just a connection to the internet. It’s a dynamic work-from-anywhere-on-any-device landscape that companies can’t afford to ignore.With secure cloud-based management, as well as application and data access, you can manage all of your desktop PCs, remote laptops and mobile devices from virtually anywhere. And one monthly per-user fee makes mobility affordable for any sized business.

BYOD is part of the larger trend of IT computerization, in which consumer software and hardware are being brought into the enterprise. BYOT (bring your own technology) refers to the use of consumer devices and applications in the workplace. More specific variations on the term include bring your own computer (BYOC), bring your own laptop (BYOL), bring your own apps (BYOA) and bring your own PC (BYOPC).

BYOD Security

Bring-your-own-device has evolved from trend to the new normal and with that discussions around the risks of implementing a BYOD policy in the enterprise have become intense. BYOD security policy initiatives may include limiting activities that employees are allowed to perform on these devices at work (e.g. email usage is limited to corporate email accounts only) and periodic IT audits to ensure the device is in compliance with the company's BYOD security policy.

In the event that a device is lost, or the employee leaves the businesses, the security team must navigate the potential minefield of ensuring that corporate data on the device is removed while trying to minimize impact to the end user for their own information.

BYOD will have an impact on every facet of telecom expense management, starting with the way carriers’ services are sourced and contracted. Mitigating this risk early on will give CIOs a leg up in getting the greatest cost and productivity benefits that BYOD can deliver.

For More Information, Please refer below useful links:

BYOD & Consumerization
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/BYOD-bring-your-own-device
BYOD may change everything about Security
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/BYOD.html

Server Sprawl

2013-08-30T21:08:00.000+05:30

Server Sprawl – is a situation in which an enterprise hosting multiple app servers for load balancing, high availability etc., finds out that most of the servers are under-utilized and are taking up more space & resources which are not justified by their workload, and can be reduced. A physical server typically uses less than 8% of its stated capacity while performing its primary task. Server Sprawl can be resolved using colocation & virtualization.

Colocation - allows you to place your server machine in someone else's rack and share their bandwidth as your own. Company then provides an IP, bandwidth, and power to your server. Once it's up and running, you access it much like you would access a Web site on a hosting provider. The difference being that you own the hardware. Many colocation service providers provide the hardware also on charge.

Virtualization allows a larger percentage of server capacity to be used with a fewer number of physical servers being implemented. By using physical server resources more wisely, a dramatic improvement of server performance and a better ROI is achieved. In this way, Virtualization is THE green solution to expanding your server needs. By using Virtualization you help save the environment!

It has various Benefits –
1. The biggest advantage of colocation is the cost for bandwidth.
2. Colocation facilities have better outage protect
3. Client owns the server machinery. Easy upgrade.
4. Client owns the server software. Easy installation.
5. Safe from outages while the servers are moved to the new location.
6. Secured environment.
7. Server maintenance & management.

Following are Companies available in this space –
1. Peer 1
2. InterLink
3. Equinix
4. YesUp
5. iWeb
6. Softlayer
7. capPOP
8. RackSpace
9. Layered Tech

More information on it:

http://www.techopedia.com/definition/16017/server-sprawl

http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/definition/server-sprawl

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/virtualization.html

http://virtualization.com/

http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/collocation

http://www.equinix.com/solutions/by-services/colocation/overview/

Big Data

2013-08-29T20:54:00.003+05:30

Big Data usually includes data sets with sizes beyond the ability of commonly used software tools to capture, manage, and process. If the data is huge and un organized, the problems to play with the data would be Big and quite challenging. Big Data talks about the challenges that processing systems face while capturing,storing, searching, sharing, transfering, analysing and visualizing a very huge data and unorganized data.

An example of big data might be petabytes (1,024 terabytes) or exabytes (1,024 petabytes) of data consisting of billions to trillions of records of millions of people -- all from different sources (e.g. Web, sales, customer contact center, social media, mobile data and so on). The data is typically loosely structured data that is often incomplete and inaccessible.

Big data is a buzzword, or catch-phrase, used to describe a massive volume of both structured and unstructured data that is so large that it's difficult to process using traditional database and software techniques. It derives mainly from BigTable paper published by Google in 2006. which has become the inspiration for countless NoSQL databases like Cassandra, HBase, and others. Hadoop in combination with these Big Data then provides the complete solution for computational intensive analytics for large amount of data in distributed environments

Hadoop is the core platform for structuring Big Data, and solves the problem of making it useful for analytic's purposes.

Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data Mining are all related terms and allow any large business to derive patterns from the customer's usage and from product sales to build market strategies. Statistical and artificial intelligence algorithms that are used as part of data mining. The next level of data mining is predictive analysis which is becoming a buzz word. Traditional data mining is based on historical data and many decisions are based more on experience rather than scientific predictive patterns. BI and Data Analytics provide insight, while Predictive Analytics provide the action

It will give a perspective of the market scenario, understand the patterns of Sales by Geography, Products, Solutions, User base, ethinicity etc. and based on that we can modify our Marketing Strategy. Device better Solutions, launch applicable solutions in certain territories, or remove certain ones which are not used much...

Data Analytics helps in developing Business Intelligence and adapt ourselves to changing market conditions...

More on Big Data current development activity:

Tomorrow's cities: How big data is changing the world

http://www.bigdatacompanies.com/

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/big_data_the_next_frontier_for_innovation

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hinchcliffe/the-enterprise-opportunity-of-big-data-closing-the-clue-gap/1648

Agile Development & Methodologies

2013-08-28T22:41:00.001+05:30

Agile software development is a group of software development methods based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change. It is a conceptual framework that promotes foreseen interactions throughout the development cycle. - wikipedia

Agile development methodology provides opportunities to assess the direction of a project throughout the development life cycle. This is achieved through regular cadences of work, known as sprints or iterations, at the end of which teams must present a potentially shippable product increment. By focusing on the repetition of abbreviated work cycles as well as the functional product they yield, agile methodology is described as “iterative” and “incremental.”

"Waterfall model” implies a sequence of clearly defined steps necessary to complete any project: define, plan, organize, execute and then close. But practically that doesn't work out due to complexity and change of requirements in reallity . So Agile and scrum are born to tackle it by defining more small iterations and along with strong client involvement. The key for success is based upon on user feedback on each iteration

Advantage over Waterfall model:
In waterfall, development teams only have one chance to get each aspect of a project right. In an agile paradigm, every aspect of development — requirements, design, etc. — is continually revisited throughout the life cycle. When a team stops and re-evaluates the direction of a project every two weeks, there’s always time to steer it in another direction ... More

Agile's ideology is to provide solutions as parts which are in itself complete workflows. So we could actually identify what is to be expected at a very early stage of project development and since Agile Emphasizes on having a client work along with the development team there would actually be very less wastage of development time in-case there is any difference in the requirement and what is developed. Chances of error are less time taken for a particular workflow ultimately depends on the developers as they would have to provide an estimate and it also requires a great deal of team work as in case we have a particular task taken by a member and if not complete then the task could be taken up by another developer who might have completed their pat of work .

Agile favours more to customer. Customer can make use of incremental changes made to the application. He can able to change priorities as per his needs, since the life cycle is short. He doenst want to wait too long to leverage the benefits of the application as like other methodologies....

Generally the Agile follows SCRUM or iterative models and Scrum basically helps us identify and divide the tasks we have a scrum master ... the discussion can go a long way :) Iterative is more regularly followed.

SCRUM is one of Agile development methodology to do the software development through SPRINTs.

Scrum is an agile software development model based on multiple small teams working in an intensive and interdependent manner. The term is named for the scrum (or scrummage) formation in rugby, which is used to restart the game after an event that causes play to stop, such as an infringement.

Of all the agile methodologies, Scrum is unique because it introduced the idea of “empirical process control.” That is, Scrum uses the real-world progress of a project — not a best guess or uninformed forecast — to plan and schedule releases

The Scrum methodology of agile software development marks a dramatic departure from waterfall management. In fact, Scrum and other agile processes were inspired by its shortcomings. The Scrum methodology emphasizes communication and collaboration, functioning software, and the flexibility to adapt to emerging business realities — all attributes that suffer in the rigidly ordered waterfall paradigm.

Scrum is an iterative and incremental agile software development framework for managing software projects and product or application development. Its focus is on "a flexible, holistic product development strategy where a development team works as a unit to reach a common goal" as opposed to a "traditional, sequential approach". Scrum enables the creation of self-organizing teams by encouraging co-location of all team members, and verbal communication between all team members and disciplines in the project.

A key principle of Scrum is its recognition that during a project the customers can change their minds about what they want and need (often called requirements churn), and that unpredicted challenges cannot be easily addressed in a traditional predictive or planned manner. As such, Scrum adopts an empirical approach—accepting that the problem cannot be fully understood or defined, focusing instead on maximizing the team's ability to deliver quickly and respond to emerging requirements.

Like other agile development methodologies, Scrum can be implemented through a wide range of tools. Many companies use universal tools, such as spreadsheets to build and maintain artifacts such as the sprint backlog. There are also open-source and proprietary packages dedicated to management of products under the Scrum process. Other organizations implement Scrum without the use of any tools, and maintain their artifacts in hard-copy forms such as paper, whiteboards, and sticky notes.

Scrum has three fundamental roles: Product Owner, ScrumMaster, and team member.

SPRINT is nothing but the release cycle with the scope of tasks to be delivered. Sprint duration can be 2 weeks or more than that based on project.

SPRINT Planning - All the requirement details will be tracked as backlog items in SPRINT. In SPRINT planning, Backlog items will be discussed in detail on what needs to be done and the priority of those. Finally the scope for the current sprint will be decided by the team.

Daily SPRINT calls - To track the status of the SPRINT tasks from team and the critical issues/clarifications will be discussed

Burn out chart - To track the actual hours spent by team members for each task. Gives clear view of which task will be delivered on what date

SPRINT Retrospective - Discuss the details of what has been done in Current SPRINT. Discuss the positive points of the current SPRINT and improvement areas needed for next SPRINT.

Taking C2G - day to day sprint as the Example Sheet

Employee (SCRUM) Master
Employee Master is a team facilitator. Ensures teams have what they need to get the job done. Also, sets up meetings and monitors everything. Also, kicks ass when necessary.

Product Backlog
The Product Backlog contains the wish list of all the User Stories that would make the product great. In Scrum, features are known as User Stories and they are written from the perspective of the end-user. The Product Owner, representing the users and customers of the product, decides which User Stories or items make it into the Product Backlog.

(User) Story:
A feature that is added to the backlog is commonly referred to as a story and has a specific suggested
structure. The structure of a story is: "As a I want to so that " This is done so that the development team can identify the user, action and required result in a request and is a simple way of writing requests that anyone can understand. A story is an independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, testable requirement ("INVEST"). Despite being independent, i.e., they have no direct dependencies with other requirements; stories may be clustered into epics when represented on a product roadmap or further down in the backlog.

Sprint
A sprint is the basic unit of development in Scrum. The sprint is a "time boxed" effort; that is, it is restricted to a specific duration. The duration is fixed in advance for each sprint and is normally between one week and one month, although two weeks is typical.

Each sprint is preceded by a planning meeting, where the tasks for the sprint are identified and an estimated commitment for the sprint goal is made, and followed by a review or retrospective meeting, where the progress is reviewed and lessons for the next sprint are identified

Tasks
Added to the story at the beginning of a sprint and broken down into hours. Each task should not exceed 12 hours, but it's common for teams to insist that a task take no more than a day to finish.

Definition of Done (DoD)
The exit-criteria to determine whether a product backlog item is complete. In many cases the DoD requires that all regression tests should be successful.

What is Hadoop?

2013-08-26T22:35:00.001+05:30

Hadoop is a software library framework that allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers using simple programming models. It is designed to scale up from single servers to thousands of machines.This Software helps us rather than rely on hardware to deliver high-availability, the library itself is designed to detect and handle failures at the application layer, so delivering a highly-available service.

Hadoop provides a framework to process data of any size using a computing cluster made from normal, commodity hardware. There are two major components to Hadoop:
1. The File System, which is a distributed file system that splits up large files onto multiple computers,
2. The MapReduce framework, which is an application framework used to process large data stored on the file system.

But what is particularly notable about Hadoop (and Google's MapReduce) is the built-in fault tolerance. It is designed to run on commodity hardware, and therefore it avoids computers to be breaking frequently. The underlying file system is highly-redundant (blocks of data are replicated across multiple computers) and the MapReduce processing framework automatically handles computer failures which occur during a processing job by reassigning the processing to another computer in the cluster

When u deal with a huge quantity of data and your analytic's is deep & computationally intensive. When you traditional database fails or has huge limitations, HADOOP provides the solution. It is an open-source software framework developed in java, that supports data-intensive distributed applications. It is driven by 'google file systems' paper published in 2003 & 'MapReduce' algorithm published in 2004 by google R&D Team. It is a kind of No SQL database but now many organizations are developing the query tools to interact with Hadoop file systems using Hadoop APIs

Hadoop is designed to run on a large number of machines that don’t share any memory or disks. That means you can buy a whole bunch of commodity servers, slap them in a rack, and run the Hadoop software on each one. When you want to load all of your organization’s data into Hadoop, what the software does is bust that data into pieces that it has and then spreads across your different servers. There’s no one place where you go to talk to all of your data; Hadoop keeps track of where the data resides. And because there are multiple copy stores, data stored on a server that goes offline or dies can be automatically replicated from a known good copy.

In a centralized database system, you’ve got one big disk connected to four or eight or 16 big processors. But that is as much horsepower as you can bring to bear. In a Hadoop cluster, every one of those servers has two or four or eight CPUs. You can run your indexing job by sending your code to each of the dozens of servers in your cluster, and each server operates on its own little piece of the data. Results are then delivered back to you in a unified whole. That’s MapReduce: you map the operation out to all of those servers and then you reduce the results back into a single result set.

Hadoop has advantages over traditional database management systems, especially the ability to handle both structured data like that found in relational databases as well as unstructured information such as video and etc. The system can also scale up with a minimum of fuss. You can run lots of different jobs of different types on the same hardware.

Customers look for enterprise-grade software when deploying mission-critical applications in their Data Centers, while Hadoop started as an open-source technology, it is quickly becoming a mission-critical enterprise technology that companies view as a competitive advantage, quickly deploy, manage and scale. Hadoop is available in virtual and cloud environments. Today, most of Amazon’s web services run on hosted Hadoop framework

Some Trivia on Hadoop

Volume
1. Turn 12 terabytes of Tweets created each day into improved product sentiment analysis
2. Convert 350 billion annual meter readings to better predict power consumption

Velocity
1. Scrutinize 5 million trade events created each day to identify potential fraud
2. Analyze 500 million daily call detail records in real-time to predict customer churn faster

Verity
1. Structured and unstructured data such as text, sensor data, audio, video, click streams, log files and more
2. Monitor 100’s of live video feeds from surveillance cameras to target points of interest

Logo: a baby elelphant
Hadoop Adoption by: AOL, Adobe, Amazon, AT&T, Bank of America, GE, Yahoo and more...

Google didn’t stop with MapReduce, but they developed other approaches for applications where MapReduce wasn’t a good fit.

Following are few frameworks beyond MapReduce -

1. Percolator: Handling individual updates
2. Pregel: Scalable graph computing
3. Dremel: Online visualizations

Open source projects have picked up on the more recent ideas and papers by Google. For example, ApacheDrill is reimplementing the Dremel framework, while projects like Apache Giraph and Stanford’s GPS are inspired by Pregel

RGESS Tax Saving Scheme – Too Complicated !

2012-12-01T21:19:00.002+05:30

RGESS or Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme is the new tax saving scheme, for saving taxes. This is mainly for first time equity investors in securities market. The whole idea for introducing the RGESS scheme is to promote an ‘equity culture’ in India as well as widen the retail investor base in the Indian securities markets. Look at the below video where a discussion is going on RGESS.

Lets us look at some major points which defines RGESS

1. Maximum Investment Limit and Tax Saving

RGESS scheme is available only to those investors whose taxable limit is less than 10 lacs per year; and the maximum limit of investment is Rs 50,000 per year. The tax advantage will be available on only 50% of the amount invested – which means that tax saving can be done only on upto Rs 25,000. Which means, if you invest Rs 50,000 and belong to 20% tax slab , you will be able to save 20% money on 25,000 (50% of 50,000) – a Rs 5,000/- tax saving.

2. Applies to new Investors

OnlyThe RGESS Scheme is available only for “new investors”; defined as those whose PAN numbers don’t have equity transactions, which means either a person has not opened a demat account ever, or has opened a demat account, but have never invested in equity before the scheme came into effect. The investment can be done throughout the year, and not restricted to a one time investment, so investing Rs 50,000 in one shot or investing Rs 10,000 in 5 shots , both are eligible. But the big confusion is for those investors who already have equity investments through mutual funds, but do not have demat account ?

3. Lock In period of 3 years

This rule is a little messy. There will be 3 year lock in period for this investment. However if an investor wants to, he can collect “profit” part after a year of investment. So for the entire first year, you cant sell your shares! And after the first year of investment, he can take out the profits if he so chooses. He can sell all his shares if he wants, but he will have to bring back the same amount through some other stock. After first year, 2 more years of lock in will apply, and in this period, you have to maintain your balance at the end of first year, which should be minimum of the amount on which you claimed income tax or the balance at the end of the 1st year .So if a person invests Rs 50,00 , and in next one year

Case 1 : His worth is Rs 55,000 , then he can take out 5,000 and after that he has to keep his balance minimum 50,000 (the amount on which tax exemption is claimed), if a person wants, he can sell off his shares totally, but then again has to come back with 50,000 investment in some other or same stock. He can take out the profits part (above 50,000) if he wants in these next 2 yrs

Case 2 : His worth is Rs 25,000 , then in this case, he has to maintain this 25,000 balance in next 2 years. If you are still unclear, Deepak Shenoy has done a better job in explaining this lock in part, in his article on RGESS.

4. Where can you invest for RGESS Scheme?

You can invest in stocks which belong to
CNX 100
BSE 100
IPOs of PSUs whose annual turnover is not less than Rs. 4000 Crore for each of the immediate past three years
Large Listed PSU’s
And any ETF , Mutual fund which are listed and traded in stock exchange and whose portfolio includes stocks which are eligible under RGESS

Should you invest in RGESS ?

Personally, I feel that RGESS has too many terms and conditions to follow, and is not that easy to understand for a common man. Especially a new investor who is anyways afraid of markets and his money being lost. The restriction of “can’t not sell at all in first year” is kind of scary, especially for those who are too risk averse.

Another bad point about RGESS is that it’s a once in a life time investment scheme. Once you become eligible for this scheme, for next year you will not be a “new investor” and hence wont be eligible, so its only for the fresh batch of new investors each year. The only positive point is that for those who were anyways going to take plunge in stock markets will get extra benefit of some tax saving and might instill some compulsory discipline of investing (lock in period).

Let us know what do you think about this RGESS Scheme (Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme) , and if it interests you. Will it be a hit tax saving scheme or a flop one? What do you think?

Yes! - You can withdraw your EPF without Employer Signature

2012-12-01T21:02:00.002+05:30

Do you know how to withdraw your EPF without Employer Signature? Do you think if it’s possible at all? Is your previous employer not signing your EPF Withdrawal documents? Have you left your company long back and now you cannot take your past employer signatures? Or is your EPF Company stuck because your employer is not supporting you or helping you in withdrawal procedure? Or it might happen that your employer relations with you mess up for some reason and now they are not ready to cooperate in the EPF withdrawal procedure and threatening you?

Here are 2 real life examples of this kind of situation

Case 1 : Priyanka was also stuck with a company which was shut down and her PF was stuck

The last company i was working with has been shut down. Now I need to withdraw my EPF, however I am not getting any help from the company. I have tried to contact the GM – HR and the CA but no response. As the sum is huge, I am worried if I will be able to withdraw the amount without company’s approval or authorized signature. The full and final settlement has been closed and relieving letter has been issued by the company. Please advise how I should go about in this case.

Case 2: Ram was also facing similar issue but here employer was not supporting the employee for EPF withdrawal

One of my friends was in a similar situation few months back. I have pay slip but no relieving letter. When contacted with the finance dept., I was told that I cannot get the epf amount as I have not got the relieving letter. The amount will not be released by them even though an epf amount is mentioned in pay slip. He was asked to pay the amount for serving period of two months and then get relieving certificate and later only will they release the funds for epf account.

Now the question. Can one withdraw his EPF without the support of his past employer signatures or support? Yes ! - There is a solution!.

Today we will discuss, how you can withdraw your Employee Provident Fund money without your past employer’s help. A lot of people feel that it’s not possible without employer involvement, but it’s not true! Let me start by sharing a bit about this.

Employer cannot control EPF money

Each month employer takes the EPF part, out of your salary and along with their contribution, deposit it into your EPF account with the EPFO organisation. Once they deposit it with EPF office, then it’s just your money and no one else’s. Your employer can not control it. However note that your employer’s signatures are required on the EPF withdrawal form, to certify that you are not employed with them anymore and now you can withdraw the EPF.

A lot of people leave their jobs without serving the notice period or because of some other issue and employers do not help them to claim their Provident Fund money.

I worked in a company in 2009 for few months. I had some issues with them and resigned from that company. I did not get any relieving order. All I have is my salary slip which has PF account no. Is it possible to get back the PF amount without the permission/notice to the previous employer which I worked ?

3 steps to withdraw your EPF without Employer Signature

Here are 3 steps you need to do to successfully withdraw your EPF without previous employer signatures.

Step 1
First download and fill up Form 10C (for EPF Withdrawal) and Form 19 (for EPS withdrawal)

Step 2
Get it attested by any one of the following

Manager of a bank (PSU preferred)
By any gazetted officer.
Magistrate / Post / Sub Post Master / Notary

Step 3
Write down a letter addressing the regional PF commissioner, stating the reason why you have to get it attested and how you are facing issues with your employer. In case you have any proof of unsupportive behavior from your employer, better attach it. (This step is optional and not mandatory)

Step 4
If you are unemployed, you will have to make an affidavit that proves that you are unemployed. Download this Affidavit Sample and get it printed on a Rs. 100 stamp paper with a notary or any gazetted officer signature on it . This is required because you need to be unemployed if you want to withdraw your EPF . If you are employed, you can transfer your EPF to your new employer.

Step 5
Send these forms to your regional EPF office and wait for next few months for some kind of action.

Step 6
Once your application is processed, the EPF withdrawal request will be honored and you will be paid. If you still don’t see any action or response, then its time to file an RTI application to EPF Department for finding out the exact Status.

Legal Action against your past employer

Note that Employee provident fund money is totally yours and no matter what the situation, your past employer should be helping you in withdrawing it. It can be some issue your employer or you might have.., your employer cannot say that they will not give signatures and create issues in your EPF Withdrawal.

If that’s the case, it might be time to teach them a lesson.

If you are 100% sure that you are correct and it’s a case of harassment, just collect all the documents which proves the harassment and then inform your regional Provided Fund officer about this. He will carry out an enquiry, contact the employer and if he finds them guilty, there can be legal action against the company and might even amount to imprisonment. It’s the Employer’s duty to keep records as per the law and also maintain the terms and conditions, failing which employer can get a notice under a section 7A, which lays the guidelines of strict actions against the employer. I got this from one of the RTI related websites

Normally, the EPFO which maintained your EPF account should have settled the claim based on the signature of the Bank Manager since you find it difficult to get the form attested by your previous employer. They should not have sent it back to you telling to get the signature of the previous employer. The fact appears to be that the employer is not willing to sign the form for some reason or the other. (I presume the establishment is not closed but is still working). It is the duty of the employer to sign the settlement form. If he fails to do so the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner (RPFC) concerned can take action against him. You can make a complaint to the RPFC pointing this out and urging him to either settle the claim as it is or to get the claim signed by the employer and in case the employer declines to sign to take appropriate action against him instead of harassing you by not settling the claim. Please send this complaint by registered post and keep copy. After about a month if no action is taken file an application under RTI and ask what action has been taken on your complaint, people responsible for not taking action etc. Your claim will automatically be settled.

Conclusion

It’s possible to withdraw your EPF money without the help of your past employer. You just need to know the right steps and should also have the energy and motivation to follow up on the matter. Let us know what you learned out of this article. Do you think this is something useful for you? From this article, did you understand properly how you can withdraw your EPF without Employer Signature?

Your Cheques will become Invalid from Jan 1, 2013 – Find out WHY?

2012-12-01T20:53:00.001+05:30

It might happen that your Cheques start bouncing and do not get accepted from Jan 1, 2013. There is a new standard in banking called as Cheque Truncation System or CTS 2010, which all the banks have to follow now. RBI has issued a circular telling all banks that they should only process and accept those Cheques which follow CTS guidelines.

What is Cheque Truncation System or CTS?

It’s just a new improved structure for Cheques and a set of guidelines which will change the way Cheques are being processed and cleared. Right now, all the Cheques are sent directly physical to the other bank for clearance, but with this new Cheque Truncation System guidelines, the banks will send the digital version of Cheques (read scanned image) to the other bank and the clearance will happen almost same day or very fast.

Some of the features of CTS Cheques would be

It would have the wordings “please sign above this line” at right bottom
All CTS-2010 Cheques will have a watermark with the words “CTS INDIA”, which can be seen against a light
A bank logo will be on cheque with an Ultra Violet Ink, which can be seen only under UV Scanners.
The CTS 2010 enabled Cheques will not allow any alterations. If there is any mistakes, the cheque will be invalid
“payable at par at all branches of the bank in India” text will be at the bottom of all the Cheques
There will be IFSC and MICR code on the cheque
You will have to sign the cheque will a darker ink, so that your signatures are valid for scanning.

If you look at these features, you can simply see that these are required for digital processing and once this Cheque Truncation System enabled Cheques arrive; the whole banking system will start clearing the Cheques in a must faster time. This will improve banking and save paper. Below is a sample of cheque which fulfills CTS criteria’s.

SBI has already told all its customers to get new Cheques because all the old Cheques will become invalid, in the same way HDFC bank and ICICI bank have also told their customers to get new cheque books.

What you must do?

1. Replace your Post Dated ChequesIf you have given any post dated Cheques to someone like for your home loan payment or for some other kind of payment, then its the time to replace them with fresh Cheques else it will just bounce and you might have to pay the bounce charges

Deposit any Old Cheque now

At times, we accumulate old Cheques and deposit them for clearing only after many days or weeks. If you have any cheque which is to be cleared, better deposit it and encash!A lot of banks have also asked its customers to give return back the old invalid Cheques at their branch and collect new Cheques, not sure why they need old Cheques, why can’t they issue the new cheques directly? Also note that the cheques will be sent to the last updated address only. Learn more about CTS here . I hope you are clear about Cheque Truncation System (CTS) and how your cheques will become invalid from Jan 1, 2013