Bharti Airtel awarded first prize at CII’s 6th National Convention on SIX SIGMA

Quality is an integral part of a company’s strategy while the mechanism to achieve quality is a matter of choice. The quality deliverables should be driven from the top and Airtel takes pride to call itself a quality company, stated Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, Deputy CEO, Bharti Airtel Ltd. He was speaking at the 6th National Convention on SIX SIGMA; Sustaining Growth through SIX SIGMA organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

The convention commemorated an award ceremony for enterprises undertaking SIX SIGMA route. Bharti Airtel Limited Transport Network bagged the first prize followed by SKF India Limited Bangalore and Whirlpool India Limited. The companies were judged on the parameters like, customer impact, results achieved, sustaibility of gains, employee involvement and commitment and linkage to strategic objectives of the business.

Delighted about winning the award, Mr. Joydip Datta, Head Business Excellence, Bharti Airtel Ltd Transport Network stated that the team adopted six sigma to improve the voice quality network. The project scaled up subscribers satisfaction by adding 700-800 million minutes revenue for the company which translates into Rs. 200 crore. The mechanism helped scaling up the customer satisfaction index from 61% to 82%.

Representative of the first Runner-up, Mr. K N Manjunatha, Six Sigma Development Champion, SKF India Limited Bangalore stated that SIX SIGMA was adopted for reducing the cost of poor quality product. The entity achieved 0% defects and earned 5.4 crore through the project.

Mr. Zafar Khan, Director, Operational Excellence, the Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta added that high quality of information presented at the convention reflects that the Indian industry is on a good working mode. In addition a lot of opportunities rest in paying more attention to the issues of standardisation and capacity building.

Judging the participants, Mr. K Kulbhushan, Senior Vice President-Business Excellence & Organisation Development, Jubilant Organosys Ltd said, "It is time that application of Six Sigma becomes an integral part of any organisation in India. The Six sigma strategy creates the much required momentum in the work environment which ultimately benefits the long term business strategies. It involves every employee in bringing a significant improvement in the functioning of a company."

Mr. K N Rattan, Convenor, Core Group on National Convention on Six Sigma remarked, "The 6th National Convention on Six Sigma marks the success of the SIX SIGMA strategy in the Indian companies. This time companies like Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices, Xerox, Max New York Life Insurance, SKF India, Whirlpool India among others competed against each other for the most coveted award on Six Sigma. The convention saw showcasing of some exemplary case studies which had adopted SIx Sigma to achieve pre-defined goals."

The Second Runner-up Mr. Jaipreet Kohli, Master Blackbelt – Six Sigma, Whirlpool of India Limited said that the project was aimed at improving priming performance in washing machines. This has helped in achieving cost reduction of 1.2 Euros per product. Acknowledging the success of the project, a new variant of this washing machine in USA will have a mandatory improvement of prining performance through Six Sigma.

HCL Infosystems Ltd announces Quarter Results JAS 09

HCL Infosystems has announced its first quarter reports today. Accpording to the reports HCL has attained consolidated revenue of Rs. 3,027 crores for the quarter ended 30thSeptember 2009.

Consolidated services revenue for the quarter was Rs. 146.7 crores, a Y-o-Y growth of 12%.

Consolidated profit before tax for the quarter was Rs. 83.0 crores.

Consolidated profit after tax for the quarter was Rs. 59.0 crores.

Revenue from Computer Systems business for the quarter was Rs. 817.4 crores.

Profit before interest & taxes for Computer Systems business for the quarter was Rs. 48.3 crores.

Revenue from Telecommunication and Office Automation business for the quarter was Rs. 2221.6 crores, a sequential growth of 2%.

Profit before interest & taxes for Telecommunication and Office Automation business for the quarter was Rs. 55.6 crores.

Consolidated EPS for the quarter ended 30th September 2009 was Rs. 3.4 per share.

The Board of Directors has declared quarterly Interim dividend of Rs. 1.5/- per share

(75 % on an equity share of par value of Rs. 2/- each)

Overview

Commenting at the results announcement Mr. Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman & CEO, HCL Infosystems Ltd said “The year gone by has witnessed a major turmoil in the global economic scenario across the globe as well as in India. The ICT market in India has since de-grown due to a host of reasons including global slowdown, currency fluctuation and the political situation. However, with improving sentiments across the world, we have seen the Indian ICT market picking up sequentially over the last two quarters. HCL today is one of the largest India facing ICT companies, with diverse business portfolio’s, each with its specific growth trajectory and this has helped the company to tide over the recent challenging times. The quarter witnessed HCL unveiling pathbreaking initiatives like ‘Bharat PC’ and has seen us investing in our brand through our new youth centric ‘ME’ campaign, which we intend to continue to invest in as we go forward. I am also proud to share that this quarter we were rated as the ‘Best Employer’ in the Indian IT sector by a DQ - IDC survey.”

During the quarter, the company has announced various initiatives as a part of its growth charter. This quarter saw the company launching a nation building initiative in ‘Bharat PC’ as a part of National Broadband Penetration Program (NBPP). This quarter, the company also rolled out successfully its new marketing initiative ‘Mobile Excitement’. The multi dimension initiative includes more focused marketing strategy towards today’s nomadic customer and saw the launch of a new logo and TV commercial focused around Mobility and life–on–the-go. HCL ME campaign has been designed around the concept ‘It’s all about ME’thereby reaching out to the largest emerging consumer group – the youth & the young executives. On the System Integration Front, the company bagged orders from leading banks, PSUs, corporates and multinational establishments in the BFSI, eGovernance, Railways, telecom, Power and Infrastructure verticals. The company has also been ranked as ‘Best Employer 2008-09’ in the Indian IT sector by IDC DQ survey.

Enterprise Products & Services

In the enterprise space HCL bagged orders to deploy desktops, servers and networking products from the leading names across industry verticals including government, education and BFSI.

HCL also saw wins in High Performance Computing space as the company bagged orders from leading universities and research institutions of the country. The company also bagged orders for deploying servers from leading Banks, Educational Institutions and Corporates.

HCL is committed to bring the best and the latest in technology to the Indian Customers. This quarter, the company launched a host of products and solutions designed especially for the enterprise market. HCL introduced a new desktop model Neutron PC with Optical Disk Drive (ODD) & Trim Top. On the notebooks front, company this quarter, launched ME Series 43 based on CULV SKU Intel GS40 chipset with 7 hours battery backup & multi touch gesture touch pad. In the server space, HCL this quarter introduced a new server series based on the latest Intel Nehalam architecture.

This quarter HCL along with BSNL launched HCL broadband PC under the National Broadband Penetration Program (NBPP). The program is a nationwide initiative to accelerate IT proliferation in rural India. The project aims to accelerate PC and broadband penetration by offering a complete solution and to create new markets in the interiors of the country. The NBPP project, believed to be the largest government program to promote rural connectivity till date, aims to break through the affordability barrier. The project aims to power the next million PC+ Broadband connections in untapped market space.

This quarter HCL bagged a strategic IT outsourcing deal from Fortis Healthcare Ltd, the leading healthcare company in the country. The deal is a part of the five year agreement under which HCL will undertake complete outsourcing of IT systems and processes of the Fortis Healthcare Ltd. HCL will deploy Hospital Information Systems (HIS) & Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to standardize operations across hospitals. HCL also bagged another IT outsourcing deal from a large player in the logistics industry.

This quarter HCL bagged a turnkey contract from Bharti Airtel for establishing their network operation centre. The company also won an order from Commonwealth Games for installing and commissioning of the public announcements at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium.

Consumer Business

The company this quarter continued its focus on Brand building through innovative and effective methods. This quarter three consumer promotion campaigns for HCL desktops and laptops were rolled out. ‘Young India Offer’ was launched in July, ‘Freedom To Win’ offer for August and ‘Tick and Click’ offer for Onam in September were successfully launched in different parts of the country.

To promote channel business, HCL successfully launched its Channel Loyalty Program “Star’s Club”August’09 with an objective to cultivate loyalty among channel partners and provide sustainable mutual growth. The program elicited a very positive response from the channel community.

This quarter, the company also rolled out successfully its new marketing initiative ‘Mobile Excitement’. The multi dimension initiative includes more focused marketing strategy towards today’s nomadic customer and saw the launch of a new logo and TV commercial focused around Mobility and life–on–the-go. HCL MEcampaign has been designed around the concept ‘It’s all about ME’ thereby reaching out to the largest emerging consumer group – the youth & the young executives.

With consumer sentiments picking up and festival season around the corner, the digital lifestyle business showed better growth in JAS 09 over corresponding quarter last year. As a part of rebranding exercise HCL Digilife stores have been rebranded post the new brand launch of ME. The Multi category stores offering a range of ICT products including laptops, mobiles, cameras, MP3 Players and gaming consoles have been branded as “ME-Zones” and the Computing Stores selling desktops, laptops and netbooks are called “ME-Xclusives”. In the distribution business, the market trend in this quarter has been positive compared to the previous quarters. New product launches by Nokia like Nokia 2323, 2700, 6303 and 6700 have been well accepted.

System Integration (SI)

HCL's System integration saw the company executing projects in a number of verticals like Telecom, Power, eGovernance, Infrastructure, Railways, Retail and BFSI & Coop.

This quarter HCL bagged a contract of over Rs.500 crs to implement a state wide solution involving integration of IT, GIS, AMR & the associated technologies. The state is also the first in India to facilitate implementation of power reforms by the ministry of power under Re-structured Accelerated Power Development and Reform Program (RAPDRP). The project involves consultancy, design, development & implementation encompassing business process applications, CRM, Billing, GIS, AMR. The project involves setting up of a wide area network, data center with a disaster recovery back-up centre. The project will also implement a state wide differential GPS to map all the electrical assets of the three distribution companies of the state. The project involves creation of baseline data, energy audit, accountability & efficiency improved consumer services & satisfaction. This is the largest power sector order in SI till date.

In the Infrastructure area this quarter HCL bagged an order from a leading airport of the country to deploy Airport control centre solution. This quarter HCL also undertook Network rollout for unreserved ticketing system under its Railways vertical. In Retail, this quarter saw wins to deploy retail solutions from a leading hospitality chain of the country and Milk Unions & private Dairies across Maharashtra. In theBFSI this quarter, HCL bagged order from a leading financial & banking institution of the country to deploy financial inclusion and infrastructure solutions.

In the eGovernance space, this quarter saw the company bag a project from Uttar Pradesh (UP) State Government, in-order to facilitate disbursement of wages to workers under NREGA project. In order to create an electronic monitoring and payment system, State Government of Uttar Pradesh has partnered with HCL Infosystems to implement technology for issuing e-job cards to workers in Aliya Block under Sitapur district in UP.

The project will be implemented in multiple phases. These e-job cards also provide demographic and biometric details of all the family members willing to do unskilled work, online record of the workers attendance and the record of wages (both accrued and disbursed). These e-job cards are expected to completely eliminate bogus enrollments and transactions through simultaneous use of e-job cards and biometric authentication, authenticate and capture correct data at job site using handheld terminals and update it at block level database through internet/GSM connectivity.

In the security area this quarter company bagged an order for deploying Wireless IP Surveillance Solutions for monitoring purposes at the Khumb Mela in Haridwar and another order from Tutucorin Port Trust, Tutucorin for installing Wireless IP Surveillance Solutions for monitoring activities at the port area. HCL also bagged order from Indian Space Research Organization, Bangalore for installation of Perimeter Intrusion Detection Systems for detecting unauthorized entries inside the premises and projects for installing of X ray based Baggage Screeners to scan parcels & baggage of visiting guests at a major hotel in Mumbai. Also received was an order for installation of Under Vehicle Surveillance System for identification of hidden & concealed objects at the bottom chassis of the vehicles passing by.

Education & Training

This quarter also saw the launch of ‘HCL DigiSchool’, its state-of-the-art solutions designed for Indian schools that offer modern multimedia classroom with world class content. HCL announced this new initiative at ‘eIndia’, a three day international conference on ICT applications being held at Hyderabad. HCL Digischool solutions are designed & customized as per Indian school curriculum including all K12 boards.

Build on the latest eLearning standards, the state of the art module effectively integrates Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) which is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. SCROM compliant Learning Management Systems (LMS) helps in effective lesson planning and content management and seamless integration of various features like interactive white board, student response system and online examination module.

HCL's training initiatives have grown its presence rapidly over the last quarter taking ICT education to the various corners of India. This quarter HCL CDC announced Yuva Pratibha Scholarship Exam. The initiative saw good response nationally with over 15,000 participants taking the online assessment test. This quarter

HCL CDC also tied up with world’s leading independent IT management software company to provide training on network management & security products.

Employee Matrix

HCL Infosystems continues to invest in strong people management initiatives. The total employee strength as on 30th Sep 09 was 6105. This quarter the company has also been ranked as ‘Best Employer 2008-09’ in the Indian IT sector by IDC DQ survey.

Sustained Environment Initiatives

HCL has always been focused in developing a sustainable future through environment friendly green computing. HCL amalgamated its various environment protection initiatives under the comprehensive ‘HCL ecoSafe’ program. Under the ‘HCL ecoSafe’ initiative, HCL Desktops, Servers and Laptops are RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliant.

HCL also has a comprehensive e-waste recycling policy, wherein HCL facilitates its consumers to recycle / dispose their ‘end of life’ products manufactured by HCL in an environmentally safe manner. In addition, the

HCL Best Assured Campaign, an initiative against the counterfeit electronic products has created consumer awareness and is helping in preventing the dumping of these into India.

THE “NATIVE” CALCUTTA METRO

We as Bengalees are proud of our native metro..popularly known as 'Patal Rail'. While many may have never seen or travelled in them but they may still believe that the Delhi Metro surpasses the Kolkata metro any day.

However, we think differently. It is not to bring out a comparison between the two but it is an effort to bring out the fact that its been long enough and that the Kolkata Metro needs to be recognised. It completes 25 years next month, completely unwept, unhonoured and unsung for all these years. For years now its existence has been taken for granted, it has never received the accolades it deserved.

The 20km long Metro Railway has never had a fatality or derailment, forget structural collapses. It carries more than 4.2 lakh passengers everyday which is three times that of the Delhi Metro. Also it is thrice as long as the Delhi Metro and is faster than the latter too.

For those who are unaware, almost the entire length of Kolkata metro is underground, i.e below sea level. People travelling by car at Chowrongee, Shayambazar or Rabindra Sadan do not even realise that there are trains running right below them. Also since it is underground the Metro does not overshadow historical buildings.

It is interesting to observe that the entire construction of Kolkata Metro was undertaken and fulfilled by Indian Railway engineers without a single Foriegn Consultant or Foriegn Contractor. The boogies were not airlifted from Germany contrary to the Delhi Metro coaches. They were built by the ICF/ Perambur and hauled to Kolkata by trains.

The tunnels and underground stations are air-conditioned and the trains carry the cool air with them. The moving trains are not burdened with air-conditioning equipment which add 20 per cent to the weight and 50 per cent to the cost. They cost, at present day prices, a fourth of what Delhi Metro coaches cost. The tickets cost about the same as buses and not thrice as much.

Let the rest of the Country think what they like, the people of Kolkata are proud of their 'Paatal Railway'.

Shubo Mahalaya Aar Pujor Shubecha

IMImobile Acquires Mobytec

IMImobile, a global provider of converged mobile and online technology platforms and managed services, has acquired Mobytec, the technology platform powering the award-winning Mobyko social aggregation service. As a result of the deal, Mobytec will be offered by IMImobile as a revenue-generating fully managed, white label service for mobile network operators (MNOs). Mobyko Ltd will continue as an independent company offeringmobyko.com branded services.

Mobytec empowers the phone book for digital social lives. Users are able to synchronise and store social media content (contacts, photos, texts and videos) from their mobile phones in a single, secure online hub and share rich media content with friends across online and mobile ecosystems. The platform integrates with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter; aggregating live feeds, synchronising events, downloading profile photos to the contact address book and displaying latest Tweets from friends.

For operators, Mobytec is a carrier-grade fully managed service, and a ‘sticky’ interface between online and mobile activities in the expanding consumer social aggregation sector. By positioning the mobile address book as the natural hub for consumers’ online and mobile activities, Mobytec presents a compelling revenue-generation, and customer retention proposition.

“We believe that social aggregation tools are going to play an increasingly important role in the operator/consumer relationship. Applications that add value to the customer and provide operators with a converged service, bridging the gap between online social networks and the mobile phone, are vital. Mobytec’s proven ability to deliver a world class user experience combined with IMImobile’s robust and scalable back-end infrastructure provides a powerful proposition within the market,” said Vishwanath Alluri, CEO and founder, IMImobile

Adding to the same Julian Saunders, co-founder of UK-headquartered Mobyko Ltd. said; “Becoming a part of IMImobile’s worldwide offering means we can take the Mobytec platform to the next level in terms of market presence. IMImobile’s impressive technology and experience in the mobile operator space brings the required scalability and expertise as we take the service to new markets.”

This acquisition represents another step in IMImobile’s ambitious organic and inorganic growth plans following the acquisition of dx3 technologies, the M2Y platform from Nokia Siemens Networks and the recent launch of IMEXmobile in the U.K.

The most secure OS - Google Chrome - Myth or Reality?

Online search giant Google has announced yesterday its ongoing efforts in the development of an open-source operating system for personal computers.

Whilst industry and media alike speculate on the challenge that Google’s Chrome OS might pose to Microsoft – of particular interest to the security community will be some of the comments made in Google’s official blog post.

Describing Chrome as a back to basics OS, Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management, and Google's engineering director Linus Upson wrote: "We are completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates.”

A great intention – but is this a practical reality?

Simple security – can this be a reality?

“Google’s intention to redesign the underlying security architecture of the Operating System is commendable, however all software is susceptible to issues – it just depends on how much effort the malware author wants to go to and how much profit can be made. Already we have seen vulnerabilities and issues with the Chrome browser, and Google even ran a contest in which two well-known security researchers found 12 exploitable security flaws in the company's Native Client system.

Two of the top three security threats (SQL injection, browser vulnerability and rogue av) rely on software flaws so we know that it’s likely that malware authors will be looking for flaws in the Chrome OS to take advantage of from day one. It’s a great philosophy to design an OS for today’s environments, but will Google deliver? And when we will see the first attack against Chrome OS? We’ll be keeping a close eye on things to be ready to protect our customers.”

This a comment from Carl Leonard, the Security Research Manager for EMEA, Websense

I've Learnt

I've learnt that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I've learnt that no matter how good a person is, they are going to hurt you every once in a while, And you must forgive them for that.

True friendship continues to grow even over longest distances, same goes for true love.

That you can do something in an instant, that could give you heartache for life.

I've learnt that its taking me a long time to become the person, you want me to be.

I've learnt that you should leave loved ones with loving words, it may be the last time you see them.

That I can keep going, long after I can't.

I've learnt that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I've learnt that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is, the passion soon fades away, And there'd better be something else to take its place.

I've learnt that hero's are the people, who do what has to be done, when it has to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I've learnt money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learnt that my closest one and I can do anything or nothing, And still have the best time together.

I've learnt that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you are down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

That sometimes when I am angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I've learnt that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, it doesn't mean that they don't love you with all they have.

I've learnt it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others, sometimes you need to forgive yourself.

I've learnt that maturity has nothing to do with the number of birthdays I've celebrated, but its more to do with the experiences I've have had and what I've learnt from them.

I've learnt that however bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I've learnt that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for what we become.

I've learnt that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other, And just because they don't, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learnt I shouldn't be eager to find out a secret, it changed my life forever.

I've learnt that two people can look at exactly the same thing, and still see something totally different.

I've learnt that my life can be changed in a matter of hours, by people who don't even know me well.

I've learnt that even when I have no more to give, When a friend cries out, I will find the strength to help.

I've learnt that credentials on the wall don't make you a decent human being.

And I've learnt the bare truth of life that people you care about most in life, Are the ones who go away too soon.