Merry Christmas and Happy New Year(2005)

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Hi Touchpoints,


Significance of Christmas Tree:
Tree has three basic components - Roots, Fruits and Leaves, Branches. Roots are nothing but, Year long toiling days of each year. Feeding this roots are our actions, thoughts and believes. Fruits are the sorrows and happiness blossming out of branches growing in upward direction. Branches are the deroots taken by us due to each happiness and sorrow. Leaves and branches are surviving the cold weather and gifts at the root are nothing but, significance of celebrating such valuable human life.

Time is important as sometimes decides the fate of braves and braves are the ones who surf the bad times to reach to the fruits.

Wish you all Happy Christmas and Happy new Year (2005).

Year 2004 has seen lot of ups and downs on personal front as well as in economy.

1. Few of fiscal changes like Interest rate going UP creating cyclic effect of hiking the price of few of the commodities and elite items (Cars and House). Worst to happen is hike in Basic Primary and Secondary education expanses creating a education divide of magnitude 100 times more than Digital divide in India.
2. Merger and Acquition getting heat in Thiland, China as well as local market in India. BOI and UBI is good marriage but best is IDBI and IDBI bank. UTI and UTI Bank is as usual debatable. IDBI turn around is the best thing to happen as ICICI and HDFC need to watch out for the move. Post merger IDBI has lowest NPA and thus going to get better CRISIL and Fiche ratings.
3. Banks have started following BAncAssurance model and progressing well. Few will capitalise and we need to watch TATA AIG and BIRLA closly. Reliance moving ahead but, fingers are crossed tightly after the recent turmoil between the brothers.
4. Last to regreat is bank's continue to follow the trap of Retail Focus to attract low cost deposit rather than concentrating on strong Corporate and Tresurery operations. Let us watch closly the banks.
5. Real strategy and winners are the one who make the elephant dance with Stick from Investors (Returns). It is act of balancing to walk on Tight Rope with traps of Retail and corporate on both the sides of stick.
6. Retail space started well with Many shopping malls mushrooming, airlines industry openings and ever green Telecom network expanding.
   

I have responsibilities as moderator of the Group to update all of TOUCHPOINT members on recent developments of the group.

• TOUCHPOINT was started as Blog in August 2004 http://365-24-7.blogspot.com.
• TOUCHPOINT Blog was instant success as it got registered on BLOGLET and Blog Street in Novemeber 2004.
• TOUCHPOINT blog started with just 10 members and now grown to 190 active users receiving mail notifications on BLog Posting.
• TOUCHPOINT blog was recently reached 500 as monthly counter with visitors across the globe visiting it.
• TOUCHPOINT BLOG is being ranked as 152 on BLOGLET from 495th Rank two months ago.

Hope you will enjoy and continue to contribute your personal experience with technology and business aspect on TOUCHPOINT.

Cheers
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Height of Hypocrates

BAZEE (an eBAY Company) 's Avinash Bajaj's Arrest...US's Intervention

Did u heard about DPS (Delhi Public School)'s MMS clip of male and female student involved in sex actions. Cycle starts now, another guy in IIT Khargpur selling on India's most prestigious Auction site - Bazee.com.

Bazee is so successful that, Meg Whiteman - Chairman-Founder of world's largest auction site (Success story is already blogged) acquired recently in November 2004. What happened next, Bazee is suppose to implement better corporate governance, efficient operational model as operated in more than 10 countries - US and UK (Largest Market), China, India, Singapore and more eurpoean market.

Fault of Bazee's Control over Listing:

1. DPS Clip got hosted as article. I myself registered as seller in Bazee and experiencted that, listing is not copntrolled and monitored. Even at some places, I suspected that, Bazee's back office guys and seller tie up to generate Auction Bids and comments.

2. DPS clip was listed by student - Bazee does not check the santity of seller as valid merchant at all who has commercial identity to conduct business.

3. It got de-listed after due enforcement by Police. I accept concern over Cyber commerce controls by Indian Goverment. Cyber Police is just eye wash. I liked the concern by eBay and US but again fundmental question comes up, does such due dilligance are not carried out by eBay and so called smart US Goverment ??

Now, eBay loose image and US loose control and defame but, I feel they are trying to save their image in this case.

Online Shopping is big market and players need to be more authenticated.

One best way of identifying is Credit Card Number used for validation in registration process. I feel Amazon wins over eBAy/Bazee. Amazon uses validation process much better including for USed Book selling.

Amazon wins over eBay/Bazee as it has both Inventory as well as Non Inventory model co-exisitng together and can win over long run.

Fingers are crossed as we watch for more Innovative way of doing business over Internet....

Pls. feel free to express your comments... I believe I can improve....

JCB acquire 30% in EMVCo.

Card Frauds likely to shift by April 2005
JCB, a leading international payment brand, today announced it has acquired one-third ownership in EMVCo, LLC (EMVCo), joining MasterCard International and Visa International, and giving all three members equal interests in the organisation. JCB will appoint representatives to the EMVCo board of managers and the executive committee, as well as its working groups. EMVCo manages and enhances EMVT Integrated Circuit Card Specifications for Payment Systems in line with advances in technology and the implementation of chip card programs.

JCB has been deploying an EMV-compliant infrastructure since 2001. With half of its 51 million branded cards predicted to be EMV compliant by April 2005, JCB's commitment to EMV is without question.""The decision to become an owner-member of EMVCo is a natural extension of JCB's leadership in the global effort to migrate to an EMV-compliant payment infrastructure.

Since December 2001, JCB has been deploying an EMV-compliant infrastructure in cooperation with banks, card companies and other partners worldwide, as a countermeasure against the increasingly serious threat of credit card fraud. JCB has also been issuing new and renewal JCB smart cards in Japan, where the majority of its cardmembers reside, as well as in other Asian countries. By April 2005, JCB anticipates that about half of its JCB branded cards will be EMV compliant smart cards.EMV smart cards provide higher security, increased multi-functionality and lower counterfeit and fraud risk.

Currently there are about 250 million EMV-compliant chip cards and about two million chip card-capable ATMs and POS terminals deployed in the global market, primarily in Europe and Asia.

Drivers for BPM - Few Writing on the walls

In late 2000, Gartner predicted that business process management (BPM) would become the next big phenomenon. The "thought leadership" expressed then has been reflected in the current popularity of business modeling.

We have seen demand grow from 15 percent of our client base (which primarily involved businesses with planning cultures) to more than 35 percent of our client base across all businesses, regardless of their cultural tendencies.

1. Build New Process for New products but Preserve the Business model
BPR geeks have dismaneled the process in the quest of operational efficiency, cost effectiveness... Business came up with new products and services due to new mode of trades and delivery modes like Internet, Mobile Commerce, Workflow, Document Management, XML ....Again New Processes and change managements.

Why few IT Managers are crying that, they don't see BPM appriciate it's investment ?

Successful businesses have not changed their business model and thus gained from new technology by changing the process not the customer benefit. Some enriched the experience and some failed to do anything but annoy the customers with their new ineffcient processes and product/services.

2. Process followed the business
Business underwent strategic changes like Merger and Acquition, BPO, Innovation... process across two different organisation requied to be integrated and streamlined. Few cases like Compaq HP merger has shown that, organisation is not able to fully leverage their competitative edge after such strategic changes.

Process were treated like Centralised Knowledge Entity and looked upon under lens of aging, change history, customer orientation etc. Process were changed several times and significance of defined and assigned to it. It's like chemical reaction on Golden metal plate and entropy of metal is calculated after each exposure. Process are also needed to be treated once it looses it's basic characterstics or value and evolve new process.

3. Age of TEchnology and ORganisation learning:
Each of us would have rid on hype wave. It can be technology, process or innovative way of use. In order to fit the technology, organisations changed themselves (E.g. typical ERP implementation in XYZ Industry/sector). few wanted to convenience and felt pressure from board/investors about org.(and IT Managers) capability to implement ERP solution in org. and they Changed themself to adopt the IT solution.

Few went otherway round and I feel they were smarter, They felt they have efficient and effective process ( Some deed process evaluation) and customised the product for MATCH MAKING but again it was also tainted sometime for making their board/invesor's (or their biz. partners) feel happy.

BPM is still going to remain the major force as more and more such changes are ineviatable in present trough of economic cycle.

Above were drivers from Human and ORganisation strategy and operational aspect as well as touch upon the market place.

Few other drivers are due to the perceived advantages of BPM.

1. Automate...More.. and Connect More ...
STP (Straight Through Processing) and SCM (Supply chain Management) is the main driver for biz. to look at changing the way they do their business with their suppliers, distributors, Creditors (Banks and FIs) etc...

Each business manager is looking under the magnifiying lens such business interactions happening either human to human as well System to System. Collobrating and influncing their partners for SCM and STP to create new or enhanced business value.They get faciliteted by simulated process using BPA tools to testigy and justify their strategies and decisions.

2. Milk the Networked Business
Once you are on the go of BPM... business manager start using few jargons in their corporate presentation to board/investors/partnes ..."optimized cost, time to market, resource loading, risk indetification and management, quality optimsiation (SIX SIGMA Jargons) through the use of models for initial design and ongoing improvements.

But, it is sure that, business using BPM effective and efficienctly has seen by numbers that they are milking the market place.

3. Create newer market place or market conditions.
Few corporates are able to realise their process model strength explore weakness of either competitors or peer level corporates in other market place. Few of the business users are able to apply their process capabilities to unknown territory.

They simulate and anticipate opportunities as well as threats usig such simulations. One of the example I remember is a financial institute able to manage account receivable for Telecom giant. It has better process of rating customers from it's past credit record to provide additional talk time or request for offering credit against their account balance as additional talk time. IT resulted in increase in revenue for Telecom. Bank is able to get integrated view of such customers for their demography and spend pattern to device new products.

In case u liked /disliked above blog... drop a word... I believe that I can improve...

War on TCO (Linux v/s MS windows)

Linux is still cheaper than Windows.
Don't Delete it.... Most important is the TCO Measurement Methodlogy...

An Australian IT services firm has updated what it says is one of the few fully transparent studies comparing the costs of running Linux vs. Windows -- and found that Linux is still cheaper.

The new study, from Melbourne-based Cybersource Pty. Ltd., found that Linux installations can be up to 36 percent cheaper to install and run over a period of three years than comparable Windows systems, though subscribing to enterprise technical support and buying new hardware and infrastructure can lower the savings to as little as 19 percent.

The study was the first Linux/Windows TCO (total cost of ownership) study when it was originally released in 2002, claims Cybersource. It has now been updated to reflect cost changes since then, such as the introduction of mandatory support contracts by some Linux providers and Microsoft Corp.'s controversial Software Assurance subscription policy.

The main reason why companies should take notice of the study is its transparency, the company claims. While a number of TCO studies have appeared in the past two years, surprisingly few are fully open about the methodologies they use to calculate cost. Others, such as two controversial studies from The Yankee Group and IDC, have been shown to be biased.

Metholodgy:
Cybersource based its calculations -- what it calls a "first-pass quantitative estimate" -- on the average computer-usage requirements for an organization with 250 users over a three-year period. The costing models include expenses such as workstations, servers, networking, IT staff, consultancy fees, Internet service charges, file, mail and print servers, e-commerce servers, SQL and network infrastructure servers, Internet and LAN servers, line-of-business software, desktop productivity applications, external training, printers as well as miscellaneous systems costs.

The study looks at re-using existing hardware or buying new hardware and infrastructure, and also contrasts Linux installations without third-party support with those with mandatory support
contracts, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The idea is that a company of any size should be able
to scale the figures to apply to its business, Cybersource said.

The lowest-cost system was a Linux system without external support, using existing hardware, which cost 36 percent less than a Microsoft system on existing hardware. Linux without external support but on new hardware cost 26 percent less than Windows. A Red Hat Inc. system with a support contract on existing hardware cost 27 percent less than Windows, and Red Hat on new hardware cost 19 percent less than Windows.

Cybersource said that since the company is known as a Linux systems provider, it took care to stack the deck in favor of Microsoft in several ways, such as factoring out the cost of malware attacks and tripling the cost of external consultants for Linux installations.

"We've given Microsoft every head-start possible but Linux's cost advantage is simply too great for most organizations to ignore," said Cybersource chief executive Con Zymaris in a statement.

Propaganda war

Why should Cybersource's study merit any attention amongst the propaganda coming from both sides of the open source/proprietary debate? The company argues this is one of the few places a company can find a fully open analysis of Linux and Windows installations. "We explain, in sometimes droning detail, each and every step of our analysis," the study says. "We also provide sources to every stipulated line item cost, for both Linux/open source and Microsoft Windows platforms. To our knowledge, no other TCO model sampling does this."

This is in contrast to several other major TCO studies, Cybersource says. A 2002 IDC study called "Windows 2000 Versus Linux in Enterprise Computing", for example, found Linux was more expensive than Windows. But this was funded by Microsoft, and more importantly, one of the report's authors later said Microsoft had chosen scenarios for analysis that would be more costly using Linux, Cybersource pointed out. The study is no longer promoted by Microsoft.

An April 2004 report from Yankee Group called "Linux, Unix and Windows TCO Report, Part 1" surveyed 1,000 IT managers across various types of organizations and found that most believed Windows offered better TCO. But Cybersource noted that it was later made clear that the sample group was taken from a mailing list aimed at Windows system administrators.

A Meta Group Inc. white paper from May 2004 called "Linux Servers: No Silver Bullet for Total Cost of Ownership" found that higher costs for applications and support raised Linux TCO to levels comparable to Windows. Cybersource said it factored such costs into its study.

An April report from Forrester Research Inc. called "The Costs and Risks of Open Source" found that operating expenses for Linux can be higher than for Windows "for some companies". The survey sample is not exhaustive, Forrester said; while some of its findings were based on a survey of 140 North American companies and in-depth discussions with 14 of those companies, only five of the companies had kept detailed metrics on TCO. Those five companies said their Linux costs were five to 20 percent higher than their current Windows installations, and two of those companies said they expected their costs to go down as they gained experience.

The only major independent study to contrast Linux against Microsoft is a report from Germany's Soreon Research, using data collected from interviews with 50 enterprises, Cybersource said. The report found that Linux had up to 30 percent lower TCO than Windows.