Oracle Social CRM

The Spatial Grid and the “Cloud Book”

Kevin Kelly in his talk on TED.com talks about the future of web (Next 5000 days of the web) as a web-mesh that will integrate everything on the planet earth. He also gives a passing reference to the “cloud book”. I personally have been interested in the concept of “The Cloud”.

Laptops and PCs of the future will not need to have a memory storage capability. The concept of “Cloud Book” revolves around the hand held device that will be required to fetch and display the required information from the “cloud”.

To work for this cloud, there needs to be a continuous cloud in which the information flows. The cloud is supported by the Grid. The billions of terabytes of the information will be stored on different servers in the Grid, the processing power will be a sum total of all the processors connected to the grid and the flow will be seamless.

This idea might look very farfetched today, but in some years to come, it will be reality. Many companies have going in this direction Flicker, e-snips, Blogs, Wikis; Social CRM etc. have already started taking the first steps in this direction. All these applications work on the principle of “Storing and Sharing”. On similar lines, the vast sea of knowledge will be stored and shared with the millions of users connected to the grid. All one needs is a device to connect to the cloud and fetch the information required.

Now, this Cloud Book will have to be a standard platform, which has some processing capability. Once it’s up and running, the Book will make use of the Cloud and select the best Operating System required for doing the task at that moment. If more processing capability is required to achieve the task, it will make use of the spare processing capability of other machines connected to the Grid.

Thus, the information in this world just becomes a sea where one just needs a bucket to take whatever he wants. The best part is, whatever information the person takes, is not depleted from the sea. On the other hand, when the user converts this information into knowledge, it is added to the Cloud so that others can also use the same.

I am eagerly waiting for this concept to get up and running. May be this is the Next Big Thing on the net.

 

Sacrificing Good for the sake of Best.

Imagine a house owner who hires a servant whose only job is to keep the house clean. Also there is a sweeper employed by the government to sweep and keep the road clean.

Now, the servant in the house has a job of keeping the house clean. Every morning, he sweeps the house and throws the garbage onto the road. The sweeper, whose job is to keep the road clean, throws the same garbage back into the house.  The servant and the sweeper are doing their jobs to perfection. No one can raise a concern on the jobs performed by them. But, the net result of the job is null. And, on the extreme, both the sweeper and the servant might get rewarded for their performance. It is the job of the house owner to make sure that both the road and the house is clean. The best would be to make the servant and the sweeper understand this. Once, they understand their jobs, in relation to each other, they create an “ecosystem”, a clean environment, in and around the house.

That’s the scenario where a manager has to take care of the different members working for his team, or different teams working in the project or different projects working to achieve the organization strategy.

The manager today needs to create an ecosystem around the jobs of the people where the resources do not just complete their jobs; they complement each other in the ecosystem. This is the ecosystem of business. Because now a day’s no one does a job, he conducts business. And the fact is compounded by the advent of Globalization. No one can sit cosy and see his products/ services selling without facing any competition from others. These “others” can be in any part of the world.

Not only competition, cooperation in conducting a business can come from any part of the world. Cooperation or collaboration in business has to be running at clockwork precision to manage the constraints of time zones, language and even work culture.

The readers should not misunderstand me when I suggest not sacrificing Good for the sake of the best. I suggest, first the business leaders should make sure the Good is achieved and then aim for the best.

Why only 2 companies bid for MTNL’s 3G Franchisee Tender?

When MTNL invited bids for outsourcing its 3G services in the two metros of New Delhi and Mumbai (In-Fact MTNL only operates in these two cities.), none would have thought that only two bidders will came forward to stake a claim.

MTNL, being the State’s own company, was allowed to have the privilege of operating the 3G services six months before the other private players could start their services. Given the first mover advantage and all the government gods on its side, the market watchers expected MTNL to become the market leader. But, even after six months, MTNL has only (ONLY) 1000 subscribers for 3 G services.

And, now when MTNL tried to outsource its 3G services, only two bidders have come forward to bid. That’s a disastrous icing on the disaster cake!

Why? What happened?

I have worked as a Process Consultant to MTNL for implementing PeopleSoft CRM and know a lot about the infrastructure and the working on MTNL.

The biggest problem is the customer base. The segment who would use the 3G services are not the customers of MTNL. This segment would be the “moving forward” type customers expecting high performing networks, strict adherence to SLAs and backup. To list a few: High Net Worth Individuals, young and rich professionals, niche SMEs and big corporates.

Given the standard of MTNL customer service and the pathetic supporting infrastructure, none of these customers will be willing to go for MTNL services.

Now, when MTNL does not even have the segment of customers to whom will the Franchisee cater the 3 G services?

In my point of view, this is the problem (or fact) that kept away a majority of the private players from bidding for the 3 G outsourcing deal of MTNL.

And, I wonder: For how long the Government will keep supporting such white elephants? The day is not far when BSNL and MTNL will got the Air India way!

Is the Bottom of Pyramid strong enough to support the “Capitalist Aspirations”?

The Harvard Paper titled “Fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid” (Published by Booze Allen Hamilton in Stategy + Business issue 26.) made famous the radical thought of expoiting the “Bottom of Pyramid” for further expansion by the multi national companies. Prof C.K. Prahlad argued that the vast expanse of population in the world belonging to the Tier-4 category of the economic ranking of the world populace, is the next big thing for the MNCs to target for further expansion. Though the argument looks valid at first glance, it is not without some pitfalls. I have a strong dbout whether the Bottom of the Pyramid is strong enough to support the capitalist aspirations. In this article I have tried to explore some of these pitfalls. 

Creating buying power and the “affordable credit”: 

The buying power of the rural people (and other constituents of the bottom of the Pyramid) can be created by two ways. One, by increasing their income levels. Two, by making the access to credit easier. I find the first case more viable option for increasing the buying power because as the income increases, the people tend to buy more as they have mre disposable income.

But, I find a problem with the idea of making easier access to credit for these people. This is because unless the person has the paying capacity, he can not return the borrowed money. As we have seen in the present economic crisis, easy availability of credit can have some undesired consequences. 

Thus, some how one should make sure that the credit is not be available for “buying” but “creating” buying power. In the villages in Punjab its common trend to borrow a lot of money for weddings, family functions, buying motorcycles etc. Though this kind of borrowing increases the spending of the Tier 4 people, it does not “create” buying power. It pushes the people deeper in debt. Also, its been seen that banks are willing to extend credit to only tose people who have the capacity to pay back. If, along with the wealth generation capabilities, “affordable” credit is made available, the population can become self sufficient. Thus, one needs to create an environment for the Tier 4 people so that they have the facility to borrow and capability for pay back. 

Creating aspirations: 

Creating aspirations in the Tier 4 population is a very tricky subject. Take the case of India, its been observed most of the underworld gangsters and mobsters come from the lower economic strata f the society. Many of there youngeters were lured into the crime world because they had very high aspirations and no means to achieve the same. Thus, many took the road to criminal activities. Thus, creation of aspirations in the Tier 4 population is not enough to expand the markets for the products specially designed fo them. There have to be concious efforts to make sure, they have the means and ends to satiate these arpirations. 

Survival of initiatives: 

There have been efforts by individuals and organizations to make the Bottom-of-Pyramid self sufficient to fund their needs and aspirations (wants). Notable among these have been the microfinance revolution brought about by Dr. Yusuf in Bangladesh and the self sufficiency in irrigation by Anna Hazare in India. But for every such succes story there are thousands which have failed. There are hundreds of schemes started by the Govt. which could never go beyond infancy. The MNCs should come forward to support the government initiatives to make sure that the various “empowerment shcemes” started by the governments see the light of the day, pass the stage of infancy and have enough strangth to survive and serve their cause. 

Value for money: 

Money is very valuable to any segment of the population. It’s the “value” of the money that the consumers get that makes them part with the hard earned money. For the tier 4 population, even a small amount of money spent on goods forms a large percentage of their total income. So, the companies planning to exploit this small sum and “huge percentage” have to be very careful in developing the products which offer the “value” of money to the consumers. 

Thus, if the businesses wish to exploit the bottom of the pyramid for fuelling the next big wave of their capitalist aspirations, first initiatives have to be taken to make the pyramid strong enough. Else, there is a chance of this layer cracking and creating another shock wave up the pyramid. There is wealth at the base, but this wealth has to be nurtured and then harvested. There is not feasible or possible alternate way to harvest this wealth without nurturing it. 

The Kitty Survived.

 

At my hometown, we (the Family) have a very cozy little home. A place where everyone is welcome. Where guests, in accordance with the Indian traditions, are considered equal to God. But, sometimes we do have some unusual guests.

Like most of the B-Schools have visiting faculty, we have a visiting cat (my mom calls her Meow) at my home. This one comes to our place once in while and stays for a few days and then vanishes for a few days before coming again. This has been going on for many years now. And, once a year she will give birth to her litter at our place. My mom takes care of the Cat and her kittens till the time they suddenly vanish. Once in a while the kittens also come back to stay for a few days. And, over the years we have quite a few number of cats visiting our place.

This year also, the cat came and gave birth to 3 kittens. One grey and two blackies. All cute and small, but, one of them was a very weak. Small as a mouse, he  could hardly walk. Even after a few days when others started walking around, this guy would just sit and watch the thin air around him. So weak, he could not even gather strangth to chase away the flies which came and sat on his lil nose.

Then one day when my mother woke up in the morning, she went to see the kittens and the cat only to see the empty rug there. The cat had vanished with two health kittens. The only one left was the weak one. Momma was so tense. This guy could die at any moment. She called up my father on what to do. We, took him in. Placed a nice warm towel on the center table in the drawing room. She called up a family friend who happens to be a vet. He was busy operating some animal and said could not come till late evening. The doc promised to send a junior, who arrived promptly. The doc first asked the kittens name, we dint have any to share. Promptly my mom named it “Kitty”. After a warm water-with-disinfectant bath, the Kitty was feeling dizzy, and dozed off. My mother was so tense, she thought the Kitty has passed out. My mother she is, she couldn’t help but cried.

The doc tried giving some milk laced with medicines, but the Kitty wouldn’t drink. No bread crumbs. No nothing. The Kitty wouldn’t eat at all.

After some time the senior vet came. He tried hard and kept giving small drops of enzymes to Kitty. After a four hour struggle, the Kitty had taken enough enzymes to feel hungry. Now, we tried giving him Milk and Cerelac paste, the kitty promptly licked it off my mama’s finger. After a spoonful of the mix, the Kitty fell asleep again. Mean while the vets left and advised my mom to keep giving the enzymes and milk to the lil one.

And, after two days of this routine, the Kitty started walking. My mother was so happy she picked it up and kissed. Now its been more than 10 days, the Kitty is running around the house and pussy footing around my mom’s feet where ever she goes.

Last night when I called her, she told me, the Kitty has become very naughty, he deliberately spills the left over milk from his feeding bowl. He keeps jumping around when she is cooking. This cutie doesn’t let mama sleep and will come and start nibbling at her toes when she’s sleeping. 

Mama says she’s Kitty is troubling her a lot. I know, in her heart of hearts she wants Kitty to trouble her. She also likes it. She confessed sometime back that she feels as if she is rearing another toddler.

The Chrome Operating System.

Google announced yesterday about its Operating System. This brings Google a step closer to the giant Microsoft. Also, Microsoft is working on Bing, a search engine to tackle the Google search. One would agree that Google own search and MS owns the OS space. Now, when the things are getting hot, they have crossed the line. The war clouds are looming large.

But, Google is planning to fight the war in a different sphere. 

And, this is the Google Sphere. The Gogle guys have used their familiar territory to launch this offensive.  The Chrome OS is based on the Chrome Browser. Its a logical back integration of the browser. The browser itself will contain the OS features. 

The game goes like this. Once the Chrome Browser is installed in the system, it becomes a part of your system and the Chrome Online. No need for yearly upgrades. The Open source cloud computing takes care of it. If you are on the net, the new features will be delivered to as and when developed. 

Another great feature is that one does not have to uninstall the existing OS to use the Chrome OS. Thus, you can have the best of the two worlds. This way, Google can easily capture a large share of the OS market.

Google has always changed the way people use computers. It has always tried to make the PC usage an integral part of the Net usage. Chrome is fr the people living on the net. Checking mails frequently, Tweeting all the time, using shared Google docs and always on the move. I am sure there will be a time in near future where people will not have to store anything on their machine. Every bit of data they have will be stored and accessed online. The PC/ Laptop will just be an enabler to support the browser to access the information.

Google Operating System

What was suspected for a log time has come true. Google is going to announce (not launch) its Operating system. The only thing we know at the moment is that it is based on the Chrome. And, as Chrome captured 5 % of the browser market in just a few days of its launch, I am waiting to see the kinds of response people give to the GOS.

Let’s wait till Wednessday what all details the Google Guys reveal.

Book Review: Hot, Flat and Crowded.

Introduction:

Hot, Flat and Crowded: The book was released in July 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It discusses about the effect of globalization, industrialization and the increasing population on the natural resources and the world economies. The authors discusses in depth some of the important issues of today related to the energy shortage, the food shortage, the global warming and the impact of rise of Indian and China as manufacturing and outsourcing hubs. Enthusiast

 

Author: Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist and a columnist with the New York Times. He has authored many books and articles in Global Trade, the Middle East, The Environment issues and global energy challenges. He is a winner of some important international awards for writing including the Pulitzer Prize for his International reporting and his Commentary on Global issues.

Content:

The book is divided into five parts which discuss in sequence the present state of affairs, the reasons for the present problems, how we can move forward and what China and America must do to move forward

Where we are? 

 

This part discusses about the state of affairs between the US and the world post 9/11. This created barriers between itself and other countries in the world after the attacks. This lead to isolation of the US on some fronts as well. When the US became over protective and started taking too many precautions, it started losing friends, the visits of foreign people t US also decreased. The Americans started looking with suspicions at the Muslim World and people with certain type of appearance and names. The people of these countries also in turn started suspecting the Americans of their motives.

This is compounded by the fact that the countries in this world are so much interrelated to each other than they were in the past. The consumption of fossil fuels by America makes it even more dependent on the OPEC countries. The Big Three auto companies in the US have been supplying fuel guzzling cars and SUVs to the American population. These auto companies have been very aggressive in defeating any attempts to improve the mileage of the SUVs. They even went to the extent of making sure that the law states that the SUVs are small trucks and not cars. This nexus of politicians and car manufacturers had created a huge demand of fossil fuels in America and given the OPEC countries a leverage point.

The ever increasing oil demand has been increased by the industrialization of India and China. The sudden increase in the industries in these countries created a huge demand for energy and fossil fuels. An industry like the Oils producing industry takes time to adjust to demand shocks. The biggest hindrance is the availability of heavy machinery for oil extraction. The expansion in the oil drilling capacity has to be planned well in advance and it was unable to meet the sudden demand by India and China. Also, there is shortage of skilled personnel for such operations. Once the oil producing countries were unable to meet the increased demand, the oil prices started rising so much so that they raised to 160$ a barrel. A rise in oil prices always impacts other sectors as well. Industrial produce, aviation and transport industry which depends heavily on oil also got affected. Russia on the other hand rose to prominence due to the high oil demand and prices. The dependence of countries on Russia increased substantially. This gave Russia political power in the world affairs as well. Almost every year Russia flexes its muscles in the winters when the energy demand for eastern European country is at its peak.

Some countries like Denmark explored other options for their energy requirements and were successful in reducing their dependence on the oil producing countries. Denmark has not only been successful to meet its own energy demand but also is a big supplier of wind turbine to other countries.

 How we got here? 

The entire developing world and the underdeveloped countries want to emulate America. They have seen America prosper on the basis of the industrial manufacturing and big business setups. Now when India, China, Middle east has started to rise, they have started to invest huge amounts in their infrastructure. Indians and Chinese want to be there where America already is. They are taking the same path to progress. This path is heavily dependent on the high consumption of fossil fuels and other natural resources.

The availability of cheap labour and natural resources in Indian and China and other such countries has prompted America and other developed countries to shift their production bases to these countries. For the manufacturing and other related industrial activities, these countries are investing in infrastructure. The huge industrial setups coming in these countries has increase the carbon output of these countries. Thus, they are doing a great harm to the environment as well.

In a clear demographic shift, lakhs of people are shifting from rural areas to urban cities in India and China. This is putting more pressure on the resources available in these cities. Thus the already stretched resources are being stretched more.

If the whole of the developing and the under developed world catches up with the America, it will put a huge pressure on the environment and natural resources. The Fossil fuels prices will skyrocket and ay finish earlier than expected.

Already the fuel prices are very high and this has made the income of the OPEC countries to surge. The result is that we have a set of super rich countries and kingdoms which are thriving only on the oil production and sale. This has created an imbalance in the wealth of these nations. Here too much money is concentrated in the hands of too few people. The Middle East countries have huge piles of cash (trillions of dollars) lying idle. The oil has increased the purchasing power of these countries by leaps and bounds.

 How we move forward? 

The industrial activities, the lifestyle of the people and some irrational use of natural resources by people have done a good deal of harm to the earth. The good part is that people have come to realise that the earth is in danger. The bad part is that most of the people don’t not even still know what to do to save earth. Some are not even willing to change their ways to make amends to the damage done to the natural environment. Some countries and companies have started manufacturing flex-fuel cars. This means that these cars can use the ethanol mix gasoline. In some countries, the proportion of ethanol is as high as 50%. This has reduced the dependence on fossil fuels as well as has increased the growth of plants to manufacture ethanol and in turn get huge government subsidies. This has again caused the imbalance of crops in some parts of the world.

The rate at which the world is producing carbon from the use of fossil fuels, by the mid century, the production of carbon will reach 200 Billion tonnes. The simplest way to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels is the use of solar energy. This form of energy is abundant and affordable.

The US spends 0.15% of the total revenues on R and D in the Electrical utilities sector whereas it spends 8-10 percent on an average for other industries. If the amount spent on the RnD to be increased, the inventors could increase the efficiency of the electrical appliances. This will help us to meet the ever increasing demand of energy and decrease our reliance on oil.

The rise in the prices of oil has increased the demand for Prius (the hybrid vehicle from Toyota). So much so that Toyota has planned three plants to produce Prius in the U.S.

The talk for Green Energy or Clean Energy is gaining momentum. Some even say it is at its peak. But, consider this: In the year 2007, the total venture capital money was less than % 5 Billion. In the dot-com boom in 2000, the total VC money was more than $ 80 Billion. If similar money is pumped into clean energy, it will become a bigger and more important sector than the IT.

The author is happy that the high prices of oil have made people to explore the opportunities for alternate energy. The rooftops of factories and households can be sites for putting solar panels for generating electricity. The consumers can have their own energy generation. This might not be able to meet 100% demand but still will help in deducing the dependence on electricity and fuels.

 China: 

The author starts the part on China by saying that the Chinese people have started speaking more fluently and breathing with more difficulty. This is because though China has increased its exposure to the world, it has also made a huge impact on its environment due to the ruthless set up of industries. The biggest problem in China is the sheer size and scale. Identifying the problem is one part of the story. Setting it right is another. The major task at hand for the Chinese leadership is to pave way for green energy. As China progresses, it creates a huge demand of electricity. Approximately one third of the electricity in China is used in Air Conditioning. If China is able to somehow make progress in having clean and green energy for its Air Conditioning needs, it will be a breather to the energy needs. As a first step, China has ordered its provincial Governments to replace 50 million traditional incandescent lamps with heavily subsidized energy efficient lights. There is a plan of replacing 150 million bulbs over the next 5 years. This will not only reduce the demand for electricity but also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60 M tonnes.

Thus, given the size and scale of industries and households in China, it is very important to achieve energy efficiency in China.

 America: 

The biggest problem with America is its huge dependence on oil for transportation. This is compounded by the use of fuel guzzling SUVs. Americans have a fad for big cars and SUVs. This was fuelled by the Big Three auto makers who supplied the public with ever bigger cars and engines. One thing that US has to focus on is to build fuel efficient cars.  This will reduce the fuel consumption in US. Also, it will reduce the dependence of US on the oil producing countries. Now, some of the states like California have started to pursue steps for clean energy. At this moment, the amount of money going into research for clean fuels is a fraction of what is required. If there is an increase in the money allocation, there can be huge strides in the energy saving efforts. The VCs also do not invest much in the green energy sector as the returns are not immediate. Once it gets started up and people get to see the returns, they start investing in it. For example, due to California’s renewable energy drive, many people have started investing in wind power. The wind power is easier to set up and gives immediate returns.

 Conclusion:

In the conclusion, I would agree with the author that the world, is getting, flat, crowded and hot. All the countries now have access to same kind of technology and resources. Every country aspires to be America. In the race for becoming America, these developing countries are doing a major harm to the environment. The interdependence of the countries has increased to a great extent. This is also made complicated by the fact that most of these developing countries are heavily dependent on oil for their energy needs. Any change in the oil prices affects these countries to a great extent. As we progress, the world will get more and more hot, more and more crowded and more and more flat. It’s never too late to start. The world community has to step up its efforts to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. Also, the world is getting smaller and smaller. cCountries have to collaborate with one another in anything they have to do,The world leaders have to come together to take some firm steps in the direction to make this world a better place to live.

Michael Jackson Quotes.

I have a passion for collecting quotes from famous, infamous and not so famous people around the world and then using them (with due credit) in my conversations and writings.

I had a small collection of famous Michael Jackson quotes. Some of these I collected in last two days.  Would love to share the sae here:

Michael Jackson Quotes:

If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.
- Michael Jackson

Yeah, Wacko Jacko, where did that come from? Some English tabloid. I have a heart and I have feelings. I feel that when you do that to me. It’s not nice.
- Michael Jackson

Just because it’s in print doesn’t mean it’s the gospel.
- Michael Jackson

And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I’d see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead.
- Michael Jackson

People write negatives things, cause they feel that’s what sells. Good news to them, doesn’t sell.
- Michael Jackson

I love my family very much. I wish I could see them a little more often than I do. But we understand because we’re a show business family and we all work.
- Michael Jackson

If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.

- Michael Jackson

And my goal in life is to give to the world what I was lucky to receive: the ecstasy of divine union through my music and my dance.

- Michael Jackson