TPL: Contest For The Tech Prowess IT Heads

Hey,
Are you a IT head eager to demonstrate your prowess in technology. Then here is a contest just for you...
The Technology Premier League 2012 is a Inter-corporate Team challenge jointly developed by ITNEXT and The CTO Forum.
The contest will involve 20 corporate IT teams in each city -- Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Each 4-member corporate team will be supported by the CIO (or IT head of the organization), The CIO will play the role of a coach & captain, and will guide and advise the 4-member team during the contest.

The contest will be held over two days in an off-site location in these three cities. Each team will be given a complex business problem—and will need to create a comprehensive IT solution.

Here is what you can win:* 1st Prize - Trip to Las Vegas (air fare + hotel) for the entire team
* 2nd Prize - Local weekend getaway (hotel stay) for entire team
* 3rd prize: Corporate Utility Gift for entire team
* Team 4 & 5: Gift vouchers for entire team

The event is scheduled to be held at:Delhi - 26th & 27th May'12
Mumbai -2nd & 3rd June'12
Bangalore - 16th & 17th June'12

All you need to do is to register in the link below:

http://tpl2012.com/register/

2 million new jobs in cloud computing space by 2015

A Microsoft commissioned Study, conducted by IDC, predicts that cloud computing will generate over 2 million jobs in India by 2015. The findings predict that cloud will generate nearly 14 million new jobs worldwide in the same time. More than 50 % of these jobs will be generated in the small and medium businesses. Further, more than two million jobs each will be generated in the ‘communications and media’ and manufacturing sectors, followed by banking at over 1.4 million. Pointing to the strong linkage between cloud, innovation and entrepreneurship, the study estimates that revenues from cloud innovation could reach US$1.1 trillion per year by 2015. Combined with cloud efficiencies, this will drive significant organizational reinvestment and job growth.

Cloud computing is already changing how IT delivers economic value to countries, cities, industries, and businesses. IDC estimates that in 2011 alone, IT cloud services helped businesses around the world generate more than US$600 billion in revenue and 1.5 million new jobs. Further, the spending on public cloud IT services in 2011 stood at US$28 billion, while the total spending on IT products and services was US$1.7 trillion.

The study also indicates that countries investing in key cloud infrastructure will experience greater job growth. The factors determining the number of jobs that might be created in a particular country include projected level of spending on IT, degree of automation, workforce size amongst others.

“For most organizations, cloud computing is a no-brainer when considering it enables massive return on investment and flexibility,” said John F. Gantz, Chief Research Officer and Senior Vice President at IDC. “A common misperception is cloud computing is a job eliminator, but in truth it will be a job creator — a major one. And job growth will occur across continents and throughout organizations of all sizes because emerging markets, small cities and small businesses have the same access to cloud benefits as large enterprises or developed nations.”

While sharing the findings of the study, Floris van Heist, General Manager, Business & Marketing, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd, said, “Cloud computing poses a compelling opportunity for businesses and governments around the world. India is uniquely poised to leverage this opportunity with factors like an unparalleled ecosystem of developers, ISVs and SIs, no legacy IT systems and a high growth rate of economy contributing towards growth of cloud computing. Microsoft is playing a key role in the cloud space to help businesses realize their full potential and move governments closer to their vision.”

Microsoft offers comprehensive services across all three service layers of the cloud, viz. infrastructure, platform and software as services. Microsoft’s offerings have seen great momentum in India and across the world. Office 365, Microsoft’s enterprise-class cloud productivity suite and Dynamics CRM Online have been adopted widely by organizations of all sizes across the country. Windows Azure, Microsoft’s platform in the cloud, is fostering innovation and entrepreneurship on a wide spectrum in addition to providing a compelling option to businesses to develop, host and render applications from the cloud. Similarly, private cloud services from Microsoft are seeing good momentum with enterprises.

With all of Microsoft’s key products having a cloud offering, it is uniquely positioned to provide unmatched flexibility – from a complete on-premise solution to one completely in the cloud to any mix of the two in-between. Further, with the option to evolve this mix in any manner, Microsoft is empowering customers to move to the cloud on their terms. Embedded within is the trust of customers in Microsoft as a provider of enterprise-class services with no compromises to availability, reliability or security.

Says CV Prakash, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gradatim, a specialist in technology solutions for businesses that offer microfinance products and services, and uses Azure: "In 2010, we evaluated a number of shared services platforms and zeroed in upon Windows Azure. We realised soon enough the Microsoft cloud edge. Azure not only gave us stronger support for geographic expansion, saved us about $2 million in operating expenses, shortened customer deployment cycles from three months to two weeks and even improved our ability to reach out to new customers, and speeded up our ability to bring solutions to market. The overall Azure experience for us was phenomenal."

Will the Role of the CIO Cease to Exist in 5 Years’ Time?

According to Getronics research reveals that CFOs’ predictions on the changing nature of the CIO’s role.

The role of the CIO in its current capacity will not exist in five years’ time according to research findings revealed by Getronics today. The survey of 203 key financial decision makers in companies of 1,000 employees or more, found that almost one in five CFOs (17%) believe that the role of the CIO as it currently stands is in jeopardy. A further 43% of financial decision makers believe that the role will merge more with finance and a third (31%) believe that CIOs will come from a non-technical background.

The changing role of the CIO:
The role of the CIO has already been subject to a number of changes in recent years, with 77% of CFOs and Financial Directors claiming that they have already assumed greater responsibility for IT decisions over the past 1-2 years. Indeed, respondents revealed that 38% of businesses that have rolled out a cloud computing solution had the project initiated directly by the finance department, rather than IT. A further 39% stated that they had been directly involved in cloud projects, but only after the IT department had initiated it. This trend can be attributed, in part, to the attractive utility model of cloud services, where companies avoid long-term contracts and can track ROI and costs far more accurately.

Finance and the cloud:
The research also reveals that CFOs and other financial decision makers are increasing their technology understanding, with only 2% admitting they “were not aware of the term cloud computing”, whilst the majority were able to provide a meaningful description of its use. This reveals the increasing efforts from finance to truly understand technology and can be seen to be creating opportunities for the CIO to gain companywide buy-in for cloud services as business requirements evolve.

CFO and CIO integration:
When it comes to understanding of their own roles, two out of five (38%) CFOs and Financial Directors believe that CIOs do not hold a good level of financial understanding. Surprisingly, 40% also believed that their CIOs need a greater understanding of the IT function itself. Compounding this lack of understanding of both roles, more than half (56%) of the CFOs and Financial Directors surveyed believe that a lack of integration between finance and IT limits the impact on cost savings achievable from IT projects within their business. This reveals the need for greater integration between the two departments which is a growing development in business with nearly half (48%) citing a trend towards closer integration. Simultaneously, however, some businesses are at the opposite end of the scale with 35% of businesses citing a decrease.

CFO concerns for IT spending:
The research also revealed the top IT spending concerns for CFOs and Financial Directors. Maintenance of IT infrastructure was the key concern, with two-thirds (64%) of respondents claiming this was an ongoing challenge for their businesses. A further 48% stated that they were concerned by the level of expenditure paid to consultancies, whilst 47% stated that licence payments for software was a major headache. As the CIO role continues to evolve, it is likely that the consultancy for businesses will be driven internally with outsourced consultancy decreasing.

“The role of the CIO has often been a point of contention within many organisations since its very inception,” says Mark Cook, CEO, Getronics UK. “Some of us in the industry will remember when the first IT roles were created in business and that these were predominately always within finance. It’s only in recent years that we’ve seen IT as a standalone department and we’re now seeing it come full circle, with one crucial difference: the CIO today is responsible for greater levels of innovation than ever before. We’re seeing CIOs moving away from previous years of having to lead on daily IT operations and maintenance into that of a provider of strategic consultancy to finance and the wider business. Only by freeing up CIOs from the day-to-day burden of managing assets will organisations be able to truly realise the value that a CIO can bring to their business.”

The full findings of the research are unveiled today in a new Getronics report, The Changing Role of the CFO, which is available for download at http://getronics-uk.com/. 203 key financial decision makers working in the UK for companies with 1,000 or more employees were interviewed for the survey.

Digit Meego AppMania Contest

Hi friends,

Do you think creating apps is FUN? If your answer is yes, then we assure you of raw fun with MeeGo AppMania contest. Register for the contest, create some interesting apps and you could win 10 Meego tablets and 50 x Rs. 5000 worth of SodexHo gift vouchers.

Once you have created the Apps and published them on Intel AppUp, kindly let us know the names of all "Meego Apps" that you have created and published on Intel AppUp developer program by replying to this thread. This will complete your participation in the Meego App Mania contest.

So, what are you waiting for? Do your tech laces and gear up for one of the most exciting app development contest.

Prizes:

* All developers who submit 3 valid Apps will get one Windows Mobile each
* Microsoft will reimburse the Developer Sign Up Fee in the form of Rs. 5,000 worth of gift vouchers to all successful developers who submit 3 Apps.*
* The developer who submits the maximum number of Apps in the month of January stands a chance to get featured in the March Issue of Digit Magazine and the Digit website (www.thinkdigit.com)*
* Every participant who submits 6 valid apps would be given a six-months subscription to Digit worth Rs. 1000/-*
* Every developer who submits 6 valid Apps stands a chance to win an exciting windows phone accessory.*

Participate Now

Will HP make webOS software available to enterprises?

Hewlett Packard Co has decided to open its webOS mobile operating system to developers and companies, potentially taking on Google Inc's free Android platform that is popular with handset makers.

HP, which acquired webOS in a $1.2 billion purchase of Palm in 2010, had been trying to figure out how to recoup its investment after a failed foray into the smartphone and tablet market.

HP chief executive Meg Whitman said the company looked at a number of options for webOS, including a sale and shut down of the division.

The technology giant will make webOS available under an open source licensing agreement, but it has still not hashed out the terms of the licensing deal it plans to offer.

There are a number of open source projects that can be used as examples for deciding the structure of licensing, including Android and browser Mozilla.

The company plans to solicit ideas from developers before deciding on the licensing terms, Whitman said.

"We like the adoption of Android. It's growing like wildfire with a big developer community and hardware community," Whitman said, adding that HP would like to avoid fragmentation of the software that currently plagues Android.

Whitman also said HP may get back into the consumer tablet market in 2013 but it will not be making any more smartphones.

The future of webOS had been in limbo since August after HP killed its flagship webOS-based TouchPad tablet following poor sales.

While Google has the world's most-used mobile system with over 550,000 devices activated every day, HP's webOS could be an alternative to companies apprehensive that the Web search giant may compete with them directly in the smartphone handset market through its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility.

The webOS platform, which had been HP-only software, is widely viewed as a strong mobile platform, but has been criticized for having few applications -- an important consideration while choosing a mobile device.

Most developers prefer to work on Apple Inc's iOS or Google's Android because both are on millions of devices -- unlike webOS.

"Making it open source changes the rules of the game and has the potential to make (webOS) more appealing," said Van Baker, an analyst with Gartner. "It presents a potential challenge to Android, but I wouldn't call it a real challenge until we get a little further down the road."

HP still has to make sure the code is available and the tools for developers are as robust as those provided by Android to succeed, he added.

HP has not revealed its plans for any mobile hardware after the TouchPad was killed.

Source: Reuters

India records highest ever PC sales for a quarter

According to IDC, at 3 million units in Q3 2011, PCs registered a YOY growth of 10.8% and sequential growth of 26.6%

PC market in India thumped initial expectations and the overall market tipped off 3 million units in Q3 2011 (July – September 2011), registering the highest shipments as noted ever in the India PC market, said research firm IDC in a release.

The India PC market shipments for Q3 2011 stood at 3.09 million units, i.e. a significant sequential growth of 26.6% over the previous quarter even as the overall year-on-year growth was noted to be at 10.8%.

According to Kiran Kumar, Sr. Analyst at IDC, “The growth in Q3 was anticipated as it traditionally remains to be the largest quarter (in terms of shipments) for the India PC market. Pent-up demand and a festive season fuelled growth in the consumer segment. While Government aided expenditure and moderating domestic demand drove the growth in the commercial segments”.

Dell maintained its market leadership with a 15.5% market share in Q3 2011. HP leaped back with a strong growth to reclaim the second spot with a 13.8% share thanks to a revamp in its product-mix and a successful channel re-alignment model. While Lenovo clinched the third spot with a 12.3% share.

In another announcement, IDC also released sales and market share figures for the Hard Copy Peripherals (HCP) market in India.

The HCP market stood at 891,344 units in Q3 2011 (July – September 2011) registering the highest shipments noted ever in the India HCP market. The India HCP marked witnessed a significant sequential growth of 20.2% over the previous quarter even as the overall year on year growth was noted to be only at 1.9%. HP sustained its market leadership with a 45.8% market share.

PC sales to touch 12.71 million in 2012

The India PC market is expected to see sales (shipments) of 11.15 million units in calendar year 2011. An industry study by market intelligence firm CyberMedia Research expects sales to accelerate further by 14.0% in 2012, leading to sales of 12.71 million units.

The study points out that with nearly 10 million unit sales in 2010, the combined installed base of desktop and notebook personal computers in India is estimated to have crossed 52 million units as of December 31, 2010.

The current installed base of personal computers translates into one computer for every 25 Indians, doubling the per capita PC availability in just four years. It may be recalled that at the end of 2006 there was approximately one computer for every 50 Indians.

"The future growth of the India PC market will be driven by adoption of new form factors such as LED monitors in the commercial desktop space, netbooks, ultra lightweight notebooks and tablet computers in the portable space,” stated Anirban Banerjee, Associate Vice President, Research and Advisory Services, CyberMedia Research.

"These four form factors--desktops, ultra lightweight notebooks, netbooks and tablet computers--will co-exist, leveraging on the increase in reach and penetration of mobile broadband data services, content and 'apps'", Anirban further added.

The first tablet computer was launched in India in November 2010. Since then, the market saw a slew of launches from both MNC and Indian players. While models like Cisco's Cius and RIM’s Blackberry Playbook tablets are focused on the enterprise user segment, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Reliance 3G Tab are focused on the consumer segment. (Reliance 3G Tab manufactured by ZTE, retails at Rs. 12,999 per unit).

CyberMedia Research expects tablets to become the new battleground as major MNC and India vendors and operators race to capture a share of this emerging market.

"As telecom carriers started offering 3G services in India since early 2011, the enhanced connect speeds are expected to boost usage of data services by subscribers. For tablets to become a common man's device, the data usage tariffs for 3G services need to be brought down even further.” Anirban stated.

The first half of 2011 witnessed subdued sales in the India PC market on account of lower off take by the government, public and private sector. Lower consumer demand too added to this.

This situation is expected to correct itself in the July-September 2011 quarter as the new academic year commences witnessing strong demand from the Education sector. Consumer buying is also expected to be higher in the July-December period of 2011 on account of 'festive' season buying. Demand from the domestic large and SMB enterprise segments is expected to remain healthy.

A 'wait-and-watch' buying sentiment may continue in the corporate sector due to the ongoing uncertain economic environment in the US, Europe and Japan.

The other major development with a likely impact on leadership of the PC market was HP's announcement on August 18/19 to spin off its PC business.

"HP's strategic rethink of spinning off its US$ 40 billion Personal Systems Group may be attributed to the rapid commoditisation of the PC business in absence of any major differentiator, in the last few years. While this trend impacted every player in the market, HP's PC division recorded a significantly lower operating margin compared to its other businesses in the year ended July 2011", stated Sumanta Mukherjee, Lead Analyst, Computing Products, IT Peripherals and Channels, CyberMedia Research.

"HP also failed to leverage its $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm in 2010. An unsuccessful attempt to promote devices based on WebOS not only denied HP a leadership position in the smartphones and the tablets markets, it also seems to have underlined the need for a strategic shift. Given this background and the fact that HP is still the global leader in the PC market, the call to spin off its PC business is a bold but necessary step in the right direction. It is likely to yield business benefits in the long run", Sumanta further added.

Impact on India PC Market:

While HP's top global brand status will likely mean 'business as usual' at the moment, the global announcement would definitely play on the minds of local partners. As a result, HP's India partners could adopt a cautious approach, which may not augur well for HP before the impending festive season that typically witnesses the highest consumer PC sales in the year.

"While the spoils can be shared among Acer, Dell, Lenovo and Sony, Dell is better suited to reap the most of this opportunity because of their greater exposure to the consumer space. In the long term, both Microsoft and AMD could be impacted, since HP has been a major partner for both the world's No.1 software company and the No. 2 PC processor vendor. Whatever happens, Personal Computers are unlikely to die out in India in a hurry", concluded Sumanta.