Monthly Archives: August 2012

Outlook for Nearshore Contact Center Outsourcing: Strong and Getting Stronger

After several years of stagnant growth, contact center outsourcing in the US and Americas is now poised for a significant upswing. Given the prediction by business & technology analysis firm Ovum, contact center outsourcing by US and Canadian companies should increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 3 percent between 2011 and 2016.

“This is significantly in excess of the 1.5 to 2 percent CAGR we were seeing for the past several years,” said Peter Ryan, Ovum Practice Leader for Outsourced Services, during a recent interview with Nearshore Americas. Last year, Ovum forecast said North American contact center outsourcing might increase at a CAGR of 2 percent from 2010 through 2016.

Ryan said contact center outsourcing by North American companies began dipping during the global economic turmoil of 2009, but recent improvements in the global economy are helping spur new growth. “There is more interest in North America,” he said. “More economic activity is driving calls to contact centers, which increases the stress on the pipeline.”

Though Ryan believes that current political and public pressure on US-based companies to keep jobs onshore is creating a greater interest in domestic contact center development. He expects that may change once the election is over.

Good News for Mexico

“This is a good news story for nearshore providers,” said Ryan. He gave the example of the Mexican contact center outsourcing industry, which Ovum predicted will report a CAGR of 6.4% between 2011 and 2017, up substantially from the 5.5% CAGR previously forecast for 2010 through 2016. This is an improvement from a “comedown” the market for Mexican contact center services has experienced in recent years.

“Ninety percent of the comedown in the Mexican market was due to the negative impact of bad news about Mexico’s drug wars and unsafe borders,” Ryan said. “This was pushing work away from Mexico and toward providers in other nearshore countries like El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Colombia. However, this year we noted a pickup in interest in Mexico.”

Ryan attributed this improvement in the prospects for Mexican-based nearshore contact center outsourcing to several factors. “Capacity in Central America is limited,” he explained. “There is contact center saturation in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and Honduras will not have a mainstream contact center industry anytime soon. Colombia has taken some business away but is struggling with bilingual services.”

In contrast, Ryan said Mexico is “well-known” among North American companies for having strong bilingual capability. In addition, he noted that Mexico is a “huge country” and that most contact center activity takes place far away from areas plagued by drug violence. Ryan said Brazil also has similar nearshore contact center outsourcing market with a potential to grow significantly in the years ahead.

Argentina – Lone Trouble Spot

Ryan singled out Argentina, saying it is the only “bad news story” among nearshore contact center destinations. “The government is anti-commerce and anti-outsourcing, and has not taken the concerns of the BPO industry seriously,” he said. “Inflation is huge problem that goes beyond official government statistics.”

According to Ryan, the economic and political situation in Argentina has largely stopped most US companies from outsourcing contact center services there, and even domestic contact center services clients are starting to shift their business to nearby Latin American destinations such as Peru. “It was inconceivable as recently as four or five years ago for a non-Argentinean contact agent to be serving an Argentinean caller,” Ryan said.

Although the prospects for the nearshore contact center outsourcing industry look bright, Ryan cautioned they are based on current positive economic trends and may be subject to change. For example, another European debt crisis or an economic slowdown in major developing markets could scale back Ovum’s latest predictions.

source: http://nearshoreamericas.com/nearshore-contact-center-outsourcing-promising-analysts/

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Buyer Guide to POS Systems

POS systems can be costly and time consuming to purchase.  Too many businesses buy the first system that they come across, only to find that it doesn’t meet their needs or is too complicated and confusing for employees to use.  Since systems are usually customized to your business, you won’t be able to simply re-sell or return a system that you don’t like.  Shop smart and buy the right system the first time.  Here’s how:

Choose software first.  Many businesses make the mistake of purchasing scanners, printers, and other POS equipment before deciding on a software program.  Don’t make this mistake!  The software that best suits your business might not be compatible with every device.  In shopping for software, you might find that a regular keyboard will work just fine and that you don’t even need an expensive touch screen display. 

Use a system that has been successful in your industry. Make sure the vendor you select has experience in your industry.  For example, some vendors specialize in credit card processing for Ecommerce merchant accounts. Get references from other businesses before choosing a system.

Use the same source for all components. Many POS systems fail or are underutilized because the hardware and software are not fully compatible.  This usually happens because a business will use different vendors for each component.  Buying everything from the same vendor ensures compatibility.

Shop around. This is good advice for any equipment purchase, but is especially necessary when choosing a POS system.  POS systems are expensive, time consuming to implement, and difficult to return or switch.  Make an informed choice. 

Get a demo or free trial. Never buy before you try.  Test out a basic cash sale, customer record, inventory features, refunds, purchase order, credit card processing and reports to make sure these basic operations work the way you want them to.  Most vendors will provide a demonstration of the software, and some even allow for a free trial.  Using the software is the best way to judge if it will meet your needs.

By following the tips in this guide, you should be able to make an informed choice about what type of POS system would benefit your business, and which vendor could provide you with the best system.  Choosing a POS system can be time consuming, but choosing the wrong one can result in wasted time and money.  Conversely, the right system can take your business to the next level, saving time, money, and resources.  It is important to consider all of your options and choose wisely.

source: http://www.resourcenation.com/buyers-guides/buyer-tips?utm_source=BlogGlue_Network&utm_medium=BlogGlue_Plugin

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Steps in Implementing POS Systems

The first step in implementing a POS system is determining that you need one.  Beyond that, how do you proceed in choosing a vendor, deciding on features, or evaluating the needs of your business?

A good place to start is by reviewing the reasons you want to purchase a POS system.  Are you hoping to increase employee efficiency?  Is your goal monitor sales more closely?  Write down a list of all the reasons you think a POS system would help your business.  This should give you a clue as to type of system you might need.

Research the type of vendor that might suit your business.  It is a good idea to consider which qualities are most important to you in choosing a vendor- do you prefer a local company that can provide on-site help on short notice?  Will your employees need training to use the system?  Make sure you choose a vendor you are comfortable with. 

Once you have settled on a provider, it is time to choose the actual system- the software and POS equipment that you will be using.  The vendor will be a big help in this process, helping you evaluate the type of system you need (depending on your industry and the size of your business) and a time frame for installation and setup.  If you are installing large equipment, like computer stations, that require physical changes to your business or construction, take these costs and time frames into consideration.  If the vendor allows you to “demo” or try out the system, do this before you make any physical changes to your work area, if possible.

The vendor should also be able to provide a time frame on how long the system will take to set up.  The vendor will need to order the software and hardware, setup and install both, and program information specific to your business, such as your products, discounts, employee names.  The vendor will need to link any credit card processing functions to your merchant services account. This can take anywhere from a week to a few months, depending on the system.
If you currently have a POS system and are switching to another one, you’ll need to choose a good time to make the switch.  Whether you are switching systems or implementing a POS system for the first time, the transition should be as seamless as possible.  Test the system during “down time,” and make sure all employees are trained in using the system before you make the transition.  If you are buying a new POS system because your old one isn’t working, make sure to input the inventory correctly.  Don’t import all your records over because most likely the data from the old system isn’t accurate.  Import your customer list only and start inventory fresh with the  new system.

Once the system is up and running, communicate regularly with your vendor about how it is working.  Are you using the reporting features in the way you anticipated?  Are any components of the system difficult to use, or not working the way you thought they would?  Any malfunctions in the system should be covered by a warranty.  If there are any applicable upgrades, make sure that you understand how to use the new features they provide.  A reputable vendor will be happy to show you new features or suggest different ways the system can be altered to meet your needs.

source: http://www.resourcenation.com/buyers-guides/steps-implementing-pos-systems?utm_source=BlogGlue_Network&utm_medium=BlogGlue_Plugin

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5 Signs You Need to Upgrade Your POS System

POS SystemPOS systems – or point-of-sale systems – are the hardware and software systems that you’d use to collect payment from your customers. POS systems have become much more sophisticated over the years, and many carry the features you need that allow you to input orders, manage inventory, track your staff when they clock in or out, print guest checks or invoices, and process reports.

If you’ve been in business for a long time – or if you long for the ‘ka-ching’ of the old fashioned cash register – you may need to modernize your payment processing system. There’s a reason those things sell for thousands of dollars on eBay: they’re antiques. How do you know it’s time for an upgrade? Here are five tell-tale signs…

1. You’re still imprinting credit cards using carbon paper.

First off, if you’re still doing this, please comment below with your business name and location. Watching someone process credit cards in this way would be like watching a cat walk on its hind legs – so completely bizarre, and yet somewhat intriguing. Sure, these imprinting machines are cheap (and sometimes free), but they’re completely dated. If a card is declined, you won’t find out until days after your customer is gone, and then it’s your inconvenience to track them down for a proper credit card. You know, because you have time for that. And on the chance that you lose these carbon paper slips, you’re not only out a lot of money (since you won’t be paid by those people), but your customers’ information could also be seriously at risk if it winds up in the wrong hands.

2. You hear the wretched dial-up sound – or worse, get a busy signal – when sending your customer’s credit card payment through.

If you use a credit card or POS machine that uses telephone connection to process the payment, it will require installing a separate landline to facilitate the outgoing call. This is a separate, unnecessary expense for your business. Just like VoIP telephone systems, POS systems can now be seamlessly and reliably integrated with the internet.

3. You have long lines at your cash register, and you think that’s a good thing.

The truth is, when you build up a long line at your cash register, it means your check-out processes are slow. No customer likes waiting in lines, and the more frequently they have to build in 10 minutes to check out, the less likely they’re going to return in the future. Today’s upgraded POS systems process payment quickly, while also updating your inventory, encrypting customer information, integrating with your accounting system, and making your employees’ jobs easier.

4. If you do business on the road, you mail invoices to collect payments. As in, snail mail.

Mobile payments is a booming industry these days. Options abound for small businesses that want to accept credit card payments while on the road. You can do so through hardware devices that connect to your cell phone, or you can use a POS mobile app through your smartphone or tablet to accept payment in a way that is quick, secure, and convenient.

5. You accept checks, but not credit cards.

We’re living in an increasingly plastic world. If you believe that cash is king, and that you are thumbing your nose at the payment processing companies by avoiding their fees, you might want to know that you’re likely also hurting your bottom line. Your unwillingness to accept credit cards may cause you to miss out on a significant customer segment that doesn’t carry cash on them. Intuit GoPayment estimates that businesses that do not accept credit cards lose up to $7,000 a year in sales. These days, interchange fees, especially in the case of some mobile payment providers, are lower than those you are charged through your average POS system, and much of the equipment you need to process credit cards can be offered for free when you open a merchant account.

source:http://www.resourcenation.com/blog/signs-you-need-to-upgrade-your-pos-system/34896/

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IT Outsourcing 3.0?

I probably first heard the term Web 2.0 around 2005, and having come from a technical background where version/release/modification (VRM) was typically only used in the context of software version control, seeing it applied to something that was conceptual or at best used to describe common attributes of a set of “things” was new to me.

Equally there is a re-emerging trend now in the consumer markets to adopt this too – Windows 8, iPhone 5, iPad 3 …no sorry, the new iPad….ah , we seem to have stopped again now!

Where am I going with this? While on the Cloud Social Media Residency in Raleigh, N.C., earlier this year, I had what I thought was a eureka moment – cloud from my perspective is part of the evolution of IT outsourcing. If this is true, is cloud actually Outsourcing 3.0? Surely nobody has invented the term “Outsourcing 3.0”, let alone adopted it yet?

I’ve been working in IT outsourcing for IBM for almost 20 years now, and have watched it evolve. This is how I would describe simplistically the various “versions” of IT outsourcing at the infrastructure level (as opposed to application development) over the years:

image

I then set about doing doing some research; surely Google won’t have indexed the term “IT Outsourcing 3.0” , my blog will be the first….

Well, what do you know only 2 pages of results – not bad.

The first hit is about a lecture scheduled for “Agile 2012” in Dallas, Texas discussing Agile development in context of offshoring (Outsourcing 3.0: The Agile Way):

“Agile has impacted the way modern offshore service providers operate. The new modes of cooperation are emerging. Some people call it “clients’ owned teams”, the others prefer the name “virtual captive”. I like calling it “Outsourcing 3.0”.

Why 3.0? Because I see that offshore software development is entering a new era. Finally, the era of Agility.”

Based on this, the speaker’s definition and mine are not dissimilar if we apply to an infrastructure context. Cloud enables the same principles of agility – we quickly provision infrastructure to prototype ideas and demonstrate capability to the business.

The next series of hits didn’t yield much – the label “IT Outsourcing 3.0” has used, but the writers have not defined this – seems more of a marketing term in job advertisements.

The next hit was a blog entry – titled “The Hidden Question Behind Cloud Computing” from 2009, which I think seeks to debunk Cloud, but I’m not sure I really understood the message. However, it attracted a very interesting comment from my perspective, albeit in a singly negative context, as it was in tune with my definition:

“I will comment as a true “gray beard”. I think we should call “Cloud Computing” something like “IT Outsourcing 3.0″.

In the 1960′s we used to send work out to a 3rd party who would keypunch (remember 80 column punched cards), processes and return reports (remember greenbar). That was the 1960s “Cloud”. In the 1980′s and 90′s it was typically local key entry via a terminal over a dedication comm line to a system at the 3rd party’s facility with reports sent back via the comm line to our printer. Now we see similar processing models using the web instead of dedicated comm lines. I guess this is the third generation of outsourcing, or “IT Outsourcing 3.0″.

Sorry, I still see [it as] IT outsourcing. Been doing it for 50 years. Differences – yeh, a bit, but the biggest thing (other than speed) has been changing the Web Cloud for the Exhaust Cloud from the vehicle taking our 1960′s data to the processor and back to us.”

As I open up the search to “outsourcing 3.0 cloud”, I start getting many more relevant hits including one from IDC in 2011 “As the Cloud Metamorphose into Outsourcing 3.0, CIOs and their IT Departments will face a Major Shift in their Traditional Roles, says IDC “ , CIO again in 2011 “Beyond today’s Cloud to Outsourcing 3.0”

Reading through these hits, and many more, as expected there is no agreed definition, but the consensus appears to be that cloud is a disruption to outsourcing, and as such, part of its evolution – whether it’s labelled “Outsourcing 3.0” or something else.

Was I really surprised that I was not first? No, I shall have to starting thinking about v5.0 if I want to be ahead of the pack….

source: http://thoughtsoncloud.com/index.php/2012/08/it-outsourcing-3-0/

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HCL in search of its next big idea

Total IT outsourcing deals — which are also a big focus of many big global IT services firms — tend to be of longer duration, and margins in them are lower because the work is more generic in comparison to building customized applications for customers.

HCL’s emphasis on this space proved to be a huge success in revenue terms, even though it meant lower margins (its EBIT margins, barring in the latest quarter, have been less than 16%, as against over 25% for Infosys and TCS). Customers saw value in handing over the headache of their entire IT to a single vendor, and HCL was cheaper than the global players. During and post the 2008-09 recession, the value became even more apparent. Every time a big deal that was handled by a global IT vendor came up for renewal, HCL would benefit on account of its lower rates.

Throughout this period, HCL had revenue growth rates higher than the average of India’s top 3 IT firms (TCS, Infosys, Wipro), and the difference was particularly stark during the recession. The infrastructure services business scaled so rapidly – growing from $70 million in 2005 to $1 billion in 2012 — that it now accounts for a quarter of HCL’s $4 billion revenues.

Research firm TPI estimates that $47 billion worth of total IT outsourcing contracts across 249 customers would be under renewal during 2012, of which some $15 billion would move to a different vendor. That’s an over 30% churn, compared to the normal 20% that the industry sees (80% of contracts stay with incumbents).

But this big vendor churn that HCL has benefited from is expected to slow down as global players begin to readjust their own prices. HCL’s own estimate is that its current momentum driven by churn deals will be over in 18 months. Its CEO Vineet Nayar believes that post 2015, only about 5% of the contracts signed post-recession would change hands.

So HCL now needs its next big idea. And that is what Nayar will focus on. There was speculation recently that Nayar was planning to disengage himself from the company, may be even quit HCL. But those look unfounded. The company says the recent decision to appoint Anant Gupta — the man who led the spectacular growth of the infrastructure business — as COO was to provide Nayar the time to find the next big idea or ideas.

Gupta will handle the day to day operations of the company, while Nayar will spend a great deal of time in Silicon Valley, the heart of the world’s technology innovation, and among customers. HCL has already set up a special division that will be responsible for brainstorming, innovation, idea creation, idea streamlining and incubation. Some 150 people, handpicked from the company’s global talent pool of 85,000, are part of this exercise that will be driven out of Silicon Valley.

"We want to cash in on the entrepreneurial energy within our company. The objective is to create a pool of innovative ideas that make sense to our customers and therefore keep us relevant to them in the future,” Nayar says.

But its lower margins has meant that it has much less cash to invest in new ventures compared to peers. As on June 30, it had Rs 667 crore in cash and cash equivalents, compared to Infosys’s Rs 20,591 crore. To that extent, Nayar’s ability to do new things would be limited.

source:http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-27/software-services/33423710_1_ceo-vineet-nayar-hcl-technologies-anant-gupta

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Cloud Computing Is Leading The Outsourcing Market

Cloud computing is revolutionizing the companies’ infrastructures. More and more companies are spending their outsourcing budget on purchasing cloud services. This helps them avoid hiring more people and save a fair amount of funds from their budgets. Research firms (including Gartner Inc.) have published figures that demonstrate the trend of cloud computing services in the IT outsourcing market.

On August 7th, 2012, Gartner Inc. said that out of $251.7 billion of total market of IT outsourcing, cloud computing services are the fastest-growing segment, having increased from $3.4 (2011) to $5 (2012). Currently, this is still insignificant when compared with the $251.7 billion market, but we can hope to see them as the leading area of IT outsourcing because of their high growth rate. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that have made cloud computing services so popular in the IT outsourcing sector.

Why Companies Prefer Cloud Services

  • No Need to Hire Extra Staff

This is a major advantage of using cloud computing services. The applications are handled by the cloud services providers; they are responsible for maintaining and repairing the applications. The company that uses them has no need to hire extra staff to take care of  these software applications.

  • Instant Deployment

Cloud computing services are readily available and they can be instantly integrated into a company’s infrastructure. The company only needs to subscribe to the services and then it can access them from any PC with an Internet connection. On-premises applications need time to be installed on the company’s systems, they need to be configured according to the company’s requirements, so it takes time to bring them in the running condition.

  • Scalability

Cloud computing services are highly scalable. The company that uses them can easily require to the provider to increase the capabilities and functionalities of these services, if this is necessary. As these services usually run on distributed computers, adding more space and processing power is no difficult task. Also, everything is done dynamically, with zero downtime.

These are only some of the advantages of cloud computing services that justify the current trend of companies towards them. In the near future, it would be no surprise to see cloud computing services becoming the leading segment of the IT outsourcing market.

source: http://www.cloudtweaks.com/2012/08/cloud-computing-is-leading-the-outsourcing-market/

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Why You Should Consider Outsourcing Computer Security

Laptop Online Search

Cybercriminals are relentlessly hacking websites to attack unsuspecting visitors, breaking into databases to steal customer information and trade secrets, and infiltrating executives’ PCs to filch financial-account information.

Typically, only the largest of companies can afford an in-house security team with the tools and expertise to defend them in this kind of cyber war. Other firms, experts say, are now largely outgunned.

That’s why a growing number of smaller companies are outsourcing the job to so-called managed security services providers. They offer state-of-the-art technologies and seasoned security pros at affordable prices because they spread the costs across many clients. Indeed, small- and medium-sized companies are expected to drive a near doubling in spending on managed-security services to $14.9 billion in 2015 from $8 billion in 2011, according to Stamford, Conn.-based research firm Gartner Inc.

Should you jump on the bandwagon?

Turning over computer security to an outside firm makes many managers nervous because they must give up direct control of critical systems. But doing so typically brings better security at a lower cost, industry watchers say.

Even if you can afford to hire your own security staff, it could be a challenge. "Security is so hot that good people are hard to find, and they’re expensive," says Edward S. Ferrara, a security and risk analyst at Forrester Research. "So even if you wanted to build an organization [to provide your security], it would be hard to do that."

Security-service firms, however, have office parks full of experts. They likely employ people who have worked with other companies in your industry facing similar risks and challenges.

With these outside experts, you pay for only as much service as you require rather than the ongoing costs of a full-time staff and equipment. The size of your bill is typically determined by the number of computers and other devices being monitored or some other measure of the volume of work involved. For a small business, such flexible pricing is often appealing because expenses can grow or shrink along with your business.

Beyond potential financial benefits, security-service firms also can help small businesses focus on running their companies, says Ferrara. "If you make lawn mowers, make lawn mowers. Don’t fiddle around with information security."

How to choose a provider

A dizzying number of companies provide managed security services, including such giants as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Verizon. You’ll probably want to select a company with technology that can meet your specific security needs and provide a responsive support team. If you handle financial or medical data, the provider also should help you comply with data-security regulations.

If you’re planning to outsource all your basic security needs — including the defense of your network and the devices on it and the filtering of your email for spam, scams and malware — you’ll probably want to consider one of the soup-to-nuts services. Some of these companies offer cloud services that monitor your systems by running your traffic through their data centers before it comes to you. Some install equipment on your network that sends data to them for analysis and investigation. And others combine in-house and cloud technologies.

Among the companies serving small businesses are security-software giants such as Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. There are also a slew of specialized service providers to choose from, including Solutionary Inc., Perimeter E-Security and Dell’s SecureWorks Inc.

If you’re primarily concerned about securing your website, you might consider a new breed of startups offering specialized technology to sites of all sizes. CloudFlare Inc. and Incapusla Inc. can block security threats to sites while boosting site speed and performance.

Dasient Inc. can help keep malicious programs and ads off your site. And firms such as Prolexic Technologies defend sites from so-called denial of service attacks, or floods of bogus traffic that make a site unavailable to visitors.

You don’t have to fend off cybercriminals all by yourself. There are plenty of services that can give your company effective protection at a reasonable cost.

source: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/technology-web/2012/01/19/why-should-consider-outsourcing-computer-security/

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What today’s software developers need to know

Today’s software developers don’t have to worry about many things that their predecessors used to, like coding to minimise RAM consumption even if it means significantly longer execution time, or WAN connections maxing out at 14.4 kilobits per second (although, there may be some  out-of-fashion skills they could benefit from or that may yet regain relevance).

However, the reverse is also true: there are many new skills and areas of expertise that today’s software developers, hardware developers, system and network administrators and other IT professionals need that simply didn’t exist in the past (where "the past" could be anything from "more than three months ago" to five, ten, twenty or more years), or were only relevant for organisations and applications with immense budgets.

The list of what you need today that you didn’t need before depends on how long ago you went to school, how hard you’ve worked to keep up on technology, the software industry, and software engineering," says David Intersimone, Vice President of Developer Relations and Chief Evangelist for Embarcadero Technologies.

Knowing what you need to know matters, whether you’re just starting out as a software developer (or planning to become one), or are a "seasoned" professional who wants to keep your chops fresh so you can stay in, re-enter, or advance.

So here, as a counterpoint to my "lost skills" article, are "found skills" – what a number of IT professionals see as these new areas for software developers that you want add to your existing knowledge portfolio. (Disclaimer: For the most part, I’ve left out suggestions about specific programming languages, as too obvious.)

Using libraries

"One thing that strikes me as a new skill is the need to work with massive pre-packaged class libraries and template libraries in all the new languages, like Java or C++ or Python," says consultant and software developer Jeff Kenton. "It used to be that once you knew the language and a small set of system calls and string or math library calls, you were set to program. Now you can write complex applications by stringing library calls together and a little bit of glue to hold them all together. If you only know the language, you’re not ready to produce anything."

iPhone app developer Hwee-Boon Yar, who has been writing and selling software for 10 years, says "More programming resources are now available online freely. Knowing where to look, such as stackoverflow.com, as well as what habits are good to adopt in the long run is important. For example, if you become someone who Googles for a solution to a programming problem and copy and paste every time, you will never advance your skills."

Factoring in your users

Meredith Anderson, a business and information architect, adds, "In 2008, discipline keywords like ‘information architecture’ and ‘usability engineering’ were scarce in online job postings. In 2010 there were numerous job postings with these keywords. I’m not sure whether the market acknowledged the need and existing skills, or whether the need coalesced around these words to find the skills.

"In any case, the skill set of user experience engineering – usability engineering, user interface design, and information architecture (all distinct from graphic design) – has become a formal area of expertise, described by a specific vocabulary. And in the last couple of years demand for these skills has exploded."

Merryl Gross, a UI Architect in the healthcare information technology area, says, "While knowing your technology is critical, knowledge of the people who use their software, how they use it, and what’s important to them about the software is critical these days, when people expect more from their devices. This will keep you from making a lot of expensive mistakes.

"And where you don’t already have this knowledge, assuming you will be spending some of your planning time understanding why your target users like or want the things they want — and knowing how to do this information gathering and assessment."

Asynchronous programming and other techniques

"Because of the move to cloud computing mostly through web-based interfaces, we are seeing an emphasis on asynchronous programming," says Itai Danan, founder of Cybernium a software development and web design consulting company. "Ten years ago, this was mostly used by transactional systems such as banks, hotels and airline reservations. Today, all but the simplest applications require asynchronous programming, mostly because of AJAX. This is a very different style of programming — most things taught about software optimizations do not apply across the network boundary."

Brian Fino, managing director, Fino Consulting, an IT consulting firm that specializes in developing enterprise, cloud and mobile applications for the modern business environment, stresses the need to understand the impact of distributed, networked infrastructures, multi-core hardware, etc.

"Cheap and readily available infrastructure has made most all applications multi-dimensional and distributed," says Fino. "Software engineers have to have a good understanding of how distributed systems work from the functional right down to the packets on the wire and how they’re routed."

Also, says Fino, understand multi-threaded design: "Hardware today is multi-core; software engineers have to understand how to design software that can take advantage of the hardware capabilities readily available today."

A breadth of skills

"It’s become more important to have a breadth of skills" says Ben Curren, CoFounder, Outright.com, which offers easy-to-use online accounting and bookkeeping software for small businesses. "For example, web developers these days need to understand customers, usability, HTML, CSS, Javascript, APIs, server-side frame works, and testing/QA."

"Programmers don’t learn that someone else is going to take care of the code they write," criticizes Sarah Baker, Director of Operations at an Internet media company. "They don’t learn about release management, risk assessment of deploy of their code in a infrastructure, or failure analysis of their code in the production environment — everything that happens after they write the code. They don’t learn that a log is a communication to a operations person, and it should help an operations person determine what to do when they read that log."

Craig Schwartz, Senior Engagement Manager at Freeborders, a global IT services provider, sees three core skills being in demand: mobile development, global delivery and agile development experience. "With the growth in mobile computing, the ability to create Web applications designed to work on mobile devices, Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) for the mobile market and applications that run directly on mobile devices (Android and iOS) will be a necessary skill for developers as this market grows."

Jane Gilligan Hamner, VP Business Development, Harvey Nash USA, an executive search, professional recruitment and IT outsourcing firm, reports, "In the Chicago market we are finding that clients are requesting more client-rich application experience, such as Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) with ASP.NET, and Ajax programming like jQuery and the DOJO Javascript tools.

It isn’t just about what you already know, either. It’s also about continuing to add to your knowledge and skill sets, comments Amy Wilson, Client Services Manager at web and mobile app design firm Accella. "With the ever changing face of technology, and the skills necessary to keep up with new software/hardware, programmers and developers have to be much more flexible in today’s marketplace. Learning ONE language or skill won’t cut it in today’s workplace. Being flexible and staying up to date on new software releases is key to being a truly successful resource."

Domain expertise for new jobs

Many new jobs call for "domain" (subject matter) expertise in addition to software chops.

Mary-Anne Wolf, who is a senior software engineer, project technical lead and architect, sent me a list of four-score-plus skills and job foci; here’s some selections:

  • Speech recognition-based non-visual user interface designer
  • Software designer for large-screen mobile devices with no hard disk
  • Designer of location-responsive and orientation-responsive applications
  • Specialist in software for oil and natural gas exploration and geology
  • Specialist in the design of medical devices which are embedded in the human body.

Bruce Douglass, Chief Evangelist, IBM Rational Software, suggests several areas of domain expertise, including:

  • Electric vehicle mechanics: "As automakers upgrade the features in electric, so will the amount of software code in each vehicle. Software engineers with knowledge and fundamentals on electric vehicles will be in better position to create complex battery systems, electric drive units and cabin electronics."
  • Environmental engineering: "The green movement will remain a hot button issue for future engineers. Finding new ways to improve the environment, provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation, and to remediate polluted sites are all important areas of expertise for software engineers."
Agile and collaborative development methods

"Today’s developers need to have awareness of more agile software development processes," says Jeff Langr, owner, Langr Software Solutions, a software consultancy and training firm. "Many modern teams have learned to incrementally build and deliver high-quality software in a highly collaborative fashion, to continually changing business needs. This ability to adapt and deliver frequently can result in significant competitive advantage in the marketplace.

"In order to deal with continual demands for change coming from the business, and sustain reasonable maintenance costs on their systems, today’s developers need to understand how to incrementally grow their systems using appropriate quality technical practices," says Langr. "Some of these practices are: test-driven development (TDD), automated acceptance testing, refactoring, continuous integration, and continuous delivery."

Developing for deployability, scalability, manageability

"Sysadmins are likely to own the software for much longer than the developers – what are you doing to make their stewardship pleasant enough that they look forward to your next deployment?" asks Luke Kanies, Founder and CEO of Puppet Labs: "This includes deployability and manageability. New technologies are often much more difficult to deploy on existing infrastructure because developers haven’t had time to solve problems like packaging, running on your slightly older production OS, or connecting to the various services you have to use in production."

Also, says Kanies, manageability matters, "The most important part of an application’s lifetime is when it’s running in production, yet developers don’t spend nearly enough time thinking about how to maintain the application while it runs. For example, is there debugging or performance instrumentation? If it’s running slowly, can you tell why? If there are failures, can you trace the failure without the service being down? Can you hide failures from the user but still pass the debugging information on to the sysadmin and developers? Can you tune the application, or deploy more copies, without bringing it down?"

And, finally, some short sundries

Walter Gillett, a developer at software consultancy Twenty Geese Software, suggests:

  • Distributed computing technologies like Hadoop for seriously scalable cloud computing
  • "Big data" – analytical capabilities to deal with the flood of web and scientific data, e.g., clickstreams from a gazillion users of a large-scale web site.
  • Web application frameworks, e.g., Ruby on Rails, Grails, for high productivity.
  • Dynamic "scripting languages" that emphasize developer productivity over run-time performance, such as Python, Ruby, PERL, JavaScript, and Groovy (an alternative to Java).

Senior software engineer Amy Unruh adds, "it is useful for today’s developers to understand issues in realtime search, and techniques for pipelining data analysis and for managing ‘activity streams.’ And you should able to exploit the ‘small pieces loosely joined’ model, including use of microformats, and understand how to consume APIs from other services and support relevant APIs for your service, by building on RESTful computing principles."

What new skills have you found you’ve had to learn – or are planning on learning?

source: http://www.computerworlduk.com/advice/applications/3304124/what-todays-software-developers-need-to-know/

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Five ways to avoid outsourcing blunders

Trust... outsourcing is attractive but has its challenges.

Paying someone else less to do a better job: that’s the premise that makes outsourcing of any service or task so popular.

In the information and communications technology sector alone, outsourcing is a $US251 billion industry, according to Gartner’s latest reckoning.

Some Australian companies are now fourth-generation customers of IT outsourcing companies and sophisticated proponents of the model. Substantial savings on offer in the emerging cloud computing sphere are encouraging others to consider it.

Reaping the benefits of an IT outsourcing deal, however, isn’t as simple as signing on the line.

IT Pro asked industry experts to share their top tips on how to avoid the high-tech equivalent of a bad marriage and costly divorce:

1. Don’t fixate on the bottom line

Outsourcing contracts are predicated on cost savings but it’s a mistake to focus too hard on screwing suppliers down to rock-bottom level. You might get a cheaper price, says Gartner research vice-president Jim Longwood, but it will come with inflexible conditions and minimal service levels. Suppliers who are struggling to break even have no incentive to lift their game and will look to cut corners where they can.

"Delays are inevitable with lower costs," agrees Dimension Data IT outsourcing general manager Hadyn Faltyn.

"You want the supplier to be motivated and keen to deliver, and they won’t be if they’re not making any money on the deal. You want them to be keen to keep investing in technology and resources."

2. What’s going to work? Teamwork

Set and forget once you’ve signed on the line? Not if you want the union to be long and happy and the fights fair and swiftly resolved.

Issues have the potential to escalate much faster on outsourcing deals where the parties have underinvested in relationship management. Insisting the vendor supplies a proficient and dedicated troubleshooter is crucial, says Intelligent Business Research Services (IBRS) adviser Alan Hansell.

"When a major incident occurs, the client’s senior management team needs immediate access to an account manager who has the delegation to negotiate a solution or can bring the provider’s CEO into the negotiations," he says.

3. Hard yards up front

Moving to an IT outsourcing model or a new supplier is a major change in modus operandi for most companies. You’re in it together for the long haul, and it will be a longer haul if things get off on the wrong foot, Faltyn says.

Lots of on-the-ground presence from both parties in the first few months should ensure a smooth transition.

"Good project management at this point can make all the difference," Faltyn says. "You’re trying to embed the customer’s DNA into your business and bring your own best practice to the deal."

4. 50 shades of co-operation

Finding the equilibrium where trust is countered by power is difficult. Outsourcing clients will achieve optimum results when they strike this balance, Longwood says.

So it’s vital to ensure penalties for non-performance are significant.

If they’re too low, it can be cheaper for suppliers to continue paying them rather than addressing issues, he suggests. Whereas a 10-20 per cent hit to the monthly fee will ensure problems are swiftly remedied.

5. Bend with the wind

It’s not a marriage for life – or a short-term fling. Determining the optimum length for an outsourcing contract can be tricky. Longer-term deals couple the promise of greater savings with the risk of being locked in too long with a supplier whose dedication may wane. Conversely, chopping and changing means high switching costs and associated business disruption.

Rolling contracts with a base of three or four years are the answer for many, Longwood says. Flexible terms and conditions allowing the parties to part ways if circumstances change should also be included in the deal.

source: http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/business-it/five-ways-to-avoid-outsourcing-blunders-20120824-24q8q.html

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