Tag Archives: project

Outsourcing of IT on the Rise

The outsourcing of IT will continue to grow for the foreseeable future, according to a survey from Bluewolf. Currently, as much as one-quarter of annual IT budgets is allocated to outsourcing, and spending is projected to grow. What’s telling is that cost-cutting is no longer the sole driver of this trend. Instead, organizations perceive outsourcing as an effective way to adopt technologies that can scale to demand and provide the agility required to meet real-time business challenges. "The speed with which a business leverages new technologies plays a huge role in the company’s success, and that speed often depends on people," says Michael Kirven, co-founder of Bluewolf. "CIOs are embracing the elastic workforce to gain access not only to more talent, but also to a specialized pool of workers at the top of their game who offer an outsider’s perspective." More than 200 IT decision-makers took part in the research.

Source: http://www.baselinemag.com/it-services/slideshows/outsourcing-of-it-on-the-rise-10/

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Google Fiber Project: Programming Key to Success

Google has officially rolled out its long-touted Google Fiber Project showcasing what broadband should look and feel like to all users. Yes, it sets the new standard for broadband connections with a 1Gig speedster, over 100 times faster than current broadband offerings in the U.S. Not-withstanding, just speed will not be the determining success factor; the availability of competitive programming will become the deciding judgment in Google’s move to tout reasonable costs to bundled broadband.

Programming Rights Historically Elusive

Obtaining rights to mainstream content producers is the key to a Google Fiber success. Without the likes of HBO, The Discovery Channel and other must-have content for any TV package, the prospects dim for any competitor trying to enter the broadband-cable bundles which dominate the market. Time Warner Cable will be watching closely as Google moves forward to secure rights and compete head-to-head in Kansas City. Just broadband alone, using Netflix, YouTube and others to compete is not enough. Historically, incumbent service providers have been able to lock-down competitors in any semblance of affordable programming from top content producers.

"Fiber’s biggest problem is that it needs backing from the big players, says Marguerite Reardon at CNET. The Discovery Channel, CNBC, AMC, TNT, Comedy Central, ESPN, CNN, and HBO are all glaringly absent. And Google may have a hard time convincing the owners of those channels — like Disney (ESPN, HBO) and Time Warner (TNT) — to climb onboard." From (Can Google conquer Cable TV?)

Google needs economies of scale going forward. That means it must target additional cities for Google Fiber, and quickly, in demonstrating to programmers it has staying power to compete effectively. Otherwise, programmers will shy away from any substantial deal with a new entrant. This entails having deep pockets and a willingness to compete for the long-haul.

By-Passing Hardware Vendors

Google Fiber seems intent on holding costs down by combining its own research and hardware. Project engineers have taken research from related Google hardware molding new hardware into low-cost products. The devices include a cable box, and hand-held device all seem to come from Google resources, like Google TV, Nexus 7 Tablet. New devices created include a stackable storage and network box. All these components add up to a quick and nimble broadband and TV package available for $120.00 per month. Boxes for additional TV’s are separate from this package. Learning from those going before it, Google is forging a seemingly level-headed approach to combine resources in the venture, thereby keeping the $500 million price tag in check.

Potential Customers Must Show Interest

Kansas City’s potential customers must register online for the project by paying a $10.00 fee, and their neighbor’s must do the same to get in line for initial installation of Google Fiber. This pre-qualifying aspect is the marketing component which Google foresees as a must-have in moving forward with actual deployment. If the interest is not concentrated enough within neighborhoods, roll-out will be delayed until enough interests warrant the cost of installation. This could save tons of money on the front end with less truck-roll for individual installations.

Residents can either pay a $300.00 fee or sign up to an initial package like broadband and TV or just broadband to waive that fee. There will be a 2 year contract for packages. Signing up for free broadband is also available, but does not include the 1Gig version, only a standard speeds. Google is playing it smart, at least on the front end of their historic project, using milestones to move from one level to the next in roll out. If insufficient interest by neighborhood does not materialize, those neighborhoods will have to wait for the fastest broadband available.

Conclusion

While these factors; using in-house hardware, and qualifying potential customers will save money on the front-end, as stated, the determining factor will be competitive programming acquisition. It is worth watching to see how Google handles entrenched competitive forces with what many think is an innovative project at its best. But the Internet giant must not only navigate a competitive environment, it also must offer the best product on the market. That will ensure success over the long-haul, which means, pouring money into build-outs, programming, and marketing costs for a multi-year investment.

source:

http://www.circleid.com/posts/

0120805_google_fiber_project_programming_key_to_success/

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Google unveils ultrafast wired home project

The Google Fiber superfast broadband network will be available starting in September, with one-gigabyte per second speeds — about 100 times faster than most current Internet subscriptions.

The wired home project will allow people to replace cable television and Internet with a single subscription to be controlled by a Google tablet computer, which will be offered for free.

"Google Fiber is 100 times faster than today’s average broadband," Google vice president Milo Medin said.

"No more buffering. No more loading. No more waiting. Gigabit speeds will get rid of these pesky, archaic problems and open up new opportunities for the web. Imagine: instantaneous sharing; truly global education; medical appointments with 3D imaging; even new industries that we haven’t even dreamed of, powered by a gig."

The packages offered will include not only Internet but "regular TV, the kind you could only get from your cable provider," as well as on-demand programs, Medin told the kickoff event.

Google said it was offering a full ultrafast Internet and television package for $120 a month, with waived installation fees and a free tablet. It also will offer Internet only for $70 a month.

It will also offer free Internet at the current speed of five megabytes per second but will charge an installation fee.

Google asked residents to register to determine the neighborhoods where the project will be introduced in Kansas City, Kansas, and neighboring Kansas City, Missouri.

It was not immediately clear when or if Google would expand the project to other US cities.

Google announced its plan to build an experimental high-speed Internet network two years ago, saying the United States had fallen behind other major nations in broadband speed and access.

"Fast is better than slow. On the web, nobody wants to wait for a video to buffer or a website to load," Medin said.

"Abundance is better than scarcity. There’s a plethora of rich content available online — and it’s increasingly only available to people who have the speeds and means to access it."

Federal Communications Commission chief Julius Genachowski praised the Google effort.

"For the United States to remain globally competitive, we need to keep pushing the boundaries of broadband capabilities and foster testbeds of broadband innovation," he said in a statement.

"Abundance in broadband speeds and capacity — moving from megabits to gigabits — will unleash breakthrough innovations in healthcare, education, business services, and more."

source: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-google-unveils-ultrafast-wired-home.html

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Dell plots Ubuntu laptop for developers with eye on OpenStack cloud

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Dell this week revealed Project Sputnik, a six-month-long pilot program to develop an Ubuntu laptop designed specifically for developers and devops, with the long-term vision of providing a client on which developers can build, test, and seamlessly launch services to an OpenStack-powered cloud environment.

The company is soliciting feedback from the developer community to come up with specs for the machine, which will start with an XPS13 laptop running Ubuntu 12.04. The goal is to deliver a stripped-down machine that comes loaded with all the necessary drivers and functionality developers want, but without the performance-draining bloatware, according to Barton George, Cloud Computing Group evangelist at Dell.

Notably, this isn’t Dell’s first foray into the world of Ubuntu. The company is among the minority of hardware vendors offering any kind of end-user machines loaded with the operating system. Further, the company announced new servers last year loaded with Canonical’s Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC).

One of Dell’s visions for Project Sputnik is to enable developers to download premade, ready-to-use developer environments — effectively profiles with all the necessary tools for coding in various languages. "If you wanted the Ruby profile for developing in Ruby, or Android, or JavaScript, you could go and take those packages down and use them on your system," George said in the Dell Vlog.

The idea is for a developer to be able to easily load a new profile to a machine on the fly from GitHub in case he or she wants to start coding in a new language. "People will get excited about building out more profiles for themselves," said George.

The long-term vision for Sputnik is to equip developers with a lightweight system that would serve as a launchpad for pushing applications to a cloud back end powered by OpenStack. "The idea is that you would develop in a microcloud on the laptop itself. You would then push it out to a test environment, which you then push out to a cloud," said George. "You have a seamless connection of tools that are all linked together in a very devops kind of a fashion."

If Project Sputnik proves sufficiently successful, Dell also could roll out a heavyweight counterpart to the envisioned lightweight machine, "a big honking machine that people could do more heavyweight-type developing on," said George.

Developers have started contributing dozens of suggestions for Project Sputnik on Dell’s Idea Storm site. Among the suggestions:

  • At least a Core i7 processor
  • 8GB of RAM
  • A fast solid-state drive
  • A midrange Nvidia GPU
  • At least seven hours of battery life
  • A matte display with a resolution of at least 1,440 by 900
  • A high-quality keyboard
  • A high-quality touchpad
  • The option for a multilingual keyboard and installation
  • A preinstalled virtual version of Windows 7

source:

http://www.infoworld.com/t/linux/dell-plots-ubuntu-laptop-developers-eye-openstack-cloud-192732

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C Is The Most Popular Programming Language In April

Have you heard of the TIOBE Programming Community Index? It’s a table that lists the ratings of programming languages and tracks their status throughout the developer ecosystem. It’s a good indicator of where a language stands in terms of its general use. April has a few surprises though.

It was found that Java is a downward trend from it’s top spot in the developer world. It would appear that C is now the most popular programming language in the world at a rating of 17.555 percent. It’s not all that bad for Java though since it’s rating for April is at 17.026 percent. TIOBE Software says that Java will never diminish too badly due to the Android development scene.

How does TIOBE find these results? Here’s how the Web site puts it:

The TIOBE Programming Community index is an indicator of the popularity of programming languages. The index is updated once a month. The ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses and third party vendors. The popular search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube and Baidu are used to calculate the ratings. Observe that the TIOBE index is not about the best programming language or the language in which most lines of code have been written.

What’s interesting is that C-based languages make up the majority of the top five list with C++ coming in at number three with a rating of 8.896 percent, Objective-C at number four with 8.236 percent and C# at number 5 with 7.348 percent. Objective-C has seen the largest climb with its position at number eight this time last year.

While Java may be doing down, JavaScript is working it’s way up rather slowly. It was at number 10 this time last year, but now it’s at number nine.

TIOBE hopes that their list will help developers make the proper choice when it comes to building new applications. Choosing a more popular language will ensure maximum compatibility, but there are applications being made now that should make language conversion easier for those who want to program applications in multiple languages.

Here’s the top 20 languages for the month of April according to the TIOBE Index:

C Most Popular Programming Language In April

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Android and Linux re-merge into one operating system

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Android has always been Linux, but for years the Android project went its own way and its code wasn’t merged back into the main Linux tree. Now, much sooner than Linus Torvalds, Linux’s founder and lead developer, had expected, Android has officially merged back into Linux’s mainline.

The fork between Android and Linux all began in the fall of 2010, “Google engineer Patrick Brady stated that Android is not Linux” That was never actually the case. Android has always been Linux at heart.

At the same time though Google did take Android in a direction that wasn’t compatible with the mainstream Linux kernel. As Greg Kroah-Hartman, the maintainer of the stable Linux kernel for the Linux Foundation and head of the Linux Driver Project, wrote in Android and the Linux kernel community, “The Android kernel code is more than just the few weird drivers that were in the drivers/staging/androidsubdirectory in the kernel. In order to get a working Android system, you need the new lock type they have created, as well as hooks in the core system for their security model. In order to write a driver for hardware to work on Android, you need to properly integrate into this new lock, as well as sometimes the bizarre security model. Oh, and then there’s the totally-different framebuffer driver infrastructure as well.” That flew like a lead balloon in Android circles.

This disagreement sprang from several sources. One was that Google’s Android developers had adopted their own way to address power issues with WakeLocks. The other cause, as Google open source engineering manager Chris DiBona pointed out, was that Android’s programmers were so busy working on Android device specifics that they had done a poor job of co-coordinating with the Linux kernel developers.

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/android-and-linux-re-merge-into-one-operating-system/10625?tag=content;search-results-river

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Some Misunderstandings of Pair Programming

I have a lot of programming experience accumulated during some past few years. Some experience were gained while working in our team, some were at the clients, some in coding dojo, and some in the open source projects.

Pair programming is great and efficient to the programmers knowing how to use pair programming. But you can’t expect programmers to do great in front of computers at the very beginning of pair programming. Pair programming needs learning and programmers are required to know the difference between an executor (who types on the keyboard) and a pilot. Here are some details.

1. Misunderstandings Of A Pilot

A. The One Who Orders

Those who are fond of giving orders always tell the executors, “add a ‘)’ in the end, then…”. He does not care about solutions and what to do next, but is over-concerned about the details of programming. Actually, he hopes to type the keyboard himself. So when you come across someone who likes to order, then let him type the keyboard instead of being the pilot.

B. The One Who Picks Out Your Spelling Mistakes

If the pilot sits beside you, correcting every spelling mistake you have made, he will not have time to do the real piloting. Just communicate with your correction-maker, and suggest him giving you a cup of coffee (or anything you want) when he is going to correct the mistakes.

C. The One Who Criticizes

The criticizer will criticize every line of codes you write. If his opinion is right, he will not use your codes but insist on his. Try to exchange your roles, or the criticizers may become someone who is too complacent.

D. The One Who Is Silent

The silent man is someone who barely expresses opinions. He is just looking at you working.

Try to ask him what his opinions are on your programming, or what testing codes you should write next.

E. The One Whose Mind Is Absent

This kind of person is there to distract you, not giving you some constructive opinions and helping you solve problems. So just let him leave. You would rather program on your own than with someone distracting you.

2. Misunderstandings Of An Executor

A. The One Who Does Not Tell What He Is Doing

This kind of person just types the codes without telling others what he is doing. The pilot has to figure out what the codes mean. There is no discussion between the pilot and the executor about what methods they should select and how to design. The pilot should ask him about him his plans and opinions.

B. The One Who Is Too Self-Important

This kind of person usually ignores the pilot’s suggestions, for he believes his own opinions are better. When you come across such person, just stop the pair programming thing, and start with the next task. Someone who is self-important will not be a good pilot, either. He will probably become the one who orders or criticizes.

C. The One Who Does Not Know What To Do

Such person is usually not very comfortable with pair programming. They are nervous, and not able to handle the situation. Just make sure you try your best to play the pilot role. Be cautious while giving opinions, and mostly offer encouragement. Most programmers experienced this at the beginning. So don’t hold too much expectation. Let him be a pilot first, or find some pilot who is good at getting along with people to work with him.

D. The One Who Skips Between Codes

Such person likes to skip between the codes, which causes that the pilot does not know where he is. The pilot should to let him slow down, and ask him about his plans, and make sure the pilot knows more shortcut keys than him.

E. The One Who Is Not Familiar With The Tools

This kind of person does not know the shortcut keys in the development environment, which is not efficient. Try to exchange your roles, let him see your skills. Or you can give him a cheat sheet with a list of shortcut keys.

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When Does It Make Sense to Outsource Your Software Development?

Michael Schneider is CEO of Mobile Roadie, the leading self-service mobile app platform. With more than 16 million users, Mobile Roadie powers over 3,000 apps for some of the world’s most popular artists and brands.

You don’t need to own app development software — you just think you do.

Often a business encounters one of two scenarios: Either a company is hesitant to go with a development platform because it’s so much cheaper than building an app from scratch. (“If it’s so cheap, something must be wrong.”) They feel they need to “own” the app and source code. Or companies rely on in-house IT departments for development projects, even when they don’t need to.

When a brand new industry emerges (such as SaaS app builders), it takes time for companies to realize that, many times, it’s not cheaper. Over time, this problem will correct itself, in much the same way that WordPress, Tumblr, Square Space and others have become acceptable solutions for building a website, despite their low costs.

On the other hand, IT departments that think they can do it all can actually be dangerous for the companies that employ them. If you’re a technology company, meaning tech is your main business and not just a function within a larger organization, perhaps it does make sense to try and build in-house. But for most organizations, IT groups simply exist to serve the larger purpose of the business, likely something other than tech.

Saying no to an in-house IT department that wants to build mobile may take courage, but it may be in the organization’s best interests.

Or companies may insist: The price is right, IT agrees that it should outsource app creation, but they want to own the source code. This is equivalent to telling Microsoft that you want to use Windows, but that you need the source code to seal the deal. This often derails otherwise great use of app platforms, and causes the organization to build from scratch when, in reality, the organization does not need to own the source code.

Mobile moves at lightning speed. If you own the source code when Apple and Google come out with new versions of iOS and Android, it’s up to you to build in new features and make sure your app is up to snuff. And with new phones and software versions coming out monthly, this can be a daunting and expensive task.

In these three instances, building an app from scratch makes sense.

  1. If it’s your core business to be in the app market.
  2. If you’re trying to build a game.
  3. If your needs are truly, highly custom.

However, if your app is content-driven, there is no good reason to build something from scratch, or to own the source code. There are many impressive platforms on which to build content-based apps, with great viral sharing features, media, gamification and more — at a fraction of the cost and time it takes to build from the ground up. So, stop your IT department from trying to do it all.

Source: http://mashable.com/2012/02/28/outsource-software-development/

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4 Notable Software Outsourcing Trends in 2012

Nobody can tell more about the market than the representatives of a given industry. Below we provide the summary on the trends in software outsourcing customers’ behavior that we find important to share with you:

1. The quality of outsourcing services, as well as it’s perception by the clients, has improved greatly. This is true not only for Ukraine, but for all major destinations. Outsourcing companies move from selling man-hours to offering industry expertise. Software outsourcing cleints are interested that their teams are not just technically savvy, but also are capable to establish proper processes that help manage quality on all stages of software development lifecycle. Actually it’s not surprising – experience is the key to better quality, and the more complicated outsourcing projects are, the better quality outsourcing providers offer.

2. Software outsourcing clients find it less risky and know how to evaluate service providers. They ask for more information on the cooperation models, actively take part in the hiring process and maintain closer relationship with their offshore teams.

3. Higher attention to the qualitative indicators of the team and outsourcing provider. Tehcnical part is important, but clients don’t underestimate the role of processes, team spirit and commitment. Clients expect each team member to feel and act as a co-owner. They want to hire people for the long run and are ready to invest in them – their education, training and team building activity. That is why the corporate culture and standards within the outsourcing company (such as medical insurance, free English classes, technical and soft skills training and even corporate culture) become more and more important factors of choice.

4. The increasing trust to outsourcing teams. This is the logical result of all the abovementioned factors. Clients ask for advice and welcome creativity, they are ready to implement the ideas offered by their offshore team members, use the opportunity to get support and join testing and beta-testing efforts of their on-site and off-site teams.

Lack of qualified people and the constantly growing demand for IT specialists lead to gradual transformation of the offshore outsourcing services – from being an instrument of cost saving to another way to find the right people for a project. We believe that this is good for all participants of the process – customers, engineers and end-users, who eventually get better software applications.

Source: http://ceeoa.org/news/ceeoa-news/4-notable-software-outsourcing-trends-in-2012/

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IT Outsourcing: Will it Continue to Grow in 2012?

Overall demand for IT services will continue to grow in 2012 as productivity efficiencies from IT are now a well-accepted reality, according to a senior executive of a major IT service provider.

In an exclusive interview with the International Business Times, Murali Gopalan, who is the CIO of UST Global, a U.S.-based company with development centers across India, says that new investment projects in IT might suffer in the short and medium term due to the restraint in capital investments by companies.

However, overall investments in IT projects for increasing efficiency will surely continue to grow worldwide. This will be augmented by "lights on" IT engagements that ensure operational efficiencies of companies.

How do you visualize 2012 in respect to demand for IT outsourcing? Where do you see the major players in IT outsourcing in India focusing on this year?

There has been a lot of discussion in the IT industry, especially in India, about IT firms "moving up the value chain". Over these past few years, they have indeed been delivering higher value to customers especially in areas like (a) business intelligence and analytics, (b) innovations in mobility, (c) innovations with dedicated "apps", and (d) using cloud-based services for better ROI etc. In 2012, major players will increase focus on these higher value-added services, while the delivery of "lights on" services will continue to grow as usual.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/296359/20120210/outsourcing-will-continue-grow-2012-exclusive.htm

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