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IT Outsourcing ‘plays key role in cutting costs’

Outsourcing business units can help companies gain access to skills they do not have and also drive down operating costs and capital expenditure. But when embarking on outsourcing you have to be very careful and make sure you get it right and avoid a lot of pitfalls.

That was the message from global law firm DLA Piper Paul Allen, head of intellectual property and technology Paul Allen at a seminar organised by the law firm with the Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) at the Gulf Hotel yesterday.

Speakers from DLA Piper Middle East and BAB shed light on key issues organisations face when considering outsourcing and covered topics such as regional outsourcing and managed services trends and root cause analysis of deal failures plus the secrets of outsourcing success and getting the contract right.

Case studies illustrated successful examples of outsourcing deals from the telecoms and health services industries as part of what was a dynamic, interactive and engaging event for procurement, IT and legal professionals with an interest in operational efficiencies, managed services and outsourcings.

"Across the region, private and public sector organisations are looking for effective ways to reduce operational costs, improve speed to market and gain access to in-demand skills to enhance their operations," said Mr Allen.

"Outsourcing and managed services offer proven solutions to many current business and public sector challenges.

"Even so, time and time again, the procurement and implementation of these solutions can be mismanaged, leading to potentially catastrophic business damage as well as injury to market reputation.

"It is critical to businesses and public sector organisations alike that any outsourcing effort is well-managed, from concept to implementation," he added.

"As an organisation, one of our core objectives is to encourage and enable our members in the banking sector to adopt best practices in everything that they do," said BAB chief executive Robert Ainey.

"Today’s event was a success in highlighting the fact that outsourcing can bring real business benefits, provided it is procured, implemented and managed effectively and that best practice is adopted at every stage of the process.

"It is clear that organisations choosing to outsource as a solution to business challenges, regardless of sector, should seek out robust legal advice to help minimise business risk," he added.

Source: http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=338004

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The next stop in outsourcing: Accountability

With the nation’s focus on the need to create jobs, the habit of outsourcers to cite the traditional value of cheap labor will no longer be of adequate value for an increasingly sophisticated clientele.

This is forcing outsourcers into a new age of value-based solutions and accountability. Accountability involves more stringent control of services delivered based on an overall business outcome (value-based) — not according to time and materials. Relationships are structured as long-term consultations and management, not short-term labor arbitrage projects. The workforce is more skilled, as domain or vertical experts and located across the globe, including increasingly in the U.S.

HOW-TO: Use outsourcing to boost your IT career

BRINGING IT BACK HOME: 10 prime locations for onshore outsourcing

These pressures create a tremendous opportunity for the IT industry. Here are a few things your organization should know about how to take your vendor relationship to the next level.

* Think about creating value, not lowering cost: In a traditional outsourcing engagement, IT examines a particularly manual or cumbersome process and then evaluates the options for conducting it more efficiently and frugally. But, chances are, your business has already taken that step — you probably took it years ago. The next step is about technology-driven engineering and productivity. This productivity is measured on one key tem — business value.

In a value-driven engagement, vendors are evaluated based on the business outcome they create, not the time and materials they consume. It’s about the final output from the client’s success, which is a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties. The risk is shared among both parties — and when risk is involved, it’s not just about pricing and cost. The key currency in a vendor relationship is value, which can be a welcome change for any company that’s seen an outside party run up the bill based on number of FTEs.

* Align the vendor with your business: In order for an outside vendor to deliver business value, the vendor needs to have a clear idea of both the business’ and IT’s overall business goals and strategy. In these visibility-driven engagements, they’re handled as long-term consultations, not short-term cost-cutting projects.

Outsourcers embed themselves in the IT department, using their technology expertise to suggest ways the business could be run more efficiently. In many cases, this uncovers problems or opportunities a client did not know existed. It’s an additional level of sophistication, evaluated not by the needs of the outsourcing client, but by the needs of the client’s client. When overall business goals are met, this creates a relationship of optimum value to the customer.

* Focus on management: In a particularly uneasy and pressure-packed time in the economy, your biggest ally in a vendor relationship is organized and strict management practices. These aren’t traditional benchmarks; they’re best practices that align directly to a business outcome. If a vendor is held to a particularly high standard in a business context, that vendor will utilize its full array of expertise and resources to ensure client success.

But effective measurement does not come without visibility and clarity in the beginning. One shortfall from the "gainsharing" days in the 1990s was that these types of projects failed because of their lack of structure and true visibility. The outside party tied its work to client success, but the projects were structured in a way that never articulated what success was and the attributes of the success were not visible. If success is tied to solid, measurable business outcomes, then the vendor and client can march toward the same goal as true partners, with shared risk and investment.

We are at a crux point in the IT services industry. The traditional days of labor arbitrage are over, leading to a more sophisticated level of vendor-client relationship. With change comes opportunity, and savvy clients can use these pressures to create a more productive and long-term engagement.

An accountable outsourcer is not just a marketing term; it represents the next step in a 35-year-old business idea. With additional accountability, we see a future where both vendor and client is set up well for success

scource:

http://www.itworld.com/networking/268172/next-stop-outsourcing-accountability

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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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More iPad Plays: 3 Key Items to Watch

While customers and investors need to wait another day before Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) introduces its update to the iPad 2, here are three key items to bear in mind:

Prepare for a surprise. In last year’s run-up to what was supposed to be the iPhone 5 but turned out to be the iPhone 4S, bloggers and analysts speculated about all kinds of capabilities the new smartphone would have.

Indeed, the iPhone 4S was a vast improvement over the iPhone 4 because it came with the "S" for "Siri," the personal voice assistant. For the first time on a mass commercial scale, Apple used a voice-response system that by and large works and is a huge hit.

How many of the so-called "insiders" knew it would be installed on the product? None.

So, when the iPad 3 or iPad HD or what might be even called the iPad Steve is shown at a marketing event in San Francisco on Wednesday, watch for a surprise. Perhaps it will be a link to the much-mooted Apple TV because the invitations say, "We have something you really have to see. And touch."

Of course part of the iOS software designed into the iPad family is an easy-to-use touch screen that can be used even by infants. There may be a major advance here.

But it could also be some kind of "hot key" that links with the iCloud and helps to bring in TV, since the new iPad is apparently designed for fourth-generation long-term evolution (4G LTE) networks, sources quoted by Reuters said.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/310057/20120306/apple-ipad-jobs-cook-g-lte-tv.htm

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iPhone 5 & The 5 Ways It Can Be Better Than The 4S

Whether it is this summer or late fall, we can bet that the Apple iPhone 5 will hit stores before Christmas. However just like how the iPhone 4S manage to shatter sales records despite its predecessors (iPhone 4 and 3GS) already selling like hotcakes, Apple will need to come up with a new iPhone to top the just-released iPhone 4S.

So where exactly can Apple improve on the already well-designed iPhone 4S? Here are 5 areas.

iPhone 5 and 5 ways it can trump the iPhone 4S

New Design: Despite selling well, one of the biggest disappointments when the iPhone 4S debuted was that it shared the same design as the iPhone 4. So it’s about time Apple gives the next-gen iPhone a major refresh.

Larger Display: With the current trend of smartphones being big displays, a 4-inch display for the iPhone 5 will no doubt attract fans from other platforms. However the argument here is that the iPhone 4S is rightly sized now for easy one-handed usage. For that reason, reducing the bezel around the corners of the iPhone 5 like in the concept render below should allow for a larger display but same overall proportions.

Quad-core processor: The biggest rival to the iPhone 5 would no doubt be the Android platform, with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S3 expected to be the most prominent of the army. The latest Android rumors hint that the next flagship Android smartphones from all the various manufacturers may all come with quad-core chips e.g. Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC Edge, Motorola Bullet, LG X3. iPhone games have been known to push the boundaries in terms of graphics so sticking in a quad-core processor will certainly help in future innovation.

4G LTE: With Verizon, AT&T and Sprint all working on their own 4G LTE networks, the current 3 networks that offer the iPhone 4S are already getting prepped for LTE devices. So it only makes sense that Apple should too.

Slimmer Design: Just like in the case of the evolution of the original iPad to the iPad 2, the iPhone 5 could be slimmed down over its predecessor. Starting with the Motorola DROID RAZR which launched with a 7mm thick body, future high-end smartphones like the HTC Ville and Samsung Galaxy S3 are all expected to be around the 7mm-8mm range. The key here is to deliver a slim iPhone 5 yet still allow space for the additional LTE radio and an appropriate sized battery. One such solution would be a cheese-wedge design like the MacBook Air (see below).

Source: http://www.motoringcrunch.com/news/mobile-tech/9903-iphone-5-vs-iphone-4s

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Hire Offshore ASP.NET Development Company for Web Solutions

Microsoft ASP.NET is a web application framework that allows developers to create web applications, dynamic websites as well as other web solutions. In the initial stages, classic ASP (Active Server Pages) was developed on .NET framework, which was followed by ASP.NET framework with enhancements. With its improved features and services, ASP.NET software development has become popular among various Microsoft NET developers to develop dynamic websites and web applications.
While businesses are looking for cost-effective development services, they are giving more preference for offshore ASP.NET development companies. It is because of their skillful and experienced .NET developers who can give a new dimension to your development solution.
Before you hire .NET developer for your business development project, you must give attention to take offshore ASP.NET development services from a reliable and experienced offshore company.

If you take custom web development from offshore ASP.NET development company, you will get the following:

1.  The developers are trained, qualified and experienced in developing quality solutions by using ASP.NET framework to accomplish a solution in less time and within budget.
2.  The requirement to hire dedicated resources for your web development project is possible from an offshore development company at affordable price.
3.  No extra cost is incurred on the dedicated .NET developers working for your project at a distant location.
4.  Cost-effectiveness is maintained throughout the project without compromising with the quality.
5.  Creates a direct communication channel with developers or development team via e-mails, chat, video conference etc., for keeping a track of the development at anytime and every time.
6. When experienced .NET developers are working on the project, there is no chance of delaying the final project deployment.
7.  Provides regular working status to the clients for reducing the chances of reworks

Source: http://technology.ezinemark.com/hire-offshore-aspnet-development-company-for-web-solutions-7d32b3369f93.html

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Apple Will Launch Redesigned iPhone 5 in 2012

Apple Insider reports that in a note to investors Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said that Apple will launch make significant changes to its products in 2012 as it did not launch any redesigned products in 2011.

He expects Apple to launch a redesigned iPhone 5 in mid 2012, which according to him help Apple outperform in 2013. He has offered two scenarios for Apple products in 2012:  a "base case" and a "bull case."

In the base case scenario, he expects Apple to sell 142 million iPhones, which would result in 18% increase in revenues, while in the bull case scenario, he expects Apple to sell 162 million iPhones in 2013, which would result in 35% increase in revenues.

Munster expects Apple to launch one third generation iPad model to replace iPad 2. However, he believes that Apple could beat his estimates if it expands the iPad product line with both lower and higher price points.

Apple Insider speculates:

Rumors and speculation of an expanded iPad lineup are not new, though Apple has yet to adjust its strategy. Last month, another analyst predicted that Apple will sell a third-generation iPad with a high-resolution Retina Display alongside a faster "iPad 2S" with the same screen resolution as the current iPad 2, but with a faster processor and Siri integration. He also predicted that Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2 at a lower price, much like the company already does with the iPhone 3GS.

In the base case scenario, he expects Apple to sell 66 million iPads, which would result in 20% increase in revenues, while in the bull case scenario, he expects Apple to sell 77.5 million iPads in 2013, which would result in 30% increase in revenues.

Source: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2011/12/analyst-apple-will-launch-redesigned-iphone-5-in-2012.html

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Public vs. Private Cloud Debate Goes On

While there are important differences between a public cloud and a private cloud computing environment, industry leaders say the pros and cons of each aren’t as significant as the fact that both options are available for businesses and enterprises. At the recent CloudBeat 2011 conference in Redwood City, Calif., executives of various companies delivering cloud technology and services said any combination of public, private or hybrid clouds may be the right solution for any company based on its needs.

During a panel discussion provocatively titled "The Private Cloud is Way Overrated," moderator Michael Crandell, CEO of RightScale, which sells an automated cloud management platform, made the point that public clouds, such as Amazon Web Services, are commodity-based, pay-as-you-go services for buying compute cycles from a third party. A private cloud is the same service, but operated within just one company.

"If you take that as the definition, are those two in competition, or do they complement each other or both? Because often it’s misconstrued as that the private cloud is the false cloud," Crandell said. That prompted a response from Marten Mickos, CEO of Eucalyptus Systems, which develops on-premise private clouds for its customers: "That’s like saying an espresso machine is a false Starbucks."

Source: http://www.networkcomputing.com/private-cloud/232300112

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What is Offshore Web Development?

In this time squeezed scenario, who doesn’t want to gain optimum profits? It is possible! Only, we need to be little vigilant about the happenings with IT market. Offshore software development is catching up nowadays like wild fire in IT market.

The word offshore software development suggests the method of outsourcing the work or projects to some offshore countries. As it indicates software is developed by a company of some other country then it is recognized as offshore software development. The procedure is acknowledged as outsourcing of software development. The basic intention behind this is to make profit out of restricted funds.

Offshore product development services have the lion’s share on the international platform of the world. This mounting technical market provides you with all the profits to inflate your business to a zenith, amplifying your net profit. It has become a forced feature of IT companies to provide pioneering and the most current inventive solutions for the clients with pace and ace. Abundant opportunities make you grow in the customized market of software and website development areas. The market of web development services has carved a niche across the world.

Source: http://home-data-entry.net/what-is-offshore-web-development/

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Effective Offshore Software Development for your Business Solutions

Offshore Software Development is one the easy and quickest ways to develop your own custom software development as per requirements. "Save money and Time" are two big advantages of offshore software development services. India is the main center for complete offshore software development services. There are many offshore development companies provide best and reliable solution for your need at affordable cost.

Advantages of our offshore software development services:

• English Speaking Developers
• Understand your business theme
• Provide necessary support as per your requirements
• Provide solutions at quick turn around time
• 24*7 online help support
• No delay due to time-zone gap
• ust have specialized team of experts
• Ability to meet the deadlines

Custom Solutions Offered:

• Open Source Web Development
• Ecommerce Development
• Website Application Development
• PHP & .NET Web Development
• Web Software Development
• Mobile Application Development

Source: http://www.industrytoday.co.uk/it/effective-offshore-software-development-for-your-business-solutions/8282

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