Category: Business

The Big Fat Geek’s thoughts on Business and how business processes can be automated via workflows and technology.

Google meets Salesforce

Prasad AjinkyaLeave a comment

Just came across this.

Now Google Apps premier users can avail of the famous Salesforce CRM, at a nominal price of course. Its an alliance of sorts to stave of the big bad monster from taking on the individual firms. To be honest, it is a one place solution for a lot of SMEs for a simple and yet effectively managed enterprise system.

Effectively, Salesforce and Google Apps are combining their users for a joint Go-To-Market, adding more value each other’s product offerings. De factor internal messenger for this would be the Google Talk gadget, which works like a charm.

For Google Apps basic users, who know that paying $60/user/year is slightly over their IT budget, they can use SugarCRM which comes absolutely free of cost!! Knowledge of XAMP is solicited before going ahead with SugarCRM.

I am SAPped!

Prasad Ajinkya2 Comments

Back in December, me and my team were in an iterative process for creating a lightweight ERP for our ecommerce based stores. Being a bridge to the technical and the business worlds can be exciting, but without the proper understanding, it can go haywire. Fortunately, we were able to handle the business requirements and all was well. The main reason for any software provider to cry foul is scope change; this is true especially in the case of a flexible business wherein, the entire revenue model of the business changes.

These are the times when the parity between execution and strategy becomes the most clear. So, in December, I had this sudden flash in the pan idea of doing a due diligence for SAP. The right calls and voila, we were underway … what followed were umpteen number of presentations by various SAP implementation partners, visits by the SAP India sales team to reinforce our decision and “smoothen” the entire decision making process.

What will SAP do for me? Well …

  • Accountability, Transparency and Accuracy of information
  • Facilitation of further analysis for top management
  • Scrutiny of our business processes by a Third Party for improvements
  • Adherence to globally accepted norms

Four months down, we have went through the entire workflows and process charts at least three times … the user licenses have been bought, the hosting has been more or less figured out … and you know what … I hope to let go a big phew!

b****c*** bahut kharcha hua re!!

SPECIAL NOTE – The post is written ONLY in a lighthearted fashion and does not in any way reflect the organization’s vision and mission or complete lack thereof.

Taxes as Perks

Prasad Ajinkya4 Comments

The end of the fiscal year and I am waving goodbye to what the taxman has taken from me. Just another gloomy evening when I came across this link.

Is it not great how companies can twist pain to feel like pleasure? Everybody hates paying taxes, so do CEOs. And now a perk to their job is that the firm will bear the brunt of their taxes.

Suddenly, I feel that I want to be a CEO.

Advertising is the new Content!

Prasad Ajinkya4 Comments

Got to read this from here.

In the new web savvy world, catching the attention of users is getting more and more difficult for advertisers. Gone are the days when unsuspecting users would click on banners that would say Click here! in bold letters. Google came up with the concept of inconspicuous ads with Google Ads. Added to that the context sensitive Google Ads ensured that the customization factor was there.

Now, Google has gone one step further … widget based ads that actually draw the attention of the user to it. Not only drawing the users’ attention, but also ensuring a healthy level of interaction with the ad itself! Be sure to check out the Intel ad in the link I have provided. The way new features of the processor are highlighted are just too good. At one point of time I was just playing the game to see which feature comes up next. The ad was the content I was interested in.

Indians are Brand Conscious

Prasad Ajinkya8 Comments

This is from LiveMint. They say that Indians rank third in the world in terms of being brand conscious. The study further says that Indians are not only conscious about the imported brands but also know about the domestic brands as well. Heres a quote –

In a luxury brands survey conducted by The Nielsen Company, a global information and media research company, India ranked third after Greece and Hong Kong in the list of most brand conscious countries in the world.

And if you look at it, its true! Heck, I just bought an iPod … I would categorize Apple as a luxury brand. Just take a look around you, and you will see brands everywhere …

  • He is an IIM grad
  • I just took a Kingfisher flight, the air hostesses were worth it
  • Moods please
  • It’s a SONY
  • One Signature large please

Need I say more?

Customer Orientation

Prasad Ajinkya8 Comments

Are the modern sales guys really selling to us what we need? Or are they selling to us what they want to sell?

A couple of years back I had applied for a silver credit card (this was when I was a student). The card (Citibank) was good enough for me to use during my student days. And the great part about it was that my father booted the bill!! Once the job had started, the card was no longer needed, and soon it expired. I applied for one more credit card, to my chagrin, this time Citibank never responded. No issues, ye nahi to koi aur sahi … so saying, I got another card.

Now, some months back, they sent me a renewed credit card – an exact replica of my expired card … with my student photo as well (I was so “thin” back then!). This time around I feel no need for one more credit card; its almost equivalent to one more headache. Who has got time for paying those pesky monthly bills which always crop up when your bank account is doing the balancing act of the century (SideNote – bank balance is an oxymoron!!)

So, I tell them that I have no need for a card, can they destroy the card? Sadly, they advise me that the paperwork involved will be too much for them and for me. I believe them like a dimwit, and now I am still carrying my student credit card. I have no intention of using it. Upto this part, I am fine with it.

For the past week or so, everyday I recieve a call from our friendly next door Citibank salesguy intimating me that I have been selected for upgrading my card to an International Gold card (as if!!). I tell him that I am not interested in increasing my credit limit, every time. Still the calls keep on coming. Are they really listening or are they simply following through motions? If they are doing the later, then why bother with the futile exercise?

Interviews

Prasad AjinkyaLeave a comment

Have you ever been in an interview thinking “What am I doing here?” … its probably a good thing if you have not been in such a scenario. I have been unfortunate enough to be in such a situation while being on both sides of the table viz., interviewee and interviewer. Being the interviewer is much more fun and a lot more relaxing.

Some of the things to watch out for if you ever are stuck in such a situation –

  • Ask yourself this – Are you that desperate that you want to be in such a situation to filter out those maybes from the definitely nots? If yes, then please fire away
  • Look at the time, it is a precious commodity. If the person you are interviewing is tryign to mislead the interview, remember you decide when the interview stops, do not feel afraid of being too rude
  • Some candidates can really be upto-no-good, drop them at the first sight. Do not entertain such people further … its an injustice to them if they think that they are worthy of showing interest. I once ended up wasting a good hour trying to find out why did the candidate apply for what he did … answer was simple … employment
  • Have your HR/Recruitment guys screen them at the start itself, this eliminates all the definitely nots from the list
  • If that person has applied for a role in your department, ask a simple question to yourself … would you want to see this face daily? There is a lot more to face value than just the face

Will post more my experiences as soon as I manage to reconcile those resumes.