Tailwinds and Headwinds

When we stumble upon some old document or picture it either makes us chuckle or frown. And sometimes it reawakens in us spirit of the times gone by. One such email from 12 years ago has done exactly that. It was time when I had made successful transition from the old economy to the new one. Though I never wrote a single line of code but because of my understanding around business processes & IT, and my background of old economy - Philips / Voltas, I could engage a non-IT audience very well and educate them / introduce them to the field of IT. And since teaching is part of my gene pool, I was really getting good at it. Conducting such sessions was only part time work as for most part I still had a full time job. However for a few months (Nov/ Dec 2002) income from these training's helped me put food on the table. To be in this remarkable position back in 2002, with an eager appetite to keep learning, life could have evolved quite differently. But that was not to be, the after affect of the 9/11 attacks and dot cum bubble burst practically bankrupted the company I worked for, and caused a IT industry slump. Pushed against the wall and with no other alternative in sight, I left the IT industry and took a job in the BPO sector. In January of 2003 as I relocated to Hyderabad, I packed all the material I had accumulated over 2 years for my own learning and training in a suitcase. Even today that bag must be somewhere at my home in Baroda, containing memories of a time, when within a year, the tailwinds on which I had hoped to secure my future, turned into headwinds .

(Below is the letter I used to introduce what I could train others on, much of it might sound cliched and naive today, but this was written 12 years ago, years before FB, Twitter, Iphone or You Tube.)

This time when I go to Baroda, I want to sum up enough courage to open that bag and hopefully reignite that same desire to learn & teach

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Sept. 21st 2002

Dear Sir,

Subject: Training Program on Information Technology & Business - The Intricate Relationship.

Objective of the Program:

This program is designed to enhance the IT Quotient of the participants. In these times of great change, information has become central to survival and growth of any business. The program helps Business, Computer Science and Commerce students understand the intricate and often misunderstood relationship between Information Technology and Business. The program starts with the introduction to the concepts of Information, Information Technology & Business, and builds the relationship between the two. Today there are more myths and theories in this field than reality; this program helps a student realize the difference. A test will be conducted at the end of the training program to ascertain the enhanced IT Quotient of the students.

How I am qualified to talk on the subject?

More than 7 years of experience in several global firms like Philips, Pentafour and Voltas. Present assignment as a Senior Consultant with CWL, a global IT firm having presence in US, Europe and Japan. This vast experience in the industry, from being an IT user to be an IT enabler has helped me understand the intricate relationship between IT and business. I have been on both sides of the coin, so to speak. What I offer is an entirely new approach towards Information technology and its intricate, often misunderstood relationship with Business

Training programs already conducted:

•National Institute of Fashion Technology- 1 day seminar - Fashion Technology & Internet
•Akson Institute of Mgmt. Studies. -10-day program on IT & Business
•PentaSoft Technologies. - Induction program for new students.
•Compudyne Winfosystems. - Defined processes to help get ISO 9001 certification.
•National Institute of Engineering, Mysore- Conducted a 1-day seminar.
•Adaptec Software. - Consultant to the top Mgmt. for IT investment.
•Jain College, Bangalore -- IT/ Ecommerce Faculty for full time MBA students
•HAL Mgmt. Training Institute -1 day session on Ecommerce /Ebusiness
(Hindustan Aeronautics Limited)

Contents of the Program:
Information Technology & Business - The Intricate Relationship.

1. Concepts of Information Technology.

What is Information?
Business as a process.
Business and IT? The misunderstood relationship.
MIS, ERP and Business Applications.
Business Process Re-engineering. (BPR)

2. Introduction to Internet.

Historical perspective: 1956 – 2001.
Seven ways of accessing information on the Net.
Internet and the Web – the confusion continues.
Future of the Internet- Broadband / Wireless / Digital.
Internet Statistics.

3. Introduction to Ecommerce.

Why Ecommerce? How it works?
Business Models of Ecommerce.
Technologies that make it happen.
Issues involved in Ecommerce.
Digital Certificate.
Digital Signature.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
Secure Electronic Transaction. (SET).
Internet Currency / Digicash.
Present scenario.
Top 10 Ecommerce companies Worldwide.
Limitations of Ecommerce.
Cyberlaws.
Internet Tax and IPR issue.
Future of Ecommerce.

4. Introduction to Ebusiness.

Why Ebusiness?
SCM / ERP /CRM – The three sides of the same coin.
Top 10 Ebusiness’s Worldwide.
Introduction to Ebanking / Egovernance.
Future: Data mining, Data warehousing, Knowledge Management.
New concepts, Estamp, Ebook, Internet radio, IP telephony.
Market Statistics.

5. Technology orientation.

Tools, technologies, Methodologies.
Business Framework.
Architecture.
Tools and technologies that make it happen.

6. Project Management.

What is Project Management?
How to manage a project?
CMP / PMP / SRS /WBS
System study to successful delivery.

7. Introduction to Quality Standards.

What is ISO? How to implement ISO.
What is CMM? How to implement CMM.
Introduction to Tick IT and Six Sigma.

8. Future: Knowledge Economy.

Knowledge Economy.
Approach on Return on IT investment.
Six forces shaping the future. (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
Techno Vision II (Charles Wang)
Escaping the IT abyss (McKinsey & Co.).
IT spending and productivity.

Written test / Quiz competition
Resources / Books / Reference websites.

Thank you.
Samir Konnur