IT Next June 2010

SEARCH
IS ON
SEE PAGE 11

JUNE 2010 / RS. 150
VOLUME 01 / ISSUE 06

INSIGHT: Securing
the enterprise from
28 INTERVIEW: Dave 34
Evans warns against the
IT STRAT: Providing
tech support to
49 THE BIG Q
How to switch to
internal threats oncoming tech avalanche VIP users the cloud? Pg.53

6
g
PRACTICAL
WAYS TO
O
REEN
A how-to
guide for the
enterprising
IT manager

A 9.9 Media Publication

EDITORIAL

Make A
Difference
The unusually warm weather this year
has once again highlighted the impact of
electrical energy on our lifestyles—and the
woeful lack of this valuable commodity in India.
Bereft of it, modern commerce and industry comes to a “Focus on how to
halt. This is the principal reason why we are compelled to outfit our offices repair, recycle, re-use,
and data centres with expensive UPSs and generator sets. While these
pieces of equipment require substantial investments to install, maintain and reduce the use of
and operate, they do little good for the environment.
So, the practical challenge for IT managers is to identify ways to
equipment.”
minimize energy consumption and reduce the deleterious impact of IT on R GIRIDHAR
the environment—even while ensuring higher service quality, enhanced
infrastructure availability and lower costs. This is a tough balancing act.
Thankfully, you have some help from the plethora of innovations that are
being spurred by worldwide green movement—from operating systems
and apps that enable sophisticated power management, to energy efficient
hardware, better infrastructure management solutions, and improved
sources of non-renewable energy.
There are also other things that you can do as a manager to inculcate and
develop the culture of green within the organization. For instance, consider
the complete lifecycle of IT products, and focus on how to repair, recycle,
re-use, and reduce the use of equipment. From monitors to printers, servers
to storage—there is probably enough potential to rationalize and simplify.
Don’t limit yourself to optimizing IT sub-systems, consider the whole. You
may be overlooking opportunities to make substantial savings in other
places. Educate users to conserve paper, ink and other consumables—and Blogs To Watch!
enforce policies where feasible. Encourage and facilitate the use of solutions Investment Option in Green:
http://www.blueplanetgreenliv-
like phone and video conferencing, intranets and portals to cut travel and
ing.com/2010/05/27/investment-
communication costs. in-greentech
As an IT manager, there are many areas where you have little control but Greentech Enterprise: http://www.
greentechmedia.com/articles/
a lot of influence. Help business executives understand the implications
read/automation-is-new-key-in-
of making (or not making) specific investments in technology and green-it
equipment. While you may need to do the background research to ensure
Your views and opinion matter
that the proposed solution supports corporate objectives, the satisfaction of
to us. Send your feedback
contributing to the overall corporate good while saving the environment is on stories and the magazine at
r.giridhar@9dot9.in or SMS us at
too good to pass up. Are you ready to take up the challenge? Write in, and
567678 (type ITNEXT<space>your
let us know what you are doing to make a difference. feedback)

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 1

CONTENT
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A handbook on
how to green
the enterprise.
Page
16
INSIGHTS BOSS TALK INTERVIEW
24 Giving Teeth to Mobility
Mobile access to enterprise- wide applications will get a shot in the
arm with 3G technology
C OVER DESI GN: CHANDE R SHE KHAR; ILLUSTRATIO N: ANO OP PC

28 The Fatal Fifty
Security solutions may tackle half the risks--the
external ones- but employees can put corpo-
rate data at greater peril

32 Need for Speed
USB 3.0 offers fast data transfer speeds
to consumers, but there are a number
of roadblocks that have to be removed
before the technology can become main-
stream 05 Be double-barrelled| En- 34 Gird up for the tech ava-
sure that your existing invest- lanche that is coming |Dave
ments is secure and efficient Evans, Chief Futurist, Cisco

2 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

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INBOX

bringing out such an interesting

it next
may 2010 / Rs. 150
Volume 01 / Issue 05

20 42 24 the big q
issue.
IFRS: Gear up for telecom: Getting BI & Ba: How to
the new accounting more juice from strategic analyse the business How to live with a lost
regime now outsourcing information right? Blackberry? Pg.53

NEHA MAKKAR,

tAPe StorAge: not Yet DeAD
Assistant Manager Internet Marketing
Tape
Storage at Studyplaces.com
Not Yet DeaD

voluMe 01 | iSSue 05
Even with the ‘digital’ odds stacked against it, the gritty
tape manages to hold ground. The big
question is -- How long?

A 9.9 Media Publication

MARCH 2010 Would like to thank you for
bringing such a fantastic maga-
zine out, it is a refreshingly fresh
take on the IT industry as a whole,
IT NEXT THANKS and the IT professionals in par-
ITS READERS
FOR THE WARM ticular. I am still ROFL on read-
RESPONSE
ing the MYLOG by Shashwat DC
in the special issue, rest assured
www.linkedin.com/
groups?gid= Shashwat, your job is not on the
2261770&trk=
IT NEXT VALUES YOUR FEEDBACK
myg_ugrp_ovr
blink. IT managers have their
We want to know what you think about the magazine, and how we can make it own specialty, and professionals
366 members
a better read. Your comments will go a long way in making IT NEXT the pre- like you have your own, never the
ferred publication for the community. Send your comments, compliments, twain shall meet. And of course,
complaints or questions about the magazine to editor@itnext.in. you will keep hearing the good,
bad and ugly ringtone always.
PARESH THAKKAR,
SKRFID.com
I must say that the presentation style of IT NEXT is really READ THIS
ISSUE ONLINE
impressive. The insight section is always a delight to Can we have more of 15 Min-
read. Besides that, I always look forward for the training ute manager articles in IT Next, as
http://www.itnext.
there are lot of resources on tech-
calendar section in the magazine which I believe aid IT in/resources/
magazine nology on the internet and even in
Managers to identify the various short term courses to improve print, but there are very few avail-
their skills in areas like management and communication. able for managerial resources.
MAYANK KUMAR, Would like to have more articles
Consultant, Wipro on time management, team man-
agement, etc.
The May 2010 story on Outsourcing for Value was an interesting PRASHANT PHILLIPOSE,
read. India has been a frontbencher in terms of understanding the Consultant, Accenture
importance of outsourcing in different sectors. There have been plenty
of technologies today that helps business run in an efficient and tran- I really enjoyed reading the
quil way, without making any hassles to manage and operate them. The cover story on top 10 technolo-
traction of outsourcing has increased not because of just cost reduc- gies (IT NEXT, February 2010).
tion, but also in terms of increased productivity and quality. Organisa- However I would like to differ on
tions along with their customers benefit as they can access some of the the rankings a bit. Business Intel-
best available technology expertise in the industry and helps them to ligence and Analytics, for me, is
operate business in a smoother way. I feel it is just the start of an era, going to be the leading technol-
and outsourcing will certainly drive the growing demands of Indian ogy for the year 2010. With most
businesses. of the sectors are facing the heat
VARUN SINGH TOMAR, of growing competition, leverag-
Strategist & Change Professional, JK Tyres ing BI/BA tools will be the top
priority for any CIO. Also, the
I really liked the Open source special (April, 2010) issue. The cover biggest showstopper could be the
story “gaps are closing” was well covered and discussed the techni- quality and format of underlying
calities and functionality of open source and proprietary systems. I data that can mar effectiveness of
ITNEXT<space>
completely agree with the fact that managing an open source system a good BI/BA solution.
<your feedback>
is fairly a complex and cumbersome process. The open source players and send it to KANNAN K,
have understood that to reach out to the mass user base, they need to
engage them with simplicity. Congratulations to your entire team for
56 78
76 *Special rates apply
Communication Manager, Nokia Sie-
mens Network

4 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

BOSS TALK | HARDIK BHATT

LEADERSHIP

Be double
barrelled

Y
ou need the two of you to be an
effective CIO--think from both
left and right brains, see both the
sides of a coin, listen to disparate
tones in a chatter, and make two
simultaneous moves at a time. That’s a CIO’s life.
A CIO needs to be a strategic thinker while
being a fire-fighter. You need to have an eye on
the long term while producing short-term wins.
If you spend too much time on putting
together a long-term strategy and focus on “If you keep having short-term wins, the
executing it, you will lose your executive team
quickly. While the executive team appreciates
executive team will be patient with your
your long-term thinking, they also want to see long-term plan”
quick results of their investment in you. That
comes with your other eye on short-term wins. most of the existing investment. Both ways, a
These short-term wins can come in many disaster awaits you. Staying in the centre keeps
ways. Figure out where you can save. Can you you safe and sound.
move some strategic architectural components Both your brains need to be at work
to open source? Figure out how you can start simultaneously. While one is thinking about a
using cheap aka free mainstream technologies robust technology infrastructure, another needs
effectively without compromising your to understand the business.
enterprise set-up. Can you use Facebook to SUGGESTION BOX Talking about suppliers, you need to
connect with your customers? Can you build an constantly think when you treat them as
iPhone application for your sales team? partners and when you treat them as vendors.
If you keep producing these short-term If you always treat them as vendors and keep
wins, the executive team will be patient with them on their toes, they will not step up to help
your long-term plan and at the same time, you you over and above their SLAs when you need
will start winning your business colleagues’ them to. On the same token, if you constantly
confidence. treat them as equal partners, you will have a
Another place where a two-pronged approach tough time enforcing SLAs and in turn, you will
is necessary is in IT investments. You have to alienate your business colleagues for being too
ensure that your existing investment is secure The book tells why lenient on your vendors.
and efficient while making a new investment. some companies Last but not the least, it’s important to make
PHOTO GRAPHY: S UBHO JIT PAUL

Sometimes, if you are promoted within the IT last longer than oth- sure that you stay connected with the outside
organization, your focus tends to be more on ers, namely, due to world. While you can be a rock star inside your
existing investment because you have been leadership and inno- organisation, people outside should also know and
dealing with those for a long time. In such a vation. A must read appreciate what you are doing. Good luck!
situation, you are in the danger of losing sight for IT managers.
of possibilities of new efficiencies. Similarly, if WRITER: JIM COLLINS
The author is Chief Information Officer
P UBLISHER: HARPER BUSINESS
you move to a new organisation, you may ignore P RICE: INR 626.00 of the city of Chicago, USA

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 5

MONEY WISE
OPINION AJAY SETH
Chief Financial Officer, Maruti Suzuki

Payback period: It measures the
time a project takes to recover the cost
of investment made. The evaluation
method is easy to use and provides

The money side a time frame but does not determine
value.

of IT
Internal rate of return: the
evaluation method measures the cash
returns (in %) generated by the project
considering the time value of money.

I
It is easy to interpret but complex to
t is important to evaluate IT calculate. The method ignores risk
investments in terms of their involved in the project and may generate
business benefits. However, very multiple outcomes.
often these benefits themselves Net present value / discounted
are not quantifiable and at times cash flow: The method takes into
decisions are made more on hunch than account the discounted cash flows
on business linkage. based on an assumed rate of interest. It
It is also important to note that IT measures whether a project generates
investments not only entail start-up positive or negative net cash flows
investment, but have recurring costs (net of cash outflow/ inflow) within
in terms of maintenance, resources a defined time period. The method is
and upgrades. Organisations need complex to calculate and is subjective
to understand the value impact of to the assumed rate of Interest. In case
such investments. There also needs of projects with different durations it
to be a quantification of return on IT is not conclusive in determining the
investments. priority of projects. However, it takes
IT managers must evaluate projects
based on costs, savings, strategic
“An evaluation based into account the risk involved in the
project.
benefits and risks, in order to determine on costs, savings, Economic value added: The
the most advantageous initiatives for
the enterprise. Boards will want to
risks and benefits will method measures the value generated
by a project in comparison to the cost.
know which projects will contribute help determine the It takes into account the opportunity
how much to the strategic and tactical
business goals.
most advantageous value of money and is in line with
shareholders value.
There are various methods for initiatives” It is important for organisations to
evaluating IT projects. It is important understand the value and impact of
to determine the appropriate method technology investments, as well what
for a given project, as the deliverables of subsequent impact in cost reduction those investments imply for effective
each project will vary. While some can and improvement in productivity management.
be quantified straight away, others may n Cycle time reduction While it is generally agreed that IT
have more notional or indirect benefits. n Internal controls conveys value to the business, there
Let us take the example of investment in This example is illustrative. For some are a number of factors that firms must
an ERP project. The benefits will have to project, there can be more tangible or carefully consider when deciding how
be quantified in terms of the following: intangible benefits, so each IT project best to procure and utilise IT resources.
n Eliminating non value adding needs careful evaluation and use of one Organisations must fully understand
PHOTO GRAPHY: S UBHO JIT PAUL

activities of the following methods. the impact of IT capital on business
n Online information, MIS and Return on investments: The method performance and the correlation with
decision making is easy to calculate and interpret. It shareholders’ return-on-investment
n Reduction in manpower and measures the tangible benefits received decisions. Organisations must stay
related resource costs over the amount of investments made in ahead of rapid developments in
n Reliability and better compliances the project. However, it ignores the risk technology and align their technology
n Intelligent data mining and and time value of money. investments to business needs.

8 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

TECH TALK
OPINION PREETHAM VENKKY
Chief Catalyst, Catalyst Labs

access. All companies handle multiple
functions ranging from finance to HR
to marketing and sales. Given that the
finance is privy to accounting informa-

Keep it selectively tion, HR is privy to employee-related
information and the software developer

social
is privy to source codes, access can be
allocated to social media sites that cor-
respond to a department’s functionality.
So allow the HR department to

M
access LinkedIn and let the internal
y biggest challenge, communications team access Facebook
both professionally and Twitter while blog access can be for
and personally, has the sales and marketing teams.
been to convince
IT and IT-related Best practices
service companies to openly embrace The next step after allocation is to estab-
social media. That it has been hard to lish a set of best practices. While its
do so is ironic, considering that these planning and training may require you
are IT companies. to hire a social media consultant, estab-
The last time I checked, productivity lishing this process in the early stages
for India-based IT companies would will go a long way in mitigating risks
stoop to zero if access to Google and associated with managing your online
developer blogs was restricted. So, why reputation.
is the scenario the way it is? Let’s try and I believe any best practices you
understand what social media really is. establish for your organisation should
In simple terms, any digital medium incorporate the following seven
that allows for social interaction among
users can be broadly defined as social
“Allow HR to access attributes:
Transparency: In terms of both
media. And the philosophy that guides LinkedIn and let intention and identity of the user.
social media is its unmoderated flow of
information. While at last count there
corpcom access Commitment: In terms of resources,
time and expertise.
were over 250 social media channels Facebook while blog Understanding: Users should have
available on the Internet, Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are
access can be for in-depth understanding of the social
media channel or tool they use.
the leading ones, enabling social sales and marketing“ Listening: What the customers and
conversations in their respective other stake holders are saying online.
domains. website because there were unsavoury Participation: Participation on
comments about their management matters and issues related to the
Corporate communism and its functioning. Despite the site organisation, directly or indirectly.
The no. 1 reason why companies being blocked at the office premises, Contribution: Users should be able
restrict access to social media sites there were more than 1,300 reads for to contribute to the online conversations
is that they believe them to be time- a company of 800 employees. The cat at large with their views and opinions.
wasters. While this argument is valid, was out of the bag and the company’s Value addition: Conscious and
an all-out ban is clearly not the solution. management learnt, the hard way, that a honest attempt should be made to add
With the rise of smart-phones, blockage was not the answer. It’s better value to the social media channel.
(available for Rs 5,000 onwards) to stop hiding behind firewalls and They key aspect in using social
employees anyways have unrestricted learn to defend your brand wherever media is to keep the conversation alive,
access to social sites. What stops them and whenever required. kicking and relevant. We as human
from wasting company time by using beings are community driven and can
their hand-held devices? Allocated access collectively achieve goals faster and
Recently, a leading IT company The key is to find a middle path, more efficiently. It’s better to be tuned
restricted access to MouthShut’s between an all-out ban and unrestricted into this conversation than not.

10 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

UPDATE

UPDATE
I N D U S T R Y
TRENDS
DEALS
PRODUCTS
SERVICES
PEOPLE

“Let’s take the example of
financial sector. Banks looking
for more customers for a
specific product can directly
approach and sell the product to
them. That too, with premium
discounts and based on the
tailor-made customer need”
elaborates Schuster.
“Considering this, in the
future a consumer might
not need to go to a retailer.
And this ease can be further
supplemented by the kind of
discounts; a company might
afford to offer by removing
traditional retail medium
completely.” Schuster adds.
The company has recently
announced the launch of its next

Mobile marketing to Enterprises
are expected
version of mobile marketing
platform, Neon. The platform

drive business value to lever-
age mobile
marketing
is intended to deliver compact
marketing system to help mobile
operators run closed loop
EXCLUSIVE | Mobile Marketing has the potential to become the new to reach marketing campaigns within
age value-driver for Indian enterprises, predicts Flytxt in a recent consumers in minutes, from a single web
interaction with IT Next. an impressive desktop, without the help of IT
“The fact is, that, today, mobile has become the most personal way specialists.
medium of interaction among customers and partners. Be it at According to the industry
any level, the medium is capable to create diversified revenue report released by GSMA and
opportunities for all stakeholders,” says Thomas Schuster, Co-founder ComScore, Mobile advertising
and Senior Vice President - Product and Technology, Flytxt. is expected to reach $24 bn by
2013. In India the market is
projected at around $25 mn and
is expected to witness 100%
Global Smartphone Leaders by OS First quarter of
MOBILE
OS
y-o-y growth in next few years.
2010 saw RIM make its debut among the top 5 mobile devices
India currently boasts to
manufacturers, and Apple increasing its market share by 1.2 % (1Q10
MARKET SHARE (%)
have over 600mn cellular
Worldwide 50 subscribers and hence offers
mobile phone
sales to end 40 44.3 enormous potential for operators
I LLUSTRATIO N: S URESH KUMAR

users totalled and content providers to yield
30
314.7 mn revenues from this stream. At
units in the 20 present, the concept of mobile
Blackberry

first quarter of 19.4
Windows

marketing is very limited and
Symbian
Android

2010 15.4
iPhone

10
has not been explored in the real
6.8 9.6
0 business environment.

S O URCE: GARTNER, 2010

12 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

SAFEGUARD YOUR DATA THE SMALL GENIUS SPLIT YOUR FILES WITH EASE
Transcend has launched JetFlash 620 Inspan has announced the launch of Steller has launched a
USB Flash Drive. The device Genius ScrollToo 200 Mouse. Being PST File Splitter that can
comes up with the memory touted as value for be used to split a single
of up to 32GB and comes money, the mouse is or multiple file(s). It is
with inbuilt 256-bit Advanced priced at Rs489 and priced at Rs. 2100 for single
Encryption Standard (AES) carries a 3 year war- license and is
security. ranty. Windows 7 compatible.

Microsoft intros office However, IT Next notes that
except the new collaboration
feature , which allows users to

2010 in India integrate with Microsoft’s widely
publicised Web Apps, the latest
version, especially, considering
TECH TIDINGS | Microsoft has the high-price tag, doesn’t seems
announced the availability of to compel users to go for the
Office 2010 system in India. upgrade straightaway.
While the new productivity The company has claimed
suite was made available for that its beta version saw over
commercial purchase from this 13-lakh downloads and over
month, the company informed 2,000 leading businesses and
that the retail editions would be organisations have already
launched on 15 June 2010. made the transition to the latest
The company stated that the version.
2010 professional edition will The software giant has further
cost Rs 20,000 and the SMB announced that the Mobile
and Consumer versions would edition of Office 2010 will soon
cost at Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000, Except the new The new edition of Microsoft be available on Windows 6.5
respectively. collaboration Office 2010 introduces many phones and a broad range of
Microsoft, along with Office tools, the ex- new features like embed videos Nokia smart phones, starting
2010, has also released the pensive version in PowerPoint presentations with Nokia’s business-optimised
SharePoint 2010 collaboration doesn’t justify and voice-to-text conversion range, the E-series.
suite. to upgrade for voice mails on Outlook etc.

AROUND THE WORLD QUICK BYTE

Indian SaaS market to grow
at 53% CAGR

According to a recent projection by Frost and
Sullivan, the SaaS market in India is expected to
record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) STEVE BALLMER CEO, MICROSOFT CORPORA-
TION DURING HIS RECENT INDIA VISIT
of 53% for the period 2008-2015. The country, “COMPANIES ACROSS
characterised by high presence of SMEs, growing THE WORLD WILL
need for mobility and strengthening internet LOOK TO INDIA FOR
infrastructure with heavy investments expected in SUPPORTING THEIR
TRANSITION TO CLOUD
3G and WiMax, promises a huge growth potential COMPUTING”
in this space.

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 13

UPDATE

SAP buys Sybase for
$5.8 billion
M&A | German software maker
SAP has confirmed the reports
to buy Sybase for $5.8 billion.
The acquisition will allows it
to gain technology to deliver its
programs to mobile devices like
the iPhone. INTERVIEW
“SAP will accelerate the reach MUKESH SHARMA
of its solutions across mobile CEO, QA InfoTech
platforms. Sybase’s innovative
IT NEXT: What is the role of software
mobile platform can connect all
testing for any organisation?
applications and data and enable Largest acquisi- is getting mobile SAP’s
them on mobile devices,” said tion since SAP acquisition of Sybase SHARMA: Over the years, software testing
SAP in a statement. purchased is directed towards has evolved as a multi-billion dollar indus-
This acquisition of SAP would Business Objects enhanced and efficient try. This is primarily because companies
be largest since it purchased in 2007 for 4.8 mobile applications and governments have realised the impact
Business Object in 2007 for billion Euros to help customer in terms of revenue loss, customer satis-
4.8 billion Euros. According access mission critical faction and in some cases loss of life that
to industry analysts this and business critical a defective piece of software can cause.
acquisition will better place SAP applications on the Apart from this, an increased penetra-
to compete with US business move,” says, Praveen tion of ICT at all levels and e-governance
software Oracle, particularly on Bhadada, Engagement initiatives have increased the domestic con-
mobile devices. Manager, Zinnov sumption of software products manifold,
“In a world, where everything Management Consulting. thereby creating a pressing need for testing
and quality assurance.

How do you see the role of cloud in pro-
viding platform for testing services?

Verizon unveils remote In terms of processes, more and more
companies are moving to agile develop-

management solution
ment methodology and thereby demanding
a change in the testing process. Cloud com-
puting and virtualisation helps to do things
in an effective manner. The cloud now
TECH TIDINGS | Verizon has unveiled a According to the company, businesses provides a common platform for developers
new cloud-based service to help work- can configure employees’ portable and testers to share.
ers quickly, and securely, access their computers to select the appropriate
Mobile apps is a growing area? How
corporate networks, while making it network, including Wi-Fi, Ethernet,
do you see it evolving?
easier for IT managers to manage a mobile broadband and virtual private
global mobile workforce. network services, to help increase With hundreds of commercial and free
The new offering, enterprise worker adoption while reducing the applications available for everything from
PHOTO GRAPHY: JAYAN K NARAYANAN

mobility as a service, uses advanced need for IT training and technical maps, organisers, e-mail to social network-
software and an intuitive user support. ing, it becomes extremely important to test
interface to enable employee laptops The Enterprise Mobility solution these across the phone platforms. In addi-
and netbooks to detect and connect will be available by next month in 30 tion, the licensing of the 3G spectrum will
to the best network service at a given countries and territories in Europe, open up a whole new space of rich media,
time and place – for example, the Asia-Pacific and the Americas, with TV and real time video applications, making
network with the strongest signal, local billing, currency and support testing a challenging and complex task.
or the one with the lowest charges. options available.
By Nilabh Jha

14 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

ARE YOU
INDIA’S FUTURE CIOs
TO FIND OUT GO TO on21st
WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
THE NEXT CIO? 2010

UPDATE

McAfee eases security
TECH TIDINGS

Google
in virtual environments Apps to add
increased
The software
helps map re- connectivity
altime energy Google Apps already had great
consumption connectivity with Gmail, docs,
within the chat, video, calendar, and groups.
enterprise Now, Google has said that it will
be expanding that connectivity to
Reader, AdWords, news, finance,
Picasa, and other services,
thereby allowing users a more
unified approach to their work,
that does not requiire them to
switch between personal and
work accounts to use .
Google said that nine out of the
TECH TIDINGS | McAfee is currently existing virtualised architectures to top 20 product suggestions for
developing a platform and application significantly reduce the overhead of Google Apps request for just this
programming interface to provide a protecting individual machines, said expansion of connectivity, with
framework that will accelerate and George Kurtz, CTO, McAfee. Security thousands of users wanting their
address the specific needs of security within virtualized environments is Google App accounts to work in
for virtualised environments. Accord- one of our customers’ main concerns. synchronisation with the other
ing to the company, the new platform, We believe that enhancing the overall services from Google. The new
McAfee Management for Optimized protection of these environments will functionalities will roll out as a
Virtual Environments (MOVE) plat- lead to increased adoption of virtual new interface later in 2010 by the
form, is designed to provide a common machines with significant costs month of August or September
way to develop across the hypervisor savings. and will be available for all Google
vendors, offload resource intensive McAfee plans to provide open Apps customers. The company
actions like security policy check- source to its partners for security also said that those “customers
ing outside of the individual virtual innovation, accelerating future who would like more control over
machines, and optimise scheduling of virtual-adaptive offerings for the the timing of this change will be
these actions based on the overall state enterprise market. Utilising the MOVE able to make the switch voluntarily
of the hypervisor. platform, McAfee intends to release during the summer.”
McAfee MOVE will provide the A/V Offloading as its first product for
platform for leveraging new and customers.

NEWS @
BLOG
GOOGLE SEARCHES NEW HORIZONS ON TV
THE GOOGLE TV BOX could be a very cool and hopefully inexpensive gaming console | Billionnaire entreprenu-
er and chairman of HDNet, Mark Cuban, thumbs his support for Google TV in his blog | http://bit.ly/itnnewsblogjune10

Google TV is going to be very interesting. It is far from a certainty that it
will be more than Apple TV in terms of consumer sales. From a first glance
the Marketplace is the most important and interesting element of the
announcement. As a development platform, Android creates the potential for
untold unique and interesting applications that could capture users imagination.

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 15

6
COVER STORY | GREEN IT

PRACTICAL
WAYS TO

g
16
O
IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0
REEN
A handbook on how to green
the enterprise.
BY SHASHWAT DC
ILLUSTRATI ON: ANOO P P C

GREEN IT | COVER STORY

F
or the past few years there has been an immense
buzz around green, with the growing realisation
that our current way of living cannot be sustain-
able in the long run, every action – be it positive
or negative – has become very critical in the grand
battle of climate change. Much like the proverbial
Butterfly Effect, the outcomes and repercussions
of our every day actions can be manifold. Thus
it is not altogether surprising that ICT sector –
including personal computers (PCs) and periph-
erals, telecoms networks and devices and data centres – that accounts for
over 2% of total emissions from human activity is also looking at green in
a serious way.
The green debate raises two questions: How does an enterprise go green?
And more importantly, why should the IT manager be concerned?
First, from an enterprise perspective, green is not merely about
environment but more about economics. Considering the ever increasing
costs of power, green is more a necessity than a privilege for companies.
And, indeed there is a lot that can be done on that front, right from swapping

incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to moving into
a green building. By the way, according to the Smart 2020 report, in 2002,
the global data centre footprint, including equipment use and embodied
carbon, was 76 MtCO2e and this is expected to more than triple by 2020 to
259 MtCO2e – making it the fastest-growing contributor to the ICT sector’s
carbon footprint, at 7% pa in relative terms. Hence, there is a range of things
from micro to macro that can be achieved through such measures.
Coming to the IT manager part; going ahead as green becomes more
and more mainstream, it will pose as a challenge and opportunity for the
IT manager. Challenge, as they have to bring down the costs continuously
to ensure higher productivity. And then, as the IT manager aspires to
taken on a executive role, a green hue can be of much help and would add
well to the profile.
To start off, we present a simple 6 step guide to green that covers almost
all the areas. Based on a pan-India enterprise survey (IT Next Green Survey
2010) in which over 130 senior IT managers participated and shared their
views, in which the best practices in green were mapped on an enterprise
scale. Culled from the numerous interactions, here is a handbook on how
to implement green. So, go right ahead, and start greening your company.

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 17


SERVER CONSOLIDATION

VIRTUALISE TO
CONSOLIDATE
Through virtualisation IT managers can
reduce the number of servers in an energy-
efficient way

UPGRADE OR RECON-
FIGURE DATACENTER
In plain-speak, data centres are noth-
COOLING footprint is a little complex, and requires
INFRASTRUCTURE?
ing less than an energy-guzzling power much diligence and application. Of the
monsters. Within a typical enterprise, many ways, virtualisation is gaining
the datacenter can account for anything Never immense ground over the past few
0.7%
from 15% to as much as 50% of power years. In a typical scenario, enterprises
usage of the IT function. Hence, reduc- will have a host of servers, often one for
ing the energy consumption within every enterprise-wide application, or
23.7%
the datacenter is quite an essential and Intend To racks and racks of storage containing
important aspect of going green. And Yes archaic information. Virtualisation
the truth is, it is not that hard either of servers and software can be of
58.2%
Source: IT NEXT Green Survey 2010

17.2%
as since quite a few years, it has been No immense help as companies can then
on the energy map of the industry and consolidate their infrastructure. In fact,
scores of solutions are readily available. a virtualisation device or a software
Greening the datacenter involves application can track the server space
two aspects, namely, reducing the IT managers are indeed looking at and remap applications to different
computing energy map and also the ways to cool the datacenter, with the physical locations as necessary. With
ancillary energy consumption. The use of new cooling technologies virtualisation, information can be
need to pay attention to ancillary made location-independent and can be
infrastructure is important because redirected across multiple I/O
cooling infrastructure consume much “BETWEEN 30-60% devices and platforms.
energy, according to some estimates as POWER IN DATA CENTRE It is much easier to go in for a
much as 60%of the power consumed.
IS WASTED. INTEGRATED green datacenter when you go in
PLANNING CAN REDUCE
Reducing the computing energy POWER CONSUMPTION for a new one, but even the existing
BY 50-80% ” one can be ‘greened’ with a little
RAZAUDDIN SHAIKH, HEAD planning. Server consolidation
IT, ANI MEDIA through virtualisation could be a
good starting point. Next up can be

4
“BY VIRTUALISATION software/application consolidation
WE REDUCED ENERGY which will help in reducing the hardware
COSTS PER SERVER BY infrastructure. Cloud is also emerging as
50%. SO, EVEN AFTER WE
a green datacenter option, with the ability
DOUBLED THE NUMBER
OF SERVERS, KILOWATT- to host remotely and efficiently.

tonnes
HOURS USAGE DROPPED
BY APPROX 25% ”
STEP GUIDE
AMIT BHASIN, MANAGER -
DC, DLF PRAMERICA LIFE of CO2 are emitted annually n Measure energy footprint of the differ-
ent equipment in the datacenter
INSURANCE
per server across the globe n Reduce ancillary power consumption
n Go for virtualisation
n Consolidate software and applications

18 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0


DESKTOP VIRTUALISATION

GO THIN TO TRIM
POWER “WE SENT A
NOTIFICATION TO
USERS ASKING TO
To save big time on energy consumption, SWITCH OFF THE
MONITORS IN BREAK
youcan replace heavy-duty desktops TIME OR KEEPING
THE LAPTOPS
and monitors with thin clients and LCDs IN LOW-POWER
CONSUMING MODE”
DAYA PRAKASH, HEAD
IT, LG
INSTALLED PC POWER
MANAGEMENT
SOFTWARE?

Never it will switch-off if there is no activity
0.6% for some time. It is said that for every
12 consumers who keep power settings
enabled for their on their monitors
and PCs, CO2 emissions equivalent to
33.5% Yes
removing one average automobile from
48.2%
Intend To
the road will be avoided.

Next comes, the monitor, all the old
17.4% CRT monitors should be replaced by
No TFT or LCD monitors. For instance, a
Desktops are ubiquitous and much 17-inch CRT monitor consumes around
integral part of our lives. And though, a Even though many IT manag- 70 watts, while a LCD of same size will
lot has been said about laptops displac- ers are aware of desktop’s power consume about 35 watts, resulting in
consumption, a great many have
ing desktops, there is still much time for 50% saving right away.
yet to install power management
the same to happen. The trouble with software in their PCs Thin clients are also a great solution
desktops is that with the ever increasing to the power issue, as they consume
pace of computing, the process- much lesser power than conventional
ing power, the storage capacity “REPLACING CRT PCs and are much easier to manage as
MONITORS WITH TFT’S HAS
and the screen resolution, all BEEN QUITE BENEFICIAL, well. Thin clients consume around 15W
have improved phenomenally AS THE ELECTRICITY COST of power, which is much lesser than a
and thus turned the innocu- WITH TFT WAS MUCH LESS. typical PC.
ous machine in to a small ALSO, THE LONGER LIFE OF The next big thing on the desktop
power hungry device. Accord- TFT’S MEANT ADDITIONAL front is virtualisation. Much like the
COST SAVING ON
ing estimates, a typical desktop REPLACEMENT FRONT” revolution brought on the server side,
consumes anything between desktop virtualisation also promises
MANI BHUSHAN, MANAGER
80-280 KW of power depending many gains in terms of energy savings.

10
IT, PVR
on the configuration. Also, thin clients used in conjunction
But the biggest concern is not when with desktop virtualisation allows
the desktop runs, but when the desktop simpler provisioning of new desktops,
sleeps. It is estimated that close to 60% reduced downtime and lower cost of
of enterprise users do not switch off deploying new applications.
their machines regularly, resulting that
the desktop goes into sleep mode and
consumes electricity even when it is STEP GUIDE
non-operational. The best way to plug times the weight of a PC in n Install power management software
the gap is to install software on it which fossil fuel and chemicals is n Replace CRT with TFTs or LCDs
n Use thin clients in conjunction with
configure the machine in such a way that used to manufacture one PC desktop virtualisation

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 19


VIDEOCONFERENCING

CUT DOWN ON
TRAVEL
Videoconferencing is a great way to
save inter-office travel, saving money
as well as carbon footprint.
IS YOUR COMPANY
ACTIVELY ENGAGED Previous conservative estimates have
IN REDUCING COST suggested that tele- and VC could replace
By and large it is the finance func-
THROUGH VIDEO- between 5-20% of global business
CONFERENCING?
tion within the company that frets and travel. Advanced VC applications in the
fumes over inter-office travel. Keep- Don’t Know early stage of adoption could have a very
ing in mind, the high costs of air travel 3.3% significant impact in highly distributed
and hospitality, these concerns are not service industry environments in both
altogether unjustified. But such costs the private and public sectors. VC is
should also be the IT manager’s concern being used heavily by every sector of
because of the environmental impact 29.8% business, education, medicine and
No
due to the huge carbon footprint associ- Yes government. These days tele-presence is
ated with it. As most top executives in
66.8% quite popular among the big corporates,

any organisation are frequently on the evident from the TP (or tele-presence)
move from one office to another. Thus, rooms that can be found in many.
as an organisation assesses the need Yet, don’t be bogged down by the
and invest in collaborative tools that Many IT managers professed their grandiosity of VC and it’s benefits.
will reduce the need for such travel. faith in video conferencing as a way Besides the high-grade solutions, there
to reduce costs. Almost as many
And this is where videoconferencing are many low cost versions that are
mentioned that they are also look-
(VC) and other solutions come into play. ing at telecommuting as an option freely available. For instance, Skype
By efficient communication, the need and Google Video Chat can be a
for constant travel can be reduced to a “ADOPTION OF good starting point for VC. And
large scale and thus bringing down the VIDEOCONFERENCING there is a word of caution as well,
carbon footprint as well. HAS NOT ONLY CUT DOWN while VC might be great for the
COST OF TRAVELLING finance department’s wallet, it
BETWEEN OUR OFFICES, is not so good for an enterprise
BUT ALSO HELPED SAVE
MUCH TIME” networking bandwidth. So, pay
close attention to who is allowed
JACOB LIVINGSTONE,
MANAGER IT, BEC to VC and who is not. The best way
would be to draft a policy of the same

20%
“WE CONDUCTED 3
INTERNATIONAL AND 15 Upto that clearly defines all the issues.
DOMESTIC MEETINGS IN
YEAR 2008 & CONDUCTED
31 INTERNATIONAL AND
102 DOMESTIC MEETINGS
IN YEAR 2009 THROUGH
VIDEO CONFERENCING, STEP GUIDE
LEADING TO IMMENSE n Evaluate conventional travel costs
COST SAVINGS” versus VC solutions

BASANT CHATURVEDI, HEAD of global business travel n Test waters with free or low cost ver-
sions like Skype and Google Video Chat
IT, PERFETTI VAN MELLE
INDIA
can be replaced by n Pay attention to the bandwidth usage
by VC
videoconferencing. n Go for Tele-presence

20 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0


POLICIES, TRAINING & EDUCATION

SPREAD THE
MESSAGE “USER BUY IN IS
VERY ESSENTIAL.
Your green efforts will not bear fruits WE MOTIVATE
USER TO MINIMIZE
unless you market the whole idea and PRINTING OF
DOCUMENTS, TO USE
action points across the organisation EMAIL INSTEAD OF
SENDING MANUAL
PAPERS “
EMPLOYEES AND RAJESH AGARWAL,
MANAGER IT, DP
STAFF ARE PROUD OF JINDAL GROUP
THE ORGANISATION’S
STANCE ON GREEN?
Disagree
2% Strongly Disagree
Don’t Know 0.6%
powering off a PC to printing on dual
4.6%
side.
The way to go about creating such
21.3%
a policy document would be to create
Agree an advisory council that sits and
Strongly
Agree
47.3% deliberates on the various issues and
also looks at ways and means to educate

24% the people and get their participation
Neutral
Reaching out to the employees is into the whole initiative. You could
indeed the crux behind the success also look at creating a section on green
and failure of green practices within an policy in the office Intranet or creating
When the employees are aware
organisation. For far too long, compa- and involved in the green practices, a separate webpage or even a Facebook
nies that have treaded down the green there is a positive outlook to green page for the same. Since, most of the
path have done so in a very ad-hoc man- people are hooked on to the internet, it
ner. Participation of all employ- can be a useful resource to spread the
ees is the key to success of “WE HAVE A SET UP TASK word on green and test out the ideas
a green initiative within the FORCE OF MEMBERS with the audience beforehand.
company and for that to hap- FROM ALL FUNCTIONS, Next, pay attention to all the
pen, everyone must know that CHAIRED BY MARICO’S wastages that are being done within the
CFO, HR & STRATEGY.
there is such a project that is organisation, for instance, should the
THE TASKFORCE DRIVES
being undertaken in the com- COMPANY’S GREEN central conditioning in the office work
pany. For that to happen there INITIATIVES” beyond the office hours, just because
needs to be compelling internal SATISH PAI, SYSTEMS a few people are working late. Or how
communication blitz within the ADMINISTRATION MANAGER, to deal with employees that shoot

2%
MARICO
organisation. indiscriminate printouts and then not
The ideal way to start is to create a collect them at all.
green policy document that list down
the dos and don’ts prominently. Like
those corporate mission, vision, value, STEP GUIDE
statements, it is much advisable to n Frame a Green Policy Document
n Put together a multi-faceted advisory
frame a green mission statement. council
This statement can and should be n Use various media, like posters,

now plastered across the company to of the total CO2 emissions emails, tea coasters, etc. to spread the
word on green
remind all n sundry about the need of human activity were done n Create a separate page on Facebook
or Intranet where employees can par-
to be conscious in every action, from by the ICT sector ticipate

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 21


GREEN PRODUCTS

BUY ONLY
GREEN
Insisting on purchasing environment-
friendly equipment is the best way to
support your green policy
IS YOUR COMPANY
ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN
PURCHASING ENERGY
It is often said that if you believe in
STAR CERTIFIED
PRODUCTS?
something, then wear it on your sleeve.
Similarly you can show your commit- You could bring about the green
ment to green by taking oath to propa- Don’t Know in all the enterprise purchases as
16.1%
gate and buy green only. Thus, buy well. So next time, before sending out
green should be the new mantra. So, a RFP, make sure it has some green
whenever a new hardware purchase parameters in it as well that need to
is made, it should be as green as pos- 16.2% be adhered with. The best way would
No
sible. To start off, be sure to look at the Yes be to ask the vendor to provide all the
energy conservation merits of the prod-
67.7% relevant energy profile of the product.

uct before making a purchase deci- Also, you should insist on a take
sion. Look for certifications and labels, back policy that is being offered by
for instance Energy Star or Electronic bigger vendors, like Dell, HP, IBM, etc.
Product Environmental Assessment wherein they will take back the product
Tool (EPEAT) is a recognised standard Sensitivity towards green products at the end of the lifecycle.
within the industry for displaying an is fairly high as most managers Green power or renewable energy is
admit that they prefer Star rated
energy efficient hardware. These days products over others
the next big frontier for the enterprises.
almost all equipment be it a router or a While, green power might not really
laptop, each come with a star rating, so be a reality as of now thanks to
make sure that you are well aware of the “WE USE SCANNED the exorbitant costs, the shift
same. SOFT COPIES FOR is taking place steadily. Many
MOST TRANSACTIONS enterprises are looking at green
WHICH REDUCES THE
CONSUMPTION OF PAPER power, namely solar for succour
AS WELL AS TONER.” as India being a tropic country,
MALAY NANDY, MANAGER IT, there is always an abundance of
ADANI AGRI LOGISTICS sunshine. Similarly, green buildings
are a big hit as well, they help

50%
“WE INTEND TO companies to not only reduce the
SWITCH 5% OF OUR consumption of energy but also earn
EXISTING IT POWER money in terms of certified emission
REQUIREMENTS TO
reductions (CERs).
RENEWABLE ENERGY;
WE PLAN TO INSTALL
SOLAR PANELS BY
2010-2011.”
STEP GUIDE
CHANDRESH DEDHIA,
SR IT MANAGER, of power used by desktop is n Buy only energy rated products
n Ask for energy related information at
FERMENTA BIOTECH
wasted as heat jettisoned by RFP stage
n Implement renewable energy mea-
the fans of power supply sures

22 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0


REUSE, REDUCE & RECYCLE

THE 3R
MAGIC WAND “WE ALIGNED
When it comes to going green, following WITH SOME
SCHOOLS FOR
the triple policy can do wonders for the DONATION OF OLD
COMPUTERS AFTER
enterprise UPGRADATION
SOLVING TWO
ISSUES: LESS
IS YOUR COMPANY E-WASTE AND CSR”
ACTIVELY ENGAGED YASHPAL SONI, HEAD
IN RECYCLING IT, SECURE METERS
DECOMMISSIONED IT
EQUIPMENT?

Don’t Know
9.9%
only carries the IT specs but also the
manufacturing and the approximate
end date. By doing this you can track the
Yes
entire infrastructure more effectively.

47.8%
42.3% Also these days many hardware
No vendors are also serious about the

take back schemes, be sure to keep
The 3 Rs are most handy mantras that that into account when you purchase
should help and aid any IT manager to anything new. The best way to do it is
go green. They are: Reduce, Reuse and E-waste and recycling is still not to resolve the issue before-hand, as a lot
Recycle. Simply put look around the IT on the priority list of many manag- of hardware vendors these days have a
ers, as a majority of them were not
infrastructure, see if you can reduce it take-back policy, wherein they promise
aware of it or did not do anything
through optimisation and consolida- about the same to recycle the waste at no or nominal
tion. Next, rather than indis- costs. If the IT managers were to insist
criminately chunk away all on the same before making purchases,
“WE HAVE THE PRACTICE
the unused equipment, see if it OF RECYCLING the whole issue would be solved even
can be reused in some manner WASTE MAINLY IT before it cropped up.
And finally, all that you cannot HARDWARE EQUIPMENT, Finally, look at the small things as
reduce or reuse, make sure that COMMUNICATION well, for instance, all those cardboard
it is recycled. EQUIPMENT, BY GIVING cartons that come with each purchase,
IT TO A BGOVERNMENT
Without doubt e-waste is is there a way to reduce that. What
RECOGNIZED RECYCLER”
one of the biggest challenges about the scores of unused printouts,
ANJAN DEB, HEAD IT, GE
faced by the country and don’t SHIPPING can something be done about the same.

41mw
add to it by selling your old PCs Remember, that recycle is not a solution
to the neighbourhood junkyard. The but a process and that needs to be
ideal way is to try and extend the life imbued on an enterprise level.
of your equipment as much as possible
and also look at collaborating with local
companies that recycle hardware. As
an IT manager it is important for you STEP GUIDE
to look at the end of lifecycle scenario n Create a Product Lifecycle Docket for

for all your assets. The ideal way to do of energy or 2 barrels of all infrastructure
n Recycle old equipment through vendor
it would be to create lifecycle docket for equivalent oil can be saved purchases or by tying up with NGOs
n Reduce usage of paper and related
all the servers and the desktop, that not by just recycling one ton of products across the enterprise

paper

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 23

INSIGHT | 3G

GIVING
mobility
TEETH TO

Mobile access to enterprise- wide
applications will get a shot in the arm with 3G
PHOTO : PHOTO S.C OM

technology
BY JAT I N D E R S I N G H

24 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

READY FOR THE
INDIA’s FUTURE CIOs
WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
CHALLENGE? 2010

3G | INSIGHT

With over Rs 67,000 crore at stake,
the recently concluded 3G auction was
true broadband speeds over mobile
which will completely change the
APPLICATIONS TO
undoubtedly the biggest draw of its game. 3G dongles plugged into the WATCH OUT FOR…
kind to have happened in the IBL a.k.a PCs will provide network speeds
Real-time videoconferencing: Simi-
Indian business league. superior to those available in many
lar to videoconferencing on desktop
The battle for licences was fought offices in India.
computers, but now available on a
fiercely by service providers, with “It will foster an era of cloud-based
device.
the aim of getting significantly large computing that has already spread
Video-on-demand: Where a provider
number of consumers, as well as throughout the western world, allowing
can send a movie to a subscriber’s
enterprise customers, for sustainable IT departments to reduce costly
phone, or a sales rep might send
survival of their businesses. internal infrastructure and rely on
a corporate video to a client, for
For enterprises, 3G networks are secure external third-party resources
example.
the next step in their quest for higher- for CRM and many other enterprise
Tele-medicine: In which a medical
speed connectivity and streaming applications,” says Tim Daniels,
provider can monitor or diagnose a
of videos on mobile devices. For Product Marketing Manager, Telesoft
patient who’s in another location.
instance, the benefits of a truly “FAT” Technologies India.
pipe to the employees are tremendous. IT managers today have realised that Location-based services (LBS):
Information can be truly at employee mobility does not end at providing an It’s another interesting feature that
fingertips wherever they are and e-mail solution to employees. And one will enable organisations, in areas like
sophisticated database applications needs to look beyond to meet the specific transportation, to track the devices
that were only ever in-house can requirements of individual businesses. and objects on a real-time basis.
now be streamed anywhere within “3G will see a huge uptake by the
India’s 22 mobile circles. Moreover, the enterprise to enable their sales team
technology is likely to help enterprises on the field. It can equip sales team to

230
in leveraging e-commerce at substantial give live demos over live IP instantly, India will have
level. It will enable them to offer new and service engineers can be connected
channels to reach out to customers in an to the back office support team to
effective way, without any geographical download any upgrade patch or fault
constraint. resolution,” says Nikhil Jain, COO,
No wonder then, many IT managers Elitecore Technologies.
are busy testing and evaluating mobile The high-speed connectivity
devices to understand the technology and will also support more demanding
its usage in a better and realistic way. multimedia applications, such as million 3G Subscribers
According to Ashwini Yadav, Vice video conferencing, VoIP, full-motion by 2013
President - IT at IDBI Fortis Life video and music streaming, while also
Source : Qualcomm
Insurance, “3G by definition will allow offering faster web browsing and file
for more bandwidth on the mobile downloads.
handsets. If used correctly, it will be According to Dr. R Venkateswaran,
a big boost to the financial inclusion CTO and Head, Telecom Business Unit,
roadmaps drawn by regulators in
India. In addition, if it is made available
Persistent Systems,“With everything
moving onto the cloud and the
How 3G can help
to rural India, it will create countless development of third-party applications you
opportunities in agriculture, education on the rise, 3G might be a great asset
Field service technicians can easily
and banking.” to collaborate and share and help
access reference materials to assist
companies reduce their travel expenses
in equipment repairs, including large
Demystifying new on a large scale”.
manuals as well as product sche-
applications However, he cautions that the success
matics, in addition to capturing and
Driven by growing competition, Indian of the technology will largely depend
transmitting photos that document
enterprises today understand the neces- on the innovative applications and
conditions
sity of having a mobile workforce to initiatives from service providers.
ensure that the business priorities are 3G has other takers as well. For First responders in the police and fire
taken care of even if an employee walks example, leading car manufacturer department can easily view, capture
out of the office premises. Maruti Suzuki is planning to provide and transmit photos and video footage
According to experts, with 3G, Internet access in the premium- (Adapted from White Paper on 2G and 3G cellular
users will be able to experience segment cars. And LG Electronics networks by Motorola)

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 25

INSIGHT | 3G

is banking on 3G to streamline and
strengthen communication between
“WITH EVERYTHING
dealers, distributors, service centres MOVING ON TO
and consumers across countrywide THE CLOUD, 3G
locations.
Commenting on the relevance for
WILL BE A GREAT
this technology for Star News, Subrata COLLABORATION
Dutta, Executive Vice President, TOOL FOR
Engineering, Star News, late last year
revealed that he was trying to figure out
ENTERPRISES”
— R Venkateswaran, CTO and
if 3G was capable of helping his news
Head, Telecom Business Unit,
team to do live reporting from every
Persistent Systems
nook and cranny of the country. He
further felt that the prevailing market
conditions demanded that people get
on-the-move information, and the
potential of 3G had not been explored “3G WILL SEE A
fully well. HUGE UPTAKE BY
Nevertheless, one cannot ignore the
significance of quality devices, pricing
ENTERPRISES TO
models and services from operators. KEEP IN TOUCH AND
“It will probably not make an ENABLE THEIR SALES
iota of difference for some time to
come. Indian mobile operators sell
TEAM ON THE FIELD”
—Nikhil Jain, COO, Elitecore
bandwidth as if it were gold. I don’t
Technologies
see why 3G operators are going to do
it differently especially after paying
so much money for access to a closed

IT manager’s checklist Operator’s checklist
n Analyse the percentage of users consuming data n Managing CAPEX and OPEX: Operators need to adopt a converged
services at large. If the percentage is small, then there is IP-based platform that is future ready and flexible to support 2G and
no need to move to 3G 3G on the same platform

n Ascertain if it is important to create an aggressive plan n Availability of network and vendor agnostic OSS/BSS solutions: In
to migrate to 3G mobile devices today a 3G ecosystem, there can be a number of content providers and part-
ners with whom the operator has to interface. The OSS/BSS system
n Determine which all services are required to help
should be able to integrate seamlessly with third-party systems.
businesses function in a smoother way
n Ensuring multiple service deliveries over a common platform:
n Check with your integrator and estimate the
Operators need to have convergent service delivery platforms
RoI before moving to the new technology
over which multiple services can be offered to consumers in at-
n Every new technology requires some initial in- tractive bundles
vestment to gain long-term benefits. Make sure that
n On-demand services: Customers should be able to launch and retire
adequate security policies are in place before testing 3G
any service at will. It will reduce the number of calls made to cus-
n Ensure that firewalls are strong enough to keep out tomer care centres and cut the cost of servicing existing customers.
foreign parties and malicious users while allowing legiti-
n Time to market: Mobile operators have to take risks, both in technol-
mate users
ogy and marketing, and innovate to keep ahead of the competition.
n In cases where third-party enterprise applications are They have to be first to make profits from any new service.
used they should be able to demonstrate isolation from
other corporate users By Nikhil Jain, COO, Elitecore Technologies

26 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

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WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
RESPONSIBILITIES? 2010

3G | INSIGHT

enterprises. In a majority of countries According to various estimates the
where 3G has become a hit, large chunk SaaS market is expected to cross USD
of services offered are still to do with 500 million by 2015 and 3G will be a
social networking rather than high- key driving factor towards that.
bandwidth applications.
“I really don’t have a clue what Look before you leap
3G will bring to India. We are still As the 3G networks gain more visibility
awaiting 4G before we really get the among enterprise users, the challenges
broadband services working on our for IT managers are going to increase.
mobiles in the United States. Even One of the major challenges will be in
today, a large percentage of data scheduling migration from the existing
consumed via mobile still comes from 2/2.5G mobile networks.
e-mails which actually work okay “An enterprise should identify the
on 2G,” comments Marijn Geurts, key business gains before heading
“IF YOU ARE NOT experienced mobile billing and blindly towards 3G. If you are not
sure whether you will require the
messaging specialist.
SURE WHETHER YOU “The availability of video data-intensive applications in the
WILL REQUIRE THE conferencing and web shares does future, there is no need to incur heavy
DATA-INTENSIVE exist on 3G, but I must admit that in
the United States, there is still a limited
expenses towards the migration now,”
feels Naresh Chandra Singh, Principal
APPLICATION IN THE group of people that actually utilise Research Analyst, Gartner.
FUTURE, THERE IS NO this,” Geurts adds. Besides, the IT manager has to be
NEED TO INCUR HEAVY Other challenge is the change in
operator. “If the consumer’s current
sure about the effectiveness of data
security in the organisation.
EXPENSE TOWARDS THE operator does not have the licence “3G will certainly drive enterprises
MIGRATION NOW” in the circle, consumers will have to embrace mobility in an effective way.
—Naresh Chandra Singh, Principal to switch. With number portability However to make this technology work
Research Analyst, Gartner coming in soon, this will also be for the betterment of the business, IT
resolved in the near future as it will managers will also have to analyse
be easier for consumers to migrate and evaluate the existing data security
between operators,” comments Praveen policies and password mechanisms,”
but huge marketplace. They would Bhadada, Engagement Manager, Zinnov advises Samvit Raina, SVP, Patni.
want to make a quick buck through Management Consulting. According to experts, non availability
expensive data plans,” opined Tarun Since the cost of deployment might be of IPv4 addresses will be the biggest
Dua, CTO, e2enetworks.com. a concern area, enterprises can also look issue that enterprises will face in terms
“At Rs 200 to Rs 10,000 per GB, the for a pay-as-you-go model. And this will of providing scalability. Other major
existing mobile data plans are not only also be good news for the fast growing hindrances will be the concerns related
the most expensive but the quality of SaaS market, pegged at US $120 million to explosion of routing tables. These
bandwidth is also poor. The only USP in India. issues can be addressed by moving to
is that it is mobile.” Dua adds. “Mobile is increasingly being seen IPv6, but IPv6 is still far from being
as a key form factor (delivery device) widely deployed, so scaling to 3G will not
Global experiences and with 3G coming in, it would enable be very easy. But IPv6 is moving towards
According to some of the industry businesses to access critical applications wider acceptance, so these issues will be
experts, the global experience of 3G anywhere anytime at a greater speed,” resolved over a period of time.
has not been all that exciting among the Bhadada added. Another critical aspect that IT
managers need to evaluate is whether
to deploy middleware solutions that can
support multiple device platforms or to

IT MANAGERS TODAY HAVE
go with a standard solution or device,
for example the iPhone. However, the

REALISED THAT MOBILITY DOES usage pattern will depend on the kind
of requirements an organisation has,
NOT END AT PROVIDING AN E-MAIL adaptability of the devices and the

SOLUTION TO EMPLOYEES.
kind of money one can pour in for new
devices.

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 27

INSIGHT | MANAGE IT

FATAL
THE

FIFTY Security solutions may tackle half the risks--the
external ones- but employees can put corporate
data at greater peril
BY B E R J ES E R I C S H R O F F

As an IT manager, you have deployed the best position to misuse it. They are the ones who have
firewall; perhaps even dual firewalls from differ- been provided the IT facilities by you, misuse
ent vendors in series, intrusion prevention and of which could lead to a legal suit against your
detection systems, and have even got somebody organisation. They are the ones you trust with

70
to constantly monitor the audit logs. the data and the IT facilities, or can you? Well,
Excellent! Your corporate data is safe, right? they are the weakest link!

%
Wrong! So, can you protect your data from the ones
Sorry to burst the bubble, but by deploying who have been entrusted with the same? Can you
these technologies, you’ve merely secured your protect your organisation from legal action as a
corporate data from 50% of the threat -- the result of employees’ misuse of an IT facility?
external hackers, who would have to bypass the No system in this world is 100% secure, but
of data theft security systems to play havoc on your network. yes, you can take steps to mitigate the risk.
PHOTO GRAPHY: PHOTOS .CO M

is carried out What about the remaining 50%?
But who exactly are this 50%? What threats
Latest trends show that over 70% of data
theft is carried out by internal employees. He
by internal do they pose? may be that disgruntled employee sitting in

employees This other 50% are none other than your
own internal employees. They are the ones who
the corner, or the one wanting to leverage your
corporate information to secure that job with the
have access to corporate data and thus are in a competition, or even someone who’s secretly on

28 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

MANAGE IT | INSIGHT

SALIENT POINTS TO
REMEMBER
n Don’t ignore the weakest link in the IT
Security Chain – your employees!

n Policy document must be signed by
the senior-most management

n Involve HR & Legal departments
when framing policies and penalties /
punishment

n Create IT Security awareness through
scheduled, periodic training

n Identify all technologies in the organi-
zation and the risks associated with it

n Ensure that employees sign a declara-
tion that they have read and under-
stood the IT Policy document. This
document must be retained by the IT,
Legal or HR departments

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 29

INSIGHT | MANAGE IT

the payroll of your competitor and may corporate email facility could result in and essential steps for the success of
be getting paid for siphoning your data legal action against the organisation. the policies and guarding the corporate
and trade secrets. Use of the corporate network’s Internet data against any misuse.
The IT manager needs to be and Wi-Fi facility to illegally access One important step is scheduled,
sceptical and at times even paranoid another organisation’s network can periodic training. All employees,
in identifying the risks to gauge the invite serious legal actions against the irrespective of their designation, need
magnitude of possible damage. How organisation. to be trained in all aspects of security
can they misuse corporate email? Can As stated earlier, policies should as that form part of the policy. Failure to
they take confidential hard copies of far as possible address each security do so may result in an employee either
the data outside the office? What about loophole. Senior management support forgetting what he has signed for, or not
the Internet? Blackberry is available to for the implementation of these policies understanding what a particular point
them for accessing corporate emails and is very crucial and cannot be stressed in the policy means.
loss of this could also result in leakage upon enough. The policy document So who conducts this training? If
of data. Also, USB is an excellent mode itself should be signed by the top a senior executive volunteers or is
of siphoning off data. management. convinced to conduct this training for
So what can you do? How can you Also, creation of policies is the employees with the help of the IT
address the risks? fine, but what about when these manager, it will have a much greater
Implementation of technical controls policies are violated, intentionally impact. However, if the IT manager
makes the presentation, then it is a
good idea that a senior executive of

THE SOLUTION LIES NOT JUST IN the company at least introduces the
IT manager and stresses upon the

IMPLEMENTING TECHNICAL management’s intent and seriousness
on the topic.
CONTROLS, BUT AUGMENTING Training should be carried out

TECHNOLOGY WITH POLICIES AND annually or biannually. There can be
special training sessions for the senior-

TRAINING most management and directors.
The other important step is that each
and every employee (including the
senior-most management) signs the
such as web content filtering, email or unintentionally? IT managers are declaration stating they have read and
monitoring, and disabling of USB ports in no position to frame penalties or understood the policy document and
can be enforced as the first step. punishment as a result of violation of agrees to abide by all its provisions,
Technical controls are very effective policies, nor are they in a position to both in letter and in spirit. This signed
to an extent, but what happens when decide as to what action can be taken document needs to be retained by the IT,
something beyond the control of against the employee who has violated legal or HR departments. Else, in case
technology takes place? the policy. of a violation, the employee may plead
So, the answer to the conundrum Support and involvement of ignorance of knowledge about the IT
lies not just in implementing technical legal and HR departments is very policies of the organisation.
controls, but augmenting technology essential when framing polices and Policy must be accessible to an
with policies and training. Policies determining the action to be taken employee at all times, either as a hard
should be well planned, and as far in the event of a violation. Without copy document, or on the company’s
as possible, address each security the involvement and guidance of the intranet. Also, a distinction should be
loophole, which at times may not be HR and legal departments, penalties drawn between a policy, a standard and
controllable through technology. and punishments stated in the policy a guideline and this must be explained
Revelation of a PC’s network document may not hold ground, to employees during the training.
configuration as a result of a social because they may not be implementable
engineering attack could pose a serious or enforceable. The author is Manager – Information
security threat. Access to external Once you have the involvement of Technology, Tata Services
email such as Yahoo or Hotmail the legal and HR departments and
could be disastrous, since you would the top management has signed the
never be able to trace what data was policy document for conveying it to the
Find similar stories online
leaked using this facility. An abusive employees, does the buck stop there? on the website
or sexually-oriented email from the There are two more very important www.itnext.in/Insight

30 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

INSIGHT | USB 3.0

KEY SPECIFICATIONS
n Offers higher data transfer speeds of
DATA TRANSFER up to 4.8Gbps
SPEEDOMETER
n It's bi-directional: Unlike previous ver-
5Gbps sions where data would only be piped
in one direction at a time, USB 3.0 can
480 Mbps read and write data, simultaneously
3.0 n New power management features that
USB 2.0 USB
assure better power utilisation

NEED FOR
n Offers increased bus power and allows
for more power supply to devices
n Backward compatibility: USB 2.0 gear
work on version 3.0 ports and vice

SPEED
versa
n Better power management over USB
2.0
n Increased maximum bus power and
device current draw accommodate
better power-hungry devices

USB 3.0 offers fast data transfer Vishal Tripathi, Principal Research

speeds to consumers, but there are Analyst at Gartner says that USB
3.0 achieves its high transfer rates
a number of roadblocks that have to by using four additional wires in the
data cable for a total of six wires. It
be removed before the technology can supports full-duplex communication,
or the ability to send and receive data
become mainstream simultaneously, and is power efficient.
Most importantly, it is backwards
BY CHARU K H E R A compatible with USB 2.0 devices,
wherein the new cable dramatically
improves throughput speed.
G i g a by t e (P55A series
As per an IDC report, the amount of digital data created worldwide could hit motherboards), Asus, Seagate, Fujitsu,
988 billion gigabytes by 2010. With such tremendous increase in data, users Buffalo Technologies, etc are some of
have to spend too much time waiting for large files to transfer between a com- the early adopters to incorporate these
puter and an external hard drive. USB 2.0 (the current standard used in all interfaces in their line of products.
USB/flash drives that helps in the transfer of data) offers a maximum speed
of 480 Mbps. Moreover, one can easily find a USB pen drive that is 64GB in Market trends
size. Now, even cell phone and PDAs are available with a couple of GB internal The increasing quest for higher transfer
storage. With 480Mbps data transfer speed currently offered by USB 2.0 today, speed will be the key growth driver for
people are left complaining about the time they have to wait to transfer large the USB 3.0. Industry watchers believe
files. This is where the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 can play a major role. that USB 3.0 can be popularly be called
USB 3.0 offers maximum transfer speed of 5Gbps per second, which the next generation interface for trans-
is almost 10 times faster than USB 2.0. The high transfer speed offered ferring data. A tremendous surge in its
by USB 3.0 can allow users to transfer heavy files, as heavy as 20GB, in adoption is expected in the next couple
a few seconds. Explaining the technological concept behind the device, of years. “Customers today want faster

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USB 3.0 | INSIGHT

transfer of data. Thus if they will get an As per some recent media reports, Nvidia
option for USB 3.0 (i.e. much faster data has confirmed that no Intel chipsets will
transfer), they will automatically want support USB 3.0 standard until 2011.
to have the latest technology,” believes However, Intel has said that it will have
Shivratan Agarwal, Branch Head, Rashi its own USB 3.0 host controller (later in
Peripherals, Ahmedabad. He further says 2010), but that controller will not be part
that although there aren’t a large number of its chipsets. Also, there has been a lack
of products available today with USB of support from Microsoft too (Windows
3.0 interface, many are expected to be 7 too does not provide support to the USB
launched soon, like USB 3.0 flash drives, 3.0 interface).
portable HDDs, etc. “Ultimately, most The high cost of USB 3.0 is another
storage products will see this transition factor that is expected to restrict large scale
and USB 3.0 would certainly replace USB adoption among masses; but industry “THOUGH USB 3.0
2.0 over a period of time,” he elaborates. watchers believe that the scenario will AS A TECHNOLOGY
Most data storage hardware change and the reduction in its prices over IS EXPENSIVE AS
manufacturers have announced their a period of time would make its adoption
plans to incorporate the technology in much faster, easier and extensive. OF NOW, THIS IS
their upcoming product portfolio. Harikrishnan PK explains, “Though HOW NORMALLY
Moreover, many of the high-bandwidth USB 3.0, as a technology is expensive as TECHNOLOGY GETS
devices are expected to migrate to the of now (mainly motherboards), this is
new interface and SSDs/HDD devices how technology gets established in the ESTABLISHED WELL
will benefit the most from the boost in market. However, there would not be a IN THE MARKET.”
transfer speed offered by USB 3.0. Gulbir need to create awareness about USB 3.0 as —Harikrishnan PK, Alltime
Singh Bhatia, Managing Director, Prime a technology, as USB 2.0 is quite popular Power Technologies
ABGB, Mumbai adds that in future, there among the masses. All that vendors would
will be a lot of video-based devices like have to do is to explain to users that USB
cameras and media players, which will 3.0 is 10 times faster than USB 2.0. Over
come with USB 3.0 interface. “The future a period of time, every storage products
of USB 3.0 is good as all new external is expected to have a USB 3.0 interface.”
devices for video and audio need faster Currently, not many USB 3.0 products
communication,” he says. are readily available in the market.
Tripathy affirms that there are According to Sandeep Parasrampuria,
motherboards available today with Director, iBall India, only a few
SATA 6Gbps interfaces, which have a manufacturers like Asus and Gigabyte
PCIe card to provide USB 3.0 capabilities. have launched some motherboards with
“Moreover, in the future, the interface will USB 3.0 ports, but devices with USB 3.0
even be incorporated in domains such as are not yet available. He adds that iBall
high-resolution webcams, Blu-Ray drives, will be launching some USB 3.0 hubs
motherboards, LCD monitors and digital
cameras,” he says.
within the next few months.
Though most vendors are constantly
“ONLY A FEW
On the same lines, Harikrishnan trying to upgrade their hardware that MANUFACTURERS
PK, Alltime Power Technologies, can support the new 3.0 interface and LIKE ASUS AND
Cochin, says that there are a host of
motherboards available today with USB
deliver the speed boosts expected from it,
industry watchers believe that it will be a
GIGABYTE HAVE
3.0. Some external hard disks interfaces while before they would be able to match LAUNCHED SOME
have also been announced with USB up to the potential levels of speed that MOTHERBOARDS
3.0, though the products are yet to hit
the Indian market. External devices like
these interfaces promise.
In the end, though one can easily believe
WITH USB 3.0
HDDs, modem, and, wireless products that it will be some time before USB 3.0 PORTS, BUT
will also gain from USB 3.0. as a technology will become mainstream DEVICES WITH USB
Roadblocks
and ubiquitous like USB 2.0 in the Indian
market, but with time, it is expected to sell
3.0 ARE NOT YET
Anyone who would be tracking USB 3.0 like hot cakes as different products hit the AVAILABLE.”
would have a lot of speculations regard- shelf. Like all other technologies, USB 3.0 —Sandeep Parasrampuria,
ing USB 3.0 and Intel’s involvement in it. seems to be an inevitable upgrade. Director, iBall India

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 33

INTERVIEW | DAVE EVANS

34 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

DAVE EVANS | INTERVIEW

“GIRD UP FOR THE
TECH AVALANCHE
THAT IS COMING”
Speaking to Dave Evans, Chief Futurist, Cisco Internet Business
Solutions Group (IBSG), is similar to looking into a crystal ball and
gazing into the future. His job at Cisco entails looking over the horizon
of technology, working out how the future will pan, and then helping
enterprises for the change. From his perch in San Francisco, US, Dave
discusses the future with Shashwat DC sitting across a telepresence
room. Excerpts:

In one of your This explosion has led to computing, etc. instantaneous
prognoses, you have the realisation that data is not communication will indeed be a
spoken about data explosion. knowledge, and we need to be reality. But even today, the world
How critical is the issue? careful and not err in believing the has more or less flattened when
Data explosion is one of the big- same. The difference is essential, it comes to communication as
gest issues that will hold sway as today companies across the the internet has enabled com-
in the days to come because we world are digging deeper into the munication with everyone in a
are generating information at an vast loads of information they matter of seconds.
exponential rate. To give you an have, to find nuggets of consumer The impact is huge, for instance,
idea, the internet in the US at 2015 insights and thereby build up a few centuries ago if I had to share
will be 50 times larger than what business. Thus, it is very critical knowledge with you, I would
it was in 2006 because of the huge for an enterprise to chalk out a have to go through the arduous
volume of data uploads. Even as strategy on how to deal with data old trade routes. It could take
we talk now, the internet is grow- explosion. anything between a few weeks to
ing fantastically, savour this, months for us to get together and
everyday some 10 billion e-mail You have also spoken exchange words. And here we
messages are sent, close to 20 about instantaneous are today in different parts of the
hours of video is being uploaded communication in the globe, sitting across the table and
on YouTube every single minute. future. How will that have an conversing in real time.
So in a way, we are drowning in impact? This ability to share knowledge
this sea of data that we are creat- In the years to come, thanks instantaneously will leave a
ing ourselves. to wonders such as quantum huge impact in the days to come,

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 35

INTERVIEW | DAVE EVANS

DAVE'S TOP 5
PREDICTIONS
By 2029, 11 petabytes of
1 storage will be available
for $100—equivalent to 600+
years of continuous, 24-hour-
per-day, DVD-quality video.

In the next 10 years,
2 we will see a 20-time
increase in home networking
speeds.

By 2013, wireless net-
3 work traffic will reach
400 petabytes a month. Today,
the entire global network trans-
fers 9 exabytes per month.

The world’s data will in-
4 crease sixfold in each of
the next two years, while cor-
porate data will grow fiftyfold.

By 2020, universal lan-
5 guage translation will be “EVERYDAY SOME 10
commonplace in every device.

(To read the complete list log on to
BILLION EMAIL MES-
www.itnext.in/insight) SAGES ARE SENT,
CLOSE TO 20 HOURS
business models, revenue models; Do you think the networking
OF VIDEO IS BEING UP-
everything will change under its
wake.
and communication
capabilities will be able to
LOADED ON YOUTUBE
cope with this growth? EVERY SINGLE
You also used the term Indeed. In fact, we see exponen-
‘flattening’. What are the tial growth in networking speed MINUTE”
implications of the same? and in computing power. The
Huge! We are already witnessing computing, networking, stor-
its impacts of the same. You see, age technologies are all rapidly It is indeed a two-pronged chal-
the flattening, so as to say, has not evolving for tomorrow. The best lenge for the management. The
only resulted in an agile work- illustration is that unified com- expectation of the worker coming
force, but has also turned the munication and telepresence are into the enterprise has changed
world into a sort of global mar- no more fancy concepts, but real significantly. So, by the time a
ketplace. So, any company located technology and there are several- worker is 38 year old, they would
anywhere in the world can sell companies that offer these solu- have anywhere between 10 to 14
anything to anyone located else- tions, which goes on to prove that jobs behind them. And, that is
where. That’s why countries like the network is keeping pace with quite different from what we have
India and China are blossoming. the requirements. seen historically.
They are becoming tour de force If I remember the number
vis-a-vis the US. This is a huge And how will the workers correctly, typically in a company,
challenge for enterprises and and management cope with 25% of the workers have been in
even bigger opportunity for them. this change? the company for one year or less,

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is how to attract and retain this avalanche hits. Part of my objec-
agile workforce. tive is to get the message out that
an avalanche is coming and you
You have also stated that do not see it as yet, because it is
95% of what we know will be building up. And when it finally
invented in the next 50 years, hits individuals and enterprises,
so in a sense, innovation those who are not prepared will
will become critical for the be completely blind-sided by it.
enterprises going forward. But those who are will be able to
So how should they approach ride through it with ease. History
the challenge, knowing that is littered with examples of great
everything is in a flux? many companies that missed the
As a species, we are crossing the next wave and were obliterated in
threshold of discovery. We are the bargain.
learning so much about every-
thing around us, right from the How should the IT managers
microscopic genome to the vast prepare for this avalanche?
cosmos around us. This will have And how should they
a huge impact on what we invent equip themselves to ride it
and what we innovate. through?
Let me contrast innovation and To gird up for the technology
invention. Invention is the act of avalanche, the manager needs
bringing out something brand to do a few things. The first one
new, while innovation is the act of might seem obvious but is very
putting a few things that already important and that is to under-
exist to create a new thing. For stand that the world is chang-
instance, most people today do ing rapidly. This is important,
not remember the time they used because unless you understand
to lug their suitcases around. it and agree to it , you cannot
Nowadays, every one of them has really prepare for the future.
a wheel on it. But that was not the Secondly, think about the
case till sometime back, till some technology infrastructure and
smart Alec thought of putting IT investments in different
60% of the workers have been together the ubiquitous wheel manner. Newer technologies like
with the company for 5 years on the luggage that we struggle cloud, virtualisation are gaining
or less. But that has changed with. This was innovation and strength and the days of hard
quite dramatically today. So not invention. wiring and hard drives are gone.
what we are seeing that workers Similarly enterprises will have So when you think of designing
have exposure to lot more jobs to continuously look at existing the infrastructure you need to
in their career. Because of the processes and functions and think about open standards,
exponential change all around, innovate to remain agile and be interoperability, virtualisation
work has become almost a buffet able to surmount the challenges and other things. Always keep
with such a delectable choice posed by the technology one eye on what is happening on
around, the top 10 jobs of 2015 avalanche. the horizon.
doesn’t exist as yet. Just as the And finally be agile. Coming
top 10 jobs of 2010 did not exist Technology avalanche, that back to the avalanche metaphor,
in 2006. sounds ominous and rather what makes a great skier ride
So, there is an explosion of jobs, scary. through the turbulence; it is the
and opportunities are attractive Agreed! That’s why I have preparation and the mindset.
to the new work force. And that consciously chosen the term So, understand, evaluate and
is both good and bad; the positive avalanche, because it is a very dis- prepare for the future, hire the
side of this buffet is that because Find other inter- ruptive force of nature. Remem- right people, embrace new tools
views online on
of the exposure employees are the website ber, I dub it as disruptive and not like social media, innovate and
more aware and informed. But the www.itnext. destructive force. The landscape most importantly have faith in
in/resources/
big challenge for the management interviews is never the same again after an your own abilities.

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 37

INSIGHT | STRUCTURED CABLING

BUILD
BACKBONES
THAT
BEAR IT
In view of the exponential data growth leading
to high-density data centres, cabling standards that
match up are a must
BY K E N N Y G O U N D E R , I L LU ST R AT I O N BY P R ASA N T H T R

22
CAGR of structured
cabling market in India
% 32 %
of the structured cabling business in
India comes from data centres
SOURCE: SYSTIMAX SOLUTIONS SOURCE: AMI

38 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

STRUCTURED CABLING | INSIGHT

High density can mean multiple on the horizon. Enterprises need to enable easier upgrades tomorrow
things: high computation density, high have a closer look at how this density can also significantly reduce TCO for
power density, high application den- aspect can be dealt with effectively and enterprises.
sity, high user density, high cabling proactively from the structured cabling Merchant of Extreme Networks says,
density or all of these. Most data cen- point of view. “Structured cabling plays an important
tres incorporate some elements of all To keep pace with growing data role in managing high-density
these factors, and they are all poten- transmission and application needs, data centres. To give an example, if
tially inter-related. When technologies data centres today are experiencing enterprises have 40 1RU servers in a
like 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre increased bandwidth and server rack, each with say four 1Gig Ethernet
Channel over Ethernet, IP convergence requirements. Dileep Kumar, Director ports, they can have 160 Ethernet
and server virtualisation are becoming – Product Management, ADC India, cables in a single rack. In many cases,
real, and managing these aspects of data says, “The industry is responding to data center architects make design and
center assumes much more significance these needs with advancements like 40 planning decisions around cabling to
now than ever, enterprises essentially and 100 Gbps Ethernet (GbE), Fibre make sure that the constraining factor
need to prepare themselves for this Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), server does not become cabling.”
trend to run their businesses smoothly virtualisation and IP convergence. Different techniques exist for
and cost-efficiently. These new technologies also have addressing these types of problems. For
Properly managing a high-density implications for the data centre example, using MRJ21 cables to connect
data centre means making it more bandwidth performance, and there is a into high fan out modules in the network
efficient and reducing the total cost of need for enhanced reliability, flexibility aggregation/distribution layer can
ownership. And it is precisely for this and scalability. Fortunately, focused simplify the cabling issues as well as cut
reason that manageability assumes solutions and strategies are available down tiers of switches in the network.
significance. Shehzad Merchant - today that can help data centre managers This solution leads to lower cabling cost,
Senior Director of Data Centre Strategy, prepare while simultaneously lowering simplifies cabling challenges and leads
Extreme Networks, says, “Unless the TCO.” to a scalable network architecture with
managed properly, the benefits gained The need to reduce TCO is at the less oversubscription and less latency.
from one dimension of high density can forefront of concerns among today’s Fortunately, there are solutions
be lost in other dimensions since they businesses. Over the life cycle of a available in the market to manage
are interrelated. If managed properly, all typical enterprise, operational costs today’s complex high density data
dimensions can lead to a more efficient alone can account for 50% of total centres, and it would be wise for
operation of the data centre.” costs. By making operations more your data center manager to consider
Managing a high-density data efficient, that cost can be significantly available solutions and strategies to
centre is important as lot of elements reduced. Retrofit costs take up another better support next-data generation
are getting in, particularly with 40 25% of life cycle costs. Therefore, centre technologies when they are
GB and 100 GB cabling adoptions having solutions in place today that needed.

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 39


Kumar of ADC says, “Fibre
infrastructure will be greatly impacted “RIGHT STRUCTURED
by future technologies, and the right
structured cabling components
CABLING SOLUTION
can support MPO solutions, high- LEADS TO LOWER
density cabling and connectivity, high TCO BECAUSE
bandwidth and performance, and
enhanced reliability, flexibility and
OF ENHANCED
scalability—all of which ultimately RELIABILITY AND
lower the TCO.” FLEXIBILITY”
Mylaraiah JN, Country Technical —Dileep Kumar, Director –
Manager, Tyco Electronics, says, “In Product Management, ADC India
today’s dynamic business environment,
IT tasks are highly critical to both
people and processes. IT driven tasks
are changing as quickly as required
by the constantly evolving needs “WITH A STACKED
of organisations, which means the COMPUTING
techniques and products have to be
high-performance, secure, modular,
INFRASTRUCTURE
scalable and reliable, where high- ON EVERY DEVICE,
density data centre can be implemented ONE CAN ACHIEVE
at the speed of your business needs.
This means the infrastructure has to be
INDIRECT SAVING ON
a truly integrated cabling system and PHYSICAL CABLING
take a simple plug-and-play approach EXTENSIONS”
to managing such dynamic business —PK Saji, SVP, Sify Technologies
environments.”
Enterprise IT managers need to
consider key parameters which have
become a dictum for enterprises,
and structured cabling vendors are MPO connectors at interconnects and is ensured due to 100% factory testing
fully prepared to render help with cross-connects in the Main Distribution of all AMP Sigma Link Classic cable
appropriate cabling solutions to Area (MDA) and Equipment assemblies. Traceability of the far end
effectively manage the high-density Distribution Area (EDA) in the data is achieved by an integrated plastic
data centres today. centre, enabling a variety of cabling optical fibre for easy identification after
configurations, including top-of-rack installation. The system is designed
MPO solutions a must that will likely be deployed for FCoE. for reliable and quick operations
For higher bandwidth cabling like 40 MPO connectors are factory terminated in data centres. The system is fully
and 100 Gigabit Ethernet, MPO con- and tested in a clean environment to compliant with TIA/EIA 942 and EN
nectors will be a must. It is wise for data ensure precise performance for 40 50173-5, which are data center-specific
centre managers to purchase prede- and 100 GbE. MPO connectors also standards.
termined lengths of multi-fibre cables ensure lower TCO because they offer
pre-terminated with MPO connectors. significantly reduced labour costs Support for more fibre
Leading cabling vendors like ADC, versus field termination or splicing and cables
Tyco Electronics and Molex offer robust are fast and easy to install. Several technologies will result in more
solutions for high-bandwidth environ- Tyco Electronics offers complete optical fibre links throughout the data
ments. plug-and-play products for both centre, creating a demand for high-
ADC offers several MPO solutions copper 1Gig to 40Gig (MRJ 21 and density solutions to properly manage
including trunk cables, array cables, AMP Sigma Link) and fibre (MPO high optical fibre counts and provide
and plug-and-play cassettes. TrueNet and MPOptimate). The AMP Sigma scalability to support more optical fibre
fibre panel and high-density Optical Link System is a pre-terminated, fast cabling.
Distribution Frame (ODF) have also and easy to install cabling solution for Because MPO connectors terminate
been designed to easily accommodate high-speed applications. Performance up to 12 fibres in one connector,

40 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

ARE YOU
WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
A SHINING STAR? 2010

approximately the same size as a one diameters of cables play a critical more performance in less space within
SC-style fibre connector, they offer the role in facilitating higher densities their data center environments while
highest density for maximising space in cable management and pathways. meeting power consumption objectives,
savings and managing higher port Preterminated MPO multi-fibre Tyco has developed focused product
counts that come with IP convergence as cables are a small, round loose-tube sets for these environments that meet
also the increasing number of network configuration that includes 12 fibres in a the design objectives of guaranteed
devices and equipment. 3mm jacket, which is only slightly larger high-density performance, seamless
than traditional 2-fibre cables in a 1.7 to migration and user flexibility at a
Ease the airflow 2mm jacket. Round loose-tube cables reduced power level.
When managing a high-density data are also easier to manage and route Thin diameter cabling and reduced
centre from a structured cabling point through pathways than traditional size in data centres means saving real
of view, care must be taken to manage multi-fibre ribbon cables.” ADC AirES estate costs as well. From an aesthetic
cable routing and cable management, conductor insulation technology makes aspect too, diameter of the cabling
which have much influence on air- the copper cable 28-32% thinner. This solutions is important.
flow and cooling efforts. Mylaraiah JN, helps reduce cable blockage in cabinets,
says, “If cabling management is done allowing improved airflow in and High bandwidth
properly, airflow design efficiency will around the equipment for optimum solutions
strongly be affected. This applies to cooling and less energy consumption. As per various studies, data transmis-
individual racks that house the active When considering the operational sion is expected to be six times higher
devices/servers as well as to the path- cost benefit of a system, a holistic in 2012 than it was in 2007. Overall
ways covering the overall data centre approach is required. By the usage IP traffic is expected to grow to over
design. Improper management or rout- of Tyco’s Zero U cable management 45,000 petabytes (PB) per month by
ing of the cables can result in equip- solution like HI-D angled panels, rack 2012—that’s more than 46 billion giga-
ment failures by disturbing the cooling density increases by 35%. Professional bytes of data.
design.” cable routing improves airflow and This data explosion and several
Today’s switching equipments in cooling concepts. Plug-and-play imminent technologies in the domain of
the market have either front-to-back or approach, reusable products, and faster information transport system warrant
side-to-side ventilation concepts. For MACs mean lower operational costs. higher-bandwidth cabling and precise
managing high-density cabling systems Cabling vendors offer targeted performance. With this in view, leading
within high-density data centres, solutions for high-density data centres. cabling vendors are offering 10 GbE
Tyco offers AMP HI-D systems (high- Tyco offers AMP Hi-D which is a copper and fibre cabling solutions,
density systems), which support both cabling platform for enterprises’ IT which is the minimum required for
the cooling methods and increase the infrastructure. The platform embraces FCoE.
reliability and airflow efficiency of the different kinds of products and features Kumar of ADC says, “40 GbE and
equipment by keeping the cables away designed for future IT infrastructures 100 GbE will require reduced insertion
from the ventilation pathways. requiring high-density solutions. In line loss and delay skew to ensure that
Kumar of ADC says, “Smaller with organisations’ needs to provide signals in each optical fibre arrive at

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 41


very precise intervals relative to each connectors and cables without affecting partner who is trained and certified by
other. ADC’s patented fibre technology adjacent circuits or ports, and physical the vendor is crucial in order to ensure
ensures minimal loss and delays skew protection for cables, patch cords, and that high quality of the installation is
for precise performance.” jumpers. Without end-to-end cable maintained.
management, cables can pile up in According to experts, the best
Low TCO mantra raceways, maximum bend radius can approach to build today’s data center
Proper cable management means a lot be exceeded, connector access can be is being proactive that is better than
for enterprises in terms of data centre difficult, and it can take hours to trace reactive. Preparing the data centre today
efficiency and cost effectiveness. It cables, all of which impacts the ability to itself for the future high-bandwidth
helps in maintaining reliability, flex- support and deploy new technologies in technologies like 40 GbE, 100 GbE,
ibility and scalability of cabling and the data centre. FCoE is an important strategy, as it
connections in the data centre. This ensures saving much cost.
helps to lower the TCO by enabling Final words Data centre managers should
proper flow of cool air into and out of Structured cabling vendors advocate consider the above aspects whether
the cabinet, improves the life cycle of that enterprises build networks that doing a green field data centre
the equipment and reduces the need are future proof and avoid unnecessary deployment or upgrading their
for fans and additional cooling that downtime due to cabling problems. This existing data centres. Things like MPO
increase energy consumption. is achievable though today’s plug-and- solutions, high-density solutions,
Kumar of ADC notes that while play solutions available for both copper higher bandwidth cabling, and cable
performing these cable management and fibre media. management that ensures reliability,
activities, due care needs to be taken to As far as possible, enterprise flexibility and scalability are the
ensure proper bend radius protection. IT managers need to use modular essential building blocks. These will
This is to reduce signal attenuation, components within their data centre ensure cost-effective, higher-efficiency
maintain fibre performance, establish environment that are pre-terminated and high-density data centres that are
well-defined cable routing paths, and and factory-tested prior to shipment. low on power consumption and have
to provide accessibility for working on Besides this, selecting the installation reduced life-cycle costs.

Cable Management Tips
While selecting the cabling solutions the following aspects need to be considered without fail to
ensure optimum efficiency of high density data centers:

IMPROVING ROI COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL CABLING SYSTEMS

IMPROVING AIRFLOW IN RACKS AND RAISED FLOORS

ENABLING REDUCED POWER CONSUMPTION

PERMITTING HIGHER DENSITY DUE TO SPACE SAVING

MODULAR SOLUTION FEATURES REUSABLE CASSETTES AND CABLES, AND MPO ASSEMBLIES

10 GB/S OVER COPPER WITHOUT ANY ANEXT TESTING AND EMC CONSIDERATION

QUICK INSTALLATION OF MULTIPLE CONNECTORS

FIBER CABLING – MPO SOLUTIONS

SUPPORT TO ALL OPTICAL FIBER APPLICATIONS WITHIN THE ETHERNET FAMILY

SAVING PATHWAY SPACE WITH IMPROVED AIRFLOW COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL CABLE BUNDLES

EXCELLENT FOR PARTIAL SECTION CABLING IN DATA CENTERS

LOW-POWER CONSUMPTION WITH MPO

PRE-TERMINATED CABLES

42 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

READY TO EXIT YOUR
WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
COMFORT ZONE? 2010

WIRED FOR
FAST PACED
GROWTH The need for robust infrastructure among
enterprises is expected to drive growth in the
structured cabling market
BY S O M A TA H

The adverse economic conditions in including structured cabling and pas- telecom infrastructure in the country,
2008-09 took a bite out of cabling ven- sive components. government focus on increasing
dors’ profits, but that has not flattened A study by Springboard Research broadband penetration and lack of basic
the growth curves of the networking says that the market for enterprise infrastructure in many areas,” says
infrastructure market in 2010. In fact, networking equipment in India is Nupur Singh Andley, senior research
analysts predict strong demand and estimated to grow from $1 billion in analyst-connectivity, Springboard
investment for infrastructure upgrades 2008 to $1.7 billion by 2012, recording Research.
in the New Year, both in the enterprise a compounded annual growth rate
segment and in greenfield projects. (CAGR) of 15 percent during this period. Growth curve
Since the network is the backbone of “There is tremendous potential for Though structured cabling was con-
any IT infrastructure, there will be great the growth of enterprise networking in sidered to be a good riddance from the
demand for networking equipment, India, given the current low standard of cabling mess businesses had to face ear-
PH OTOGRAPHY: JAYAN K NARAYANAN

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 43


How Structured Cabling Scores
Minimal downtime: It is easy to identify, isolate and fix problems with minimal downtime.

No vendor lock-in: Structured cabling is compatible with multiple vendor integrations and gives the flexibility to support various
applications and hardware from different vendors.

Cost-effectiveness: Offers excellent ROI. The cabling system accounts for only five percent of an organization’s total networking
expenditure, but outlives most of the components in the network. The upgrading costs are also cheaper.

Low maintenance: It requires very little maintenance.

Scalability: Upgrading is much easier with standardized components. System upgrades also do not require modifications in cabling
infrastructure.

lier; enterprises have gradually started and Cat6A. According to IDC’s India To wire or to be wireless
to understand the role of robust cabling Structured Cabling Solutions Market While some fear that wireless networks
infrastructure in reducing network Study last year, the Cat6 cable segment will eventually displace all physically
downtime. is expected to clock a CAGR of around structured cabling system networks,
The growth of structured cabling is 22 per cent, growing from Rs 365 crore most vendors believe that wired and
mainly driven by an unprecedented in 2008 to Rs 977 crore in 2013. Cat6 wireless networks will complement
growth in the volume of organizational is expected to, thus, remain the biggest each other. Though a number of busi-
data. There is a need to store market segment throughout the five- ness and technology trends are creating
voluminous data, as well as to have real year forecast period, mainly for high a new set of requirements for wireless
time access to that data, which requires bandwidth requirements and high- networks that can deliver increased
the connectivity to be fast and efficient. speed data transmissions across data value to the enterprises, unfortunately,
The cabling infrastructure also needs to centres and other enterprise environ- the current WLAN architectures are not
be robust enough to support increased ments. equipped to enable optimum benefits
bandwidth usage, which is resulting in India is also witnessing the for enterprises. There is no functional,
considerable growth in the networking deployment of latest technologies such performance or economic advantage
infrastructure market. as Cat6A and Cat7 in niche segments. that wireless networks provide over
In fact, UK-based research firm Cat6A cabling is mainly used for physically cabled networks. That is why
BSRIA reported India’s emergence as data centre applications. Cat7 is yet wireless today does not pose any poten-
one of the fastest growing structured to gain momentum, since there is no tial threat to wired networks, believe
cabling markets, with an increase widespread preparedness or demand many industry watchers.
of 33.6 per cent by value in 2008. for Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) and
The mounting pressure on the data foil screened twisted pair (FTP) cables Intelligent cabling
centre environment, with companies in India. Reports also state that there The advent of intelligent cabling has
increasingly hosting their mission- has been a very slow uptake on the 10G added a new dimension to the conven-
critical applications in third-party data front. tional cabling infrastructure by provid-
centres, is also a key growth vector in While the debate on fibre versus ing greater visibility into the network.
this aspect. copper continues, fibre has some It can reduce the manpower and down-
Besides data centres, growing advantages over standard copper coaxial times cost considerably, while increasing
demand from the expansion cables, in terms of data transmission, network efficiency and network security
programmes in banking, government, extended coverage, resistance to a great deal. Though real-time monitoring
IT and ITeS sector, business process interference and robustness and better and troubleshooting become very simple
PHOTOG RA PHY: JAYAN K NARAYANAN

outsourcing (BPO) units, and upcoming security, which make it a smart choice with intelligent cabling, it can be expen-
townships are also fuelling the growth for enterprises. However, the cost of the sive to deploy a full intelligent cabling
of this market segment in India. supporting equipment poses a deterrent solution within an organization – in some
in the mass adoption of fibre; leading to cases, a mid-size organization may not be
Technology trends growth in adoption of copper. Power- able to afford that. This is where patch-
On the technology front, vendors over-Ethernet (PoE) will also continue ing technology comes in, which can take
continue to deploy accepted and to make people invest in copper in the a lot of pain out of the cable management
proven solutions, such as Cat5, Cat6, coming days. process.

44 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

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WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
EXECUTION TO STRATEGY? 2010

economic conditions have also made it
a daunting task for solution providers
to convince customers. As Kumar
points out, “Customers would also
like to wait and watch a little, before
implementing a solution that is next-
gen, futuristic and robust. They would
also wait for standards ratification and
affordability.”
However, one of the key challenges
associated with next-generation cabling
and connectivity is the partners’ and
customers’ awareness of current and
new technologies. People often fail to
THE CAT6 CABLE SEGMENT IS understand that the performance of a

EXPECTED TO CLOCK A CAGR OF
network depends, to a great extent, on
the cabling infrastructure; and poor

AROUND 22 PER CENT, GROWING cabling can adversely affect even the
quality of the bandwidth the network
FROM RS 365 CRORE IN 2008 TO RS delivers.

977 CRORE IN 2013
“It is very difficult to get skilled and
qualified structured cabling solution
providers, who can support the entire
project lifecycle. One also needs to have
The road ahead published, few organisations gradu- the right mindset to serve the mid-size
“The future of next generation cabling ally wake up to the next generation to large projects, which usually take at
and connectivity solutions is bright and cabling and connectivity solutions,” least a period of three to six months to
positive, as new technology and trends says Prasanna Kumar, regional direc- set up the basic infrastructure,” says
mark the path for future growth. Con- tor, India & SAARC, Leviton. Ketan Kothari, director, Sigma Byte
solidation and virtualization techniques “The structured cabling market has Computers.
force the organisation to move into next been going through a tough time due to Nevertheless, despite the challenges,
generation cabling and connectivity. a steep rise in copper prices this year, there are ample opportunities for
Organisations that would like to be at which has diminished the growth rate vendors and partners who are able
par with the current technologies would further in this down economy,” says to convince customers of the benefits
like to be early adopters of next genera- KK Shetty, managing director, Tyco and deliver customised solutions at
tion cabling and connectivity solutions. Electronics India. affordable prices. Not everyone will
However, based on the standards being Rising prices in already adverse wait and watch.
PHOTOG RA PHY: JAYAN K NARAYANAN

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 45

15MINUTE
TRAINING
EDUCATION
WORKPLACE
BUSTING
STRESS
PAGE 48
Leadership Lead with fortitude THIS PAGE
IT Strat Chartered Service PAGE 49
MANAGER

COMPENSATION Manage IT 5 things to look out for in
WORKFORCE TRENDS Office 2010 PAGE 50
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Training Calendar Career booster courses PAGE 5 2

BY A N A N D K U M A R
PA D M A N A BA N

T
he recent economic slow-
down has shown that we
are more reactive than
proactive in terms of dem-
onstrating courage. Best-of-
breed leaders know and understand the
nuances of demonstrating courage on a
consistent basis, and individuals look
up to leadership for guidance.
When issues become political
or controversial, many leaders get
intimidated instead of energised to
stand tall and demonstrate courage.
Effective leaders do what is right, not
what they think people want. They
don’t run away from a controversy but
instead, clarify their credentials and
what they represent.
Demonstrating honesty and
LEADERSHIP

LEAD WITH
internalising it inside an organisation
is more difficult than it sounds. It will
be very difficult for organisational
leadership to be honest with the

FORTITUDE
community and the public stakeholders
if they cannot be honest with
themselves.
Organisational transparency and
I MAGING : PHOTO S.C OM

courage make sense as they bring about
good governance and ethics, and make Courage with transparency will bring
organisations run with better efficiency
and effectiveness. In spite of this, many
about good governance and make a
leaders resist it because it goes against more effective and efficient organisation

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 47

15-MINUTE MANAGER

even the human nature in some ways.
Some leaders believe that
information is a perk of being in power
or close to the powers that be, and
sincerely believe that it is a benefit that
separates their privileged status from
the working class. Such leaders derive
a sense of intellectual superiority from
such guarded information. They feel
that they need to be selective or in many
cases would only have the capability to
use sensitive data or information. Some
leaders even prefer sharing information
on a need-to-know basis only or have
HEALTHY LIVING
opaque shields about what they do
because it allows them to hide mistakes
that may be committed.
HOW TO BUST STRESS!
How do you as an IT leader counter
Stress is one of the most common ailments
and resist these tendencies? How do you MAJOR FACTORS
that afflict humans. Hectic lifestyles, in-
make a conscious decision to support RESPONSIBLE FOR
creased workloads, irregular diet, are some of
transparency and create a culture of WORK-RELATED STRESS
the major reasons for causing stress and anxi-
courage? EXC ESSIVE WORK HOURS
ety. Some of the common symptoms of stress
As with everything else, if you 40%
are exhaustion, irritability, muscular tension,
want to develop a culture of courage, P OOR I NTERPERSONAL REL ATIONS
inability to concentrate and others. Here’s a
start with self and then work on your 15%
few pointers on how to make life stress-free:
environment, while keeping some of
AC C I DENTAL RISK
these recommendations in mind: 13% Breathe slowly and deeply. Before reacting
Believe in Satyamev Jayate to the next stressful occurrence, take three
T HREAT OF L AYOFF OR JOB LOSS
(borrowing from our constitution): 11% deep breaths and release them slowly. If you
Speaking the truth is easier said than have a few minutes, try out a relaxation tech-
done; we have a natural impulse to tell nique such as meditation or guided imagery.
others what they want to hear. True
Speak slowly whenever under duress.
leaders tell everyone the same factual
You’ll find that you think more clearly and
story. Once you develop a reputation
react more reasonably to stressful situa-
for straight talk, your organisation will
tions. Stressed people tend to speak fast and
institutionalise it.
breathlessly; by slowing down your speech
I once knew of a business leader
you’ll also appear less anxious and more in
who would talk and espouse values Being in shape is a also a control of any situation.
and invariably violate it every time he good way to beat stress,
had a chance. It was no surprise that as healthy living is also Manage time effectively. Choose one simple
individuals and his managers used stress-free living. thing you have been putting off (e.g., returning
to ignore his emails and the message a phone call, making a doctor’s appointment),
around values he would convey in his and do it immediately. Just taking care of one
team meetings nagging responsibility can be energising and
Follow bottoms up approach in help cope with stress.
terms of driving courage: Encourage
Get fresh air. Our grandparents were right
individuals to lower down in the

about the healing power of fresh air. Don’t be
hierarchy to speak truth to seniors in
deterred by foul weather or a full schedule.
the organisation. It is difficult for people
PHOTO GRAPHY: PHOTOS .CO M

Even five minutes on a balcony or terrace can
lower in the hierarchy to tell seniors
be rejuvenating.
inconvenient truths, but unfortunately,
that is what is needed to be heard by Drink plenty of water and eat healthy. Hun-
seniors. ger and dehydration, even before you’re aware
A widely respected senior scientist of them, can provoke aggressiveness and
who was the CEO of a technology exacerbate feelings of anxiety and stress.

48 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

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WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
START LEADING! 2010

unit once told me that he always leads to contrived remarks and a feeling Whether it’s about speaking to
wanted to hear the bad news first, that different values apply to different a team member on the individual’s
as senior leadership needed to know people. When you acknowledge your performance, bringing up an idea that
more critically what was not working mistake as a leader, this gives everyone may not be popular, being honest about
than what was working well. Create around you the permission and the something you see happening that you
organisational conditions for people to courage to do the same. don’t think is ethical, being genuine
be demonstrate courage and be factual Become a trust architect: Today’s and demonstrating the courage of your
about it. organisations place a lot of emphasis convictions, earns you respect in the
Demonstrate and practice crucial on skills and knowledge and do not look workplace. When your words and your
conversations: Practice having critical closely at building trust relationships. actions reflect each other, you build
and inconvenient conversations. The top At a time when workforces are looking trust.
leaders learn how to deliver bad news towards leadership and searching for By broadening the perspectives
kindly so that individuals understand meaning, trust and connection within that leaders consider, demonstrating
the context and do not take it personally. the organisations they work for, one of courage deters a lot of the noise that is
I have personally seen cultural issues the most important roles of a leader is prevalent in organisations. But the real
playing a role in this, but we need to get to become a trust architect. It is through value of courage and transparency is
over that hurdle. individual personal action and fostering that it keeps leaders of organisations
There is a great book around crucial relationships that leaders develop honest to their stakeholders and
conversations by a well known author trust and gain commitment from the perhaps more importantly, honest to
which comes with a workbook, and workforce. themselves.
can be used to teach the art of having Demonstrating leadership courage Web 2.0, the Internet and
crucial conversations. I personally means taking calculated risks and organisational intranets are upping the
think this is an area where most of putting yourself in the forefront. ante in terms of increasing the risk of
us struggle and we tend to sugar coat It’s about walking the talk. I used to misinformation, but used proactively,
critical conversations, which corrupts counsel and mentor a few individuals technology can help harness crucial
the message for the receiver. at work and in one such meeting where information and insights from all levels
Demonstrate Mea Culpa: True we were discussing business ethics, in the organisation. Sure, there are some
leaders admit their mistakes and are the individuals came up with many inconvenient aspects about courage and
open and honest about it. They convey suggestions for improvement, some of transparency that leaders simply have
to the team that mistakes can be made which would require some changes in to learn to live with, but which lead to
and that is ok as long as the learning how the senior leaders interacted with huge organisational efficiencies and
happens and the mistake is not repeated. employees. When I asked how we would effectiveness.
On the contrary, what I have seen go forward, everybody was silent due to
happen many a times is that the leaders the risk of belling the cat. This is where The author is CEO of SurgeForth Technologies
and specialises in HR analytics
don’t acknowledge their mistake, which demonstrating courage is difficult.

O
ne common question
IT STRAT that keeps coming up in

CHARTERED
IT circles is: who is a VIP
user?
Is he a person who

SERVICE
is from the top management or is he
someone critical to the organisation?
For me, a VIP user is normally a
person who is not part of operations
VIP support is about going beyond the and whose computer downtime
will lead to huge losses for the
routines and aiming for what is best organisation. The promoters of
the organisation, close group
termed as customer delight members of promoters, and senior
professionals who are more into
BY SAT I S H M A H A JA N strategic decision making on the

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 49

15-MINUTE MANAGER

MANAGE IT basis of technology are some users

5 THINGS TO LOOK OUT that can be categorised as VIP.
As a support department, we have

FOR IN OFFICE 2010 challenges to handle the queries of
senior management. The person who
handles calls of users has to be very
particular about understanding the
nature of the call and the possible
solution to handle the query.
What should be the feedback given if
the problem cannot be resolved quickly?
Is the problem always technical or one
needs to handle the issue, crossing
boundaries of technology, and integrate?
Sometimes, queries can be related to
watching movies from the iPod, copying
DVD content to a hard disk, seeking
Recently, Microsoft debuted
help for finding information from the
Office 2010 productivity suite Internet or for selecting the right mobile
with much fanfare. Set to hit
the market soon, this is what
or electronic device.
you can expect from it. Now, it is important to know what
special IT services can be given to VIP
Integrated Ribbon: The Ribbon feature debuted in 2007 and was
1 much liked and disliked at the same time. The Ribbon reappears in
users. When this issue was discussed,
the understanding we got was that we
Office 2010 and has now been added to all the Office programs, including
need to go beyond IT services to support
Outlook and OneNote. But sweat not, as the Ribbon this time has been well
VIP users. This “beyond” becomes a
integrated into the suite, so you control how it looks and how it functions.
very frequent term occurring in service
The Ribbon this time is fully customised and well integrated.
terms.
Sleeker Outlook: It does not matter if you agree or not, but Outlook After a lot of brainstorming and
2 still happens to be one of the most used and popular Office product. experimenting, we concluded on the
The email suite has been tweaked to make it more productive for the user. following points regarding VIP support:
For instance, there is a new Ignore button that’s been added, so next time First, we named the service as that-
you wish to get rid of boring conversation threads that you aren’t interested -VIP Support. The term has really
in. Then there is the Quick Steps section of the Ribbon that lets you perform cached the fancy of many people in the
multi-step tasks with one click. organisation, as VIP support services
are really special with additional
Added Multimedia in Word & PowerPoint: Office 2010 has added
3 more zing to Word & PowerPoint, now it is possible to apply artistic
quality of engineers entrusted with the
function. Some of the common steps we
effects, similar to those available in third-party photo editing programs, Like
followed were:
PhotoShop, from within Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The Office 2010 ap-
n Select an engineer who is :
plications also include several new SmartArt designs, to make it more likely
— Good at technology
that you’ll find one that fits the needs of your document or slide.
— Willing to learn beyond
Collaborative working: Another great feature of Office 2010 is that technology
4 it provides a much more collaborative platform for enterprise users. — Willing to learn effective
So now, two people can edit a document simultaneously. A notification in the communication
status bar tells you who else is currently editing the document, and where — Confident in presenting himself
they’re making changes. Word also lets you cache shared documents so you and will be ready to work
can edit them when you’re offline, and any changes you make will automati- under stress
cally be synchronised with the original on the server when you are online. n Initially assess the need for
spare hardware and standbys to help
Web-enabled Office: Google Docs seem to have finally made Micro-
5 soft see the light of the day, as Office 2010 marks the debut of free
emergency replacements
n Create FAQs of problems and
online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, which will work in
possible solutions for the problems
popular web browsers. Microsoft intends to integrate free versions with paid
faced by the user and orient the engineer
Office Suite and provide a compelling proposition to the lay users.
accordingly

50 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

BE THE BEST OR
WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
STAY WITH THE REST! 2010

IN A SERVICE FUNCTION, EVERY 5
GATHERING TECHNICAL
INFORMATION
USER IS IMPORTANT, BUT VIP Gather as many technical details as pos-
sible about the problem and the users’
USERS ARE DIFFERENT FROM environment. What are the versions of

IMPORTANT USERS the applications in use? Is the operating
system using all the latest drivers and
service packs?

10-step VIP Support REPRODUCING THE ERROR DETERMINE POSSIBLE
guide 3 Reproducing the error is an 6 SOLUTIONS
important part of the troubleshooting Establish a few possible solutions using
ANSWERING THE CALL process because it helps us to determine the knowledge database or from the
1 When users call for support, they when and where the problem occurred. knowledge you’ve gained in the previ-
usually feel helpless and may sound Ask the user to reproduce the problem ous steps and through personal experi-
irritated over the phone. Always be to see if it is an isolated issue. Often, a ence.
polite to them. Yes, we know that some simple reboot will fix most of the com-
of them can be major pains, but explain puter problems. FIXING THE PROBLEM
that if they are not patient, you will not 7 If the problem is related to mis-
be able to help them to the best of your IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM sion-critical data, never forget to take
skills. 4 Use the gathered information a backup before applying the fix. If
from steps 2 and 3 to establish the you are uncertain about the problem
ASKING THE USER TO cause of the problem. Is it hardware or and come up with several possible
2 EXPLAIN THE PROBLEM software related? Try to think about a solutions, always implement them
PH OTOGRAPHY: PHOTOS .CO M

Ask the user to describe the problem couple of possibilities. It is important to one at a time, so that if something goes
to the best of his or her understanding. keep an open mind when dealing with wrong, you will be able to undo your
What were they doing when the problem computer problems. With all the hard- changes easily.
occurred? Did they change any settings ware and software installed on a PC, the
recently? Did they install any new appli- possibility of conflict between all the TEST AND TEST AGAIN
cations or patches on the computer? components is pretty staggering.
8 Did I say test? Test again! Some-

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 51

15-MINUTE MANAGER

times, a problem may seem to be
resolved, but it is not. The solution may

TRAINING
also have broken other part of the user’s
system, so you need to test everything
extensively to be sure that everything is

CALENDAR working fine.

DOCUMENTING THE ISSUE
Career booster 9 Always write down what you did
courses for you to resolve an issue. Who knows when
it might happen again? Also, the docu-
mentation can be used as a knowledge
base to resolve other problems of the
same type.

STANDBY INVENTORY
10 Always ensure to have sufficient
Program Venue Dates standby inventory so as to minimise
downtime in case of hardware failures.
In a normal scenario, we have 10%
Finance for Non finance spares available with the support team.
FORE School, Delhi June 9-11, 2010
Executives For VIP users, the spare percentage
can go up to 100%. It is like keeping a
helicopter with dual engines instead of
Marketing: Winning Concepts a single engine for the air travel of the
FORE School, Delhi June 24-25, 2010
and Practices Prime Minister to avoid problems in
case one engine fails. The cost should
not matter when addressing the IT
Leadership and Decision
XLRI, Jamshedpur July 02 - 04, 2010 problem for a VIP user. The time and
Making loss due to non-availability of the
service is what matters.
Managing Change and Conflict The needs of VIP users are more
IIM Indore July 05 - 07, 2010 consumer-like, where they look
at the Work Place
for trust, consistency and quick
resolution. The engineer with proper
Management of Creativity and communication and technical skills
IIMC, Delhi July 05 - 09, 2010 also wins the trust of the VIP user as he
Innovation
handles critical data on the desktop or
the laptop of the user.
Effective Communication for The list is surely not exhaustive. One
IIML, Noida July 12-14, 2010
Managerial Success may add more points on addressing VIP
support. These dos and don’ts will help
form the VIP service standards over time.
Building and Leading Teams IIM, Indore July 14 - 16, 2010 What can best describe these
standards? SLAs? No, we need to see
Managing Across Cultures IIMC, Delhi July 14 - 16, 2010 the concept as something beyond SLAs.
The term used here would be “customer
delight”. Normally, in a service function,
Understanding and Analysis of every user is important. But, VIP users
IMI, Delhi July 16-17, 2010
Financial Statements are different from important users. The IT
support service is to be customised to suit
the needs of an individual VIP user.
Developing a Culture of
IMI, Delhi July 26-27, 2010
Working Together The author is the Head – Infrastructure,
Raymonds

52 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

CLOUD COMPUTING

HOW TO
THE MAKE THE
SWITCH?
BIG EXPERT PANEL

RAMESH SHAN- ANWER BAGDADI AJAY SARTAPE
MUGANATHAN CEO, KASHIF COO, IBEXIS
EVP/GROUP CIO, TECHNOLOGY
JOHN KEELLS
HOLDINGS

there would be just one code base to be maintained
THE SITUATION... across all customers, freeing up significant time.
His team of developers could then focus on building
“Boss, I agree what you say about the dimension new features and functions. But deep down Ravi
of control, but how can we be absolutely certain knew that there was more than meets the eye.
about security,” said Ravi while taking a final sip of “Can we entrust somebody else with our ap-
his beverage at the lunch table. His boss, Ramesh plication?”
Thakur and also the CIO, was constantly monitor- “How is the confidentiality of my customers’
ing the project to take GemPro’s applications to data assured when so many components in the
the cloud. And Ravi was driving this initiative. cloud are open source or vulnerable?”
GemPro was a global leader in logistics solu- “How can I be sure that their business and
tions. Ravi Khurana was responsible for IT at technology problems don’t impact me?”
GemPro’s India office. The firm offered a variety “How can I ensure smooth integration?”
of logistics solutions to a wide spectrum of clients “Should I take a staggered approach, or should
across the subcontinent from its India operations. I take a hybrid approach?”
Ravi’s thoughts were like a tag cloud of the Ravi was confused. He also knew that there was
cloud for the last three weeks, ever since he had a great amount of energy behind the momentum
been put on the assignment. Ravi’s mandate was to get to the cloud. To be able to stay competitive
simply worded - take our applications to the cloud. in the current economic scenario, cloud was the
Ravi knew that migration of applications to the only solution at hand.
cloud brought its set of advantages and especially With the inevitable shift to cloud looming over
for a company like GemPro. What Ravi immediately his head, Ravi decided to jot down his thoughts and
understood was that with movement to the cloud, then hunt for specific answers.
FROM HE RE

Your responses count. Log on
to www.itnext.in/bigQ to submit
NEXT
C UT I T

your replies. The best entry will be
published in the next print edition.

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 53

THE BIG Q

THE IS THE APT APPROACH TO TAKE WHILE MIGRATING TO THE CLOUD SO
BIG QUESTIONS...
?WHAT
AS TO ENSURE THAT THE MIGRATION PROBLEMS ARE MINIMAL, CONTROL IS
NOT LOST, AND SECURITY IS NOT COMPROMISED?

? HOW CAN RAVI ENSURE THAT THE SHIFT TO CLOUD DELIVERS ALL THE
GOODS THAT IT PROMISES, NAMELY, COST SAVINGS, OPERATIONAL EASE,
PRODUCTIVITY GAINS, ETC.?

HERE ARE THE ANSWERS...

‘PAY ATTENTION TO AGREEMENTS’

FIRST ANSWER
Cloud computing is probably the next inflection point such as the
internet and is likely to be as or more disruptive than the internet
itself since its going to take the enterprise boundaries sans frontiers.
As any disruptive models/technology does, this too, comes with the
mixed bag of benefits and what if’s. A company has to make certain
decisions/choices based on their own assessment of their business
needs, technology maturity, organisational capability in deciding
whether they wish to embrace the cloud? And if so, whether they
wish to start with Iaas, PaaS, Saas? Whether they should be setting
up a private cloud (suitable for organisations with a big IT footprint)
of their own, or leverage a public cloud that is already out there, or
a hybrid?
RAMESH Public cloud computing carries with it, its own unique risks
SHANMUGANATHAN regarding the privacy, confidentiality, and security of business
information, which companies must fully assess before migrating
EVP/Group CIO, John to the cloud. Once this assessment is made whatever one plans to put on the Public
Keells Holdings
cloud needs to be assessed with an appropriate legal compliance and risk‐management
About me: A multi- strategy—and strong, fully negotiated contractual protections—companies should be
faceted professional able to safely transfer their data and applications to the cloud. Cloud Service Agreements
with over 20 years of
experience in the ICT (CSAs) entered into should clearly describe the services provided, guarantees,
industry, both in Sri warranties, limitations, liabilities, and the responsibilities and rights of each party.
Lanka and USA
Proper due diligence requires inquiry into the following categories of concern: data
security, performance, limitations of service, data migration, government and third‐
party litigation access, handling of trade secrets/confidential information, exit plan, etc.

SECOND ANSWER
It’s important to have a base-lining exercise done to assess the current operating model
vis-à-vis costs and benefits as well as the pros and cons. Once this is done, you would
have well defined measures/KPIs to assess alternatives in a more meaningful way since
you will ensure that your evaluation of cloud as an option gives you a better ROI and
lower TCO and more agile/nimble platform for you to leverage your business and change
the competitive landscape.
It’s also crucial that these measures/KPIs and the necessary business flexibility, as
required, is mapped into the CSA, which would be the ultimate and enforceable docu-
ment between the two parties. Once this is established ensuring that the defined mea-
sures/KPIs are monitored on a continuous basis to ensure that the basic parameters/
measure are met is essential. It’s also important to have a steering committee, comprising
all stakeholders, to provide the required leadership and to handle exceptions during the
course of the contract.

54 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

TAKE YOUR PLACE
WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
IN THE SPOTLIGHT! 2010

THE BIG Q

‘LEVERAGE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES’

FIRST ANSWER
First and foremost this question has to be tempered with what is the
size and position of the organisation in the competitive landscape
within the market segment . The question of size establishes extent
of “digitisation” and the size of existing IT infrastructure, business
value and utility oriented application portfolio. And the geographical
spread of IT resources including data centers.
As we are aware, that cloud computing is a model for enabling
convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of
configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage,
applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and
released with minimal management effort or service provider
interaction.. Thus it is important that any organisation migrating to
cloud should consider the key business gains it might get from cloud ANWER
and to what level it would like to leverage its organisation working BAGDADI
on cloud platform.
CEO, Kashif Technology

SECOND ANSWER:
About me: An industry
In the above case, it is obvious GemPro want its logistic business to benefit from singular veteran with over 30
code of business operations across all customers and reduce the cost of infrastructure years of experience.
Had been associated
across geography and customer locations. with Epicenter, Lawkim,
As already mentioned cloud brings massive scale of infrastructure resource with Godrej-GE Appliances,
CFC India in leadership
better utilisation of computing power & storage (through virtualisation), ensure high positions in the past
availability and Uptime by rapid assigning and deassigning resources. Software as a
service (SaaS) converts the model from Capex to usage based and thus reduces the cost
in a major way. Wherever there is development of software for specific usage within a
vertical by internal team, the deployment would be easy as same would be applicable
across the cloud. But there are challenges for the SaaS model from version control and
applicability of same at various geographical levels. Thus it is important for GemPro
to choose the right application for deployment. There are excellent market oriented
software products available like Zoho, Saleforce.com and even Google Apps to name few
which are well proven and hence quite reliable. Ravi can leverage these service providers
for cost benefits, operational ease and productivity gain by opting for cloud. NEXT

CLOUD
Obstacles in monitoring cloud-related services
S OURCE: ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT AS SOC IATES

KEY CONCERNS OF ENTERPRISES WHILE ADOPTING CLOUD SERVICES (% VALID CASES)

70

60
65
50
Unique API requirements
Security Vulnerabilities

49
Business Collaboration
Overall lack of control

47
Lack of accountability

40
47 44
Lack of unified SLAs

30 40
Lack of visibility

35
20

10

0

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 55

THE BIG Q

‘GO ONE PIECE AT A TIME’
FIRST ANSWER
To ensure a smooth transition to cloud, it is first imperative that the
current infrastructure is ably mapped and the objectives of the shift
are decided upon. Homework as we call it is very important before the
shift is done. So for instance, if objective is cost savings, the migration
approach will be vastly different if the objective was operational effi-
ciency. Hence the goals must be very clear right at the onset to ensure
that the objectives are met. Also, not only ensure that the SLAs or
service level agreements with the vendor are pretty clear, but also the
damages if the same are not met. Finally, before choosing the vendor
due diligence must be done to assess the delivery capabilities because
quite often there is a disconnect between what is promised and what
is delivered.
AJAY
SARTAPE SECOND ANSWER
The best option available to Ravi is to do the migration one piece at a
COO, Ibexis time. As said earlier he should map all the systems that can go on the cloud with appro-
priate timelines and next he should list them on the basis of their importance and criti-
About me: A young
dynamic business cality. Thus, while shifting a mail server is much easier and less dangerous to shift than
professional with a a CRM application. The success of each such migration will not only give confidence to
creative bent. Has been
associated with Web and Ravi to commit himself to the cloud, but will also help him know the nuances of migra-
gaming industry for over tion. By this mechanism he can ensure that all the benefits that have been promised are
15+ years. Worked with
WebPercept in the past delivered as well.
before co-founding Ibexis

NOTES
NOTES

Cloud Success in Seven Steps with External Monitoring:
MORE RESOURCES http://www.webmetrics.com/resources/whitepapers/wp_wm_cloud_success_in_seven_steps.pdf
Interoperable Clouds: http://www.dmtf.org/about/cloud-incubator/DSP_IS0101_1.0.0.pdf

56 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

CUBE CHAT | SUBHA K RUDRA

SIMPLY
HONEST
“I’ve learnt something new and positive
from every rough phase,” says SK Rudra,
IT Manager for Usha Martin Group
BY JATIN D E R S I N G H

A
job is something we do for every time as during every bad phase, I learnt
money; work is something we something new and positive,” he says, reflecting.
do for love!” says SK Rudra, IT What gave him the strength and the
Manager for Usha Martin Group inspiration? “Had I not had such supportive and
who is happy to be in a profes- encouraging parents, I doubt whether I could
sion that has been his passion. have achieved a fraction of what I have today,”
A simple human being, Rudra always knew he says,
that IT was the only thing he wanted to do in life. And what is his idea of a successful IT
“I knew that I hardly love anything like IT. I enjoy manager? “Well”, says Rudra, “Besides
MY SUCESS every bit of it. And I always try to do complete having sound technical knowledge, a good IT
MANTRA justice to the duties that I have been assigned, manager, should have proper understanding
with all sincerity, dedication and honesty,” says of the business part of the organisation, so
Honesty is a critical
Rudra very humbly. as to contribute and deliver in line with the
factor in the long-term
Not that Rudra’s professional journey been organisation’s business objectives”
success, so put absolute
without its share of ups and downs. “Like Given the kind of complexities any IT
honesty, dedication and
any other individual, I faced hard times, went manager faces in day-to-day work, it is extremely
integrity in whatever
through those bleak phases, but took them in important to have a cool head to solve the
you do
my stride. And I believe I came out stronger technical puzzles properly, he stresses.

58 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

CUBE CHAT

FACT FILE

NAME
SUBHA K RUDRA

CURRENT DESIGN AT I O N
MANAGER (IT), U S HA
MARTIN GROUP

CURRENT ROLE
MANAGING THE E N T I R E
IT INFRASTRUCT U R E O F
THE GROUP.

EXPERTISE
SETTING UP NEW I T
INFRASTRUCTURE ;
MANAGING IT
INFRASTRUCTURE ,

“A GOOD IT MANAGER SHOULD BE ABLE TO ESPECIALLY PL AN N I N G,
SETTING UP AND

CONTRIBUTE AND DELIVER IN LINE WITH THE MANAGING SERVE R S ,
NET WORKS AND I T

ORGANISATION’S BUSINESS GOALS” SECURIT Y; DISAST E R
RECOVERY AND BU S I N ES S
CONTINUIT Y PL AN N I N G
MANAGEMENT.

WORK EXPERIENC E
“An IT manager should be able to remain loves to compose and play his own pieces. 2004 -PRESENT
composed during times of crisis and be An atheist all through his life, Rudra MANAGER-IT, US HA
MARTIN GROUP
able to take up challenges with positive considers humanity as the biggest religion.
frame of mind, work towards the solution “I believe the account of our acts get 2001-2004
honestly and dedicatedly, inviting active squared off before we leave this world. Thus PROJECT MANAG E R , P C S
user participation,” Rudra explains. more than God, we should be afraid of our TECHNOLOGY
Noting that honesty is a critical factor in deeds and take care not to end up hurting
1998 -2001
the long-term success of an individual’s life, someone without any reason,” he said. CUSTOMER SERVI C E
he categorises dedication and integrity in On the the career front, Rudra has a ENGINEER, AGCO N
whatever he does as the other major factors very clear and healthy outlook. “Definitely,
EDUCATION
responsible for the success he has today. I look forward to going higher up the
2003 -2006
His pet peeve? It irritates him when professional ladder, but I do not have BA (ENGLISH HO N OU R S ) ,
people show lack of logical reasoning and targets like becoming a CIO in the next five
PHOTO GRAPHY: DRI SHTI

NSOU
talk like idiots. years. Instead, I set targets for my projects.
1995 -1998
Apart from IT, music has always been I believe in doing my job with sincerity,
DIPLOMA IN
a passion for Rudra. And this is not just honesty and dignity, and if recognition is to ELECTRONICS &
limited to his interests as an avid listener. come my way, it will,” he signs off with a TELECOMMUNIC AT I ON
The IT guy is quite a guitar strummer and smile. ENGINEERING, G T T I

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 59

UPDATE

OFF THE SHELF A sneak preview of enterprise products,
solutions and services

LG unveils Green
projectors
The new portable projectors are based on
LED-based digital light source Kobian launches
Mercury Elite 650
PRO UPS
Price Kobian has announced the availabil-
HS201G ity of its new Mercury 650 PRO UPS
Rs 48000 in India. According to the company,
HX301G the new UPS is designed not only to
Rs 71000 protect the personal computers and
electrical equipments but also give
them a new life.

The UPS is inbuilt with a wide input
range of 140~300VAC includes output
short circuit protection and features
like overcharge protection with sleek
and compact design with CPU control
and will be available across the coun-
try with the Kobian’s distributors.

According to Sushmita Das, Country
Manager, –Kobian, “It gives us great
pleasure to launch our Power Product
Series in India starting with Home
Strengthening its portfolio in the LED pro- HX301G FEATURES Segment UPS- Mercury Elite 650 PRO
jector segment, LG Electronics India has * 0.55” DMD , Elite 800 & Elite 1200UPS. This is
launched the new portable projectors, the * XGA, 270 ANSI-lumens our attempt to bring value solutions
HS201G (SVGA) and HX301G (XGA) in * Contrast ratio: 2,000:1 to the consumers after understand-
the Indian market. According to the com- * Life time: 30,000 hrs ing the needs and demands. We are
pany, the new projectors instill features * Light weight (2lbs) launching the Elite 650 PRO for the
that makes its usage comfortable at work * HDMI 1.3, USB 2.0 (DivX HD, File home, and the SOHO segment with
and while at home. Viewer) a focus on the specifications and
Successor to the previous version * Green Technology (Mercury free) requirement of the masses.”
HS102G, the new HS201G, featuring high * Instant Quick on/off

brightness of 200 ANSI lumens & contrast
ratio of 2000:1, promises high picture quality, connectivity and vivid graphics. PRODUCT FEATURES
It has long lamp life of up to 30,000 hours and weighs 800 grams. With digital Improved for longer lifecycle
light processing technology, the product is an ideal solution for executives who System check to protect the overload, overcharge
deliver presentations more frequently. and short circuit
According to the company, the system can play DivX files, display JPEG images New firmware enhances the battery life and
and even play MP3 music files through external hard drives, USB memory sticks improves backup time

or memory cards connected through the USB port. PRICE: RS 1,680

60 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

READY FOR CHANGE? WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
2010

UPDATE

NComputing
D-Link launches Green launches U170
Ethernet Switch Desktop
NComputing has launched the new
USB Virtual Desktop (model 170)
in India. The solution will meet the
needs of small businesses, schools
and home users. The product,,
according to the company, is
simple to install and set up, has
full USB support,
and sparkles on
D-Link has unveiled the new Ethernet switch KEY ADVANTAGES high-resolution
DGS-3200-24 which claims to reduce power * Reduce power consumption and full-screen
consumption by detecting device link status. by detecting device link status video. The
Besides this, the switch also boasts of advanced * Advanced security features U170 comes
security features and smart fan enabling users * Supports both IPv4 and IPv6 in a single
to operate in temperatures up to 50 degree Cen- protocols station kit
tigrade and in non A/C environment especially and with plug-
suitable for Indian climate. and-play simplicity for
According to Jayesh Kotak, VP-Product Marketing, D-Link (India), “D-Link up to 10 users per PC. With
DGS-3200-24 is a compact device that not only helps customers lower their this high performance product,
operating expenses by cutting down on electricity consumption, but also reduces NComputing U 170 kit enables
the capital expenditure on power backup investments.” users to cut computing costs by
The DGS-3200-24 supports both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols to meet the ever- sharing the untapped power of
increasing demand of larger address space. IPv6 simplifies, streamlines network existing computers and efficiently
configuration and also reduces costs of deployment. The company has a dedicated harnessing the computing capacity
website, www.dlinkGreen.com that outlines the company’s Green initiatives, such by enabling multiple users to
as conserving energy, protecting the environment from harmful substances and share a single machine. The cost
reducing waste by using recyclable packaging. of the product is RS. 5000.

Elliptical unveils Green KEY ADVANTAGES
* Saves 50% energy

Data Centre
* Loop cooling technology
* Green alternative for power
hungry datacentres
Elliptical Mobile Solutions (EMS) has launched data centre-in-a-box products.
According to the company, the Data Centre-in-a-Box technology provides more
than 50% savings in data centre cooling costs due to the closed loop cooling tech-
nology that the product has, thus enabling users to substantially reduce their
overall energy consumption. The products include the R.A.S.E.R.,a full-height
(42U) MMDC, the C3.S.P.E.A.R., a half height (24U) MMDC and the S.P.E.A.R
also a half-height, armoured (22U) MMDC. A recent study by McKinsey Group
says that the data centre industry is the fourth largest producer of carbon dioxide
emissions accounting for three percent of global pollution. According to Gartner,
the total data centre capacity in India is expected to reach 5.1 million square feet
by 2012 and is projected to grow 31% from 2007 to 2012.

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 61

UPDATE

INDULGE The hottest, the coolest and the funkiest next
generation gadgets and devices for you

Give that out-of-the-world feel to your
desktop with Herman Kardon speakers
and lift your spirits with EIDOS Blu-ray
player

NEW

HOT GOLDMUN EIDOS
BLU- RAY PLAYER
HARMAN KARDON Collector’s edition, swiss
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62 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

WISH FOR
WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
THAT SPOTLIGHT? 2010
UPDATE

BOOK FOR YOU
OPEN DEBATE A platform to air your views on the latest
developments and issues that impact you Offering An
Alternative
Is Open Source cheaper An alternative methodology for
pursuit of growth derived from India.
PUBLISHER : HARVARD

than Proprietary?
BUSINESS PRESS
PRICE : RS 695

The “unbridled pursuit of self-interest”
has been the hallmark of the Ameri-
SHEELA GOSAIN GAURAV KOHLI NIKUNJ KARIA can model of economic development,
ASSOCIATE S/W IT CONSULTANT, MANAGER – IT, popularly called the “Washington
ENGINEER, IMPETUS XEBIA ARCHITECTS NDTV IMAGINE Consensus”. But it is now clear that it
If you see the direct cost, The answer is fairly It is a misnomer that has very often led to deep, self-inflicted
open source is certainly obvious, it is open source. open source software is injuries. And the recent global financial
cheaper however in the Open Source is flexible free. In this regard, open meltdown, the outcome of companies
long run; proprietary where the IT manager source software may have chasing profits, has offered enough rea-
software has a distinct can easily accommodate little if any advantage over son to unlearn what we have learned
advantage as managing new and customise ap- proprietary software. from the Western economies in the last
an open source system at plications based on the 50 years.
With unrestricted access
times proves to be complex business requirement of to the source code to run According to The India Way, in the US
and challenging. an enterprise. or modify at will, and sup- model, companies rely on constant re-
Nevertheless, the decision The dependency on vendor port coming from an ad structuring through job cuts and outside
whether to go for an open is reduced and an IT hoc collection of software hiring. Now that the whole world feels
source or adopt proprietary manager can easily try developers and fellow the pinch of that model, which the rest
software should be based and test new things and users, the open-source of the world blames for the meltdown,
on the organisation’s need focus on innovation. It model is very different the authors---four of them---look at how
and policies. Open source enables organisation to from proprietary software. companies around the globe could take
requires constant supervi- focus on growth and scale. Whether open source some big tips from businesses in India.
sion from IT Managers, However, it must also be software is less costly Drawing on extensive interviews with
even though it gives the remembered that open to administer depends some 105 Indian business leaders, the
advantage of customisa- source requires dedica- largely on a ready pool of book says that the Indian approach
tion but if you are not sure tion and it is extremely resources trained on the to “running companies centres on a
about how to manage the important to stress upon system, the availability of concern for multiple stakeholders and
complexities effectively it policies related to secu- administration tools and their needs, not just the narrower needs
is always more advisable rity and configuration to the number of version of shareholders”.
to take the tried and test achieve the best result in a upgrades issued by the
proprietary route. cost effective way. developer. IT NEXT VERDICT
This book is heavy with insider accounts, will
help Indian businessmen understand them-
selves in the global scheme of things. It will
also inspire managers elsewhere as they look
for ways to compete in a changing world.
Your views and opinion matter to us. Send us your feedback on stories and the
magazine to the Editor at editor@itnext.in STAR VALUE:

J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 63

VISHWAJEET SINGH
MY LOG National Manager IT,
FCm Travel Solutions

Things I learnt
at IIM-A
A personal account of a strategic
program at India’s premier
management institute O N:
AN
IL
T

A TI
STR
ILLU

It was a nice Sunday morning when I coordinator, appeared and we all formally
reached the land that produces most of introduced each other. His first question:
the highly paid management executives in “How many of you have actually read the
India. I was really thrilled at the thought of case studies?” There was a mixed reply, 3 ESSENTIAL
becoming a part of that elite league – even as no one thought they would actually be READS
if for only six days. asked about it on the first day. But the best INSIGHT | 3G
READY FOR THE
CHALLENGE?

2010
TO FIND OUT GO TO
WWW.ITNEXT.IN
on21st
JUNE

3G | INSIGHT

APPLICATIONS TO

I was greeted well and given an IIM bag part came next: “We are much disciplined
With over Rs 67,000 crore at stake, true broadband speeds over mobile
the recently concluded 3G auction was which will completely change the
undoubtedly the biggest draw of its game. 3G dongles plugged into the WATCH OUT FOR…
kind to have happened in the IBL a.k.a PCs will provide network speeds
Real-time videoconferencing: Simi-
Indian business league. superior to those available in many
lar to videoconferencing on desktop
The battle for licences was fought offices in India.
computers, but now available on a
fiercely by service providers, with “It will foster an era of cloud-based
device.
the aim of getting significantly large computing that has already spread
Video-on-demand: Where a provider
number of consumers, as well as throughout the western world, allowing
can send a movie to a subscriber’s
enterprise customers, for sustainable IT departments to reduce costly
phone, or a sales rep might send
survival of their businesses. internal infrastructure and rely on

and my room keys. The room was decently and we will always start sharp at 8:45 AM
a corporate video to a client, for
For enterprises, 3G networks are secure external third-party resources
example.
the next step in their quest for higher- for CRM and many other enterprise
Tele-medicine: In which a medical
speed connectivity and streaming applications,” says Tim Daniels,
provider can monitor or diagnose a
of videos on mobile devices. For Product Marketing Manager, Telesoft
patient who’s in another location.
instance, the benefits of a truly “FAT” Technologies India.
pipe to the employees are tremendous. IT managers today have realised that Location-based services (LBS):
Information can be truly at employee mobility does not end at providing an It’s another interesting feature that
fingertips wherever they are and e-mail solution to employees. And one will enable organisations, in areas like
sophisticated database applications needs to look beyond to meet the specific transportation, to track the devices
that were only ever in-house can requirements of individual businesses. and objects on a real-time basis.

maintained and had everything that could everyday – but the discipline ends there
now be streamed anywhere within “3G will see a huge uptake by the
India’s 22 mobile circles. Moreover, the enterprise to enable their sales team
technology is likely to help enterprises on the field. It can equip sales team to

230
in leveraging e-commerce at substantial give live demos over live IP instantly, India will have
level. It will enable them to offer new and service engineers can be connected
channels to reach out to customers in an to the back office support team to
effective way, without any geographical download any upgrade patch or fault

GIVING
constraint. resolution,” says Nikhil Jain, COO,
No wonder then, many IT managers Elitecore Technologies.
are busy testing and evaluating mobile The high-speed connectivity
devices to understand the technology and will also support more demanding

make you feel that you were here to learn. because there is no end time!”
its usage in a better and realistic way. multimedia applications, such as million 3G Subscribers
According to Ashwini Yadav, Vice video conferencing, VoIP, full-motion by 2013

mobility
President - IT at IDBI Fortis Life video and music streaming, while also
Source : Qualcomm
Insurance, “3G by definition will allow offering faster web browsing and file

TEETH TO
for more bandwidth on the mobile downloads.
handsets. If used correctly, it will be According to Dr. R Venkateswaran,
a big boost to the financial inclusion CTO and Head, Telecom Business Unit,
roadmaps drawn by regulators in
India. In addition, if it is made available
Persistent Systems,“With everything
moving onto the cloud and the
How 3G can help
to rural India, it will create countless development of third-party applications you
opportunities in agriculture, education on the rise, 3G might be a great asset

As for the bag, besides some stationery, it Day one ended with the relief that we
Field service technicians can easily
and banking.” to collaborate and share and help
access reference materials to assist
companies reduce their travel expenses
in equipment repairs, including large
Demystifying new on a large scale”.
manuals as well as product sche-
applications However, he cautions that the success
matics, in addition to capturing and
Driven by growing competition, Indian of the technology will largely depend
transmitting photos that document
enterprises today understand the neces- on the innovative applications and
Mobile access to enterprise- wide sity of having a mobile workforce to initiatives from service providers.
conditions

applications will get a shot in the arm with 3G ensure that the business priorities are 3G has other takers as well. For

P H OTO : P H OTO S . C O M
First responders in the police and ﬁre
taken care of even if an employee walks example, leading car manufacturer department can easily view, capture
technology out of the office premises. Maruti Suzuki is planning to provide and transmit photos and video footage

had a thick folder with hundreds of pages managed and would now go relax till
According to experts, with 3G, Internet access in the premium- (Adapted from White Paper on 2G and 3G cellular
BY JATINDER SINGH users will be able to experience segment cars. And LG Electronics networks by Motorola)

24 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0 J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 25

- all case studies! I was supposed to read tomorrow. But it was all wishful thinking. 3G Enterprise Applications are
We were to have group discussion for set to change the way business will
three case studies for the first day and the
be conducted in the future Pg 24
reporting time next morning was 8:45. next day’s case studies. So after changing
When I went out to have lunch in the clothes and having dinner, we met again
ARE YOU
WWW.ITNEXT.IN JUNE
AN ACHIEVER? 2010

INSIGHT | USB 3.0 USB 3.0 | INSIGHT

transfer of data. Thus if they will get an As per some recent media reports, Nvidia
option for USB 3.0 (i.e. much faster data has confirmed that no Intel chipsets will
transfer), they will automatically want support USB 3.0 standard until 2011.
to have the latest technology,” believes However, Intel has said that it will have
Shivratan Agarwal, Branch Head, Rashi its own USB 3.0 host controller (later in

nicely decorated dining hall that looked in groups.
Peripherals, Ahmedabad. He further says 2010), but that controller will not be part
KEY SPECIFICATIONS that although there aren’t a large number of its chipsets. Also, there has been a lack
 Offers higher data transfer speeds of of products available today with USB of support from Microsoft too (Windows
DATA TRANSFER up to 4.8Gbps 3.0 interface, many are expected to be 7 too does not provide support to the USB
SPEEDOMETER
 It's bi-directional: Unlike previous ver- launched soon, like USB 3.0 flash drives, 3.0 interface).
5Gbps sions where data would only be piped portable HDDs, etc. “Ultimately, most The high cost of USB 3.0 is another
in one direction at a time, USB 3.0 can storage products will see this transition factor that is expected to restrict large scale
480 Mbps read and write data, simultaneously and USB 3.0 would certainly replace USB adoption among masses; but industry “THOUGH USB 3.0
USB 2.0 USB
3.0  New power management features that 2.0 over a period of time,” he elaborates. watchers believe that the scenario will AS A TECHNOLOGY
assure better power utilisation Most data storage hardware change and the reduction in its prices over IS EXPENSIVE AS

This routine went on for six days. We NEED FOR
 Offers increased bus power and allows manufacturers have announced their a period of time would make its adoption

more like a senior officers’ mess, I spotted a
for more power supply to devices plans to incorporate the technology in much faster, easier and extensive. OF NOW, THIS IS
 Backward compatibility: USB 2.0 gear their upcoming product portfolio. Harikrishnan PK explains, “Though HOW NORMALLY
work on version 3.0 ports and vice
TECHNOLOGY GETS

SPEED
Moreover, many of the high-bandwidth USB 3.0, as a technology is expensive as
versa devices are expected to migrate to the of now (mainly motherboards), this is
 Better power management over USB new interface and SSDs/HDD devices how technology gets established in the ESTABLISHED WELL
2.0 will benefit the most from the boost in market. However, there would not be a IN THE MARKET.”
 Increased maximum bus power and transfer speed offered by USB 3.0. Gulbir need to create awareness about USB 3.0 as —Harikrishnan PK, Alltime
device current draw accommodate Singh Bhatia, Managing Director, Prime a technology, as USB 2.0 is quite popular Power Technologies
better power-hungry devices ABGB, Mumbai adds that in future, there among the masses. All that vendors would
will be a lot of video-based devices like have to do is to explain to users that USB

gentleman coming to my side with his plate, would usually meet around 9:30 PM to
cameras and media players, which will 3.0 is 10 times faster than USB 2.0. Over
come with USB 3.0 interface. “The future a period of time, every storage products
USB 3.0 offers fast data transfer Vishal Tripathi, Principal Research of USB 3.0 is good as all new external is expected to have a USB 3.0 interface.”

speeds to consumers, but there are Analyst at Gartner says that USB
3.0 achieves its high transfer rates
devices for video and audio need faster
communication,” he says.
Currently, not many USB 3.0 products
are readily available in the market.
a number of roadblocks that have to by using four additional wires in the
data cable for a total of six wires. It
Tripathy affirms that there are
motherboards available today with
According to Sandeep Parasrampuria,
Director, iBall India, only a few
be removed before the technology can supports full-duplex communication, SATA 6Gbps interfaces, which have a manufacturers like Asus and Gigabyte
or the ability to send and receive data PCIe card to provide USB 3.0 capabilities. have launched some motherboards with
become mainstream simultaneously, and is power efficient. “Moreover, in the future, the interface will USB 3.0 ports, but devices with USB 3.0
Most importantly, it is backwards even be incorporated in domains such as are not yet available. He adds that iBall

and we greeted each other. We introduced start our group-study-cum-discussion and
BY CHARU KHERA compatible with USB 2.0 devices, high-resolution webcams, Blu-Ray drives, will be launching some USB 3.0 hubs
within the next few months.
wherein the new cable dramatically
improves throughput speed.
motherboards, LCD monitors and digital
cameras,” he says. Though most vendors are constantly
“ONLY A FEW
G i g a by t e (P55A series On the same lines, Harikrishnan trying to upgrade their hardware that MANUFACTURERS
As per an IDC report, the amount of digital data created worldwide could hit motherboards), Asus, Seagate, Fujitsu, PK, Alltime Power Technologies, can support the new 3.0 interface and LIKE ASUS AND
988 billion gigabytes by 2010. With such tremendous increase in data, users
have to spend too much time waiting for large files to transfer between a com-
Buffalo Technologies, etc are some of
the early adopters to incorporate these
Cochin, says that there are a host of
motherboards available today with USB
deliver the speed boosts expected from it,
industry watchers believe that it will be a
GIGABYTE HAVE
puter and an external hard drive. USB 2.0 (the current standard used in all interfaces in their line of products. 3.0. Some external hard disks interfaces while before they would be able to match LAUNCHED SOME
USB/flash drives that helps in the transfer of data) offers a maximum speed have also been announced with USB up to the potential levels of speed that MOTHERBOARDS
Market trends 3.0, though the products are yet to hit these interfaces promise.
of 480 Mbps. Moreover, one can easily find a USB pen drive that is 64GB in
WITH USB 3.0

each other and I discovered that he was carry on till midnight. But there was one
size. Now, even cell phone and PDAs are available with a couple of GB internal The increasing quest for higher transfer the Indian market. External devices like In the end, though one can easily believe
storage. With 480Mbps data transfer speed currently offered by USB 2.0 today, speed will be the key growth driver for HDDs, modem, and, wireless products that it will be some time before USB 3.0 PORTS, BUT
people are left complaining about the time they have to wait to transfer large the USB 3.0. Industry watchers believe will also gain from USB 3.0. as a technology will become mainstream DEVICES WITH USB
and ubiquitous like USB 2.0 in the Indian
files. This is where the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 can play a major role.
USB 3.0 offers maximum transfer speed of 5Gbps per second, which
that USB 3.0 can be popularly be called
the next generation interface for trans- Roadblocks market, but with time, it is expected to sell
3.0 ARE NOT YET
is almost 10 times faster than USB 2.0. The high transfer speed offered ferring data. A tremendous surge in its Anyone who would be tracking USB 3.0 like hot cakes as different products hit the AVAILABLE.”
by USB 3.0 can allow users to transfer heavy files, as heavy as 20GB, in adoption is expected in the next couple would have a lot of speculations regard- shelf. Like all other technologies, USB 3.0 —Sandeep Parasrampuria,
a few seconds. Explaining the technological concept behind the device, of years. “Customers today want faster ing USB 3.0 and Intel’s involvement in it. seems to be an inevitable upgrade. Director, iBall India

a colonel from the Indian Army. He was thing we admired and which seems to have
32 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0 J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 33

USB 3.0 with data transfer rates of
also here for the same course – Strategic vanished from our education system today: up to 4.8 Gbps, is much swifter than
Planning of Information Systems. the Prof used to visit us in that period to see the current USB 2.0 Pg 32
Soon, it was dinner time, and I moved what we were up to. It was a great feeling to INSIGHT | STRUCTURED CABLING STRUCTURED CABLING | INSIGHT

into the dining hall, which was full of see your professor sitting with you at 11 in High density can mean multiple
things: high computation density, high
on the horizon. Enterprises need to
have a closer look at how this density
enable easier upgrades tomorrow
can also significantly reduce TCO for

BUILD
power density, high application den- aspect can be dealt with effectively and enterprises.
sity, high user density, high cabling proactively from the structured cabling Merchant of Extreme Networks says,
density or all of these. Most data cen- point of view. “Structured cabling plays an important
tres incorporate some elements of all To keep pace with growing data role in managing high-density
these factors, and they are all poten- transmission and application needs, data centres. To give an example, if
tially inter-related. When technologies data centres today are experiencing enterprises have 40 1RU servers in a

the night to find out whether you needed BACKBONES
like 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre increased bandwidth and server rack, each with say four 1Gig Ethernet

people from different states, countries,
Channel over Ethernet, IP convergence requirements. Dileep Kumar, Director ports, they can have 160 Ethernet
and server virtualisation are becoming – Product Management, ADC India, cables in a single rack. In many cases,
real, and managing these aspects of data says, “The industry is responding to data center architects make design and
center assumes much more significance these needs with advancements like 40 planning decisions around cabling to

THAT
now than ever, enterprises essentially and 100 Gbps Ethernet (GbE), Fibre make sure that the constraining factor
need to prepare themselves for this Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), server does not become cabling.”
trend to run their businesses smoothly virtualisation and IP convergence. Different techniques exist for
and cost-efficiently. These new technologies also have addressing these types of problems. For
Properly managing a high-density implications for the data centre example, using MRJ21 cables to connect
data centre means making it more bandwidth performance, and there is a into high fan out modules in the network

and organizations – all with the simple his help, offering his advice and sharing BEAR IT
efficient and reducing the total cost of need for enhanced reliability, flexibility aggregation/distribution layer can
ownership. And it is precisely for this and scalability. Fortunately, focused simplify the cabling issues as well as cut
reason that manageability assumes solutions and strategies are available down tiers of switches in the network.
significance. Shehzad Merchant - today that can help data centre managers This solution leads to lower cabling cost,
Senior Director of Data Centre Strategy, prepare while simultaneously lowering simplifies cabling challenges and leads
Extreme Networks, says, “Unless the TCO.” to a scalable network architecture with
managed properly, the benefits gained The need to reduce TCO is at the less oversubscription and less latency.
from one dimension of high density can forefront of concerns among today’s Fortunately, there are solutions
be lost in other dimensions since they businesses. Over the life cycle of a available in the market to manage
are interrelated. If managed properly, all typical enterprise, operational costs today’s complex high density data
dimensions can lead to a more efficient alone can account for 50% of total centres, and it would be wise for

objective to learn. insights on different things.
operation of the data centre.” costs. By making operations more your data center manager to consider
Managing a high-density data efficient, that cost can be significantly available solutions and strategies to
In view of the exponential data growth leading centre is important as lot of elements reduced. Retrofit costs take up another better support next-data generation
are getting in, particularly with 40 25% of life cycle costs. Therefore, centre technologies when they are
to high-density data centres, cabling standards that GB and 100 GB cabling adoptions having solutions in place today that needed.
match up are a must
BY KENNY GOUNDER, ILLUSTRATION BY PRASANTH TR

Next morning during breakfast, I met We also realized that the IIMs start 22
CAGR of structured
cabling market in India
% 32 %
of the structured cabling business in
India comes from data centres
SOURCE: SYSTIMAX SOLUTIONS SOURCE: AMI

my course batch mates, and we went to thinking from the point where most of 38 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0 J U N E 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 39

the class room at 8:45 as scheduled. A few us almost give up. What’s more, they add Cabling standards require to rea-
seconds later Professor Verma, our course more efficiency in your efforts. lign with new HD data centres Pg 38

64 IT NEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 0

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