What do customers want?

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Joseph Jude

Companies spend big share of their budget trying to ‘differentiate’ their product and services from those of their peer-group companies. Usually these differentiations are add-ons to the core category benefits which are expected from their product or service. But do such differentiations work?

Would you return to a restaurant that has an impressive interior and calming music but serves absolutely tasteless food?

This is the theme of ‘Simply Better‘, a book that, Gary Silverman calls, “… a book about marketing for people who have read too many books about marketing”.  Drawing upon experience of Tesco, Toyota and similar companies, Patrick Barwise and Sean Meehan, authors of the book, argues that, customers expect a predictable and reliable delivery of category benefits, every time; all the time. Differentiation does not matter to customers when category benefits fail.

The authors also emphasize the marketing principle put forwarded by Peter Drucker, ‘Marketing is not a specialized business activity…it is the whole enterprise seen from the customer’s point of view‘. Companies should spend their resources on improving customer’s experience at every point of contact  – be it marketing, sales, delivery or post-sales support.

These are simple yet fundamental concepts for any company’s success. Fact is, simple concepts are easy to be missed.

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Freelancer or a consultant?

Posted on January 10, 2009 by Joseph Jude

“Am I a freelancer?” or
“Am I a consultant?” or
“Am I a freelancing consultant?”

Those were some of the questions on my mind when I decided to quit the corporate world and be on my own. I googled and understood that they are not the same.

Generally, creative artists – like photographers and journalists – like to retain their creative freedom and they equally dislike being constrained by the company rule books. They prefer to roll their sleeves, get the work done and be paid; and not bother with other overheads. So they sign-up for specific assignments and if they like the company (the team, the work, the money), they continue to work with the same company; else they go with another. There is another group of people who prefer freelancing – those who can’t commit to a full time work schedule, primarily due to their personal commitments. In both categories, freelancers need not visit client office on a day-to-day basis.

Consultants are a different breed. They are (considered to be) experts in a specific domain and they advice their clients in solving problems in those domains. Their service will significantly influence the policies and projects of their clients. While freelancers are their own bosses, consultants need not be; they could be employed. It is common for employees in an IT firm, to have job roles as consultants. However, realizing their self-worth, some consultants quit their employers and take up independent contracts. It is expected that these consultants visit client office regularly, even on a daily basis.

Considering that I’m my own boss but work from client site, should I call myself as a freelance consultant? How about Independent Consultant? It sounds fancier, right?

Ref: http://freelance.geekinterview.com/42-Difference-Between-A-Freelancer-And-A-Consultant-.html

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New year brings a new challenge

Posted on December 23, 2008 by Joseph Jude

Life throws challenges at you at the most unexpected time. You can either choose to accept the challenge and make the best of it; or ignore it and probably regret for the rest of your life.

I wanted to be a freelancing consultant six years back – when the markets were high and CRM (and ERP) consultancy was hot. At that time I was posted in Belgium and most of my colleagues were freelancing. But for various reasons, I couldn’t get into freelancing.

Now, there is a widespread pessimism in the market and I got a freelancing contract! How ironic is that?

I took more than a week to debate with myself. The boss, the team, the work and the clients made the work environment one of the best I ever had; but having already handled series of roles that were available, I was running the risk of becoming complacent.

On the other hand, the freelancing contract is on e-governance. With increasing economic growth in India, e-governance is becoming prominent; and with tech savvy Barack Obama taking control in the US, I believe, many countries will embrace e-governance. Downside? I’ve to move to Delhi, learn Hindi and probably understand ‘red tape’, ‘bureaucracy’ and ‘politics’ in their real terms.

Having debated with myself, the pros and cons, I discussed with the family. Honestly speaking, I expected resistance from them. Because, for the past three years my sister and I are settled in Bangalore and our parents are with us. We were able to take family trips and have quality time together as a family. To my pleasant surprise, they were extremely supportive. That gave me the confidence to take it further and discuss with friends. Finally I took the decision to be a freelancer.

Slowly things fell in place – resignation was accepted; last date finalized; contract was signed; and joining date accepted.

I’ve been preparing myself by reading a lot about freelancing (and e-governance); yet I’m sure there will be plenty of things that I’ll have to work out as I continue through the freelancing world. I’m also convinced that the thrill of being a in a new place, meeting new people and learning new things will keep me motivated to continue the journey.

For now, I’m looking forward to Jan 1st. Because on Jan 1st, 2009, I am becoming a freelancer.

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Site Upgrades and its reasons

Posted on December 21, 2008 by Joseph Jude

If you are reading this post on your favorite RSS reader, you may not notice any change. But if you read it on the website, you will notice that site layout is changed. There are two reasons for this change:

I was running an older version of WordPress (2.3). I didn’t have any issues with 2.3 – security or usability. I just wanted to check out the latest features offered by the newer version. That one was a geeky reason. There was another reason too.

When I started this blog, way back in 2003, I had no particular topic or direction in mind. Since I was interested in many topics – programming, theology, consulting, new ideas and so on – I wrote about whatever came in freely, when I remembered to write. These articles generated web traffic, beyond my surprise, but I wasn’t focused on anything in particular. I was wandering and polluting the pages.

Now that I’ve become a freelancer (oh! I didn’t tell you that? That will be another post), I’ve decided to keep this blog focused. I hope to keep the articles under the below categories:

Programming - I’ve been a programmer and I loved it – COBOL, C, C++, C#, Visual Basic and now Python. I find that Python provides an easier route to translate my thoughts into working software. Hence, posts in this category will be primarily on Python (Django and IronPython). This category will also include my learning on other related aspects of programming – architecture, design, testing, documentation and so on.

Personal-MBA – As programmers, we’re comfortable sitting in front of the computer and program. But if we have to be successful, we also have to know to promote ourselves (or product or idea), negotiate a price (or salary), persuade potential stakeholders to support our idea, manage interpersonal relations and so on. I could not force myself into going to school again. So I’m following Josh Kaufman‘s idea of Personal MBA – getting the knowledge through reading the best books. Posts in this category will be my learning from these books.

Travel – The Smell, Sight and Sound of new land are too much for me to resist. I’ll capture my experiences in these articles.

Elsewhere – I’m a man of many interests and will remain so. I am not limiting my interests – just focusing this blog to the above topics. This category of posts will be aggregation of posts that I post elsewhere.

General- Site updates and any articles that doesn’t fit into the above categories.

With this thought process, I’ve upgraded to WordPress 2.7. WordPress team has always emphasized on ease-of-use and it has improved upon it, version by version. In 2.7, they’ve gone one step ahead – plug-ins can be installed from within the admin login (you don’t have to access via shell or ftp – except for few plug-ins that need change in file permissions). WordPress come with fantastic set of plug-ins and here are the plug-ins that I’ve installed:

Akismet  – This is a must plug-ins to keep the spammers away from your comment section. You need an API key which, you can get by registering in WordPress.org.

Official StatCounter Plug-in – I use StatCounter for web statistics. It is easy to install and provides a simple tracking mechanism.

FeedBurner : WordPress provides feeds by default, but feedburner provides facility to track subscriptions.

WordPress Mobile Edition – You Can’t Afford to Lose Mobile Readers. This plug-in enables your blog to be viewable in any mobile browser, irrespective of the operating system. Traffic from this mobile plug-in is not part of the web traffic as Statcounter plug-in depends on JavaScript.

Other plug-ins include: Simple Google Sitemap, Contact Form 7 , Simple Archive Generator, Clean Archives Reloaded, WordPress Reports.


The theme used is Arthemia. I selected this theme because of its professional magazine like style with placeholders for Google Ads.

If you’ve comments on improving the site, please leave them in the comments section.

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Getting started with Linux (Kubuntu)

Posted on December 14, 2008 by Joseph Jude

I’ve always been a Microsoft Windows user – primarily it was mandated by the corporate world. Recently I decided to use Linux for home laptop and was pleasantly surprised about the switch. Kubuntu 8.04 comes closer (in some cases, even better) to user experience and availability of mature applications to Windows XP (I haven’t used Vista, so can’t comment). It has been about 2 weeks, since I’m using Linux exclusively and I’m happy with it.

Installation was smooth and various configurations also went smooth. However, finding applications that I like for various needs took lot of time – reading and reviewing applications takes time, whatever be the platform.

Below are the applications that I’m using in Kubuntu box.

Web Browsing – I’ve been using FireFox and Opera under Windows. Both of them are available under Linux.

Email – I use GMail as a primary mail agent and hence no need for a client. I tried Evolution and am happy about it. Just to reduce the bandwidth usage, I continue to use gmail. If there is a need to use desktop client (for offline usage), I might give Evolution a try.

RSS Feed Reader: Not found a decent one. On windows used to FeedDemon. In Kubuntu, used Akregator, part of Evolution suite. But am not satisfied with the features of it and still looking around for a desktop offline RSS reader. Currently using Google Reader.

Twitter: I’m not a very aggressive user of Twitter. But I do get a good amount of information from it and I would like to continue to be on Twitter. None of the Linux native applications were good. I’ve installed TwitterDeck using Adobe AIR platform. So far it is pretty good.

Add / Remove Programs: Kubuntu has a nice ‘Adept Installer’, which gives almost similar (read as better) UI than its windows counterpart. If I want a geeky control, I can always use Synaptic Package Manager.

Office: Word and Excel has come to be an important part of business life. I’ve been using Open Office even under windows. So it was easier to adapt to it under Linux. Infact I’ve installed KOffice too, though haven’t started to use it heavily. Open Office seems to be sufficient enough.

Games: I like to take a break sometimes, just to freshen up my mind. I don’t want to think. Just divert the mind – I find ‘Five or More’ to be easy to play with and also not to make me think too much.

Messenger: I used pidgin in Windows and hence migrating was no big deal. It can seamlessly connect with yahoo, Google and msn accounts.

Programming : Having started as a geek’s platform, it is no surprise that Linux comes with plenty of tools for programming – IDEs, Subversion clients, Standalone DBs and so on. Though I’ve passed the programmer stage, I still continue to play with programming – primarily on Python and its various flavors. Python comes pre-installed in Linux. IronPython and Django comes along in the repository. (It was a surprise to find out that IronPython comes installed in a Linux distribution was a surprise). I’ve downloaded web2py and I might give it a shot.

Virtualization: In case you don’t want to part completely with Microsoft Windows and want to still run some of your investements on Windows, you can use VirtualBox (don’t use the one comes in the source repository; download and install from VirtualBox site).

Photography:  I have been using Adobe Photoshop Elements. I tried it under Kubuntu with wine. It didn’t work. Not yet comfortable with GIMP. So have installed Elements on Windows with VirtualBox (as a matter of fact, I’m running Windows purely for Elements).

Blogging: I used Microsoft Live Writer under Windows a desktop blogging application. KBlogger is a desktop blogging application for Kubuntu. I’m also testing with ScribeFire, a FireFox plugin. But both are far from a match to MLW.

Personal Finance : I’m don’t keep a strict track of my finances. But KMyMoney seems to be simple and easy to use. It might help me to do so.

Zim Desktop Wiki: Interestingly Kubuntu has other applications. One such is Zim Desktop Wiki. I’m using it to collect all ideas.

What do I need more?
I use Nokia E71 and I haven’t found a tool for desktop integration. If I find one for two way sync for Nokia, then Kubuntu comes as a self-contained installation.

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Shed your colonial inheritence – lead us by uniting us

Posted on November 28, 2008 by Joseph Jude

There is politics by unification and then politics by division.

The British ruled India with a ‘divide and rule’ policy. It kept them in power for decades, until Indians woke up beyond their division – caste, color, religion, language and whatever else it was dividing them.

We got out of their rule; but not out of their tactics.

Our shrewed politicans picked up the tactic.

First, the country was divided by religion.
Then we were divided by languages.
Then on caste.
And the tactics of division just goes on.

Every time a crisis unites Indians, politicians come in and stir the divisions.

Babri Masjid hurts Hindu sentiments;
Tamilians should not learn Hindi;
North Indians can’t work in Maharastra;

What is the result? We stand deeply divided.

When the house is divided, terrorists go on a rampage.

Terrorists are not divided. Guns know no division; only our politicians.

Mumbai incident has open up a distinct window of opportunity for our politicians to raise beyond division and to unite Indians. This is an earnest plea to the Modis, Advanis and Rahuls of our political system, to lead us in unity. We still believe in democracy and please don’t disappoint us.

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What are you doing with your anger?

Posted on November 27, 2008 by Joseph Jude

My blood boils. Anger raises up. I’m not alone with these feelings.

This is not the first time Mumbai is attacked. And Mumbai is not the first city to be attacked. Still we don’t learn our lessons.

Why?

It is easy to blame our hypocritical, inefficient politicians, who lack political will to curb terror – they in turn blame Pakistan and get away.

Do you know why we have gotten hypocritical and inefficient politicians?

Because we, Indians, don’t care.

We don’t care to vote; we don’t care to pay tax; we don’t care to know our rights; we don’t care to stand-up for our rights.

As students, as employees, as lawyers, as executives, as teachers, as politicians, as citizens, we don’t care.

We don’t care as long as our comfort is not disturbed.

When will we realize that because of our carelessness terror is knocking at our door? Because we didn’t care we got this inefficient politicians ruling us; because we didn’t care, corruption has gone into every level of security apparatus; because we didn’t care, loads of ammunition are carried through the streets of Mumbai.

We are in this state because you and I, didn’t care.

Because you and I didn’t care, Bharat Matha is gang raped.

But, you and I can be different – You and I can care about India. You and I can be responsible citizens. You and I can be the change that we want to bring on in India.

Then the question is, will this anger motivate us to bring about this change?

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How relavant is ‘The Mythical Man-Month’?

Posted on October 19, 2008 by Joseph Jude

Few books grab your attention on the first page and keep it that way until the last. It is surprising that a technical book written by a technical person would be such a one. As I read every page of ‘The mythical Man-Month‘ (MMM), I was thinking to myself, “Damn, I should’ve read this book in college; or at least when I started with my career”. The author, Frederick Brooks, is dealing about those invaluable lessons that I learnt hard way over these many years in this field.

Every problem that the author talks about is so relevant today. Fundamental to the book is the ‘fallacious and dangerous myth about interchangeability of men and months‘. Even today when I present effort estimates to stakeholders, the immediate question is, “So if we double the team size, we should half the time to build this application?”. Brooks derives his response from a restaurant menu in New Orleans – ‘Good cooking takes time!’. Some tasks can’t be hurried without spoiling the result.

Or take the problem of communication. Though every one talks the same business language (English), their interpretations vary. Often one hears, “Oh! you meant that? I thought it was something else!”. Despite plenty of modeling techniques, understanding between parties involved remains a paramount problem in running a software project. (This is compounded in offshore projects).

Those of us who have handled large systems with different functional owners for different modules would have dealt with the issue of ‘conceptual integrity‘. I have managed such projects and it is not only difficult to integrate these modules; such systems throw enormous amount of confusion to the end users.

Building prototypes and releasing alpha & beta software are a common practices today. Open Source Software Practice advocates ‘release often; release early’. Yet, I’ve witnessed large projects with multi man-year effort and high complexity being developed in isolation after gather user requirements. When the project is released after years of development, the ‘actual need and the user’s perception of that need’ changed; and the project is a colossal failure bringing frustration and humiliation to the technical team.

These are just few of the problems and solutions discussed by Brooks. As I said in the beginning of the article, all the issues discussed Brooks are surprisingly relevant today. If you are in software stream – as a developer or as a functional analyst or as a manager – you should read this book. It will avoid you going though the path of agony.

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Don’t throw away your opportunity

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Joseph Jude

In an earlier post, I mentioned about interpreting scriptures for practical application in our lives. In this post, I’m sharing with you a story in a Hindu epic that inspired me greatly. It’s a pity that I forgot the names of the character and reference but the moral of the story inspired me all through my life.

In the ancient days, according to Hindu epics, it is a common practice for men to undertake penance to invoke blessing of gods. One such story goes like this:

A king undertakes penance with a desire to taste God’s food. Days go by; months go by; and years go by. After many many years of penance, the king is tired and thirsty. Then a lowly man walks by and enquires the tired king, if he needs something. When the king requests for water, the stranger pees in his ‘thiruvodu’ (earthen pot used by beggars for collecting food) and place it before the king. Annoyed by this, the king throws away the pot in anger. As the king throws away the pot, the lowly stranger transforms into God saying, "You threw away what you’ve been longing for – It was God’s food’.

We all long for that one ‘thing’ in our lives – be it the job that will get us out of our  debts or the gal of our dreams, or the article that will take us to the pinnacle of fame. Call it ‘unfair’, but life never gives that in a golden plate. It comes in as a ‘pee in the earthen pot’.

In software industry, it always takes the form of ‘the risky project that none wants to handle’. Taking it could spoil your reputation. But there lies "God’s food", that one thing that you’ve been waiting for.

image

Those who know me, know that I grab such projects with all enthusiasm. (Sometimes it had been just plain ‘pee in the earthen pot’. When that happens, the emotional pain is too high. Still you learn something valuable about handling risks). But most often I end up as a winner.

Is this true only for professional life? No. I’ve found it to be true even in personal life.

 

Taking risks is a difficult decision. During the decision making phase, it drains you emotionally and during implementation it drains you physically. But there lies ‘God’s food’.

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A new way to read books

Posted on October 5, 2008 by Joseph Jude

Next to programming, reading books (along with Photography) is my hobby. If I have not read a book in a month, I feel I’ve wasted that month; and I spend a weekend exclusively on reading.

Topics I read vary, but I’m particularly interested in practical applications of theories than plain academics. Software Engineering, Management and Self-development top my reading list; followed by theology and psychology. I do read novels and other topics but they have to be really interesting for me as I dedicate less time to straying away from my primary interests.

With increasing work load at office and at home, there is a serious crunch for time to read books. So when I came across a service that enables one to read books via email, I was thrilled. DailyLit emails a snippet of a book daily at a time of your choice.

I like it because it is via email – any ways email client, in my case Microsoft Outlook, is opened throughout the day; it is a snippet, it takes only 10 minutes a day. And since I got Blackberry, I can read the book snippet anywhere.

I’ve already read Tom Peters’ 100 ways to succeed/Make Money in 100 installments. Currently I’m subscribed to Good Experience Columns, series of articles on improving user/customer experience. I’ve gotten only 3 installments and I’m already loving it.

DailyLit has both free and paid services. I’ll try out couple of more free books and then wouldn’t mind subscribing to their paid services.

If you are a book-lover, like me, and crunched for time, try DailyLit. You might like it.

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