From the Editor’s Desk

Bouquet 3, Blossom 1Issue : April 2006

Director’s Message

Articles and feedback for the n e w s l e t t e r a r e w e l c o m e . Please mail your inputs to blossoms@htcindia.com

From the Editor’s Desk

Editorial Committee

Editorial Coordinators

Mullai Manavalan

Ravindra Kumar

Padmakumar A

Rangachary M C

Arun Srinivasan R

Arvind Murari

Balaji D

Deepalakshmi J

Dhanasekar V T

Geetha Mohandass

Gaurav Gupta

Krishna Kumar K

Satish Natarajan

Thomas Komban

Venkatesh M R

Biz Lounge

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark - Rabindranath Tagore

- Padmakumar A, Marketing

Third Party Evaluators

Third Party Evaluators

(or TPEs) are a new breed

of analysts , who help

customers choose vendors

for offshore out-sourcing

deals. They get involved

fairly early in an out-sourcing

process and help customers

bui ld object ive models

for the assessment

process.

Their primary role is to provide oversight of the out-sourcing process by

validating the customer's strategy and direction, draft the RFI and RFP

documents, evaluate response from qualifying vendors, compare vendor

offers, short-list vendors, who present the best value proposition, and assist the

customer in negotiating the contract with the final chosen vendor.

Dealing with a TPE has its pluses and its minuses. While many TPEs have

technically qualified people on their staff and are able to appreciate technical

nuances, some tend to play to the gallery with these skills. There

is also the legal aspect that some TPEs tend to overplay, particularly if

their skill sets and customer mandate include the contract negotiation

phase.

Selling our capabilities to a TPE is definitely more challenging. It calls for a

different approach, than selling to an end-user of our services, and takes more

of our resources to do; but, it is time and resource well invested, since returns

can span over more than one prospective customer.

The Quarterly Newsletter of HTC Global ServicesThe Quarterly Newsletter of HTC Global ServicesThe Quarterly Newsletter of HTC Global Services

Dear Colleagues,

Indian sportsmen and women put up a reasonably good show, winning 50 medals in the just

thconcluded 18 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne. Samaresh Jung of India won us3 team gold, 3 team silver and1 individual bronze medals. He was deservedly declared the

thOutstanding Athlete of the 18 Commonwealth Games.

Of course, Australia the host country, bagged over 200 medals and topped the medals tally.

At HTC, we had our Annual Games 2006. Watch out for a report on “Great Encounters in Cricket” in the next issue of Blossoms.

- Editorial Committee

Illustration: Balakrishnan K

CMM Level 5

Dear Friends,

I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate all of you for all the hard

work that you are putting in. We are growing and as a result work is expanding.

Our project teams are formed from various groups from multiple locations.

This imposes on us a greater need for effective communication, persuasiveness,

tolerance and uncompromising attitude towards commitments and quality.

Let us be mindful of this in our interactions, promote mutual respect and

work towards the common goal of customer satisfaction.

- Chary Mudumby

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong - Mahatma Gandhi

- Balaji Desikan, ProjectsManagement Article

Techies Corner

User Experience

We all hear a lot about “user friendliness”, when we buy a cell

phone, washing machine or any gadget, for that matter.

What exactly is a “user friendly” system ?

In all Windows applications and most other applications, we

press Ctrl+S to save a working file; imagine an application in

which pressing Ctrl+S closes a window. Can we call

such a system user friendly ?

Usability is a measure of the quality of a user's experience

when interacting with a product or system. It addresses the

'ease of use' of a product or system, which can be easily

learnt, understood and used efficiently and effectively.

Ease of learning - How fast can a novice user learn to use

the user interface well enough to accomplish basic tasks ?

Efficiency of use - How fast can an experienced user

accomplish tasks using the application ?

What is Usability ?

Memorability - If a user has used the application earlier, can he

or she remember enough to use it effectively the next time, or

does the user have to start over again, learning everything ?

Subjective satisfaction - How much does the user like using

the system?

Let's see another example. Don't read the words shown

below, but say what color the word is written in.

The reason is, we are accustomed to thinking in a certain

way, and our mindset doesn't allow us to think otherwise;

the same goes for the users of software applications.

When you design software, you must not make users think

and figure out things. You must design in such a way that

users can easily learn to use the application.

Was it easy ? No.

Black BlueYellow Blue

Green

Red Green Purple

Orange Green Pink

Illustration: Geetha Mohandass

Allow me…In a certain high-technology institution, the scientists had the habit of working nearly

12 to 18 hours a day. There were about seventy such scientists working on a very

important assignment. All of them were really stressed out due to the high work

pressure and the demands of their boss, but everyone was loyal to him and never

felt dissatisfied with their work.

One day, one of the scientists came up to his boss and said, “Sir, I have promised my

children that I will take them to the children's exhibition in our town. So I would like to

leave the office early, at 5 pm today.

His boss replied “Ok… Go ahead”.

The scientist went back to his work. He was working on a crucial aspect of the

assignment. He got so involved in his work that he didn't realize how much time had passed. Finally, when he looked at his

watch, he saw that it was already 8.30 pm. He suddenly recalled his promise to his children about returning home early

and taking them to the exhibition. He felt utterly miserable that he had not kept his promise. He looked for his boss.

The boss had already left. He did not know how he would explain to his children and make them understand.

Reluctantly, he left for home. With great trepidation, he rang the doorbell. His wife opened the door. He peeped in; he could

not see his children in the living room. He had not the courage to ask his wife whether the children were upset. He tiptoed

to their room; the lights were off. He thought they had cried themselves to sleep. He switched on the night lamp, so that he

wouldn't disturb the sleeping children. The beds were empty.

He heard his wife say, “Would you like some coffee or shall I serve you dinner?” Unable to contain himself anymore, he

blurted out… “Where are the children?”

“Oh, you didn't know ? Your boss came at 5.15 pm and took the children to the exhibition”.

He found out later, what had really happened. The boss had seen him deeply engrossed in work at 5 pm, with no sign of

closing for the day. So he decided to keep up the promise by taking the children to the exhibition!

Loyalty from his subordinates was never an issue for this boss.

Health Tips !!Water, water everywhere... But not a drop to drink !

Water is not only a valuable resource for our daily needs, but also a low cost medicine. Water, a solvent as

you know, has the power of dissolving water-soluble fats in our body. Medical science says that it is good to start

your day by drinking two glasses of water on an empty stomach. It flushes out the waste from your system and cleans

your renal system. You could also add a few drops of lime in the water (without salt and sugar).

- Jansi Rani, Training

The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success - Paramahansa Yogananda

Wedding Bells

Buds

Sushma J S

Satya Prakash J

Srimathi S

Gopi A

Theodore Wilson M

Suvitha

Nandakumar P

Arulmurugan Subramanian

Geetha R Ramesh E

Gayatri M

Rajukannu

Kamatchi K

Annapoorani V

Manimaran C

wed Joshua Daniel on January 5, 2006

Anupama wed on January 25, 2006

wed V Balaji

on January 25, 2006

Deepa P wed on February 3, 2006

Daisy Mary L wed

on February 3, 2006

wed Sankar on February 3, 2006

Prasannakumari K wed

on February 8, 2006

Vanmathi wed

on February 10, 2006

wed on February 12, 2006

wed Manimaran V on February 12, 2006

Radhika wed on February 17, 2006

wed Sundaresan R on March 2, 2006

wed Logesh D on March 2, 2006

Gayathri R wed on March 9, 2006

In my opinion, an IT organization of today

should provide a suitable canvas for an

employee to portray his talents for a cause

that is beneficial to the organization, its

customers, and most importantly, the employee himself.

HTC has done precisely that for me, in my three and a half

years of association with it. I sincerely feel that I have

contributed enough to HTC and its customers, in return

for my gains.

The grass is always green, as long as it is attached to its

roots. To me, the grass will always be green in

HTC, because it is well connected to its roots. By roots,

I mean the basic human values.

- Bharath Devanathan, Projects

Eureka Factorl

l

The man who sold it did not want it.

The man who bought it did not need it.

The man who used it did not know it.

What is it ?

What is the product of the fol lowing series:

(x-a), (x-b), (x-c),... (x-z) ?

Do you have an answer for these puzzles? Send it to blossoms@htcindia.com or submit it to anyone of theBlossoms committee members. Interesting answers willbe published in the Blossoms intranet site.

Stumped ? The answers to these puzzles will be available in the “Blossoms” website / your notice board on April 25, 2006.

- Muthukumar, RAD

Keep users in mind while designing, because, in most

cases, users are not technical persons. They may not

understand a short form, or terminology that we

techies, use.

Easy- to- use products compete better in the market place

Usability cuts costs for both producers and users

Focus on usability, during early life cycle of the development,

reduces the need for expensive re-design work later

Enhancing usability improves the quality of the product

and reduces the demand for support and training

Users will efficiently use the interface, without wasting

much time

Enhanced usability provides satisfaction to both users and

producers

Why usability ?

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l

l

The factors affecting usability are :

Tips to achieve user-friendliness in an application

l

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Users - Who is using the product ? Are they highly trained

and experienced users, or novices ?

Users' Goals - What are the users trying to do with the

product ? Are they able to accomplish the desired tasks

with the product ?

Maintain consistency of design features (colors, fonts,

layout, images).

Ensure that all aspects of an interface behave consistently

at all times.

Ensure that the commands, terms, and icons used in the

application are consistent across all its windows or features.

Navigation within the application must be unambiguous.

For example, an action button must be clearly distinguished

from a hyperlink.

Pramod Kumar Sahu blessed with a baby girl

on January 1, 2006

Meenakshi K H blessed with a baby girl

on February 20, 2006

Padmapriya blessed with a baby girl

on March 3, 2006

Raj M S blessed with a baby boy on March 21, 2006

‘Sonali Sahu’

‘Swaroopa Mangal’

Rallying together... after the volleys

Familiarizing parents... on the work we do

Paying tribute... to great cricketing

This Quarter in Pics

Delivering results...in ITES and cricket

Bonding together... through games

Helping Madras University... in e-Governance

w w w. h t c i n c . c o m

HTC Global ServicesSDF II, Phase II, MEPZ, Tambaram, Chennai - 600 045. India Phone: (044) 2262 3522 Fax: (044) 2262 7713

- Sowmya G, Testing

3

5

8 9

7

6

21

13

4

CR

OS

SW

OR

D

Across

1. British colony, restored after 150 years, to China (4, 4)

4. Chinese Currency, or Ilayaraja’s son? (4)

5. Eaten with ChopSticks, and takes just 2 minutes ! (6)

7. Puncture or picture the body? (6)

8. 12 signs that hold the key to your future and fortune (6)

11. First bank from India to open a branch in China (3)

12. Ancient Chinese Calculator, now a maths coaching program for kids (6)

13. Is mobile, has just flown in from China (4)

14. Explosive invention that led to a good shot (3, 6)

Down

2. Only man-made structure visible from the moon (5, 4)

3. Vaasthu Shastra for us... (4, 4)

4. If you were to color Huang Ho River, you would color it... (6)

6. Great Chinese philosopher, thought not very clear (9)

7. Plant leaves hot drink and good taste for guests (3)

9. Chinese Kitchen, now generic term for type of food (7)

10. Longest Chinese Dynasty; may have lent prefix to this marvel city (5)

Across:

1. Hong Kong 4. Yuan 5. Noodles 7. Tattoo 8. Zodiac 11. SBI

12. Abacus 13.Bird 14. Gun Powder

Down:

2. Great Wall 3. Feng Shui 4. Yellow 6. Confucius 7. Tea 9. Cuisine

10. Shang

Answers for the crosswordChina

Theme

10

12

14

11