V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 6

March 2012

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY

ITSO...Good

Inside this issue:

Global Technology Experience

1

GTE Student Reflections 3

Ronald McDonald House 5

Announcements 8

Seeking Out the Green 2

Don’t Miss:

Ireland’s Luck in Tech

Student Experience in India

Hunger Clean-Up 2012

Follow @MUITSO on Twitter

taining rela onships at individual, team, and organiza onal levels. To achieve these objec ves, we visit 5 ci es (New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Pune, and Mumbai) and 6 companies.

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As IT professionals, you will most likely work in highly global environments that will present numerous opportuni‐

es. An experience‐based understand‐ing of socio‐economic and poli cal factors impac ng global IT work can significantly leverage your professional growth. INTE 4951/5951: Global Tech‐nology Experience (GTE) ‐ India was designed with this in mind. India hosts some of the largest IT service providers. By 2015, the Indian IT and Business Process Out‐sourcing (BPO) industry is expected to generate over $130 billion in reve‐nue (NASSCOM). Within FY2012 alone, the Indian so ware industry is ex‐pected to add 230,000+ jobs and 16% in revenue growth (The Economic Times, Feb. 12, 2012). Considering this, struc‐turing GTE around India made sense.

GTE was designed to expose students to IT work prac ces between Indian and US firms, and provide a socio‐cultural understanding. Both aspects are essen al to developing and main‐

Global Technology Experience India

“I was awestruck at the architecture,

depth of culture, history, dress, cuisine,

colors, smells, and the warmth of the

people we met. ”

-Erin Peterson

The 2012 Global Technology Experience group at the Taj Mahal.

P A G E 2 Volume 5, Issue 6

Seeking Out the Green: Irelands Luck in Tech Leadership While Ireland is tradi onally known for its rolling green hills and symbolic shamrocks, the na on has seen green in a different form during the past decade: capital from technology in‐vestment. In honor of St. Patrick’s feast in March and my Irish heritage, I thought I’d look into the technology innova on in Ireland I’ve recently heard so much about.

Ireland experienced a period of rapid economic growth between the early 1990s and 2007, known notoriously as the “Cel c Tiger,” a term coined by Morgan Stan‐ley. During the seven‐year period of 1993‐1999, Ireland’s average annual GDP increase was 9%, while average annual infla on was a mere 1.9%. New job crea on was one of the largest contributors to the boom, along with maintenance of low taxa on policy, adherence to open market opera ons, and overall in‐creased standard of living for Irish ci zens.

In 2008, however, Ireland’s economy entered a severe recession, not unlike most mature economies throughout the globe. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ireland’s banks took the largest hit, seeking over $91 bil‐lion in bailout from the European Un‐ion and Interna onal Monetary Fund in November 2010. The agreement

accompanying the bailout has forced the Irish government to align with strict austerity measures, sub‐sequently lessening domes c de‐mand and helping drive unemploy‐ment levels to an astounding 14%. Gross domes c product also con‐tracted 14% from its Cel c Tiger highs, and global credit‐ra ng agen‐

cy Moody’s downgraded most of Ire‐land’s government‐held debt to non‐investment grade, or “junk,” ra ng during 2011.

While seemingly‐dismal for the past couple of years, Ireland’s economy has maintained its focus on exports, allow‐ing its future to look not only stable, but to many, a rac ve. Ireland is home to businesses in industries rang‐ing from pharmaceu cals to transpor‐ta on, which ac vely export to the United States and other European na‐

ons. While a reliance on exports yields cau on in a period of uncertain‐ty in the world economy, it proves fan‐tas c for the consistently rapid growth in technology our world marvels at. It is due to this combina on of economic and technological growth (or lack thereof) that many firms recognized poten al opportuni es in Ireland prior to the Cel c Tiger era, while others

have only more recently realized the benefits of moving technology oper‐a ons there.

Take IBM. The technolo‐gy‐giant has had a pres‐ence in Ireland since

1956, and ac vely works to broaden it. In March 2010, the firm established their first “Smarter Ci es Technology Centre” in Dublin to ensure be er integra on of core IBM systems throughout the world, such as water, energy, transporta on, and telecommunica on. Dell, too, seeks to keep its innova on in Ireland up to speed. In July 2011, the company an‐nounced cloud compu ng and solu ons investments in both Dublin and Limerick to help broaden their so ware‐as‐a‐service based offerings.

Mul ple February Wall Street Journal ar cles cited Ireland as a premier loca‐

on for technology businesses to set up shop. On February 15th, MasterCard an‐nounced its selec on of Dublin as its new technology headquarters. The firm has had a presence in Ireland since its 2008 acquisi on of technology company Or‐biscom. Dublin opera ons will include reten on of their current Center of Ex‐cellence for Java Development, the pro‐gramming language predominant in ecommerce, and reloca on of the inCon‐trol pla orm, a MasterCard product that allows customers to set security controls on their credit cards. MasterCard Tech‐nologies President Rob Reeg said of the move: "We are pleased to make this in‐

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“Ireland experienced a period of rapid economic growth between the early 1990s and 2007, known notoriously as the “Celtic Tiger.”

In July 2011, Dell announced cloud computing and solutions investments in both Dublin and Limerick.

P A G E 3

GTE Student Reflections

can see the bigger picture. Also, their first ins nct if (even inadvertently) asked by a client to work late, or on a weekend or holiday, would be to just do it rather than clarifying the priority level or going to their manager. We also had an inter‐es ng discussion on some percep ons of Americans that they held, which includ‐

ed things like Americans preferring more personal space, partaking in more extra‐curricular ac vi es and having more

hobbies, speaking to the point, tend to have mul ple names nicknames, and have more flexibility in choosing or switching our course of study.

The other common theme we picked up on was the focus on employee reten on. There are growing opportuni es in India, but the talent pool is shrinking. This was

This winter I had the privilege of trav‐eling to India with Monica Adya, Kate Kaiser and eleven other Marque e students to study the IT and BPO in‐dustry. In eleven days, we visited Del‐hi, Jaipur, Agra, Mumbai and Pune, along with six corpora ons of varying size‐ from very small to huge global companies. While each company was unique, there were some common themes we picked up amongst them. They all really have a desire to build deep rela onships with their clients and provide value added services; to be more than just the "back office" that works while America is sleeping. I also got the sense that they some‐

mes feel taken for granted by their American clients and would like us to have a more cultural sensi vity. Of course they admi ed this in the most polite way possible, as we learned that generally India is a very non‐confronta onal culture and is uncom‐fortable giving or receiving nega ve feedback.

At one firm, our group presented to a group of “Freshers” (new hires right out of college) on some general “doing business in America” topics. Through some scenario‐type discus‐sions, we learned that they truly have a desire to know more about their clients' business perspec ves so they

interes ng to think about, as I’m guess‐ing a lot of us are under the rela vely common misconcep on that India is basically overflowing with IT people. One firm described that out of the 200,000 engineering graduates in India annually, 40% are employable in global workforce, and only 10% of those are employable to their standards. IT firms have to com‐pete with the fact that there are a lot more opportuni es these days in other industries due to the influx of mul na‐

onal companies. Also, genera on Y isn’t necessarily happy being in development long‐term anymore, and wants to move up in the ranks. So, the Indian IT firms had to focus on career enhancement, reten on, and work/life balance. To ba le this issue we heard reference to a lot of benefits and reten on programs. I was especially impressed to see the women's ini a ves some firms had in place, including on‐site day care, flexible scheduling so women can be off from 2‐

4pm when their kids get out of school, programs to bring women back a er maternity leave, and mentoring programs for high poten al women for future leadership posi ons.

(Continued on page 4)

“There are growing opportunities in India, but a shrinking

talent pool. This was interesting to think about, as I’m guessing

a lot of us are under the relatively common misconception that

India is basically overflowing with IT people.”

Dave Cushwa and Del Thorton take an elephant ride.

The following is an excerpt from Steven Delonge’s final blog about his India experience.  He reflects on five percep ons that he held at the start of the trip. 

Well, it’s almost over. Most of this is being wri en 36K feet over Canada. This was a fantas c experience. I loved the places we visited, the companies we met with, and the group I traveled with. Mostly, I’m excited to come home to my family. Beef is high on a lot of people’s list for things they missed, along with salad. I’m most excited for Alterra coffee and ice cubes. I went back and looked at my first post, and wanted to end by reviewing what I experienced.

1. Indian people will be different than the Indians I’ve met. 

Not so much. Most of the speakers we had have spent

me in the US, they were just in a different phase of their lives/careers. Even the Indian beggars were very similar to the ones in Paris or London. The younger genera on was the most unfamiliar to me.

Seeing a campus of 20,000 young em‐ployees introduced a new brand of Indian to me. These young IT profes‐sionals dressed very western (except for some of the women), were working out, drinking coffee, commu ng to work in western car brands, and so on. It will be very interes ng to see how this genera on matures and grows older, and the effect this will have on India and the world.

2. Indian business culture will be more formal. 

Like with so much else, we saw a lot of varia on here. No where did the cul‐ture seem more formal than in the US. There were more formal companies,

mostly the large global ones. There were also some less formal ones, mostly the smaller firms.

3. India won’t be as bad as it some‐mes sounds. 

I’ll say this: it can be overwhelming…the traffic, the noise, the garbage, the smells, the animals, the beggars, the number of people, the sidewalks and falling apart buildings. There were plenty of mes when I thought India just wasn’t very nice. The more com‐fortable we became, and the more we explored, the more we found parts of India that were different. These includ‐ed the campuses and sectors of office buildings, small areas within ci es that were isolated from the street, and even neighborhoods where the street life was just different because it was away from the tourists. Imagine your impression if you stayed at the Ambas‐sador Hotel and walked around while visi ng Marque e. Without knowing where to go, you could easily get a terrible impression of Milwaukee. That was us a lot. My impression of India is the size and chaos of the place make it harder to find things, while because of

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P A G E 4 Volume 5, Issue 6 P A G E 4

awestruck at the architecture, depth of culture, history, dress, cuisine, colors, smells, and the warmth of the people we met. We learned that one interpre‐ta on of the ubiquitous “Namaste” is “the sprit in me respects/bows to the sprit in you.” With that in mind, I say Namaste, India. I’ll be back one day!

‐Erin Peterson 

In a culture that is typically male‐dominated, it was great to see firms breaking the mold and recognizing women as a crucial part of their workforce.

The corporate visits were incredibly interes ng and valuable, but we also found me to “play tourist.” Some of the highlights were an ele‐phant ride up to the 420‐year‐old Amber Fort in Jaipur, the Hindu Akshardham Temple in Delhi, and of course the Taj Mahal in Agra. I was

(Continued from page 3)

“A campus of 20,000 young employees

introduced a new brand of Indian to me. These

young IT professionals dressed very western

(except for some of the women), were working

out, drinking coffee, commuting to work in

western car brands, and so on.”

Final Thoughts and Perceptions

P A G E 5

"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with

a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and to impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."

-Woodrow Wilson

Ronald McDonald House 2012: ITSO Members Give Back

were glad to help and were happy they enjoyed the food.

In addi on to the dinner, we were ac‐companied by a face painter named Suzy Sparkles. She did a fine job and the kids really seemed to appreciate the fun. One young boy got a baseball painted on his hand and was really excited to dis‐play it to everyone. ITSO Co‐President Colleen Osborne added, “it was great we could have Suzy Sparkles a end this year's event. The kids enjoyed being

Amidst all the things that we do on a daily basis, some mes we tend to focus on what we don’t have and accidently overlook how fortunate we truly are. I know that I am grateful every day that I have been blessed with good health. The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) has been commi ed to helping the lives of chil‐dren and their families for the past 37 years. The goal of RMH is to provide a “home‐away‐from‐home” for those families who have a child that is fac‐ing a serious medical condi on and will be poten ally staying at the hos‐pital for an extended period of me. Research indicates that the presence of family in the hospital helps the child to heal faster and cope be er.

On Saturday February 25th, ITSO members visited RMH in Milwaukee to provide dinner for those staying there. We decided to serve a taco bar and brought in Qdoba for the residents of RMH. RMH employees informed us that a taco bar wasn’t part of the normal menu and that it would be a nice change of pace from other, more common food selec ons. As 6 pm rolled around people began to pour into the dining area to get something to eat. Numerous people came up to us and thanked us for taking the me to provide the dinner for them. We expressed that we

able to have their faces painted and their parents were grateful for us bring‐ing entertainment in addi on to din‐ner.”

Suzy was really a great addi on and she helped to bring smiles to the younger children’s faces. My room‐mate was diagnosed with AML Leuke‐mia when he was 5 years old. I know that his family endured a similar strug‐gle that these families are currently dealing with. On a daily basis, his posi‐

ve a tude reminds me to be appre‐cia ve of my health and how lucky I truly am to be alive and well. We loved being able to help the RMH families. It is a good reminder of how we should count our blessings every day and be apprecia ve of all that we have.

‐ Shane Duffy, VP of Programs ITSO eboard members serve up the Qdoba taco bar!

Suzy Sparkles paints Spiderman.

P A G E 6 Volume 5, Issue 6 P A G E 6

vestment in Ireland, which builds on our exis ng presence. The caliber of highly qualified, talented people and the Government's commitment to sci‐ence, technology and innova on, gave us confidence that this was the ideal se ng for our new Global Technologies office." The governmental commit‐ment he speaks of is another reason Ireland is highly‐regarded for IT reloca‐

on. The Irish government not only supports tech growth, but frequently invests in U.S. venture‐capital start‐ups with mul na onal poten al.

Just a week later on February 22nd, e‐Bay owned payment processor PayPal announced plans to increase Irish staff for risk and technology posi ons by 1,000, and NetFlix announced availabil‐ity in both Ireland and the United King‐dom. As tasks such as payment and media streaming shi towards automa‐

(Continued from page 2) on, big players in the space have sought out Ireland as a loca on to foster its digi‐tal transi on.

In addi on to export domina on and highly‐skilled Irish technology profes‐sionals, willingness of firms to expand in Ireland can also be a ributed to the Irish Development Agency (IDA). The IDA is the agency responsible for industrial development , reform, and foreign direct investment in Ireland. The IDA works to ensure Ireland remains compe ve in a rac ng technology investments, which can prove difficult when firms seek to spread their presence into various parts of eastern Europe, as well as emerging markets, meaning primarily the BRIC na ons. The agency’s website refers to Ireland’s technology sector as “the dia‐mond in the rubble,” with R&D invest‐ment in Ireland at names such as Intel and Boston Scien fic increasing during the past year. IDA’s backing is crucial to a firm’s presence within the country, and

promotes a strong foothold for future development. IBM and Dell’s above‐men oned developments, for example, were IDA‐supported. As the organiza‐

on and its network grow, Ireland will con nue to have its name known as a technology leader.

With Irish debt expected to return to the bond markets by 2013, Irish bank groups are already taking measures to improve opera ons processes associat‐ed with the capital markets. Increased focus on risk management and proprie‐tary system development and manage‐ment indicates the poten al for even greater job growth in Ireland.

In a world where we so commonly hear about outsourcing and offshoring, it is easy to overlook the availability of na‐

ons like Ireland as being home to the technology opera ons of firms we rely on every day. To that I cheers to Ire‐land: keep using technology to make your green!

‐ Colleen Osborne, ITSO Co‐President 

how chao c “normal” India is, it’s even more important to find ways to escape.

4. Regional differences will be appar‐ent, important, and interes ng. 

I no ced a few differences, but not as many as I had expected. Most of the differences had more to do with the size and structure of the ci es than with any cultural differences. For instance, Mum‐bai’s skyline and traffic problems were a result of its loca on surrounded by wa‐ter. There may have been slight differ‐ences in cuisine, but mostly I ate every‐thing at the buffet, without caring what it was or where it was from. Language and cuisine might change every 100kms like Indians claim, but hotel food and the English skills of hotel employees are about the same everywhere.

(Continued from page 4) 5. The food will be great, but I will overdo it.  

I do think I learned a lot about Indian

food, and we definitely got plenty of good meals. However, overall I would say I was disappointed. Most of the trip we were ea ng hotel buffets or at truck stops on the highway. Buffet food can only be so good. The companies we visited gave us some of our best meals, but again, that’s cafeteria food. I did

love spending two weeks ea ng with my fingers and mopping up sauces with Naan and I did learn a lot about what dishes I like. I will be ordering at Indian restaurants with a lot more confidence from now on.

I hope this isn’t my last trip to India, whether it’s taking my family or travel‐ing for work. I feel I witnessed a brief moment in Indian me, a moment where a er two decades of growth, a na on is no longer trying to catch up to the US, but is rapidly laying the founda‐

on for an era where it will be a global partner to the West, and a power in its own right. India is growing too fast to ever feel the same again, so I’ll just end by saying that I loved this par cular In‐dia and can’t wait to see how it evolves. Namaste.

‐Steven Delonge , graduate student indi‐ambatrip.wordpress.com

Posted on January 14, 2012

S e e k i n g O u t t h e G re e n — Co n t ’d

F i n a l Th o u g h t s — Co n t ’d

P A G E 7

Indian Work Environment: Na onal culture can significantly impact the work environment. India is a collec ve society. Family, team, and cohesion are important rela ve to the individu‐al. Indians are mostly non‐confronta onal and have a long‐term orienta on that puts faith in fate and karma –rewards and gra fica on are pa ently awaited. Experience, seniori‐ty, age, and gender are given signifi‐cance and influence interac ons greatly. These cultural differences have tradi onally filtered into the workplace which had been hierar‐chical, driven by team rather than individual goals, and lacking transpar‐ency. However, as we observed, In‐dia’s knowledge‐based firms such as the IT/BPO firms are very different. They have fla er structures and open work environments, resembling US firms. Young and highly educated em‐ployees and strong efforts by compa‐nies to provide progressive work envi‐ronment that supports rapid commu‐nica on and client response have con‐tributed to this.

Spiderlogic was an interes ng repre‐senta on. Its so ware development methodology demanded an open cul‐ture and fla er structure. Spiderlogic follows agile so ware development for which small interac ve teams, frequent user interac ons, and an open work environment are cri cal success factors, sugges ng that agile development may be challenging in offshore mode. However, Spider‐logic’s work prac ces highlighted to‐day’s technology‐enabled communi‐ca ons. For instance, it uses open

(Continued from page 1) video channels between project teams in Pune and Bangalore and for client daily mee ngs. Team members can walk into an open channel, discuss pro‐ject issues with remote teams, and return to con nue project work.

With significant growth in IT jobs in India, recruitment and reten on of employees and management of client knowledge are two cri cal issues faced by IT firms. These were ac vely dis‐cussed at Deloi e India which hosted us for half a day. Their leaders shared prac ces rela ng to knowledge shar‐ing, recruitment and reten on, and evolving business models. Our visit culminated in a highly interac ve lunch with their leadership team, highligh ng a very transparent and recep ve work‐place culture. It was also interes ng to observe so er aspects of employee reten on at Infosys which provides impressive on‐campus facili es such as a large gym, shopping area, tennis courts, swimming pool, banking and communica on services, and free transporta on services. As a company that has grown from a handful of em‐ployees in early 1980s to 140,000 to‐day, Infosys epitomizes the dynamic and rapidly growing IT sector in India.

The rigorous recruitment standards employed by Indian firms were exem‐plified by Syntel, which hosted GTE for a full day. Poten al employees take 3 online exams, similar to GMAT/GRE, that assess their knowledge, ap tude, and Eng‐lish language skills. Those suc‐cessful are invited for phone interviews and, subsequently, for several rounds of face‐to‐face interviews. In a technolo‐gy‐driven domain, Syntel high‐

“Spiderlogic’s work practices highlighted today’s

technology-enabled communications. For instance,

it uses open video channels between project teams

in Pune and Bangalore and for client daily

meetings.”

G T E I n d i a — Co n t ’d

lighted how a strong employee pool can deliver significant compe ve advantage.

Firms such as Impetus, Inc. specifical‐ly focus on developing a posi ve work environment for employees, specifically women. In her ar cle, Erin men ons provision of day‐care facili es. This may surprise you, but day care facili es are a new element in Indian work culture with recent rise of women in the Indian work‐force. Impetus also uses another simple but interes ng strategy to mo vate its employees – direct and ac ve engagement with US‐clients. It is not uncommon to find Indian team members comple ng projects with‐out interac ng with their American

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P A G E 8 Volume 5, Issue 6 P A G E 8

Announcements

Suggestions: Do you have any ideas for articles you would like to see in ITSO Good? Write to elise.chapman@mu.edu

Thinking of joining ITSO? Sign up today! Just fill out the online application (see muitso.org) and bring it to the next ITSO meeting along with a $15 check made out to ITSO.

Recruiting Zone: This space is available for job or internship postings. Please contact joseph.zaksheske@marquette.edu for more information.

We’re on the Web!

Check out muitso.org

Executive Board (2011-2012)

Co-Presidents: Colleen Osborne and Maggie Morris Chief Editor: Elise Chapman Editor: Justin Stanaszak VP of Publicity: Joe Zaksheske VP of Programs: Shane Duffy VP of Finance: Matthew Kendzior VP of Website: Jim Lenahan VP of Community Outreach: Charles McCloughan

Upcoming Events:

2012 April 21, 2012

Hunger Clean Up Contact Shane.Duffy@marquette.edu for more information

April 2012

E-Board Applications

Check for information in April Issue

May 2012

E-Board Announced

clients. Enabling such interac on through rota on is a significant morale booster for employees and supports improved client‐provider rela onship.

Pacific BPO was a different experience for us. Pacific falls in the class of IT ena‐bled‐service (ITES) sector that leverage technology for their business func ons. Pacific provides cost arbitrage for health care industry clients including func ons such as medical billing and electronic medical records manage‐ment. Considering its dependency on US health care policies, its agility and knowledge about the domain was im‐pressive.

(Continued from page 7) Social, Cultural, and Economic Expo‐sure: Prior to departure, par cipants read upon and present on topics re‐lated to India. Although these read‐ings prepare us at a certain level, true learning comes from direct immersion which begins upon arrival at the New Delhi airport! Vastly different from the US, walking the streets, shopping, bargaining, pping, ea ng, and travel‐ing, all become a unique experience ‐ a tall 14 floor home of an Indian en‐trepreneur next to a small slum town; animals, people, buses, cars, bicycles, scooters sharing the same space com‐fortably; high‐tech internet lines run‐ning into slums to support small voca‐

onal schools. Everyone is doing something ‐ going to school, providing tea and breakfast in a make‐shi

shanty, or polishing shoes at the local bus stop. Despite my Indian roots, I am amazed at how happy and busy people are despite limited resources and infrastructure. Indians find a way to make life work.

‐ Monica Adya, Associate Professor in Informa on Technology, Management Department, College of Business  Ad‐ministra on.  

GTE is offered once every two years and is open to students, alums, and friends. Look for more informa on on our Fall 2013 offering. Please contact Monica.Adya@marque e.edu for more informa on.