Exactly this time around last year when the economy was caught in the clutches of recession the theme of the event was mainly focused on how to tackle the downturn. This year holds particular importance as the industry recovers from the financial slowdown, we look forward to new times, new dimensions, new outlooks and the opportunity to explore new directions keeping in lieu with the this year’s NILF theme as ‘New Times, New Ideas, New Directions’.

The industry is completely looking forward to this epic forum since it is undoubtedly Asia’s largest leadership conference with a diverse mix of inspirational experts from the industry. Flooded by the outpour of registrations,  NILF boasts of a record registration of 1650 delegates this year from countries all over the world and India. This is going to be one opulent event with the stalwarts of the IT industry who will be present there.

Do check this out….

1. The NASSCOM EVENT online destination: http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in
2. NASSCOM EVENT BLOG : http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in/blog
3. NASSCOM EVENT NETWORKING PORTAL : http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76&Itemid=92

It is important to find ways to work differently, more efficiently and more productively. It is not enough to try to do the same thing in the same manner. The need is to change the paradigm. Question the status quo.

The old norms of pricing for IT solutions would soon be thrown out of the Windows – no pun intended here. Customers are unsure of their own business survival; and hence, are expecting their partners and associated companies to aid them in developing solutions to help make their decisions smarter and better.

Solutions to be provided quickly; global launch on the fly. Sounds ludicrous? Not any more. Cloud Computing is in. These kind of solutions will ensure that organizations can ramp up faster; scale up speedier. And not at the cost of the proverbial many arms and many legs.

For instance, one session talked about how a Banking Client rolled out an innovative Zero Branch Bank in Europe. Oracle is helping them put this together. All touchpoints are automated. Of course, not just that! The application is a Hosted Solution model. Rather than investing in infrastructure to be deployed over many months and years, this will ensure rollout in a fraction of that time.

The learnings from this Live example??  – Even if times are bleak, innovative solutions are always going to invite discretionary spending by organizations.

As pointed out by Peter Coffee (Salesforce) and Sharad Sharma (Yahoo R&D), the most glaringly outstanding examples of how an existing proposition has been successfully remodeled and presented to the world is of how CLOUD COMPUTING has enabled the runaway success of AMAZON and FACEBOOK. The former utilized Cloud Computing as a Development Platform while Facebook used it for a Distribution Platform. This enabled both these business ideas to ramp up into global entities pronto.  And ofcourse, the cost savings on doing it all in this manner instead of an on-premise-model  have been huge too.

Given the very nature of the beast called CLOUD COMPUTING, it would not be foolhardy to expect that the next big blockbuster business hits aka YAHOO or FACEBOOK can be from the garages or streetcorners of Hyderabad or Mumbai or Delhi.

The NILF also had a heady mix of celebrated and eloquent academicians. This lot expectedly stated their perspective take, without mincing many words. Professor Pankaj Ghemawat, who has already made his mark as a noted academician who redefines norms did the same during his session. He highlighted the need for focusing on the Key metric of Revenue per Employee. Seems obviously simple? Inspite of this, this key metric has remained flat for most Indian IT companies over the last 4-5 years.

Having said that, the intention should not be to cut costs needlessly or retrench benches but to work towards shoring up efficiencies.

Some to Dos (This is not intended an exhaustive Dhobi List):

• No Needless Buyouts
• No carte blanche reduction in headcount
• Reshape. Don’t just retrench
• LIFO approach in retrench to be avoided
• No moratorium on training and development

The message to all is that the Cloud looms large over the blue sky. The Dark Clouds shall soon pass – but the Clouds of the Computing kind are real and here to stay. The Cloud Computing concepts are going to be the new paradigm shift happening while we speak and let’s embrace it.

The ‘NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2009’ will be held from February 11-13, 2009 at the Hotel Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. The theme for this years’ event is “Reshaping the global economy”.

It is a matter of joy and pride that Iridium interactive, has partnered with NASSCOM to create a SOCIAL Networking product, called NASSCOM Connect, to add value to the NASSCOM ILF delegate experience. NASSCOM Connect is a social networking platform which is a combination of Linked-in and Facebook, that will help attendees and delegates to maintain ties and continue their dialogue in the virtual space. A unique platform, the NASSCOM Connect enables the delegates to touchbase with each other before the event kicks off on February 11th at Mumbai. Within the last week we have seen 40,359 page impressions with about 1,000+ connections amongst the delegates, for this platform.

With ‘NASSCOM Connect’, delegates can benefit from the following:

• Connect with delegates before and after the event.
• Meet delegates who are attending the same sessions to discuss similar experiences and challenges around the topic.
• Meet other delegates to compare notes on exhibitors and products.
• Meet exhibitors to learn more about their products and services.
• Powerful Search Features will enable finding new delegates of specific skills, interests and geographic location.

In Mumbai, NASSCOM CONNECT will have all that is needed to give an opportunity to delegates, exhibitors, speakers, editors and analysts to introduce, network, ideate and  Engage with each other prior to arriving at the event.

Do check this out….

1. The NASSCOM EVENT online destination: http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in
2. NASSCOM EVENT BLOG : http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in/blog
3. NASSCOM EVENT NETWORKING PORTAL : http://www.nasscom.in/connect

February of every year, the city of Mumbai sees a different profile of visitors – not just the filmstars, sportstars and political leaders but the stalwarts of the global IT world. The NASSCOM INDIA Leadership Forum (NILF) has become an event that has become a ‘Must-Attend Event’ for the entire IT diaspora & related audiences from across the world.

It is a great sense of joy and pride that iridium Interactive has been selected to partner with NASSCOM for this event. iridium Interactive has been working closely for this prestigious event – our efforts and painstaking night outs have gone on to ensure the success of NILF in 2008. In keeping with the adage – ‘Good work begets more work’, we are pleased that iridium Interactive has continued its association for 2009 as well. iridium Interactive has now embarked on a grand objective to take the NILF event to a next level of virtual connectedness.

New tools and avenues have been designed, developed and implemented on the web portal – that enables delegates to virtually meet, interact and work closely together.

Check out the new look NILF site that is drawing huge crowds from across the globe already. The new additions are being raved about – the trendier looking NILF Blog and an all new NASSCOM Connect Section.

iridium Interactive has worked on the mission of developing solutions that would facilitate the event – by leveraging the power of IT and the web medium to simplify business interactions and streamline interconnected effectiveness.

The NILF, to be held from Feb 11-13th in Mumbai, will see the arrival of IT doyens from across the world.  In their midst will also be the iridium Interactive team – working at the backend – to ensure that the event is captured in all this regal pomp and splendour for now and for posterity.

Cross functional teams across our Development Centres have worked on this NILF portal for the last many months – including the excited Chaaywallahs at the office. After Jamaal Mallik’s astounding success in SlumDog Millionaire, the Chaaywallah has become a sought after position in most IT offices across India  :). JAI HO – ii

The ‘NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2009’ will be held from February 11-13, 2009 at the Hotel Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. The theme for this years’ event is “Reshaping the global economy”.

It is a matter of joy and pride that Iridium interactive, has partnered with NASSCOM to create a SOCIAL Networking product, called NASSCOM Connect, to add value to the NASSCOM NILF delegate experience. NASSCOM Connect is a social networking platform which is a combination of Linked-in and Facebook, that will help attendees and delegates to maintain ties and continue their dialogue in the virtual space. A unique platform, the NASSCOM Connect enables the delegates to touchbase with each other before the event kicks off on February 11th at Mumbai. Within the last week we have seen 40,359 page impressions with about 1,000+ connections amongst the delegates, for this platform.

With ‘NASSCOM Connect’, delegates can benefit from the following:

• Connect with delegates before and after the event.
• Meet delegates who are attending the same sessions to discuss similar experiences and challenges around the topic.
• Meet other delegates to compare notes on exhibitors and products.
• Meet exhibitors to learn more about their products and services.
• Powerful Search Features will enable finding new delegates of specific skills, interests and geographic location.

In Mumbai, NASSCOM CONNECT will have all that is needed to give an opportunity to delegates, exhibitors, speakers, editors and analysts to introduce, network, ideate and  Engage with each other prior to arriving at the event.

Do check this out….

1. The NASSCOM EVENT online destination: http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in
2. NASSCOM EVENT BLOG : http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in/blog
3. NASSCOM EVENT NETWORKING PORTAL : http://www.nasscom.in/connect