Collaboration made easy with online database applications

Gone are the days, when you used spreadsheets for reporting data. Online collaborative tools have been changing the way we work with different teams spread across geographical areas. The scope of this analysis is limited to online collaborative tools and does not include “Groupware”. I have put together a table which compares diffierent tools on various parameters.

I have been using this online tool called “Intuit QuickBase” for couple of years now and I think, this is really a great tool. For those who are new to this, Quickbase Customizable online workgroup application for distributed teams. My experience with Quickbase has been great, it allowed me to easily create application and start tracking it immediately. Now, I don’t want to start explaining all the features and this article end up becoming Quickbase blog help. But, I would definitely like to list key learning from Quickbase usage.

1. Design Table and/or application
a. Easy for anyone to create applications ( you can enjoy lacking database design experience)
2. Customization
a. You can customize applications tables and roles easily
3. Administration
a. Manage users and start inviting them to use the application,
b. Every users who logs-in and make changes to the application becomes the record owner
4. User Interface
a. Right click options enable quick change of look and feel as well as data representation
b. Grid Edit: on top left corner “List All” report. Enables spreadsheet functionality on
HTML page. I loved this functionality
5. Reporting
a. Amazingly simplified version with private and public mode
6. Data handling
a. Easy Import and export to various formats
7. Online Help, support center and discussion forums enable you to learn on your own

Some of the apprehension I encountered with QB are
1. Stopping duplicate record entry
2. Little expensive then other tools

Exhaustive list about online database/collaborative tools can be found at
http://thinkofit.com/webconf/workspaces.htm
http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Knowledge-Exchange/collaborative-tools.php

Breaking out of the Pack: The four part Transformation

There are many companies who are striving to break out of the pack, there are many who have done it successfully, how can companies providing products /services make themselves stand apart and move up the value chain quickly? Is there a magic formula companies use to get instant success. After reading the article written by Mr.Shard Sharma, featured in Silicon India article July’06, Breaking Out of the Pack
I created the visual representation (image) of the four part transformation.

Amazon has come out with a new service called Mechanical Turk; blog community has coined a new name "crowdsourcing" for the same. Will it change the way the low end BPO work being carried out in India and across the world and break out of the pack again??

Product Startups: Escaping Early Stage Traps, A Nasscom workshop

April 19, 2007, Bangalore

Looks like Indian companies are getting ready for next challenge, building a world class product company out of India.

This is my general observation, IIT, IIM guys and other technology geeks who return from US look for “Startups”. I have been meeting/hearing and even noticing this change in the conference and workshops I attend.

I had a chance to attend NASSCOM Workshop for Product Startups: Escaping Early Stage Traps. The workshop leads by Sharad Sharma Managing principal http://orbitchange.com/ and founder and CEO of Tizor Systems http://www.tizor.com/

The key takeaways from the workshop are
Looking out for Product Traps: Weak Product architecture, Incomplete team, Unclear market strategy
4 dimensions: you got work towards providing balanced effort towards, Product, Team, Market Strategy and Investment. If you have a great team with a great idea without marketing strategy your chances of withstanding the market force before they drive you out is very low.
Culture and mind set: if you want to start a product Development Company with the typical offshore development guys (guys coming from instruction lead development Vs Innovative development).
Though the fund raising aspect was not discussed much due to time constraint, but the difference between the US based startup and Indian based startup was well brought out with examples.

One of the panelists was Sanjay Swamy; CEO http://www.mchek.com/ provides an on-demand solution for mobile payments and two-factor authentication. The company has a vision to leverage the booming mobile market (200 million mobile users in Indian), augment everyone’s financial universe by creating a mobile payment platform. Their Tag line, "Your wallet in your mobile phone". After online banking and B2C, M2B, now its time for M2M (or C). Worth keeping a close watch on this company.

This is what Dr. G. K Jayram says, first chairman of Infosys during 1982-85, currently Dr.G.K. Jayaram is the founder–Director of the Institute of Leadership & Institutional Development (ILID) at Bangalore. http://ilid.org/.

"Transformational Leadership is ability to go beyond regular activities and create a transformation in thinking. You are leading everyday at office and home and elsewhere. TL requires 3I:
Intensity - passionate about life
Integrity - diff between right and wrong from moral stand point and
Intelligence - professional intelligence to create a great org

Optimal mix of frustration and hope brings progress.”

I think this is what is required for our new breed of blooming product companies to be successful - The Transformational leadership, last but not the least VCs blessings.