Challenges faced by Indian Software Industry

1. Indian software industry has become expensive due to the rapid increases in the cost for the manpower.These days the salaries of the middle to top management of any organization are comparable to the costs in the developed nations, add to that the salaries of the lower levels such as the team leaders and the developers has also increased at around 10-20% every year. This increase in the salaries with out correspondent increase in output levels per person is eating into the profit levels of the software services companies.
2. Though initially India provided "less expensive - highly skilled "manpower; currently it has ran out of that "skilled" manpower and the whatever manpower is available is either not "skilled enough" or very expensive.
3. Indian Education system is not able to output the skilled manpower in terms of skill level in the numbers required. The quality is sore point when comes to the education. There are only a few Indian universities and institutions which can be regarded of international quality. The better educational institutions are highly subsidized by the government and hence the development of the same has not been as good as it could have been and money making has been the sole criteria when it comes to the private sector institutions. There are some good institutions in the private sector as well but they are as expensive as any in the developed nations.
4. Infrastructure in India has not been able to keep pace with sustained development in the software industry. e.g. the rental in the housing markets have increased nearly 4 fold in last 5 years, however the incomes for these software professionals have not increased in the same proportion. Further added is the traffic levels in the software dominated cities is another example of the bottlenecks in the infrastructure.
5. Due to the high Dollar inflows into the county due to its lucrative stock market return the Indian Rupee has become very strong compared to the Dollar. The government is also not keen to improve the situation due to the high prices of crude petroleum in the international markets since the petroleum products are highly subsidized in India and any weakening of Indian Rupee will add to the subsidy burden.
6. The Eastern European countries provide as much cost benefit as Indians do and they currently are as competitive as Indians are in cost. Similarly other Asian countries are exhibiting better cost benefit advantage compared to Indian Software Industry.
7. The Advantage for the Indian software industry has been its early beginning, and a large English Speaking populations - the highest in the world. But due to the globalization of economy that advantage is not significant anymore. We have Indian software professionals working in non-English speaking countries similarly now manpower from less expensive non-English speaking countries is trying to compete for the big bucks of Software Services Industry.

At the Restautrant - Rio

We went to Rio, a few times. Always found it a bit less populated then other places. We go there to watch football matches sit at the place to where the view is good.

Ganesha at NSL ICON

These are the pictures of Lord Ganesha at the Ground floor of NSL ICON at Road No. 12 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. My office is on the 3rd Floor, for next few days.

My Gran Turismo from Bam to Hyd

This was early morning on at around 6 am. Sun had not risen and we started for Hyderabad.

Sun was about to rise. My car gave the first problem. The Starting Coil was burning red hot. This was the beginning of troubles with the car over the next two weeks.

The Sun rises.

Suresh was my trusted driver on the way. Thanks to him I could reach Hyderabad in a 22hr journey.

The Indian Autobahn. After the Golden Quadrangle project, the highway has become much safer and faster as well. However the route is full of toll gates. My journey till Vijaywada had at least 10 toll gates and had to spend around Rs. 350 at the toll gates.

This is how the old highway used to look, now bears a deserted look. It would have been a terrible ordeal for us to come if it were the old two lane highway.

At around 6 pm we reached Vijaywada. Much time was wasted due to the breakdown. The battery boiled with heat. Thank god we came in the winter, otherwise we would not have had come even half way. This is the Prakasam Barrage.

This is Kanaka Durgama Temple in Vijaywada. I had come here sometime back in 2001-02.

After leaving Vijayawada the road condition deteriorated, with potholes all over the road. Then the high beam light gave away. Thanks again to Suresh who took the pains to drive all the time.

Monica’s Pups 21 to 23

This winter Monica gave birth to 3 pups all female. They are the 21st through 23rd of her children. Dad says all but 2 of them are still surviving. Since they are only three they were strong and energetic however being females they were not naughty. Mom named them Sonia, Meneka & Priyanka.

After Longs day’s work (play) it was time to sleep. They were very fond of each other and would not be separated.

Observing what I was doing with that brick which looks very tasty to chew. My mobile phone was attacked soon after.







This is Chotu, always naughty and always hiding behind mom for safety



Testing my suitcase chain for durability.

Pressure Test.

Then the lineing was tested.

Now my suitecase is certified puppy safe.

Now it was turn of my jeans

And it was tested throughly.

Harvest Season in India

This is the Kharif crop (also known as summer crop). Sown in the months of July with the beginning of monsoon, are harvested around November. These pictures were taken in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, which is one of the poorest of the districts of AP.

Glass of Wine

I was experimenting with the depth of field. But my own vision was slightly impaired by the object I was trying to take a picture of. The result is here for you to see...

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Just Pictures, no commentary.

SOFTEX Form Format

The whole idea of the post is to share the MS Excel format of SOFTEX Form. I use this format to efficiently create a large number of forms in less time compared to conventional word file that is available for download. Let us begin with some background on the SOFTEX Form:

STP Scheme is a 100% Export Oriented Scheme for undertaking Software Development/IT enabled services for Export using Data Communication links or in the form of physical exports including export of professional services for rendering consultancy services and development of software.

Software developed can be exported through Data communication Link / physical Media or software can be developed at customer site abroad by deputing software professionals of the unit.

As soon as the software is exported using Satellite Data Communication link, a software declaration in the prescribed form called SOFTEX form has to be submitted duly filled in, in TRIPLICATE to the STPI for clearance within 30 days from the date of Invoice along with the following documents.

1. Invoice (3 copies)
2. Customer agreement /W.O / P.O
3. Project Details in the from prescribed by STPI, Hyderabad
4. Data transmission details in support of the export of software (in the prescribed form)
5. In cases where data communication link is obtained from a service provider other than STPI, appropriate documents in support of such connectivity.

Source: STPI Hyderabad

Download Format of SOFTEX:

• Excel: Prepared by Me
  



• Word: Source STPI Hyderabad
  

You can refer to the Guide to setup Export Unit under STP Scheme on the STPI Hyderabad Site for more details.

Gopalpur on Sea

I Was at the Gopalpur on Sea today and this is the beach, well most of it; rest being consumed by the sea.