Until 2019, 91���� used to spend around 3-6 months on fresh graduates in the learning centre to impart training on their behavioural and technical skill sets before they could be assigned to projects. In the limited time institutions have with students, the focus is highly on the academia and they completely miss out on preparing students with the requisite skills that’s required in the corporate world. Top grades don’t always translate to practical understanding and application of knowledge. Even today, academia and industry continue to be poles apart and students continue to struggle with specific skills required in their corporate roles – both technical and behavioural aspects.

Each employee has a far longer learning cycle, which delays their deployment on projects. This is a significant loss of time for both – the employees and the organization. Added to this is the challenge of limited social skills that hinders idea- and knowledge-sharing between cross functional teams.

91���� saw the opportunity to bridge this academia-corporate gap and embarked on a sustainable campus learning program – Prarambh.

Prarambh, a new beginning

At 91����, we have always looked for innovative solutions to bridge the skill gap between what fresh graduates bring to the table and what the industry needs.�� We fundamentally believed that students did not have to wait to join the organization to start their learning program. Hence we designed the program to start in their final year after the offer letter is rolled out. Thanks to its virtual nature, Prarambh facilitates a socialized learning environment where peers from across the country can collaborate with each other as well as with 91���� leaders and subject matter experts.

Launched in 2019, Prarambh strives to upskill the incoming batch of campus hires while reducing the time and efforts spent in training after onboarding. The program has efficiently bridged the industry-academia gap in several ways.

• ����Reduced time and efforts in training –��Imagine a bootcamp training period is reduced to nearly one-third of the usual time. Prarambh made it possible with intensive training for 6 to 9 months after preplacement offers while students were still in college
• ����Reusable training materials –Our outstanding, reusable modules put an end to the woes of repetitive efforts in creating training materials. These materials focus on actual job requirements across technical and behavioural aspects
• ����SME connect facilitation-In addition to the training, we firmly believe the new joiners must understand how each domain functions and get a high-level, real-life perspective from leaders. Therefore, we have facilitated their periodical interaction with our SMEs
• ����A perfect amalgamation of formal and informal learning-A balance of formal and informal education was introduced. With this approach, Prarambh has recorded active participation and holistic development in students and they were also able to interact with peers from other colleges across the country.
• ��Interaction through a social platform –��To improve networking skills, we introduced the informal social platform Wiksate, which helps organisations engage employees in knowledge interactions to deliver formal and informal (social and experiential) learnings. More importantly, the online platform enabled us to deliver anywhere, anytime online learning which became even more critical during the pandemic and students could learn at their ease.

91���� continues to nurture a culture of constant learning, skilling, and reskilling to prepare its workforce to be future-ready. Prarambh will continue to be focused on strengthening the industry-academia engagement and reducing the skill-gap to support the company’s growth and transformational journey.

Author:

Reena Daniel
Chief Of Staff (CHRO Office)
91����

The post Bridging Industry-Academia gap to accelerate graduate deployment appeared first on 91����.

What followed was a learning experience. The team was working on a prototype without an existing architecture. Many decisions were made on the go, often without data at hand, and naturally, the prototype was rejected by the client. There were initial challenges on size of data within the client’s team, which meant that we simply had no direction in terms of what data from 30 years’ worth of archives were to be migrated and what we could delete.

I had my work cut out for me

From day 1, I knew what I needed to do to get the project on track. This included three key tasks –

• Introducing structures, architecture, and processes to the way of working
• Building confidence in the client so they could give us clear directions and we could be on the same page in terms of scope of migration and everyday decision-making
• Bringing the team across different vendors on to a common ground instead of operating independently. We also needed to ensure cohesive and slick operations and collectively come up with out of the box ideas to address project challenges

I started with a firm solution architecture for the next prototype we were to present to the client. Weeks were spent on deciding and performing data analysis to define the threshold for archives to be migrated. It was eventually decided that no data would be purged and we had a new challenge – migrating 30 years’ worth of complex data on to the SharePoint. We knew we needed to think of out-of-the-box solutions to address this. So, we created a retention & archival policy and much of the dated data was archived with limited access. Ultimately, the prototype was approved and we moved to production stage.

Building confidence in the client was critical. I took up the task of getting everyone on the same page in terms of scope of migration and convincing the customer of our approach. Seeing the focus on structure and processes won the trust to a great extent.

Team building was an important part in success of the project. Operating on a lean team, I ensured that we worked cohesively and took on our share of ideation as well as execution. This ensured that we collectively came up with many unique yet effective ideas to address challenges that cropped up in the migration project. Some examples include:

• Efficient use of OOB SharePoint features such as Search, User Profiles and Groups & Permissions
• Source data analysis – We accomplished data sizing based on the content in Lotus Notes for each environment.
• Auto publishing of documents using custom actions for publish which enforced business validation before publishing
• Addressing Content Organizer Rule limitations for document set routing during archival with appropriate version as per business needs
• Performance optimization of logs at a document level
• Optimized migration process by building automated tools, eventually reducing the migration timeline

We tracked some significant challenges together, ultimately delivering a collaborative and fully functional SharePoint for the client. The project was challenging, as we tackled its complexities along with a raging pandemic. But the objective to achieve client success never left our minds.

A year later…

I look back with great happiness and satisfaction on a job done well despite all odds. The challenges and course corrections have prepared me better for future projects, both in terms of earning the client’s trust from the get-go as well as technical processes and structures. A huge shout out to the team (special mention to Shibabrat Bisoi) that stuck together and sailed through the surges and ebbs. Onwards and upwards!

Author:

Raghavendra Hari Shanbhag
Technical Architect,
91����

The post Beating the odds on a challenging migration project appeared first on 91����.

IT professionals have been in high demand in South Africa with most companies opting to source the refined skill instead of investing in the “rough diamonds”, the unemployed youth of our country. Having worked in the Transformation space for many years and specifically in the IT Industry, this has always been a perplexing issue for me. Upskilling our unemployed youth to take up the opportunities in the ICT industry solves the problem for Industry, unemployed youth and improves the economy. It’s a win all around.

In 2020, the rate of youth unemployment in our country according to Statistics South Africa was at a staggering 55.2%. This is according to the broad definition of unemployed youth which includes youth who have given up looking for employment. Furthermore, a survey done by a United Nations Agency, the International Labour Organization (ILO), shows that South Africa has the highest rate of youth unemployment out of 189 surveyed countries. Although many of these unemployed youth are also classified as NEET’s (not in employment, formal education or training), a lot of them are in fact graduates who are unable to find employment. Part of the problem appears to be that there is a disconnect between the skills that youth are acquiring and the skills that are required in this digital age.

According to the Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, his ministry is addressing this through it’s Labour Market Intelligence research programme to support human resource development in the country. Through this programme a ‘high-demand jobs list’ has been created and reflects where workers are needed most, and what roles have the highest amount of ‘availability’. Nzimande stated that: “This list is updated every two years and marks an important step towards helping us understand better the needs of the labour market, and signals opportunities where our students and graduates are likely to stand a better chance of finding employment. These occupations are from [a range of] skills levels.” Among the top jobs on the said list are Roles in the digital economy, Data Scientists, Web developers and Computer network technicians.

“In addition to the use of a range of statistics for the compilation of this list, we had broad, as well as deep stakeholder engagements regarding which occupations are in high demand. Too many students rush into courses or programmes that we’re not short of in South Africa and are oversubscribed, which is breeding unemployment.” Stated the Minister.

At 91����, we have always supported initiatives aimed at upskilling�� unemployed youth to take up employment opportunities presented by the digital age. We do this through our 91���� Graduate Internship Programme and Bursary Programme. The Graduate Internship programme includes providing the youth with an opportunity to get trained in India for a few months which gives them not only practical training but also global experience.

Additionally, we have been a contributor to the Youth Employment Services (YES) initiative for the past 3 years and maintained a 100% absorption rate of all YES employees and Graduate interns to date. The YES initiative was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018 with the intention of partnering with business to address the problem of youth unemployment by providing unemployed youth with a 12-month workplace experience. The workplace experience makes it easier for them to find career opportunities. ��Sharing her experience about YES-91���� partnership, the CEO of the YES initiative, Tashmia Ismail-Saville has said, “The YES partnership with 91���� is a program we are exceptionally proud of. ��We see youth working and training on digital skills which are in demand and can be applied across sectors. The 100% absorption also tells us that when you train youth right jobs are there. This speaks to the latent potential of South Africa’s youth and the power of tapping into the digitally native nature of these young workers.”

91���� is working on the plans for this year’s intake of YES employees and Interns.

Author:

Candice Kern-Thomas
91���� Head of Transformation and Director of Melisizwe School Computer Lab Non-profit organization

The post Plugging unemployed youth into ICT opportunities appeared first on 91����.

Nonetheless, there was still work to be done – ranging from the transfer of authority to the new government led by the first black president to modification in policies and equal rights for both ethnic groups so that they could live harmoniously in the new South Africa.

To facilitate racial harmony, and foster unity across the nation, in 1995, December 16th was recognized as the Day of Reconciliation. This day was strategically chosen as it had a significant meaning to both the Afrikaner and Black South Africans.

The Afrikaners commemorated their��Day of Vow, wherein in 1864 the Voortrekker claimed victory over the Zulus. And for the Africans, it was in 1961, when��uMkhonto we Sizwe��(MK) was formed, in response to the Sharpeville massacre. However, as both tribes had two of their great conflicts and victories on this day, although years apart, it only seemed befitting that in pursuit of peace between both ethnic groups, the Day of Reconciliation be the day that is special to both.

Given how far the country has come, what it has overcome, and the journey ahead, we can say the Day of Reconciliation stands for:

1. Democracy in the Republic of South Africa

When the country finally won over the apartheid system, and the black people were free from oppression, they never sought revenge. This day is a reminder of not seeking vengeance, but living in peace, tolerance, and forgiveness. Each year, this day has a theme, with a key focus on reconciling as a nation, and that is what the South African democracy stands for and seeks to achieve.

2. Honoring our national heroes

Every year there is a celebration throughout the country, people come together in huge numbers to host events. The celebrations to date mark the unveiling of the statue of Nelson Mandela at the union buildings in 2013, the inscription of the 100 veterans in Freedom Park, as well as the erection of a tombstone for the first victim of necklacing, Maki Skosana.

3. Healing, Reconciliation, and Social Cohesion

Although the Day of Reconciliation came into force 25 years ago, there still is a racial divide in the country; though perceived as insignificant, it still exists. The divide is felt through economic and educational inequality, but we take solace in the fact that it is not enforced by the law.

Furthermore, this country, known as the rainbow nation, also best known for its multi-lingual national anthem, is a country of people that never gives up. Just as the nation managed to overcome apartheid, we are confident that it will find healing and reconciliation for its people, always.

Author:

Nande Mayipase
Assistant Manager

References:

1. South Africa history:

2. Day of Reconciliation:

3. Day of Reconciliation 2019:

4. Day of Vow:

5. uMkhonto we Sizwe:

The post The Day of Reconciliation in South Africa: History and Importance appeared first on 91����.

Furthermore, what has been of utmost importance is finding a work-life balance. We now have to make sure that we have enough time to focus on all things that matter to us, which include career, family, overall health, intellectual stimulation, community work, cultivating hobbies, as well as taking sufficient rest.

Here are five ideas to achieve work-life balance:

1. Be realistic about work-life balance

In a perfect world, you would wake up, get ready for the day’s work, sit in your home office, and once work is completed, shut down your devices, and start preparing dinner. However, this is not reality. There are days other work might require your attention – impromptu trips, family requirements, community work, etc. Because family comes first, you might have to reschedule work. Hence, it is best to have a realistic approach and not strive for a ‘perfect’ work-life balance, and unnecessarily put pressure on yourself.

2. Track time to manage it better

To better understand how you are spending time, keep a time log or tracker. Start maintaining it for a week, then gradually move to a monthly time tracker. This will help you organize office work as well as activities at home much better. You will be able to analyze how much time you are spending on which activity and plan and manage your work accordingly.

3. Make time for yourself

In this era of a pandemic, the news has not been very positive and encouraging. With infections soaring alarmingly high and death rates not slowing down, there is a growing sense of sadness leading to continued fear and depression. In such disturbing circumstances, one must dedicate time to oneself. Whether it is watching a TV show, cooking/baking, or meditating, as long as you’re doing something you enjoy and dedicated time to yourself, it is great. Because it relaxes your mind and takes it off from the depressing news floating all around.

4. Try to finish office-work in time

It is easy to get drowned in work, especially while working from home one loses track of time. This eliminates whatever distinction one has between work and life, which is unhealthy. It is vital to have a mental switch to transition from work to home environment. This can be achieved with the assistance of a transitional activity, like music, a book, a TV program, an alarm, or anything that helps one relax. We, here at 91����, have an attendance schedule in our Infotalk app, which prompts a reminder to end work, so we are aware that it is time to wrap up for the day. Although at times, we tend to go overboard, it still is a reminder that it is time to stop work for the day. This is an important feature to have in an employee-centric app.

5. Communicate

Admittedly, these are unprecedented times. With everyone navigating this new normal, it can at times get overwhelming. In such situations, it is advisable to communicate with your manager openly, so you both can find ways to manage the workload because the last thing anyone needs is a stressed and burnt-out employee. And in an instance of personal stress, it is best to find a professional to discuss your issues with or talk to someone trustworthy.

To conclude, I would say that work-life balance is not rocket science; it is not difficult to achieve if one is determined. Furthermore, one must not get exhausted in trying to make too many changes in their life, all at once. Let us take one step at a time towards achieving a work-life balance. As the famous Chinese proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Author:

Nande Mayipase
Assistant Manager

The post Top 5 ideas to improve work-life balance in the new normal appeared first on 91����.

91���� graduates had the privilege to be a part of this initiative that aims to combat the gender-based violence crisis. The Infotitans came up with a well-defined solution securing them the bronze medal.

The team conceptualized a community-based platform that brings together people from different walks of life to unitedly fight the menace of gender-based violence. The technologies that are integrated to help solve this crisis include a mobile app that allows the user to be tracked by syncing the app with another wearable tracking device. The responders include drones, the police, trusted members, and the community at large. It is a futuristic revolutionary tech concept and we are proud of this solution. It was not just accepted and appreciated, but it met the criteria set by the judges as well.

I was amazed, excited, and humbled to see our entire team come together to develop this concept that has the potential to impact and change so many lives, thereby making our society a safer place. The best moments were created while turning nothing into something. The team’s enthusiasm, passion, eagerness to give back to society, hunger to learn, and make a difference made me a very proud mentor. I learned that we, as the youth of Africa and the world, must stand up and fight for our future generations. Moments like these are a wake-up call to use technology judiciously and to bring about a positive change in society.

I commend the dedication and the spirit of teamwork that helped us win the bronze medal. There could never be a substitute for having a great team, unified in achieving a common goal. I had the privilege to mentor six brilliant individuals and bind them together for a period of three weeks. The experience taught me a lot about the utilization and management of people’s skills in the right way. The welfare of the team was as important as achieving the job at hand. I also learned the importance of task tracking, product building, and how to make a good sales pitch.

Interacting with diverse people teaches you how different minds work, what their thought processes are like; it is like a rainbow, different colors, but beautiful when brought together. I am grateful to have been able to stitch together these young minds into creating a meaningful and substantial solution for the wellbeing of society.

Author:

Tebatso Msiza
Associate IT Consultant

Reference:

i.

The post What the Digital Solutions Hackathon taught us appeared first on 91����.

So now I am at home, glued to my TV screen following the news of the latest stats and fatalities. The anxiety sets in, “what about my elderly parents, what about the people who do not have food stored away for days, what about…” The news is not helping my state of anxiety with their ominous tone around the current events and the increasing numbers of infections. Social media is going crazy with messages of condolences, home remedy recipes and conspiracy theories around the pandemic. And amid all this craziness, there is still work. Yes, the show must go on despite the global pandemic but with all the people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, work is now viewed as the privilege that it is.

I had been working from home for years, so it was certainly not a new concept to me. I remember my 50-year-old aunt ranting about how she would rather prefer to work from the office because this working from home thing was not working for her. However, even though I was not new to working from home, there was still the nagging fact that there is a global pandemic that affected my ability to focus like I used to. I was happy to discover that I was not the only one experiencing this. I sympathized profusely with my friends who were going through everything I was plus having little kids. Not only were they faced with all the anxiety, uncertainty, work, and household chores but they also had to keep their little ones entertained and educated (and out of their videoconferencing calls).

The funny thing about life however (global pandemic or not) is that things always seem to work out. For me it started working out when I stopped watching and listening to the news and started meditating, walking and yoga. My perspective began to shift from impending doom to hope and even excitement for the future. I became ready for the new normal and all it had to offer. This positively affected my work and ability to concentrate. Some of my friends also expressed that, even though at times they had some melt-down moments with their kids, they were actually happy that they got to spend more time with them and that the kids reveled in having their parents around them more. We all seem to have learned to value each other (even that irritating work colleague) more and make our time count which is a beautiful thing. After all, you never know when you will be hit with another global pandemic.

Author:

Candice Thomas
Business Transformation

The post Working from home during COVID-19 appeared first on 91����.

This list of top global Data Analytics companies was released by TopDevelopers.co. They follow a no-compromise approach while selecting the companies for the list and this makes the platform reliable for the service seekers. A wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC Ltd, 91���� is today recognized as a leader in providing technology solutions and services that make our clients future-ready.

At��91����, we understand the importance of Big Data Analytics in providing cutting-edge business intelligence to businesses. Hence, we continue to invest in strengthening our state-of-the-art Big Data Analytics infrastructure and in training our team to help them leverage the power of Big Data.

91���� works primarily with the following industry sectors:

• Banking and Financial services
• Consumer Packaged Goods
• Hospitality
• Healthcare and Life-sciences
• Manufacturing
• Travel

Delivering Value – A case study

A Global FMCG company partnered with 91���� to implement Manufacturing Execution System (MES) in their production facility. The client has manufacturing facilities in 50 locations with its products being sold in more than 100 countries across 6 continents. The company has both large automated plants as well as small manual plants – making this a complex project.

91����’s MES expertise, coupled with deep understanding of the Consumer Goods industry, enabled us to design a customized approach for the client. We were able to better appreciate the fact that no single global template can be enforced upon the local teams, as every manufacturing plant has its own set of issues which can’t be solved by a single global template. Our team was able to appreciate the intricacies and accordingly make the necessary changes in the global template based on the inputs provided by the local team.

91���� delivered the following benefits:

• 15% reduction in internal waste
• Full compliance with regulatory standards
• 10% improvement in productivity and efficiency
• 8% improvement in adherence to the daily production plan

You can check out more success stories on��our resources.

When you visit����on TopDevelopers.co, don’t forget to check out our videos. In these videos, our experts have shared invaluable knowledge about how our systems can help your business. You can also learn in detail about our service specialties, cost, focus areas, client feedback, and many facts that would substantiate why we are an incredible tech partner!

About TopDevelopers.co

��is an online rating and review platform that ranks IT companies based on their proficiency level, client feedback, and market research. The analysts at TopDevelopers.co analyze the companies based on various stringent parameters, thus ensuring that only the best companies are selected and listed for the service seekers.

The post 91���� has been recognized as a Top Big Data Analytics Company of 2020 appeared first on 91����.

The technology services industry is being challenged like never because business continuity today rides on the tools that technology provides and on proven models of Global Delivery and Agile Distributed Delivery. These models are being strained now and the industry is being pushed into a 100% remote delivery model. Today, the urgency across technology service providers (and other businesses) is to device enterprise collaboration models and back them with the right set of tools, infrastructure and training.

In a survey conducted by Feedback Consulting of 91���� customers, the top three concerns around program delivery were clear. Businesses were worried about the quality of delivery, team productivity and communication effectiveness (see Figure 1). If your business showing signs of similar anxieties, you are not alone.

Figure 1

Winning in the turns

Let’s examine the major shifts that are underway (summed up in Figure 2):

Figure 2

• The digital workplace is set to become a reality! Pre-Covid-19, Work from Home (WFH) was largely viewed as a tool for employee engagement. Post-COVID-19, the WFH trend is set to accelerate with a slew of collaboration tools and virtual team rooms. The trend will leave behind a 10 to 20X increase in digitally enabled meetings, conferences and stand ups long after the threat from COVID-19 has retreated!
• The problem of productivity decay! Productivity linked to collocation and proximity models are under pressure. Newer distributed and remote working models are emerging. They are imperfect at the moment, but soon innovations and experimentation will ensure there is little or no impact on productivity. COVID-19 will fire the emergence of digital delivery models (such as the delivery of a new PLM upgrade executed in a 100% remote model) supplemented by digital assistants and bots that augment the physical workforce, providing a productivity boost for every job role and persona. The number of automated/ RPA-based bots per employee will become the new metric to assess the recovery, resilience and effectiveness curve of a business.
• Business turbulence is here to stay! Technology services firms have traditionally competed on efficiency and cost optimization through proven quality assurance and innovative models such as Global Delivery and Strategic Global Sourcing. Over the last few years, the mantra has been around new delivery models characterized by agility and responsiveness. Given the turbulence we are witnessing, the need for agility and responsiveness will get amplified further. Rigid and hardened processes will be considered anathema.
• Fast tracking of demand side changes! A natural corollary to living with turbulence will be the shift from large contracts and multi-year transformation programs to smaller engagements that deliver value within a short span (typically around 12 months). Pragmatic, quick-win engagements led by a clear business focus will dominate the post COVID-19 era, forcing a major re-alignment in sales behavior.
• Accelerated shift to newer value props! Digital has been driving a re-examination of the traditional value propositions around cost arbitrage, reliability and assurance of service quality and efficiency. Newer value propositions around quick turnaround time (TAT), agile iterative solution approaches, flexibility in contracting and focus on business value delivery are emerging. These trends will be further amplified by the imperatives of COVID-19.
• Older delivery approaches will die out! In the past two decades, technology service companies have built delivery assurance through templatized processes and cookie cutter solutions. These drove high process standardization, repetitiveness and predictability of outcomes. Today’s reality demands a move towards bespoke solutions that are client specific, contracting models that are differentiated and digital delivery models based on non-touch non-proximity of service delivery. This also ties up with the increasing shifts towards a digital workforce and a digital workplace.

A blue ocean is emerging

Every now and then, the technology services industry has been reshaped by global events and new disruptions. It has always responded with innovation. COVID-19 promises to be a black swan event that likewise throws up new service models and service innovations.

Given the demand for WFH tools, infrastructure and training that service providers are witnessing, a new reality is emerging. The constraints of today are driving the innovations of tomorrow for technology providers with the onerous responsibility of ensuring business continuity.

Keep an eye out for newer digital delivery models, think about how your technology providers can help build a digital workforce to supplement employee productivity (especially in times of crisis) and how you can create a digital “workplace” that keeps employees safe without compromising productivity.

The post COVID-19 impact: Technology services rewired appeared first on 91����.