FINspeak

I was a delegate at the just concluded Nasscom Leadership Summit in Mumbai. It was extremely well organized with huge participation from many executives and CEOs from accross the globe. There was an interesting track on Social networking and applicability of the same for today's CEOs.  There was participation from various experts in the space about the need of senior leadership of today to be aware and participate in social media. It is important for the leaders and the organizations to understand the challenges of what they are getting into by actually getting into it...

Continue reading "Should CEOs and other Senior Managers use social media?" »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

2009 saw lauch of many interesting Cloud based offerings.... FinancialForce.com is one such offering providing cloud based accounting solution.

Continue reading "Cloud based Financial Accounting Applications" »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 04:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Cloud Computing Seminar Hosted by HYSEA" »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 06:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Interest in Social Banking has been gaining momemtum momentum with Financial Services firms for past couple of years. Social Banking refers to suite of Web 2.0 technologies from Financial social networks (FSNs) to general social networking including blogs, wikis, podcasts, and mashups. These technologies provide opportunities for the banks to interact with their customers in a more personalized manner.

Continue reading "Social Banking in action..." »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I presented at NASSCOM Emerge Forum last Friday evening, The topic of the presentation was on "Cloud Computing: Balancing Economics and Innovation". This is an event which was well attended by executives from Microsoft, Google, and many others.  

Continue reading "Clouds at NASSCOM Emerge" »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 06:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cloud Computing has been gaining ground as a new IT outsourcing model where IT-related capabilities are offered “as a service”, allowing users to access technology-enabled services from the Internet (in the cloud), without the knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them. Cloud computing is a general concept that incorporates “software as a service”, Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, where the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.

Continue reading "Playing in the clouds" »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 04:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In July of 2008, American consumers coined a new phrase at the height of the summer vacation season: staycation.  American’s opted to stay at home instead of travelling due to astronomical oil prices. High oil prices drove prices at the pump to dizzying highs and, in response to record fuel prices, airline fares skyrocketed where checked baggage fees and fuel surcharges became the primary (and unpopular) strategy of airlines to offset fuel costs.

Continue reading "I’m leaving on a (Biofuel) Jet Plane" »

Posted by Jitin Goyal at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since it is now obvious that every industry is going to be effected by slower consumer and business spending, there is nothing more or nothing new to add about uncertain future and economy, as we start to enter the new year...

While there is no panacea for the problems and the damages of 2008, every organization across the globe is eagerly looking at ways to control costs and reduce their expenses and risks. Leaders across the globe are looking at optimizing their resources, as they must be, and tightening the organizational seat belts to prepare themselves for 2009. Technology remains a key differentiator in these tough times and should be a place where leaders must focus on to handle short term challenges and to prepare for strategic growth.

Continue reading "5 Technology differentiators for 2009" »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 04:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

With Christmas right around the corner, my “gadgetdar” (gadget radar) has been on high alert.  Various evolutions of smart phones, cameras and MP3 players have caught my eye, but lately my eyes have been set, literally, on a Kindle.  For those who are not gadget addicts, Kindle is Amazon’s “wireless reading device”, essentially an electronic book which connects wirelessly to a book-download server. 

Continue reading "Taking My "Kindle" To Work" »

Posted by Mohit Joshi at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

XBRL (extensible business reporting language) has been heralded as a technology which will be leading us to a verge of a new era in financial reporting with interactive data that will make the financial reporting processes simple and efficient. While some of the corporate treasurers are slowly getting acquainted with the technology, many finance managers and internal auditors, who will be most affected by it in the coming years, do not seem to be aware of this ground-breaking and innovative technology. The organizations could pursue xBRL not only for compliance but also to help address the issues of current market environment.

Continue reading "XBRL Opportunity" »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 06:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The holiday season is upon us; a time for shopping, family, and eating…and more eating.  Turkey, Ham, stuffing, gravy, chocolate—not exactly a diet of Olympians.  The hustle and bustle of the holiday season also tends to put a crimp on free time.  Between shopping, traveling and spending time with family there is often little time to hit the gym, the courts, or the trails.

Continue reading "Using Your Mobile To Get Mobile" »

Posted by Mohit Joshi at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to the recent financial crisis and associated downturn, many in the financial services are scratching their heads real hard to evaluate best strategies to navigate the rough weather and come up with cost cutting strategies.  Evaluating Open source technologies is seeming to be not so bad an option anymore while wading through the downturn challenges.

Continue reading "Build Vs. Buy Vs. 'Download'" »

Posted by Srinivas Prabhala at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

“You guys have an addiction problem. You should go to an addiction place, because you cannot stop spending!”

Arnold Schwarzenegger once famously uttered those words while complaining about California politicians. He could well have been scolding the average American consumer and with good reason.  Americans love to spend and love to spend using debt.  In fact, at the end of 2007, American household debt totaled $13.8 trillion up from $7.0 trillion at the end of 2000—an outstanding 97 percent increase in 7 years!

Continue reading "Combating a 'Spending Addiction'" »

Posted by Mahesh Makhija at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It seems like every year a new “wow” gadget appears on the market—a computer, phone, or entertainment device that reaps windfalls for its creator and drives tech-hungry geeks into pre-release camp-outs.  Past examples include the iPod, iPhone (Apple seems to be on to something) and the Xbox 360 game console.  This year is no different, with the incredibly successful releases of the 3G iPhone and the G1 Android consumers continue to show an affinity for innovation.

Continue reading "App Crazy" »

Posted by Mohit Joshi at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I feel lonely when I visit my bank online. Agreed, there is much I can do when I am there--check my account, get rid of those pesky paper statements, and maybe even enable access on my cell phone. But, the experience offered is significantly impersonal.  Banks have transferred the formality of their businesses and their traditional aversion to risk into the online world. Call me paranoid, but, everywhere I look, I see appealing products but I’m not sure if I want junk fees and financial booby traps.

Continue reading "From Individual Ignorance to Collective Wisdom" »

Posted by Mahesh Makhija at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The battery life on my laptop is terrible.  Not three hours, not two hours, not even an hour; no, my laptop can generally hum along for about 35 minutes before it runs out of juice.  The obvious side effect of my battery’s lack of stamina is my continual need to be tethered to an AC outlet.  Whether at the airport, the coffee shop, or at home, I’ve developed an eagle eye when it comes to spotting the elusive wall outlet.

Continue reading ""Where is the nearest Wi-Pow Hot Spot?" »

Posted by Mohit Joshi at 05:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)