The great Indian nation seems to have lapped up ‘foreign’ tag to every economic activity. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is the latest catch phrase in the big Indian dream.
There were times when the liberal economic policies that were ushered in the country for the first time in 1991 by the then finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh (the present day PM of India) were opposed tooth and nail by conservative and radical political parties of India. FDI was always the focal point during the critical days of Indian economic policy. But times have changed. The very political parties that opposed FDI on the grounds of being ‘another indicator of western hegemony’ have incorporated it in their national manifesto.
For the starters, FDI refers to capital inflows from abroad that invests in the production capacity of the economy. FDI is generally preferred over other forms of external finance due to its non-debt creating nature. Their returns depend upon the performance of the projects. FDI also facilitates international trade and transfer of skills and technology.
Investment in India has become a never before opportunity for the foreign investors, not to forget NRI India has opened up its markets for FDI in virtually every sector except defence, atomic energy, railway transport, and mining et al. The vast infrastructure sector is waiting to be explored in terms of foreign investment, especially property investment. Electricity, road network, steel industry, education, modernization of air transport, retail etc. are some of the vital areas that present a plethora of opportunities to a foreign investor.
The burgeoning IT industry of the country coupled with a massive English speaking population promises an adequate return on investment. The Non Resident Indians (NRIs) who went abroad for greener pastures are returning to their roots with an improved business environment in India. India has suddenly found itself as a potential world leader with even countries like US recognizing its potential in negotiating an exceptional nuclear deal.
India is a proverbial Garden of Eden waiting for its Adam and Eve in the form of foreign investors!
Archive for March, 2011
Foreign Direct Investment in India – a Valuable Proposition
Thursday, March 24th, 2011Enterprise Technology Trends In 2010: The Top It Trends Affecting Organizations In 2010-Aarkstore Enterprise
Monday, March 21st, 2011Thankfully, the global economy appears to be heading out of recession, which is good news for the IT industry, as history has shown that the economy and enterprise IT spending are closely tied. But what does 2010 hold for technology vendors? Are enterprise IT budgets going to increase? Which areas of the IT industry will be most attractive to enterprises? The ‘Enterprise Technology Trends in 2010′ report addresses these questions through primary and secondary research into the enterprise IT market. Exclusive research from Business Insights gives insight into enterprise IT budgetary changes in 2010 and the broader business trends underpinning enterprise IT decisions next year. The remainder of the report examines 10 key industry trends to watch next year. 2010 may not mark a return to the freewheel spending of three to five years ago, but it still promises to be an interesting year for the IT industry.
Key features of this report
• Independent survey data of CIOs from organizations working in different vertical sectors and geographic regions• Secondary research from analyst sources, annual reports, company materials and press articles• Breakdown of enterprise IT spending forecast for 2010 by geography, vertical and sizeband
Scope of this report
• Gain insight into the 10 key technology trends affecting enterprise IT spending in 2010• Identify key areas of innovation and new market opportunities in 2010• Tailor sales and marketing messages to meet enterprise expectations• Identify competitive threats
Key Market Issues
(1) Mashups/DIY IT: By 2013, Business Insights estimates that the market for enterprise mashups will be worth $1.74bn, driven by the growing involvement of major software players, evolving market definition and knowledge about mashups, emerging standards, increased uptake of SOA and cloud computing, and the recession.(2) Virtualization: In 2010, virtualization will continue to to extend further into the enterprise with desktop virtualization and application virtualization set for rapid growth. (3) Collaboration: The launch of Google Wave in 2009 could spur the adoption of enterprise collaboration 2.0 platforms and threaten the long-term viability of traditional productivity tools and applications.
Key findings from this report
(1) 34% of organizations are increasing their IT budget in 2010 – however, this increase is less than we have seen in previous years.(2) The IT spending outlook for North America is more bullish than it is for Europe: 60 per cent of organizations expect IT budgets to improve in 2010.(3) The three fundamental trends underpinning IT investment in 2010 are: cost cutting, doing more with less and working smarter. (4) Desktop virtualization will move towards mainstream adoption in 2010, and by 2011 as many as 16 million desktops could be virtualized.
Key questions answered
• What technologies are enterprises investing in next year?• What’s the enterprise IT spending outlook for 2010?• Which regions / sizeband / verticals will be increasing investment in IT in 2010? Table of Contents : Table of ContentsEnterprise Technology Trends in 2010Executive summary 12Enterprise IT investment in 2010 12Do It Yourself IT 13Virtualization moves towards mainstream adoption 13Collaboration is big business in 2010 14Securing the cloud 15The smartphone battle for the enterprise heats up 16Technology for free 16Customer Service 3.0 17Videoconferencing market ripe for a shake-up 18Security remains high on the corporate agenda 19New computing interfaces 20Chapter 1 Introduction 22What is this report about? 22Who is this report for? 22Methodology 22Chapter 2 Enterprise IT investment in 2010 24Summary 24Introduction 25IT spending in 2010 25The bigger picture 28Enterprise spending patterns in 2010 30Factors affecting IT purchasing decisions 30The vertical outlook for IT investment in 2010 31The outlook for IT investment in 2010, by geography 31The outlook for IT investment in 2010, by sizeband 32The underlying trends driving technology investment in 2010 33Cutting costs 34Doing more with less 35Working smarter 36Outsourcing core processes 36Chapter 3 Do It Yourself IT 40Summary 40Introduction 40The rise of DIY IT 41Defining mashups 41The wider trends underpinning growth in DIY IT 42Increasing efficiency 42Cost Saving 43Simplification 43Mobility / ubiquitous access 43Collaboration 44Looking outside the enterprise 44Consumer-led innovation 45Green IT / sustainability 45Market development 45Market drivers 47Market opportunity 47Impact on vendors 48Barriers to future growth 50Chapter 4 Virtualization moves towards mainstream adoption 52Summary 52Introduction 52Emerging areas of virtualization 53The bigger picture 55The wider trends underpinning global growth in virtualization 56Increasing efficiency 56Cost saving 56Simplification 57Convergence 58Mobility / ubiquitous access 58Looking outside the enterprise 58Consumer-led innovation 59Green IT / sustainability 59Market development 60Desktop virtualization set for rapid growth in 2010 61Application virtualization will also see widespread adoption in 2010 62Impact on vendors 63Competition heats up in the desktop virtualization space 63Microsoft and VMware square up for battle in application virtualization 63Virtualization management: a future growth area? 64Barriers to growth 64VDI isn’t necessarily suited to large-scale deployments 64Lack of standards interoperability could limit growth 65Virtualizing the desktop and application delivery has different challenges to server and storage virtualization 66Chapter 5 Collaboration is big business in 2010 68Summary 68Introduction 68Enterprise collaboration: the story so far 69The bigger picture 72Collaboration trends in 2010 74Cloud computing and SaaS provide a low-cost way of trying out collaboration services 74Could the collaboration platform become irrelevant? 75Impact on vendors 76Google poses a disruptive threat to the status quo 76Incumbents embrace enterprise collaboration 2.0 77There’s all to play for in 2010 77Vendor recommendations 79Chapter 6 Securing the cloud 82Summary 82Introduction 83Cloud computing 84The bigger picture 86Enterprise concerns 89Security and shared resources 90Lack of security in the cloud 91Impact on vendors 92Vendor actions 93Recommendation 1: publish security audits 93Recommendation 2: go beyond SLAs 94Recommendation 3: guarantee security 94New market opportunities 94The consequences of doing nothing 96Chapter 7 The smartphone battle for the enterprise heats up 98Summary 98Introduction 98The past, present and future of smartphones 99The bigger picture 100The market for smartphones is dividing 101Prosumers influence enterprise smartphone buying decisions 101Further convergence between smartphones and netbooks 102The market for business-focused applications takes off 103Impact on vendors 104RIM’s market share under threat 104Apple iPhone breaks into the enterprise 105The rise of Android-based devices 105What about Nokia? 107Where next for Windows? 107Chapter 8 Technology for free 110Summary 110Introduction 110The history of ‘free’ 111The bigger picture 112Market outlook 114The growth of ‘free’ software 114Microsoft Office 2010 114Open source continues to build momentum 115Impact on vendors 117Vendors compete on price for productivity apps 117Enterprises embrace hybrid buying strategies 119The cost of ‘free’ 120The downward spiral to commoditization 120Enterprise concerns 120Chapter 9 Customer service 3.0 124Summary 124Introduction 124The bigger picture 125Market development 128Listening to customers 129User testing and focus groups 130Online problem resolution 130Impact on vendors 131Expansion of product portfolios into customer service suites 131There is everything to play for in a diverse vendor landscape 132Competition comes from several quarters: 132Challenges to market take-up in 2010 134People and processes 134Technological issues 135Vendor recommendations 136Chapter 10 Videoconferencing market ripe for a shake-up 138Summary 138Introduction 138The ‘next big thing’ technology 139The bigger picture 140Market opportunities 144Asia 144Healthcare 144Developments in the videoconferencing market in 2010 145Enterprise videoconferencing systems move into the mainstream 1453D videoconferencing around the corner? 145Impact on vendors 147Market consolidation 147Skype: a threat to videoconferencing vendors? 148Chapter 11 Security remains high on the corporate agenda 150Summary 150Introduction 150The enterprise security outlook in 2010 151The bigger picture 152Trends within enterprise security in 2010 154Security vendors capitalizing on a security gap in the SMB market 154Securing the extended enterprise 155Managing the security infrastructure more efficiently 156Continuation of the security-as-a-service trend 157Web 2.0 still causes security headaches 158Chapter 12 New computing interfaces 162Summary 162Introduction 162The rise of alternatives to the desktop 163The bigger picture 165Impact on vendors 166Competition in the desktop space drives market innovation 166Diversification in the touchscreen market 166Desktop virtualization drives demand for innovation in thin clients 168Netbook growth threatens desktop market hegemony 168The ones to watch 168The ones causing market excitement 170Barriers to adoption 171Index 173
List of FiguresFigure 2.1: Changes to enterprise IT budgets in 2010 26Figure 2.2: Top business priorities for IT investment in 2010 27Figure 2.3: External forces have a high impact on enterprise IT spending 29Figure 2.4: Enterprise IT buying priorities 30Figure 2.5: The business priorities driving IT investment in 2010 34Figure 3.6: Enterprise mashup market development phases 47Figure 3.7: What end-users want from an enterprise mashup vendor 48Figure 4.8: The application virtualization stack 54Figure 4.9: Virtualization adoption 61Figure 5.10: Enterprises expect collaboration technologies to have the biggest impact on their business in 2010 70Figure 5.11: The global enterprise collaboration applications market growth, 2007-2013 71Figure 6.12: Cloud computing market forecast, 2008-2012 ($bn) 86Figure 6.13: Enterprise security concerns from cloud computing 90Figure 7.14: Smartphone shipments by OS, 2008-2014 106Figure 8.15: Open source software market size and forecast, 2006-2011 (analyst consensus) 116Figure 10.16: Videoconferencing is high on most enterprises’ agendas 140Figure 10.17: Transformations in communications have driven the most change within organizations 143Figure 11.18: Global enterprise security market size, 2006-2010 152Figure 12.19: Microsoft Surface in action at AT&T 167
List of TablesTable 2.1: IT spending forecast for 2010, by region (% respondents to Business Insights survey) 32Table 2.2: IT spending forecast for 2010, by sizeband (% respondents to Business Insights survey) 33Table 4.3: The potential savings from desktop virtualization 55Table 6.4: Cloud computing taps into many business goals 87Table 7.5: Top business apps on iTunes (US) 104Table 7.6: Smartphone shipments by OS, 2008-2014 (000′s) 106Table 8.7: Cost saving is the primary motivating factor behind IT spending decisions in 2010 (1 = Low impact – 4 = High impact) 113Table 10.8: The potential CO2 savings from using videoconferencing are not as great as those generated by other energy-saving initiatives 142Table 10.9: Videoconferencing vendor landscape (worldwide unit shipments for H1, 2009) 147Table 11.10: Global enterprise security market size, 2006-2010 153Table 12.11: Touchscreens have yet to break into the enterprise (impact on organization indicated by 1 = Low impact – 4 = High impact) 163
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RSS Feeds and Blogs Can Accelerate Your Online Business Success
Thursday, March 17th, 2011RSS feeds are effective communication elements that have found their place among numerous websites for all kinds of communication purposes. Blogs generally have started using them to provide effective and immediate communication to the subscriber. This means any time the blog is added to, amended, or altered, anyone who is connected through the RSS feed receives updated information as it is important to them. When you are using blogs to enhance your online business, this can be a very effective and efficient method of encouraging those who are interested in your blog to also participate in your online business, either through the purchase of merchandise or through participation in online business building.
From the user’s end, the RSS feed will deliver a brief description, with a title and basic information, that will encourage the user to click on the necessary link in order to continue reading and participating. Again, this type of participation can be very effective when you are trying to build an online business.
Because RSS feeds can now be transmitted via internet connection, cell phone service, or PDA/Blackberry subscription, it is possible to maintain communication with both your participating online business builders and those who haven’t yet jumped on board. This means that you can actually communicate with all of your potential and actual online business associates. This is really exciting information for those who are able to use the power of the written word to really motivate people to not only rejoice in the positive aspects of online business building, but also to make their lives easier by purchasing products that you offer through your online business. The possibilities are actually endless when you think of all the blogging material that one successful (or potentially successful) online business can inspire.
All of your potential and actual online business associates have the capability to read the in depth information available to them on an as interested basis. This means that your online business associates are more likely to stay connected because they can pick and choose the information that they are interested in rather than feeling bombarded with irrelevant information.
Using an RSS feed to enhance your blogging is likely to create a stronger online presence for you. Naturally, a stronger online presence means that you are more likely to attract more potential online business associates. This is one of the best perks to using RSS feeds combined with blogging in order to help promote your online business as well as pass on vital information and inspiration to those who are also working on their online business. Your increased visibility can only benefit you.
There are numerous methods of using RSS feeds and blogs to communicate to a variety of people and interested parties. Of course, some are more financially rewarding than others. If you find that you are able to develop multiple blogs and start carrying a rather impressive load of online business associates, you might want to consider adding the convenience and power of an autoresponder in order to help facilitate further communication and further online business deals that are mutually beneficial. The combination of RSS feeds, blogs, and autoresponders can create phenomenal online business potential.