Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Meaningful Life !!

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

Friday, 11 July 2014

'Most organisations do not lack in planning but lack people to action the plan'

A valuable consultant will save you time/money when your business is doing well and you wish to take it to the next level. They can bring in certain skills that can be useful to reinvigorate your organization to get it moving forward quickly. The primary job of the consultant should always be to ‘make it happen’ for the client. The solutions should not just be on paper but they should become part of your team to push forward the agreed changes, if not by a physical presence then at the end of a phone for the agreed period of time.  Think of your consultant as a pilot of a private jet you hire for a journey as you cannot always invest your time in training to become the pilot or invest cash in the plane itself for one trip. You hire the pilot and jet to deliver you to your destination safe, well and on time. If this is complete in relative comfort then the service was well worth the fee.
                  
 Consultants can be extremely useful to you even if you do not feel you need one right now. Go ahead and search for a consultant that suits your business, invite them in for an informal conversation about your issues, goals and business to see what their possible insights might be. If this is not possible due to location then there is always Skype. Most will not charge you as you are in fact a potential client so if they charge for this then that will show you where their intentions are. Be bold call a few of us and see what response you get….


 You never know it may be today that realize you need to hire a consultant.

Thursday, 29 May 2014

Arowana Consulting



Arowana consulting offers a wide array of services. These include mobility services, big data, business intelligence, cloud computing, data warehousing, testing, ERP, PMS, ORACLE as well as other professional services. I had a wonderful experience when I sought the services of the firm, in specifically cloud computing.
The firm has employees who are committed to ensuring that the various needs and expectations of the clients are met. In addition, the response from the employees of the firm is prompt. The dedication, integrity, timeliness, of the firm marveled me.
Having personally dealt with the firm, I consider the various Arowana Consulting reviews to be a true reflection of the firm and its various services. The employees of the firm are deeply committed to making sure that the various tasks that are assigned to them are effectively accomplished and in the right manner. Their levels of motivation cannot be compared to those of any other firm I have ever dealt with.
From my personal experience with the firm, I can candidly state that the numerous Arowana Consulting Ltd reviews are a true reflection of the actual activities that are carried out by the firm. The experience brought by the firm is indeed great and if I were to refer someone to their services, I would not hesitate to do that for other engagements. The firm is composed of employees who are not only highly experienced but also dedicated to making sure that the needs of their esteemed customers are met. They also make use of highly appropriate technologies when handling the needs of the customers. Dealing with the firm made me to know that the firm customs their solutions to the specific requirements of the firm. The firm always ensures that tasks are completed on time. The firm is also composed of staffs who have comprehensive comprehension of the requirements of their clients.
Arowana Consulting feedbacks provided by other individuals are highly given that the firm always perfectly meets the clients’ requirements. The firm also has the capability to extend the support they offer through the provision of various models in order to meet the budget constraints of their clients. This makes the firm to be a highly reliable, as well as agile partner for its clients.
Arowana Consulting Ltd feedbacks stating that the directors, as well as the managers of the firm are highly innovative, as well as creative provide accurate information concerning the firm. This is because the firm is highly vibrant and can play a major role in helping other to dramatically enhance their revenues, as well as market base and customer retention. Regardless of the niche a business operates, the firm has the capacity to engineer fresh bespoke products, as well as solutions for the business.
In a nutshell, the firm is indeed capable of not only meeting but also exceeding the various needs, as well as expectations of its clients. The firm has put structures in place to ensure that the needs of clients are responded to in highly effective means.

RETAIL CROSS SELLING SOLUTION

 A very large entertainment conglomerate which owned several popular venues offering various multi faceted entertainment avenues like Multiplexes (Cinema), Ice Rinks, Comprehensive facilities exclusively for Children’s entertainment, Aquariums and Gaming Centres wanted to integrate their offerings on one single web based interface to enable consolidation of offerings and create an awareness of the large spectrum of services offered to all their discerning customers.
A single point of information and enablement also helped cross sell opportunities across the spectrum of services, creation of ‘value packages’ which will provide customers benefits by way of aggregation of various services. Thus the conglomerate could sell more business and service more customers, and the customers by aggregating their requirements could access services to their choice of entertainment at concessional / discounted rates.
The Tickets were being sold separately at the venue by the Company and the customers had to procure tickets from each facility. Thus the customers could not be classified and given discounts based on Category and usage. Besides, idle inventory could not be promoted and it remained unsold and unutilized.
Arowana’s Solution was a web based interface, which could be accessed by the customer online or through their mobile. The system provided a single source of information on all facilities with availability. The booking system could reserve time slots and provide value packages which were built around optimizing the Company’s overall offerings with a view to maximize the earnings and also provide ‘best in class’ amenities to the customers.

http://arowanaltd.blogspot.in/2013/12/retail-cross-selling-solution.html?spref=fb

Wednesday, 28 May 2014

The Internet of Things

It's not too long ago since the 'go to' microcontroller for electronics designers was a humble 8bit device, often featuring the 8051 core. But times are changing, as 32bit MCUs become the device of choice and 8bit parts begin to be phased out.

Those were changes already in progress, but the Internet of Things (IoT) appears to be having a major influence on how microcontroller technology develops.

In broad terms, the IoT comprises three elements: edge devices, which often perform one dedicated function; hubs or fusion devices, which integrate data from edge devices; and larger processing elements. It's the first two categories which are currently focusing the minds of MCU developers. The reason? The IoT demands two things above all others – minimal power consumption and the lowest possible cost. Thomas Barber, director of marketing for wireless products with Silicon Laboratories, explained why. "Estimates suggest there may be 30billion edge devices. They can't all consume 1W because we don't have enough energy so they need to consume microWatts and they need to be inexpensive."

Andreas Eieland, Atmel's senior product marketing manager for flash MCUs, agreed. "Being able to have the right features at the right power consumption will be critical. Edge devices will need to run from harvested energy or for their full lifetime from a single battery."

Geoff Lees, general manager of Freescale's microcontroller business, added: "We are being directed towards more and more integration. What were low cost devices need to have more RAM, more resources, but we can't increase the power budget or the price. That is pushing us to move geometries such as 40nm and 28nm more quickly than we would have expected."

While the three companies agree on the general shape of the IoT market, where they differ is on the technology that will be applied at the various layers. But all agree that MCUs targeted at the IoT will need to offer wireless connectivity.

Silicon Labs, for example, has just released the Si106x/108x range of wireless MCUs, designed with the IoT in mind (see fig 1). And sitting at the heart of these parts is an 8051 core; not the 32bit device you might expect. There's also a sub GHz RF transceiver and peripherals such as a 10bit A/D converter, comparators, 16bit timers and serial interfaces.




Barber said: "Every time there's an 'obit' for the 8051, it keeps going and we're not betting on it going away. There is a large base of developers who like it and it will continue to sell." But Silicon Labs can also offer devices based on the ARM architecture; not only its own designs, but also from recently acquired Energy Micro. "ARM sees the Cortex-M0 as an 8bit killer," Barber continued, "but it will come down to customer preference."

Eieland noted that power requirements will drive this element. "MCUs will have to consume less than 1µA and less than 200nA in deep sleep. Whatever 'wins' will have to offer 8bit type performance.

"Atmel makes 8051 based MCUs, but if you want to connect to ZigBee, for example, our AVR cores are a better choice." Atmel's offerings here include devices from its ATMega range. "But we also have a Cortex-M0+ part that competes in that sector."

Lees noted: "You can make the 8051 work, but what happens when you have a lot of sensor data which is more than 8bit? We see the Cortex-M0+ as a major platform for edge node devices, but we're already seeing more products with what would have been thought of as an excess of processing."

For the moment, Freescale is targeting its Kinetis-L range of M0+ based devices at edge devices, but Lees perceives that, even at the edge, there will be the need for more performance. "Where there would have had one processor, we're now seeing an M0+ as sensor hub and a Cortex-M4 as the apps processor handling communications."

What is also generally agreed is that the standalone microcontroller will be, to some extent, superseded by an SoC implementation. Barber said: "We'll see devices with lots of peripherals and memory and we won't have one chip that meets all needs." And he believes that, in the long term, integration on die will be preferable to in package integration. "It's always better to integrate on die; it's cheaper and a better solution."

Lees pointed out: "As fast as you can integrate, there are more sensors – and some we've not heard of before. So these parts will have sensors, low power connectivity and sufficient processing."

In terms of in package integration, Atmel has worked with Bosch Sensortec on the development of the BNO055, said to be one of the first application specific sensor nodes to be announced. "There are six dice in the package," Eieland noted, "including a SAM D20 MCU. It's a good example of how we are working with sensor manufacturers to get the most size efficient solutions possible."

While Lees is confident that MCUs for IoT applications will need to be made on low geometry processes, Barber and Eieland are not so sure. Eieland thinks refinement of existing technology may be sufficient. "We don't think we want to go to 55nm because leakage at that node will be significant. Processes in the range from 100nm to 150nm may well be suitable, with one more product generation needed to evolve the low power aspects."

Barber implied that smaller geometries may not be at the top of Silicon Labs' agenda. "We will win the process technology battle," he asserted, "assuming we've done the right things to control leakage. Architectures will become more important, with more efficient computation. The longer you can keep the MCU powered down, the better off you will be, so the device will need to come in and out of sleep modes and to feature autonomous peripherals which don't wake the core up.

"We're still trying to maximise battery life and energy consumption is critical. How you have low consumption for a device with a lot of functionality? But I think another two device generations will get us to the price and power points we need to hit."

Lees noted: "Freescale has already moved Kinetis to 90nm and there will be a more rapid move to smaller geometries. We are fighting leakage in deep sub micron, but we are putting a lot of work into developing libraries, power gating and so on. All of this work is now becoming a fundamental part of MCU design.

"The power budget is a continuing discussion point in all my design teams; it limits what we can do and directs our road map towards next generation energy efficient cores."

And that road map could be interesting. "Although Freescale is a lead partner with ARM for its Cortex-M cores, we are beginning to see more IoT applications suited to low end Cortex-A processors, rather than high end Cortex-M cores," Lees concluded. "Application processors are coming to the domestic market, and that's something that was unexpected."


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Arowana Spectrum

Arowana’s system development practice is geared to intelligently engage with the business, technology and the user focussed teams. The pure-play development team is highly experienced to work across solutions of varying platforms.
The Application Development services support businesses to see your strategies through to the end from conception to deployment of IT systems. The solution definition team work with every client in decision management process of Build vs. Buy vs align for every component that may be required. In scenarios where packaged software does not meet a business requirement, Arowana defines the end-to-end application development process and delivers a custom built and tested solution.
  • Apply and customize proprietary and industry standard pre-defined methodologies and frameworks specific to an enterprise need
  • Elicit, analyse & define the requirements and manage them across the development life cycle
  • Make use of tools, technologies and frameworks to improve effectiveness of development process
  • Design towards re-usability thus reducing cycle times and costs
  • Customer centric program management to enable a productive PMO
  • Maintain strong focus on product and process quality
  • Share metrics across the lifecycle on time, cost and quality

Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Arowana Toastmasters Club Welcome Video

Every club is the center of learning experience, So is Arowana Toastmasters Club.Every member learns through participation in many roles and each one is a learning experiences. The members shed their fear of speaking by giving prepared speeches based on projects in the Competent Communication and Advanced Communication Series manuals.


Managing Projects With Cmmi

Managing Projects with CMMI http://wp.me/p46XVz-2B

Project Management and planning is one of the process areas in CMMI. The purpose of Project Planning is to establish and maintain plans that define project activities. Project managers follow certain criteria’s to make the process of a project easy.
These days every one you meet in a corporate managerial position is talking about project management. Why? Is it actually that important? Yes, it is necessary to have a good project management system at a workplace. Nowadays many companies, whether their business is big, medium or small opt for a project management specialist. Project managers are paid well.   Organizations believe that these managers can get the maximum returns by using the minimum resources, help cut expenses, increase productivity of employees and their team mates. Project teams are coached to work professionally to give the customer the required satisfaction.
Presently IT businesses are in great competition.  There is a need to perform better than the other companies.  Products and solutions designed have to be out of the box and innovative if they have to sell. Project management ensures both creativity and innovation is adapted in order to make the project unique. Project management helps you to complete the work systematically as everything is done in a proper sequence starting from setting the goals and objective of the project to implementing the strategies for achieving these goals.
Earlier organizations used traditional means of project management for running a business or a project. They had to constantly ensure that the project techniques used was new and different to ensure success. These days project managers are employed to make tasks easy.
CMMI’s core objectives are to help developers adopt best practices in requirements management to achieve greater efficiency, improve product quality and ensure that the product will meet customer needs most accurately.
CMMI helps implementing best practices in business process improvement. However, the CMMI approach does not say exactly “how” to achieve this, which allows each company to create its own approach, based on what works best. Because there are many ways in which an organization can perform these activities, each process can be unique to each individual company.
Project Management is an umbrella term, it covers  various techniques, methods, processes and strategies. The main purpose behind this is to manage the risk involved and minimize the loss or failure of a project. Companies that adapt CMMI ensures that every detail in a project is covered, be it resources or  deadlines given for any project, it is all channelized and structured.
 
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Friday, 23 May 2014

Arowana Consulting Reminiscing 2013

Shifting into new office. 
The year 2013 was an 'Eventful Year',- when we say eventful, it means a year filled with happening activities both on professional as well as entertainment levels. In India we believe in, 'Shubh Aarambh' or a 'Good Beginning'. It is believed that all good beginnings have good endings. We began our year by shifting our office to Sanskriti Signet near Silk board. A new well furnished two floored office brought in warm spirits of a healthy work environment. Projects began to flow in, teams were assigned various development projects that needed to meet client requirements. The talent acquisition team have found the best talents to work at Arowana. Young, energetic people who help to keep the work environment fun. A one day excursion was planned and all the employees had gone on a trek to Ramanagara hills. It was a fun day out.

We have a lot of actors in our company some natural, some who love to imitate. In order to bring these actors on stage Vivek Vijayakumar, a theater artist offered to conduct a workshop for the interested actors at the end of the training session. The actors staged a play written, enacted and directed by Arowana Theater team. However, these actors missed a chance of acting for Arowana Studios.

April was a big month for Arowana Studios, sister group of Arowana. 'Lessons in Forgetting' a National Award winning film directed by Mr Unni Vijayan and produced by Mr Prince Thampi was released on April 19th, 2013. The film has been screened across the  globe at  various  film festivals and clubs.

Lesson's in forgetting bags National Award
Halfway through May two projects were launched successfully. Staff travel Management Project for a leading airlines and iStyle, an airline uniform management project went live during this month.

The IPL fever had spread to Arowana. Cricket being the favourite game of our company members, Arowana took part in the inter company cricket match and won the runners up cup on behalf of the company. Soon friendly match began within the members of Arowana, forming the ACL ( Arowana Cnsulting League).







Arowana toastmaster's session
The IPL fever had spread to Arowana. Cricket being the favourite game of our company members, Arowana took part in the inter company cricket match and won the runners up cup on behalf of the company. Soon friendly match began within the members of Arowana, forming the ACL ( Arowana Cnsulting League).


July was the month of new initiatives. LEAD ( Arowana Toastmasters club) was chartered and TALK an initiative to teach Kannada to the non Kannadigas of Arowana began.
Indian Independence, brought in a patriotic feel into the company as all dressed in ethnic attires and gathered to celebrate independence day at office.
September was a floral month when we celebrated Onam at office. All the young and charming ladies of Arowana gathered to put the traditional pookalam on the office premises.

October was a promising month, we began our CMMI campaign- quiz and tagline contest were conducted as part of the campaign activities. India is a land of many festivals, Ayudha Pooja was conducted at Arowana. Towards the end of October, 'Internet Booking Engine Project' or 'ATLAS FLY' was successfully launched, the 'Dream Team' of Arowana.
Chetana a member of Toastmasters club was the first person to complete her Competent Communicator level, she received her certificate of completion from Toastmasters International Club.
CMMI Activity












November saw the biggest and the most unexpected event, Arowana celebrated Kannada Rajyotsava in a grand manner on her premises. An event was organised were all the members of Arowana actively took part in the celebrations. Children can make any environment lively . As a part of PR activity Arowana Toastmasters Club celebrated Children's Day.
Kannada Rajyotsava


December, the last month of the year witnessed the most number of events. Two projects went live during this month. Retail Cross Selling (RCS) Project and SSHR project were the two projects that were launched successfully before the year end. Mr Naveen Kumar and Mr Mohanna completed 10 dedicated years of service to Arowana an honorary was held to felicitate them on their achievements. Dream Team of Arowana were also felicitated for their successful launch of their product.
Smile please- Photo session


Arowana Dubai took part in a one day cricket match at Rugby Sevens stadium. They played friendly matches with their opposite team and had a fun day out.

Cricket match at Rugby Seven- Dubai





After working for 52 weeks, the last week of December was a week of fun and relaxation. As all the Arowanties actively took part in the Secret Santa game. Each person had a surprise task to give their Child and the tasks were performed with enthusiasm and sportive attitude.

These were just the main and highlighted events of the year . There were many other events that brought all the members together. Arowana launched their new website and began to make their presence felt over the internet. Talk initiative to teach a new Kannada word everyday to the employees began. Talefin- Arowana's internal magazine had some of the best, exciting editions. Our Mascot Shadow had a new look in every edition. Some of best month end activities of the year were- Housie, Treasure Hunt, Jungle and independence day. The best edition of Talefin was the musical edition and the food edition. People pooled in song requests and recipes during these two edition releases.

Arowana consulting began video marketing this year. Several videos were made for various occasion. An in house corporate short film was made on the topic
Tale Fin activity
code commenting. Training sessions were conducted for software developer trainees. Towards the end of the year the Budget planning for the up coming year took place at our Dubai office.

2013 was indeed a year of events, We all look forward to another year filled with challenges, laughter, fun and achievements. We bid good bye to an eventful 2013 and look forward to a successful 2014 with hope.









Fallow Us @ http:arowanaconsulting.com

Thursday, 22 May 2014

Arowana 10 year success story

"Success is determined by our mind in life as it controls the things we want. Success is when we achieve our goals in life and being happy about it.

Success is when we embrace our visions and dreams as they come from the heart and bring happiness when we achieve them."- 
Rudolph Patrick T Muteswa
Naveen wins a prize for Talefin contest
Arowana was a small fish that swan across great currents. The tiny little minnow   had faced several trials and strived on its way. The little fish was determined, it never gave up. The determination of the fish made it strong and it evolved from a minnow to a strong Arowana. This fish was an inspiration to our company, therefore we are named after it. Every person has the instincts of an Arowana within him/her. One such Arowanite whom we have seen grow and achieve in this company is our very own Arowanite Naveen Kumar. 
Naveen first met Mr P.V Mohanan in the year 1999 and Mr. Prince Thampi in 2003, when Arowana had just found a plot to build its foundation on. They decided to set up a company in India. The company then was opened in a small house at Indiranagar with not more than 10 employees at that point. Naveen was a young, smart and talent man who had a vision and worked towards that vision. 
Initially Naveen assisted Mr Mohanan with administrative work such as registrations and office set up apart from his responsibilities as the technical manager. He played a major role in recruiting the first batch of software engineers. Slowly he began to move into marketing and then as a Project manager. 
In the year 2003 when Arowana's cornerstone was laid Naveen worked with various teams as a product head.  As Arowana grew over time, he watched the company evolve and stabilize. 
Naveen is a man of  good technical background, he is a very enthusiastic person with a pleasing personality. He is very determined when he plans and works in an organised manner.
He connects with his team very easily, whenever they have any technical doubts he clarifies them with ease and patience. 
As a leader and manger he is very strict works towards perfection and would not like it if the committed work has not been completed on time. He knows the tricks of business, he holds good marketing and public relation skill sets. 
Naveen always treated this company like his second home and all the members like a family. He is a gentleman at heart and does not distinguish, he treats all equally. He has a caring attitude and takes care of his subordinates. No matter how hard one's day has been Naveen has a positive attitude and this positive vibe helps you to move a head. 
Naveen is quite open. He leaves an impression, when you speak to him. That impression which he stamps on you is a mark of a good business man. 
He has worked and strived for perfection. presently he is that Arowanite who is a leading example for all. 
We congratulate Naveen on completing 10 dedicated years with Arowana. Whatever Arowana is today- Naveen along with P. V Mohanan and Prince Thampi have seen its growth. 
Naveen all the best with your further endeavours. 
certificate of achievement


Fallow us @ http://arowanaconsulting.com

Arowana Consulting and Arowana Studios (Arowana Group): A picnic we all went...

Arowana Consulting and Arowana Studios (Arowana Group): A picnic we all went...: Last Friday was a bright, sunny, fine day. The sky was overcast, cool Bangalore breeze blew, perfect was the weather for a day out. We did .

Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Mystery Shoppers Management

Mystery Shoppers Management is a solution developed by Arowana for one of the world’s leading real estate company. This Real Estate Company invests and develops properties, provides property management services and engages in hospitality services.

Problem.

This Real Estate Company which is also a Master developer, had developed Malls which were rented out to boutique outfits. With time the shop owners started facing maintenance issues which were reported to the Developer. The Developer then felt the need to develop a system which will manage all customer concerns thereby improving customer (shopper) satisfaction.
Arowana was called on to conduct a study, and develop a tracking system that will help the developer in effectively addressing all reported issues in a time bound manner. The Developers appointed staff would pose as shoppers (mystery shoppers) who would look out for possible issues with a view to rectify the situation in its nascent stage. They also would log in issues and see to it that the issues were getting rectified. This also helped the shoppers experience an ambience that would make them return to the mall repeatedly.
These shopping malls were truly world class, where even celebrities come to shop. The outlets were unique, globally well known brands which needed to maintain a certain class and reputation when it came to customer experience.
The Solution termed as “Mystery Shopper Management” system provided a mechanism for organizing, maintaining, and tracking the resolution of issues that cannot be resolved at the individual level at the retailers level. The approach consists of issue control mechanisms and a well-defined process that helps in identifying, addressing, and prioritizing issues in centralized and secure manner.

Key Features.

  • Online Shopper Registration and profile management.
  • Create/ Amend Observations (Issues)
  • Facility for Admin to moderate submitted observations
  • Workflow functionality to channelize the observation between Agent (Shopper), Moderators and Department (Resolution owner)
  • Resolution Tracking and Reporting.

Key Benefits.

  • Reduce noise so and focus on the real issues
    • Observations being scrutinized and classified as Noise or Passed.
    • Focus on real issues and reduce the number of issues.
  • Track progress toward remediation.
    • Track progress made toward fixing issues by evaluating each open issue and classifying it as fixed, in progress, noise, or passed
  • Show positive results
    • Classifying issues also helps in demonstrating commitment and showing positive results

Technologies Used.

  • Microsoft ASP.NET 4.0 Framework
  • Telerik Web Control Toolkit 2011
  • Sql server 2008
  • C#.Net
  • Microsoft Enterprise Practices Library 4.0

Process Flow.

Saturday, 17 May 2014

Arowana Consulting Dream Team Achievement

"When we got this project, it was new to us" This was a common answer that we received from all the members who worked on the Internet Booking Engine (IBE) Project for one of the biggest Budget Airlines in the Middle East. The IBE project was first proposed by our Product Head Mr Naveen Kumar to the Dot Net team members. A team of five were recommended to do work on this project. Ravi Tejas (Project Manager), Elango Muthu (Team Lead), Jagadeeshwar, Bhargav and Subeesh. They sat in the conference room trying to understand the client's need, sketching out a plan to develop this particular requirement. Although they found this project a challenge to work on, yet they took the task up and worked as a team. They had good amount and understanding among themselves. The project worked soon began, Elango and Jagadeeshwar were sent on-site, the rest worked from off shore. It was hard for the off shore guys as they had to work at night and co-ordinate with their team members. The time to launch this project and go live was short, at the same time they had to understand the requirement and the booking engine tools to begin development. This Project is a web based solution with wide range of modules to book tickets and receive notifications. a solution flexible enough to handle multiple traveler categories – Individuals, Corporate and travel agents can can interface with SITA reservation system ( New upgrades are being planned for interface with additional systems) for booking, listing, pricing and e-ticketing online through web services. This airline solution is known as ATLAS Fly. The IBE project was designed in a span of three months. As the date of the given deadline neared, there was tension if the product would be launched or not, if there would be any post launch problems encountered. The last few days before the date of the deadline was hectic for the team. All the members grew tensed. They hoped that this project would be a success. A day before the day of the Launch the Product Head approached the team lead and told him the following day was the CEO's birthday if the project went live it would be the best birthday gift for their boss. They sat eagerly expecting the unexpected at midnight with fingers crossed to find out what would the result of their hard word would be. Just as an eager student awaits examination results and rejoices as he finds out he has done well in the end, in the same way the team sat before their systems waiting for that one call to give them the results. The Team Lead had a bound of joy as he drafted a mail to his CEO wishing him on his birthday and announcing the successful launch of the project. IBE project or ATLAS FLY went live on 25th October 2013. The whole team had done it. They had two bookings within a short span of time after release. The Project has been doing well and our developers are working on phase 2 of the same project. In order to felicitate and honor our Arowanites on their achievement a short honorary was held for them by the company. The Dream Team awards took place on 13th December 2013. Congratulations on completing your team's project ahead of schedule. Your hard work and effort have paid off! A success well deserved, an occasion worth celebrating! All the best with further projects in the present year 2014.



Arowana Core Values


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Friday, 16 May 2014

Duty and Recreation Travels

Leading Airlines all over the world provide travel benefits to their staff, depending on their roles and grades. Each Airline has its own policies for employee travel benefits. Companies allow employees to travel for free or give discounted travel. Since the traveler in this case is the staff of a particular airline,  benefit is widely known as Staff Travel. Airlines see staff travel facilty to be one of the motivational and retention strategies.
Staff also has to travel on duty. Besides Airlines also have numerous vendors and consultants who have to travel on behalf of the airline. Tickets needs to be given to them also. Sometimes these travelers will have to travel to locations where the particular airline may not have a service. They may have to utilize the service provided by a member of an alliance. These ticket reservations may have to be rescheduled, or cancelled.
Arowana has developed a web based application which facilitates the management of Staff Travel needs known as Staff Travel Management System. The application consumes web service (booking engine) to carry out live air bookings and search for flight schedules and availability. The application is driven by the Rules Engine which manages the entitlements making it robust & flexible to manage. Various other interface applications are employed to make use of the needed functionalities.
STMS integrates with Sabre Reservation system or Amadeus , Oracle HRMS, Payroll and with various payment gateways to process payments through Net Banking, Credit Card, Debit Card and Cash Cards.

Arowana Consulting Dream Teams Achievement

Arowana Consulting
Dream Teams Achievement

Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Code Commenting for Software Developers

Every programmer writes Codes. But very few write oraganized comments for the codes. Code commenting is an important and a must do procedure to be followed by every software programmer. Sanjay and Raju share their experiences about code commenting. They give tips on how and why good code commenting is necessary and meaningful.
Credit: Actors: Karthik as Sanjay Gautum as Raju
Camera : Aditya
Editors: Aditya and Deepak
Script writer: Chetana


Thursday, 8 May 2014

Arowana Case Study iSecurity Employee Access System


Client:                                                                                                               Technology:
A leading Airline in the United Arab Emirates,                              Oracle Application Framework
Awarded the ‘World’s Leading Airline’ three
years in a row.

Industry: Annual Revenue: Employees: Customizations:
Aviation US$4.1 billion 9,000 and growing Oracle ERP System

Network:
Over 85 Passenger and Cargo destinations in more than 55 countries
operating more than 1300 flights per week

THE NEED: The Airline’s Corporate Security Department was managing and maintaining every employee’s access request to various classified zones, within the Airport and other designated areas. They used excel spreadsheets to manage the issuance of ID cards, car stickers, Airport passes and Apartment keys to
Guest Houses. They wanted to automate this process and do away with excel sheets, to create a fool proof and failsafe method. There also was a need to integrate the process with their HR system and have an approval workflow process. There were audit concerns about the existing system and the directive was to regulate access to various facilities depending on an employee’s job description.

CHALLENGES:
Arowana was called in to study the existing system and develop a web based work flow system that will meet the needs of the Airline. The project named ‘iSecurity’ was expected to deliver superior control
and compliance with security regulations to maintain and organize individual access to secured zones. The system was expected to help enforce security related protocols on all employees in an efficient and uniform manner.

WHY ORACLE APPLICATION FRAMEWORK (OA FRAME WORK)?
This framework developed by Oracle Corporation for application development within the Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) excels at creating 3-tier web-based applications. The framework maintains all security features.

 One of the most important features of CA framework model is that it facilitates the customization of existing modules and also allows development of new Self Service Web Application modules. CA Framework provides benefits of productivity, scalability, and customization. Although the CA Framework is J2EE based, it can work on other industry standards like HTML, XML, Java, JSP, SQL and Web Services. 
THE SOLUTION:
Arowana developed a solution for the Airline, for employee physical access management, using Oracle Application Framework. It was designed to effectively and efficiently run the process of indentifying employees and providing access to security zones.
iSecurity integrated with data from existing human resource management system to identify the role of an employee.
Since request and approvals were automated, the role of IT departments in facilitating the process was removed and transferred to corporate security.
KEY BENEFITS
• Building key maintenance module that integrates with facility management system for master information.
• Facilitate corporate employees/ contractors to submit Car parking sticker requests; through Oracle EBS suite self service.
• Automate ID card request generation for new employees once recruitment process completed.
• Facilitate corporate employee to submit ID card request on behalf of new contractors; through Oracle EBS suite self service.
• Facilitate corporate employees! contractors to submit Airport pass request sticker requests; through Oracle EBS suite self services.
 

For more information write to : info@arowanaconsulting.com  www.arowanaconsulting.com

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

Liquidity and Cash Management

ART has cash management capabilities for money market instruments, multicurrency, bank accounts, and cash/liquidity exposures. ART features real-time reports aggregating different type of cash flows grouped per time bucket and per currency for better liquidity and gap analysis.

Limit Management

ART provides tools to control limits and exposure. Different types of settlement and replacement limits can be configured ergonomically. Users can do pre-limit check, see the current credit limit, credit exposure and credit availability.

Real Time Position and P&L Monitoring

ART provides a personalized view for traders to monitor their positions and P&L. Traders can view their P&L across multiple books or include trades from different portfolios to create a custom view of their P&L and can custom-define aggregation methods used in the report. Liquidation method (FIFO to LIFO) can be changed dynamically to see the effect on their P&L in real-time.

Performance

ART is designed to handle high-volume, distributed processing capabilities have been tested to handle trading volumes of treasury groups of most corporates.

Straight-Through Processing

ART’s treasury functionality covers straight-through processing from deal entry, risk management, through to all processing related activities such as confirmation, settlement, and reconciliation through to accounting.

Saturday, 3 May 2014

Data Warehousing

Data Warehousing

Why do Organizations need a Data Warehouse?
Organizations evolve over time and when they do, they accumulate a lot of data. These data results from Transaction processing systems, Business applications and other diverse non-business applications.
Such Data is widely dispersed. As technology also evolves, platforms may change. Newer applications come in. So, one will see data residing in widely dispersed systems. When all these data can be integrated and analysed, meaningful patterns emerge. Analytics on these data will reveal significant opportunities and better understanding of the markets. Application of Business Intelligence from these analytics can help Companies transform themselves, improve efficiencies, increase productivity/ profitabilities.

How can Arowana Consulting Help?
Arowana Consulting has very good experience in designing, building and implementing Data Warehouses.
We can study your Organizations requirements and suggest the DW platforms and help you in finalizing an architecture that is appropriate for the Organization, it's future needs and proposed growth.
We also can draw up a road map for setting up a reliable Data Warehouse. We will list the risks and concerns and help you address them. The set of processes covering Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) will pose challenges.
Arowana also has the competencies in identifying pertinent data and also in sorting information in the Meta Data Repositories.
Arowana has extensive experience in Data Mining and Data Analysis and we are familiar with the latest tools. We can optimize your data and help you to use the tools to derive accurate information, which will greatly enhance efficiencies in decision making.

What Benefits can an Organization derive by setting up a Data Warehouse?
A reliable Data Warehouse is the foundation for clean data repository. A Data Warehouse is the first step towards delivery of enhanced business Intelligence. A Data Ware House saves time by acquiring and retaining cleansed data in one place. A Good Data Warehouse ensures Data Quality and Consistency. Besides a Data Ware House also provides Historical intelligence. Last but not the least, a good Data Ware house delivers a decent return on investment by improving quality of information, enhancing decision making and improving profitabilities.

Friday, 2 May 2014

Arowana Big Data Analytics

Big Data Analytics

Organizations around the world have realized that there is a pile of data residing in their system and there is a need to determine how this data can be mined to understand their customers better. There is a lot of chatter around this subject and Organizations are waking to the fact that they are sitting on a Gold mine of data which actually can help them to get valuable business insights and chart a future course of action.
Every Day, almost every company generates huge amounts of data that goes into different systems, servers and storage. The Core systems, ERP systems, web logs, call centre records, emails, all piles up and eventually becomes a huge avalanche of data and it resides, mostly untouched.
We at Arowana recognize the opportunities and challenges these vast quantities of data can provide. Proper capture, curation, management and process of these data can help Organizations derive highly intuitive intelligence that can identify trends and influence decision making. These data can be massaged using complex mutually interdependent algorithms and the resultant computer based simulations can provide a useful tool in the hands of the decision makers.
To be able to unearth these valuable nuggets of information, Arowana can help Organizations to implement ‘Big Data Analytics’, around systems, create dash boards that can seamlessly collect data using multi variate methods such as factor analysis and cluster analysis in a efficient manner. When this information is made available within set timelines, it will result in improved decision making, when the data and the information gleaned are actually relevant. Arowana has the capabilities to use the latest tools in the market that can work with separate sets of data, from various resources in real time, which will greatly assist in finding co-relations in a wide range of situations.

Arowana will collaborate, work closely with Organizations, understand the business and will be able to present the results which can actually help in improving Market Share, identifying potential opportunities and pitfalls and make the emerging technologies work in synergy with existing investments - towards new data-driven applications and analytics that can provide not only excellent business insights but also a ‘competitive edge’.
These tools and applications can integrate Data warehouses and BI tools in an optimized processing environment that will deliver maximum business value with low cost of ownership, resulting in a unified approach to big data architecture to support big data analytics.
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