Introduction

The BbyB Beacon is an electronic publication to keep the members of Bit by Bit informed about the current affairs of the company. It contains announcements of important events like training programmes, Management Review Meetings, etc.

Contact Information
 Any contributions to the newsletter in the form of technical articles, or items of general interest, are welcome. Please send them to padmabaliga@bbyb.sdc.int or padmabaliga@bbyb.com

Editorial                                                                                                                    (top)

Gearing up for Growth

Fifteen years ago in December 1991 when Raghu, our MD, started Bit by Bit Computer Systems in what is now the drawing room of his house, he was Employee No. 1. From that humble start, our company has grown to being the major outsourcing partner for BHP, UK, and the software we develop has won plaudits from almost all the major UK hospitals and universities as well as our other clients. Today, as we recruit 14 new employees into our company at one go, it is a record of sorts. This in spite of the fact that we have resisted growing by leaps and bounds as everyone here, including our MD, loves the informal and close-knit atmosphere that a small office gives us. It is important therefore, that even when we move into our new 10,000 sq. ft. premises, even when our staff strength increases to 60 and more, we don’t lose the sense of easy rapport that we enjoy, the camaraderie that we share.

Having a road map is critical as a company grows for one should always look forward and know that a company changes as it grows. It is important that this road map focuses not only on administrative and financial systems but also on communication channels that continue to be two-way as they have been all these years. Our core values have always focused not only on business ethics, integrity and customer satisfaction but also on employee satisfaction and motivation. Long may this continue!

Padma

From The Management                                                                                       (top)
Dear All,  

Last month I had said that probably that was the last newsletter you would be reading from the current office. I guess it is now time to accept that I was wrong and we will be still working from these offices for a few more weeks. The main reason that we decided to postpone the shift is the fact that the office was not 100% ready. The contractors felt it was good enough for us to move in and that they would finish the few minor items after we moved in. This was unacceptable to me because I really wanted everything to be perfect and wanted any inconvenience caused by the move to be more than negated by the facilities the new office provided.

As we have already signed contracts with the transportation company, we will be starting the pickups from Rajajinagar and Indiranagar from next week. This will bring you to the current offices for the time being and then will be extended to the new offices.

Next week we are bringing in quite a few new employees. For the first time, BbyB is starting the concept of a trainee. We are bringing both trainee programmers and trainee testers. I would kindly request Project Leaders / Managers to spend some time with these trainees. This would help you identify trainees you want to take into your projects.

Regards,
Raghu

Projects News

StaffBank                                                                                                            (top)

With London switching over to AFC in the last week of May, it’s been a fairly quiet month as far as StaffBank is concerned.

Knowing that the transition from non-AFC to AFC at London was fairly smooth, Usha and Raghu decided to take a break this month and went on a holiday. Sreedhar also decided to take a break and spend some time in his hometown in Andhra Pradesh. OCR has seen a couple of test runs this month and I have been working on some of the changes required for OCR, as well as dealing with the day to day issues of StaffBank. Chaitanya has been dealing with the new interface file requirement for Scot nursing.

In the absence of Sreedhar, Sajayan has been handling the web issues for most of this month. Uma worked on upgrading one of the old clients “North Hampshire” from 20702c1 version to 20800q version and on some of the bug fixes. Sachin has been busy dealing with some of the bug fixes and a couple of external changes. Prathibha as usual was tied up with her dataprep work for some of the new trusts coming onboard StaffBank. Jayashree and Saraswathi have been testing some of the external changes/bug fixes for StaffBank and StaffRoster.

Arun for StaffBank

MESaLS                                                                                                                  (top)

MWSaLS team was busy for the whole month of June.

Belfast did a dry run in the first week of June and went live on 15th June. Armagh went live on 19th June. North Lanarkshire is doing a dry run now and is scheduled to go live next month.

Mesals 4.00.20 was released on June 1st. With new enhancements, Mesals 4.00.21 is scheduled to be released in the first week of July.

The entire Mesals team is busy with the enhancements.

Looking forward to July and hoping it will be a great time for the Mesals Team in our new office.

Aruj for MESaLS

pFACT                                                                                                                   (top)

Hi All,

June has been a very busy month for pFACT team as we have a major release to go in a week or two. Also a smaller release had to be dealt with in between.

The pFACT team is striving hard to finish their work so that the process of shifting to the new office will not affect their determination to meet their goal.

This month’s releases are Version 2.00.e and 1.10.i.7 in SQl, Version 2.00.d in Oracle followed by release of Sql Beta Version.

Sukanya for pFACT

Sepia                                                                                                                   (top)

This month we were busy working on Dorset enhancements. They had come up with some more issues. Also we have finished with another version of the dry database for Dorset with all the changes and clarifications we received on Torex data.

Shashi is leaving for UK on 27th Jun 06, to update the Dorset database. Dorset is going live with Ver3.08.a on 3rd Jul 06. Sepia team is working on 1st and 2nd of July, in order to migrate Torex data to Dorset database. Shashi will be there in Dorset from 3rd July to 7th July, as stand by for any problems during the first week of Go Live.

Since we were very busy this month with Dorset enhancements, we were not able to work on the database as planned. We have rescheduled this for the next month.

Sepia Data dictionary is steadily progressing.

Finally after a long gap, BbyB will be working under the same roof. The Sepia team is looking forward to work in the new office.

Devaki for Sepia

New Offeice                                                                                                         (top)

The move to the new office has been deferred by a month due to various reasons. The building is almost finished except for some finishing touches and some loose ends to be tied up. Anyway, pleasure delayed is pleasure doubled and when we move in at the end of July, we are all sure to enjoy working there that much more.


Other News                                                                                                        (top)

Farewell to Vinod

Vinod, our popular System Administrator left BbyB on June 26th to join Mainstay as Senior System Administrator. Vinod joined BbyB on December 1, 2003. In the last two and a half years, he has taken a lot of ribbing from all of us about his short-term and long-term troubleshooting solutions. Restart the machine, and if that doesn’t work, format it, was Vinod’s favourite war cry.

Vinod says that he’ll miss the great environment here and his friends and colleagues from BbyB. When pressed to talk about his memorable moments here, he told us about the time when the server was completely down and no one could access anything. It took him three days to get the server up and running finally. He also recalls with pride his installation of the VPN prior to Jayaraj’s visit to the UK.

We wish Vinod all the best.

Holiday in Scandinavia
This year, Usha and Raghu went to Scandinavia for their annual holiday. They were there for 2 weeks and have come back impressed with Scandinavia’s breathtaking beauty. Usha predicts that very soon, our Hindi film producers will be zeroing in on the fjords and lakes there as a backdrop for their song-and-dance routines. Here are some pictures from their album.

Holidays                                                                                                                 (top)

August 15, celebrated as Independence Day, will be a holiday. August 15 falls on a Tuesday.




Colleagues Cognizant                                                                                           (top)

This month, the limelight is on two prominent individuals, Sharada and Jayaraj. Sharada is our ever-smiling Office Manager, who is always ready to lend a helping hand. Jayaraj is our Project Manager and also the man behind the BbyB ISO certification. Both were very busy with the move to the new office looming ahead, but like all truly busy people, made time for others readily.

Read on as they give us a peep into the working of their minds.

Jayaraj C.N.

Jayaraj is a man of few words and when asked to describe himself said, “What I am, I am” thereby paraphrasing Popeye’s famous ditty, “I yam what I yam”. Natural enough, for Popeye has always been his favourite cartoon character. Join us in our chat with Jayaraj.

When did you join BbyB?
I joined Bit by Bit on November 2, 2000.

You are, most of the time, the first to come to the office and the last to leave. Fellow pFACTERS report that you work best at night. Can you explain your incredible energy levels?
I have always been like this. I sleep 6-7 hours a day and spend most of my time in the office.

How do you manage to wear so many hats at the same time - Programmer, Project Manager, ISO MR, New Office Project in-charge?
I just like doing different things. I welcome new responsibilities and change. I also have varied interests.

Tell us something about pFACT, its inception and its growth over the last couple of years.
Well, I wasn’t with pFACT at its inception as Guru was in charge of the project then. When Guru left, I volunteered (again, as I said, because I like taking up something new) to manage pFACT. pFACT has grown well and it has been great associating with this project. I have had good support from my team.

Colleagues tell me that you are a great motivator and inspire people to outperform themselves. Your comments, please.
Well, that’s a surprise. I take that as a compliment and feel happy that it is so.

You vibe well with….?
With all kinds of people – but I have a special affinity with the quiet types.

You are known to be a wildlife enthusiast. Do you find time to pursue your interest nowadays?
Unfortunately, no – except during the stress-busters that Shenoy arranges.

The new office at Bommasandra is now ready and we’ll be moving in on July 1. These last few weeks have seen you immersed in preparing for the move. Can you share your thoughts with us about this project?
It’s been an interesting project, maybe because it was also frustrating, annoying, exciting and challenging. Half the time, things did not go according to plan. But we are racing to meet the July 1 deadline. (Note: This interview took place before the decision to defer the move by a month – Ed.)

Interestingly, the only other time I was associated with a building project was way back when I was in Std. 7 in school. My father was building a house but was touring 25 days of the month. So I used to visit the construction site everyday. That was when I learned about applied mathematics and how to use the Pythogoras theorem to check if the walls were being built correctly.

With your long hours, the time you get to spend with your family must be very precious. How do father and daughter spend their quality time together?
Well, when she is in the mood for it, we play lots of games together. We also play chess, at which she beats me often. We sometimes go rock climbing in Cubbon Park. I believe in giving her a lot of freedom and not restraining her.

Sharada P.N.

Sharada, our office manager, is more than just that. Apart from doing the admin. work and maintaining the office records, she is also a PR person, an Event Manager, and an HR person, although she shuns all these titles. Sharada joined BbyB on December 1, 2001 and will soon be completing five years here. Join us today in our chat with Sha or Sharada.

Sharada, you are such a bundle of energy that I must ask you this first. All of us who see you going about your work, admire your fantastic energy and commitment. Can you tell us the secret?
I try to finish the work the same day that it is given. I dislike keeping it for another day. I try to keep my word. I also separate home from work and don’t carry domestic problems to the office or office problems home. I keep high standards for myself.

Describe yourself in 2-3 lines.
(laughs and shakes her head) I leave it to all of you to say who or what type of a person is Sharada.

How do you plan to grow in your career?
Careerwise, I want to be the best and at the top level in my profession. I don’t believe in the words, “I can’t” or “Impossible!”. With effort, everything is possible.

I also have lots of other plans. I’d like to retire at 45 and do social work. I plan to start and run an old age home. (Sharada is so efficient that it’ll probably be the best run old age home in the country – Ed.)

What motivates you in BbyB?
My sense of commitment and duty.

You vibe well with….?
With everyone! I consider everyone to be the same and am equally friendly with all, irrespective of their job.


What are your strong and weak points?
My strength is my excellent memory power, which is important in my job as Office Manager. My weakness is that I am prone to headaches.

You come across as a happy person. What makes you so?
When I work, I make sure that I am satisfied with the work that I have done. This leads to a state of happiness within me.

You are known for your bright smile. Comment.
(breaks into a mile wide smile) People have always known me by my smile, even as a child.

Very often, your work keeps you back in the office till late in the evening. How do you cope with these long hours?
Sometimes I get very tired but there is no option. Work comes first.

In Bangalore, you are often the face of BbyB. You interact with many people in different offices. Do you face any problems? Can you relate any interesting incident involving a client or an office you go to on work?
I haven’t faced any problems. Wherever I go, I find that people are very helpful, be it a government office or private organisation. In fact, all the people I interact with in the course of my work have become my friends.

And finally, Sharada, what are you looking forward to about working in the new office? (Note: This interview took place before the decision to defer the move by a month – Ed.)
Well, regarding the distance, I am sure we’ll all get used to it soon. But I am really worried about how to manage the work I have to do in the city (such as Bank work, etc) as it won’t be possible for me to dash out for a couple of hours as I have been doing all these years.

But I am looking forward to the new faces, (14 people will be joining BbyB in July!) and the CMMI certification process.

Weekend Jaunts                                                                                                  (top)

Hoof it up to Horsely Hills

This time, Jayashree wrote in about Horsely Hills where she and her family had spent a relaxing weekend some time back. It is probably the country’s smallest hill station as everything noteworthy there is contained either within or adjacent to a small circular road, which you could walk from point to point in a few minutes. The hills are named after the British collector of Cuddapah district W.D. Horsley, who built himself a bungalow there and thus escaped the oppressive summer heat of the plains.

Jayashree says they drove up to Horsely Hills (which at 1314 mts., is about 400 metres higher than Bangalore) and it took them 4 hours of driving time with a break for coffee thrown in. Horsely Hills is about 160 kms. away from Bangalore and is just across the Karnataka-Andhra border in Chittoor district. The last part of the drive is very pleasant as the road winds through lush groves of leafy, old trees and the tantalizing smell of eucalyptus and sampangi lingers in the air.

The best place to stay there is the nicely landscaped Ponnami Hill Resort. Jayashree writes, “We stayed at one of the rooms in Ponnami Hill Resort Governor's Bungalow, that overlooked the pool. The newer rooms added later were spacious but this bungalow had an old world charm with huge windows. The sunset was spectacular and the food was reasonably good even though we had to wait a long time for it.” The rooms are reasonably priced in a range of Rs. 500 – 1000.

In the garden, they saw a 142-year-old eucalyptus tree named Kalyani, which was believed to have been planted by Horsley, and is 35 metres tall and 4.3 metres in girth. This tree was awarded the Mahavriksha Puraskar, instituted by the ministry of environment and forests for the protection of old trees, in 1995. There is nothing much to see or do there in terms of waterfalls and boat rides, but it is an extremely relaxing place – just the place to go to when you tire of the city cacophony and smoke. Some gigantic and amazingly flat rocks are a great place to sit on and contemplate things.

The views, she reiterates, are fantastic and there are huge trees to climb and fallen ones to clamber over. The zoo is a little pathetic, like in most small towns, but it is a beautiful place to unwind in.

You can also visit the unique and beautiful Rishi Valley school campus, established by the philosopher J. Krishnamurti. It might even make you wish you were back in school.

Arun's Birthday Snaps

Raghu's Birthday Snaps