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)

Challenging challenges

As professionals, we all face many challenges as we move forward in our careers. Our employers give us projects to tackle, deadlines to meet, and objectives to achieve.

Life itself sometimes places adverse events in our paths that test us both personally and professionally, and we must deal with them as they come. Family emergencies and professional emergencies force us to adjust the delicate balance that we struggle and strive to achieve: the balance between our lives inside and outside of the workplace.

Similarly, crises for a company can take many forms. Regardless of a company's size, reputation or industry, corporate crises cause immense pressure and uncertainty for any affected company and its employees. At such times, there is a critical need for a successful managerial and operational response as well as effective communication, and like a family in which everyone does their bit, crisis-time is time for everyone to pitch in and respond in a mature manner.

Padma

Projects News

StaffBank                                                                                                               (top)

It has been a busy month for the StaffBank-StaffRoster team. Guys and St. Thomas have commenced the StaffRoster pilot. Raghu, Sreedhar and I have been busy with this version. Besides this we also worked on releasing a lightweight version of StaffRoster called StaffRoster Lite.

Raghu was also working with Deepak and Rachana, to get the Acuity system ready for a demo at Guy's and St. Thomas. While Deepak was working on the UI part of Acuity, Rachana has done the reports for it. Deepak also worked on Senior Admin Authorisation change control for NHSP and an option to modify and deleted unfilled requests from web. Rachana incorporated Audits in StaffRoster Personal Details.

Usha was busy with analysing Database merge project for NHSP and handling day-to-day issues.

Prathibha was busy with Upgrade script for Weston and Deactivation script. She was also assisting Usha in handling day-to-day issues. Omprakash has started with initial scripts for Database merge project.

Jaya and Smitha were working on change controls for Pennine Acute Trust. Dilna was working on integrating ESR functionality in StaffRoster.

Chaitanya for StaffBank

MESaLS                                                                                                                  (top)

The MESaLS Team is busy working on changes planned for inclusion in the next release.

Ram has started working on the new Requisition wizard being developed in ASP.Net with assistance from Shashi in the user interface design. Shashi was working on some changes to Mesals 3 VB version for a patch release.

The other team members are working on some major changes in V4 like Redesign of Due for Reorder functionality, An option to use Alternative Products for Delivery Requests in Waiting List, An option for making a Delivery Request for Accessories along with the main Product, etc.

The Testing team is getting the test cases ready for the changes being worked on.

I have started working on building classes for Mesals with help from Raghu and Chaitanya. These classes will be initially used in the new Requisition wizard.

On the Data Work front, things are going to get a bit hectic over next 3-4 months. As many as 8 Clients have started their preparation for going live on Mesals 4. We will be working on the dry runs and go lives of Northern Trust (Causeway merging with Ballymena), Bromley, Bradford, Norwich, Bexley, Telford, Falkirk and Middlesbrough over the next few months. That is all from us for this month. Watch out for more news on Mesals next month in this column.

Naveen for 'Team Mesals'

Sukanya for pFACT

Sepia                                                                                                                      (top)

It has been rather a sedate August as far as Sepia is concerned.  There were some enhancements to Dorset and Dudley that were completed and new versions released this month.  Hoping to have more activity in Sepia in September.

Shashidhar for Sepia

Other News                                                                                                          (top)

Smitha of the StaffBank team got engaged to Biju on 29th July at Payyanur in Kerala. Her fiance is working as a Supervisor with the Al-Hameed Group in Abu Dhabi. The marriage is slated for mid-2008. We wish her all the very best and are sure she’ll enjoy all the days ahead.

Here are a few pictures of Smitha's engagement.

Colleagues Cognizant                                                                                          (top)

This month, the Beacon spoke to Devaraj and his wife Shila, to find out more about them. In the last one year, Devaraj has taken leave only once, and on that day, he came in early, finished most of the work and left. He is quiet and unassuming and meets his deadlines day after day. A quick calculation told us that in the last year, he must have dished up more than 15,000 meals at BbyB!

FAST FACTS Joined BbyB – July 2006 / February 2007 Married on - December 8th 1995 Children’s Names - Sahana and Bhavana Love to: cook and watch TV

 Over to you, Devaraj!

Tell us about yourself, where you come from, etc.
My home town is Shira in Tumkur district and my wife is from Bangalore. We stay near Jigani in a rented house.

We have two daughters – Sahana is studying in 6^th standard and Bhavana in 1^st standard. They go to Tapovan School which is near Koppa gate.

We have studied only upto SSLC.

Can you tell us about your work?
I come to office by 8:00 in the morning and my wife comes at 9:30. We get all the required items from the store and start our work. Vegetables and other perishable items are brought from Jigani. Then we start cleaning and cutting vegetables and grind and prepare masalas for the curry and sambar. We finish cooking lunch by 11:00 and keep all the items ready to serve in hot boxes. Later we mix and keep the chapati dough ready. My wife sweeps and mops the dining hall and tables and helps me in washing the vessels and plates. By 11:45 we start preparing chapatis. After all the employees finish their lunch we have lunch with the drivers and others at around 2:15. Again we get ready to prepare tea at 2:30 and snacks at 4:00 pm. We wash all the vessels and plates and clean the dining hall once again. We go home after 6 p.m. We are very happy with our job here.

This is the first time you are working for a company. How do you like working here?
It’s very nice to work here. Everyone treats us nicely and there is no discrimination that we are cooks. We are getting a lot of support and help from the company. No one treats us rudely or in a demeaning manner.

Has life changed after you joined BByB?
Yes, definitely. When I was working with a catering company, I could earn only when there was a catering or cooking order. It was not always sufficient to manage my family. Now, after I joined BbyB, we are getting a regular monthly income which is very helpful in maintaining my family and also to pay for our children’s education. We have come up in life after joining BbyB and we feel that we are settled now.

How does it feel to have your wife working here?
I am happy to have my wife work with me because we have good understanding and can share our work. We can help in each other’s tasks and manage things well.

You cook well. Did you learn cooking from anyone or is it an inborn gift?
I knew very little cooking earlier. Then, for 3-4 years, I was working with Lakshmana Catering. There I got a lot of experience and improved.


Shila is Devaraj’s pleasantly smiling wife who helps him both at home and at work. This is her first job and she says she is very happy to be working here.

How do you like it here?
It’s very good to work here and I like the environment here.

Do you like working with your husband?
I feel happy to work with my husband. I too feel that we have good understanding which helps us in our work.

What are your plans and ambitions for your children?
I want to give a good education to my children and help them settle well in life.

How do you spend your free time?
In my free time I clean the house and watch TV. Sometimes we go out for a movie but that is very rare. I don’t have any hobbies as such. My husband likes to watch cricket and read magazines.                                                      

Birthdays                                                                                                             (top)

The Beacon wishes the gang of girls, Manu, Rachana, Sushma and Sukanya, a rocking birthday and a wonderful year full of gaiety, good news and great times.

Manu Gupta	September 1
Rachana Satish	September 8
Sushma Nayak	September 9
Sukanya	September 17

Here are a few pictures of Jayaraj's birthday celebration: