And Vijay Says…

WordPress sent me a nice little summary at the end of the year on statistics for my blog . Every year , my blog readership has increased by 100% – but from 2012 to 2013 , it only increased about 10% . Can’t say exactly why that is the case – but probably because I have exhausted friends and family who have any interest in my rants or maybe I should say something more grandiose like “at some scale, it gets harder to grow by big numbers “. Pretty sure it is the former 🙂

More important than the number of readers – I am glad that several took the time to comment on the blog and on twitter etc . That is what satisfies me more as a blogger – the conversation it drives is what makes it worthwhile .

After 4 years , I did get around to paying wordpress to make my site http://AndvijaySays.com . And the new theme with white background seems to work better for most readers compared to the black background I used before . Thanks for pushing me to do that .

These are the posts that got the most views in 2013

3 out of the top 5 were from before 2013, including the number one most read blog – my predictions for SAP consultants in 2013 that I wrote in 2012 . I stopped that series since I joined SAP since I cannot think of myself as an objective person on that topic .

Here is where the traffic came from – which again was quite predictable .

It was good to see I have readers from 132 countries – with USA, India and Germany taking top 3 ranks .

I write a lot about SAP usually – but in 2013 , I largely stayed away from SAP topics . That is my plan going forward too – Most of the best content on SAP has always come from ecosystem (Appleby, Howlett, Reed, Pazahanic and several other excellent commentators ) and not from employees . There are a few exceptions like my friends Ingo Hilgefort and Thomas Jung and few others with that kind of deep expertise . I would rather read and link to their posts than write something – unless I strongly feel like doing so .

What was very special about 2013 as a blogger was the idea of blog chains – like the one on talent where Chris Paine, Jon Reed and I wrote blogs complimenting and challenging each other’s POVs . That was a very interesting experience – something I really look forward to in 2014. The topic of “talent” definitely was popular given I had probably 10X more back channel conversations than public comments on that post .

2013 was also the year when I got really comfortable blogging on my phone . I am sure the quality of my posts might be better if I wrote it on a larger form factor – but for my level of amateur blogging , phone is plenty good . I don’t think I will get around to spell checking and proof reading my posts in 2014 either . I appreciate my readers bearing with my “lazy” style .

Last but not least – it was a good thing for me to stay away from blogging for a month in 2013, topped only by staying away from twitter for a month . It definitely helped me gain some perspective – getting away from social media is a fantastic experience . I would recommend it to everyone .

Thanks everyone for all your support in 2013 and looking forward to more of that in 2014 . Happy new year !

[All images in this post are courtesy of WordPress , taken from their summary of my blog]

Happy 2014 everyone !

I have no new year resolutions – those don’t work very well , at least for me anyway. I do have some hopes though for the new year

First – I hope the US becomes a less divided country . We should stop letting MSNBC and FOX dictate our value systems . Let’s fully involve in Church and State , but keep them away from each other . Let’s not blindly believe what “our party” stands for today – and do a bit of critical thinking on what we choose to take and what we choose to throw away . Let’s unite against violence of all forms – within and outside this country . Let’s live and let live without extreme prejudice . Let’s try and fail , and try again till we get things reasonably right .

In India – I hope AAP will change the face of politics for good . The fact that they won against Congress and BJP is excellent news in itself . India is used to a socialist governance model – and AAP has a very socialist agenda , including their plans for economy . I can only hope that they don’t go back to the subsidy and reservation culture of yesteryears . In any case – a welcome change from incumbents , and let’s hope they can scale across India . I hope the anti-gay laws in India are taken away for good . I seriously hope they just don’t kick the ball between Judiciary and Executive and Legislature . It is legislature’s job to get it right for good. I also hope India becomes safer for women in 2014 – we certainly don’t need more gang rapes . This can’t be done by government alone – this needs society to do serious introspection and go through a painful change in how women are looked up on .

Between US and India , I hope they do away with the diplomatic issues quickly . World has more important problems that need these two countries to work together . Take away “official” maid service for diplomats – if the rest of us can wash our clothes and cook our dinner , a diplomat can do that too .

On IT front – I hope companies get to a better mix of services and product development . Let’s not spend 2014 mostly on “my puppy is better/faster/cheaper than your puppy” – let our “pups” aka products and services speak for themselves . Especially for Indian IT companies , I hope 2014 will see better employee satisfaction . In general – I seriously hope I don’t see another CIO vs CMO or Business vs IT rehash. There are no new angles here and I am so incredibly bored .

I have no expectations of cloud , databases , mobile, BI etc to do something earth shattering in 2014. They will all no doubt grow in the right direction – assuming we get the hype out of the way . IT World doesn’t need another SOA type cycle , if you know what I mean .

On personal front – I hope like most parents that my daughter continues to grow up into a responsible person , and enjoy her childhood . I also wish I lost some weight . I will definitely try to spend some more time with family and take all the vacation I can . I hope my older dog Boss continues to be in good health , the 5 year old Hobo continues to be the kind hearted good that he is , and the little guy Ollie grows up to be a well socialized dog . I would like Ollie to also be a good show dog – but that is not a deal breaker . I hope I can help my wifey a little more around the house in 2014 🙂

That is it – no resolutions , just some hopes and dreams !

Have a good one folks – cheers

A big luxury during this time of the year is that I can have a siesta free of guilt . As I came down the stairs and turned right to the kitchen nook – I saw my little Golden puppy Ollie at his favorite. “Thinking spot” in the back lawn , acting as if he is figuring out the meaning of Christmas 🙂

And that set me thinking – what is the meaning of Christmas ? And then on to – does Christmas mean anything to the world of Enterprise Software ? I think it does mean something .

To me, Christmas is all about giving , exchanging and sharing . These are not the first three words that normally come to mind when we think of enterprise software world . These things , barring a handful of cases, are (at best ) after thoughts.

Enterprise software world is mostly a place where every company is out to go all the way alone . Partnerships do exist – but usually in a very tactical sense. Just like in politics – there are no permanent friends and enemies in enterprise land either . Those that partnered in the past would go at each other’s throats , and sworn enemies will make bed fellows . I readily admit that I have taken it for granted too for the most part that this is how things ought to be done.

Every vendor in enterprise space swears they will do what is good for the customer – and sadly, it generally translates to doing what THEY think is right for the customer .

This year – I have no direct sales responsibility . Otherwise , Q4 is the time when I get told repeatedly that every deal in progress needs to be made into a bigger deal . Many careers have been made and lost in this annual quest. As I look back in time – the best “deals that were made bigger” were the ones where one vendor gave up some short term business to another one (or a few others ) and went to the customer with a “deal you can’t refuse”. In the very best category are the ones where the customer is part of the deal making process throughout . Customers buy on price when the value cannot be expressed clearly and quantitatively in a way they trust . Trust is the operative word here . When customer and vendor trust each other – deals become boring and routine, and usually bigger . There is nothing I love more than routine and boring deals 🙂

No one software vendor has a portfolio to solve all requirements of a customer – yet, inexplicably it is only an absolute minority of cases where a vendor proposal includes products and services that are from someone else . That happens only when sales leaders of multiple vendors know and trust each other well , or when customers ask vendors to work together explicitly . Nether scenario is anywhere close to common .

Same is true for services . Everyone takes potshots at everyone else at the drop of the hat . Independents will say big SIs are out to get customers , who in turn will do every thing to keep independents away from projects , unless they are subcontracted through the SI itself . Product people will readily point a finger at services people – and vice versa – for every problem irrespective of merit . I have seen it from both sides – and it is exasperating , and funny too occasionally .

I have had this conversation with several software and services leaders over the years . The most common answer I get is “Power” – as in, the company with the most power (most marketing $$, best relations with customers etc) twists the situation to their sole advantage , and won’t share the “spoils”.

In my mind, nothing demonstrates true power like generosity . The ability to be generous – to give away for the greater good – is the ultimate power . This is true in the society we live in – and I strongly believe it should be true in the world of software too . The entire industry can grow by leaps and bounds if companies are a bit more generous with their products and services .

This is not to say competition should be eliminated , or that software should be open sourced all the time , or that profit making is a bad thing . Absolutely not – those are all fine and ok. My wish is only for some peaceful co-existence in the world of enterprise software .

Wouldn’t it be great if a good chunk of the vast marketing budgets of software companies are repurposed to product development , education , customer support etc ? Wouldn’t it be great to focus a little more on making ten things 90% right and resist the temptation of doing 20 things 70% right ? And how refreshing would it be to see messaging that “together we solve the world’s problems” than “my horse runs better/faster/cheaper than your donkey” ?

Will 2014 be the year when enterprise software companies get their Christmas spirit ? I will eat and drink to that .

Merry Christmas to everyone . Have a great holiday season . And more power to the ones amongst you who choose to be generous .