R and V ticket sales rush crashes system

 

Here is another site which crashed due to live load due to huge demand.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

AN unexpected high demand for tickets to Gisborne’s New Year festival Rhythm and Vines was behind a ticket website crash yesterday.
People had money taken from their accounts and did not receive tickets when earlybird sales for the three-day event began yesterday through the Rhythm and Vines website.
Frustrated ticket buyers took to social media to vent their frustration, with several angry comments left on the festival’s website.
The Manawatu Standard reported Rhythm and Vines sales and marketing manager Peter Hall saying the “regrettable” situation was caused by a massive underestimation of demand.
Last year during presales about 4000 tickets were sold but demand yesterday had been double that, he said.
An initial error in the new ticketing system meant the site had to be shut down soon after tickets went on sale. When it was relaunched about 4000 people were trying to access the site at the same time, which overloaded the server.
The demand meant that when some people paid, their credit card details were verified at a secure third-party site but the verification was not sent back to the Rhythm and Vines site.
Mr Hall assured ticket buyers that they would receive their ticket confirmation soon and the customer service team was working through every payment manually to confirm them.
Festival director Hamish Pinkham said he was sorry about then technical issues.
“The system was fully functional by end of the day. We appreciate the huge interest in attending what is going to be a memorable 10 year celebration this year.”

TCS wins the "People's Choice" award from the US National Science Foundation

 

Here is another press release regarding the TCS wining the people choice award.Feels good about Tata Consultancy Services.

Below is extract from press,

"Velu the Welder", an interactive game to teach welding, wins the People's Choice award at the International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge

MUMBAI, India, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A team of associates from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (bse:532540)(nse:TCS), the leading IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, have won the "People's Choice" award at the ninth International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge with their interactive game called: Velu the Welder. The international challenge was jointly organised by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), publisher of the journal Science, to celebrate the grand tradition of visualization, specifically for communicating science, engineering, and technology for education and journalistic purposes.

The TCS team developed an interactive game called "Velu the Welder" for personal computers and popular gaming consoles to help school drop-outs in India develop a highly marketable trade skill.

The 2011 Challenge received over 200 entries from 33 countries in five categories, which were evaluated based on visual impact, effective communication of a scientific idea, and overall originality. Visualizations with the most votes from the public received the People's Choice award. This year for the first time participants were permitted to submit entries online, while the public was allowed to vote for its favourite images as "People's Choice" winners.

The awards criteria was also based on the visual impact, originality and clarity. The entries weren't just limited to photographs. Contest categories also included illustrations, informational graphics, videos and even interactive video games.

Ajoy Mukherjee, Executive Vice President and Head, Global Human Resources said, "The advancement of information technology tools combined with visualization and innovation enhances the effectiveness of learning especially in the area of vocational training." He added, "At TCS we try to foster a culture of innovation, create space and opportunities where individuals are able to bring fruition to their thoughts and ideas. The award winning interactive game "Velu the Welder," is one such example where TCSers have combined the power of visualization and technology to bring about an innovative learning method."

Selection: A committee of members from Science and NSF screened the entries and, in a new departure this year, the selected finalists were posted on NSF's Web site and visitors were invited to vote for their top choice in each category. A total of 3200 votes came in; entries that received the most votes were named the "People's Choice." Independently, an outside panel of experts in scientific visualization reviewed the finalists and selected the winners.

Note on "Velu the Welder":

Welding is a method used for binding metal or nonmetal structures. In this game an apprentice, who goes by the name Velu, gets basic training in the art of welding. The game is designed to expose a person to basic skill sets aimed at getting acquainted with the craft of welding. Developed as a technology demonstrator for the National Skills Development Initiative of India, this game could be used to train millions of apprentices in a cost effective way. The objective of the game is to introduce the apprentice to two types of welding -- gas and arc, and is designed to have five tasks. In the first two tasks he learns hand coordination and movement using gas welding. In the remaining sets he is exposed to arc welding to join four metal pieces together to build a frame. The game is best played using a Nintendo Wii Remote which mimics the actual welding gun. The console's motion-sensing controller makes players feel like they're holding a real welding torch.

Learning to weld takes patience and nimble fingers. Some time spent on a Wii gaming console might not hurt, either. In this interactive challenge, the brainchild of developers at Tata Consultancy Services in Chennai, India, players step into a virtual apprentice workshop. They follow in the footsteps of Velu, a young Indian man getting a crash course in welding. The aim is to provide marketable skills to school dropouts in India.

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model(TM), recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata Group, India's largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 238,500 of the world's best trained consultants in 42 countries. The Company generated consolidated revenues of US $10.17 billion for year ended 31 March, 2012 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com

TCS recognized as "Big Four" IT Services brand

 

Its good to know that Tata consultancy Services is recognized among top 5 IT services brand.Being from India, I am aware of the depth and breadth of the expertise TCS has accumulated over the years of working with global companies.I think they truly deserve it to be on top 5 list.

Below is extract from media,

- Ranked the #4 most valuable brand in global IT services.
- First emerging markets headquartered firm to enter the top of the league
- Brand value stands at US$ 4,068 million in 2012, up from US$ 3,718 million in 2011

MUMBAI, India, May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization, announced, today, that it has been named the 4th most valuable IT services brand worldwide by Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation firm. Brand Finance assesses the dollar value of the reputation, image and intellectual property of the world's leading companies. Brand Finance's brand valuations are frequently peer-reviewed by top audit practices, accepted by various regulatory bodies and used by leading global brands as a performance benchmark.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120507/LA01945)

N. Chandrasekaran, CEO & Managing Director of TCS said: "We are extremely pleased with this ranking as it confirms the rapid evolution and recognition of our brand at a global level. In line with the symbolic crossing of the US$ 10 billion revenue mark this year and the global top four position TCS now holds in terms of market capitalization, net income and employees, this achievement on the brand front is a watershed moment in our company's evolution towards a top position in its industry globally."

Through its work with clients, TCS has developed a strong reputation in the IT Services market for reliably delivering business results, providing leadership to drive transformation and partnering for client success. The company has been investing heavily to build up its brand presence worldwide through a full range of activities, which include an award winning global Public Relations programme, major sports sponsorships and a wide range of corporate social responsibility activities. The company's significant portfolio of sports partnerships over the past 5 years have cut across Formula 1 racing, Pro-cycling, Cricket and Running; while its community initiatives have ranged from health and wellness to youth education and environment conservation initiatives.

"The value of the TCS brand has increased rapidly over the past 3 years. Our 2012 rankings marks the first time an emerging markets headquartered firm has entered the top league in IT services," said David Haigh, CEO and founder of Brand Finance. "With a strong brand strategy and a refined sponsorship portfolio TCS has been able to improve both brand awareness and its profile globally. TCS' impressive brand value has gone from strength to strength; firmly establishing the company in the same league as the top western IT services firms - making them sit up and take note."

The world's foremost expert on the strategic practice of marketing - S. C. Johnson and Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Philip Kotler said: "Unreported on most balance sheets, Brand value and reputation yet remain the most important assets for a company in today's hyper-competitive globalized marketplace. In this Marketing 3.0 world, successful modern brands need to reach out not only to the hearts and minds but also the spirits of their target audience. TCS is clearly a company that is getting this right, reflected in significant gains to its brand equity, value and reputation."

2012 Brand Finance Ranking – IT Services – The "Big Four" (Top 4 ranked companies)

Source: http://brandirectory.com/brands/industry_group/IT_Services

Tata to open 300-person office

 

TCS to open a 300 person office in Minneapolis US.

Tata Consultancy Services will open a 300-person office in Bloomington this summer.

The India-based company recently signed a 50,000-square-foot lease at the 8300 Tower in the Normandale Lake Office Park, saidConnie Grady, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq who represented Tata in the lease deal.

Officials at Tata declined to comment on the new office until it officially opens in late summer.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an IT services and consulting firm. It’s part of the Tata Group, one of India’s largest industrial conglomerates.

TCS has more than 238,000 consultants in 42 countries.

Its good to know that TCS is opening a new office in US.

Genworth Names Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) Strategic Supplier Of The Year

 

Another press release which shows that lot many clients has deep faith in TCS,

RICHMOND, Va., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) today announced that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) is the recipient of its 2011 Strategic Supplier Partnership Initiative (SSPI) award.  The award recognizes key suppliers that show commitment to embodying Genworth values and demonstrating innovation, continuous improvement and cost performance.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120515/PH07429)

TCS is a leading IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization and one of the top 10 technology firms in the world. TCS provides Genworth a broad range of application development and 24×7 technical support services across key administration platforms globally.  TCS also provides strategic thought leadership across many key business and technology initiatives by leveraging its deep Insurance domain expertise and its investments into new and innovative technologies. TCS is one of Genworth’s largest services providers and recently celebrated 15 years of partnering together.

“TCS has earned an enterprise-wide reputation from Genworth for delivering technology services and solutions that drive business value and results. We applaud TCS for having consistently demonstrated thought leadership and agility in meeting Genworth’s strategic priorities from consulting on retail care coordination applications to helping support our formulation of a Global Mortgage Insurance IT support strategy” says Lance Davis, Genworth Senior Vice President, Finance Shared Services.

“Receiving Genworth’s Strategic Supplier award is an honor and tribute to the quality of work we do for them,” said Suresh Muthuswami, President, Insurance and Healthcare Group at TCS.   “This award is a testament to the strength of our 15+ year relationship with Genworth across the globe, and to our commitment to delivering strategic and innovative services to help our Insurance clients operate their business with greater efficiency and agility.”

“The partnership between TCS and Genworth has excelled because of the shared values and strength of purpose that our two companies have. The dedication and hard work of our teams, our innovative solutions and our global reach has enabled us to deliver on our promise of Experience Certainty,” said Srikant Venkatesh, Client Partner, TCS-Genworth.  

The finalists for the SSPI award were SIRVA Relocation, IBM Corporation, and Marsh & McLennan Companies subsidiaries, Marsh and Mercer.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) is a leading Fortune 500 insurance holding company dedicated to helping people secure their financial lives, families and futures.  Genworth has leadership positions in offerings that assist consumers in protecting themselves, investing for the future and planning for retirement — including life insurance, long term care insurance, financial protection coverages, and independent advisor-based wealth management — and mortgage insurance that helps consumers achieve home ownership while assisting lenders in managing their risk and capital.

Genworth has approximately 6,400 employees and operates through three divisions: Insurance and Wealth Management, which includes U.S. Life Insurance, Wealth Management and International Protection segments; Global Mortgage Insurance, which includes U.S. and International Mortgage Insurance segments; and the Corporate and Runoff division. Its products and services are offered through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors and sales specialists. Genworth Financial, Inc., which traces its roots back to 1871, became a public company in 2004 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. For more information, visit genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth Financial, Inc. releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found under the “Investors” section of genworth.com

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 238,500 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 42 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $10.17 billion for year ended March 31, 2012 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at http://www.tcs.com.

Spotless and TCS announce SAP Go-Live

 

Here is another press release from TCS and Spotless for successfully implementing the various SAP Modules,

Mumbai, May 15, 2012: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading IT services, consulting, and business solutions firm announced today that the Spotless Group, an international services company specializing in outsourced facility management, has gone live with the first phase of its SAP transformation program.

Spotless selected SAP business management software to assist with its business and IT platform transformation program. To date, the project’s scope of work has covered SAP Finance, Procurement, Service Asset Management, Sales and Distribution, Portal, Process Integration, Reporting and Human Resources. TCS is providing Spotless with SAP-focused implementation expertise, consulting and ongoing support for the SAP solution.

Spotless Cleaning Services and corporate divisions are the first operations benefitting from the IT platform transformation, which has been designed to improve business agility as well as deliver net financial benefits in the medium-term and beyond.

Josef Farnik, Spotless Managing Director and CEO, said the SAP solution is expected to streamline Spotless’ business operations as well as enhance information sharing and business administration efficiencies. Josef Farnik said, “The Spotless business and IT transformation project has been designed to standardize core business processes across the organization enabled by a common technology platform, thereby unlocking substantial recurring financial benefits. Other benefits include centralizing the management of client and supplier data. To date, the Spotless implementation team has conducted over 10,000 tests and migrated 125,000 data fields into SAP.”

The next implementation will go live in 2013. This will involve moving other core Spotless businesses - Managed Services, Laundry Services and Food Services - across to the SAP platform.

Deborah Hadwen, Chief Executive Officer, Tata Consultancy Services – Australia and New Zealand, said, “TCS has extensive implementation experience with SAP technology and is one of the largest providers of SAP services in Australia. Our strong global alliance relationship and delivery model allows us to provide global experience locally to ensure delivery quality to clients, as we have with Spotless. We have been delighted to assist Spotless with this major technology transformation program.”

About Spotless
Spotless is a leading international services company comprised of two distinct business operations, Facility Services and Retailer Services. Spotless Facility Services supplies single, multi and integrated facilities management, asset maintenance, catering, cleaning and laundry services across a broad range of industry sectors. Spotless employs approximately 40,000 people, supplemented by a network of skilled sub-contractors to deliver over 125 Facility Services. For more information, visit us at www.spotless.com.

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 238,500 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 42 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $10.17 billion for year ended March 31, 2012 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.

TCS to manage Lakshmi Vilas Bank's back-office operations

 

Another order which goes to TCS,

CHENNAI, MAY 16: 

Tata Consultancy Service will centralize the entire back-office operations and document management system at Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

This will facilitate centralizing processes such as account opening, know your customer compliance, loans and advances, trade finance and ATM card management, says a press release issued by the bank.

The agreement signed between the bank and TCS will enable all the branches of the bank to collect applications or request forms from customers and forward them to the Central Processing Cell for processing. The cell will be responsible for all centralized business processes and data Centre will provide and maintain IT-related services such as servers, data storage and network.

The entire process will be implemented in two phases, the release says

NASDAQ fines Morgan Stanley over coding error in trading software

 

Here is another case,where a positive testing results could at times leads to penalty.It’s a classic case where in program submits a very large number of orders probably due to the some looping condition often implemented in the codes(Again this is my guess).I have seen this issue in some of program which I wrote.Rather than inserting one row of data I inserted around 3 rows of data and which in all resulted in 6 rows of data in front end.All these types of errors are very hard to identify because they disguise themselves as regular requirement.Only people with deep expertise in the domain and with strong technical skillsets can identify where the issue lies.I often say in software world, one error can have many causes and they have all related closely to each other.

Below is media extract for coding error,

Morgan Stanley International has been fined APS35,000 by NASDAQ OMX Stockholm after a coding error in its algorithm software caused unusual volatility in the market on 30th November last year.

The glitch resulted in Morgan Stanley accidentally submitting a large number of orders and executed a very large number of trades in a group of Stockholm listed shares, which caused the volatility.

NASDAQ immediately spotted the unusual trading pattern, but was unable to contact the Morgan Stanley trader responsible for submitting the orders, which resulted in a breach of the Exchange's Nordic Member Rules.

The rules state that members conducting direct market access trading should ensure that they can be contacted at any time during trading hours.

NASDAQ also noted that although Morgan Stanley's internal systems and controls enabled them to detect and independently terminate the trading, it felt that the incident itself highlighted that the firm did not have technical and administrative arrangements implemented to stop it from happening in the first place.

Cognizant tops KPMG's client satisfaction rankings in the Nordics

 

One of the criteria often used the IT Services companies to measure the performance or real growth of its accounts is client satisfaction index.Delivery teams of the IT Companies always ensure that their client satisfaction score always remains high and they go to any extent to keep the client happy.I have seen this very often in IT World.These scores means a lot.

Its good to know that Cognizant has topped the KPMG’s client satisfaction ranking in Nordics region. I am sure now this award from KPMG will help Cognizant to grow the business in Nordics Region.

Below is extract from the link,

Cognizant secures high scores on all major performance indicators.

Cognizant tops KPMG's client satisfaction rankings in the Nordics

STOCKHOLM -- Cognizant , a provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services, announced that it has topped the customer satisfaction and recommendation rankings in the four-country region (Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden) in KPMG's Outsourcing 2012 study of service provider performance in the Nordic region.

While Cognizant topped the general satisfaction ranking with a score of 80 percent (significantly above the average industry satisfaction rate of 68 percent) and client recommendation ranking with a like score of 80 percent (significantly above the average client recommendation rate of 67 percent), notably, all Cognizant clients among those surveyed were satisfied with its services. Further, the company secured high scores on all major performance indicators, including customer satisfaction, recommendation, relationship management, innovation, service quality, price, flexibility, transition, and governance. This independent study evaluated 28 global and local service providers based on an assessment of more than 900 unique client-provider relationships. As part of the study, CFOs, CIOs or their direct reports at over 340 of the top IT spending organisations in the region were interviewed.

"We are proud to have topped KPMG's overall customer satisfaction rankings across the Nordics region in a very short period of time since we began our operations here," said Jayajyoti Sengupta, Cognizant's Country Manager for the Nordics. "This recognition validates the significant investments we have made in bringing our industry-leading, client-focused processes to the Nordics. Our high-touch relationship model, deep domain expertise and consulting skills, unique reinvestment philosophy, and our ability to build strong multicultural teams around the globe have helped our customers navigate structural changes in the economy and their industries, enabling them to stay efficient, effective, and innovative. As a result, we have become one of the fastest growing companies in the region, while maintaining the highest client satisfaction and recommendation levels in our industry."

"Cognizant received excellent feedback from their clients and high scores for all key performance indicators," said Carl-Henrik Hallstrom, Head of Business Effectiveness and People and Change at KPMG. "Cognizant also had not one dissatisfied client, which makes the company the top performer among the top 28 global, regional, and local IT outsourcing service providers that we evaluated."

Complaints website crashes on first day of exams

 

Here is another example of website crashing on the first day of its going live.Again its almost the same case that either performance testing was not done or it was done assuming perfect requirements in terms of number of users, time they spend on the site etc etc.

Below is extract from the media,

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Over 10,000 complaints were received by the school pupils' union LAKS on Monday, the first day of final exams, causing the website to crash.

Most of the complaints came from pre-university (vwo) and pre-college (havo) students. Vwo students said the summary in the Dutch exam was too difficult and some havo students took four hours to complete their art exam because the computers were too slow.

This year there were also complaints about the use of a film in which Lady Gaga was shown with her legs wide apart. This was offensive, said the complainants.

Nearly 207,000 final year pupils are taking school leaving exams over the next two weeks. The LAKS hotline has become a traditional part of the exam process.

© DutchNews.nl

Day 1 of filling forms for Mhada flats marred by website crash

Below is the interesting website crash due to lot many people turning up to book the flat in Maharashtra Housing and Area development Authority.I call this interesting crash because this reminds me of the days when Government officials/Bank officials use to think that if the person makes the request via web channels or via internet then probably he is very rich and well to do financially so he cannot claim the subsidized government benefits.Mhada flats are highly subsidized flats,so this crash is bit surprising to me that government is accepting application via online channels.

At the time of writing this post, site was still not accessible and I feel site will be down no matter how many times, its brought up.Its just that this there is just too much demand for flats specially when they are built by Mhada and sold at subsidized rate.

Below is media release for this crash,

 

Day 1 of filling forms for Mhada flats marred by website crash

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, May 04, 2012

Email to Author

First Published: 01:57 IST(4/5/2012)
Last Updated: 01:58 IST(4/5/2012)

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The first day of filling online application forms for low-cost Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) houses was nearly lost as a technical glitch prevented prospective buyers from accessing the website.
Homebuyers eager to apply for the 2,593 low-cost flats

were unable to access the website, https://lottery.mhada.gov.in, for hours on Thursday.

“It is disgusting that a premier agency like Mhada cannot beef up its website and we have to waste time in this process,” said Pritam Sharma, a media professional who wants to apply for a house at Mira Road.

Ragini Dave, who went to a cybercafe to log in, was also disappointed.

“If this is the case at the very first step, I dread to think of the various difficulties I would encounter if I do win a flat,” said Dave.

Mhada, however, has defended itself.

“Since it is the first day of applying, there is a lot of rush and the website may have not been able to take such a huge load,” said Vaishali Wagh, public relations officer, Mhada. She said situation would ease in the coming days.

With real estate rates reaching exorbitant levels, Mhada houses are in demand as they cost less than half of that charged by private builders.

This can be gauged from the fact that 12,216 houses put for sale in the last four years attracted more than nine lakh applicants.

To eliminate errors in filling of application forms experienced during the process in the previous lotteries, it was decided two years back to compulsorily ensure online filling.

However, a senior Mhada official said that the IT team has not been able to take corrective action in this regard.

“The webpage did not open and such excuses are simply not accepted,” said the official.

“It spoils the name of the organisation and some action should be have been taken to avoid such embarrassing situations,” he added.