What catches your eye

Two years ago Microsoft released the 8^th version of its operating system Windows 8 with major changes in its operating system’s platform. When Microsoft’s first advertisement was released for windows 8, it was a simple yet powerful ad which showcased the easy accessibility to media with touch gestures. For any user both young and old this medium has been simplified with a technique called user experience and user interface. There are two key roles a user experience plays in any website, product development or application. One a complete visually appealing visuals and the other flexible user navigation.

Stanford University conducted a study with more than 2500 participants to check on factors that provide people with web user creditability. The study proved that a good visual design took 46.1% of the cake, therefore most of the users viewed a particular site based on the overall appeal of the visual design of the site, including layout topography, font size, icons organization and color schemes. However a beautiful design will not always salvage a poorly functioning website, but it does majority of the work.

Here is a brilliant example of visual design aesthetics. If you have an Apple product iPhone, iPad, Mac anything in Apple, take a careful look at the design; it has rounded rectangle edges. Now you must be wondering why rounded edges. In the year 1981 graphics genius Bill Atkinson figured out that if the OS was enabled to draw circles and ellipses and not just rectangles with sharp edges it would overcome the Mac's 6800 chip's math limitations. Steve Jobs, ‘Father of the Macintosh’ asked for rounded rectangles and Bill was out with a solution. The logic behind this was simple the shape made larger machines approachable and small ones pocketable and they are simply easy on the eyes because the sharp edges don’t poke you in the eye, besides the brain captures a smooth surface than a sharp one.

The human brain’s cognitive area utilizes the five senses to interpret a complex design. The brain does not understand complicated designs instead it breaks down the images to understandable geometric images and deciphers information from that.

Just imagine your face not having geometry, no proper placement of the eyes, nose, and mouth. What would you look like? Who would look at you? In a similar way a website is the face of a companyto the world. A website is what creates the right impression to your clients.

Let us take color scheme for example and how colors play a key role. Every individual has his personal favorite color and he tends to gravitate towards it. A skilled designer will understand the importance of elevating a color scheme based on the meaning of color in relation to the product or service. A good color choice takes careful planning. When executed perfectly, influences how a visitor interprets what they see as layout and typography.

When Windows 8 first released its appealing glossy design and in-built-to-ease feature,  caught the eye of many people and a lot of users upgraded their systems to this new product. When I first updated my system, my mother who struggled to use a PC found Windows 8 amazing. A laptop or PC which has Windows 8 installed will draw the user’s sight to the multiple play of colors on the screen. The next feature which is an appeal to anyone is the touch and drag feature. My mother always found this amazing because the navigation was super easy, she knew how to locate her favorite apps, place them according to her convince and above all the colors always invite her to stay for a much longer time. 

We have taken a look at Apple’s UI and Microsoft’s UI, let us take a look at what’s behind the front end screen functionality, in simple terms the development or coding. Microsoft uses ‘Metro’ design language and Apple uses ‘Swift’. These tools help to code and design the web page or the application from the back end making sure the usability and navigation is flexible for any individual. A user will also look at the speed, back and forth navigation and the loading time, while using a site. A person or an analyst in charge of the UI of a product will carefully look into design and technical details of the product. A well designed product is structured in the following way; a good design that catches the eye at the first glance, good content which rings bells in the ear and an easy to use hassle free product.

One has nailed a product if you are able to please an eight year old child and a 70 year old man. What are those minute things that gives a good market reach of your apple pie?

These ingredients: an attractive design with just the right play of colors and topography to keep your visitors engaged. The rule of first impression is the best impression- a well dressed website with the right set of pictures, brand identity (logo, tagline or even a royal celebrity’s face) and how well you communicate with your content. Being technically strong avoiding 404 errors and above all effect those emotions.

“A picture is worth a thousand words”. Let everyone capture an everlasting image of what they have  just observed from you site. Communicate to what the eye has to catch, make your user go “awe” over those elements on your site. This will help you build a connection with your audience.

So what is that which catches a user’s eye first? It is the way your apple pie is presented. You need to make your audience take a look at the website just as one would look at a delicious apple pie and drool, make them feel the experience of your site. 

Check out our Site: www.arowanaconsulting.com

Technologies of Arowana

We are today among the fastest growing IT companies in the region. Arowana Consulting’s global footprint  spans across the Continents of Asia, Africa and North America.

We have been able to acquire new clients and also get repeated business from our existing clients due to our ability of understanding their business and delivering products within tight deadlines, with the desired quality.

We have set high standards in development and delivery. Our well-equipped off-shore centres also excel in 24 x 7 supports.

One more reason for our success is our ability to grasp emerging technologies and provide clients with products, solutions and services that compliments their existing investments. We have a continuous process improvement program in place which complements our in-house dedicated and hands-on approach to training and personnel development.

We are well conversant will most of the technologies and have established ‘Centres of Excellence’ staffed with competent technologists that deliver these practices.

We have a ‘Gold’ status partnership with Microsoft. Today we have resources working from our off-shore development Centre and also at Client sites delivering, implementing and providing solutions

We have thriving Java practice and have developed several products and solutions for clients. Besides developing Enterprise applications we also provide supports and upgrades as the evolution of Java resources are quite fast and dynamic. To de-risk customers we offer frequent upgrades based on various flexible and beneficial engagement models.

Mobile Application Development is one of our Cenetrs of Excellence. Our CoE team conducts researches and develops applications for Mobile platforms such as iOS, Blackberry OS, Android and windows.

We have an in-house team of Functional and technical consultants that are well versed in Oracle Products and solutions. We also develop customized bolt on modules based on Oracle Technologies such as OAF and ADF.

Striving for Excellence

The term Center of Excellence (COE) has become a popular jargon in the IT stream, a way of focusing attention in many organizations. Many organizations don’t just treat this as just another ‘excellence’ fad, in fact they try to incorporate the same in their organizational structure.

A CoE can be described as a department which performs its own routine work, in addition to this work they build on improving its own expertise and knowledge resources so that in turn it can help other activity centers throughout the organization to improve.  An organization has to look at both inside and outside the organization to capture new knowledge and practices. The CoE may therefore comprise a functional or cross-functional team which sets up as a physical or virtual team. “Knowledge Management”, is a defining feature of a CoE.

Arowana’s Center of Excellence is often described as a core facility which provides leadership, fosters best practices and implements a continuous improvement process for a practice. Our vision is,“to ensure that the facility provides the best possible services in an efficient manner”, keeping up with the changing dynamics and improvements happening in the practice space- all to ensure that an Organization remains competitive. The CoE will ultimately benefit from the lesson’s learned and passed on with experience which benefits the customer.

Arowana’s Centers of Excellence are:

Oracle Practice at Arowana provides our clients with key offerings in various verticals such as Manufacturing, Retail, Airlines, and Financial Services and Insurance we are geared to deliver quality solutions with robust project management tools, and best methodologies, a team of consultants who have strong domain and process competencies. Blending our industries- leading expertise in consulting, technical implementation, training, roll outs and upgrades. Hyperion, a product of Oracle has become a vital tool for Business Analytics and MIS. Arowana has spun it off as a separate practice which covers Hyperion practice and Hyperion planning.

Cloud Computing at Arowana is just taking a simpler path to cloud solutions. Cloud computing has begun to obtain mass appeal in corporate data centers as it enables the data center to operate like the internet just through a process of enabling computing resources which are accessed and shared as a virtual resource. Arowana provides reliable, failsafe and secure cloud computing service at par with the best in the industry. The engagement modules are flexible and scalable.

Big Data Analytics are used by companies which are inundated with data every day. In order to segregate and structure data that is unorganized and large, Arowana helps these companies to structure their data, prepare easy data dashboards with the help of BI tools. Companies can then understand more about their organization and customers in a better manner.

Testing CoE of Arowana covers a comprehensive range of testing covering manuals and automated testing, including specialized services to test in emerging technology platforms. Our Testing experts will provide an objective view about the quality of the product, hence helping us deliver a quality product or service to our customers.

Training given by Arowana covers a wide area within our practices and CoE. Training is given only by our consultants and senior team members who have typically put in many man years of actual practice and so they are in a better position to impart very practical training with a ‘hands-on’ approach.

Enterprise Application Integration practice helps an organization to enable organized sharing of data and business process among connected applications or data services in an enterprise.

Application Development and Management is based on CMMI compliance development standards, helps in new product engineering, covering all services is PMLC. All of Arowana’s existing range of Products and Solutions are very specific and work across platforms and databases.

Mobile Application Development team is multi-purpose cross platform enabled well versed in all mobile application technologies. We have developed very useful tools for Stock Exchanges, retail and Hospitality Verticals in iOS, Blackberry OS, Windows and Android Technologies.

Our CoE technicians have wide experience, greater technical knowledge, specialists’ toolsand more advanced testing equipment. We diagnose a higher percentage of faults and also identify the root causes of problems. Since the company is appraised at CMMI level 3 all the product and solution deliveries run through a smooth and qualitative process. Through the process of sharing problems, information and experiences, employees learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves and the organization. Our CoE has a role in developing methods and techniques so that best practice can be disseminated.

Arowana

Our Areas of Business

The term ‘Vertical’ in business refers to a vertical market or industry. It is where businesses and marketers cater to the need of a specific group of people within an industry. Vertical Markets are those that focus on a specific niche and can be marketed to in a similar manner. An organization’s entire business can be a part of the vertical market or just an individual department such as an Airline, retail or just manufacturing.

Horizontal markets are those that focus on a broad range of customers and products that spread across industries. Arowana caters to a Horizontal market where sky is our limit with the number of products and services we will cater to according to our customer needs.

Arowana has a very good exposure in many important verticals. The Verticals we are very familiar with include Telecom, Airlines/ Aviation, Manufacturing, Real Estate and Master Developers, Government, Banking, Financial Sector & Insurance, Healthcare, Public Sector and Retail.

We have partnered with leading organizations in each segment and have implemented systems and solutions for them. We have a rich base of experience and Domain skills and therefore have an understanding of the ‘pain areas’ and challenges in these segments.

Arowana’s Bangalore based development center provides 24 x 7 supports through a team of dedicated technologists. The center is CMMI certified, well equipped and follow ITIL standards to safeguard the interests of our Customers.

We have unique products that are flexible and scalable that can be integrated with any organization’s Core systems. These products work in almost every environment and can be implemented with little or no investment in existing Hardware.

Our Business Analysts and Domain experts offer cost effective solutions that can be used to bridge gaps in the existing systems, whether it is in the ERP or any core functional system. We have cross platform development capabilities and multiple engagement models; we address your automation requirements well.

We are very Strong in Enterprise Application Integration, Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence and Cloud Computing. Our practice covers Application Development & Management with Centers of Excellence in Oracle, SAP, Training and Testing Services. We also have very good development resources in Microsoft, Java, Oracle and Mobile Application Development.

Mobility services

Just a few years ago there was still minor percentage of the usage of mobile phones as in comparison to the present age. Today Smart phones are beginning to transform the way each one of us engage in our daily lives. A stunning statistics from a United Nations report stated that “More people have access to mobile phones and internet than to clean water.”

Customer usage of phones is rapidly shifting toward increased screen time with entertainment and social media. The usage of mobile devices such as Smart phones and tablets has now become a rapid proliferation of mobile technology. A mobile device with accompanying applications has begun revolutionizing the way customers communicate and way business gets done. Not only are customers spending more time using their phones they can’t seem to put them down.

Arowana’s Mobility service has been appreciated for its portability and convenience of a quality mobile application. One can have an extensive experience with various types of applications. Every client has a different target market, budget and functionality requirements, based on these criteria’s we build a mobile strategy for our clients. 

Arowana has a focused CoE team for mobility, which builds solutions for various industry segments. The team strategizes the design, test and implementation of the right solution for the customer. A complete Mobile Application Development Services, with focus on Utility and location based services, Productivity applications, Entertainment and Games. These services span the entire mobile application development cycle from initial design and architecture, development and integration into existing systems.

Setting high standards in developing cross platform mobile applications that are light, user friendly and has intuitive interfaces, used across many verticals like Hospitality, Real Estate, Property Management, Retail and also Stock Exchanges and other Banking / Financial institutions.

Both business and consumers demand innovative and out-of-the box mobile applications that provide sophisticated user experience. The solution is delivered with better UX across various crossed platforms, retaining and enhancing the UX for an enterprise application. Every application developed by our Mobile application development team we make the technology come alive with a nice to have platform. 

Today, business treat mobile as a “must- have”, offering and have adopted a mobile-first strategy. As the time advances so does technology, that is exactly what Arowana offers quality technology delivered in your hands. Now business can be done in a smart way.

Internet of Things

With three billion people moving into the world cities in the next three decades, the world needs tall buildings and tall buildings need elevators. DR. Rory Smith, Director of Strategic Development for Americans ThyssenKrupp Elevators a leading global manufacturer speaks about maintaining over 1.5 million of these machines annually and keeping them running safely and reliably which is their job one. They wanted to better compete in their industry by offering dramatically increased uptime. So they took preventative maintenance a step further to predictive and even preemptive service. They teamed up with Microsoft and CGI to harness the internet of things. Using this technique they have raised the bar of elevator reliability to new heights that is the internet of dis-interrupt things, which is here right here, right now.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the interconnection of uniquely identifiable embedded computing-like devices within the existing Internet infrastructure. Typically, IoT is expected to offer advanced connectivity of devices, systems, and services that goes beyond machine-to-machine communications and covers a variety of protocols, domains, and applications.The interconnection of these embedded devices is expected to usher in automation in nearly all fields, while also enabling advanced applications like a Smart Grid. This is exactly what ThyssenKrupp Elevators had adopted; they joined hands with Microsoft to control the working of their elevators they connected their data and sensors to cloud. Microsoft cloud dashboards enabled them to get a real time view of key performance and power BI, so they get to know which cab needs service and when. Live data helps them to find out an issue before a breakdown happens, reducing costs for the company and for their customers.

Internet of Things can be applied in any industry no matter how big or small, for it reduces a lot of manual work load, error and is faster way of working and  managing things. Heath care and hospitals use IoT to decrease manual work of Pharmacies and nursing time.  KUKA an industry which makes 830 car bodies in day are able to produce a car body every 77 second. The Internet of Things is a game changer for the retail industry. The Internet of Things enables retailers to interact with customers in new ways, empower their employees with devices and tools to better serve their customers, and run operations more efficiently. The Internet of Things also makes it possible for brick-and-mortar retailers to have access to the kind of real-time customer information that online retailers have always had.

Kevin Ashton, "That 'Internet of Things' Thing", RFID Journal, July 22, 2009 quotes, “Today computers and, therefore, the Internet are almost wholly dependent on human beings for information. Nearly all of the roughly 50 petabytes (a petabyte is 1,024 terabytes) of data available on the Internet were first captured and created by human beings by typing, pressing a record button, taking a digital picture, or scanning a bar code. Conventional diagrams of the Internet … leave out the most numerous and important routers of all - people. The problem is, people have limited time, attention and accuracy all of which means they are not very good at capturing data about things in the real world. And that's a big deal. We're physical, and so is our environment … You can't eat bits, burn them to stay warm or put them in your gas tank. Ideas and information are important, but things matter much more. Yet today's information technology is so dependent on data originated by people that our computers know more about ideas than things. If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things using data they gathered without any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best. The Internet of Things has the potential to change the world, just as the Internet did.

The Internet of Things is not a futuristic, aspirational technology trend. It’s here today in the devices, sensors, cloud infrastructure, and data and business intelligence tools you are already using. Rather than thinking about the Internet of Things in terms of everything–such as billions of devices and sensors–focus on what matters most to you. Instead of thinking about the massive amount of data being produced, think about how one piece of data can provide value to your business.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/internet-of-things.aspx

Premiere of LIF on Doordarshan

For those who missed 'Lessons in Forgetting'..
Here is a chance to watch it for the first time on television on Doordarshan National Network at 10 pm on 19th October, 2014 (Sunday ).

Be sure not to Miss it !!!

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https://www.facebook.com/Lessonsinforgettingthefilm?ref=hl

IT on Cloud

Information Technology can roughly be defined as, “The study or use of systems (especially computers and telecommunications for storing, retrieving and sending information. There are several industries which get classified under this synonymous umbrella including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and computer services.

Human have been storing information in various forms from the time of civilization, but as time has gone by there has been advances and changes in the systems of storing energy, innovation occur at a dynamic pace. As of 2007 almost 94% of the data stored worldwide was held digitally: 52% on hard disks, 28% on optical devices and 11% on digital magnetic tape. It has been estimated that the worldwide capacity to store information on electronic devices grew from less than 3 exabytes in 1986 to 295 exabytes in 2007, doubling roughly every 3 years.

Database management systems emerged in the 1960s to address the problem of storing and retrieving large amounts of data accurately and quickly. One of the earliest such systems was IBM's Information Management System (IMS), which is still widely deployed more than 40 years later.

There is a lot of data and information that is developed and maintained on a daily basis. We live in an age of electronic and digital world. Traditional business applications have always been very complicated and expensive. The amount and variety of hardware and software required to run them are daunting. You need a whole team of experts to install, configure, test, run, secure, and update them.

Business applications are moving to the cloud. It’s not just a fad—the shift from traditional software models to the Internet has steadily gained momentum over the last 10 years. In the next decade of cloud computing promises new ways to collaborate everywhere, through mobile devices.

Cloud computing is just a shift from traditional computing that gives businesses on-demand access to a variety of software and services while giving IT a shared pool of configurable computing resources at the platform, infrastructure and application layers. When done right, cloud computing helps businesses do more, faster by letting them tap into the power of massive datacenters and IT services without having to build, manage or maintain them.

Cloud computing lets IT offload complexity and burden, letting an organization focus on addressing the growing demand for new applications, new devices and new solutions for the resulting data explosion. In this fast-paced world of more devices, more apps and more data, IT is more challenging and exciting than ever. IT can answer this call for “more, faster” with cloud computing – so with cloud an organization can deliver new projects and products, manage more devices easily, crunch more data quickly, and spin up developments and test environments faster.

The latest innovations in cloud computing are making our business applications even more mobile and collaborative, similar to popular consumer apps like Facebook and Twitter. As consumers, we now expect that the information we care about will be pushed to us in real time, and business applications in the cloud are heading in that direction as well.

The cloud applications we're seeing at the moment really are the tip of the iceberg and, as the technology matures further, who knows how we may be using the cloud in even a year from now. Technologies and concepts such as the internet of things and smart cities are growing ever closer to becoming the norm as organizations begin to realize that the cloud can do so much more than simply speed up or reduce the cost of their IT - it can totally transform it.

References: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/server-cloud/solutions/cloud-computing.aspx#fbid%3DN_egY4rrbc5

http://www.salesforce.com/in/cloudcomputing/

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/sep/24/cloud-computing-changing-world-healthcare

Oracle Practice

Today, enterprises operate in a dynamic business environment with an increasingly complex technology landscape. A comprehensive application suite that seamlessly integrates operations and provides value is required to address the challenges posed by disparate enterprise applications.

Businesses across industries are changing rapidly to address new challenges and capitalize on previously unseen business opportunities for business innovations and expansion. Emerging technology are reshaping business processes across industries profoundly. This demands that IT offers more flexible, agile and intelligent solutions to drive innovation and productivity of business processes.

Oracle Fusion Applications is the next generation application suite from Oracle, which is designed and developed on Oracle Middleware. It includes best of- breed functionality from existing oracle product lines.

Arowana has made significant investments in Oracle Fusion Applications to incorporate the best practices that oracle has shared with the company. Oracle Fusion Application Architecture enabled Companies to innovate, build on existing investments and seamlessly integrate with multi-platform systems to maximize their Returns on Investment (ROI) and also adopt easily to new disruptive and emerging technologies.

Arowana is a Gold partner of Oracle. Therefore uniquely positioned to enable Organizations to be early adapters and surmount the initial challenges and reap the benefits.

The company has experience in Oracle Fusion Middleware technologies can help Organizations in continuous development and support. With the engagement of other Organizations in Consultation and familiarization programs Arowana is enabled to leverage the Fusion applications with appropriate tools, accelerators, development methodologies and fusion framework.

From Fry to Fish- Growth of Arowana

Photo Credits: http://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/

There was once an Arowana swimming in the room of our Board of Directors. A sleek and slim fish which waded around in its tank as the men tried to find a suitable name for the company they were going to lay foundation to. That is when one person came up with the name “Arowana”. The fish is known to have several versatile characteristics one of them is adaptability.

Today, opportunities in the IT sector have linked with the advances in the sector. Bangalore being an IT hub has created a lot of opportunities for startup as well as well-established companies.  Amidst all these companies in Bangalore, Arowana Consulting Limited has set up its own establishment as a fast growing IT company.

As a partner proved to deliver solutions with quality, Arowana enables clients in Gulf Council Countries, USA and Africa to outperform competition and stay ahead with the curve of innovation and success. Enterprises who seek our help to transform and thrive, in a dynamic world through our Centers of Excellence, innovative products and co-creation of solutions.

In the year 1999, Managing Director Prince Thampi partnered with Macrosoft Systems in Muscat. The company provided implementation services for ERP applications and other IT services. They believed and worked on the principle of implementing innovative ideas that help us deliver quality products and solutions to our clients. 5 years later, in the year 2006 Arowana was established as an independent company, backed with experience and definite performance, making a leap into large ventures.

Over the past years Arowana has seen tremendous growth in the expansion of its empire. With 7 branches, 200 plus employees and 45 clients, Arowana has in fact grown from a small fry to a large fish.  An Arowana never stops evolving and finding its course through streams.

Arowana Consulting Limited has been appraised in; Customized Software Application Development Projects has been appraised at Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development or CMMI-DEV(r) - Maturity Level 3.

CMMI is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance.

An appraisal at maturity level 3 indicates that the organization is performing at a "defined" level. At this level, processes are well characterized and understood, and are described in standards, procedures, tools and methods. The organization's set of standard processes, which is the basis for maturity level 3, is established and improved over time.

Arowana’s Bangalore office concentrates on Application and development of products and solutions including Microsoft practice, Oracle Fusion Technologies, Mobile Application Development and Java Development Practice. The off shore is equipped to provide support to all products and solutions, implemented and developed by us. Added to these we also provide consultancy, solutions and services in emerging technologies such as Oracle-e-Biz suite, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, Hyperion, Training services, testing services and SAS.

At Arowana we understand the importance of business relationships as well as employee engagement. We nurture a culture of unwavering ethics and mutual respect, our environment is lively to work in, this builds good productivity hence satisfying our clients.

The journey that an Arowana is generally alone, but we as Arowanites take is that of shoal work, the most important secret of building a skyscraper. Taking up challenges in various Industries and verticals and delivering with quality.