IT Speaks: A Brief Interaction with the IT Services Industry

116 Pages·2016·1.53 MB·English

by  Robins Anup

I.T.
SPEAKS
A Brief Interaction with the IT Services Industry
ANUP ROBINS, KUMAR VIVEK, SHIVA KUMAR
Notion Press Old No. 38, New No. 6
McNichols Road, Chetpet Chennai - 600 031
First Published by Notion Press 2016
Copyright © Anup Robins, Kumar Vivek, Shiva Kumar 2016
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 978-93-5206-737-4
This book has been published in good faith that the work of the author is
original. All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free. However,
the author and the publisher disclaim the responsibility.
No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Dedication
Anup Robins–Dedicated to my wife, without whose care and affection, this
would not have been possible
Kumar Vivek–Dedicated to the pioneers of the IT Service Industry
Shiva Kumar–Dedicated to my parents
Contents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Preface

1. ITSI - My Story
2. The Interview
3. What Lies Inside
4. It’s All Business
5. The Life of a Software
6. Ready Steady Go…
7. Testing Times
8. Call for Support…
9. Where there is a Problem, there is a Consultant
10. The Yearly Report Card
11. Career is a Web, not a Ladder

It All Adds Up
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following people without whom this book would not
have been possible: Reviewers
1. Ranjan Arora, Senior Project Manager, Infosys
2. Dibya Bhadra, Consultant, TCS
3. Arockiaraj Chinnappan, Group Project Manager, Infosys
4. Subroto Mallick, Senior Project Manager, CTS
5. Anuja Shrivastava, Project Lead, RBS
6. Vipin Kallayil, Senior Project Manager, Infosys
7. Satish Gopalakrishnan, Project Manager, Infosys
In addition, we have received valuable inputs from–Ramkumar Akilen,
Delivery Manager, Infosys; Krishnakumar C, Group Project Manager, Infosys;
Shouvik Chandak, Project Manager, CTS; Feroz Abdul Wahab, Technology
Architect, Infosys; Shivakumar Hiremath, Technology Lead, Infosys.
We would also like to thank Sunil S, Saravanan Thirunavakarasu, Mayank
Sharma, Vaibhav Kelkar, Vipin Gopan, Abhay George and Ayan Bhatnagar
from Infosys for their insights.
Preface
“IT Speaks!” intends to be a window to the world of IT Services. It covers all
the major aspects of IT Services Companies and the way they do business. The
various career options for beginners within the IT industry are also covered. It
also gives a fair view to the reader of what to expect when he or she begins a
career in an IT Company, and what are the expectations from him or her. The
aim of the book is to plug the gap between the classroom and the production
floor.
This is not a technical text book and does not intend to be one. For one, it does
not dwell on theories and gives an ‘as–is’ view of the work which happens
within an IT Services Company. Secondly, and more importantly, this book tries
to present the processes and practices of the IT industry in the simplest form
possible. It avoids complex business and technical jargon as far as possible. The
numerous examples given in each chapter help in an effective understanding of
the topics covered.
The authors have made a sincere effort that the content can be understood and
enjoyed by anybody who is interested in Indian IT Service Industry, and not just
IT professionals.
Contents
This book has a total of eleven chapters. The first four chapters cover the history
and landscape of the Indian IT industry, the structure of a typical IT Services
Company, and how IT Companies get business (IT Sales). The next five chapters
take the reader to the floor of a typical IT behemoth and explore the various
services provided by it. In this part, it covers the practical Software Development
Lifecycle (chapter 5), Software Testing (chapter 7), Support and Maintenance
(chapter 8) and IT Consulting (chapter 9).Effort has been taken to emphasize on
the importance of each service and, thus, dispel common myths and concerns.
The last two chapters cover the appraisal system, and the career options in the IT
industry which a professional can look forward to.
The chapters are in the form of conversations between people in different
situations trying to figure out a method in the madness. The authors have
consciously chosen this format to make the book simple, as well as interesting,
to the target audience.
Who will benefit from this book?
Aspiring College Students: This book will help the college students get an
insight on what their work and career would look like once they join the IT
industry.
IT professionals: It is often observed that IT professionals overlook the big
picture for short term gains, and make career choices which are sub-optimal.
This book will help them with valuable insights on the different facets of the
IT Service Industry. This will help them plan early, and ultimately build a
satisfying career in the IT industry. This book will also clear a number of
myths which IT professionals have and increase their overall level of maturity
and understanding of this industry.
Industry: This book will help the industry as a whole in more than one way.
• It is a well-known fact that attrition at lower levels is a big cause of concern
for IT Services Companies. A major reason for the same is that employees
in IT companies are rarely aware or thinking about career planning at the
beginning of their professional life. This book intends to be of help to them
in this area.
• Typically it takes quite some time to get a fresh trainee up and running
within a project. This is due to the fact that trainees are not aware of the
key stakeholders, hierarchy, processes and the best practices within the
company and the project. They are also not aware of the expectations from
them. This book intends to save the time and efforts put in by Managers to
make their resources productive, as they will have a better understanding
of the work and expectations through this book.
The book tries to present a general view across the industry and avoids any
specific reference to any company.
The authors wish to express their gratitude to everyone who has helped them
in this endeavor.
Hello readers,
So here we begin. This chapter is the first step in understanding me. It gives a
view of what the various offerings of IT Companies are. This is a short but
interesting chapter, so happy reading!
Regards,
ITSI