Cloud Adoption Lower Than Expected world wide due Global Recession

Gartner's latest Hype Cycle, which assesses more than 1,900 technologies' maturity in the market, has branded cloud computing as being on the path to disillusionment.

Gartner's latest Hype Cycle, which assesses more than 1,900 technologies' maturity in the market, has branded cloud computing as being on the path to disillusionment.
Released annually, the analyst group's Hype Cycle aims to provide industry watchers and players with a clear assessment on how technology is being used, but also what to expect from upcoming technology trends.

The report reads: "Cloud computing is still a visible and hyped term, but, at this point, it has clearly passed the Peak of Inflated Expectations [a point on the curve]. There are signs of fatigue and signs of disillusionment (e.g. highly visible failures)."
Computerworld UK spoke to Hung LeHong, research VP at Gartner, who said that cloud is not seeing the uptake that the industry expected.
"I think cloud computing is moving slower than what everyone thought it would. Everybody has been talking about cloud for so long, but it's not moving very quickly along the curve and is heading towards disillusionment," he said.
Gartner's report also identified a number of 'tipping point' technologies this year, which are considered to be on the verge of maturing, but are not quite yet delivering the benefits to enterprises and consumers.
HTML5, machine-to-machine and in-memory databases are amongst the technologies on the list, but LeHong identifies payments and big data as the two that are particularly interesting.
"We put quite a big focus on payments first of all, which includes Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. These are just coming off the peak of the Hype Curve," said LeHong.
NFC allows consumers to pay for goods by tapping their cards on payment terminals in store, but there has been difficulty in establishing widespread adoption due to the differing interests of so many stakeholders.
"This is one of the tipping point technologies that I would pay close attention to - it has the potential to impact customers quite broadly. There is a lot of noise about it at the moment, but it is heading towards a period of disillusionment," he said.
"The promise of it is huge, but so is the challenge, hence why it opens itself up to negative hype. But we believe that this is just one of the stages technology goes through, industry, consumers and the world will soon understand what is possible from NFC."
LeHong also touts the benefits of big data, but more specifically, complex event processing.
"Another thing that's quite interesting is the whole big data and analytics side. It is quite hyped up right now, but the promise is there. Companies are able to process information that they were not able to do before - unstructured information - but it's also about the speed at which they can do this," he said.
"For example, take pricing. In the past if you wanted to maximise your margins as a retailer, or maximise your unit sales, you would run an optimisation and only really get to do it once, because of the time it took. Now you can run two or three scenarios in the same amount of time and can understand a number of different customers. It's a subtle change but it really improves decision making."
He added: "A complementary part of big data is complex event processing, which is not the speed of crunching algorithms, but the speed of taking in real-time data to the magnitude of thousands of events per second. So think about a stock market, for a bank to be able to understand its trading position in real time, is a really interesting proposition."
Some new technologies that have been included on Gartner's Hype Curve this year include 3D scanners, silicon anode batteries, crowdsourcing and consumer telematics.

Shekhar Gupta
CEO
Capt. Shekhar Gupta [ Pilot, DIAM, M.Ae.S.I., MAOPA [USA] ]
shekhar@aerosoft.in 
Blog : http://shekharaerosoft.blogspot.in/ 

 Shekhar is an active member ofwww.MissionToCanada.com  set up by Govt. of Canada and Air Transport Association of Canada.

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Gartner: Cloud Adoption Lower Than Expected Computerworld India Gartner's latest Hype Cycle, which assesses more than 1900 technologies' maturity in the market, has branded cloud computing as being on the path to disillusionment. Released annually, the analyst group's Hype Cycle aims to provide industry watchers... See all stories on this topic » Computerworld India

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Cloud Computing, Web Hosting, and Big Data Will Mostly Control Technology Hype Cycle

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Gartner has been very effective trend analyzer and business Analysis Company since many years especially in the field of cloud computing and information technology. Gartner Inc announced this week end on Saturday August 28, 2012 that the major part of the technology hype cycle is controlled by cloud computing, web hosting, big data, and 3D printing systems on the domain of technology businesses on the market place.

It was further explained that the major technologies that are cruising now a days on the domain of information technology and related technologies are mostly influenced by cloud computing and web hosting technologies. Among such cruising technologies, most important ones are big data, 3D printing, internet TV, near field communication or NFC payments, web hosting, and cloud computing. Further it was maintained by the Gartner analysts that these technologies has already moved very notably along the technology hype cycle even in previous years like Year 2011; the same trend is also predominantly moving along the cycle. This is moving so fast and impact is getting materialized phenomenally fast.

Now, the plateau of productivity of consumerization is anticipated to be achieved in next two to five years or so. In further analysis, Mr. Jackie Fenn, vice president and Gartner fellow said, “Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies targets strategic planning, innovation and emerging technology professionals by highlighting a set of technologies that will have broad-ranging impact across the business. It is the broadest aggregate Gartner Hype Cycle, featuring technologies that are the focus of attention because of particularly high levels of hype, or those that Gartner believes have the potential for significant impact.” This technology hype cycle technique is a very effective and useful methodology to analyze the technological trends and business prospects of future market place.

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Business Aviation Is The Only Way To Go

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 The latest results from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association  show that the business aviation industry may be regaining altitude after what looked like an imminent dead stick landing. Deliveries of new business jets and turbine-powered aircraft are up from last year while piston-powered airplanes haven’t declined by much.

According to GAMA: “Business jet deliveries increased 13.1 percent to 294 airplanes in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period last year. Turboprop airplane deliveries also improved by 10.4 percent to 243 units from the 2011 shipment level of 220 units. The piston engine airplane segment was basically flat at 381 deliveries or a 1.6 percent decline compared to the first six months of 2011.”

We’ve seen the cycles before, and life at the bottom of the trough just isn’t as good as it is at the top. But I have been noticing for many years that the sine wave is flattening out – while the troughs are still bad the upsides just don’t seem to reach the height or last as long as prior recoveries. After all, an annual report at the top of the sine wave in the late 1970s listed nearly 18,000 aircraft deliveries.

I guess things just can’t get as high as they did in the 1970s. Foreign sales, this year like in past cycles, make the bottom only slightly more palatable. But I have also been noticing a positive trend – perhaps because of my work for Piper Aircraft, which is recommitted to its growing market for pilot training aircraft. Pilot shortages around the world, especially in the commercial sector, are driving significant increases in recent fleet sales of piston-powered training airplanes.

That phenomenon is a plus for business aircraft because more pilots will create a demand for more aircraft. The market is also seeing the sale of a surprising number of single-engine turbine-powered airplanes. That is especially true in Europe as businesses resize aircraft fleets to focus on fuel efficiency because of the high cost of jet fuel due to the uncertain Euro-based economies. The Europeans continue to value business aircraft; some are just looking for ways to economize.

While we certainly won’t ever see the level of business aircraft deliveries we saw in the 1970s, the value of these airplanes to business is just as strong, maybe stronger, as riding the airlines without trauma and disruption is much more difficult today. The airline travel passenger lines are longer, the seats smaller, and the refreshments meager. Any maybe it is just my generation, but some airline pilots, like the airline food, require a little more seasoning.

Those of us who have experienced both the corporate jet lifestyle and the airlines

Is it safe to work in Air India, Kingfisher or MDLR ?

Many parents dont bother to see where their kids are going to work. Parents and Professionals
are not bothering about Employer. As long as they are paying well they are ready to work and
compromise for small sum of money.

Some parents just wants their kids must earn well no matter what ?

With Kingfisher Airlines not clearing salary arrears by August 17 as promised, Pilots and engineers stayed away from work on Monday, resulting in the cancellation of close to 20 flights.

“We were promised that salaries would be cleared between August 17 and 23 but the management says the current delay is due to bank holidays,” said a Mumbai-based Kingfisher pilot on condition of anonymity. He added: “We are in talks with the management but it is very difficult for us to work without pay. The only way they come back to the discussion table is if we go on strikes.”

The near-bankrupt carrier, which never made a profit since it started operations, has not paid salaries since February. In the three months to June, the airline forked out more by way of interest costs at Rs 384 crore than it earned as revenues, which came in at Rs 301 crore, a drop of 84 per cent year-on-year. The airline now operates just about 120 daily flights, a third of its 360 daily flights last year. During the course of the year, Kingfisher has returned 27 aircraft to lessors to prune its fleet size to 39 from a peak of 66. FE

Kingfisher Airlines Promises :
"Soar to new heights"

Working with Kingfisher Airlines promises to be an exciting phase in your life. After all, not everyone can claim to be part of a team that created 'India's No 1 airline in customer satisfaction' as rated by Business World magazine. Taking off from there, Kingfisher Airlines is now set to conquer the global skies.
Our commitment of delivering a true Kingfisher experience rests entirely on the able shoulders of our team. We are constantly looking for the right mix of experience and attitude whether it is in-flight, on ground, or behind the scenes. If you are a potential candidate, we invite you to explore our careers section, find out more about us and search for available positions across the Kingfisher Airlines universe.

Kingfisher Airlines Reality :

Crisis-ridden Kingfisher Airline's promise to pay February salary to all its employees by last Monday (July 16) is sounding hollow to a substantial number of staffers, including pilots, who have still not got the same. They are constantly writing to the airline to ask when — and if at all — does the airline intend to pay their February salary. But, so far they claim to have got no reply.

The airline spokesperson did not offer a comment on this issue. On July 14 (Friday), Kingfisher EVP Hitesh Patel had written to employees that their February salaries would be paid by coming Monday (July 16). "I also understand that in spite of our best and most sincere endeavours, we may have failed on the timelines committed... We have committed to you that your salary will be paid no later than Monday and I am standing by it," Patel's letter to employees had said.

But even this deadline has not been met for all. "We are constantly asking the airline when will they pay the February salary and now we don't even get a reply from them. There may be a march by unpaid employees to the airline office as we don't know what to do," said an unpaid employee.

Same with MDLR :

 A former employee of the MDLR Airlines on Saturday committed suicide after reportedly being harassed by her former boss and Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda to join back. In her suicide note, Geetika Sharma, who first worked as an air-hostess with the airline and was later made the director of its subsidiary, Supersonic, blamed the Haryana MoS for Home.
The police has recovered the suicide note and a case has been registered against Kanda for abetment to suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.
The victim's family alleged physical and mental harassment of their daughter at the hands of the minister.
The victim's brother said that the minister constantly pressured her to join back, even going to extent of making visits to their family.
According to DCP Northwest P Karunakaran, Geetika was working with the company for the past one and half months. However, she suddenly stopped going to office. "The management also called her up but she never went there," the DCP added. According to the family, Geetika quit the company to join another job, which too she left to pursue a degree in MBA.
The victim's brother further said, "When the airline's operation was suspended, Kanda offered her another job. She refused that offer and joined Emirates in Dubai. He then wrote a letter to Emirates making allegations against her character which lead to her termination."
"Kanda had told her that she has to work in his company only and that she could not work anywhere else. He used to spy on her and follow her. He used to call her and say that she cannot work anywhere else other than his company," he added.
Kanda could not be contacted for his comments.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was in Kolkata for a meeting, said he would look into the matter. "Ask me on investment, but anything else I will not answer here. I have come to Kolkata, I don't know what has happened, let me go back and find out."
Geetika reportedly hanged herself from the ceiling fan on Saturday night. A PCR call was made at 9:20 am on Sunday.

Same with AirIndia :

As the agitation by protesting pilots entered the fourth day on Friday, 12 Air India international flights were cancelled even as the Civil Aviation Minister hoped that the airline “does not enter the ICU”.

“All our long haul flights to U.S., Europe, Riyadh and Jeddah have been cancelled,” an Air India official said.

This has been done due to non-availability of pilots who are on mass sick leave since Tuesday, he said.

Long overhaul flights to New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Toronto, Frankfurt, London, Paris from Delhi and Mumbai were cancelled. The national carrier has stopped bookings till May 15 on its flights to U.S., Europe and Riyadh.

With pilots remaining defiant, the Air India management had yesterday sacked 9 more pilots.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh expressed hope that pilots will “get well soon as they are sick. Air India is sick and I hope it doesn’t reach ICU”.

Noting that the aviation industry and Air India are passing through a tough phase due to high price of ATF, high service tax along with Airport charges and others, Mr. Singh said he will take up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

On the problems facing Kingfisher, he said, “Kingfisher is a private company and they will have to sort out their problem themselves.”

Mr Praful Patel, aide sunk Air India :

In his May 28, 2005, letter, Arora listed the decisions on which the board was overruled: purchasing more jets than required, disallowing IA to fly on viable routes to make way for other operators and, even "changing the seating configuration" to favour a particular aircraft manufacturer.

Two Lok Sabha MPs, Prabodh Panda (CPI) and Nishikant Dubey (BJP) have now approached the CVC for a probe into Arora's allegations, saying the government has failed to act.

"I would like to place before you a series of events and certain directions given to me by my immediate superior officer and the minister of civil aviation which have a vital bearing on certain critical decisions being taken in Indian Airlines and Air India... I have been constrained to write in detail to be able to explain the nuances of the verbal directions, the infirmities in the subsequent decisions taken and my consequent sense of unease in the matter," Arora wrote.

He also expressed apprehension over the consequence of his action. "Sir, kindly pardon my impertinence but I implore you to share the contents of this communication only with the Prime Minister... I would not have taken the liberty of making such a suggestion but for the fact that like every mortal, I fear for my personal and family safety."

Complaining of pressure, Arora said, "During the last one year, almost all board meetings of Air India, and even some board meetings of Airports Authority of India have become a farce. Instructions on key agenda items are communicated before hand on telephone or personally by minister, civil aviation, or by his OSD K N Choubey. No suggestions to the effect, that the issue in question requires a more detailed examination or that there are some implications are countenanced. The key word is 'immediate and unquestioned compliance'." Some of the most glaring instances are cited:

"AI discussed their dry leasing plans in 99th board meeting held in Mumbai on 17.7.04. Prior to this meeting, minister spoke to me... said since he and secretary, civil aviation, were satisfied about the correctness of the plans, it is expected that we should immediately endorse it during the board meeting. When I tried to tell him on telephone that the agenda item raises some issues, I was curtly asked to endorse the proposal and a counter question was posed on the telephone that when the minister and the secretary himself are satisfied, what more is there for us to see?"

Arora further wrote that the minister forced him to seek flight slots for IA to the UK and the US during the winter schedule instead of the profitable summer schedule even as private airlines were allowed to fly to these destinations in the summer.

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd is seeing an exodus of people with at least 3,500 employees

Is it safe to work with  Kingfisher Airlines ? 

 Cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines Ltd is seeing an exodus of people with at least 3,500 employees having resigned in the last one year, also reflected in falling employee costs in the April-June quarter.

The headcount is down to 4,200 from 7,700 a year ago, according to two executives of the Vijay Mallya-promoted airline. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Out of the 4,200, 40% are not working as the airline closed at least 20 airport stations as part of downsizing its operations,” said one of the officials.

A Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson declined to comment.

The management has not paid salaries since February, prompting employees to resort to multiple strikes in August.

At least 15 flights were cancelled on Saturday.

The airline management has not paid salaries since February, prompting employees to resort to multiple strikes this month. Photo: Hindustan Times
The situation is likely to aggravate from Tuesday night as more pilots are expected to join the stir if they are not paid by the end of the banking hours.
That the airline is losing employees is reflected in the company’s April-June quarter results where the employee costs for Kingfisher Airlines fell 66% to Rs.58.88 crore, against the Rs.173.66 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Typically, employee costs represent 10-12% of the total operating cost of an airline.

One such employee, 30-year-old Anish Dcosta, an aircraft engineer who decided to quit in May as he was not getting his salary, said: “I have decided to go for further studies.” He, however, did not divulge details of his dues or future plans.

A human resources consultant, requesting anonymity, said the exodus would impact both Kingfisher Airlines as well as the industry at large.

“Those with soft skills may find a job in other sectors, including the hospitality sector. But those employees with airline-specific talent (such as pilots) will create a surplus in the domestic job market at a time when the global airline industry is facing turbulence,” he added.

Craig Jenks, president of Airline/Aircraft Projects Inc., a New York-based air transport consulting and advisory services firm, said it is a negative situation, adding, “It is much harder to become profitable by shrinking than by growing.”

Meanwhile, the second Kingfisher Airlines executive cited above was optimistic that employees would return.

“Though we failed to retain talent, I do not see a problem. The brand—Kingfisher Airlines—is still strong. Employees would return to the airline once it is ready to fly the full schedule or it gets an investor—be it a domestic institution or an international airline,” he said.

“Kingfisher continues to believe it will get recapitalized and get on a path of sustained profitability. The airline is in discussions with several strategic and financial investors to bring fresh capital,” the airline said in a statement while announcing the April-June quarter results, without disclosing the names of the potential investors.

High jet fuel costs and grounded planes led to cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines’ net loss widening two-and-a-half times to Rs.650.78 crore for the three months ended 30 June against a Rs.263.53 crore net loss in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Incidentally, the scenario is different for other airlines.

Rival carrier Jet Airways (India) Ltd has reduced over 600 employees from the April-June quarter of the last fiscal to the comparable quarter of this fiscal, but its employee costs have risen.

Jet Aiways incurred Rs.401 crore as employee costs in the April-June quarter, up 11.38% from the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

In an analyst call early this month, K.G. Vishwanath, vice-president, commercial strategy and investor relations, said Jet Airways has 220 high-cost expatriate pilots and intends to reduce the number to 50 by the end of this year.

Another listed airline, SpiceJet Ltd’s employee cost for the April-June quarter stood at Rs.131.35 crore—an increase of 71% (Rs.76.93 crore) from the year-ago period.

Kingfisher Airlines lost 1.71% to Rs.9.78 on Friday on BSE while the benchmark Sensex index rose 0.19% to 17,691.08 points.

The markets were closed on Monday.

Trouble Ahead For Cloud Computing Stocks

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Groupon, Facebook, and Zynga are currently having difficulties since their initial public offerings. Their losses can go as much as 70%. Currently, public cloud computing companies are not affected. This is primarily because companies like NetSuite and Salesforce.com have already proven themselves since they’ve been around since late 1990s. These companies have already proven that their customers are capable of buying their products and services. These customers also know that these companies offer cloud computing applications which are packed with benefits.

Social networking companies, on the other hand, are relatively new and they have not proven themselves. The social industry goes with the highly changing times and that it’s difficult to convert the customers’ support to money. This year, companies like Bazzarvoice, Brightcove, Demandware, and ExactTarget have gone public. These cloud computing companies’ share prices have not dipped below their IPO prices. However, this should not mean that the cloud computing industry can relax a bit because more and more cloud computing providers will surely go public. When these companies do, there are so many stocks available in the market.

Investors must also consider macro-economics. If the US economy doesn’t improve, the first one to be affected is software because customers will surely wait for the economy to improve before they make a purchase. The effect may not be very visible now because these cloud companies offer subscriptions to the public therefore revenues are not recognized instantaneously. However, if there are no new subscriptions in the succeeding months then one can expect revenue problems in the near future although the effects won’t be as devastating as the social stocks.



Shekhar Gupta
CEO
Capt. Shekhar Gupta [ Pilot, DIAM, M.Ae.S.I., MAOPA [USA] ]
shekhar@aerosoft.in 
Blog : http://shekharaerosoft.blogspot.in/