Its a small world

Today I came to Mangalore from Bangalore on the newly started Mangalore Express and had an interesting event worth a mention.

I got into the train at Bangalore city (8:50 PM) and was seated in the empty compartment when a very pretty lady arrived. You might recollect a Rexona ad a few years back when a journalist is trying to interview a "young and pretty" designer about her work and also about her being pretty, when suddenly a kid comes running and says "Mummy" !! The journalist is shocked. "Aapki tvacha se aapki umar ka pata hee nahi chalta!". That is exactly what happened to me when two kids followed this lady into the compartment.

But this is the lesser interesting part of the story. There were two kids - elder son in class 3 and a very cute daughter called Anna who was possibly in kindergarten. I instantly felt that I know Anna, but then I thought so many kids look so familiar!! I had a good time playing with the kids for almost an hour before we all went to sleep.

In the morning, we just had a bit of a chat and were all eagerly waiting for the train to reach Mangalore. The lady and the kids were supposed to get down at Kankanadi (now known as Mangalore Junction) and I helped them to get their luggage down. The father of the kids was there to receive them. They were in a hurry - he said thanks and they left. Instantly, it stuck me that I have seen the father also but could not remember where!!

Flashback: Suddenly I recollect my trip on the Mangalore-Madgaon passenger on 20 July on my way to Miraj. I had my grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousins with me. I was moving around the "almost" empty compartment with my 2 year old cousin sister in my arms as she was getting bored. Suddenly she saw a man with his daughter and the two kids smiled at each other. I got into a small conversation with the father, and then I moved on. I met them again when we alighted from the train.

Yes, that was Anna and her father. I had the whole jigsaw fall into place. I thought I will tell them about this, but they were almost gone. I rushed out of the train, only to see them leaving from the exit - but Anna's mother turned back just in time & waved me a final goodbye.

Interestingly, I always tend to forget faces & names but this time somehow I recollected - but only a bit late. I don't know if I will ever meet them again, but will always carry with me memories this wonderful co-incidence. The world indeed, is very small!!

Microsoft CRM

Have you heard of Microsoft CRM? Unless you are in the CRM business, I doubt you have. As the name suggests it is a customer relationship management package, actually known as Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. So whats special about it? Don't we have SIEBEL? Or even better - don't we have SAP - the baap of CRM?

I had all these questions and more on my mind when I was told that my next project is on MS CRM. And I was packed off to Hyderabad from good ol' Mangalore. And straight away started training in CRM 3.0. And believe me folks - its a wonderful package. It has almost everything you look for in a CRM package, and it is very very light weight. That settles the question of why not SIEBEL or SAP - these are heavy duty packages!! So it is ideal for SMEs but can also be used for departments within larger organizations.

Most of the entities an organization will look for are taken care of - you have Accounts, Customers, Leads, Opportunities, Activities, Campaigns, Cases - pretty much everything you need. Basically it caters to needs of Sales, Marketing & Service. It supports creation and assigning of various roles to various users in the organization and you can set access privileges accordingly.

But its main strength is in the flexibility and extensibility. It supports variety of customizations which makes it very flexible and helps you tailor it to your organization's requirements. At the same time it supports creation and usage of custom entities which you can create and use as part of the system. [This is where my role comes in - the entensibility is through .NET - the whole MS CRM framework is based on .NET - and that's what I have worked on for 2 years!].

As if all that was not enough, being a Microsoft product, it integrates well with Outlook client. So you can forget about the web interface and have everything right inside your mailbox! It appears as a separate folder (looks like a PST). For example - A user who is assigned a case by his manager, will see it right in his inbox under the activities section, with deadlines and workflow! Isn't that nice?

Now, its not as easy to install the whole thing. The CRM Server needs to integrate with the Exchange Server and that needs to depend on an Active Directory server (Domain Controller). Plus the CRM Server will need a SQL database to store all its information (SQL Server 2005 is proffered, though it will work with SQL Server 2000 as well). So there you are - 4 servers - and assuming you will need backups for each - 8 servers. This is the ideal configuration though if necessary, you can have everything other than the Exchange Server on the same machine :).

Luckily I have got a chance to try installing the whole setup, not once but twice! Once on fresh PCs, where you start right from the OS. That is relatively simpler. But the second time was on existing systems - where dependencies will create unforeseen issues at every step. But it was a learning experience which I thoroughly enjoyed. This is only the beginning and I am looking forward to continue learning this. I know this is not my core competency, but then extra knowledge is always welcome!!

Interestingly, I have been asked to write Microsoft certification in CRM. I don't know how difficult it is going to be, but looks like an interesting thing to do. I'll be happy to supplement my MCTS [for the uninitiated: Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist :) :)] with a CRM certification!!

Cheers to a new beginning ...

For more info, see the MS CRM website.

OSO

I know I am late at this one, but couldn't help it. I had almost dropped the idea of writing about it but when I saw it the second time on Friday, I thought I had to!! For those who are still wondering what I am talking about, its Om Shanti Om !!

People's responses to this movie are extreme - either they are amazed or they are utterly disappointed. I belong to the first category, and happily so. And believe me, the second category is very minuscule - that's proved by the fact that it has grossed Rs. 40 crore in India and around $5m abroad in a short duration. Its a complete entertainer from minute 1. The whole thing is so well thought out and well made. You can start talking about what you liked about it and you'll get lost. Listing a few of my favourites, and not in that order:
1. The shooting of the Tamil movie - excellent - "Muniyadaar Muniyadaar .. Yenna rascala!!"
2. The old style song where Deepika dances with digital forms of Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra. Neat.
3. Using technicians as actors - dialogue writer, music director, director, etc.
4. Digs at Manoj Kumar, Dev Anand, Sooraj Barjatya, etc.
5. Return of the Khiladi - though it is copied, isn't it wonderfully made?
6. The awards show with special 'self-mocking' roles for Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik as well as SRK himself.
7. Usage of the name OK for Om Kapoor - Ok, that's not something great but i mention it because me and my roomies have a nice story to laugh off about OK :).
8. Deliberate over-acting by Kirron Kher.
9. Karz and Subhash Ghai.
10. King Khan of course - he just rocks.
11. The absolutely stunning Deepika - I saw OSO the second time for her!! And everyone (guys) I meet seems to have fallen in love with her!!

I know I have forgotten some!! Readers can add to the list. Anyway, a very good entertainer. Farah Khan has truly arrived as a director who delivers no-brains entertainment. For those who are yet to see it, what are you waiting for?? Rush to the nearest theatre NOW!!

Free rice!!

Today i got an email from my manager saying 'Web game provides rice for hungry'. Sounds interesting, right? I went to the site and was amazed by the concept. It's a great idea. Here's how it works -

1. The game - The web page shows you a word and you have to give its meaning. There are four options to choose from.
2. Whether you get it right or not, you go to the next question. For every right answer, 10 grains of rice are donated through the United Nations.
3. Where does the donation come from? Every time you click on an answer, the next page will show you a few ads at the bottom. Every time an ad is shown, the advertisers pay for it.

Isn't that simple?

The difficulty level of the word will depend on you. The game starts with a word of random difficulty. Three consecutive correct answers will result in a word from the next level. Every right answer takes you to a word one level below the previous one. So after some time you know your level. There are levels up to 50 and each word is assigned a level. The difficulty level of each word is also updated depending on how many people get it right. Isn't that a neat algorithm?

Now for the best part - After every right answer, they show you how many grains you have donated. That gives a wonderful feeling, at the same time giving you a chance to improve your vocabulary. It has a nice graphical display to boot !!

It kinda gets you hooked - and I kept doing this for a few minutes. Then the math guy in me took notice of the fact that 'number of grains' is no indication of how much it is and I was losing the motivation! So I googled a couple of things -
1. Is this site authentic? Yes, says the BBC - check this: Web game provides rice for hungry.
2. What is the weight of one grain of rice? On an average it is 28 mg.
3. How much rice a person needs in one meal (with other stuff of course)? 1 portion - about 50 gms.
Now 1 gm = 1000 mg (Didn't need to Google that!!). And 50 x 1000 / 28 = 1785.72 which can be rounded off to 1800. So here you go - the motivation - Play till you get 180 answers right - that gets you to donate 1800 grains or one portion of rice!!

It would roughly take half an hour to provide a decent meal to a poor man in some poverty stricken corner of the world - isn't that wonderful!! And yes - you can brag about your vocabulary level - I kindof settled at 36 :)

And while you are at math & rice, read this: Rice Rice Baby - very interesting!!

Click on the image below to start playing -

Where am I?

For all those who were wondering where I have been since more than a month, here's a quick update. I was a bit busy in office to start with, then went off home (Ahmedabad) on two weeks leave. After a wonderful Diwali at home, I was back around 10 days back, but before I could settle down, CAT was staring me in the face. And then came the big surprise - I had to move to Hyderabad DC for one month. So I was off to Bangalore for CAT, and straight to Hyd from there. Now slowly settling into the new place.

I have been to 5 cities in two weeks !! Was in Ahmedabad on 10th .. Mumbai on 11th .. Mangalore on 12th .. Bangalore on 17th .. and now Hyderabad on 20th - howzzat !!

Will be busy with some training for couple more days, but will be back with my blogs very soon. Thanks for reading .. please continue !!