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Introduction
The BbyB Beacon is an
electronic publication to keep the members of Bit by Bit informed
about the current affairs of the company. It contains announcements
of important events like training programmes, Management Review
Meetings, etc.
Contact
Information
Any contributions to the newsletter in the form of technical articles,
or items of general interest, are welcome. Please send them to padmabaliga@bbyb.sdc.int or padmabaliga@bbyb.com
Editorial (top)
This month, we bring you a
newsletter with a new look. As Peter Drucker famously said, “There
is nothing constant except change”. Change is inevitable
and necessary and a part of our life-processes. Times change
and we change with them. Just as today is not yesterday, our
thoughts, our work, our very self cannot remain the same. Yet
most of us resist change and would rather continue along familiar
paths, although change is the only thing that has brought progress.
Just
as progress is not linear, but expands like a spiral and
covers an ever-widening area, the process of change too affects
all the spheres of our life. None of us knows what the next
change is going to be, what unexpected opportunity is just
around the corner, waiting a few months or a few years to
change our lives. It is important that our minds are always
prepared to accept and embrace change rather than fear it.
As Charles Darwin said, “It is not
the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent,
but the one most responsive to change.”
Challenges and obstacles are
thrown at us that we may learn from them. Lessons wait to be
learnt in every challenge that we encounter and these lessons
change our perceptions, the way we think, and eventually change
us.
To change the way we think,
to think outside the box, can be the first challenge. Thinking
outside the box requires us to 'to investigate the unused path
leaving behind the psychological comfort zone.'
Thinking outside the box requires
different characteristics:
One should be willing to take new perspectives to day-to-day work.
One should be capable of thinking differently with an open mind and
doing things differently.
One must focus on the value of finding new ideas and acting on them.
One must strive to create value in newer ways.
One must be capable of listening to, supporting, nurturing and respecting
others when they come up with new ideas.
This
approach is adopted by most successful people. Here’s
to more such people in this world of ours.
Padma
From The Management (top)
Dear All,
It
is nearly time for our move to the new offices. It is quite
likely that this may be the last newsletter you will read
from the current offices! We have decided that we will have
one pickup vehicle – This is going to be
a 9 seat Sumo which will start from Jayashree’s place
and then come along the Ring Road to the current office and
then to the new offices. We are putting lists on the notice
board of this pickup vehicle + all other office cars. The lists
will have the place from which this vehicle is starting, the
proposed route and the number of people that it can accommodate.
Please put in your name into the list that you feel is most
convenient for you.
I would also request you to bear with us for
the first few weeks until all this falls into place. I would
be surprised if we could manage such a big change without some
teething problems but I am sure we will be able to iron most
of them out within a few weeks. In any case, if you are troubled
by any issues thrown up by the shift, please let me know and
I will see if we can solve it in someway acceptable to both.
Regards,
Raghu
Projects
News
StaffBank (top)
Hey all,
The month of May was quite
busy for the StaffBank team, with London going live with AfC
Upgrades and OCR side of developments. Now that NHSP London
has gone live with AfC version on the 30th of May, we hope
June will be quiet with fewer issues (fingers crossed!).
We have scheduled an all PLs meeting every day at 12:00 noon so that we know
where we are with everything. With things moving fast in StaffBank/Staff Roster
projects, this will help us in keeping pace with the overall changes happening
within the team. Since these PL meetings are working very well for the team,
we have also scheduled a full team meeting at 16:00 every Friday evening.
This whole month of May was
dedicated to the big StaffBank and Staff Roster merger. A timetable
has been charted out for both the teams, and the merge is slated
for an early January release.
Staff Roster is a project
which helps Ward Managers to create a roster (working pattern)
for nurses who are permanently employed by the Hospitals. This
feature of Staff Roster complements StaffBank, as we deal with
temporary staff work patterns. Merging both these products
would mean hospitals will have control over both temporary
as well as permanent staff in the same package.
At the moment there seems
to be some timing issues with the Staff Roster client version.
Chaitanya and Raghu teamed up with Sai Ramesh, our Testing
Team Leader and are working on Staff Roster to improve the
speed. We have already seen a significant improvement in the
speed and this version is planned to be released to the clients
soon. We have been lucky to have one of our important clients
Guys and Thomas Trust pilot the Staff Roster system. We have
had a great working relationship with Guys and Thomas through
the StaffBank system and this relationship has been instrumental
in getting this pilot.
We are looking at starting
the development of the Web version of Staff Roster by early
July. We hope to have a full fledged online version of Staff
Roster by late December this year. Since the Staff Roster Web
Version is being developed from scratch, we have been looking
at MESaLS 4.0 for some ideas on design and layout as MESaLS
4.0 UI has been appreciated by most people who have seen it.
Shashi, Project Manager for MESaLS, was kind enough to demo
this version to StaffBank Project Leads.
By early next year, we plan
to integrate Staff Roster and StaffBank online versions so
the users will have one version that does both temporary staffing
and rostering.
We have had smooth and successful
years with StaffBank, we hope to repeat the same with Staff
Roster this time and look forward to reaching new heights in
the health care industry with StaffBank and Staff Roster becoming
one great project in the years to come!
Until next time,
Usha for StaffBank
MESaLS (top)
As scheduled, Team Mesals
had a very busy May.
LBWF went live on 12th May, followed by BRC Exeter on 15th and Foyle on 17th.
Two patches were also sent for Ver 19 - one on 10th and another on 12th May.
With Craigovan and Armagh doing their dry runs, two other sites will be doing
their dry run in early June. Seven Go-Lives are also scheduled for the month
of June, so yet another busy schedule is ahead of us. The Data Preppers and
the Testers are busy concentrating on most of the sites' dry runs and live
and the developers are busy enhancing Mesals to new heights. With many developments,
Mesals 4.00.20 is expected to be a big release and is scheduled to be sent
shortly.
Looking forward to June and hoping it will be a joyful month for Team Mesals.
Muthu for MESaLS
pFACT (top)
Though
it’s been just
one month since I have begun to take an active part in the
pFACT team, it’s my pleasure to take this opportunity
to write for the newsletter regarding the developments of pFACT.
Our team had quite a busy
schedule this month with minor releases i.e 2.00.b, 2.00.c,
2.00.d in SQL and 2.00.b, 2.00.c in ORACLE, to be sent. John
Hart, the Senior Partner of Baumhart was here this month to
discuss the 2.01 Enhancements and JES submissions.
We
have also started off with the new enhancements. So everything
is ‘get set go’ for
the major version release to be released soon.
Pravitha for pFACT
Sepia (top)
Finally
we released Ver3.08 with all the enhancements requested by
Dorset,
MK and most importantly all MHA changes requested by ELCMHT.
Report Help documents were done for ELCMHT, MK, NELMHT, and DORSET reports.
Admission section functionality document was updated.
Online help was updated to the latest version Ver3.08.
Also we have created a blank database for any new trust to start Sepia freshly.
The blank database includes all the necessary data which is required by default,
in order to use Sepia.
Next month we will be concentrating
on the database side, providing referential integrity for all
the new tables, creating indexes for speed issue, and database
cleaning by deleting unwanted tables.
Dorset has come up with some
more changes to the reports and by the end of next month Shashi
is leaving for UK to update the Dorset database.
The Sepia Data dictionary
is still in progress.
Devaki for Sepia
New
Office (top)
Our move into the new
office is a mere four weeks away and we bring you some more
pictures of the building.The first picture (from the left)
is of the canteen (where the murals are going to be painted),
and the second is of the swimming pool with the reception
area on one side and Raghu’s cabin on the other. The
last picture is of one of the project rooms.
Other
News (top)
Get-together
John Hart of BHP
was here from May 8th to 12th and a party was arranged in
John’s
honour on May 12th. Due to the uncertain weather, the venue
was Hotel Pingara. It was a great party with John and Muthukumar
emceeing the show. The newcomers were persuaded to sing and
it was a pleasant surprise to discover that Pravitha has
a beautiful voice.
Holidays (top)
August
15, celebrated as Independence Day, will be a holiday. August
15 falls on a Tuesday.
News From Abroad (top)
I
was in the UK (9th-13th May) primarily to discuss the issues
thrown up with NHSP London switching over to AfC. As London
postponed the AfC switchover again (now targeted 30th May)
we decided to use the time to look at StaffRoster. StaffRoster
is a product which is quite old – over 5 years now
but has suffered because there was no focus on it. Both BHP
and BByB have now decided to give it the necessary focus
because we believe that this product has a great future.
As StaffRoster ties in beautifully
with StaffBank, we have planned a roadmap over the next year
where StaffRoster fully integrates itself into StaffBank. In
the next 12-15 months both StaffBank and StaffRoster would
cease to exist and in its place we should have a single Web
based .NET technology product!
Raghu
News
From Abroad (top)
I
was in Dorchester, England for migrating Dorset PCT data
from the existing CPA system to Sepia. Dorset PCT, the
sole customer of the system, finally decided to migrate
to Sepia having used the CPA system for nearly 6 years.
The features and functionalities present in Sepia were
becoming more and more necessary for them to operate in
more efficient manner (and in certain cases mandatory,
like audits for example) and it was finally time to bid
farewell to CPA. The data migration took place over the
weekend of 1st and 2nd. After having a round of testing
they decided to Go Live on 3rd July. The final meeting
of all the decision makers took place at 8:30 AM on 3rd
July and at 9:00 AM the system was live. I was present
by their side till 7th of July for handling any unexpected
issues. Luckily none surfaced. Just before leaving, the
Director's office presented us, the Sepia team, with a
certificate as a token of their appreciation for a successful
migration. Congratulations to the whole Sepia Development
and Testing team.
Shashidhar
Colleagues
Cognizant (top)
Shashidhar S.
Shashidhar Satyanarayan, better known as Shashi,
has been associated with BbyB for longer than the rest of us
with the sole exception of Shenoy. His work and very presence
has contributed in myriad ways to the growth of the company.
In this brief chat, Shashi gives us glimpses of the early days
of our company, when computers were standalones and the mouse
was still a rodent to be kept out of the kitchen!!
When did you join BbyB?
May 1993 through Thinksoft on contract,
and in January 1995 as regular staff
Describe your work in
brief.
Currently I am managing MESaLS and
Sepia projects (with Jayaraj's help) and chipping in with
programming.
Describe yourself in
2-3 lines.
I am an ordinary guy with an ordinary
life, wanting to do things to the best of my abilities, be
it at work or elsewhere.
How has BbyB changed
and grown over the years?
When I joined BbyB, it was just 5 people
working in roughly 100 sqft of space. Today we are reaching
about 50 with about 10000 sqft with prospect of more. From
handling small projects to small scale industries in Peenya
and Electronic City to bagging National Contract for NHS
in UK, we have come a long way.
Can you recount any
interesting incidents from the days when Shenoy and you were
working in the office together with very few other colleagues?
One of the few things I still remember
is, how we used to manage with available resources. Once
a programmer was desperately complaining that his PC was
slow and he needed more memory. With great difficulty, Raghu
managed to get him an additional 1 MB of RAM so that he could
continue with his work. The PCs were 'superfast' PC XTs/ATs
with X2/386 processors and 20 MB of Hard disk space and 512
KB of RAM (no mouse).
What
is the secret behind your "never-say-die" approach
to problem solving?
I don't think I have a "never-say-die" attitude,
more like "Die another day" attitude.
Any special memories
associated with the MESaLS or Sepia projects?
With MESaLS, the toughest exercise
was to migrate the existing customers from earlier versions
to the version developed by BByB. It involved lot of sleepless
nights and hours and hours of data inspection and correction.
With a lot of help from Naveen, Santhosh and Manju, I was
able to achieve the task.
With Sepia, I have been associated on and
off. Currently, I am working on CPA system's migration to Sepia.
CPA was the 'mother' of Sepia which is being used by a trust
in South UK. CPA was in bad shape in 2001, which started the
spin-off Sepia. However the existing client did not want to
move to Sepia at that time. Stabilizing CPA took a lot of effort.
To see the client happy finally at that time was well worth
the effort.
What inspired a bachelor
of long standing like you to decide to tie the knot?
I had not yet found the right person
till then.
Is there any difference
in your lifestyle post-marriage?
All my close friends and relatives
(and myself) find no difference in my lifestyle, except,
that I am now married and have bought an apartment. So I
guess, I am still the same (except that I am getting older).
The only difference I see is that at home we make it a point
to have dinner at the table and not in front of the T.V which
had been the case for the last 15 years.
Hema
Hemalatha N.D., better known as Hema
to most of us, is a cheerful and bubbly personality with
a zest for life. She smiles in the face of challenges life
throws at her and continues undaunted. Hema joined BByB on
February 7, 2005 and has been part of the Sepia team ever
since. In this brief chat we had with her, she propounds
her philosophy of life and helps us get to know her better.
Can you describe your
work in brief.
First, I must say that it is very nice
to work with Devaki, Shashi, Jayaraj and the rest of the
Sepia team, including Testing and documentation.
As for my work, at times, I liaise with clients. I also have to code, liaise
with the PL and the PM, see that Help and testing are done, see that versions
are ready for release, etc.
Describe yourself in
a few words.
I am simple and fun-loving and have
a helpful nature. I love music.
How do you plan to grow
in your career?
I’d like to do my M.Tech. I also
hope to work my way up to becoming a Project Leader, then
a Project Manager, etc.
What motivates you in
BbyB?
The very friendly working atmosphere
is the first motivation. The Sepia PL, PM and team are also
great to work with.
You
vibe well with….?
My college friends. I still hang out
with them during weekends and other off-days.
What are your strong
and weak points?
Let me list my strong points first.
I am a courageous person and can accept whatever comes into
my life boldly.
As for my weaknesses, I am very sensitive to other people’s
words and behaviour. I am quite emotional at times.
Your favourite time-pass……..?
(smiles) Walking – I go for long walks, especially
in the campus where I live. I also talk over the phone – a lot!!
How do you see yourself
five years from now?
Professionally, I hope to have become
a Team Leader by then. Personally, I hope to continue to
be a good human being and also be a good wife.
You come across as a
happy-go-lucky person. What makes you so?
Maybe it is a question of attitude.
I see everything that happens to me as an opportunity to
learn more and thus turn the negative into something positive.
See, when my Mom passed away, I was
in the sixth semester and exams were only a week away. Instead
of giving in to my grief, I decided to go ahead and answer
the exams as my mother had been so happy and proud when I
got into Engineering college. I wanted to live up to her
expectations.
Can you tell us about
any incident in your school/college days that helped to shape
you?
The main thing was my mother’s
death. After she passed away, I had to take charge of the
house and cook for my family, which included my father, my
brother and my two cousins. I HAD to learn to become independent – fast!
To us, Hema signifies
a cheerful and bubbly person. What are the advantages of
possessing such qualities?
At home, my Dad is a quiet person and
my brother, who is a journalist, is hardly ever there. So
I love to talk to everyone in the office.
As for the plus points, I get to make more friends, get to know of a lot of
things and get to know others very well.
One last question. What
are you looking for in a life-partner?
(Smiles) That’s a secret. I don’t
want anyone to know about the ideal man I am looking for
and try to impersonate such a person. But he should definitely
be a loving and caring person.
Weekend Jaunts (top)
Hema was the first to write
in with information about her favourite weekend haunt. She
has zeroed in on Siddharabetta, a beautiful spot, eighty kilometres
from Bangalore, on NH4. The name originates from the fact that
siddhas used to, and still do, meditate in the caves located
here.
The hill is about 3,600 ft
high and the climb is made pleasant by the gradual ascent and
the trees that offer shade and a spot to rest under. However,
it is advisable to start early before the rays of the sun get
too hot. Steps are carved into the rocky surface at places.
While some steps are steep, there are iron railings and conveniently
placed benches that allow you to sit down for a while and admire
the view. The climb takes about three hours but Hema assures
us that when you reach the top, and feel the refreshing breeze
on your face and drink in the serenity of the place, you will
feel that it was time well spent.
A temple dedicated to God
Siddeshwara is situated here. The hill is famed for the medicinal
plants that grow here and the fabled Sanjeevini plant is also
said to grow here. A cancer research centre is also located
on this hill, drawing upon the rich wealth of our plant kingdom.
Food is served free at an
ashram located there and refreshments are available at some
stalls. Mysterious looking caves can be explored, preferably
with the help of a guide. Some of the caves formed out of huge
boulders have natural water springs in them. Those who do not
wish to climb the huge boulders can check out the ruined temples.
The majestic Shivagange hill on the horizon looks like a giant
Shivalinga from here.
Hema also says that while
you can drive there in your own vehicle, there are also plenty
of buses from Bangalore to Tumkur and local buses from Tumkur
to Siddharabetta. Take a left after the Dobbspet bus stand
overbridge. She also warns us that there are no facilities
for accommodation and so you will have to return the same day.
Birthdays (top)
This month, Arun B. will
be celebrating his birthday on June 14th and Raghu
Shenoy will be celebrating his on June 28th.
Here's wishing both of them a very Happy Birthday and many
more in the coming years! Everyone, be sure to make it to
the cake-cutting that will take place at 1 p.m. on both days!
Take a look at last month’s
party spirit as seen in the pictures below.
| Birthday
Snaps of Vinod, Manu and Vamsy |
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| Rajendra's
Birthday Snaps |
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