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PMP Certified

When I first heard about PMP certification, I was a programmer in Wipro. It was a BIG thing to be PMP certified at that time, it STILL is. After learning traits of IT trade and working across different continents and working with people from different cultures my admiration for PMP has gone up a notch.

Early 2009 when I decided to get myself certified, I was glad I had gained valuable real-time Project Management experience which came in very handy during preparation. During my preparation I compiled links for online questions.

Below is the list, hoping it helps others to get the certification

http://www.certchamp.com/pmp-sample-questions.jsp

http://www.oliverlehmann.com/pmp-self-test/75-free-questions.htm

http://headfirstlabs.com/PMP/free_exam/

http://www.oliverlehmann.com/contents/free-downloads/175_PMP_Sample_Questions.pdf

http://www.pmstudy.com/freeresources/freeSimulatedTest.asp

http://www.pmstudy.com/chaptertestsindex.asp

http://www.pmstudy.com/enroll.asp

http://www.preparepm.com/mock1.html

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/pmp-exams/pmp_mock_exams.htm

http://pmzilla.com/pmzilla-free-pmp-tests (Free Exam Samples)

http://www.pmhub.net/ (Best Free Exam Question/prep site)

http://www.slideshare.net/trashidi/pmp-question-bank (Free 1440 Exam Samples)

http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com/

http://www.pmtests.com/packs.php

http://www.ajithn.com/login.php

http://www.ajithn.com/exam_first_pass_pmp_prep_series_test_try.php

http://www.pmtests.com/packs.php

http://www.pmconnection.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links&l_op=viewlink&cid=9

http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/5138-10878-5984293.html

http://www.centreline-solutions.com/pmp_sample_exam.html

http://certification.about.com/od/projectmanagement/a/pmp_test_whiz.htm

http://www.husonbay.com/PMI/En/PMP/exam_s.asp

http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com/

http://www.bestsamplequestions.com/pmp-sample-questions/pmp-sample-questions.html

http://www.pmhub.net/pmdigest/component/content/article/1-articles/52-free-pmp-testspmp-capm-exam-simulation

http://www.itworld2.com/pmpq1.aspx

http://www.testprepreview.com/modules/pmp.htm

http://nutek-us.com/PMP_SampleQA3.pdf

http://www.pmfinal.com/homeindiv.aspx

Indian IT Trends - FY 2009 Vs my predictions

Indian IT industry is till a GROWTH story in biz world. Four years ago Saurabh and I spent countless days-n-nights doing a primary research to assertain the trends in Indian IT industry for years to come. The research took us places and won accolades, now is a good time to check our predictions vis-a-vis realities today.
Indian IT Industry clocked revenues of $47 billion in FY2009. Below is summary of key points from our predictions and their validity today

1. Product Development: On Track. The contribution of s/w products in total revues is still minor. This is changing slowly with companies investing in Ideation, product development read; RnD & Consulting services. Indian IT had some amount of success in delivering value from Consulting Biz but this remains pre-dominantly a game for Big guns of IT - IBM, Accenture, EDS etc


2. Flexible Business Models: Meet Predictions. As predicted the complexity and adaptation of new business models is increasing. Customers with large & small outsourcing contracts DEMAND instant cost savings, reliable service and better usage of available resources. Recent quarters have seen customers demanding more offshore leverage to the tune of 90% delivery from offshore and max 10% onsite presence. Other business model includes revenue sharing, pay per usage, IT providers buying out service divisions of large clients with assured business deals for 10-year periods. Eg. TCS & Wipro buying out captive units of Citi in India with assured business for 10-year periods


3. High Growth Biz Areas : Remote Infrastrucutre Mngt. Meet Prediction Indian It companies are increasingly winning RMS deals by competing with global players. Deals won by Wipro & HCL are quite evident. This segment of biz promises domestic IT market, Wipro tech winning deals to provide services to new Telecom entrants while pushing aside IBM is a major win for Indian IT

Glad our predictions are in-line with growth of industry.

Singapore - Land of Attitude

SINGAPORE VISIT - Part 1
Much awaited singapore came to a flying start, after 3 hours delay of Indian Airlines flight.from hyderabad at 2 AM in the mrng. By the time I reached singapore it was 7 AM local time...... Big swanky Changi Airport will take any traveller by surprise. Enter the airport throught the skywalk.......the immigration area is as good as any Five star hotel lobby.. in one word MINDBLOWING. The airport with 3 terminals, has a lavish shopping mall with where u can buy everything under the sun at duty free rates. Passenger facilities.....gyms, massage parlours, internet surfing, TV viewing areas( read in different languages) all these free of cost. Every cuisine can be easily found in the airport. The Changi airport integrated system is so exhaustive, any info about the airport,flights planes arrivals/departures facilites,rules etc are readily available on the website. As member of Indian IT industry, I felt proud knowing that SATYAM computers developed the whole s/w for the airport operations..... three cheers for Indian IT success.
One step out of the airport, you will be greeted by huge bays for parking and wide spreads roads...mostly empty. I took the Mass Rapit Transit System to head home. This system similar to Delhi Metro is lifeline of singaporean public transport system. Swanky trains criss crossing singapore, excellent connectivity. All along the way we can see the oppulance of singapore.
A lot of emphasis must have been given to the way the city was developed. The total area is broken into constituencies. Each constituency( similar to our streets) has integrated facilities like - primary school/high school/college/ hospitals/ malls & malls. Each area is self sufficient, people dont need to go far to get anything. Malls the size of Central in blore/hyd are present in each street not one but two three.
All public transport and other major pay and use systems work in a system called EZlink. Each individual gets a ezlink card and he tops it up with some Dollar value, he only needs to swipe at time of entry and exit in train/bus/taxi/Mac Donalds outlets(yup its accepted even there). No jhanjat of buying tickets/ monthly passes. Even to refill your card, you have ATM lined up at all prominent points. In public transport there is no on to monitor whether people are paying for the services or not. Its expected that most of them are honest......... while I was using these services, i sensed there were so many ways to go scott free and not pay for the service.......had such system been prevalent in India, god save MRT/ SMRT systems.

Citizens ( 6 million on last count) follow LAW very diligently.....The law is ruthless with anyone who is caught. More than God fearing(did i tell you 15% of population has no religion- read atheist), people there are law fearing. I came across a news article during my stay, An american citizen was found in a vandalising incident. He was put to task and given punishment in singapore inspite of US Govt interfering for him.... Thats singapore soverignity for you.
A tiny nation which has nothing on its own. Singapore produces nothing, all goods are imported from different countries of the world, processed or re-exported. The economy depends heavily on exports refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing(28%) and electronic goods(TV/chips etc). Tourism accounts for 15% of economy. Visit to any of the major retail store - Fairprice/ John Little/ Carrefour/ Cold Storage will give you description of goods imported from different parts of the world. As per a statistic less than 20% of the population consume home made food. As most of the families have working couples packed/processed food is in big demand....... I was surprised to close to 6 varities of parata - plain/butter/onion/capsicum/ palak/ assorted varities in the stores.

Main shoppting district of singapore is Orchard Street/Clarke Road and few more places. One walk down this street and I already last the count of the international label I saw 10 minutes ago.......... This street is literally flooded with shopping malls and speciality stores................. Cosmetics and Jewellery stores rule the rooost......... one Saphire was on display for all Window shoppers like me :-) at Jee Loon Way Jewellers...... on single saphire costing Sing $ 18,324/-. At a conversion rate of $1 = Rs29 , best place not to take your wife to shopping ehhehehehehhhehe.....
One thing which I realized over period of 10 days is ATTITUDE of each citizen.... A tiny nation state with a population not even half average indian metro is the financial power house of South east Asia.
Few of my experience, I was on a city tour- the guide who was of malay decent, spoken typical.....Singlish ( Mix of english and singporean dilect). When he was showing us the singapore sports school, he said.. we are producting Gold Medalists for Beijing Olympics here. I wonder even if our top coaches say such statements in any sport.
This one took me by surprise, the government was trying to devise a policy to reduce the time taken for bill clearance for private contractors working on HDB projects to improve their WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT and better CASH FLOWS. This was being discussed in the Parliament. When I further went through the news, current payment period for contractors is 15 days... the bill proposes to reduce it to 7 days..... Such things can't even be imagines in India.
This is the best which Indian beurocracy would want, but only the first part :-). Salaries of Government employees have to be raised by a whooping 56% from the next financial year onwards.......heavy debate in parliament. The reason PM has given is to sustain our economic growth we need strong/smart/efficient and HONEST civil servants and Ministers. To ensure we attract the best, we need to pay them on par with Private sector salaries in Sunrise industries........Superb way of getting things done.This explains why singapore is among the top ten cleanest from corruption in Transparency Index...........
One for MBA fundu...... I understand the concept of Vision(Kotler) - Big adacious blah blah something goal.
A retail store - FairPrice has this Vision - To be Singapore's Leading World-Class Retailer with a Heart. We wish to moderate the cost of living in Singapore through our cost effective Retail Operations. Few Facts about Singapore:
1. Rainfall supplies approximately 50% of Singapore's water needs :-)

2. Singapore does recruitment soldiers from Nepal ????? Gurkha Regiment again

3. The government is encouraging Singaporeans to have more children through the provision of financial incentives for the first to fourth child of each family. Total Births in 2006 - 37,600

4. All constructions in singapore are done by Housing Development Board -HDB

5. Salary of a civil servant in the grade similar to IAS officer is Sing $1.1 million per year. Spore PM earns Sing $3.4 million which is more than George Bush salary

6. Indians for 15% of the population

7. Foreign reserve of S$212 billion (US$139 billion).Area 699 sq. kms

8. Spore army gets trained in Malaysia/Taiwan/China/Australia/New Zealand. Except the mandatory Militry training for Men above 20 years every other training happens abroad.

9. Every year singapore men go to compulasory militry duties for 2 months. During this time the company you work for will pay half you salary and government the other half

10.Density of population is 6208/sq km.

11.Spore crime rate is very low... Biggest threat they face is hold your breath - Cycle theft...:-) The cost of installing GPS on cycle is more than the cycle cost so they are finding a better way to stop thefts.

12.Govt discourages you from using private transport like Cars. They have a heavy 300% tax on the base costs. Inspite of this you see many cars on road.

13.100000 taxi's operate and best part all of them are government controlled.

14.Govt owns each and every major business in singapore through its Govt Linked companies - Tamasek is the prominant one

15. Little India and China town are the only ethnic places in Spore.

16. Democractic nation with multi-party system, but only one party is in power for past 45 years. Country had only 3 PM's till date.

B-School Jargon saves the Day

Remember all the presentation n class lecture, where we made the Bull $hit bingo matrix……. Who completes the matrix faster with all the jargon we learnt in B school.

Last Thursday, I had a client visit in my office Sr. VP level who heads entire America ops.

She wanted to understand how things are happening on the floor and met with 7 of us from the delivery. She wanted to make notes on the issues n follow-up on them. When each one started speaking, they got into transactional level issues, which she was not interested in rather not able to connect, as expected she just shooo-off all the concerns team raised.

When my turn came, the MBA brat in me came to fore……… J. I asked her can I use the board, she gave me a good look n said ‘You May’

Picked up a marker n drew a small process flow from Business need to final delivery. Then hell broke loose.. I was at my best usage of jargon (didn’t use them for close to a year)

Business criticality of market forces for credit cards in USA,
Time to market which business wants,
Product/process viability of the offshore model we are pushing,
value add to business which we IT vendor is providing,
Knowledge management to ensure the domain knowledge is captured,
ROI on IT investment they are making,
opportunity loss if we don’t work together Client n vendor,
people mngt – cultural difference ( things like Indian’s ability to say NO to american’s when they pressurize to do more work) ,
lack of trust leading to Communication GAP( our pet theme in all case studies we did)

Post 10 minutes I was able make her take notes in her BLACK diary J.

MBA jargon saved the day for our team that day……………………… We learnt the jargon to be prepared for the Big show, it just happened I used the jargon in the big stage with the right people………….. BOARD level hahehehhehehheheh


Sundeep

Wings of Change in IT Industry

2001 IT meltdown was a major blow to the industry. Critics were on the rise doughting the industries recovery and they called it the dooms day of IT in India. Fast forward six years n here we are............... New articles like these " Indian cities best for outsourcing: Survey " . We are the Player in the outsourcing game... albiet for our cheapness thats how our labour is referred to now a days.

Few interesting aspects that i noticed

1. Salaries which are being paid to individuals have grown on a continuous basis. Top four companies pay close to 2.2 lpa for a college passout. We have high end tech MNC companies paying quality talent ( which is few right now, due to our college system) anything from 8-12 lpa. This will hamper our competitiveness in the global place. On average Indian companies bill at anything from $15-25 per hour on a IT services project. China is ready to do it at $6 per hour. How are we going to manage this.

2. Companies are recruiting at pace of 20k+ per annum. This is a huge figure compared to earlier times where job openings itself was a big thing. We have abundant talent as referred by our political leaders. But sadly the industry differs with this " MS not keen on hiring fresh Indian grads". Companies now are looking for talent from tier II and III cities, catching them young is the rule of the day. College graduate get job offer in their third year of college. I remember my days of attending walk-ins in blore for a job. Most of them who get placed in college will miss all the important learning you get in a job hunt :-)

3. Quality of work has gone a sea change. We are now mostly into maintanance projects......this statemetn is debatable. To put it this way the share of actual development work in the whole business has come down. The growing monotonity of work is killing people. The ones who are in high tech services are doing niche work for global product companies the rest are lingering in lavish campuses across India. The coveted ONSITE oppurtunities are becoming rarer and tougher now................. partly the blame the offshoring model and tight visa regulations.

4. Change in attitude of companies on how they do business. Joint bidding of companies for big projects is a healthy trend. Indian biggies now stand shoulder to shoulder with IBM n Accentures of the world today. Companies are not shying off from recruiting globally and also acquiring globally. TCS is a marked example in this space, Why TCS prefers 'partner' over 'wife'. Biggest change i observe is companies are now choosy about the way they want to grow....... They are in a healthy position to say NO to global outsourcing player like GE, if it doesnt suit their strategic plans, if i can use the word.

5. Employee hire and FIRE policies have taken interesting turns. Fresh engineers are made to sign bonds for sticking to the company for one-two years depending on the value of the company can extract from you. Retaining experienced people is a major headache for any HR across IT companies. With average attrition ranging from 18-20% the cost advantage indian IT used to have is depleting fast. Companies dont hesitate to terminate employees due to non-performance even if its fresher who is not performing during the training. Read on this article at INFY

6. Now comes the best part. CPIM wants to form a Union for IT employees, they feel that the employees are jailed during their working hours and are made to work for 12 hour shifts without any over time and not being treated like humans. So much media space in West bengal today is about this. Companies fight back saying they can handle their employee welfare in a better manner

All in all feels good to see the industry grow and benefit large number of people. Every new job in IT/ ITES creates 3 new jobs in aligned services which is good for the India as a whole.

Signing off for the day............ IT coolie :-)

What am I walling in or walling out

Robert Frost poem Mending Wall, last read in school. The line he recites in the poem and the state of my life/ career right now go in sink very well.He faces dilemma while building the wall with assumption that "Good fences make good neighbors." but this doesnt happen and the enimosity between neighbours persists.

The neighbours in my case is my career and my personal life. I have got into a career which I wanted for all these years. This role requires full dedication and also the challenge which its offering is just irresistable. For past three months my personal life has gone for a toss.
Events from last week have pestered me much into thinking what was i walling in or walling out. Am I loosing my personal life totally n becoming a work-a-holic. Looking at it from my side, this is the time I can put in extra efforts and prove to myself what I am capable of least to my superiors.

Delhi alumni meet, roaming with friends in kurnool streets, meeting friends after 2 years n talking to them after 4 months, though we stay in teh same city. this definitely needs to be looked into.

Again the dilemma persists....i still feel i am walling in to ensure that I will have the last laugh in my career and personal life as well. Guess what this is the dilemma for any 24 yr old guy who gets into corp world with amibition and also has the luck to get the work he wants :-)

Things Take Time - let me go by this adage for now.

Finally the Coveted Induction

After months of long slogging sessions. My delivery goes into production at 2 AM on 4th august.

I take the 6 AM flight, land up in delhi. company books guest house, but they dont intimate the guesthouse. Cab fellow takes you to different guest house.

using some brain u convince the owner, to let u take bath n run to office which is just 5 minutes distance away as per someone. you end up walking for 15 minutes to reach the same.

finally i get to enter teh rom where the induction is happening.

funduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu is the feeling.

looking forward to make most of it.

Eager for the party.......... in the evening.

Hyderabad BEATS Las Vegas in Gambling

Anyone who has gone to or heard of Las Vegas would call me insane.......for such a bold statement. The gambling I am talking is not for fun. This gamble which is currently on in Hyderabad is for survival.

Not sure about number but atleast a Lakh people are gambling with their lives today in hyderabad. Everyone wants to be part of the growing IT industry. Fresh engineering graduates/ people with work exp are gambilng their life here. Fresher come in search of jobs, stay in shared rooms, attend testing tools training or any other package whish is in DEMAND. I fail to understand who defines this demand. Dropping CV at every office possible in the town. Each one spends atleast close to 3 k per month apart form the training fees they pay. This is a gamble you can't miss to loose unlike in Las vegas where you have a second chance.

The riskier gamble if from so called wiser souls. People well settled in different careers want to make a killing in the ERP space. Courses on SAP/ Oracle are hot cakes. Training cost add up to 2 lakhs from a good institute and rest is history. you gamble with the exam at a short period of 26 days. once you are certified then you move on to the hunting mode. Again you gamble with fake work exp. you always run the risk of getting caught after entering job. The background checks is a IN thing in corporates now.

At end of all this what you get is one job. Whether the gamble pays off or not, no one is sure. The only dream you have is of success and this is the only thing you want to think. Stories of people keeping fake work exp for 3-5 yrs n sailing high in jobs now. But what you dont hear is double the no.of people who lost the gamble and end up in jobs which they didnt even want to think earlier.

Sad part but life still moves on..................... Luckily the gamble i took, of leaving a job n going for higher studies, has paid off well.

I wish all the ones who are still gambling with their lives to make a living not just in Hyd but in blore..... n other places. All the very Best.

@ CLIENT INTERFACING - Dream Role for Placements@

" What are the oppurtunities for Client Interfacing Roles in your company?" - A question which every IT company gives diplomatic answer. I had similar expectation with my job, I only want client interfacing roles, its THE role for MBA, rest all are :-(. MBA's are smart, see how - big companies wont give you D role, so you pick up small companies which is growing. I chased one such company n the story never ended there.....

My trip to himalayas n other scenic places across country was cut short by call from HR, join us ASAP. I land up without any clue of whats in store for me. First hour in office and your senior hands you a large manual size of Oxford dictionary, haaah I can run thru it (MBA fundas), was my thought. Then came the jolt from blue, you will present our case with the CLIENT in the evening call. My joy knew no bounds the coveted interaction was just hours away. I use my MBA ka funda n get ready for the session with client.

I had no one to lean on in the call, first words from client " Hi, this is connie ". My interaction with client got off to a fine start. What else do you want, B-School grad speaking to client on a daily basis, not just talk you discuss things. Communication skills from college boost your confidence about HANDLING the CLIENT.

You get moved into multiple roles, triat of D role." Delivery Lead Offshore " for one part of the project, waaah kya baath hai. The perils of my D role show up, slowly one at a time, entertaining u at times and annoying most of the times. The client doesn't approve your plan first, it thinks we are lying around, so your plan is shrinked ( literal meaning). You try to negotiate the LoE (payment) for your efforts, you have a shocker its halfed without debate and rest is chopped after repeated brain storming. You realize how smart your client, they come up with innovative ways of pushing things on to your plate for the same WAGE.

Still your MBA has taught you, when chips are down, hang in there. Our whole team slogs to meet the fast approaching deadline, a month passes n we have no clue what we made. Day of testing your s/w - IR's pur in like monsoon in Mumbai. You end up running from team to team to fix them all. Your communication skills are a gr8 help during this. No one is as seriuos as you are on the job, reason : You are the only one who faces the CLIENT. Your manager is more than happy if you resolve the issue, without troubling him. You double up as tester/ DBA what not to bring out results( traits of D role). Hourly status calls,clients expects miracles when you dont have one. CLIENT is the last thing you want to hear, forget interact with.

Slogging sessions continue for days. Work begins at Morning IST as a regular employee n ends at Evening EST like a call centre employee:-), again thanks to B-School for the stamina. The day for delivery is 4 days away, what a pain in the back - CLIENT. Was the D role really worth it? Did I make the right choice, when most of my friends are in training and living Life.
I see a ping msg from client at 4:24 AM " Sundeep are u there?" , I dont respond for a while " Sir - I need quick answers , I cant keep waiting" .....as I collect my thoughts and my perception of D role is back.

One more challenge to face ....... Never say die attitude, One desire to beat the CLIENT professionally atleast once.