Make most of your time in campus

Let me start off on a personal note... My father always said that education cannot be measured by academic qualifications alone. Only now do I fully realize the significance of his words!

Looking back at my college days, I feel privileged to have interacted with some excellent professors who always challenged us to think beyond the subject; to question and 'understand'; to structure our thoughts and not come up with problems, but attempt a solution. There is so much we subconsciously absorb during our campus days, that they influence what we become, who we become, and what we do later in life.

Soon after I completed my MA in Economics from Bombay University in the early '80s, I 'drifted' into IT out of pure interest. I started my career in IT consulting (known as EDP then) at a time when it was rare to have non engineering / Mathematics / Science graduates in the industry.

Just the other day when I mentioned how we worked with punch cards and very precious time-slots on 'CANDE' Terminals, my colleague looked at me as if I had come from the Stone Age. And to think it was really not so long ago!

One of my early projects back in 1985-86 was to develop MIS Reports for Indian Banks for internal and statutory reporting. The challenge was that we were the guinea pig users of a new 'report generator' tool. We had to use 3GL+COBOL to design and code these reports, apart from trying to get the requirements clearly defined and frozen from the banks.vividly remember this project as 'leader' of a team of IIT-ans who looked patronizingly at me and commented, “She is our Project Manager. She is not an engineer!”

I did my first 'onsite-offshore' project in 1988-89. With no emails or Internet, I sometimes wonder how we managed to survive. We would send the software and data on large tapes and then communicate all the changes (specifications, program patches, installation guidelines, testing instructions and more) by fax! The IT industry has evolved dramatically over the last 20 years not just in terms of new technologies and innovations, but has also broadened its spectrum way beyond programming and managing hardware.

Look at Cognizant! We do such fascinating work for clients across the globe. We provide complete solutions across all aspects of the broader scope of IT. Consulting (not just technical but also domain and business), complete global infrastructure support, application development, package implementations, application value management and more.

Today, leading our new delivery center in Budapest, Hungary - a beautiful city with a rich educational and cultural heritage - I look back fondly on my campus days.

I recall an argument I had with one of my professors who asked me to participate in a debate. I declined because of my stage fright. He promptly turned around and said, “You always have a ready argument and do not keep quiet when you are sitting down, but the moment I ask you to face an audience you get nervous. You have to participate, you have no choice!” Now, whenever I make a formal presentation, I thank him for helping me get over my weakness.

While studying for my MA, I would never have imagined that I would do such interesting work in an evolving field like IT. You never know how you will apply your education, in the true sense of the word, 20 years down the line!

So, young friends! Make the most of your time on campus - learning and having fun.

Singapore students visit Cognizant

Time to invest in upgrading skills, Lakshmi tells SVCE students

The best of opportunities lie hidden in the most challenging of environments. Despite the economic downturn and the general feeling of gloom, do not be afraid or anxious, but focus on building strong foundations and reinforcing professional competencies. These were the optimistic words from Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman, Cognizant.

Addressing students of Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Chennai last month, Lakshmi said: “It is important to be ‘skilled’, but equally important to be ‘employable’. Students must stress on behavioral skill s, communication and presentation skills, team dynamics, business etiquette and cross-cultural adaptability. Continuous learning, flexibility and a can-do attitude are clear plus points in today's environment. The ability to think and communicate clearly commands a premium. In addition, the right aptitude and the ability to work in a team environment are what matter.

The right combination of consistent academic scores, sound knowledge of subject fundamentals and good communication and interpersonal skills, can all pave the path to a rewarding IT career. The mantra is to persevere, think big, worship quality, and continually learn new things and reinvent oneself without compromising on ethics and value systems.

Quality, Technology and Global Scale are some of the defining criteria that demand attention today.

To survive (in the corporate ecosystem), one should be committed to continuous improvement. Organizations are increasingly using quality as an essential differentiator”.

Noting that the backbone of commerce in this age of technology was characterized by constant technological alteration and continuous global expansion of technological processes that provided efficiency and competitive advantage, Cognizant's Vice Chairman said that another changing facet was the “virtual” character of the workplace. “A truly global marketplace is emerging and for organizations to flourish, let alone survive, their perspective must be global. It has become imperative for them to understand the nature of the global forces that affect business strategy development. It is only by thinking BIG that we can dominate world markets.”

Lakshmi also outlined the essential ingredients that could contribute to building a success story - a global mindset, the ability to learn rapidly, ability to reinvent oneself, positive attitude and an eternal focus on values.

Warming into his favourite theme of innovation, Lakshmi Narayanan said that it took innovation to stay ahead in the changing innovation, Lakshmi Narayanan said that it took innovation to stay ahead in the changing s well. The most successful firms, irrespective of the industry they belong to, are innovators.

He ended by saying that, when youngsters were not riding a wave, they would do best by investing in themselves so that they were equipped to ride the next wave. This would all be about multi-skilling and multi-tasking. Companies have not stopped employing. However, the focus was shifting from quantity to quality.

Cognizant Goes Green

Going green is no more an option. Protecting the environment and a sustainable lifestyle demand our urgent attention.

At Cognizant, we believe that going green by leveraging advanced technologies not only makes sound moral and business sense, but also spells competitive advantage. Our green policy - Lead sustainable growth with environment friendly practices and responsible use of natural resources.

The 'Go Green' campaign, led by Premkumar Pandurangam, now covers all locations with senior management folks pitching in seriously. Planting trees and conserving the environment is the only way to ensure that the carbon dioxide emitted by factories, automobiles, and human beings are absorbed and recycled into the atmosphere naturally.

A steering committee, comprising members of Cognizant Senior Management, ranging from the Chief Information Officer to HR and Practice Heads, provides ongoing guidance and direction for this important initiative.

CEO leads from the front

Francisco D'Souza (Frank), President and CEO, Cognizant, wanted every associate to plant one tree this year. That would take the count to 44,000 trees in India and over 60,000 trees globally. Imagine the impact Cognizant will make on the environment if we unleash 'Go Green' across India, China, the US, the UK and APac. Frank recently inaugurated the sapling nursery at the Chennai Techno Complex (TCO) and also planted some saplings in the campus along with other senior management. Cognizant has partnered with an NGO, Project Green Hands, to set up this nursery.

To ensure the active participation of all Cognizant associates, the company has adopted strict environmental guidelines, including use of clean environment-friendly gas agents, recycling of water and auto-power save for all desktops and other gadgets. Cognizant has also adopted several ways of reaching out to its associates on green initiatives, and encouraging them to do their bit for the cause of our environment. They include the Go Green Blog; wallpapers, screensavers and posters; Green celebrations such as Earth Day and tree plantation drives; Lotus Park that showcases renewable resource experiments and demonstrations such as the use of percolation pits, sky farming and composting in the corporate environment; car-pooling; Green CSR Initiatives like donating eco-friendly notebooks made of sugarcane waste to students; responsible printing (setting printing quota limit and enforcing double-sided printing across locations) and restricting gas emissions through controlled travel by effectively using virtual communication tools.

Cognizant Academy Head asks students to plan for the long term

More than 1100 students from different branches of engineering and business administration of St. Joseph's College of Engineering, Chennai, received their precious degree certificates from K. Venkataraman, Global Head of Cognizant Academy on March 14, 2008.

Mr. Venkataraman highlighted how today's times “are at once challenging and rewarding. Even the platitude of change being the only constant in life has assumed newer dimensions. This increases the need for us as individuals as well as organizations and institutions to be mindful of changes, not just how they affect us, but also the immense possibilities that they generate. In times of challenges as well as opportunities, we must become active contributors in leveraging changes as well as spearheading them.” Noting that students do not depend only on classroom learning but a variety of media in a tech enabled world, he said colleges and universities need to deal effectively with these developments to make education richer.

His message to the students:

• Develop a personal responsibility towards society and the nation
• Develop an entrepreneurial mindset
• Plan long term and don't expect quick benefits
• Learn to persevere in a volatile environment – stay focused on your strengths
• New knowledge-based industries are always looking for learning minds

Digital security goes beyond perimeter defence:
Cognizant's security expert

Digital security goes beyond anti-virus and firewall or intrusion detection systems, says Vasudevan Thiruvengadam, Director – Projects, Cognizant. Mr Vasudevan explains how perimeter defence is not enough in business.

Beyond perimeter defence Perimeter security such as Anti-virus (desktop layer), encryption (transport layer), Firewall (access layer) Intrusion Detection Systems (Network layer) are important but not enough to prevent hacker attacks. Hackers target web applications to steal confidential or sensitive data (Address, Credit Card information, Health records, etc.) for financial gain. Sometimes hackers try to deface a site or make it unusable for normal users and damage an organization's business and reputation. The existing perimeter security solutions have evolved over the years based on the increasing sophistication of hackers, but they only address the attacks at infrastructural / network level. But they cannot prevent attacks that target the application themselves as the attackers try to exploit the common weaknesses and security vulnerabilities in the application. Analysts predict that two out of three web applications are vulnerable.

Web-site hacking attacks
We hear about security incidents / breaches all the time – though most of them are not reported due to poor image/credibility issue they create. Most of the attacks are preventable and occur due to inadequate security design/coding practices. All types of organizationsi.e. Government, Private Enterprise or even Social Networking sites are equally vulnerable to such attacks.

Follow Security in SDLC for Web apps
The entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) should integrate security requirements in addition to the functional/business requirements. Some examples of techniques to prevent some common vulnerabilities are: cross-site scripting, SQL injection, which need to be taken care of while developing the web application.

If Security is not built in and not followed during the conceptualization, design and development stages, the cost of fixing security incidents will be manifold and the impact severe.

Cognizant's “Digital Security Practice” is a specialized practice offering a variety of services and solutions to customers of business units across the globe such as: Identifying & Access Management Solutions; Strong authentication; Data Security and Data Privacy Solutions; Consulting and Security Assessments, besides managed security & Support Services. Some emerging trends in the information security space are: Security as a Service (i.e SaaS for Security), Data Leakage Prevention, Database Activity Monitoring (to detect insider abnormal transactions) and Web2.0 security.

Recognizing Merit

Cognizant's unique program for recognizing students with awards has clearly enhanced its relationship with Colleges, Universities and Students, committed to academics. Neha Jain, IT student of St. Thomas College of Engineering and Technology was given the Best Outgoing Student (BOS) in 2008. Her college mate Sayantani Basu, B.Tech in Electrical Engineering won the 'Ascend' Award. Cognizant's Senior Manager-HR, Arunava Bhattacharjee, gave away the awards.

Women in Engineering

The inauguration of the Bangalore Chapter of the IEEE (Institution of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) Women in Engineering (WIE) added a special touch to 'Impetus 2009'—the annual tech fest of the international organization dedicated to promoting women engineers and scientists.

On March 14, 2009, eminent women professionals got together at the University Vishvesvaraya college of Engineering, Bangalore, to celebrate the occasion.

Women achievers from various organizations participated in the discussion on 'Women in Engineering and Women's Empowerment'. Veena Srigopal from the Technology Practice Group represented Cognizant. Geetha Manjunath, Senior Research Scientist from Hewlett-Packard, a doctorate in Women's studies and Senior Professor at NMKRV and Dr Lakshmi, Manager at CDOT were the other participants. Dr Sangeetha, who has many laurels to her credit, including being the first blind woman to receive a doctorate, was a true inspiration to the group of budding engineers, scientists and professors from various institutes.

The discussions centered on women empowerment, especially with regard to women in the field of engineering. The panelists also spoke on the challenges faced on their journey and shared their experiences as professional women. It was suggested that corporates should look at flexi-working and other benefits to enable women engineers perform better or else they would not be able to derive any benefit from the diverse talent pool available in the country. The panelists also encouraged young women to continue learning and innovating. IEEE WIE also reiterated that one should be proud to be a woman and aim to achieve their goals despite all odds!

April '09 Quiz Questions

1. In archery, what is known as a perfect end?

2. ------------ is the word that describes the moon coming very close to earth.

3. Which two Indian public sector organizations make the electronic voting machines?

4. Chicago's iconic Sears Tower is to be renamed …. Tower. Fill up the blank.

5. What is the one striking similarity in the Budget of 1984 and the Interim Budget of 2009?

6. Google acquired this company in 2004 and renamed Earth Viewer as Google Earth.

7. If Star Alliance and Sky Team are the top two airline alliances, which is the third largest?

8. Give the name and place of the world's highest hydroelectric project?

9. Name the Indian who has served as Chief Minister of a state for the longest period of time?

10. In whose memory did the FIH create the Super Fair Play Trophy in 1984?

March 2009 answers

1. Art of making tea

2. Vinland

3. Swan

4. There's Something in the Air

5. Only bowlers to have dismissed all

the eleven batsman in a test match

6. Paramount Pictures

7. Xylo

8. Slumdog Millionaire

9. Creative Commons License

10. Guillermo Vilas – 46 Matches

Winners of the March 2009 Quiz

1. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Techno India, Salt Lake City, Kolkata

2. Jagadeesh M, G.C.T, Coimbatore

Edited & Supervised by the Corporate Marketing & Communications Group. Send in your feedback/suggestions to C2C@cognizant.com or campus@cognizant.com