First workweek with Stakeholder visits

Monday, Michel and I worked from the poolside at the hotel to synch up face to face and to create our project plan as prep for Tuesday when we were to meet our client.

Tuesday, Michel, myself and the Client - Sundar - worked in the Michels hotel room all day as the client appears not to have an office at present. We have received tons of information and understand the key question that needs to be addressed: just give me 500K USD and I proof that the concept works with 1500 farmers -instead of the 200 that are involved now- so that Venture Capitalists will go for it and invest so that it can be applied throughout the entire province (ie. 600.000 farmers). How to do that is another story. For now, we have suggested to talk to the key stakeholders. But of course, ideas how to get an entrepreneur to a true business is a different story.

So Wednesday afternoon off to the first stakeholder: IIIT (triple I T verbally) University after our first experience in the meeting room at the 7th floor ... a floor that is being refurbished, has no functioning airco in 35° and did not have electricity either as the outlets still have to be placed -these last two go together of course). So kindly enough the manager on duty moved us to an executive room. IIIT actually has thought out the core of the concept: eSagu - an application especially for farmers. We were in the University until 7 pm, so back just in time to join the group for dinner at 8. Intensive day this was, and combined with remains of a jetlag and cold extra challenging for me.

Thursday we already were closer to getting real work done in the hotel: airco and power outlet are now present, just an extension cord is needed ... and water / tea / coffee .... And in the afternoon we took off to IBM to meet the IBM Hyderabad people that have participated in the pilot of Sundars concept. So we are the first ones to have been to IBM ... the team envies us now. Oh, it is easier to bring your badge by the way ... I left it in the hotel room :-)

Friday is going to be an 7th floor day for us, and for another team. This gives the opportunity to digest some of the endless information dump.

Too much to tell already. The roads are absolutely packed with cars & temples (autoriksah): 3 lanes on the deck actually turn out to be 7 lanes as every single free spot is being used. We also are the "attraction" of the day: who has ever seen a white person, let alone so many grouped together. One of us has been asked why he was so white. The reply not to be able to be in the sun that often was difficult to understand for the kids. When we got in an amazinf Indian Veggie restaurant, we were so special that we were offered some local dishes especially made for us, and each were personnally fed by the host and chef cook ... very special to experience. Going into a shopping mall requires a body check... for woman in a special little cabinet and the checkup behind the curtains actually is that we are run by a electronic device scanner ... that of course picks up our mobiles :-)
Click to see Pictures


<-- Dutch government falls was
frontpage news on Saturday I believe

Satuday students were on strike in the city, locking down the place and someone set himself on fire -->
Newspaper news as the hotel and ABV advised us to stay in the hotel


And of course meeting the team, ABV, the clients, the Indian CSC reps and some of the OnDemand community who won awards: Pictures

First working days

are a great adventure to everyone. It seems like some assignments are somewhat different than the first information we had received, and some other actually appear to be a full skill match where at first it was thought not to be. How interesting things can be. We all hear different things, and we all share this over dinners.

Michel and myself have worked from the hotel yesterday and today, so we already are famous at the nearest lunchfacility: Hyderabad House. Over there, they get used to these strange white people (one girl has asked why we are so white, we get stared at, we get to taste special treats in restaurants etc. and so on). Others travel respectable distances to get to their clients. Tomorrow, we will interview the university that developed the core of the business model of Janani Foods: eSagu - an electronic platform and application for farmers, but also healthcare and education can hop on this train-.

And, hey .... we now how to hail a temple (aka riksha) and how to negotiate the price already. Temples leaving us as they cannot scam a tourist....and temples taking us at local rates, YEAH.

Hotel @ 3 am

we are here ! At last, and with all our luggage. We had a pleasant flight, saw the moon lying and i have met a young
kid (7 year old Lex) who is going live in India and build a children's home his parents. On the way from the airport to the hotel I was sharing the car with Stefan and Enric, who both were minding their mobiles as you can see in the pictures.

The hotel is fine, it is warm here, and students are on strike throughout the city. We also are Karl-less at present - he missed his flight so hopefully we will meet him tomorrow at breakfast. All others are accounted for :-)

Schedule for the initial days

Saturday 20th February
Today we will attend the ABV welcome meeting and receive an introduction on India and Hyderabad. The intro will be followed by a group dinner at our hotel: The Golkonda Hotel

Sunday 21st February
Introduction to Hyderabad via a city tour to view the hotspots for restaurants, shopping, facilities, sites, transport, etc.

Monday 22nd February
We will meet our clients for assignments at our hotel to talk about the details and then move to the office locations

My first Blog

was just written at https://www-146.ibm.com/corporateservicecorps/node/4959

Besides the IBM professional CSC experience, I have picked up a second project via-via. A projector (a.k.a. beamer in Europe ... but it is not a BMW) is needed at Krushi Home, a children's home nearby Hyderabad (www.projectkrushi.org). This request is a follow-up of a KPN project at Krushi home in the past: http://www.infotech-enterprises.com/pdf/Agenda/KPNvisit.pdf: the kids want to see the DVD on typical dutch windwill !There must be a way to get the projector to the kids, as is managed in very creative manner in the Netherlands.