Fraud Management

Fraud, by its text book definition, is an intentional deceitful act made for financial gain or to malign other individuals / companies good will and is considered to be a criminal activity. With the rapid rise in technology, frauds are a significant threat to any type of business and cause both financial as well as reputational losses. Fraudulent activities are on rise and surprisingly many of those come from internal sources and not from external sources. Hence the organizations are facing hard time detecting and preventing the frauds. Despite major advances in fraud detection and prevention technologies it is difficult to entirely eliminate fraud since the fraudsters are often the smart and white collar people who know in and out of the system and the business. Hence the need arises to put controls in place which can ensure that frauds can be nipped in the bud and any malpractice should be able to send out early warning signals to the business. However technology being a double edged sword this is sometimes easier said than done.

That being said fraud prevention / detection does not have to be rocket science. Even basic due diligence, ideas like maker checker concept can do a long way in helping companies protecting their assets and reputation and here are some of them

• A periodic review of information security management controls on the IT systems, network and data security services is essential. This may get viewed as a huge investment but need not be so. Even simple steps can go a long way in protecting company sensitive data. For example

1. Have a well defined user access management policy for granting / modifications of access
2. Having a strong physical environment policy
3. Restricting uploading of files to external sites
4. Restriction on attachment sizes for emails
5. Scanning of emails being sent to external and personal accounts
6. Restriction on USB ports and printers

• Sensitive information should be discarded in such a manner that it does not remain available to anyone. Fraudsters can retrieve sensitive information from “disposed off storage devices”, for their benefits. In financial institutions a person’s name, address, DOB are valuable and fraudsters can use this information to manipulate someone’s identity and commit fraud under someone’s else name. This is where again technology can work for or against you. Data disposal techniques can help companies erase sensitive data completely so that even if someone does lay their hands on the device information cannot be obtained.
• Another emerging trend which can also be categorized under the same bracket is “Industrial espionage”. One important thing to be considered to prevent this from happening is conducting a background check before hiring employees. By performing background checks companies can get to know about the past records, or any other fraudulent activities if any.
• With so much of company data being available online(especially for public listed companies) businesses should secure their websites by adding the security services of SSL/TLS to standard HTTP communications which will indicate to it users / customers that the website is secure. This should be done especially by the banking institutions and ecommerce websites since transactions happen over such websites and users share their credit card details. Such websites should also be compliant to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) standards. This increases user confidence in conducting transactions over the website and enhances the company reputation.

With all the fraud prevention mechanisms being put in place the truth is that it is not technology that commits a fraud. It is technology in the wrong hands that causes a problem. Hence it is very important to tackle this aspect of fraud preventions. All users must be educated on the company policy do and don’t. The company should have a zero tolerance policy towards any fraudulent activity that has been committed. Users should be encouraged to come forward and report and wrong doing that they suspect. This can be encouraged by helping them do this anonymously. Organizations need to understand that technology, only with the right human support, can help in preventing frauds and that it cannot be the other way around. 

With Manage IT as your IT solution provider, with its ITIL based Manage Security Module it helps you enhance IT Security efficiently.

Click here to know more about our ManageIT Services

About Author:

Dimpy Thurakhia is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, she actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. She can be contacted at dimpy.t@spluspl.com

Many Aspects of Contingent Workforce

“Work” – in today’s world is becoming more and more project-based and relies heavily on technical skill sets. Workforce realities, structural shifts, and a change in social norms are affecting the nature of employment. Businesses and workers need to know how to adapt to these changes. As determined, the need for sophisticated, project-based work combined with the mindset of finding work independently has contributed to the emergence of the 21st century contingent workforce. As of June 2012, there were 2.534 million contract and temporary workers in the U.S.

Definitions of the various types of contingent labor that may be employed

Temporary employees	When hired through an outside agency, temporary employees bring with them a management layer that is also contingent.
Part-time employees	These might or might not receive benefits, but fall outside the traditional category due to hours per workweek.
Interns	In paid and unpaid positions, interns work while receiving on-the-job training for a specified time period in a unique arrangement well outside the norm. They may be groomed for future positions within the company. College students are a good example of contingents in this category.
Consultants	This group is typically considered contingent. Usually knowledge-based, they are frequently part of a consulting firm or similar organization.
Independent contractors	This group is typically considered contingent. They often work as sole proprietors on an hourly basis.
Outsourced workers	These employees are paid and managed by a third-party that bills the organization, which in a sense hires the third-party directly and the employees indirectly. As with temporary agencies, the third-party itself is contingent.
Offshore workers	In some cases these might be traditional company employees, but in other cases they are not. Moving employees offshore takes them outside the four walls, and offshore status adds a unique communication layer to temporary, part-time, consulting and independent-contractor offshore workers. Offshore contingents might be the result of a buy-out, joint venture or partnership.
Persons of Interest (POI)	While not strictly a contingent worker, they are a type of person that needs to be tracked for compensation or benefit purposes.

Use of contingent labor requires separate tracking – hiring, training, managing, and either exiting or potentially converting to a full time employee – and have different requirements than regular employees. There are many legal differences depending on the type of contingent hired and each difference must be tracked and managed carefully. And there are other risks like knowledge management and co-employment.

If there are so many risks in taking contingent workforce, why would an employer go for contingent labor?

Here are few of the answers to that question.

1. May have faster ramp-up times
2. Help reduce the costs associated with recruiting and training
3. Provide diverse sources of interaction for the knowledge workers
4. Increase an organization’s ability to attract, retain, and motivate high-performing individuals
5. Enable an organization to proactively plan for the economic impact of expected talent shortages
6. Lower benefit costs, since many contingent workers don’t legally qualify for employer benefits.
7. Lower employment/payroll taxes

Contingent workers choose to find work independently because they enjoy the flexibility. Their motivation is to be their own boss, the level of compensation, and the freedom to choose their work.

In terms of productivity, the combination of a higher employee morale plus a lower cost is indication enough of a probable boost in productivity.

To conclude, having a well-run and effective contingent workforce strategy in place will allow you to reap the benefits you need to stay ahead of the competition. Use of contingent labor is on the rise and those organizations that take advantage of it early and strategically will shine.

About Author:

Nisha Tolani is consultant and part of Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. She is a part of consulting team that delivers Sourcing and Vendor Management Office projects. She can be contacted at: nisha.t@spluspl.com

ODC Management…How it’s Different ?

Gone are the days when outsourcing was done only for non-core services. In is the trend of outsourcing the business critical core functions to cost effective off shore countries like, Brazil, India, and China. What has transpired this global change? Is it something to do alone with the way projects are managed or is the trend of setting up the offshore ODC as well the fuel?
Well among many factors it’s seen that dedicated Offshore Centre’s have fuelled the offshoring / outsourcing of the business critical core functions.

To begin with let’s first see what ODC is and then see different parameters associated with ODC Management.

ODC Management:  Offshoring is defined as the movement of a business process done at a company in one country to the same or another company in another, different country.  (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org )

These clearly indicate, “ODC Management is much more than managing the outsourced project”. Let’s explore, the need, key challenges & some Critical Success Factors of ODC Management in comparison to Project, Program and Portfolio Management?

Typical Challenges in ODC Management

• Replication of Project Management models/frameworks at ODC.
• Resource Ramp Up.
• Differences in Legal Framework at Onsite/ Client Site and ODC Location.
• Cultural differences.
• Support For COTS (Custom Off The Shelf) Products.
• Ever increasing control of Business over IT.
• Multiple Vendor Interaction and Integration.

Key Components of ODC Management

• ODC Governance& Reporting.
• Facilities and Infrastructure Management.
• Recruitment and Human Resource Management.
• Legal and Administration Support.
• OPEX and COPEX Management & Control.
• SLA Management and Compliance.
• Onsite-Offshore Co-ordination and Communication.
• Technology Management.

Known risk for ODC setup

• Resource Movements & Attrition.
• Cost & Schedule Sensitivity.
• Performance Measurement at ODC Level.
• Environmental and Technology Stability.
• Lack of Micromanagement at Onsite and Pertaining ODC.
• Geographical Differences (Working Timings overlap not always possible)

Typical Triggers for Failures of ODC

• Outdated technology.
• COTS products instability.
• Un Foreseen Costs bubbling up.
• Resource Scarcity for the selected technology.
• Lack of Strategic Road Map.
• Unstable Core Business, no surety of Long term Strategy.
• Rigid Processes, difficult to change.

Critical Skills for ODC Management

• Proactive Thinking.
• Casual and formal problem analysis and Problem Solving
• Unbiased Decision making.
• Excellent Communication Skills.
• Follow-Up Skills.
• Cultural Sensitivity.

Why Choose ODC?

• Allows you to have “Complete Control” over the projects even in vendor organization.
• Allows you to retain the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) for the products developed at ODC.
• Allows you to work 24/7, without following shift patterns and related costs.
• Allows you to operate on optimum cost depending on the geography of ODC.
• Allows you to select the resources and key project components.
• Allows you to leverage the partner’s expertise not available at On-Site.
• Allows you to register presence in new geographies without the worries of ownership.

When to Choose ODC?

• In House Project cost are moving northward majorly due to Resource and Environmental costing.
• On-Site Environment is unstable or instability is predicted.
• When business road map has been clearly defined.
• Need to register presence in different geographies across the globe.
• Scope of work seems to be ever growing.

Hope this blog helps you in understanding the concept of ODC and some of its associated Factors.  I look forward for your views and opinions both agreements and disagreements.

Systems Plus along with its offering provides Managed Captive services which is a unique offering based on Vendor hosted ODC Model. (Click here to know more)

About Author:

Pradip Sadare is Operations Manager with Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. He enjoys relating management with everyday life aspects and works in Managed Captive Model(click here to know more about our managed captive offerings). He can be contacted at: pradip.s@spluspl.com. You can read rest of his musings at http://projectmanagementmusings.blogspot.in/

Few Misconceptions of Outsourcing

Company: “How difficult can it be to outsource a process?”

Outsourcing is not easy, just because you outsource a process to experts does not mean that it will work better than it did before and at a lower cost. It is essential to first decide why you want to outsource, is it because your core business is not IT and therefore you are not good with it, or you wish to reduce cost. Once your outsourcing motive is clear you then need an Outsourcing plan i.e. you need to have some idea what you expect from your outsourcing vendor, how will you shortlist a vendor, who from your company will interact and manage outsourcing transactions etc.

Apart from above, following should also be considered in your outsourcing agreement

• IP Protection
• Client/Company Data Privacy
• Permission for Subcontracting
• Exit Strategy
• Properly Address Dispute Resolution
• Indemnification

Once contract is signed you need to impart your process/business knowledge to the vendor so that he can give cost saving solutions. Provisions should also be taken to ensure that incase the company wishes to bring the outsourced process back inside the company how will it be achieved.

Company: “Outsourcing is, when we get to transfer all our IT problems to a vendor who has expertise in the area. It is then their lookout how they fix the problem and achieve cost saving simultaneously. And the best part is that once process is outsourced we won’t have to do anything or change the way we do things.”

Outsourcing is not a “Pick and Drop” concept. In other words, companies cannot just pick up a process and drop it off to an outside vendor and expect everything to work absolutely fine without any effort from their end. Vendors are expected to find the root cause of the problem and suggest a feasible and lasting solution; this can only be achieved when they have full knowledge of how company does business.
Every company has its own nature of working. Though outsourcing providers are better at the given function they need some guidance from the company to understand their business process. Only after they understand the nature of business they can differentiate between what company wants and what they need to achieve their goals. Based on their understanding they find the root cause of the problem and put forth a solution.
This solution suggested by the vendor by its very nature might change the way company does its business. Therefore it is essential that company should also be willing to make changes (sometimes major) in the way they do business while outsourcing.

Company: “We need to achieve cost saving next year. We know that if we outsource our processes overseas, we will achieve our financial goals for next year.”

One of the top reasons for outsourcing is cost saving. Most companies calculate cost against a baseline which is static in nature, due to which they save cost in short term but in long run they might run into problems. Ideally, cost calculation should include dynamic aspect as well i.e. they should take into account the following

• Overhead created by getting things done world away.
• How much they have to Compromise on quality, if any
• Government policies of the outsourced country
• Estimate hike in rates and personnel turnover in 3 to 5 years down the line

About Author:

Tina Nebhnani is consultant and part of Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. She is a part of consulting team that delivers Sourcing and Vendor Management Office projects. She can be contacted at: tina.n@spluspl.com

Supplier Management

Businesses today are more reliant on suppliers, third parties and outsourced relationships than ever before. Regardless of what business you are in, suppliers play a key role in the success of your business. Organizations are no longer dependent on local suppliers but also have information about supplier based in any corner of the world, thanks to e-commerce, globalization and the ever changing technology. In fact, the supply chain has become globally dispersed. To manage the globally dispersed business is an arduous task. To succeed in this complex environment you should know your suppliers business processes very well because ultimately it drives the organizations business success. A robust Supplier Management process will make sure that the value for money is delivered.

Supplier Management Process

When we talk about the role of supplier management process in IT, it basically is managing the suppliers and the contracts to support the provision of IT services to the business and at the same time it ensures that suppliers meet the terms, conditions and targets of their contracts and agreements.

A good Supplier Management process should include:

Evaluation of suppliers and their contracts:

Customized contracts with the supplier has to be made to include the services that the supplier has agreed to provide and at what cost. It should include the scope of the services, roles and responsibilities, basic terms and conditions, payment terms, commitment to change and investment, legal obligations etc. The agreed SLAs and KPIs should be clearly documented for future use. The penalty clauses should be mentioned in case the SLA is breached and any of the involved party does not fulfill the promises they made in the contracts. Where applicable critical contracts should also be reviewed by the legal team.

Categorization of the suppliers and contracts:

An organization may have multiple contracts with one supplier or multiple contracts with multiple suppliers in any case for immediate access to the details of the contract there is a need to categorize the suppliers and contracts. The suppliers are categorized based on the services, risks and cost associated with each supplier.

Repository for maintaining suppliers and contracts information:

There should be a database where details about the organization’s suppliers, the products / services each supplier provides and the contract details are stored.

Managing suppliers and their performance:

Review of performance reports should be conducted on a regular basis to check if the supplier is providing the services as per the agreed upon SLAs and KPIs mentioned in the contract. Also check if the supplier is providing service as per the business priorities.

Review of Contract:

On a regular basis the contract must be reviewed to check if the contract is continuing to fulfill the business needs. To ensure that the partnership with the supplier is profitable for the business. A review must also be conducted to check if renewal of the contract is needed or not, or if there is need to sign a new contract with the same or different supplier and the current contract needs to be terminated or not.

Service Improvement Plan:

It is important to have service improvement plan meeting to analyze the current services being offered and find out areas where service can be improved.  Decide the appropriate improvement action that should be taken for the benefit of the business.

With the supplier management process in place your organization, you can ensure that the IT services are aligned to the business needs and expectations. And as always – value for money is obtained from the suppliers.

About Author:

Rohan Khanvilkar is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, he actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. He can be contacted at rohan.k@spluspl.com

Kendo UI

Kendo UI is an HTML-5, Jquery-based framework for building modern web apps. The framework features lots of UI widgets, a rich data visualization framework, an auto-adaptive Mobile framework, and all of the tools needed for HTML5 app development, such as Data Binding, Templating, Drag-and-Drop API, and more.

Kendo UI comes in different bundles

• Web - HTML5 widgets for desktop browsing experience
• DataViz - HTML5 data visualization widgets
• Mobile - HTML5 framework for building hybrid mobile applications
• Complete - includes Kendo UI Web, Kendo UI DataViz and Kendo UI Mobile
• Complete for ASP.NET MVC - Kendo UI Complete plus ASP.NET MVC wrappers for Kendo UI Web and Kendo UI DataViz

UI Widgets that we can use in Kendo UI

AutoComplete, Calendar, ColorPicker, ComboBox, DatePicker, DateTimePicker, DropDownList, Editor, Grid, ListView, Menu, MultiSelect, NumericTextBox, PanelBar, Scheduler, Slider, Splitter, TabStrip, TimePicker, Tooltip, TreeView,Upload, Window

Using Kendo UI

1. Copy the /js and /styles directories of the Kendo UI Web distribution to your web application root directory
2. Include the Kendo UI Web JavaScript and CSS files in the head tag of your HTML page
   
   
   
   <!-- Common Kendo UI Web CSS -->
   <link href="styles/kendo.common.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
   <!-- Default Kendo UI Web theme CSS -->
   <link href="styles/kendo.default.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
   <!-- jQuery JavaScript -->
   <script src="js/jquery.min.js" /><!-- Kendo UI Web combined JavaScript -->
   <script src="js/kendo.web.min.js" />
   
   

Basic Grid example using Kendo UI

In Grid we can do the lots of functionality using HTML-5 and J-Query which are as follows:
Initialization from table, Binding to local data,Binding to remote data, Batch editing, Inline editing, Popup editing, Editing custom editor, Virtualization of local data, Virtualization of remote data ,Hierarchy, Detail template, Toolbar template, Custom command, Aggregates, Filter menu customization, Sorting, Selection, Foreign Key column, Column reordering, Column resizing, Column menu, Row template, Events, API, RTL support, Keyboard navigation.

Source Code

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

    <title></title>

    <link href="styles/kendo.common.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />

    <link href="styles/kendo.default.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />

    <script src="js/jquery.min.js"></script>

    <script src="js/kendo.all.min.js"></script>

</head>

<body>

            <script src="../../content/shared/js/people.js"></script>

        <div id="example" class="k-content">

            <div id="clientsDb">

                <div id="grid" style="height: 380px"></div>

            </div>

            <style scoped>

                #clientsDb {

                    width: 692px;

                    height: 413px;

                    margin: 30px auto;

                    padding: 51px 4px 0 4px;

                    background: url('../../content/web/grid/clientsDb.png') no-repeat 0 0;

                }

            </style>

            <script>

                $(document).ready(function () {

                    $("#grid").kendoGrid({

                        dataSource: {

                            data: createRandomData(50),

                            pageSize: 10

                        },

                        groupable: true,

                        sortable: true,

                        pageable: {

                            refresh: true,

                            pageSizes: true

                        },

                        columns: [{

                            field: "FirstName",

                            width: 90,

                            title: "First Name"

                        }, {

                            field: "LastName",

                            width: 90,

                            title: "Last Name"

                        }, {

                            width: 100,

                            field: "City"

                        }, {

                            field: "Title"

                        }, {

                            field: "BirthDate",

                            title: "Birth Date",

                            template: '#= kendo.toString(BirthDate,"dd MMMM yyyy") #'

                        }, {

                            width: 50,

                            field: "Age"

                        }

                        ]

                    });

                });

            </script>

        </div>

</body>

</html>

Sample Screens

   1.  Simple Grid

      2.  Group by Column

   

   3.  Grid within Grid

   

   4.  Toolbar within Grid

   

   5.  Filter Grid

   

   6.  Grid Calculation

You can download all Kendo UI bundles from the following link:

http://www.kendoui.com/download.aspx

About Author:

Vishal Kudale  is enthusiast .net developer who works as associate consultant with Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. He in free time reads and write on various web technologies. He can be contacted at: vishal.kudale@spluspl.com