This is where tech giants are spending money

Google, Apple, and all the other tech giants have a vested interest in many of the decisions coming out of Washington, DC.

Whether it's how immigration policy will affect the pool of talent HR can pick from, or laws on data and privacy, the rulings coming out of the Capitol can have a huge impact on the tech world.

And so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that these companies are spending lots of money on lobbying efforts.

According to Consumer Watchdog, Google led the way, spending a whopping $5.03 million on lobbying in the second quarter of 2014. In comparison, Microsoft spent $2.34 million, Facebook spent $2.12 million, Amazon spent $1.06 million, and Apple spent $840,000.

What's really interesting, though, is to look at where this money is going.

Recently, Google has been working really hard to fight bans on Google Glass. According to Reuters, the company has been lobbying officials in at least three states to prevent restrictions on wearing the device while driving.

Google has also focused its money on issues like healthcare, patent reform, consumer privacy issues, government surveillance, and telecom policy, according to The Wall Street Journal.

And while Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the richest people in the country to not make any political contributions, their company sure is spending a lot in DC. Google gives money to almost 140 business trade groups, advocacy organizations and think tanks, according to The Washington Post. This reportedly came in handy when the company was facing issues with the FTC antitrust investigation into its dominance in search.

Facebook got an earlier start at lobbying than Google, having had staff in Washington since 2007. The giant social network giant tends to focus its energies on net neutrality, online privacy (especially for children), immigration reform, and national security. Immigration reform has been particularly important to Mark Zuckerberg leading to his creation of FWD.us.

Microsoft has its own PAC fund from which it donates to many political campaigns. It tends to focus on areas like immigration, taxes, patents, and telecommunications.

Amazon spends its money on issues like internet sales taxes, telecom regulations, copyright law, consumer safety, and law enforcement.

Apple has been more on the down-low when it comes to lobbying, but it is expected to increase its efforts with the FDA and healthcare issues now that it's coming out with HealthKit this fall, in time for the release of iOS 8 and its health-oriented wristband.

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One in every 3 Apple engineers is Indian

BANGALORE: India has become a major ingredient in Apple's secret sauce, and the scale may surprise many. It is estimated that a third of the $171-billion company's engineering staff is Indian, and that a large and increasing proportion of its enterprise software, service and support work is done by Indian IT vendors.

Apple filed 1,750 H-1B applications during the 10-year period 2001 to 2010, but the number increased sharply to 2,800 during 2011-13. US-based HfS Research that compiled the data says the majority of the H-1Bs would be Indians, indicating that the iPhone and iPad maker's dependence on Indian engineers has risen significantly in recent years.

"About one-third of Apple's engineering headcount consists of Indians who are either on H-1B or on Green Card," said Pareekh Jain, principal analyst at HfS Research.

HfS arrives at that conclusion looking at figures Apple disclosed in 2012, when it said it had 47,000 people working directly for it in the US, of which 7,700 were customer support operators, and 27,350 worked retail in Apple Stores, leaving about 12,000 as engineers, designers, marketers and other white-collar tech product workers.

HfS Research also finds that Apple works with at least five India-based IT vendors — including four large firms and one small firm — and the scope of the work they do has been rising.



"Apple's outsourcing strategy can be described in three words as 'outsourcing for growth'. The scope of outsourcing work has been enlarged in the last two or three years. From 2013, Apple has dedicated IT outsourcing vendor managers based out of Bangalore who are acting as the bridge between Apple's IT managers and India based IT vendors," said Jain.

HfS Research declined to name the IT vendors. TCS, Infosys and Wipro are known to do work for Apple. Apple is seen to be among Infosys' top 10 clients. Two years ago, Infosys rented a 1.4-lakh sqft office space near its headquarters in Electronics City to house employees who would work exclusively for Apple. The building had a capacity to initially house 1,400 people.
Apple engages with Indian IT players for application development & maintenance, business intelligence & data-warehousing, data analytics applications, enterprise application integration and ERP implementation. Indian vendors also provide software support for development and maintenance of Apple retail stores, specific work for iTunes, iCloud, internal applications of release management, job search portals, and porting of web applications to iOS mobile.



"The other aspect of Apple's outsourcing strategy is multi-sourcing, with each IT vendor having some strong focus in areas like channels, CRM, supply chain, marketing and finance, and some overlap," Jain said.

Apple did not respond to a mail TOI sent on Friday seeking confirmation of the data. That was perhaps to be expected from a company regarded as among the most secretive in the world.

In 2006, Apple had leased space in Bangalore to establish a technical support centre with 3,000 people. But within months the company abandoned the plan following an outcry from customers casting doubts on India's ability to service and support Apple's high-quality products. But in the following years, Apple was clearly convinced it could not do without India and found other ways to use the country's talent.

More recently, incremental work coming from Apple has increased substantially as the volumes and complexity of Apple's supply chain has increased. Apple, whose market valuation is now stands at $585 billion, sold 35.2 million iPhones in the June quarter, a growth of 12.7% compared to the same period last year. Apple said demand from BRIC economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China - spurred iPhone sales.

"Its data warehousing applications have petabytes of data. Its product lines, volumes and need for analytics have increased. Also, Apple has acquired more than 30 firms in the last three years whose systems and applications need migration and integration to Apple's applications. All this is translating into additional work for IT vendors," Jain said.

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Enterprise major Oracle plans one office in every state capital

MUMBAI: Oracle is looking to have branch offices in all Indian state capitals as part of its plan to boost business while some of its larger competitors deal with problems of their own. 

Oracle, founded by technology billionaire Larry Ellison, counts companies like HP and IBM as its major competitors. HP is going through a restructuring exercise that may see as many as 50,000 employees cut from its ranks. 

Separately, IBM has struck a deal to sell off its x86 server business as it focuses on higher margin products. "We are growing in India and we think that, with the manifesto of the BJP that focussed on technology, we are going to see increased spending on IT. We are looking at a geo-expansion strategy and the plan is to have a branch office in every state capital," Sandeep Mathur, managing director of Oracle India, told ET. 

Currently, Oracle has offices in the five metro cities and places like Pune and Ahmedabad. Mathur declined to give a timeline for the expansion but said it was the company's stated goal. 

The company has been growing steadily in India over the past few years. In 2012-2013, the company grew its revenue 15% to Rs 10,590 crore, according to Dataquest Top 20, making it the tenth-largest technology company by revenue in India. 

Oracle does not break out the revenue or growth rate of its India business. "With Oracle, it has been a mixed bag, there has been strong customer demand for their enterprise applications like RightNow and Eloqua and database license renewals have been doing well. But I would think sales of the ExaData and Exologic systems have been a little sluggish outside BFSI and telecom," said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research. 

ExaData and ExoLogic are part of Oracle of engineered systems business - integrated software and hardware - that promised more efficiency and faster workloads as the components were built to work together rather than stitched together later. The company counts Reliance Commercial Finance, HDFC Securities and HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company as clients.

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Cell phone unlocking bill could be a historic step in Internet politics

Yesterday, the most unproductive Congress is history managed to pass a consumer cell phone unlocking bill, and President Obama has agreed to sign it into law. On the surface, a wonky intellectual property bill that allows consumers to switch carriers is, relatively speaking, a minor political achievement.

But the bill’s passage could prove to be an important event in the history of democracy. The bill began as a surprisingly viral petition on the White House’s experimental direct action website, WeThePeople. Few people thought the petition would catch on, let alone convince the White House to officially support a law to allow unlocking.

But, the petition gave the tech policy nerds in the Administration the political cover they needed to support a bill.

“A whole generation worth of voters have grown up with cell phones and understand what it means to unlock their devices. So when the Librarian of Congress removed the unlocking exemption, people reacted strongly,” wrote petition’s author, Sina Khanifar.

“To me, the petition was an easy way for them to vent their frustration, but at the same time it gave an easy avenue for the Obama administration to respond,” Khanifar wrote. “And that response was relatively uncomplicated: The administration agreed that unlocking is a consumer right and should be legal.”

Even after the President came out in support of the bill, significant opposition from well-financed telecommunication lobbies managed to delay and water down the bill in Congress. But, Khanifar’s co-conspirator, Derek Khanna, managed to keep the pressure on with some widely read opinion pieces. His piece in the Atlantic, “The Most Ridiculous Law of 2013″ snagged 59,000 Facebook likes.

If the telecom lobbyists had had their way, the new unlocking bill would never have existed. But they faced significant public and political opposition on this issue.

“This law will protect consumer choice by allowing flexibility when it comes to choosing a wireless carrier. This is something that Americans have been asking for,” said House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), in a statement. (Goodlatte was the sponsor of the original House version of the unlocking bill.)

It’s always been an open question when the Internet would begin to shape public policy in a significant way. Internet activists managed to defeat the wildly unpopular Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) with a mass web blackout. But, defeating a bill is wholly different, and arguably easier, than getting one passed — especially in a Congress as divided along party lines as the current one.

The passage of the unlocking bill is a significant win for those who believe the Internet can do good things for representative democracy. It’s nice to have some good news about our government once in a while.

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India a huge force in shaping global digital future: Mozilla

WASHINGTON: As the Internet penetration gains more strength, India is headed to be a huge force in shaping the digital future of the world, a top official of Mozilla Foundation, makers of Firefox web browser has said.

"India is a huge force, not only in terms of people coming online, but also shaping what the digital future can be. As we figure out, how do people understand web, India absolutely has to be at the core of that," Mark Surman, executive director of the Mozilla Foundation said in a recent interview.
As the web spreads to the whole of humanity, India and the talented code developers from India are going to play a key role in the global digital literacy.
As in the next decade some five to six billion people are expected to gain access to the web, Surman said it is important that everybody understands how web works.
"Web literacy is important," he noted. Having travelled to India several times, Surman is highly impressed by the talent of Indian techies.
"One of the things so excited about India is that people are so aspirational. They are starting to say, how I can make life better? And Internet is a promise to that aspiration," he said.
"When I come to India, it is really exciting to see, especially those Mozilla volunteers, that aspiration and see unlock those things to people, and also they want to teach that to the other people across India," Surman said, adding that India is playing a key role in the recently launched global digital literacy programme of Mozilla.
Mozilla, he said, decided a few years ago that it is not just important to create open source product, that empower people to use the web, but also that everybody in the world understand what they can do on the web.
"Not just to be a consumer, but also to be a creator of the web," Surman said.
Early July, Mozilla launched a two-month global campaign of events known as "Maker Parties" aimed at promoting web literacy to all people.
This includes around 2,000 events in 350 cities worldwide in the coming two months and many of them are taking place in India, which Mozilla describes as a global Internet pioneer.
The Maker Party events give hands-on education to people in everything from learning to write html code and build websites to understanding how to protect data and privacy and how to move from being a consumer of the Internet to a producer.
The campaign also includes work on more general topics like gender equality, economic development, good governance - and how to make the web work better in the service of the goals people choose.

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IT professionals may get double-digit hike this year

CHENNAI: Riding on the back of better operational performance, tech companies are likely to dole out higher wage increases for employees in the current year. After an average 8-10% hikes last year, the IT staff can expect a double-digit increase in emoluments this year, industry body Nasscom said on Wednesday.

The assessment, based on an internal survey of Nasscom members, indicates that attrition levels and lateral hiring will also increase.

India's $118 billion infotech industry — the largest private sector employer in the country with more than 3.1 million on rolls — is projected to grow 13-15% as against 13.2% last year.

"Industry average hikes will be slightly higher than last year," Sangeeta Gupta, VP research at Nasscom, said on the sidelines of an HR summit in Chennai. She said effective middle managers will get the best rewards through increased variable pay and incentives.

Middle management techies will get 11-15% hikes while entry and senior management will receive 5-10% increases. "These projections are made based on an internal survey which we did of our members. We received responses from over 100 firms which account for over 42 to 45% of IT revenues," she said.

The IT industry has instituted innovative incentive schemes to reward performance this year. Some of these includes skill bonus, zero attrition unit incentive and project-based incentives, she said.

There will also be a shift in recruitment methodologies undertaken by companies. "The estimates are we will recruit 1.80 lakh employees this year (or a 6% increase) of which lateral hiring will be more than last year," she said.

A back of the envelope calculation shows nearly 3 out of every 10 are lateral hires in the tech industry. "We see a shift in this. There will be a 10% increase in lateral hires and reduced intake from campuses," Gupta said. Referrals and recruitments through job portals will rise.

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Before Accepting a Job, Run a Reference Check Your Potential Boss

When interviewing for a new job, most of us are pretty good about analyzing the ins and outs — the responsibilities, the company culture, the growth opportunities, the commute and so on. But I've noticed there's one thing that many people tend to gloss over: who, exactly, we'd be reporting to in the position.

And while maybe your boss isn't the most important factor in whether or not to sign on for a new gig, I'd argue that it's pretty darn high up on the list. If you've ever had a great boss (or a bad one), you know the impact that person has on your promotion prospects, your assignments, and your day-to-day happiness.

HBR's David Reese recently offered up a tip that'll help ensure your next boss is of the career-boosting variety: "reference checking" this person before accepting a position. Much like an interviewer does a background check of sorts on you by calling your previous employers and contacts, Googling you, and making sure everything you've said in the interview process checks out, he recommends taking the time to scope out your boss before accepting an offer.

So, what does this look like? While Reese tells the story of candidates who have asked for actual reference lists from potential managers, for most companies, a more subtle approach will work just fine. Here are a few ways to find out more about your new boss:

Ask the Right Questions

During the interview process, it's totally OK to ask things like, "What's your management style?" and "How much do you typically interact with your direct reports?" While no one's going to come out and tell you, "I'm the biggest micromanager in the world!" you can glean a lot from responses like, "I'm pretty hands-off" or "I make sure to check in with everyone hourly."

Similarly, if you're able to interview with peers or your manager's other direct reports, don't be afraid to ask, "So, what's it like working for Steve?" Again, everyone will likely be on their best interview behavior, but 10 minutes of gushing about what a great boss someone is says a lot more than, "It's good."

Look for LinkedIn Clues

Head on over your future boss' LinkedIn profile. Does he or she have recommendations from current or former direct reports? Has he or she recommended any of those people? These are both great signs that he or she has built strong relationships with other team members. (On that note, maybe you should recommend a few of your favorite bosses or employees — here's how.)

Ask Around

Try to find a couple people you know — even if they're second degree connections — who work for the company, and ask for 10 minutes of time to pick their brain. People will likely be more than happy to help if you shoot over a simple: "I've been offered a position at Discovery, in the communications department, reporting to Jane Phillips. I'm excited about the position and just doing my due diligence — would you have 10 minutes to chat with me about your experience there?"

Yes, this is an extra step in the interview process, especially when all you want to do is negotiate that big salary and sign on the dotted line. But, as Reese puts it, "Your job hunt should never be thought of as anything but a two-way decision. You will be investing your time, skills, and passion into a company and spending untold hours and energy working with a future boss. Make sure you're making a good investment by asking the right questions and doing the right research." 

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