It has been our experience that PHP projects take much less time to go to market than Java and .NET projects of the same size and complexity. PHP applications have also been found to be significantly faster to run.

With some of the world’s most popular web applications like Facebook and Wikipedia being built on PHP, there is no doubting the fact that PHP is both robust and scalable.

The following are some of the applications we have built in the recent months, using the Zend PHP framework

Learning Management System

A multi-tenanted, SCORM-compliant, industry-specific, corporate Learning Management System, which went from startup to go-live in 10 months flat, using Offshore Agile Development Practices.

This product’s  features include administration tools like managing user registration and profiles, defining roles, setting curricula, charting certification paths, assigning trainers and creating standard and customized reports on individual and group performance.

The LMS also has the option to create SCORM-COMPLIANT courses using its native Authoring tool and to upload third-party SCORM-compliant course packages.

Trainers can assign courses or users can self-enroll for the courses based on specific organizational settings.

Once a learner completes a course, the LMS administers tests based on proficiency requirements, report test results and recommend next steps, thus assuring that organizations meet the rigid certification and compliance requirements of this highly regulated industry.

Keywords: Agile, SCRUM, SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, Zend PHP, Adobe Flash Builder, Flex, MySQL, Fusion Charts, Selenium.

Learning Content Management System

This is a web based application built on a multi-tenanted architecture. It enables Organizations to create their own Courses and publish it to their Learners through the native Learning Management System or extract the courses as SCORM packages for uploading to any suitable Learning Management Systems. Its key components include versatile Content Authoring Tool, Media Manager, QA Manager and Assessment Builder.

Some of the key highlights are:

• Content can be created using predefined templates as well as free-form template
• Option to customize the Course player based on the features required for the course
• Tightly integrated QA Manager with built-in work flow to handle the Courses from its Creation to Publishing stage involving multiple iterations
• Allows multiple Users to create content for the same Course concurrently
• Course specific Roles can be assigned to Users
• Flexible Categorization and Tagging for media assets

Keywords: Agile, SCRUM, SCORM, PHP,  Zend Framework, MySql, Adobe Flash Builder, Flex.

Working with Zend and Flex

As you may observe from the above list, most of these applications have been built with a combination of PHP and Flex. Cordiant Developers have demonstrable experience in seamlessly combining Flex and Zend PHP to build and deploy high-quality enterprise class web applications.

The development team at Cordiant has built almost all the above applications from the ground up using Adobe Flash Builder and Zend PHP.

Cordiant Flex developers take pride in writing very high quality object-oriented code using ActionScript, MXML and CSS languages using a component-based development model.

Flex allows us to deliver the kind of intuitive, robust, end-user experiences often found in desktop applications, but now delivered online.

By doing data visualizations and UI interactions on the client side, the Flex applications that we develop spend much less time waiting for server responses. The application back-ends thereby become more scalable and efficient. Overall, we have found that applications that we develop on Flex are more responsive and easier to use than conventionally developed web applications.

The following are some of the applications we have built recently using Adobe Flex:

INDUSTRY BENCHMARKING BI TOOL

This industry-specific Business Analytics Tool enables organizations within that industry to compare their key financial performance indicators with those of their peers and with standard industry benchmarks.

With an initial go-to-market of 3 months, the application continues to evolve into a powerful tool for optimizing key operational processes.

Keywords: Agile, XP, PHP, CakePHP Framework, MySql, Flex, Fusion Charts, Selenium.

LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

A multi-tenanted, SCORM-compliant, industry-specific, corporate Learning Management System, which went from startup to go-live in 10 months flat, using Offshore Agile Development Practices.

This product’s  features include administration tools like managing user registration and profiles, defining roles, setting curricula, charting certification paths, assigning trainers and creating standard and customized reports on individual and group performance.

The LMS also has the option to create SCORM-COMPLIANT courses using its native Authoring tool and to upload third-party SCORM-compliant course packages.

Trainers can assign courses or users can self-enroll for the courses based on specific organizational settings.

Once a learner completes a course, the LMS administers tests based on proficiency requirements, report test results and recommend next steps, thus assuring that organizations meet the rigid certification and compliance requirements of this highly regulated industry.

Keywords: Agile, SCRUM, SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, Zend PHP, Adobe Flash Builder, Flex, MySQL, Fusion Charts, Selenium.

LEARNING CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

This is a web based application built on a multi-tenanted architecture. It enables Organizations to create their own Courses and publish it to their Learners through the native Learning Management System or extract the courses as SCORM packages for uploading to any suitable Learning Management Systems. Its key components include versatile Content Authoring Tool, Media Manager, QA Manager and Assessment Builder.

Some of the key highlights are:

• Content can be created using predefined templates as well as free-form template
• Option to customize the Course player based on the features required for the course
• Tightly integrated QA Manager with built-in work flow to handle the Courses from its Creation to Publishing stage involving multiple iterations
• Allows multiple Users to create content for the same Course concurrently
• Course specific Roles can be assigned to Users
• Flexible Categorization and Tagging for media assets

Keywords: Agile, SCRUM, SCORM, PHP,  Zend Framework, MySql, Adobe Flash Builder, Flex.

ANALYTICS AND REPORTING TOOL

This Business Analytics application is intended to provide strategic recommendations to organizations based on some of the specific inputs captured through a set of operational questions. The operational questionnaire is directly related to day-to-day business operations.

Some of the key highlights are:

• Option to customize the questionnaire based on the Organization’s needs
• Drill-down approach to Analysis through Tables and Charts
• Provides quantitative figures to indicate the opportunity for improvements in the business
• Highlights the specific process areas / departments where there is scope for improvements
• Multi-level Role based access

Keywords: Agile, XP, PHP, CakePHP Framework, MySql, Flex.

Mobile Applications Development using Flex:

With the launch of Flash Builder 4.5.1, Cordiant Flex Developers now have the capability to develop high-performance applications that run consistently on iOS, Android and the Blackberry Playbook using one toolset, one programming model and one code-base.

It is an open source and lightweight automation tool that can be easily integrated into various projects, supporting multiple programming languages such as .NET, Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP and the Java™ programming language.

At Cordiant, we try to automate as much of our testing as possible. We use Selenium for our functional / acceptance tests and thus far, have been very happy with this approach.

Our Automated Testing methodology is centered around our Testers developing the automated test scripts in parallel with development. Which means that test automation for a particular user story would go through as many cycles as there are development cycles, until the story is accepted.

Selenium offers us the possibility of test-first design of web applications. It provides red-green signals for customer acceptance tests and is an automated regression test bed for the web tier.

Industry Benchmarking BI Tool

This industry-specific Business Analytics Tool enables organizations within that industry to compare their key financial performance indicators with those of their peers and with standard industry benchmarks.

With an initial go-to-market of 3 months, the application continues to evolve into a powerful tool for optimizing key operational processes.

Keywords: Agile, XP, PHP, CakePHP Framework, MySql, Flex, Fusion Charts, Selenium.

Learning Management System

A multi-tenanted, SCORM-compliant, industry-specific, corporate Learning Management System, which went from startup to go-live in 10 months flat, using Offshore Agile Development Practices.

This product’s  features include administration tools like managing user registration and profiles, defining roles, setting curricula, charting certification paths, assigning trainers and creating standard and customized reports on individual and group performance.

The LMS also has the option to create SCORM-COMPLIANT courses using its native Authoring tool and to upload third-party SCORM-compliant course packages.

Trainers can assign courses or users can self-enroll for the courses based on specific organizational settings.

Once a learner completes a course, the LMS administers tests based on proficiency requirements, report test results and recommend next steps, thus assuring that organizations meet the rigid certification and compliance requirements of this highly regulated industry.

Keywords: Agile, SCRUM, SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, Zend PHP, Adobe Flash Builder, Flex, MySQL, Fusion Charts, Selenium.

Learning Content Management System

This is a web based application built on a multi-tenanted architecture. It enables Organizations to create their own Courses and publish it to their Learners through the native Learning Management System or extract the courses as SCORM packages for uploading to any suitable Learning Management Systems. Its key components include versatile Content Authoring Tool, Media Manager, QA Manager and Assessment Builder.

Some of the key highlights are:

• Content can be created using predefined templates as well as free-form template
• Option to customize the Course player based on the features required for the course
• Tightly integrated QA Manager with built-in work flow to handle the Courses from its Creation to Publishing stage involving multiple iterations
• Allows multiple Users to create content for the same Course concurrently
• Course specific Roles can be assigned to Users
• Flexible Categorization and Tagging for media assets

Keywords: Agile, SCRUM, SCORM, PHP,  Zend Framework, MySql, Adobe Flash Builder, Flex.

Analytics and Reporting Tool

This Business Analytics application is intended to provide strategic recommendations to organizations based on some of the specific inputs captured through a set of operational questions. The operational questionnaire is directly related to day-to-day business operations.

Some of the key highlights are:

• Option to customize the questionnaire based on the Organization’s needs
• Drill-down approach to Analysis through Tables and Charts
• Provides quantitative figures to indicate the opportunity for improvements in the business
• Highlights the specific process areas / departments where there is scope for improvements
• Multi-level Role based access

Keywords: Agile, XP, PHP, CakePHP Framework, MySql, Flex.

Research Portal

The Research Portal provides a well structured repository of industry-specific content. The content can be categorized under different Topics and various levels of sub-categories.

Some of the salient features are:

• Users can keep track of their Favorite content through a Favorites Manager
• Content can be viewed based on Topics, Sub-categories or specific time period
• Simple and Flexible interface to manage the Content

Keywords: Agile, XP, Drupal, PHP, MySql.

Project Building and Tracking Application

This application enables corporate managers to track strategic initiatives within their organizations.

Predefined, customizable templates are available to the users to build and track their specific Projects.

Some of the key features are:

• Categorize Projects into different categories based on the level within the Organization
• Map individual projects to their respective Process areas within the organization
• Role-based Access Control

Keywords: Agile, XP, Drupal, PHP, MySql.

Vendor Information Management

This enables Organizations to get information about Vendors related to their business needs. Vendors are grouped in multiple ways for easy access.

Some of the key highlights are:

• Users can choose to get continuous updates about activities of specific Vendors
• Users can rate Vendors based on their experiences with them
• Contents can be defined based on the level of the Vendors

Keywords: Agile, XP, Drupal, PHP, MySql.

We had commenced work on this project in Jul 2010, exactly 10 months before. In addition to the timely roll out of the application within a fixed price engagement model, the other major highlight of this engagement has been the numerous business and technological innovations that the Cordiant offshore product development team delivered into the final product.

Introducing Product Development Services 2.0 ( PDS 2.0) for e-Learning

Through sheer focus on building up a critical mass of capabilities in the e-Learning industry,  Cordiant has the ability to address the full life cycle of e-Learning products and solutions by covering the entire spectrum of end-to-end activities from concept to product launch through to product maintenance and support.

As rapid technological changes take place, there is a premium on speed and agility.  Cordiant has a value proposition centered on improving time-to-market and innovation. Our pre-developed Solution Accelerators for e-Learning  can substantially improve time-to-market for our customers.  By providing these tested and proven service offerings to our customers,  we are also able to deliver to them a much higher level of innovation.

Product sustenance work, iterative design modifications and product extensions can also be fully owned and executed by Cordiant.

OFFSHORE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN e-Learning

CTOs and Chief Learning Officers can leverage our Offshore Center of Excellence in e-Learning to gain insights into the market dynamics of  emerging countries like India. With the growth in these markets, products and solutions may need to be redesigned or re-jigged to meet specific local requirements before they are rolled out.

CO-INVESTING IN NEW IDEAS AND PRODUCTS

Cordiant can also co-invest with our customers in new ideas and products for the e-Learning industry

Instructional Design and Course Production

As an extension of our services in the e-Learning industry, we also provide Instructional Design and  SCORM-compliant Course Production Services for our customers.

The company has already acquired 7.5 acres of land for this purpose.

Integral to the Cordiant IT Research Park would be Cordiant Innovation Center (Incubation Space) for young entrepreneurs and also Turn-key lab space for industry peers.

Cordiant IT Research Park would also work closely with select educational institutions in the region to improve the overall industry-relevance of their study programmes.

The development of the Park would take place in phases, first of which is expected to be completed in 2012. Work on the project is expected to start after all the regulatory approvals have been obtained.

An integral part of the Cordiant IT Research Park would be industry-specific Finishing Schools set up in partnership with other companies and industry associations.

“In spite of an early start, the state of Kerala has lagged behind its southern neighbours in Information Technology investments. However, there are several factors which make the state a far better investment location for IT than at any other time in its history. We are committed to making a humble contribution towards making it all happen here”, said Dennis Paul, Founder, President and CEO of Cordiant Technologies.

“Our current thinking is to promote this Park as a non-profit. It is most likely that we will go that route”, he added.

Rubikon, built for Neptune Software plc, UK, has a unique Financial Service Oriented Architecture (FSOA) that facilitates rapid incremental deployment either as a complete universal banking solution or as a series of special-purpose applications that can collaborate with existing infrastructure. Read More…

Paisley Enterprise GRC of Thomson Reuters is a comprehensive audit, financial controls management, enterprise risk management, operational risk management, IT governance and compliance software solution purpose-built to address integrated governance, risk and compliance requirements. Read More…

While 97 new captive announcements were made in the last 12 months, only 10 captives were actually divested

Captives can triple their value on EBITDA basis by managing complete service lines and the demand for parent

They are much more effective in getting lower pricing in terms of contracting with third party providers

New Delhi, March 26

Offshore captive IT/BPO units that transition into mature roles such as governance of third party suppliers, and undertaking risk and demand management functions can become up to three times more valuable to their parent entity, according to Mr Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of outsourcing advisory firm Everest Group.

Debunking the industry perception that the 2009 trend of captive divestures would continue, Everest has pointed out that against 97 new captive announcements in the last 12 months, only 10 captives were actually divested.

“Historically captives have been seen as a platform to reduce costs. But in this maturing environment, we can see that captives can potentially can triple their value on EBITDA basis by managing complete service lines and the demand (for parent), and by providing a vehicle to do vendor management of the third parties,” Mr Samuel told Business Line recently.

The first quarter of 2009 witnessed 20 new captive announcements and one divesture and the following quarter 27 new captives and one divesture. In the third quarter, against four captive divestures 28 new captives were established – an 18 month high.

Despite the few divestures announced in fourth quarter of 2009, Everest expects continued momentum in the market going forward.

Notable divestures

Some of the notable divesture announced recently include Cognizant Technology Solutions’ acquisition of UBS India Service Centre Pvt Ltd, the Hyderabad-based captive service provider to the Swiss UBS Group; EXL’s acquisition of the back-office centre of American Express Business Travel; and Integreon’s acquisition of Grail Research, the captive unit of the US-based management consulting firm, Monitor group. “For a while there, captives were being valued very highly and it made commercial sense if a company was in need of capital…Firms were in severe distress. The situation has changed now. The valuations have dropped precipitously and firms are no longer under significant distress,” the Everest CEO said.

Relook at strategy

This, in turn, has prompted companies to re-examine their strategy and look at the value creation.

Explaining the changing face of captives, he said that these units started off as a platform for labour arbitrage, but are now moving onto more complex functions right from offering expertise to build reciprocal operations in other geographies, to managing third party suppliers. Captives can advise parent organisations on how to optimise the sourcing programs and mitigate risk, in the process becoming a strategic partner to the parent.

Being an offshore unit themselves, captives are suitably placed to manage the dynamics of offshore sourcing, believes Everest.

“They are much more effective in getting lower pricing in terms of contracting with third party providers. They can become a hub in the ecosystem – so now not only are they doing work themselves but they are also managing third party ecosystems,” Mr Samuel said adding that hybrid models would gain traction as companies outsource part of the work to third parties and retain certain capabilities in-house at comparable price points.

Source: thehindubusinessline.com

The Cordiant Build-Operate-Transfer model provides our customers with an offshoring alternative that substantially enhances their enterprise value as compared to typical third-party offshoring/ outsourcing

Higher Enterprise Value than third-party Outsourcing

The knowledge and the skills remain with the Customer in the case of BOT. Having the BOT option has a significant positive impact on the Customer Enterprise Value than in the case of third-party outsourcing/ offshoring where the provider walks away with the knowledge acquired and the lessons learnt.

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At Cordiant, we build cherry-picked India A-Teams for our international customers. Since the teams are purpose-built from the ground up through a rigorous talent-acquisition process, we have been able to achieve a far higher level of success for our customers

Cherry-picked A-Team purpose-built from the ground up

We go to market and build the Team in line with the exacting requirements of the customer from the open labor pool available in India. This way, our customer gets an A-Team instead of picking the currently idle people from our bench or by transferring people from other customer engagements. Almost all teams are built from Ground up, and this, we believe, has helped us deliver smarter.

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Cordiant has its India offshore centers in International Tech Park, Chennai and in Indira Nagar, Cochin. It has its US Office in Chicago.