TechAhead Software offers Google Android Development

TechAhead offers Mobile Application Development for Android Platform. Android Application is a software stack for mobile devices that consist of an operating system, middleware and key applications. Android is the framework developed by Google and Open Handset Alliance. Android is software platform as well as Operating System. It is basically designed on Linux Operating system.

Our Mobile Application Developers at our offshore development center in Delhi has leverage experience in mobile application development using java language and android framework. We have a proficient expertise in creating android application / mobile applications, testing in a simulator, and porting to mobile devices.TechAhead also has expertise in providing support of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS dependent application for Android Platform.

TechAhead Software

About TechAhead Software- The next move !

TechAhead Software offers a variety of offshore product and application development services for companies ranging from early stage startups to small and medium business and independent software vendors. We enable you to achieve your strategic goal of creating fair priced, high performance, quality software, delivered to suit your business timelines.

TechAhead solutions for your businesses are built with a complete focus on the product lifecycle, from architecture to design, development and integration to implementation and support. Our software development teams are equipped with extensive experience to deliver custom solutions in open source as well as proprietary technology platforms.

Our sound domain expertise to deliver on demand software solutions for clients from diverse industries and our passion for collaboration to build for your businesses makes us a perfect choice to be a strategic development partner.

My next step

In the process of starting my company TechAhead Software, will update very soon.

Coping up with current economic crisis—My Thoughts

Needless to say about what’s happening in today’s economic environment. It is compared with the Great Depression of 1929/30 and Governments all across the world are working in a collaborative manner to find out a quick as well as long term solution of the same. I won’t be touching much (I don’t know much as well) about what caused this dip and what to do in order to make sure that it will not happen again but I want to just write down my views on what to do right now in order to get least impact of the situation. Many of us have questions like
• Does it has any impact on our company/business
• How long it will take to recoup
• What should be the best strategy at this moment , etc etc
There are many experts and analysts who everyday answers questions like above and we get very good arguments as well as justifying explanations of the same. In my opinion this slowdown is holistic and no industry is completely protected. We are affected by this in one way or another. Also I don’t think that anybody has any idea about how long it will take. I leave this answer to the economists and analysts. I would be interested in putting my view on the question # 3 and putting down the responsibility of various economic stakeholders.
Responsibility of Employees:
Ownership and commitment: I think these are testing time for all of us and we should increase our ownership and commitment level to the highest possible level. It does not matter what are our job and social responsibilities but even a little increase in the same is going to impact our organization and in turn the overall economy. An increased level of both would definitely be helpful to our organization, economy and country.
Efforts: We should be ready to put some the extra efforts to accelerate the things and it is indeed the need of the hour.
Trust : We should trust the people around us, our management, the people who are running the country and an increased level of trust will certainly be helpful in creating a positive environment at our work place. A happy feeling is what we would be carrying with ourselves and take that to our home. A feeling of mistrust is going to not only reduce our productivity and lead to Gossips but also would make us feel low and stressful.
Support: We should extend our best support to other people working with us professionally and socially. I strongly believe in the fact that “Together we will win”
Teamwork: Working in a team not only shares our problems/burden but also make us win convincingly. A team has a common goal and people are working TOGETHER to achieve that goal. It makes even the toughest work EASY and DOABLE.

Responsibility and commitment of Top Management and Managers
Recognition: The top management and mangers must recognize the people who are working with them, recognize and appreciate even small good efforts/work. This greatly boost up the confidence and motivate everyone to work at next higher level of productivity.
Mixing up: Mixing up with people, sharing problems with them, inviting them to propose solutions and answering to their problems actually makes the work environment very positive and healthy. Forcing them to do something, not understanding their concerns can lead to unwanted results and great decrease in productivity.
Communication and Transparency: The communication level should be increased, individual and group meetings should be increased and staying in communication with them would enhance the confidence and in turn efficiency and productivity.
Responsibility of Government
Encourage economy boost up activities: The governments should appreciate and support organizations such that the organization can increase their output and productivity which in turn would help in creating JOBS and would boost up the economy. Arranging funds( or making them easier to get) for start ups and growing companies, relaxing the legalities to a bit etc should significantly increase the same.
Better Tax Breaks for Employees and Employers: They can relax the tax breaks for organization for some time and the organization utilize the savings for further growth and pass on some of the benefit to employees .
Come in public/media and enhance people’s confidence in our economy and our country: The leaders and spokes person of government/organization should come out more and more in public and update people about their actions/results would certainly boost up people’s confidence and trust.

What’s Ahead
These are not very good times. We should have faith in ourselves, our seniors , our organization and our country. Let us enjoy this time and take mini steps each to come out of this as soon as possible.
-Vikas Kaushik
TechAhead Software

Preparing the Organization for Final Audit

After seeing the flourishing success of the Quality Management System in my company, the next undertaking for me was to prepare my organization for the final audit which would result in ISO 9001:2000 certification.

Drafting the Quality Policy was one milestone that took a lot of efforts to attain. The Quality policy was framed based on the quality objectives, which in turn mapped with the business objectives of the company. Having a carefully sketched out and communicated policy definitely motivated people beyond the existing level. As everybody became clearer about his/her objectives of working in the organization, it inculcated the team spirit within the organization.

After that the Quality Manual was prepared where all the processes, their interaction, their mapping with ISO Standard, roles and responsibilities of every individual were clearly stated. The compiled manuscript was circulated among everyone and inputs were invited from all.

Although we were doing extraordinarily well still as the date of Final Audit approached all of us had a fear of facing it. The last minute jitters was a common phenomenon seen during the last weeks before the audit. Besides conducting one to one audits, creating
Organization-wide awareness of Quality Policy & Objectives, Mock Interviews of top Management was also arranged.

The Certification & Life after
My company received most prestigious ISO 9001:2000 certification by Chamber Certification Assessment Services Limited, England (CCAS) on December 27th 2003.
We were able to attain the certification after an extensive audit on the various processes that are ongoing in the company. The audit for the compliance with the standard also examined the extent to which the company’s Quality system contains customer-focused elements, including understanding needs, meeting requirements, keeping customers informed and measuring satisfaction.

Whizlabs became the proud achiever of this Quality certificate and joined the list of very few ISO 9001:2000 Certified companies in the IT Certification domain. This acquisition not only placed greater accountability on the company management’s involvement and measurable quality objectives of the Quality Management System, but also on me as I now had a successful accomplishment behind me. The only reflection I had was that I whole new chapter has opened after reaching this New Way of life.

Comments are most welcome at kaushikvikas@gmail.com


-Vikas Kaushik
TechAhead Software

My Experiences of Leading a Quality Endeavor (ISO 9001:2000) IIIrd Part

Achievements before the certification

Quality Weeks: Different activities like “Quality Week” for each department were organized. People were encouraged to participate and bring forth the positive and negative points of the system. In these weeks many Quality tests and quizzes were conducted and the champions were awarded. A quarterly award was also started for “Quality Person of the Quarter” based on individuals performance in that particular quarter and his/her contribution towards our Quality endeavor. All these proceedings helped a lot in motivating people for further improving quality of their individual work.
Successful Implementation: A custom-made appropriate Quality Management System was implemented successfully in spite of all the problems we faced. By now people were highly motivated towards the system and the decision to get the ISO certification came naturally.
Instigating Metrics: Having a Quality Management System definitely helped in refining the work continuously. Still since the system and its results were not measurable at all, a program for metrics collection was devised. Based on the areas where we needed to measure the results and saw the scope of improvement, various formulas were made and incorporated in the processes. Data was calculated every month and quarterly or bi-monthly reports were made, which were then analyzed and corrective and preventive actions taken.
Customer Satisfaction Survey: Customer satisfaction survey was a part of this endeavor and it was an achievement in going closer to our customers, and providing them with the opportunity to share their experiences. This greatly facilitated us in anticipating the needs of our customers in advance.

Last Part will complete this..Happy Reading!!

-Vikas Kaushik
TechAhead Software

My Experiences of Leading a Quality Endeavor (ISO 9001:2000) Part II

Problems I Faced and Solutions I Designed
While implementing the processes of our newly documented Quality Management System, I felt huge resistance coming my way. People felt very uncomfortable in doing the work in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedures and using the templates.

Of course I understood how leaving the old and opting for new was challenging the tranquil and comfortable environment we all were accustomed to. I discussed thoroughly with every accountable person and communicated him/her about the possibility and the difference he/she could make if work was done in accordance with the system. I tried not to force anything and to offer my unconditional support anytime they faced any difficulty. I think frank discussions and support from my side and realization of the possibility to improve things on everyone’s part, did the trick.

I also felt immense pressure building around me at various stages while implementing the system. I could see people had started following the processes but some how they were not contributing to the fullest. I contemplated the reasons for such behavior and found some misunderstandings that I needed to satisfy before I could go ahead.

Firstly they were expecting quick results out of the initial step they had taken of following the process. I had to motivate each and every individual again and again and convince them about it being not a one-day match and reassuring them of getting the results, if not so quickly then definitely not so late also.

Secondly they considered that following the process was sufficient and they need not contribute in the continuous improvement of the system. This was the reason for their contradicting the frequently conducted audits and checks as fear of failing stemmed out of these reasons itself.

Lack of a competent team of internal auditors was another challenge I faced. To begin with I got certified as an internal auditor before building and training the team of internal auditors. People were motivated and volunteers were sought and trained for conducting the internal audits.

Even after putting together the team, making internal audits a success was tough in the preliminary stages till we learnt the art of auditing to bring forth improvements from every audit. Removing the fear everybody had of the audits, making them respect the processes to such an extent that they worked through the process was a profound experience.

The fact that majority of my working schedule was consumed in solving these fears and confusions, I was not able to devote enough time to learn new things required to carry out the task in hand. Some times I even had to spend nights in office to have the solitude, which helped me gain more knowledge for this endeavor.

Two more parts please.. Happy reading!!

-Vikas Kaushik
TechAhead Software

My Experiences of Leading a Quality Endeavor (ISO 9001:2000)

The month of November year 2002, my company started looking for Software testing professional to test the quality of our products. The need for catching current and potential bugs was eminent since satisfying customer’s expectation of a bug free product was our company’s primary objective. The search began, and during that only a good friend of mine, who had years of experience in Quality Assurance, suggested us to set up a Quality Management System. At that time we had absolutely no idea of implementing a Quality Management System. The proposal immediately clicked, when the benefits were explained and understood.

Establishing such a system was a far better option than a testing program or a professional, since it ensured increase in the overall efficiency of the organization and its offerings. I was given the opportunity to transform this idea in to reality, which I took with full enthusiasm and led my organization to a successful attainment of ISO 9001:2000 certification in December 2003. The path that I tread was very long, and so are my experiences during this Quality Endeavor.

Mind set of Top Management
It is often seen that the top management or company proprietors start any quality program with the main objective of getting the certificate and marketing the same to their utmost benefit. The top management in my company was very clear right from the first day about the reasons for establishing a Quality system. What we wanted was an overall improvement in the operational efficiency of the company. Their commitment towards this quality endeavor was openly communicated to every body in the organization. It was in fact that true support that called for success.

Building the System from Scratch
Taking the onus of leading this venture was not an effortless task, considering the fact that every thing had to be built from scrape. The demand of the organization was a system that catered to its each and every aspect, in short a customized & tailor made system. A lot of exploration and hard work went into initiating the system.

-Keeping myself abreast: Even though I was doing so many things together, I was still feeling insecure at times. The thought that if I was building a good enough system or not plagued me constantly. To overcome all this I started participating actively in many online groups and browsing quality related sites where I could easily find plenty of information about Quality. I attended seminars on auditing and other methods like statistical process control. I carefully studied books like Software Engineering by Pressmen, CMM in practice by Pankaj Jalote and Software Metrics by Norman E Fenton. This gave me all the energy to carry on my initiatives and guided me whenever I felt low. In fact I learnt a lot during this time, a learning that was definitely more than what I had garnered till date.
Discussion with key people: All this learning was brought into action and I started working towards the task I had taken up. The key people from the organization were identified first and I listened carefully to them while they shared all about the way they carried out their work, what all problems they faced, and how they thought they could improve the quality of work.
New mode for old tasks: Many new ways of doing the same work came out during my discussion with my company staff. Some such ways promised increase in the efficiency of doing the same work along with reduced chances of committing an error. The roads less traversed till date were opening up.
Citing down the findings: From the collective pool of old and new ways of accomplishing work, filtration was done. At some places new ideas were rejected whereas some other ideas saw the light of day. The same also gave way to the documentation in the form of Standard Operating Procedures along with templates and checklists that could be frequently used in the process.
Implementing the System: Once the documentation was complete from my side, the formal implementation of the system was done. Although an achievement in itself, it was a whole new beginning for me for it brought me face to face with fresh trials.

To be continuted in Part II... Happy Reading

-Vikas Kaushik
TechAhead Software

Points to consider before switching our job

We are generally in a dilemma, when we are planning to switch our job. The extent of dilemma increases when we have more than one opportunity in hand. Here, I would like to write a little about what points/parameters, we should consider when we are not clear and do not have confidence to choose from the available options.

Location: For many of us, this would be one of the most important criteria. Of course, home town is preferred. Even from long term perspective, we would like to work where we want to settle. For those who do not have the option of home town, should consider a location based on the following
a. Cost of living
b. Infrastructure
c. Weather

Culture: We must enquire about the culture of the company and evaluate ourselves if we can fit in to that culture or not. This can be a reason of quitting our job early if we are not compatible to the culture.

Growth Path: Gather information about the growth path and see how people have grown. This may be a question to ask to the interviewer also. Enquire why people left the company and what percentages of people are staying for a longer period say 4 years or more.

Challenges in your job profile: Are you challenge loving personality or would like to sit ideal or have interest in doing monotonous jobs or would like to innovate? Ask yourself! Check what kind of challenges are available and choose the option corresponding to your type of personality.

How performance is recognized and awarded: This is again one of the most important points to consider if you are a performer. Ask yourself how do you want to be recognized and awarded when you are a consistent performer and see which company fits to your requirements.

Onsite Opportunities: Check what kinds of onsite opportunities are available and how frequent. Match with your requirements and consider for your decision.

Salary: Do I need to write about this too?

Well ultimately the decision should be consistent with our requirements. We should right down our requirements and the above points are just a little effort to initiate our thinking towards identifying our true requirements. We would be happy and result in high performance once we have taken a conscious decision in the direction of our requirements.

-Vikas Kaushik
TechAhead Software

What is IELTS?

IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. It is an English language assessment test for those who wish to study, work or immigrate in English speaking countries.

The exam is managed and conducted by University of Cambridge through British Council ESOP examinations and IDP: IELTS Australia. The exam consists of four modules which thoroughly test one’s ability to Listen, Read, Write and Speak in English. The exam is broadly divided in to two formats which are General Training and Academic module. General Training module is for those candidates who are going for work or emigrate for permanent residency while Academic module is for those who are visiting the country for academic purposes.

IELTS is recognized by Universities, Employers and immigration authorities of many countries including Australia, Canada, UK, New Zealand and the USA. The score is given out of 9 and the same of 6 or above is considered to be good.

The links below are among a few good resources to know more about IELTS examination.

IELTS official home page
Frequently Asked Questions
Information for new candidates (Handbook)


I hope you will find it valuable.

-Vikas Kaushik
TechAhead Software