FOCUS

FOCUS 

ISSUE 

03/ Q4 2014 

CLIENT 

SPEAKS 

DO YOU 

HAVE WHAT 

IT TAKES? 

Discover Kinsale 

Republic of 

Startups 

FAMILIES' DAY 

OUT 

PILATES 

For the Lazy Muscle

Delivery Manager's Desk 

Dear Readers, 

As we step into 2015, I would like to take the opportunity to thank each and 

every one of you for your support and encouragement in our pursuits. I am 

happy with the growth of our team and their engagement across key 

projects in services and strategic programs like DaaS. As the Cognizant 

delivery manager, it’s my goal to share with you success stories of the 

Cognizant team and the larger IT landscape in Dublin. In this regard, I am 

delighted to roll out the third edition of our quarterly magazine, FOCUS. 

So, what can you expect from the third edition of ‘FOCUS’? More of 

everything. In addition to welcoming new associates who have joined us 

fromoffshorewewouldbeshowcasinginnovationintheITsectorinDublin,a 

beautifultriptoKinsale,anew‘wellness’section,coursesindemandandour 

days of fun. Please do not miss the interview with John O’Connell(DaaS 

Technology Operations Lead) and get his views on foreseeable changes for 

Dublin’s IT industry. 

As always the actual ‘FOCUS’ of this issue would be you, the readers. We 

wanttomakesurethattheinformationwegivesuitsyour‘informationdiet’ 

needs.OurdoorsarealwaysopenandIsincerelyencourageyoutoreachout 

to the CTS Dublin team at CTSDublinTeam@DNB.com for feedback and 

comments. 

Iwishyouanewyearfilledwithjoy,prosperityandcontentment.May2015 

be your best year yet. 

Saravanan Durairaj 

Delivery Manager 

2 FOCUS, Q4/2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

4 CLIENT SPEAKS 

Interview with John O'Connell 

6 REPUBLIC OF STARTUPS 

Ireland technical startups to watchout for in 2015 

7 ADDITIONS TO THE PACK 

New team members in Dublin 

9 DISCOVER KINSALE 

Memorable trip to enchanting seaside town 

11 INTERNET OF THINGS 

Moving to a connected world 

12 PURSUIT OF 'WELLNESS' 

Pilates for the lazy muscle 

13 FAMILIES' DAY OUT 

Cognizant Dublin team family get together 

14 CELEBRATING ONE YEAR OF 'SERVICES' 

An excuse for fun 


C lient Speaks 

John 

O'Connell 

DaaS Ops Lead 

1What is your favourite part of working at D&B Dublin and why? 

The People – have gotten to work with great friendly talented people every day. There is 

also a modern feel to the office and a can do attitude. 

John O'Connell is the DaaS Technology 

Operations Lead. He has been with D&B for 

more than 3 years with rich expertise in 

technology and operations management. 

John has great domain experience on 

financial services owing to his 13 year 

tenure in the industry. Given an opportunity 

he would love to visit India. 

2How do you feel about the 

development in DaaS program? 

The Daas program part of D&B’s strategic 

hill 2 will open new ways to get D&B’s 

content to our Customers. The program 

has involved new technologies and ways 

of doing things. While challenging we 

have had fun along the way with more 

work to do. 

3Which part of Ireland are you from? A few 

words about the place 

a. I was born in Dun Laoghaire 

b. Dun Laoghaire is a port town based in South 

county Dublin. It 1821 it became known as 

KingstownafterthevisitofKingGeorgethe4th. 

It became Dun Laoghaire again after Ireland 

Gained independence. 

c.As a Boy and Teenager I went Sailing, rowing 

and Canoeing from Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

There are nice walks along the shoreline and 

famous “Teddy’s ice cream” shop in Sandycove 

– well worth a visit. 


4HowwouldyoudescribetheCognizantteamto 

your best friend 

I have been fortunate to work with very talented 

and lovely Cognizant team members both during5Your advice to new people coming to 

my time at Northern Trust and Also D&B. As well as 

work in Dublin 

workingwellwiththeCTS–Ihavebeenfortunateto 

a. Bring warm clothing and prepare to 

makefriendswithmanyoftheteamsaswell.Iwould 

have fun. Dublin is a young city with lots 

love to get an opportunity to Visit the Indian offices 

to do and see. 

and see life there at first hand. 

b. Being close to Europe there is also the 

potential for weekend trips to the 

European Mainland and United 

Kingdom. 

6What do you think will be the greatest change that Dublin will face in the 

next 3 years from an IT perspective? 

There are a lot of great things happening in Dublin with many companies from around the 

globe setting up in Dublin. It will be an interesting three years with disruptive technologies 

and capabilities set to change the landscape further. I think we will all be working on 

different set of tools and technologies in three years. It is part of what makes working in 

technology challenging but fun. 

7We know that you love playing sports. What 

do you like playing when you are free? 

When I am not coaching Mini Rugby I enjoy 

running, tennis and tag rugby. With two boys I 

don’t get a lot of time. 

8Have you tried Indian food? What is 

your favourite Indian dish? 

I love Indian Food – I have many 

favourites. My favourite starters are 

Onion Bhajee, Samosa and Chicken 

Tikka. My Favourite Main courses would 

be Lamb Rogan Josh , Lamb Jalfrezi or 

Biryani. 

9If you weren’t a technology operations lead, what would you have liked doing 

instead? 

GreatQuestion–WellInearlyjoinedtheIrishArmyduringmyEngineeringStudiesbutstuck 

with the Engineering in the end! I enjoy new product development and technology 

innovation so if I was not in operations I would have worked on building new products. 


Top 5 Irish Tech Startups to 

Watch for in 2015 

WholeWorldBand is a free iPhone and iPad app for the 

video age that is about content creation, fan engagement 

and creative marketing. It allows anyone to easily make 

music and videos with or without their favourite artists 

and friends that can be shared and enjoyed worldwide. 

Think of it as a collaborative, multitrack version of 

youtube. 

NVMdurance is a Dublin-based flash optimisation technology 

company that intends to disrupt the entire US$28bn storage 

market.The company’s technology extends the life of solid state 

flash storage disks by more than 20 times by extending the 

endurance of the flash memory on 1x nm chips. 

Bizimply is an all-in-one people and shift management 

solution that is changing the way restaurants and businesses 

are managed.An iPad is wall-mounted in the location, an 

app is downloaded and it is immediately synced to the 

existing Bizimply account, giving business a live feed of 

who’s in, who’s out and who’s running late. 

Restored Hearing is on a mission to protect hearing, 

alleviate tinnitus, and rid the world of unavoidable 

hearing loss. 

The company’s Sound Relief tinnitus sound therapy 

has been clinically proven to reduce ringing in the ears 

by 15pc in a month when used five minutes daily. This 

provides relief to those who never get to experience 

silence. 

Artomatix is a Trinity College Dublin start-up whose team 

has built an artificial intelligence system with human-like 

artistic creativity. 

The technology works in such as way that once artists 

supply Artomatix Studio with sample 2D or 3D artwork, the 

software then generates new art based on these inputs. 

Article Source : www.siliconrepublic.com, Appeared On : December 22,2014 


Additions to the pack 

WANTED 

* For Services * 

{EIM Lead, Advanced Monitoring} 

Arun Justin loves the roads in Dublin and 

hates the wind in Ireland that sometimes 

tends to blow him away. He dreams of 

starting his own analytics company one day 

andgivenachoicehewouldchoosehisdadas 

amentor.(Andwhatnext?PutGenpactoutof 

business !!!) 

WANTED 


{Developer, Enterprise Services RTB} 

Surya aims to run a library cafe one day and 

would choose Pai Mai, the crazy Chinese 

martial arts teacher from Kill Bill as her 

mentor. Her idea of a dream holiday is Delft, 

Netherlands (And expects us to believe that 

Amsterdam isn't there in the itinerary) 

WANTED 

* For DaaS * 

{SME, IMPE Project} 

Satheesh Kumar loves the friendly nature of 

people in Dublin and spends his spare time 

vistingthebeautifulparksandgardenshere. 

He wants Dr.Abdul Kalam to be his mentor. 

TheonlythingthatworrieshimaboutDublin 

is the high cost of living (Head to the 

mountains we say ) 


WANTED 

* For DaaS * 

{Data Analyst, DaaS Data Provisioning} 

SatheeshPeddagalawouldlovetoholidayin 

Paris. He absolutely hates the queue at the 

immigration office in Dublin. He dreams of 

playing a movie villain one day. (Move over 

Sonu Sood!!!) 

WANTED 


{Lead, Enterprise Services RTB} 

Arun Prasad feels happy being in Dublin 

owing to the relatively lesser travel time to 

India compared to the US. He would love to 

visit Switzerland one day. When asked for a 

mentor he could not choose anyone but the 

late Steve Jobs. (Tim Cook isn't bad either) 


Historic Kinsale 

"Despite it's small size Kinsale 

is historically significant to Irish 

culture" 

A Tale of Two Forts 

Kinsale would mean a lot of things to different people in Ireland depending on the county they 

come from. For the seasoned traveller from Dublin it would be the start of the famed 'Wild 

Atlantic Way' a beautiful coastal route adjacent to the atlantic, passing through seven of 

Ireland's counties. 

We were strongly advised by our colleagues to try the seafood, an obvious choice for a coastal 

town. Kinsale is celebrated as the Gourmet capital of Ireland with a variety of dishes that suit 

every palate. 

We took bus no.226 from Cork to Kinsale and it took us an hour to get there. The minute we 

reached the harbour(that is the only bus stop in the town centre) we were in for a pleasant 

surprise. Kinsale is a cultural potpourri of Norman, Spanish and English influence. Now add some 

battles and slow cook for 400 years and you have one beautiful destination with stories to last 

for a life time. 

The majestic Charles and James fort guard the narrow entrance to Kinsale from the sea with 

significant battles that have taken place between the Irish rebels and the British forces for 

control of the area. 

The forts are abound with ghost sightings, the most famous story belonging to the 'White lady' 

of Charles fort searching for her love who was killed accidentally by her own father. We were the 

only visitors on the entire fort in december but were unfortunate to not have seen the 

apparition of the 'White Lady'. 


Not just forts 

Kinsale is abound with plenty of other attractions like the Desmond castle(now the 

international museum of wine), the old courthouse and the 12th century St.Multose church. 

Kinsale is of historical significance to Ireland because of a number of reasons: 

1. It was here in 1601 that the Battle of Kinsale was fought. It represented a meeting of two 

cultures - the old Gaelic world and the powerful English way of life. The defeat of the Gaelic 

O'Neill and O'Donnell Clans signalled the end of the old Gaelic Ireland. 

2.Kinsale owes it's unique character to the fact that it was a garrison town and port of 

consequence for over 300 years, hence it's magnificent Georgian houses and the Dutch 

influence of it architecture. 

3.On May 7th 1915, the great Liner "Lusitania", en route from New York to Liverpool, was hit 

by a torpedo and sank 11 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, with the loss of 1195 lives. 

Things to Do 

Barring history there are great activities that one can do on arrival here: 

1. Golfing at the old head of Kinsale facing the Atlantic. Even if you don't golf just go there 

for a spectacular view of the Atlantic. 

2. Walking tours that would enable you to visit important sites in Kinsale. It is a very 

colourful town with houses and shops swathed in bright colours. 

3. Ghost tours for the bravehearted and if you are lucky you could have a blind date with the 

'White Lady'. 

4. Harbour cruises in summer. 

5. Plan your breakfast, lunch and dinner at Kinsale simply because it is worth doing so. 

Everything is sourced locally with fresh fish coming straight off the boats and the meat and 

vegetables provided from nearby farms. 

Dino's is the place where we had dinner and the restaurant wasn’t too busy that evening but 

the atmosphere was charming and I have been reliably informed that many weekend nights 

there can go on into the early hours with the in-house singer getting the singsong started. 

So small, yet so fair standing out against the ocean that it faces, Kinsale is a slice of Ireland 

anybody would love. From the smallest grass to the largest tree, all we saw was beauty in 

our eyes. 

A trip to Kinsale long or short is therefore highly recommended for anyone visiting Ireland. 

From the desk of the Travel 

Brigade 

A Street Near the town centre 


Internet of Things 

For Starters 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a giant network of connected “things” (which also includes 

people). The relationship will be between people-people, people-things, and things-things. A 

thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal 

with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when 

tire pressure is low -- or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP 

address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network. 

IoT also focuses on empowering the computers with their own means of gathering 

information, so they can see, hear and smell the world for themselves. 

Why the traction now? 

1. Technology companies focus on 

IoT as a means to drive revenue 

growth based on new products 

and services. 

2. Owing to its compatibility with 

practically anything over the 

internet businesses are embracing 

the idea to improve productivity 

and save costs. 

3. IoT would be helpul in a wide 

number of ways ranging from 

health care to the energy industry. 

How does it impact us? 

The internet of things(IoT) is emerging as the thrid wave in the development of internet. 

Personal lives, workplace productivity and consumption will all change. There are going 

to be new businesses that would expand the internet horizon to those that will analyze 

loads of data and create things that have not been conceived by the human mind. 

Where can I learn more? 

https://www.coursera.org/course/fog 

http://www.lynda.com/Raspberry-Pi-tutorials/Programming-Internet-ThingsiOS/178115-2.html 

References: 

http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/outlook/internet-of-things/ 

https://www.mapr.com/blog/what-internet-things-and-why-does-it-matter-big-data-0#.VLfqQSusU7E 

http://www.ariasystems.com/blog/internet-things-important/ 


The Pursuit of 

'Well'Ness 

Pilates for the lazy muscle 

What? 

Pilates (pronounced puh-lah-teez and not pie-lates) is similar to yoga but 

emphasizes the body’s core — the abdomen, obliques, lower back, inner and outer 

thigh,and so on. For this reason, Pilates develops much of what exercisers need — 

strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, coordination, balance, and good posture 

— with a much lower chance of injury than with other forms of exercise. The 

discipline emphasizes correct form instead of going for the burn. 

Why? 

Sedentary lifestyles and jobs can contribute to 

postural dysfunction and cause general aches and 

pains.ITemployeeswouldbethefrontrunnerswhen 

it comes to sitting a lot in their work. This habit then 

gives rise to complain of neck, shoulder and / or low 

back pain. With prolonged static postures our core 

muscles and spinal cord can fatigue resulting in pain 

anddysfunction.Pilatesimprovestheefficiencyand 

control of our ‘normal’ movement, by targeting our 

trunk and spinal muscles and motor control. 

Benefits 

1, Improved Flexibility 

2. Increased muscle strength and tone 

3. Enhanced muscular control of back 

and limbs 

4. Improved spine stabilisation 

5, Prevention of musculo skeletal 

injuries 

6. Improved concentration 

7. Increased posture awareness 

8. Better stress management 


Family's Day Out 

The Cognizant Dublin team enjoyed an evening of games and great food with 

their families in november. Some of our memorable moments below. 


Celebrating One Year of 'Services' 

The Enterprise Services team in Dublin recently celebrated the first anniversary of Dublin 

ownership in Dec 2014 or an excuse for a night of games and drinks sponsored by D&B.

FOCUS

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