Ezhil Arasan Babaraj

My infatuation, passion and fascination towards technology is what
really helped me to scale up the ladder. I started my carrier as an
entrepreneur building various products, tools & platforms for
different vertical in the mobility and online advertising space. When
Cloud Computing was introduced to me, I felt the freedom of innovation.
This is mainly due to the scarcity of resources during my
entrepreneurship. I fell in love with the technology and started
building various platforms, framework & tools required for Cloud. In
fact our R&D labs at CSS Corp pioneered in technologies that are
helping us today to differentiate in the market place.

As I mentioned, my passion is what drove me all the time. When I took
very important decisions like leaving my entrepreneurship is purely
because of my personal reasons. In fact, what I learned in my experience
is, a quick decision making and a positive Instinct wins most of the
time. If you can listen to your instinct, you will definitely win.
Having said this, building a R&D center in a services company is
definitely a challenging role and I feel it comes with lots of risk
factors. But, that is where I figured out my space and running the
applied R&D successfully at CSS Corp for more than five years.

I would say leaving my own company and started working for someone else
is what the biggest positive inflection point in my life. Learnt various
things like corporate culture, marketing an idea, building a case etc.
and all are essential for one to succeed in this IT world.

My role is to enable my team to bring innovative technology to
differentiate CSS Corp in the market space. I would say I was doing the
same thing in a very small scale for particular product/ services at
Hewitt and in CSS Corp; it comes with more responsibilities &
accountability as well.

I would any day want to build a true 100% profitable R&D center in
India which can embrace real innovation in every possible industry. I
will drive myself towards that.

I have been growing and it means carrying lot of baggage. Always, try to
unlearn and learn to keep myself young. I would say the industry is
maturing a lot and every decade the technology advancement is
disruptive. You should be able to accept the change otherwise, people
would overlook you.

I have been researching in the Cloud, Mobility & Social Networking space.

Some of the trends that I see in the respective areas are:

Cloud Computing - Standards, Cloud Security, Types of Cloud like GovCloud, Community Cloud is mesmerizing.

Mobility - App development framework like Phonegap, NFC & QR Code related technologies.

Social Networking - Usage of Social Networking in Support, Social Network Analytics.

These are some of the key technologies that are going to play a crucial role in the near future.

I would say to understand the basic of computer science is a must for
anyone to excel in their career. For the experienced ones, unlearning
& learning is important along with an interest to learn new things.
Having said this, I would urge every one of you to learn by experience
rather than waiting for someone to teach you.

Choosing one or more Cloud Provider and understanding profoundly about
their offering is essential. I would strongly recommend sticking on to
your own sphere like System Administration, Development, Security,
Testing etc. but, be aware of Cloud Computing with respect to your
domains. Private & Hybrid Cloud implantation would be a massive hit
in the near future. Prepare yourself well for that. For developers,
understanding the Cloud building blocks is a must.

Honestly, I have not done any certifications in my life. But, I would
recommend certifications specific to niche domains such as Network,
Security, Carrier Devices etc. would be a great value addition to your
profile.

The following online resources & books are good.

• http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/


• http://www.amazon.com/Application-Architectures-Practice-OReilly-ebook/dp/B0043D2EUY/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2


• http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Computing-Web-Based-Applications-Collaborate/dp/0789738031


• http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Cloud-Salesforce-com-Company-ebook/dp/B002PJ4SU2 /ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2


• http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Computing-Explained-Implementation-ebook/dp/B003LO1H2W/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2


• http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Amazon-EC2-ebook/dp/B004V9MR5M/ref=pd_sim_kinc_5?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2


• http://ezhil.sys-con.com/

We need more innovators and innovation happening across our country and
Cloud as a technology definitely helps you a lot. I would urge each one
of you to start experiment it.