Watermark Learning Blog

Our trip to India concluded in Bangalore, where Elizabeth and I again presented at BA World. Elizabeth repeated her talk on “The Influencing Formula” and I again presented “Bulletproof Business Cases.” The audience was roughly the same size as in Pune, and equally as inquisitive and interactive. The conference gave us each 1:15 for our talks, so there was plenty of time for questions and answers.

That’s me in the picture talking to the group in Bangalore, which totaled about 70 by the time everybody arrived. Common issues that participants raised were projects getting launched by solution without a business case, lack of cost-benefit analysis, business leaders responding to the wrong stakeholders and launching projects with inappropriate features, and projects being scrapped because they weren’t providing business value.

We had good discussions with attendees at our exhibit table, too. Of popular interest were materials and classes for the CBAP and CCBA certifications. The picture shows our India partner, Surendra Saxena of Vellicate Technologies, reviewing our CBAP Study Guide with interested candidates. (Surendra is on the right.) We plan to print our Guide in India with appropriate “developing country” pricing and in-country shipping. Other attendees were interested in our BA Certificate programs and virtual classes. It is sensational to be able to serve customers all over the world along with our partners and by using technology enablers.

Speaking of that, we also visited the Bangalore office of one of our US-based customers. They are excited by the prospect of receiving the same training in India that their BA counter-parts receive in the US. We are thrilled by the challenge and opportunity that this represents for us.

Elizabeth and I very much enjoyed spending time with Surendra and his family in Bangalore. We were told that in India being a gracious host is an important value. Our hosts, Surendra and his family, showed us amazing hospitality! We enjoyed home-cooked appetizers and meals and excellent restaurants. We were escorted on a shopping trip to stores we would not have been able to find on our own. Surendra’s wife was a big help to us on that score! We were grateful to be able to escape from our hotel and experience India in a way that would have been impossible for us without Surendra and his family.

We ended the trip with a day visit to Mysore, about 3 hours from Bangalore. (We found that the span between places is expressed usually in time needed rather than distance. We learned why that is the case once we saw the crowded traffic.)  Our tourist stop was the Mysore Palace, also known as Amba Vilas Palace. The palace is one of the largest in India, and second only to the Taj Mahal in popularity, drawing 2.7 million visitors a year. We weren’t allowed to photograph the inside, but needless to say, it was sumptuous and opulent.

There is so much else to see in India! Combine that with the growth of business analysis in India and it means we are already thinking of our next visit!
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For information on Watermark Learning offerings in India, please visit Vellicate Technologies at https://www.vellicate-tech.com/.