CSC assignment deliverables & an adventure to the beautiful Krabi Island

I am not really sure how and where to start to somehow summarize my experience for the last few days. Well, I think I found the word to describe it “incredible”.

My sub team and I had an intensive week throughout the day and night working on the outcomes of the CSC assignment. There are three main deliverable that needs to be submitted and presented to our client.
1) A comprehensive business plan document on all the following elements (Background, Problem statement, Solutions, Technology, Marketing strategy, Revenue model, Growth avenues and Geographical expansion model).
2) Benchmark analysis of the existing apps in the market (key contents/features) and comping it to our mobile app.
3) Presentation outlines for our client to be used as a pitch to NGO’s and private sectors.

As for the fun team activities, our last weekend in Bangkok was also very intensive and action packed with activities. We enjoyed a long extended weekend as Friday Aug 12th was the Queen’s birthday and it is a national holiday in Thailand. We couldn’t miss this opportunity and the entire CSC team headed to Krabi island. Our journey to Krabi was quite an adventure by itself. We used all means of transportations to reach the island. We got stuck for one and half hour on our way to the airport. Rushed to the gate to realize that our flight was delayed and needed to wait for an additional 2 hours. After landing, our arranged staff from the hotel transferred us by Van to somewhere, then we took a golf card to be transferred to the pier. Finally, and the best part was taking the ferry boat at night time under the moonlight to reach the island (the entire team was soooo excited, happy and thrilled by the whole experience).

 On the island itself, the team certainly enjoyed the local restaurants (fresh BBQ and Seafood). We really boosted the economy on the island by constantly re-ordering more dishes for our 12 members team. In fact, in one night few of us ordered 8 whole fish. Everything was super delicious, so we just kept ordering as if we had not eaten in weeks. The island itself was truly lovely and no words and pictures really can give it justice. Thank you Krabi for being so so beautiful and for making our CSC trip an unforgettable adventure. Thank you for adding great priceless moments to our lives.

@ the airport ready for Krabi

Business Plan & Ayutthaya Kingdom!

Wow, it certainly has been a quite interesting week for me. Please forgive me for not updating my blog recently. I have been extremely engaged with various work & team fun activities.

This week we started to work on key elements of the business plan which includes but not limited to: Technology aspects to be considered such as cloud delivery model options, integration, mobile platforms, services options, security, scalability, and reliability. Also, the marketing strategy to develop and sustain the mobile app. My team members are working on the IT platforms and my task is to build the marketing strategy section to support the app. I really like working with each and everyone of my sub team members as we truly complement each other. They are also super nice and fun to be around … LOVE you team!

As for our weekend fun activities, the entire CSC team traveled to the ancient city of Ayutthaya. It is about 80 km north of Bangkok. Ayutthaya is one of Thailand’s major tourist attractions. There are many ancient ruins and art works in this city that was founded in 1350. We visited few main ruins, took an Elephant ride. We then headed to our hotel were we had a lovely dinner overseeing the river side. Oh, and then we ended our evening with a very romantic and fascinating river boat tour. We were able to see the ruins at night time all lighten up which were truly breath taking moments for me.

Many thanks to ABV's in country manager (David) for arranging all the logistics side and accommodation of our trip and for being such a great and fun tour guide. Also, thanks for being sooooo patient with 12 members whom can’t get enough of taking selfies all day long.

Final day of the design sprint

Prototype testing

YES, first day off

After a very long first week being fully scheduled day to day with meetings and activities, the team and I were able to make a progress in finalizing the statement of work and had it signed by our client in IOMX. We are now in the process of building a business case to develop, market and sustain the mobile app. The main goal of the mobile app solution is prevent exploitation for migrant domestic workers in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and other Asian countries.

I really enjoyed my first day off exploring Bangkok! My sub team and I took the BTS (Bangkok Train Station) and then used the ferry boat to reach the Grand palace. It is the most touristic attraction in the city. The palace has been the official residence of the kings of Siam and truly a spectacular site to explore. We then visited Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha), the marble temple and Wat Saket which is also known as The Golden Mountain. The only problem we had was the extreme heat, humidity and the crowds, but it was very well worth it as the sites were astonishing.

 Grand Palace

Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)

Marble Temple

 

@IBM Building

@IBM Building

Bangkok Train Station (BTS)