An Introduction to This Resource

Deloitte BTAs in India is an extensive description of the day to day life of one participant in the Deloitte's India Immersion Program in Hyderabad / HiTec City.

The first group of eight BTAs lived and worked in Hyderabad during the summer of 2013. A second group of seven followed in the fall of the same year and worked at the same location. Our twelve week experience took place between September 21st and December 18, 2013.

For an overview of the purpose of the program, see entries marked Program Details under the Topics section on the right hand side of the blog. To review only entries that concern client service activity, select Work Related from the Topics section.

READ ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST.

Scroll down the right side of this page
and use the section marked "Blog Archive."

Click on the small triangle next to a year or month.
A menu of entries will appear. Entries in a blog are shown most recent first. If you want to read the blog from the beginning, click on August and then click the bottom entry first and then move up the list.

Early entries in August are "Preliminaries." 
These describe preparation activities. Any BTA considering participation in the Immersion Program may find these especially helpful.

Continue using these links to move to the second entry and continue.

Alternatively, use the Label Links
on the right hand side of the blog to read entries by topic.

Thanks to all those who posted pictures on Facebook, to those who have contributed to or commented on this blog. I hope you enjoy reading about the fruits of our labor these past twelve weeks.

Post Script: Since Our Return

Our group took various routes as we returned to the United States. England, Germany, Austria even New Zealand were just a few of the stop over destinations on "the way home."

To be honest, re-entry into Deloitte US has been a little on the stressful side. In December/January a lot of projects across the county are "winding down." Transitioning to our home offices seemed a little awkward. Feeling a little "out of the loop" was a shared emotion, as we returned.

Some of us have moved off the beach more quickly than others. Only one of us was extended on the projects with which we were associated in India. Several others took short term roles on non-SAP projects, just to get back in the saddle. All of us, but especially "second year" BTAs, are concerned with hitting our annual utilization targets, after a slow start in Hyderabad and additional downtime upon our return.

I've been really fortuante to get staffed on a large SAP project in Brooklyn through August, at least. While I didn't land a functional role to start, my senior manager is very aware of my immersion experience and our recently developed functional capabilities. As the project ramps up, he'll be looking for opportunities for me use the new skills that were gained in Hyderabad.

For me personally, it's taken only a couple of weeks to start reaping the benefits of the immersion program. Our team will be adding off-shore expertise from Deloitte USI next week. During a prep meeting, I made several suggestions to encourage attentive integration of our Indian team members. AND you're not going to believe this part! The two USI team members are from HYDERABAD. Among them will be Harleen, a woman that we met during our trekking weekend in Goa. Now if that does say, "it's a small world after all," I don't know what does!

Post Script II: On February 4th, six BTAs, three from the first trip and three from the second participated in a conference call with senior managers to provide feedback about our experiences. As a result, a tentative plan is under consideration to offer the Immersion Program again in the Fall of 2014.

At the moment, Hyderabad appears to be the preferred site. The most exciting news is that the program will no longer be limited to SAP personnel, but will be expanded to include all Deloitte services lines! More details will follow.

Post Script III: On February 8, 2014 Parliament passed the bill that will split Andhra Pradesh, India into two separate states, with Hyderabad as the capital of both states for a period of ten years. Telangana, which will include Hyderabad, will be the name of the new state. It will be very interesting to see how this decision effects the HiTec City area. For more information about the historical, political and religious discord that produced this result, see additional posts labeled Politics, in the Topics list.