Microsoft offers cloud time to SMBs

To raise its market share, Microsoft is making an exchange offer to small and medium businesses (SMBs) to give away their hardware in return for a cloud setup.

Under the three-month scheme, which is exclusively launched for India market, Microsoft is reaching out to organisations with 250 personal computers or less, offering them Azure credit in exchange for their hardware. The company has opened a toll-free number and web access for the businesses to reach out to.

"This is an opportunity for SMBs to get value for their legacy hardware and at the same time leap to the cloud. This will help them reduce maintenance costs and get on a modern platform," said Karan Bajwa, managing director of Microsoft India. Microsoft has partnered with Mumbai-based Just-Dispose, which would collect the hardware from the customer, and provide a purchase acknowledgement and a figure for the cash value of the hardware. Based on this, the business can buy Azure credit and build a cloud platform and host applications.

The organization, however, needs to commit certain amount every year to avail monthly credit on Windows Azure. This credit will cover over 30%-50 % of the investment that they incur while moving into the cloud. For instance, if the value of the existing computer servers is in estimated by JustDispose to be in the range of $200-$ 1000, the customer needs to pay a minimum of $3000 a year as a guarantee amount. The business would then get credit towards Windows Azure services upto a maximum of $500 per month for two months, in addition to the $3000 already in its credit.

Overall the small business would end up paying $3000 for its Azure subscription worth $4000, according to Microsoft . Over the last 12-18 months, the Redmond-based software giant has built a strong position in the private cloud market with enterprises , but the quantum of growth is coming from the untapped space of public cloud that SMBs go for. According to Meetul Patel, general manager, SMB, Microsoft India, there are around 50 million small businesses, where only roughly 5 million are using PCs. "This is lost growth opportunity of $56 million," Patel added. 

Facebook unveils new programming language, Hack

It is called Hack but it has little to do with hacking. It is a new programming language designed by Facebook that lets programmers build complex websites and other software quickly and without many flaws. 
"We can say with complete assurance that this has been as battle-tested as it can possibly be," Bryan O'Sullivan, the Facebook engineer behind the language, said in a statement.
Experts say Hack is a new version of PHP -- the language Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg used when he started building Facebook. 
Hack too runs on the Hip Hop Virtual Machine but it lets coders use both dynamic typing and static typing. For the next decade, Zuckerberg and his rapidly growing company continued to build their site with PHP.
But as a PHP site grows, you need far more computer servers to run the thing than you would with other languages and it can be difficult to manage all your code and keep it free of bugs.
Hack makes it easier to manage code and eliminate errors. It provides these benefits without slowing down the developer. Unlike other statically type languages, Hack can run without compiling. 
"You edit a file and you reload a web page and you immediately get the feedback. You get both safety and speed," O'Sullivan added.

In depth: 10 future transport inventions set to supercharge any journey

Cars may be getting smarter but the basic design and function isn't changing much: for example, the BMW i3 might have a whizzy electric engine, but Henry Ford would still recognise it as a car. They might be soon be able to drive themselves but a car will still fundamentally look like a car.

You can't say the same about an electric unicycle, a flying bike or a skateboard with square wheels, though - and those are the kind of vehicles some inventors hope we'll adopt en masse.

Is the flying car finally here? Is somebody Kickstarting the future of transport? Let's find out.

1. Ryno Micro-Cycle

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaFN4lldZRk

The Ryno is "sleek and simple, while evoking a deep-seated yearning for a more progressive future," the manufacturer says. It's half a motorbike, we say.

It's an odd-looking thing, a Segway crossed with a motorcycle, and if you've got $5,295 (about UK£3186, AU$5810) you can whizz around at up to 10mph while carrying up to 260lbs of cargo (including you). The Ryno is running late, but the makers promise it'll go on limited sale this spring.

2. FlyKly Smart Wheel

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maOEx3joUFs

The Kickstarter-funded FlyKly adds an ultra-thin electric motor and intelligent electronics to a normal bike wheel, helping you accelerate more quickly and get up hills.

You can even remotely lock it and track it if your bike gets nicked. FlyKly is currently accepting pre-orders for delivery in June but it will cost you $590 (about UK£355, AU$648).

3. Shark Wheel

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGLDceEPPRo

There's thinking outside the box, and then there's thinking so far outside the box that you can't remember where you left it or what the box looked like. We think the Shark Wheel falls into the latter category, because it's kicking back against the tyranny of circular wheels.

It turns out that square-looking wheels (the looking bit is key, because the wheels aren't really square) can grip better in the wet, handle soft surfaces with aplomb and slide more easily too.

Shark Wheels for skateboards began shipping earlier this year, but the inventors reckon their design could scale to bigger vehicles - including military ones.

4. OneWheel

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrTu6YyjVuE

Yes, it does look rather like somebody's nailed an old car tyre to a girder, but the OneWheel is the closest thing we've got to Back to the Future hoverboards. Its combination of a brushless hub motor, inertia sensors and clever software means it powers and balances itself.

The first bunch of Kickstarter orders have sold out and the makers are currently accepting pre-orders for the second production run.

5. Organic Transit Elf

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSXt1KhPG7w

If you've got five thousand dollars going spare, live somewhere sunny or just like pedalling, the Elf may well be for you.

It's a $4,995 (about UK£3005, AU$5488) solar powered (and socket-rechargeable) tricycle capable of 30mph, 1,800mpg and a range of just over 14 miles. That's in California, though: we suspect the British weather and landscape would kill the battery much more quickly.

6. Hovertrax

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKkgPo7Mq_4

Inventist, aka Shane Chen, has a track record when it comes to personal mobility. He invented the Solowheel electric wheel, the Hydroglider electric surfboard and most recently, the Hovertrax.

The Hovertrax is like a Segway boiled down to the bare essentials: two balancing wheels you control with your feet. Yours for only $695 (about UK£418, AU$763) via Kickstarter.

7. Ecoboomer iGo

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRMqZosYC7A

Our choice of vehicle says a great deal about us, and choosing an iGo says "hey! I'm driving a chemical toilet!" It's an absolutely horrible-looking thing, and that's a real shame because it's rather clever.

The $1,600 (about UK$963, AU$1757) self-balancing vehicle is good for 19 miles at up to 13mph with zero emissions. The firm promises more new products in the coming weeks, but its website is back under construction and its online shop is currently down.

8. Honda U3-X Easy Rider

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDSqjvBIpWg

Honda isn't messing around here: the U3-X Easy Rider comes from the same place as its robots, which Honda hopes can address some of the issues inherent in a rapidly ageing population.

The 2009 prototype was a 'proposal', with Honda president Takanobu Ito saying: "I might really use it if my legs grow weaker." The Easy Rider isn't going to become a shipping product any time soon, but it's likely to inform future personal mobility devices such as self-powered wheelchairs.

9. B

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJMQQg_Qmf0

We've been promised flying cars for decades and B finally delivers on that promise. There's only one catch: it's too small for humans, and by "too small" we mean that it'd be a bit of a squeeze for an Action Man figure.

The £320 (about US$532, AU$584) kit is a remote-controlled hybrid car-copter (the rotors are in the wheels) that's as happy in the air as it is on the ground, and it plays a starring role in the forthcoming Expendables 3 movie.

It's a fantastic looking thing, but for transport it'll either have to get a whole lot bigger or we humans will have to get a whole lot smaller. B's creator promises the former and is using the RC models to help fund future development.

10. Jan Tleskac's Flying Bike

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtylFugOT_4

Ever wished your bike had six whopping great propellers on it? No, us neither, but Czech firms Duratec, Technodat and Evektor have joined forces to create just that.

It's purely a prototype for now, which is reassuring. Watching the decidedly wobbly pilot in the video demo makes us glad that nobody we know is likely to decapitate us by accident during an afternoon bike ride.

Dell to launch mid-tier storage arrays in India

Computer technology firm Dell today announced it has entered the mid-range fibre channel storage market by launching a new series of products.

The full-featured, enterprise storage arrays have been designed for mid-sized fibre channel deployments, the US-based company said.

The new SC4000 series of storage arrays will debut with SC4020 series throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including India, in May and worldwide availability is planned for later this year, Dell India Enterprise Solutions Group Director & General Manager S Sridhar told reporters here.

The new storage array series, with an all-flash solution, will cost up to 76 per cent less than competing pure flash arrays. It is the latest addition to Dell's customer-driven enterprise data centre portfolio of solutions designed to make IT more efficient and practical, he said.

"CIOs of Indian enterprises with mid-sized workloads are required to optimise their IT infrastructure and remain ahead of their peers in providing world-class services to their internal as well external customers.

"They are looking for efficient choices in IT infrastructure that provide higher performance, greater productivitywithin their budget," Sridhar said. 

Apple may launch iTunes for Android

Apple is thinking of launching an iTunes app for Android, as well as an on-demand streaming service similar to Spotify, Billboard reports. 

This is likely because downloads of music from iTunes are in decline as more and more people transitioning to streaming music services like Pandora, Spotify, Beats Music and Rdio. 

Thanks to those streaming services, the music industry was able to sustain revenues of $7 billion, nearly the same as it has been since 2009, the RIAA says. It's neither growing nor shrinking at this point. 

Digital downloads still brought in the most revenue to the music industry, but a 1% decline to $2.4 billion suggests that people are moving away from purchasing music and moving toward streaming services. 

That's why it's no wonder Apple launched iTunes Radio, a streaming version of iTunes that competes directly with Pandora. Apple is reportedly working on a standalone app for iTunes Radio so that it can better target Pandora. 

With an iTunes app for Android, Apple could even further compete with Pandora, and also potentially increase music downloads.

Twitter shuts down #Music app

Twitter's music app is reportedly being taken off the App Store officially due to lack of popularity.

The Twitter #Music app attempted to harness conversations around music and artists on Twitter to create a new way to discover music. However, the app failed to strike the right chord among users who preferred many competing music apps on the market.

While discontinuing the app, Twitter said that this does not mark the end of its efforts to help users discover new music:

We continue to experiment with new ways to bring you great content based on the music activity we see every day on Twitter.

— Twitter Music (@TwitterMusic) March 21, 2014

Twitter #Music was built by the team behind the music-discovery service We Are Hunted, which Twitter acquired in 2012 and subsequently shut down.

While the app integrated with popular apps like Spotify and Rdio, recommending tracks based on artists a user had followed and tweeted about, it never got much traction among mainstream users, the report added.

9 executives who refused to be part of Murthy's second inning

By Salvi Mittal

They say, if it happens once it's an accident, if it happens twice it's a coincidence, if it happens three times, it's a pattern.

Infosys, India's second-largest software services firm, witnessed nine senior level exit since the co-founder N R Narayana Murthy made a comeback in June 2013. Almost one exit per month.

The attrition was also the theme of a report by JPMorgan Chase and Co. It questioned Murthy's claims that the exits hadn't hurt the company.

Murthy, on the other hand, in an interview said," barring some rare exceptions, let me assure you that nobody who was adding value to the company had to leave; that's the reality. Unfortunately these were the people deriving very high salaries and unfortunately we were not getting value from them and therefore they realized that there would not be much growth for them and therefore they left the company. We wish them luck, they are our good friends, there were days when they added to the company but there were days they did not."
Below are the nine people who have quit the company.

Ashok Vemuri

Ashok Vemuri, was Head of Infosys Americas and also served as a Head of global manufacturing and engineering services, stepped out in August and has joined iGate as CEO. Ashok also severed as the chairman of Infosys China and was on the board of Infosys Public Services.
Ashok holds Master's degree in Physics and Business Management and joined Infosys in 1999.
The company's executive council member Stephen R Pratt, has resigned. Head of utilizes and resources, North America, on November 15, 2013 confirmed his resignation from the company, effective January 31, 2014. Pratt is presently in Scheming, Inc.


V. Balakrishnan
Balakrishnan was considered a contender to become the CEO of Infosys when SD Shibulal retires next year. He has joined the Aam Aadmi Party just one day after he ended a 22-year career at Infosys, where he rose to become a director of the infotech company.

Balakrishnan received a B.Sc. from the University of Madras.


Chandra shekar Kakal

Senior vice-president and company veteran Chandrashekar Kakal, resigned on Thursday for reasons that weren't specified. Kakal, who joined the Bangalore-based firm in 1999, was heading the firm's business unit. Kalal was also responsible for testing and infrastructure management services worldwide, resigned on 19 March and will leave on 18 April, said in a BSE filling.
Kalal, is a MBA with a specialization in international busines s, from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. He also holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Bangalore University, India.


Basab Pradhan
Basab Pradhan, was global head of sales, client services, alliances and marketing at Infosys, quit in july 2013. Pradhan was also involved in the opening of the company's first sales office in New York in 1995.
On 9 July 2013 Pradhan announced via Twitter that he is leaving Infosys.

Pradhan, was a school topper in secondary School Examination and is graduated from IIT Kanpur in 1987. He also did his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, in 1989. He joined Hindustan Unilever as an Area Sales Manager in 1989 but in 1994 Pradhan switched to Infosys. Pradhan, has also co-authored a book titled: "How India Got Back On the Global business Map" in 2011. At present it is not clear whether he is still an employee at Infosys or not.


Humberto Andrade

In September, Infosys BPO Head Latin America Humberto Andrade resigned. Andrade is currently in Capemini as a Vice president and engagement executive.


Kartik Jayaraman

Head BPO sales in Australia Kartik Jayaraman left in September. Jayaraman has joined Accenture's Melbourne office.


Sudhir Chaturvedi

Sudhir Chaturvedi, who previously served as Senior Vice President and Head of financial services Americas Business Unit, has now joined IT services firm NIIT Technologies as Chief Operating Officer.


Subrahmanyam Goparaju
Subrahmanyam Goparaju, served as Senior Vice President of Infosys Labs at Infosys Ltd. Goparaju left Infosys on December 27, 2013. He joined Infosys in 1988 as a software engineer and served as a Vice President at Infosys since 1999.


Shaji Farooq
Shaji Farooq, was Senior Vice-President and head of financial services, Americas at Infosys, quit after he served Infosys for ten year. And now Farooq has joined Wipro Ltd.

5 Windows 8 Tips & Tricks

5 Windows 8 Tips & Tricks is a post by Travis Pope from Gotta Be Mobile.

Whether Windows 8 was the right move for Microsoft to make in the face of a burgeoning tablet market and slipping sales of traditional laptops and desktops isn’t yet known. Surely, the company’s move to expand Windows outside of its core area, that is to create a possible future for Windows that wasn’t just attached to what people think of as typical Windows machines, was probably the right move.

Regardless, Windows 8.1 comes packed with even more features than what people might find if they’re just answering email or browsing the internet. Here are 5 more things that you might not know your Windows 8.1-equipped machine can do that you might not have noticed.

Transform Your Device Into A Electronic Picture Frame

 A few years ago, the entire world became fascinated with the idea that they could store all of their family photos on a device that would automatically play side shows of their friends and family. At the time, the idea seemed to be borderline revolutionary, the majority of users had finally stopped buying camera with film and wanted a way to showcase all the photos they’d taken without having to spend a fortune on ink cartridges for their printer or trek to their local Walgreen’s to have them printed. The idea soon faded as users moved on to the next big thing, however now operating systems like Windows 8 are building in that same kind of functionality.

Any Windows 8.1 PC can be configured to auto play slideshows when locked. This gives users the digital picture frame conveniences they always wanted without buying another device that plugs into the wall. The lockscreen sideshow functionality in Windows 8.1 can also load up pictures from the user’s SkyDrive storage. That mean’s transferring pictures manually is a thing of the past too.

Be Your Notebook

Thanks to Microsoft fully embracing the touchscreen, Windows computers, and more specifically tablets can double as the world’s most versatile notebook. Every Windows user can download the Windows Store version of OneNote at absolutely no charge. OneNote allows users to take notes and organize them in anyway the see fit. It then syncs these notes between multiple devices.

That means that any notes taken on your Windows 8.1 tablet, desktop or laptop are all automatically synced with companion apps on Windows Phone, iPhone and devices running Google’s Android operating system. Tablet owners can also use a capacitive stylus or the digitizer pen their device came with to take handwritten notes as if they were recording their thoughts and memories in a Five Star notebook.

Keep Track of The Things You Don’t Have Time to Read

Digital natives come in contact with a large assortment of content. There’s always that How To article that tells you exactly how to do that thing you’ve been trying to figure out or that longform piece whose first paragraph perfectly encapsulates what you think about a certain topic. In other operating systems users are left to download third-party apps that store and manage interesting things for them. In Windows 8.1, there’s Reading List.

Users who’ve found something interesting in a newsreader app or on the web simply need to hit the Share Charm that’s revealed by placing their cursor in the top-right corner of their screen. Anything sent to Reading List can be categorized for reading later. It also syncs between devices so that users with a primary Windows 8.1 device can add things to Reading List and finish it on their tablet or secondary device later.

Windows is Part Search Engine

Bing is integrated in Windows 8.1

When Microsoft announced that it’d be making significant changes to the Search Charm, some users were a bit uneasy. As it turns out they needn’t have been. Windows 8.1 now includes access direct to Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine. In short, there’s no need to open a web browser or download any convoluted tool bars that slow down your device’s performance. Plus, Bing Smart Search on Windows 8.1 lays out all of the relevant content users crave before they even head to the web.

Look Like Windows 7

 Of course, the biggest thing most users don’t know is that they can get the benefits of running Windows 8.1, built-in virus protection and faster boot times, while making the operating system mostly function just like Windows 7.

Windows 8.1 is available to all Windows 8 users as a free download from the Windows Store. User’s will need that update before all of these features are available.

How wearables became key tech trend of 2014

Wearables are now a huge trend - as we saw this week with the announcement of Android Wear.

At Mobile World Congress recently we saw wearable technology from many of the big players, including Samsung's Gear smartwatches and Sony's SmartBand and Core life-tracker. But there were a host of other devices on show from less well-known brands, such as Huawei's TalkBand.

The focus in the current wearable market is clearly on wrist-mounted devices, whether they are smartwatches, fitness bands, or a combination of the two. The future of wearables isn't limited entirely to our wrists however. There are plenty more places on your person that manufacturers are keen to exploit with their latest piece of desirable tech.

Smart Sensors and Glasses
There's already a host of photo-snapping life-loggers available, such as the OMG Life Autographer and the Narrative Clip. They'll take pictures throughout your day and keep a log of your movements to build up a searchable and sharable photographic memory of your day.

Then there are devices such as the recently announced Sony Core. This waterproof sensor can pair with a camera to keep track of special moments, or a fitness band to give your workout a new dimension.

In fact everything you'd do on a day-to-day basis is represented in Sony's own LifeLog app. It collates other information such as music you've listened to and social media interactions in a colourful playback of your day for you to analyse as well as set targets and challenges.

As well as the much-reported-on Google Glass, the company also revealed plans for smart contact lenses that could be used to help monitor glucose levels in your tears using a miniature sensor embedded between two layers of clear lens. They're also working on tiny LED lights that would indicate the current status of glucose levels.

Look into the future and you'll see through contact lenses with heads-up displays that replicate Google's Glass, but without the need to wear a faintly awkward headset. Its complimentary camera will be a wearable clip that can attach to your clothes as inconspicuously as a tie-clip.

When this point of almost invisible wearable tech is reached, the sector will explode as smartphones did, post-iPhone.



Beyond the current early wearable sensors and glasses, there's scope for manufacturers to collect a whole host of data on the device's owner, which will no doubt allow advertisers to make their marketing efforts even more bespoke, as well as providing a huge number of never previously revealed human statistics.

Tech-woven clothes
While we might be persuaded to wear contact lenses, implanted technology will likely be the preserve of medical applications, at least for the foreseeable future. There's just something a little sinister about placing something unnecessary under your skin.

Our clothes, however, are fair game for a wearable revolution. As printed circuits and chips get smaller, the time is ripe for techy clothing to expand beyond capacitive gloves or headphone-hats.

Back in 2008, TechRadar reported on miniature mechanical power plants being developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology. These electricity-generating wires create a charge when stretched and released, and if woven into a pair of trousers, could generate enough electricity to charge wearable sensors or even a smartphone.

We've seen some amazing nano-coating technology from P2i that's already been applied to clothing from Timberland and Kangol. Treated clothing keeps the wearer dry by repelling water, while also making clothing far more breathable. In the future, the technology could spawn clothing that requires much less water to clean, and can contain washable electronic circuitry.

When clothing is able to monitor the local environment and wireless networks, they'll present an incredible opportunity, not just for the health-wise and sporty, but for retailers as well.

Electronically wired clothing could recognise compatible nearby outfits of the same brand, direct the wearer to certain parts of a store, or light up in response to offers in-store. If outfits were pre-programmed to electronically match and provide extra functions or benefits when combined, it could entice customers to purchase a complete set rather than just a single item.

Fitness tech you won't notice
Wearable fitness technology has been around for a few years now, with Nike+ making fitness tracking tech in collaboration with Apple, later succeeded by the popular FuelBand. Since then fitness bands such as those from Fitbit have become increasingly popular and are now a common sight at gyms.

Of course the goal of the gym-going lifestyle for most is to look good, and whilst the FuelBand isn't particularly unattractive, invisible and unnoticeable tech would be the preferred option.



Adidas are about the closest to this with the Adidas MiCoach Tank Vest, which includes a heart rate sensor on its inner support bra. This sensor can pair with Adidas' own Smart Run smartwatch to provide highly accurate heart-monitoring data.

As integrated circuits diminish in size and improve in performance, athletes will be transmitting real-time data back to their personal trainers, and could even provide statistics for TV commentary and the media to digest and use in their analyses.

Nike and Adidas have already integrated their fitness-tracking tech into trainers without compromising on the look, feel or weight of them, so it's not going to be far off before you're buying all your gym-wear with barely noticeable technology that tracks your heart-rate, movement or water loss.

There are so many fitness bands, smartglasses, smartwatches and other wearable technology on the horizon, that we're no doubt on the brink of wearable technology becoming mainstream and affordable.

There are a couple of prominent technical challenges that stand in the way of many futuristic ideas: limiting battery technology and circuit shrinkage. Both of these aspects will inevitably improve over time, allowing manufacturers to integrate devices further, so that you'll eventually be wearing clothing that's not just smart-looking, but also smart between the seams.

Move over Flappy Bird, 2048 is the new addictive game

A new game that is like Candy Crush Saga for math geeks is reportedly the latest addictive gaming sensation after the controversial Flappy Bird was taken off from app stores by its developer. 

A 19-year-old Italian programmer Gabriele Cirulli has created the addictive game '2048'. 

According to CNET, the game is described slightly similar to Threes or Candy Crush Saga for math geeks and it takes only a minute to understand it.

Cirulli rolled out the game web-based game on March 9 and three days later he tweeted that thousands of people were playing the game at one moment.

By March 16, Cirulli estimated that collectively over 520 years had been spent playing the game in its first week online, the report added.

The report said that 2048 variants are in full swing, from Doge2048, 3D 2048, Tetris mashup, and even a Flappy Bird-themed 2048 game.

What do selfies really say about us?

We could blame the whole selfie mess on smartphone cameras, but the phenomenon came along much later than cameras we could shoot pictures of ourselves with. There has to be another reason for this explosive burst of egotistical activity.

Which begs the question: Are we now more self absorbed and narcissistic than we were in the past? Or, is it really as simple as we do it because we can—understanding that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it? Or is a deeper reason? The solution to an underlying problem, perhaps?

Could it be that most people simply do not like the photos that others take of us? That those photos do not represent us, or our feelings, in a significant way and that shooting a photo of ourselves in our own company gives us a chance to put our genuine face in front of the world? Probably not, but it’s worth a thought because selfies aren’t going anywhere soon.

In Secrets of the Selfie: A Visual Exploration, from the Shutterstock Blog, Deanna Paquette takes a close-up look at the selfie universe and puts together a surprising number of variations on the theme.

4 Habits Guaranteed to Lose Your Boss‘ Trust

You could spend years working for the same manager, building your reputation as a hard-working, well-intentioned, always-dependable employee.

And in a fraction of that time, you could lose it all.

It may sound harsh, but it’s true: Trust is much easier to lose than it is to gain. No matter how long you’ve been an excellent and dependable employee, if you adopt some less-than-desirable habits—even for a short while—you can do a significant amount of damage to your hard-earned reputation.

So, to make sure you stay in your manager’s good graces (and continue earning your way toraises, promotions, and opportunities), check out these four easy ways to lose your boss’ trust—and make sure you don’t recognize any of these habits in your own work life.

1. Promising Something You Can’t Deliver

I’ve been on the phone with an angry client enough times to admit that sometimes, employees (myself included) will say pretty much anything to fix the situation—whether that means a refund you can’t actually guarantee, a resolution to a problem that’s completely out of your hands, or a personal callback and apology from the company CEO.
I’ve also been on enough of these phone calls to say that while your solution may appease the client for the time being, when he or she figures out that you can’t actually deliver what you promised, you’re going to have a much bigger problem on your hands.
Not only will your client be angrier than before, but your manager will likely have to assume the role of the bad guy, breaking the news to the client that he or she actually won’t be receiving that refund, resolution, or executive callback.
If your manager can’t rely on you to provide realistic information to your co-workers and clients (or at least the reassurance that you’ll find someone more knowledgeable to provide that information), he or she probably won’t want to trust you with any sort of increasing responsibility.

2. Failing to Return Calls or Emails

Occasionally, I’ll be copied on an email chain where a client complains that he tried calling and emailing his sales rep numerous times, but never heard back—so finally, as a last resort, he’s emailing someone higher up on the chain to get assistance.

We’ve all been there. Emails get buried in overflowing inboxes, voicemails get accidentally deleted (and subsequently forgotten), and, frankly, sometimes other things take priority over responding to a not-so-urgent client or co-worker request.

The thing is, when you let this become a habit, your manager is inevitably going to find out. Frustrated clients will start seeking the next person up the ladder, and the first thing they’ll do is point a finger in your direction and say, “That employee never got back to me.” And your boss will start questioning if he or she can trust you with important clients and big projects—because if you’re not able to respond to calls or emails in a timely manner, you surely won’t be able to meet the big deadlines that carry an even heavier weight of responsibility.

3. Not Recognizing Urgency

Managers aren’t always the best communicators. In fact, one of my former bosses would often send me cryptic to-do messages like “Find Anderson money” or “Check the Wilsons today.” The notes always left me questioning what she needed and when she needed it by—so those tasks often got lost in the shuffle.

It’s one thing if your boss’ requests aren’t clear—but when they are, and you simply ignore the importance and urgency behind them, it’s another story. When your manager says, “I just got a call from a client whose server is down and needs help ASAP. I’m heading into a meeting, so can you give her a call?” it means you need to call (not email) the client at this very moment (not tomorrow afternoon).

In addition, it’s a good idea to follow up once you do. Making your manager constantly check back in with you (“Hey Alice, did you call that client yet?”) conveys that you either don’t truly understand the urgency of the situation—or that you do, but you’re choosing to ignore it.

When it comes down to it, it’s much better to clarify with your boss at the time of the initial request than wait to see what happens if you procrastinate just a little.

4. Not Filling Him or Her in Until the Last Minute

Client escalations don’t usually come up out of the blue. Most times, customer blow-ups arise slowly, festering in anger until just the right moment. Sure, you usually recognize the growing anger, but it doesn’t seem necessary to bother your manager with the details until you truly need him or her to intervene.

Unfortunately, when the situation does blow up, the frenzied request to your boss usually ends up sounding like this: “So, Jim from the Smith account is absolutely furious, and he wants a full refund processed within an hour. He’s on the phone now, demanding to talk to you. I’ll transfer you the call, OK?”

When you drop that kind of bomb, you force your manager to jump into a situation that he or she didn’t expect and knows essentially nothing about—which makes it incredibly difficult for him or her to assuage the situation.

Each time that happens, your boss becomes less likely to trust your instincts and more likely to check up on you more often, ask about your current projects, and make sure you don’t have any other escalations brewing. So while it shows initiative to try to resolve a situation on your own before unnecessarily involving your manager, it’s more important to keep him or her in the loop as things progress.

When you ask for what you need, keep your boss informed, and take total responsibility for your work, you’ll prove to your boss that he or she can trust you with anything. And before you know it, you’ll start seeing more opportunities, bigger projects, and an overall boost in your career.