IT NEXT
DECEMBER 2012 / ` 100 VOLUME 03 / ISSUE 11
06
56 BIG Q
INTERVIEW: McAfee’s Fey on Authenticating Devices
Intelligence through Analytics Pg 43
KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES FOR 2013
YO UR
BOSS TALK: Sophisticated threats to combat In-security
S E I T I R O 013 I R 2 P OR F
KN OW
49
STRATEGY: 10 Questions to IT to derive better value
DMsSTRY T I OR INDU I N SE OSS RE ACR CALS SHALOGY I O VERT R TECHN THEI R 2013 PLANS FO EXT Pg 17 WITH ITN
VOLUME 03 | ISSUE 11
Editorial
Get Your Tech Priorities Right While the country is rife with the so-called recessionary trend and constrained spending, the interesting and contradicting fact is that the Asia-Pacific region projects a positive growth in IT spending across vertical industries. Despite certain cautious spending behaviour in some segments of the industry, the technology providers are trying to capitalize on the opportunities. To get the right picture in terms of the IT spend and the IT consumption pattern of the IT heads across certain industries in 2013, IT Next went ahead to speak to the IT decision makers across banking, financial services, retail and manufacturing sectors. Besides, it was essential to understand the technology priorities of these sectors which will help in driving the growth. The cover feature in the current edition of IT Next provides insights into the top technologies that the IT heads have listed as their priority and how they have worked on a plan of action around deploying these technologies. While there were many technologies that had fascinated these decision makers, it was important to capture the top two priorities that attracted the necessary investments and interested the line of business as they would help in driving the growth. The key observation is that the technology decision makers are not really wooed by the so-called hype created around certain technologies, which is heartening to know. They spotted the technologies and solutions that made sense to their business needs and growth and helped them make a sensible business case. Another change is that the IT no longer needs to justify the spend and investments, but it is the business that has to justify the need to use a particular technology, which, in turn, is evaluated by the IT team and work out the cost component.
“It is heartening to know that the IT decision makers are not really wooed by the hype created around technologies� Geetha Nandikotkur
Blogs To Watch! Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2013 http://www.gartner.com/it/page. jsp?id=2209615 Verizon Identifies Five Key Business-Tech Trends in 2013 for Enterprises Cloud, Connected Machines, Mobility, Intelligent Networks and Security Tip the Scales of Opportunity http://www.marketwatch.com/ story/verizon-identifies-five-keybusiness-tech-trends-in-2013for-enterprises-2012-11-27 Contributes to the advancement of knowledge and practice in educational communication and technology http://www.springer.com/ education+%26+language/ learning+%26+instruction/ journal/11528
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R S U E I O Y IORIT PR 013 2 R O F
17
Cover Story
boss talk
interview
19 B anking & Financial Services-Business Drives Technology Agenda| Leveraging on technological innovations to drive customer focussed product lines and for ease of customer transaction
24 M anufacturing-IT on Demand| IT heads of
the manufacturing segment are pulling up their sleeve to meet the demands from the business using key technologies like virtualisation and analytics
26 R etail-Wave of Retail Drives Technology| The ITDMs of retail are making necessary
investments and finding novel ways to use technology to create better customer experience
cover Design: Manav Sachdev Photography: Subhojit Paul
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06 Sophisticated Insecurity| Dr B Muthukumaran, IT Professional & Consultant on ingredients to counter threats
56 Authenticating Devices | McAfee’s Mike Fey, Worldwide CTO on how to use multi-factor authentication tools on devices
itnext.in
MANAGEMENT Managing Director: Dr Pramath Raj Sinha Printer & Publisher: Vikas Gupta
EDITORIAL Group Editor: R Giridhar Executive Editor: Geetha Nandikotkur
Page Secured Chip: Prevents Attack
36
McAfee’s Focus 12 focussed on the third pillar of computing-the ‘Security’ to foil threats at the chip level
opinion
DESIGN Sr. Creative Director: Jayan K Narayanan Sr. Art Director: Anil VK Associate Art Directors: Atul Deshmukh & Anil T Sr. Visualisers: Manav Sachdev & Shokeen Saifi Visualiser: NV Baiju Sr. Designers: Raj Kishore Verma Shigil Narayanan, Suneesh K & Haridas Balan Designers: Charu Dwivedi, Peterson PJ Midhun Mohan & Pradeep G Nair
the big Q
08 Take Risk to Control|
Jay Gardner, President & GM, NetIQ on how IT managers are judged by their success ratio in managing security and aligning with business
15-Minute manager 49 10 Questions to IT |
10 important steps to be considered by IT to create better value and IT vision
43 Intelligence through Analytics | Expert Panel says
that it is critical to have business groups involved while considering analytics
MARCOM
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50 Healthy Habits | Risks of Smoking and some tips which can help to quit smoking to prevent health hazards
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INBoX IT NEXT
EVENT REPORT | INTELLIGENT NETWORKS
EVENT REPORT |INTELLIGENT NETWORKS
NOVEMBER 2012 / ` 100 VOLUME 03 / ISSUE 10
41
STRATEGY: IT to Play a Strategic role in Driving Growth
PANEL
BOSS TALK: Banks in No Mood to Take Risks
06
INTERVIEW: Oracle’s Hughes on Fusion’s Future
32 BIG Q
Gambling with Apps Pg 51
Berjes Shroff, Head IT & IT Security, Tata Services Ltd
CTO and Head Online Business, Globus Stores
Need for Agile Networks
V. Subramanian,
National Technical Manager for CommScope Enterprise Solutions Division
Ketan Kothari, Managing Director, Sigmabyte
Head of IT - Projects & Operations Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd
Srinivasan gave examples of new software tools and networking hardware that make it easier to diagnose network faults, reduce power consumption and manage enterprise networks effectively. He also fielded queries from the audience on how to plan for future networks, and ways to ensure the performance of mobile devices within buildings. A veteran of the structured cabling industry, Ketan Kothari, MD, Sigmabyte delivered an engaging talk that dispelled the myths and misapprehensions surrounding cabling infrastructure installation, testing and certification. Peppering his speech with personal experiences and anecdotes, he illustrated how IT infrastructure managers could take measures to forestall network problems. The event culminated with a panel of senior IT executives discussing the evolution of networks in enterprises. Participants took up issues like planning network infrastructure for future needs, coping with new requirements like BYOD and video, and managing converged networks. All panelists reiterated the need for effective partnership with, and support from, network infrastructure partners to cope with the evolving needs of an enterprise. In an interactive session, the panelists fielded questions from the delegates. Some key points brought to light during the discussion by the participants and panelists revolved around how organisations can make the move towards a better managed network, one that
PA N E L I N FU L L STE A M O N H OW TO B U I L D A DY N AM I C N E T WO R K
IT NEXT values your feedback
VOLUME 03 | ISSUE 10
Mr. B. Venkatakrishnan,
SENIOR IT EXEC U TI V ES A RE A L L C U E D I N TO L E A RN I N G THE TEC HN I Q U ES O F B U I L D I N G AG I L E N E T WO RKS
Post Event Report.indd 38
R GIRID HA R , G R O U P ED I TO R , 9 . 9 M ED I A SH A R I N G A F EW L I G H T ER M O M EN TS WITH THE PA N EL I STS Jayantha Prabhu CTO, Essar Group
T Next magazine, Comscope and SigmaByte Computers jointly organised an event on “‘Strategies for making Your Network Agile & Intelligent’ in Mumbai on October 17, 2012. The evening event was attended by more than 40 IT infrastructure and network managers. As a prelude to the discussions, Ashok Srinivasan, the National Technical Manager for CommScope Enterprise Solutions Division, delivered a talk on the need for “Agile Networks in a Dynamic World”. He highlighted the factors driving the demand for faster and more robust networks, and explained some of the new in-building technologies that can be used to create resilient and reliable networks.
ITNEXT | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2
PAIN,
Ashok Srinivasan,
I
38
ALL
DGM & CISO, IDBI Bank Ltd
IT managers have to make their networks agile to meet the needs of a dynamic world
K E TA N KOTHA RI , M A N AG I N G DI REC TO R, S I G M A BY TE O N B EST P RAC TI C ES
ALL PAIN, NO GAIN?
Meheriar Patel,
40
GAIN? While Bring Your Own Device increases employee delight, it can create new problems for IT Pg 16
november 2012 PANE L ME M B ER SH A R I N G V I EW S W I T H T H E SEN I O R I T EX ECU T I V ES O N H OW THE IN-B UILD I N G T EC H N O LO G I ES C A N B E U SED I N C R EAT I N G R ESI L I EN T A N D RE LIAB LE NET WO R KS, W H I CH A R E M O R E AG I L E A N D I N T EL L I G EN T TO M EET T H E NE E D S O F TH E C H A N G I N G DYN A M I C WO R L D
IT NEXT thanks its Readers for the warm response
D ECIS IO N - M A K ER S A N D SEN I O R P R O F ESSI O N A LS PAYI N G A L L AT T EN T I O N TO UND E RSTA N D A N D G R A B T H E N UA N C ES O F B U I L D I N G EF F EC T I V E N ET WO R KS AND AD D RESSI N G T H E CH A L L EN G ES
bends the cost curve to its advantage, both in the short and long term; as well as tackling the challenge of adopting new technology and applications that require delivery of more bandwidth to the desktop and backbone network, taking care of single points of failure and managing the physical infrastructure configuration to boost operational efficiency.
ITNEXT | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2
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NO
12/5/2012 5:21:28 PM
We want to know what you think about the magazine, and how we can make it a better read. Your comments will go a long way in making IT NEXT the preferred publication for the community. Send your comments, compliments, complaints or questions about the magazine to editor@itnext.in.
Thank you so much for featuring Bryan Sartin in the Boss Talk section of the magazine. We are happy to inform you that the feature titled, “Mitigating Risks” has been showcased in the Top3 pick of the Week by Verizon. Every week, there are about 15-17 agencies who submit their coverage reports. Only a select few are featured in the Top3 of the week. This is shared with the senior management of Verizon and also with other PR agencies across the globe which manage PR for Verizon Enterprise Solutions in their respective geographies. It is a great achievement, thank you so much.
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K Saritha, Manager-IT, Vijai Electricals Limited
Error The event report on Intelligent Networks in the ITNext November 2012 edition titled, ‘Need for Agile Networks’ inadvertently spelt the name of Ketan Kothari incorrectly as Ketan Patel, MD, Sigmabyte. Ketan Kothari, MD of Sigmabyte Computers along with Commscope jointly organised an event on “Strategies for making Your Network Agile & Intelligent” in Mumbai on October 17, 2012. Ketan Kothari delivered a talk that dispelled the myths and misapprehensions surrounding cabling infrastructure installation. Error Regretted
Juhee Bagri, The Practice PR
Being part of the TPL (Technology Premier League) and being in Bangalore itself, we just wanted to have fun, learn from others and network. So, the most unexpected and pleasant surprise, that of emerging as the top winner, boosted our confidence remarkably. TPL did a remarkable job in bridging the gap between IT and business. The exercise made us think how we could get closer to the business and work towards making IT responsible for increasing revenues and profits. Traditionally, IT teams always worked in silos that were quite disconnected from the business in terms of understanding business drivers. TPL was organised very professionally and the effort that went into creating business cases was commendable. We enjoyed every bit of it. Last but not the least, we enjoyed the prize to the hilt. Going to Las Vegas as a team was a dream come true. We, at Vijai, embarked on this journey of working closely with the business about four years ago. Working closely with the business
has not only paid dividends within the company, but also won us national acclaim in the form of TPL2012. The key to our success as an IT team was also our management’s willingness to try and test out-of-thebox solutions. We are lucky we have a mentor like Mr Kiran Chitturi, our CIO. We have received a lot of appreciation from our CMD, Sri Jai Ramesh Dasari, Director Operations, Mr. Krishna Mohan and other associates. ITNext as a magazine has evolved over the last few years and has been quite useful in keeping ourselves informed about the various developments happening on the technology front. It is the best magazine so far that offers content to bridge the gap between IT and business in a way that’s easy to understand.
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Boss talk | Dr B Muthukumaran
S ec u r i t y M a n ag e m e n t
Sophisticated In-security
W
here are we heading in technological developments? Are we only emulating the West and imbibing its sophisticated security threats or do we have the capability to spot the difference in what is infected and what is not and take up suitable counter measures? However, technology for the sake of technology leads to chaos. Recall the era when we understood the basics of computer viruses and classified them as mono and polymorphic virus families. Intellectually, we altered the genetics of computer virus, came up with more powerful second-generation worms with modularity, and tailored remote controls. As we understood the computer virus and worms more, we saw third generation malware designs, a closer version of selective infections of computers / in terms of domains and/ or specific IP address groups.
“The enterprises lack the essential workforce to understand and re-orient themselves to meet the security challenges” Suggestion BOX
What makes Flame more dangerous is its ability to be reconfigured with new modules to convert an infected PC or industrial control system into a tool of choice like a tape recorder to record nearby conversations and forward the same to a defined address, or self-destroy and wipe out the hard drive, etc.
Variants of Viruses Driving Nightmare For example, Stuxnet, a recently identified worm is a specialised malware targeting SCADA systems running Siemens SIMATIC® WinCC or SIMATIC® Siemens STEP 7 software for process visualisation and system control. Stuxnet was carved to explore and establish its way through myriad interconnected computers spread over continents, identfying programmable-logic controllers used for regulating machinery in factories, power plants, and construction and engineering projects. It is said that Stuxnet was designed to target centrifuges used for enrichment process. Another variant code named Duqu is being used as an intelligence gathering tool, possibly aiming to prepare the ground for covert espionage operations and future attacks. The latest talk of the town is Flame, a variant of stealth worm with unlimited capabilities. A number of antivirus firms, like Kaspersky, BitDefender and Semantec have started analysing Flame to understand its intricate nature.
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Taking Stock
“Controlling the human element of Security. Interesting and timely about the dangers of social engineering. Several techniques of hacking of revealing sensitive information is well discussed.” title: The art of deception Author: Kevin D mitnick & willion L Simon Foreword: Steve Wozniak PRICE: $25
Highly sophisticated and technological malware threat with unlimited powers has opened the floodgates of the next generation capabilities calling for specialised understanding and analytics. We lack the essential workforce to understand and reorient ourselves to meet the discussed challenges at organisational levels and at a national level. Today, what we can believe is a question mimicking the West. There is a lack of clarity on what is infected and what is not infected, calling for advanced learning in this technology and specialists to advice us. We pat ourselves on the back with false credentials built over a week’s training programmes, claim to be domain experts, and deploy them to protect internal assets and create a false sense of satisfaction. Do we wake up now and take stock is the question at this point in time. The author is Dr B Muthukumaran, Consultant & IT Professional
Opinion
money wise Jay Gardner, President & GM, NetIQ
Take Risk to Control
I
t is time IT Heads and senior IT executives step back, revisit their IT infrastructure and strategise to take control of security. It is vital to take certain risks and then take control of the situation, given the business expansion happening across enterprises.
IT Challenges It would not be an exaggeration to say IT managers are judged by their success in managing security, while aligning by the business or building infrastructure to address security. It is not just about software security, they also need to deal with devicespecific gateway control to protect the enterprise from risks. It is no longer about normal firewalls or anti-virus, but also about balancing the risks and maintaining a strong control over applications and devices which is critical. It is vital for IT heads to bring in a change in the mindset of the user community, which also determines how evolved the team is.
“IT managers are judged by their success in managing security, while aligning by the business or building infrastructure to address security”
Trends While security trends such as BYOD, consumerisation of IT, Cloud security etc., have been a regular phenomenon, there have been changes in the way consumers demand security, posing a greater challenge to CISOs. For instance, there has been a need to carry out managed services at the field level and ensure that appropriate security measures are evolved for each product. A strategic programme of methods of accelerated delivery of change with key initiatives is in demand. The change that
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itnext | d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2
CISOs should expect is the ease of use support interface to BYOD to enable users to leverage this concept.
Innovative Best Practices Security heads need to take the risks that are emerging following the trend; and certain innovative practices can be imbibed to counter and control these risks. For instance, training employees in creating the ‘Hygiene’ factor becomes the most critical aspect; it helps them learn the nuances of adhering
to security measures. Figuring out what is important to each of them or their divisions and then establishing appropriate security measures is also important. CISOs need to re-build and create device-based demo sessions by applying various security solutions, which will help the enterprise have a competitive edge. There is a transition in the method of optimising IT infrastructure to absorb these growing trends and changes being made in IT architecture. With regard to innovations, integrating various services such as IDM, IT operations, security, delivery management, enterprise management, log management, governance and compliance in real time will pave the way for better security. With the social media platform invading enterprises, the challenges become multi-fold. IT managers are forced to evolve social network based security policies which are conducive to the organisation and data protection. The responsibility of managing various aspects of the enterprise—be it the security layer, management layer, infrastructure layer or implementation layer--falls on security heads. Adding to the misery is the cloud platform which is driving the need to play much safer, with security being centre stage across organisations. Any failure in the cloud model is attributed to security; hence the security chief’s role is even more demanding and under major scrutiny. Security chiefs need to reach that level of maturity in prescribing rules for the large service provider in the form of stringent SLAs and making strict mandates for enabling security access. Last but not the least, change management is one of the key features that IT managers need to keep in mind before driving any innovation. They need to buy in the leadership, be proactive to their security needs, create awareness sessions and drive major efforts towards anomaly detection.
| +91 9999992084
update
Worldwide IT Spending To Grow at 2.5% in 2013 TECH trends | Worldwide enterprise IT spending is forecast to total
$2.679 trillion in 2013, a 2.5 per cent increase of projected 2012 spending of $2.603 trillion, according to Gartner, Inc.. Banking, communications, media and services (CMS) and manufacturing are expected to offer the largest volume of growth opportunities through 2016. “The global economic outlook has deteriorated in 2012, leading to scant overall growth in enterprise IT spending,” said Kenneth Brant, research director at Gartner. “However, our third-quarter
Cloud
Banking, communications, media and services (CMS) and manufacturing are expected to offer the largest volume of growth opportunities
TwinStrata conducted a survey across over 100 people Close to 60% of the respondents used cloud storage in 2012 Which of the following do you use or plan to use ? 100%
The survey found that a number of them have implemented or plan to implement cloud storage rather than any other cloud computing initiative
90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20%
No Plan
10%
Plan to Use
0%
Source: Agencies
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Currently Use Software as a Service
Platform as a Service
Infrastructure as a Service, not incl. cloud storage
Cloud Storage
trends deals products services people
outlook points to more substantial growth in 2013, if significant fiscal crises are avoided in the U.S. and Europe, and in subsequent years. Most enterprises have already significantly cut discretionary IT spending growth over the past several years and, barring a global economic catastrophe and significant contraction of operations, they have little room to reduce IT spending further over the long run.” The manufacturing and natural resources sector will lead the vertical markets with total spending expected to reach $478 billion in 2013, up 2.3 percent from $467 billion in 2012. Manufacturers typically plan and manage a significant portion of their IT costs in expectation of changes in their sales. Additionally, manufacturers worldwide have been steadily reducing their IT purchases as a percentage of their sales since the recession of 2008. The manufacturing industry’s IT buying centre has adopted tighter IT cost controls amid a myriad of mixed market signals. However, IT spending rates are expected to bottom out in 2013 and will be resilient over the long run, as business confidence is restored and the value proposition of a nexus of new technology forces-- social, mobile, big data and cloud--is increasingly championed by senior leaders. The banking and securities sector will have strong growth in 2013 and is expected to reach $460 billion in 2013, up 3.5 per cent from $445 billion in 2012.
Illustrati on: peterso n pj
Update I n d u s t r y
TECH PRODUCTS
ASUS Unveils Taichi
Aakash 2 tablet PC unveiled
Zebronics introduces wireless Bluetooth headset - up to 2.5 hours of talk time and up to 85 hours of standby time and weighs only 7 grams. The new bluetooth headset is priced at Rs 449.
Taichi is an incredible fusion of notebook and tablet for mobile flexibility. A notebook with Intel Core processor and backlit keyboard; lightweight tablet with a slim profile. Priced at Rs 39,999.
Designed, developed and manufactured by DataWind, the Aakash tablet, also dubbed as the Aakash 2.0, will be available to students at a subsidised price of Rs. 1,130. DataWind is supplying it to the Indian government at Rs. 2,263 per unit.
IBM Launches New PaaS Cloud Offering
imaging: haridas bal an
NEWS TRENDS | In a world awash
in data, where complexity is on the rise and the pace of innovation has never been faster, the need to streamline new application development is driving the demand for a relatively new form of cloud computing known as Platform as a Service (PaaS). This was the finding of a new study by the IBM Center for Applied Insights. IBM announced new PaaS offering to help organisations build and deploy their own software applications quickly and effectively by renting IBM’s PaaS cloud computing platform of integrated middleware, monitoring, networks, servers and storage.
A study, spotlights big data to be the top reason to deploy cloud, PaaS
IBM’s survey of more than 1,500 IT decision makers from 18 countries found that forward looking IT leaders are blazing the trail with early adoption of PaaS for business
Around The World
advantage--–citing big data as the number 1 reason amongst several strategic initiatives they were targeting. The study also showed that nearly 20 per cent of respondents are currently using PaaS, although more than half recognise the opportunity. “Just as auto makers have used common platforms or chassis to manufacture their lines of cars more efficiently, PaaS allows organisations to standardize their IT platform and quickly introduce new competitive offerings,” said Erich Clementi, senior vice president of IBM Global Technology Services. “IBM is focused on industrialising this cloud platform to drive business innovation around key enterprise applications,” he added.
quick byte
Intel’s head to retire Intel Corporation’s president and CEO, Paul Otellini, will retire at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting in May 2013. Otellini spent nearly 40 years at Intel. The board of directors will be conducting the process to choose Otellini’s successor and will consider internal and external candidates for the job. Reports indicate that Otellini has been a very strong leader, only the fifth CEO in the company’s great 45-year history, and one who has managed the company through challenging times.
Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft Corp’s
“It is absolutely clear that there is an innovation opportunity on the scene between hardware and software which should not go unexploited at any cost by Microsoft”
Source: Agencies
D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | itnext
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update
Nokia, Idea To Catalyse Mobile Internet In India
News @ blog
Woxi rolls out SmartPod for TV with AppCasts Woxi Media, has launched SmartPod for TV, a small box that connects to virtually any TV and converts it into a Super Smart TV. SmartPod is designed in Sunnyvale, California and Pune in India targeting superb user experience, quality and functionality, keeping the needs of Indian consumers in mind.
The partnership will further offer monetisation opportunities for the apps and music ecosystem
significant impetus to the digital mobile ecosystem, by enhancing consumer experience and returns for content publishers. “We are delighted to be working with Idea Cellular, which democratises access to the best content by making it available across both Nokia smartphone and feature phones with affordable pricing and a seamless payment experience,” said Viral Oza, Director Marketing, Nokia India.
i magin g: haridas bal an
MOBILE APPS | As a part of its strategy of connecting the next billion to the internet, Nokia India has announced a strategic partnership with Idea Cellular that will make the hugely popular Nokia Store and Nokia Music service easily accessible to millions of Idea Cellular consumers. The partnership will allow Idea Cellular consumers using Nokia phones to get the best Indian and global premium content from Nokia Store and Nokia Music and pay for it via their pre-paid or post-paid accounts. India’s 3rd largest mobile operator, Idea has over 115 million users on its network. The service will go live by the end of this week. Nokia and Idea plan to leverage the superior internet experience offered by Nokia phones powered by Idea 2G and 3G data connections to further the adoption of the mobile internet in India and open up significant additional monetisation opportunities for Indian and global app developers, music labels and publishers. The integrated operator billing has provided
TECH NEWS
SmartPod is built with enhanced Android featuring multi-user login capability, a first for any Android device around the world. It supports up to eight unique users on the device, so everyone in the familty can get personalised Internet experience. According to Amit Gattani, President of Woxi Media, SmartPod is the first product in the world featuring breakthrough AppCasts technology that delivers a unique and personalised Internet experience. AppCasts is a cloud based Woxi Application that delivers 100s of Content Applications through only Android App that is installed on the device. It is done by running 100s of these applications on Woxi Cloud servers and streaming them to the end device--hence the name AppCasts. By intelligently aggregating and curating content, AppCasts make it much easier for users to discover the latest videos.
WordPress Makes a Bid to Bring Open Source CMS Power more blogs than any other software coming for free
Every city in the world needs to have a website. The good people at open source CMS vendor WordPress think that CMS should be free too. So WordPress is now offering a WordPress.com/cities setup and account for any city for free. This is the hosted version of the open source WordPress code that powers more blogs than any other software on earth. Source: Agencies
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update
Gartner Spots 4 Roles of IT & CIOs FUTURE OF IT | The changing shape of IT is causing CIOs to
SAP Rolls Out IT Platform for Banks BANKING ON ERP | The company has announced the gen-
eral availability of the 8.0 release of banking services, the latest edition of a banking platform for IT innovation from SAP. A comprehensive and fully realised offering, the latest release helps banks face the new realities of compliance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), real-time transactional banking and advanced risk analysis. Over 100 banks worldwide successfully run or are in the process of implementing the platform. increase The announcement was made at the in IT spend in the SAP Financial Services Forum North banking America, which was held in New York in sector late October. source: IT Next “The future of transactional banking is service-oriented architecture-based systems,” said Suprakash Chaudhuri, Acting Managing Director, SAP India. “The 8.0 release represents the type of forward-looking platform that today’s banks need to better engage with their customers and drive innovation while reducing costs,” he added.
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Booth No. C 20
ACREX India 2013
Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai
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IT Next
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question the role of IT in the organisation and the part they will play in it, according to Gartner, Inc. As businesses confront global economic uncertainty, changing market dynamics and cultural discontinuities created by technological innovation, their different parts require different ways of interacting with IT. “We are witnessing the emergence of a new generation of CIOs, one that aims not so much to ‘run’ IT as to ensure that the business achieves strategic value from the use of technology,” said John Mahoney, VP & Distinguished analyst at Gartner. Four Futures for IT are: IT as a Global Service Provider: IT organisation is an expanded and integrated shared-service unit that runs like a business, delivering IT services and enterprise business processes. IT as the Engine Room: IT capabilities are delivered rapidly at market-competitive prices. IT “is” the Business: Information is the business’s explicit product or at least is inseparable from its product. Everyone’s IT: Business leaders and individual contributors use IT aggressively to break through traditional business perimeters.
ASK THE EXPERT Predictive diagnostics & monitoring to avoid downtime
Monitoring automation software system, video technology, intelligent rack outlets and sensor technology are key ingredients to reduce incidence of downtime
What are the most common reasons for downtime incidents caused due to human error in the distributed server rooms in a data centre? Â Most IT managers recount stories of unexpected downtime events that occurred in their distributed server rooms and remote wiring closets. The common reason for such downtime incidents is lack of information. Another major factor is lack of real time data that leads to human error and inability to prevent the incidence of downtime. Infact, statistics suggest that over 70 per cent of reported data centre outages are directly attributed to human error. The reasons could be varied. For instance, some IT managers think they have every angle covered. Then along comes an innocuous-looking, uninformed technician or custodian that defeats the entire plan in less than five seconds. An example to this effect would be lack of a simple monitoring and automation system which can lead to downtime in wiring closets and server rooms. In these environments, either no
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dossier
aniket Patange Director, Data Center Lifecycle Services, Schneider Electric says that customers need to increasingly leverage RIMS to improve uptime and efficiency
one is on site, or the person who is on site is not always capable of alerting systems administrators to a failure. No matter how well a server room or wiring closet is planned, the risk for unanticipated downtime is always present. Other outages would be that the distributed server rooms and remote wiring closets do not get the same amount of investment and attention as large mission critical data centre sites. The large, central sites are staffed with experts and are often equipped with the latest in security technology and an abundance of built-in redundancies. Distributed server rooms and remote wiring closets, on the other hand, are staffed by individuals with multiple responsibilities, one of which might be to keep an eye on the wiring closet or server room. These spaces often have few security measures in place and are subject to more unwelcome outages than the larger, more sophisticated spaces. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an example: letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s say a systems administrator responsible for a remote branch office server room goes in to find
ask the expert CUSTOM PUBLISHING
“The four-pronged approach will enable administrators to manage distributed server rooms remotely and identify problems before they result in downtime” out why the servers in the room went down. He discovers that during renovation, the remodeling contractors had wrapped the racks with shrink-wrap plastic to keep dust away from the servers. And all the servers were on when they wrapped the racks, which got overheated and automatically shutdown. A senior business manager decides to take matter into his own hands when he experiences trouble accessing the Internet. He goes into the server room, takes cabling from the router and connects his laptop directly to the Internet thus bypassing all firewall services and encryption and exposing the entire system to outside viruses and other malware. There are many such incidents. The adverse effects would definitely impact IT managers, who are usually held responsible for any downtime.
Physical Downtime Threats
70% of reported data centre outages are directly attributed to human error Source:Schneider
What kind of predictive diagnostics or approaches are recommended to reduce or mitigate downtime? A four-pronged approach consisting of a monitoring and automation software system, video technology, intelligent rack outlets, and sensor technology can greatly reduce the incidence of human error in small environments. While each method brings its own value to the table, it is essential that the systems administrator strictly lays down common threshold parameters about deploying and executing these methods. To begin with, video surveillance, sensors, a physical infrastructure monitoring, and automation systems, supplemented by a video camera-based security system, needs to be activated for motion detection. It is said that camera systems make sense especially if the server room supports credit card transaction applications, since payment card industry (PCI) compliance is becoming an important issue. A camera management system typically allows for tracking of facilities, personnel, vendors, security personnel, custodians and other visitors. The second aspect is that of intelligent rack outlets (which are long thin strips of electrical outlets mounted on the back of a rack on the inside, also known as ‘rack-mounted PDUs’). These devices can be managed to allow users to remotely recycle power to locked-up equipment. These devices also allow users to configure the sequence in which power is turned on or off for each outlet. The third approach of absorbing a management and automation system or the monitoring and automation software provides the administrator with a wealth
Electric Data Centre Science Centre
of data that will allow for reductions in human errorrelated downtime. Use of this software will enable IT managers to set the alarms, get the equipment status and generate multiple levels of historical data reports in order to spot problematic trends early. Using sensors is the fourth method; this helps IT managers in detecting access by unauthorised personnel via a door switch and the presence of water on high humidity. Besides, sensors help in smoke and particles detection, while monitoring temperatures in key locations. The fourpronged approach will enable administrators to manage distributed server rooms remotely and identify problems before they result in downtime.
What kind of remotely managed solutions do you recommend? Remote infrastructure Management Services (RIMS) is one of methods that customers can look at, which can be used to reduce cost while increasing efficiency and effectiveness of their physical infrastructure. In fact, RIMS comprises remote (outside the physical premises of a company’s facilities) monitoring and managing the infrastructure components and takes proactive steps and remedial action to improve uptime, availability, efficiency, utilisation and productivity. Advanced Analytics is another method which allows the user to use the real time data in a logical correlation to visualise futuristic critical space capacity, operations, change, energy management and potential hazardous trends.
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R S U E I O T Y IORI PR 013 2 R O F Senior ITDMs across industry verticals share their technology plans for 2013 by N g e e tha D esign by Suneesh k
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imaging by pe te r s on pj
INSIDE The IT industry has witnessed various research
19| Banking and Financial Services Business Drives Technology Agenda
24 | Manufacturing IT on Demand 26 | Retail Wave of Retail Drives Technology
groups coming out with their own findings year on year on what would be the next big thing in technology that could influence the IT heads in their journey to drive growth and efficiency. While it is a challenge to peer into a crystal ball and understand what will be the top trends or technologies across industries that will impact the IT decision makers(ITDMs), ITNext embarked on a study to get insight into the technology agenda of the IT heads for 2013 across banking and financial services, retail and manufacturing. The cover feature delved into the aspects of understanding the top two technologies that gets into the priority list of the IT heads, amongst many others, which will actually matter to their organisation, the plan of action and strategies around getting these technologies into the fold, which could address both business and technology challenges. Besides, the study also highlights the technological priorities, it also digs into the core projects that the IT heads and senior IT managers intend to work on in the following year and various best practices that they would expect the team to bring in, which will help in driving growth.
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cover story | technology trends Challenges Ahead The challenges that the IT decision makers face is to ensure faster services, shortage in terms of resources for effective project implementation, timely implementation and also with regard to educating the top management for fund approvals and allocations. Suresh Shanmugam, Head-BITS, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd., finds a few imperatives which could also be the challenges in itself for most IT heads. They would be around providing superior quality infrastructure, support the tools that allow the IT to best communicate both internal and external. Assure ready secured access to internal and external information and provide secure, effective and efficient remote communications to empower rural locations.
Smart Moves The IT heads have been betting on many technologies, but would definitely focus on the top two priorities which would fetch them greater benefits and drive better growth. While some of them have been on-going projects which
Technology Agenda in 2013 Banking & Financial Services: Mobile Banking\Mobile Payment gateway Virtualisation Data Management Cloud service model E-tailing
Retail: Outsourced printing services Cloud based service model Social network platform Analytics Supply chain optimization
Manufacturing: Analytics Cloud Data on Demand Social network platform Virtualization
would stretch into the next year, some of the technologies fall under their new initiatives list.
“The business world is a brutally competitive one, and any advantage you can get from gathering,
analyzing and acting on the wealth of data that’s now available
-- well, it’s just too compelling to be ignored or rationalized away” —Chuck Hollis, VP-Global Marketing CTO, EMC Corporation
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Cloud, Analytics, Virtualisation, outsourcing services, mobile banking data management etc., have been some of the key ones, which top the list. The obvious reasons to go for these are the growing demand from the business groups to stay ahead of the competition. Chuck Hollis-VP-Global Marketing CTO, EMC Corporation argues, the business leadership community is now getting carpet bombed by powerful messages around the amazing power of predictive analytics. “The business world is a brutally competitive one, and any advantage you can get from gathering, analysing and acting on the wealth of data that’s now available--well, it’s just too compelling to be ignored or rationalized away. New platform capabilities (e.g. analytics as a service) will be inevitably complemented by management education on how to put these new tools to work to continually improve the business,” says Hollis. IT heads are putting their best foot forward in equipping their teams to address business challenges and work closely with business to gain control over the decisions and operations.
technology trends | cover story
Banking and Financial Services
Business Drives Technology Agenda Innovation is the key focus of the Banking and Financial Services segment that is leveraging technology extensively to develop customer-focussed product lines Innovation
is the key word across all industry verticals, especially in the banking and financial sector. Interestingly, customers are driving the need to be innovative to stay in the long run. Increased competition is triggering the IT heads to master new business models and become instrumental in enabling the business groups to roll out a variety of products and services to stay ahead of the competition. CVG Prasad, CIO, ING Vysya Bank, says, “The regulatory framework of the banking industry demands testing out new customer delivery models to make it all pervasive with the help of technology.” IT has made a positive impact through the core banking phenomenon, and most IT heads are investing their energies in bringing large-scale enhancements with large investments. The enhancement of mobile banking technologies is drawing attention across the two sectors, which is considered as the future. Virtualisation, cloud, and data management are considered as
20%
is the average growth in the
IT spend in the banking and financial segments, spent on innovation strategic initiatives by the banking and financial services sectors.
Technology Priorities Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. sets its focus on mobility (mobile, EPOS, tablets, and iPads) as the technology agenda in 2013 and intends to be the early adopter to spread the trend in the rural sector. According to Suresh Shanmugam, Head-BITS, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd., “Cloud will be the major thrust area in the coming year to empower the end consumer and I observe data centres, software
and storage solutions being moved to private cloud.” Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC), a government enterprise, is betting on cloud and virtualisation technologies in 2013. According to Adarsh R, Head-IT, KFC, the major issue is that the organisation does not have a disaster recovery (DR) or backup location other than the conventional tapes and DVDs and other external storage devices. “I have plans to go with the public cloud option for immediate and future DR requirement and private cloud storage option to back up critical files,” says Adarsh.
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cover story | technology trends Adarsh states that the near DR is planned to handle the infrastructurespecific incidents with a less recovery time objective (RTO) and zero RTO virtually. The far DR is planned for site-specific disasters with an RTO of 30 minutes and a recovery point objective (RPO) of 4 hours maximum.
ING Vysya Bank’s Prasad has several goals as a part of his agenda. However, the priority projects are on rolling out a mobile banking strategy to enable customers to transact on smartphones.Data management is the key business requirement that Prasad finds as part of the regulatory
compliance for updating the board members with regular financial updates on the dashboard. “I would be making strategic investments around having Business Intelligence and analytics solutions to manage create data marts and data warehousing models,” says Prasad.
“The regulatory framework of the banking industry demands
testing out new customer delivery models to make it all pervasive with the help of technology”
— CVG Prasad, CIO, ING Vysya Bank
option for immediate and future DR requirement and private cloud storage option to backup critical files” Adarsh R, Head-IT, Kerala Financial Corporation
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photograph y : Subhojit paul & Jiten gandhi
“I have plans to go with the the public cloud
technology trends | cover story
“Cloud will be the major thrust area in the coming year to empower the end consumer and I observe data
centres, software and storage solutions being mo ved to private cloud” photography : jiten gandhi
— Suresh Shanmugam, HeadBITS, M&M Financial Services Ltd
The third major initiative, which is on-going and extending into 2013, is that ING Vysya Bank is making largescale investments on upgrading the core banking platform and transitioning from its two-tier architecture model to absorbing modern technologies and platforms, besides virtualising platforms. The Rs 2200 crore Mahesh Bank, The AP Mahesh Co-operative Urban
Technologies that Plague Banking and Financial Services in 2013 Mobile banking Cloud computing Virtualisation Data management e-tailing Last mile connectivity solutions Up-scaling core banking platform
Bank Ltd., with its headquarters in Hyderabad, has listed e-tailing and mobile banking technologies as the top priorities in 2013 to improve the fund transaction process across its customer segments. Vivekanand Venugopal, Vice President & General Manager, India, Hitachi Data Systems, endorses the view and says that banking and financial services sectors are increasingly deploying customerfacing technologies. “BFSI in general is making big investment around business analytics, CRM and focused on new customer acquisitions using the data being made available by these technologies,” points Venugopal. Shishir Singh, Director, Product Marketing, Dell India, admits that, “Given the focus on driving cost efficiencies, productivity and business growth, we will continue to see technologies such as virtualisation lead the way. As more and more medium and large-sized companies accelerate the need for dynamic and converged infrastructure to support the business needs of next economic cycle, and look for optimised utilisation of resources
such as space, power & cooling and people, virtualisation will help drive improved ROI and efficiency,” he says.
Plan of Action The first step in planning the approach to absorb new technologies starts from budgeting and evaluating the current projects. There is a clear demarcation between cost and investment at ING Vysya Bank as Prasad maintains that the budget allocated towards maintaining the infrastructure and keeping the lights on is treated as cost and the new project are investments. “I see an incremental investment of 20 per cent in the coming year which is driven by the business need,” says Prasad. At ING Vysya Bank, while there is no hard and fast rule to the investment number, it is essentially the projections made by users’ needs in collaboration with IT teams. As a strategy, Prasad involves his team in working out the technology and budget roadmap in collaborating with the top business heads well before the budgeting cycle begins. “It is also the responsibility of the business groups to justify the need of using a particular technology,” says Prasad.
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cover story | technology trends business success alone. “On demand, better controls and timely delivery enable business capabilities through BITS with fixed principles governance and financial management and metrics to support our organization to migrate to support the business capabilities and rural impact of speed and reach empowering the executives at last mile to meet the business needs and strategic approach to sourcing. Using strategic models we can activate the projects and performance programs on the other side using the operating model the other elements like financial, technical and people resources train, educate and empower to achieve our results timely,” informs Shanmugam. The new technological focus for KFC’s Adarsh calls for an investment of up to Rs. 2 crores, which can be recovered or factored in the return on investment (ROI) within a period of 2 to 3 years. Since KFC is under the government, it has a series of procedures such as the preparation of RFP, tendering, technical evaluation, negotiation, and finalisation. After the tendering process is completed, implementation is planned within a time frame of 6 months.
“BFSI in general is making big investment around business analytics, CRM and
focussed on new customer acquisitions using the data being made available by these technologies” — Vivekanand Venugopal, Vice President & GM India, Hitachi Data
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“Since the IT team is small to manage such a robust environment, KFC is looking for a long-term association, 6 years minimum, with an experienced industry’s evaluated vendor. KFC is looking for an experienced vendor for the implementation of the new initiatives,” informs Adarsh. Milind Rajhans, Head-IT, Mahesh Bank, is betting big on mobile baking and rolling out products for every segment. “We are rolling out merchant payment solutions and are in discussion with Merchant aggregators to seek necessary information to create effective payment gateway,” says Rajhans. The Head-IT is planning a budget of Rs. 1 crore towards deploying new technologies and also building a virtualised platform.
Core Projects in 2013 According to Rajhans, the core projects under mobile banking are to implement IT governance to rope in best security management services. “The security aspect is the most neglected in the co-operative banking sector and I intend to rope in best security and services management tools,” says Rajhans.
photograph y : srivatsa sh andilya
“We went through a structured methodology to get the investments approved as I as an IT head will not ask the amount, but the business will specify the same,” points Prasad. The objective of Shanmugam from Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. on having mobility and cloud as the key agenda is attributed to the major shift that he observes from cloudbased data sources, labour group, both turnkey solutions for crowdsourcing, and professional services firms for better expertise to handle lead generation’s 99.99% uptime and logistics. “Our IT spend is going to increase between 15 to 25 per cent, in taking up such initiatives to improve the last mile services in the rural sector,” says Shanmugam. According to Shanmugam, the strategy is to guide the financial enterprise to win in the rural sector by bringing the value potential. As a part of this process, his team will prepare a solid business case aligned with a business strategy to create brief, business-success-focussed documents that are later leveraged into specific communications for a different takeover to ensure the responsibility of delivering the best results focussed on
technology trends | cover story
“I always advocate to my 16 member team to be
proactive in adopting best technology practices, imbibe best service management capabilities and more about
aligning with business groups to understand the need” photography : jiten gandhi
— Milind Rajhans, Head-IT, AP Mahesh Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd
According to Rajhans, mobile banking gets effective only with a robust management information system and appropriate business intelligence (BI) tools. With regard to INGVysya, Prasad intends to stay focused on the implementation strategy, which is critical to the business. “While we have an outsourced set up, at the top end of the model, I have my core team sitting who are facing the business users and outsourced partner and are responsible for architecture and design specialists,” says Prasad. “My experience says that the IT team should drive and make the decisions and not the other way round,” Prasad adds. The major challenges for most IT heads are vendor identification/ management and timely implementation. To educate the top management (CEO, CFO, etc.), fund allocation and administration are also challenging factors. “Many levels of discussions may required to convince the top officials on the requirement of these technologies for the business is difficult task since they are not aware
of these technologies,” remarks Adarsh. For Mahindra’s Shanmugam, the core projects have to become an innovative rural technology development, keeping the aspirations of the team to get dedicated entrepreneurs with a passion to serve and empower the rural consumers. To enable smooth transition of the projects, Shanmugam intends to educate and create awareness amongst the rural entities and consumers, both internal and external, on rural technologies/skills development by conducting workshops, short-term awareness creation, and formal/nonformal interactions from time to time.
Best Tech Practices Despite challenges from both business and technology forefront, the IT heads have been advocating certain best practices to their teams, which will help them in tiding through the new technological implementation wave in future. Mahesh Bank’s Rajhans definitely has huge challenges in terms of the way IT is structured in co-operative banks. “I always advocate to my
16 member team to be proactive in adopting best technology practices, imbibe best service management capabilities and more about aligning with business groups to understand the need and bring the necessary change,” says Rajhans. “Cloud mobility and virtualisation technologies that we bet on reduces the cost and increases the ROI. We as a service department within the organisation focuses on factors such as using cost effective solutions, time bound service, effective communication plan and continuous user training and implementation support as a best practice,” recommends KFC’s Adarsh. Shanmugam opines: The purpose and scope of the strategy should be aligned with key stakeholders. Strategy represents real trade-offs. Strategy contains as-is and to-be pictures for the architecture as a whole and key components. “It is important to create greater opportunity in assumption with the underlying business model of our enterprise, analogize it to other group businesses and verticals, and apply the advances they have made in the business to ours,” points Shanmugam.
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cover story | technology trends
Manufacturing
IT on Demand With a marginal increase in IT budgets in the coming year of 2013, IT heads of the manufacturing sector perceive that IT will be meeting business demands aggressively The IT trend
in the manufacturing segment seems to be taking a positive direction as the IT heads provide a clear road map and set their priorities right. They have made their stance clear on the technologies that intend to bring in work on core projects, which can meet business demands and help fuel the organisational growth. In addition, the IT heads have been tracking technology trends stealthily to gear up internally if the need to absorb those new technologies arises at a later stage. The objective is very clear: to enhance products, productivity, and business growth and to boost the IT team’s confidence in doing the same.
Technology Priority While there are many technological priorities, the topmost agenda that TVS Motor Company carries for the year 2013 is to rope in mobility and analytics. According to TG Dhandapani, CIO, TVS Motor Company, with the volume of both structured and unstructured data, every organisation is at the Kimberly line, and analytics will help them to strategise and execute breakthrough business initiatives. “Mobility will be
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15% increase in the
IT Budget for the manufacturing sector will be witnessed in 2013 the natural process in the organisation and empowering business managers through mobile computing will not only increase productivity but also bring agility in the organisation,” says Dhandapani. Karanbir Singh, VP & Head-IT, BSES Reliance ADA Group, finds that cloud computing and virtualisation technologies will be taking precedence over other technologies forming the top agenda. “I intend to leverage these technologies for improved performance,” says Singh.
Plan of Action TVS Motor Company has been consistently investing on absorbing new technology to make business sense.
According to Dhandapani, the company will be spending 10 per cent of the annual IT spend on absorbing new technologies. As a part of this, Dhandapani and his team are in discussion with the business managers on the proposed technologies and its benefits. He points out, “The interaction with the business team will help in going closer to the customer in bringing new products, enhance sales and reduce cost.” Reliance has planned a phased approach to deploy new technologies, and its Head-IT Singh expects a 20 per cent increase in the IT budget in the coming year. “The strategy is to carry out a proof of concept around these technologies and accordingly take a decision on forward path,” says Singh.
technology trends | cover story
“Mobility will be the natural process in the organisation and empowering business managers through mobile
computing will not only increase productivity but also bring agility in the organisation”
— TG Dhandapani, CIO, TVS Motor Company
“The strategy is to carry out a
proof of concept around the cloud computing and virtualisation technologies and accordingly
take a decision on forward path”
photogra phy : S ubhojit paul
—Karanbir Singh, VP & Head-IT, BSES Reliance ADA Group.
The objective behind making cloud as part of the agenda is the fact that, according to Singh opinion, private cloud computing will help the team in effective application integration, and the application-as-a-service model will provide better agility. Moreover, according to him, virtualisation
will help in consolidation, ease of deployment, enhancement in security, and easier administration. Prashant Gupta, Head of Solutions, India, Verizon Enterprise Solutions reiterates that to keep up with the changing demands of today’s enterprise, the ideal platform needs to
be secure and easy to use and configure. “In 2013, if you can’t switch workloads between public and private clouds, you won’t be competitive. The next year will require a bold move to embrace change and re-engineer networks in support of cloud-based applications,” says Gupta.
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cover story | technology trends Core Projects in the Offing Dhandapani intends to work on core projects around mobile computing and big data analytics with the two technological frameworks that he intends to design. The specific projects around the two technologies that Reliance will lay thrust on will be private cloud computing to put non-core applications on cloud, and to address security concerns and do a pilot study on desktop virtualisation.
Best Technology Practices in 2013 IT heads of this sector do spot some trends that can impact their organisation and address business challenges. With focus on specific projects, Dhandapani spots cloud computing, social networking, and in-memory computing as the technology trends in the coming year. The idea is to get the platform ready for future to absorb innovations happening in the technological space. As the best practice, Dhandapani advocates that it is critical
Technologies in Focus in 2013 Cloud Computing Business Analytics Mobile Computing Virtualisation (Primarily Desktop Virtualisation) Big Data for Analytics Social Network Platform Data De-duplication IT on Demand Data on Demand
to adopt and drive technology that has a direct impact on the business. “I would always recommend to my team to be business focussed while deploying any technology which will pay off gradually,” says Dhandapani. Singh has laid thrust on the best technology practices and trends along
with certain challenges in mind. According to him, the key concerns have been around the migration of in-house applications to cloud, besides data security, threats, and vulnerabilities, which are increasing internal challenges. Against this back drop, Singh is fascinated by the trends that include long-term demand forecasting, smart grids, cloud computing, bring your own device (BYOD), and virtualisation, which will have an impact on the organisations across the manufacturing sector. Singh lays emphasis on data security and recommends his team to stay focussed on it, imbibing the best security practice to ensure a secure and safe environment. “Data availability on demand is a best practice that I would want my team to adhere to,” says Singh. Besides, Singh also finds data de-duplication technology gaining traction in a big way and plans to rope in this new technology soon.
Retail
Wave of Retail Drives Tech Agenda IT heads have been ramping up the nature of investments and offerings to the customers and finding new ways to handle the technologies to drive better user experience While
the
global industry is under the spell of an economic recession, the Indian retail industry remains unaffected, so to say, atleast superficially, and is considered as one of the sunrise sectors with a promising potential to grow. This
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is endorsed by what the Investment Commission of India states, that the retail sector is expected to grow almost three times its current position to $660 billion by 2015, and major growth is also expected from the rural areas in the immediate future.
As per the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), the retail sector is expected to contribute 22 per cent (22%) to India’s GDP. Organised retail is said to be growing at a Compound Annual Growth rate (CAGR) of 42 per cent
technology trends | cover story
While we are already on the private cloud, running the non-core applications, I intend to try out the public cloud model in the coming year by migrating the
non-core applications, such as file servers, email, SMS, HR etc., to the public cloud”
photogra phy : S ubhojit paul
—Pertisth Mankotia, Head-IT, Sheela Foam Ltd
(42%). According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Foreign Direct investment (FDI) inflows in single-brand retail trading, stood at approximately US $47.43 million. This has not influenced the sector in a major way, but has surely opened up doors to innovations in the retail sector and to those who intend to gear up for the future. Multinational brands have gone into partnerships and established large format stores in the country to leverage its growth potential. The growth indication positively points out the growth in the consumption of technology and leveraging technological evolutions to the hilt. While the investments in IT continue in the retail sector, the IT heads have been busy ramping up the nature of investments and offerings to the consumer and there have been drastic changes in the way technology is handled. Technological investments are not made for technology’s sake, but to bring in transformation in the customer’s usage and experience. Prashant Gupta, Head of Solutions, India, Verizon Enterprise Solutions, says, “The trend in retail is to carry out profile based marketing and the IT heads are gearing up to bring in the technological
know-how in creating customer preferred shopping experience.” According to industry experts, not one but many technologies form the core agenda for the IT heads in retail. While cloud computing will dominate the retail industry in 2013, other areas such as efficient networks, big data and analytics, software as a service, etc., will amount to in most transactions.
Technology Agenda Interestingly, Head of IT of Sheela Foam Pvt. Ltd., Pertisth Mankotia has listed outsourcing and cloud computing services as his top priorities in the coming year. “I will be shifting entire printing services to an outsourced model, a managed printing services model, in an effort to save costs”, says Mankotia. The second priority for him is to move to a public cloud services model, migrating all the non-core applications to the public cloud.
Plan of Action “Our overheads on printing were escalating alarmingly and the cost incurred on printing was almost Rs 50 Lakhs and hence I decided to use a model” says Mankotia.
Sheela Foam decided to leverage Canon’s Multi-Function Device (MFD) based printing services to counter the cost of printing and also improve the efficiency of the employees. According to Mankotia, a huge amount to the extent of almost Rs 5 Crores is spent on creating Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and outsourcing models will bring down the costs. From a cloud perspective, Mankotia decided to test out the public cloud model. “While we are already on the private cloud, running the non-core applications, I intend to try out the public cloud model in the coming year by migrating the non-core applications, such as file servers, email, SMS, HR etc., to the public cloud”, says Mankotia. “I have plans to bring in core or mission critical applications to the private cloud and all this is being done to save costs on maintenance and simplification, which makes good economic sense, he adds. Sheela Foam spends around Rs 10 Crores on IT annually, which is about 0.5 per cent (0.5%) of the total revenues. While budgeting is not the main constraint for Mankotia, achieving scalability in IT performance and enabling his team of 35 to focus on core projects is the key reason to go in for these technologies.
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cover story | technology trends
“Cloud computing is at a tipping point and we see it as a big opportunity for
growing businesses to keep up with their growth without having to invest in and manage their infrastructure” — Shishir Singh, Director, Product Marketing, Dell India
Trends and Best Practices The challenge for Mankotia and team has always been expansion in business and dependability of business on IT for creating the consumer experience. “Every year there are several retail
outlets emerging and this year we are going to have 4000 dealers selling our Sleepwell mattresses”, says Mankotia. “We are connecting all the dealers to our portal and also plan to facilitate a model to replenish stocks on the portal itself for easy supply; we depend on
Technology Agenda for Retail in 2013: Business goal: Improving customer insights, increasing loyalty. Technologies: Social, mobile, video projects. Real-time interaction with customers in stores, listening to customer feedback on social media, providing easy feedback through cellular phones. Business goal: Increasing profitability. Core projects: Analytics projects, supply chain optimization, merchandise and assortment analysis. Business goal: Increasing employee engagement.
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Technologies: Performance management systems, mobile and web-based collaboration. Tools projects: Succession and career planning, problem resolution workflows. Business goal: Improving partner/ supplier engagement. Technologies: Portals, analytics projects, reducing supplier lead time, better information to suppliers on payables. On how to: Through customer survey, evolving effective supply chain strategy, customer service retailing survey. Source: Top multinational brand store.
connectivity, which is also a challenge in itself”, remarks Mankotia. As a practice, Mankotia advises his team to focus on the services factor and evolve a user friendly approach to resolve any kind of issue. Technology vendors too adapt to the challenges and growing concerns of the IT heads in meeting customer demands in the retail sector. Chuck Hollis, Global Marketing, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), EMC Corporation, finds big data analytics to be one of those tools that can be applied to just about any business problem, and that includes the business of running IT itself. The security world has clearly started to move in that direction- being able to predict a potential problem is far more appealing than simply reacting to it quickly.
The prediction? Empathising with Sheel Foam’s challenge of simplifying infrastructure management, Shishir Singh, Director, Product Marketing, Dell India, says, “Cloud computing is at a tipping point and we see it as a big opportunity for growing businesses to keep up with their growth without having to invest in and manage their infrastructure.”
event Report
Leaders in the Making Pocket CIO Program to help aspiring CIOs gain needed skills to emerge as the leaders
E
very program seeks for driving success amongst the key stakeholders while enabling them to reap the benefits. This is reflected in the manner in which the program is designed which will have the essential impact for creating the leaders of tomorrow. While there have been many Pocket Programs, a certification program exclusively designed for the senior IT executives and IT managers is first of its kind.
Wondering what the program is all about? IT Next, published by 9.9 Media, has introduced the first managerial and leadership program, titled ‘The Pocket CIO’ 2012 program, which is designed to help upcoming and aspiring CIOs gain essential managerial and leadership skills with style and substance.. The idea to roll out such a program emerged from the time to time changing roles of the CIOs of tomorrow who are expected to be outstanding business leaders, not just good technical experts,
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but who can collaborate and communicate within and outside the business enterprise. They are expected to show the initiative, lead their teams successfully and enhancethe strategic value oftheir organisations.
Pocket CIO Program Insights ITNEXT organised a series of 2-day training and certification sessions in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi in the month of September to equip attendees with strategic, technical and soft-skills concerning the CIO role. Professional experts and eminent CIOs hosted the training sessions. During the program, participants were tested extensively as there was a test followed by each technology session. The 2-day sessions comprised of: Day 1-Technology vendors sharing their views on the relevant trends and innovations, in the industry and the technologies that they represent. Participants were allowed to attend technology session tracks and were allocated seats on the first come first serve basis.The Pocket CIO
program had representations from technology vendors including-Blue Coat, Schneider Electric, Ctrl S, Avaya, Tata Communications, TE Connectivity, Digisol and Wipro. The participants, who were over one hundred in each location, were provided orientation on various topics during the sessions, which was followed by a test. The topics during the technology session tracks included: Creating and implementing innovative connectivity solutions to help the business grow and deliver service to customers. Embracing enterprise mobility. Green revolution in networking. Implementing energy efficient datacenters. Delivering unified web security.
Delhi
Testing time: the participants, senior it managers takethe technology test with full attention during the pocket cio program in delhi
Enhancing organisational productivity. Day 2- Included sessions by the industry experts on leadership and soft skills ontopics such as ‘In the CIOs Shoes’ and Walk the Talk Leadership in the corporate context, communication skills, innovation and so on. Each training session in the Pocket CIO program involved an assessment.
event Report mumbai
Technology Track: Senior IT managers formed a queue to register for the technology session tracks during the Pocket cio program in mumbai
Leadership skills: senior IT managers at the pocket cio program in bangalore are all ears to gain essential leadership skills which will help them in their leadership journey
Bangalore
The scores secured on the assessments is the basis for the award of the “Pocket CIO” certificate. Attendees who scored above theminimum grade were awarded with the “Pocket CIO” certification. The technology award was also given away at each of the locations to the top scorer in that particular technology test. The program provided a unique opportunity for the technology partners to present themselves as
enablers to the success of the IT managers and not just being a technology solutions provider.
Criteria for Participation in Pocket CIO
The ITNEXT Pocket CIO 2012 program is offered free of cost and is open to all IT managers with seven (or more) years of full-time work experience, and currently in full-time employment with
a company or organization. The applicant should be a resident of India at the time of application. The program is open to the NEXT100 winners of previous years as well.
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event Report The program aims to cover various aspects of different skills that will help the future CIOs. Based on a survey of over a 100 CIOs and senior IT decision-makers (conducted by IT NEXT in July 2012), the following skills and talents were identified as extremely important for CIOs to acquire and enhance:
Business & Financial Skills:
getting ready: senior it managers all set to attend the program and gain essential skills
1. Contribute to the success of business units. 2. Create and implement innovative solutions. 3. Prepare and effectively manage IT budgets. 4. Negotiate effectively with stakeholders, contractors & vendors. 5. Efficiently manage vendor partnerships and contracts.
Managerial & Leadership Skills: session in progress: technology partner addressing the gathering
effective communication: interactive session with the audience on improving communication skills
technological importance: sharing vital techniques around the technology and its benefits
1. Understand corporate goals/strategies and their impact on IT. 2. Provide leadership, motivation and direction to oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IT team. 3. Contribute effectively to corporate planning and agenda setting. 4. Understand corporate governance, risk management and compliance needs. 5. Effectively lead transformational IT projects. 6. Forecast future IT needs. 7. Obtain buy-ins, funding and approvals for IT projects.
Personal & Behavioural Skills: fulfilling moments: senior it managers are all tuned to enjoy the program and the key takeways
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1. Ability to interact with seniors across
event Report
orientation: participants gaining technological insights
Speakers at Pocket CIO
anxious moments: participants sharing info
TD Chandrasekhar, Facilitator/Consultant on Strategy Atul Gupta, Director, KPMG Deepma Jadeja, Specialists in Communication Skills
vikas gupta, Co-founder & director, 9.9 media with the speakers
Akanksha Pundir, 9.9 Insititute of Innovation & Leadership Kunal Pande, Partner, KPMG
Net working time:participants are charged up and enjoy the program
Pragnya Seth, Specialist in Communication Skills Ashvin Vellody, Director, Advisory Services, KPMG
discussion time: T D Sridhar, consultant on strategy, R Giridhar , group editor, 9.9 media and kunal pande, partner, kpmg sharing thoughts
Event Dates Mumbai on 14 – 15th September, 2012, at Westin Gardencity. Bangalore on 21st – 22nd September, 2012, at Sheraton Brigade. New Delhi on 28th – 29th September, 2012, at The Park Hotel.
departments. 2. Effective listening skills. 3. Adaptability to changing environment. 4. Good presentation skills. 5. Ability to interact with peer managers across departments. 6. Written communication skills.
7. Public speaking skills. 8. Ability to be flexible in thinking, appreciate all viewpoints.
Technology Award Winners:
a)Mumbai-Paresh Haria, GM-IT, PCS Technology Ltd. b)Bengaluru-Vijay Kumar, Manager-IT, Indus Garments. c)Delhi-Sanjay Chhokr, GM-IT, Mayar India Ltd.
I. Converged Network Solutions Award by TE Connectivity:
II. Data Center Solutions Award by CtrlS:
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event Report
question time in bangalore: pocket cio program participants throwing up questions at the technology partners to gain better insight
Team Challenge: senior it managers all eager to prove their skills and knowledge
absorbing: all participants in bangalore paying full attention to gain knowledge and skills
Lighter moments: R giridhar, group editor, 9.9 media with others
a)Mumbai-Amol Deshpande, Head-IT, Program Management, Strategy, Knowledge Management (AFS), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. b)Bengaluru-Shailesh Chandra, DGM-IT, Visionet Systems. c)New Delhi- Divyendu
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Bhatt, Senior Manager-IS, Uninor. III. Business Communications Solutions Award by Avaya: a)Mumbai-Aniket Kate, Manager-IT, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. b)Bengaluru- Surendar
Dinkar, Manager-IT, Xilinx. c)Delhi-Anuj Agarwal, Technology Lead-RBS. IV. Business Productivity Award by Tata Communications: a)Mumbai-Ranjit Mohan, DGM-Platforms and Applications Support, Wartsila India Ltd. b)Bengaluru-Satish KR, Senior Manager-IT, Philips Electronics India Ltd. c)Delhi-Kamal Matta, GM-IT & Telecom, Biochem Ext. Ltd.
V. Network Infrastructure Award by Digisol: a) Mumbai-Uma Ramani, VP-IT, IDFC Ltd. b) Bengaluru-Sekhar Pidathala, Manager-IT Services, AXA Business Services. c) Delhi-Mayank Mishram, Manager-IT, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. VI. Infrastructure Management Award by Wipro: a)Mumbai-Krishnamohan Rao, AVP-IT Projects, Aegis. b)Bengaluru-Mohammed Ali Khan, Manager-IT, Fusion Consulting. c)Delhi-Divyendu Bhatt, Senior Manager-IS, Uninor. VII. Unified Web Security Award by Blue Coat: a)Mumbai-Aniket Kate, Manager-IS, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. b)Bengaluru- Vineed Devarajan, Lead IT, Accenture. c)Delhi-Anuj Agarwal, VP-Technologies, EXL Services. VIII Data Center Efficiency Solutions Award by Schneider Electric: a)Mumbai-Balaji Kulkarni, Sr Manager-IT & Communications, Crompton Greaves Ltd. b)Bengaluru-Vineed Devarajan, Lead-IT, Accenture. c)Delhi-Raghubir Singh, GM-IT, Usha International Ltd.
insight | Mcafee Focus 12
Secured Chip: Prevents Attack McAfee’s Focus12 focussed on the third pillar of computing—the ‘security’ to foil threats at the chip level and have a single sign-On By N G e e t h a
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T
he key agenda for Intel-McAfee’s top executives, Michael DeCesare, Co-President, McAfee, and Renee James, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Intel, has been to collaborate more strongly in solving tomorrow’s computing challenges of customers with an integrated secured approach to weed out any threats from the chip level. In his keynote address at the recently concluded McAfee’s annual security conference-FOCUS12 in Las Vegas to a gathering of 2200 people, spread across customers and partners, DeCesare expressed his concerns over the explosion of information, which is resulting in increasing security threats. DeCesare emphasised the need to enable a Single Sign-On process, a single action of user authentication to access the systems, to make it possible at the chip level with Intel’s innovation strategy. The need for the initiative arises as DeCesare observes with social media, cloud, big data and application explosion related trends to be invading customers’ systems, resulting in major security disruptions. He clearly indicates that about 76 per cent increase Renee James, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Intel in malware is due to increased use of social media and 1.5 million pieces of new malware is evolving owing to the automation, posing a major threat to the internal McAfee & Intel’s Customer Approach infrastructure. On a high level, Intel has a history of solving computing’s While Intel and McAfee have been doing long-term biggest challenges. The duo has been focussed on energythinking in understanding the scope of security to provide efficient performance, connectivity, and now security. They the highest levels of protection and performance as part of call security the “third pillar of computing.” the security connected approach, the focus is on increasing “Unless we can solve the problem of keeping computers security collaboration in bringing innovations at the secure, we’ll never live up to the Internet’s full potential. If we platform level. can solve it, it will be an enabler to growth in the computing
imag ing by s hiGi l narayanan
“The future of security is hardware-enhanced security where the software works with the chip at a level below the operating system”
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Intel-McAfee a Big Deal eed for a Single Sign-On process, a N single action of user authentication to access the systems, to make it possible at the chip level ocial media, cloud, big data and S application explosion related trends invading customers’ systems, resulting in major security disruptions 6 per cent increase in malware is 7 due to increased use of social media nnovation Alliance helps accelerate I the development of interoperable security products and to simplify the integration of these products within complex customer environments Security can no longer be a response
“We need to move security from above the OS to being a fundamental aspect of the computing architecture, tied to the hardware” Michael DeCesare, Co-President, McAfee
industry and will allow Intel to achieve its goals related to transparent computing and the compute continuum,” says Renee James. We have several examples of why a software-only approach does not work. “The future of security is hardware-enhanced security where the software works with the chip at a level below the operating system,” says James. “By taking this approach, we are stopping malware at a level that was never possible before.”
Security Innovation Alliance is Customer The McAfee Security Innovation Alliance is a technology partnering programme created to help accelerate the development of interoperable security products and to simplify
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the integration of these products within complex customer environments. Working together, McAfee and its partners deliver solutions more comprehensive than those available from any single vendor. Today’s sophisticated attacks can cause business disruptions, damage brand reputation, and create legal liabilities. Large organisations deploy solutions from multiple vendors because the truth is that no single vendor can meet all of their security and compliance needs. But today’s security threats and economic challenges demand that products from multiple vendors interoperate to provide better protection, reduce operational costs, and streamline the compliance lifecycle. The Intel and McAfee integration falls into two main areas: 1) co-design efforts, and 2) go-to-market efforts. McAfee Deep Defender and McAfee ePO Deep Command are both co-design efforts, and there are four areas where the co-innovation efforts continue. Security on Ultrabooks is an example of a go-tomarket effort. “McAfee is working to improve performance of security on Ultrabooks by leveraging the graphics processor,” says Michael DeCesare. The merged entity will look at cloud security in a big way to be in sync with the trend.
mcafee focus 12 | insight
Securing the Cloud Together, Intel and McAfee are taking a holistic approach to address cloud security challenges and establish confidence in the use of private, public and hybrid clouds. The shared mission of Intel and McAfee is to enable worry-free cloud computing that is as secure as, or even more secure than, traditional, best-in-class enterprise IT security. Both companies are focused on four areas to deliver better security for cloud environments while also enabling a broad range of open, interoperable security solutions via industry collaboration. These include securing cloud data centres, securing the network connections, securing the devices that connect to cloud services and accelerating the development of unified standards for cloud security. Besides cloud, the thrust area for Intel and McAfee has been around hardware-assisted security strategy. “We have made meaningful traction towards many of the biggest issues facing IT as part of the hardware-assisted security strategy,” says James. For instance, ePO Deep Command utilises Intel vPro Active Management Technology (AMT) extensively to reduce power consumption, discover / activate vPro platforms via the Secure Console, leverage hardware accelerated data encryption and deliver “beyond OS” malware protection. ePO Deep Command is clearly better when combined with the hardware features inherent in vPro. “We also worked together to bring security to Ultrabooks; and users do not even notice the additional processing,” informs James.
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Security needs to do two things to get ahead of the threat: “First, we need to know where computing is going. Security can no longer be a response to events. Second, we need to move security from above the OS to being a fundamental aspect of the computing architecture, tied to the hardware,” avers DeCesare. “That is what will enable security to cut across these OS boundaries. We can move security into the actual physical chip. That’s where McAfee and Intel are innovating together, in a way no one else can. We will secure the cloud. We will secure this explosion of devices. Our hardware-software approach can help there as no one else can,” he adds. From an innovation standpoint alone, Intel invested an additional 240 engineers to accelerate hardware assisted security. This is more than what almost every security company has in total R&D.
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Traversing Data
Challenges Concerted effort and an integrated approach can address the data security challenges of the borderless networks By R i yaz Tam b e
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T
he corporate computing environment is making new strides with the evolution of consumerisation of IT, mobility and technologies like virtualisation. Demarcation of the network border has blurred as users become increasingly mobile and connect to the corporate network from various locations. Virtualised applications are moving beyond server and data centres
and traversing on Smartphones and Table PCs, posing a tough challenge to IT teams. The above concerns have provoked organisations to find a way out to protect corporate assets while enabling businesses to realise the value of a borderless world. Security today is more about protecting data in transit, and organisations need to consider how data travels while devising their security policies, so as to provide a seamless user experience.
Borderless Network | insight
il lustration by anil T
Authentication Techniques To secure such scattered data, certain authentication techniques and authorisation methods are imperative. Authentication helps manage the varied lot of end devices sitting out of IT reach. Depending on the information users want and their mode of connectivity, different devices require different access methods and security controls. As the corporate network perimeter continues to expand, businesses need
to deal with audit requirements as wellthey have to prove that they have the requisite controls in place and that those are working. This means organisations need to adopt a holistic approach and seek architectures that help to overcome challenges of data security and issues that permeate consolidation efforts. As the BYOD trend evolves, employees are demanding immediate provisioning of their personal devices to allow for personalised experiences, access from anywhere, access to their personal applications, and access to the secure corporate applications provided by the organisation. This has posed greater challenges to IT heads as there are three devices per person on an average, with increased demand for seamless access no matter which device is used or where it is connected. And that connection needs to be fast enough to run applications effectively and reliably so that it can support access to real-time information. This trend put pressure on the IT department to look for a solution that helped secure both enterprise owned and personal devices, with policy enforcement to protect corporate data. The solution had to help scale up infrastructure to meet the growing number of devices per user and deliver an optimal user experience to drive productivity. Additionally, it had to support new apps, both voice and video from any device, simplify management and lower operational costs. The outcome is that the IT team delivered a unified security policy across the enterprise, providing an optimised and managed experience for many types of users with diverse device and security requirements. The result is a superior user and IT experience, without sacrificing security, visibility, and control. Another example would be in an educational institution set-up, a need to provide access to wireless networks on a wide array of personal mobile devices, transforming the â&#x20AC;&#x153;bring your own deviceâ&#x20AC;? (BYOD) trend from an emerging
phenomenon to the norm. A large portion of the population brought their own personal devices to the campus to enable anytime, anywhere learning, so wireless access on any device is a crucial business requirement. Given the above situation, the IT team decided to implement an endto-end Unified Access solution to support the growing need for wireless connectivity. Several hundred users were on campus at the time, and wireless access was concentrated in hot spots such as common areas, where students and faculty gathered most. As demand for wireless began climbing into the thousands and personal devices continued to proliferate, the IT team decided to advance to a next-generation wireless implementation, to provide a reliable, easy to manage solution which delivered exceptional value to students and staff.
Benefits of integrated solutions ntegrated solutions help I organisations easily manage the security risks of borderless work environments and enable users access the network with their device of choice sers can also securely utilise the U applications and information needed to do their jobs Being highly secure, available, efficient and flexible, integrated solutions help organisations address IT requirements and policies, meet the demands of high utilisation, and dynamically respond to change Making the data secure will have a profound, positive impact on profitability, productivity and quality of business
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“Security today is more about protecting data in transit, and organisations need to consider how data travels while devising security policies” Riyaz Tambe, Solutions Architect, Borderless Network, Cisco India
The upgraded borderless network allowed the university to connect anyone (student, faculty, or guest) to any device or service, virtually anywhere on or nearby campus, at any time. Connectivity can be provided securely, reliably, and with excellent performance and manageability.
Best in Line Tools As the IT landscape rapidly changes, enterprises and IT providers need to develop strategies that address cost reduction pressures, employee empowerment, increased concerns for data security and focus on time to market. Next-generation network solutions that take into account tomorrow’s technologies and come with integrated security capabilities for proactive protection against targeted, complex threats are sought after. To facilitate the safe adoption of “bring your own device” policies and to address security concerns related to technologies like virtualisation and cloud computing, integrated solutions that support trends around mobility and provide investment protection need
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to be developed. Solution architectures that provide security across the network, from headquarters to branch offices, for in-house employees and workers on wired, wireless or VPN devices, are a good option. Solutions that create, distribute and monitor security access policies based on a contextual language, such as who, what, where, when and how are beneficial to businesses. Enforcement can include actions such as blocking access to data or devices, or initiating data encryption. Architectures that span from the endpoint to the cloud and provide policy/control at every hop in the network enable provision of better security. Along with centralised management and integrated tools for troubleshooting, they help businesses meet compliance objectives with greater operational efficiency and control. This provides a manageable, compliant infrastructure critical to taking full advantage of virtualised, consolidated data centres. As the network perimeter becomes increasingly porous and malware continues to spread, solutions that
provide Virtual Private Network (VPN), firewall and Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) with high performance and scalability help control network traffic in and out of data centres. Content security solutions with on-premise, cloud-based, or hybrid security services help protect networks and data centres against known and zero-day malware outbreaks. Architecture solutions like secure, multi-tenant, virtual IT-as-a-service help businesses benefit from the transparency of the virtual environment because they “look and feel” the same as a traditional, all physical topology. From an end customer viewpoint, each system is still securely separate with its own network and storage, in some cases much more than a traditional environment. When a business unit needs more servers, it can send an order to the IT team to “fire off” a few more virtual machines in the existing environment, instead of ordering new physical equipment. This helps to increase security and efficiency of the infrastructure while also bringing down costs considerably.
Business Analytics
the big
Intelligence through Analytics EXPERT PANEL
Yashpal Soni, CIO, Everest Industries Ltd
The Situation...
Cut it from here
Does Vijay Khanna think it is the appropriate time to drive business value through business analytics (BA) capabilities? Most technology vendors who have ready tools for business analytics echo the same opinion--that companies which wait to advance their analytics capabilities do so at their own peril. Most of them claim that globally, nearly 60 per cent organisations achieve competitive advantage with analytics. Khanna is in two minds over deployment of business analytics capabilities--because till recently, much of the buzz around BA reiterated the fact that it was still in test drive mode. However, Khanna is aware that analytics can help companies gain advantage over peers in the industry as most players insist. Hence, Khannaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dilemma. Â Â However, the challenge for Vijay Khanna, senior IT Manager of a large discreet manufacturing company is to bring in complete transformation within his company in terms of managing its financial and operations data to boost business Your responses count. Log on to www.itnext.in/bigQ to submit your replies. The best entry will be published in the next print edition.
Anoop Handa, EVP & CIO, Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd
Manoj Shrivasta Di rector-IT & Hea d Integrated Technology, Sistema Shyam Teleservices
performance. Since it is a large enterprise with multiple branches spread over remote regions in the country and thousands of employees, the amount of data generated and used is huge. Khanna and team, as is obvious, have gone in for Business Intelligence (BI) solutions to streamline certain functionalities. However, just using BI did not seem to give the required results as the amount of unstructured data started increasing in ratio. BA is one of the areas that he has been advised to consider. But this has only added to his dilemma. He has many unanswered questions with regard to cost of acquisition, identifying appropriate analytics tools that can address his problems, steps to implement the analytics with the existing tools, handling legacy applications and functions, convincing the business groups and top management about the lucrative edge of analytics and the like. Against this ambiguity, Khanna intends to take advice from experts on using analytics capabilities to meet his objectives. He has two big questions that he intends to find answers to, before he can consider evaluating brands and solutions.
NEXT
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the big q
the big questions...
?
Do you think using Business Analytics is an ideal situation for Khanna? What kind of tools or functionalities does he need to consider which can address his challenges and objectives?
?
What are the various steps he needs to follow (create a blueprint) to deploy BA and what kind of benefits should he expect, which can help him convince his management easily?
Here are the answers... c reate a Business aligned path FIRST ANSWER Business Intelligence is much more than software. BI is a reliable, analytical process that transforms raw data into relevant, accurate and functionable strategic knowledge. The key is to utilise the BI applications available today to automate his process, in order to make sound decisions fast, ensuring sustainable profitability of Khanna’s company. I think this process is always analytical, whether you use a primitive or basic static reporting tool or the most sophisticated statistical or predictive software. There are various tools available in market starting with Clickview, 1KEY BI, OBII, and SAP BI/BO.... The trick is to identify the KPIs and create useful dashboards which help in analysing data for decision making.
Second Answer
Yashpal Soni CIO, Everest Industries Ltd About me: Responsible for alignment of IT Strategy with Business Strategy, Information Technology & Systems, IT Shared Services, Information Security, SAP Implementation, Business Process Re-engineering, and IT Risk Management
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Khanna should take the approach mentioned below: a) BI Blueprint and Road Map Lack of a clearly defined strategic plan to meet the needs of the business along with misalignment between IT and business translates into delays in the critical information flowing to end users. A BI blueprint and road map establishes a unifying architecture and governance model within a cost-justified, phased roll-out framework. In tracking a multi-year road map, IT organisations decrease the rework and development cycle time, improve resource advantage and customer satisfaction. As the road map creates a dialogue across the lines of the business, issues inherent in operational systems can be addressed incrementally. Quality improves over time as these “multiple versions of the truth” are tackled. b) Conducting the existing/“As Is” assessment He should have a business-focused trajectory to develop the vision and business objectives based on directives from C-level leaders and managers from the lines of the business. He must gather business and IT requirements and analyse the current state, drawing upon industry analysis and best practices. c) Development of end-state/“To Be” model and design Tailored and specified to what is desired and needed by the organisation, the “To Be” end state may include new business process designs, new models of interacting with Khanna’s clients, or new metrics to manage his business. d) Gap analysis Gap analysis tracks the differences and degree of mismatch between the current ‘As Is’ and the desired ‘To Be’ states. This analysis invokes industry best practices and examines the state of the competitive landscape, which Khanna is looking for. e) Development of the value-based proposition Metrics are both quantified and qualified to spell out KPIs and other benefits are quantified.
the big q
Data Streaming would be lucrative FIRST ANSWER Business Analytics will definitely offer significant potential to address Khanna’s challenges and objectives. However, success lies in its effective execution of this key transformation initiative. Tools or technologies in isolation will not solve Khanna’s issues unless the data is available in a robust, accurate, consistent and timely manner. Most of the companies use many business applications that act as multiple source(s) for Reporting, BI and Analytics, thereby leading to a variety of complexities. Lack of effective BA leads to: Users spending substantial time and focus in creating basic MI reports and data conciliations. Creation of parallel processes and data management systems. Regulatory and external reporting issues Data for analysis stored in multiple locations including PCs Weak data validation and reconciliation No comprehensive documented data dictionary Having a structured, reliable and robust data storage and maintenance is critical to keep up with the pace of evolving data requirements. Without this, an increasingly large amount of manpower is consumed in just collating and maintaining data; also, there’s higher storage costs due to dispersed storage, poorer data quality and reliability and significant risks on data protection and compliance. All this leads to a significantly higher TCO (Total Costs of Ownership) affecting profitability..
Anoop Handa EVP & CIO, Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd About me: Business focused IT leader with a proven track record and over 20 years of extensive, multi disciplinary global experience in technology, coupled with deep domain knowledge of the financial services industry
Second Answer The robustness of the solution is enhanced by pre-configured data models built across 4 business dimensions that ensure that companies can deploy a “single source of truth” warehouse across functions and varied business units. These business dimensions are: 1. Organisation 2. Customer segments 3. Geography 4. Functional units The data should be made available in a user-friendly format with significant focus on usability, dashboards, slicing-dicing and with minimal tech intervention.
Business Intellinence Tools: Key Buying Criteria Over 75 per cent of the respondents find Ease of integration to be the key influencer in deploying BI tools
Evalubase Research So urce:
Vendor Reputation
Scalablity
Performance
Maintainablity
0
Ease of Integration
FIGURE 1
Functionality
25
Ease of Use
50
Cost of Ownership
75 Rating
BI
NEXT
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the big q
Articulate the Business Outcome FIRST ANSWER
Manoj Shrivasta Director-IT & Head Integrated Technology, Sistema Shyam Teleservices About me: In a career spanning 20 years, handled responsibilities in the areas of IT Strategy, Outsourcing etc
From the background available, the premise on which Khanna wants to initiate the business analytics project appears incorrect. Operational and Financial data in a manufacturing set-up will mostly be structured data coming from ERP/MRP/SCM genre of package products. It is unclear why he implemented Business Intelligence when he could have met logical business outcomes by simple queries and structured MIS. There doesn’t appear to be a case of unstructured data unless he is supporting consumer facing initiatives which take inputs from unstructured sources like Web, social networks, etc. For carving out insights from unstructured data, he will need more than analytics and will have to implement big data solutions like Hadoop. With a failed business intelligence project to his credit, he will have to tread very carefully to establish very clearly what the desired outcome from the business analytics project is.
Second Answer Vijay needs to take the following steps to make BI a success and make way for BA. 1. Constitute a Steering team with an identified business sponsor, and a cross-functionnal working committee with a senior project owner from business, and representatives from all departments. 2. Re-launch the Business Intelligence roll-out in its new avatar. The initiative should be launched by the business sponsor. 3. In parallel, evaluate Business Analytics and big data, establish additional benefits on top of BI and make a business case for BA along with the business
Notes NOTEs
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Virtual Storage Platform anniversary: http://blogs.hds.com/hu/2011/09/happy-birthday-vsp.html How to avoid information overload: http://marksblog.emc.com/2011/09/episode-108-.html
update
open Debate
book For you A platform to air your views on latest developments and issues that impact you
Has VDI has reached the maturity level?
V.Srinivas CIO, Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. The maturity levels of desktop virtualisation adoption today are certainly better than the preceding four years. There is an increased awareness of the way the VDI project ROI / cost benefit is calculated. This is about moving away from the cost calculation based only on hardware and software product or feature. Now customers are taking cognisance of the overall technology framework and working out a suitable model in deploying an effective VDI solution.
SATISH PENDSE President, HIGHBAR TECHNOLOGIES LTD
Arun Sheth Head - Software Development GATI-KWE
Desktop virtualisation might have reached the desired maturity levels in technical terms; however, it is yet to become as common as server virtualisation. For desktop virtualisation to become viable and to fully serve its intended purpose, one needs to have an extremely high number of desktops and ideally at a single location. The number needs to be in thousands. How many organisations satisfy this criterion? So, the true techno-commercial value proposition gets limited by the small number of organisations, and hence obviously, there is not as much penetration.
I don’t think desktop virtualisation has reached the required maturity levels, primarily because of cost benefit analysis and ease of usage. The main drawback I see is that desktop virtualisation may affect data security and users may not find it convenient to share their files/ data, thereby leading to inefficiency/productivity. Also, network clogging becomes an issue and performance may decline. To remove this bottleneck, higher investments may be called for. Nevertheless, desktop virtualisation allows for quick sharing and control of data with multi-users.
The Progress Principle
Author: Teresa Amabile, Steven Kramer Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Price: Rs 795 Pages: 292
After chewing over myriad diaries of people’s daily lives at work, Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer have reached the conclusion that an employee derives satisfaction from his job only when he feels that he is making progress. So, if you are leading an organisation, and you wish your staff to be filled with positive energy, you have to help them develop the feeling that they are making progress in life, even as they perform their duties at the workplace. As long as workers experience their labour as meaningful, progress is often followed by joy and excitement about the work. There is visible improvement in the performance, and this in turn further establishes the feeling in the worker’s mind that he or she is making progress in life. The book makes its point through a lot of examples from the workplace experiences of real people. Work is not merely about business, it is deeply personal to the people who are actually doing it. Perhaps our CIOs can use the interesting ideas presented in the book to motivate their team. IT NEXT VERDICT
Your views and opinion matter to us. Send us your feedback on stories and the magazine to the Editor at editor@itnext.in
This book will inspire and help professionals that need to take critical decisions during stress. It will also help them become better leaders. Star Value:
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update NEW
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Get that out of the world feel with the new roll out of gadgets and devices just for you
Festival Dhamaka! Make sure you are armed with the right gadgets to keep the festive spirit alive View Quest BookBox eReader
Vizio all-in-one PC It is similar to an iMac, but for our money this is the best alternative. Available in 24- and 27-inch models, it comes with three USB 3.0 ports and two HDMI inputs and used as a TV. Price: $1,250.
It comes with a full colour screen. A full colour screen and it supports video and music files. The battery lasts for 6 hrs. Price: ÂŁ80.
Canon 5D MKIII
HOT Philips Fidelio L1 headphones They are now a wider range of headphones on offer and are infact the finest piece for the ear. A retro designed, offers excellelent audio.
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Price: $299.
Like something? Want to share your objects of desire? Send us your wish-list or feedback to editor@itnext.in
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15minute manager
training Education workplace compensation workforce trends skills development personal development
Page 50
Strategy: C reating IT Vision in 10 Steps this page Review: Tablets, Apple iPad page 52 Trends: Business Analytics-Be Razor Sharp page 53 Training Calendar: IT &Telecom Events page 5 4
BY Allan E Alter and Jeanne G Harris
i llustratio n: Manav Sach dev
I
T organisations are affected by the same mercurial social, political and economic forces that shape the business world. Planning for a flat, connected and tech-enabled future, without considering what businesses will require from IT as a result of shifting social, economic and political forces, is at best naïve and at worst dangerously myopic. How can your IT leadership team start planning the future IT organisation? Work with other executives to envision the possible future business environments. Then think about the pressures each will place on your IT organisation, and the different decisions they will compel the IT leadership to make. The following ten questions will help executives start making connections between future visions and basic IT decisions about organisational structure, IT investments, skills, and technologies such as cloud computing. Some questions focus on the fundamentals of how IT creates value. Others are more timely questions for running tomorrow’s IT organisation. They can help you envision your revamped IT organisation, anticipate changes, and design a more agile IT.
Creating IT Vision
10 big steps to IT Ten pertinent questions that will help senior IT executives to chalk out their IT vision and create better value
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15-MINUTE MANAGER Q1: Why will IT matter to my company?
Q2: What would our IT organisation look like if we could rebuild it? Would any company design their IT organisation and systems to look just as it does now? Probably not. So what would IT look like if the CEO and CIO could do it over, without any constraints? Think of the best fitting organisational structure for the futures you are exploring. Depending on the legal, political and technical environment, it may be a streamlined global IT organisation supervising a cloud-and-outsourcing services model, or a decentralised IT department with powerful local IT units.
Q3: How will our IT executives and others share and approve IT decisions? The IT chain of command is getting crowded. Social media and analytics are pulling CMOs into more IT decisions. Companies are hiring chief innovation and chief digital officers. Employees are comfortable making IT decisions for them. Executives need to focus on governance, not fight for power. This question helps envision which IT decisions need to be made on the global or country level, and which technology decisions are best made by employees and line managers instead of the IT function.
Q4: How do you source data from anywhere? In the era of smartphones and analytics,
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HEALTHY HABITS
Risks of smoking!
Health Hazards If you smoke, you increase your risk of more than 50 serious health conditions! Some may be fatal, and others can cause irreversible longterm damage to your health. Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer. It also causes cancer in many other parts of the body such as the: mouth lips throat voice box (larynx) oesophagus (the tube between your mouth and stomach)
bladder kidney liver stomach pancreas Smoking damages your heart and your blood circulation, increasing the risk of conditions such as: coronary heart disease heart attack stroke Here are some tips to help you quit smoking: 1. Identify your smoking triggers. Keep a record of when you smoke to identify your triggers. 2. Talk to your doctor. Consult your doctor as modern pharmaceutical treatments can make quitting easier. 3. Get support from your family and friends. Let them know you are quitting and that you want their help. 4. Make a clean start. Throw away your cigarettes, hide your ashtrays, clean your clothes and the car, if they smell like smoke. 5. Make a list of reasons to quit.
Seek the support of family and friends to quit smoking for better health and living
6. Keep objects around that you can put in your mouth. Items such as carrots, hard candy, even straws. 7. Drink lots of water. Water will help flush nicotine from your system and reduce the withdrawal symptoms. Source: Agencies
photo s: photos .co m
Companies can do more with IT than ever before, but are becoming less reliant on their IT organisation to provide and decide on IT. If the future is globally connected and extremely competitive, IT organisations will help industry leaders stay on top through innovation and analytics. But if the world becomes fractured, disconnected and more insecure, IT can still earn its keep: by helping companies restructure, reduce their business costs and keep operating through the transition.
15-MINUTE MANAGER
“Consumer IT is where lifestyle, business and innovation intersect, making it unpredictable” Jeanne G Harris is a senior executive research fellow based in Chicago
“It is critical to review a business case for consolidating and rationalising the existing IT framework” Sridhar Reddy, CMD, CTRLS Datacenters Ltd.
people expect all kinds of data to be available everywhere, on any device. It doesn’t matter whether it’s structured transactions or unstructured video, massive databases or a few key insights. IT’s job is to figure out how to bridge old and new architectures so usable, secure data can get to where it needs to go, securely and reliably. Those expectations
will be scaled back in any future where legal restrictions, security problems, and service disruptions get in the way.
Q5: Are we winning or losing the fight in IS? IT’s future will be greatly affected by the severity of the cyber security problem. Will companies and governments keep
“IT’s job is to figure out how to bridge old and new architectures so usable, secure data can get to where it needs to go, securely” Allan E Alter, Boston, Research Fellow, Accenture Institute for High Performance
best practices in managing dc * Virutalisation and cloud are two popular IT trends recommended as a best practice to lower costs and make computing more secure and efficient. * IDC things that the key reasons for expecting capacity to shrink are IT consolidation and the combined response of utility/cloud computing or server virtualisation. * While there are various guidelines available from different entities (ISO, IEEE, TIA, ASHRAE, Green grid, etc), it is very important to have clear and well defined Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) with respect to the particular organisation * Data centres are rallying points of the Green ICT movement-central to establishing best practice for the national’s carbon management.
cybercrime a manageable problem through technological advances and international cooperation? But what if cybercrime, or even cyber warfare, grows out of control? Then it’s no longer business as usual.
Q6: Which cloud will dominate? Some futures are friendly or hostile to cloud services. A flat, connected, unregulated world favours public cloud computing and services. But companies may be forced to use private clouds or local services if tight data regulations, protectionist economic policies, or the establishment of national Internets interfere with using global cloud services.
Q7: How urgently must we accommodate consumer technologies? Consumer IT is where lifestyle, business and innovation intersect, and that makes it an especially unpredictable phenomenon for IT departments. It’s hard to know what social networks and smartphones will be able to do in five years, and
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15-MINUTE MANAGER REVIEW
TABLETS: Apple iPad (4th Generation, Wi-Fi)
even harder to anticipate what new applications employees will want to use. But IT planners can think about whether demand for consumer IT will require organisations to accommodate employees and experiment with new trends.
Q8: The IT skills needed to succeed? Ask this question after answering the others. Start by breaking IT activities into leading, managing, designing, building, analysing and operating. Then ask what needs to be done, and which skills will be needed where. For example, what needs to be managed?Service providers? Infrastructure? Take the design side of IT: what skills will architects and network engineers need to design a cloud-server hybrid or to migrate to a proprietary network?
Pricing and Physical Features: The iPad looks almost exactly like the previous model, and it’s priced the same, too. There are 16, 32, and 64GB sizes in Wi-Fionly ($499, $599, and $699) and same-size 4G LTE variants ($629, $729, and $829). If you want to be able to keep apps, movies, and music on your tablet, I advise getting at least 32GB. For this review, the $699 64GB Wi-Fi-only model was tested. Just like the second- and third-generation iPads, this tablet has a 9.7-inch screen surrounded by a black (or white) bezel, with a curved metal back, and a single Home button. Apple’s magnetic Smart Cover, which was released with the iPad 2, clips on just fine. The tablet still has a sealed-in battery, and no ports other than a standard headphone jack. There’s a 1.2-megapixel camera right above the display on the middle of the top bezel, and a 5-megapixel camera in its traditional location on the back upper left corner. Apps and Performance: The new iPad, like the old iPad, runs Apple’s iOS 6. Apple’s efficient software comes into play when comparing against the Google Nexus 10, too. While the Nexus 10 notched a faster Geekbench score at 2,480, the iPad creamed it on all of our actual Web-browsing tests, Sunspider, Browsermark, and GUIMark, as well as in the speed of loading pages. Gaming performance is significantly better on the new iPad, too. Intense games like Need for Speed. The new iPad upgrades both cameras. The 1.2-megapixel front camera records 720p video; the rear camera takes 5-megapixel stills and 1080p video. The cameras offer the same excellent performance as on the Apple iPad mini. The front camera takes sharp 1.2-megapixel shots, even in low light. The iPad also works just fine with Bluetooth headphones and speakers. Source: thinkdigit
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Q9: Where will IT talent come from? Today, businesses assume they can tap into a pool of IT professionals in low-cost locations or easily move IT employees across borders. But what if globalisation unravels, new regulations prevent you from tapping foreign talent pools, or long distance collaboration becomes difficult? Or can’t find local workers, when required, for security or cultural reasons?
Q10: How will our spending priorities change? At the end, step back and confirm what each future means for your budget. In each future you are exploring, where will you need to invest to achieve business goals, meet operational needs or legal requirements? Will it be in infrastructure, applications, services and the workforce? And where can you reduce spending, either because lower cost options are available or because the need has declined? In future, reducing IT expenses, or giving employees and managers direct control of IT-related spending will become a priority. Allan E Alter, Boston, Research Fellow Accenture Institute for High Performance. Jeanne G Harris, Ssenior Executive Research Fellow based in Chicago
imag ing: Shi gil Narayanan
Now in its fourth iteration in two years, the Apple iPad continues its reign as king. The best large tablet you can buy today, the Apple iPad (4th Generation) has it all: top performance, a stellar screen, a surprisingly good camera, speedy Wi-Fi, and a breathtaking library of spectacular apps. Unlike other 10-inch tablets on the market, it’s the full package, which makes it a very rare five-star product, and a slam dunk for our Editors’ Choice.
15-MINUTE MANAGER
Business Analytics
Be Razor sharp Enterprises are demanding smart analytical tools to thrive in the market and make the right decisions By N gee tha
il lustrati on: ra j ve rma
T
hat analytics is a muchheard industry buzzword now is not without reason. Most experts believe that the use of analytics can help IT decision makers to make better and faster decisions and automate processes. It enables them to build a solid foundation of strategic analytics products and services to take advantage of all of the data sources, including structured and unstructured data. Analytics can be applied to any business problem.
Factors Driving Analytics Business Analytics (BA) has been a hot topic of discussion amongst industry experts since almost two years now. Research groups have estimated that the analytics market stands at $17 billion worldwide. Most industry verticals including the government, BFSI, IT and manufacturing sectors started depending on analytics in a big way owing to the development and support, and for localisation needs. A large fraction of the banking segment depends upon BA for diverse needs,
achieves better outcomes, and derives better customer satisfaction. For instance, SBI is the largest user of analytics. Some of the functions that the bank is keen on using analytics for are executive reporting systems, new recruitment process, judging the propensity of employees, getting monthly sales updates and sales forecasting, etc. One customer, Asian Paints, uses analytics for sales forecast and operational maintenance, as an extension to Business Intelligence. Leading companies across various industries are using the insights they glean from analytics to achieve significant outcomes in areas such as customer satisfaction and retention, operational efficiency, financial processes, and risk, fraud and compliance management. Under analytics, about 300 customers are using predictive analytics tools for varied functions. In the case of analytics, investments are measured based on the sales performance after using the tools.
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15-MINUTE MANAGER
event calendar Major global events in IT and Telecom during December 2012
About 20 to 30 banks monitor sales performance with analytics. Another example is that of the insurance sector which uses analytics for creating product differentiation in the market place. Indeed, analytics has been the game-changer for many enterprises.
When and Where to Use Analytics
event
Venue
Dates
Carrier Ethernet APAC 2012
The Mira, Hong Kong
December 03 05, 2012
Cloud Middle East
Dubai, UAE
December 4-5, 2012
Telco Big Data and Real Time Analytics 2012
London, UK
December 4-5, 2012
MVNOs Industry Summit Middle East
Dubai - UAE
December 4-5, 2012
Control Room Communications 2012
London - United Kingdom
December 5-7, 2012
Telecom Cloud Services North America
New York, USA
December 6, 2012
2nd Annual Asian LTE Summit 2012
Shangri-La Hotel, Delhi, India
December 12, 2012
India Telecom
Pragati Maidan, Delhi
December 1315, 2012
Big Data Analytics Asia 2013
Singapore
December 1617, 2012
International Conference on Radar Communication and Computing
December 21SKP Engineering College Thiruvanna- 22, 2012t malai, Tamil Nadu
Source: Agencies
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There is not an iota of doubt that analytics will turn insights into outcomes which is why most customers are fascinated by the technology. The challenges have been many for IT heads who struggle to feed the line of business with accurate figures and factors and the market pulse. Unlike other technologies, analytics is driven by finance, HR, marketing and other business groups and not so much by IT. The new trend is that the discussions and negotiations are carried out in the line of business.
Implementation Steps There are a few tasks that IT managers need to remember before jumping into full-fledged deployment. It is critical to carry out a pilot implementation project on analytics. It is important to test the waters and understand the impact it makes on the business. IT teams need to attend informal workshops and have some initial discussions with the business to understand how it should be taken forward, in a way through which it can co-exist with the other tools. Another vital aspect is having a right choice of partner or partners, gaining insights into the problems and the integration process. After a thorough analysis, a value statement needs to be created on what can be construed as success and which can be measured. IT heads can use a specific type of dashboard, and deploy predictive analytic tools to measure the outcome. Most often, the scale of implementation matters; this determines the RoI. Take stock of unstructured and structured data using BI tools. Use
15-MINUTE MANAGER data mining tools to map the data and transcript the same. Have security agencies deploy resources to form policies and analyse data to assess potential threats. The data should be analysed in real time. Technically speaking, the use of BA doesn’t need a BI or data analytics. A well defined pilot project can be implemented in three months. IT, along with business and finance departments, plays a big role in zeroing in on analytics.
“Analytics would help CIOs when they are unable to plan a budget or handle a complex situation” Prashant Tewari, Country Manager, Cognos &
Pay Backs It would not be an exaggeration to say that analytics would definitely help CIOs when they are unable to plan a budget or handle a complex situation. It will help in having set up a tool to understand KPIs of the company. By embedding insights into actions across the organisation, one can gain clear insights into all areas of business—customers, competition, and the market, giving the business the ability to predict trends before they happen. To state an example, HMEL, a joint venture between Hindustan
Business Analytics, IBM Software Group India/South Asia
Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd, Singapore, has adopted a new IBM analytics-based solution to transform how the company manages its financial and operations data to boost business performance. HMEL has built the 9 MMTPA (million metric tonne per annum) Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Bathinda, Punjab. The first oil and gas project to be set
Analyse your data using Best practices Best practice is to have a clearly drafted problem statement or statement of purpose for analytics Have quality and adequate data on hand before implementing BA Stakeholder’s expectations need to be clearly articulated Do not make a big bang approach to deploy analytics for all functionalities Use the existing data as a trial Try out a cloud model for trying out analytic tools or licenses Work on an on-premise solution with a client to bring out the first report IT teams need to attend informal workshops and have some initial discussions with the business to understand how it should be implemented Teams can use a specific type of dashboard, and deploy predictive analytic tools to measure the outcome
up in Punjab, the refinery produces petroleum products complying with Euro IV emission norms, with a capability of processing 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The analytical solution integrates information from the various components of the MES, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and control systems within the refinery and delivers a consolidated, single view of the data. The technology enables HMEL to analyse key corporate business processes including planned versus actual investments, production, key performance indicators, among others. The system generated near real-time information for HMEL business executives to use to make more intelligent decisions regarding optimising productivity and margins. The IBM analytics solution not only delivered the ability to access data consistently, but also equipped the organisation with the power to interpret, transform and derive process operation actions from the information. The industry standards based information model and associated integration techniques enabled HMEL to turn data into information that could be accessed and delivered through Web services.
Most often the scale of implementation matters which determines the RoI Prashant Tewari, Country Manager, Cognos & Business Analytics, IBM Software Group India/ South Asia
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Mike Fey | interview
Authenticate Device Visibility McAfee’s Worldwide CTO Mike Fey’s focus at McAfee’s annual Focus12 conference at Las Vegas, has been around creating a safer world. In chat with N Geetha, Fey emphasised the need to use multi-factor authentication tools to tie user identity to devices for greater protection Which technologies under the information security framework will impact IT heads in the next 9 months? With trends such as social media, cloud, big data and application explosion resulting in major security disruptions, I see some technologies which will make an impact in the next 12 months, and which will help the industry get ready to meet the changing dynamics. These include: BYOD: In the next 12 months, BYOD will start becoming a reality. With predictions that there will be more users connecting to the Internet on a mobile device in the next year (compared to a more traditional desktop or laptop), together with the massive explosion in applications, organisations will have to deal with mobility and BYOD in the enterprise or risk total loss of control. Authentication: Customers would have significant focus
in Identity and Authentication tools in the coming year. The reasons are varied. Internet users have come to understand that passwords are not enough, and identity and authentication systems used today are too difficult and possibly ineffective in dealing with today’s issues. The next 12 months will see massive adoption of multi-factor authentication processes and more solutions to tie your identity to your device and information. Security Data and Analytics: SIEM is no longer a viable solution unless it provides the ability for real-time incident analysis, compliance and response, taking into consideration every device connecting and communication within an organisation. The requirement to bring together event, threat, and risk data with security intelligence will facilitate rapid incident response and the ability to make real-time decisions based on the security posture of
the organisation and how to make better information decisions in protecting the organisational information assets. ePO Real-Time: ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO), the most advanced and scalable security management software will have its influence on customers. The sheer volume of threats and the nature of hidden, stealthy malware that is designed to evade traditional protection counter measures will require every organisation to have instant visibility across every device. Of critical importance will be the ability to query for data and make decisions on how to protect the network, and then make relevant changes in real time, which is possible using this software.
Elaborate on how McAfee’s technological innovations will transform the customer environment. McAfee will provide the technology that enables a real
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interview | Mike Fey time understanding and response to the environment. There is an orchestrated approach to make our customer place safer than before. It is critical to enable customers to see what’s really happening in their environment and respond to it. Most security is built on historical information such as event logs and alert triggers. This will become antiquated in the long term. We would provide a platform that allows customers to integrate McAfee and third party solutions into a true integrated fabric allowing the solutions to operate in a manner that customers require in meeting enterprise security standards. The systems will be able to share information and learn from each other, enabling increased effectiveness and awareness to see reduction in cost or operation. We work closely with customers across verticals through our customer advisory team to understand their long term plans and security needs and works backwards with the R&D team.
What are the products developed by McAfee along with customers as part of the co-innovation approach? Everything we build is run through a rigorous customer guidance and validation effort. A major advantage McAfee has is a massive customer base and we use this to guide the bulk of our major investments. In fact, our SIM solutions are developed from the feedback we receive from customers and we evolved the risk based architecture based on the feedback we got. Can you elaborate on your co-innovation strategy? Our strategy is to understand the environment from all aspects–technology, business,
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global policy, and comprehend the customer challenges that we can address today and for the future; and create an open platform and “plumbing” infrastructure that accepts hundreds of other technologies and allows customers to connect to our automated detection, event reporting, intelligence and remediation--all the while innovating around new areas that solve tomorrow’s problems.
What is your plan of action for 2013 in securing your customer place? In the next year, we are focused on delivering the Security Connected Platform while enabling best in class network, Endpoint and management solutions. We
“CISOs need to understand what will make an attacker rich and what will ruin the company and what regulations they have to operate under” would expand our entire security portfolio and ensure every end user application is projected and will come up with new form factors to protect new form factors.
What best security practices would you recommend for IT heads? My team and I have written a book specifically to address this question called Security Battleground an Executive field manual. At the heart of the book is a concept we call the 3Rs: “Riches,
Mike Fey | interview
Ruins and Regulations.” What we propose is that IT managers or CISOs need to understand what it is you’re protecting against, what will make an attacker rich, what will ruin your company and what regulations you have to operate under. If you understand this from a business perspective, you can begin to align your security underneath it.
With the Cloud invading the industry, what are the best security measures customers must take? Cloud security is a huge topic when taking into consideration the different service types and architectures; for example, public, private, community and hybrid clouds. Then you need to
Find other interviews online on the website www.itnext. in/resources/ interviews
consider Software-as-a-Service, Infrastructure-as-a-Service, and Platform-as-a-Service architectures; all this before you take into consideration what data you are putting into these cloud service types and architectures. Some key considerations are: When moving any data to the cloud, never think you can just hand over responsibility for security and availability over to a cloud provider and forget about it. Like any other IT component, cloud services must be managed and secured using policy, monitoring, and security tools and services. Before contracting with a cloud service provider, make sure your internal security is up to date first. Don’t let your corporate network become the weakest link in the chain. Then make sure the cloud service you are selecting supports your internal security policy standard and your service provider has full transparency to allow you to measure compliance. When first moving to the Cloud, consider using the cloud with low-risk, non-core functions until your organisation understands the security landscape, how to manage the provider, how to protect the data and how to move compliance from internal to the organisation to include the service provider. If you don’t use cloud services, your employees will most likely do. Create a list of cloud services that IT has investigated and deemed acceptable in terms of security. Investigate cloud provider contracts and SLAs carefully. Don’t accept the provider’s standard contracts and SLAs, broker your own and use tools available from bodies like the Cloud Security Alliance to allow you to select the best provider and SLAs for your specific
requirement. Consider standard audits and certifications such as SAS 70 Type II or ISO 27001 Make sure the provider allows your organisation to audit its security periodically as well and make sure all data is encrypted. There is a misconception that there are no standards in the Cloud, that it is difficult to assess the security of cloud providers, compare offerings and securely leverage cloud offerings. The best practice or approach is to have a formal plan in place on how you will do security testing and compliance validation to remove security concerns as a barrier to any cloud project.
How does the customer need to get cloud ready? Whenever preparing to use any cloud service, you need to be sure you understand what information you will be putting into the Cloud. It is critically important you consider how the data will be accessed, who will have access, how it will be secured and what the best way is to protect your information. Once you know what data you want to move to the cloud, its importance and how it should be secured, you need to pick the best provider that meets your specific needs. Many service providers differentiate themselves through the security services they provide and there are service providers with stronger security architectures than their customers themselves can implement. When selecting a service provider, there are a significant number of tools available; the Cloud Security Alliance, as an example, has made tools and best practices available to assess compliance and to help you ensure service providers comply with best practice objectives. Best practices from bodies like the CSA will help.
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cube chat | Vijay Choudhary
A Soldier in IT “An MBA (Finance) gives me a bird’s-eye view of an organisation, which will help in the role of a CIO,” says Vijay Choudhary, General Manager - IT, HRH Group of Hotels By manu sha r ma
“H My success
mantra There is no alternative to hard work.
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ailing from Rajasthan, I always dreamed of serving in the Indian defense services from my early school days. In fact, I got through my CDSE written exams. I had to complete my physical exam and group discussion. However, due to unfavourable family conditions, I had to give up,” says Choudhary. “But by God’s grace, I joined IT since I had a BSc in Computer Science; and there have been no regrets so far,” he adds. He later completed his MSc in Computer Science from Udaipur University, “I found my dream job in IT and consider myself a soldier equipped to serve my country, users and organisations.” In 1996, Choudhary joined the Choksi Group of Companies, Udaipur, as EDP in charge and was responsible for process automation
for HR, manufacturing and finance. Later, in 1999, he joined the HRH Group. “I joined as a programmer during the K2K scenario and had to handle a lot of bugs in the existing software. But I handled them and have since grown in the same company over the last 13 years. Today, I am the GM-IT and responsible for the entire IT implementation--not only within the hotels but also the group’s other companies like education etc.” IT, learning and recognition go parallel, feel Choudhary. “Every day is a new day and opens doors to a lot of new opportunities for learning--facing new, unexpected problems and designing strategies to solve them. You need to continuously increase your efficiency and stamina like in the Army,” he remarks. He developed the Central Reservation System (CRS) and Central Management Management
Vijay Choudhary | cube chat
Fact File Nam e: Vi jay C houd hary
C urrent Des ignatio n : GM IT, Head IT
“I found my dream job in IT and consider myself a soldier equipped to serve my country, users and organisations” (CRM) from scratch. The systems work on the Window Sequel Server and all the applications are hosted in the company’s own data centre which Choudhary and team set up in Udaipur. He aims to join the exclusive club of CIOs over the next few years and says he has been continuously upgrading his skills. In fact, he finished an MBA (Finance) recently and now understands the financial skills required for a CIO. “The MBA gives me a bird’s-eye view of the organisation, while I am already equipped with BSc and MSc degrees in Computer Science; these will help in the role of a CIO. I would like to pursue my future in the hospitality industry itself,” he says. He believes that these are the future technologies to look forward to and master:
everything As a Service, Cloud, Virtualisation, App on demand, Business Intelligence on App, BI with predictive analysis leveraging Big Data advantage, Ipv6 and social network. To overcome stress, he gets up at 4.45am on all week days to practise pranayams/yoga for one-and-a-half hours. “But my kids do not allow me to get up early on Sunday,” he jokes. “Besides, in the middle of my working day, I practise deep breathing at times when I feel overburdened with challenges… it gives me immediate energy.” Choudhary admires his CMD, Maharana Shriji Arvind Singhji Mewar. “It has been a huge privilege to work with him closely. Also, I admire Steve Job’s life history; the great man came from the toughest situation and left us with so much,” he concludes.
C urrent Role: Head IT
Expertis e: Bus i nes s and technology alignment in the hos pitali t y ind ustry
Work Experi ence: 16+ years
Favourite Quote: A pers on can and wi l l be s ucc es s ful wi th or wi thout form al ed ucation if he has the 5C s : C haracter, C om m itm ent, C onvi cti on, C ourtesy, and C ourage
Favourite Destinati on: Ind i a
Favourite Book: Vikram Sharm a Series
Favouri te Gad get: Bl ack Berry and iPa d
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update
off the shelf
A sneak preview of enterprise products, solutions and services
Huawei unveils two ICSbased 3G tablets in India The tablet is compatible with nearly all multimedia formats which serve well as a media consumption device
Transcend launches Wi-Fi enabled SD card Transcend has launched a brand new product to its range of memory card offerings – the Wi-Fi SD memory card, with integrated wireless capability for SDHC-compatible digital cameras. The card, via the use of Wi-Fi networks and a Wi-Fi SD app, lets users transfer images from their camera to their laptops and/or smartphones immediately after capturing them, via wireless networks. The Wi-Fi SD card has two modes it can function in: Direct Share Mode and Internet Mode. In the Direct Share Mode, as the name suggests, uses can transfer images directly between camera and phone by establishing a peer-to-peer connection, ideal for those times when you’re in the middle of nowhere and don’t have access to a Wi-Fi network.
key SPECIFICATIONS TABLET | Huawei has announced the launch * Dual LED Flash of two new tablets in its Mediapad family – the * Supports wireless data 7-inch MediaPad 7 Lite and the 10-inch Media* LTE compatible Pad 10 FHD quad core tablet. Both tablets run * 10 hours of video playback Android 4.0 ICS, feature aluminum unibody shells and feature voice calling. The smaller of the two – the MediaOad 7 Lite weighs 370g, and is powered by a Cortex A8 1.2GHz processor. The display features an IPS panel with a resolution of 1024 x 600 and looks quite good. According to Huawei the tablet is compatible with nearly all multimedia formats which should serve it well as a media consumption device. It also features a 3.2 megapixel rear camera and a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera. The MediaPad 7 Lite is immediately available for sale in India at Rs 13,700 via modern trade stores like Croma, Reliance Digital and online partners like Flipkart and multi-brand outlets across India. The other Huawei tablet unveiled was the MediaPad 10 FHD which runs on a Huawei-built SoC powered by a K3v2 Cortex A-9 1.4 GHz quad-core processor and a 16-core GPU. It features a 10.1-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 and an aspect ratio of 16:10. The device is pretty slim measuring just 8.8 mm in thickness and weighing in at 580 grams.
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Using the Wi-Fi SD App, users can switch between Direct Share Mode and Internet Mode instantly. Internet Mode connects directly to any Wi-Fi networks in the facility, even picking up the personal hotspots provided by smartphones. When connected in this mode, users can browse and download photos from the Card via the App, and even share them instantly via email and/or social networking through their phone.
SPECIAL FEATURES App on iOS and Android platforms * Access data via an interface * SD Cards of 16 GB and 32 GB formats * Share and view high-res photos
update
Samsung Galaxy Camera up for pre-order in India PRODUCT FEATURES Android 4.1 Jelly Bean * Quad core processor * 21X optimal zoom * Wide angle lens
DIGITAL CAMERA | Interested in pre-ordering the Samsung Galaxy Camera will have to pay an initial amount of Rs 3,000, with the rest to be paid within three days of the launch of the device. Those that pre-order the camera will get a 16GB microSD card free. There is no cash on delivery option provided by the South Korean manufacturer and those that have pre-ordered the Samsung Galaxy Camera will be notified via email prior to its availability. Those consumers that do not pay the full amount within three days of preordering the device will not get the free 16GB microSD card and those that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pay the balance amount within 15 days of availability will have to forfeit the Rs. 3,000 booking amount. Samsung has used the same sales strategy in the past with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Samsung Galaxy Note 800. The Samsung Galaxy Camera runs on Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor.It has a 16MP BSI CMOS 1/2.3â&#x20AC;? sensor, and a wide angle (23mm) lens with 21X optical zoom. It sports a 4.77-inch 308ppi HD Super Clear LCD. On the face, the Galaxy Camera feels like a camera because of its build and physical shutter button but flip it over and the device feels like an Android smartphone.
Google Nexus 4 is priced at Rs 30,000 in India Phone | Flagship Android smartphones, the likes of Samsung
Galaxy S III, HTC One X, etc., are generally priced above Rs 30,000 in India. The Google Nexus 4 with its $350 price tag on Google Play store has got the Android community in India all excited. I am personally all set to buy the device if it costs anything below Rs 25,000. The reality, however, might be very different. The Nexus 4 in India might just be priced closer to $650, rather than the $350. When Google announced the Nexus 4, geeks were pretty impressed with the specifications. What impressed is more was the pricing of the device - 8GB model for $299 (Rs. 16,300 approx.), and
BlackBerry 10 phones by February After a lot of speculation regarding the dates, Research in Motion (RIM) has finally come out and confirmed that January 30, 2013 is when the company will officially release the BlackBerry 10 operating system. The same event will see the unveiling of the two smartphones as well, codenamed BlackBerry London and BlackBerry Nevada. We have already seen the two devices in a number of leaks recently. The release of the Blackberry 10 OS has been delayed quite a bit, and this will be the first major hardware and software announcement since the BlackBerry OS 7 smartphone range came out in late 2011. RIM is confident that the phones unveiled on 30th January will be available in stores within the next 30 days.
produCT FEATURES * BlackBerry 10 OS * QWERTY keypad combo * Full touchscreen phone * Preloaded software
SPECIFICATIONS * Android (4.2) * IPS LCD * 8 megapixels * Qualcomm Snapdragon S4
a 16GB model for $349 (Rs. 19,000 approx.) unlocked. The phone will be selling at the mentioned price if a user picks it up from the Google Play store. According to the sources, the Google Nexus 4 is said to be priced around Rs 30,000 in India.
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my log
Steve Duplessie steve.duplessie@esg-global.com
The Perfect Storm Boating and IT
Source: CIO&Leader
il
lu
str
at i o n : p h o t o s
.co
m
Boating and IT will throw up unforeseen challenges and beat you in the head
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recall that earlier is another matter. He is 87 after all. Neil tied the skiff on to the big boat and we began removing all the evidence of a summer well spent and a liver poisoned. Minutes later, we were ready to head back and haul out the skiff for the season, only to exit the big boat and see the skiff floating 100 yards away - and moving at a good clip. Neil can fix a mean cocktail, but his knot tying is somewhat suspect. We then looked like morons chasing a little boat around the harbor in a big giant boat. For reference purposes, the trip was approximately 20 miles. The boat I have has a “flybridge” meaning I sit way up top, high up, out of the way of everything with great visibility to drive. It has a second “helm” inside (redundant system to drive) — which I specifically bought in case weather became an issue some day. Guess what? Weather became an issue. The winds were so strong and I was heading perpendicular to the waves so that for the length of the journey, I was pelted with eye burning wind whipped ocean. Now the funny part--I couldn’t figure out how to switch helm control to the nice, warm, dry interior control station. I had to try not to die. My 28,000 pound boat was being tossed around like it was a toy. I couldn’t see as I was constantly pelted with waves crashing on my head. The wind and current were pushing me way off course. In short, it sucked.
3 Essential
Reads
miKE FEY | INTERVIEW
AUtHentiCAte DeViCe ViSiBiLitY McAfee’s Worldwide CTO Mike Fey’s focus at mcafee’s annual Focus12 conference at las Vegas, has been around creating a safer world. in chat with n Geetha, Fey emphasised the need to use multi-factor authentication tools to tie user identity to devices for greater protection Which technologies under the information security framework will impact it heads in the next 9 months? With trends such as social media, cloud, big data and application explosion resulting in major security disruptions, I see some technologies which will make an impact in the next 12 months, and which will help the industry get ready to meet the changing dynamics. These include: BYOD: In the next 12 months, BYOD will start becoming a reality. With predictions that there will be more users connecting to the Internet on a mobile device in the next year (compared to a more traditional desktop or laptop), together with the massive explosion in applications, organisations will have to deal with mobility and BYOD in the enterprise or risk total loss of control. Authentication: Customers would have significant focus
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in Identity and Authentication tools in the coming year. The reasons are varied. Internet users have come to understand that passwords are not enough, and identity and authentication systems used today are too difficult and possibly ineffective in dealing with today’s issues. The next 12 months will see massive adoption of multi-factor authentication processes and more solutions to tie your identity to your device and information. Security Data and Analytics: SIEM is no longer a viable solution unless it provides the ability for real-time incident analysis, compliance and response, taking into consideration every device connecting and communication within an organisation. The requirement to bring together event, threat, and risk data with security intelligence will facilitate rapid incident response and the ability to make real-time decisions based on the security posture of
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the organisation and how to make better information decisions in protecting the organisational information assets. ePO Real-Time: ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO), the most advanced and scalable security management software will have its influence on customers. The sheer volume of threats and the nature of hidden, stealthy malware that is designed to evade traditional protection counter measures will require every organisation to have instant visibility across every device. Of critical importance will be the ability to query for data and make decisions on how to protect the network, and then make relevant changes in real time, which is possible using this software.
elaborate on how McAfee’s technological innovations will transform the customer environment. McAfee will provide the technology that enables a real
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McAfee's Fey, Worldwide CTO on how to authenticate device visibility for protection Pg 44 INSIGHT | mcaFEE Focus 12
t PREVENTS ATTACK McAfee’s Focus12 focussed on the third pillar of computing—the ‘security’ to foil threats at the chip level and have a single sign-On BY N GEETHA
36
he key agenda for Intel-McAfee’s top executives, Michael DeCesare, Co-President, McAfee, and Renee James, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Intel, has been to collaborate more strongly in solving tomorrow’s computing challenges of customers with an integrated secured approach to weed out any threats from the chip level. In his keynote address at the recently concluded McAfee’s annual security conference-FOCUS12 in Las Vegas to a gathering of 2200 people, spread across customers and partners, DeCesare expressed his concerns over the explosion of information, which is resulting in increasing security threats. DeCesare emphasised the need to enable a Single Sign-On process, a single action of user authentication to access the systems, to make it possible at the chip level with Intel’s innovation strategy. The need for the initiative arises as DeCesare observes with social media, cloud, big data and application explosion related trends to be invading customers’ systems, resulting in major security disruptions. He clearly indicates that about 76 per cent increase Renee James, Senior Vice President and General manager, Intel in malware is due to increased use of social media and 1.5 million pieces of new malware is evolving owing to the automation, posing a major threat to the internal McAfee & intel’s Customer Approach infrastructure. On a high level, Intel has a history of solving computing’s While Intel and McAfee have been doing long-term biggest challenges. The duo has been focussed on energythinking in understanding the scope of security to provide efficient performance, connectivity, and now security. They the highest levels of protection and performance as part of call security the “third pillar of computing.” the security connected approach, the focus is on increasing “Unless we can solve the problem of keeping computers security collaboration in bringing innovations at the secure, we’ll never live up to the Internet’s full potential. If we platform level. can solve it, it will be an enabler to growth in the computing
“the future of security is hardware-enhanced security where the software works with the chip at a level below the operating system”
SeCUReD CHiP: im aG i n G BY sh iG il n a r aYa n a n
Recently due to a busy fall schedule, I was giving up and bringing the boat to the yard to be dealt with for the winter and readied for spring. I’m always bummed out when it’s time to end the season. Boating, like IT, is not a game of absolutes. Stuff happens. Sometimes both will beat you in the head with a baseball bat. I should have known that things weren’t going to go as smoothly as I’d like when I woke up and saw that the perfectly sunny day in front of me was going to have 20MPH+ winds and 3-4 foot seas. That’s boating talk for “get ready to get kicked in the head for two hours.” I enlisted the help of a friend--a well qualified accomplice, Neil. Neil is a professional bartender. From Miami. Neil and I went down to the dinghy dock, where I obnoxiously keep my “dinghy” (which is really a 17’ skiff that I use as my own water taxi) only to find said skiff was not there. I grabbed a passing harbor master guy (87 years old at least) and asked if someone from their office may have moved my skiff. He said no, but that he thinks it might have floated across the harbor and landed on the beach of Chappaquidick (yes, that Chappaquidick, of Ted Kennedy fame). He took me to look. 50 yards away I saw my skiff neatly tied to a mooring. When I told the capt. that was my skiff, he said “Oh yeah, I found that floating and tied it there.” Why he didn’t
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McAfee and Intel's top honchos on the crticality to secure the chip to prevent attacks Pg 36 CUBE CHAT | ViJaY chouDharY
ViJaY chouDharY | CUBE CHAT
A Soldier in IT
FACT FIL E na mE : V i JaY ch ouD h a rY
cur r E nt D Es i Gnat i on: Gm i t, h E a D i t
“I found my dream job in IT and consider myself a soldier equipped to serve my country, users and organisations”
“An MBA (Finance) gives me a bird’s-eye view of an organisation, which will help in the role of a CIO,” says Vijay choudhary, General manager - IT, HrH Group of Hotels BY MANU SHARMA
“H
MY SUCCESS
MANTRA There is no alternative to hard work.
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ailing from Rajasthan, I always dreamed of serving in the Indian defense services from my early school days. In fact, I got through my CDSE written exams. I had to complete my physical exam and group discussion. However, due to unfavourable family conditions, I had to give up,” says Choudhary. “But by God’s grace, I joined IT since I had a BSc in Computer Science; and there have been no regrets so far,” he adds. He later completed his MSc in Computer Science from Udaipur University, “I found my dream job in IT and consider myself a soldier equipped to serve my country, users and organisations.” In 1996, Choudhary joined the Choksi Group of Companies, Udaipur, as EDP in charge and was responsible for process automation
for HR, manufacturing and finance. Later, in 1999, he joined the HRH Group. “I joined as a programmer during the K2K scenario and had to handle a lot of bugs in the existing software. But I handled them and have since grown in the same company over the last 13 years. Today, I am the GM-IT and responsible for the entire IT implementation--not only within the hotels but also the group’s other companies like education etc.” IT, learning and recognition go parallel, feel Choudhary. “Every day is a new day and opens doors to a lot of new opportunities for learning--facing new, unexpected problems and designing strategies to solve them. You need to continuously increase your efficiency and stamina like in the Army,” he remarks. He developed the Central Reservation System (CRS) and Central Management Management
(CRM) from scratch. The systems work on the Window Sequel Server and all the applications are hosted in the company’s own data centre which Choudhary and team set up in Udaipur. He aims to join the exclusive club of CIOs over the next few years and says he has been continuously upgrading his skills. In fact, he finished an MBA (Finance) recently and now understands the financial skills required for a CIO. “The MBA gives me a bird’s-eye view of the organisation, while I am already equipped with BSc and MSc degrees in Computer Science; these will help in the role of a CIO. I would like to pursue my future in the hospitality industry itself,” he says. He believes that these are the future technologies to look forward to and master:
everything As a Service, Cloud, Virtualisation, App on demand, Business Intelligence on App, BI with predictive analysis leveraging Big Data advantage, Ipv6 and social network. To overcome stress, he gets up at 4.45am on all week days to practise pranayams/yoga for one-and-a-half hours. “But my kids do not allow me to get up early on Sunday,” he jokes. “Besides, in the middle of my working day, I practise deep breathing at times when I feel overburdened with challenges… it gives me immediate energy.” Choudhary admires his CMD, Maharana Shriji Arvind Singhji Mewar. “It has been a huge privilege to work with him closely. Also, I admire Steve Job’s life history; the great man came from the toughest situation and left us with so much,” he concludes.
cur r E nt r olE : hEaD it
EX pE rt i s E : B us i nEs s a nD tEchnoloGY aliGnmEnt i n t h E h os pi ta li t Y i nD ust rY
Wor K EX pE r i E ncE : 16+ YEars
FaVour i t E Quot E : a pE r s on ca n a nD Wi ll B E s uccEs s F ul Wi t h or Wi t h out For ma l E D ucat i on i F h E h as t h E 5 cs : ch a r act E r , commi t mE nt, conV i ct i on, court EsY, a nD cour aGE
FaVour i t E D Est i nat i on: i nD i a
FaVour i t E B ooK : V i K r a m s h a r ma s E r i Es
FaVour i t E Ga D GE t: B l acK B E r rY a nD i pa D
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Vijay Choudhary, GM-IT, HRH Group of Hotels is a soldier in IT who never gives up Pg 60
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