Game Changer

Information technology can’t just align with the business; rather, the technology has to enable and drive the business. How CIOs use IT can change the game, says SC Mittal

The past 4-5 years have been unprecedented in history when business economics has undergone a major change. As they say, “the fittest is going to survive,” but who is the fittest? Is it the muscle power? Probably not. It is by the knowledge of trade and how fast one adopts the change. Innovation, transformation, optimization, transparency and integrity are the key factors.

Since every organization/trade has a lot of data, one has to churn this data through business analytics to make use of it for the organization’s goal. It is to be converted into knowledge, wisdom and intelligence for business growth. Naturally, adoption of information technology and latest analytical tools are going to be the game changer and so will be the role of CIOs.

Information technology can’t just align with the business; rather, the technology has to enable and drive the business. On the one side, CIOs have to face the challenge of manpower retention, and on the other, fast development in technology and its exposure to business community is demanding more and more from CIOs.

Again, on the one side, CIOs have to continuously learn the requirements of business, and on the other side, they have to continuously upgrade their knowledge of technology by de-learning and learning. They have to play the role of a mentor/inspirer to retain manpower and, side by side, motivate the team to learn new tools and innovate — for instance in analytics — to provide a platform to decision makers for business growth and new avenues. The CIOs have to associate the team with them in all facets of an IT project, from the conceptual stage through to delivery.

Change management is another threat area for CIOs whenever some new application or technology is deployed. Data protection and continuity of the computing facility are the other major responsibilities.

The new technologies of cloud, big data and BYOD are posing further challenges of usability, security, migration from one platform to another, SLAs, etc. While these technologies are providing a platform to all, particularly the small and middle level enterprises, the technologies are still evolving and getting matured. These technologies can act as a catalyst in business growth and CIOs have to prepare to adopt these technologies whatever be the challenges.

Normally, it has been seen that “half IT educated” users consider themselves as IT experts and put a
lot of hurdles in the way IT has to take shape. This results in a lot of customization in the packaged solutions developed on global standard practices, and delivery of “not fully tried” solutions, etc. As a result, half matured solutions are rolled out and the cost of maintenance is going to be quite high in the long run.

CIOs have to possess a lot of persuasion capabilities and patience for understanding the requirement and develop the solution accordingly. So the role of the CIO has to evolve in a multifaceted dimension and is going to be quite significant in the new business dynamics. They have to play the role of a process expert to redefine the process and get involved in implementation of the business strategy.

S.C. Mittal is Senior ED (Management Services & IT), Group CTO, IFFCO, & Director, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd.