October 2012 Archives
IT: A Game Changer for Manipal Hospitals
IT has a big role to play in the healthcare system to improve the quality and efficiency of operations and delivery. These, along with patient safety, are the key drivers for IT investment in the healthcare setup. A number of IT initiatives, such as the automation of over 1,000 processes, at Manipal Hospitals have helped us make information available online for stakeholders and reduce turnaround time for patients.
CIO Performance Metrics
Lately there has been a lot of publicity and visibility on the fact that CIOs are being or going to be measured on business metrics, many of which they do not control or influence directly or indirectly. As opposed to the traditional ways of measuring CIO's performance, should s/he be measured on revenue, profitability, customer acquisition or retention, product availability?
IT Transformation: Illusive, Alluring, Challenging...
For most organizations, the capacity to take challenge related to IT transformation seems out of reach. Many Indian enterprises are still struggling to keep up with everyday operational challenges and nothing else takes priority. Mostly, the IT organizations are found in reactive mode to keep the infrastructure going. But is doing nothing about the future-readiness an option?
Five Ways to Heal the Marketing-IT Rift
The monolithic "plan, deliver, run" IT organization that delivers all things IT to all departments has gone the way of the dinosaur. Today, CIOs are appointing business-relationship executives to manage the partnership between IT and most major departments. CIOs should hire echnologists who can be effective members of the marketing organization.
Govt. to Embrace Private Sector to Bolster Cyber Security
Indian authorities have called private and government bodies to synergize their efforts to prevent cyber attacks. The government will set up a joint working group on cyber security. Without doubt, this initiative from the Centre is a welcome move. However, the larger concern is transparency in information sharing.
Technology Means Business at Mahindra Finance
We created a demand for business users to use IT services and applications. Through our Enterprise Architecture and Technology Solution, we clubbed the company's various data pools into a single entity. With a common platform, the solution can now cater to various types of software solutions from various service providers. The architecture has helped us gain reach and speed when application deployment really matters.
Big Data: Winning Technology of Today?
Big Data is abuzz. It is now trending high on technology charts. Gartner's hype cycle for 2012 is extremely overwhelming. It has nearly 50 technologies represented on it. But surprisingly the analyst firm says it doesn't believe Big Data will be a 'hyped' term for long, which is a great news for the believers.
Change Management Drive Should Take 'IT to Users'
The 'IT to User' drive is part of a change management exercise at Nova Medical Centers. It is aimed at hand-holding the IT users for some time before letting them use the solution on their own. So, instead of calling them for theoretical classes at the headquarters, we have set up a team that will go from one location to another and train them in real-time.
What CIOs want from CFOs
The consensus among all the CIOs with whom I've spoken is that IT is oriented toward change and finance is all about consistency. Once something is locked down, finance is loath to change it. That may make for sound cost management, but it can be a barrier to innovation. Many CIOs say, the CFO can make IT less effective by overemphasizing the areas that support finance.
Lack of Clarity Hindering Cloud Adoption
Deployment readiness of application services providers is a concern in the journey towards cloud adoption. Cloud providers need to be clear on licensing policies. There is lack of transparency. Billing remains a concern and controls are not standardized. Exit strategy from the cloud is another challenge. In many cases, lack of standards hampers portability of data and applications between systems.
