Today the biggest challenges for CIO’s are managing and securing the exponentially growing information in the IT infrastructure that supports their business and providing centralized access to multiple data centers across the globe, said Manjunath Kashi, Director, Enterprise Computing Group, Unisys. He said a secure cloud, whether private or public, can enable them to do both more effectively. Excerpts of the interview.
1. How does cloud computing help address CIO challenges?
The biggest challenges for CIO’s today are managing and securing the exponentially growing information in the IT infrastructure that supports their business and providing centralized access to multiple data centers across the globe. A secure cloud, whether private or public, can enable them to do both more effectively.
Unisys believes that cloud computing will revolutionize the way enterprises obtain business and IT services and change the kind of payback they get from their IT investments. In a severely constrained global economy, the prospect of de-capitalizing enterprise IT, deferring and avoiding operational costs, fixing the IT bottleneck and more effectively mapping availability of IT resources to fluctuating business demands provide powerful incentives to adopt cloud computing.
The major attributes and benefits of cloud computing are the following:
1. Multi-tenant –the capability to process the needs of multiple users with shared resources, dynamically and transparently;
2. Elastic and scalable –resources can be expanded and contracted as needed;
3. Metered/rented – to a certain extent, “pay only for what you use”;
4. Self-provisioned – “self-check-in,” at least to some degree;
5. Internet-based – accessible by using Internet technology, usually over the public Internet;
6. “X” as a service [with “X” being software or infrastructure, for example] – The details/concerns of implementation are abstracted for the customer.
Clients and prospects consistently tell Unisys that concerns about security is the major impediments to adopting cloud computing for business needs. Secure, then, is the additional benefit that differentiates Unisys’ strategy and solutions for cloud computing from other cloud offerings available in the market. The word “secure” refers to providing an overall reduction in risk due to greater security protocols and tools for data in motion (transiting the infrastructure), data at rest (in storage networks) and data in process. Unisys offers those through the Stealth data protection technology in its Secure Cloud Solution.
2. What kind of applications do you expect enterprises to host on the cloud? Why?
Most enterprises have until now been comfortable moving only test and development suites to the cloud, because they don’t involve transmission of sensitive data outside internal firewalls. Unisys Secure Cloud Solution – a managed public cloud service with an unmatched level of data protection based on unique bit-splitting technology called Stealth – enables enterprise clients to securely move conventional business applications into a managed, shared cloud service without costly, time-consuming rewrites or other alterations. Those applications often include secure or sensitive data, such as human resources, financial, customer and healthcare information. The Unisys Secure Cloud Solution can thus help clients reduce capital and operating expenditures and protect their investment in critical business applications.
3. Benefits of cloud computing to the large and small enterprises?
Cloud computing – especially as embodied in Unisys strategy and solutions portfolio – can benefit organizations of all sizes. The Unisys approach enables clients to choose the type of data center computing services that best meet their business objectives, from self-managed, automated IT infrastructures to Unisys-managed cloud services. Using Unisys services and technologies, organizations can create a private cloud within their data centers, a public cloud through secure Unisys-managed cloud solutions, or a hybrid cloud solution combining the best of both private and Unisys-managed cloud services.
Clients and prospects in organizations of all sizes tell Unisys that they see great operational and economic value in moving enterprise applications and data to the cloud. However, they have lacked the comprehensive security to make them confident in doing so.
Unisys cloud computing strategy and solutions focus on helping clients overcome those security concerns. We like to say that security is in Unisys DNA, data center transformation and application modernization are our heritage, and outsourcing services tailored to the client’s specific business needs are our forté. Unisys cloud computing strategy draws on all those core capabilities to help clients break through the barriers to adoption and gain a full range of options for cloud services while safeguarding their operations and lowering IT costs.
4. How secure are Unisys’s cloud computing offerings? What are the special features that Unisys offers on the cloud?
Most of the current cloud computing solutions lack the comprehensive security that gives clients the confidence in moving enterprise applications and data into the cloud.
Unisys’ cloud computing solutions provide the much-required extra layer of security. Underpinning our strategy is Unisys Stealth security solution, an innovative, patent-pending data protection technology, initially designed for government applications and now available to commercial clients too. The Unisys Stealth technology cloaks data through multiple levels of authentication and encryption, bit-splitting it into multiple packets so it moves invisibly across networks and stays secure in storage environments.
As I mentioned earlier, the Stealth technology also anchors Unisys Secure Cloud Solution, which is designed to provide the highest level of data security possible within a cloud environment today, while reducing clients’ upfront investments and ongoing operational costs for cloud computing. Using Stealth technology, the Unisys Secure Cloud Solution allows different clients in a multi-tenant environment to share the same IT infrastructure without the fear of exposing one client’s data to another.
In addition to the Stealth technology, clients of Unisys Secure Cloud Solution benefit from Unisys’ layered security infrastructure, which includes comprehensive capabilities, including intrusion detection and prevention service, security monitoring, advanced correlation and analytics, firewall management and logging.
5. How different are your offerings from other players in the same space?
Unisys cloud computing strategy is uniquely flexible. It draws on all the company’s core capabilities of security, data center transformation, application modernization and outsourcing services to help clients break-through the barriers to adoption and gain a full range of options for cloud services, while safeguarding their operations and lowering IT costs. As I said before, the Unisys cloud computing strategy enables clients to choose the type of data center computing services that best meet their business objectives -- from self-managed, automated IT infrastructure to Unisys-managed cloud services. Using Unisys services and technologies, organizations can create a private cloud within their datacenters, a public cloud through secure Unisys-managed cloud solutions, or a hybrid cloud solution, combining the best of both private and Unisys-managed cloud services.
The Unisys Secure Cloud Solution – a core component of Unisys cloud computing strategy – provides a global platform for delivering a full range of highly secure, managed IT infrastructure and application services available “as a service” through the cloud. This innovative solution enables enterprise clients to securely move conventional business applications – including those with secure or sensitive data, such as human resources, financial, customer and healthcare information – into a managed, shared cloud service without costly, time-consuming rewrites or other alterations. The unique Stealth technology, which delivers an unmatched level of data protection for the cloud environment, is a real differentiator for Unisys cloud computing strategy and solutions.
Also, Unisys portfolio of Cloud Transformation Services rounds out our cloud computing solutions. They provide clients a unique way to understand both how cloud computing can benefit them and what are the strategic and financial implications of adopting specific approaches.
6. What segment is Unisys targeting in India and why?
Unisys believes that our cloud computing strategy and solutions – with their unique emphasis on security – will have special appeal in market sectors such as federal government/public sector, healthcare and financial services, where data security, compliance with regulations for data management, and other security concerns are driving forces in decision-making.
In addition, industries or functions – e.g., financial reporting, benefits administration, and secure document management – that have weekly, monthly or even seasonal spikes in demand for IT resources to support business requirements could benefit from Unisys secure cloud solutions.
Unisys launched its cloud computing strategy and solutions on June 30th. We’re in the process of engaging with clients in a range of industries with our Unisys Cloud Transformation Services – a portfolio of advisory and implementation services that help clients assess potential cloud computing options and determine which option best suits their needs or financial objectives – and our Secure Cloud Solution, a managed, public-cloud service that multiple clients can share.
7. How much do you estimate the market size of cloud computing in India? What is the present growth rate?
Gartner says worldwide cloud services revenues are on a pace to surpass $56.3 billion in 2009, a 21.3 per cent increase in revenues from $46.4 billion in 2008. The market is expected to reach $150.1 billion in 2013. The Indian market, according to Springboard Research, will register a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 76 per cent between 2007 and 2011 and reach $260 million (around Rs 1,300 crore) in revenue by 2011. This presents a great opportunity for Unisys cloud computing solutions.
8. Despite being an old concept, why is this space picking up at the time of recession?
In the current economic scenario, the prospects of de-capitalizing enterprise IT, deferring and avoiding operational costs, fixing the IT bottleneck and more effectively mapping availability of IT resources to fluctuating business demands provide powerful incentives for enterprises to adopt cloud computing.
Showing posts with label IT infrastructure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IT infrastructure. Show all posts
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Leela Group to invest Rs 100 crore to open IT campus
Hospitality major Leela Group will soon open a Rs.100 crore state-of-the-art IT campus in the Technopark here, a top group official said.
"The building is almost ready and we will open the campus very soon," V.J. Jayakumar, chief of Leela Group's operations in Kerala, told the media.
The 15-storey building will have 500,000 square feet built-up space and an additional 100,000 square feet for car parking.
"Already we have finalised talks with two IT companies, which will take space here. The total investment for the project is above Rs.100 crore," said Jayakumar, who was also the former chief executive of the Technopark.
Leela, which has top-end resorts in several cities in the country, has stepped into the business of IT infrastructure as part of its diversification strategy.
"In Mumbai and Bangalore we have been in the business of IT infrastructure. In Kerala, we have planned to invest Rs.260 crore in the sector and the first and second phases of our project at the Infopark campus in Kochi are complete," said Jayakumar.
"We have finished 90 percent work of the third phase and the next phase work has already started. In all, there will be more than 1 million square feet space in Kochi," he added.
The IT infrastructure division of the Leela Group comes under the Leela Lace Holdings and two of its subsidiaries - Leela Soft and Ocean Soft - manage the Infopark and the Technopark units.
Currently, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are the leading IT hubs in Kerala.
Around 50 companies that employ more than 10,000 people operate in and around the Infopark campus in Kochi, while 160 companies with a total employee strength of 25,000 work in the Technopark.
As part of the state government's IT policy, IT parks will be set up in all 14 districts of Kerala.
Works have already begun for the district IT parks at Kollam, Trissur and Alappuzha.
According to the latest figures provided by the state-run Software Technology Parks India (STPI), software exports from Kerala has grown 43.41 percent to Rs.2,300 crore till February-end of last fiscal.
In 2007-08, the total software exports from Kerala stood at Rs.1,750 crore.
Agencies
"The building is almost ready and we will open the campus very soon," V.J. Jayakumar, chief of Leela Group's operations in Kerala, told the media.
The 15-storey building will have 500,000 square feet built-up space and an additional 100,000 square feet for car parking.
"Already we have finalised talks with two IT companies, which will take space here. The total investment for the project is above Rs.100 crore," said Jayakumar, who was also the former chief executive of the Technopark.
Leela, which has top-end resorts in several cities in the country, has stepped into the business of IT infrastructure as part of its diversification strategy.
"In Mumbai and Bangalore we have been in the business of IT infrastructure. In Kerala, we have planned to invest Rs.260 crore in the sector and the first and second phases of our project at the Infopark campus in Kochi are complete," said Jayakumar.
"We have finished 90 percent work of the third phase and the next phase work has already started. In all, there will be more than 1 million square feet space in Kochi," he added.
The IT infrastructure division of the Leela Group comes under the Leela Lace Holdings and two of its subsidiaries - Leela Soft and Ocean Soft - manage the Infopark and the Technopark units.
Currently, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are the leading IT hubs in Kerala.
Around 50 companies that employ more than 10,000 people operate in and around the Infopark campus in Kochi, while 160 companies with a total employee strength of 25,000 work in the Technopark.
As part of the state government's IT policy, IT parks will be set up in all 14 districts of Kerala.
Works have already begun for the district IT parks at Kollam, Trissur and Alappuzha.
According to the latest figures provided by the state-run Software Technology Parks India (STPI), software exports from Kerala has grown 43.41 percent to Rs.2,300 crore till February-end of last fiscal.
In 2007-08, the total software exports from Kerala stood at Rs.1,750 crore.
Agencies
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Is Open Source Really Open?
Open source software in the traditional sense means software whose source code is freely available and modifiable. (Yes, we know there are versions of software that are only pseudo open source where the source is available, but not for free. Or the source code is available, but not modifiable, etc). In our opinion, most businesses should not, and will not, care if a software is open source. Even if they have control over the source code, they might not have the technical capability to solve a particular problem or implement a particular feature.
So, there will be certain software that will work 'out of the box' with the features you would want, while others like ERP, CRM or BI systems need to be highly customised as per the nature of business. However, you can hire talent to modify an open source software as per your requirements. For example, if you are using a popular PHP application, the source code is available and can be freely modified by in-house talent at a reasonable cost. This would entirely depend on the type of application and the expertise available including its price.
Understand your business requirements
The very first step that any business needs to figure out is what they plan to achieve by implementing a particular open-source solution. Ask yourself, "How will I make my work cheaper/faster/easier using this tool? What business objective will this tool facilitate?" For, every IT solution entails direct and indirect costs. For example, before you deploy any ERP, CRM or BI solution or migrate your existing solution, you should have clear and quantifiable objectives that should be met. Will this CRM software help me better understand and, in turn, serve my customers? Will this ERP solution help me reduce inventories? Will it facilitate better warehouse management? Will the BI solution help me gain more insights about my products and services that I don't already know? Is it worth the time, effort and price?
How do I facilitate the implementation?
If you have identified a unified communication solution or a ERP, CRM or a BI solution, you should know what features you would require the most. Do you require features like collaboration? How much control is required? What is the level of security that you would expect? You should evaluate all offerings (open source or not/paid or free) based on the above set of requirements. Next you must hunt for all possible offerings so that you can compare multiple solutions and their pros and cons.
Open source DOES NOT always mean free
It is a common misconception that open source software is free. While many software follow that norm, it is not a rule. You might have to spend on certain open source software. Also, there are training and support costs associated with open source software as well.
While it might not be very difficult to learn a shiny new open source browser, you cannot say the same about a content management or a ERP/CRM system. For example, for a particular open source software that is not popular, the availability of support will be lower and support costs will be higher as a general rule. Also, open-source projects such as Firefox, Thunderbird, Apache, etc are well-established. Using a well-established software ensures long-term support for the software in terms of features, bugs and security patches. There are a lot of open source software that started with a bang and lost steam over a period of time. Also, commercial and non-open source software may be good in terms of providing better support as those companies are legally required to do so. Also, you can install a low cost/free open source solution and buy support from many commercial vendors.
Conclusion
Having considered the above-mentioned points, perform an in-depth research before deciding on which solution to adopt.
CXOtoday
So, there will be certain software that will work 'out of the box' with the features you would want, while others like ERP, CRM or BI systems need to be highly customised as per the nature of business. However, you can hire talent to modify an open source software as per your requirements. For example, if you are using a popular PHP application, the source code is available and can be freely modified by in-house talent at a reasonable cost. This would entirely depend on the type of application and the expertise available including its price.
Understand your business requirements
The very first step that any business needs to figure out is what they plan to achieve by implementing a particular open-source solution. Ask yourself, "How will I make my work cheaper/faster/easier using this tool? What business objective will this tool facilitate?" For, every IT solution entails direct and indirect costs. For example, before you deploy any ERP, CRM or BI solution or migrate your existing solution, you should have clear and quantifiable objectives that should be met. Will this CRM software help me better understand and, in turn, serve my customers? Will this ERP solution help me reduce inventories? Will it facilitate better warehouse management? Will the BI solution help me gain more insights about my products and services that I don't already know? Is it worth the time, effort and price?
How do I facilitate the implementation?
If you have identified a unified communication solution or a ERP, CRM or a BI solution, you should know what features you would require the most. Do you require features like collaboration? How much control is required? What is the level of security that you would expect? You should evaluate all offerings (open source or not/paid or free) based on the above set of requirements. Next you must hunt for all possible offerings so that you can compare multiple solutions and their pros and cons.
Open source DOES NOT always mean free
It is a common misconception that open source software is free. While many software follow that norm, it is not a rule. You might have to spend on certain open source software. Also, there are training and support costs associated with open source software as well.
While it might not be very difficult to learn a shiny new open source browser, you cannot say the same about a content management or a ERP/CRM system. For example, for a particular open source software that is not popular, the availability of support will be lower and support costs will be higher as a general rule. Also, open-source projects such as Firefox, Thunderbird, Apache, etc are well-established. Using a well-established software ensures long-term support for the software in terms of features, bugs and security patches. There are a lot of open source software that started with a bang and lost steam over a period of time. Also, commercial and non-open source software may be good in terms of providing better support as those companies are legally required to do so. Also, you can install a low cost/free open source solution and buy support from many commercial vendors.
Conclusion
Having considered the above-mentioned points, perform an in-depth research before deciding on which solution to adopt.
CXOtoday
Friday, November 21, 2008
AT&T launches first super Internet Data Centre in Singapore
AT&T Inc. announced the launch of the first super Internet Data Centre (IDC) in Asia, located in Singapore.
The super IDC, an expansion of AT&T's existing facilities, would act as a regional gateway to the Internet and the AT&T network to deliver AT&T Synaptic HostingSM, its next-generation utility computing services.
This launch is part of AT&T's $1 billion planned global network investment in 2008 to increase global data centre hosting capacity throughout the 38 data centres in AT&T's global Internet protocol (IP) network.
Other super IDCs are located in Piscataway, New Jersey; San Diego, California; Annapolis, Maryland and Amsterdam in the Netherlands, which will form the regional hubs in the US and Europe.
Bernard Yee, vice president, AT&T Asia Pacific, said: "AT&T continues to invest in growing its business to support customers and to meet the demands of multinational corporations for next-generation services and solutions. To help customers in this challenging economic environment, the first super IDC in Asia, combined with our Synaptic Hosting platform, will offer them much greater flexibility to scale their information technology resources up or down to meet their business requirements."
"The super IDC will enable us to offer information technology and infrastructure service as turn-key managed infrastructure solutions on demand," Yee added.
"In addition, AT&T is going to offer managed application services within the sectors of enterprise resource planning software, eCommerce, web services, messaging and unified communications services to enhance our value proposition and managed services proposition for our customers in Asia and globally."
"Our goal is to allow them to focus on running their businesses while achieving greater flexibility, improved performance and further cost-savings," Yee said.
The AT&T IDCs allow AT&T to deliver consistent, highly scalable, enterprise-class information technology (IT) services around the globe. In addition to the hosting services available in all other centres, the super IDC supports large-scale computing and application infrastructure on demand that can be combined with other AT&T hosting services, such as managed networking, virtualised security, application acceleration and storage.
Companies can deliver end-user applications infrastructure whenever and wherever they are needed on a pay-for-use model. The new services can be accessed from anywhere in the world and combines technology acquired by AT&T from application service provider US inter-networking.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Embrace the right technologies
Putting your neck out, betting and embracing the right technologies to create a differentiator is one of the major challenges that R. Muralidharan, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Syntel India is facing. In a interview with Manu Sharma of CIOL Bureau, he shares his views of his achievements as a CIO and also on what he wishes to hear from vendors during the next fiscal. Excerpts:
CIOL: What are the major challenges faced by a CIO?
R. Muralidharan: The major challenges faced by the CIO today revolves around
* Reduction in total cost of ownership of running IT
* Ensuring that IT is always driving business value and consistently being perceived as a business enabler.
* Putting his neck out, betting and embracing the right technologies to create a differentiator.
CIOL: Does your organization link IT budget with the company's performance/growth? If yes please elaborate?
RM: Yes. Syntel does link IT budget with the company's performance /growth. The total IT spend is typically pegged as a percentage of revenue.
CIOL: Can you cite any specific areas where IT has come up as an accomplishment in your stint as a CIO?
RM: There have been quite a few major areas of focus for IT over the last two years in my stint as the CIO of Syntel. There have been significant achievements across not just implementation of technologies but the entire aspect of effective deployment of people, process and technology all aimed towards the goal of being valued as a true business enabler. The areas of significant achievements cuts across all areas of infrastructure such as network, storage, systems/servers, security, telecom all supporting critical internal business applications and connectivity needed for providing services to its global customers. Apart from focus on investments in technologies, there has been a significant focus on processes and people competency development all aligned to delivering value to customers.
CIOL: Going forward, what are the challenges which you foresee?
RM: The challenges of the future envisaged revolves around more and more Green IT initiatives thus enabling significant environmental benefits apart from providing a lower cost of ownership for running IT in the organization. The other challenge revolves around betting on the right technologies for the future which will deliver the maximum benefit to the organization.
CIOL: How far have you come as regards adopting 'Green IT technologies'?
RM: Green IT initiative is a moving target and Syntel is investing significantly on ensuring the all the campuses being built to support the growth is enabled using Green It technologies. On a parallel front, there is a large effort on driving investments in terms of time and processes to ensure that Green IT initiatives are inculcated across the organization thus focusing on reducing carbon foot print.
CIOL: What will be the IT budget for the new fiscal year/ What is the growth rate over last year?
RM: Syntel has been consistently growing at around 25-30 percent and hence the IT budget has also been growing to meet these needs of the growth. Apart from the growth of the operating budget, there is also significant amount of investment being done in investing on cutting edge technologies in its campuses.
CIOL: Name the top 5 items that you expect to spent on this fiscal year?
RM: The top five areas of spend is expected to be in the areas of:
* Build out of campuses to support growth
* Business productivity applications
* Security and Compliance
* Network Optimization
* Virtualization
CIOL: Do you feel the amount allocated for IT is sufficient if yes why? If not why not? How much should you be spending?
RM: IT being typically treated as a cost center, it is extremely important that any investment made in IT should be measured by evaluating as to how it has lowered the total cost of ownership to business. As an IT company that is growing, it is not possible to lower the absolute amount of investment. Hence the yardstick for measurement is to primarily focus on reducing the unit cost of providing IT services to the employees of the organization. We have been able to successfully demonstrate this across all domains. The business value delivered in terms of contribution to the bottom line has been apt so far.
CIOL: How big is the IT staff in your organization?
RM: The total IT organization size globally inclusive of outsourced staff is around 160. This team supports the various business entities within the group engaged in the business of IT services and KPO.
CIOL: As a global company how are you networked all the centres?
RM: All the global delivery and sales offices are networked using multiple technologies such as ATM, MPLS, Frame Relay and IPsec VPN's over the Internet cloud. The core network is built over Nortel Passport WAN switches that support data, voice over IP and video traffic. This backbone enables us to seamlessly integrate into our customer networks securely while at the same time providing scalability and high availability to meet varied requirements at an optimum cost.
CIOL: Is it difficult to gets adequate funds for IT implementations?
RM: The biggest challenge for CIO's for getting funds for new IT implementations is to continuously work on reducing operating expenses as a percentage of the total budget for keeping lights ON and meet business expectations of IT availability. It is always a moving target as every CIO would like to get the maximum funds diverted for new implementations.
CIOL: What part of IT implementations plays a more prominent role? Software or hardware or networking? Why?
RM: IT needs to be viewed as a tool and not the end. Hence no individual component whether it is hardware, software or networking is individually more or less important. What business gets in a highly mobile environment in today's context is a function of achievements across all these domains to enhance the user experience level.
CIOL: The success or failure of an IT deployment should be attributed to whom, the CIO or the vendor, or is it a collaborative accountability?
RM: Though any CIO would like to always have a joint accountability or would like to blame it on the vendor to cover up for failure, I firmly believe that it is always the CIO's accountability for the success or failure of an IT deployment. One can't have a situation where the CIO is complemented for success but the stick is on a collaborative accountability or put on the vendor. The CIO is in the best situation to know what fits his business the most and also the prerogative to choose the vendor and partner most suited to be successful for his business environment.
CIOL: What percentage do you outsource a portion of your IT project?RM: To a large extent possible, Syntel works in developing and implementing core technology components internally. What is typically outsourced for BAU support is low end hardware support activities. For any IT project under implementation, Syntel works very closely with its vendor partners to ensure that an optimum solution is implemented while ensuring that internal skills are developed. This helps us leverage our experience in these domains to deliver value and thought leadership to our clients while delivering IT and infrastructure services. CIOL: Has the nature and pattern of IT adoption become more sophisticated? If yes, to what extent?RM: IT has become an integrated tool as every aspect of business relies on IT. To this extent the dependency on IT by the various stakeholders and users has become very high. Some of the complexities or sophistication arises out of the diversified business needs and this coupled with the plethora of vendors providing various technology options. The sophistication of diverse user requirements is translated into sophistication in the need for integration of various technologies to deliver business value to the end user and business. This is making the task more and more difficult for the IT organization in terms of timely delivery of integrated solutions matching the pace of the need by the business.
CIOL: Are some enterprises under the myth that modernization processes such as automation and IT deployment can take place only in large enterprises? Elaborate.
RM: Yes. Today IT is all-prevalent and an enabler for growth. Investment in the right technologies for small and medium enterprises will help them be well prepared for scale up and growth. CIOL: As a CIO what would you wish to hear from vendors during the next fiscal?RM: One of the biggest challenges hearing from vendors is always the gap between what then can deliver vis-Ã -vis what they actually deliver. Secondly, there are a lot of exciting technologies in the areas of virtualization, unified communication etc. which is going to key investment areas. Key areas that I would like to hear from vendors is factual information of what they can deliver which will really help in reduce the time spent on POC's and implementing thus enabling a faster return on investment and maximizing business benefit.
CIOL: With so many vendors pushing their products, how are you able to distinguish what really works in your organization?
RM: We have a very elaborate and rigorous evaluation methodology when it comes to embracing any new technology and product. One of the key aspects of product selection focuses on relevance and adaptability to our work environment and we have been able to do a decent job so far.
CIOL: So many IT products fail after being implemented Why?
RM: There a lot of elements that needs to be addressed for a successful IT implementation. Beyond just simply what the product can do which can be addressed using a one time good evaluation process, there are areas of continuous investments in the right processes and people competency development that needs to be done to sustain the implementation and also keep upgrading it on a periodic basis to meet the changing business requirements as well as technological advancements. These are bigger challenges than the product itself and this also has a longer lifespan. These are areas where most failures occur. Or put differently, this is where competing organizations adopting similar products and technologies also differentiate themselves.
CIOL: What are the major challenges faced by a CIO?
R. Muralidharan: The major challenges faced by the CIO today revolves around
* Reduction in total cost of ownership of running IT
* Ensuring that IT is always driving business value and consistently being perceived as a business enabler.
* Putting his neck out, betting and embracing the right technologies to create a differentiator.
CIOL: Does your organization link IT budget with the company's performance/growth? If yes please elaborate?
RM: Yes. Syntel does link IT budget with the company's performance /growth. The total IT spend is typically pegged as a percentage of revenue.
CIOL: Can you cite any specific areas where IT has come up as an accomplishment in your stint as a CIO?
RM: There have been quite a few major areas of focus for IT over the last two years in my stint as the CIO of Syntel. There have been significant achievements across not just implementation of technologies but the entire aspect of effective deployment of people, process and technology all aimed towards the goal of being valued as a true business enabler. The areas of significant achievements cuts across all areas of infrastructure such as network, storage, systems/servers, security, telecom all supporting critical internal business applications and connectivity needed for providing services to its global customers. Apart from focus on investments in technologies, there has been a significant focus on processes and people competency development all aligned to delivering value to customers.
CIOL: Going forward, what are the challenges which you foresee?
RM: The challenges of the future envisaged revolves around more and more Green IT initiatives thus enabling significant environmental benefits apart from providing a lower cost of ownership for running IT in the organization. The other challenge revolves around betting on the right technologies for the future which will deliver the maximum benefit to the organization.
CIOL: How far have you come as regards adopting 'Green IT technologies'?
RM: Green IT initiative is a moving target and Syntel is investing significantly on ensuring the all the campuses being built to support the growth is enabled using Green It technologies. On a parallel front, there is a large effort on driving investments in terms of time and processes to ensure that Green IT initiatives are inculcated across the organization thus focusing on reducing carbon foot print.
CIOL: What will be the IT budget for the new fiscal year/ What is the growth rate over last year?
RM: Syntel has been consistently growing at around 25-30 percent and hence the IT budget has also been growing to meet these needs of the growth. Apart from the growth of the operating budget, there is also significant amount of investment being done in investing on cutting edge technologies in its campuses.
CIOL: Name the top 5 items that you expect to spent on this fiscal year?
RM: The top five areas of spend is expected to be in the areas of:
* Build out of campuses to support growth
* Business productivity applications
* Security and Compliance
* Network Optimization
* Virtualization
CIOL: Do you feel the amount allocated for IT is sufficient if yes why? If not why not? How much should you be spending?
RM: IT being typically treated as a cost center, it is extremely important that any investment made in IT should be measured by evaluating as to how it has lowered the total cost of ownership to business. As an IT company that is growing, it is not possible to lower the absolute amount of investment. Hence the yardstick for measurement is to primarily focus on reducing the unit cost of providing IT services to the employees of the organization. We have been able to successfully demonstrate this across all domains. The business value delivered in terms of contribution to the bottom line has been apt so far.
CIOL: How big is the IT staff in your organization?
RM: The total IT organization size globally inclusive of outsourced staff is around 160. This team supports the various business entities within the group engaged in the business of IT services and KPO.
CIOL: As a global company how are you networked all the centres?
RM: All the global delivery and sales offices are networked using multiple technologies such as ATM, MPLS, Frame Relay and IPsec VPN's over the Internet cloud. The core network is built over Nortel Passport WAN switches that support data, voice over IP and video traffic. This backbone enables us to seamlessly integrate into our customer networks securely while at the same time providing scalability and high availability to meet varied requirements at an optimum cost.
CIOL: Is it difficult to gets adequate funds for IT implementations?
RM: The biggest challenge for CIO's for getting funds for new IT implementations is to continuously work on reducing operating expenses as a percentage of the total budget for keeping lights ON and meet business expectations of IT availability. It is always a moving target as every CIO would like to get the maximum funds diverted for new implementations.
CIOL: What part of IT implementations plays a more prominent role? Software or hardware or networking? Why?
RM: IT needs to be viewed as a tool and not the end. Hence no individual component whether it is hardware, software or networking is individually more or less important. What business gets in a highly mobile environment in today's context is a function of achievements across all these domains to enhance the user experience level.
CIOL: The success or failure of an IT deployment should be attributed to whom, the CIO or the vendor, or is it a collaborative accountability?
RM: Though any CIO would like to always have a joint accountability or would like to blame it on the vendor to cover up for failure, I firmly believe that it is always the CIO's accountability for the success or failure of an IT deployment. One can't have a situation where the CIO is complemented for success but the stick is on a collaborative accountability or put on the vendor. The CIO is in the best situation to know what fits his business the most and also the prerogative to choose the vendor and partner most suited to be successful for his business environment.
CIOL: What percentage do you outsource a portion of your IT project?RM: To a large extent possible, Syntel works in developing and implementing core technology components internally. What is typically outsourced for BAU support is low end hardware support activities. For any IT project under implementation, Syntel works very closely with its vendor partners to ensure that an optimum solution is implemented while ensuring that internal skills are developed. This helps us leverage our experience in these domains to deliver value and thought leadership to our clients while delivering IT and infrastructure services. CIOL: Has the nature and pattern of IT adoption become more sophisticated? If yes, to what extent?RM: IT has become an integrated tool as every aspect of business relies on IT. To this extent the dependency on IT by the various stakeholders and users has become very high. Some of the complexities or sophistication arises out of the diversified business needs and this coupled with the plethora of vendors providing various technology options. The sophistication of diverse user requirements is translated into sophistication in the need for integration of various technologies to deliver business value to the end user and business. This is making the task more and more difficult for the IT organization in terms of timely delivery of integrated solutions matching the pace of the need by the business.
CIOL: Are some enterprises under the myth that modernization processes such as automation and IT deployment can take place only in large enterprises? Elaborate.
RM: Yes. Today IT is all-prevalent and an enabler for growth. Investment in the right technologies for small and medium enterprises will help them be well prepared for scale up and growth. CIOL: As a CIO what would you wish to hear from vendors during the next fiscal?RM: One of the biggest challenges hearing from vendors is always the gap between what then can deliver vis-Ã -vis what they actually deliver. Secondly, there are a lot of exciting technologies in the areas of virtualization, unified communication etc. which is going to key investment areas. Key areas that I would like to hear from vendors is factual information of what they can deliver which will really help in reduce the time spent on POC's and implementing thus enabling a faster return on investment and maximizing business benefit.
CIOL: With so many vendors pushing their products, how are you able to distinguish what really works in your organization?
RM: We have a very elaborate and rigorous evaluation methodology when it comes to embracing any new technology and product. One of the key aspects of product selection focuses on relevance and adaptability to our work environment and we have been able to do a decent job so far.
CIOL: So many IT products fail after being implemented Why?
RM: There a lot of elements that needs to be addressed for a successful IT implementation. Beyond just simply what the product can do which can be addressed using a one time good evaluation process, there are areas of continuous investments in the right processes and people competency development that needs to be done to sustain the implementation and also keep upgrading it on a periodic basis to meet the changing business requirements as well as technological advancements. These are bigger challenges than the product itself and this also has a longer lifespan. These are areas where most failures occur. Or put differently, this is where competing organizations adopting similar products and technologies also differentiate themselves.
Leading service provider completes energy audits of data centres
As part of the Green IT project, Adventity BPO India Pvt Ltd, a leading provider of fully integrated strategic KPO and BPO services to a diverse global business community has completed energy audits of all its data centers and also made changes to reduce the carbon footprint. In a interview with Manu Sharma, Associate Editor at CIOL, Rajendra Sawant, CIO of Adventity talks about switching off any servers when it is not required and also on how hard it is to get the right IT manpower in an organization.
CIOL: What are the major challenges faced by you in your organization?
Rajendra Sawant: Some of the major challenges we face in our organization include:
* Getting the right manpower
* Unrealistic expectations from IT
* To convince top level management about importance of IT
CIOL: Does your organization link IT budget with the company's performance or growth? If yes please elaborate?
RS: No, our organization does not link IT budget with the company's performance or growth
CIOL: Can you cite any specific areas where IT has come up as an accomplishment in your stint? RS: One of our major accomplishments has been that we converted most of the IT Infrastructure projects from Capex into Opex. The other include major cost reduction on almost all aspects of IT Infrastructure and also creating a Wi-Fi and Mobile savvy IT climate.
CIOL: Going forward, what are the challenges that you foresee?
RS: Going forward the challenges we forsee include:
* Retaining good talent pool
* Protect IT investments
* To delivery more for less cost
CIOL: How far have you come as regards to adopting 'Green IT technologies'?
RS: We have done an energy audit of all our data centers and made changes to reduce carbon footprint. We also switch off any servers when it is not required.
CIOL: What has been the hike in the IT budget for the new fiscal year? What has been the growth rate over last year?
RS: IT budget has increased by almost 100 percent and same has happened over last year.
CIOL: Name the top 5 items that you expect to spent on this fiscal year?
RS: * Storage solution
* Server virtualization
* MPLS
* Voice solution upgrade
CIOL: Do you feel the amount allocated for IT is sufficient if yes why? If not why not? How much should you be spending?
RS: We have sufficient allocation for IT. Currently IT being integral part of our service offerings, IT budget allocation gets priority.
CIOL: How big is the IT staff in your organization?
RS: The current strength of IT in our organization is over 150 employees.
CIOL: What are the major challenges faced by you in your organization?
Rajendra Sawant: Some of the major challenges we face in our organization include:
* Getting the right manpower
* Unrealistic expectations from IT
* To convince top level management about importance of IT
CIOL: Does your organization link IT budget with the company's performance or growth? If yes please elaborate?
RS: No, our organization does not link IT budget with the company's performance or growth
CIOL: Can you cite any specific areas where IT has come up as an accomplishment in your stint? RS: One of our major accomplishments has been that we converted most of the IT Infrastructure projects from Capex into Opex. The other include major cost reduction on almost all aspects of IT Infrastructure and also creating a Wi-Fi and Mobile savvy IT climate.
CIOL: Going forward, what are the challenges that you foresee?
RS: Going forward the challenges we forsee include:
* Retaining good talent pool
* Protect IT investments
* To delivery more for less cost
CIOL: How far have you come as regards to adopting 'Green IT technologies'?
RS: We have done an energy audit of all our data centers and made changes to reduce carbon footprint. We also switch off any servers when it is not required.
CIOL: What has been the hike in the IT budget for the new fiscal year? What has been the growth rate over last year?
RS: IT budget has increased by almost 100 percent and same has happened over last year.
CIOL: Name the top 5 items that you expect to spent on this fiscal year?
RS: * Storage solution
* Server virtualization
* MPLS
* Voice solution upgrade
CIOL: Do you feel the amount allocated for IT is sufficient if yes why? If not why not? How much should you be spending?
RS: We have sufficient allocation for IT. Currently IT being integral part of our service offerings, IT budget allocation gets priority.
CIOL: How big is the IT staff in your organization?
RS: The current strength of IT in our organization is over 150 employees.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Experience drastic cut in IT budgets
This is mainly due to drop in system innovations, reducing costs and increase in speed of doing business, says Dell
As most companies allocate about 80 percent of their IT budget for infrastructure maintenance and 20 percent for new business innovations, Dell officials feel this figure can be cut down from 80 percent to about 50 percent in the next six-seven years.
Talking to CIOL Bureau, Sameer Garde, General Manager – Services, Dell India said: "The reduction will be mainly due to the 50 percent drop in system innovations and also due to the reducing costs and increase in the speed of doing business."
Recently, India has been witnessing the introduction of two services, Dell's ProSupport for 'IT' and ProSupport for the 'End Users', aimed at improving local support for enterprise customers by improving turnaround times and offering the ability to fast-track requests.
Now Dell ProSupport assures its customers who add two to three servers every month that they should virtualize their hardware and data centers. "IT infrastructure is where it all starts, i.e., from data centers, servers to desktops. We have virtualized several customer's data centers from 200 to 15 servers thus reducing their costs," he adds.
Dell takes up turnkey projects on end-to-end solution that takes about six-eight weeks to complete. "While the assessment of the data centers takes two-six weeks the design implementation takes six-eight weeks," Garde says.
Reports indicate that Dell has invested about $6 billion in services alone during FY07, and this is likely to shoot up further with more offering in the service space. Having launched its service operations in India, Dell's ProSupport, a globally consistent, customer-driven support offering, spans Dell's commercial product and solutions portfolios.
Dell has distilled more than 10 service offerings down to two customizable packages with flexible options for service level and proactive management.
"ProSupport goes beyond reactive problem resolution and hardware support to include proactive management," says Garde. With the right options, customers can reduce technical incidents by as much as 37 percent and critical downtime by as much as 48 percent, Garde adds.
The company is targeting emerging enterprises with 200 to 1,500 employees, but don't have a help desk. "We are focusing on banking and financial institutions, BPO and also government institutions to offer our service portfolio," he says.
Dell Prosupport wing already has about 650 engineers in India and about 150 call center executives in India. The company offers same day support in 22 cities besides other services in over 300 towns across the country.
As most companies allocate about 80 percent of their IT budget for infrastructure maintenance and 20 percent for new business innovations, Dell officials feel this figure can be cut down from 80 percent to about 50 percent in the next six-seven years.
Talking to CIOL Bureau, Sameer Garde, General Manager – Services, Dell India said: "The reduction will be mainly due to the 50 percent drop in system innovations and also due to the reducing costs and increase in the speed of doing business."
Recently, India has been witnessing the introduction of two services, Dell's ProSupport for 'IT' and ProSupport for the 'End Users', aimed at improving local support for enterprise customers by improving turnaround times and offering the ability to fast-track requests.
Now Dell ProSupport assures its customers who add two to three servers every month that they should virtualize their hardware and data centers. "IT infrastructure is where it all starts, i.e., from data centers, servers to desktops. We have virtualized several customer's data centers from 200 to 15 servers thus reducing their costs," he adds.
Dell takes up turnkey projects on end-to-end solution that takes about six-eight weeks to complete. "While the assessment of the data centers takes two-six weeks the design implementation takes six-eight weeks," Garde says.
Reports indicate that Dell has invested about $6 billion in services alone during FY07, and this is likely to shoot up further with more offering in the service space. Having launched its service operations in India, Dell's ProSupport, a globally consistent, customer-driven support offering, spans Dell's commercial product and solutions portfolios.
Dell has distilled more than 10 service offerings down to two customizable packages with flexible options for service level and proactive management.
"ProSupport goes beyond reactive problem resolution and hardware support to include proactive management," says Garde. With the right options, customers can reduce technical incidents by as much as 37 percent and critical downtime by as much as 48 percent, Garde adds.
The company is targeting emerging enterprises with 200 to 1,500 employees, but don't have a help desk. "We are focusing on banking and financial institutions, BPO and also government institutions to offer our service portfolio," he says.
Dell Prosupport wing already has about 650 engineers in India and about 150 call center executives in India. The company offers same day support in 22 cities besides other services in over 300 towns across the country.
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