For an industry veteran with 22 years of experience behind him, Sunil Kapoor surprisingly is a man of few words. Chief information officer of Fortis Hospitals, he, unlike his counterparts, does not believe in depending on any of the latest gadgets and instead 'depends on family'. “I do not depend on gadgets like PDA, mobile and laptop and consider these more as a nuisance as more often than not the mobile rings at the wrong moment,” he says.

But Kapoor believes that IT can be effectively used as a tool to enhance the company's business prospects and this is where his role of a CIO comes into play. Defining the role Sunil says, “A CIO is one who looks after everything right from availability of nuts and bolts to charting out business strategies. However, for me an ideal CIO should be 70% focused on the business side and 30% on the technical side.”

Having had worked in the user industry all his life he strongly believes that as the user industry caters to business and not to technology. Information Technology, therefore, should create business for the organization and should enhance business value, whether it is for the CEO or a trainee.

SUNIL KAPOOR CIO, Fortis Hospitals

Being a CIO does not come without its share of challenges and Kapoor too is no exception: “Being a CIO is a tightrope walk when it comes to meeting the huge expectations of the users as most are unclear about their demands from technology”. He admits to facing problems dealing with IT savvy employees.

An indifferent management, which only understands the cost language, too is a hurdle in effective IT management. “Getting the time and attention of the business heads is difficult to achieve. When it comes to planning and spending on IT, most top honchos are all ears and avidly discuss all the issues but when it comes to walking the talk, it comes to naught.”

Success Stories
For Kapoor, the use of technology helps the hospital match up to the stringent quality standards while at the same time improves healthcare delivery from a community perspective. The desire to use technology in order to make life better for its patients and for the medical fraternity prompted Fortis to experiment with a project, which entails offsite monitoring bedside readings of patients. Elaborating on the project, Kapoor said, “Once implemented the experiment would allow doctors to access the bedside monitor readings of their patients without actually visiting the ward. The experiment is innovative and unique in the sense that it would give freedom to doctors to see the readings offsite, make virtual rounds of the hospital and also look at the 24-hour movements-all this while sitting at his desk or from his home.” Encouraged by the response from the medicos, the hospital authorities have already tested the proof of concept at their Noida hospital for 15 days and after a satisfactory quality check, has placed the order with Philips. 

The experiment once implemented will allow for data sharing and will allow access from anywhere and everywhere through a data card-spelling good news for a majority of patients who are still dependent on the traditional way of treatment.

Kapoor introduced the concept of  'single window clearance' at Fortis in 2001. To free the patient from running around to different windows for billing, inquiry of services and doctors appointments, the 'single window' concept has made life much easier for him. “For a relative it becomes extremely difficult to run around for the paper work and also attend to the patient at the same time. The single window clearance concept will be a boon for him.”

After working for 22 years in various capacities at different organizations, Kapoor fondly remembers a particular incident that gives him immense satisfaction as an IT professional. “The incident happened during the time I was working at a sugar mill about 30 km away from Gorakhpur, a small town in Uttar Pradesh. During the tenure, I once saw dhoti-clad farmers working on computers and at the same time eating their daily dose of tobacco. The mere sight of those simple villagers confidently and efficiently working on a PC and then taking a printout of their vouchers was, I felt, the most satisfying moment of my career in the IT field. At that moment, the realization dawned upon me that technology had now reached the masses in India and is gradually making their lives better and simpler, which is what technology should do ideally.”

Chilling Out
A total sports freak and an outdoor person, Kapoor likes swimming and compares himself 'to a fish'; also playing table tennis and badminton and watching cricket. As one who is dependent on his family, it is not surprising that an ideal holiday for him means 'chilling out with them'. He owes a lot to his better half and depends on his homemaker wife. “All through she has been a great pillar of support for me and has given me time and freedom to concentrate on my career. I owe her a lot since she sacrificed her share of time which should have been ideally spent with her,” he said. Like most doting fathers, he adores his two kids who he says act as good “stress-busters and I tend to forget most of my office tension and stress once I start chatting with them.” As a music and film aficionado, Sunil loves to listen to any kind of music (though his favorites remain old Beatles numbers and classical Hindi and English music) on his Worldspace radio. On most weekends, Sunil is out with his family and one can catch him in theatres watching the latest flicks. Despite a grueling work schedule, he does manage to take out time to travel, one of his other passions. “I love traveling to hills and if given a chance I would like to retire early and stay in a small cottage nestled in the hills,” something, he believes, is a far-fetched dream.

Road Ahead
As one who has spent a lot of time in the thick of action, Sunil feels the time is now right for him to assume bigger roles. In fact he categorically says that he “would like to think and move beyond IT.” As a CIO, one gets to spend a lot of time with the CEO charting out strategies and processes for the organization and becoming aware of the business angle. The hands-on experience makes a CIO capable enough to take on more responsibilities and, therefore, he could act as the devil's advocate in the CEO's office and advise him.

On the personal front, Kapoor is looking to devote more time and attention to his family who constitute a very important part of his life.

Tipped to take up an important role in Fortis very soon, Sunil remains grounded and believes in his team and gives freedom to his team members to voice their opinion and give advice. “I treat my team as an extended family and I follow the American concept of 8:16, that is if you give me your 8 hours I'll take care of the remaining 16. More often than not I end up advising and guiding them in their personal lives too.”

A team player he aims to grow with his team and believes in the saying: 'A good leader is someone who helps improve the lives of other people.'

Team DQ
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

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