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In this edition of CIO of the Month we are going back to the same topic of recession. Before you ask why, our question is what else is there right now on anyones plate starting from CEO downwards to the regular office boy? Obviously, CIOs are not immune to this pressure; for many, protecting their and the teams jobs right now assumes top priority over any other technology deployment or major strategic initiative. The four CIOs we feature this time are no different; their mantras for survival in these troubled times revolve around time (meeting deadlines), having more cost effective solutions and last but not the least responding more promptly to all business exigencies. And before we utter the dreaded R word again, lets hope their mantras would bring some sort of succor in these grim times.

Deadline@Recession = Lifeline

Turbulent times call for tough measures especially from those in the leadership positions says Sanjay Mittal, head IT, VIP Industries, and not without a reason. Being a CIO is not easy especially in tough times like these wherein a lot of expectations are riding on him whether it is in terms of ensuring project completion on time; or delivering required solutions at an optimum cost.

One of the biggest expectations from a CIO has been to ensure that whatever projects are on, it should not escalate in terms of budget and time because any delay will lead to slow realization of business benefits, says Mittal. For instance, currently the onus of the timely completion of all it projects rests solely on his shoulders.

Sanjay Mittal, head of IT and systems, VIP Industries

Moreover, when it comes to meeting common organizational goals like cost optimization, it is expected of the CIO to be an active participant and also provide appropriate solutions to peers. For instance, if my sales team needs to travel for the sales review and at the same time travel costs needs to be low, then I as a CIO am expected to provide collaborative communication solution quickly to enable sales team to interact efficiently without traveling, he says.

VIP Industries seems to be following a different agenda unlike other enterprises where reduced IT budgets have impacted running projects, the company has decided to optimize projects but not to cut project costs at all. The single biggest challenge now is to convert the capex into operational expenses, Mittal says.

The CIOs on their part need to be sensitive to organizational needs and at the same time show urgency for action whether it is ensuring timely project completion or making available requisite IT solutions to other business units when asked for.

Deconstructing Recession

As I wait for Mahesh Mathur, CIO DLF to arrive for the breakfast interview, I cannot help but think about how one of Indias premier real estate companies is coping with recession and how Mathur as its CIO would be expected to score well in all quarters.

Mahesh Mathur, CIO DLF

As a CIO, it is expected of us to contribute in reducing the IT expenditure by way of resource sharing (for instance sharing printers and using reusable consumables) so that the running cost goes down. Then there are other means as well like using unified communication or VoIP for reducing communication costs or leveraging voice infrastructure over existing data infrastructure. For instance, at DLF we are currently using our own network for transfer of data over the same network, the question is whether we can also build voice over the same network thereby saving the cost of installing a direct line, says Mathur.

Then the CIO has to also address the issue of making the best use of the existing resources. At DLF, WAN is being used wherein every office has a fixed bandwidth for accessing applications. However, offices may not be utilizing all the allocated bandwidth resulting in wastage of resources.

It is also expected of a CIO to re-negotiate rates of contract from the vendors and opt for the best deal even if it means selecting the smaller vendors, he says. The CIO is also expected to contribute to improving customer communication and to keep the customers updated. What is expected is auto communication rather than manually informing the customers, says Mathur.

As a CIO, its important that one should not get panicky and work closely with business. CIO can provide comfort to business by ensuring that IT can contribute by way of increasing efficiency, and reducing operating costs, he says.

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