The CIO role in supporting top line growth

The urgency of the CIO to ride the juggernaut called inclusive technology is a challenge. Today the young executive is more tech savvy then most people in the IT department who have become tired and jaded in just keeping the lights on.
Innovation and Excellence from the IT department needs a CIO who can juggle being a strategist, innovator and also hit the sweet spot in emerging technology swings.
The CIO needs to deploy  technology as a catalyst to stitch the organization together in delivering the same goal and vision as articulated by the Board .

CIO has Miles to Go and Promise to Keep in an Uncharted Terrain!

In the world of SMAC the CIO has to become an aggregator and has to change his teams pace in adopting technology which is driven by his company's employees and customers rather than by the IT Team.
Gone are the days when the CIO had a chance to choose build deploy and support technology, today the CIO  has to deliver in real time in a hyper competitive environment and show direct correlation to market share and top line growth of the company.
Let me share a SMAC story, this is the story of start up  company named Vondasoft ( www.vondasoft.com) who have a SMAC solution on the cloud, they trawl the digital world 24x7 and aggregate data about your company, product or whatever you wish to know.
They come up with real time analysis or time series analysis on what your customers are thinking or doing or posting about your product, they give you a customer insight which will help you micro manage your relationship with every customer you own in the digital world.
Money is scarce and the old capex model is history, we live in an opex world with tighter accounting and a business which has shorter time to markets and a very impatient end user of technology. If the IT team does not deliver, the business will use underground technology, they are many in the market which can be used with a simple credit card.
The CIO's role in  supporting the top line growth is under threat unless the CIO is willing to  adapt  to today's ever changing technology landscape and use technology for business agility, value addition and simplifying the way we do business.




 

New Indian Banks need to ride the cloud for their Success

Come January we will have 7 new Indian Banks given licences to operate from the many applicants.
The new licences will be given with conditions attached for rural thrust in banking and also social banking.
As the applicants eagerly await their licences and start head hunting for their leadership the promoters will need to review whether Cloud Computing could be  the Elixir for getting them operational in weeks rather then months.
Cloud computing will give them reach to the remote rural hamlets in India and also be effective, reliable and a secure vehicle to reach banking technology to the 40 million unbaked Indians.
As the head hunters set the wheels in motion to hire the new suite of leaders to put execution plans into action it may the time for the Board of these promoter Banks to consider Cloud Computing for their profitability, agility and secure banking.

Are New Indian Banks Ready to Fly into the Cloud ?
Photo by Amitav Thamba

Hiring Technology leaders from the conventional technology banking landscape may be disastrous for these banks who will need to hit the ground running.
The good news is a few of these new banks could be Micro Finance institutions who are already using the cloud and they will surge ahead of the other Banks who use conventional wisdom in rolling out banking solutions the old way.
Indian Banks need to learn from cloud deployment for banking in Latin America and Africa and learn from their experiences in providing reliable and affordable financial services to their customers.
Are the new Indian Banks prepared to ride the cloud for their success ?

Cloud Computing could be Superman for Business in an Economically Distressed World

There are strikes in Brazil, the Indian Rupee is shedding value faster than my weight gain, the world globally is grappling on how to keep recession at bay.
The business climate is tough and Cloud Computing could be Superman for Business.
When business want to cut costs they need tools to identify what they are doing, they need tighter monitoring and controls, they can find solutions for this in the various SAAS solutions available in the cloud. They just pay for what they use and get their business ship shape.
Energy prices and managing data centers is expensive, cloud could offer a better and more cost effective solution.

Reach for the Clouds when the Going it Tough

Marketing budgets are tight, but without marketing how do you reach your customer, use the cloud computing social media tools to reach your customers.
Sales people costs are high and customer support  is essential for survival use cloud hosted  sales and customer management tools.
Logistics, distribution and tracking are good areas to tighten in times of recession, solutions combining cloud and mobility are at your service.
Controlling projects and close monitoring are essential use project management solutions in the cloud.
Agility and team work  are essential  in these difficult times, use cloud computing solutions for real time communication and collaboration.
Want to bust the recession, turn to Cloud Computing it may be the Superman which can save your business.
Want to know more and willing to make the trip to Bangalore attend my workshop on cloud computing for business leaders on June 27th , 2013 at Bangalore, your ROI is assured, http://lssubramanian.com/program.

Business Can Benefit with Cloud Computing

There are many great stories of Information Technology Business on the cloud who have made millions of dollars with a great idea, these are companies who have built solutions on the cloud and benefited by a low cost  launch of their business and almost no entry barrier to succeed in their vision for changing the world with cloud computing.

This article is for another type of Business, those  who can use computing as a business enabler and benefit with automation from conceptualization to execution to sustenance of their start-up business whatever it may be.

Let us consider start-up business in the non technology traditional economy, simple businesses like engineering fabrication, distribution, cash collection, retailing, food and beverages, and any other start-up whose leadership has an idea and the entrepreneurial zeal.

What cloud computing solutions can Business use for their business efficiency? today many Business start their computing journey on the internet with a static website and some great graphics and jazz.

Cloud Computing is like a TAXI, you get in when you want and get out when you are done and only pay for use of the taxi and not for the cost of the taxi or even the salary of the driver !

Here is how they could do it  in a better way with almost zero cost, a Facebook page, a Twitter handle, a LinkedIn company page, an office productivity suite from Google or Zoho or similar, and the start-up is ready for its journey in the cloud.

If the start-up is creative they can also create a blog about what is happening in their company.  Most of these services are free for a small user base with enough functionality and computing power for the business needs.

Subscribe to a project management tool, an accounting/costing package or even specialized packages for the business like CAD/CAM software  and the start up is as well equipped with computing solutions which normally is only available to  Fortune 500 companies. The business could even use a CRM if they wish, though it may not need email campaigns, and they can actually put together a simple CRM with Google or Zoho again for almost nothing and on their own and use the plain out telephone for customer campaigns.

Imagine a specialized take-away  dishing out food based on dietary and religious restrictions, The business  can use a free CRM in the cloud which can track customers and their days of fasting and festive days and dietary preferences and even foods that they are allergic to.

The Facebook page posting with its LIKE button can spread the good word around about their wonderful add on services and the quality of their food.

Imagine putting together a simple supply chain management solution to optimize purchasing from a free solution in the cloud.  Throw in a tracking solution of the food delivery by use of mobile phones and you have an optimized routing.  Hey can the paper man improve his paper delivery in  your area, can the milkman too do that.. maybe.... There is always an opportunity for new people with better delivery and quality to move into traditional businesses. One step further use a mobile phone credit card payment or mobile money solutions and you are all set to optimize your cash collection without the headache of handling paper money.

So if you are in a business get started on using application in the cloud to improve your business productivity and efficiency and eager to enjoy the profits start using the solutions offered in the cloud.  The future of computing is the cloud and every Business can be a winner by use of cloud computing solutions.

Cloud Adoption - Start with the Public Cloud.

Many Enterprises start with virtualization in their data center and then scale their data centers into a private cloud and then maybe migrate to a hybrid cloud by integrating with the public cloud.
This approach could be flawed though it may give comfort the CTO/CIO of the organization,  because  it may be a risky route to test cloud computing.
Virtualization management needs good skilled personnel more so when the virtualized servers run into a problem, these resources are a challenge to find and even if found difficult to retain .
Secondly building private clouds may not be economical and is time consuming to get it resilient and reliable.
Most private enterprise clouds do not have a self service model build in their deployment, rather it goes through the IT department again, which means there is no agility and ease of deployment of services for an end user.

A Private Cloud May turn out to be like the boat in the Well!

A better route for an enterprise is to start using the public cloud by launching a social media campaign and a few SAAS solutions which  will bring agility, innovation and value to the enterprise.
Add on mobile device accessibility to enhance the employee experience and  you have a winning cloud deployment in your enterprise. You would delight the enterprise leadership with this approach, since it may add visibility and simplicity in getting a better insight into the teams that they manage in a very short window of time.
Using the Public Clouds builds  the required confidence and trust in cloud computing. Once these benchmarks are established you may want to invest in a cloud appliance for the private cloud which can be deployed withing the enterprise. Once the private cloud appliance is integrated with the public cloud presto you have a hybrid cloud and are ready to reap the economical and strategic benefits of the cloud !

Your private cloud may turn out be like the boat in the picture, which is at rest in a well with no where to go

Shiva & Nandi and Cloud Computing & CIO

In Hindu mythology Shiva is the destroyer and Nandi the Bull is Shiva's mount and is the gate keeper to Shiva and his consort Parvathi.

Every Shiva temple has a Nandi at its entrance which prevents direct view of the idol at the Sanctum of the temple.
More on Wikpedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nandi_(bull)

If the CIO is the Nandi then cloud computing is  Shiva the destroyer of traditional computing. Unless the Nandi moves the business cannot reap the benefits of the cloud and attain salvation.

Hence it is important that the CIO transforms himself as the mount for the organization to benefit from cloud computing rather then being the gatekeeper who will not allow the business to adopt cloud computing.

Is the CIO - Nandi ready for the transformation from a gatekeeper to the mount for the business to ride into cloud computing for agile and innovative computing ?

The monolithic stone Nandi Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh 

(length 27 feet, height 15 feet)

New Banks in India need Cloud Computing

The Indian regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently agreed to provide licences to a number of new Banks in India with a caveat of serving the under banked population.
The promoters of these Banks will be scurrying with their consultants to hire CIO/CTO from other Banks to get off their Core Banking Systems off the ground before they can launch their banks.
It will be good for them to pause for a moment and consider Cloud Computing as a vehicle for their technology launch and here are some of the benefits

Cloud Computing will be the dawn of a new technology paradigm for Indian Banks. 

1. Time to Market will be in weeks rather then months so they can start their operations ASAP, especially if they adopt a SAAS based Banking solution. (e.g. the cloud based core banking solution offered by NABARD through Wipro and TCS).
2. They will operate in an Opex model, which means capital will not be locked into traditional technology capex investments. 
3. Agility  in their business will make launch of new and innovative products a breeze.
4. The under banked population can be easily reached from any device that can connect to the banks cloud Infrastructure. 
5. The significant savings in technology operation costs will be of immense benefit to the bank. 
6. They can focus on Banking rather then tackling information technology constraints and challenges. 
7. The regulator will support this initiative because this is not the first cloud computing banking solution in India. 

In a few months time we can spot the technology winners in these new banks and I am sure that the banks that adopt cloud computing will be at the top of the list. 

SAP Business ByDesign - agile and different

I had an opportunity to explore SAP Business ByDesign the new offering from SAP which bundles agility, adaptability and on demand deployment in the cloud.
It was wonderful to see the new avatar of SAP and to discuss their strategy in delivering business solutions from the cloud.

The  Agile and Different Avatar of SAP will rain in prosperity for Business. 

(Photo courtesy Ajay Kumar) 

Surprise was there was no reference to ERP in their brochures or by their sales people. the SAP Business ByDesign is a business collaboration tool, which is flexible and can be customized and rolled out in weeks rather then in months. 

This is really fresh breeze blowing from Germany in the month of Oktoberfest.

Accelerated adoption by business of this solution will bring business agility and strategic advantage to them.