IT Next April, 2013

Editorial

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Blogs To Watch!A typical cloud computing system and how it works http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cloud-computing/cloud-computing.htm

Final Version of NIST Cloud Computing Definition Published http://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/cloud-102511.cfm

Cloud Computing-A Collection of working white papers http://www.johnhagel.com/cloudperspectives.pdf

Advances in cloud computing-Research in future cloud computing http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/ssai/docs/future-cc-2may-finalreport-experts.pdf

G e e t h a N a N d i k o t k u r

“It is rather interesting to find that most enterprise heads have followed a multi-faceted approach to Cloud adoption and integration for a business need”

Cloud in a Diverse Set-upthe Cloud must be the most abused word in the industry. While so much has been said about the Cloud and

discussions go on and on, thoughts of the Cloud continue to intrigue all.

The future of the IT industry is enveloped by the Cloud; and every IT Head, whether he desires it or not, seems to be bitten by this bug. While there has been a contention about the form or forms of the Cloud which could be more appropriate to the industry or enterprises, the multiple facets of the Cloud would definitely address the concerns.

IT Next’s cover feature on ‘Handbook on Cloud Technology’ in its current edition is an endeavour to bring to light various impressions and opinions of the Cloud and its applications in diverse scenarios and varied forms. It has delved deep into how the cloud computing model is being used by varied verticals and enterprises. It is rather interesting to find that most enterprise heads have followed a multi-faceted approach to Cloud adoption and integration for a business need. There is no doubt that the cloud computing model is maturing, though some amount of skepticism prevails. We notice that most users understand the benefits that the Cloud offers, having a higher level of integration that links the systems perfectly well and acting as a catalyst for value creation. But something’s missing somewhere. Most senior IT managers are challenged in terms of absorbing the Cloud in its truest sense or fullest form. The cover feature details certain cloud working models that the Government of India has initiated to provide better service to citizens; how CEOs of IT vendor companies have debated on effective steps to the Cloud and its value proposition to enterprises. Cloud experts have discussed easy steps to the Cloud and how it should be viewed in the complex scenario and framework that it needs.

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Contentapril 2013 V o l u m e 0 4 | i s s u e 0 3

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For the l atest technology upDates go to itnext.in

cover story

12 CEOs on the CloudCEOs of IT companies debate the ‘Promise and Perils’ of cloud computing and what it can offer enterprises

22 Cloud isn’t a single entityInterview with Peter Cochrane, CEO & Chairman at Cochrane Associates-He delves deep into the cloud technology and trends

24 The Use of Cloud in GovernmentGovernment departments under the NeGP program are experimenting with cloud based models to provide better services

28 The Cloud HonourThe Cloud leadership award for the team that has successfully implemented a cloud based project

06 otis elevators’ Director It & cIo, v subramaniam on how to unleash the winning potential in you

boss talk

38 Polycom’s senior Director Product Management, cary Hayward on the importance of integrating cloud with Uc

IntervIew

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34 47 38INTERVIEW:Polycom’s Hayward on how to integrate Cloud with UC

OPEN DEBATE:Experts argue if Big Data is another analytical tool?

BOSS TALK Unleash the winning potential Pg 06

FEATURE: Building a credible PPM Technique

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InsIgHts34 right PPM technique | Effective project and portfolio management techniques can help in improving innovation lifecycle and better decision making

InsIgHt35 Project & Portfolio Management Pay backs in terms of roI | PPM ensures hard savings potential while also qualifying intangible savings from the effective utilisation of legacy applications.

cUbe cHat 44 Pursuing with Passion |

Sandeep Mhalgi’s all time success

mantra is to possess passion

and have the ability to adapt to

changes which will eventually

pay off

UPDate 08 service led solution is the

approach to Future | Gartner

says IT Service Providers should

bridge legacy offerings with new

services

oPen Debate47 experts comprising the

senior It decision makers

argue on the point if big Data

is just another analytical tool

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Building ppm techniques| IT managers need to leverage effective PPM methods to align their resources to drive better innovation

regUlarsEditorial _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 01

Letters --------------------------04

Update -------------------------08

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INBoX

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A marvellous piece Dear Editor,I got to read the feature on BI in the online edition of IT Next. It is a mar-vellous piece, and I am happy to find such a talented team. I am also impressed with the quality of content and magazine design. I am excited to be associated with IT Next and look forward to writing articles.

Sunil rankaBi professional

Focus on verticals Dear Editor,IT Next brings interesting stories in

every issue. One of the stories that I

recall was the cover story on women,

‘Unlocking Women’s Potential.’ It

made an interesting read as no one

had attempted such a story for the

IT managers community. The study

show cased interesting perspectives

and gave interesting insights about

the personal and professional aspi-

rations of women, their challenges

and so on. I would like to read stories

related to personal profiles such as

Cube Chat, which is very absorbing.

The cover story on the CIO and CFO

debate was very well written with

good insights.

I understand IT Next is going to

get aggressive on the digital front.

Besides reading interesting pro-

files and case studies of successful

people, IT managers would be

keen to read about technology, and

verticals-focused stories: if IT Next

could categorise the content based

on various verticals and speak about

the best practices in technology in

that category. For instance, I would

like to read technological best prac-

tices from the hospitality sector; also

case studies which show successful

implementation of projects. It would

be ideal if you could also showcase

project failures which will help us

understand the flipside.

Going forward, I would be happy if

IT Next brought out white papers

from prominent research groups

which hitherto could not be accessed

by IT managers. As for me, I would

visit the IT Next website to read also

about Next100 and associated sto-

ries. I am keen to get updates on the

Next100 winners, their successes in

life. The next phase for the IT man-

agers is to leverage the social plat-

form effectively to get insights into

the industry and peer development.

aShiSh khannaCorporate Manager-iT infrastructure, Eih

(Note: Letters have been edited minimally, for brevity and clarity)

march 2013

www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=

2261770&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

300 members

Keep up the great work!Dear Editor,IT Next is doing great. I love it. Keep up the great work. I spend about two-three hours reading it online. The most interesting sections are Cube Chat, 15 minute manager, Editorial and the case studies. I like reading these as they provide facts and future direction to aspiring CIOs. Spending time on reading these help me enrich my knowledge and thinking ability, which I think is another step forward to the goal.As we go forward, I would like to read more stories on leadership by way of small case studies; these would help us grow as leaders. Case studies about how IT managers have moved up to the role of a CIO, and of CIOs moving up the ladder to become CEOs would be of great interest.I wish IT Next will always be a leader innovating and offering great value to its readers/followers, with a promise from readers that they will contribute equally to its qualitative contents.

Vijay ChoudharyGM-iT, hrh Group of hotels

iT nEXT ValuES your fEEdBaCk

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Senior IT decision makers are always on the thresh-old of being bombarded with various innovations, be it about technology or market related. After the Cloud, the next hype has been around big data,

which refers to the new universe of data being created by web interactions, social media, mobile and others.

The obvious question from IT heads or senior IT managers have been ‘how relevant is big data and how does it matter to me?’ And it is encouraging to find that senior IT managers are in sync with the fact that big data affects everyone. However, there’s one aspect that’s clear, that the big data project obviously is not driven by IT.

IT NEXT embarked on a cover story to analyse the big data trend and its impact on senior IT managers and their role in making a big deal out of big data. Most vendors say that big data is definitely considered to be a big deal by IT managers, without whose help the big data puzzle cannot be resolved. Most agree that IT teams are the support systems which extract value of big data using the necessary analytical tools, making it a structured form that enables businesses to use it for their competitive advantage.

Big Data at WorkIT managers do agree that big data is being harnessed; and there is hope, with big data analytic discovery vendors sup-porting the big data trend with the tools necessary to discover and co-relate with the structured data. However, skepticism prevails because of the data warehousing projects in the past that never provided the promised business outcome. In some cases, IT managers are relatively leery of making additional investments in big data and advanced analytics because of the complexity of their current analytics program.

According to Balasubramaniam Vedagiri, VP & Head - Enterprise Technology Solutions, Mphasis, and Next100 win-ner, using modeling tools and algorithms to harness the big data predictive analytics will define the winners in the next few years. “Big data is being used in supply chain management to understand a car maker’s sudden increase of defect rates in the field. Similarly, healthcare practices of millions of people are continually scanned and intervened as part of customer service,” says Vedagiri.

IT teams argue that in order to be a true differentiator, the right data set needs to be chosen, on which the models that predict and optimise business outcome can be built. In this context, Vedagiri believes that even before bringing the analyt-ics flavour to the fore, identification of the right business unit as a pilot is the first step. With the ability of big data to achieve optimised reports/dashboards on large data sets with many petabytes, the right business opportunities can be spotted by challenging the key functions.

IT decision-makers are harnessing the benefits of big data to help businesses make intelligent decisions

While finding insights that can improve business decision-making is not without inherent challenges, the first step that Ramendra Mandal, Country Manager, QlikTech India Pvt. Ltd, recommends is to isolate the area that the business is interested in. ‘Big data users need to focus on the specific slices of the origi-nal diverse data sources which are useful for answering specific business questions, without losing sight of the bigger picture,” says Mandal. According to Mandal, the role of IT heads in this process is critical. Not only does he or she need to amplify the value of data, he or she also needs to understand how to unify the business around it. “CIOs also need to fine-tune their approach to technology and a big data technology strategy should generally follow a portfolio approach,” says Mandal.

According to Qlik Tech, a portfolio approach means that CIOs don’t just use one technology to solve all their problems. For CIOs who are looking at big data, and who feel it’s impor-tant to their business, there must be tools in their tool box that enable them to search, understand, analyse and model the data.

“Big data users need to focus on the specific slices of the original diverse data

sources to answer specific questions”

Ramendra MandalCountry Manager, Qlik Tech India Pvt. Ltd.

BY N GEETHA ILLUSTRATION BY MANAV SACHDEV

DESIGN BY RAJ VERMA

ON A TEST DRIVE

ON A TEST DRIVE

COVER STORY | THE BIG DATA JOURNEY

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BOSS TALKPine Labs’ CEO on PoS Innovations

FEATURE Apply right controls to prevent risks PG 24

STRATEGY Easy Steps to Implementing BI

ON A TEST DRIVE

ON A TEST DRIVE

ITDMs are harnessing the benefits of big data through a pilot program to

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Boss talk | V Subramaniam

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“For an IT manager, it is imperative to ensure the project goals are clearly articulated and well defined to the team”

Winning’ inspires people to work harder; a winner gives hope to ordinary individuals and inspires them to stretch to make it to the

extra…ordinary.I wish to touch upon a few aspects relevant to IT

managers from the standpoint of a winning culture. It is critical for most IT managers who aspire to grow in their careers to understand the importance of creating a winning culture in their organisations and in their teams.

Create a Winning Attitude “How do IT managers contribute to bring in a win-ning culture into the enterprise”? The quintessential approach is to create a winning attitude followed by a winning team. There are a few ingredients that IT managers must imbibe if such a culture needs to be built. They have to:

Focus on common goal Possess a high level of commitment, responsibility,

accountability Have a sense of ownership in making things hap-

pen beyond barriers Establish certain limitations by maximising their

collective strengths as a winning teamWhat does all this mean? For an IT manager, it is

imperative to ensure the goals are clearly articulated and well defined to the team, while maintaining the necessary discipline in terms of project management, and taking into account the three pillars which form the scope: speed, time and quality.

A Positive environmentIt is fundamental to create an environment for the team to unleash their potential--with skills and knowledge and a positive attitude which creates a winning habit. Another most crucial criterion is to have the right balance of team with the right skills, competencies and continual learning to acquire the skills required to be part of a winning team.

Unleash the Potential, Win

T e a m m a n a g e m e n T

High performance and a high impact team create a winning team.

Play Like a ChampionMediocrity is unacceptable in a winning team. A winning team creates a winning culture. Winning that is shared is an inspiration and a winning team always inspires every team / member in the enter-prise to create a winning situation and be a winner. A winning team always plays like champions…every match and every goal is important; it performs like a rock star…it’s about creating shows, not just manag-ing them. Every show that guides us through prob-lems is important for the team to win and drive a winning culture.

Winning is a Habit, an AttitudeAs Maria Sharapova shared, “Tennis is made of losses and wins. Even if disappointed when one looses the game, one needs to stand up again and continue fighting for the next match.” Winning is a habit and an attitude. As leaders, we have to imbibe this within ourselves and inspire the team to imbibe it and be part of the winning team to create a winning culture across the organisation.

V Subramaniam, Director-iT & CiO, Otis Elevators ltd (india & Gulf)

The book inspires the readers to become good human beings. Being success-ful is not the only achievement.

SuGGESTiOn BOX

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trendsdealsproductsservicespeopleUpdate

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TECH TrENDS | The drive of organisations toward increased standardiza-tion of infrastructure, applications and business processes, combined with expanding and more comprehensive provider ecosystems, shows that service-led solutins will displace traditional sourcing approaches through 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. To remain relevant, IT service providers must bridge legacy offerings and new services based on new technolo-gies, new delivery models and new architectures. “The IT services market

Service-Led Solution is the approach to Future

plays a key role in bridging legacy offerings and new cloud delivery paradigms. IT services providers that are able to adapt to change, improve competitiveness and identify growth opportunities will thrive,” said Eric Rocco, managing VP at Gartner. “Growth opportu-nities certainly exist for service providers with life cycle solutions in relation to the Nexus of Forces (cloud, social, mobile and infor-mation). However, this requires IT services providers to adapt to significant changes, including the growing influence of business leaders in technology investment decisions.” Gartner predicts that the overall IT services market will grow 5.2 percent in 2013 and continue strong growth through 2016. Growth will largely come from changes and opportunities brought on by the Nexus of Forces and newer delivery models.

Hardware support and software support are among the lower-growth opportunities in the IT services market while cloud-based Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and business process as a service (BPaaS) are growing strongly at 13.1 percent and 47.3 percent, respectively, in 2013. Agility, not cost, will be the primary reason that many organizations adopt cloud computing. Hybrid IT environments will dominate client IT architectures through 2016, underscoring the importance of skills in the old-world legacy environments as well as the new world “as a service” operating models. “The big squeeze is on for early IT services providers to achieve sustainable value-based differentiation,” said Mr. Rocco.

GartnerIT Service Pro-

viders must bridge Legacy offerings and new services

sOurce: ciscO

Government of india’s statistics on the total e-transactions in the country spread across different states and average transaction per 100 persons

Citizen Services Solving accessibility problemsCLOUD

Number of e-transactions per 100 persons

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Kerala

Karnata

ka

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ClOUD SECUriTy | Symantec Corp. today announced Syman-tec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition 2013, giving small- and medium-sized busi-nesses (SMBs) in India choice by offering a cloud-managed ser-vice and traditional on-premise management in a single endpoint protection product. By simpli-fying the deployment options, SMBs have the freedom to very easily move to the cloud when they’re ready without adding complexity to their environ-ment. SMBs can also effortlessly protect their information at a time when targeted attacks have doubled against businesses with 250 or fewer employees, climb-

Symantec simplifies the end-point protection deployment

security systems is too compli-cated. Anand Naik, Managing Director-Sales, India & SAARC, Symantec said, “It takes just minutes for a virus to destroy a business. Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edi-tion 2013 installs in minutes and updates automatically, so small businesses can be confident the lifeblood of their business--their information-- is always protected against viruses and malware.” Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition 2013 addresses these requirements by installing in minutes, protecting against viruses and malware, and updating automatically to deliver critical protection for laptops, desktops, and file servers. Built specifically for SMBs, this new solution delivers and helps in and protecting the business commu-nity around the world.

Cloud and On-Premise in a single product

CtrlS, a leading IT enabled Managed Service Provider(MSP) owning Asia’s largest Tier IV Datacenters, today announced the launch of its overseas operations by starting the world class datacenter in San Diego, California United States. The launch of overseas operations is an initiative by CtrlS to offer IT Infrastructure and quality services like Disaster Recovery, RIM Services for existing customers targeting the western markets.

ArOund THe WOrld

CtrlS Expands Footprint Overseas

miChaeL eUgene POrter, management consultant

“Strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value and it is the result of choices.”

ing to 36 per cent of all targeted attacks. “Today’s SMBs are four times more at risk of malware attacks than larger companies. Despite the risk, some just cross their fingers and wing it because buying, deploying and managing

quick byTe

Easy steps to implementing cloud computing forms amid

diverse scenarios

Inside Pages

12-20 | CEOs on Cloud

22-23 | Interview with Peter C

24-27 | Use of Cloud in Government

28-33 | Cloud Leadership Awards

by Team IT NexT

DESIGN BY RAJ VERMA | IMAGING BY ANIL T

Exploring cloud computing models specific to one’s technological and business needs has become the phenomenon now. The cloud is a subjective matter and is understood by differ-ent people in different forms and used in dif-ferent environments.

At the recently held Inflexion Convex 2013, an annual conference for India’s enterprise IT leaders and managers that aimed to generate actionable learning to facilitate effective delivery of IT services, over 700 CXOs, CIOs and ITDMs across verticals came together. The theme was ‘Cloud: The Easy Next Step.’ The focus: the use of cloud-based solutions for enterprises.

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For instance, Ashish Khanna, Corporate Manager-IT Infrastructure, EIH Ltd., said, “Inflexion 2013 is a very nice concept which invites IT leaders and business leaders together to brainstorm on a particular topic.

This year’s theme on ‘Cloud: The Easy Next Step’ has given a lot of insights to CIOs and has answered many unanswered questions from OEMS directly.

The key takeaway was to help in identifying areas where the Cloud can help and fulfill our business needs.”

According to Khanna, the convex addressed many key concerns around cloud computing like: Security practices, Opting model, which is Private vs. Public or hybrid cloud, Maintaining compliance and audit while using public cloud, Cloud vendor selection strategy.

Khanna feels assured of the fact that both private and public clouds are very easy to deploy but it is dependent on application compatibility and migration strategy, which determine the ease of deployment.

Inadequate maturity of vendors on this technology and lack of standard frameworks available for

deploying and managing cloud are major deterrents in cloud technology deployment in any organisation.

He believed that cloud deployment in any organisation should be a journey and the enterprise must start small and first deploy non critical applications on the cloud and then move critical applications. The high performance intensive applications should be taken at the end.

“A standard framework is a must for organisations to guide them about a methodological approach of moving to the Cloud; in case of non-satisfaction with the existing vendor, it will also guide organisations on how to separate from this vendor and move to a new vendor without user disturbance”, points Khanna.

What does it constitute?The key objective of the convex was to find answers to four important questions that are top-of-the-mind for technol-ogy professionals. They included:

What do business leaders want? * How can technology deliver what your business needs? * How do you choose and implement the right technologies? * How do you take a leadership position in both professional and personal spaces?

The convex attempted to capture various perspectives on the Cloud through workshops, hands-on sessions on how to get things done, Buyer’s Meet, opportunity to participate in one-on-one sessions with technology vendors to find cloud solutions to specific business needs, Leadership sessions - with industry leaders and experts sharing their best practices, CEO Debate – where business heads shared their views and thoughts on what they expected from the Cloud and how it would impact their business models.

Cloud HandbookThe IT Next team embarked on a cover feature, ‘Cloud computing handbook,’ based on the messages and perspec-tives that each of the speakers brought to light, and on the next easy steps to the Cloud in their own understanding. The story gleans insights from CEOs of IT companies debat-ing on the Cloud and its offerings to stakeholders, the Key-note speaker’s perspective on the Cloud and why customers should adopt the Cloud, how the Government is encouraging and implementing working cloud models to empower the cit-izens of the country, and the cloud leadership Awards which was given to IT teams for having implemented successful cloud models within their enterprise.

Key TakeawaySenior IT executives had useful takeaways from the Convex.

“The convex addressed many key concerns around cloud

computing like: Security practices, Opting model, which

is Private vs. Public etc., and also vendor selection”

ashish KhannaCorporate Manager-IT Infrastructure, EIH Ltd

cover story Cloud Computing Convex

1 1a p r i l 2 0 1 3 | itnext

i nflexion 2013 is an annual conference for India’s enterprise and government IT leaders that aims to generate action-able learning that will enable innova-tion and effective delivery of IT services. The theme for Inflexion 2013 was ‘Cloud: The Easy Next Step’.

While cloud technologies and services offer significant benefits to enterprises, many IT decision-makers and decision-influencers continue to have concerns and questions about their utility, governance and management. To address some of these issues, Inflexion organised a CEO debate on the “Promise & Perils” of clouds.

The panel comprised of CEOs and senior leaders from organisations involved in providing cloud technology and services. Panelists debated and discussed “hot button” topics and fielded questions from the audience, who comprised CIOs and senior IT executives.

The CIOs and the participants comprising the senior IT executives threw up questions at the CEOs on cloud.

Here are some thoughts put across by the CEOs on the current state and future prospects of cloud technologies—and how they will impact various business processes in an enterprise.

The session was moderated by Dr Pramath Sinha, Managing Director, 9.9 Media.

CEOs of iT companies debate the ‘Promise and Perils’ of cloud computing and

what it can offer enterprises

CEO Debate

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Top 3 CIO Concerns about the Cloud 1. Security 2. Privacy and 3. Regulatory compliance As per Unisphere Research conducted among IT and data managers and professionals with

Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) members, security issues continued to be a concern with the use of public cloud and online application services, making private clouds a more attrac-tive option to enterprises. Cloud and compliance are often treated as opposing forces. While the Cloud encourages dynamism, com-pliance enforces caution and control.

Three Pieces of Advice on the Cloud Understand the applications you want to move to the Cloud: Organisations can start by moving non-critical applications to the Cloud to get a sense of the Cloud environment or even understand the integration level that the application has with other applications which may not be on the Cloud--as it could hamper day-to-day operations.

Develop a vision for an optimised datacenter: Before embarking on the cloud platform, companies should always have in mind the vision of a modern, optimised datacenter.

Deploy cloud-ready applications: A sincere piece of advice for all organisations evaluating a cloud environment would be to deploy cloud-ready solutions.

Three Value Propositions of a Cloud Customer adoption of cloud computing is seriously rising, and the key motivators are:1. Cost savings, 2) Speed and 3) Flexibility Through self-service access to an available pool of computing resources, users can be up and running in minutes instead of weeks or months. Making adjustments to computing capacity is also fast, thanks to elastically scalable grid architecture offered in a cloud solution. The pay-per-use model operates at a high scale and is highly automated. Although public clouds are typically getting more attention in India due to their cost-saving benefit, private clouds potentially offer more significant advantages.

Should cloud solutions be evaluated and purchased by CIOs or Line of Business (LOB) heads? Why?CIOs and LOB heads need to concur on IT procurement decisions as the ultimate intent of the purchase is to improve employee pro-ductivity, business efficiency, provide superior customer service--all resulting in company good will and profitability.

Will moving to the Cloud really save money?Cloud computing, after years of being overhyped and under-performing, has become an ideal platform for driving those transformations in ways that are effective, affordable, and sustainable: deliver better and more engaging service to cus-tomers, align talent all across the company with business priorities and Reduce risk for compliance and reporting.

Justifying Cloud InvestmentThe CIO needs to look at the issues in his organisation which are still unresolved despite IT investments. These could be: time to market for new applications, inefficient use of resources, inability to handle major spikes in workload, etc. Several of these issues can be resolved by using cloud solutions.

“Companies should have a vision of a modern, optimised data center before embarking

on the cloud platform”Sandeep mathur,

Managing Director, Oracle India

TOP 3 CiO COnCErns abOuT ClOuD

cover storyCloud Computing Convex

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Simplifying IT Management Through Cisco’s UCSIn a series of interactive articles, Cisco will shed more light on its Unified Computing System (UCS), thereby enabling CIOs to better manage their IT infrastructure

How can UCS help me in simplifying management of my

IT resources?Dinesh Kaushik, Head IT, Caparo IndiaAnswer: Management solutions for an integrated data center infrastructure must help monitor the network and storage resources required by the computing platform. Complexity in server management software can increase as more products are used to develop and maintain an integrated infrastructure. Additionally, each component vendor will bring its own management interface and communication protocols.This simplification changes things for the better because it takes a lot of complication out of the equation.The Cisco UCS Manager runs embed-ded in the fabric interconnect and helps manage all components of the Cisco UCS with Intel® Xeon® proces-sor through a single pane. Managing

the server, networking, and storage resources with a unified approach greatly decreases complexity, providing the capability to deploy and alter applications quickly through the innovative use of poli-cies, role-based access control (RBAC), service profiles and templates.

Cisco’s UCS is no doubt an inno-vative solution. However, would

deploying this lead to vendor lock-in? How compatible is it with other IT infrastructure/solutions?Manoranjan Kumar, CIO, Kanoria Chemicals & IndustriesAnswer: Deploying Cisco UCS with Intel® Xeon® processor will not result in a ven-dor lock-in. The difference lies in the architecture which provides a significant advantage based on how it is imple-mented. Standard Intel x86 processors are beneficial both from a connectivity and a management perspectives. Cisco UCS supports most operating systems

commercially available as well as third party storage devices. Therefore, it can be easily integrated along with any exist-ing infrastructure.

The following link gives the interoperability matrix with other vendors: http://cisco.in/ucs/matrix

To learn more, you may also visit us at cisco.in/servers

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Intel®, the Intel® logo, Xeon®, and Xeon® inside are trademarks of Intel® Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries

For any queries regarding Cisco UCS, please send them to [email protected]

cisco | it next custom series

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Top three concerns aboutCloud

a) Technology lock-in---CIOs need to ensure that they are not locked into a pro-prietary single-vendor approach if they start embracing communication services from the

Cloud. b) Security--any approach that starts moving technology

off-premise and into a more public domain will always raise questions on security.

c) Flexibility / ability to exit--one of the potential benefits of cloud services is a more flexible delivery model. CIOs are often concerned that the model may not be flexible enough for them.

Three pieces of advice on the Clouda) Look at the big picture--look at why you might be consider-ing cloud service delivery for some services. Understand the reasons behind this. Is it purely a financial model, moving away from capex to opex? Or are there other drivers such as a flexible delivery model, instant availability etc?

b) Secondly--look at the business areas and business pro-cesses that might benefit and also those that might not. Not all technologies or functions may be appropriate to shift towards cloud delivery.

c) Don’t discount the potential of a private cloud--especially for video collaboration. Many organisations deliver the equiv-alent of a service provider “always-on” video service with department level chargeback.

Reasons Why CIOs don’t Adopt the Cloud Are they reluctant? We see an increasing trend across APAC for cloud delivery models, especially as video collaboration expands beyond the conference room to mobile and desktop devices.

Top three value propositions of a Cloud a) Always on--24 x 7 availability of the service. Within video collaboration, this typically takes the form of accessing video conference calls with the same ease and simplicity.

b) Flexibility of deployment and growth--being able to pay as you use / pay as you grow enables organisations to be more flex-ible in how they implement next generation collaboration tools and ensures they can invest as they need, rather than potentially investing upfront to support their expected final user base.

c) Operational expense delivery model--for many organisa-tions, the primary driver to evaluate cloud delivery is the abil-ity to move to a pure opex model rather than having to make upfront capital investments.

Who should decide on the Cloud--CIOs or Line of Business (LOB) heads? Why?Both should definitely be part of the discussion and decision--the LOB heads should define what they need from their cloud communication solution, how they want their work-force teams to collaborate, etc.

Justifying Cloud InvestmentWithin the video collaboration space, we see some hybrid approaches to cloud delivery that ensure the best use of exist-ing assets. These solutions range from simply outsourcing the management of the infrastructure (which remains on-premise) to a buy-out of existing infrastructure by a cloud provider, to an integrated approach with both on-premise and cloud delivery.

“Look at the business areas and processes that might benefit and also those that might not as all technologies may not be

appropriate for it”Neeraj Gill,

Managing Director - India & SAARC, Polycom

TOP ThrEE COnCErns abOuT ClOuD


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Top Three Concerns about the Cloud a) Security and privacy of datab) Are the applications on the Cloud ‘Enter-prise grade’ and the integration with multiple applications on premise or on the Cloud?c) Availability and reliability

Three Pieces of Advice on the Clouda) Know your journey (Evaluate the applications that can move to the Cloud with the least disruption); work through your strategy and route map. The option is aggressive strategy or gradual deployment

b) Free is Good--Use 30 Day Trials or POCsc) Don’t become a hostage--Contracts should be more than about a click.

Three Reasons for CIOs’ Reluctance to Adopt the Clouda) Loss of control--losing the spend, large teams and authorityb) Does it meet specific needs, since it appears to be one size fits all?c) Calculating TCO seems extremely complex.

Three Value Propositions of a Cloud:a) Operating cost reduces to a fraction, no capital expenditure anymore, b) Scalability and flexibility--pay as you grow and c) Stay updated with the latest technology as upgrades come inbuilt

Who should decide on the Cloud, CIOs or Line of Business (LOB) heads? Why?CIOs should not end up being relegated to the background and hence they need to engage business heads in all the evalu-ation and take a joint decision. The CIO’s role is transforming--from being the solution provider to service governance.

Three Big Risks of Adopting the CloudIs it unsafe to transact on the net using your credit/debit card? Is your gold safe at home or in your bank locker? If the latter is true, the same analogy holds good for your data on the Cloud. Service providers are certified to counter the toughest security threats and probably are much less vulnerable than your in house infrastructure.

Security Standards for the CloudThere are various standards that ensure the security of the data like SAS70, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, FISMA, etc.. Further, there are various evolving standards on interoperability, interface and service level agreements.

Justifying InvestmentIf you invest on on-premise infrastructure, you need an army of DBA/testers/functional/technical resources to keep your lights on. You probably spend 80 per cent of the IT budget in maintaining your existing system and 20 per cent on innova-tion or new adoption. With cloud computing, the ratio could be just the reverse; one can focus on introducing innovation and solving business problems rather than getting sucked into mundane ticket solving/bug fixing or refreshing worn out boxes.

“If you invest on on-premise infrastructure, you need an

army of technical resources to keep your lights on”

Virender agarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems

TOP ThrEE COnCErns abOuT ClOuD


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Top Three Cloud-related Concerns of CIOs

Data security, compliance with Industry regulations, control and vendor lock-in are the three concerns for CIO with regard to the Cloud.

Three Pieces of Advice on the Cloud a) Assess business drivers to move to the Cloud, b) Involve all business and decision stake holders early in the IT strategy, and c) Classify and assess IT systems and business divisions to map benefits of the Cloud at each layer of IT and business.

Three Reasons for CIOs’ Reluctance in Adopting the Cloud Major changes to the IT process and operation, lack of spe-cialised knowledge workers (Cloud architects), initial invest-ment and ROI.

Top Value Propositions for the Cloud Business agility, Automation in IT systems and process (pro-visioning, management, monitoring), mobility.

Should the Cloud decision be evaluated by CIOs or Line of Business (LOB) heads? Why?It should be led by CIOs in conjunction with LOB heads. The Cloud is an operational model enabled by technology that helps businesses to be more agile. While technology is man-aged by the CIO, the business team which is the end user, needs to adapt to the new operational model to make the transformation successful.

Three Big Risks of Adopting Cloud TechnologiesEvery new technology has an element of risk. With the right strategy, enablement and risk assessment approach, risks can be mitigated. The three big risks would be:

a) Service level agreement and privacy agreementb) Location of the datacentre, in case of a public Cloudc) Security and data protection

Justifying the Cloud InvestmentAssess the utilisation of existing IT resources and analyse it against how well it drives business. If there is a need to address business agility, growth, reduce cost of operation etc., it would make a suitable case for evaluating the Cloud.

“Cloud decision should be led by CIOs in conjunction with LOB heads as it is an operational model enabled by technology that helps business to be more agile.

While technology is managed by the CIO, the business team

needs to adapt to the new operational model”

Rajesh Janey, President - India & SAARC, EMC Corp

TOP ThrEE ClOuD-rElaTED COnCErns Of CiOs


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Three measures to establish a cloud service provider part-nership .

The measures would essentially be about the kind of contractual frameworks one has and the leeway these allow. Also, it depends on the kind of confidence that one has to be able to convey to prospective customers about the longevity of the infrastructure and the longevity of the business. If there is a potential possibility of getting stranded, and if one has to move out, then the question is what access one has to the data. Am I contractually bound, so that, irrespective of what happens, I will go down with the company going down, and so on and so forth.

The three Biggest Barriers to CIOs Adopting the Cloud To put myself in the CIOs’ shoes is too big a task to handle. I’ll take a shortcut to the question. Typically in my conversations with CIOs, there are two or three things that come up as areas of further discussion or debate. One is the sense of confidence that people have on what kind of SLAs or what kind of data confidentiality they will get: am I doing the right thing? If this conversation has to proceed, then am I getting trapped with somebody who may or may not be there for a long time? The second question is in terms of whether this will take control away from me on IT deci-sion making and those kinds of points. The third is: I have so much invested right now; pretty much what I need has been catered to; my challenges are on incremental budgeting and incremental project management.

How can CIOs take better decisions?Fundamentally, I think knowl-edge and information already exist. I have seen CIOs hold a tremendous amount of infor-mation. But at our end, what we typically try and do is to move the conversation to a phase wise adaptation of the Cloud. Meaning, if you are in a completely siloed environment, you could do with consolida-tion and virtualisation of the infrastructure. If there is cer-tain non critical infrastructure that you have, then some of it may be moved over to a public Cloud provider. That way, you build experience on getting the organisation aligned on some of the shifts that have hap-pened, because the Cloud as a technology is here to stay. It is a question of confidence that one needs to generate internally and for the organisation to rally around that confidence and make the shift.

Justification to Move from On-premise to Private Cloud More often than not, the private cloud implementations that we have seen consist of rationalisa-tion and optimisation of infra-structure that large enterprises

already have. And once the rationalisation and optimisation is done, getting a better sense of assigning appropriate cost weight-age depending on the consumption of the IT infrastructure in a conventional architecture is a little difficult. Secondly, once you have the whole consolidation and virtualisation in place and are utilising your infrastructure more effectively, the next step then of course is what you do with the newer services that you need. This is where the whole toss up happens on whether you want to do it on premises--inside the organisation, or you source it from a service provider--outside.

ThrEE mEasurEs TO EsTablish a ClOuD sErviCE PrOviDEr

“It is a question of confidence that one needs to generate

internally and for the organisation around cloud”

Rajesh Rege VP (Datacenter & Cloud), Cisco Systems India


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Three concerns of CIOs on the Cloud.

Managing the risk of placing IT assets under the management of third party providers. Data protection in a cloud environment. Customers question whether their end user data will be shared or leaked in

any way breaching privacy laws. Implementing appropriate controls for Cloud adoption.

Three Pieces of Advice to CIOs on Cloud Strategy There are certain rules every CIO should adhere to while cre-ating a cloud strategy. These include:

1. Creating a Security-as-a-Service adoption policy that states how new SaaS platforms can be assessed and endorsed by IT management.

2. Establishing a common cloud identity management strategy for SaaS/PaaS/IaaS. This should be iterated with existing identity management solutions and support user provisioning and revocation of access.

3. Reviewing current IT security implementations standards to ensure that they address cloud security needs.

Reasons for Reluctance to Adopt the Cloud?Some of the key barriers to cloud adoption are:

First, security will remain the biggest topic in Cloud Computing, especially as even more enterprises demand greater transparency and security controls from their Cloud providers.

The second question is that of trust and security, because every service and operation of the Cloud is handled by someone else. We expect certification of cloud providers and creation of standards to provide security benchmarks that can offer customers some assurance about the security a cloud provider can offer.

The third is cloud standards which should help SaaS and cloud providers grow their businesses by overcoming security-related concerns.

Three Value Propositions of a Cloud The top three highlights of adopting a cloud solution for an

enterprise include:1. Improved Return on Capital Employed and reduced Opex2. Reduced IT project time/improved agility3. Data access from everywhere and increased agility rendered to the organisation

Should cloud decisions be evaluated and purchased by CIOs or Line of Business (LOB) heads? Why?The CIO should be responsive to the LOB needs to enable the business, and should be responsible for the adoption of cloud technologies. Ultimately the CIO is responsible for Informa-tion Systems end-to-end and has the support mechanisms to address the risk assessment when deviations occur. Justifying Cloud InvestmentOrganisations should embrace their transition to the Cloud as a strategy to reduce costs and increase business agility. With each new IT project, the appropriateness of cloud should be considered. The metrics should focus on risk management, return on capital employed and responsive-ness to business needs.

“The CIO should be responsive to the LOB needs to enable the business to adopt cloud

technologies”Jagdish mahapatra,

Managing Director - India & SAARC, McAfee India

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“The easy-to-use, cloud based service needs no professional training and allows the small business owner to take data-driven business decisions on the move”

“If a CIO has made a lot of investment in IT infrastructure

and solutions, how does he or she justify the move to cloud solutions and what would be

the value proposition?”

“Will using cloud solutions make business or enterprise unsafe and what are the three big risks of adopting cloud technologies and solutions and the standards available?”

Nikhil arora, Vice President & Managing Director - India, Intuit India Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

S C mittal, Group CTO, Iffco

bikram Seth, CIO, VLCC Healthcare Ltd

ClOuD rElaTED manDaTEs


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Peter Cochrane delves deep into the latest technology and business

trends in Cloud Computing

there are about 700 million customers using the Cloud and almost none of them are in India. And we have to ask the question why? “The reason is security,” says Dr Peter Cochrane, CEO & Chairman at Cochrane Associ-ates who was the keynote speaker at

the recently concluded Inflexion 2013 conference in New Delhi. Cochrane is a passionate cloud evangelist. He believes that cloud computing is the most secure and most creative environ-ment we have experienced so far. And that in the new world where corporate rules and loyalty to a company do not matter, where Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a big trend, where business is social, the Cloud and its attendant security risks

offer enormous opportunities to Indian companies to once again sell new services to the world.

What do you think are the major factors hindering the adoption of the Cloud?

The biggest factor that prevents a company from adopting the cloud is the old mindset of the managers in the IT department. These IT departments have to go. They have no future in a world that is fast moving, very innovative, where young people are taking initiatives and working in groups in and out of the company. IT departments are way behind. Security systems are not working when you have young people coming into the company who know more than the IT department. So the chal-lenge is to get the board and the management of the company

INtERVIEW

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ment clouds, corporate clouds, personal clouds, institutional clouds. Technology is in place, people just have to think.

What are the easy steps that senior it

managers need to walk through?I would suggest corporations to think about the Cloud in the following way. They should think about what it is that really needs to be secure in their company. Is it the email, or source engineering, or the management? Information is really important to the com-pany. Is it the research, the strategic decisions, investment details, M&A details? I think it is important to free the people because what they are doing is a necessity.

You have always referred to cloud

comprising people and things. What does it mean?Cloud computing is about the innovation and freedom that it gives to people and things to do. It demands a mindset change in the way we think about connectivity, security, networking, applications, stor-age, and other working prac-tices. Then the key question

here would be why we need change. We need change because we have a history of under delivery, very high costs and cannot meet our varied and dynamic future needs having a huge cen-tralised system programs.

The younger generation and IT need more freedom and feel more empowered than anything that they have had before and more cost effective than anything that they have seen before. The demand is for problem solving; skills and timely ability are starting to out rank pure academic attainment.

Cloud computing gives those new degrees of freedom—no single log-on device, no single log-on location, variable log-on routine, distributed applications, distributed filing system, parsed and distributed data, multiple clouds and providers, dynamic creating of clouds, and cloud interconnection, inter-cloud encryption and coding, corporate strength security for all and real time global response to all threats. The cloud is dynamic in form, location, content, connect, people and things.

to understand this and to make the necessary changes. There is a funny paradox here; the IT department will insist that there should be a control on computers and mobile phones and board members, and man-agers do not care about this. They will insist on connecting their iPhone or iPad to connect to the corporate network. So it is not such a big step to make people understand the change but we have to change the mode of operation.

Do you agree and recommend that it

Heads make the Cloud a part of corporate strategy?I would like to ask some per-tinent questions when we are looking at corporate strategy. Do IT heads have their people as good as Google, CISCO, IBM or HP? Do you really think they can provide the level of service and security to these giant corporations for people who specialise in the subject? I personally don’t think so. Very often, IT departments are blissfully unaware about what is happening and the security departments cannot keep up with the changes. We are now talking about organised crime. Huge resources are used to get into cyber espionage. One does not even know when such attacks come, they just come, take your secrets and walk away.

What kind of steps should it Heads of a large enterprise take to have a good cloud strategy?

Because there have been instances where high end companies are not willing to go on to a public cloud. Where do you see this heading?My worry is people will run (transition) into the Cloud and just change nothing. They will continue doing the same things that they have always done which would be close to fatal. If the move to the Cloud has to succeed, we have to think and act differently. If we continue doing what we have done, security risks are going to get worse. Whether we actually outsource or build the security systems ourselves, we have to think differ-ently about how to do it. The cloud isn’t a single entity, it isn’t fixed, and it comes in different elements. You can have govern-

“Very often, IT departments are blissfully unaware about

what is happening and security departments cannot keep up

the new changes”Peter Cochrane,

CEO & Chairman at Cochrane Associates

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Government departments under the NeGP program are experimenting with several cloud based models to

empower citizens and improve service delivery models

While the industry has witnessed the govern-ment’s lackadaisical attitude towards absorbing new technologies, there have actually been positive strides towards cloud vision: experts say that government depart-ments across India, including Central and State, have evolved a cloud vision.

While there have been an umpteen number of technological challenges, the bureaucrats responsible for Cloud initiatives have successfully devised cloud strategy and have worked out a suitable framework. The testimony to this fact is

Cloud in Government

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that government departments have ushered in a shared vision for ICT and adopted a cloud vision with a strategy to migrate towards a shared private cloud environment.

Experts R Sri Kumar, Vigilance Commissioner, Central Vigilance Commission, and Prakash Kumar, Director, Inter-net Business Solutions Group, Cisco, showcased the working model of the Cloud in the government scenario during the recently organised cloud convex, Inflexion 2013: Cloud…the Easy Next Step.

R Sri Kumar, Vigilance Commissioner, Central Vigilance Commission, brings to light how technology has empowered and safeguarded the citizen.

The key questions before the government are: How are IT solutions impacting and empowering the lives and liveli-hoods of Indian citizens (email, web services, mobile services, social NWs) and what are the risks to citizens from these new technologies (spam, phishing, scams, rumour mongering, terrorism, etc)? How can technology be used for providing greater safety and security to the citizen, and controlling unethical behaviour? What are the technological, policy, ethical and privacy challenges in implementing the requisite monitoring, control and safeguards?

According to Sri Kumar, CaaS, citizen as a service, is gain-ing prominence with IT empowerment of the citizen getting to be critical.

What are the key aspects of the Cloud today? This would include Infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, soft-ware as a service, data as a service and network as a service.

The future of the Cloud would include content as a service, value added as a service, analytics as a service, public cloud versus private greed.

Government of India’s Cloud Strategic DirectionThe Government of India has already established various ICT initiatives under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) which has led to the build-up of ICT infrastructure both at the centre as well as state level. The infrastructure thus created will further provide the baseline for adoption of cloud com-puting for the government with an aim to optimally utilise the existing infrastructure, re-use of applications and efficient service delivery to citizens and increasing the number of e-transactions within the country, thus addressing one of the major goals of the NeGP.

To harness the benefits of the Cloud, Deity has embarked upon an ambitious project termed ‘GI Cloud’. The ‘GI Cloud’ is the Government of India’s cloud computing environment that will be used by government departments or agencies at the centre and states. In other words, it will enable the gov-ernment to leverage cloud computing for effective delivery of e-services. The entire initiative is being carried out in two parts. Part I, named ‘Rapid Replication of Applications on Cloud,’ comprises replicating some of the successfully imple-

The GI cloud is the Government of India’s cloud computing environment that will be used by government departments or agencies at

the centre and states. IT will enable the government to

leverage cloud computing for effective delivery of e-services,

which is being carried out in two parts-under the initiative

named RRAC and the implementation”

R Sri Kumar, Vigilance Commissioner, Central Vigilance

Commission

Continue on page 27

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P rakash Kumar, Director, internet Business

Solutions Group Cisco, on how technology is being

used to solve accessibility problems for citizens

Take the case of improving service delivery by automating

which can help accessing from anywhere on any device.

according to Kumar, NeGp has designed the vision supported

by certain building blocks:

iCT infro (SWaN, SDC, CSC)

Mission Mode project and

Core policies

He emphasised the fact that infrastructure has progressed

much more quickly than e-enablement of services.

The above mentioned NeGp projects which are part of the

pre-NeGp phase are operational now. implementation has started

although formal scheme approval is still to be processed. (SFC

approval has been taken for specific phases).

Under this project, about 10.3 crores of e-transactions have

been fulfilled in November 2012.

Challenges in making citizen services available in a ubiquitous fashion The key issues have been regarding accessibility for people, digital

literacy, lack of connectivity for all government offices, hosting of

applications and availability of service in electronic form.

Things are moving in the direction of creating more than

94,000 CSCs; efforts are on in providing vertical and horizontal

connectivity provided in most of the states/UTs, and setting up of

SDCs in a majority o f states and NiC DCs in all states.

new Approach Governments across india (Central and State) agree to cooperate

on a shared vision for iCT infrastructure and services, and

adopting an “all of government” services (cloud) vision with a

strategy to migrate towards a shared private cloud environment

over time, facilitated by a suitable framework.

a) Cloud based services provided by application owner State

has not happened

politically not feasible

States find it difficult to run the services for their own

constituents. providing to others is a tall task, even through a

State Designated agency

b) Cloud based services provided by a third party which does

customisation, Bpr, handholding etc. in addition to cloud based

service delivery

What is the way out?The Third party buys the successful applications and provides

tHE NEGP VIsIoN

Governments across India agree to cooperate on a shared

vision for ICT infrastructure and services, and adopting

cloud vision”Prakash Kumar,

Director, Internet Business Solutions Group Cisco

them as Cloud based service to other States; it is feasible

provided following are taken care of:

applications are white labelled

There are 3 or 4 such parties for competition and price

discovery

The Government has substantial stake in the Third party

This mechanism is approved by the government (Central as

well as State governments)

e-Governance Service Delivery through niUs provisioning of of “application as a Service” (either by configuring/

customising applications from other states or developing new

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ones with the required local language interface)

provisioning of Compute and Storage

Training of staff

Deployment at all field offices

Help procure HW for field offices, if required

at a later date, iCT infra of state like SWaN/SDC etc., can be

managed.

Who could be the third Party-national information Utility?

Ownership: Total private ownership should be at least 51 per

cent. No single private entity should own more than 25per cent of

the shares in an NiU. The ownership share of the Government in

an NiU should be at least 26per cent

institutions that have a direct conflict of interest (eg. software

companies which have developed applications running in states

or would do so for the NiU) should not be permitted to be

shareholders.

if a Third party buy on happens effectively with proper

implementation mechanism using the Cloud model, the

Cloud based service delivery will lead to rapid deployment of

applications, adoption of standards, inter-operability of data and

optimum usage of existing infrastructure.

mented applications across the country. Part II will comprise the formation and implementation of a cloud computing environment at a national level that will act as a common respository of cloud-based infrastructure resources and applications available on a shared basis.

How can cloud computing assist governance and empower citizens?Five reasons why Apps.gov should become a trendset-ter for Good Governance in India:

Vendor neutral IT service catalog Core categories of citizen’s services available from

a single window Automation to improve efficiencies and/or

removal of bureaucratic red tape Adopt at your own pace” syndrome to make inclu-

sive growth possible Cloud not defined by who runs it, but by the qual-

ity of service provided

Business Considerations--Better Profits/RoIs The implementation of the Cloud model would help in reduced ongoing and life cycle costs; it means more profits, being always on and available, value for money, having a competitive advantage, a platform for easier and faster information sharing, mobile and empowered workforce, inexpensive disaster recovery options and pay-as-you-go, play in advance and try before you buy.

Governance policies - TEAM INDIA PLUS Reduced ongoing and life cycle Transparency and technology leveraged Efficiency and empowerment Audit trail and accountability Metric and mutual assistance Democratic decision making support system

So what is happening in India? Are we anywhere near all this and more? How does the Cloud help in profit and governance? Take the case of Namma Bengaluru. Brihat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has collected funds and processes and made payments totalling `10 billion in 2012-13, received in January 2013. Bengaluru citizens have received payment receipts from the BBMP cloud after depositing-house tax, building cess, conservancy charges and fees for birth and death registration etc.

Project Vigeye is another cloud intiative from CVC, a citizen centric programme to blow the whistle on corrupt and underhand deals.

Continued from page 25

GI Cloud VIsIoN

1 Cloud computing

platforms – National and

State Clouds

2 a common platform to

host and run applications -

eGov appstore

3 Gi Cloud Services

Directory will act as the

single window or portal for

Gi Cloud service delivery

4 integrated infrastructure

acting as a backbone for

delivering cloud services

5 a common set of

protocols, guidelines and

standards for Gi Cloud

6 Governing body for policy

creation and enforcement,

overseeing of the overall

initiative and providing

strategic direction

7 agencies responsible to

operate cloud environments

and provide cloud services

8 Centre of Excellence

for cloud computing

for awareness building,

creation of best practices,

providing advisory services

to the departments on cloud

adoption, showcasing cloud

technologies, international

collaboration and research

and development.

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the Cloud leadership award for the team that has successfully implemented a

cloud based project

the Inflexion Convex 2013: Cloud…The Easy Next Step,” threw up cer-tain cloud challenges at the partici-pants, comprising CIOs and senior

IT managers. The convex intended to help participants determine the next steps needed

to leverage the capabilities of cloud computing, choosing and implementing the most effective cloud solutions, while mitigat-ing the risks associated with the implementation of ‘Cloud’; Alongside, the Cloud Leadership Awards aimed to recognise innovative and useful enterprise projects that have delivered competitive advantages or other tangible benefits to an organ-isation. The recipients of the awards were people who had

made a difference through their knowledge, skills, ingenuity and foresight--and could serve as an inspiration to the commu-nity of IT professionals.

Inflexion solicited nominations from the CIOs and teams from across industry verticals for the Cloud Leadership Award; they were also expected to submit a case study around their cloud based implementation project.

Award ProcessOnce the nominations were received, as part of the awards process one member (a minimum from the team representing the company which submitted the case study) was asked to make a presentation to the jury during Inflexion. The presenta-tion slots were assigned on a first-come first-served basis; each

Cloud AWARds

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presenter got 5-7 minutes to present the project, followed by the Q&A session by the Jury for three minutes.

Scoring PatternThe award process laid out certain parameters with a clear-cut scoring pat-tern to enable the jury to detail the score. The parameters defined evaluation criterion, weight given to each criterion with a maximum score of 10 against each score awarded by the jury against each criterion and weighted score.

The evaluation criterion included these questions:

To what extent does the application provide evidence that the organisation or the IT department is strategically thinking about cloud technologies and solutions? What is the role of the appli-cants in formulating and executing the strategy? Does the application suggest that there is senior/top-level manage-ment interest in cloud solutions?

To what extent does the application indicate that the implementation strat-egy is innovative, novel or different from the routine? Is there evidence of use of innovative techniques or approaches?

To what extent does the application

provide evidence that the implemented solution is linked to market drivers, cus-tomer needs or business requirements? Has solution implementation been done through engagement with relevant stakeholders? What is the role of consul-tants and solution providers?

To what extent does the applica-tion provide evidence that the cloud implementation was well planned and executed? Does the application suggest or demonstrate that the project has adopted cloud best practices?

To what extent does the application provide evidence of quantifiable or tan-gible benefits to the organisation?

To what extent does the application provide evidence of proper metrics and benchmarking? Does it indicate future-state maps or plans?

To what extent does the applica-tion show that the organisation has made investments in the tools and technologies required to ensure effec-tive governance and management of the cloud-based solution?

PaybacksAs is obvious, every award has its ben-efits and interesting takeaways besides

Principal Applicant Ashu Kakkar, Operations Director

Team members Manpreet Singh Khurana, Associate

Vice President Ashu Kakkar, Operations Director Inder Pal Singh, Deputy General

Manager Vineet Mahajan, Senior Technical

Architect

PRIVAtE Cloud sERVICE(IAAs)case study HCl

The type of cloud deployment used for the projectInfrastructure as a service (IaaS), IT as a service (ITaaS)Others:

Business Objectives Offering Infrastructure as a Service

(IaaS) to control and optimise cost with a fully managed service to meet Project specific requirement with a well defined Service catalog & SLA

building one’s confidence. The award carried a prize of `1,00,000 in cash for the winning team, `75,000 for the first runner up and ` 25,000 for the second runner-up. Besides, winners were awarded a trophy and certificates. There were 17 case studies in all that were received towards nominations. After tabulating the scores, they were ranked in this order:1. HCL2. JASPER (SNAPDEAL)3. JBM4. Department of IT, Government of Maharashtra5. Ericson6. Vodafone7. University of Petroleum8. Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturing9. Thermax10. CSIR11. Mynd Solution12. Bajaj Electrical

The Jury included: Vijay Sethi, VP-IT &CIO, Honda Moto-CorpYashpal Soni, CIO, Everest Industries LtdDheeraj Sinha, CIO, Apollo Tyres

Speed up Revenue–the Project Team can focus immediately on value creation and not on foundation tasks, which pro-vides more scope to innovate on revenue-generating and/or cost-saving IT projects

Business Agility--Elimination of lengthy IT procurement and imple-mentation cycles, as well as on-demand access to IT resources, means that the time needed for application develop-ment and deployment can be measured in days or weeks rather than months

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Cost reduction--Capex is elimi-nated and Opex has been greatly reduced on the pay-as-you-go model (monthly billing with no long term commitment). The multi-tenancy model provides shared allocations of management and operational over-heads for lower operating costs.

Greener IT--Flexibility and Scal-ability of GIT Cloud reduces the environmental impact caused due to surplus energy consumption and car-bon emissions accompanying overpro-visioning of servers, while making it far more resource efficient.

Reliability--GIT Cloud is deployed on highly available, resilient and redun-dant infrastructure, perfect for 24x7 operations. It is a well managed dedicated service with a committed 24x7 Cloud team, operating with well-defined SLAs to make sure service is up and running.

Technical ObjectivesTo reduce physical server installation lead time to 4 days in projects with lower cost, and provide flexibility to scale up and scale down resources as per requirements. Managed IT Services for project teams to cater to their IT infrastructure requirements.

What did the project cover?HCL Global IT team planned to start a Private Cloud Service (IaaS) to overcome all the challenges faced by the project team while procuring servers and their maintenance. The Cloud Infrastructure set up a self-service portal to be used for auto server provisioning & de-provisioning. The project team could place the server request through the Cloud portal; with just two approvals, servers were provisioned within 4 days. Cloud Servers were provided on a Pay As You Go model (where Project could rent and release the servers back to the Cloud as per the need, fully managed by Cloud team). This not only reduced huge Capex of project team but also mini-mised their operating cost. The Cloud would also help in consolidating server hardware across HCL Data Centers, reducing the carbon foot print.

Prior to implementation of the Cloud, Project Teams were using their serv-ers seamlessly and hosting their web applications on any network port. HCL Global IT Cloud has been implemented with Perimeter firewall, further using L3 Network created on firewall (this means each customer will have a fire-walled network); as per security best

Winning Team HCL receiving the coveted Cloud leadership award at Inflexion 2013

practices, only standard ports (80, 443, 22) were enabled in a cloud environ-ment. RDP of Servers could be taken only using specified Jump Servers (Terminal Servers). Now within HCL, Project Teams are using Cloud environ-ments and running their application on standard ports. Now we have reached a state where Project Teams are appreciat-ing the security best practices.

Project Implemented: HCL GIT Pri-vate Cloud to meet all Infrastructure needs of Internal projects for Testing & Development, QA, and Production.

Tools: Self Service Portal for Pro-visioning and De-provisioning of resources Remedy Methodologies: Infrastructure as a Service (Virtual Servers on Demand) Process: Work Flow integrated for Provisioning and De-provisioning of resources, Change Management.

Business and Technical Challenges

Setting up a Private Cloud in HCL required a huge upfront investment of $ 2.5 MN; convincing the management about it was a challenge

Convincing Projects to move from a Capex to Opex model was a challenge

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RE-buIldING tHE WEbsItEcase study Jasper india

as the Cloud services were offered as bundled offering, while the customer would compare the physical server cost with the cloud server without consider-ing Cloud features/benefits like weekly backup, HA, 24* 7 support, Load bal-ancing, AV, Firewall, IPS, IDS, DLP, Monitoring, OS patching etc.

Integration of inhouse Orchestration software with VCE Vblock hardware.

Using inhouse developed orchestra-tion software instead of industry proven tools which required much customisation before rolling out services to end users.

Main business benefitsEnablement of new services and chan-nels, better business coordination and control, higher business agility and flexibility, cost savings and cost control, risk reduction and improvement in compliance, improvement in business and process visibility, enablement and implementation of best practices, improved customer service.

Main IT benefitsQuicker availability of IT resources to end-users, better scalability of IT

JASPeR InDIA InfOTeCH

Principal Applicant Prasad Vootla, Director, Engineering Operations

Team members Amitabh Misra, Vice President, Tech-

nology Vineet Sharma, Lead, Production

operations Sanjay Kumar, Sr. Engeering Manager,

Development Rahul Narang, Architect, Development

The type of cloud deployment used for the project

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Storage as a service (STaaS), Software as a service (SaaS), Email as a Service (EaaS), Data as a service (DaaS),

Business Objectives Build www.snapdeal.com website to

host both the deals and products with a capacity to take at least million orders a day.

The capacity to have a catalog of 10 million products

infrastructure, the ability to deliver more features and functionality to end-users, creation of more reliable IT infrastructure/ ensuring higher availability, better. IT security and risk reduction, improved IT services to end-user departments, better management of IT resources, enhanced business and process visibility for the IT department, time and resource savings for the IT department, implementation of best practices, improved IT governance etc.

Team leader of Jasper India Infotech receiving the coveted first Runner Up Cloud Leadership Award

Increase the traffic on www.snap-deal.com from 1000 hits per second to 10000 hits per second.

Technical Objectives Have the feature built out in less than 2

weeks from requirements to ship out. Have the technology team focus

time / efforts on the best design and Coding, with minimal time spent on infrastructure availability and delays thereof.

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Have the entire end-to-end e-com-merce features built on the same site.

Have a high performing site that makes it possible to identify and com-plete the purchase of a product in less than a minute.

What did the project cover?The project covered the entire rebuilding of the Snapdeal’s website with both the deals and products on the same website.

What were the constraints of the project?1. Identifying the right infrastructure and having it scale on need.2. Having features with a focus on time-to-market.

Solution Provider used for the project

Amazon, Cloud platform providers Akamai, Site acceleration Project Details (What was done)

The site www.snapdeal.com with all the deals and products under the same umbrella has been launched. Other details cannot be disclosed.

Business and Technical Challenges

JBM GROuP

Principal Applicant V Ranganathan Iyer, CIO

Team members Lalit Kaushik, Sr. Manager, Execution Subhash Yadavn, Sr. Manager,

Execution

The type of cloud

bCP dEPloymENt foR sAPcase study Jbm

deployment used for the projectInfrastructure as a service (IaaS), Stor-age as a service (STaaS), Security as a Service (EaaS), IT as a service (ITaaS)

Business function or processes that have benefitedBusiness Intelligence, sales and order processing, customer billing and pay-

Too many engineers asking for separate cloud instances as instance firing is instantly done adding to the cost and hence. budget. Technology compatibility with the cloud platform. Framework scalability had to be planned keeping cloud constraints and supported techol-ogies in mind.

What makes this project unique?The entire rebuilding (with the goals mentioned and accomplished) has been done on less number of servers than what it usually takes. There was a lot of consolidation based on the resource usage. The storage features were utilised based on the cost and performance.

Key take-awayThe infrastructure procurement and the delays have been eliminated.

Business function or processes that have benefitedEnablement of new services and chan-nels, such as sales & order processing, Customer Relationship (CRM), customer billing & payment, Call Center support, marketing Management, online shop/e-

commerce, purchasing & procurement, vendor & supplier management, Supply chain management, distribution man-agement, project management, product lifecycle management (PLM), software development & testing,

Main business benefitsEnablement of new services and chan-nels, better business coordination and control, higher business agility and flexibility, cost savings and cost control, risk reduction and improvement in com-pliance, improvement in business and process visibility

Main IT benefitsQuicker availability of IT resources to end-users, better scalability of IT infrastructure, ability to deliver more features and functionality to end-users, creation of more reliable IT infrastructure/ ensuring higher avail-ability, better management of IT resources, enhanced business and process visibility for IT department, time and resource savings for the IT department, implementation of best practices, cost savings and cost control, ability to bill users for usage of IT.

ment, purchasing & procurement, materials management, supply chain management, payroll, HR Process management, manufacturing manage-ment, project management, corporate IT infrastructure BCP (DR)

Main business benefitsCost savings and cost control, risk reduction and improvement in compli-ance, enablement and implementation

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ous options available in the industry. The team travelled and understood dif-ferent options available across different suppliers. We first gave the order to one supplier; they declined to execute the order; finally, we discussed it with IBM and closed the order. This is a 100 per cent opex model. The payout will be one in a quarter after the production drill is done. IBM had to do the following:

IBM had to procure the hardware, including service, networking equip-ment, security equipment’s including storage. This hardware will be used for multiple customers. Minimum configu-ration is committed where DR is not invoked.

Maximum configuration is commit-ted when DR is invoked.

All Data Center, application software, security arrangements along with back-up will be IBM’s responsibility IBM would install application software, data guard to enable DR JBM Responsibility

Provide all non AIX operating system Provide all application software

including back up software Provide all licenses including data

guard etc. Provide access DC in controlled man-

ner. Provide media for taking back-up

Provide 2 dedicated resources for DR deployment. The highlight is that after

Team leader of JBM Group receiving the coveted Second Runner Up Cloud Leadership Award

of best practices and improved cus-tomer service.

Main IT benefitsBetter scalability of IT infrastructure, creation of more reliable IT infrastruc-ture/ ensuring higher availability, better IT security and risk reduction, improved IT services to end-user departments, time and resource savings for IT depart-ment, implementation of best practices, cost savings and cost control.

Business ObjectivesData, the base for business decisions should be protected on real time basis. Increase JV Stake holder’s confidence with sustained Customer services.

Technical ObjectivesIT should not hinder business process continuity.Technology to support Just In Time (JIT) supply to customer.

What did the project cover?Deployment of BCP for SAP ERP, BIW & Business Objects of only productive systems.

Project ConstraintsNo prior exposure; no reference cus-tomer for the proposed solution Legal compliance for exit after hand shake; difficult to calculate ROI; no scientific procedure to calculate the price, though Capex has gone down.

Who were the key project beneficiaries?External stake holders like JV partners, share holders internal and external.

Solution Provider used for the projectIBMQuest for Backup

Project Details (What was done)Concept of DR on cloud was coming up. We had detailed discussions with IBM about this. We listed out various issues and points for action. We formed a team where 2 were from IT, 1 from purchase and 1 from accounts to understand vari-

the decision and hardware has been done, we could implement it in just 5 weeks.

Business & Technical ChallengesBusiness Challenges: Who will declare DR, make the people / management understand it was a Herculean task. Aligning external agencies is very cru-cial; for example, if we wanted to enable DR, all plants should be ready to con-nect to the DR server; our MPLS service provide should act fast and make the required corrections to enable end users to connect. Challenges in educating end users what DR is all about and making them select the right option to do nor-mal business transactions

What makes this project unique?No Reference customers; this also means the supplier wanted reference customers No internal resources had any prior exposure about DR Suppliers did right job when it really mattered.

Key Take-awayReal planning with the right kind of people for the right things to happen with the right spend; spending more time on analysis and taking right deci-sion; the rest will fall in place.

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Management (PPM) allows business leaders manage their strategic portfolios including IT, new product development, service or applications efficiently; they can then spend less time on integration and more on innovation.

Besides, the PPM concept enables organisations in aligning resources, requirements and schedules to continually improve the innovation lifecycle, while adopting new methods and approaches more easily and ultimately make better decisions to drive business.

PPM and HurdlesIt is rather disappointing when the office of the CIO does not leverage project and portfolio management techniques fully, nor acknowledge its importance in the

IT managers must leverage effective portfolio management methods to align resources and improve the innovation lifecycle

to make better decisions and drive business

by Lokesh JindaL

Technique

Build acrediBle

PorTfolioManageMenT

project delivery. They are often under pressure to keep up the uptime, but devote less time to innovate. If the PPM tool has to be introduced and deployed efficiently, there are a few challenges inherent within the IT team which can-not be ignored. In any project, most CIOs and teams experience concern about improving visibility of projects, costs and resources. This means replacing its disparate management systems and manual processes.

IT managers need to understand the applications required by business users. Given the mobile penetration, the nearly 4 million smart phones in existence and the emergence of enterprise mobility and BYOD, challenges have increased multi-fold. Portfolio management I

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Future CIOs have a man-date: to focus completely on improving speed, accuracy, agility and decision-mak-ing. This will invariably

amount to stretching resources and exerting pressure. Additionally, the pervasiveness of information and communication technology will drive intense levels of change, requiring busi-nesses to adapt in ways that organisa-tions are not currently structured to address effectively. Hence, faster deci-sion-making will be the key enabler to drive innovation in business. As a result, smart decisions will require an effective and agile way to manage the innova-tion lifecycle, from idea to delivery. A comprehensive Project and Portfolio

3 4 itnext | a P R I L 2 0 1 3

techniques demand certain insights from IT managers: Does an IT manager truly understand the business goals and business user’s demands?

Is the IT team equipped (or does it have the ability) to deliver portfolio management solutions from a strategic business standpoint? Is the IT team in a position to work out the cost associated with a particular service that is provided to the business user? Do IT teams feel privileged to be driving value for their business groups or are they driving their own IT agenda? These questions are very pertinent to IT departments.

in Any Given Scenario…IT managers should gauge the IT infra-structure framework and take stock of the inventory, particularly the legacy applica-tions, as part of the application portfolio management process. They must gauge how much supporting these legacy sys-tems cost and take decisive action.

It is natural that, over time, a business accumulates a wide assortment of applications, some of which may now be redundant, underused, or obsolete. Some may be out of alignment with your strategic platform directions or out of compliance with policies. Others may complicate business processes or simply be out of alignment with business needs. Lack of governance of these applications slows business and increases IT costs. The process of identifying applications to be reduced or retired may be overwhelming. If a simple inventory of your applications can be difficult, the prospect of transforming that inventory of applications can appear totally out of reach.

Set the House in Order using PPM toolsWhile project portfolio management solutions do address the overall IT framework, a comprehensive deploy-ment of Application Portfolio Manage-ment (APM) helps in understanding the applications spread within your enter-prise better. APM can take you from an unclear inventory of applications with a limited understanding of each to a defined inventory with comprehensive

data on the business value and techni-cal condition of each application. There are a few steps that the IT team needs to adhere to:

a) Spot redundant, under-used, and obsolete applications--Applications, which are termed legacy, can get complex, and may not be compliant with policies or platforms. They may not be visible either, and as a result, hardware resources, staff time and maintenance fees are wasted every year.

b) Inadequate Performance Slows Down the Business--Many older

PPM Paybacks in terms of Roi

There is no doubt that the PPM tool emphasises on reviewing

the customer scenario amidst all the ambiguities. Besides this, it reviews available data and benchmarks and focuses on ‘hard’ savings potential while also qualifying intangible savings from the effective utilisation of legacy applications. a thorough discovery and conservative value calculations build credibility and a successful RoI business case earns a complete ‘buy in.’

The key business drivers of any PPM solution would help the following objectives: Make fact-based decisions about

initiatives and investments through comprehensive portfolio planning and analysis Maximise utilisation of the most

valuable asset--people Execute programs flawlessly utilising

best-practice methodologies

Gain financial transparency on programs, projects and service costs automate manual processes to speed

decision-making, improve consistency and reduce cycle time

For any typical business case, the RoI factors in the financial metrics revolve around certain facts. For any best case, the RoI would be around 264 per cent. The pay back would be ensured in seven months. The ramp-up time would be observed in a 4-6 month period. The internal rate of return would be about 318 per cent.

an IT organisation will see benefits ranging from increased staff availability to a clear cloud strategy. However, the largest benefit of application Portfolio Management will be observed by both the business and the IT organisation as the needs of each are brought into better alignment.

PPM for iT Governance

IT Portfolio-Management

Business Relationship Management

Demand Management

Cost and Time Management

Dashboard and Reporting

Project Program Management

Project Portfolio Management

Resource Management

Requirements Planning

IT Financial Management

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applications slow down your business by not supporting business processes that require functionality that is more robust or through duplicate applications being used for similar functions. Business users themselves often do not have insights from enough perspectives to understand how these applications can be optimised.

c) Apps not Aligned with your IT Strategy

Many of your applications may be out of alignment with your IT strategies and policies, yet they continue to live on. An in-depth evaluation is

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Portfolio ManageMent techniques | insight

necessary to identify the areas where these applications run counter to your strategies. Without these insights and an objective APM program manager to evaluate and recommend options, it can be difficult to convince the business of the need for change or upgrade of applications.

Where to start? Getting a handle on your application portfolio may be an overwhelming task.

“PPm concept enables organisations in aligning resources, requirements

and schedules to continually improve the innovation

lifecycle, while adopting new methods and approaches

more easily and ultimately make better decisions to

drive business”—Lokesh Jindal

Gm, Service and Portfolio management, cA Technologies

—bLV RaocTO, Infotech Ltd.

The necessary data collection and evalu-ation can be daunting. There are 10 steps which are mandatory to be followed to ensure an efficient PPM task:

1. Appoint an APM (Application Project Management) program manager who reports no lower than one level below the CIO

2. Define what an application is to your business--one definition to work with in order to assemble the inventory

3. Conduct an inventory--collect

relevant information on all applications meeting the definition and capture the data in the PPM tools, manually or by import, and categorise data around status, business process and acquisition source and also who is responsible for the data

4. Define the evaluation metrics based on business value, costs, benefits, strategic fit, technical condition and vendor rating

5. Assess the business value by soliciting opinion from a varied portfolio of people including individuals, contributors, managers, business analysts, application managers, etc.

6. Assess the technical condition relating to quality, performance and strategic fit to your architecture

7. Assess the risk by developing a risk profile for the applications, taking into account areas such as security, disaster recovery and vendor viability

8. Analyse the portfolio and the tool will enable the team to analyse each application individually, within segments of the portfolio

9. Decide on actions to take based on the scenario such as impact to budget, staff, policies, etc.

10. Implementing the decisions and typical projects would include migrating applications, retiring applications, modernising applications and so on.

“IT Portfolio management is very important in navigating the priorities and delivering business value by IT with right strategy and helps in delivering business requirements by taking holistic view, achieving

optimal use of resources for operations”

insight | Portfolio ManageMent techniques

ask the expert

Hitendra Chaturvedi Founder, Reverse Logistics Company (RLC)

Q: RLC is India’s largest reverse logistics company with around 500 people in our 15 offices in India. We have developed a world class proprietary, open source solution. This open source solution tracks a returned product from the point of return all the way till it gets a new lease of life through our repair factory and gets sold through our retail and e-tail network. We are looking for our IT team to seamlessly integrate mobile technology into our ordering systems so we can reach out to even more customers and scale our business. We also need help identifying business

intelligence solutions that we can put on top of large amount of customer and product data which would help us make intelligent strategic business decisions.

A: Analytic solutions are available on a license as well as cloud model which can help create a GTM to address more customers and understand customer buying patterns/user profiles. We have an end to end infrastructure solution and work closely with analytics vendors like SAP, SAS and Greenplum to help solve their problems. From a mobility perspective many solution providers have such applications and can customise a ground up application based on the output required. We work closely with such independent software vendors (ISVs) to provide these solutions.

Ashish WattalNational Product Manager– UCS Cisco India & SAARC

ADVERTORIAL

ci sco c to f cu s tom s e r i e s

37 07 february 2013 cto forumThe Chief

TeChnologyoffiCer forum

ci sco c to f cu s tom s e r i e s

Next Gen UCS servers for Next Gen ComputingIn a series of interactive articles, Cisco will shed more light on its Unified Computing System (UCS), thereby enabling CIOs to better manage their IT infrastructure

How has Cisco made server I/O more powerful and

much simpler?Answer: One of the key differentia-tors of Cisco UCS (Unified Comput-ing System) with Intel® Xeon® processor is the way in which high-capacity server network access has been aggregated through Cisco Virtual Interface Cards and infused with built-in high performance virtual networking capabilities. In “pre-UCS” server system architectures, one of the main design considerations was the type and quantity of physi-cal network adapters required.

Networking, combined with comput-ing sockets/cores/frequency/cache, system memory, and local disk are historically the primary resources considered in the balancing act of cost, physical space and power consump-tion, all of which are manifested in the

various permutations of server designs required to cover the myriad of workloads most efficiently. Think of these as your four server subsystem food groups. Architec-ture purists will remind us that everything outside the processors and their cache falls into the category of “I/O” but let’s not get pedantic because that will mess up my food group analogy.

In Cisco UCS, I/O is effectively taken off the table as a design worry because every server gets its full USRDA of net-working through the VIC: helping por-tions of bandwidth, rich with Fabric Extender technology vitamins that yield hundreds of Ethernet and FC adapt-ers through one physical device.

Gone are the days of hemming and haw-ing over how many mezz card slots your blade has or how many cards you’re going to need to feed that hungry stack of VM’s on your rack server.

This simplification changes things for the

better because it takes a lot of complication out of the equation.

There is also a need for higher processing power for bringing

new choices for design optimization. What is happening on this front?Answer: Cisco has been working hard making server networking better with improved and optimized efficiency. With the advent and advance of multi-core pro-cessing, the workhorse two socket server has become a real performance monster. In fact, for some applications the amount processing power required, relative to the other food groups I mentioned in my previ-ous answer, is outstripped by the capabili-ties of the mainstream processor family, which in today’s incarnation is Intel’s Xeon E5 2600 series.

In response to this phenomenon, Intel subdivided the Xeon lineup to include a new “EN” class of processors, the E5-2400 series, which ease back on the gas pedal of Moore’s law for designs that don’t require as much processing power in relation to local storage and memory. This creates a new class of cost & performance optimized systems for lighter workloads or for stor-age heavy systems (think big data) at the entry end of the portfolio.

Three of our new UCS M3 series systems fall in this category: the B22, C22 and C24. At the same time, Intel has brought four socket server options, formerly the prov-ince of the mission critical, “EX” end of the spectrum, down into the mainstream. An example of this is our new UCS B420 blade. So if you want four socket core count and performance but don’t necessarily need the comprehensive RAS features of an EX class system, you now have a price/performance optimized solution for that need.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries

For any queries regarding UCS, please send them to [email protected]

3 8 itnext | a p r i l 2 0 1 3

Cary Hayward | interview

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Unified with CloUd

what challenges confront senior it executives now

with regard to the Unified Communication (UC) space?Senior IT managers across industry verticals now confront challenges owing to innovations happening in the Unified Communications (UC) technology; this is more to do with the complexity that technology brings in with regard to user interfaces.

While there is increased complexity in dealing with the new tools, the challenge is also about cost structure, access control and also granting ease of access to users to the networks, amid growing competition.

Besides, the changing IT landscape has also thrown up ample challenges with Cloud adoption proliferating and giving free access to all devices.

Cloud capable devices are growing, demanding ease of use, and ubiquitous connec-tivity is viewed as a barrier to faster growth.

Let’s go a step further to analyse access getting out of control. There

Cary Hayward, Senior Director Product Management at Polycom is responsible for leading the planning and strategy efforts for Polycom’s cloud collaboration solutions and products, including the recently announced RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite. In conversation with N Geetha, Hayward discusses the importance of integrating cloud with Unified Communication in real time

are about 950 million mobile devices and approximately 6 per cent using 3G compatible smart phones. It is consuming huge amount of bandwidth and the 3G market is growing at a faster CAGR. All of these call for right interoperability standards creating barriers to UC. Service providers face the common problem with the uptake on the access through web browsers and email imports and scheduling, which is resulting in huge risks.

UC vendors and service pro-viders need to plan a meticulous approach to address growing con-cerns and have intelligence built into the solutions to rule out any inter-operability issues.

when you speak about cloud integration, how do you see it adding value to UC strategy in an enterprise?Understanding cloud strategy is most critical for any IT manager to enhance the efficiency of the UC platform. It should be tightly integrated with the cloud framework.

Let’s first talk about the Cloud. What is the new value it would bring in? It enables you to pay for what you use, it lowers predictable costs, it enables a shift from Capex to Opex and it helps in accelerating speed to value.

The other advantage is that there is no patching or maintenance of infrastructure required, there’s faster deployment of applications, robust multi-layered security and reliable and fault-tolerant framework.

From a UC standpoint, the Cloud economics provides the latest software for users, Internet collaboration, anywhere access and instant self-provisioning, all of which enhances productivity.

However, the most vital aspect is the journey from the Cloud to real-time Clouds in a UC framework.

The flip side is that the Cloud has not been extended to communications applications like it has with services and data. According to Frost & Sullivan, the interesting phenomenon is that the journey involved various stages starting with ISP 1.0 giving access

interview | Cary Hayward

4 0 itnext | a p r i l 2 0 1 3

“There is an organised customer feedback mechanism process that we follow by way of having ‘Customer Councils’ to seek opinions from specific industry verticals”

to the internet; ISP 2.0, access to servers as the internet access point; Colo 1.0, racks for CLBs at the internet access point; ASP 1.0 model hosting applications on servers at the internet access point; introducing cloud-internet based software services in the Cloud and last but not the least, the real-time cloud intelligent optimised internet infrastructure.

The question here would be how to integrate the real-time Cloud with the UC strategy; and there are best architectures defined by key cloud characteristics. The integration is made possible using:

n On-demand self-service which enables adhoc/scheduled calls to be put on a single pool of resources. The key elements in this would include E164 and SIP URI sup-port, Interop with Carrier class NAT/FW solution for enterprise/Government, SIP and H323 sup-ported, Integration with leading call control vendors and migration to SIP in the core.nMobile location on independent resource pooling in which mul-tiple media bridges in one virtual pool for massive scale and flexibil-ity. The supporting elements pro-vide policy control points to SP/govt/Ent via Multi-tenant Manage-ment System for scheduling, device management, reporting, monitor-ing interface and API Suite for ser-vice integration.n Virtualisation always-on availability that involves multi- tenant scheduling, management, provisioning, directory, real-time switching decisions on SVC vx AVC, SIP vs H323 and the Cloud elements with multiple MCUs in one virtual pool for scale and resiliency, multiple RSSs under one virtual pool for recording and streaming, for adhoc and sched-uled calls, SIP/H323/UC, single and multi-codec, Cisco, MSFT and H264 high profile, road map for greater scale (SVC).

nUbiquitous open network access that provides web client support, inter-vendor B2B Open Exchange, single to single and multi to multi interop on Polycom end points, APIs for integration into 3rd party systems. The elements would include SBC certification/Customer options, SIP/IMS-E164, signaling GW and scheduling/Traffic/Policy API.

how much are your customers involved in any kind of product innovation?The office of the CTO and product engineering are involved directly with customers.

There is formal honorarium extended to the team to solicit customer feedback on various

products and during the develop-ment process.

For instance, Polycom’s data process group generates feedback on the end points and absorbs customer observations in the designs and functionality.

There is an organised feedback mechanism process that we follow by way of having ‘Customer Councils’ to seek opinions from specific verticals. Currently, we solicit opinion through this council from the government, healthcare, retail and service

Gartner Business Intelligence & Information Management Summit 201310 – 11 June | Mumbai, Indiagartner.com/in/bi

Save INR 5,500 off the standard conference rateRegister using the promotion code BII1AD1

Analyze. Predict. Act.Agenda Tracks:A Data and Information Management

Getting the data and information right is key to delivering BI and analytics. This track looks in detail at how to best use capabilities like data warehousing, BI platforms, data integration and data quality tools, to build the right foundation.

B Business Intelligence and AnalyticsThis track explores how interrelated factors, like having the right organization structure, strategy and portfolio of tools, are critical in bringing business users together with IT to drive greater adoption of BI. It also highlights best practices for justifying, establishing and managing a BI and analytics program.

• Self Service BI

• Big Data

• Master Data Management

• Predictive Analytics

• Information Infrastructure

• Effective BI Strategy

© 2013 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.

HoT TopIcS

Now coming to India!

Visit gartner.com/in/bi for the full agenda, session descriptions, brochure, Gartner analysts, guest speakers and much more.

advts.indd 58 3/23/2010 2:32:15 PM

Cary Hayward | interview

4 1a p r i l 2 0 1 3 | itnext

providers and make necessary changes in product functionality.

For instance, features such as non-complexity in the Unified platform, ease of use capability etc., are incorporated based on customer feedback. Our recent launch of RealPresence CloudAxis is developed on customer needs.

This is an innovation where the product extends the RP platform to provide B2B and B2C experience. The solution enables external/internal users meeting on a bridge from Web, Mobile, Desktops and rooms.

It also provides host portal for adhoc/scheduled meetings pulling social contacts. RealPresence will enable a two-way communication process and two ways a host can initiate a ‘call’. This is made possible

using the email address of the user they want to invite and using imported contact information from Skype Gtalk, Facebook.

The unique part is that via the CloudAxis, any known or unknown user can join via web browser to any Polycom EP and infrastructure inheriting 20+ years of interoperability and codec quality.

how do you ensure that such an integrated platform is risk free?There are three types of security measures we address when we develop a solution and extend to the end user.

We tighten the security at the access level with encryption and a stringent password enabled mech-anism. We use various crypto-graphic tools from Symantec, AES and other security vendors. We prescribe stringent mullti-tenancy policies for branch offices. For HR and marketing teams, we create a separate traffic and bandwidth plat-form to generate information.

how are your customers leveraging new functionalities and how do you differentiate yourself?We have a huge customer base globally and a good number in India, spread across almost all industry verticals. From a market positioning standpoint, as per Frost & Sullivan’s “Video Conferencing Endpoints & Infrastructure Market in India CY 2011” report that came out in H2, 2012, Polycom leads the video conferencing systems and infrastructure market in India with 50.2 per cent market share in 2011.

Since we are a pure play unified communication vendor, we collaborate with various vendors to created interoperability labs for audio and video and address every end-point. We help customers in their investment protection plan on using office productivity tools.

We have recently launched advanced innovative video capabilities in our Telepresence solution in collaboration with AT&T.

This is a cloud-delivered video communication model enabling customers to collaborate in any manner. The Real Presence Platform is a comprehensive software infrastructure for universal video, on-premises or in the cloud collaboration, inter-operating with the broadest set of applications, devices and network protocols. Some of the new capabilities that customers would leverage from the collaborated platform would be:nNew on-demand virtual meeting room capabilities that increase customer choice through expanded interoperability nFlexible and easy-to-use video collaboration experiences that deliver a lower total cost of ownershipnNew forms of collaboration with business customers, partners and suppliers on the AT&T Business Exchange.

Telepresence Solution customers will now have access to a range of Polycom® RealPresence™ video solutions offered in 40 countries--including immersive and multipurpose rooms and personal systems--as part of a managed service bundle. This approach helps customers reduce their capital expenditures by providing the video equipment as part of the managed service for a monthly fee, while also helping to reduce the burden on internal IT resources, leaving customers more time to focus on business-critical activities.

The network will carry Polycom video, voice and data communications including access to the AT&T Business Exchange to and from over 80 locations around the globe, including Polycom customer experience and briefing centres.

Find other inter-views online on

the website www.itnext.

in/resources/interviews

'The Innovation Steeplechase'In his or her mind, each of us wants to be 'innovative'. Innovation is the new mantra for success for corporations and individuals within them. It is the answer to problems of growth, profitability, productivity, and organisational logjams. It is also the ready response expected from 'leaders' - functional or otherwise.

But like leadership, innovation remains elusive and daunting.

How does innovation come about and how can you bring it about - across the organisation or within your department? Most CXOs feel constrained due to 'too much to do in too little time'... and therefore none left over to innovate or fight deeply entrenched systems that come in the way of change. Equally inertia could result from the feeling that what you do is too mundane to innovate. Misconceptions around innovation only make 'getting started' tougher!

Given how critical innovation is for raising the bar - every time, every day - the 9.9 Leadership Institute is launching a series of 'Innovation Workshops' to help with 'winning the innovation steeplechase' irrespective of where you are in the race - before the start line, in the uncertain middle, or closer to the finish line...

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACTEmail: [email protected]: +91-9999799614Email: [email protected]

What the '9.9 Innovation Team' can do for you...Companies and senior executives are grappling with answers to one or all of the questions below in the innovation context.

The HowHow do I execute and implement?Here we offer our Creativity & Innovation Toolkit to help you kickstart the process to:- Deliver specific outcomes- Sustain the process- Embed programmes to influence the DNA of the organizationIf you are unaware of the one right problem to solve that creates "unfair" advantage for your organization in the marketplace, then "The How" applies to you.We offer Initiation Workshops; Toolkits; Projects and Embedding Programmes - with durations ranging from 2 hours to 2 days to 2 months and beyond.

The WhyWhy should I innovate? Can I be innovative?This question is answered through awareness around innovation, including:- Addressing myths and

misconceptions- And why each one of us can be

'innovative'If you spend all your time making tiny process improvements and watching competitors steal your customers with innovative new products and services, then "The Why" applies to you.

The WhatWhat areas should you innovate for maximum benefit?We outline areas where innovation can deliver serious benefits and identify the most popular application areas across organisations. The most obvious approaches begin with a need for:- Topline growth- Bottomline improvementYour business is going fine, sales and profits are a bit flat perhaps but they will pick up... or will they? If this is your concern, then "The What" applies to you.

Depending on which of these questions dominates your thoughts around innovation, the 9.9 Innovation Team will design a workshop or programme for you and your team.

'The Innovation Steeplechase'In his or her mind, each of us wants to be 'innovative'. Innovation is the new mantra for success for corporations and individuals within them. It is the answer to problems of growth, profitability, productivity, and organisational logjams. It is also the ready response expected from 'leaders' - functional or otherwise.

But like leadership, innovation remains elusive and daunting.

How does innovation come about and how can you bring it about - across the organisation or within your department? Most CXOs feel constrained due to 'too much to do in too little time'... and therefore none left over to innovate or fight deeply entrenched systems that come in the way of change. Equally inertia could result from the feeling that what you do is too mundane to innovate. Misconceptions around innovation only make 'getting started' tougher!

Given how critical innovation is for raising the bar - every time, every day - the 9.9 Leadership Institute is launching a series of 'Innovation Workshops' to help with 'winning the innovation steeplechase' irrespective of where you are in the race - before the start line, in the uncertain middle, or closer to the finish line...

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACTEmail: [email protected]: +91-9999799614Email: [email protected]

What the '9.9 Innovation Team' can do for you...Companies and senior executives are grappling with answers to one or all of the questions below in the innovation context.

The HowHow do I execute and implement?Here we offer our Creativity & Innovation Toolkit to help you kickstart the process to:- Deliver specific outcomes- Sustain the process- Embed programmes to influence the DNA of the organizationIf you are unaware of the one right problem to solve that creates "unfair" advantage for your organization in the marketplace, then "The How" applies to you.We offer Initiation Workshops; Toolkits; Projects and Embedding Programmes - with durations ranging from 2 hours to 2 days to 2 months and beyond.

The WhyWhy should I innovate? Can I be innovative?This question is answered through awareness around innovation, including:- Addressing myths and

misconceptions- And why each one of us can be

'innovative'If you spend all your time making tiny process improvements and watching competitors steal your customers with innovative new products and services, then "The Why" applies to you.

The WhatWhat areas should you innovate for maximum benefit?We outline areas where innovation can deliver serious benefits and identify the most popular application areas across organisations. The most obvious approaches begin with a need for:- Topline growth- Bottomline improvementYour business is going fine, sales and profits are a bit flat perhaps but they will pick up... or will they? If this is your concern, then "The What" applies to you.

Depending on which of these questions dominates your thoughts around innovation, the 9.9 Innovation Team will design a workshop or programme for you and your team.

cube chat | Sandeep Mhalgi

4 4 itnext | a p r i l 2 0 1 3

“Challenges are what makes work interesting and overcoming them is what makes work meaningful,” says Sandeep Mhalgi, Sr. Manager-IS, Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited

Pursuing with passion

Sandeep Mhalgi believes that applica-tion of smart reading techniques is a must for catching up with the latest information as it becomes available in web, books, magazines and other visual

media. He says that rigorous and long working hours allow IT professionals with very little time for catching-up with the world. He often applies speed-reading techniques to capture as much quali-tative information as possible from the web, books, magazines and other visual media. As Head of Cor-porate IT function, Sandeep Mhalgi is responsible for developing and delivering a comprehensive IT roadmap for the organisation. IT Operations Man-agement, Project & Cost Management are inherent parts of the responsibilities that he is handling.

Two words would be most appropriate for describing the reasons for which Sandeep Mhalgi has selected IT as a career - passion and adaptability.

He is of the opinion that certain degree of passion for what you are doing, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and technologies is important for a career in IT. He believes that the field of IT is quite unique as it offers a range of innovative solutions to solve our problems. An IT professional has to use his creativity to choose the technology that is most appropriate for any particular task.

“It is a challenge to keep step-in-step with technology, which keeps changing at a very fast pace,” says Sandeep Mhalgi.

“At times it so happens that the new solutions you implement lead to seminal alternations in the previously installed solutions.” It was 17 years ago that Sandeep started his career in IT.

Today he has extensive experience in areas of Project Management, ERP (SAP), Enterprise Connectivity, Infrastructure Management and others. During his career he has met with a number

passion and ability to

adapt to changes

My sucessMantra

By aSIt verMa

4 5a p r i l 2 0 1 3 | itnext

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of challenges, which required considerable amount of ingenuity to overcome. He says that the biggest challenge materialised itself during the SAP SCM (Warehouse Management) Project in his current job. The purpose of the project was to capture material movement in real time into the SAP ERP system. The challenge was two-fold.

On the technology front, it was a challenge to bring down the system through-put time from 24 minutes to a level that could match the material movement time which was an average of 3 minutes.

Sandeep says, “I overcame the techno-logical challenge by building an innovative solution that has won us the SAP ACE Best Run SCM Award. My vendor management, team-management and leadership skills also stood me in good stead on the human

side and helped in delivering the project on time.”

“The most unique thing about SAP SCM (Warehouse Management) imple-mentation was to extend the SAP opera-tions in the hands of warehouse operators,” adds Sandeep.

Sandeep agrees that he has a number of fond dreams that are yet to be fulfilled, but being a seasoned optimist, he is quite eager to see all of them getting fulfilled. With a smile he says, “I am too young to call my dreams unfulfilled, as I see all of them turning into reality as I go along.”

In the field of IT, he is inspired by who else, but N R Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys. A man of varied interests, Sandeep Mhalgi is also interested in Classical Music and Cricket.

Fact File

naMe sandeeP MHalgi

CurrenT OrganisaTiOn: sudarsHan CHeMiCal indusTries liMiTed

CurrenT designaTiOn: sr. Manager – infOrMaTiOn sysTeMs

CurrenT rOle: iT – Head

WOrk exPerienCe: 17 years

favOuriTe quOTe: yOur besT friend is yOur inner vOiCe

favOuriTe bOOk: leader WHO Had nO TiTle by rObin sHarMa

favOuriTe fOOd: PraWns Curry

favOuriTe desTinaTiOn: luzern, sWiTzerland / Manali, HiMaCHal PradesH

favOuriTe gadgeT fOr WOrk: blaCkberry

favOuriTe gadgeT fOr PersOnal use: iPad

“An IT professional has to use his creativity in choosing the technology that is most appropriate

for any particular given task”

update

4 7a p r i l 2 0 1 3 | itnext

A platform to air your views on the latest developments and issues that impact you

AkbAr LAdAk Senior ConSultAnt & innovAtion evAngeliStCto offiCe | Wipro limited Big Data is not another ana-

lytics tool. However, it allows

analysis of data on a scale

on which it wasn’t possible

earlier. Data collection has

become easier and cheaper.

Cost of data storage has also

reduced. iT enables reduc-

tion in the cost of data pro-

cessing and analysis to

gain business insights. This

completes the missing link

that truly enables a data-

driven enterprise. it has

absolutely made a difference

to iT decision makers. Deci-

sion makers who are ahead

of the curve are convinced of

cost savings of over 50 per

cent using big data.

bALAsubrAmA-niAm VedAgiri vp & HeAd - enter-priSe teCHnology SolutionSmpHASiS Usage of big data certainly

lets business to take advan-

tage of greater volume and

velocity of data. With more

accurate predictions, better

decisions and precise inter-

ventions, it offers an organi-

sation a chance to support

a wider range of business

analytics and applications.

Using modeling tools and

algorithms to harness the

big data predictive analytics

will define the winners in

the next few years. To be a

true differentiator, the right

data set needs to be chosen

on which the models that

predict and optimize busi-

ness outcome can be built.

subhAmoy ChAkrAborti gm-it, mAgmA finCorp limited From business benefit

perspective; there is hardly

any change from Bi to

Business analytics to Big

Data. However under the

hood, things got changed.

Now we are talking about

disparate sources of data

including social, mobile,

video etc. and then (here

goes the similarity) make

a decision out of them in

lesser cost in lesser time.

Bi tools had made a basic

assumption that all the

analytical questions are

known beforehand. That is

not going to be the case in

future. The traditional way

of separating operational

and analytical tasks may

not exist in future.

Is big data just another analytics tool?

open debAte

Your views and opinion matter to us. Send us your feedback on stories and the magazine to the Editor at [email protected]

book For you

The Signal and the NoiseWhy So many predictions fail-But Some don’t

STar Value:

aUTHor: NaTE SilvErpUBliSHEr: pENgUiN prESSpagES: 545priCE: rUpEES 1585

IT NEXT VerdiCtthe book carries a measured, cool-headed,

almost therapeutic tone. the author’s main

contention is that there is so much random

noise being generated by big data that we

have lost the ability to predict.

THE Book’S title is derived from

electrical engineering, where a signal

is something that conveys information,

while noise is superfluous and often an

arbitrary addition to the signal. in case

the noise is as strong as, or stronger

than, the signal, there can be prob-

lems. So how do you recognise which

is which?

For a Cio, the connection between

electric noise, and the noise that gets

generated by predictions in the iT

space, will be easy to make. Today the

data we have available to make predic-

tions has grown almost unimaginably

large. according to the author every

day we add 2.5 quintillion bytes of new

data each day. This is enough zeros

and ones to fill a billion books of 10

million pages each.

But the problem is that our ability to

ferret the signal from the noise has not

grown nearly as fast. Hence we have

plenty of data but we lack the ability to

extract truth from it and to build mod-

els that accurately predict the future

that data portends.

my log

4 8 itnext | a p r i l 2 0 1 3

Sangita thakur varma managing Editor, india now

Ah those carefree days of a collegian! A pair of Levi’s jeans or track pants paired with a T-shirt and you is ready to tackle the world. How we wish our wardrobe choices were as simple and uncomplicated as then!

Many of us do not place such a premium by the clothes that we wear to our workplace, believing the adage “clothes do not make the man or woman”. There are chances you may find a couple of workers sporting the grunge look or looking plain scruffy—the overnight shadow of a beard a la Ranbir Kapoor or long dreadlocks pulled back into a messy ponytail. There is our sloppily dressed specimen of women workers too, to be fair to both the sexes. Ripped jeans, rubber flip-flops, or on the other extreme tacky or flashy neon dresses, sky high heels and over the top makeup.

Secretly, I admire the confidence and nonchalance of these young office-goers. They care a hang about how the world perceives them and carry their college attitude to the work place, the chewing gum moving like the cud, firmly planted in the jowl.

But some 20 years back, when I stepped into the corporate world, among the first few questions that were on the top of my mind were the “office dress code”. I could see everybody nattily dressed in formals and semi formals and felt quite intimidated among the top honchos. We had an international clientele with a World Bank

Clothes Do Maketh the Man(ager)in today’s world of high end designer corporate wear, image management is an art best perfected

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CUBE CHAT | SANDEEP MHALGI

6 3A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | ITNEXT6 2 ITNEXT | A P R I L 2 0 1 3

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of challenges, which required considerable amount of ingenuity to overcome. He says that the biggest challenge materialised itself during the SAP SCM (Warehouse Management) Project in his current job. The purpose of the project was to capture material movement in real time into the SAP ERP system. The challenge was two-fold.

On the technology front, it was a challenge to bring down the system through-put time from 24 minutes to a level that could match the material movement time which was an average of 3 minutes.

Sandeep says, “I overcame the technological challenge by building an innovative solution that has won us the SAP ACE Best Run SCM Award. My vendor management, team-management and leadership skills also stood me in good stead

on the human side and helped in delivering the project on time.”

“The most unique thing about SAP SCM (Warehouse Management) implementation was to extend the SAP operations in the hands of warehouse operators,” adds Sandeep.

Sandeep agrees that he has a number of fond dreams that are yet to be fulfilled, but being a seasoned optimist, he is quite eager to see all of them getting fulfilled. With a smile he says, “I am too young to call my dreams unfulfilled, as I see all of them turning into reality as I go along.”

In the field of IT, he is inspired by who else, but N R Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys. A man of varied interests, Sandeep Mhalgi is also interested in Classical Music and Cricket.

“Challenges are what makes work interesting and overcoming them is what makes work meaningful,” says Sandeep Mhalgi, Sr. Manager-IS, Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited

Pursuing with passion

Sandeep Mhalgi believes that applica-tion of smart reading techniques is a must for catching up with the latest information as it becomes available in web, books, magazines and other visual

media. He says that rigorous and long working hours allow IT professionals with very little time for catching-up with the world. He often applies speed-reading techniques to capture as much quali-tative information as possible from the web, books, magazines and other visual media. As Head of Cor-porate IT function, Sandeep Mhalgi is responsible for developing and delivering a comprehensive IT roadmap for the organisation. IT Operations Man-agement, Project & Cost Management are inherent parts of the responsibilities that he is handling.

Two words would be most appropriate for describing the reasons for which Sandeep Mhalgi has selected IT as a career - passion and adaptability.

He is of the opinion that certain degree of passion for what you are doing, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and technologies is important for a career in IT. He believes that the field of IT is quite unique as it offers a range of innovative solutions to solve our problems. An IT professional has to use his creativity to choose the technology that is most appropriate for any particular task.

“It is a challenge to keep step-in-step with technology, which keeps changing at a very fast pace,” says Sandeep Mhalgi.

“At times it so happens that the new solutions you implement lead to seminal alternations in the previously installed solutions.” It was 17 years ago that Sandeep started his career in IT.

Today he has extensive experience in areas of Project Management, ERP (SAP), Enterprise Connectivity, Infrastructure Management and others. During his career he has met with a number

FACT FILE

NAME SANDEEP MHALGI

CURRENT ORGANISATION: SUDARSHAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED

CURRENT DESIGNATION: SR. MANAGER – INFORMATION SYSTEMS

CURRENT ROLE: IT – HEAD

WORK EXPERIENCE: 17 YEARS

FAVOURITE QUOTE: YOUR BEST FRIEND IS YOUR INNER VOICE

FAVOURITE BOOK: LEADER WHO HAD NO TITLE BY ROBIN SHARMA

FAVOURITE FOOD: PRAWNS CURRY

FAVOURITE DESTINATION: LUZERN, SWITZERLAND / MANALI, HIMACHAL PRADESH

FAVOURITE GADGET FOR WORK: BLACKBERRY

FAVOURITE GADGET FOR PERSONAL USE: IPAD

“An IT professional has to use his creativity in choosing the technology that is most appropriate

for any particular given task”

Passion and ability to

adapt to changes

MY SUCESSMANTRA

BY ASIT VERMA

Portfolio Management (PPM) allows business leaders manage their strategic portfolios including IT, new product development, service or applications efficiently; they can then spend less time on integration and more on innovation.

Besides, the PPM concept enables organisations in aligning resources, requirements and schedules to continually improve the innovation lifecycle, while adopting new methods and approaches more easily and ultimately make better decisions to drive business.

PPM and HurdlesIt is rather disappointing when the office of the CIO does not leverage project and portfolio management techniques fully, nor acknowledge its importance in the

techniques demand certain insights from IT managers: Does an IT manager truly understand the business goals and business user’s demands?

Is the IT team equipped (or does it have the ability) to deliver portfolio management solutions from a strategic business standpoint? Is the IT team in a position to work out the cost associated with a particular service that is provided to the business user? Do IT teams feel privileged to be driving value for their business groups or are they driving their own IT agenda? These questions are very pertinent to IT departments.

In Any Given Scenario…IT managers should gauge the IT infra-structure framework and take stock of the inventory, particularly the legacy applica-tions, as part of the application portfolio management process. They must gauge how much supporting these legacy sys-tems cost and take decisive action.

It is natural that, over time, a business accumulates a wide assortment of applications, some of which may now be redundant, underused, or obsolete. Some may be out of alignment with your strategic platform directions or out of compliance with policies. Others may complicate business processes or simply be out of alignment with business needs. Lack of governance of these applications slows business and increases IT costs. The process of identifying applications to be reduced or retired may be overwhelming. If a simple inventory of your applications can be difficult, the prospect of transforming that inventory of applications can appear totally out of reach.

Set the House in Order using PPM toolsWhile project portfolio management solutions do address the overall IT framework, a comprehensive deploy-ment of Application Portfolio Manage-ment (APM) helps in understanding the applications spread within your enter-prise better. APM can take you from an unclear inventory of applications with a limited understanding of each to a defined inventory with comprehensive

data on the business value and techni-cal condition of each application. There are a few steps that the IT team needs to adhere to:

a) Spot redundant, under-used, and obsolete applications--Applications, which are termed legacy, can get complex, and may not be compliant with policies or platforms. They may not be visible either, and as a result, hardware resources, staff time and maintenance fees are wasted every year.

b) Inadequate Performance Slows Down the Business--Many older

IT managers must leverage effective portfolio management methods to align resources and improve the innovation lifecycle

to make better decisions and drive business

BY LOKESH JINDAL

TECHNIQUE

BUILD ACREDIBLE

PORTFOLIOMANAGEMENT

PPM Paybacks in Terms of RoI

There is no doubt that the PPM tool emphasises on reviewing

the customer scenario amidst all the ambiguities. Besides this, it reviews available data and benchmarks and focuses on ‘hard’ savings potential while also qualifying intangible savings from the effective utilisation of legacy applications. A thorough discovery and conservative value calculations build credibility and a successful RoI business case earns a complete ‘buy in.’

The key business drivers of any PPM solution would help the following objectives:

* Make fact-based decisions about initiatives and investments through

comprehensive portfolio planning and analysis Maximise utilisation of the most

valuable asset--people Execute programs flawlessly utilising

best-practice methodologies

Gain financial transparency on programs, projects and service costs Automate manual processes to speed

decision-making, improve consistency and reduce cycle time

For any typical business case, the RoI factors in the financial metrics revolve around certain facts. For any best case, the RoI would be around 264 per cent. The pay back would be ensured in seven months. The ramp-up time would be observed in a 4-6 month period. The internal rate of return would be about 318 per cent.

An IT organisation will see benefits ranging from increased staff availability to a clear cloud strategy. However, the largest benefit of Application Portfolio Management will be observed by both the business and the IT organisation as the needs of each are brought into better alignment.

PPM for IT Governance

IT Portfolio-Management

Business Relationship Management

Demand Management

Cost and Time Management

Dashboard and Reporting

Project Program Management

Project Portfolio Management

Resource Management

Requirements Planning

IT Financial Management

SO

UR

CE

:CAproject delivery. They are often under

pressure to keep up the uptime, but devote less time to innovate. If the PPM tool has to be introduced and deployed efficiently, there are a few challenges inherent within the IT team which can-not be ignored. In any project, most CIOs and teams experience concern about improving visibility of projects, costs and resources. This means replacing its disparate management systems and manual processes.

IT managers need to understand the applications required by business users. Given the mobile penetration, the nearly 4 million smart phones in existence and the emergence of enterprise mobility and BYOD, challenges have increased multi-fold. Portfolio management I

LL

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applications slow down your business by not supporting business processes that require functionality that is more robust or through duplicate applications being used for similar functions. Business users themselves often do not have insights from enough perspectives to understand how these applications can be optimised.

c) Apps not Aligned with your IT Strategy

Many of your applications may be out of alignment with your IT strategies and policies, yet they continue to live on. An in-depth evaluation is

Future CIOs have a mandate: to focus completely on improving speed, accuracy, agility and decision-making. This

will invariably amount to stretching resources and exerting pressure. Additionally, the pervasiveness of information and communication technology will drive intense levels of change, requiring businesses to adapt in ways that organisations are not currently structured to address effectively. Hence, faster decision-making will be the key enabler to drive innovation in business. As a result, smart decisions will require an effective and agile way to manage the innovation lifecycle, from idea to delivery. A comprehensive Project and


PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES | INSIGHT

CARY HAYWARD | INTERVIEW


UNIFIED WITH CLOUD

What challenges confront senior IT executives now

with regard to the Unified Communication (UC) space?Senior IT managers across industry verticals now confront challenges owing to innovations happening in the Unified Communications (UC) technology; this is more to do with the complexity that technology brings in with regard to user interfaces.

While there is increased complexity in dealing with the new tools, the challenge is also about cost structure, access control and also granting ease of access to users to the networks, amid growing competition.

Besides, the changing IT landscape has also thrown up ample challenges with Cloud adoption proliferating and giving free access to all devices.

Cloud capable devices are growing, demanding ease of use, and ubiquitous connectivity is viewed as a barrier to faster growth.

Let’s go a step further to analyse access getting out of control. There

Cary Hayward, Senior Director Product Management at Polycom is responsible for leading the planning and strategy efforts for Polycom’s cloud collaboration solutions and products, including the recently announced RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite. In conversation with N Geetha, Hayward discusses the importance of integrating cloud with Unified Communication in real time

are about 950 million mobile devices and approximately 6 per cent using 3G compatible smart phones. It is consuming huge amount of bandwidth and the 3G market is growing at a faster CAGR. All of these call for right interoperability standards creating barriers to UC. Service providers face the common problem with the uptake on the access through web browsers and email imports and scheduling, which is resulting in huge risks.

UC vendors and service providers need to plan a meticulous approach to address growing concerns and have intelligence built into the solutions to rule out any inter-operability issues.

When you speak about cloud integration, how do you see it adding value to UC strategy in an enterprise?Understanding cloud strategy is most critical for any IT manager to enhance the efficiency of the UC platform. It should be tightly integrated with the cloud framework.

Let’s first talk about the Cloud. What is the new value it would bring in? It enables you to pay for what you use, it lowers predictable costs, it enables a shift from Capex to Opex and it helps in accelerating speed to value.

The other advantage is that there is no patching or maintenance of infrastructure required, there’s faster deployment of applications, robust multi-layered security and reliable and fault-tolerant framework.

From a UC standpoint, the Cloud economics provides the latest software for users, Internet collaboration, anywhere access and instant self-provisioning, all of which enhances productivity.

However, the most vital aspect is the journey from the Cloud to real-time Clouds in a UC framework.

The flip side is that the Cloud has not been extended to communications applications like it has with services and data. According to Frost & Sullivan, the interesting phenomenon is that the journey involved various stages starting with ISP1.0 giving access

3 EssEntial REad

Polycom's Sr Director, Hayward on unifying cloud with UC Pg 38

Building a credible Project & Portfolio Management Techniques Pg 34

Sandeep Mhalgi believes in pursuiing IT with Passion Pg 44

funded expansion and modernisation project going on. The company was also conducting personnel development workshops simultaneously to bring the workforce at par with the international standards. One of the first lessons that were imparted at the workshop series concerned image management and it started with an internal communiqué asking all employees to observe the formal dress code beginning the first day of the workshop.

The lessons learnt thereof have stuck. Have you noticed the confidence with which a woman dressed to the hilt sails through in a party, preening and peering around like a queen? Same goes for a dapper man dressed in a formal suit waiting in the lobby of an airport or the lounge of a 5-star hotel. They exude confidence because they know they are looking great and the world is admiring them. Image management teaches you to dress the part, look the part and create the desired impression. Your clothes or more aptly your appearance is your window to the world. The way you dress is how the world perceives your personality—a loud dresser is crass says the world, a sloppy dresser is a shoddy worker, and a smart dresser is of course the best woman/man for the job. Dress right and be your company’s Brand Image.

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IT Next April, 2013

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