Interview

Q: What are your resolutions for the new year?



First, I would make the cost of IT operations in line with cost of desired
service levels (business SLA vs cost). Next, I would make all IT costs modular

and enable businesses to decide on which ones they would retain, with no

interdependence between modules.

Q: When you try to align the cost of IT Operations with cost of desired

service levels, how do you determine such discrepancies or variations between

business SLAs and their cost?



Business SLAs are on top of the wish list of businesses and everyone wants 100%
uptime with zero development time. We have tagged costs of optimal SLAs to cost

and let the business decide. So if they want more they pay more and justify

accordingly. We don't have to then do any analysis around discrepancies, etc.

We just monitor and report and accordingly take the credit or discredit for

services.

Q: How do you modularize IT costs?



All our IT costs are based on headcount. A PC cost can be broken down into

hardware, maintenance cost, cost of corresponding server operations related to a

single user. Then there are costs of each function, for example the cost per

user of an R&D person is different from that of an SG&A person because he uses

more tools and therefore more license/development cost.

Q: What measures are you taking to save costs and improve efficiency in

your organization?



We are looking at costs in granularity, for example costs broken into per

person cost, etc. We are also moving to pull printing to enable us to do print

accounting. We are doing an intra-company IT cost allocation cycle every month

to enable all cost centers to become more conscious of their IT wastage. We are

trying to innovate by using desktop conferencing, and by deploying Office

Communication Server. We have closed down applications, merged applications

functionalities and saved money on maintenance. We have consolidated data

centers, and setup virtualization and SAN centrally to save from having multiple

instances, thereby reducing maintenance costs. We have gone on a user recharging

method so that there is awareness among cost center managers and they take

necessary steps to reduce ISIT costs to save their bit of Opex. Maintenance of

infrastructure and applications, costs me 54% of my budget.

We are not introducing any new technology since that takes up costs initially

while people learn to use them. We have reduced multi-language support on our

help desk and are streamlining management of switches and our IT network

operations centers through tools and methods rather than people. We are setting

up desktop conferencing and video conferencing to reduce travel. The numbers are

confidential, but they're substantial. We are also going for pull printing,

which reduces the print infrastructure drastically to save on consumables and

maintenance costs. Plus, we're encouraging the option to work from anywhere,

anytime to reduce office and IT footprint.

Suresh A Shanmugam



National Head - (BITS) & CIO, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: We're bringing in

more concepts of reducing expense overheads by automating our back office in

terms of saving power and resources by optimizing further in three areas like

customer control and cost control and to bring in more discipline to deliver

best solution support services with available resources.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: It is not long since we

brought in more automation through system - bits which empower our executives to

use technology effectively and efficiently, but the market should have its own

turn to tune accordingly which will have some more impact on all of us. But one

thing's for sure: everyone's going to look at technology for cost effective and

efficient productivity solutions during the slowdown. And it's not going to

disappoint either.

R I S Sidhu



Chief GM, Punjab National Bank

Cost savings and efficiency improvement measures: We're planning to

leverage technology for more business and to get better turn-around times.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: We plan to use technology

for financial inclusion and also do better hardware utilization.

Resolutions for the new year: To get more business per employee and

have a better MIS

Technologies to invest in 2009:



1.SOC


2.Fraud Management

Bhavesh R Vekaria



Head - Information Technologies, Supreme Industries

Q: Please elaborate on how you're optimizing resource utilization in your

organization? Which resources need to be optimized on priority, and what

measures are you taking for doing so?



We are working on optimizing resources like sharing IT Assets (Printers,
Scanners, etc), maximizing bandwidth usage (we have 45 locations having multiple

connectivity that are connected to a central server at Mumbai). Plus, we're also

testing out server virtualization, and optimizing manpower services and support

in multiple areas.

Q: Tell us what measures are you taking to improve energy usage in your

organization? Are you planning any green IT initiatives?



We're minimizing energy usage in our in-house data center by sharing it with our
Group company, and by creating awareness amongst all desktop, laptop users, etc.

Q: What concrete steps are you taking for cost cutting?



One of the measures we've taken is to promote the usage of soft copies instead
of hard copies.

Q: In which areas have you controlled your spending?



We're rationalizing our IT expenses towards new procurement, by trying out

new product and their features before buying.

Pankaj Dikshit



General Manager, NIIT

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Re-negotiate with

vendors. Do right-sizing and optimization of the IT Infrastructure. Plus adopt

newer technologies like virtualization for cost optimization.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Optimize existing

Infrastructure, i.e. servers using Virtualization, utilize IP Telephony and

services like LiveMeeting to reduce travel and conventional telecom costs. Plus,

use power saving features on the desktop Infrastructure.

Resolutions for the new year: Embrace virtualization and better

leverage the existing Infrastructure. Propagate and popularize existing services

like Unified Communications and Live Meetings.

Technologies to invest in 2009: Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008, and MS

OCS.

Sumit Puri



Senior Vice President — IT, ICICI Prudential

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Sales force

automation and mobility projects are being provided more impetus and space

optimization initiatives at branches are being worked on.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: More server and application

virtualization; Explore new connectivity options for new and remote locations;

exploring new tools for enhancing data center performance.

Resolutions for the new year: IT to take the forefront in driving cost

efficiencies across the organization. Improve utilization of IT spends.

Technologies to invest in 2009: Portal and USSD technologies.

Rakesh Dhyani



GM - IT, Inter Solutions

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Optimize existing IT

infrastructure. Adopt cost effective technologies like server virtualization and

storage virtualization. Optimize the bandwidth and communication links. Conduct

cross functional training for IT employees to maximize productivity.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Use cost effective

technologies like server and storage virtulization.

Resolutions for the new year: Ensuring high reliability and

availability of the IT infrastructure. Optimize cost and bring efficiency in IT

Operations.

Technologies to invest in 2009: Server Virtualisation, bandwidth

optimization tools and security tools.

Sanjay Mittal



Head of IT and Systems, VIP Industries

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Reduce operational

costs by at least 5% while maintaining existing levels of quality.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Collaboration and workflow,

virtualization, and in-sourcing.

Resolutions for the new year:



1.Expand business applications


2.Secure and improve infrastructure

Technologies to invest in 2009: Collaboration, Virtualization, thin

clients, and Web 2.0.

Falgun Shukla



Sr GM-IT, Hikal

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: All cost saving

investments will be done on priority.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Implement UCM/PRI to reduce

recurring costs and increase productivity.

Resolutions for the new year: Servers consolidation with centralized

storage.

Technologies to invest in 2009: Blade Servers, NAS

V Muthukumar



Vice President — IT, Moser Baer

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Productivity

enhancement through IT enablement; Tight budget control measures while carrying

out projects and purchases based on clear business cases; Negotiating contracts

for better value proposition and minimizing the TCO. We're also leveraging video

conferencing, VoIP and Remote working.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Continue to better align

and prioritize IT to Business and unleash the true potential of IT as a value to

business.

Resolutions for the new year: Applications Platform, Enterprise

Application, Data center and DR, Data dedupe and Information Lifecycle

Management; Single sign-on and integration with Active Directory.

Nitin Doshi



AGM — IT, Sterlite Industries

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Holding projects that

were planned for long term business goals/supporting expansions. Renegotiating

existing IT expenses.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Considering server

virtualization to reduce data center costs. Considering open source

methodologies for reduction in license costs.

Resolutions for the new year: Increase operational efficiencies and

error free business operations. Improve IT security framework.

Technologies to invest in 2009: Business Intelligence with Business

Objects/Hyperion), CRM.

Lalit Wadhwani



Head IT & Biz Development, Prime Focus

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Increase efficiency

in all departments; have audit trainings, and optimize resources based on

results. Take innovative inputs or feedback from employees for better

utilization of resources or business performance improvement.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Use energy efficient and

eco-friendly IT solutions. Retire old and outdated non- performing assets

Resolutions for the new year: Cloud computing, Virtualization, and HPC.

Vivek Manilal Dharia



CIO, Knp Sec

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Use computers wisely

to save electricity and try to make a paperless office.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Virtualization, Green IT,

Cloud computing are some of the measures which not only save money but also

create a high technology impact on business.

Resolutions for the new year: Infrastructure of the company have to be

competitive & cost effective.

Vipin Shotriya



GM Corporate IT, Sutlej Group

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: To stop all

unnecessary expenses.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Business Process

Re-engineering.

Resolutions for the new year: Subordinate development and provide all

necessary reports in time to management.

Technologies to invest in 2009: Bar code.

Jawed Khan



Head-IT, Allanasons

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Optimum utilization

of the over looked organization assets.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Reduce purchase and reuse

equipment by recycling and rebuilding if possible.

Resolutions for the new year: Integration, consolidation and

virtualization of IT servers, storage and networks.

Tech to invest in 2009: Integrate and virtualize existing resources

and for new requirements, plan to use Cloud Computing.

Jyoti Bandopadhyay



VP-IT, Torrent Power

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Adapting

virtualization and consolidation.

Resolutions for the new year: Creating a one stop solution for all

units under Torrent Power for our Management, employees, stake holders and

customers.

Technologies to invest in 2009: An ERP system with Industry solution

for utilities and customer care service i.e. Utilizing SAP ECC 6.0 with ISU/CCS.

O A Balasubramaniam



Vice president - IT, Roots Industries

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: Cutting down travel,

saving power, and reducing manpower whereever possible.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Promoting and adopting Open

Source technologies.

Resolutions for the new year: Adoption of Open Source software and no

additional external projects.

Tech to Invest in 2009: Backup and security.

J.Ramesh



CIO, Onida

Cost saving and efficiency improvement measures: We have plans to

in-source certain activities that were outsourced till now in order to reduce

the pay out.

Technologies to reduce impact of slowdown: Business is planning to use

IT to increase productivity and stop recruiting further even for replacements.

They look forward to IT to automate processes and address integration issues.

Resolutions for the new year: Business Intelligence for KPI

measurements and SCM solutions for visibility of supply chain for optimization.

Tech to invest in 2009: SAP BI and SCM.