IT Usage Trends

Besides usual computerization and IT infrastructure deployments, we could see

a lot of other interesting trends in IT usage after doing the Best IT

Implementation Awards story this time. ERP, for instance, is moving beyond its

regular set of industries, and into newer ones that have a completely different

set of challenges and requirements. It's being used in the dairy business for

instance, where the job not only involves milk procurement, but also handling

cattle feed, plant maintenance and collecting animal information. It's being

used in flour mills, where the key challenge is fluctuating grain prices. How

should the mill get the best price from the 'mandi' is a tough call that ERP has

to resolve. It's also being used in the education to automate all processes

right from admission to timetable and courseware management. Poultry business is

another segment that's embracing ERP.

Anil Chopra Editor

Mobility is also putting IT to creative use. It's being deployed in areas

where it's difficult to use computers and the Internet. In healthcare for

instance, SMS is being used to cut communication time between the hospital,

doctors, and patients. The power and utility sector is integrating GSM with

their meters so that readings can be captured remotely. Another power company is

sending billing and power breakdowns info to customers over interactive TV. A

manufacturing company has integrated their ERP with an SMS based solution to

exchange information with partners in real time. The irrigation department of

Govt. of AP is using SMS to update the status of reservoirs in the state. A

fertilizer company is using PDAs to collect orders from farmers and then use GSM

to directly send them to a central ERP system. A financial services organization

is collecting EMIs from farmers directly from their doorstep by generating a

receipt and updating the central application over a GSM link.

Identity and access management is finding a different usage altogether. Many

corporates are using RFID based identity badges for visitors. This way, visitors

can nly get into pre-defined areas on the company's premises.

These were just a few observations we made from the projects and nominations

we received. We'd like to thank everyone for sending us their nominations. It

not only helps us, but the whole industry out there in understanding how to use

IT better. Presented in this issue are 250 IT projects. Plus, all the key

stories in this issue are based on information from these projects. The strategy

story for instance, takes views from key IT project heads on how to run an IT

project successfully. The tech and trends story analyzes who's doing what kind

of implementations and using what. The Enterprise solutions section covers a lot

of IT projects in detail as well as the key challenges faced while deploying

them.

We hope this issue helps you use IT better for your business. Happy reading!