BANGALORE, INDIA: In terms of meeting the business requirements Information Technology (IT) has to play a very major role. Innovation has to be the key in terms of jelling IT with business, says Arup Chowdhary, CIO of Eveready Industries.  In an interview with Manu Sharma of CIOL Bureau, Arup Choudhury, CIO of Eveready Industries insists on the need to innovate as IT professionals and also constant updation on the latest technologies to give the business its benefits.

CIOL:  You have come as a jury member for the Enterprise Connect Awards 2008. Can you highlight us about the awards and the outcome of the whole event?
Arup Choudhury:  Basically I am here to judge the Enterprise Connect Awards, and we have chosen the winners in the above Rs. 1000cr category and below Rs. 1000cr categories, and also the top three winners in the various individual categories.

CIOL:  What is your role in the Eveready Industries?
AC: As the CIO of Eveready Industries, I am supposed to oversee the entire IT function of Eveready, but along with that I have an additional responsibility of also getting into strategy, so basically in the business diversifications, in the process innovations that happens at Eveready, so I am also one of the key members of that particular initiative that's happened in Eveready, and other than that, of course, the entire responsibility of managing of the entire IT structure of Eveready.

CIOL:  Eveready is more known for the battery business, lately you have ventured into other business as well?
AC:  Primarily we were into carbon zinc batteries. Then gradually we diversified and we moved into packed tea. That was in the year about 1998, and packed tea business is quite old for us, because it’s almost ten years now. We have also moved into rechargeable battery business, which is mainly into nickel cadmium batteries at present. We are also into flash lights, we are into the mosquito repellent business, and we are also into the compact fluorescent lamps.

CIOL:  What is your role in the new business?
AC:  It is basically to understand what kind of business directions, the new businesses are going to have in future. What are the business challenges and how information technology can help, meet those business challenges.

CIOL:  You are Kolkata-based and the city has to compete with the other cities. How do you think Kolkata is shaping up on the IT front?
AC:  In the last three years, I would say Kolkata has shaped quite well. Although I still feel that adequate resources are still not available in the eastern region as it is available in other parts of the country, but atleast I have found that there is a paradigm shift in terms of mindsets of the IT vendors and also in terms of expertise that people provide in the eastern region.

CIOL:  What do you think are the new challenges, which the new CIOs are facing?
AC:  Major challenges are in terms of resources.  The kind of attrition that we have in the IT industry today is one of the business challenges. It is extremely important that the resources that are given into the project actually continue for a longer period of time, which is not really the case; because the IT industry is so volatile.  So one is managing the resources and number two is training those resources with adequate means to come up to the market standards.

CIOL:  How is IT going to shape up in the future?
AC:  In terms of meeting the business requirements IT has to play a major role, a very key role and if you really see, the innovation has to be the key in terms of jelling IT with business.  So we are constantly need to innovate as IT professionals, we constantly need to be updated with the latest technologies and need to keep implementing those latest technologies to give the business its benefits. 

CIOL:  So many vendors trying to push their products, how are you able to cope up with the pressure.  On what grounds do you judge or select these products?
AC:  Judgments are primarily on three aspects (a) one is that, you try and see that what kind of products are placed by the vendors in whatever the frame works that you have in mind (b), you take opinions from your POs in the industry to try and understand whether those products are time-tested whether they have been implemented and they are giving the benefits which the vendors are actually projecting that it would give.  And (c), the most important is basically to have a proof of concept kind of a scenario, where you ask the vendor to actually demonstrate to you for a short period of time but atleast within that time frame you understand whether this product will actually jell with your business of not. 

CIOL:  What role does the innovation play in your organization?
AC:  Innovation is very important for the business.  It plays a very important role for our business as well, because typically in an FMCG kind of scenario, we are into FMCG business and its very strict competition with a very low margin.  So the more you are able to innovate much more competitive advantage you can get in the business.  Therefore, innovation is the key be it business, be it in information technology, be it in helping the business with the information technology.  Innovation has always been the key in the FMCG industry. 

CIOL:  Every industry needs IT.  How do you think the small industries are shaping or coping up with the fast moving IT industry?
AC:  Awareness is the key.  Previously you can see that small turnover companies would actually try and do things more manually than integrate the entire process.  But in today’s scenario, with the way IT is been implemented and is used even in the SMBs and even in low turnover organizations, its phenomenon.  I mean the kind implementations that has happened be it in the ERP front, be it in the CRM front or be it in the mobile sales force or mobile work force applications front, its really been great in the last 3-4 years time.