BANGALORE, INDIA: The Indian market is very cost sensitive. Therefore, to be able to avail the best and sustainable technology is in itself a close call as wrong moves can give a company run for the money.

K. Sanjeev, CIO, Philips India, says: "Growing business calls for one to become tech savvy. The other issues posing problems to CIOs are business continuity planning (BCP) and not being able to form compliance with security standards."

T.G. Dhandapani, Group CIO, TVS Motor, adds: "The first requirement is to be aware of the latest technology trends in the market. There are many factors to be considered before adopting a new technology. Not all technology serve the best."

Arup K. Choudhary, CIO, Eveready Industries India Ltd, notes: "Drawing the best from both in-house manpower and vendors is posing a major issue today. Today, infrastructure management is being completely outsourced by several companies."

"However, managing such IM vendors are in itself a major challenge, as "most of the time service level agreements (SLA) are violated, which in turn brings in the issue of security. Quality of manpower is poor and business continuity suffers. In most of the cases customer feedback mechanism also lacks."

"The scenario is no different if the infrastructure is being managed in-house. Then, the issue of technology obsolescence crops up," he adds.

"The problems doesn't end here. Suppliers exploit by higher pricing whenever a new technology is introduced as the price will not commensurate with the solution offered," avers Dhandapani. "A company faces a grave issue when its business partners or vendors are not supportive, or when they lack knowledge or fail to upgrade their team with the skill sets required," he adds. Managing data, manually, is also an issue that haunts a CIO, he adds.

Where to draw a line?
Simply, keep a watch on the latest technology trends! The IT fraternity has to brush up their skills at regular intervals to be able to cope up with the challenges.

"We organize sessions every month to bring about an awareness regarding latest technology. We also do "shelf engineering" by simulating a business case for new technology and deploy the same when business needs it," Dhandapani adds. 

"Knowledge on the right technology is very essential. Involve the business users to understand how they can leverage technology to solve their problems. Carry out an in-depth analysis on new technology introduced; carry out proof of concept studies," he notes.

"Always adopt a proven technology, rather than the latest. The latest technology loses its value if not backed-up by a solid business case," he says.

"Regarding skilled manpower, always keep reserves of fresher and train them on the job. Job rotation for skilled persons is also very essential. Give them challenging assignments and develop skill metrics and plan for training programmes. Inorder to meet the security standards, everyone involved has to be made responsible," adds Dhandapani.

Eveready's Choudhary notes: "Get a centralized view of the entire organization infrastructure! There are infrastructure management tools available in the market nowadays, which can give the holistic picture of the entire infrastructure in an organization. We should have a proper replacement policy in the organization to manage technology obsolescence."

Moreover, as and when the industry is becoming Internet centric it is paving way for paperless office. It helps in managing the data properly and effectively. It is very important to acquire the belief and support from suppliers/business partners; so that together, we can prosper, he says.

Green is here to stay
 Green is the buzzword today and is here to stay. "Green technology is not a matter of choice anymore," says Sanjeev. But how far has the IT industry cashed in on adopting it and deploying it successfully?

Green data centres don't just save energy; they also reduce the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades to deal with increased power and cooling demands. To start reducing power consumption in the existing data centers, without making a huge investment, can be started off by consolidating the servers.

"It is a step toward conserving earth's natural resources. It lowers the recurring expenses for managing infrastructure substantially as we can cut expenses from the power front," Choudhary adds.

"But, even this is not a fool-proof technology. It calls for further innovation, invention and thinking. Cradle to cradle manufacturing may be still a dream in IT. But, what has to be done today should not be ignored and 'green' must be embraced with its full grace," notes Sanjeev.

The 'cooling effect'
Data center consolidation wasn't heard of in India till recently. However, today, talk to any CIO, as to how to manage infrastructure successfully and he/she will be talking on the lines of consolidation and greening the data centers.

According to Network Computing, more than half of the country's top 1,000 companies have undertaken data center consolidation as a key IT project or are going to do so in the next one year.

Tranforming data centres into a virtualized infrastructure, by consolidating them, is the need of the hour or times. "One must keep a check on the amount of power being consumed by data centres. All monitors have to be converted to TFT. While selecting servers, it is very essential to consider power rating and heat dissipation," Dhandapani says.

"Power consumption in data centers continues to be a big worry for all companies. Green data centre can help in reducing number of servers, heat generation (so that cooling can be reduced), and wireless LAN (reduce cabling, reduce network traffic)," he adds.

The way forward
As data centers become more powerful and expansive in their scope and business impact, their efficiency of energy consumption and operation will become a competitive differentiator for companies. 

Those who manage and run their own data centers will need to fill the skills and technology gap in their IT organizations, while those who outsource them to hosting providers must become better negotiators, monitors and enforcers of contracts.

What about e-waste?
The old infrastructure paving way for newer technologies is always a welcome sign, but it is high time to give a thought to what happens to the unused, sidelined equipment.

The situation is even more alarming as India generates about 1.5 lakh tonnes of e-waste annually, Bangalore may be generating 10,000 tonnes to 15,000 tonnes of e-waste every month, and almost all of it finds its way into the informal sector, as there is no organized alternative available at present.

The amount of e-waste generated poses a grave threat to the environment as well as to public health. 

"There is an urgent need for improvement in e-waste management. The government should have a clear-cut policy about how something useful can be achieved from the e-waste without polluting the environment," says Choudhary.