What is the focus of the disaster recovery back-up project? Can it ensure real time recovery?

What are your innovations in order to offer better customer experience?
The centralized Customer Connect system we have put in place is first a customer centric solution that takes into account not just the routine transaction processes but the interaction aspects as well. This helps us understand customer needs better. HP is helping us in rolling out the solution across dealerships covering vehicles, service and parts operations. The rollout progressively planned in the next twelve months will provide our customers with uniform experience. We are also rolling out, with the help of HP, a Score Card system based on Oracle to address performance measurement and incentivization of our dealerships. Also the system would provide us valuable feedback on how we could improve our support level to our dealerships in effectively addressing customer needs.

Ashok Leyland received BS7799 certification for its Information Security Management System. What is the major impact?

What are the major challenges?
While there has been an order of magnitude improvement in terms of connectivity infrastructure, it is still a major challenges when we approach service providers for linking every nook and corner of the country for sustaining mandatory business operations such as in the dealership processes. We are using both MPLS and VSAT technologies based on business volume, transaction process needs and infrastructure availability from service providers. The other challenge is the mobility of people and the resulting skill impact this has in the dealerships. We are building business process as well as system user training programs for use by dealerships, which would largely mitigate the risks associated with the learning curve.

What are your demands?
Today, technology expertise is easier to get or supplement through outsourcing partnerships. It is the process understanding and ability to bring about process refinements through IT enablers important for enterprise success. Software engineering processes and discipline are hygiene requirements in this scenario and we should be able to take them for granted. People mobility is another ongoing tussle even with large enterprises and this is best addressed by proper knowledge management techniques, process orientation in approach and continuous skill upgradation. The future need is "mobile" business management and this has to come from both service provider and vendors. Single view of operations across the enterprise, 24x7 availability, aligning IT with business dynamics, resource optimization and utilization, integrated architecture ensuring secure infrastructure, data and applications and an IT framework that provides standardization, modularity and scalability and consolidation to address new initiatives are business imperatives.

Have you achieved your goals?
We have improved manageability and reduced operating costs by consolidating disparate systems and processes onto single centralized infrastructure. This has enabled easier rollout of new initiatives, brought about resource optimization and balanced utilization, increased productivity by automating workflow and triggering actionable system driven tasks. Main business benefits include increased productivity, process standardization, and transparency with suppliers and dealerships resulting in partnership approach, optimized inventory control, re-deployment of manpower and an infrastructure geared to support inorganic growth. As far as achieving goals are concerned we always aim to be better than what we are, and this is hence a continuing journey.