CIOs need to look at business processes

BANGALORE, INDIA: It is now a given that IT is the engine that drives the business processes in any organization.

So the next step for CIOs is to look beyond the data center and dig deep into the improvements brought into business functions.

“In the pre-computer era, IT did not own the business processes. Now IT does. The way in which a business process is driven depends on how the ERP system is configured. The sharp realization today is that a CIO needs to get more people to master technologies,” said Ananta Sayana, CIO, L&T.

This was the crux of today’s panel discussion on the topic, Walk the Talk: What’s on Top of the CIO’s Mind: Concerns, Challenges and Pain Points, at the CIOL C-Change, which commended here today.

Venkat Iyer, CIO, Pfizer, said that CIOs need to ask a lot of questions regarding business processes such as amount of sales enabled and how to make existing systems effective and in line with company goals.

On business process transformation -- something that ranks high on a CIO’s priority list this year -- Sayana said that there is a gap between the way the business process flows in an enterprise and the way a customer or user would actually like it to flow.

“We need to have a deeper look at how the business process looks,” he said.

On the issue of business continuity planning and disaster recovery, Jyoti Bhandopadyaya, CIO, Torrent Power, said that business continuity planning is not an IT issue but a people game.

“The success of any business process or application depends on how you take people along. ERP’s success depends 95 per cent on business managers not IT people,” he stressed.

Other panelists also agreed on having the right people and involving more business managers.

On information security concerns surrounding an enterprise, Venkat Iyer was of the opinion that while security tools can keep external threats in check, it is more important to build trust internally with employees.

“It is more a social issue than a technology issue.” The discussion underscored the point about the evolving role of a CIO and the need to look beyond just managing IT.

Prasanto Kumar Roy, chief editor, CyberMedia Publications, moderated the discussion.

(cmn@cybermedia.co.in)