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Do you know which pearl to lock?

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Abhigna
New Update

JAIPUR, INDIA: When you look at a skyscraper, you not only wonder on how he adds to a city's skyline but also how deep and tough its foundations could have been. A few minutes of candid conversation with K K Chaudhary, Senior VP, Group Head, IT and IS at Lanco Infratech Limited are enough to remind us that when it comes to archetypes, depth and height count equally well and with similar forces. Let's see what this seasoned and well-adored-among-his-peers CIO can teach us today

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What made the last year worth a mention in your memory lanes?

Honestly, nothing that I can offer as highlights at this point given the state of industry we have seen. The power and infrastructure sector as a whole has seen some tough times. The focus, hence, on IT is to do more with less. It is about making a lavish space into a lean space; it's about polling resources smartly, about optimization and re-organization of workforce. So in IT terms we are in the mid of the best utilization and integration of hardware, software, manpower etc. That approach of integration and internal optimization is working for all group companies. The focus area of security was also in spotlight. That necessitated building up uniform policies, exception rules and tightening of access guidelines.

How easy is to ensure security with forces like BYOD?

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Initially I resisted the idea of extension of laptops or BYOD's presence per se and it was obvious because I had security concerns. Now I have utilized that urge to put in a disciplined culture and taking the risk out of it. Wearing two hats or CISO (Security) and CIO (IT) can come with its issues but I have tried to instill the imperative of ‘learn your car well before you ask for a driver's license' while dealing with BYOD and its equation with management.

So what is this year looking like?

It is fun to start and I foresee a lot of security discipline. Modular IT will be our focus. We are also planning to invest in VDI where virtual interfaces help us cross distance and knowledge barriers, especially for remote sites. This will be a security-embedded IT service. Also, for things like Skype etc, privilege management could be a good opportunity to look into. That way work-related stuff can be accessed and downloaded with permissions and needs navigating it and also without any security or leakage worries.

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Are there too many conflicting sides to security landscape of technology today?

First of all I feel that most breaches happen due to ignorance so that should be addressed first. Corporate data sessions can be immediately taken off once the work is over in tools like VDI. Container-isation of data also helps. Privacy is not hard to balance. In fact it should be respected and never compromised. As long as we can do that BYOD can be an excellent trend with plenty of advantages.

Would you say that infrastructure sector CIOs are finally coming of age when it comes to IT adoption?

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Just by putting a TV in your house and that too because your neighbor has it, does not help. CIOs have to realize that proving a point is not what they need. IT investments need proper guidance for users to realize its benefits. They also need political support and proper transition. That said some companies like Tatas are smartly going ahead with IT. Technology's power is great, especially in power distribution space, and may be not so much in generation side.

Is there anything wrong in the very way we approach security today?

I strongly opine that we are stupid enough to forget the basic question often - what is that you want to secure in the first place? Fencing the whole house is not the answer unless you know what piece of jewellery you want to guard. That's why there are money safes or jewellery boxes or bank lockers. Even with the most sophisticated users and vendors may have no idea of what they are guarding - What exact portion of sensitive data! Unless you know the ‘what' you could be at the best fooling yourself and the management too with advanced security technologies.

How do you find ideas like smart-metering and use of grid computing or supercomputers in power sector?

Yes, they can be very much relevant for India specially if you are talking of smart meters. More so as power has emotional and political connotations. Now if a consumer defaults, the automatic bill communication ensures that the messenger does not get killed (pun unintended) with the message. No one blames a computer message. That can help control thefts and inefficiency drivers.