Citigroup, the
world's largest financial services group, is one of India's most diverse
financial service providers. It is India's leading retail bank and also the
leading issuer of credit cards. It has a customer base of over 900 large
corporates, 22,000 small and medium enterprises, and 3,500,000 retail
customers. It also provides banking services to the international Indian
community in 23 cities around the world. Ravi Raman spoke with VOICE&DATA.
Excerpts:
The
preeminence of telecommunications in any business is a forgone conclusion. Yet,
CIOs often talk about issues and challenges related to managing IT within their
enterprise, while telecom is rarely discussed. Is telecommunication outside the
domain of CIOs in most enterprises?
Telecom
forms an important part of a CIO's portfolio and is an increasingly fundamental
element of a CIO's domain. Unlike in the past, today it is discussed in every
meeting. Today, capacity on LAN/WAN/Internet space impacts the success of IT
projects. If not accorded adequate importance, it could lead to capacity issues
when projects are rolled out.
Communications
and networking technologies are changing very fast. Many a time new
technologies are not just advancements over existing ones-they are disruptive
too. What is the best strategy an enterprise can deploy to cope?
Constituting
a task force to evaluate the true value and benefit of the technology is one
way to approach this now-common issue. If there are indicators that a
technology has the potential to deliver business results, the next step would
be a pilot. On confirmation, the enterprise can begin full-scale
implementation.
What role
does the Internet play in your business? What is your take on IP-based communication?
Internet has
and continues to play a pivotal role in our business and it will only become
more significant in the days to come. It is particularly effective in providing
timely and updated information to customers and in processing their banking
transactions remotely-from their chosen location. With Internet banking,
customers no longer need to visit the bank to process their requests. The key
aspect of IP-based communications has been information security and as long as
this is not compromised, and adequate bandwidth capacity is available, this
will enable us to serve our customers better.
Wireless
has grown rapidly. What kind of issues and challenges has it thrown up,
especially in terms of network security and network management?
We are
in the early stages of deploying wireless technology and will prefer to conduct
a detailed analysis of issues and challenges at a more mature implementation
stage.
What role
does wireless play in your enterprise? What kinds of benefits has it brought to
you?
As
stated earlier, we are still in the early stages of deploying wireless
technology. Eliminating the need for cabling and physical connectivity, which
are today additional points of failure, are some of its primary benefits.
Today
wireless is mostly complimentary to wired enterprise networks. Do you believe
that this will change soon with wireless emerging as the primary means of
communications?
This
is a possibility if it meets the information security, cost, and reliability
requirements of the business enterprises.
Getting the
best value from a communications service provider is often a challenge. What
should a CIO keep in mind while dealing with a service provider? What do you
think are the key elements of a good SLA?
I
think the key aspect is to ensure that the service provider has a good
understanding of your business and its criticality. While the SLA and metrics
will help us in focussing on the right areas for improvement, the key to success
is to engage in a partnership with the service provider so that problems can be
solved together. The partnership develops over a period of time through a frank
exchange of views and corrections based on feedback.
Are there
still regulatory issues that hamper deployment of new communication
technologies in India?
More
than regulatory issues, it is capacity issues that often create the bottleneck.
We have just three or four ocean cables connecting India internationally while
smaller countries have many more, thus enabling them to provide services at
lower costs. We need to build adequate capacity so that system developers can
develop systems without reference to constraints imposed by bandwidth.
How can
business, IT, and communications be aligned seamlessly for the benefit of
customers, suppliers, and partners?
Business,
IT, and communications have to work seamlessly. There can be no two ways about
it. A good strategy is to group software development, maintenance, data
centers, and networks under the management of a single person (CIO) so that the
strategic direction and culture for the IT organization is consistent all
through.
Which are
the emerging communications or networking technologies that an enterprise must
keep a tab of?
Wireless,
convergence of various products into one unit like a PDA, and encryption and
security tools are all important to keep one's eyes and ears open for.
What
challenges does 2005 hold for you as a CIO?
Providing
cost-effective services with increased focus on information security and
controls will be key challenges.
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Source:Voice&Data