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Do Indian businesses see IT as a mere cost?

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

MUMBAI, INDIA: As recession becomes a thing of the past and as the world moves ahead to harness new opportunities, a very unique trait found during these tough times across all businesses is the need of IT solutions that are cost effective and efficient.

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During the past one and a half year, businesses extensively braced cost-effective and efficient IT solutions such as web-based communication, cloud-based software applications, virtualization for server consolidations and data centers and others.

However, many IT experts and analysts wonder as to why businesses only look at IT to satisfy business needs and not look at IT as integral part of business like finance, human resources etc.

“IT is still taken as a cost or expense but not as investment. It is not seen with business values but is seen cross the business values,” reasons Avinash Kadam, the director of Mumbai-based MIEL e-Security, which provides information security consultancy services.

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“IT should be taken as a business enabler and consider it to be the integral part of business,” he adds. An ISACA member, Kadam is the chairman of Asia Computer Audit, Control and Security (CACS) Task Force, the principal body of Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). The Mumbai chapter of ISACA will hold a two-day Asia Pacific CACS conference during February 22-23 in the city.

According to Kadam, the key objective of ISACA is to promote IT governance and security across industries, which means doing business smoothly and effectively using the core element of IT in governance and security.

On India’s situation in context to business and IT, Kadam says that businesses are shy of IT and there are several reasons to it.

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“You will find very few IT people who are on the board of directors because IT people are unable to talk in businessman’s language. The approach that IT guys are there to support the business needs to be changed by the business people,” he points out.

Further, giving an example, Kadam explains that presently everybody is talking about cloud computing and virtualization but business people don’t have a technical understanding on it and have their own obligations. He opines that in business governance the aspect of IT is missing, which is very strategic for businesses.

Though ISACA Mumbai chapter is among the top groups globally, Kadam feels the ISACA is falling short in its drive to align business and IT in India and specifies, “IT hasn’t penetrated to the board level and it is still perceived as an expense and not as adding values.”

Nevertheless the fact remains that businesses are sensitive to IT security and governance mainly due to involvement of huge costs. “Yes, IT does involve cost but it's adding values to business. IT is making business efficient, saving cost, helping to make decision faster and IT is the enabler of business,” Kadam comments.

“But for that, one needs to make or create a business case before making IT investments and then you can justify IT,” he stresses. Moreover Kadam says that ISACA's aim is to help people in making or presenting business cases for IT investment.

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