Nuts and Bolts: UI and Support are vital

MUMBAI, INDIA: In a candid conversation, Shailesh Joshi, Associate VP- Information Systems for Godrej Industries tells us both the good and the not so good sides of putting SAP as the IT bricks in his strategy's wall.

Where does ERP link with your overall business or IT strategy?

Though our top priority is infrastructure consolidation. We have implemented SAP across the group and are in the process of implementing BusinessObjects for business analytics and MIS. Till now we had transactional systems. We are undertaking value engineering exercises from SAP to understand gaps, and plan future solutions.

Can you give us a peek into the industry-specific issues?

SAP was not made for real estate industry and even the industry was not that organized to begin with. Even today the ERP suite addresses project site on the lines of plant maintenance. The entire process is not mapped as workflow so we might need to configure some parts.

Godrej being a conglomerate, do all the different divisions have IT beams connected well enough? Or is it an n independent approach that works?

We have started a process of standardization and it includes all equipment, data centers and service providers. Usually, individual companies come out with their IT requirements. With applications, it is an individual approach and with infrastructure, it is a common approach that the group follows.

How have your ERP choices fared out? Gaps? Legacy issues?

SAP experience has overall been good. Initial, adaptation was a challenge as the new system was more 'production' oriented and not tailor made for the real estate business. In terms of issues, user interface is what I can think of. People on the project side, who work at sites, do not have much time for filling and updating complicated fields. They prefer systems that offer limited fields. This part of UI related changes would greatly help.

What are your observations on SAP’s graph so far?

We started using it in 2006 and have recently plugged in to BusinessObjects. From transactional systems to business analytics, we have progressively adopted it till now. SAP has acquired some companies, and a good change is that they have got the partnership flavour in recent times. Even after licensing, the value engineering mode shows them in a new light — more of a partner than a vendor.

Do you think its organic growth approach is faring better than the opposite approach that its arch-rival is synonymous with? Or do acquisitions play out better?

I would be inclined to say that organic approach is relatively better. Integration issues may be a big concern for both - vendor as well as customer and can create some real problems. Even with SAP for example, BusinessObjects license is different from SAP license which should ideally be in the same stable.

Options like Salesforce are gaining a lot of spotlight these days? Why or why not would they tickle your interest?

For one, SAP has a noiseless interface. Then, I am not sure if requests for support would receive as fast a response as we do now. On-demand can be a good idea but security issues are very strong.

What’s your overall IT strategy when it comes to self-sufficiency and support or outsourcing?

We do selective outsourcing. We have outsourced ERP support to HP for some of our group companies. We do not plan to go immediately for total IT outsourcing for all the companies in the group.

Do you count support as a critical factor?

Yes, and vendors are growing up to the fact that customers require it as an independent piece. Though it is not up to mark because there is still that proactive vs. reactive gap playing in.

So, can you spell out some expectations or suggestions?

Have a support team that meets us regularly. They can advise and guide us if there are any wrong configurations to be improved, even at non-crisis times.