Response time is critical in outsourcing: World Bank Chief

MUMBAI: Vice President and Chief Information Officer of the World Bank Group,

Mohammed Muhsin has been responsible for aligning information and technology

strategy with the Bank group business strategy ­ directing investment into IT

to support the organization’s goals. Muhsin has been responsible for leading

the major programs for global connectivity and the renewal of the bank’s

information and knowledge management systems.

In India to attend the `India Leadership Forum’ at `NASSCOM 2003’ ­

Muhsin took some time off to talk about the World Bank’s IT infrastructure and

India’s potential in outsourcing amongst other issues.

Can you brief us about World Bank Group’s IT infrastructure?

The IT strategy for the World Bank group is two fold especially since it is a

10,000 strong organization located across 100 locations. Since we are a

knowledge institution and a financial institution, we have our own requirement

for information technology as a way of enabling processes. Secondly there is a

requirement from our clients on a large scale.

The bank itself is a high-speed global network with high-speed global

connectivity. We are the largest users of videoconferencing. More than 50 to 70

videoconferences are conducted in a day reaching at least 100 countries for

substantive knowledge and also for long distance learning.

In the internal systems, there has been a major revamp of big systems. We

have opted for an ERP suite and PeopleSoft to smoothen functioning. The World

Bank has done away with more than 10 legacy systems.

How do you see Indian participation in enabling the IT infrastructure of the

World Bank?

Interestingly, Indian companies have undertaken a lot of work on the systems

side. We have a four-year contract with Satyam for some of our systems. We went

public recently with a tender for offshore applications.






This is a major IT requirement right now. Due to major information overload, we
are looking at an effective solution for filtering information and enabling

faster processes and this is being addressed in terms of a CRM both for the

internal workforce and the clients of World Bank. There is a critical lesson

here. It is nice to say that we need CRM. However, both infrastructure and info

structure are important components that need to be looked into carefully.






Most enterprises are trying to do effective CRM have failed because they do not
have the required end to end technology.

Futures areas that are being looked into...

We are expecting to renew the treasury system and the loan system of the

group. Then there are the areas of loan security and knowledge management that

are yet to be examined. However, the details of these projects are still to be

finalized.

Bridging the digital divide….

Most of our clients have realized the technology is quite central to their

success. In order to be efficient in the public and private sector and close the

distance and time outreach, information technology is vital. This is where the

long distance learning and e-learning programs come.

There has been a demand for this and clients are also looking for solutions

for their tax systems, financial systems, social security and health. Countries

are now continuously looking for more cost effective solutions and therefore

there is an increasing demand for offshore services. I see a gradual increase in

BPO, I repeat a gradual increase because of the high risk element that needs to

be balanced in terms of a business decision.






For countries like India, embarking on the BPO route, the key enabler is not
marketing, but it is about building reliability in the business process and

addressing the appropriate process. There is still some distance to go in

building that trust.

What are the major challenges before India in terms of outsourcing?

The element of infrastructure is very important and communication cannot be

underestimated since this is a 7 x 24 job. The major challenge before India and

other countries is to be able to respond in stipulated frame. People are looking

for outsourcing for productivity gains.






While the market may bounce back, it will not be the same anymore. India has a
major opportunity to maintain the competitive edge. It is advisable for India to

be cautious in terms of profit margins and invest more in building confidence.

China is now a vibrant market. Ireland and Canada are also potentially

attractive for outsourcing besides Eastern Europe.

Could you tell us about World Bank group’s initiatives in India?

Although the projects are not IT-specific, there is a substantial IT

component here. In Andhra Pradesh, we have funded a management information

system and are running a infrastructure project for Uttar Pradesh. India can be

a very good example for other clients. The World Bank lends $ 1.5 billion

worldwide for IT components annually and there has been a fairly sharp increase

for India in this sector.