Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Sep 20, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Sep 20, 2003 |
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Info-Tech
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Events `CIO has to help cos move with technology changes' Our Bureau
Ms Sangita Reddy, Director (Operations ), Apollo Hospitals, and Mr R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland Ltd, at a session at `Connect 2003 ' in Chennai on Friday. -- Bijoy Ghosh
Chennai , Sept. 19 "I was asked this question even 34 years ago," said Mr R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland Ltd. He delivered the keynote address on Friday on "CEOs' expectations of a CIO" at Connect 2003, the conference on information technology organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Mr Seshasayee narrated that 34 years ago, he was doing an articleship in a tightly-run company. The remarkable thing about that company, he said, was that employees maintained silence while they worked, which is not typical of Indians. "One day, I entered the office to find jolly banter and general chaos. Surprised, I asked what the matter was." He was told that the chief "information" officer was on leave. When he queried further as to who this was, he was told that the officer's main job was to note which employee came late, which one was idle and the like, and report them to the boss. Commenting on the title of the address, Mr Seshasayee said, "It makes it look as though the CEO has some expectations that information technology seems to lag." According to him, "Technology is moving faster than organisations' capability to assimilate and use it". He said, "Online delivery of information is a given today. So is reliability of data and so is connectivity. Given these capabilities, I have three submissions to make". They are: Look to knowledge for the future, look at knowledge as differentiator, and make knowledge flow freely in an organisation. Elaborating, he said, "When competitive space is crowded, putting a finger on what is likely to happen in the future in terms of customer demands and product evolution, is critical." He added that genetic mutation was not accidental. It is possible to predict how an insect or other living being will change in order to adapt to a changing environment thousands of years from now. "A CIO's job is to design a system that will bring out such a change." On knowledge as differentiator, he said, "A credit card company I once visited was able to, using technology, predict the kind of customers who took a winter vacation, against the summer norm. With this knowledge they were able to help clients make several marketing pitches. It is possible for a CIO to bring out this information and add value to it." He said that Ashok Leyland was now looking at the "investment proposition we are selling to our client." It was not about selling vehicles or spare parts, knowing how its client could make money by buying its products, he added. According to him, "Knowledge is meant to circulate — otherwise it could get rusty and old. It is necessary to liberalise access control and the like. But it isn't easy if the culture of the organisation does not encourage free flow of information. The CIO could help do this. He could also help ensure that the lines between functions are blunted and that role definitions need not be sharp".
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