What guarantee, service?

Kripa Raman

CHIEF Technology Officers are now increasingly troubled by one issue. Communication bandwidth, hardware, software... these are available aplenty. The issue is becoming one of whom to trust when ordering for supplies of these.

''There are too many hardware and software providers today. Take any requirement you may have and go through the list of suppliers. You will find hundreds of them. Technology officers are finding it increasingly difficult to decide whom to choose to give contracts to, whom to trust,'' says Harsh Kumar, Adviser, IT, at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

''Promises sound similar, and in experience, well, we have found that experience does not make much of a difference, we have been let down by big names as well,'' says the chief technology officer of another large corporate. ''And there are thousands in every area - from ERP to providing Internet and communication facilities to security software.''

What happens, say chief technology officers, is this: one places one's order, and the goods are delivered and installed. Within the guarantee period, there is some kind of reliability that one will be serviced. After that, say the CTOs, it is pure hell. One's supplier does not respond, or is vague about what to do. In many cases the people sent to rectify a situation have no clue as to what might have happened.

And some even say (adding they do not know whether they are imagining it or not), that their systems tend to go awry and suspiciously too soon after the free service period is over.

The high turnover of employees at IT companies makes it even more tough. ''I know I can rely on a particular company to deliver because I have dealt with someone whom I really respect and trust. After a few months, I find he is no longer with the company. I am then sent from pillar to post to get something rectified,'' says the systems manager at a public sector unit. ''I really don't seen how a private sector unit is different from a public sector one. I think it is the psyche of the people who are the same everywhere.''

Delays are another problem. A public sector unit as large as Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is yet to get its billing software system for its cellular service in place, although it is more than half a year since the service itself was introduced. And the problem? ''We had given the contract to a high-profile software company. They were supposed to have delivered months ago, but there is no sign of anything yet, except occasional calls to say they will be delivering soon.''

Get finicky

CTOs say a good way out would be to work out a tight contract, something that most people are not very finicky about. ''But one must be finicky,'' says one, ''there must be no means available of escaping one's responsibility as a supplier of quality goods or services.''

A solution might lie in building up a strong lobbying group of information technology users, but most of the user societies or groups, say CTOs, have been reduced to ciphers, either creaming up publicity for themselves or lost in some perfunctory activities. ''We are unable to summon up any strength of numbers to combat our problems,'' says one of them. ''Whereas you will find user groups in the West that are very particular and vocal about their rights.''

It does not help, say CTOs, that some of the largest user groups might belong to corporate groups that have technology companies within their fold. Naturally, they do not want to get involved in what is perceived to be something like ''consumer activism'' that might point fingers at their own houses.

Indian companies need to get smarter and more aggressive as customers, feel CTOs. This, they feel is not within the control of the CTO alone. ''Ultimately, the panel of faces at the top must be particular,'' says a CTO. Now that an economic slowdown has applied the brakes on spending, corporates will be more particular about where and how they spend, feel CTOs. ''However, our culture is such that the care is taken only on the expenditure front. This same strictness must continue even with respect to maintenance and proper respect of contracts. But this is an area where we have a long way to go.''

kripram@thehindu.co.in

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