The areas in business environment where solutions do not yet exist or not up to the mark, and which if existed, would've made job easier
There are several pain points. Mobile, effective user friendly solutions that will keep track of men, machine and material at remote sites that are fluid and change with the progress is of utmost importance. The thing that makes my work exciting and challenging is to bring easy to use (user friendly) applications/ solutions accepted both by unskilled labour as well as skilled engineering staff, innovative solutions to improve the productivity and building alert systems to identify pilferage at the construction sites as well as the waste management sites. In fact thinking of a business solution is not hard at all, but to ensure the pragmatic viability and to have it accepted by the workforce is what keeps me awake at nights.
Technology trends impacting enterprise business environment
The current technology trend of useful apps on the Smartphones and their acceptance and adaptation by everyone has actually given us hope that WE CAN leverage on the technology and it no longer intimidates the users as once was thought. Mobile apps that provide required security on cost-effective networking/ wireless infrastructure will have huge impact on our business line.
My roles and responsibilities as a CIO
The biggest change that I noticed in the recent past regarding the role of a CIO that used to be “Keep my systems running” or as I call “Keep the lights on” to What can you do to help me run the business?. In the past, business not just necessarily stated the problem, but came to you with a solution and you were expected to implement. Examples could be: I need Blackberry/ ERP/ RM for my business, to where they are expecting CIO to understand the business, problems of stakeholders and decide on the solution and technology rather than just implement what was handed over and keep it running. CIO is expected to be technology consultant to solve business problems and no longer just a technology expert be it hardware or software.
Lessons learned and advice for fellow CIOs
In the early part of my career, I was thinking more in terms of IT strategy that dealt primarily with the IT support for hardware and the business applications, project implementation and the NOC/ data center. The lesson learned is there is no such thing as IT strategy. The right IT organization enables the successful execution of Business Strategy. Our only job is to provide the right tools to let them do their job effectively and efficiently by using the right technology that suits the enterprise. To provide the cost effective solution, CIO is expected to keep abreast of current and evolving technologies and use them because they fit the business need and not necessarily is the most promising or most talked about technology.
