"The role of a CIO should be more of a corporate guru and less of a technical guru."

Z.S. Chaudhari
President-IT
SEL (Saluja Group)

Z.S.Chaudhari joined SEL as President IT where he leads the ERP implementation team. He manages the entire supply chain for multiple businesses like Yarn, Knit Fabrics, Processing, Garments and 16 different manufacturing locations across India.

Challenges in technology to meet enterprise needs in 2013 and expectations

Mobility is going to be a big challenge- as the end- users are demanding information anytime, anywhere. Also, they want to use their own devices while on the move. Choosing the right supplier or strategic partner can result in the company gaining competitive advantage and, launching a new product to capture market share. I am looking forward for solutions on the supply chain, which need to be customized to optimize profitability and customer service.

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

Data or information security is the most challenging issue in order of priority. The second is the information audit logs tracer. The technology staff iterations; when they leave the organization with smart ideas and vulnerable penetration of attacks to organization system, gives sleepless nights as they are aware of the entire work process, knowing our slack approaches.
Information security and availability in 24x7 work environment and this needs to be done in a cost- effective manner with lean human resources. To guard against accidental damage to our information systems; we shall have to be a technology evangelist to evolve and implement counter measures, with state-of-the-art available technologies. Right information should be available to the right person, at the right time.

Technology trends impacting enterprise business environment

Online repository for enterprise knowledge management so that knowledge should pass from one generation to another and it should not go waste. There is no fun in reinventing the wheel.
The cloud technology trend would have to be customized in keeping with evolving work patterns,  in which computing technologies are playing a greater role. Such customization would particularly have to enhance the services, provided by the local device to create a compelling business case for the cloud. A hybrid philosophy emerged as the answer to this challenge. Cloud and local device would work seamlessly together, to offer consumers the best possible computing proposition. Vendors drew parallels with public utilities to drive home this concept. Electricity for instance, is increasingly becoming hybrid to cater to user needs. Today users cannot rely on the electricity supply of utility companies alone. Whereas electricity utilities provide the equivalent of the central instance i.e. the cloud service, this must be backed up by localized electricity stores such as capacitors and batteries.

My roles and responsibilities as a CIO

The role of a CIO should be more of a corporate guru and less of a technical guru. He should be aware of the technologies which are best suited to the business needs. He should be more realistic and not technology enthusiastic.

Lessons learned and advice for fellow CIOs

Lessons Learned:
• Everything that can go wrong will certainly go wrong.
• People think computers will keep them from making mistakes. They are wrong. With computers you make mistakes faster.
Advice for fellow CIOs:
• CIOs should act as change agents for their organizations by weaving together collaborative business processes and platforms usually based on cloud, social and mobile technologies to make work more productive and cost- effective.
• Bridge the divide between the business and IT
• Stay relevant to your business