Achin Sharma
Senior Program Manager - Global IT Deployment
Nokia India
Perspective on Innovative Technologies like Cloud and Virtualization
Most of us are aware that Cloud Computing and Virtualization were
amongst Gartners top 10 strategic technology trends published in the
report in 2009. I think both Cloud and Virtualization are closely linked
to each other as without Virtualization there is no Cloud. Indeed,
there are lots of cost and operational benefits that organizations can
accrue by adopting these technologies. With constant increase in
operational costs and squeezing of IT budgets, it is critical for every
CIO to be flexible and able to adopt accordingly. However, one has to be
prudent in making the final selection and needs to closely evaluate the
business requirements. For e.g. Setting up and maintaining a Private
cloud may not be as cost effective as Public or Community cloud.
Keeping Pace with Latest Technologies
Reading, participating in seminars, forums etc.
Decisive Role of IT during Recession
Yes, as they say necessity is the mother of invention. In one of my
previous roles, we were under tremendous pressure to reduce IT
operational costs. Hence, we adopted a lot of innovate methods to reduce
the cost. For e.g. pay-per-ticket model for IT services tickets.
Contemplate Ways to Prevent Security Breach
Apart from securing Information Systems and database from various
threats such as SQL injection, HTML scripting etc. One of the most
difficult challenge for any IT person is to prevent data leakage,
especially when the data transfer is happening over mails, to 3rd party
agencies etc.
Importance of Cloud in the Organization
We successfully implemented Virtualization using
HP VMware for nearly 14 servers in one of my previous roles. We formed a
dedicated team who mainly tested the application on virtual servers and
went ahead with final roll out only after successful UAT.
Using cloud to Secure Database
Since most services are cheaper when implemented on a big scale. Hence,
cloud will definitely provide better security protection in terms of
latest security software, patch management, hyper visor maintenance,
robust authentication, redundancy, better response time etc.
IT Leader must be Manger or Technologist First.
According to me, an IT leader has to wear many hats. But he should be a
good manager then only he will be able to successfully execute
technology driven initiatives. Even the best of technology initiatives
will fail, due to improper management.
Welcoming New technologies
Mobile application development and Cloud computing to grow.
Bond between CEO and a CIO
I think both CIO and CEO need to be aligned and work very closely for
the success of any organization. Since CEO has responsibility of running
the entire business, it is the duty of CIO to keep him abreast on all
major technology initiatives. Similarly, it is equally crucial for the
CEO to keep CIO aligned with latest business strategy and susequent
changes. Any major communication gap between them will result in a
disaster.
Outlook
I think CIOs need to be more proactive and constantly look out for new
technologies to improve business productivity and reduce overall costs.
Gone are the days, when CIO used to only think about technology. In
current scenario, CIOs need to be more business focused and should be
able to evaluate pros and cons of any major technology decision.
