"You will never have enough data to take safe decisions. There is nothing called complete information."

Dheeraj Sinha
Group Head - Corporate Management Services
Apollo Tyres

Dheeraj with a strong focus on key strategic vision, Business Process Alignment, aligning Information technology, delivering IT governance and managing large scale enterprise projects has been engaged in Strategic IT and Business Roles in various organizations. In the present role as the Group Head and Global CIO, he heads the Global Information Services Function for the organization.

Other than IT, he also handles the Global Supply Chain function. This has provided him with a strong insight on all key operational business processes, from demand to order fulfillment, manufacturing, logistics and distribution with all critical interfaces like product development, sales management and product portfolio management.

Challenges in technology to meet enterprise needs in 2013 and expectations

Today is the age of simplicity. While requirements will continue to get complex, technology has to simplify solutions and make them very easy to understand and work with. For 2013, the biggest challenge that I see is over- design (or lack of customization) and lack of simplicity in solutions being provided by companies and value added by consultants and partners. I see huge thrust on mobility (real value add deployments), customer facing applications getting more sophisticated, inroads of GIS based decision making and enhancements in the BI tools.

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 maturity cycles in IT within any large organization. I think we have reached a stage where uptimes/ manpower retention/ skills upgrade/ alignment to business are table stakes and hygiene factors. What keeps me awake is integration of complex businesses, providing value to shareholders and how to provide big bang on every rupee spent. Businesses should stand up and say IT has given them a competitive edge and they are able to be more profitable than they were before. This will be music to my ears and what drives me in my work.

Technology trends impacting enterprise business environment

As mentioned earlier, everything to do with customer is extremely important and will have a significant impact on business. Mobility, GIS, data extraction and information presentation in a simple manner will be the key. We have too much of data but too little information. This needs to change and transform very quickly.

My roles and responsibilities as a CIO

There is a significant movement away from technologies and more into the business. The language is what solutions can solve the business issue. It is not about technology or infrastructure. Engagement with C level peers is much higher on business grounds. It also comes from your ability to build a compelling case for what solutions you are offering.

Lessons learned and advice for fellow CIOs

a) Anything that can be done today, please don't procrastinate for tomorrow.
b) You will never have enough data to take safe decisions. There is nothing called complete information. Go ahead and take decisions.
c) Keep the very vibrant and enriched partner eco- system. You tend to learn much more from the partner eco- system than industry peer groups.