"Make sure to move the IT set up from an “effort driven" structure to an “outcome based" structure."

Subrata Dutta
Group CIO and Head of IT
Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd

Subrata, a CA and MBA from USA has got approximately 26 years of Professional Accounting, Management Consulting and Global IT experience across UK/Europe having worked with a Big 4 Consulting Firm in India and reputed Multinationals.

Challenges in technology to meet enterprise needs in 2013 and expectations

I view technology from the perspective of providing a stable infrastructure platform for running the enterprise efficiently and reducing the overall TCO, also helping transform the enterprise through the roll out of niche products/ solutions that would either act as growth lever for the enterprise or an efficiency lever or both helping generate substantial business impact/ operational efficiencies.

Leveraging technology to "run" the enterprise is less challenging then the latter, ie 'transforming " the enterprise and I see a visible gap in the niche technology area with only a handful of players who bring to the table domain knowledge and both product/ professional services.

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

Despite solutions existing, pain points do not diminish. Whether it is a worldclass ERP getting implemented in the company or a world class line of business application or point solution by a best in class partner/ vendor, these products being in existence for a long period of time with newer versions rolled out from time to time, much to my chagrin I find that the 2- 3 months period post implementation of even these world class products go through a period of mandatory debugging despite elaborate end to end SIT/ UAT phases etc in the delivery lifecycle.

Technology trends impacting enterprise business environment

Mobility and big data/ analytics. We are counting on both these new trends amongst the nexus of forces, to significantly help us generate substantial business impact by reducing our time to market , improve collection efficiencies that would directly impact the bottom line, improve productivity of our sales force etc. Use of analytics would help us do customer risk profiling better and help in reducing delinquent accounts/ overall portfolio risk and NPAs., streamline information in the organization/ improved MIS etc for better quality of management decisions.

My roles and responsibilities as a CIO

I would say the role as a CIO has undergone a paradigm shift over the last couple of years. Earlier, I would “align" the IT strategy to the business strategy. The retained organization and the leaders within it who are my direct reports would completely be involved in Operations, leaving very little room for Strategic Thinking. I am now making every effort to make sure that we move the IT set up from an “effort driven" structure to an “outcome based" structure. I have taken the lead to sign contracts with our vendors for Business impact of 1.25 x to 1.50 x and making sure we achieve that through deployment of six sigma.

Lessons learned and advice for fellow CIOs

Lessons learnt have been many, particularly when it comes to dovetailing solutions to meet business needs and addressing change management associated with large transformational programs undertaken in the organization within a very short span of time. For success of initiatives and programs I realized that mere governance and execution skills were not enough. One needed to create “choke points" for various applications rolled out for effective usage and ensuring the ROI numbers were met in the process. My advice to fellow CIOs is to strive to run IT as a Business.