A Gathering of IT Pundits @ CIO Summit, Chennai

Chennai: The recently concluded ‘CIO Strategy Summit’, Chennai served as a quintessential platform for the contemporary IT  leaders who are responsible for the information technology and computer systems playing a pivotal role in formulating strategic IT goals for an organization. The summit which was held at hotel Rain Tree on August 31 explored the dynamic role of CIOs, served as a perfect gridiron to interact and to deliberate on topics ranging from disruptive technologies to controlling of budgets which formed the basis of the agenda.

The event was kick started by A.N. Ravichandran, President and Director of Fenner India who captivated the entire auditorium with his invigorating speech on the topic 'Is The CIO's Role Adequately Defined?'

The event then proceeded to the first panel discussion of the day titled, ‘Forging Stronger Business-IT Relationships,’ which comprised of eminent personalities in the likes of S.V. Kaushik, Sr VP - (IT & Internal Audit), Tube Investments, India and Mahesh Manchi, CIO, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts, India. The reigns of the discussion was taken over by Ashok Kannan, AVP - IT Head, Ashok Leyland John Deere Construction Equipment, who served as the moderator for the same.

Mahesh was of the opinion that being reactive will only let IT lagging behind in business decisions as CIO has a unique role of being the CXO at different levels. S.V, Kaushik felt that getting budgetary allocations to IT projects will not be a problem if the CIO is closely involved in the business.

'Enterprise Mobility, Collaboration & Cloud : A New Horizon' by Navodit Kumar Garg, Director – Alliances & Solutions, Huawei Enterprise was an intriguing session. Philip M, Sales Head - SAARC, Cyberoam then took the stage and delivered a thought provoking session on 'Modern Day Internet Threats And Securing Enterprise Networks.’

The session on 'Critical Infrastructure Monitoring and Management’ served as an intriguing session by Kaushik Mandal, Chief Sales and Delivery Officer, Nelco. Kaushik stated, "It is crucial that service providers and organisations wake up to the need for integration of IT and non-IT devices in their infrastructure management systems and outsourcing models. The sooner this happens, the better it will be for optimum utilisation of investments in critical non-IT infrastructure."

The concluding panel discussion on the topic, ‘The Business Impact of IT Consumerization, Mobility and the Cloud,’ was moderated by Siva Padmanabhan, VP - IT, Flextronics and it included HR Mohan, AVP - Systems, The Hindu, P Shobhana Ravi, Chief Information & Learning Officer, Tractors & Farm Equipment, Ramalingam Thyagarajan, CTO & CIO, Madura Micro Finance, Navodit Kumar Garg, Director – Alliances & Solutions, Huawei Enterprise.

Ramalingam stated, “I see a lot more open IT crowd this year compared to last year. Many of them have been positive about trying out newer technologies and some are already utilizing the advances in the cloud computing and mobility space. The FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) over these technologies seem to have subsided.”

The summit was a forum for senior level IT executives to engage in clear and focused dialogue with their peers and examine their management objectives in a relaxed and vibrant environment. The conversations between CIOs helped to validate CIO related issues in different manners.

The event was sponsored by Huawei, Nelco, Cyberoam and Zoho.