CIOs Congregate to Discuss IT Trends at CIO Leadership Forum

New Delhi: The recently concluded ‘CIO Leadership Forum’ on December 7 in the capital city, witnessed conglomeration of noted dignitaries from the IT arena. This gala event which took place at The Claridges hotel was 19th of its kind and was organized in Delhi for the 3rd time. Contemporary issues looming over the IT sector were discussed by industry bigwigs in a series of panel discussions and individual sessions. The distinguished list of attendees gained valuable insight into the neoteric trends that mark the roadmap for Information & Technology.

The event was kick started by Rajeev Seoni, CIO at Ernst & Young who delivered an intriguing keynote session on the topic, 'DNA of CIOs - Opening the Door to the C-Suite' captivating the audience. His session provided an invaluable perspective as to how the CIO is viewed by the rest of the executive management community. He also presented means for CIOs to overcome the general perception gap that usually presides over the corporate sector.

The ensuing panel discussion on 'Enabling Revenue: The CIO's role in supporting top-line growth' served as a perfect platform to discuss the CIOs impact in generating revenue streams of the business and in the process  becoming more and more relevant to the growth of the business. The distinguished panelists for this session were Dr. J S Sodhi, Head-IT & CIO, Amity Group, Satya Gupta, AGM – IT (SAP) & CISO, TATA Power Delhi Distribution, K. Bhaskhar, Senior Director - Office Imaging Solution Division, Canon India and Jijy Oommen, EVP & Group Head -Technologies, Bajaj Capital. It was skillfully coordinated by Parminder Singh, ex - CTO & Sr. VP, BPTP who served as the moderator for the panel.

Parminder was of the opinion, “CIOs are making a huge positive impact in improving the revenue streams of the business.” “Using simple Techonology solutions, like sending reminder SMSs to consumers before due date, CIOs are helping improve cash-flows and consequently the bottom lines of the company,” he added.

The subsequent session on 'Managed Services – Paradigm Shift – 2013' was addressed by K. Bhaskhar, Senior Director - Office Imaging Solution Division, Canon India. The esteemed delegates found it very informative and were immersed during the course of his session.

The session on 'Modern Day Internet Threats And Securing Enterprise Networks,' which was next on the agenda, was delivered by Sunil Sharma, VP Operations, Cyberoam. The audience was glued to their seats as contemporary threats and means to tackle them presiding predominantly in the IT sector was presented by Sunil.

The final session of the evening, which was a panel discussion soon followed, on the topic, 'The State of the Indian CIOs'. It effectively revolved around the transformed role an Indian CIO has undergone in order to add value to the business. U C Dubey,Executive Director- IT, Iffco-Tokio General Insurance, Sudhakar S Marthi, VP - Sales & Marketing, ZOHO and M K Chaudhary, GM & Head- IT, ONGC comprised the panel. The moderator of the panel, Farhan Khan, AVP - IT, Radico Khaitan received high praise for his role.

Overall, it was very impressive to witness a jam- packed hall, especially on a weekday, to attend this congregation of eminent personalities from reputed organizations playing a pivotal role digging up the bedrock of IT.

The event was organized by Canon, Cyberoam and Zoho.