CIOIN

Among the many challenges faced by today’s enterprises in implementing business software, the dynamism of the business leading to unpredictability is probably the most difficult to overcome.  Not far behind predictability, scalability and flexibility are high on the CIO’s wish list. In fact, they’re also high on the priority lists of business-unit IT users, who want solutions that are scalable and can grow with their business to provide the functionality they need today and in the future. CIO Magazine along with SAP spoke to several IT leaders across different verticals to understand the relevance of bringing speed and predictability to their software implementations. They also looked at how businesses can predict factors that prevent many companies from expanding their enterprise software implementations as quickly or as broadly as they’d like to.

Managing Large Applications
According to Ashmita Junnarkar, CIO, Voltas Ltd, having an application like SAP is a huge advantage in a world of changing business dynamics. However, one of the most essential requirements for any CIO is to have a team which knows the business and its IT applications. Currently, the expertise is available in silos and no single person knows the entire application in and out, due to its complexity. 

The difficult economy during recent years has caused buyers to re-evaluate project risk and its impact on ROI, spurring renewed interest in methods that lead to more efficient and successful implementations by closely collaborating with the partners. According to Ajay Kumar Meher, Vice President - IT & New Media, Sony Entertainment Television India Pvt Ltd, with IT teams are becoming smaller; the dependency on the partner is now becoming high. IT’s role needs to be well defined and clearly spelt out. It could be from an application developer to an SLA manager or building architecture to support the business.

Total costs and deployment time can vary from one project to another, while complex, collaborative blueprinting processes can seem frustratingly inconsistent with actual post-implementation results. “A lot of time is wasted by defining processes and blue prints in painstaking detail,” says Prashun Dutta, VP – IT, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. It is more important to quickly have a basic system in place and then work on adding the components based on the end user feedback.

Toward Agile IT
Many CIOs were of the opinion that packaged implementation solutions include a standard process used for all customers of a given type. Stakeholders gain visibility into the steps, tasks, and resources required to complete the project, which allows all parties to plan more thoroughly than would otherwise be possible. Says Pankaj Pandey, GM-IT, Blue Star Ltd, every packaged solution solves a specific business problem, improves a particular process, or addresses another business challenge using time tested methodologies.  “These methodologies have come from a lot of research and pains which people have gone through; sticking to them with rigor really pays off.  The tighter you are in adhering to this, more the chances of succeeding with your timelines, quality and expectations,” he adds. 

Quoting a recent study, Alok Goyal, Chief Operating Officer at SAP India, says that statistics state that up to seventy percent of IT projects run late, over-budget, or do not meet planned goals; this situation is pervasive among organizations of every size and geography. Consequently, implementation risk is a critical factor for all participants in the enterprise software ecosystem—including customers, vendors, and system integrators.

Consolidating knowledge and best practices learned over time makes it easier for the business to implement applications quickly and efficiently. However, according to Bhupendra Pant, Head – IT, L&T - EWAC Alloys Ltd, it is better to follow leading practices instead of best practices. “The difference is that best practices are from benchmark industries and companies, but they may not be best for a company’s process. In case of leading practices, it is an amalgamation of multiple organizations and multiple industries,” he says.

Creating Predictable Outcomes
Vijay Motwani , VP – Services, SAP India summed up the discussion saying that today’s enterprise customers want modular software, flexible pricing, and vendors that take concrete responsibility for ensuring successful projects. “The era of “big bang” implementations, and seemingly unlimited budgets disconnected from project outcomes, is over,” he said. He also spoke about SAP’s Rapid Deployment solutions which help customers achieve fast time-to-value and immediately address essential business and process needs. Customers know exactly what they’re getting with SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions –how long projects will take and what they cost, he added.  The conclusion was that packaged solutions create predictable, clearly-defined outcomes for both IT and lines of business. They offer a straightforward approach to achieve faster business results with less risk and greater consistency.