tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192720532024-02-03T20:04:05.519+05:30Oh I See (CIO Inverted)<big>CIO inverted is OIC or "Oh I See" !</big><br><br>
A CIO Blog with a twist; majority of my peer CIOs talk about the challenges they face with vendors, internal customers, Business folks and when things get through the airwaves, the typical response is <b>"Oh I See"</b>. Some of you may disagree with my meanderings and that's okay. It's largely experiential and sometimes a lot of questions<br><br>
Updated every Monday. Views are personalOh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.comBlogger430125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-77320683491501117802020-06-18T16:19:00.000+05:302020-06-18T16:19:39.827+05:30Digital Transformation Reality Check<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When last week the
CEO of the world largest software company is said “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months</i>”,
it had me wondering about digital transformation (DT) and my understanding of
this wonderful term. As a student of technology based transformations and a
practitioner of IT led business success, my reading of DT was fairly simple and
shared by a large number of CIOs, CDOs, and CXOs across companies and industries.
While many vendors and partners pitched their wares as the means to get to the
ultimate nirvana state of digitally enabling the business, they were largely a
cog in the wheel and not the whole wheel or a major part of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many would have seen an image that in jest points to the
cause of forced digital transformation not being the CIO, CDO, CTO, CEO,<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span>or for that matter
any person, but a virus; the same virus that has changed the way of working for
the entire world bringing business’ down, forcing everyone to stay at home to
stay unaffected and alive. Almost everywhere work from home became the only way
to continue basic operations and run whatever remained of their business. In a
struggle for survival, the need for connectivity and basic tools exploded. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The inertia for the adoption of
collaboration tools was replaced by enthusiasm and across corporate layers
people started embracing these</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many small and large technology providers took advantage of
the situation to proclaim their role in digitally enabling their customers.
Their offerings ranged from cloud based software solutions, mobile enabled
applications, applications for managing appointments, note taking, digital
publishing and not to forget the collaboration tools for voice, video, chat,
conferencing, editing and sharing documents, workflows, the list is endless ! Almost
every enterprise that had some ongoing operations and dialogues probably had
most of these deployed; the scale at which it was now required needed
additional subscriptions and deployments.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I went back to my library to refresh my memory and found
2 definitions that resonated with the majority and the foundation of my
discussions with people and companies in the past. They are: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></i><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Digital transformation is the integration of
digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you
operate and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that
requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and
get comfortable with failure.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></i><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Digital transformation is the process of
using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — business
processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and
market requirements. This reimagining of business in the digital age is digital
transformation.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The lockdown over the last 2 months and more brought about
the New Abnormal. Companies attempted to enable as many people as feasible with
tools to continue working. Sales calls continued on video/voice calls, meetings
conducted on collaboration platforms, data moved to the cloud for access by the
teams that needed it, and access to core applications controlled to the WFH
enabled. All of this did fundamentally create a change in existing business
process, culture, customer experience and probably a long lasting one. It is
unlikely that the situation will revert to normal any time soon. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So if you take the literal meaning of the
definitions above, the answer would be yes there was digital transformation</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But, isn’t digital transformation planned with a step by
step review of process, people, technology and consideration over impact – to
customers and internal stakeholders – and change that needs to be managed. Does
it not require endless meetings and buy-in from teams to the new way of working
and automation that improves outcomes? Should not legacy and status quo be
challenged to discover the optimal digital footprint for the enterprise? What
about the investment and budgets and ROI, impact on operating expenses? Who
will drive the change and create a sustainable model? <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Is this digital transformation or a digital reaction to the new
abnormal</b> necessary for survival and a semblance of continuity?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I believe that the new abnormal has triggered a wave that
does away with the conventional decision making cycle and metrics for
technology tools and solutions that enabled the enterprise to function even if
with reduced operation and manpower. The elephant in the room that needs
confrontation is the continuity of the current once business starts moving
again and the normal as everyone knew and understood makes a comeback. Will the
additional investments, ad-hoc changes and approvals for access, implications
on licensing and more, the mountain to climb would be the shift back or keep
the new way of working as the new normal. There is no one way to go, it would
be dependent on the company, industry, geography and the amount of cash in the
bank.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The seeds of digital transformation have been sowed –
grudgingly or forcibly imposed with no choice; it is up to the enterprise to
build on top of this after strengthening the potentially shaky foundation. And
the answer is yes, what would have taken 2 years has taken 2 months, though it
may not be sustainable as it is and will require a lot of rework. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s another story !<o:p></o:p></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-20908417539239302992020-06-10T11:51:00.000+05:302020-06-10T11:51:07.515+05:30Negotiations during lockdown<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
From my earlier post “<a href="http://cio-inverted.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-new-abnormal.html" target="_blank">The new abnormal</a>”, one of the points
that connected with the majority of IT leaders was “<i>If not already initiated, renegotiate – licenses, maintenance
contracts, and third party and outsourced manpower requirements</i>”. Individually
almost none could get the attention of their partners who were always there to
discuss more licenses, services, or audits for difficult customers. Dropping
all their inhibitions, personal rivalries, and competitive distancing, the CIOs
organized themselves into a collective group to take on the big and small
software and service providers. The mission of these groups, which represented
a reasonable spend for the industry, to seek the true spirit of partnership in
difficult times.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the good old days the engagement with the IT fraternity
was all about being partners in success, starting from engagements to identify
use cases, define financial models for calculating returns, scale up and scale
out, digitalization and digital transformation, month and quarter end license
deals. When the going got tough for some of the software providers, they
decided to scan through lists comprising existing customers who were growing,
old customers who did not buy anything after the initial set of licenses, and
those who were suspected of using unlicensed versions of COTS
(Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) solutions. Not very amiable discussions these, some
of them did hit pay dirt for the partners.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For everyone business has come to a grinding halt, the WFH
addresses administrative tasks and virtual meetings; it does little for the
broken supply chain or halted production. While a few online players continue
to reap some benefit, their overall business activity is down to less than half
(there are always a handful who can be called out as exceptions). With no
revenue, the crying need is to find ways to manage the costs associated with
IT. The CIO collective decided to partition themselves by vendor (not a partner
anymore), to bring some weight behind their quest for relief. The ask was not
unreasonable by any stretch:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>S<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">urrender unused or excess licenses that were
taken for planned growth</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Deferment of annual renewals of SaaS licenses
and AMC due at the beginning of the financial year (April to March in India)</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Reduction in service fees with reduced scope of
work, or reduced load factor for IaaS, or network fees</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Extension of timelines for pending payments and
payment in instalments</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Furlough contracted workforce until the
situation starts coming back to normal</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thus started the long arduous journey; the group tweeted
their angst tagging the vendors local and global leadership teams, sent emails
which hundreds of CIOs forwarded for effect; reminders and follow up with
reversed rigor – typically seen from vendor sales teams and management to close
signing a deal. There was some hope among the group that they would be able to
create some impact that everyone could benefit from. The list was quite
impressive representing marquee names and many aspirants. Reversed reality if
there was one, the turned tables evinced only couple of acknowledgements as if
the rest went down a black hole.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what transpired? Among the dozen odd vendors to whom the
communication was sent, barely a couple decided to respond to the flood created
by the CIOs. The rest had probably a dam large enough to prevent the water from
carrying through to the management teams; don’t worry, we will take care of
this – so I heard from a couple of account managers talking to their CEOs. It
is also likely that they did receive the mails but ignored the content or
intent behind the chain mails. The situation will not last forever and given
enough time, the noise will die, only to be forgotten in the activity that
would follow the return to the new abnormal. As for the respondents who
respected the community of customers, there were the following threads which
did not necessarily please the protagonist CIOs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first one acknowledged the communication by the group
and reiterated the difficult times that have befallen everyone. Difficult times
when new business has died away and existing receivables are tending towards
bad debt with significant rise in days of outstanding. Difficult times that
have necessitated the creation of additional investments in infrastructure or
services for their customers to support WFH and related issues. Difficult times
with the teams working longer hours to ensure that quality of service is not
compromised. And in such difficult times the question of any reduction in
prices or renegotiations does not arise whatsoever. With piling inventory and
ceased production, we are equally concerned about the financial viability of
our services.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Interestingly the second admonished the group for creating a
rift in the relationships that have been built with so much effort, give and
take, and nurtured with ample doses of support. Ups and downs should not be
construed as an opportunity to question the foundations on which the
partnership has been laid. There cannot be an overarching policy or decision
that would apply to all relationships with a reduction or deferment of
payables; it decapitates our business and our ability to provide continued
support. We too have fixed costs which we need to service; renegotiations are a
no-no, you already have the best of prices for what you buy and consume. Please
talk to your respective relationship managers to review what we can do for you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are equally hit versus divide and break, both strategies
fail to address the problem at hand for CIOs thus creating a permanent crack as
everyone fights for survival. What will be the final outcome, we wait and
watch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Latest! A very large global IT vendor refused the premature
surrender of partial licenses from a marquee customer stating that the
licensing terms have no provision for early termination.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-86249078475659479042020-06-03T10:14:00.000+05:302020-06-03T10:14:33.407+05:30The New Abnormal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Varying stages of lockdown – voluntary and forced – created
stress for CIOs and tech teams globally; Work-From-Home (WFH) became another
3-letter acronym that everyone embraced willingly and only a rare organization
had capacity that could scale up and cater to the large swaths of workers who
suddenly fell in love with their laptops. Those who shunned webinars, web
conferences, and electronic tools of collaboration were all now talking about
scheduling online meetings with all and sundry. IT organizations flooded with
calls on VPN connectivity challenges, access to applications, and capacity of
collaboration tools, managed to scrape through by the skin of their collective
teeth. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As weeks turned double digit and the tunnel appeared to be
endless with no visible light, speculation started on, what CIOs need to focus
on and what the future foretells for the tech industry as a whole, whenever the
end comes. Webinars aplenty with CIOs, academicians, vendors, consultants and
self-proclaimed experts, who discussed and debated actions that IT
organizations will need to take. Strategies and plans were bandied around for
the hapless and the informed, confusing more than bringing clarity. It was
reminiscent of what happened during the financial meltdown a decade or so back
and probably Y2K and dotcom bust, the events that remain firmly imprinted on
the industry. The joke going around is that the current abnormal accelerated
digital transformation faster than what the collective might could achieve in
the past.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyone now acknowledges that the new abnormal will
continue and what we all knew as normal would be the good old days of
nostalgia. Social distancing brought virtual closeness and it has already
become the norm for meetings, events and getting together with digital
engagement a preferred option; it is evident that human behaviour will not be
the same in the foreseeable future. After grudgingly accepting the new
abnormal, leadership teams have now started (thinking of in some cases)
planning for the resumption of life; everyone accepts that it would be slow
progress and life may never come back to the good old days. As workers go back
to manufacturing facilities and services start operating again, the reopening
will require enormous effort. So what is the real impact for technology teams?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The discussions and debates between the folks above provided
for aspirations that largely assumed that they can set aside the elapsed time
and go back to life as usual. Some talked about bringing back paused projects,
restart of digital transformation and automation, aggressive deployment of
mobility, and focus on cloud with variable models. It took a couple of the weather-beaten
members to bring them back to reality; revenue and cash flow, review of office
spaces with everyone not required to work from a central location anymore, or a
push for automation to reduce costs, and finally positions that need to be
extinguished with a smaller business. So the 10 recommendations were:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Address the ad-hoc that was created to manage
the extraordinary demand for WFH; whether it is connectivity solutions,
exceptions to policies around access to applications and other products used
for collaboration and conferencing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Manage licenses required going forward for
solutions that some functions or individuals may have procured or downloaded
free versions of. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Ascertain the impact these may have created on
the cybersecurity or compliance requirements and remediate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->If not already initiated, renegotiate –
licenses, maintenance contracts, and third party and outsourced manpower
requirements. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Relook at the roles and staffing within your
function; roles that can be let go with the resultant impact being managed.
Hiring freeze, exception only if critical resources exit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Wear a business hat and challenge other functions
assumptions on solutions and costs; shave 20% or more costs across the board.
Automate, automate and automate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Consumer behaviour has changed permanently; enable
seamless customer engagement across channels – applies equally to both B2B and
B2C.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Create information visibility across layers for
effective decision making without significant additional investment in tools
and technologies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Defer payments to manage cash flows and match
incoming revenue; critically review suspended projects and ones that were
waiting to take off. The lens for evaluation is no longer the usual strategic
intent and ROI (Return on Investment), it is about what is necessary for
survival. The building of new capabilities and applications can wait for
another time when there is money in the bank.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Watch industry trends and benchmark efforts to
ensure that we don’t lose relevance with the market or to our customers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh I am sure that given some more time and deliberation, a
distinct list of another 10 can be created and that would be equally relevant.
The abnormal reality is that there is no normal now for which we can prepare
and sustain; depending on the industry, the actions will be different and all
actions will not work for everyone. The playbook will have to be rewritten by
every company and it will remain a living document even in the short-term. Tech
will be in the forefront of every decision; after all tech is what allowed some
semblance of normalcy and continuity of operations. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It would be foolish to relegate tech at this time; having
said that some organizations will and some tech leaders will fail to rise to
the opportunity. After all, everyone does not like history !<o:p></o:p></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-16712307336219373892017-08-30T13:20:00.000+05:302017-08-30T13:20:14.486+05:30All the king’s horses and all the king’s men … battle between Promoters and Managers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
The news consumed the business world at large, ripples felt
globally as they impacted a large set of employees, customers, shareholders and
the industry. Allegations and insinuations bordered on libel with subjective
views on leadership of the individual who had steered the drifting ship,
stabilizing and setting course that (almost) everyone had welcomed. Everything
appeared to be going well until the brown stuff hit the roof and suddenly the
knight in shining armor was declared incompetent and unworthy of the position.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Grave matter it was since the allegations were cast by the
person who had anointed the CEO to begin with. Pronouncements at the time of
appointment lauded the decision as a bold move that will transform the company
fortunes and bring them back to the forefront. The market loved the sure and
swift measures taking the market capitalization beyond earlier peaks. Market
analysts bullish on the company helped the momentum and things seem to be
settling into place when the murmurs of a rift were heard.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A couple of years later when the market got tougher, some
old-timers left the company and a set of acquisitions did not bring the value, it
was a matter of time. Their styles of operation were divergent, the market
perceptions different, the go-to-market and customer focus not where the
company had started from. The new leadership sought independence by virtue of
the numbers doing the talking, the founders wanted to retain control over the
direction taken by the company, influence decisions and outcomes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thus the rift became a chasm with the founders prevailing
over the professionals; markets were not kind to the events, valuation dropping
sharply, trolls on social media made hay further damaging the now fragile
reputation of the bellwether. Customers called for review wondering if there is
a change in focus of the company; whether they were still relevant especially
as the new team and brought in many new revenue streams which put the customers
at risk should the teams be disbanded or left to drift to natural death.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is not the first time such a war has broken out between
the Promoters and Professionals hired to run the company; history will repeat
itself ad infinitum. This is where the Board of Directors – an independent
conscience keeper – is expected to moderate the decisions and outcomes.
Companies pick Board members based on their agenda and if they desire real
advice with someone willing to challenge and provide expertise, or an
acquiescent collective that will endorse decisions of the majority shareholders
(Founders).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the companies where I spent some time had gone
through a similar turmoil, the end result damaging the company’s market
position, profitability and high talent attrition. The Board played second
fiddle while the company spiraled downward. Another much publicized case
involved a large conglomerate and a non-family member who was hired after a
global search lasting more than a year; the downfall was spectacular and all
kinds of hypothesis and speculation floated to undermine the outgoing person.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Were these cases of bad hires ? Probably not considering
that the due diligence done was extensive and involved many senior leaders
within and outside the company. The appointments were put to trail by media
akin to baptism by fire – the individuals came through unscathed. At the helm
of the company the accountability is to the Board and shareholders, apart from
customers and employees whose interests come later. So was it a case of lack of
transparency or willful withholding of sensitive information to the Board ?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In most cases there is a fall guy or a set of people who are
blamed for the fiasco; life takes a dip and then limps back to normalcy. The
triggers: the Promoters and the new Management fight fierce public battles only
to be forgotten; the actors change, situations probably are different and so
could be geographies, the outcomes are however predictable with the Promoters
prevailing over the hires. The Board in such cases is deemed ineffective, new
members brought in with a hope to remedy the situation, and then …</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every episode has lessons for both the Promoters as well as
the Managers; these are published, discussed, debated, converted to slides, and
become case studies in management schools. Every incident adversely impacts
company reputation, customers, employees and at times the industry; in almost
all cases the management is the antagonist – probably unaligned to the original
ethos – who gets the short end. Every time we hope that now people would have
learned a lesson and then they surprise us again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-37745038852965723672017-08-16T16:39:00.000+05:302017-08-16T16:39:32.028+05:30Will business leaders stand up and take responsibility for Digital success or failure ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently came across an interesting article on “Why IT
projects still fail ?” and the subject caught attention as it is still being
discussed. It had references to some spectacular failures where the blame was
squarely placed on the implementation partner; another one where business users
at the bottom of the pyramid showed spirited resistance to the new way of
working. Finally it quoted the most popular reference on IT projects with
limited change in results over score of years with IT Business Alignment
retaining high marks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reasons attributed to the dismal success record included inadequate
resources, overly aggressive timelines, underestimated costs, overlooked
requirements, unanticipated complications, poor governance and human mistakes
such as bad code can all lead to project failure. Surprisingly a quote “the definition
of success is evolving with traditional measures of scope, time, and cost no
longer sufficient in today’s competitive environment. The ability of projects
to deliver what they set out to do — the expected benefits — is just as
important.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everything pointed the finger at IT; they are understaffed,
overpromise, don’t know how to estimate costs or gather requirements and stick
to them and finally are bad project managers. Also I am not sure about the
world the respondents of this 2017 global report live in if they do not
articulate the benefits in business terms. Okay, I take my words back, I do
know of a few who still are unable to, but those are exceptions. Interestingly
the article goes on to define formula for success without addressing the core.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I dug a bit on the background of the author and found no
evidence of having either run an IT shop or been at the receiving end. The
article was an observation based on statistical evidence from various reports
and the hypothesis that has lived for long: IT does not communicate, IT does
not know the business, IT needs to sell the project to business, IT should
prepare a business case and illustrate the benefits, IT should get the budgets
sanctioned and then monitor time, cost, resources, success, failure, … really ?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s for a moment shift focus from IT to the business
folks; business models have undergone major upheavals and digital has been thrust
upon the willing and unwilling alike. Majority of the incumbent leaders and
giants have been slow to react – unwilling to accept reality brushing it off as
irrelevant – and then finding someone (read IT) to blame for not delivering in
(the constrained) time while the new players have eaten market share. They have
treated the change like a technology project rather than technology enabled
business transformation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Success stories are all about the handful of enterprises who
decided to create cross-functional teams to evaluate and respond to the
upcoming opportunity. They did not hire consultants to give them a roadmap, or
define waves of implementation, or hire from outside to lead the internal team;
they were willing to change, explore, experiment, willing to take risks, and
understood the limitations of pure technology over the collaborative success
that they had co-created multiple times in the past along with IT.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The leaders do not hand off accountability, they find ways
to induct others into their vision; they are always on the lookout for creating
differentiation against competition. There are no IT projects, only business
projects that use technology. Even mundane decisions like cloud evaluation or
change in support vendors seek business impact and changed outcomes. IT
responsibilities and KRAs are spelled out in business terms; this is the real
world of pervasive IT today which has shed the technology skin of the past. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In such a world then why does “Why IT projects still fail ?”
still find a headline and mention ? Such reports and publications continue to
berate technology teams. They find it convenient to continue using the old
scapegoat without looking elsewhere if the paradigm has shifted. So are these about
the laggards and disconnected teams who have failed to stay current and
relevant in the new normal with shrinking business and loss of customers ? This
does not appear to be the universal truth but sensation sells better than
reality.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can business grow up and take responsibility for success or
lack of it rather than live in a world of transferred responsibility especially
when things don’t work out the way they were planned ? Can the technology teams
stop being subservient and stand up to their professional achievement and pride
? Wherever the chasm still exists, can both start by acknowledging it and work
towards building a sustainable bridge that will offer achievement of business
objectives ? A necessary step to stay relevant internally and externally.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally let’s bury IT projects !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-28430755642463584482017-08-03T13:57:00.000+05:302017-08-03T13:57:04.818+05:30Startup dilemma: build to sell or build to scale !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
The term unicorn has been bandied around a lot more in
recent times than fairy tales of past; in some circles, unicorn spotting is a
very profitable sport especially early on. The number of unicorns had grown
rapidly a few years back but appears to be slowing down. Most of the earlier
unicorns have scaled higher after they achieved the status ($1 billion
valuation or market capitalization), the younger ones are happy to be acquired.
Meeting young and not so young founders some interesting trends are emerging.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The startup ecosystem has been conducive for many budding
entrepreneurs with path breaking as well me too ideas tweaked to local markets
or different segment of the market; many of them reached a critical mass to
sustain a set of customers and grow organically. The founders were focused on
building real business offering products or services to their defined
customers. They build sustainable costs and drove business with passion; as a
result they also created new proposition and market where none existed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Their growth was not exponential and neither was their
market valuation; demonstrating patience they learnt from their mistakes,
changed course when customers demanded a change, collected a team of passionate
believers and sought money only when they wanted it for a specific purpose.
Their perseverance paid off with founders, investors, employees and customers
benefiting from the glory that was due to them. These unicorns get discussed in
every conference on disrupting the market and innovation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For every outlier that made it, there are thousands if not
more who fell of the wayside, cast into oblivion, never to be heard of again;
not that their ideas were not good or the founders not passionate enough, they
somehow failed to execute and change course when required. In a few exceptional
cases, the founders bounced back wiser from their learning of falling, nobody
is tracking the rest. But that is not of significant interest except to
historians, the focus at this time is on the ethics of startups seeking
valuation to sell.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently in news one of the potential unicorns was accused
of fudging data and questionable business practices and ethics. The
whistleblowers were ex-employees whose conscience woke up when it did, probably
when they discovered these or maybe because they did not get part of the
spoils. Irrespective of the instigation for them to come out, the more
interesting fact is the shock it created for the industry and the business;
auditors descended with vengeance to scrutinize data, transactions and reports.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They had scaled well and zoomed past some of the earlier
players with initial rigor that gave them a financial cushion courtesy of
investors and venture capital. Their success was talked about with release of
growing numbers that showed path to profitability and the fact that the scale
made them larger than competitors. They were portrayed to become the first
unicorn in their defined segment; within a year with increasing valuations they
managed to hit the magic number and were formally classified as a unicorn.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Greed is a very big motivator; the founders and investors
believed that they were onto something big and that it will surpass all
expectations. Founding team tweaked numbers to show continuous exponential growth
even when the market was not growing; investors believed the story. All the due
diligence and rush to invest in the company was built on the first big round of
funding and the credibility of the investor; future investors did look at the
numbers and aberrations were explained by the founders to their satisfaction. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The reality hit the investors when allegations surfaced on
everything not being as it appears to be fulfilling the idiom: if something is too
good to be true, it probably isn’t. Auditors painstakingly poured over the
records separating the truth and fiction; incriminating evidence pinned down
some of the senior staff who worked at the behest of the founders. With operations
curtailed and staff motivation down, the valuation went Deep South and
customers came out with their own version of horror stories.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In hindsight it is evident that though the company was built
on a real business opportunity, the love affair with valuations resulted in a
change of strategy to build for valuation so that the business can be palmed
off at the height of the hype. Greed again played a role in the exposure when
some of the perpetrators discovered that they were not going to benefit to the
extent they believed. And all fell down as the nursery rhyme goes, the
investors turned their attention to check their other invested companies for
similar ailments.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those who got away thank their stars, the rest ? I wish them
luck !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-27068848291519764022017-07-17T22:03:00.000+05:302017-07-17T22:03:22.031+05:30On Vacation, does the Company miss the Employee more or Employee miss the company ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a long overdue vacation after having put in almost
three years of relentless effort towards the digital transformation of the
company, the fruits were visible. It was a much deserved vacation, as his
manager told him packing him off for a couple of weeks. He was anxious as he
planned his sojourn, worried a bit, what if things fell apart or an exception
brought down the system or impacted the business. He feebly voiced his concerns
to his team, who reassured him of full support during his leave of absence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His family was delighted and off they went to their long
pending and promised vacation; on his part he packed his work gear hoping to
stay in touch with the team and his customers, ready to intervene should anything
require his attention. Days passed by uneventfully as he frequently checked his
email and messages – they revealed nothing untoward. Unable to control his
anxiety, he called his trusted lieutenant; he was surprised to hear that there
indeed had been some issues, which the team resolved but did not disturb him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In another part of the world a slightly different situation
played itself out; the CXO was going off for his scheduled bi-annual vacation,
something he never missed. Every six months he took off with family, at times
to locations that had no modern amenities like internet access or cellphone
network. His coordinates were always known and in case of an emergency, he
could be contacted; the occasion never occurred as nothing was seen as so
critical that required his intervention or could not wait until his return.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Credit to him, he had built an able and professional team
that did not require their leader to keep the company running. Without
exception they were empowered to take decisions which they did and sought
validation at a later date upon his return. Until this time, when his Assistant
frantically contacted him breaking the golden rule only to be greeted by a crisp
response on why she bothered to disturb his R&R (Rest & Recreation/Rest
& Relaxation, a military term now used by the corporate world for senior
executive leaves).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In both cases the company continued to function with
insignificant disruption by events that unfolded during the respective
absences. It would be false to say that they were not missed, but the
organizations had the resilience to continue to operate. The differences quite
stark between the two corporate high achievers, the first could not disconnect
from his work and the second could create a clean break. As a matter of record,
they were both equally loved and respected by their team, peers, bosses and
their customers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Was the first leader insecure or did not trust the team to
manage the operations effectively ? Did he feel the lack of control during his
absence cut out from the day to day hullabaloo and fighting crisis like
situations ? Had he got addicted to the adrenaline rush and importance was
making his life miserable ? It was a matter of prioritization between work and
life; he had lived through his career focused only on getting results in his
professional life, which he did get with movement up the corporate ladder
quicker than others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The latter case was about confidence, conviction, delegation,
and a firm belief that that the best course is to work hard with clearly
demarcated lines between work and family. His rise through the ranks was
equally fast and the future looked bright with more to come; he had consciously
worked to balance his corporate commitments with the time spent with his
family. He was unwilling to compromise this while proving the cynics wrong that
such an attitude will adversely impact career growth and opportunities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Enterprises demonstrate and have resilience far higher than
individuals believe in their belief of self-importance to their role,
responsibility and impact to the company. People come and go, planned and
abruptly, at times fired, and in all cases they do leave a gap; the company
self-heals and moves on irrespective of hierarchy, location, position of power,
there are others who fill in. With time some leave their mark – to be
remembered for the legacy they leave behind – positive or negative, the others
fade into oblivion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is up to every individual to decide how we react to
incidences, what we portray ourselves as, dependencies we build at workplace,
work in a team and manage one in our professional lives. We also determine how
we present ourselves to our families, friends and society; our identity unfolds
in many ways though we are largely known by our professional identities. The
work-life balance is no longer an enigma, it is a moving target which keeps
shifting; there is no right or wrong or benchmark to follow, it’s a mirage !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-11783801283055970122017-06-20T09:47:00.000+05:302017-06-20T09:47:57.848+05:30Mass personalization is dead; welcome to the age of nano segmentation !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Attending this conference around
analytics, marketing and understanding the customer behavior using segmentation
as a discipline, almost all the speakers talked about targeting improvements as
the segment sizes got smaller. Complexity of algorithms and the availability of
hardware resources on the cloud as well as lower cost of acquisition has made
it possible to churn data – a lot more data – than it was possible not too long
ago. Marketing effectiveness is waking up and is moving away from the conventional
world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Companies that engage customers
directly and those with high volumes of transactions have already begun to
garner benefits from these technologies. Even others with a few degrees of
separation between the brand and the consumer are exploring alternative
strategies and business benefits. Almost every conference also has a mandatory
presentation from a research house. The analyst on stage is expected to shower
thought leadership on the audience; it is a rare occurrence when they actually
make any practical sense.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One such session started with
anecdotes of individual attention to the consumer in the pre-technology days
and predicted the return of individualization in the near term. Given enough
data points, oodles of hardware and highly optimized algorithms around machine
superintelligence (the next level after deep learning according to the
speaker), the engine will be able to segment the large volume of data into
buckets of one, i.e. identify and predict behavior and thus target individuals
and capture wallet share.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It has been an aspiration of
software and solution builders to use technology to predict the future; we have
all seen demand forecasts and revenue predictors with Sales & Operations
Planning, most of which hovered in the 70 percent range with a swing of 10
percent on either side. Definitely better than the binary state of tossing a
coin or 50 percent, these solutions removed error rates when 70 percent was off
target to 70 being on target ! Predictive analytics has had better success than
fortune tellers on accuracy levels.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Artificial intelligence at some
levels is already influencing our behaviors with our every keystroke and click
being recorded by some websites and mobile apps whose terms and conditions we
hardly read and comprehend. Changing privacy policies and updates render our
choices ineffective with every update leaving us exposed and vulnerable. Data
privacy coupled with sieve like security allows the good, the bad and the ugly
equal opportunity to use our digital footprint to coerce and nudge us to buy at
one end and pay up on the other end.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Enterprises mired in Paleolithic
technology, archaic mindsets and rusted skills are struggling to deploy and use
such solutions effectively ethically, at times veering away from virtue.
Consultants and technology providers are effectively creating Fear Uncertainty
& Doubt with a promise to bring the Holy Grail to them. Despite their
inability to deliver any credible design or strategy, many large consulting
companies continue to rake in the moolah; CXOs and Promoters are shy of
accepting they have been taken for a ride.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the sides of the conference a
conversation thread discussed the waste of precious resources and lost time
with one of the premier consulting companies. The angst of the CMO was palpable,
the drinks brought together a few other victims of the same company whose
voluminous reports were gathering dust in their cupboards. Common sorrows bring
feelings of brotherhood that only misery can keep together; they found light at
the end of the tunnel with success that one of them had with a frugal startup
solution.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nano-segmented Earth’s billions,
does provide individual as the atomic unit who can be observed and experimented
upon to identify triggers that work. As the number of attributes rise,
effectiveness improves, but we have known this for a long time and that
contemporary solutions did not have the ability to provide the actionable
insights in a timeframe that makes the action relevant. Lack of data integrity
and clean data rendered analytics ineffective; algorithms did not know how to
overcome these limitations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The future of consumerism,
customer behavior, segmentation, marketing, engagement, targeting, influencing,
shadowing, nudging, bombarding, and swamping the hapless customer is closer
than we think. Look around your behavior across life stages, daily innocuous
decisions, and how they are being shaped by invisible forces. As an enterprise
there are too many choices and options; the company with better quality data,
compute and algorithms will be the winner albeit with a short window until
competition catches up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As an individual I am worried that
have limited choices !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-5513922738859337792017-06-06T17:41:00.000+05:302017-06-06T17:41:04.054+05:30Tossing the CIO around from BAU to Innovation to OT, bring it on …<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Evolution never stops, at least
for the CIO who has been pushed around with ever changing technology and
business paradigms. In the early days the push was to automate internal
processes and then the focus shifted to the external world – suppliers,
distributors, customers, basically the entire ecosystem. IT did a good job
embracing mainframes, client server, browser, mobile, and everything in
between. As technology invaded our lives, democratization led to expectations
moving to business roles and innovation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
CIOs obliged by taking on
additional roles based on their expertise, passion and organizational need to
infuse loads of technology into parts of the company for operational efficiency
or leadership position in the industry. They helped finance, sales and
marketing, supply chain, human resources, legal and compliance, customer
engagement, facilities and administration, everyone who asked for technology
input, they received a helping hand from IT and the CIO even when the industry
kept throwing new disruptions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you are not on the internet,
you will be dead; if you don’t implement datawarehousing there is no way
information will be meaningful; cloud computing is changing the world; social
media is necessary for us to invest in – our customers are there; the
smartphone revolution is changing the way our end customers engage, we should
be on their phone; mobile wallets, digital payments, what about artificial
intelligence and chatbots or machine learning; heard that deep learning is the
new snake oil which we should invest in…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Connect into the innovation
network, drive change, manage expectations, service level agreements moving up
with time, outsource what is not critical, manage multi-vendor deliverables,
cross-functional projects, and run an efficient department. Every fad raised a
bogie which needed to be addressed; every publication and conference also
discussed various aspects of how technology will impact the business or change
the industry or kill existing businesses with disintermediation. The plate of
the CIO overflows and how ! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But wait, manufacturing automation
took a quiet journey towards implementing PLCs and SCADA; they did not involve
the IT folks, they bought their own equipment with automation capabilities,
bundled with computing infrastructure, uninterrupted power supply, interface
using basic protocols with the machines which evolved slower than the rest of
IT. Lagging behind, they survived Y2K and other scares with minimal impact;
cheap compute power and algorithms to analyze machine data suddenly catapulted
Operational Technology into the forefront.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are benefits with analysis
of machine data, it helps reduce downtime, improve productivity and lower cost
of maintenance and operation. Longer life for the machines impacts capital
required for renewal of plant and machinery; it made sense to get the IT folks
into the room and leverage the humungous data. IT accommodated the new use
cases by providing the requisite support to their new customer. Resultant
benefits are large enough to raise attention and elevate the need to a
strategic level requiring investments.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many CIOs have taken this in their
stride adding to their portfolio of capabilities and services, opening up a new
avenue of technological benefit especially since past investments were quite
rudimentary and value of data was unknown. Advent of Internet of Things and the
ability to create correlations has changed the nature of the beast. Operational
Technology is now mainstream and requires skills that IT has had for some time
now. CIOs are happily taking on the new thereby adding one more feather to
their cap.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is a matter of time that across
other functions like supply chain too, the data gathered through warehouses,
vehicular movement, transit points, and traceability with serialization, all
will add to the desire and ability. For the CIO this is a great opportunity to
spread his/her circle of influence and provide enterprise value. For those who
do not or are unable to, they shall probably be marginalized and find
themselves struggling to stay relevant. OT combined with IT will drive the
business of the future, it is up to the CIO to take advantage.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-20776028702002362792017-05-24T20:39:00.000+05:302017-05-24T20:39:11.542+05:30It takes a disaster to unite everyone, then the blame game starts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
A recent but fading cyber incident
exposed technology vulnerabilities that were always known and ticked off as
acceptable risk by almost every enterprise. It was all about deferring
necessary change with lower spends; for some it was about inability to change
because vendor or supplier or support provider did not offer an upgrade thus necessitating
a change which would have raised the budget. Unfortunately in this case the
risk materialized into a disaster of which the impact would take a long time to
understand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was unsurprising to see friend,
foe, acquaintance, partner, bystander, everyone shed differences and come
together to tackle the situation and problem; for many survival was at stake, for
others an opportunity to make a fast buck. Either way they flocked together commiserating
the unfortunate and talking about safety steps they took that fended off the
enemy. It did not matter if their good fortune was a result of their actions or
providence of their inaction or ignorant apathy, for now they were the heroes
and survivors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Flashback to an earlier incident of similar nature: In a large
enterprise an ERT (Emergency Response Team) meeting was called to discuss the
threat as it spread and anticipation of more to come with an accidental recess.
The CXO collective gushed forth with their assessment of the widespread damage
and impact to the market, revenue, and the world at large. It gave them an
excuse for future quarterly results should the numbers not make the cut. Soon
they ran out of things to say and there was silence in the room when everyone
turned to the CIO.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The CIO stood up and gave the gathering the good and the bad news; good
news that almost 99% of the enterprise survived the attack. He paused for the
applause to subside and then continued to the bad news that the systems
impacted had critical machine data now unrecoverable and it impacted regulatory
compliance. No pin dropped to break the eerie lack of sound as the Head of Risk
and Compliance (R&C) stood up and asked the CIO to clarify the specifics of
the damage, which plant, which product, which market ?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>CXOs no longer needed an excuse, the resultant impact was real and they
had a tough situation at hand considering the last audit management response
clearly stated a budget for upgrade of the impacted systems. Not too long ago
Finance had at the last minute stayed the upgrade/replacement with a view to
depict a better quarter. R&C Head was tasked to declare the news to the
Board and CEO while the CFO agreed to not hold back further budgets which even
remotely impacted any regulatory compliance.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Never let a good crisis go to waste, so said a well-known statesman
well before most of us were born or for that matter technology overtook our
lives. Our team did exactly the same; between the CIO and Head R&C, they garnered
budget required to take care of future eventualities. Rest of the CXOs used the
opportunity to justify the suboptimal performance, the company took a hit
larger than most others in the industry. Things came back to normal and life
moved on, the lessons catalogued and filed for posterity.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Less than 24 hours had passed
since the news broke of the disaster that hit far and wide; the same team
barring a few who had moved on, met again to assess the damage. This time the
news was scarier, spread wider, impact larger, and the world was unable to
contain the losses. This time faces were grim and little small talk precluded
the meeting; the CEOs presence too added to the gravity of the event. The
impact was not dissimilar to the past, it appeared that remediation sanctioned
did not change the fortunes of the company.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Livid and frustrated the CEO
wanted heads to roll; how can we make the same mistake twice ? He sensed the
fear and waited for the CIO and Head R&C to finish before seeking the
perpetrators of the current situation. No guesses for who the sword fell upon,
it was swift and no explanations were sought, none given. Money flowed to solve
the problem, lessons learned catalogued once again, the impact fortunately not
allowed to be used as an excuse for any future adverse performance by any of
the functions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is a rare enterprise that
imbibes learning without finding scapegoats; make yours one !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-82548743230410009452017-05-08T19:29:00.000+05:302017-05-08T19:29:00.223+05:30Lost passwords can be changed, but lost biometric identity ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyone hates passwords but uses
them as a necessity to protect corporate digital assets, personal information,
and financial assets. Complexity level has increased with time and so has the
ability to crack them. This resulted in multi-factor authentication with
various means, the most popular being OTP (One Time Password) delivered to the
mobile phone as a SMS. The insecure delivery channel susceptible to MITM (Man
In The Middle) attacks poses challenges to almost all communication including
the OTP as recently discovered with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_System_No._7">SS7</a>
vulnerability.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Appification offers alternatives
claiming higher grade secure solutions to solve the problem by consuming some
of the available solutions; adoption has been slow and efficacy dependent on
device features and action from the consumer. The slow pace of change in the
ability to rise to the security challenge has resulted in multiple breaches,
financial and reputation loss. As a result there is an attempt to raise the bar
and deploy biometric solutions as the final measure of security which is
perceived to be difficult to replicate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the early days of science
fiction and world of espionage the highest level of security depicted was
biometric control; starting with fingerprints to hand scan, facial patterns, voice
recognition, and finally iris scan. These were immutable and secure that saved
the protagonist or defeated the antagonist in movies. With imagination overtaking
reality, these were also compromised with recorded voice, lifted fingerprints
and face masks; real world mimics fiction in many ways and replay attacks
overcome security barriers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ingenuity to stupidity and
everything in between has played a role in creating the fragile walls around
physical and digital assets that need protection. Governments are capturing
biometric data for basic identity creation and management of citizen services;
enterprises capture fingerprints and more – largely for access to physical
premises and attendance recording. Within an enterprise all the data gets
replicated across servers and locations to seamlessly allow access and
convenience to employees and partners.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Enterprise security has faced
challenges with data protection and leakages – intentional or by error and
omission. Widespread use of biometric data now raises concerns for individuals
when the data is dispersed across multiple access points for authentication by
the enterprise. Should the information be compromised, the repercussions for
individuals can be far and wide. Masquerading and false identities from the
data now used with Government services leads to seriously scary scenarios for
individuals and more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fingerprint data is the most
commonly used form factor and we have just 10 of these unique identities available
to us. While they can be altered to some extent with cuts and or abrasions,
they cannot be changed; and therein lies the challenge for individuals who are
now being asked to provide their bio-identities across the board with no
recourse, stored, retrieved and used to verify the person. Widespread use poses
significant risk, their propagation on channels – secure or otherwise
increasing the attack surface.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What are the alternatives ? Do we
need additional factors of authorization for use of biometric data ? Do we need
federated identities which subsume other forms of identity to create better
alternatives ? Identity based cryptography and encryption has been a theoretical
solution to the problem though not much headway has been made in this direction
due to underlying complexity and the large set of identities to be provided in
the now hyper connected digital world where the need goes beyond human
identities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Use cases explode with IoT and
other devices – all of which need unique identifiers and private keys; the resultant
solution however fails if the Private Key Generator is compromised or subject
to quantum computer attacks. M2M communication is on an exponential growth path
requiring a different level of thinking to solve the problem. Limitations of
current PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) are well known and need to be addressed
for a viable alternative to succeed and overcome the growing problem.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Coming back to biometric
authentication and authorization, it is imperative that it be used in an
encapsulated form without transmission or storage of the data. Individual
consumers too need to be educated and made aware of the fallacies of the
current structure; enterprises should review the capture and use across the
enterprise to safeguard interests of their employees. After all once the data
is compromised, there is little that a person can do with his fingerprint
identity and that is a scary place to be.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
PS: Happened to meet with a
startup which claims to have solved the problem; more as I get to the bottom of
this !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-5112601278696361882017-04-24T19:26:00.000+05:302017-04-24T19:26:50.696+05:30Surviving in an Enterprise in a leadership role without doing anything<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of us have read the 3
envelope parable on corporate challenges and careers; for those who have not,
an abridged version. A newbie leader is given 3 envelopes by the outgoing
incumbent to be opened only in cases of dire trouble. He opens the first one when
challenged in a management meeting and confronts the wisdom: <i>Blame predecessor !</i> A year passes when
again he is in trouble; the second envelope ? <i>Restructure, create new strategy.</i> Survive ! Final envelope’s turn
comes after a gap which reads:<i> Create
three envelopes !</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Corporate world is full of <a href="http://cio-inverted.blogspot.in/2016/04/in-corporate-world-unfit-also-survive.html">pseudo
professionals</a> who survive and at times thrive with their mastery of jargon,
leaning on others, taking away credit from own team, agreeing to their
immediate managers, sucking up to those who matter and finally using vendors to
give them dope that makes them look good. The malaise is a lot more in the technology
world that invents acronyms, jargon, and new fads with regularity confusing
even technophiles; tech vendors are happy to provide spinal support in return
for business.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The <a href="http://cio-inverted.blogspot.in/2016/04/in-corporate-world-unfit-also-survive.html">masqueraders</a>
can be seen at most conferences and seminars nodding intelligently at speakers
and asking questions; they flock together and stay away from the intellectuals.
They are not to be confused with the <a href="http://cio-inverted.blogspot.in/2016/04/in-corporate-world-unfit-also-survive.html">incompetent</a>
who shy away from any public appearance who only focus on internal politics and
their survival depends on the first or second envelopes at different times with
different folks within the company; their survival is also reliant on finding a
godfather or some capable team members.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pareto’s principle applies here
too but inversely; the majority are able to get away with their pretenses and a
small segment gets caught often shunted out by bell curve distribution. At
senior levels the collateral damage is high to the enterprise, setback in
business or industry at times difficult to overcome; weeding out such
ineffectives takes time and effort which most companies are reluctant to
invest. It also reflects badly on their ability to hire talented good people or
separate cheese from chalk !<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Take the case of this large
enterprise which hired – let’s call her Suzy – to a senior position; she had
come through the interviews well with help from an insider who coached her on
what to say. Nothing wrong with that, everyone seeks whatever help they can to
ace an interview for a position that they want badly enough. Such was the
situation for Suzy too as she had been force exited from her past company post
restructuring, a fact that remains undisclosed. She chatted her way through to
securing the position.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her inherited team compared her
behavior, expertise, skills, knowledge, connects in the industry, understanding
of the industry, personal traits, leadership qualities, desire to connect with
them, essentially sizing her up as a leader who will influence their future.
The comparison by the team with the earlier person was obvious and natural, the
results however not in her favor; she recognized the fact and created an
impregnable veil shutting off any discussion. The team knew the disadvantageous
position thus prevailing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The team toiled harder only to be
cut off from credits scored by their work, giving them no visibility nor
allowing any of them to interact with decision makers lest they expose the
insecurities of their leader. Any attempts to bypass the straightjacketed
process were met with reprimands and promise of future retributions. The iron
lady brushed aside her rusty demeanor allowing those who made up her coterie to
gain favors at the expense of the others with resultant attrition in the
inherited team as collateral damage.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a matter of time that Suzy will
reach the third envelope stage, except that she had been able to demonstrate
progress for now with the first (envelope) being pulled out like a trump card
whenever something was not as expected. It was a matter of time that management
took cognizance of the fact that the past was distant and she had had enough time
to change it. It was a matter of time that the Board recognized there has been
no significant initiatives from her stable despite the rising costs and
industry moving at a faster clip.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Different enterprises wake up to
eventualities at different stages of their progression; when growth and
profitability is above target, no one really cares for the deadwood, they are
too busy celebrating. Search for termites starts when everything is not hunky
dory or when a new leader takes over reins and has no history, baggage or axe
to grind. Eventually the overdue surgery takes place cleansing the system to
restart; then there are companies who are reluctant to take tough decisions,
they embrace mediocrity for long.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-29414893373796171242017-04-17T22:32:00.000+05:302017-04-17T22:32:38.198+05:30Torn between emotion and objectivity, making the right career choices <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Midlife crisis hits in many ways; the feelings it brings
include and not limited to – confidence crisis, loss of direction or drifting,
introspection and wallowing in self-pity on opportunities not captured and
mistakes made, jealousy of more successful peers and younger generation,
withdrawal into a shell, overtly aggressive behavior, and a feeling of loneliness
to name some. At times like this there is a tendency to reach out to friends
and family to seek their opinion which normally results in more confusion and
inaction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He had faced a similar situation almost a decade back, a
little early to be called midlife crisis but that is how he described it. A
life event triggered him to leave a well settled corporate life and move to
another location closer to the family elders who needed the support. Not
financially wanting, he took his time to evaluate options and took a leadership
role in a small company which was beginning to gain traction with customers
thus shedding the label of a startup and moving to being a growth phase
company.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He (let’s call him X) fitted in well into the ecosystem and
took up the challenge with vigor of a younger man; the team he built loved him for
the fact that he had grown from the trenches and was ready to walk with them whenever
they wanted his support. He balanced professionalism with human touch, customer
friendliness and the ability to support the team when they needed. They revered
him for the guidance and insights that helped them grow too in their individual
roles as the company gained momentum. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Growth brought management changes, fresh investors,
geographical expansion, global aspirations, and associated trials and
tribulations. The new leadership team had different goals, objectives, and
aspirations for the company and people; they brought in excitement of potential
glory the company should aim for, stretch required by the team, a new culture
that divided the teams into those who loved the new vision and those skeptical
of the direction. Neither had a choice but to follow the new and hope it
succeeds.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the restructuring of the company few decided to find
alternative pastures aligned to their shade of green; those who stayed back did
so in the anticipation of a better future. Promises were made across the board,
go-to-market strategies changed, product vision altered, and customers informed
of a better future with the glory the company planned to achieve. X empathized
with the founding team with whom he had grown the company, but found the new
roadmap clearer and better than the existence of the past. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The new energy kept the team going for a while; quarters
passed by, visions of peaks of achievement started fading and murmurs of
discomfort could be heard in hushed voices. Timelines for promises made were
extended as they attempted to build some euphoria with news of potentially fresh
investments and high value customers. Closer to the top, X though uncomfortable
did not feel the need to ring alarm bells and kept going. He kept the business
afloat with a steady trickle which was earlier frowned upon as irrelevant.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Quarters transitioned into years with natural attrition
shrinking the company a little more than natural; the morale of the team
reached new ebbs as the powers that be kept the charade going – happy days will
be here again soon ! X was in a quandary on own stretched patience and the lack
of outcomes and not much to pacify the team. The growth never came, the money
remained elusive, and soon it was evident that the golden era was a grand illusion,
the new leadership team had failed the company and its believers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Frustrated and a decade older, X
ruminated over the lost years which he had invested; while he had enjoyed the
early years contributing, he was unable to breakthrough the maze created as a
result of leadership changes. He sought advice on next steps and career moves
from a few he trusted and respected; one such conversation was candid and hard
hitting, necessary to break the impasse waiting for good times to come. At the
end of the mentoring session, X was free of negativity and clear about the
future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Milestones have shifted every time, outcomes have been mysteriously
missing; the new leadership team has no credibility to promise or deliver. Cut
your losses, stay focused on what matters to you and move on. The world has a
lot to offer to high professionals who know what they can achieve; break out
and find a new world which you deserve. Cut the emotional bond and take a
rationale decision, go and create a better future for yourself and family. </i>The
Mentor had seen X struggle in the last few years and wished him well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The future belongs to those who
dare.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-40462944183057218562017-04-10T17:08:00.000+05:302017-04-10T17:08:02.358+05:30Enabling Business with an intelligent Business Intelligence strategy !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
The company had faced challenges due to change in leadership
positions often due to bad hires across positions; decisions were made based on
bravado and far-fetched stories that even the naïve would find hard to believe.
The pseudo leaders in turn hired a coterie that would make them look good in
meetings and talk about the glorious past that remained unverified. The rot at
the top soon started bringing results commensurate to the collective
intelligence applied to the problems and opportunities at hand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a growing market loss of market share and dive in
profitability for a steady business could not remain unexplained for too long;
the growth agenda and strategy that was outlined with help of big management
consultants was quickly challenged by equity analysts while the shareholders
listened to the stories with unease. Nepotism running rife through the ranks
led to collapse of meritocracy – some becoming victims of their high
professionalism and others weeded out as they individually threatened the
collective brainpower. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The stock price which had tasted peaks with the induction of
the new team started a slow and steady slide shaking up the promoters and the
Board, to sit up, take notice and do something about it. Failure of cronyism
resulted in tumbling one after another like ninepins but not before they had
shaken the foundations of a company that had withstood market uncertainty and
thrived in the long history of the industry. Few of the inept skillfully hid
themselves from scrutiny and survived the expungement of undesirables.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One such survivor was the CIO who successfully portrayed
herself as a critical resource and managed to save her band of followers too.
She misrepresented past ties distancing herself from those out of favor; those
under her patronage followed the leader saving their skin as the rest of the
team watched in amazement. They rode on hard work of few good people, quick to
claim credit while ensuring that no voice was raised or heard against their
tribe as they strengthened their feeble position step by step.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Taking control of the situation the Patriarch emerged out of
retirement and hired fresh management team to take over the shambles, revive
and restore the rightful place in the market. Staying out of sight during the
initial reviews and analysis, she slowly emerged from the shadows to stay out
of the limelight lest her highest level of competency fall short of the rising
baseline. The enterprise trundled along recovering some lost territory but
struggling in the absence of accurate and timely information from the transactional
and reporting systems.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Under the spotlight she promised to create business intelligence
strategy to help the company in taking better and effective decisions. The task
being beyond her intellectual capacity, she felt prudent to hire a big name
consulting company to formulate a plan that would save her skin and earn some
brownie points. Budget for the exercise was sanctioned and the consultant
brought on board; as they got started an unaligned team mate who was the
mainstay of existing business and financial reporting quit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A specialist was brought in by the consulting company who
understood the industry as well as the technology adoption curve for similar
enterprises. Within no time he had captured the current state of transactional,
financial, sales, and other functional reporting, which was quite basic. He
evaluated the tools and technologies, inventory of licenses available, and
called a meeting with the CIO and her team to discuss the future roadmap,
vision and direction, and get an insider view of the challenges and opportunities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She started off well, but…:<i> I want to outsource the entire analytics and operations while my team
can focus on what matters to the business. My team lead has quit recently and
due to that there is a void that needs to be filled. You know we implemented
this new ERP system last year and then we also invested in this big name BI
tool, the implementation of which is still going on, and my BI lead has quit. I
want a strategy for which report should be served from the ERP system and which
one should come from the BI system.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The consultant did not know whether to repeat the question
or accept the answer at face value; as he mulled over the response, the silence
was broken by the CIO again: <i>Why are you
confused ? We developed over 200 reports in the ERP system, but hardly any are
in use; most users want a data dump and then use it in spreadsheets. The
management is upset as the inability of the investments to deliver; which is
why I need your help to understand which reports we should retain and which we
can move to the new system !</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next day the consulting company withdrew from the engagement !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-71137469445960124452017-04-03T20:17:00.000+05:302017-04-03T20:18:23.163+05:30The fine balance between managing growth and profitability and differences between enterprise and startups<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Established enterprises are mostly like sloths who move at
their own pace when reacting to any kind of market or environmental changes
(there are exceptions to every rule and there are some to this one too). Many
get there eventually due to the resilience in the business and the sheer size
that keeps the momentum going in their favor. Some suffer short-term impact and
brush it aside as a learning; in rare cases if the company loses direction or
has a significant impact, they become prey to the opportunist predator or break
into pieces.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>We grew 15% last year,
the market grew 12%, so we are doing good; this year the forecast for the
industry is 13%, let’s target 16% growth. Our profitability is good and in line
with industry numbers, we benchmark favorably.</i> Enterprises are
predominantly organized in silos, each chasing respective targets on
profitability and growth which are derived from past performance. Rarely a
division or Business Unit thinks of breakthrough performance; the
entrepreneurial spirit is rarely seen amongst enterprise managers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Checks and Balances matter a lot to the Board, Management
and Leadership of enterprises; they live and swear by ratios and manage balance
sheets. Targets are set, budgets managed, numbers scrutinized, long weekly and
monthly reviews held to make sure that everything is working as expected, no
surprises. Staid growth married to acceptable profitability ensures that
numbers match quarter on quarter. Aberrations if any require painful
explanations and root cause analysis only to be repeated ever so often.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite the world having seen many black swan events in the
last decade or so, enterprises continue to live in their world consciously
immune to potential threats. So when disruption occurs from unknown sources not
factored into annual operating plans and strategic business plans Management teams
scurry into offsite meetings to evaluate, synthesize the information, and
arrive at counterstrategies. Alternately a big name consultant is hired to
review the impact of disruptive forces and advise the management on recourse. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the other hand startups enjoy the advantage of no
historical data and thus they dream audacious and hairy goals; they want to
change the world with their version of solution, product or business model; create
new markets, beat big incumbents, or at least launch a flange attack to gnaw at
market share. Most of them are driven by young entrepreneurs wanting to emulate
peer success; their prime focus remains growth, at times driven by easy money
at their disposal or their extreme risk appetite and nothing to lose attitude.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Technology driven startups have low entry barriers that allows
for me-too ventures with irrational euphoria. Flash in the pan success
emboldens the space until it gets crowded with spectacular failures, at times
taking an entire ecosystem or micro-segment of the industry with them. Despite
large amounts of fold ups, they continue to mushroom with reduced cycles to
merger or demise. Some of these have been in hyperlocal services, aggregation
of services, hyperlocal logistics, home ordering, and many more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The moot question is why are enterprises unable to launch
such blitzkrieg and capture the mind and imagination of their customers ? Why
are they so obsessed with numbers and ratios ? Exceptions aside, majority of
startups are long way off from making money while they continue to invest in
market expansion; exceptions aside, majority of enterprises have not been able
to replicate the success of the technology driven pure play companies; they
continue to be at different ends of the spectrum in their results.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Experiments with Design Thinking and Inside Out innovation
models have not been able to live up to expectations in the enterprise. Lateral
shifts, hiring fancy titled self-proclaimed experts like Chief Digital Officers
and the like have boomeranged. Politics and power struggles have seen the
demise of many good initiatives with CXOs squabbling about credit and pushing
the blame. The exceptions have grown with focused attention and faith in their
business models as well as the teams who shepherded the successes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reality is that conventional wisdom and progress over the
years brings in a certain way of working to enterprises that defines them; they
find it difficult to give up their winning formula and move on to a new
paradigm. Reality is also that startups with no baggage find it easy to let go
and learn from their failures; at times they are also naïve in their thinking
and repeat mistakes. A crossover between the startup and the enterprise culture
would probably be a recipe for success or disaster of major proportions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which one will it be ?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-46395758986998973092017-03-27T20:03:00.000+05:302017-03-27T20:03:27.669+05:30Business is running faster than the rest of the enterprise in the Digitalization journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>We like what we have
seen so far and the initial proof of concept reinforces that this solution will
work well for us. The use cases are quite clear and we can work on prioritizing
the four models that we have discussed and finalized. The pipeline of
additional opportunities and use cases can be confirmed in the coming days; the
teams should work to define these in the near term. You can work with IT and
Procurement to complete the infrastructure requirements and the terms of
reference. How quickly can it be deployed ?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The vendor loved the diktat like a dream come true; they had
invested significant time and effort on their first big potential customer, the
scale up opportunity validated their product vision. Business team pushing the
deployment added to the excitement with the senior team members throwing their
weight behind closure on both sides. The solution provided a significant boost
to the digital thrust that the enterprise had embarked upon based on the vision
of the Board; it also challenged existing legacy and conventional solutions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Off went the mini delegation to the IT team designated by
the CIO for the prestigious project; they completed their planning for the
infrastructure, data integration, impact to other processes and systems,
deployment and scale up. Dependence on other groups and vendors were
acknowledged and their timelines incorporated into the project plan. The
extended timeline did not please any of the stakeholders but was accepted as
the most realistic plan which could be executed without any further delay or
disruption.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sequentially the process moved to Procurement, the last
stage gate before the project starts rolling. True to reputation and their
KPIs, they started with the contract, inclusions and exclusions, licensing
models, and outcomes that the solution would deliver. Each tenet was discussed,
debated, demands going from unreasonable to giving up some ground, as time
rolled by, much to the chagrin of business who wanted the new technology to
leapfrog competition with a differentiated offering that would take time to
catch up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The final step to get off the ground – financial negotiation
– introduced a new element into the mix, the Finance team because the values
were quite large and the vendor as yet small unknown entity. They started from
the beginning to discuss what, why, when, who and asked for alternatives
against which the solution was benchmarked. Other software that the company had
bought were not as expensive, so why is this one ? How much is the discount
over list price ? Are we really the first customer in this segment ?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It took some effort to get them moving towards closure; the
business head and the CIO, both pushed hard to retain the early adopter
advantage in their industry; there were others who were talking and that is
where they risked leadership position. With the criticality that time
represented, the Board nudged the team to expedite the decision; chastised
suitably, the teams closed the deal grudgingly at a value that they believed
was higher than what they would have agreed to if they had the time at their
disposal to negotiate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With time lost in the process, suddenly everyone wanted the
solution implemented yesterday; the CIO hustled the team to take up the work on
priority, the vendor allotted their best resources to the project, and business
provided program management and domain expertise. Ancillary vendors were
pressurized to deliver in unreasonable time, most obliged so as to not attract
the ire of one of their premier customers; the solution was ready and began to
churn out changed business outcomes that pushed competition to the edge.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Support from the Board and leadership team ensured that the
rigor to monitor did not falter and the promise of deliverables was kept. The
Board acknowledged the initiative and associated results, the support provided
by the IT team as well as the leadership demonstrated by the Business Head. It
was a case of good governance winning with results that mattered. Doubters if
any did not raise their concerns or pollute the environment that was committed
to putting their best effort to succeed, truly a team effort.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, business has taken over the reins of technology led
transformation not wanting to leave their future in the hands of technologists.
They are taking control and shaping their destiny in the ever changing and
disruptive world of digital innovation. Every new technology threatens to
challenge conventional business models and legacy systems which constrain agile
movement to counter new startups who have nothing to lose. Acquisitions make up
for the lost opportunities at a significantly higher cost.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stay hungry !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-5844346955626677132017-03-20T23:26:00.000+05:302017-03-20T23:26:27.747+05:30Will bots kill the call center outsourcing business ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was at a conference where an animated, heated, passionate
discussion was happening between members representing the technology players’
leadership team and some customers. It was quite obvious that there was a
difference of opinion leading to a disagreement on the subject. There were
multiple points of view which added to the liveliness of the debate. The
conference organized by an independent organization was on one of the currently
hot technologies – artificial intelligence and its manifestation in the form of
bots.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Structure of words determine segmentation methodology
and parsing for semantic analysis, tasks that can now be done with higher
accuracy though complete sentences require additional facts and external world
knowledge. For written text in a chat session, the bot is able to hold fort
quite successfully when addressing well-defined tasks and decision trees. Many
online portals and businesses have already deployed chat bots to supplement
agents who step in when the bot is unable to parse and respond to a question. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eliza was seen as a breakthrough, so are personal assistants
who respond to and act upon simple tasks using basic language parsing tools.
While the technology is nascent, attempts to make computers chat with humans
have been around for over half a century. Current experiments indicate that
they can be purposed for specific tasks. Excitement revolves around automated
interactions to improve efficiency and reduce cost in comparison to current
models of humans talking to customers for customer support issues. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Natural Language Processing (NLP) journey that began
with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHRDLU">SHRDLU</a> has improved
significantly with Machine Learning and Deep Learning. The ability to pass the
Turing Test (the test investigates whether people can detect if they are
talking to machines or humans) is still some time away, though we are getting
closer to the milestone. Though some may claim that Eugene passed the test a
couple of years back, many do not agree with the results. Artificial
Intelligence barrier is yet to be crossed convincingly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As bots mature and they are evolving fast, their ability to
manage specific tasks is already giving organizations the benefit of consistent
responses to basic and mundane queries; use cases around query and response of
HR systems on leave balances, tax options, and others have been successfully
deployed. Externally airlines and hospitality industry have taken the lead
while inside our homes personal assistants are making an appearance; the
biggest driver however has been the smartphone listening, responding and taking
actions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://cio-inverted.blogspot.in/2016/08/who-wants-self-service-not-employees-or.html">Call
centers and IVR systems</a> continue to drive customers crazy with long
decision trees and stupid obvious questions; wait times add to the woes of the
frustrated customer. Offshore call centers did reduce the cost but faced
backlash on other social impact it created. Bots promise to take up the
challenge and address the customer with agility and surprisingly improved
outcomes. The rich repository of information and past interactions helps the
rules engine train effectively and take decisions objectively.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the cost of deployment continues to fall with mass
development and niche players, companies are slowly embracing this revolution. Which
brings to fore the point that will they be able to replace humans in call
centers as the bot learns and graduates to the next level of interactions ? Recent
times have seen the rise of hullabaloo about jobless growth and the
disappearance of low end jobs to be replaced by machines; as the gap to the
Turing Test reduces, the probability that they can starts staring us in the
face.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The job loss is indeed going to impact destinations that
build their business models around calls and low end business process
outsourcing (BPO). Many existing players have already started upgrading skills
as well as retrain staff for other roles; enterprises will ruthlessly choose
efficiency over distant loss of employment even if it involves initial high
investment. Are there options available to current players ? It is a race
against time for incumbents to move up the value chain or become irrelevant to
their customers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unless, unless they embellish their services with bots and
attack their own business before someone else does. A handful of providers with
strong technology backing from within or their parent companies are beginning
to offer value added services using bots thereby changing their customer
acquisition and retention strategies aligned to the new reality. They are using
their rich knowledge repository to train the technology solution towards
addressing existing and new problems thus opening up opportunities.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A system is as good as the people who build it; in the end
it will be humans who will continue to create the differentiator !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-87072493224511106292017-03-13T16:54:00.000+05:302017-03-13T16:54:06.103+05:30Flashback ! 15 years on, security breaches have only gotten worse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rummaging through my archives I came across a presentation I
had made in a large IT conference fifteen years back to the date. The subject
line had me wondering if I had made a fool of myself in the gathering
considering that the topic was not my core expertise, though I was a bit
enamored by the discipline. Memory is kind and there is no recollection of
being booed off stage or being in an uncomfortable position. The presumptuous title
of the presentation was “How to protect your enterprise from being hacked”! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Organizations get hacked for many reasons, though most of
the hacks in recent times were attributable to human error, lapse in controls,
malice towards existing or ex-coworkers or bosses and finally social
engineering resulting in compromised data which allowed nefarious elements to
gain access and control of information assets for potential future misuse.
There were also few brute force attacks as well as skilled hackers who could
break the firewall and other technologies that protect the digital ecosystem.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The past decade and half has seen exponential growth in
devices connecting to the internet; what started as basic email on mobile,
extranets and the surge with the dotcom bubble has grown beyond the predictions
of all kind of futurists and consultants surviving the blips due to dot bust
and many years later the subprime crisis. M2M, IoT and connected consumer devices
have already added to the exposed digital fabric available, vulnerable to
attacks as well as errors and omissions by people who configure and monitor.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back then before the turn of the century reported security
incidents were a handful; current reality is 10X of that and for clarity these
are reported numbers. Guestimates on the actual number portray a similar multiplier
on the reported number. The difference lies in BYOD which has removed the mobile
end user compute from purview of the enterprise subduing the number. Smartphones
and Tablets, wireless hotspots, public internet kiosks and free terminals at
airports, all have helped in accessing information anytime, anywhere. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For IT organizations threat vectors multiplied sending them
on a quest for better security and balancing the demand and need for access to
corporate systems. Controls and checks soon became bureaucratic with everyone
wanting to connect as a result of undue corporate pressures. The number of
breaches continues to rise with IT security playing catchup. MDM anyone ?
Locked USB ports, containerized phones, IRM enabled documents, the world has
changed while we continue to stay exposed with cookies/mobile app trackers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Globally, Governments have giving a thrust to digital
e-governance and citizen services; identities and records of interactions with
Government, tax filing, health records, bank statements, what have you, almost
everything is digitized across most countries with varied degrees of
information security policies, processes and technology. Access via mobiles and
apps is the base expectation which needs to be fulfilled; feature phones too
have been enabled using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) which
can be compromised.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Interestingly time to uncover a breach has now increased
from weeks to many months and in rare cases more than a year; this rise is despite
availability of plethora of solutions. Software is getting bulkier, crammed
with features; integration with other solutions is now the norm exposing
solutions with potentially unfixed or insecure APIs (application programming
interface) from third parties. Unfortunately security wrappers and multi-factor
authentication make solutions unwieldy or complex to end users.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fifteen years back the discussion was about security
policies, management endorsement and budget allocation; it was about protection
from insiders – disgruntled employees and contractors. One of the key elements
of an information security strategy was education of involved stakeholders,
their responsibilities, dos and don’ts. Today is still about security policies,
more controlled that clearly separate the personal from enterprise; earlier
digital access was controlled by hierarchy and exception, today exceptions to
the rule for business is the norm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wish I could give a presentation today with the same
confidence and aplomb that I did decade and a half back; technology has swamped
our lives with blurring boundaries between technology at work and personal use.
The continuum with high dependence on devices and tether to the internet for
almost everything, logs our daily activities in the background only to be used
against us. Enterprises struggle to create a balance between storing data on
the cloud and enterprise vaults only to discover that neither are safe.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reality is that most of your data is out there available for
pennies to whosoever wants it whether you like it or not !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-81572674652825421302017-03-06T17:51:00.000+05:302017-03-06T17:51:01.664+05:30One step forward, two steps back, managing change with new software implementations !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
The need was dire, the staff wanting and IT team willing,
but the company management for some reason did not take a decision to approve
the project. Almost everyone in the industry had the tools required for the
tasks, it was basic hygiene to say the least; growth despite not having the
tools set in a belief that they did not need them. When a new IT head came
onboard, he was pushed into a corner to take up the cause on behalf of the
Sales & Marketing team and try his luck in getting approval for the investment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is not that they did not have any technology solution
running; they were among the early ones to deploy laptops for majority of their
teams though the solution they were using required replacement yesterday. Everyone
had given up on the solution which was supported by a small time vendor who had
built it about a score of years back and had continued to patch it just enough
to keep it alive and going; rumor had it that he was related to someone at the
top. The newbie decided to take a shot and worked to gather the data
meticulously to support his case for change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He stepped out into the field to first-hand experience the
angst and pain, validate the hearsay and the extent of change required.
Spending time with the young and the experienced, walking the streets, having a
cup of coffee on the streets, quickly the empathy built and he heard stories of
long hours spent, favoritism and management apathy, the dam had broken – he was
flooded with their emotion. He was informed that it is probably the first time
in a decade that any CXO had descended to the trenches.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Upset but in a controlled way he presented the facts to the
group in the Boardroom seeking their flirting eyes to make contact and press
for a decision. Outlining the stark reality he appealed to the Management to
wake up and face the reality of slowly diminishing market share. The S&M
head added his weight and sought resolution to the long standing impasse. He
did manage to get a conditional approval, the condition surprisingly to involve
the Finance team in the evaluation ! Finance for a S&M solution ?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So they set together a team to formulate the functional
selection criteria – more of an aspirational list of functionality in
comparison to current reality and in-line with external reality. The options
were known and well understood, so the run through happened quickly, the
recommendation based on market leadership and ease of use and deployment. The
Finance team reviewed the cost against current outflow and found it to be
higher, unwilling to take into consideration the better capability, efficiency
gain and superior technology.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Escalation to the CFO brought in a new dimension to
benchmark with global systems; the team turned around the evaluation in record
time and presented the same. A fashion parade followed with lofty claims and
global metrics, some of which did not matter, but in the end based on
extraneous factors the CFO declared the evaluation closed and selected a global
solution with a much higher budgetary allocation and timeline. This was finally
presented to the Management as the best course of action.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The decision disconnected from reality was shot down, the
CFO smarting the turndown attempted to gain an upper hand by taking the popular
choice and setting unreasonable demands on time, functionality and cost. The IT
Head and the S&M team could see through the charade; no one however dared
to raise the red flag and to whom ? Despite this adversity, the project started
in earnest, everyone giving it their best effort; usage increased as the new
was far superior to the old and offered succor to the underserved. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fault had to be found in the unwelcome success, and the
Finance team did by challenging the data, the authenticity of inputs, denying
the outcome, the project started losing credibility. Repeating a lie
consistently sowed the seeds of doubt and put to rest an initiative that could
have succeeded overcoming all challenges. They reverted back to the old
faithful shoe with holes, hobbling back to their painful existence and journey.
An opportunity to regain market leadership was lost in egoist behavior and lack
of protest.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One step forward, two steps back; a year and more spent in
the entire exercise, precious time and resources allotted for a naught, the
loser was the enterprise in the war of the old versus the new, misplaced
metrics for business and project that would have brought in business
transformation. Many years later the organization has continued to remain under
the shadow of the failed venture, the will broken, confidence missing, and the
experience bitter. The CFO and IT Head have moved on leaving behind a case
study !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-82684047844817872942017-02-27T16:21:00.000+05:302017-02-27T16:21:36.761+05:30How do you succeed when your team does not report to you ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
The review meeting was getting hot and interesting; the
function head was being questioned on the lack of leadership and ability to
influence business units to follow defined standards; after all he had defined
the standards and formulated implementation guidelines. Then why was he not
able to get the business to follow them ? Weren’t the standards touted as
industry benchmark, leading edge best practices, and emerging technologies that
would put the group in leadership position locally and among the best globally ?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Matrix organizations have interesting group dynamics; there
is functional reporting normally a dotted line to the department head and a
straight line reporting typically to business unit in a diversified business
group or geographical unit like a country head in a multinational company. In
almost all cases the straight line drives the agenda for the person with the
dotted line is left to drive synergies, cost optimization, standards, governance
models, and the unified agenda across business units/countries.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the newly inducted CIO it was not the first time working
in a matrix structure, his earlier avatar had clearly defined boundaries for
each role. At every node of the matrix the accountabilities were commensurate
to the authority vested and influence expected. He had thrived in the position
that helped bring value to both sides; his managers – straight line and dotted
– acknowledged the contribution and maturity. Teams within his span of control
as well as the matrix into which he reported enjoyed good relationships.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He took the role for its larger span of control, a different
industry and domain, the challenge and the opportunities the new role presented
and off course monetary value. Overall it appeared to be a great jump from his
prior assignment which had reached a plateau. Reality hit him hard on his head
when he met his peers and collective boss – the CEO in the first management
meeting. The structure was unique to him and the dynamics hitherto unknown,
made his skin crawl on his ability to create professional success.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Each group function head played two roles: the first to set
strategy, direction and define standards that the group was expected to follow.
This part was easy for most of the CXOs and function heads who were
knowledgeable and well recognized as high performers in the industry. The group
of experts thus depended on the partner ecosystem to help them craft the
solutions and processes that were expected to be followed by business units;
implementation was also left to the respective business unit functional heads.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Business functional teams were not obligated to follow
directives or policies defined by the group; they could almost get away with
anarchy. Matrix reporting had created a structure that the straight line
manager could override the dotted or define alternate path for his business
unit. It would appear to be a ceremonial position with a lot of responsibility
but no authority to control outcomes, a fact that did not surface during the
interview. Results were expected from the titular heads to ensure that the
group has synergies and commonality.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The specific case really did not matter, it required a
different structure and approach to solve the problem at hand. The Group CIO
reasoned it out with the Group CEO and other peers in the room to highlight
limitations the structure imposed; he also pointed out cases where mandates
were followed, the group heads had ensured that respective members were subservient
or underqualified thus open to listening and following diktats. The problem it
created was larger than the current issue being discussed with suboptimal
talent.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Making some sense to those present, the CIO pushed forth the
agenda to unify the team; while the structure could be amended over a period of
time, he gained acceptance to the idea and way of working. Step by step he
worked on the antagonists to the idea, nudging, pushing, helping them win, he
brought them to neutral ground within 6 months. A surge of activity followed
with the group now harmonized and working with agility and synergizing effort,
they reduced individual budget allocations and time to market.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is the model replicable ? The answer is yes though requiring
significant effort beyond normal for the leader to bring everyone to common and
shared objectives. Instances can be found widespread of failure to capitalize
on such an opportunity, accepting destiny and remaining an Advisor whose
knowledge and expertise stays underleveraged by enterprises. Power struggles
are always detrimental to progress, it would serve leaders and corporations
well to recognize these before they become a malaise for the company.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-72226126443736818122017-02-20T23:57:00.000+05:302017-02-20T23:57:35.645+05:30Right doses of right Leadership can indeed drive Big Hairy Audacious Goals !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a difficult project to begin with and starting from
the business team and the solution providers and the implementation team were
all cautious in their predictions of success. In this part of the world it was
the first time that such an audacious project was been executed; there were a
handful of global precedents and they too had seen significant challenges in
achieving successful adoption by the business. The team attempting the feat was
a collection of disparate skills which added to the challenge, they had no
choice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The project was conceptualized by the CEO – it could have
been termed as his pet project – who painted a dream that few could visualize. He
was convinced that if he did pull it off it would be a benchmark in an industry
that was beset with delays, cost overruns and quality issues. His man Friday
and close confidant was put on the job to find people willing to take the risk
and become part of the team. Thus empowered, man Friday reached out far and
wide to enroll an eclectic group which had created unreasonable success in the
past.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Naysayers many, they warned citing instances of failures of
mammoth proportions; any normal person would have probably been dissuaded, but
the assorted team had never said no to any danger – perceived or real. Their
confidence in attempting the journey was akin to the first team that
successfully climbed virgin peaks. Internal pessimists decided to go along with
a detached passion while the optimists decided to take on the project of their
lives to partake in the glory should the summit be achieved. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So the project got off to a tentative start with the bunch
of experts with no prior experience but loads of attitude, commitment and
willingness to explore uncharted territories. They broke down the problem into
micro steps which appeared achievable even by rookies. A monitoring system was
put in place to carefully analyze every step, sign-off, and celebrate every
step that took them forward. Challenges were scrutinized and alternatives
tested with speed until they found the solution that fit the mosaic. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stumbling through the journey the team slowly aligned to the
task at hand; each individual contributor came from high ground of past success
with associated ego and a winning formula that worked for them. The CEO stayed
glued to the ground taking stock frequently, pushing the team to drop their
differences and doubts. It took effort for them to arrive at common ground, but
they did in their loyalty to the CEO and the challenge the project represented,
a peak unconquered, a path untrodden, a batch un-lapelled.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Collectively the group now functioned like a well-oiled
machine; the journey seemed easier than it did at the beginning, the road
smoother and the target achievable. The CEO continued to charge the team
showcasing their success to one and all while plaudits were showered on his audacious
vision. As the finish line showed up on the horizon it brought many doubters
back wanting to bask in the derived glory; their disconnect from the project
visible, their faces clearly plastic in their celebration of imminent
achievement.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Study conducted by Standish Group for over two decades
clearly outlines the first and foremost reason for project failure as lack of Management
focus; this project had more than a fair share of management oversight, in fact
at times the group wished that they would be left alone to work. The CEO though
overpowering in his demeanor, he knew when to back off and when to push. The end
result was for everyone to see and learn from; the industry celebrated his
success and many attempted to emulate it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On another part of the world another enterprise in the same
industry with the same set of internal and external challenges decided to
pursue the safe path which was the norm. They too started their journey around
the same time with resources available unwilling to take undue risks. The CEO –
an able man – believed that his will shall be done, delegated the
responsibility with an occasional tab on progress. Hearing of success in the
other project he berated his team and their inability to complete simple tasks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leadership is not just about defining the vision and
charging the team to execute; effective leadership requires a lot more, a
connect to the ground, knowing when to push, when to back off, finding the
right resources, and empowering them while keeping different personalities
together. Leadership is not vested only with the CEO or a title holder, it can
be practiced by anyone who is charged with a cause and willing to take a stand.
Are you ready to get into discomfort zone to try something new ?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-18121680423128652142017-02-13T20:06:00.000+05:302017-02-13T20:06:42.655+05:30Build trust and respect at work, it stays a long way !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
A: Much feared and revered he had iconic status in the
industry; a hermit who was rarely seen in any public forum, stories were abound
on his persona. Everyone knew he was a workaholic for who spending 12-14 hours
at workplace was normal; he was famously notorious for midnight meetings and
negotiations in the wee hours. Stories spread on his passionate work style and
commitment to the enterprise, he was not a role model but inspired a generation
of workers; he was synonymous with the company he worked in.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He made few friends with his ruthless style, it was
difficult to find people who could say that they knew him as a person. Little
was known of his antecedents or when he would give way to the next level of
leadership. Commanding respect he was enigma that the industry had not been
able to solve. 80 hour work weeks can be punishing even to the fittest, it
finally did take its toll leaving him incapacitated for a while; understanding
mortality, he hired a trusted lieutenant who modelled himself in his shadow.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Providence or coincidence, the teammate fell to pressure faster
with serious medical condition which was rare for someone that young; but by this
time the superman was back in full force thus taking up the slack. Over time their
collective success elevated them into role models with many attempting to
emulate their success little realizing the price they had paid to rise to the
summit. They had sacrificed their personal lives in favor of their careers –
families that were well provided for but emotionally disconnected.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
B: Envied by many his steady climb did not go unnoticed;
well read, articulate and opinionated in a good way, he was always ready to
help his peers. He was a prominent speaker across conferences and events –
people loved his views and thoughts which were at times audacious but pragmatic
enough to be followed. Rarely one to put in long hours excluding exigencies, he
did not expect his team to burn the midnight oil, but work to a plan with
efficiency which he demonstrated and expected of his vendors too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His team revered him and trusted him to keep the flag flying
high and pass on credit where due; he coached them and encouraged them to take
calculated risks – ready to take the brunt of failed experiments. Vendors loved
him for shooting straight, his candid talk and fair approach to value
realization on a sale while negotiating to build relationships with shared
success. Always open to case studies and references it made him a beacon for
every company that he worked in and industry that he adopted. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His family could be seen beaming at his success openly in
family gatherings as well as industry events which added to his persona. He
dissuaded people from imitating him, his mannerisms or style; but he created
many leaders from within his team who grew to prominence in the industry – some
also acknowledging the role their mentor played in their success. Shortcomings
if any stayed hidden or overpowered by his professional success and the fact
that he was always available to Management Trainee or CEO alike.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The contrast between A and B appears to be extreme and
exaggerated; their approach to work and life are quite divergent.
Professionally both created success that set benchmark in their respective
industries, both were sought after by the industry, both loved and thrived in
the attention showered by big and small. Their paths crossed many times with
each acknowledging the other; they knew about the differences between their
approaches, neither commented on them and the industry took them for what they
represented.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While A continued to stay invested in his professional life beyond
the normal retirement age, B got off the corporate treadmill early to enjoy the
fruits of labor and started his entrepreneurial journey. Many years passed by
with A now taking a backseat and B fading away from the scene; providence
arranged their meeting which brought them face to face again. His reputation
had stayed firm even when A had taken a backseat in most matters; the meeting
never took formal overtones with mutual respect demanding a different setting.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The transaction happened quickly, the relationship built on
a strong foundation stood the test of time. For B it was a validation of the
seeds he had sown carefully over the years – of treating people with respect
irrespective of rank and position, of helping without expecting anything in
return, of being the spokesperson when none ventured, of being a good human being.
Life goes round in circles; invest in people and relationships, the returns
over the long run are worth a lot more than you can imagine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-49693716567922791662017-02-06T17:43:00.000+05:302017-02-06T17:43:09.643+05:30Cost is also a 4 letter word in the corporate world !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
My first tryst with cost happened a little more than a
decade back when the company reins were taken over by the CFO; he replaced a
young charismatic CEO who found greener grass elsewhere. The first review
meeting conducted by the CFO with score of year of experience announced an
initiative to control costs – something he had harped about in the past but was
overruled. His predecessor always worked on the numerator (revenue) and not the
denominator (cost) when looking at profits and ratios.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many years later I was facing a sense of déjà vu in another
company when the new management which had initially created high costs now
under pressure from shareholders started an initiative to cut costs. Fast
forward to current business environment when everyone is uncertain of global
trends and policies that potentially impact parts of business and resultant
revenue and profits – quite a few are preparing to cut costs to sustain impact
if any to short-term and long-term operations and business strategies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why not cut the flab or get rid of deadwood that the
organization may have collected on the way. In almost all such cases of cost
containment, it is typically a new set of Managers who initiate the exercise
wanting to sculpt the company in a specific way getting rid of legacy. The
other interesting fact is that almost all such cases a big name super expensive
consulting company – coincidentally the same one in all cases that I have seen
– is hired to suggest ways and means to reduce cost. So what’s new in cost
cutting ?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Predictably it starts with hiring freeze, HR makes a list of
low performers (exception Finance team) travel freeze for everyone except the
Management; the inner circle gets discretionary approvals, everyone else is
expected to use Audio/Videoconferencing. Cookies and biscuits disappear from
meetings, packaged bottled water is replaced by refilled water bottles, control
on printing with introduction of network printers, deferred training and
development budgets, and last but not the least a cut in IT operating budgets
and new projects.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Frugality in times of plenty is a virtue practiced by a few
and they stay immune to variability in the market conditions. Working for one
such company we celebrated our most profitable year when everyone was
struggling with costs in the year of black swans. If that is not part of the
organizational DNA, operating expenses should ideally be reviewed periodically
and not necessarily wait for a formal cost control exercise. The challenge lies
with some types of costs which do not lend themselves to reduction without an
impact.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So when as a CIO I was asked to cut cost by 20%, it created
an interesting predicament; can I cut manpower supporting business as usual ?
Should I get rid of my Project Managers who have delivered successfully in the
past ? Shall I ask the support partner to reduce onsite manpower without
impacting SLA ? Can I cut network bandwidth across and hope that the business
will not notice the resultant impact ? Annual Maintenance Costs are locked in
with COTS and hardware vendors, no not much scope there.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can hardware refresh be deferred ? For desktops and laptops
potentially by few quarters, the server upgrades cannot if the transaction
volume continues organic growth. New projects can be deferred or pushed into
functional P&L, after all if they want the new solutions, they will find a
way to justify. In both cases IT took a similar approach to cost cuts with
partial success; reduction in operating expenses was marginal since the
contracts were already optimized by Purchase and Finance, the deferred capital
investment made up for the shortfall. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Decades apart the rest of the company dithered and murmurs
of unrest were heard across the companies. The big consultant bill horrified
the employees who had seen their friends depart and morale go south across
functions. The net resultant saving was something they could have achieved by
involving the staff across levels invoking their emotional connect towards
their adopted company. The leadership team declared success gloating in the
derived glory to gift themselves an exotic international offsite as a reward.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So much for cost savings which were believed to be necessary
for survival of the company (read the management team). Mature leaders do not
take conventional wisdom at face value, they internalize the opportunity and
seek collaboration across layers for sure shot success. E.g. the frugal company
that beat profits in a lean year by calling upon all employees to contribute;
it enrolled every CXO to the cause not by setting targets, but appealing to
help the company and how they did ? It remains a benchmark for the company !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cost does not need to be a 4 letter word !</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-24062878750638091862017-01-31T12:07:00.000+05:302017-01-31T12:07:23.215+05:30Sins of the past haunt the present, impacting your future too, what to do ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
The new CXO (John) had no handover or parallel working with
his predecessor; there was no handover document or any evidence of work done
and in progress. The incumbent (Bob) did not know that he was going until the
end of the day on a weekend when he was told not to come from next Monday. It
was a first time experience for the newcomer who had a few changes in his
career. Not that the company had precedence of taking such action against
senior people, the circumstances were material enough to precipitate such an
action.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But let’s set the context first: It was a top 10 company in
its industry, visible and perceived market leader in some segments; proud of
its legacy and people, they had set some benchmarks. Calculated risks was a
part of the DNA to maintain leadership in the market, the company had hired Bob
to take the innovation agenda forward; on his part, he was a veteran and subject
matter expert having spent many decades in his chosen industry and field of
specialization and acknowledged as a steady dependable performer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Under his charge the company took on a few innovative
projects that on success would leapfrog them in the industry; while the element
of risk was low to moderate, the management accepted the same and pushed ahead
with endorsing the effort. Bob welcomed the opportunity and set forth to
execute with the cross-functional team, the vendor a past acquaintance with reasonable
credibility. A few months delayed, the project went live with much fanfare and
received mixed reviews from the sales team – the primary users.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cracks began appearing quickly which led to tactical fixes
and then the blame game started; the users blamed Bob’s team that they did not
understand the ground reality and build castles in the air; they in turn blamed
the developer for making assumptions with no domain expertise to back it up.
The developers blamed the customer for changing the brief in every meeting and
the cycle repeated itself with every iteration. The matter was escalated to
respective CEOs who met but disagreed on every aspect unwilling to take the
blame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Heat turned high on Bob who had chosen the vendor while he
fruitlessly attempted to mediate to find an amicable solution. Lawyers on both
sides fine combed the contract to find an upper hand; both ended up litigating
unwilling to step down from high moral ground. The size and proportion of the
project and its failure had an adverse impact on company performance; the CEO
was chastised for allowing such an event to occur. The company needed to set an
example for the imbroglio, and the fall guy ended up being Bob.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
John was handed the project as his key task to recover lost
ground and ensure that the deliverables are aligned to the requirements of the
sales team. Past success with sales projects gave confidence to John in getting
started on the right note. He met the sales teams, created empathy, won them
over and created a democratic governance process for vendor selection. It was
important to John to keep all stakeholders engaged and feeling wanted in the
new avatar of the much maligned project which had taken Bob as collateral
damage.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
During his interactions, John unearthed and unraveled the story
slowly putting the pieces together with surprise, trepidation and decided to keep
circling back with his team and the CEO to ensure that he hears alarm bells
early enough to take corrective action. Not that the project had a smooth run,
it did see its share of bickering and debate, John needed a lot of patience and
assertiveness to keep everyone on track. The cautious approach worked well and
the project unfurled successfully with bouquets following for John and the
team. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
John did not allow the ghosts of the past haunt him beyond
the cautionary approach for this project; he was also pushed into closing the
litigation and creating a settlement with the antagonist of the past. The
intellectual property thus created was important to the company and the vendor
very well knew this and leveraged it in their favor. The good news was that the
vendor gave up all rights to the IP, the bad news was that it cost the company
a lot more than the total cost of the old and the new projects combined to
close the case.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What options did John have in such a situation ? He was
tasked to resolve a conflict, he did reach resolution at a cost. He completed
the project satisfactorily which was expected in the second attempt. The price
paid rankled the company for a long time and the CEO did not let the dead stay
buried with references to history. John would smile at these references and
move the agenda to another subject. While he was not directly responsible for
the failure and its consequences, it hurt that his profession was tainted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19272053.post-7749831785128224152017-01-23T20:24:00.001+05:302017-01-23T20:24:54.239+05:30Is it ethical to take credit for good work done by your predecessor or your team ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A:</b> When he took
on the new role in the highly visible company, he knew that he will have to put
in some effort to fill in the gap left by his predecessor; the company was one
of the pioneers in their industry and had taken good steps towards retaining
their leadership position. The new CIO with impeccable pedigree was excited to
take on the new assignment that was expected to bring great opportunities to
excel. He launched into the new company full of enthusiasm and quickly aligned
the team to his ethos and way of working.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As he settled into the position, work done over the last
year began to show signs of fruition; the industry wanted to write about the
success, publish case studies, requests for which were redirected to project owners
to engage and provide the requisite details. At the same time he pushed the
pace of innovation and work thus propelling the enterprise into newer waters,
claiming success often. Skillfully he continued to sidestep requests for sound
bites, media coverage and interviews where his contributions were limited to
shepherding.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In management meetings he requested his colleagues to help
in maintaining continuity and present along with him; he also brought along
teammates to provide on-the-ground view of reality. The latter he practiced for
new projects too with the rationale that the team best presented practical
challenges and real life issues while he fully owned the project and was
responsible and accountable for challenges if any. He wanted to instill a sense
of pride to the team members as they presented to the powers that be.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Z: </b>She came on
board as the incumbent left to pursue entrepreneurial interests; she did not
know the industry, a reality not different from the one faced by the CIO in A. Her
new company too had a large number of initiatives that had progressed well and
were in various stages of completion. The team aligned to her way of working – quite
different from their earlier experiences. Coming from an unrelated industry
where she had spent her entire professional life, her uncommunicative stance evoked
paparazzi curiosity.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She shunned the external media and also cast an unfriendly
eye on her team almost putting to stop completely any connect with the world
outside – a diagrammatically opposite of the recent past. She was unable to
make significant headway with new initiatives with her team with her demeanor
and ability to gain the trust of her team. Reciprocally she trusted no one and
played the lone ranger, preferring to attend meetings alone, which initially
surprised the team until they realized the reason for the behavior.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In her desire to prove her mettle and look good in the eyes
of the management, she purposely painted a bleak picture of the past casting
aspersions on the team ability as well as the departed leader whose position
she now occupied. Positioning herself as the manna from heaven to the rescue of
the enterprise, she almost convinced her audience that the situation was grim
and she will overcome the challenges with grim determination and hard work and
a bit of help from the team who let this happen in the first place.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She created a false sense of urgency and fear to paint a picture
au contraire and then step by step proceeded to take credit for remediating the
situation. Wherever her team completed a task or achieved a milestone, she
dramatized the event and presented to the management projecting herself as
indispensable and critical. As a result she alienated a large part of her team
in her own insecurities who slowly started departing for greener pastures.
Remember the maxim ? People join companies, they leave their bosses !<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Between A and Z, they represent two ends of the spectrum:
one focused on team and works to empower them and help their confidence; the
other self-centered, stifling the team, their work and achievements. Most will
choose to be on the side of A and profess that the behaviors outlined are what
they practice with their teams. At the other end Z by virtue of the inability
to lead has taken the extreme step of isolating herself and living a
self-created bubble which can burst anytime leaving her pantomime exposed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Success is rarely illegitimate, it has many fathers; people
do see through facades eventually, be prepared to face the consequences when it
happens.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more, please visit cio-inverted.blogspot.com</div>Oh I See (CIO inverted)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15611012582757369102noreply@blogger.com0