Integrating business

Kolkata, Dec 13: Business and technology still stand far apart in India and there is a dire need for integration of the both, majority of CEOs of different business houses in the country feel.

As IBM India today announced the results of " India CIO Study," 86 per cent of the Indian CEOs interviewed rated 'business and technology integration' to be of great importance while only 52 per cent of them felt their organisations were integrated enough.

It was a part of the Global CEO study that IBM announced in September last in an effort to bridge the gap between business and IT besides enhancing the innovative agility among the Indian CIOs.

The study was made on the basis of personal interactions with 765 CEOs, business executives and public sector leaders of whom 44 were from India.

According to it, CIO's in India need to be 'a business executive first and a technologist second'. They need to close the gap between business and IT by building the hybrid skill sets that enable IT professionals to understand the needs of the business. And ought to promote a new governance model where responsibility for business and IT is shared by business and IT leaders. The key findings of the India CIO Study also stressed on the need for creating deep business model innovation and forging partnership with other organisations for higher revenue grwoth and innovation solutionstion.

The study confirmed that the role of a CIO in India today was of a critical decision-maker when it came to using technology to address the innovation challenges and opportunities for the business. "It reinforces the role of the CIO that they can enable and increase the innovative agility of the organisation and drive the business forward", the study said.

Emphasizing the need for CIO's in India to play an integral role in innovation initiatives, Nipun Mehrotra, Director, IBM Global Technology Services, India, said ''the role of the CIO should be focused on establishing the right infrastructure, culture and climate for business model innovation. CIO's should lead by example and make the IT organization a role model for the rest of the organization.'' The study also stated the need for CIO's to become customer-centric and a credible business partner for CEO's by creating a flexible, responsive infrastructure that is better equipped to answer the needs of an innovative organization. It further stressed that CIO's should be proactive in creating deep partnerships and forming alliances that extend beyond traditional boundaries.

UNI