The advancement in ICT technologies is paving way for the next transition. According to experts, IT will break the paradigm of just being a tool in running the business. Rather, it will open a new dimension towards advancement of business operations by giving real time data.

This brings to fore the typical mindset of business heads towards the role of IT: treating IT as a project.

Reducing costs is the primary target of deployment. It is also imperative for enterprises to deploy bespoke solutions rather than going in for expensive ones. Therefore, identifying the area where IT can give valuable contribution is inevitable.

IT to Enhance Business Processes

According to Shrikant Gathoo, executive director, BPCL, “We at BPCL faced the time consuming process of taking readings of the processes in various stages of operations, matching them with the set parameters and making inspections. So as a process, the inspector has to manually write the findings and go right back to his table to match it with the set parameters before finally going back to the inspection site to complete the process.”

“We introduced a mobile application device where as soon as we entered the findings, the application would automatically compare the findings and parameters which improved the pace of project completion.”

Another such instance is that of a contact centre of a bank plagued with the problem of query resolution because of the navigation involved in - between processes. “The bank implemented an application that would categorise the customers, thereby decreasing the need for navigation. This enhanced the speed for query resolution. Thus due to customer satisfaction the agents were able to sell spot offers, thereby converting a cost incurring contact centre into a source of revenue,” said Krishnan Thyagrajan – MD (India and south Asia) – Quest Software.

Expressing the company’s perspective on what the future holds for enterprise technology, Ananth Deshpande, founder and MD, Persistent Systems said the companies will be using far more computing devices at a comparatively lesser price. “All of those devices will be on ubiquitous computing i.e. although number of computers would be more; handling of the computers would be centralized.”

“To be proactive right from the word go, the enterprises should think about doing things they have never done before and analyzing the role of IT in this. For this it becomes very important for the IT heads to know the business deeply,” opined Ananth Sayana, head, Corporate IT – Larsen & Toubro, on the foreseeable transition.

Using IT thoughtfully

In the present scenario, it would be cynical to view IT as just an enabler. Instead, IT has matured to the point where it can be used as a strategic tool to maximise opportunities and potential. It is important to measure and view the importance of IT as a business developer.

Hence, it is critical that all the departments in an organisation have an IT representative, who enables the smooth flow of information to perfect the respective set of departmental operations.