Presentation
THE CFO: FRIEND OR FOE? CORT ISERNHAGEN
VP, Industry Insights-International, IDC
Presentation
PREPARING THE ENTERPRISE FOR CYBER WAR SURESH SRINIVASAN
Lead Cyber Security Initiatives at Vodafone India’s Technology Security team.
Panel Discussion
WINNING IN THE NEW NORMAL
IT decision-makers from India’s leading organizations share insights on persevering during testing times.
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n his presentation The CFO: Friend or Foe?, Cort Isernhagen, VP, industry insights -international, IDC, shared ideas on how IT decision-makers can convince CFOs to invest in a particular technology. “IDC’s recent studies and surveys,” said Isernhagen, “have revealed that the topmost priority of CFOs is ROI to the business. Speed-to-market is a highly critical factor they consider while making technology investments.” He added that CFOs do feel that IT is a source of competitive differentiation. CIOs, he said, should take steps to leverage IT’s potential to improve operational efficiency, support innovative products and services, and improve customer-client relationships. Most importantly, he said, CIOs must learn to consider themselves strategists, not just technologists. One important strategy Isernhagen emphasized was working with IT equipment suppliers to find ways to justify the need for the technology in terms of business benefits. “If your vendor can’t help you in this, you’re probably with the wrong one,” he said.
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f late, cyber criminals seem to have gained an edge over enterprise security. Suresh Srinivasan, who heads cyber security initiatives within Vodafone India’s Technology Security team, believes that merely investing in high-end technology and plugging it in cannot rescue the enterprise from this threat. Srinivasan observed that managing security is like being in the armed forces: basic levels of preparedness, involving external audits and third-party verifications, aren’t a great help when a real attack is under way. He also pointed out that these audits only check a particular sample, for particular duration, for the most part; they don’t test a complete process. Srinivasan emphasized the need for regular drills to hone the alertness of an incident response team, and regular exercises that benchmark a team’s detection and reporting skills, besides improving the organization’s ability to mitigate the impact of an attack. “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war,” he said.
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hile the previous recession came like a bolt out of the blue, the impending one—some call it a slowdown, not a complete recession—has been giving hints of its arrival to organizations that have been paying attention. In a panel discussion, Indian IT decision-makers shared their insights on persevering during testing times. Avinash Arora, director-IS (India and S.E. Asia), New Holland Fiat India, said, “IT is the only function that glues all other business functions together. We made use of BI and analytics in our organization to identify prospective market expansions, and growth opportunities.” Stressing on the need for CIOs to get into the shoes of other C-level business executives while pitching a proposal, S.C. Mittal, IFFCO’s sr. executive director (MS & IT) and group CTO, said, “CEOs look for productivity and efficiency improvement, whereas CFOs are focused on ROI. Your technological investment must bring out a blend of both.”