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Sangita thakur varma Managing Editor, India Now
The Unsung Leaders
I LLUSTRATIO N BY PHOTOS .CO M
Let’s look home nearer for true lessons of leadership
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a battle with fatal illness and looking at the prospect of his business being wiped out. Though the rats (read partners) abandoned the ship, the captain had held aloft and kept the flag flying. It was a lesson in courage from two middle-aged gents, who abandoned their high-flying corporate careers, one in India and the other in Silicon Valley to chase their dreams. Today, with successful ventures under their belt they have become inspirational stories for other SME startups to follow. There was another gentleman who had nothing but his mechanical training in industrial sewing machines and Rs 1,500 in his bank account to fund his dreams. Today, his company employees 120 people and its turnover is Rs 50 crore. His credo: “Your work is your respect. The owners have to be honest punctual hard working… all these motivate your workers.” And so, he is the first to arrive in office and the last to leave. If the office has to remain open on a non-working day, he is there with his workers. Needless to say, his workers are a happy and devoted lot. Unafraid of failure, these gentlemen have floated initiatives powered by unique ideas. From jazz-food enterprise in a largely Punjabi culture dominated north Indian set-up, to funding for innovative SME social enterprises, to genuine factory seconds to employee training, they are everywhere. Time we looked at them for a few novel lessons in leadership.
3 Essential
Reads
INTERVIEW | HU YOSHIDA
HU YOSHIDA | INTERVIEW
COLLABORATE & STRATEGIZE TO STAY AHEAD Hu Yoshida, Vice President and CTO, Hitachi Data Systems, emphasises the need for CIOs to work with vendors in strategising Hitachi’s strength in storage and technologies. In Conversation with IT NEXT.
You have been forecasting the top IT industry trends for storage for Hitachi. What then are the directions you want Hitachi to take? Big data will continue to be the primary concern for the IT industry. For example, exabytes will enter into planning discussions and petabytes will be the new norm for large data stores. Much attention will be on secondary data generated for copies and backups. The total cost of ownership (TCO) for storage will change as operational costs decrease and capital costs creep up. IT professionals will have to tackle these challenges with budget and time constraints. Simultaneously, they must extract business value from big data to support growth and development. Hitachi should take into account the new trends and align customer strategy accordingly. 1. Dramatic Changes in OPEX and CAPEX: Over the past 10 years, the total cost of storage has increased by about 7 per cent annually, mainly due to
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operational costs (OPEX), while the cost of hardware (CAPEX) has been relatively flat. 2. New Consumption Models: Instead of buying all their storage today and spreading CAPEX over the next 4 to 5 years, organisations will buy what they need when they need it. So, they must leverage technologies and capabilities like dynamic storage provisioning, virtualisation and nondisruptive data migration. 3. Managing the Explosion of Data Replication: Replication multiplies data growth and backups are the biggest driver of data replication. 4. The Emergence of Enterprise Flash Controllers: The use of high-performance flash solid state drives (SSDs) has been slow due to their high price and limited durability compared to hard disk drives. 2013 will see the introduction of flash controllers with advanced processors built specifically for enterprise storage systems and increase durability, performance and capacity of flash memory.
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5. New Requirements for Entry Enterprise Storage Systems: The increasing use of hypervisors like VMware and applications such as VDI have changed the requirements for midrange storage systems. The gap between enterprise and midrange storage architectures is narrowing as the industry begins to demand entry enterprise storage systems. 6. The need for object-based file systems: The growth of unstructured data will require larger, more scalable file systems; hence, object-based file systems. 7. Accelerating use of content platforms for data archives and data sharing: This will accelerate as users try to correlate information from different applications. 8. Hardware Assist Controllers to Satisfy Increasingly Complex Workloads: Storage controllers will be equipped with advanced processors and hardware assist ASICs to address increasingly complex workloads and higher
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Hu Yoshida, VP and CTO, Hitachi Data Systems, emphasises on the need for CIOs to work with vendors Pg 36 SIMPLIFYING IT TO DRIVE PURE VALUE | INSIGHT integration between servers, storage and networking as well as software, applications and middleware was made simple and easy through the use of a single management console.
IT Managers use Pure Systems in Multifaceted Environment In India, organisations of all sizes enlist the customer base of pure systems as they are looking to virtualise their IT, optimise their existing infrastructure, or want to adopt open standards and green IT initiatives. Anil Nadkarni, CIO, Thermax, says, “It’s just not the hardware that transforms any work environment, a lot also depends on the application that runs on it as it decides the whole thing. The hardware costs come down due to the virtualisation. The flexibility is definitely the differentiator as it comes with 8-core machines. It gives me the flexibility to make it a 4-core machine or 2-core.” Anil has an internal team of 30 members. IBM took the lead and deployed the infrastructure. The team was trained during the implementation. For Thermax, it has been not just the integration that IBM Pure Systems has been pitching around the offering but it is more about flexibility, enhancement, ability to connect with other devices and IBM know-how about the technology and support. Thermax bought the machine for 1,000 users but it’s capable of handling 1,300 users which gives the organisation the scope to ramp up the systems.
Simplifying IT to
Bank deploys PureSystems to address its Future Growth The recent win, Dombivili Nagarik Sahakari (DNS) Bank adopted PureSystems as a core component of its new IT strategy
Drive PureValue IT managers leverage converged PureSystems to radically transform and simplify the IT life cycle so as to drive value BY S U B H A N K A R K U N DU
S
ince its launch in India in April 2012, IBM PureSystems has been gaining momentum across all verticals and businesses. In India, IBM has more than 150 customers who have adopted PureSystems. The PureSystems family of offerings includes PureFlex, PureApplication and PureData. Thermax, an organisation in the utility vertical, was among the early adopters of PureFlex systems.
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In August 2012, Thermax went live with PureSystems as it implemented a virtual desktop environment where it was looking at multiple systems and chose IBM PureFlex. Kashish M Karnick, Product Manager, STG, IBM ISA, said, “IT managers look converged systems and PureSystems has the power to transform the IT life cycle. IBM PureSystems has the potential to radically simplify multiple aspects of the IT life cycle and it delivers significant business value.” The reason behind the growth in adoption is that the systems
to address its future needs and growth strategy. The new IBM PureFlex System integrates the bank’s hardware, cloud capabilities, network management and virtualisation, allowing DNS Bank to expand its reach, gain new clients and reduce operational expenses by 10 per cent - without increasing its IT infrastructure footprint. Milind Varerkar, DGM-IT, DNS Bank, says, “Implementing PureSystems has helped the bank to monitor its resources in much easier way than earlier rack based servers. DNS Bank is already benefiting from the simplicity and control IBM PureFlex provides and has reduced power consumption by 10 per cent.” DNS found the system apt as it could expand its mobile services such as Internet, mobile and SMS banking. The new IBM PureFlex System integrates the bank’s hardware, cloud capabilities, network management and virtualization. Pure Flex has helped in reducing the manpower cost as it requires fewer trained staff for monitoring the systems. Very little change was made in infrastructure and that helped in minimising deployment cost. Except for training the support staff, no major change was necessary. The Indian banking industry is growing more than 23 per cent per year with its assets size poised to touch USD 28,500 billion by 2025. However, In India, dispersion of banking services is fairly low: about 61 per cent of population has access to a saving bank account, 19 per cent has debit cards and 1 per cent has credit cards. Varerkar asserts, “To tap into this growing market opportunity and reach the tech-savvy younger generation, DNS Bank needed to revamp the heart of its IT infrastructure. IBM provided a solution built on PureFlex and including System x, storage and WebSphere.” PureFlex provides the security, flexibility and integration capabilities the bank needed to leverage cloud technologies to rapidly and efficiently deliver these mobile services across cities and remote areas of Maharashtra, addressing completely new client segments. Karnick said, “IBM PureFlex allowed DNS to simplify their experience, increase overall performance, and significantly
“India has 150 clients compared to 6000+ in other markets. So, India has the potential. But we need to look at the size of the market in terms of its budget. I think other markets have a much bigger budget than India.”
ILU ST RAT IO N : AN I L T
I just wrapped up a story on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for one of our custom publications. I call it my fortune to have interacted with an intersection of ‘leaders’ who normally remain unsung, unfortunately, due to the low profile nature of their sector. It is our want to look up at media savvy public figures, forgetting all the while that leadership is not exclusive to any particular category. Coming back to the SME entrepreneurs, their life stories were lessons in leadership— they knew what they wanted; took initiative, were dauntless, leading from the front and ready to take risks. They were not afraid to make mistakes rather found lessons in those mistakes, led their employees by example, were generous and were team players. Each one had a unique story to unfold. Some were middle aged, many young, and most were first generation entrepreneurs using their hard-earned savings to fund that dream. After meeting them, I came away shamefaced. How often we crib over the smallest hurdle in our professional path. We want our goals to be an unchallenged easy run. And here was a story of unending struggle spanning more than 30 years where the paraplegic protagonist while combating a progressive disease reinvented himself and his business, rising from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix again and again, never losing sight of his goal. He even had to struggle through a phase where he was fighting
Kashish M Karnick Product Manager, STG, IBM ISA
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Simplifying IT to drive Pure Value with IBM Pure Systems Pg 32 CUBE CHAT | FEROZ SHAIKH
CUBE CHAT
Love what you do
FACT FILE FUL L N A M E FE R OZ S H A I K H C UR R E N T D ES I G N AT I ON VI C E P R ES I D E N T C UR R E N T R OL E H E A D, T EC H N I C A L OP E R AT I ON S EXP E RT I S E S OLUT I ON A R C H I T EC T / I N FR AST R UC T UR E WOR K EXP E R I E N C E 17 YE A R S FAVOUR I T E QUOT E YOU M UST B E T H E C H A N G E YOU WI S H TO S E E I N T H E WOR L D – M A H AT M A GA N D H I
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work” Feroz Shaikh, Vice President – IT, Prime Focus Technologies, loves the Aristotelian quote as he puts the philosophy into action in each day at work.
FAVOUR I T E B OOK S E VE N H A B I TS OF H I G H LY E FFEC T I VE P EOP L E
“Media is about working against stringent timelines. It demands solutions to optimise costs whether it’s content streaming for sports or workflow designing”
BY S U B H A N K A R K U N DU
M Give your 100% to whatever role you are playing
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onday mourning…oops, Monday mornings are something very few people look forward to. Cribbing why-can’t-weekendsbe-a-little-longer tends to make things gloomy at the work bay. All that is required to run to work rather than drag oneself is the motivation to “do new, think new and create new.” That’s how the day starts for Feroz Shaikh. Feroz, VP-IT, Prime Focus, starts every day with a splash of energy. When he wakes up, he starts with giving himself a dose of hope with positive thinking: “It’s not going to be a monotonous day for me, as something new must be waiting at work.” He loves thinking of innovative ways to inspire his clients and embraces the challenge every day. Prime Focus is very special to me. I have been with this company almost since its inception. The entire journey till now has been great.”
So, what drove Feroz to IT? Feroz has been passionate about riding the tide of ever-challenging technologies since the time he kicked off his career in IT. The constant uncertainty of every technology is what keeps him motivated, and the range of opportunities in information technology grabbed his attention in the initial phase of his career. Feroz recollects, “My career has been much diversified as I started with the service industry and then moved to BPO/KPO, exploring market research and analytics.” About 7 years back, he moved to Media and Entertainment which he believes is a major transition from Analog to Digital. He considers this move to be a strategic decision in his career, as content will play a very important role in the future. At Prime Focus, he executes end-to-end deployment for every new client. His customer centric focus helps him understand client requirements in
detail, as his responsibility spans the entire IT backbone support operations including inception of new verticals and giving unparalleled support to clients. His motivation is his team. He makes it a point to motivate his team in the work they do; which, in turn, encourages him to keep innovating and keep the wheel spinning. The entertainment often has cost constraints. Feroz says, “Media is about working against stringent timelines with no options. It demands innovative solutions to optimise costs, whether it’s related to content streaming for sports or workflow designing.” For the first time during IPL 2010, Feroz was involved with the exciting project of streaming real time content on the web. With a last minute confirmation of the project implementation, he had little or no
FAVOUR I T E FOOD I TA L I A N FAVOUR I T E D EST I N AT I ON S C OT L A N D FAVOUR I T E GA D G E T FOR WOR K M AC B OOK P R O FAVOUR I T E GA D G E T FOR P E R S ON A L US E I P H ON E
time to execute it. It was indeed a challenge to set up the entire infrastructure, testing the workflow and ensuring a robust back up. With pride, Feroz asserts, “In spite of so many challenges and time constraints, we successfully streamed the content.” As for inspiration, he does not have to look far. He says, “My role model is my CEO Ramki Sankarnarayanan as I am always inspired by his desire, drive and discipline.” His mantra for prosperity is staying fit. And his list on how to stay fit is long: tennis, swimming and cycling. His interests include aquariums right from fishes in fresh water to reef tanks. An unfulfilled and exciting dream is “to do some heavy lifting.” On the work front, he has a bunch of innovative ideas which he wants to implement and test in a live environment.
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Feroz Shaikh, VP-IT, Prime Focus emphasises on working with passion, constant learning and hunger to innovate Pg 46
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