Hi-tech Makeover

A lot has been happening at Godrej over the past one year. Whether it is

revisiting the cause of dwindling fortunes, an image makeover or strategy

rethinking. And well, restructuring their IT function has been a part of the

overall new-look process.

A lot has happened in the IT department since the last one year, and if close

to 80% of the IT team of Godrej, is now on the payrolls of HP, it is part of the

well thought out transformation plan. It is this change wave that Godrej is

riding on at the moment, and they are seeing IT as an important element to usher

in this change.

Served Ready



That is how Mani Mulki, EVP, corporate IT for Godrej Industries is right now

savoring his IT infrastructure. As a part of an outsourcing deal in September

2008, Godrejs end-to-end IT infrastructure was given over to HP for maintenance

and upkeep.

More than a year later, Mulki thinks that things are finally settling in for

them. He says that though such big decisions as outsourcing have always been in

the hands of the top management in the company, but this one was something that

he proposed, and luckily, management approved! Mulki says that the deal has been

beneficial to the company in ways more than one. With growing dependence on IT,

the tolerance to downtime has become very low. And, according to Mulki, the most

crucial part of a CIOs job is to keep the lights on.

My first choice is to go for DR on a cloud	Mani Mulki, EVP, corporate IT, Godrej Industries

However, "If we do only that, there are a lot of other things that dont get

their due attention, and that is why I decided to give the job to HP," he adds.

And therefore unplanned downtime has come down considerably, he says.

Apart from achieving stability with the outsourced set-up, Mulki is involved

with the companywide implementation of business intelligence and the development

of their online initiative Samparkthat he calls their big effort to connect

every link in the chain. "We have also signed with SAP for a groupwise

implementation of Business Objects," he says. However, if there is one thing

that he is clear about is that within the organization he doesnt want to

restrict BI to the top management alone. "You can never decide the actual scope

of BI until it has been implemented," he explains.

The Cloud Confusion



A parallel project for Godrej Consumer Products is putting up a consolidated

disaster recovery solution. And Mulki is very keen to do this on a cloud: "My

first choice is to go for DR on a cloud since that will bring down my cost," he

says.

However, the trouble is that he hasnt been able to find a suitable solution

or a viable vendor. He says he has been on the lookout for several months but

hasnt found any success. "I have always believed that you should never have

homegrown solutions for business applications in large enterprises. Let the

leaders bring in the best of breed."

Mulki expects the packaged stuff to meet around 70-80% of his requirements.

Rest, he says, is the CIOs job and his biggest challenge as well to think,

innovate and constantly deliver value.

Mehak Chawla



mehakc@cybermedia.co.in