Nine Decisions for 2009

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present. The

occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As

our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.

This quote, by Abraham Lincoln, is as relevant today as it was during the

tumultuous times 152 years ago. Lincoln was credited with that quote in 1857,

the year when the Sepoy Mutiny erupted in Meerut and spread across the upper

Gangetic plain that today comprises parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya

Pradesh and Delhi.

As we enter 2009, which incidentally is also Lincolns 200th birth

anniversary, let us look at nine decisions that you and your company might want

to consider taking in 2009:

Is data your true nerve center? According to one estimate, the total data

center capacity in India will cross 5.5 mn sq ft by 2012, up from about 1.1 mn

sq ft today. If your customer and employee data is your soul, then the data

center is the heart and the most important organ in your organization. Decision

#1: Secure your DC.

Might be your biggest consumable cost, just check the math. Especially power

to the heart, the data center. India has always been short of electric power.

That might hurt your data center more than any other department. Decision #2:

Take extra steps to beef up power supplies to your DC.

Raju Chellam The writer, a former Dataquest editor, is currently vice president (Asia-Pacific) with Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, based in Singapore. He can be reached at maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

Do you have an option to drastically lower your capital expenditure on IT? Do

you have a good idea of the amount of money your company spends on servers and

desktops, PDAs and laptops, and utilities and applications? Decision #3:

Consider whether you want to move from being a Bahu (one that Buys all Hardware

and Utilities) to being a SaaS (using Software as a Service).

Innovation: Incremental profits come from innovation in the product or

process. Take a close look at your existing processes, especially in ERP and ERM

and SCM Decision #4: Check whether any efficiencies that you manage to squeeze

out of your ERP and SCM reflects directly to your bottomline or not. If it

doesnt, something is wrong.

Security: The best BMW is useless if its door is left unlocked. You may spend

millions of rupees to try to secure your enterprise, only to be thwarted by an

insidious attack by a disgruntled employee, or a careless channel partner, or a

malicious miscreant masquerading as a customer. Decision #5: Check whether the

security policies (not the applications alone) are strictly enforced across your

company or not.

Imagination: There is no cream without a dream. The best innovations come

from mavericks who try to go the extra mile to please customers, or tweak the

supply chain to squeeze more juice, or make tiny enhancements on the ERP to

boost efficiency. Decision #6: Put in place policies to reward such mavericks.

Opex: How can you best control your operational expenditure? By consciously

going Green. If you use 25% less power to cool your DC, you save 10% on your DC

power bills, and begin going Green. Decision #7: Optimize your Opex to achieve

greener, cleaner growth.

Networking: If Singh is King, then Connectivity is Queen. The future is in

hyperconnectivity. Thats networking nirvana, where communication is anytime,

anywhere, via any device. Either person-to-person, or person-to-machine, or

machine-to-machine. Decision #8: Is your organization ready for

hyperconnectivity?

Society: The community and country made you a star; now be a man, and give

back a part. This is probably the most important and the most ethical and moral

decision you need to take in 2009. Decision #9: Ponder what the country and

society gave to you to help you grow, and think how you can pay back and help

others.

Taken together, the nine decisions spell the word itself. This year, as the

world tries to recover from the recession that started last year, it is time to

step back and assess all our goals and dreams. We and our companies need to make

profits, but we also need to help make the world a cleaner, greener, safer and

better place to live, work and play.