The Champion CIOs of 2009

The Enterprise Connect Awards instituted by CIOL in association with

Dataquest recognize the pioneering works done by CIOs in large and medium

enterprises. Constituted in 2004, these awards are an extension of the vision

for CIOL Enterprise.

The awards have a broad turnover classification for organizations above Rs

1,000 crore and below Rs 1,000 crore with each of these categories having three

awards: Champion CIO, Gold CIO and Silver CIO. This apart, there are individual

awards also. This year, CIO of BSES Power, KB Singh received the Champion CIO

award in the above Rs 1000 crore category, while the Gold CIO award was given to

Sekar S, CIO of The Karur Vysya Bank. However, this time no Silver CIO award was

given in the above Rs 1,000 crore category.

In the below Rs 1,000 crore category, GS Ravi Kumar, CIO of GATI got the

Champion CIO award. The Gold CIO award went to Pertishth Mankotia, the CIO of

Sheela Group, while Sunil Kunders of Arvind Brands bagged the Silver CIO award.

GS Ravi Kumar, CIO, GATI	KB Singh, CIO, BSES Power

Welcoming the gathering at the sixth edition of CIOL-Dataquest enterprise

connect awards ceremony, Anil Kumar R, senior vice president, CyberMedia

Publications, said the Enterprise Connect Awards is built around a framework

that recognizes a CIOs leadership qualities, business-technology understanding,

people orientation and performance through pioneering and innovative efforts.

We are recognizing excellence in the technology sphere. We are recognizing

those people who brought change into their organization, he said.

The jury chaired by Girish Paranjpe, joint CEO and member of the board, Wipro,

comprised Avinash Vashistha, chairman and CEO, Tholons; Rajesh Uppal, chief GM

(IT) and CIO, Maruti Suzuki; Jasmit Singh Puri, VP, corporate affairs & IT

enterprise solutions, Fortis Healthcare; Prof S Sadagopan, founder director,

IIIT Bengaluru; Shyam Malhotra, executive editor, CyberMedia Publications; and E

Abraham Mathew, president, SMG, CyberMedia Publications.

While addressing the gathering jury member Jasmeet Singh Puri said it was not

an easy task to decide on the award winners. It is in such a scenario that a

project is often considered based on its business impact apart from the strength

of innovation and pioneering. Even the re-invention of the wheel makes sense at

times, though not always, he added. Justifying the decision not to give

eco-smart award for state governments, Puri said the jury was of the opinion

that the state governments keep reinventing, though reinventing is always better

than doing nothing.

In the individual category, Sumit Chowdhury, CIO, Reliance ADAG got the

Pioneer CIO award while the Advocate CIO award went to SC Mittal, CIO of Indian

Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO). REPCO Bank CIO, R Rajagopal bagged the

Innovator CIO laurel while the Extended Manager award went to Nishi Vasudeva of

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation. Ramasamy, executive director of the Indian Oil

Corporation got the Process CIO award. During his speech, Puri raised the doubt

as to whether the CIOs are not sharing their innovations in public, as quite a

few innovative implementations are revealed in the open platforms.

But this gives the notion that India lacks in innovation as far as IT

implementation is concerned, which need not be true, he said, adding, Bharat

IT has a global standard and that need not always be a state secret.

The former winners include Maruti Udyog, LG Electronics India, Fortis

Healthcare, Reliance Life Insurance Company, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Tata

Motors, Reliance Industries etc.