The CIO at Work

It is difficult to believe that the CIO of an organization–reliant on 24x7

technology, is saying he never gives into work-related tension. Meet CN Ram, the

man who, as head–IT, HDFC Bank, successfully manages to sport a calm demeanor

despite the huge responsibility that rests on his shoulders.

When we asked what his work pressures were, Ram quipped: "It’s only

work pleasure–just because you are responsible for running something

important, why does it have to be ‘work pressure’?

At 46, Ram is thoroughly enjoying his 21-year career as a technology manager

at banks. That’s veritably two generations of IT and Ram has implemented most

of it for the benefit of the banking business.

Hired as the

fourth employee at HDFC Bank, Ram wrote the technology story at the bank from

scratch.

Dataquest caught up with Ram and spent a good part of the day to see him in

action. We caught him in the thick of the week–on a hectic Wednesday–when he

reviews the performance and tracks the progress on key initiatives. We sat

through a series of presentations made by senior managers, some of whom got

pummeled, while others were lauded.

To our surprise and delight, Ram packed off at 5.30 p.m. sharp, and marched

out of office by 6 p.m. No wonder he is never stressed. Sure we have a lesson or

two to be learnt from Ram’s working style.

Ram and HDFC’s IT

n Provided

the technology that supported all business projects right since their

inception. Helped the bank become a leader in cash management, supply chain

management, capital market offerings, and payment systems

n Pioneered

debit cards and has the largest number of debit cards in circulation

n Deployed

the largest number of PoS terminals, more than 23,000 in the country

n First to

introduce mobile banking on Jan 1, 2000 on the day when the rest of the world

was busy with Y2K

n Judged as

one of the best implementation sites of enterprise systems management using CA’s

Unicenter

n Managed the

acquisition and assimilation of TimesBank within six months

n Supported

and managed retail banking business growth through technology

C N Ram

Age                      Â

46 years

Career Path

 1994 onwards Head, information technology HDFC Bank

 1982—94 Vice-president, systems manager,



 Bank of America

 1979—80 Graduate trainee, TISCO, Jamshedpur

Education             Â

BTech (electronics), IIT Madras PGDM, IIM Ahmedabad

Family                   Â

Wife Ranjani, daughter Sanjana, and son Pranav

Other interests

n Practices

Yoga thrice a week. Is a morning person, wakes up at 5.45 a.m. Loves to

read books and articles on spirituality and technology

n Enjoys

jazz, old Hindi and Tamil songs, bhajans, and Western classical music

n Ardent

believer of Sri Satya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi

Extra-professional Memberships

n Director

on board of software companies where HDFC Bank has made strategic

investments. Also manages IT for HDFC Securities

n Founding

member of the global advisory board of NCR Corp.

n Member:

Technology advisory committee of SIDBI

n Member:

Asia-Pacific technology advisory board of VISA International.

n Member:

Automation subcommittee at CII

n Member:

RBI committee on cheque truncation

Awards               Â

n ComputerWorld

award in 2002 in the finance category

zn Intelligent

Asia award for best implementation of treasury management across Asia

n Best IT

User award from Nasscom

                             Â

n Named as India’s

key IT influencer by Dataquest

How Ram Manages IT at HDFC Bank

The Team



n Ram is assisted
by a team of senior managers at the V-P level. The IT function is divided into

four groups–technology infrastructure, data center operations and telecom,

application support, and business solutions. Has found the strongest ally in

Aditya Puri, CE, HDFC Bank who is very bullish on technology.

Performance Reviews



n Reviews

performance and tracks progress on initiatives every Wednesday. That’s the

only day the CIO comes to the IT center. Else, he is based at the business

headquarters.

Business-Technology Interface



n Every

Monday, Ram participates in a senior management meeting with Aditya Puri, CEO.

Here, lot of business issues and initiatives are discussed. As the CIO, Ram

looks at formulating possible IT solutions and support for business initiatives.

Management Style



n Ardent

believer in delegating and empowering the team. Once the business case is

finalized, the team takes over.

n Doesn’t

spare criticizing and ripping apart half-baked proposals. Ruthless in grilling

people till they get to the right reasoning. At the same time, openly praises

deliveries on time and target. Gives clear-cut directions without dithering or

putting the ball back in the other person’s court.

n Open to

meeting vendors who come with solutions to problems that the bank faces. Shuns

the rest.

n Fiercely

time-conscious and therefore manages time well and expects others to do

likewise. Gets about 60—100



e-mails every day and strives to answer all of them the same day. Gets to office
by 9 a.m. and leaves by 6 p.m.

Perceived Challenge



n To take the

middle road between the two schools of thought–"technology can do

nothing", and "technology can do everything". "The idea is

to make business people understand that technology can do some things that are

planned well," he says