"We operate in an industry characterized by very rapid evolution"

What is TTL's IT strategy? As the telecom sector is heading towards data boom how is TTL preparing itself to deal with the increased flow of traffic?

The IT strategy of TTL flows down from a very clear and uncomplicated charter: IT exists to make the business succeed period. Hence our IT strategy is to ensure that Business stays ahead in terms of speed-to-market as well as in capitalizing on key indicators to create differentiation, and not just be a faceless entity charged with keeping the light bulbs on.

In this regard TTL IT strategy ensures two objectives are met. First, IT is aligned with business plans i.e. making sure IT organization, systems and processes will be able to effectively and efficiently execute business plans. Second, IT transformation is a continuous process ie, Operations, Delivery and Enterprise Architecture is continuously evolving to keep up with the dynamic business environment.

A service provider's strategy has to ensure that the cost of delivering traffic is adequately covered by the resultant growth in revenue. Today the growth in telcos' revenues are nowhere in proportion to the growth in traffic because the real services that you and I are willing to pay for are not brought to us by the telco, but by smart OTTs for whom the telco is only a carrier at the lowermost layers of the communication protocol.

Therefore the strategy of telcos  - including TTL - for dealing with the increased flow of traffic is not just to lay thicker pipes, but also leverage IT to create smarter applications and services that customers are willing to pay for. This may require increased collaboration, as opposed to hyper-competition, amongst telcos, and surprisingly even with the OTT.

How are you creating next gen solutions that help the organization and your customers alike at TTL?

The next generation solutions are a result of our preparedness to use technology for creating the right products and services for people and enterprises of the new-age digital world. We operate in an industry that is characterized by very rapid evolution - in just about two decades the global communications landscape has undergone perhaps more transformation that any other industry or domain.

Yet no one is resting on their laurels and service providers and consumers alike are forever looking for the next big thing.

The ability to be first with the most differentiated solutions will define the winners in the next wave - solutions that are not just in response to a stated customer requirement, but ones that anticipate needs and fulfill them before they are expressed. The next generation solution strategy will entail moving from predominantly voice service to a host of enterprise, education, health, and mobile commerce services.

IT will no longer be able to operate in the traditional Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). To allow business to continuously experiment with new services, IT will need to adopt new development methodologies such as advanced Agile, where multiple versions of the service can run simultaneously.

New generation IP centric networks underlie the host of new services and applications that are reshaping today's telecom world. At TTL, an extensive data communication network supported by technologies that offer very high-speed data transfer rates are the vehicles for adoption and deliverance of a whole range of next generation solutions like mobile payment platforms, cloud computing, Mobile TV, GPS tracking services, Mobile surveillance among a host of others.

How these solutions have benefited your business/RoIs?

The portfolio of TTL's services and products address a very wide range of customer expectations - from fulfilling the basic voice telephony requirements of the rural population to meeting the ever-evolving data-dominated demands of a tech savvy metro population. A growing subscriber base and proliferation of smart mobile devices have led to a growth in traffic volumes.

The traffic growth is likely to be further stimulated by the next generation solutions - like Internet of Things. Service providers, including TTL, have to ensure that the revenue from next generation solutions covers the cost of delivering the traffic spurred by them to achieve acceptable RoI.

In the final analysis, a balance between the ability to differentiate through new solutions at an affordable price, and delivering these services in a cost efficient manner has to be the foundation of any RoI strategy.

These next generation solutions have led to increased IT agility/responsiveness to the dynamic business environment. In some cases they have also led to opening up new revenue channels for business. Lastly, TTL has been able to quickly deliver any regulatory changes that may impact the business in a big way.

Key challenges you faced while implementing IT

Operators spend far too much energy in competing amongst themselves, while the real threat comes from Over-the-Top players. Most operators are still slow to adapt to disruptive forces and thus allow their share of revenues to erode.

This is a major challenge facing all telco who continue to be connectivity providers to a world that is looking for full Service providers. Next generation solutions are driven by emerging trends in various domains - like social media, cloud, analytics and mobility.

While on the one hand these offer attractive possibilities as levers of growth, on the other their adoption imposes further cost pressures as the yield is not realized fast enough.

Thus an ability to balance between creating market differentiation and staying cost competitive is a key challenge being faced by most telcos.

On the IT side, my challenge has been to show short-term direct business benefit for large scale IT transformation projects, that may show considerable benefits/savings to business, say, 2  years down the line.

Another area of challenge has been to get the right IT skills to drive and manage the transformation projects.