Registered No. RNP/BGS/2113/2009-11. Licensed to Post at Manipal HO on 12th/13th & 27th/28th of every month.Printed and Published By Louis D’Mello On Behalf Of IDG Media Private Limited, Geetha Building, 49, 3rd Cross, Mission Road, Bangalore 560 027, India.

KARENG/2005/16317

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From The ediTor

Swiss psychiatrist Jung called it synchronicity—the simultaneous occurrence of events that seem to be meaningfully related.

Take this issue, for instance. On page 34 you’ll find veteran industrialist Adi Godrej elaborating on why it pays for a business executive to closely listen to the CIOs ideas and vice versa. And, in his column on page 18, author Mark Goulston offers a step-by-step guide to get both CIOs and CEOs out of their comfort zones and into harmonious accord.

The final element of this triad of coincidences is the magazine itself. Two issues down, we’ve taken the decision to replace our tagline ‘The Resource for Information Executives’ with ‘Business Technology Leadership’ in line with the publication’s positioning globally.

What’s in a tagline you might well ask, since nothing else in the publication seems to have undergone a metamorphosis? I feel that the earlier tagline, while good, had just a tad too much redundancy built in that didn’t sit with the ‘CIO’ in our title. The new tagline also better reflects the magazine as it has evolved over the years and across the globe.

‘Business Technology Leadership’ clearly describes our position and our mission to provide IT leaders with relevant, timely information to help them and their organizations be more successful.

Godrej states unequivocally in his ‘View From the Top’ that in his organization “business managers and IT thinkers work almost as one” with business managers wearing the IT shoes and IT thinkers donning business clothes. That is the kind synergy we are attempting to help drive though this publication, its associated web site (www.cio.in) and the events we organize.

My colleagues and I are clear that this mission involves being a fair and accurate channel to provide editorial content with the correct combination of business and technology, strategy and insight, opinions and life experiences from the experts our readers trust the most—their fellow CIOs.

I’d like to hear your take on this issue. I know its early days for us, but the only way we are going to be able to service your information needs is by paying attention to your feedback. Please keep it flowing our way.

This mission involves providing editorial content with the correct combination of business and technology, strategy and insight, opinions and life experiences from your fellow CIOs.

Business Technology LeadershipWe’re changing the tagline to better reflect our global positioning.

Vijay Ramachandran, Editor vijay_r@cio.in

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Executive ExpectationsVIEW fROm ThE TOp | 34Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group, explains how the group deploys IT to remain innovative and builds value by con-necting 3.5 million retailers. Interview by Gunjan Trivedi

Career CounselhOW TO AVOID BumpInG hEADs | 18IT and business executives seem to hail from two alien tribes. Here’s how they can come to see eye-to-eye. Column by mark Goulston

New TechnologyGRID hELD hOsTAGE | 42You need grid computing. It could save you millions. It could provide competitive advantage. But to get it, you have to build it yourself. Why? Ask your vendors. feature By Thomas Wailgum

more »

Business Continuity

COVER sTORy | KEEp BusInEss AfLOAT | 26

WNS Global Services, one of India’s leading BPO organizations, remained unshaken despite the del-uge that paralyzed many businesses in Mumbai. The ace up their sleeves: A well-documented and tested business continuity plan that helped them seamlessly navigate out of troubled waters. feature by Rahul neel mani

26

Building multiple redundancy helped Lyndon Rodrigues, Group CIO (left) and Atul Davda, Sr. VP & CTO keep WNS

Global Services buoyed during the Mumbai deluge.

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GovernpLOTTInG TRAnspAREnCy | 52M. N. Vidyashankar, Commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority is on construction mode as he employs IT to bring new levels of transparency and accountability to his department.Interview by T. Radhakrishna

TAx BACK On TRACK | 48Punjab’s excise and taxation department has made impressive inroads in revenue collection and seen operational efficiency rise and corrup-tion drop. It also recovered its IT spend in less than a quarter.feature by Rahul feature by Rahul f neel mani

Total LeadershipLET TALEnT BLOOm | 22Cultivate innovation by moving high-potential employees around, up, and even out of your IT organization.Column by monte fordfordf

52

content (cont.)

Trendlines | 13

mobile Technology | God Goes Mobilepersonal Technology | Laptop Days Numbered?Book Review | A Source on Sourcing Open source | Open Source on Vending MachinesWireless | RFID Saves Philippines Army FuelBy The numbers | Phishing Sinks ConfidenceResearch | Trojans, Thumb Drives Worry CIOsOpen source | Free Software Wins Backing

Essential Technology | 58

Virtualization | The Virtues of Virtualizationunder Development | Traveling by Wire

pundit – Java Goes Wild By Eric Knorr

From the Editor | 4

Business Technology Leadership | We’re changing the tagline to better reflect our global positioning.

By Vijay Ramachandran

Inbox | 12

22

dEparTmENTs

NOW ONLINE

For more opinions, features, analyses and updates log on to our companion website and discover content designed to help you and your organisation deploy It strategically. go to www.cio.in

c o.in

Reducing official intervention is prime for M. N. Vidyashankar, BDA's Commissioner.

� D E c E m B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 5 | REAL CIO WORLDVol/1 | ISSUE/3Vol/1 | ISSUE/3Vol/1 | ISSUE/3Vol/1 | ISSUE/3Vol/1 | ISSUE/3Vol/1 | ISSUE/3Vol/1 | ISSUE/3

content,editorial,colophone (4-18 8content,editorial,colophone (4-18 8content,editorial,colophone (4-18 8content,editorial,colophone (4-18 8content,editorial,colophone (4-18 8content,editorial,colophone (4-18 8content,editorial,colophone (4-18 8content,editorial,colophone (4-18 8

MANAGeMeNT

PReSIDeNT n bringi dev

COO louis d’mello

eDITORIAL

eDITOR Vijay ramachandran

BuReAu HeAD-NORTH rahul neel mani

SPeCIAL CORReSPONDeNTS t radhakrishna

balaji narasimhan

SeNIOR CORReSPONDeNT gunjan trivedi

COPY eDITOR Sunil Shah

WWW.CIO.IN

eDITORIAL DIReCTOR-ONLINe r giridhar

DeSIGN & PRODuCTION

CReATIVe DIReCTOR jayan k narayanan

MANAGeR - CReATIVe DeSIGN ashwin ramesh boricha

DeSIGNeRS Shyam S deshpande

binesh Sreedharan

Sanil kumar

Vikas kapoor

PHOTOGRAPHY Srivatsa Shandilya

PRODuCTION tk karunakaran

MARkeTING AND SALeS

BuSINeSS MANAGeR naveen chand Singh

BRAND MANAGeR alok anand

MARkeTING Siddharth Singh

BANGALORe mahantesh godi

Santosh malleswara

DeLHI Sudhir argula

harkirat Sandhu

MuMBAI rupesh Sreedharan

nagesh Pai

JAPAN tomoko Fujikawa

uSA larry arthur

jo ben-atar

SINGAPORe michael mullaney

uk Sean o’hara

adviSory board adverTiSer index

ANIL NADkARNI

head It, thomas cook, a_nadkarni@cio.in

ARINDAM BOSe

head It, lg Electronics India, a_bose@cio.in

ARuN GuPTA

Sr. director - business technology, Pfizer India

a_gupta@cio.in

ARVIND TAWDe

VP & cIo, mahindra & mahindra, a_tawde@cio.in

ASHISH kuMAR CHAuHAN

advisor, reliance Industries ltd, a_chauhan@cio.in

M D AGARWAL

chief manager – It, bPcl, md_agarwal@cio.in

MANI MuLkI

VP - IS, godrej consumer Products ltd, m_mulki@cio.in

MANISH CHOkSI

VP - It, asian Paints, m_choksi@cio.in

NeeL RATAN

Executive director – business Solutions,

Pricewaterhouse coopers, n_ratan@cio.in

RAJeSH uPPAL

general manager – It, maruti Udyog, r_uppal@cio.in

PROf. R.T.kRISHNAN

associate Professor, IIm-bangalore, r_krishnan@cio.in

S B PATANkAR

director - IS, bombay Stock Exchange, sb_patankar@cio.in

S GOPALAkRISHNAN

coo & head technology, Infosys technologies

s_gopalakrishnan @cio.in

S R BALASuBRAMANIAN

VP - IS, hero honda motors, sr_balasubra manian@cio.in

PROf. S SADAGOPAN

director, IIIt - bangalore. s_sadagopan@cio.in

SANJAY SHARMA

corporate head technology officer, IdbI, s_sharma@cio.in

DR. SRIDHAR MITTA

managing director & cto, e4e labs, s_mitta@cio.in

SuNIL GuJRAL

Former VP - technologies, Wipro Spectramind

s_gujral@cio.in

uNNI kRISHNAN T.M

cto, Shopper’s Stop ltd, u_krishnan@cio.in

V BALAkRISHNAN

cIo, Polaris Software ltd., v_balakrishnan@cio.in

Avaya 36, 37

Borland Software 15

canon 23

Epson India 33

Hewlett Packard (I) Sales Pvt. Ltd. 2,3

IBm India Ltd. 20, 21, 31, 64

Interface connectronics Pvt. Ltd. 7

microsoft 5, 25

Polycom 55

SAP India 63

Select 45

Sun 11

Webex 9

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the publisher. Address requests for customized reprints to IDG Media Private Limited, 10th Floor, Vayudooth Chambers, 15–16, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bangalore 560 001, India. IDG Media Private Limited is an IDG (International Data Group) company.

Printed and Published by N Bringi Dev on behalf of IDG Media Private Limited, 10th Floor, Vayudooth Chambers, 15–16, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bangalore 560 001, India. Editor: Vijay Ramachandran. Printed at Rajhans Enterprises, No. 134, 4th Main Road, Industrial Town, Rajajinagar, Bangalore 560 044, India

WORLD

R E A L

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reader feedback

Inbox

Limited ScopeYou asked an interesting question in the December 1 cover story (‘Low-Cost Takes Off ’). Sales over the Internet are suitable for products with limited features, like movie, airline and railway tickets. They are characterized by fewer variable elements. Also, they do no need product explanation from sales personnel. Typically, the product is consumed the same day it is purchased. This short duration is not a trait found in products like washing-machines or computers. We live with these products for years. Internet sales are relatively easy for products in the first category, as is convincing the management to back such a plan.Sales using an Internet channel are only suitable for products that do not need an operating manual or post-sale service.

N. RamakRiShNaN Director, Induscorp India Pvt. Ltd

Balancing actI enjoyed reading your editorial on outsourcing. You have rightly zeroed

in on the fact that merely having SLA’s and NDA’s is not going to ensure that outsourcing will succeed. It requires effort on the part of both parties to ensure that operations run smoothly. I also agree that too much monitoring can be counter-productive. It must be noted though that if the effort required from an organization increases progressively, the line between the customer and vendor begins to blur. Such a situation would work against the outsourced company. Surprisingly, such situations exist. Also, the column ‘Your Work or Your Life’ by Susan Cramm was enjoyable. Susan has highlighted work-life-balance issues and the kind of remedies that need to be applied. We have to evolve a balance between being on duty 24x7x365 and taking stock of our mistakes and learning from them. This, too, enriches the human experience.

The comment “As an ex CIO who managed to get fired before I died on the job...” clearly illustrated a dilemma CIOs face. I am sure many Indian CIOs meet

these challenges as well. How do they manage? I hope your articles will bring this out too. T. SuReSh kumaRCIO, TVS Logistics Services

I’m glad that you found the column on work-life balance relevant. Your suggestion is pertinent, since such issues dog CIOs in India as well. We shall examine this in a future article.

ediToR

Broaden FocusMy congratulations to the CIO India team. The first issue came across as professional and focused, on par with (and in some respects better than) the US issue.

I liked the balance between CIO subjects in the enterprise and in the government domain. There is a promise of something of interest to a wide section of audience. It was also pleasing to see a business focus – although the proportion between business and technology is tilted, perhaps a little excessively, toward the business side.

Covering other interesting and topical subjects will make the magazine richer. Here are two which I believe are of particular importance. The first is education. Two, observations which will necessitate large-scale changes in education: Industry moving from being dominated by technology-driven thinking to a much more business-driven model and the fact that India is going to need a lot of resources.

Second, IT in NGO’s (including the self-governance of communities) which play a seminal role in today’s society and need to be recognized and covered. And, in most senses, IT heads of NGOs have similar questions and challenges as their brethren in enterprises and the government.

aNaNd SudaRShaN President, Adea International

“We have to evolve a balance between working 24x7 and taking stock of our mistakes. This, too, enriches the human

experience.”

What Do You Think?

We welcome your feedback on our articles, apart from your thoughts and suggestions. Write in to editor@cio.in. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

editor@c o.in

1 2 D e C e m b e r 1 5 , 2 0 0 5 | REAL CIO WORLDVol/1 | ISSUE/3

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REAL CIO WORLD | D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 2 0 0 5 1 3Vol/1 | IssuE/3

p e r s o n a l T e C H n o l o G Y IT analysts have predicted the end of the desktop, when laptops would become the computing standard for mobile workers and cube-dwellers alike. But with advancements in converged devices (which combine wireless phone, PDA and applications such as e-mail), it’s not a stretch to imagine the death of the laptop as well.

“In three years, more people are going to be using smart phone devices than laptops in some cases,” says richard LeVine, an expert in mobile device security with Accenture.

In the 1990s, laptops were a status symbol for executives. but cIOs report they are replacing laptops for executives and salespeople with

converged devices. While vacationing, Joe Kraus, senior VP and cIO of Intelsat, talks on his Treo 600. Kraus can also send and

receive e-mail, and manage his calendar without needing a hardwired connection for a laptop.

but the small devices do have limitations. “Did you ever try to type a long message on one of these?!” Kraus writes in an e-mail. many heavy-duty applications will always require a laptop’s functionality.

Laptop makers say they’re not worried. “Notebooks and handhelds are optimized to do different things,” says carol Hess-Nickels, Hewlett-Packard’s director of business notebook marketing.

—by Thomas Wailgum

Are the Laptop’s days numbered?

M o b i l e T e C H n o l o G Y Short-code services are the rage these days and Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD), which administers the Lord Venkateshwara temple is not going to be left behind. It has come up with a new SMS service that provides information of the availability of certain darshans.

The facility, according to TTD officials, is an offshoot of the call center they established to answer devotees’ queries. For now, the center they established to answer devotees’ queries. For now, the

SMS facility only provides information. Users of the service can SMS ‘TTD’ to 6060 and will be presented with a choice to check the status of a darshan on that day (current booking) or one in the future (advance booking).

Officials feel that the service will definitely prove useful, though they have yet to make estimates on how many people will use it on a daily basis.

IT plays a major role in TTD because of the incredible number of pilgrims visiting the temple. By conservative estimates, the annual visitor count exceeds 14.6 million a year, something not witnessed anywhere else in the world. Interestingly, back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that a devotee spends a mere 1.8 seconds in front of the deity, given that the temple is open 20 hours a day and it has 40,000 visitors, on an average. The desire to be blessed by the temple’s deity has some darshans full-up for the next five years. Pull out your phone quick and book your spot next to God.

—Balaji NarasimhanBalaji Narasimhan

tttrreennddlliiGod Goes Mobile

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Multisourcing: Moving Beyond Outsourcing to Achieve Growth and AgilityBy Linda Cohen and Allie YoungHarvard Business School Press, 2005, Rs 1,850

b o o k r e v i e w In one sense, write Linda Cohen and Allie Young of Gartner, IT out-sourcing has been a rousing success. Economists argue that it’s a major factor in corporate America’s ability to remain profitable. Companies that announce outsourcing plans routinely see their share prices rise. CEOs of such companies get paid more.

And yet, half of all outsourc-ing contracts signed during the past three years will fail to meet expectations, say the authors in their book Multisourcing: Moving Multisourcing: Moving

Beyond Outsourc-ing to Achieve G r o w t h a n d Agility. Those failures can be traced to three problems: miscommunication, governance failure and poor coordination.

The book provides a step-by-step process to prevent these problems, advice that includes creating a well-aligned sourc-ing strategy, evaluating and selecting service providers, and methods for long-term management and governance. management and governance.

Multisourcing here refers not to a specific sourcing model

but to a manner of setting up and managing

the right sourcing model for one’s company.

Multisourcing is chock-full of helpful charts and lists, among them sample governance charts from DuPont and IndyMac Ban-corp and a model outsourcing management dashboard. The “Eight Myths of Outsourcing,” detailed in the first few pages, is a great weapon for any CIO being pressured into outsourcbeing pressured into outsourc-

ing; photocopy this page and keep it in your back pocket.

Cohen and Young overstate the case when they conclude that multisourcing is a busi-ness revolution every bit as dramatic as the industrial rev-olution. And the book would benefit from a more in-depth look at some of the companies highlighted. Nonetheless, it’s a practical guide to creating a foundation for sourcing suc-cess. And given the failure rates cited in this book, CIOs can use all the help they can get.

—By Stephanie Overby—By Stephanie Overby

o p e n s o u r C e It looks like a vending machine but what it spits out is something far removed from Coke or candy: free and open sourcesoftware (FOSS).

The bright orange, refrigerator-size vending machine is equipped with a computer inside that burns CDs, a process also known as “toasting” in the open source community, hence the name: Freedom Toaster.

The machine is up and running in more than 30 locations in South Africa, including schools, libraries, science centers and retail outlets, according to The Shuttleworth Foundation, which is sponsoring the project.

Launched in 2004, the project has been gaining “considerable momentum” in recent months, a foundation spokesperson said.

The device was developed by foundation member Jason Hudson. Founder Mark Shuttleworth, a prominent figure in the GNU/Linux community, is currently funding the development of the Linux- based

Ubuntu operating system.Through a touch screen interface, users can obtain for

free nearly 20 FOSS programs, including Linux, Ubuntu, Firemonger and Knoppix. All they need are blank CDs.

On-screen information is available about the software users have selected, including how many CDs they’ll need to copy it onto. If they don`t have enough, they can quit and return later. Some locations offer CDs for sale at a nearby stores.

With its Freedom Toaster, the foundation aims to help people in areas with limited or no bandwidth available to download the software.

The foundation cites the Internet World Stats Report from July, which lists Africa with only 1.8 percent Internet penetration.

Additional information about Freedom Toaster is available at: http://www.freedomtoaster.org.

—By John Blau

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A Source for SourcingA guide to success, whether you outsource a little, a lot or not at all

Open Source Comes to VendOpen Source Comes to VendOpen Source

-ing Machines

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w i r e l e s s The constant rise in fuel prices may have reduced the fuel allocation for the Philippines’ military, but at least radio frequency technology or RFID is helping reduce unwarranted and unscrupulous gas consumption.

Instead of giving away gas slips, military personnel are now issued key tags equipped with RFID chips that store information on monthly fuel allocation. The technology also allows the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to monitor gas consumption in real time.

These RFID key tags (referred to as “keyfobs”) are pre-loaded every month and used when loading up gas at the Petron station at Camp Aguinaldo, which has eight pumps equipped with RFID readers.

Fuel allocation varies according to military unit. But over the years, the allocation within the military has decreased because the budget stays the same even with the steady increase in gas prices, says Col. Bernardino Ricafrente from the Office of the Quartermaster General (OTQMG), which oversees the allocation supplies within the AFP.

The OTQMG issued keyfobs to more than 40 AFP units, which then issued them to individual users. The average monthly allocation per user is 100 liters, also depending on the kind of fuel (gas or diesel). When scanned through the reader, the system shows remaining fuel allocation.

“The system has helped reduce rampant distribution of gas slips even to civilians. And before, with the use of gas slips, users could easily get away with loading up more than what is indicated,” Ricafrente explained in an interview with Computerworld Philippines during a site visit at Camp Aguinaldo.

The “fleet fueling” system is controlled centrally via a Web-based application called iTag Fuel Track developed by AC Corp., a local company that develops applications using RFID technology.

The keyfobs are equipped with “passive” or non-battery powered chips than can transmit signals from about two to three centimeters on the 13.56 megahertz frequency. AC Corp. sources its RFID chips from Texas Instruments.

Since the project began early this year, there have been more than a thousand keyfobs issued within the AFP alone, says Ivan Fojas, planning and development manager at AC Corp, which is also doing a similar fleet fueling system for the Philippine National Police (PNP).

—By Lawrence Casiraya, Computerworld

RFID Fuels Gas Savings for Philippines Army

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Consumers, fearing Id theft, are more cautious about shopping online.

Consumer confidence in the security of their online transactions is slipping due to the growth of phishing-related fraud and identity theft, Gartner reports. As a result, consumers are curtailing their online purchases.

Phishing is the sending of an e-mail by cyberthieves with a link to a fake website that is disguised to look legitimate, in order to lure recipients into divulging personal information. Gartner estimates that 73 million adults who use the Internet received a phishing e-mail between May 2004 and May 2005, and that 2.4 million online shoppers lost money as a direct result of phishing.

Most of the losses were repaid by banks and credit card companies. Nevertheless, 75 percent of the 5,000 online consumers who Gartner surveyed said they have become more cautious about where they shop online, and one-third reported buying fewer items than they would typically purchase due to security concerns. Eighty percent of those surveyed said they now trust commercial e-mail less, while 85 percent claimed to delete unexpected e-mails without ever opening them.

Unless companies take steps to combat phishing, the report says, they will not be able to count on online selling and e-mail as methods to draw customers.

Phishing Sinks Confidence in E-Commerce

by the numbers

Number of consumers receiving phishing e-mail:

2004: 57 million 2005: 73 millionIn the past 12 months, survey respondents:

Shoped online

Accessed bank accounts online

Paid bills online

I am more cautious about where I shop online

I buy less online due to my security concerns

63%

73%

75%33%

Lack of trust affects online behavior:

sourCE: gartner

Best practices:1] Use your website to educate customers about fraudulent sites. Warn them about phishing schemes you know about, andin-struct them not to click on links provided in e-mails that purport to be from your company. Advise them to type your address directly into their browsers to get to your site. If possible, provide online cus-tomers with some type of authen-tication, such as a personalized greeting, every time they visit.

2] Make it a policy not to ask customers for personal information via e-mail, and remind them frequently of this policy. Enforce the practice with employees.

3] Have a process in place to take action against phish-ers when attacks occur, and to reassure customers. As part of this process, collect information from customers about the attack, specifically, the IP address of the phisher. Contact the ISP and report the incident, and then call law enforcement.

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r e s e a r C H Increasingly, technologies are becoming available that end users can use without the IT department’s knowledge, such as USB drives, inexpensive Web services and camera-equipped cell phones. These technologies can expose your organization to intentional or unintentional loss (i.e., theft or misplacement) of proprietary enterprise information. According to a recent CIO magazine survey, IT professionals are aware of these technologies and are very concerned that their organizations may be at risk.

IT executives seem most concerned about Trojan horses and USB drives/portable storage devices and spyware, although close to half of the companies surveyed support some of these technologies. More than half of the respondents say their organization has a formal policy permitting the use of USB drives and camera-equipped mobile phones.

The overwhelming majority (92 percent) of survey respondents indicated that they make a concerted effort to stay aware of new technologies and the issues they present. When asked about their level of concern regarding a list of technologies and the possibility of intentional or unintentional compromise or loss of enterprise information, IT professionals were most concerned about Trojan horses (63 percent answered 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 5), USB/portable storage devices (62 percent) and keystroke logging software (58 percent).

Close to half of CIOs report that Web-based services including remote access, data synchronization and data backup (56 percent), and USB drives (45 percent), are in use and supported by their organization. However, these technologies are just as frequently in use and not supported, specifically camera-equipped mobile phones (44 percent) and USB/portable storage drives (42 percent). Less than one-third (29 percent) plan to formally implement use of USB drives and only 23 percent will implement Web-based services including remote access, data synchronization and data backup, and companies will roll out these technologies slowly over the next 12 months.

When asked about Web-based services specifically, IT executives reported that employees use Web conferencing (61 percent), VoIP (25 percent) and remote access tools such as GoToMyPC (23 percent). Thirty-six percent of CIOs surveyed further reported that they block IP addresses for services they do not support and 15 percent said they monitor Web use for keywords related to specific services.

­—Lorraine Cosgrove Ware

Trojans, Thumb Drives Worry CIOs

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Free Free Software Software wwins BackingBackingo p e n - s o u r C e Open-source groups are assisting the Union Government’s program assisting the Union Government’s program to distribute productivity software for to distribute productivity software for free in the country, even though the free in the country, even though the software being distributed includes some software being distributed includes some proprietary software.proprietary software.

Though it is under considerable pressure Though it is under considerable pressure from organizations supporting open-from organizations supporting open-source software, the Centre as well as source software, the Centre as well as state governments have declined to take state governments have declined to take a decision favoring either open-source or a decision favoring either open-source or proprietary software in education and e-proprietary software in education and e-governance projects.governance projects.

“We decided we could not allow the CDs with the software to go without free CDs with the software to go without free software, because then it would give software, because then it would give proprietary software a clear advantage,” proprietary software a clear advantage,” Kiran Chandra, convenor of the Andhra Kiran Chandra, convenor of the Andhra Pradesh state chapter of the Free Software Pradesh state chapter of the Free Software Foundation of India (FSF India). “This was Foundation of India (FSF India). “This was also an opportunity for us to proliferate also an opportunity for us to proliferate free software,” he added. FSF India is an free software,” he added. FSF India is an affiliate of the Free Software Foundation affiliate of the Free Software Foundation Inc. in Boston.Inc. in Boston.

The CDs are being distributed to Indian The CDs are being distributed to Indian citizens by the Center for Development of citizens by the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), as part Advanced Computing (C-DAC), as part of a government initiative to facilitate of a government initiative to facilitate computing in local Indian languages.computing in local Indian languages.

The CD contains productivity software The CD contains productivity software such as a Web browser, e-mail client and such as a Web browser, e-mail client and word processor, as well as tools such word processor, as well as tools such as a spell checker and optical character as a spell checker and optical character recognition software, according to R.K.V.S. recognition software, according to R.K.V.S. Raman, staff scientist in C-DAC’s National Raman, staff scientist in C-DAC’s National Center for Software Technology wing. The Center for Software Technology wing. The software can also be downloaded from software can also be downloaded from www.ildc.in.www.ildc.in.

C-DAC is meanwhile working oC-DAC is meanwhile working on a second release of the productivity second release of the productivity software which is likely to be available by software which is likely to be available by April next year.April next year.

—By John Ribeiro

REAL CIO WORLD | D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 2 0 0 5 1 7Vol/1 | IssuE/3

How to Avoid Bumping Heads IT and business executives seem to hail from two alien tribes. Here’s how they can come to see eye-to-eye.

Do this, do that, get it done now, and I don’t want to hear any excuses.”

Ever hear these words—explicitly or implicitly—from your CEO or another CXO demanding that you

either fix or implement something? They think it’s just a matter of turning a switch, but here you are on the verge of a huge project, and they don’t want to hear about it. This endeavor will take a drastic reshuffling of manpower, may necessitate money the CFO will resent spending and could require what they least want to give you, namely their cooperation and patience.

Before you go down the road of feeling victimized (even though to a certain extent you are) and make matters much worse by acting like a victim, take a deep breath, exhale and listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you.

If you’re an IT person, there are three things that are likely to be true about you: 1. You’re better with things and information than you are with people (especially where confrontations are required). 2. With regard to technology, you’re as focused on what needs to be done to make IT work as you are on what it might actually do for the business. 3. You’re most likely male.

Now consider where many top business-side executives, especially those with marketing and sales backgrounds, come from: 1. They’re better with people and information than things (Jack Welch said, “I was afraid of the Internet...because I couldn’t type.”). 2. With regard to technology, they’re more focused on what they want IT to do than what needs to be done to make it work. 3. They’re most likely male too.

What is the significance of you both being male? Men will do anything to avoid humiliation. It’s the “pride” thing.

Mark GoulstonMark Goulston Career Counsel

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(Women suffer this less because any sense of their pride is usually bludgeoned by the way their children treat them every day.) Men feel humiliated when they feel incompetent and will do almost anything to prevent that sense of incompetence from being exposed in the light of day to others and to themselves.

Men’s comfort zone is directly proportionate to their competence zone. The less competent they feel, the more uncomfortable. Nobody (CEO, CFO, COO or CIO) likes to be pulled out of their comfort zone, and they will fight it tooth and nail. Rather than feeling reassured by someone else’s competence, men often feel out of control and at the mercy of the more competent person. This is especially true for a CEO who has mistreated a CIO and now needs his help.

Business executives resist being dragged into their area of incompetence, the world of “things.” Technologists resist being dragged into their area of incompetence, the world

of people (especially people in conflict). And here’s the rub for many CIOs: These business executives are comfortable dealing with interpersonal conflict and confrontation (after all, their negotiation skills have helped them get where they are), whereas most CIOs feel like they’re in way over their head in such settings.

So when a business executive demands that you get something done and get it done now, you stand transfixed like a deer in headlights. When they blast you with what they want, then stonewall you when you start to explain what you need from them (time, money and patience) to get it done, you are frustrated. No, that’s too mild—you’re appalled. You’re infuriated.

And you don’t do infuriated well. You dig in your heels to weather the storm and stop yourself from saying that angry, but oh-so-relieving career-ending retort to this S.O.B. who crossed over from respecting your dignity to abuse a long time ago and who is making his unrealistic expectations your fault if you don’t meet them. If you were a hard drive, you’d crash.

So what’s a mild-mannered, “just let me do the work you want me to do and get off my back” guy like you supposed to do?

How to Talk to Your CEOstep 1: Make sure your expectations about your CEO’s behavior are realistic, not just reasonable. You might reasonably expect that you will be treated with respect if your CEO (or COO or CFO) wants to motivate you. But that may not be realistic. Don’t expect an impatient, over-the-top CEO to not act that way if he’s frustrated even in the least.step 2: Establish leverage as soon as the boss gives you an assignment. Get him to be explicit and detailed and then repeat

back to him the following, “Let me make sure I get exactly what you want me to do, so I don’t surprise you later on. You want me to [state here specifically what they have asked you to do] by [state the deadline] in order for you to accomplish [state the near term goal they’re working on]. Now tell me once again, you envision IT helping you by providing...” This is where you should have the CEO restate what he believes the technology will provide.step 3: After you finish Step 2, say, “What else should I know to pass on to my people? I get the best out of them when they understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

When you follow the above three steps, you accomplish several things. You empower yourself to have an exchange rather than feeling frustrated at being talked down to and doing nothing about it. You slow the CEO down and gain his (and your own) respect, which will cause him to treat you better by talking to or with you instead of over, or at, you. You cause the boss to see you as an intelligent person who can think, instead of a trained domesticated animal that just provides a function. Finally and most importantly, you will be able to take the following step.step 4: Say to the CEO, “If and when we run into obstacles, roadblocks and bumps in the road, and after we have come up with the best way to solve them (you don’t want to worry the boss that you’ll need him to solve something in his area of incompetence), the most time-effective and efficient way to apprise you of it and obtain whatever additional resources we might need is...” Here you should pause and let him fill in the blank, which you will then refer back to if and when you hit those bumps.

It’s pointless to expect “reasonable” behavior from impatient top executives whose typical approach is to hit you with unrealistic expectations and then rough you up if you do anything other than comply. Rather than allowing them to run over you with a diatribe, engage them in a discussion and, if possible, a dialogue. Do this by getting them to be more explicit and specific about what they want you to do, and then say back to them what they have told you. This will let them know you listened and understood them, and that you should not be treated as if you were mindless.

Feeling a little resistant right now? It’s because I’m trying to pull you out of your comfort and competence zone as someone who may prefer to avoid confrontations with your CEO (which is what the above thinly veiled four steps are). It’s analogous to your trying to pull them out of their comfort zone and have them think more deeply (and realistically) of how to best use you. Just because you think you won’t be able to do this doesn’t mean you can’t. You can and should, and you may be pleasantly surprised with your CEO’s response. CIO

mark Goulston, mD, specializes in solving business problems by applying emotional intelligence. He is the author of the just-released book, Get Out of Your Own Way at Work and Help Others Do the Same (Putnam 2005). Send feedback on this column to editor@cio.in

nobody likes to be pulled out of their comfort zone, and they will fight it tooth and nail.

Mark Goulston Career Counsel

REAL CIO WORLD | D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 2 0 0 5 1 9Vol/1 | Issue/3

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Let Talent BloomCultivate innovation by moving high-potential employees around, up, and even out of your IT organization.

Innovation. It’s the latest buzzword in IT. I’ve been hearing it everywhere: At a recent vendor conference, at my weekly staff meeting. I’ve read about it in CIO. The vendors, my staff and the media aren’t wrong. Innovation is imperative

to every IT department. But if innovation is to be more than just a buzzword within our organizations, we need to manage our IT organizations in a way that encourages the growth and mobility of our employees.

You see, people are what really matter in this equation. People create innovation, and not just on certain days of the week or in designated brainstorming sessions. In order to ensure that an IT organization is bringing innovative solutions to bear on business problems and opportunities, you must pay close attention to the talent that is flowing into, up, and even out of the technology group. A stagnant IT organization is incapable of producing fresh ideas. You need a constant infusion of new blood and the perspective that comes from having new experiences, even if that means accepting turnover among your staff and challenging those who remain by pushing them into unfamiliar roles.

The CIO is responsible for setting the creative tone of the organization. I have found three ways to foster mobility within an IT organization in order to encourage a culture of innovation.

Accept Attrition I once worked at a company where attrition was almost nonexistent. Rather than a sign that the company was a great place to work, it was an indication of stagnation. Within the IT organization, the response to any new idea typically was, “But we’ve always done it this way.”

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One thing I learned from this experience is that moderate attrition invites a healthy flow of external talent into an organization. In an environment where innovation is encouraged, attrition is not something leaders are terrified of, because it opens doors for fresh ideas and new perspectives.

Of course, no one wants to lose good people. But letting them go can have unanticipated benefits. Others may emerge from their shadows to achieve positive things that surprise management, their peers and sometimes even themselves.

You can use attrition to strengthen your organization by redefining any open positions. Consider hiring a recent college graduate skilled in the latest technology for a new position. Or give an existing employee the challenge of creating a new job. Both of these choices force employees to bring new and creative ideas forward, ultimately requiring them to be innovative.

Invest in Top PerformersIdentify your top performers at multiple levels and decide which of these people could learn to perform equally well elsewhere, whether in another area of the IT department or another part of the company. The natural response to a new role is to take a fresh approach because you’re not vested in the old way of doing things. And so, anytime you put talented people in new positions, they tend to change things for the better.

The only way this approach can be effective is to employ hands-on management of high-potential employees. At American Airlines, I require each project team to meet with me quarterly for a “deep dive” meeting during which we review costs, schedules and the overall health of the project. I expect all team members to attend these meetings, not just my direct reports. And I expect team members at all levels to be active participants.

If a junior team member speaks up to offer a suggestion about how to solve a problem that the team is encountering, I learn a lot about how that person thinks and what risks she is willing to take. At the end of each series of deep-dive sessions, I know not only how we are succeeding and where our challenges lie, I also have insight about the people in the organization.

With this information as a backdrop, I meet quarterly with my direct reports to evaluate our list of high-potential employees. Those who are creative, who are willing to take risks and who won’t accept mediocrity will rise to the top. I expect my team to take detailed notes about these employees so that we can identify opportunities for their career advancement and for utilizing their unique problem-solving skills.

In addition to identifying promising talent, CIOs also must determine what skills or practices are missing in their organizations. Keeping employees up-to-date with information and training in the latest technologies and management techniques can mean the difference on whether an employee—and an IT organization—is able to innovate.

Address Management GapsOne way to tell if your organization’s skill gaps are being addressed is to examine the types of problems the organization has to solve. If the problems are becoming progressively

“better”—for example, you’re not dealing with the same infrastructure problems you’ve had for years or struggling with the same personnel problems you struggled through in the past—then you’re doing a good job addressing your group’s weaknesses.

When I came to American Airlines four years ago, IT portfolio management was viewed as a nice idea, but nowhere close to a reality. Since then, my team and I have put a portfolio management system in place and trained our staff on how to use it. The system itself was an innovation: Now, the executive committee is able to see clearly how IT functions and how we make financial decisions. We are better able to direct our spending to areas most closely aligned with the company’s strategic plan, allowing us to think creatively about other business problems.

So the next time you hear the word innovation, remember that the source of everything your organization creates is the people you employ. Without talented, smart people, our IT departments will fall flat. It’s up to us to create an environment that encourages people to perform beyond even their own expectations. That’s where true innovation lies. CIO

Monte Ford is senior vice president and CIO of American Airlines. Send feedback about this column to editor@cio.in

Monte Ford ToTal leadershIp

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Keep BusinessKeep Business

REAL CIO WORLD | D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 2 0 0 5 2 7

Even as torrential rains paralysed Mumbai, the business continuity strategy of WNS Global Services ensured smooth sailing.

July 26, 2005: A day stamped forever in the collective consciousness of Mumbai, started as another day of business for WNS Global Services, one of India’s leading BPO / ITeS organizations.

By noon, WNS’ Vikhroli campus had shifted to high gear, with members of its top management in consultation with counterparts in another country as they pushed two crucial pilot projects through. In another part of the building, potential clients were being briefed. Even as new business processes were being put in place inside WNS, Mumbai’s civic infrastructure slowly eroded under a deluge that would make it to the record books. The relentless rain brought local trains to halt by mid-afternoon, between stations and still full of passengers.

By 4 pm, the city had come to a standstill. Cars were stuck bumper-to-bumper, choking the city’s arterial roads. Before the next day three teenagers, trapped in their car by a jammed central locking system, would die. Telephone services across providers slowly blanked out. IT infrastructure and back-up power sources, kept mainly at ground level, began to fall to the rising waters. A number of data centers were inches from being submerged.inches from being submerged.

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by R a h u l N e e l M a N iLydon Rodrigues, Group CIO (left), Atul Dawda, Sr. VP & CTO and their Business Continuity Plan kept WNS’ head above the water, during the Mumbai deluge.

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News of the disaster unfolding outside percolated into the WNS campus. “By 4 pm, we were convinced that the rains were something out of the normal. Over 900 millimeters can paralyze anything. But we weren’t worried, as we had a well documented and tested Business Continuity Plan (BCP),” says Pervez Workingboxwala, VP, Risk Management, WNS. At that point, Neeraj Bhargava, Group CEO, WNS, summoned the risk management team to review the situation at the crisis management command center.

Over coffee, Workingboxwala read out the script that had been prepared to execute the business continuity plan. IT managers were asked to start a dry run, with key executives kept in the loop. Meanwhile, WNS teams continued to stay at their stations, troubleshoot client problems, talk by the water-cooler, unaware for the most part of the calamity that would go on to cost the city 376 lives and Rs 300 crore.

Four hours later, the city of seven islands had been parceled into patches of isolation as communications, transport facilities and power blinked, flickered and died completely for the next 48 hours. Already, parts of the city were under 10 feet of water and landslides had occurred in two places.

Inside WNS, the crisis management team declared its preparedness to switch over to disaster recovery mode. They eased into it slowly but seamlessly. “Despite the near disaster situation we found ourselves in, and a sharp drop in personnel to staff the evening shift, we were determined to keep our commitment to provide uninterrupted service,” says Bhargava.

Survival KitLike other BPOs, WNS is bound by Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to provide various levels of business continuity. To achieve this, WNS had put in place a dual-site strategy, which set the guidelines for diverting critical processes to another geographical location in case any one of its facilities was ‘damaged’. As a part of their BCP, the dual-site strategy proved crucial during the Mumbai flood.

Many companies boast of foolproof business continuity plans. Few, though, can claim of watching their commitment to uninterrupted business emerge unscathed after the torrential rains that hit Mumbai. Given WNS’ planned approach, it’s not surprising that 15 of its clients didn’t even figure that the city crunching their workload had been host to a natural disaster.

WNS’ business continuity plan has four distinct features. First of the essentials is its resilient information technology architecture, backed with multiple-level redundancy plans. This made it technologically possible to seamlessly split and divert critical processes to Pune,

t’s not surprising that, given WNS’ planned approach, 15 of its clients didn’t even figure that the city crunching their workload had been host to a natural

disaster.

t’s not surprising that, given WNS’ planned approach,clients didn’t even figure that the city crunching their host to a natural

What’s Your Disaster Recovery Plan?

No Planyou consider disaster recovery a you consider disaster recovery a ysecondary issue, something that’s probably been sitting on the back burner for sometime. your company is one of your company is one of ya sizeable number of enterprises but don’t let this console you, you live on borrowed time. Knee-jerk reactions to disasters could leave you sans data and infrastructure. remember disasters aren’t prone to giving prior notice.

No Plan, But A Sturdy Back-Up you’ve shouted yourself hoarse convincing you’ve shouted yourself hoarse convincing ytop management to buy into disaster recovery but have been turned down. your consolation prize is a regular (maybe your consolation prize is a regular (maybe yeven twice a day) offsite data back up. you you yare a good It architect who will guard his t architect who will guard his tinformation and data, but sometimes you have to make lemon-juice when fate deals you lemons.

Some Planning, But With Limited Resourcesyou have you have y dr, but it’s with the vendor. you are far-looking enough to have fault you are far-looking enough to have fault ytolerant systems and data back -up. When your worst nightmare comes true and your data center is wrecked beyond recovery, it’s time to call your vendor. Under a pre-arranged deal, your equipment is shipped swiflty to your site so that you can set up shop with a minimum downtime. It’s like you’re renting your dr, not quite like having your own.

beyond recovery, it’s time to call your vendor. Under a pre-arranged deal, your equipment is shipped swiflty to your drsite so that you can set up shop with a minimum downtime. It’s like you’re renting

, not quite like having your own. , not quite like having your own.

Cover story | Business Continuity

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even while the Mumbai office worked with a skeletal staff and minimal resources.

The BPO outfit’s BCP determines the criticality of different parts Finally, WNS built and certified its offices to withstand Seismic Zone 4 (high-damage risk) earthquakes, though Mumbai is located in Seismic Zone 3.

Business Impact Analysis (BIA), according to WNS, was core to making correct assessments about how different processes impact the integrality of a client’s business. Based on the outcome of the analysis, WNS developed a business continuity strategy. WNS insists that clients evaluate its recovery-time objectives and satisfy themselves. Once the plan was rubber-stamped by the client, it was tested regularly.

Technology LifeboatWNS’ IT structure, like any corporate set-up worth its salt, has three distinct components: WAN, LAN and the desktop and other end-user devices. What’s unique to WNS is that every part of its IT structure works on a zero-downtime principle. “We ensure a nine-fives (99.999) dependability of every part of our IT structure. This is what differentiates us from the more run-of-the-mill service providers,” says Lyndon Rodrigues, Group CIO, WNS.

That’s easier said than done. But WNS buttressed this assertion with resilient network architecture and redundant systems. It stood head and shoulders above the competition when it deployed its own MPLS (Mul-tiprotocol Label Switching) network between India, the US and the UK. Its point-to-point mesh network architecture ensures that all its servers, routers and switches are dupli-cated across WNS sites, so that a failure at any place will al-low another location to take over seamlessly.

What did the Mumbaideluge teach you?

T hat the best of infrastructure is of no use without power. It took 72 hours to restore power in our area.”

Shirish Gariba, cIO, elbee express Limited

W hat surprised me the most was mymanagement’s top down approach andseriousness towards business continuity.”

Jason Gonsalves, VP - IT & Costing,Goodlass Nerolac Paints Limited

I t was a blessing in disguise and helped us do aperformance check for business continuityplanning.”

Sunil Mehta, Senior VP & Area Systems Director,J. Walter Thompson India

G etting diesel for the gensets was a bigchallenge. It’s surprising how that could hit therunning of the sturdiest and most secure IT

infrastructure.”

Sanjay Sharma, CIO,IDBI Bank

Cold Siteyou are a rising star among CIyou are a rising star among CIy os. you have you have yconvinced management to invest in a cold dr site: It’s fully equipped and ready to go on command. this, though, unlike a warm site, takes anywhere between 12-24 hours to become fully operational. your data your data yisn’t replicated live so you will lose some

ut all the same, good for you! Just make sure you’ve got a solid data back-up

Warm Site somewhere a wise, It-savvy and disaster-t-savvy and disaster-taware CIo is writing a proposal for a warm site disaster recovery plan. a warm site is a warm site is aequipped with the hardware, software and the other essentials. but it’s in hibernation till disaster strikes. a warm site will ensure a warm site will ensure athat data is made available quickly and with minimal downtime.

Hot Site the aristocrat of drs. this rarified strata is home to banks, stock exchanges, large-scale bPos and telecom service providers. a hot site disaster recovery plan a hot site disaster recovery plan awill replicate your data center at a remote location. It’s redundant communication lines are used to copy data real-time. It duplicates critical application servers and can take over seamlessly when disaster strikes. It’s the ultimate approach to dr, even if it is expensive, difficult to set up and high on maintenance.

isn’t replicated live so you will lose some of it. but all the same, good for you! Just make sure you’ve got a solid data back-up system in place.

Cover story | Business Continuity

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WNS Emergency Raft

Most elements at the LAN level have their own power sourc-es, separate UPSs and dual power sources. WNS handles its own routing. Everything it does is built around the idea of cre-ating a structure with no points of failure. This is what paved the way for zero downtime during the floods.

The need to create reliability drove WNS to work on a pro-prietary network – ‘WNSNet’. To guarantee the resilience and redundancy of each component required WNS to break away from the pack. It also runs independent circuits both at Mum-bai and Pune. They employ varied service providers to ensure continuous uptime, for instance when underground cables are damaged by road repair crews.

WNS’ redundancy plans ensure that its WAN is built on cir-cuits provided by multiple service providers on three different undersea cables to ensure that there is no single point of failure.

July 26 was not the only test for WNSNet. Post the deluge, a fishing trawler anchored off Mumbai severed two undersea cables on August 2. However, this did not impact any customer connectivity because the MPLS mesh instantly re-routed traf-connectivity because the MPLS mesh instantly re-routed traf-connectivity because the MPLS mesh instantly re-routed traffic to the undersea cable that was still in service

Rescue OperationWNS handled its normal workload on July 26. Switches between Mumbai and Pune use a load-balancing formula to detect the density of calls at any location. On the day of disaster, the switches juggled calls between Mumbai and Pune, based on the size of the workforce present at each campus.

For the system to work, a divergence of process has to filter down to the people running it. “A process split demands that your employees, at different locations, are

trained for multiple processes,” says Atul Dawda – Senior VP & CTO, WNS Global Services.

Pune, which wasn’t as badly affected by the rains, was alerted. The facility called for back-ups and shuffled the incoming workload between staffers on duty and those who were offshift, a situation that was replicated in Mumbai. Many of WNS’ Pune-based staffers worked up to 18 hours to take the pressure off the Mumbai campus.

“It was hard striking a balance. The implications of achieving the two objectives - that of running the system and taking care of our people—were contradictory,” relives Bhargava.

The DR document emphasized personnel security and safety. WNS realized that sending employees back home represented a greater risk than keeping them on the premises. A plan to get fresh food, beds and other essential commodities was put into into action.

The risk management team took charge of the crisis management command center at WNS. When they discovered that the local telephone exchange was out of action because of water-logging, they set up a hotline so that families remained in touch with their loved ones. WNS broadcast the status of its employees on a local FM radio station for the benefit of those who could not get through the hotline and even requested CNBC to broadcast this over the channel’s news ticker.

Right from the outset, it was clear to WNS’ decision makers that they would have to prove that they were dependable if they were to acquire end-to-end work from clients.

WNS works with a number of Fortune 100 companies who look for reliability. They may forgive the failure

Cover story | Business Continuity

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of their own IT systems, but not those of the firms they outsource to.

Reliability CompassIt was imperative that WNS prove that they were accountable, worked on processes and could provide unbroken service. They would have to take full ownership of service delivery. Importantly, their customers were willing to pay for this.

The BPO company took its state of preparedness to the highest level by splitting all major and critical client processes across two locations and invested in risk management practices — a rare enough advance-planning initiative. From the beginning, investment in risk management was the part of the core infrastructure at WNS. It also became a part of its sales pitch to clients.

According to Bhargava one phenomenon made this easier. Because of industry concentration, bigger vendors were getting more business. “The cost of BCP is being recovered largely from end-to-end deals. The investments we have made in DR and BCP work to our advantage. Customers demand strong business continuity,” he adds.

The questions of investing in infrastructure, whether or not new clients wanted it, in quantifying cost-benefit and in justifying their investment in disaster recovery are difficult to answer. But Bhargava adds that it is WNS’ belief that business is just not about getting new customers but in retaining the existing ones too.

There’s no need to look further than the two WNS’ customers who were in Mumbai to discuss an expansion of activities when the deluge struck. They saw WNS handling the crisis without any interruption. “Continuing to service our clients in a time of great adversity proved our commitment. And, it creates a favorable impression with potential clients. Isn’t that a recovery of investment?” asks Bhargava.

From where WNS stands, infrastructure must withstand catastrophes whether or not the company gets a return on it and despite the cost. This is not only about redundant lines and dual sites. It’s about the right processes, people and an IT infrastructure that offers resiliency right from the start - not as an afterthought. “I used to say, in three or four years, the question of ROI will be no-brainer for each of us. And I now believe that we recovered the cost we incurred,” explains Rodrigues.

Post the deluge, prospective clients were convinced of WNS’ disaster handling capability. Additionally, its ability to come out unhurt from the deluge has made the company more confident and positive about cornering new business. WNS won the hearts of its employees.

Strengthening the KeelWNS isn’t perfect. Its senior management wants to explore possibilities of bettering its response to disasters, with minimum disruption. July 26 taught the company a number of lessons. During the deluge WNS was involved in a pilot for an important client. Processes for pilots aren’t normally split across locations and, as a result, the project faced acute pressure. It was accomplished, but all the same was a close call. One that WNS doesn’t want to repeat.

It has also learnt not to depend on a single service provider for even local telecom needs. When its telephone service went kaput it forced a father of an employee to walk for over nine hours to find out if his daughter was alright.

Once the rains stopped, some staffers were afraid to return to work. “We had to visit them individually and convince them,” says Bhargava. Here too it met a hurdle in the shape of a staff database that needed updating (that will be fixed soon says WNS).

Among the bullets points of the post-event analysis is one that demonstrates WNS’ ability to look at even issues that might seem trivial when it looks at redundancy planning. It’s a note to stock more than just Maggi noodles in the pantry. CIO

Bureau Head North Rahul Neel Mani can be reached at rahul_m@cio.in

o achieve uninterrupto achieve uninterrupt-ed service, WNS put in ed service, WNS put in place a dual-site strat-egy, which set the guidelines for divert-ing critical processes to another geographical to another geographical

location, in case any location, in case any one of its facilities one of its facilities was ‘damaged’.was ‘damaged’.

Share Your Opinion

the past few months have seen three metros failing to handle the monsoons. has your organization built a business continuity plan? What level of redundancy do you budget for? share your thoughts (or fears) on this with your peers. Write in to editor@cio.in

editor@c o.in

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Chainthe Value

Godrej quickly became a household name, and went on to become a national symbol of innovation and self-reliance featuring an array of products that ranged from world-class security equipment to soaps produced, for the first time, from vegetable oil.

Adi B. Godrej, chairman, Godrej Group, leads the third generation. He is taking Godrej’s creative spirit into new territories.

Backed by IT, the company already connects hundreds of suppliers and distributors, sharing critical market and logistics-related information in real-time. Godrej now plans to extend that

connection to its three-and-a-half mil-lion retailers.

CIO: How is IT used to keep Godrej world-class?

Adi B. Godrej: IT is used extensively in the group. We were among the first in India to introduce enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems about 12 years ago. Ever since, we have concentrated on extending our reach from our vendors to our distributors and retailers. Connect-ing everyone using our IT infrastructure

The Godrej group is among the largest family-owned businesses in the country. Its legacy of innovation dates back to 1897 when founder Ardeshir Godrej turned his back on law and started to manufacture locks.

By Gunjan Trivedi

Linking

Vol/1 | ISSUE/3

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Adi B. Godrej, chairman, Godrej Group, intends to connect 3.5 million retailers by using a bouquet of technologies to put the proper bonds in place.

View from the top is a series of interviews with CEOs and other C-level executives about the role of IT in their companies and what they expect from their CIOs.

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Chainthe Value Linking

Godrej Group Chairman, adi Godrej expeCts it to:

Connect suppliers, distributors and retailers

make market and logistical information available in real-time

develop innovative processes

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helps us keep tight control over our work-ing capital and manage our business better. It helps us tremendously in ensuring that our logistical systems and supply-chain work efficiently. This keeps our costs down, a benefit our customers eventually see.

We have found that IT is an investment that pays excellent returns. This is why, in some of our companies, our IT investment is not concentrated in our factories.

We have established strong connectivity with our distributors (project Sampark) and suppliers (project Sahyog) by deploy-ing a supply-chain management (SCM) system. Now we intend to reach out to our retailers. This is going to be quite a challenge since we deal with about three-and-a-half million retailers. No country in the world, other than China, has as many retailers and there are no ready solutions we can turn to. We are working on vari-ous IT solutions employing different tech-nologies, such as mobile messaging, to make it happen.

What interested you in all-out IT projects like Sam-park and Sahyog?

Very clearly, from early on, we figured that the advance of IT could be leveraged in businesses that require interaction with large numbers of customers and vendors. IT allowed for rigorous statistical analysis and enabled our marketing and sales man-agers to monitor the nuances of changing scenarios, almost in real-time. We saw IT adding more and more value.

Because of Sampark we know exactly what’s going on in the pipeline. We use this knowledge for replenishment-based re-supplying, instead of waiting for orders and then fulfilling them. This avoids a num-ber of problems including running out of stock. Without IT, it is impossible to have a replenishment system that ensures a con-stant logistical flow. Developments in IT have helped us quite considerably and we continue to invest in them.

Does Godrej plan to use IT to address the rural mar-ket on the lines of ITC’s e-Choupal?

We have no plans for an e-Choupal type of model. We leave it to ITC to do that. But, the Godrej Group does have a lot of rural businesses where we deploy plenty of IT. We have a fairly large agro-business

called Godrej Agrovet, which uses IT. For example, we were among the first to use linear programming to perform least-cost formulations for the fields. Even our FMCG businesses have made fairly considerable rural inroads, but not on the lines of e-Choupal.

How do you see the Godrej Group maintaining its tech-nological edge?

Well, I think, our people and our leader-ship have seen the fruits of IT. I feel they will continue to view it favorably. We have some very good IT management people who are business-oriented. Our business and IT teams are not segregated. They work together to find solutions. Our people have to come up with great ideas and win-win solutions. That’s one of the reasons why we prefer not to outsource. In fact, we haven’t outsourced our actual IT processes. It’s not as beneficial as an international company outsourcing to India.

“Sales is vanity, profit is san-ity and cash is reality.” How does the Godrej group use IT to stand by your motto?

IT helps tremendously, because it cuts costs. When you cut costs you turn more competitive, and are able to pass on those savings to your consumers. They, in turn, are able to afford more of your goods, spreading your base. As your percentage costs come down further, you’re able to build a virtuous cycle.

When I say sales is vanity, I mean sales for the sake of sales is not something that should be a goal. Increased sales to make increased profit is what the goal should be. And, IT enables that.

Given your stress on TQM and kaizen, how does IT improve quality?

View from the Top

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“Getting good consultants to advise us on how to deploy these IT investments is the most dif-ficult part. Companies that don’t do that find their investment almost totally wasted.”

—adi Godrej

view from the top (34-39).indd 38 12/12/2005 10:02:47 AM

I believe our insistence on quality is dis-tinct from our ideas about IT. There is no direct link between IT and TQM (Total Qual-ity Management) or TPM (Technical Perfor-mance Measurement) except to the extent that in many of our quality solutions and processes we use statistical models, where IT plays an important role. However, I would not say that IT has major role to play in TQM and TPM. I feel that companies need to be proficient separately both in their IT usage and quality management deployment. We look upon IT as a tool and not as an end, just as quality is a tool, not an end.

What role does IT play in seeing the Godrej group continue to innovate?

Like quality, innovation is an important tool for business performance. Innovation is present in both products and processes. I don’t think IT can add too much to product innova-tion. R&D and imaginative employees contrib-ute a lot more to this. However, increasingly, IT has a role to play in process. I think innovation in processes is as important as product innova-tion. Both need to go hand-in-hand. It doesn’t help if you have innovative processes but lack good products for the processes to support. Similarly, if you have great products but poor processes, your products won’t do you much good except for lying in your showroom or store window.

How do you get disparate, organization-wide, IT de-ployment right for various business units?

All our IT deployment is business-result led. Unless there are strong business results to be obtained, we don’t make investments. Many of our businesses operate on nega-tive working capital. There is no way we could have done this without extensive IT implementation.

Efficient deployment of our resources, both financial and human, is extremely

dependent on IT. I think that the onset of low-cost IT solutions has brought about tremen-dous business efficiencies and proficiencies.

We are strong believers in the value of IT but unless we are satisfied, we don’t allow new investments.

This is an issue most CIO’s raise. How do you view the selling of ideas internally?

If you were to evaluate a CIO only by IT developments, in isolation of business bene-fits, you will have this divide. Therefore, it pays for the business person to closely listen to the CIO’s ideas and vice versa. CIO’s should not live in ivory towers. They need to constantly monitor ground level performance.

I’d also like to point to our organization’s variable remuneration scheme. A team’s remuneration is based on the performance of the entire business. While we also evalu-ate an individual’s performance, it’s not a major part of his or her variable remunera-tion. That comes from the performance of the company and business as a whole. This creates strong teamwork especially in the deployment of IT.

Here, the business managers and IT thinkers work almost as one. The business managers end up wearing the IT shoes and IT thinkers end up wearing the business clothes.

What is the toughest IT decision you’ve made?

Twelve years ago, we decided to invest about Rs 12 crore to 15 crore in an ERP system, of which only about Rs 2 crore to 3 crore was spent in hardware, and maybe

another Rs 4 crore or so on software. The rest was spent on what I call brainware. Getting good consultants to advise us on how to deploy these investments is the most difficult part.

When you are investing in hardware it is easy to see where your money is going. When you are deploying something as ephemeral as brainware, it is far more dif-ficult. Companies that don’t do that find their investment almost totally wasted. I think that was a difficult decision.

Was it the most ex-pensive one too?

A costly decision is when you waste money. If you get good returns from an investment, it isn’t costly. Moreover, once the first decision is successful, it then gets easier to take larger and most expensive decisions.

Finally, what is your next big IT move?

I am not a futurologist, but I think there will be tremendous development. Using IT to garner consumer insight, to understand their needs, and in market research, will add a lot of value. CIO

Senior correspondent Gunjan Trivedi can be reached at gunjan_t@cio.in

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SNAPSHOT Godrej

TuRNOvER rs 5,500 crore (as on March 31, 2005)

IT BuDGET 0.5% - 1% of sales

TOTAL EMPLOyEES about 18,000

IT STAFF between 75 and 100 (excluding Godrej Infotech which has around 200)

RETAILERS over 3.5 million

MANuFACTuRING PLANTS approximately 100

SALES OFFICES approximately 200

CIO GCPl & Godrej Industries Mani Mulki

Godrej Sara lee Subrata dey

View from the Top

Group

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You need grid computing. It could save you millions. It could You need grid computing. It could save you millions. It could You need grid computing. It could save you millions. It could You need grid computing. It could save you millions. It could You need grid computing. It could save you millions. It could You need grid computing. It could save you millions. It could provide competitive advantage to your business. But to get it, provide competitive advantage to your business. But to get it, provide competitive advantage to your business. But to get it, provide competitive advantage to your business. But to get it, provide competitive advantage to your business. But to get it, provide competitive advantage to your business. But to get it, you have to build it yourself. Why? Ask your vendors. you have to build it yourself. Why? Ask your vendors. you have to build it yourself. Why? Ask your vendors. you have to build it yourself. Why? Ask your vendors. you have to build it yourself. Why? Ask your vendors.

Most software gets hungry for more processing power from time to time,Most software gets hungry for more processing power from time to time,Most software gets hungry for more processing power from time to time,Most software gets hungry for more processing power from time to time,Most software gets hungry for more processing power from time to time,Most software gets hungry for more processing power from time to time,but Scott McKay’s insurance actuarial application at Genworth Financial eats like a shark--it swallows hardware but Scott McKay’s insurance actuarial application at Genworth Financial eats like a shark--it swallows hardware but Scott McKay’s insurance actuarial application at Genworth Financial eats like a shark--it swallows hardware but Scott McKay’s insurance actuarial application at Genworth Financial eats like a shark--it swallows hardware but Scott McKay’s insurance actuarial application at Genworth Financial eats like a shark--it swallows hardware but Scott McKay’s insurance actuarial application at Genworth Financial eats like a shark--it swallows hardware whole and wants more. whole and wants more.

So in 2003, McKay tried something that few CIOs So in 2003, McKay tried something that few CIOs So in 2003, McKay tried something that few CIOs in industries outside of academia or financial services in industries outside of academia or financial services in industries outside of academia or financial services in industries outside of academia or financial services (where the need for massively parallel computing trumps (where the need for massively parallel computing trumps (where the need for massively parallel computing trumps all other considerations) have been willing to take a risk on all other considerations) have been willing to take a risk on all other considerations) have been willing to take a risk on until now: He adapted his custom application to work on a until now: He adapted his custom application to work on a until now: He adapted his custom application to work on a grid—a vast, fluid pool of processing power that splashes grid—a vast, fluid pool of processing power that splashes grid—a vast, fluid pool of processing power that splashes around in a motley assortment of spare memory from around in a motley assortment of spare memory from around in a motley assortment of spare memory from PCs and servers throughout his company. McKay’s shark PCs and servers throughout his company. McKay’s shark PCs and servers throughout his company. McKay’s shark never runs out of food on this diet, and he now processes never runs out of food on this diet, and he now processes never runs out of food on this diet, and he now processes actuarial tables in 20 minutes instead of five hours.actuarial tables in 20 minutes instead of five hours.actuarial tables in 20 minutes instead of five hours.

McKay loves grid and the money he saves, but he also McKay loves grid and the money he saves, but he also McKay loves grid and the money he saves, but he also knows why most of his CIO colleagues are still feeding knows why most of his CIO colleagues are still feeding knows why most of his CIO colleagues are still feeding their sharks the old-fashioned way: Application software their sharks the old-fashioned way: Application software their sharks the old-fashioned way: Application software vendors won’t let their sharks eat grid. vendors won’t let their sharks eat grid. vendors won’t let their sharks eat grid. That means CIOs who want to save That means CIOs who want to save That means CIOs who want to save That means CIOs who want to save millions on their infrastructures have millions on their infrastructures have millions on their infrastructures have to build grid applications themselves—to build grid applications themselves—to build grid applications themselves—no mean feat. “There are a number of no mean feat. “There are a number of no mean feat. “There are a number of issues to make grid work,” says McKay, issues to make grid work,” says McKay, issues to make grid work,” says McKay, who is CIO and senior vice president of who is CIO and senior vice president of who is CIO and senior vice president of operations for Genworth Financial.operations for Genworth Financial.

And the primary issue is (no And the primary issue is (no And the primary issue is (no And the primary issue is (no surprise) money.surprise) money.

Sacred Cash CowGrid blows up the traditional software licensing model, Grid blows up the traditional software licensing model, Grid blows up the traditional software licensing model, Grid blows up the traditional software licensing model, which charges customers according to the computer which charges customers according to the computer which charges customers according to the computer processor that runs the application—in other words, processor that runs the application—in other words, processor that runs the application—in other words, one application, one computer, one price. But with grid, one application, one computer, one price. But with grid, one application, one computer, one price. But with grid, no CPUs are dedicated to a specific application. McKay’s no CPUs are dedicated to a specific application. McKay’s no CPUs are dedicated to a specific application. McKay’s grid application draws on a river of power that may flow grid application draws on a river of power that may flow grid application draws on a river of power that may flow across as many as 300 of his PCs in a day, but may only across as many as 300 of his PCs in a day, but may only across as many as 300 of his PCs in a day, but may only spend a few minutes on each. To date, vendors haven’t spend a few minutes on each. To date, vendors haven’t spend a few minutes on each. To date, vendors haven’t been able—or, say some critics, willing—to figure out been able—or, say some critics, willing—to figure out been able—or, say some critics, willing—to figure out how to make their money with grid computing while how to make their money with grid computing while how to make their money with grid computing while giving users what they want—virtually unlimited CPU giving users what they want—virtually unlimited CPU giving users what they want—virtually unlimited CPU power without astronomical licensing costs.power without astronomical licensing costs.power without astronomical licensing costs.

“The vendors haven’t come to grips “The vendors haven’t come to grips “The vendors haven’t come to grips with how they’re going to license their with how they’re going to license their with how they’re going to license their with how they’re going to license their software,” says Jonathan Eunice, principal software,” says Jonathan Eunice, principal software,” says Jonathan Eunice, principal analyst with IT research company analyst with IT research company analyst with IT research company Illuminata. “Software licensing remains Illuminata. “Software licensing remains Illuminata. “Software licensing remains messy and wholly unsolved.”messy and wholly unsolved.”messy and wholly unsolved.”

At this point, vendors are unwilling to At this point, vendors are unwilling to At this point, vendors are unwilling to relax their traditional per-CPU software relax their traditional per-CPU software relax their traditional per-CPU software licensing models to allow grid to licensing models to allow grid to licensing models to allow grid to licensing models to allow grid to flourish, according to a report from The flourish, according to a report from The flourish, according to a report from The

Reader ROI:

How grid computing How grid computing

changes the software changes the software

licensing modellicensing model

Why trust between vendors Why trust between vendors

and CIOs is essential to and CIOs is essential to

grid pricing

The tools you need to begin The tools you need to begin

your own grid projectyour own grid project

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451 Group, a research company. “None of the vendors are doing anything material to support changes [to the software licensing model] at this time,” says William Fellows, principal analyst at The 451 Group.

The landscape is further cluttered by the conflicting claims that vendors make about their grid offerings in this hot, new market, says Carl Claunch, a vice president at Gartner Research. He says grid computing has been “hijacked by the marketing folks.” And even some vendors agree (about other vendors): “What all the vendors have done is to put grid under their umbrellas, [regardless of whether their solutions really qualify],” says Ken King, IBM’s vice president of grid

computing. “That has created hype around grid, and confusion.”

Other barriers to the creation of a solid grid market include a lack of standards and the high cost of reconfiguring standard client/server applications to work on grid.

But despite all these problems, the grid buzz refuses to die because the potential for saving money, reducing complexity (for CIOs, anyway) and lowering maintenance burdens is far too compelling. McKay says he has slashed his hardware acquisition costs, chucked excess software and provided processing times that beat any of his competitors in the insurance industry.

And when an insurance company can process its decisions faster than competitors, you’re not talking IT anymore, says McKay, you’re talking competitive advantage. “Grid is one of things that differentiates us as a business, not simply an IT shop," he says proudly.

But vendors won’t vote themselves a reduction in revenue anytime soon, says The 451 Group’s Fellows, which means more CIOs will be left scratching their heads, wondering, Why not me?

The Meter Is Running AmokFor CIOs not steeped in the nuances

of grid computing, cutting through the hype can seem daunting and not worth the trouble. Most of what vendors are offering is not grid. The list of grid pretenders is long, but it includes clustering, utility computing and virtualization. (See “What Grid Is—and Isn’t” for more clarity.)

Once CIOs figure out whether a grid-computing infrastructure is right for one or more of their software applications, then they have to decide how much help is really available from vendors and how much they want to pay.

Finally, they have to be prepared to hurl themselves against the wall of software licensing. “The software-licensing model is the biggest impediment to grid computing,” says Gartner Research’s Claunch. “The vendors know they’ve got problems.”

The few vendors who have tried to come up with a formula for grid pricing have ladled on the complexity, according to analysts. “If you look at the formal price sheets, it is a nightmare for the customer,” Illuminata’s Eunice says. “You can’t easily buy software that is intelligently licensed for the kind of dynamic infrastructure in grid.”

Yet, alternative licensing models have been suggested, according to Fellows—such as one that would charge for actual usage of the application, not just for the absolute number of CPUs available in the grid. But these new models require vendors to embrace new forms of metering and billing mechanisms to track customer usage by time, users per month or transaction volume. Few mechanisms exist to measure the kind of application and component usage and license tracking that grid implies,

When Genworth Financial CIO Scott MaKay wanted a grid, he had to build it himself.

Software Licensing

although some are being tested. Even if those applications prove to be successful, there needs to be a huge leap of faith between the vendor and customer. Customers have to believe that they won’t be charged for time they aren’t using, and vendors have to believe that their customers aren’t somehow sneaking CPUs or users past monitoring tools. A few big companies with big vendor clout have been able to negotiate individual pricing and monitoring models, says Illuminata’s Eunice, “but for medium and small companies, it’s still too early.”

Fellows says that CIOs he has spoken with aren’t asking their vendors to reinvent the wheel yet. They would be content with some modifications to the time-based usage models that they already have. “If their [vendor] made some incremental changes to license models, real simple things like rolling over minutes not used to a later time or not counting minutes used to review execution results,” that would be a start, Fellows says. “They just want some tweaks to what they are able to do now.”

Though no vendor has publicly stated its intentions to alter its pricing model for grid computing (at least not in its purest form), a few vendors have taken what Fellows terms “baby steps.” SAP, for example, has been testing the open-source Globus Toolkit to grid-enable its products, which, if successful, might at least lead to pricing-model discussions. All it could take to liberate huge market share from competitors, says Fellows, would be for one powerful software vendor to simply change its model.

Certain applications that have been developed in-house have no licensing costs, such as analytic, financial calculation and electronic design automation. Those have been on early adopter companies’ grids for years. But outside large corporations, analysts say there’s a lack of in-house grid talent to make those in-house solutions work.

The Grid Horizon Keeps MovingThere are no explicit technical barriers to

putting an application on a grid, according to Fellows. “If you really want to, you can grid-enable anything,” he says. But if there is a legitimate argument to be made against

a wholesale shift to grid, it is that converting existing applications requires lots of hard work, money and experienced grid developers (who are in short supply today). Unless an application consumes a lot of processing power, CIOs might not see a big payback, and vendors might be left holding the bag for an expensive rewrite. The financial uncertainty surrounding software conversion costs and licensing models means that early adopters will probably pay a premium for grid-enabled applications, according to The 451 Group report, further slowing grid adoption.

So few applications have been rewritten for grid today (mostly analytical software) that CIOs are left with stark choices: Bug your software vendor; convert an existing application to grid yourself, as McKay did; or build a grid application from scratch.

Here’s why converting an application to grid takes a lot of work: The essence of grid computing is the availability of computing resources from all kinds of PCs and servers inside and outside your four walls. One attribute of early grid computing applications is that one task doesn’t depend on the outcome of another task. (In big, number-crunching grid applications, for example, calculations are parsed into small, independent slices and can be added together at any time.) But many enterprise applications have

dependencies—one calculation or process can’t move forward until another finishes. Developers have to figure out how to divide application processing into pieces (called threads of execution) to allow those applications to be run in parallel, according to Gartner Research’s Claunch. Unless the code can divide its operations across dozens, hundreds, thousands or more threads, says Claunch, it will not be able to scale its performance when given the many computing resources that grid offers. Parsing the application takes work and requires a lot more than simply tweaking existing applications; it may even require a complete rewrite.

For all those reasons, CIOs haven’t yet implemented traditional enterprise applica-tions—including ERP and CRM—on grid, because in these, each task typically depends on the outcome of others, which is not some-thing grids are good at yet, though any ap-plication can theoretically be grid-enabled. Forcing those applications, as written, onto a grid would be similar to strapping an At-las rocket to a Volkswagen. “Your car would melt,” says Illuminata’s Eunice. The core al-gorithms inside many of these transactional applications would also need to change.

Observers aren’t optimistic about the economic incentives for vendors to rebuild their wares for grid computing. “Grid will proceed at the pace with which the software

What GRId Is—and Isn’tGrid computing connects storage and data, as well as CPUs from multiple

systems, into a centrally managed but flexible computing environment. True grid

provides distributed resource management of heterogeneous systems in which

you can quickly add and subtract systems—without regard for location, operating

system or normal purpose—as needs dictate.

Utility computing is one of a variety of marketing phrases (others include

autonomous computing, computing-on-demand, adaptive enterprise) applied to

business models that let customers retrieve computing resources as necessary.

grid is the underlying technology for all of these models.

Clustering simply refers to collections of computers in a fixed configuration de-

signed to operate and be managed as a single, high-performance machine. Unlike

grid, computers cannot enter and leave the pool as necessary—once in, they’re

in for good. -T.W.

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Software Licensing

changes,” says Forrester Research principal analyst Frank Gillett.

“Glaciers move faster.”

Let’s Pretend to AgreeStandard methods for gridding applica-

tions would help speed the glacial pace of grid acceptance by reducing the cost and complexity of the development process. Though standards bodies and alliances have emerged—such as the Global Grid Fo-rum, Enterprise Grid Alliance and the Glo-bus Alliance—competing grid definitions, proprietary technologies and entrenched vendor allegiances have caused them to col-lapse into warring factions, according to grid analysts. “Right now, we’re at the end of the first [stage] where everyone’s battling,” says Illuminata’s Eunice. “It’s not the pretti-est of pictures.”

There are two major steps left to go be-fore grid becomes enterprise-ready: First, the different groups must agree upon a set of standards; second, vendors need to build those standards into their products.

Fellows is not convinced the fighting will stop long enough to move beyond the first stage. “When users see more and more [standards] organizations, then users see more and more complexity,” he says.

But open source may break the gridlock on grid. The Globus Toolkit (now in its fourth version) is free for anyone to use. Yet, the toolkit is limited; it’s good enough to be effec-tive at some tasks—such as analytic and elec-tronic design automation applications—but not good enough to be effective at everything, says Eunice.

As for CIO uptake—who knows? The Globus Alliance, the nonprofit group that offers the toolkit, does little marketing and does not diligently track enterprise us-age. Worse, grid skills are in short supply, which makes many CIOs unwilling to share project details, leaving neophyte gridders with no road maps to follow.

For all its early promise and economic benefits, in the end, grid computing may end up being a mirage for CIOs. They will continue to hear about how grid com-puting is an idyllic solution that every-one will be using in 10 years or 20 years (which they have already been saying for 10 years). Right now, says Gartner Re-

search’s Claunch, “CIOs can’t see how to get from here to there.”

For the few who can, such as McKay, the view is pretty good. It’s taken his IT depart-ment more than two years to get to where they are now with grid computing, but it’s

been well worth it. “Our ability to execute more effectively, to achieve the business re-sults, is huge.”

Too bad most CIOs can’t share those results. CIO

Send feedback about this feature to editor@cio.in.

GRId On the MaRCh1960s distant Relatives

In 1965, the developers of an operating system called Multics (Multiplexed

Information and Computing Service, an ancestor of Unix) presented a vision of

“computing as a utility,” which is similar to grid computing today, according to

CERN’s GridCafé website.

1970s the Birth of GridAccording to Grid.org, when computers were first linked by networks, the idea of

harnessing unused CPU cycles was born. A few early experiments included a pair

of programs called Creeper and Reaper that ran on the ARPAnet (the precursor

to the Internet).

1980s Grid RefinedScientists used grid computing to connect multiple workstations, which allowed

them to work on complicated math problems and software compilations, utiliz-

ing idle CPUs to reduce processing times.

1996 Free Grid!The Globus Alliance formed to conduct R&D for the technology, standards and

systems that form the grid. Alliance members eventually produced open-source

software that is central to nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of international sci-

ence and engineering activities.

1997 the First on the netDistributed.net became the first general-purpose grid-computing network on the

Internet, according to Grid.org. Distributed.net eventually brought thousands of

people together to crack cryptographic challenges in a distributed environment.

1999 setI Phone homeThe SETI@home project launched at the University of California at Berkeley.

It uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intel-

ligence. Anyone who has an Internet connection and some spare CPUs can

participate by running a free program that analyzes radio telescope data. So far,

more than 5 million people have signed up.

2001 top this!Launched in August by the National Science Foundation, the TeraGrid aims to build

and deploy the world’s largest distributed infrastructure for open scientific research

by linking major supercomputing sites such as the National Center for Supercom-

puting Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Center

for Advanced Computing Research at the California Institute of Technology. -T.W.

SOURCES: CERN’s GridCafé; Grid.org; Globus Alliance; SETI@home; TeraGrid Project

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Punjab’s excise and taxation department reduced evasion, cut corruption and recovered its IT investment in less than a quarter.

Five years ago, thirty percent of truckers who crossed into Punjab didn’t own up to what they were carrying. Through kickbacks, connections and blatant intimidation, these tough boys of the

interstate got away with under-invoicing their cargo and interstate got away with under-invoicing their cargo and sometimes not registering their loads at all. Its down-the-sometimes not registering their loads at all. Its down-the-river effects, in terms of sales tax (now VAT), cost the river effects, in terms of sales tax (now VAT), cost the government around Rs 700 crore a year. government around Rs 700 crore a year.

Across the State, registered businesses also pulled down their shutters on the tax department with a sizedown their shutters on the tax department with a size-able portion of sales tax slipping out of the net.able portion of sales tax slipping out of the net.

The government realized it was time to get strict and smart. Instead of going after freight haulers and other defaulters in an ad hoc manner, it rolled out COSTIS (Com-puterization of Sales Tax Sales Information System).

The idea behind COTIS was to plug tax evasion, enhance the collection of revenues, bring efficiency to tax collection and provide better services to tax pay-ers. Putting COSTIS in place cost the department Rs 50 crore. But the system got them back Rs 174 crore in the next three months. It’s ROI unheard of in e-governance, making COSTIS the poster child of successful e-govern-ment projects.

BY Rahul Neel MaBY Rahul Neel MaNI

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govern main (48-51).indd 48govern main (48-51).indd 48

TaxRoad

Reader ROI:

how e-Government ROI can be made tangible

Why a process approach is critical to a smooth transition

Why transparency increases buy-in from all stakeholders

The 21 districts of Punjab are home to about 156,000 registered businesses, dubbed ‘dealers’ by the tax depart-ment. These establishments contribute Rs 5,000 crore a year to the state’s exche-quer in tax (payments are made on a quar-terly basis).

Wheeler DealersManually handling this large a number

of dealers led to loopholes, which unscru-pulous dealers were quick to exploit. D.P. Reddy, commissioner, excise and taxation, Government of Punjab woke up every morning with new cases of dealers making

transactions unaccounted for. His depart-ment found bills in the name of non-existent dealers and even those with fabricated con-signer and consignee names. “The manual regime provided a safe haven for tax evad-ers,” says Reddy. The government knew that about 30 percent of dealers weren’t paying their taxes but could do little about it.

Additionally, the absence of on-tap information meant that the tax department could not track dealers who had filed their returns on time. The law laid heavy penal-ties on defaulters – another revenue chan-nel the manual system did not permit the government to mine.

But like many e-government proj-ects, COSTIS had its fair share of inertia. Though the project was conceived in the 1990’s, it hobbled along for close to a decade. Transparency, an additional benefit of COSTIS, was neded but a lack of political will slowed the project. That was how the system remained till someone did the math and figured the extent to which defaulters were defrauding the government.

Speedy RecoveryETTSA (Excise & Taxation Technical

Service Agency) was then quickly formed. “It took us just under two years to stream-line work and put the initial processes in place,” relives Reddy.

Led by H.M.S. Rosha, ETTSA’s CEO, the agency pieced together a plan to computer-ize ICCs (Information Collection Centers) located at all 36 interstate border barri-cades. Putting ICC data on stream was the next challenge. Their most daunting task, however, was creating and running a Sales Tax Information System online. This was crucial since information was only useful in the hands of the people who monitored and tallied what was coming in with sales tax dues. (See infographic: Chasing the Money).

But no sooner had the Sales Tax Informa-tion System been deployed, that the Union Government introduced VAT. Transition-ing from a sales tax regime with a single tax applied at point-of-sale to VAT where various taxes were collected at each stage of manufac-ture, unnerved many. But the move had to be made and it had to be done quickly before the project lost the support it had garnered.

COVIS (Computerization of VAT Infor-mation System) was introduced and imple-mented in a phased manner. First, the gateways into Punjab – the 36 ICCs - which provided information about consignments that were going in and out of the state, were digitized and wired into a central sever, located in Patiala. Simultaneously, ETTSA also connected 10 out of the 21 district offices. The second and the third phases will connect the other districts and build a Disaster Recovery Site at New Delhi.

The project joined 100 remote locations (46 via VSAT). COVIS was now piping active information to the desktops of 825 sales tax enforcers.

E-Governance

place,” relives Reddy.

agency pieced together a plan to computerize ICCs (Information Collection Centers) located at all 36 interstate border barricades. Putting ICC data on stream was the next challenge. Their most daunting task, however, was creating and running a Sales

D.P. Reddy, Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Government of Punjab, is able to track transactions conducted at ICC’s. This allows him to better estimate tax revenues.

govern main (48-51).indd 50govern main (48-51).indd 50

Online VAT was the department’s gift from Santa, almost literally. Within the first quarter COVIS sponged up Rs 174 crore. The government saw a 25 percent increase in revenue straightaway, almost all of it from defaulters.

COVIS incorporates an Audit and Inves-tigation module that intelligently isolates tax-payers suspected of forging their returns. The system also lists dealers, providing their contact information and the status of their quarterly filings.

Two-way StreetSix thousand repeat defaulters lost

their licenses soon after COVIS was launched. This made many regard COVIS as predatory, and focused on ensnaring dealers. But COVIS also brought justice to the system.

Putting the contents and status of tax-related case online, the Appeals and Revi-sion module unclogs bureaucratic channels. It increased dealer confidence about receiv-ing justice from the bench. “The aim was to shift to a paperless approach and provide a transparent process to the citizens of Punjab,” says Rosha.

Among the most important contributions of COVIS is a module that captures informa-tion of goods that come into the state. “Espe-cially under VAT, we need to know what goods are crossing the state line, because we need to levy tax on these commodities,” explains Rosha.

Another advantage COVIS offers is swifter dissemination of information. It took months to react to information presented by ICCs. Now, information can be retrieved and analyzed at the click of a mouse.

“We know the amount of export and import each dealer makes daily. Even inter-dealer trading information is available. Cross-checking filed returns with information provided by ICCs is now instantaneous,” says Rosha.

The streamlining of COVIS helped straighten the shoulders of many over-worked tax officers. The number of defaulters at large and of tax applications in the pipeline were placed on a grid and monitored. Just this act brought down appli-cation turnaround from a year to 60 days.

Graft DeceleratesThe upshot of this is the downfall of cor-

ruption. “We have taken away as much dis-cretion as possible from officials. They once had the discretion to impose penalties rang-ing from 10 to 150 percent. The system has slotted penalties and given people access to information,” says Rosha.

But what’s really gaining people’s good-will is the refund module. “If we don’t pay

out a refund in 60 days, we promise to pay interest on the refund amount. If we expect the tax payer to shell out inter-est on late submissions, he has the right to expect interest from us too,” says Reddy.

ETTSA’s success has led to a plan to introduce 500 ‘Bikri Kar Seva centers’ at high-traf-centers’ at high-traf-centers’ at high-traffic areas in major towns. These kiosks will bring tax-filing to a citizen’s doorstep.

The kiosks will offer ser-vices ranging from filing of returns, submission of appli-cations for registrations and refunds to issuing statutory forms. “We will also enable payment of taxes, penalty, and interest through these kiosks,” says Reddy.

The department is currently pushing to web-enable ICCs. In the future, dealers will be able to give the ICC a heads-up of their trucks’ cargo, arm themselves with a VAT 36 form and save time.

Rosha’s is going all out with COVIS to shorten the queues at Punjab’s border, while keeping a look out for those who try to sneak across. Note to lorry drivers: Beware. COVIS is watching. CIO

Bureau head North Rahul Neel Mani can be reached at rahul_m@cio.in

E-Governance

Another advantage COVIS offers is swifter dissemina-tion of information. It took months to react to information presented by ICCs. Now, infor-mation can be retrieved and analyzed at the click of a mouse.

“We know the amount of export and import each dealer makes daily. Even inter-dealer trad-ing information is available. Cross-checking filed returns with information provided by ICCs is now instantaneous,”

The streamlining of COVIS helped straighten the shoul-ders of many over-worked tax officers. The number of defaulters at large and of tax applications in the pipeline were placed on a grid and

out a refund in 60 days, we promise to pay interest on the refund amount. If we expect the tax payer to shell out interest on late submissions, he has the right to expect interest from us too,” says Reddy.

a plan to introduce 500 ‘Kar Seva fic areas in major towns. These kiosks will bring tax-filing to a citizen’s doorstep.

vices ranging from filing of returns, submission of applications for registrations and refunds to issuing statutory forms. “We will also enable payment of taxes, penalty, and interest through these kiosks,” says Reddy.

SNAPSHOT

Sales & Excise Commission offices 100

Excise & Tax Dept. employees825

ICCs 36

Average tax revenue (2004)rs 5,000 crore

Registered dealers 1,56,000

Locations con-nected by leased lines55

Locations con-nected by VSATs46

ICC’sThere are 36 Information Collection Centers (ICC’s) at Punjab’s borders. Freight haulers feed information of their cargo at this point.

Tax DepartmentWith COVIS, tax department staffers can now instantly track what each dealer sends out or brings into the State, making it easier to monitor tax revenue.

Dealers1,56,000 dealers sell or manufacture goods coming into the state. COVIS with its instant cross-checks brought more dealers into the tax net.

KiosksRegistered businesses or ‘dealers’ use kiosks to track pending court cases and government refunds.

Central ServerThe central server in Patiala is the heart of COVIS. It connects to 825 tax department staffers.

Chasing the Money Monitoring in-bound cargo with COVIS helps track tax defaulters.

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interview (52-56).indd 52interview (52-56).indd 52interview (52-56).indd 52interview (52-56).indd 52 12/10/2005 1:15:32 PM12/10/2005 1:15:32 PM12/10/2005 1:15:32 PM12/10/2005 1:15:32 PM12/10/2005 1:15:32 PM12/10/2005 1:15:32 PM12/10/2005 1:15:32 PM

M. N. Vidyashankar, Commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA)

has almost doubled his department’s revenues by a proactive approach to IT. The 29-year-old

agency he heads has also seen its IT budget rocket to Rs 45 crore this fiscal. His yardstick

for success, however, isn’t restricted to the figures. Vidyashankar’s top priority is to drive

BDA projects swiftly towards completion, restore the agency’s credibility and reduce public inconvenience.

BDA believes in an automated BDA believes in an automated solution with minimunsolution with minimunhuman interaction. human interaction.

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CIO: Can you describe the IT framework BDA is putting in place? How does this fit with your agenda?M. N. Vidyashankar: Any development authority in the country, which deals with real estate, is a victim of two shortages – transparency and accountability. I’ve yet to find an example of one where both of these are practiced. Our agenda is to provide both at BDA. People have a right to know what we are doing.

Keeping this in mind, we have launched an ambitious project to become a paperless office. This will do away with any ‘discretion’ used by officials. We have set March 2006 as our deadline. Hopefully, we should be in a position to launch by the end of January 2006. We don’t believe in meeting targets, but in beating them.

My appointment at the BDA, in August 2004, came at a time when key projects including the flyovers and the Arkavathi layout were languishing. Given the state of affairs, certain tasks needed prioritization. BDA needed to complete these projects, reduce public inconvenience and restore government credibility. That’s when we realized that using IT would help speed up the process. The use of IT will cover all our functions across nine departments and four division offices. We aren’t introducing

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IT just for the sake of IT. We are using IT to provide better services to our citizens and increase the level of efficiency in our functions.

What level of IT spend are you targeting for this?

�s 4�� crore has been�s 4�� crore has been earmarked for IT projects in 200��-06. For this year, our priorities are a paperless office and e-Pragati, which is a multi-purpose kiosk. e-Pragati at present has a pilot running at two locations in Bangalore. Soon, we will issue a tender to construct 100 e-Pragati kiosks, which are going to be enabled with GIS (Geographic Information System) color printers and will facilitate e-commerce.

The paperless office project is worth �s 1.�� crore and we have already purchased the verifica-tion and validation tool for this. BDA is also hiring 400 computers in December.

If the need arises, we will even employ Wi-Fi to increase productivity.

We implemented the GIS project better known as the Metropolitan Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI) project, at a cost of �s 24.�� crore. We are the first develop-ment authority in the country to build a geo-reference for our entire jurisdiction. This project was completed in June 200��. It took two years to develop the GIS. It has 71 layers, to which we propose to add 149. The GIS project basically helps us identify private and public properties and their associated problems, if they have any. Using the GIS system, BDA, or its customers, can access a mine of property-related information.

We are also the first government agen-cy to implement SAP. We acquired the E�P solution for H�, payroll and finance functions and it cost us �s ���� lakh.

All our current IT initiatives are part of the first phase under the Master Plan 200��-201�� for Greater Bangalore. We ex-pect to consolidate all our IT projects by

2006-07. We will begin the second phase in 2007.

Can you elaborate on the paperless office plan?

The paperless projectThe paperless project comprises 27 modules, 24 of which are being developed by HCL. Their responsibility is to design, develop, implement and support an Integrated Management Informa-tion System (IMIS). This will automate business processes in all BDA de-partments and divisions. We expect the project to reduce paperwork by 80 percent and by this, cut down turnaround time.

Part of the project requirement is for it to mesh with existing IT applications like OCMS (Online Complaint

Management System), IV�S (Interactive Voice �esponse System), GIS and the e-Pragati kiosks.

We will need to train around 4��0 BDA employees for six weeks on the applications. After putting the system in place, HCL will maintain the project for three years.

But, how does the IMIS help shrink turn-around time?

The system has already brought downThe system has already brought down turnaround time to 12 months. Nor mally, land allotment takes 18 months for undisputed plots. It is a time-con-suming process because we have to follow the Land Acquisition Act, which states that a public notice of between 30 and 4�� days must be given. We can’t touch that.

Citizens now get instantaneous infor-mation related to land allotment. As it is, most of the information regarding on-going BDA projects or land allotments is available at www.bdabangalore.org. The site also allows citizens to download BDA forms. And, for complaints and grievances, there is e-Pragati.

BDA believes in a fully automated solu-tion. I don’t want any human interface. And, it should be 24/7. Most of our services are free for the consumer, unless they’re printing downloaded information.

Is it to reduce ‘human interaction’ that e-Pragati kiosks are being deployed?

As I’ve mentioned, the kiosks willAs I’ve mentioned, the kiosks will be GIS-enabled and will offer informa-tion and a provision to register and monitor complaints.

This will enable the citizens of Banga-lore to access everything they need from the BDA without trudging all the way to our office. It is among the most ambitious customer-friendly initiatives visualized by any development authority in the country. e-Pragati will also be a first-its-kind in Asia.

The kiosk will be equipped with infor-mation updates, information on various application formats and the required documents, different BDA application forms and digitized, printable maps. It will even allow citizens to submit and receive approval for their building plans. Normally, that would entail a visit to a BDA office.

e-Pragati will also help citizens to lodge a complaint at the kiosk and an IV�S will follow up, providing them feedback on their problem. The system will ask them if they are satisfied with the way their problem was addressed. It will give them the option to escalate the matter to the commissioner—which means that I will get an SMS detailing the complaint. Where will anyone get this kind of facility in Bangalore?

We have already ordered the construct ion of 2�� kiosk shells. Once they are done, another 2�� will follow. We are in the final stages of zeroing in on our hardware needs. We have incorporated public feed-back from the pilot to improve the kiosks.

How do you go about increasing account-ability? Does digitization of land records play a part there?

BDA has finished digitizing all itsBDA has finished digitizing all its records. The process, implemented by a French company, SCE-Créocéan, covered lakhs of documents, including the land

SNAPSHOT BDATuRNOVER 2004-05 rs 2,000 crore

IT BuDgET fOR 2005-06 rs 45 crore

PROjECTS OVERSEEN

ErP Metropolitan Spatial

data Infrastructure (GIS)

digitization of land records, documents

Paperless office e-Pragati kiosks E-commerce

LAND CONTROLLED

1036 sq km.

STAff 927

DEPARTMENTS 9

OffICES 4 divisions

Interview | M. N. Vidyashankar

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Interview | M. N. Vidyashankar

records of 79 layouts, documents of 77 lakh customers and about 1.90 lakh owners. It took almost two years and the database is larger than 79 GB now. The process will fulfill our primary objective of using IT to increase efficiency.

For instance, BDA recently developed new layouts in Bangalore. A few months ago, we were unsure of the status of these allotments. We didn’t know either how many parcels of land had been allocated or how many customers had received confirmation letters or even how many were waiting to be occupied.

Now, we can answer all these questions and pin down the status of each alloca-tion and share this information with the public.

How has your experience of deploying IT at the Bangalore Water Supply and Sew-erage Board helped at BDA?

I was faced with a lot of challenges at I was faced with a lot of challenges atI was faced with a lot of challenges at I was faced with a lot of challenges atthe Bangalore Water Supply and Sewer-age Board (BWSSB). The labor union at BWSSB is very influential and they told me that the money we had spent on IT five years ago was not benefiting either the BWSSB or its customers.

You see, the BWSSB ran a computer bill center pilot for three years at BTM Layout. It had a number of teething problems. People complained that their bills had errors and that they were delivered late. The labor union said that the pilot had failed and I would too if I gave it another chance.

Despite a three-year uphill climb, we reinitiated the project in June 2002 and made sure we kept the customer in focus. Today, no other government agency in Bangalore delivers more faultless bills than the BWSSB. The initiative, known as KaverEcom, has set the trend for other government agencies in Karnataka.

While the BDA is not a utility service, we are sure we can replicate BWSSB’s success. The most important thing is to keep the customer in focus. You can only bring out the best in a system if you get into the customer’s shoes.

Is that how you define ROI? We describe We describeWe describe We describe ���OI in terms of value-OI in terms of value-OI in terms of value-

added services to citizens. For example, a

few months ago, we didn’t have accurate information about BDA’s properties, the status of different infrastructure projects and the position of land allotments. Now, we have this information, and most rel-evantly, reviews take place every week.

As an offshoot to this process, we iden-tified BDA properties running into hun-dreds of acres that were encroached on. These have been recovered. After the BDA documents were digitized, our collections have shot up incredibly. BDA revenue col-lection from 2001- 200�� was about �s 23��crore. In the first eight months of this year, we have already collected �s 27�� crore. Collections from Property Tax, Auction Sites and �ents went up by 173 percent, 16�� percent and 190 percent respectively between 2003-2004 and 2004-200��.

We must not overlook the fact that project management has become easier. And, that it brings BDA’s services to a citizen’s doorstep. We plan to achieve more. We are working to make Bangalore a global city.

You’d implemented KaverEcom on Linux. What scope do you see for Linux in gov-ernment projects?

Linux is good for all projects. It’s cost-Linux is good for all projects. It’s cost-Linux is good for all projects. It’s cost-effective and Linux makes it easy to mi-grate or upgrade a project five years down the line. These are the two factors I view. The way things stand, all the applications at BDA run on Linux, except e-Pragati. Even here, although the pilot is running on Windows, we plan to migrate to Linux when we scale up. CIO

T. radhakrishna can be reached at radha_t@cio.in

“Keeping accountability in mind, we have launched an ambitious project to become a paperless office. This will do away with any ‘discretion’ used by officials.”

—M. N. Vidyashankar

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The Virtues of Virtualization BY FRED HAPGOOD

VIRTUALIZATION | During the past few decades, CIOs have stood at the center of one of the great technological revolutions in history: The replacement of the physical atom by the computational bit as the medium of commerce and culture. The profession might be forgiven for thinking that nothing is left for the next generation but tinkering. What could compare with a transition like that?

Actually, something almost as big might be coming over the horizon: The replacement of the bit with the virtual bit. Virtualization is the substitution of physical computing elements, either hardware or software, with artificial impostors that exactly replicate the originals, but without the sometimes inconvenient need for those originals to actually exist. Need a 1 terabyte hard drive, but only have 10 100GB drives? No problem, virtualization software can provide an interface that makes all 10 drives look and act like a single unit to any inquiring application. Got some data you need from an application you last accessed in 1993 on an aging MicroVAX 2000 that hit the garbage bin a decade ago? A virtual Digital VMS simulator could save your skin.

Using software to model the

future of IT may free CIOs from

the risks and limitations of all

that annoying hardware.

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technologyEssEntial From InceptIon to ImplementatIon—I.t. that matters

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technology Stated like that, virtualization can sound like little more than a quick and dirty hack, and indeed, for most of the history of computing, that is exactly how the technique was viewed. Its roots lie in the early days of computing, when it was a means of tricking single-user, single-application mainframe hardware into supporting multiple users on multiple applications. But as every aspect of computing has grown more complex, the flexibility and intelligence that

virtualization adds to the management of computing resources have become steadily more attractive. Today it stands on the lip of being the next big thing.

Raising the DeadThe Computer History Simulation Project, coordinated by Bob Supnik at SiCortex (see sidebar ‘Immortality for Aging Systems’), uses virtualization to fool programs of historical interest into thinking that they are running on computer hardware that vanished decades ago. Supnik’s project has a practical end as well: Sometimes old systems are so embedded in the corporate landscape that they must be kept running. If the real hardware is unavailable, the only way to keep the old machines running is to virtualize them.

In a more contemporary example of the power of virtualization, about three years ago J. R. Simplot, a Rs 13,500 crore (US$ 3 billion) food and agribusiness company in Boise, Idaho, found itself in a phase of especially rapid growth in server deployments. Of course, with rapid growth comes the headache of figuring out

how to do everything faster. In this case, the company’s IT center concluded that their old server procurement system had to be accelerated.

Servers, of course, are pieces of physical equipment; they come with their own processing, memory, storage resources and operating systems. What the Simplot team did was use virtualization tools from VMware, a virtual infrastructure company, to create software-only servers

that interacted with the network just like hardware servers, although they were really only applications. Whenever Simplot needed another server it would just flip the switches appropriate to the server type (Web, application, database, e-mail, FTP, e-commerce and so on). From that point, an automated template generated the virtual machine on a specific VMware ESX host machine.

Virtual ImprovementsAccording to Tony Adams, a technology analyst at Simplot, there were gains all across the board. The time to get a new server up and running on the system went from weeks to hours or less. Uptime also increased, because the servers were programs and could run on any supported x86 hardware anywhere. If a machine failed or needed maintenance, the virtual server could be quickly moved to different hardware.

Perhaps most important were the gains in utilization efficiencies. Servers are built for specific roles. Sometimes demand for a particular role is in sync with available resources, but usually it isn’t. In the case of

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as every aspect of computing has grown more complex, the flexibility and intelligence that virtualization adds to the management of computing resources have become steadily more attractive.

Immortality for aging systemsComputing is unlike most technologies

in that it has two systems of preservation:

restoration, which it shares with every other

technology, and simulation. alas, restoration

is not simple. Very few computer components

can be made by hobbyists in their basement.

Fortunately, there is the alternative:

s imulation. With the right virtualization

software, old hardware can be brought back

to life as programs running on pCs. The virtue

of simulation is that old documentation is a lot

easier to store than old hardware, and often

the memories of techies reach far back.

With the goal of mining some of that old

documentation and memory, the Computer

history simulation project is trying to create

pC-compatible simulators for a wide range of

significant computer hardware and software

systems and publish them as freeware on the

Internet. examples of simulators currently

available are the Data General nova, Digital

VaX, IBm system 3 and mITs altair 8800.

The problem these simulators address is

that computing systems lose value quickly

and are rapidly discarded, together with their

applications and documentation. Ten years

after a computer is brought to market, it might

as well have never existed. This raises both

practical and cultural issues. Often there will

be some residual versions of those machines

running somewhere in the world for which

lack of support is a critical problem. Useful or

significant data might be stranded on media

that only those machines can read. also, these

machines represent important chapters in

our history. It seems strange that we should

know more about the technology of the 19th

century than that of our own time, but older

machines typically lasted longer and were

better documented.

For more information about the project, visit http://simh.trailing-edge.com.

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“real” servers, if there is a mismatch, then there is nothing that you can do about it; you’re stuck with what you have. If you end up with an average utilization rate of 10 percent per server, so be it. (The need to provide for peak demand makes the problem worse, and utilization can often be far below even 10 percent.) Low utilization means IT is stuck with unnecessary maintenance issues, security faces unnecessary access issues (they

have to worry about protecting more machines), and facilities must deal with unnecessary heat and power issues.

Virtualization fixes these problems. The power to design any kind and number of servers that you like allows you to align capacity with load continuously and precisely. In the case of Simplot, once Adams’s servers turned virtual, he was able to deploy nearly 200 virtual servers on only a dozen physical machines. And, he says, typical CPU, network, disk and memory utilization on the VMware ESX boxes is greater than 50 percent—compared with utilization of around 5 percent on dedicated server hardware.

Virtualization also makes disaster recovery planning simpler, because it allows you to write server clusters appropriate to whatever infrastructure you have on hand. As Adams points out, conventional disaster recovery schemes force you to have an exact clone of your hardware sitting around doing nothing. “But personally, what I really like,” he says, “is the remote manageability. I can knock out new [servers] or do repairs anywhere on the Net, without even going to the data center.”

Adams wants one machine to look like many machines, but it is just as possible to virtualize the other way: Making many machines look like one. Virtualization underlies the well-known RAID storage tricks that allow many disks to be treated as one huge drive for ease of access, and one disk to be treated as many for the purpose of robust backup. Another prime use for virtualization is development. The hardware world is growing much

more complex all the time: Product cycles are turning faster, the number of device types is always rising, and the practice of running programs over networks means that any given program might come in contact with a huge universe of hardware. Developers can’t begin to afford to buy all of this hardware for testing, and they don’t need to: Running products on virtualized models of the hardware allows for quality assurance without the capital expense. Virtualizing the underlying hardware also gives developers far more control. Peter Magnusson, CTO of Virtutech, a systems simulation company in San Jose, Calif., points out that you can stop simulated hardware anywhere you like, any time you want, to investigate internal details.

Unreal FutureDuring the next year or two, virtualization is on track to move from its current suc-cess in storage, servers and development, to networks and data centers. So CIOs will then be able to build software versions of firewalls, switches, routers, load balancers, accelerators and caches, exactly as needed. Everything that was once embodied in cards, disks and physical equipment of

any kind, will be organized around a sin-gle point of control. If virtualization vendor promises materialize, changes that once were out of the question, or that at least would have required considerable man-hours and operational risk, will be done in minutes, routinely.

What those changes will mean is very much a topic for current discussion. For instance, all the new knobs and buttons virtualization provides will raise issues of policy, because it will be possible to discriminate among classes of service that once had to be handled together. You will, for instance, be able to write a Web server that gives customers who spend above a certain limit much better service than those who spend only half as much. There will be huge opportunities for automation. Infrastructure may be able to reconfigure itself in response to changes in demand, spinning out new servers and routers as necessary, the way load balancing is done today. (Certainly IBM et al. have been promoting just such a vision of the on-demand computing future.)

Virtualization examples so far have all been hardware-centric, because the inherent inflexibility of hardware means

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Quite possibly, the growth of virtualization predicts a deep change in the responsibilities of a CIO.

By 2007 most new pCs and servers will incorporate virtualization technology.

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the elasticity advantages of virtualization are greater than with software. However, virtualization can work anywhere in the computing stack. You can virtualize both the hardware and the operating system, which allows programs written for one OS to run on another, and programs written for a virtual OS to run anywhere (similar to how Java maintains its hardware independence through the Java Virtual Machine).

Quite possibly, the growth of virtualization predicts a deep change in the responsibilities of CIOs. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future no CIO will ever think about hardware: Raw physical processing and storage will be bought in bulk from information utilities or server farms. Applications will be the business of the departments or offices requiring them. The center of a CIO’s job will be the care and feeding of the execution environment. The very title of CIO might vanish, to be replaced, of course, by CVO.

Taking It All InIn that world, virtualization could graduate into a full-throated simulation of entire systems, the elements of which would not be just computing hardware, as now, but all the motors, switches, valves, doors, engines, vehicles and sensors in a company. The model would run in parallel with the physical company and in real-time. Where now virtualization is used for change management, disaster recovery planning, or maintenance scheduling for networks and their elements, it would in the future do the same for all facilities. Every object or product sold would come with a model of itself that could fit into one of these execution environments. It would be the CVO’s responsibility to make sure that each company’s image of itself was accurate and complete and captured the essentials. And that would not be a virtual responsibility in the least. CIO

Send feedback on this feature to editor@cio.in

ROBOTICS | The attendees for your 1 p.m. meeting have begun to arrive. But they’re not

coming through the door. Instead, solid, 3-D models magically self-assemble around the

table, looking, moving and talking like impressionistic interpretations of their long-distant

human counterparts.

Professors Seth Goldstein and Todd Mowry, along with Intel Principal Investigator Jason

Campbell, are building “claytronic atoms” or “catoms”—centimeter-diameter pellets

embedded with electromagnets that will enable them to connect to and move around other

catoms. By controlling potentially billions of catoms as a unit, the researchers foresee creating

accurate, active models of 3-D objects. For remote conferencing, attendees could be recorded

using a combination of video and motion sensors, with the collected data sent over the Internet

to a waiting pile of catoms. The researchers even imagine a time when doctors could control

catom-based representations of themselves for remote examinations.

In the interim, less sophisticated catom technology might allow engineers to quickly create

3-D replicas of their projects, with on-screen changes in a computer-aided design program

instantly appearing in the catom model. Catoms could also be used as an input device.

“Imagine that an architect is planning to remodel part of your house,” Mowry says. “They could

show you a physical model, even though they live in a different city. If you aren’t happy with

the design, either you or the architect could modify it in real-time. [You] could simply grab the

model and move walls, make stairways larger, resize windows [and so on].”

The professors acknowledge that they are many years away from their goal. Their current

catom models work only in two dimensions and are approximately 1.75-inch-wide rods, not

centimeter-diameter spheres. They also note that designing software to control legions of

catoms may be a bigger challenge than engineering the hardware itself. But the researchers

believe catoms could dramatically change how we interact with computers. “This technology

could potentially make the display-keyboard-mouse interface look as antiquated someday as punch cards look today,” Mowry says. — Christopher Lindquist

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essential technology Pundit

OPEN SOURCE | A funny thing happened to me a few months back after I moderated a panel on Web portals for Sun’s JavaOne conference. A guy came up to me after the proceedings—let’s call him Open Source Angry Guy—and, snarling with disgust, read me the riot act for inviting only suits (from BEA, Plumtree, Sun and Vignette) and excluding the open-source community. I didn’t have anything to do with the lineup, so I cheerfully admitted he was right.

In hindsight, I now think that Open Source Angry Guy may have been a walking omen for the software industry. I’m not just talking about open-source software, wild-eyed zealots or even IBM’s challenge to Sun to create an open-source version of Java. I’m talking about the open-source model of feedback that’s popping up everywhere, in which customers are wrenching control over product development out of the hands of vendors.

Early last year, for instance, IBM called for Sun to release a core open-source Java version to increase proliferation, reduce complexity and accelerate innovation. Without actually acceding to IBM’s demand, Sun has made several strides, beginning with the release of OpenSolaris last June. Then there’s the Mustang project on Sun’s Java.net, which

lets fans catch weekly updates to Java SE 6 as it edges toward release in 2006. Plus, the company decided to throw its Java Desktop System into the open-source cauldron.

The whole theme of JavaOne, in fact, was participation. The most striking proof of that intent was the announcement of the Java Business Integration (JBI) specification, otherwise known as JSR 208. Its goal is to create a standard Java integration environment to support Web services-based business process management and orchestration. The community can participate by working on Sun’s open-source Enterprise Service Bus, which is based on the JBI 1.0 specification.

Dissatisfaction with enterprise Java development options has also erupted in a surge of creativity. A flood of open-source tools and frameworks have arrived: Spring, Struts, Ant, MyFaces and more. The most radical Java departure, however, has been led by the proponents of dynamic scripting languages, such as PHP, Perl, Python, JavaScript and Ruby. Until a few years ago, I bought the industry line that Java, VB and C++ were so dominant that not much else mattered. But Web apps surged to dominate enterprise application development. The lightweight nature of dynamic scripting enables many more iterations than in, say, some lumbering

Enterprise JavaBeans project, so that the final result is closer to what the business side wanted in the first place.

But scripting languages lack the reliability and security offered by Java and Microsoft .Net. So a new scripting language named Groovy—which runs in the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and incorporates elements of Python, Ruby and Smalltalk—has spawned on Codehaus.org. And there are other JVM scripting alternatives, including Jython, JRuby and Rhino. Instead of some slow, graphical, integrated development environment on top of Java, developers get the scripting flexibility they love.

Programming languages are not software, and few areas of technology attract so much activity around the edges as Java. But the software industry should take stock of what’s going on with Java and the free-for-all network of wikis and blogs that provide the mechanism for its interactive evolution. The software industry, the media I work in, and so much else in our society used to be all about control. But when change proceeds too slowly or when those in charge forget how to listen, the Open Source Angry Guys don’t just get mad, they take over.

Eric Knorr is executive editor at large at InfoWorld. Send feedback about this column to editor@cio.in

Java Goes WildDissatisfaction with enterprise Java development options has also erupted in a surge of creativity.

BY ERIC KNORR

Vendors need to give programmers

what they want—or open source may

take it by force.

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