R Sekar

On the recent IT decisions
In the last two years we have rolled out ERP implementation and a corporate mailing solution using broadband. The fundamental need to implement ERP is to streamline and integrate all the business processes and to become more competitive. Meanwhile, other factors like competition, changing social-economic factor, liberalization, faster communication with vendors, suppliers etc are also the compulsions of the business to automate the manufacturing process as well as messaging solutions. We still have a long way to go in terms of total automation of the processes.

The inadequacy of in-house developed systems to address the twin challenges of localization and shortened product life cycles calls for continuous design improvement, manufacturing flexibility, efficient logistics control, and better management of the entire supply chain has made more and more organizations going for ERP.

On the benefits
Sales order to deliver cycle time has been reduced. Shop floor planning and scheduling has become easier. The product configuration module has helped organization to design non-standard motors. Payments to suppliers and collections have improved with online MIS, on-line bill processing, and payments.

On RoI
Process improvement is one of the measuring tools in the production line and by and large the service sector to be measured is only in terms of services and the time taken to provide the said service, which results in customer satisfaction. Alternatively, IT department can take up customer satisfaction survey on quarterly or half-yearly basis on various parameters and use it as a measuring mechanism. The IT departments in the organization have to find some means to measure the value of IT or else the value will be lost.

On the challenges
Storage is one area where we have difficulty planning, purchasing and deploying. As the technology is fast changing, it is important for the organization, to migrate the entire existing data backup into new storage technology and, in addition, checking the backup, protecting from natural calamites etc. are major area of concern. Moreover, implementing perfect data protection strategy in terms of speed, simplicity, continuity, flexibility, manageability and performance are the critical issues and hence deployment of storage technology for the organization is a big concern area.

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