Digital Leader 2018: SARBANI BHATIA: JAGRAN PRAKASHAN

JAGRAN PRAKASHAN | MEDIA 

SARBANI BHATIA, SR.VP-IT 

THE IT ORGANIZATION 

The IT Team of 100 odd professionals comprises 6 Senior Administrators and Supervisors, 45 Developers, 30 Support & Testing Team Members, 25 Infrastructure Maintenance Team Members. 

KEY IT SPENDING AREAS FY 2018-19 

Networking, SD – WAN setup, Office Automation, Infrastructure – Storage and Servers, Oracle Middleware 

5 KEY SOLUTIONS DEPLOYED IN 2017-18 5

1. J - PSM

A new platform was created to boost the dropping circulation figures of the print titles of Jagran. The erstwhile manual door to door survey of households and subsequent data entry and follow-ups by telecalls was replaced by an Omni-channel app.

2. JOIS-PPI

JPL deployed successfully an end to end advertisement management solution to handle all content - its scheduling, production, and revenue generation.

3. GST

The existing homegrown software was made GST compliant. It caters to the specific needs of a print media organization as prescribed by the GST Law.

4. J-Optima

This project achieves the objective of optimization of Revenue from the Advertisement Sales and Operating Costs of Newsprint Consumption.

5. Technology Upgradation

Oracle Forms 12C was installed and the entire ERP previously developed in Oracle Forms 6i and Reports 6i was converted to upgrade from a platform which has been phased out and is out of support by Oracle. 

WHAT DOES DIGITAL MEAN FOR YOU? 

Digital is no longer synonymous with “IT”, rather it is a new way of doing things. A company’s digital strategy practically drives the roadmap, defines the business model, helps to leverage the opportunities and stay ahead of the competition. It is not just about embracing technology, but using it for actionable insights, sustained growth and maximizing customer satisfaction. 

Name 3 Best practices for aligning IT with new normal business demands? 

In my opinion, it is no longer about ‘aligning’ IT with business, rather ‘converging’ IT & business. The following practices, if followed, help in driving IT solutions :

1. The corporate culture and mindset of the organization need to be changed to gain acceptance for digital initiatives. It should be driven from the top. 

2. Business Leaders and IT need to work together to ideate, innovate and design digital initiatives to cater to the dynamic changes in the market scenario. 

3. CIOs with purely technology backgrounds will take more time to understand and implement solutions for business.

What is that one key message you would like to give to IT vendors? 

Before proposing any solution, Vendors must evaluate if the innovation is relevant for our organization. 

SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES AS CIO (CURRENT AND PAST ROLES) 

Setting up a team of highly competent IT Professionals who are able to meet all IT requirements of the organization, namely, maintenance of Infrastructure and providing customized solutions for all business requirements.