CIO/CTO SPEAK PEPSI FOODS: 'Business and value are the biggest problems that technologists face in delivering business value'

How
mission-critical is IT infrastructure to your organization?

Both IT and telecom are mission-critical to the core business process for an
organization like ours. We cannot afford even a few minutes of outage on our
networks and it directly affects our sales. Most of the functions of our
organization are linked to IT and it is imperative to have this infrastructure
up and running 24/7.

Have
you integrated your infrastructure with your global corporation?

Pepsi India's IT infrastructure is closely integrated with our global
corporation. We invest in the best technology, develop partnership with our key
vendors, have well defined SLAs with them, create DRP/BCP strategies. We hire
the best and invest in training them and keeping their skills up to date. Most
importantly, there is a very high support from the top management to IT at
Pepsi. Keeping in mind the technology trends, we keep on training our people to
make them abreast of the current technologies in the market.
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What
security standards do you follow?

At Pepsi, security is our top most priority and we have contemporary
standards that get deployed right from end user machines to back end servers to
prevent threats. Every organization should have processes to deal with the
internal and external threats on the data and network and develop
'learnings' from each experience.

How
do you align business with IT?

There is no standard answer to this one. We at Pepsi understand business
well and deep-and ensure that our investments have a pay off in the
short-medium term. Like any other function, our job is to partner other
functions in improving speed of decision-making, accuracy of information, and
flexibility of doing business. At times, we also let IT re-define processes to
make them more efficient. Security has always been the key issue for us and we
deploy latest technologies to safeguard our interests. As all other
organizations follow certain policies regarding this, we also do the same to get
rid of the uncalled threats that keep looming large on organizations' head.

What
approach do you follow in outsourcing?

We have a mixed approach-neither of the extremes to me is desirable. So
all operating and regular maintenance jobs are outsourced at Pepsi, while
strategic, tactical, project/program management etc are done in-house. We also
leverage heavily on people from business functions to deliver solutions to the
business. We would continue to have mixed approach as far as outsourcing is
concerned.

ERP
implementations are important for any FMCG company. What matters the most to you
in such implementations?

This is coming to very quick conclusions! Honestly, it is not the ERP
software and its purchase that matters-what matters is how one uses and
leverages the same in the organization-and to me that can be a huge
competitive advantage rather than a commodity. Sure, ERP today is a basic
building block and one needs additional build-ons to be cutting edge, but then,
go around the country and you will notice a wide spectrum on quality of ERP
deployment. So it's imperative to have right kind of ERP implemented that help
organizations leverage on its strength.

Which
IT risks bother you the most and how do you handle them?

Risks to an organization of today come from a variety of sources. While IT
may not have a role to play in mitigating all, as CIOs, we have the unique
advantage of having a comprehensive pan organization view across functions. CIOs
can use this to foresee risks. cross-link them across departments and partner
with others to propose mitigating solutions; and of course, they are directly
responsible for mitigating information and security related risks. Therefore
CIOs are normally always ready to handle such perceived risks and it's
important to have right kind of partner that can provide you solutions whenever
such risks evolve.

What
is one of the biggest problems with technologists trying to deliver business
value?

Lack of understanding of the two terms—business and value! They must
realize that IT is more of an enabler and to some extent a driver; and
technology for self-gratification is not welcome. A CEO will invest his money
where the returns will come from. A CIO has to compete with his counterparts in
the organization to demonstrate the value—and then demand commitment and
partnership from peer functions. So, if as a technologist, one can translate the
functionality and capability of an IT product/solution into a business
deliverable, define success and keep the business abreast of value delivered,
business value will be delivered.

How
do you ensure is all IT and telecom investments are linked to business goals
such as better financials?

Improved financials come either from growing the top line or managing costs.
So fundamentally, like any other business manager, IT at Pepsi strives to
improve the return on IT capital deployed,Â
reduce the cost of service provided, and improve the quality of our
service to our internal and external customers. We also ensure high IT uptime
and performance so that the supply chain keeps running. IT at Pepsi has also
been leveraged to discover new markets in a very innovative way. All our
investments that go in IT have helped us in making our day-to-day functioning
better. No doubt, innovation is a key for us out here.

Now
that convergence is taking place in ICT, how important would it be for the FMCG
sector?

I do believe that once convergence becomes easier and cost effective to
deploy, it will have a huge role to play in the FMCG space. Currently, there is
more talk and less substance, especially once it comes to connecting remote
locations—FMCG companies set up plants and warehouses in fairly remote
locations, driven by overriding financial considerations, and even connecting
these locations is sometimes a challenge. Therefore, convergence is slightly
away as a goal. Having said that, my own sense is that FMCG players are watching
the space very keenly, and it is not only from an internal business network
perspective. I think, the way we interact with our consumers too will be
re-defined once convergence becomes more ubiquitous in the country. For
convergence to really happen in this country, it is still a wait and watch
situation, but it would be definitely helpful for organizations.

Which
technology is going to be the key driver in the FMCG industry in the coming
days?

Going forward, mobility solutions, POS solutions, data warehousing, and
enabling the distributor's supply chain to my mind will be popular in FMCG.
Also, all the shelf-ware in the form of ERP/SCM/CRM and even IT infrastructure
companies are sitting on—they have to be leveraged to their maximum before
more spends are diverted towards new technologies. We have deployed and keep on
deploying such new technologies as and when they would be ready to get deployed.

What
has been your experience in terms of services delivered by the service provider?


To us, uptime and performance of IT assets is crucial-and all our SLAs are
focused around that. Most of our vendors involved in providing us infrastructure
related services have SLAs built into their contracts that are monitored fairly
regularly. One of challenges is getting our internal customers to accept our SLA.
Given the velocity of our business, there are times when the customers want
their problems resolved 'now and here'-and that really makes usÂ
ensure that y-o-y we improve the SLA. It's important to have SLAs that
can help you in meeting your business objectives and in smooth running of entire
organization functions that are driven by IT.

Rahul Gupta  

rahulg@cybermedia.co.in