In a recent survey of Indian CIOs conducted by Ernst &Young, over 70% confirmed that they planned to adopt cloud based technologies within the next 3 years. While the primary driver for adoption may not be cost, corporates nevertheless look to such new business models to help improve bottomlines. Putting one’s head in the cloud is usually only part of the strategy to retain competitive edge. Having a tech trick or two up one’s corporate sleeve is equally important.

Which is why the recent technology conclave organised by students of the Business Technology Club at the Hyderabad -based Indian School of Business (ISB) cannily divided its agenda between two half-day panels – one discussing how enterprises are leveraging IT to enable disruptive innovation, the on adoption of cloud computing technologies. The event drew a powerful slate of key decision makers from the industry who candidly shared their experience even as they tried to cut through the hype surrounding these new technology innovations.
In the first panel, Santosh Anoo, Head of Strategy and Operations, Deloitte Consulting India, set the agenda before Umesh Jain, CIO, Yes Bank, explained how a new age bank could put in place the latest technology and practices, being unsaddled with a baggage of legacy systems and software.
Ravi Bommakanti , Vice President and Head Technology at Capgemini, India, revealed that Asia was today the world leader in mobile payments . Increasingly secure payment mechanisms and on-the-fly insurance processing and other cutting edge solutions were helping to persuade customers in India and other developing geographies.
Mukesh Singh, Product Head at MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel services provider, explained some of the innovations that the company had to introduce – like combining flight tickets with free airport pickups and drops – to maintain the lead in a fiercely competitive market.
Hero Honda’s CIO, Vijay Sethi explained how this company lifted itself from the traditional model of Indian business by exploiting IT where ever it made sense -- Web-based defect analysis; internet based procurement; magnetic card based loyalty programmes.
K. Sudarshan, Managing Director, Technology for Goldman Sachs in India, shared his learning experience when he had to transition from the US to India and continue to drive the company’s technology roadmap. 

Outlook: Cloudy! 

In the second panel, on the Cloud, Moorthy Uppaluri - General Manager & Country Head, DPE, Microsoft, explained some of the software giant’s initiatives for cloud computing, many of them free or near free offerings in the consumer and SME space.
Salil Punalekar- Head, Cognizant Cloud, Gopal Pingali - Director, Global Cloud Centre of Excellence, IBM and Subramaniyan Venkataraman - Vice President, Software Engineering, CA Technologies, shared the visions of their parent organizations – and with each a respected global player in cloud computing, the panel threw up some provocative thoughts on the subject.
Reema Gupta, Assoiate Director, SRITNE, ISB moderated the Cloud panel.
For further information on the Conclave, http://www.isb.edu/BTC_conclave/index.Shtml  
The Business Technology Club of the Class of 2010 at the ISB has 330 members who have an average work experience of five years and bring with them a rich and diverse mix of experiences from different backgrounds and geographies. More about the club and its activities: http://www.isb.edu/BusinessTechnologyClub/Index.Shtml  
The ISB a premier management institution established in 2001, is ranked 12 in Global B School Rankings 2010 by Financial Times, London. 

Nov 2 2010