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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.  

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,  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 us  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