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Launched in 1998, Star News is one of the leading news channels in the country. Besides India, the channel also has it presence in Europe, Hong Kong, and the US. Its broadcaster is Media Content & Communications Services (MCCS), a joint venture between Ananda Bazaar Patrika TV and Star News Broadcasting. Apart from Star News, MCCS also broadcasts Star Ananda (Bengali) and Star Majha (Marathi) news channels.

Subrata Dutta, executive vice president, engineering, Star News and MCCS in an interaction with Voice&Data talks about the telecom and IT infrastructure requirements of the channel, challenges and future strategies. Excerpts

How do you define the role of a CTO/CIO in today's business environment?
The role of a CTO today is much more evolved. He not only provides technical knowledge to business, but also ensures the alignment of business and IT to maximize value for key shareholders. He is a strategic thinker who identifies the right business approach through the adoption and selection of appropriate technology, as per the requirement, to improve business performance and provide better RoI.

What is the role of the Internet and telecom in your business?
The Internet and telecommunications is one of the most important parts of any business entity. Equally, it plays a vital role in the day-to-day functions of Star News. Our correspondents are connected to our network either through the Internet or VPN. Furthermore, good speed and bandwidth is a prerequisite as it helps to transfer video and text, in turn allowing us to put content collected from remote location on TV channel much faster.

Next generation news gathering gadgets like sling box will use telecom features extensively. In a nutshell, high speed broadband and steadfast telecom network are the very essential requirements of our business.

Do you have a common IT and telecom infrastructure in all facilities?
No, we do not have a common IT infrastructure but our networks are connected via secure VPN links which facilitate connectivity for data and news content transfer.

What new technologies are you eying?
I'm considering virtualization, thin clients and data center optimization. Virtualization and thin clients are going to be very important in the coming days; even enterprises have started to move onto it. Grid/cloud computing is also going to be a major area in the coming one-to-two years, as it helps you utilize your system's computing power. Also, emergence of 3G will help us to do live reporting from every nook and corner of the country. The technology holds unlimited potential that is yet to be explored.

Mobile technologies will play a very dominant role, as they provide convenience and ease of use. In the current scenario, people want on-the-move information. With continuous increase in mobile savvy population and broadband penetration, there is a need to adopt new technologies. With better and more affordable national and global telecom setups, technology can be leveraged to a much greater extent.

What are your expectations from telecom vendors?
I expect telecom operators to provide us with the latest technology without any disruption in services. We also expect the operators to move to 3G for wider range of services and higher bandwidth. Also, it is expected that they would provide innovative and customized solutions in a cost effective way. In our business, the rate of news gathering and live feeds are really imperative, and therefore we are in talks with various service providers to consider heavy investment in such business cases.

What sort of benefits are you looking at after the adoption of these technologies? What is your total ICT spend?
Right now we are planning for data center consolidation with virtualization technology and thin clients. It will help us to cut costs as well as maintain the data center effectively. The technology will enable running multiple servers on a single server hardware-that means low utilization of electricity and space. There are plans to set up identical IT infrastructure in each location to
achieve better IT resource utilization and management. We have a small but strong IT team and at present, our total IT spend is around 10% of our total revenue.

Are all investments linked to business goals? Is RoI a major challenge for you?
As of now any investment is aligned to business for achieving business goals. While investing in a new technology or an asset, it is always imperative to calculate the RoI in order to make sure it bears fruit in the long run. In today's business environment, where every second day there is an ingression of new technology, RoI is a major challenge. It is therefore imperative for the technology heads to evaluate the role of any new technology before it is deployed, to safeguard the future interests of the organization.

Furthermore, to succeed in such a competitive environment, the alignment of business strategies and information strategies is a necessity. It is imperative to adopt speedy communication channels among departments/facilities to meet business objectives. Efficient use of technology can restyle business processes in a way that was earlier considered airy or unimaginable. Ultimately, to derive maximum value out of IT investments, the technology has to be embedded in the business strategy of the organization.

Who are your preferred telecom service providers? What challenges are you facing on that account?
We don't have any preference list as we work with all service providers like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Tata, etc. However Bharti Airtel has been providing good service in terms of their solutions, and customer support, and adhering to uptime commitment. While some service providers are good in a particular part of the country, some are good in other parts. Though things are improving, there is a basic challenge to identify the right service provider in the different parts.

Which mobile applications are you currently using or planning to use in the future?
We are using BlackBerry services. We are also exploring the options to get content from mobile devices equipped with camera to transfer the content.

Has the current economic environment impacted your ICT spend?
We are going as per our plans. However, we are scrutinizing thoroughly before making any investment. We are making sure that we have certain flexibilities that could fit into our future plans and fulfill the business requirements from time to time.

Jatinder Singh
jatinders@cybermedia.co.in