Dr Vishad Rahangdale
Chief Information Officer,
Electrotherm (India) Limited
During 2016, enterprises across all industry verticals stepped up their investments in IT and telecom infrastructure in order to enhance operational efficiencies and meet customer demands. Internet of things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies gained significant traction during the year, while enterprises continued leveraging social media, analytics and cloud (SMAC) technologies to get real-time insights into market trends and convert them into actionable strategies. Going forward, the role of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, fog computing, blockchain, machine learning, robotics and 3D printing is expecte
What were the key technology trends in the enterprise space during 2016? What was the level of adoption of new technologies like IoT, M2M and the cloud?
The year 2016 has seen transition in many ways as far as the adoption of IT solutions by enterprises is concerned. Although technologies like SMAC have been doing the rounds for the past few years, the buzz was more around IoT and M2M during 2016. These technologies are yet to gain traction in the core manufacturing sector. However, the seeds have been sown. Meanwhile, the perpetuated effect of the preceding year and the reassurance by technology players on prevailing concerns regarding the security and privacy of organisation-sensitive data encouraged organisations to migrate from a capex to an opex model of IT spends. The year also saw enterprises migrating most of their applications to the cloud. The year was marked by the deployment of cloud-based business application solutions like customer relationship management (CRM)/supply chain management on a large scale.
What are the key challenges faced by Indian enterprises in adopting new technologies? How can these be resolved?
Internally, we have a new-generation, impatient and technology-savvy top management. It is very difficult to explain the readiness and preparedness of the internal ecosystem and its ability to sync with the new technology. Large manufacturing organisations still do have surreptitious rigidity in their processes. At the same time, CIOs are required to evaluate solutions from a 360-degree perspective, so that the technology complements the business rather than creates hindrances. But eventually, organisations have to willingly or unwillingly adopt disruptive technologies like IoT and M2M to remain competitive. The external challenge relates to the reliability of technology players and the stability of the solutions. A major bottleneck is connectivity and security and the high dependence on telecom operators. There are still grey areas in this domain. If not addressed in time, this would hamper the adoption of new technologies.
Which technology trends are likely to dominate the enterprise space in 2017?
The year 2017 is going to witness more vibrancy in the technology space. To be specific, organisations will consolidate their IT stack and ensure continuity in infrastructure. IoT will make some inroads and M2M discussions will hit the boardroom. However, sizeable new investments will go into traditional business applications on their maintenance and expansion. The cloud space will see a major surge
