Packing the office, into the smartphone

Story from Kerala on a IT Company providing e governance applications  

Senior bureaucrats in Kerala could soon be working their smartphones to sign files in their department, even when they are on official duty abroad. They will be able to track files and sign them from across the world and even keep a constant tab on the work of employees in their office back home without missing a single overseas assignment.

All this will be possible because of a new mobile application developed by Ospyn Technologies, a Technopark- based firm, for its proprietary electronic file processing system that is being implemented in government departments. The Digital Document Filing System (DDFS), as it is called, networks the different functions in an office and is a critical element of the e- governance project launched by the government.

The mobile app has been developed to work on the iphone and ipad as well as Android- powered smartphones, according to the company’s chief executive and managing director Prasadu Varghese and Chief Technology Officer Kishore Kumar. They say it is the next step in the evolution of DDFS. 

DDFS is designed to address the delay in the physical movement of files from one table to another in government offices. What it essentially does is to replace paperwork with electronic files. The system is currently operational in 57 offices of 15 departments. As many as 2,000 government employees are networked through the system. 

In the Secretariat, the seat of the government administration, DDFS has been implemented in the departments of Higher Education, Information Technology and Food and Civil Supplies. Ospyn has been given the mandate to implement the system in seven departments.

DDFS provides tools to create, retrieve, distribute and organise documents. It significantly enhances efficiency while reducing the cost and difficulty of maintaining paper records, Mr.Varghese explains.

In the Secretariat, DDFS has been integrated with the archival database prepared by scanning old files and converted them to the digital format. This makes it possible for officials to access old record files without leaving their seat. 

“In the conventional system, the average time for a tapal to become a GO is one month; with DDFS, it has come down to one week”, says Mr. Kumar. “Decision making is much easier. Files can be tracked online and traced to officials”. Even putting a chit on a file, a common practice among government employees, is possible electronically. Linking, bookmarking- everything can be replicated in electronic form.

The system minimises the scope for manipulation of files. Missing files, a common complaint in government offices could soon be a thing of the past, says Mr.Varghese. 

The third version of DDFS to be released soon will be a minimised variety of the system

Why IT companies Infosys, Wipro are betting big on start-ups

BANGALORE: Indian information technology companies are turning venture capitalists in their quest for fresh ideas and technology to help them compete more effectively in a fast-changing business environment. Like multinational technology companies - Cisco, Intel and SAP - which are active investors, Indian firms too are tying up with emerging ventures possessing niche skills or buying stakes in them, thereby gaining access to what could even be blockbuster ideas.

 The trend was exemplified earlier this month when Infosys said it has set up a $100 million (Rs 540 crore) fund to invest in startups, besides spotting and funding internal innovation. Similarly, Mahindra Satyam, which has a stated goal of growing faster than the industry, has a $50-million fund exclusively for investments in global technology startups. Wipro, too, is actively looking to partner innovative young companies or buy minority stakes in them.

According to industry observers, Indian IT companies have become serious and methodical about identifying suitable startup ventures with the intent of investing and have tasked senior executives with such mandate.

No specifics
For example, at Infosys, M&A head Deepak Padaki is in charge of the fund. "This has become imperative, because of the pressure from customers and competition (to innovate as well as be more efficient)," said Sumeet Anand, who is a founder member of Nasscom IP4Biz, an initiative to connect startup ventures and large businesses.

Anand also runs Kreeo, a startup that offers enterprises a social media platform for internal collaboration. "Also the DNA and culture of a product company is different from that of services companies." While software services companies all agree that aligning with startups are an important part of their strategy, they decline to talk about specifics.
There have been earlier attempts at funding internal innovation- OnMobile at Infosys or SatNav at Satyam - but directing the funding spotlight to external targets is new for the Indian IT services companies, which are faced with fundamental changes taking places at a fast clip in the technology outsourcing market.

To stay abreast of latest technologies such as data analytics, cloud computing or enterprise mobility, they must work closely with niche startups with innovative technologies that can complement their existing service offerings.

"We place a lot of emphasis on innovation and we're actively promoting it within the company as well, but there is only so much one company can do, which is why we felt it may be good idea to tie-up with start-ups," added Manish Mehta, chief vertical solutions officer and member of the executive management team, Mahindra Satyam.

Indian IT companies are following a slightly different approach to investing compared to global firms such as Intel and Cisco, said an investment banker who has worked closely with one of the large IT firms.

"Multinationals deploy surplus capital in an organised manner partly to promote newer companies and partly to promote the ecosystem. In the case of Indian IT firms, investing in ideas internally or externally gives them an option to enter a venture early, thereby also giving them a better chance to acquire it at a later stage," said the banker, requesting anonymity.

Sanjoy Sen, senior director at Deloitte India, thinks that finding an external target and incubating it also forces companies to go out of their particular culture as it brings in new blood. "This also helps in enhancing the risk appetite.

 But some software companies believe that innovation is best done from within and are adopting external funding mechanisms and benchmarks to encourage new ideas from among employees. For instance, Cognizant incubates ventures within the company in a model patterned after Silicon Valley venture capital firms. Cognizant Capital, the vehicle which vets and funds these ventures follows a tiered funding process -- early stage, mid or late-stage investments.

Similarly, HCL Technologies believes in funding ideas internally and the exercise has helped it increase non-linear revenues, said Krishnan Chatterjee, senior vice-president and head of strategic marketing.

Mobile app to help govt officials take decisions on the move

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 16:  

Ospyn Technologies, a company based in Technopark here, bets big on the business of e-governance.

It is promising to take decision-making to the wireless world, enabling government officials track files and sign them on the move, with the help of a mobile application it has developed for its proprietary file processing system, digital document filing system (DDFS).

The app can be operated on iphone, ipad, android and other smartphones, say Prasadu Varghese, chief executive and managing director, and Kishore Kumar, chief technology officer, Ospyn.

DELAY CUT DOWN

A major cause of concern in a majority of government departments is the delay caused in the physical movement of files from desk to desk, Varghese said.

Once DDFS is implemented in departments, documents are passed on electronically. Delays and overheads associated with paper based document distribution are significantly reduced.

DDFS will help distribute and retrieve documents instantly without hindrance of any geographical boundaries.

The traditional filing system involved paper-based filing systems, which apart from being space-consuming and tedious, also poses serious cost and security concerns.

Records management, data sharing, distribution and information retrieval become more complex and difficult, thereby decreasing operational efficiency.

RECORD REPOSITORY

DDFS addresses these issues and provides tools to create, retrieve, distribute and organise documents, Kumar said.

It enhances business performance and productivity, while increasing efficiency and reducing the cost and clutter of maintaining paper records.

For instance, in the Government Secretariat here, all old files are scanned, converted to digital form and archived in a record repository.

DDFS has been integrated to this database and hence, users can access old record files through DDFS, without leaving their seat.

DDFS enables officials to keep an attentive eye on ‘peeping toms’ and also to control use and viewing of data or documents.

FILE STATUS

Malpractices such as replacing pages in a file, replacing an entire file, file stealing etc can be effectively checked by implementing DDFS.

Through DDFS public portal, file status and stages can be made public. It eliminates all issues associated with lost or misplaced documents.

Officers will have quick and instant access of relevant data and documents, enabling rapid decision-making.

Kumar said that systems such as ‘e-district’ as part of e-governance are used to improve transactional capabilities and processes of Government departments.

An efficient e-governance requires a smooth and streamlined functioning of both decision-making and transactional systems. DDFS has both, Varghese and Kumar added.

IT’s a question of branding

As competition hots up, IT players focus on differentiation rather than on cost reduction.

Branding in the Indian IT outsourcing sector has been more a sub-conscious effort than a planned strategy. However, as clients demand more bang for the outsourcing buck, coupled with shifts in technology, Indian outsourcers will have to create a distinct identity.

On a sunny afternoon in March, as N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus of Infosys walked in to address a gathering of mediapersons (on behalf of a Nasscom committee he chaired), accompanied by N. Chandrasekaran, CEO of TCS, the concern was writ large on their faces. On one hand was a slowing economic climate (both in developed and Indian markets) and on the other, the industry at the crossroads with regard to India as an outsourcing destination.

This dichotomy is reflected in the branding of Indian IT, which Murthy and others are trying to address. Murthy jokes that at times he used to get orders just waiting in the queue in an international airport lobby. Add to that an industry increasingly getting commoditised and the need to differentiate becomes apparent. Most of the companies have a similar management structure in the form of delivery teams, hiring capabilities, training, tools and management with similar backgrounds. All things being equal, the sector that built its brand more subconsciously now has to make an effort to build a brand that will have a significant differentiator.

BABY STEPS

Some developments recently point to the efforts taken by the sector that is being pushed into a corner and is now forced to hit back. TCS has ‘Experience certainty’, Wipro has ‘Applying Thought’ and Infosys ‘Building Tomorrow’s Enterprise’ as their taglines. But pit Indian brands against Fortune 500 companies and realisation sets in.

Only TCS has managed to crack the brand code to a certain extent. Last year TCS was named one of the ‘big four’ in IT services brands, by Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation firm. The company’s brand value is estimated at $4.1 billion and it plays with the big boys such as IBM, HP and Accenture. None of the erstwhile poster boys such as Infosys, HCL or Wipro figured in the list. Interestingly, in the last 12 months, it is the mid-sized IT companies which are making a push to rebrand themselves. Bangalore-based Mindtree has announced a change in its brand identity with which it would focus more on expertise than costs.

The new brand identity would help the $400-million company get more larger-sized outsourcing deals which could help it achieve the $1-billion target in the next few years. The company, which started operations in 1999 and took the help of a student affected by cerebral palsy to design its logo has this time opted for LA-based Siegel + Gale for its rebranding initiative. Explaining the rationale, Subroto Bagchi, Chairman, MindTree, says that every ten years an IT services company should look at a rebranding exercise. “In these challenging times, the message of outsourcing clients gaining more bottom line by adopting innovative solutions as compared to cost reduction is the need of the hour,” he added.

For the Nasdaq-listed iGate, Ogilvy and Mather late last year came out with a set of ads that took a dig at the traditional model of outsourcing and urged clients to talk of the results achieved by outsourcing rather than a mere ‘you do the job and bill for workable hours’ approach.

For a business that is people-intensive, Indian IT services companies have done well in the first phase but now the real challenge comes, says Rohan Deshpande, CTO, Ogilvy & Mather. The challenges come in the form of a different branding exercise that will distinguish one from the other. “Right now, it all looks the same,” he adds.

To get a sense of what Deshpande is alluding to, one needs to look a little deeper into the way multinational services companies such as IBM play the game. In 2008, then CEO of IBM, Sam Palmisano, outlined a corporate initiative called ‘Smarter Planet’, which sought to highlight the way business, government and civil society around the world were capturing the potential of smarter systems to achieve economic growth, efficiency, sustainable development and societal progress.

It resonates beyond boardrooms and that should be the level of thinking at Indian companies aspiring to go global, says an executive who was involved in the creative process of this initiative.

To be fair, Indian companies do not have a 100-year-old legacy and tend to stay away from radically different branding strategies. iGate has made a start with its campaign but the differentiation has to come in sooner rather than later.

MindTree’s Bagchi has been trying to address this with the new branding strategy.

“In the past, we have rarely communicated differentiation and were defined by the category of business that we were present in,” he admits.

According to Atul Hegde, the CEO of Ignitee Digital Services, the time has come for Indian companies to look beyond Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and look at getting a buy-in right from the Board to the employees for the kind of services rendered. “When you look at the branding pyramid, services are at a lower end (when compared to products) and companies need to figure out what value can be added with branding to get that mind share,” he adds. According to Bagchi, the new branding strategy involves moulding market perception of the Mindtree brand and communicating it to the stakeholders. This aspect of Indian companies putting themselves in their outsourcers’ shoes is new. The business of outsourcing is unique in the sense that it involves longer client-provider relationships when compared to other sectors, wherein the relationships are relatively shorter.

However, in the light of economic volatility and with IT’s natural tendency to complicate processes, outsourcers are increasingly asking questions that can be answered in shorter time frames than multiyear engagements.

“It is time that the world looks at India as a destination that can go beyond cost and look at innovation – whether in services or products,” says Murthy.

Can Indian companies redefine business processes with the use of technology? The answer is unclear. However, one thing is clear: Companies need to find the answer sooner rather than later.