CIOIN

Cloud Computing The recent trend of cloud-based ERP offerings from software vendors like Ramco Systems and more recently Microsoft, have begun to pique the interest of Indian CIOs. Sneha Jha spoke to M.K. Manavalan, DGM-technology, Sankara Nethralaya, to find out more about this emerging trend.

First, have you moved your ERP to the cloud?
Yes, our ERP is running on our internal cloud. But we are also working with TCS to create an external cloud for other ophthalmic hospitals. With the help of TCS, we will jointly host the electronic medical records (EMR) of other ophthalmic hospitals in India. This will be launched in about a month.

Do you think cloud-based ERPs a positive trend?
Of course it is a positive trend. It will lead to the removal of individual user level licensing for particular operating systems and move costs towards a pay-per-use model. It will also help enterprises avoid vendor lock-in unlike with the licensed ERP concept, where they are locked in for the entire period of the license. However, the challenges of migrating data need to be addressed.

Do you think CIOs adopt it?
It depends on their business models. In IT-intensive industries, like healthcare, it has benefits beyond cost. It could, for example, bring in standardization. It could also trigger a move towards the sharing electronic health records across hospitals, on the back of cloud-based healthcare ERPs.

How do you plan to combat the security challenges of the cloud?
In the healthcare industry, apart from the security complexities, the privacy of data is more important. We will host our ERP in multiple datacenters with appropriate security systems.