Porus Munshi

Author and Innovation Consultant

"Organizations don't leap frog, it is the people who run the organization who can leap frog" was the core essence of the session on "Redesigning Life - breaking free of limiting life and performance paradigms" by Porus Munshi.  He is the author of the bestselling book 'Making Breakthrough Innovation Happen 'and writes for the column 'Work and You' in the Hindu Businessline.

He noted that people often perform at a fraction of their performance and that there is a sense of regret and quiet frustration which lead to imbalance in work and relationships. He stressed that it doesn't have to be that way and showcased ways by which one can have a balanced, holistic, high performing life in all areas. He presented some interesting examples where he showed that it is possible to take on challenges which seem impossible and unblock the hidden potential of people so that they can reach new heights of conceptualization, innovation and achievements.

Citing examples of transformation, Porus said that it is possible to become a marathon level swimmer by learning total immersion - a fluent, efficient and beautiful technique of swimming;  a martial art expert by practicing Krav Maga - a highly effective, fighting skills and self-defense form; lose weight, tone up, improve your fitness or get stronger by using kettle bells - an ancient exercise tool that have been adapted for modern day living: get rid of phobias quickly and for good through Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and also on how to fix relationship issues like marriages by using Mort Fertel's counseling techniques; all of these, each within six months at the most.

All in all, a refresher from the usual business and technology talk to something that a person cares about most - one's personal development. The key realizations from this session were that it is possible to redesign one's life, have a balanced and fruitful life and yet perform at high levels.

 

Ashvin Vellody

Strategy and Performance Advisory Head, KPMG India

"Innovation comes from a clear understanding of the business and its need for what it can do for its customers", says Ashvin Vellody, Strategy and Performance Advisory Head, KPMG India,  in his keynote address on defining, accessing and executing the technology vision and road map for India.  Ashvin touched upon several aspects including how businesses can realize the true value for their IT investments.

Citing several examples of farmers, fish mongers and the rural population who have not just benefited from technology revolutions but have implemented  it seamlessly  as a part of their routine, he observed that technology is being used in ways unimagined by the companies providing the technology. He noted that businesses need to introspect and take into account the NEW kind of consumers, connections and devices that will be using their technology and adapt to it. Similarly, he suggested that it is not practical to restrain one's applications to a niche section of devices since the new wave of mobile computing devices would make any standardization efforts by a business redundant.

On a global context, he gave an insight into a business leader's mind saying that they are under tremendous pressure to expand the top line, seize opportunities in new geographies and have a sustainable business growth. He also pointed out that unlike their counterparts in the West, who are mandated to cut down IT costs year after year by 15%, CIOs in India do not face this pressure and hence they still have opportunities to invest in IT Infrastructure for long term gains. This move towards "Green IT" is the "New Normal" and it's more of a business decision and not just for Corporate Social Responsibility.

 

Siddharth Pai

Partner and Managing Director-TPI India

"India as demand geography is one of largest market in Asia" says Siddharth Pai, Partner and Managing Director-TPI India in a session on "Key Trends in the Outsourcing Industry". TPI is the largest sourcing data and advisory firm in the world and recently published the 2Q10 Global TPI Index, which measures commercial outsourcing contracts valued at $25 million or more. Siddharth shared some of the trends in the broader outsourcing industry, discussed how and when outsourcing can continue to help and how to create sustainable business models around cloud computing.

He noted that most of the growth in the outsourcing industry occurred in the emerging markets especially in the Asia-Pacific region and that India and Australia continue to be the dominant in-region markets for outsourcing. Surprisingly, India as a key market was serviced by companies which were based outside India because they were faster in noticing this shift. He also observed that most of the market's growth was driven by unusually high level of restructuring activity and a significantly large number of delayed contracts in pipeline now "cleared". Among the key verticals, Manufacturing and Travel, Transportation and Hospitality, and Telecom contributed to the growth while financial services were surprisingly subdued when compared.

He pointed out that the movement to the cloud is less driven by the organization's needs but more driven by the market.  He urged the audience to ask several questions like how are the services priced, and how do they compare to their current cost. He also noted that it is important to know about the constraints of current agreements present, and what can they do to remove them. He pointed out that small and medium businesses (SMB) are adapting early to cloud computing because they lack the burden of the legacy environment that restricts their larger competitors.

Lastly, he mentioned that with changing business dynamics, the pricing model has changed from the linear model to the non linear model and it is essential for service providers to be able to delink revenue from cost. Businesses now want service providers to have pricing models directly proportional to the profits that they are making. Essentially, this means that the service providers are becoming "investors" in the business and takes all the business risks. He concluded that this model is here to stay and that pricing based on key performance indicators, bringing costs down and other such results would be the new norm.