IT Next Magazine is published by 9.9 Media and is basically targeted to the senior IT professional community.

1. FEBRUARY / RS. 150
VOLUME 01 / ISSUE 02
SECURITY: Is your
enterprise ready for
27 GREEN IT: Can you
cut the power cost
30 STRATEGY: How do
you define IT project
52 THE BIG Q
How to ensure adequate
mobile devices? in the data centre? requirements? bandwidth? Page 55
YOU
VOTED!
IT MANAGERS IDENTIFY
TEN HOT
TECHNOLOGIES
A 9.9 Media Publication

2. EDITORIAL
Driving business
value
To be the last to produce a technology
trend list is a difficult decision to make.
But, at IT Next we consciously choose to do “IT managers are
this, to avoid bombarding you with another me-too looking at technologies
prediction for the year. Instead, we decided to conduct a reality-check that can provide
of the “commonly announced predictions” by asking your peers— the IT
managers—to vote and rank the technologies that will matter during the year. clear, measurable
The parameters were simple—ability of the technologies to leverage cost savings”
existing IT infrastructure of an enterprise, its level of maturity, utility, and S H U B H E N D U PA R T H
the cost of implementation. But the outcomes were startling.
Several of the technologies that ranked high on low implementation cost,
faltered on either the ability to leverage the existing infrastructure or the
maturity and utility front.
The real surprises in the pack were the much touted XaaS (everything as
a service), business-grade social networking and green IT. Sure, they made
it to the top list, but scored relatively low on the utility front.
The message is clear: businesses and IT managers are looking at
technologies that can help them squeeze more from the existing infrastructure,
and provide clear, measurable cost savings—both in terms of improved
productivity and efficiency.
The top three in the list, security, BI and BA, and data center transformation,
clearly indicate that enterprise IT spending will continue to be driven by
the business value of technology. It looks like IT managers will adjust their
operational spending levels in direct proportion to corporate revenue, rather
than developing or implementing new systems or going for technology upgrades.
Virtualisation, which scored marginally lower than the top three
technologies in the list, reinforces the fact that the prevailing economic
Blogs To Watch!
scenario is compelling IT managers to leverage their existing IT assets to
www.infosysblogs.com/eim/
PHOTO GRAPHY: D R LOHIA
the hilt, helping organisations keep their capex low. www.cringely.com/
The one exception, however, is security. The fact that IT managers have
Your views and opinion matter
rated it high on all parameters points to the fact that it continues to be to us. Send your feedback
a major concern area. But merely protecting devices will not serve any on stories and the magazine
at shubhendu.parth@9dot9.
purpose. It needs to map the real business data. in or SMS us at 567678 (type
Watch out for the pitfalls though. ITNEXT<space>your feedback)
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 1

3. CONTENT
Facebook:
http://www.facebook .
com/home.php# / gr oup.
php?gid=19567 5 03 05 82
Twitter:
http://t witter.com/ itnex t
LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com /
groups?gid=22617 7 0& trk =m yg_
FOR THE L ATEST TECHNOLOGY UPDATES GO TO ITNEXT.IN FEBRUARY 2010 V O L U M E 0 1 | I S S U E 0 2 ugrp_ovr
TECHNOLOGIES
10
THAT MATTER
INDIA’S IT MANAGERS REVIEW,
ANALYSE AND REFLECT ON THE LATEST
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS—AND VOTE ON
THE ONES THAT WILL MAKE THE
CUT THIS YEAR.
Page
16
INSIGHTS BOSS TALK INTERVIEW
27 Defending new boundaries
How to secure your mobile enterprise environment
34 Getting ’em work from home
Telecommuting employees can deliver big gains
38 Moving away from terra firma
While cloud computing offer some great benefits, the transition may
C OV ER DES IGN/ILLUSTRATIO N: ANIL T
not be easy for an enterprise
42 Playing the storage nutritionist
Data tiering, virtualisation and green-orientation are among the vital
nutrients that will help you arrive at the right mix 05 Take more on your plate | 24 “We have an edge over
The much vaunted right time, Google Apps” | Ponani Gopal-
46 Making the right connections right place adage is no longer akrishnan, VP at IBM India Soft-
The right cabling solution must be standards-compliant and appropri- relevant. What really works is ware Lab talks about the benefits
ate for both existing and future application needs all time, all place of LotusLive
2 IT NEXT | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

4. ITNEXT.IN
MANAGEMENT
Managing Director: Dr Pramath Raj Sinha
Printer & Publisher: Vikas Gupta
EDITORIAL
Group Editor: R Giridhar
Page PUTTING THE SQUEEZE ON ENERGY
Editor: Shubhendu Parth
Consulting Editor: Pravin Prashant
30
CONSUMPTION | Rationalising power cost at Associate Editor: Shashwat DC
data centers can help build a greener enterprise
Sr Correspondent: Jatinder Singh
OPINION OFF THE SHELF DESIGN
06 Money Wise: Costliest 64 Wipro launches green PC Sr Creative Director: Jayan K Narayanan
not always the best | by Alok | A sneak preview of enterprise Art Director: Binesh Sreedharan
Kumar, CEO, Sears IT & Manage- products, solutions and services Associate Art Director: Anil VK
ment Services Manager Design: Chander Shekhar
Sr Visualisers: Anoop PC, Santosh Kushwaha
59 Tech Talk: Resolving the Sr Designers: Prasanth TR & Anil T
‘Open’ dilemma | by Jaideep
SALES & MARKETING
Billa, Advisor to Chief Architect
VP Sales & Marketing: Naveen Chand Singh
& CEO, Polaris Software Lab
(09971794688)
Brand Manager: Siddhant Raizada (09990388390)
15-MINUTE National Manager-Events & Special Projects:
MANAGER Mahantesh Godi (09880436623)
49 From Fat to fit | How to THE BIG Q National Manager Online: Nitin Walia
manage the IT operating budget 55 What chokes my Inter- (09811772466)
net? | Managing a WiFi network GM South: Vinodh Kaliappan(09740714817)
50 Office Yoga | Asanas for GM North: Pranav Saran(09312685289)
stress relief CUBE CHAT GM West: Sachin N Mhashilkar(09920348755)
60 Aspire to inspire | “A leader Assistant Brand Manager: Arpita Ganguli
52 Healing Achilles’ heel | should not shy away from tak-
Managing project requirements, ing new responsibilities,” says PRODUCTION & LOGISTICS
budget and timelines Ranganathan N N, Joint Man- Sr. GM Operations: Shivshankar M Hiremath
ager, Business IT Solutions at Production Executive: Vilas Mhatre
54 Power Dressing | 5 simple Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Logistics: MP Singh, Mohamed Ansari,
steps to buying the right suit Services Shashi Shekhar Singh
OFFICE ADDRESS
REGULARS Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt Ltd
K-40, Connaught Place, Outer Circle,
Editorial _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 01 New Delhi–110 001, India
Industry update _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 08
Printed and published by Vikas Gupta for
Event _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _62 Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt Ltd
Tech indulge _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 66 K-40, Connaught Place, Outer Circle,
Open debate _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _67 New Delhi–110 001, India
My log _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 68 Editor: Vikas Gupta
K-40, Connaught Place, Outer Circle,
ADVERTISER INDEX New Delhi–110 001, India
EMC IFC
Digilink 05 Printed at: Nutech Photolithographers
PLEASE
B-240, Okhla Phase–I,
Page EDU 22-23 RECYCLE
THIS
Consumer Mate 45 MAGAZINE New Delhi–110 020, India
AND
50
Check Point IBC REMOVE
INSERTS
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN
Delta BC BEFORE
RECYCLING
PART WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM NINE DOT NINE
MEDIAWORX PV T LTD IS PROHIBITED.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 3

5. BOSS TALK | NILESH SANGOI
MANAGING IT
Take more
on your plate
H
ave you noticed something
strange about human nature?
While we acutely aspire for
power and authority, we want
to lay hands on them with mini-
mum accountability and effort. I have often come
across managers aspiring for higher positions,
waiting for what they call the right time to show
their skills and talent, little realising that they
should be doing it all the time.
The idea that one needs to wait for a particular “The much vaunted right time, right
opportunity to display one’s skills is grossly
erroneous. Gone are the days when indulgent
place adage is no longer relevant. What
bosses used to mentor their juniors in the really works is all time, all place”
‘guru-shishya parampara’. With competition
becoming intense and time getting compressed, critical to thoroughly understand fundamental
the current crop of juniors are expected to excel theories and principles before learning through
by the dint of their abilities and commitment if hands-on practical work. This foundation
they really want to be noticed and mentored by helps tremendously.
their seniors for fast-track growth. And even while you do that, do not forget that
So what should an IT manager, who desires in today’s environment a good CIO is one who
to become the CIO some day, do to impress his comprehends technology and business equally
bosses and score over his peers? He should SUGGESTION BOX well. So, take keen interest in the business
proactively take more on his plate. Never evade your organisation is in, the market scenario,
assuming higher responsibilities just because competition, business processes and the ways
they are not part of your job description. But how the business and the end consumer can be served
should you go about it? better with the help of technology.
Typically, a CIO likes subordinates to In some organisations, there is a clear line
whom he can assign a task and forget about drawn between IT and users. It should be ‘we’
it. Therefore, ensure that your boss does not rather than ‘us versus them’. Work very closely
have to continuously remind you about the with other departments to see how you can help
task assigned. Keep communicating to him the them make IT a business enabler.
developments, both good and bad. It talks about the In the end, let me repeat that the much vaunted
Also, remember that when you are escalating Google founders, ‘right time, right place’ adage is no longer relevant.
a problem to your boss, you present a few and describes how What really works is ‘all time, all place’. So never
PHOTO GRAPHY: MEXI XAV IER
possible solutions, and your recommendation. technology has flinch from taking new and higher responsibilities.
This will make decision-making relatively easy changed the way What you take on today without asking, might be
for the boss and earn you higher responsibilities. we live and work yours for the taking tomorrow.
To be able to do that, ensure that you build WRITERS: DAVID A VISE &
MARK MALSEED The author is CTO of Meru Cabs and an open-source enthu-
a very strong foundation of technology know- P UBLISHER: PALGRAVE
siast who believes in being hands-on whenever possible. He
MACMILL AN
how during the initial years of your career. It is P RICE: INR 295.00 has also served as AVP-IT at Star India
4 IT NEXT | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

6. INBOX
Brilliant IT magazine! I am
sure it’s going to be read by
every CIO in the country very
soon. Very well laid out, fantastic
design, coverage from logistics to
Cloud… superb advertisements
JANUARY 2010 backed by all market leaders. Way
to go!
IT NEXT THANKS
ITS READERS SHIVA SHANKAR SHIVA
FOR THE WARM Vice-President & Head—IT Infrastruc-
RESPONSE ture & Security (Operations & Engineer-
ing) | Reliance Communications
http://www.
scribd.com/
doc/25549135/IT-
Next-Vol-1-Issue-1
It was a nice feeling to realise
that I am actually reading some-
884 views
IT NEXT VALUES YOUR FEEDBACK thing which has been exclusively
We want to know what you think about the magazine, and how we can make it designed for my community of IT
http://issuu.com/
a better read. Your comments will go a long way in making IT NEXT the pre- itnext/docs/ managers.
it_next_issue_01_
ferred publication for the community. Send your comments, compliments, dec09-jan10
As you have pointed out in
complaints or questions about the magazine to editor@itnext.in. your editorial, the IT managers’
108 views
community often goes unnoticed
in the entire gamut of IT and IT
delivery. Thanks for bringing out
“It was nice to go through the first issue of IT Next, which READ THIS a magazine for us.
ISSUE ONLINE
focuses on the significant contribution made by IT While the first edition is
spot on in the content and
managers in the growth of an organisation. This is the only http://www.itnext.
in/resources/ presentation, I would like to know
magazine that provides IT mangers with ample guidance on magazine more about the best practices
how to become the next generation of CIOs. The magazine does in IT strategy as this will help
growing organisations to rise up
well by focusing on upcoming issues and recent trends in technology
to meet the growth challenges.
both from infrastructure as well as applications side.” But it is definitely a Maybach :).
SUBHASIS NAYAK PRASAD REDDY
Manager (IT) | Bata India Ltd Manager-IT & Administration | Prelude
Systems
The magazine looks good in content and on the gloss scale. The
article on GST is good. Other articles in Insight section are also good. Excellent work! Hope you can
However, the magazine can do with lesser and smaller photographs. keep up the quality.
The cover story is good, but has missed out on the opportunity to high- L C SINGH
light that today’s CIOs also help in the strategy process and are not lim- Founder CEO | Nihilent Technologies
ited to merely executing what someone else determines. This, of course,
requires experience, competence and “industry-specific” perspectives. I read through the magazine
Going ahead the magazine should include a feature on “Musings” or and found it excellent. Despite
“Higher Plane”, “Weekend Byte” or something else which will get the there being other similar sources
CIO talking of other interests or different perspectives than just about of information in the market, IT
IT. An in-depth case study will add value to the readers and will be in Next stands out on many counts—
keeping with your overall look, theme and feel. while the content is surely fabu-
The magazine should also take up unusual issues or topics and get lous, I am impressed with the
to depth and bring a refreshing perspective. It would also help to get a look and feel factor as well. Over-
few international quality bloggers to write and contribute. all, I think it’s a great effort from
I can see that you are structuring to be different. I feel you can work your end and kudos to the entire
ITNEXT<space>
to become the Forbes India of the IT magazine world. Some additions, team!
<your feedback>
some de-emphasis, some emphasis will help. and send it to SANCHIT VIR GOGIA
NAGARAJ BHARGAVA
COO | Synaptris
56 78
76
*Special rates apply
Senior Analyst-IT Services |
Springboard Research
6 IT NEXT | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

7. MONEY WISE
OPINION ALOK KUMAR
CEO, Sears IT & Management Services
job”. Consequently, the quality of
manufacturing, has undergone a sea
change. Similarly, IT is so embedded
in almost every organisation that it
Costliest is not has to be everyone’s concern, and not
that of the CIO alone. The day, this
always the best
understanding is embedded in the
mind of all CXOs, they will witness a
sea change in the benefit technology can
bring to their business.
W
Here are a few tips that can help IT
e all have learned managers reap rich benefits even with
the hard way low IT budgets.
that cost cutting Always plan technology for your
and cost reduc- needs, not on the basis of what you
tion need not can afford. One should look for
wait for a recession to strike. However, solutions that fit the budget without
recession has certainly taught all of us compromising needs. For everything
the lesson that high budget necessarily there is a solution. You have to put in
does not convert itself into high busi- extra effort to look around, or strike a
ness benefits. It is only validation and balance where necessary. Don’t forget to
participation from all levels that an review the actual benefits achieved after
organisation can achieve the right bal- the project.
ance between what it spends and the As an IT manager, you should never
benefit from IT investments. ignore the fact that gaps will continue
In the current day corporate scenario, to exist between the plan and the actual
most of the companies do not have expenditure. But the key to success lies
any formal or detailed IT budget. IT
is always considered as an expense,
“Always plan in reviewing and reducing the gaps
in the future. You can achieve that by
despite the fact that without it the technology for your making your IT an internal business.
business cannot operate anymore. I have
mostly seen planning for IT happening
needs, not on the Effective programme management and
control within IT and user departments
on an ad hoc basis, and requirements basis of what you will deliver far more benefits without
reaching the CIO’s desk as if they have
dropped suddenly from the sky. What
can afford” spending anything extra. To do that you
need to have the benchmarks to compare
this means is that the IT department performance. But do not stop there; try
has little room to plan. Most of the time always a gap between the needs and to create your own benchmarks for
and energy goes in managing what is at the capacity. Therefore, it is obvious others to follow.
hand, and very little focus is accorded to that with limited budget, the business In the end, remember that your wants
integrating business and IT, or planning benefits can never reach anywhere close may always not be the needs of the
how business can better leverage ICT. It to the business needs. Unfortunately, organisation. Think, involve others and
is very apparent that organisations that most organisations give low priority to evolve a consensus on requirements. By
have understood the power of IT have IT planning. Technology, now being the doing this and more, you can achieve
benefited immensely from the same. backbone of almost every organisation, the same result or even better ones
Remember the days, when visiting is akin to the nervous system of the by spending less. So the next time,
a hotel for our dinner, our first glance company. Its breakdown will mean you are asked to make an assessment,
used to be on the right hand side of direct loss of business and, therefore, remember the thumb rule, costliest is
PHOTO GRAPHY: MEXI XAV IER
the menu. Our taste buds were guided must be accorded a priority similar not always the best.
by the cost–the lower the better. This to sales, manufacturing or other core
mindset is all pervasive in every walk functions. The author has been a tech leader for more than
of today’s corporate life. When Deming and JM Juran started a decade, and has been associated with com-
panies like Hutchinson and the Reliance Group.
A budget is based on what the their quality campaign in the 1980’s, Currently, he is heading Sears IT & Management
company can afford, and there is the mantra was “Quality is everyone’s Services India
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 7

8. UPDATE
UPDATE
I N D U S T R Y
TRENDS
DEALS
PRODUCTS
SERVICES
PEOPLE
storage and networking gear.
This will help HP prepackage
“machines” for particular
applications.
The two companies are
also looking at eliminating
complexities of IT management
and automate existing manual
processes through the cloud
environment to lower overall
costs. Taking the partnership
further, the two have also
decided to increase their global
investment by 10 times, to
drive new opportunities for
the 32,000 HP and Microsoft
Frontline channel partners.
The companies will also work
towards developing solutions that
can respond to changing business
HP, Microsoft to The joint
solutions
requirements by seamlessly
converging server, storage,
simplify solution
are designed network and application resources
to simplify in a self-managed environment.
technology The deal is expected to impact
TECH ALLIANCE | Understanding the rising complexities of IT environments earlier alliances made by IBM
environment across the globe, tech giants HP and Microsoft have for busi- and Oracle to save enterprise
entered into a partnership to jointly invest US $250 million in devel- nesses of all costs and Cisco, VMware and
oping solutions aimed at simplifying the technology environment sizes EMC on private clouds.
for enterprises. According to Microsoft, the
The partnership will enable the two companies build and integrate integrated portfolio would be
technologies like Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server complemented by new design,
applications, and Microsoft Hyper-V Server with HP’s hardware, implementation and support
services for the joint solutions.
Both companies will also
work towards modernisation
MOSTILE
B E Advertisement support for mobile applications will generate of application services for large
OR
APP almost 25% of all mobile app store revenues by 2013 Online Transaction Processing
(REVENUE PROJECTIONS IN US $ MILLION) (OLTP) implementations and
Application 30000 business intelligence (BI)
stores to be
25000
29,479 solutions.
a core focus
This integration also
PHOTO GRAPHY: PHOTOS .CO M
area for the 20000
mobile indus- intends to deliver power and
15000
try in 2010 performance optimisation,
10000
while ensuring interoperability
5000 in a heterogeneous data
2009
6,770
2010
2013
0 4,237 center environment, the two
companies claim.
S O URCE: GARTNER, D ECE MBER 2009
8 IT NEXT | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

9. SECURE YOUR IDENTITY AUTOMATE YOUR PC BACKUP SPEED UP YOUR CONNECTIVITY
Trend Micro’s 2010 edition of Internet Se- Seagate Replica, the new PC Netgear RangeMax Dual
curity Pro claims to secure backup device, can elimi- Band Wireless-N Gigabit
online identities of users nate manual need for the Router WNDR3700 has been
in an advanced way. The PC backup process and designed to fulfill the high
product is priced at Rs 1,890 can store up-to-date broadband connectivity needs
for a single PC and Rs 2,890 copies of everything at a of enterprises. It is priced at
for a three-PC licence. single click. Rs 9,900.
Google introduces changes without having to
worry about saving it in different
storage on tap
storage devices. Those using
premium versions of Google
Docs can also use their accounts
for remote backup.
The move is not surprising,
TECH TIDINGS | Google docu- considering that Google has been
ment users can now create and trying to push its own cloud-based
share all kinds of online docu- operating system. It is expected
ments. While the company will that Google will try to offer as
still limit users to 500KB for many essential cloud services as
Microsoft Word documents, and possible before it launches the
10MB for PowerPoint presenta- Chrome OS netbooks.
tions and PDFs, the new limit for The company further states
all other files that cannot be con- that the Premier Edition Google
verted into a Google Docs format Apps customer will be able to
is 250MB. seamlessly upload many files
The company has, however, at once and sync them with
put a cap of 1GB on the amount their desktop in real-time using
of space for non-Google Docs The new cloud The new cloud storage third-party applications. With
files that are stored within Docs. storage capa- capability will help enterprise the battle of cloud heating up,
Users can upgrade though, by bility will help users collaborate on various the announcement is expected
buying additional storage for 25 enterprise kinds of large format documents, to stir the soup for many biggies,
cents per GB per year. as also enable them to make including Microsoft.
AROUND THE WORLD QUICK BYTE
Wireless backhaul:
30 lakh base stations by 2012
IDC predicts that the APAC carrier network
equipment market will have 30 lakh base stations
and over 18 lakh cell sites by 2012—a growth of
24.3% and 10.7% respectively from 2008-09. Half CISCO CEO JOHN CHAMBERS ON THE COM-
PANY’S GROWTH FORECAST
of these sites will be connected to fibre through “THE COMPUTER SWITCHING
Carrier Ethernet. Urban 3G/HSPA base stations will COLOSSUS IS CHANGING
FROM THE INTERNET’S
be linked to fibre by 2011 in most markets. The main ‘PLUMBER’ TO A PLATFORM
driver of this transformation is the need for mobile AND PROVIDER OF
operators to provide high bandwidth services with PRODUCTS FOR ONLINE
WORK AND LEISURE”
incremental capex outlays.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 9

10. UPDATE
Global IT spending to
touch $3.4 trillion in 2010
TECH TRENDS | Giving indications that of 9.3%. While Gartner expects the
the global economy may be headed Middle East and African market to
for a recovery, international research grow by 7.7%, it predicts 7% increase in
firm Gartner has predicted that the Asia Pacific IT spending.
world will spend US $3.4 trillion on IT However, the report cautions that
in 2010. The projection exemplifies a the recovery in Western Europe,
significant improvement from 2009, United States and Japan will continue INTERVIEW
when worldwide IT spending regis- to register slower growth. While NEERAJ GILL
tered a negative growth of 4.6%. IT spending in Western Europe is Managing Director – India & SAARC,
Polycom
The report further predicts that all expected to grow by 5.2%, Gartner
major segments, including computing predicts that the US and Japan market
hardware, software, IT services, spending would grow by 2.5% and IT NEXT: How useful are the present-
telecom, and telecom services, will 1.8%, respectively. day conferencing solutions?
grow in 2010. % The report, however,
GILL: Present-day conferencing solutions
According to the research SPENDING points out that it is important
IN ASIA PACIFIC are well equipped to bring in operational
firm, IT spending growth in to understand the impact
7
TO GROW BY efficiency, business continuity, and help
emerging markets—except of exchange rates on the
in reducing travel cost, giving competitive
central and eastern Europe, markets as well. The growth,
advantage for swift business decisions.
%
and some of the Gulf states— it says, is largely attributed
will lead the way, with Latin to a projected decline in How are you addressing the needs of
America registering the the value of the US dollar IT managers?
Source: Gartner
highest spending growth compared to 2009.
At Polycom, we value the contribution of
IT managers and continue to develop a
variety of resources that are useful for
Oracle completes
them. While we support our users by
providing adequate training, our technical
support team is equipped to help them
Sun takeover design the right tele-presence and video
conferencing solution.
M&A | Oracle has announced that So, what is your recommendation
it has completed the takeover of for a IT manager planning to imple-
Sun Microsystems. The US $7.4 ment a high definition conferencing
billion deal was pending approval solution?
for the last nine months. While
An IT manager should always consider
the US Department of Justice
factors like target users and existing
approved the acquisition last year,
conferencing environment while planning
the European Commission gave
for a high definition conferencing solution.
its go ahead only last month.
One should also consider what types of
The acquisition will enable
content would be shared—spreadsheets,
Oracle to add servers, storage,
PHOTO GRAPHY: JAYAN K NARAYANAN
detailed schematics, and whether the
SPARC processors, Solaris The company is long-term strategic
proposed solution is interoperable and
operating system, Java, and the eying to lever- customer advantages.
future-proof and uses industry standards.
MySQL database to its portfolio age two key Sun With the completion of
Most importantly, IT managers should
of database, middleware, and software assets— the acquisition, Oracle will
take measures to ensure that today’s
business applications. Java and Solaris now be able to fully utilise
investment should be of value tomorrow.
The company is eying to for longterm stra- the potential of its solution
leverage two key Sun software tegic customer by adding the high-end
assets—Java and Solaris, for advantages features of Solaris. By Jatinder Singh
10 IT NEXT | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

11. UPDATE
Verizon offers full SAP
TECH TIDINGS
HP expands
suite on the cloud security
The service
portfolio
is targeted at Betting big on rising security
medium to threats and growing business com-
large or- plexities, HP has introduced new
ganisations security solutions and services in
looking to use key areas of technology infrastruc-
SAP at a lower ture, consulting and training, for
cost both conventional and managed
business environments.
According to the company, the
new services and solutions will be
part of the HP secure Advantage
portfolio. It will include applica-
tions, business continuity, content,
data integrity, data center, end
points, networks, identity and ac-
cess management, risk manage-
ment, and security operations.
TECH TIDINGS | Taking a step forward to large enterprises that are looking The company claims that each
to realise its cloud ambition, Verizon to adopt cloud-based applications. category of offering is supported
has introduced a new cloud-based SAP The company says that it will offer by many individual services and
service. According to the company, the custom service-level guarantees that capabilities for various types of
service enables enterprises to more extend beyond server and application information security needs. With
effectively deploy and manage essen- availability to include transaction and this announcement, HP aspires to
tial SAP applications such as financial business process metrics. become a single-point source for
analysis and logistics management, While Verizon will provide service addressing diverse security needs
while reducing complexity and con- support using its dedicated help of an enterprise.
trolling costs. desk in India, San Francisco and UK, The new security solution is
The company claims to support customers will also have visibility also expected to help HP improve
the entire SAP portfolio, including into their SAP environment through its Enterprise Services division
software for customer relationship a Web interface. offering. The company has previ-
management, enterprise resource The offering has been certified ously acquired IT outsourcing firm
planning, product lifecycle, supply by SAP, and the platform already Electronic Data System (EDS) for
chain and corporate services. supports 100,000 customers $13.9 billion in 2008, which is now
The service is targeted at medium globally. called HP Enterprise Services.
NEWS @ OPEN ORIGINALLY DESIGNED for pen computing tablets, about ADOBEthat market was
IS GOOD FOR IPAD, SAYS 15 years before CTO
BLOG FLASH WAS
ready to take off | Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch in his blog < http://tinyurl.com/ITNext-Kevin-Lynch-on-iPad>
There has been much hue and cry over the non-inclusion of Flash on the
latest gadget, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs calling Adobe “lazy” and Flash
“too buggy” for its devices. Lynch subtly debunked Apple’s “walled approach”
stating that, “the Web should remain an open environment with consistent
access to content and applications regardless of your viewing device”.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 11

12. COVER STORY | TECH TRENDS
10
TECHNOLOGIES
THAT
MATTER
12 IT NEXT | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

13. TECH TRENDS | COVER STORY
The robust performance of the Indian of IT managers evaluate and rank them on
economy over the past few months has rein- four dimensions:.
forced the belief that downturn, at least in 1. Leverage of existing IT assets: With
India, is well and truly behind us. IT bud- increased organisational emphasis on cost
gets that were hurriedly slashed a few quar- control, the ability to reuse and leverage exist-
ters ago are being slowly reinstated. Shelved ing technology and infrastructure is a huge
project plans are being revived, and IT man- plus since it not only helps optimise capital
agers are once again being tasked to iden- expenditure but also reduces the difficulty of
tify and evaluate technologies that can help transitioning to a new paradigm.
their organisations capture and monetise 2. Maturity of technology: Technology
new opportunities, and improve operational maturity often has a direct correlation to ease
efficiencies. of installation, deployment and management.
The beginning of a new year is also the IT managers responsible for ensuring appli-
time when industry experts and vendors cation and infrastructure reliability tend to
INDIA’S IT MANAGERS REVIEW, ANALYSE
AND REFLECT ON THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY
TRENDS—AND VOTE ON THE ONES THAT
WILL MAKE THE CUT THIS YEAR.
BY DEEPAK KUMAR
ILLUSTRATION: ANIL T
identify the latest technology value technology maturity over
trends and make predictions for novelty.
the year. This is also the time when 3. Potential benefits and utility:
IT managers responsible for creating, Evaluating a trend or technology on this param-
maintaining and operating corporate eter helps organisations sift hype from reality.
infrastructure and services recommend Issues like return-on-investment and time-to-
and select the technologies and solutions market are important considerations here.
for their organisations. A big challenge for 4. Cost of implementation: Superior or
IT managers making these decisions is to new technologies often come at a significant
cut through the hype and hyperbole—and cost, or can become expensive to deploy. A dis-
identify the ideas that will matter. crete assessment (of the technology) on cost
The IT Next team identified a range of considerations ensures its relevance.
technologies that have the potential to make We now present the Top 10 Technologies
a mark in 2010—and asked the community that will matter this year.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 13

14. COVER STORY | TECH TRENDS
CONCEPT &
METHODOLOGY SECURITY 2.0
The perennial concern
with security has not
OVERALL SCORE
WHY THIS SURVEY
IT Next asked IT managers to rate reduced 3.41/5
the top technology predictions and
trends for 2010 on a 5-point scale.
THE PARAMETERS
The technologies were evaluated on
a set of four parameters: 3.26
1. Leverage of existing IT
2. Maturity of the given technology
OVERALL SCORE
3.26
3. Potential benefits and utility for
the organisation 2.96/5
4. Low cost of implementation (of
the technology) GREEN IT 2.79 3.64
Controling spiral-
EXPERT EDITORIAL PANEL ing power costs
R Giridhar, Group Editor, 9.9 Media and contributing to 2.87
Dr Neena Pahuja, CIO, MAX Health- CSR go hand-in- 3.26
care Institute hand 3.21
Basant Kr Chaturvedi, Head IT-
Perfetti Van Melle India
Shiva Shankar, Vice President &
2.87
Head - IT Infrastructure & Security -
Operations & Engineering, Reliance
Communications OVERALL SCORE
2.97 2.87 3.56
Shubhendu Parth, Editor, IT Next
Deepak Kumar, ICT/Media Market 3.17/5 2.87
Researcher and Consultant
RESPONDENTS/SAMPLING
IT Next conducted a survey amongst 2.54
41 IT managers in various verti-
cals across the country. While a VIRTUALISATION
majority of respondents were from The focus remains on
3.08
leveraging existing
2.44
Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai and
Bangalore, cities like Hyderabad, IT assets and capex
in control
2.54
Pune, Nasik, Ludhiana, Vadodara
and Bhilai were also represented. 2.87
THE METHODOLOGY
2.79
Each respondent rated the identi-
fied technologies on four selected
OVERALL SCORE 2.44
parameters. The averages of these
scores were then taken to arrive
at the final scores—and the Top 10
2.75/5
Rankings. PRIVATE
We also pulled out a few additional CLOUD
Marrying the
3.03
technologies to include in the Fol-
benefits of a cloud
lowing Five list. The reason to have model to the secu-
this separate list is that while the rity of traditional
benefits of these five technologies set up appeals to XAAS
may not be realised during 2010, many Despite its ad- OVERALL SCORE
2.73/5
these would still be the ones to vantages over
box-based pricing
watch for. Also, for specific indus-
models, interoper-
tries or companies, their relevance ability issues are a
could grow more rapidly over the concern
following months.
14 IT NEXT | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

15. TECH TRENDS | COVER STORY
BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE &
LOW COST OF IMP BUSINESS ANALYTICS
LEME Rapidly changing business
NTA OVERALL SCORE
TI O environment drives the
N 3.27/5 need for greater data savvy
amongst users
LEVERAGE OF EX
ISTI
NG
IT
2.67
U T IL I T Y OVERALL SCORE
3.33
3.23/5
DATA CENTER
MATURIT Y 3.67 2.90 TRANSFORMATION
Ease of management
and greater efficiency
are driving this trend
3.26
3.33
3.69
TOP 10 2.90
TECHNOLOGIES
FOR 2010
SCORED OVERALL SCORE
2.62 2.54 2.62 2.79 2.62/5
1-5
S CA L E
3.03 BUSINESS-GRADE
SOCIAL NETWORKING
3.28 While managers recognise
3.00 the power of the tools,
changing corporate culture
3.03 to use them efficiently will
be a challenge
3.33
2.72
3.00 OVERALL SCORE
3.04/5
ENTERPRISE
MOBILITY
2.67 Convenience and
ubiquitous con-
nectivity drives
greater interest in
the technology
UNIFIED COMMU-
OVERALL SCORE NICATION
3.00/5
The twin benefits—
intra-organisation
coordination and
one-session query
Note: Dus ea vellessunt vel is endis resolution—propel
dolupta ssuntemquist qui sundip- this to the fore
sapis et porioremque nus a inihil id
magnam, atquas
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 15

16. COVER STORY | TECH TRENDS
Security 2.0
Just protecting devices in the network will speedier damage control in
not suffice—the focus of security needs to the aftermath of the crisis.
3.41 be the data Market intelligence teams
OVERALL in enterprises are now
SCORE As 2010 sees uptake of several community-based technology and placing greater emphasis
communication paradigms like UC, TP and Social Media, the on such tools to help their
traditional perimeter security models will need to change and give organisations captivate on
way to a paradigm that is more user-driven and user-propagated. new opportunities as the
Information dissemination and user awareness will play a more economy recovers.
PITFALLS important role, and IT managers will need to pay more attention to While business intelligence
Putting more implementing security policies in a relatively open and dynamic IT focuses on monitoring
emphasis on secu-
rity solutions and
framework. operational information for
somewhat less on Now that the boundaries of enterprise networks are no understanding the gaps and
the security policy longer rigid, with partner and client networks meeting in fuzzy taking corrective measures,
could lead to a
breach of data.
zones, protecting devices in the network is not enough. Even business analytics aims to
protecting the servers and storage devices that contain data will perform a predictive analysis
not suffice—the focus of security has to be on data. of the market and the
IT Next is of the view that it would be meaningful to business.
develop security policies that lay greater emphasis on data and In today’s globalised
information protection, followed by endpoint protection and and highly competitive
network protection. Essentially, it is about having data at the marketplace, BI and BA tools
center of the security policy. can help your organisation
It would be advantageous for IT managers to use the social compete better. Line
media and integrated communication tools to sensitise users managers increasingly rely
about security policies, and develop security champions for on their IT counterparts
addressing security-related concerns in the dynamic enterprise. for improved performance
management.
IT Next urges you to
evaluate and recommend
BI/BA tools that can be
neatly integrated with your
enterprise IT systems, and
Business Intelligence help market intelligence
and marketing teams in
and Analytics your organisation use the
data to formulate smart
While BI can help analyse business information growth strategies.
3.27 better, the value is in performing a predictive
OVERALL
SCORE analysis
PITFALLS
The economic crisis that caught many enterprises and gov- The biggest showstopper could be
the quality and format of underlying
ernments unprepared, also spawned the realisation that data that can mar effectiveness of a
a greater use of BI and BA tools could have facilitated a good BI/BA solution.
SECURITY 2.0
BI & BA
HOW THEY RANK DATA CENTER
VERTULISATION
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
= Low Cost of Implementation = Level of Maturity = Utility = Leverage of Existing IT
16 IT NEXT | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

17. TECH TRENDS | COVER STORY
Data Center Transformation
Virtualisation, server rationalisation, site consolidation, and
energy management are ideal ingredients of a data center
transformation recipe
These include measurable cost hogging servers and chart a phased
savings, improved productivity and plan to replace these by smart form
3.23 efficiency across the organisation. factor servers that are more efficient.
OVERALL
SCORE The ideal ingredients for a data Data centers often operate with
PITFALLS center transformation would include more-than-surplus cooling equipment,
The wide variety of virtualisation, server rationalisation, to fight off ‘hot spots’ that get built
solution perspectives on data cen- site consolidation, and energy up in certain zones due to air-flow
ter transformation carries the real
risk of adopting a solution or archi-
management. deficiencies. Experts have pointed
tecture that may not be the right fit IT Next advises IT managers to out that most data centers suffer from
for your organisation. develop a data center transformation the problem of over-loading and that
roadmap that will distribute the the solution lies in identifying the hot
capital expenditure (capex) over a spots and creating airflow in those
While ‘measured green’ alone would period of years while ensuring return zones. You colud draw measurable
be a good enough reason to initiate a on investments for each year or a benefits by installing energy
data center transformation, there are periodic interval. For example, you monitoring and management software
other equally strong reasons to do it. could identify inefficient and energy in the data center.
Virtualisation could reduce the need for
additional licensed software—
A virtualisation strategy will help you get the best out and reduce the need to virtualise
of your IT infrastructure. Evaluate and perform a mid- applications.
term adjustment, if necessary Overall, the larger your
organisation, the more
Given that the most pronounced goal of virtualisation is to lever- visible would be returns
age existing IT infrastructure and reduce buying, its relevance 3.17on a virtualisation
OVERALL
for you as an IT manager will continue to be very high in the SCORE investment, especially for
PITFALLS
prevailing economic situation. So, stick to your virtualisation large and larger-among-
Security issues
get amplified in a roadmap, and do the necessary adjustments and refinements, the-medium enterprises.
virtualised envi- if you are already working on one. If not, put your virtualisation act However, vendors are also offering
ronment because together, especially if you have a data center to manage. virtualisation solutions for smaller
a large number of
virtual machines In general, server and storage virtualisation will make immediate businesses.
could be exposed. sense because redundancy of these resources is usually high in many ITNext believes that in a
Virtualisation organisations in India. dynamically evolving market
can also cause
management- Adoption of desktop virtualisation and application virtualisation and technology scenario, a two-
related issues, would work on a small scale, at least through 2010. One, because phased approach to virtualisation
due to increased for virtualised desktop environments to be cost competitive, the is the way to go: while need-based
complexities.
implementations need to be fairly large-scale, something that one may part-virtualisation projects
not be inclined to consider, particularly when transitioning through a should be rolled out for quick
recovery phase. benefits, end-to-end, full-blown
Investments in application virtualisation could be worth postponing virtualisation projects may be
while the SaaS paradigm gains momentum. That is because SaaS evaluated from a long-term
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 | IT NEXT 17