Hardware/Software DevelopmentNews & Analysis

This Virtual CIO Is Helping Kerala Enterprises In Digital Transformation

Virtual CIO

Technology Veteran and CIO Suresh Kumar is helping businesses transform their IT and digital infrastructure through Virtual CIO advisory services. In other words his IT consultancy firm Skybertech is transforming many companies across Kerala that can’t afford a full time CIO and for those who are really need a professional IT person for adopting new technology in improving their business. Kumar hails from Kerala and has over two decades of experience in companies such as Muthoot, Marikkar, Chemmanur among others. In an exclusive interaction with CXO Today, Suresh Kumar shares the changing roles of a CIO and throws light on the Virtual CIO concept.

CXOToday: You have worked as a CIO for many years and now wearing the hat of Virtual CIO. How is the acceptance for the concept ‘Virtual CIO’ in a state like Kerala?

Suresh Kumar:  I started of this concept understanding the gap in the market for people with techno     functional knowledge. Also in Kerala market very few companies maintained a position of CIO in their organizations. As we render the services of a full time CIO at a fraction of cost and our techno functional expertise helped us to attain a quick acceptance in Kerala market. Within one and half year from inception we are now rendering our service to over more than 40 large and mediocre companies across Kerala which itself is a proof for our acceptance.

CXOToday:  What according to you could be the reasons enterprises are adopting for a virtual CIO? Which industry verticals is Skybertech catering to?

Suresh Kumar: Cost is one reason for enterprises refrain from appointing a full time CIO. Another major reason is that enterprises do not understand the importance of IT and its importance in the current era and the deliverable of a CIO in an organization.

We are now catering to all major industries in Kerala like Financial companies, NBFC, jewelry,  tourism,  hospital, manufacturing, retail, wholesale, textile, automobile, IT, education, trading, Entertainment and agriculture. We look forward entering into entertainment and media industry.

CXOToday:  As a virtual CIO advisory, what are the key challenges you face in getting new clients and what are the challenges you are facing with the established clients?

Suresh Kumar: Lack of knowledge regards IT and its importance to the Management is one major challenge which we face in getting new clients. Management is not aware about the importance of business information and importance of safeguarding it in the right manner. Lack of professional, dependable service providers (software/hardware) is one major challenge we face in Kerala market

CXOToday:  What according to you are the top five trends you notice amongst most enterprises in approaching IT?

Suresh Kumar: Currently enterprises are moving more to cloud data storage. Enterprises have started viewing positively to standard ERP’s such as SAP, Dynamics. Senior Management staffs tend to run their operations mobile based or tab based applications.

CXOToday:  With IT now becoming an integral part of business, how does Skybertech assure organizations not just ROI for the IT spend, but also profits from the technology?

Suresh Kumar: We educate the organizations that major part of expenses accounted under IT is actually not direct IT expense. They would be some implementation or enhancement done to aid another department. We connect all enhancements done by an IT department to financial terms by which management is able to understand financial benefits achieved through each tasks done by IT.  

CXOToday:  What are your future plans?

Suresh Kumar: We foresee developing an organization which provides services of not one CIO but the service of a group of CIO with techno functional knowledge.

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