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Cover stories were highly useful

This is in reference to the October 2006 issue of Network Magazine covering various aspects of the paperless office. I am a systems administrator, and the cover stories were highly informative. The digital signature story was specifically helpful to me for a technical paper presentation on security.

The cover stories rightly inform that enterprises across the country seem to have lost out in the race to introduce paper-free processes and procedures. I still believe that in times to come companies across verticals will opt for it just as Indian Customs did.

— Deric K, Mumbai

Thank you for the encouraging comments and value-added inputs. It is great to know that you found the contents relevant and valuable for your knowledge enhancement needs. As you have rightly mentioned, Indian enterprises will surely catch up with the rest of the world in the years to come. Digital signatures help entities to authenticate the document / e-contract, and bring them on par with paper documents.

The Customs model of EDI should be inspiring for Indian enterprises in a way that the enormous paper processes and protocols followed by businessmen has now been done away with by the Customs for good. The process followed currently is also much faster and neater, without any government official asking for any kind of favour.

One major boost towards faster adoption of EDI will be to build upon common EDI standards and protocols for the industry. The same should be hopefully developed by the industry since they are the ones to deploy it and introduce it as part of their business operational processes.

Technology Senate 2006

I believe that this year Technology Senate is scheduled in December. I was informed about the same by a peer. I am looking forward to learn more about the event specifics and the various award categories.

— J Varghese, Chennai

Technology Senate was established in 2003 and is the annual technology event for the CIO fraternity. In its fourth year, the event will be held around the coastline of Lakshadweep aboard the luxury liner SuperStar Libra. This year the event is spread over three nights and four days. The entire event is by-invitation-only for leading CIOs and IT decision-makers from India.

The attendee list will cover various verticals like BFSI, IT/telecom, manufacturing, heavy engineering, BPO, etc. Each applicant will be notified of his or her status via e-mail or telephone within few days of registration. As the number of applicants usually exceeds the pre-defined limit, we would appreciate it if you apply as early as possible.

Interested participants can fill the online registration form for the specific event. The URL for the event is www.technologysenate.com. Upon receipt, our team will examine the same to see if it meets the attendee criteria.

Changing face of the CIO

I read Network Magazine’s article on striking the right IT deal, as well as on Business Process Management (BPM). It was very helpful and informative to me since I head an IT team and hence face similar issues of striking the right deal after negotiating with multiple vendors. The role of CIOs is surely changing, and the pressure ever growing to offer full-time IT infrastructure uptime.

— T N K Das, Thiruvananthapuram

You are right. The role of CIOs is changing just as fast as various IT technologies. Realising the same, we have come out with the present issue of Network Magazine which highlights the same and related topics.

We feel it will give you much insight into the changing role and processes to be followed while short-listing and choosing vendors, convincing the board, and reading the fine print from the legal angle. Last but not the least, the issue you hold in your hand also carries information about the various nitty-gritties involved with enterprise software licencing. We look forward to hearing from you again.