Click here to download the paper.

Click here to download the paper.

Just one-third of IT security practitioners said that cloud infrastructure environments are as secure as their own on-site data centers, while half of compliance officers rated IaaS as secure as on-premise infrastructure. There was  also significant disagreement about whether their organizations had sufficient processes in place to enable the secure use of cloud infrastructure. Only 34 percent of IT respondents believed that there were sufficient procedures in place, while 52 percent of compliance respondents were satisfied with their security policies.

Both groups thought encryption was important to protect against unauthorized data access, although they differed on who they were trying to keep out of the systems.  IT practitioners said encrypting data to make it unreadable by cloud service providers was the most important IaaS security measure to take, while compliance officers said encryption should be used to prevent IT administrators from accessing data they do not need to perform their jobs. Yet, according to the study, few cloud vendors offer encryption to their customers. Only 31 percent of respondents said their organization’s major cloud providers use encryption to protect data from insider threats. The majority of respondents were more likely to employ firewalls, anti- virus and anti-malware software, and identity and access management technologies to protect sensitive or confidential information exposed to the cloud.

On the subject of vendor due diligence, 59 percent of IT respondents say that security was either a low priority or not considered at all when evaluating IaaS providers, while 56 percent of compliance officers said it was a very high or high priority.

As for who is in charge of cloud security, the greatest number of compliance officers (21 percent) said that they are responsible for defining security requirements in the cloud, while the greatest number of IT security respondents (22 percent) believed business unit leaders are responsible for defining security requirements in the cloud. Both groups did agree, however, that business unit leaders are responsible for enforcing cloud security and no single person or group maintains responsibility for the actual implementation of security measures.

That, says Ponemon Institute chairman and founder Larry Ponemon, gets to the heart of the matter: ownership for security in the cloud is dispersed throughout organizations, further clouding the security issues surrounding as-a-service offerings. As a result, enterprise-wide cloud security strategies are difficult to implement.

And while IT and compliance haggle over security strategies, tactics, and ownership, internal audit groups are sitting on the sidelines. More than half of respondents said their organization’s internal audit review does not provide any feedback on the security of cloud infrastructures.

Security concerns do not seem to be slowing down cloud adoption, however. More than half (56 percent) of IT practitioners surveyed stated that security concerns would not prevent their organizations from implementing cloud services. Companies were most likely to store unstructured data, such as emails, files, and documents, in IaaS environments, according to the study. In addition, cloud services accounted for approximately 20 percent of the IT budget of those responding to the survey, and their cloud budgets are expected to increase approximately 31 percent in the next one to two years.

Not surprisingly, however, the two groups quarreled over the real benefits of cloud computing initiatives. IT respondents cited business agility, speed to roll out new services, and fewer personnel and management requirements as their biggest cloud drivers. Compliance respondents said cloud adoption lowered operating costs, improved compliance, and provided better quality infrastructure.

Cloud-based products represent the industry’s greatest opportunity to move the dial forward. Implementation of private or public clouds in conjunction with a SaaS delivery model is a fast, cost-effective strategy to keep legacy systems current, and support ever-changing products and services by linking disparate channels and products, distribution and claims.

Click here to download the White Paper

NIIT Technologies became an independent organization in 2004, after spinning off from NIIT Ltd., India’s Global Talent Development Corporation which was established in 1981 with an objective to bring people and computers together, it has been heralded by independent media as a key catalyst for India’s IT growth.  NIIT Technologies has made strategic acquisitions and joint ventures to boost its offerings in its chosen verticals like the acquisition of German-based Softec Gmbh, a specialist revenue accounting and operation solutions provider addressing the airlines segment and ROOM Solutions of the UK, a leading player in the commercial Insurance market. Very recently NIIT Technologies entered into a (60:40) joint venture with Georgia – based media company Morris Communications. The new joint venture – NIIT Media Technologies – will offer integrated IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) services in North America.

Customers of NIIT Technologies have spoken in independent media and conferences on the association decision with NIIT citing high touch account management, superior service delivery, flexible contracts and ability to constantly reduce cost and increase productivity as the key parameters. The company is co-founded by Rajendra Singh Pawar, co-founder and Chairman of NASSCOM (India’s IT trade body) and Padma Bhushan (India’s third highest civilian honor).

Service Lines

NIIT Technologies focuses on the well-defined industry verticals of:

• Insurance
• Travel, Transportation and Logistics (Hospitality)
• Financial Services
• Media
• Healthcare
• Manufacturing & Retail

Financial Services:

• Data security, compliances
• Legacy maintenance and modernization
• New product lines
• IT Application support and maintenance
• IT Infrastructure support

Insurance:

NIIT Technologies has been servicing the Insurance Industry for over 17 years. The black book report has ranked NIIT Technologies as number 2 in the Insurance Industry. It contributes 33% to NIIT’s consolidated revenues.

• Channel and Customer Interface Solutions
• Core Systems, Legacy Modernization
• Enabling core Insurance Business Processes
• Regulatory Compliance and Tax Environments
• Intellectual Property-Solutions and Solution Accelerators
• Value Added Services

Travel, Transportation and Logistics:

Data monitor Black Book Report has ranked NIIT Technologies # 1 in the Travel Industry three times in a row. It has end-end business solutions in this space.

• Airlines and Travel Distribution
• Airports
• Surface Transport and Logistics
• Hospitality

NIIT Healthcare:

NIIT Technologies has launched an all-new Healthcare Division based in Orlando, Fla.

With a core philosophy focused on helping healthcare providers bridge the care gap, its products and services are designed to address continuity of care, which ultimately – and definitively – results in better clinical outcomes, increased patient satisfaction and improved physician loyalty.

The two products offered by this division are Preferr and MASH. Preferr is a SaaS-based electronic health records and referral management platform. By enabling a seamless collaboration between all providers – physician practices, hospitals, outpatient and diagnostic facilities, and laboratories – Preferr improves continuity and quality of care for the patient and improves physician connectivity.  M A S H (Manage, Analyze, Sustain, and Harness) is a one-of-a kind industry framework that connects the patient, the physician and the provider on a common technology platform. M A S H delivers various applications to transform the patient experience at different interaction touch points. The Check-in application on MASH reduces the check-in time by 80%.

NIIT Media Technologies:

NIIT Media Technologies (NMT) was formed by the joint venture between NIIT Technologies and Morris Communications. It is the world’s first solutions and services firm to provide media companies with comprehensive, media industry-specific, business and IT solutions and both front- and back-office operations delivery. With a track record of nearly 100 years of media industry, business process and technology expertise, NMT helps media companies enhance their operational efficiency, reduce their operating expenses and increase their revenue. NMT’s core offerings include:

• End-End Business Process Delivery
• Advertising and Sales Management Solutions
• IT and Business Consulting

Distinctive Capabilities

• Focus – work in very few verticals, have long client relationships – some contracts are over 15 years
• Flexible Contracts – business client’s way
• Management focus – senior management a part of steering committee review in all strategic accounts
• Future proofing the business – NIIT’s group company is one of the largest IT education service providers and largest in Asia, NIIT can build comprehensive, highly efficient ecosystem to support your IT and Business process needs. Many clients have successfully leveraged this model.
• Onsite Datacenter and Call Center – superior Disaster Recovery and true best shore offering

NIIT Technologies at a Glance

• Revenues: 280 Mn in 2010-2011
• Employees: 6200
• Verticals Globally: Insurance, Banking and Financial Services, Travel, Logistics and Hospitality, Media, Healthcare
• Service lines: Application Development Management, IT Infrastructure Management, Packaged Implementation, BPO
• Headquarters location: Atlanta, GA in North America and New Delhi in India
• Data Center and Call Center in US: Augusta, Georgia and Atlanta, Georgia

For More Information

• Telephone: 770 551 9494
• Fax: 770 551 9229
• E-mail: aninda.bose@niit-tech.com
• Web site URL: http://www.niit-tech.com

Certifications

• ISO 9001:2000
• SEI CMM Level 5
• CMMi Level 5
• ISO 27001

Awards and Recognitions

• NIIT Technologies Ranked No.1 globally among IT Outsourcers in Travel Industry Survey and #2 in Financial Services and Insurance, Datamonitor Black Book of Outsourcing 2010 survey
• Ranked No. 3 globally amongst 1800 IT outsourcers in Data monitor Black Book of Outsourcing 2010 survey, largest investigation with clients using outsourcing
• NIIT Technologies was ranked among top 3 globally by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) in the 2010 ASTD ‘BEST’ Awards.
• Novarica 2011 – Market Navigator (leading P&C provider for Insurance market)
• Ranked amongst Top 20 IT Outsourcing Vendors, ranked globally by the Global Services Survey 2010.
• Ranked amongst Top 10 Emerging ADM Vendors, ranked globally by the Global Services Survey 2010.
• Ranked amongst top 7 service providers in Gartner’s Industry research report in 2010 ”Seven Vendors Dominate the European Market for General Insurance Policy Administration Systems”
• NIIT Technologies receives the “National Award” for innovation in career development by the Global HR Excellence Awards at the Global HRD Congress 2010
• NIIT Technologies was amongst the Top 100 IT organizations ranked globally by IAOP. Best 20 in Financial Services and Insurance (no ranking), Best 5 in Travel 2009-2010
• Recognized amongst the top 50 IT Innovators for the year 2009 and 2008 by NASSCOM
• Awarded the Distinguished Services Award for their initiatives and efforts in promoting business with USA by Georgia Tech Center for International Business Education & Research

Case Studies

• http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110912006552/en/NIIT-Technologies-Launches-Solutions-North-American-Airline
• http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110713006207/en/NIIT-Technologies-Enters-Strategic-Partnership-Morris-Communications
• http://www.niit-tech.com/media/media-release/niit-technologies-ranked-no1-globally-among-it-outsourcers-travel-industry-surve

NIIT Technologies’ Slogan

“Best and Big Enough”

Existing customers have independently ranked us to be the most significant and focused partner providing superior services, meeting and exceeding agreed deliverables, hence providing highest customer satisfaction in independent surveys.

Welcome to Applities ITland.

Applications have personalities? Yes, they do, according to HP Distinguished Technologist, E.G. Nadhan. Nadhan is the Lead Technologist for Global Strategic Capabilities within HP and the Chief Architect for HP’s Applications Process and Tools Framework.

Nadhan explains that as HP helps its customers manage their applications, it is important to help the IT executives categorize the myriad applications in their environment by consistently applying a well-defined set of processes and principles across their portfolio of applications in a structured manner. “If you don’t have the insight or understanding of your applications’ “personality,” you don’t have the answers about how to best manage them,” he says.

What is an application personality?

After 25 years of working with clients and their application challenges, Nadhan found that many used human terms, personality descriptors, when referring to applications in their environment. “I started observing patterns,” he explains. “It was like associating the psychological characteristics of the human mind to applications.” Nadhan found some striking similarities between the way we manage applications and the way we manage our relationships with others. In seeing these similarities, he coined a new term: applities. (APP-li-tees) He describes five key “applities” (application personality types) found in all enterprise environments and the various aspects you need to consider for managing them well.

The Big Kahuna. The central application. Its presence is everywhere and everyone uses it. It has an imposing personality and is considered a legend. At a retailer, the Big Kahuna is its order-entry system. At an automaker, it’s the inventory management system.	The Big Kahuna
The Lone Star	The Lone Star. No, this applity isn’t from Texas. It’s an application that does its job really well; the reliable “steady Eddy.” You don’t necessarily feel its presence, but you know it’s faithfully there for you. Think of rate calculation engines for financial companies and course scheduling programs at universities when you think of The Lone Star.
The Crowd Pleaser. It’s like Ms. Congeniality with a fan club. This app is everyone’s favorite because it is fun to work with. Imagine a well-designed search application that has the right instrumentation behind it to retrieve the right information at the right time.	The Crowd Pleaser
The Problem Child	The Problem Child. Let’s face it, we all have this app! The unpredictable, troublesome app that acts just like an adolescent. It keeps the CIO awake at night…its buggy, it crashes, it is out of control and no one wants to take ownership of it.
The Generalist. It’s a chameleon manifesting traits that are common across all industries and geographies. The Generalist possesses standardized functionality, like general ledger, allowing it to fit into any group within the company and quickly adapt to any surroundings.	The Generalist

Nadhan adds that some applications can have multiple subsystems, each one exhibiting its own applity. For example, an applity could be a mix of The Big Kahuna and The Problem Child. Or, in the words of the IT psychologist – it is an application with multiple applities! If the Big Kahuna is also The Problem Child, that has to make life pretty miserable for employees and IT!

How to manage applities?

Now, the real trick is in managing this motley crew of applities, as each one possesses its own challenges. “Just like you use different techniques to manage your relationships with different personalities in real life, the same holds true for applities,” Nadhan says. He outlines the main aspects of applications management that IT managers need to apply in their own ways to cater to the nuances of each applity. They include:

• The strategy IT needs to adopt from an applications management perspective
• The nature and frequency of communication to the various stakeholders
• The service levels required
• Types of investments with supporting rationale
• The governance model that needs to be in place

In the matrix below, he further describes these specific management techniques for each of the five applities.

Why is the management of applities important?

When managing an enterprise level application portfolio, understanding the applications, their business impacts and challenges, is essential to applying the right management priority, processes and techniques to align the strategic approach and appropriate resources. It’s easy to say, difficult to do. This is clearly a challenge for today’s IT managers. “Today we still find that most IT organizations spend 70 percent of their time on operational tasks and just 30 percent of their time on IT innovation. We strive to drive that number down. A keen understanding of the applities involved results in the streamlining of the operational tasks allowing IT to redirect their efforts to innovative measures instead. What if you flipped the ratio and spent 30 percent of your time on maintenance and 70 percent on innovation?” Nadhan asks.

Nadhan also explains that enterprises can streamline IT maintenance, developing a framework by applying and defining standardized processes based on all the different applities’ management aspects and techniques. Select a framework that adapts to your particular enterprise or best fits “your family.”

Welcome to Applities ITland

“At HP we categorize and profile all the apps we manage. It’s not only about keeping the lights on. It’s also about improving their efficiencies,” he says. “Our dynamic service delivery model allows you to rationalize and optimize your application portfolio. It is a systematic approach that helps you achieve a sustainable maintenance-to-innovation ratio.”

HP professionals work alongside their clients to:

• Take and maintain an inventory of your applications and their attributes. Determining for each application what you have, where it resides, who’s responsible, how much it costs to maintain/support, business criticality and risk
• Classify and categorize the applications based on business priorities, business criticality and operational requirements
• Assess the applications for optimization opportunities
• Create a business case for investment consideration
• Define a program for change that ensures ongoing alignment with the business

With this level of understanding, HP can provide clients with fact-based insight that they can use to prepare and strengthen investment business cases.

“Our ultimate goal is to define, implement and sustain a dynamic IT environment improved continuously with timely injection of innovative measures to streamline the maintenance of the applications portfolio,” says Nadhan.

Join senior executives from some of the UK’s leading corporates to hear cutting edge case studies and participate in interactive panel sessions to hear how the likes of DSM, Ernst & Young, Logica, Clifford Chance Alsbridge and others have used China as a high quality, low cost resource for both ITO & BPO.

Click here for the brochure.
Click here to register.
Or call: 0776 019 8360 or email.
When registering please enter “Alsbridge” in the Promotional Code section.

What You Will Learn by Attending:

• How to make outsourcing IT & BPO to China work for you
• Tapping China’s growing ITO and BPO capabilities
• What are the opportunities to develop business in China’s huge domestic market for IT & BPO
• Future trends in the China market in ITO & BPO

Areas to be Covered Will Include:

• What types of IT applications & business processes have been outsourced & results to date
• The costs & benefits associated with outsourcing to China
• What are the risks and how can they be mitigated and managed
• Managing cross cultural issues / Legal: Contractual, Data Protection, IPR
• Process migration, technology and people issues
• Governance models (3rd party / captive / BOT) & supplier selection issues

Speakers Include:

• Banesh Prabhu, Former Head of International Operations, Global Consumer Bank, CITI
• Dariusz Sus, Chief Operating Officer (GSS), ERNST & YOUNG
• Mark Payne, Shared Services Director, LOGICA
• Tony Johnson, Director Global Service Management, DSM
• Andre Duminy, Partner, CLIFFORD CHANCE
• Paul Morrison, Director of BPO & Shared Services ALSBRIDGE

COMPLIMENTARY INVITATIONS are available for end user organisations and suppliers who have no current operations in China. A delegate fee is applicable to all other delegates.

“You can see computers everywhere but in the productivity statistics.” — Robert Solow, Economist

The CEO wants to know how to transform IT from a cost center to a game changer. The CIO wants to run IT like a business. The business unit leader wants a consumption-based IT bill so he/she can better manage the department’s IT spend. The CFO needs an IT cost charge-back mechanism that will impact IT consumption behavior. The head of IT strategy hopes to continually track the business value of the company’s IT services and in-flight projects.

As that wish list suggests, executives at all levels of the organization are unclear about the returns of their IT investments. “Part of the problem is they believe there is no transparency on IT costs or visibility into the real return on IT spend. Their perception is IT delivers suboptimal value given the cost,” explains Deepak Jain, senior vice president and head of TIS for Wipro.

He says instead of trying to control costs, enterprises should be asking these questions to gain value from their IT investments:

• How can we leverage IT for business growth?
• How can IT help lower business operations cost?
• How can IT help meet regulatory pressure and lower business risk?

Jain observes the discipline of IT business value management “is at its nascent stage of maturity,” comparing it to IT service management during the pre-ITIL days. The Wipro executive predicts IT financial and value management platforms will emerge as a global framework, just as ITIL became the de facto standard for focusing on IT service delivery and operations management. “These platforms will deliver transparency into IT costs and produce a rigor to define, measure and continually improve IT’s business value,” he says.

IT360^TM

Wipro has developed a holistic, framework-based approach to define, measure and maximize IT’s business value. Wipro coined the term IT360 because it encompasses the entire IT value lifecycle from value definition through value realization. “IT360′s goal is to deliver an accurate and granular handle on the cost and value of IT to an enterprise,” Jain says.

The Wipro executive says enterprises can implement IT360 in four “easy steps.” Companies can implement the solution in modules depending on their high-priority needs and pain points.

1. Goal setting (2 days): The objective of this first phase is to align business and IT objectives. It is the place where business units and the IT department jointly define the business value of IT (BVIT) and then agree on common goals that actually create it. “All parties gain an understanding of IT’s potential role as a game-changer,” says Jain.

 

2. Cost lens (12 weeks): The objective of this phase is to gain a granular and accurate baseline of IT’s actual cost. Jain says enterprises must know the actual cost of IT services that each individual business unit consumes. “This phase helps enterprises learn the real costs of supporting business growth and new employees,” says Jain. Sussing out these numbers allow IT to deliver a realistic and reliable consumption-based IT bill for all business units. The true numbers also help produce analytics to identify ways to optimize costs.

 

3. Value lens (8 weeks): The objective of this phase is to assess the current health of all IT capabilities that contribute toward value creation and then identify specific strengths and weaknesses. It also benchmarks the Wipro customer against the best-performing IT organizations in its peer group. The value lens phase determines the current maturity levels in all IT functions as well as prioritizes key focus areas based on the application’s importance and maturity gap. “This phase provides a clear picture of the IT organization’s as-is maturity to deliver business value and prioritizes the IT budget,” points out Jain.

 

4. Roadmap (12 months): The enterprise and Wipro design a roadmap that becomes the “strategic guiding tool to prioritize IT spend,” Jain explains. He says the goal of this phase is to move more IT investments “into the ‘grow the business’ category instead of having the ‘keeping the lights on’ operational spend consuming a majority of the funds.” This roadmap maximizes BVIT and produces specific recommendations to continuously increase it.

Why this new point of view produces a competitive advantage

Jain says the IT360 framework “effectively neutralizes” the traditional view of IT as a support function and cost center. He believes this shift in perception “can result in a significant competitive advantage because wise investments in IT deliver measurable business value.” In addition, enterprises using IT360 know how to rebalance the equation between IT as a cost and IT as a strategic business investment. The framework also will play “a pivotal role in justifying and prioritizing IT budgets,” Jain continues.

And that’s how you define, maximize and measure IT’s business value.

Join us for an eSeminar on November 3, 2011
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET
Space is limited! Reserve your complimentary seat now.
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As we head into the budgeting season, IT professionals all over the world are taking a hard look at their financial plans as they try to identify savings in 2012.

Do you know what it takes to be a CIO hero?

In this eSeminar, two-time Fortune 500 CIO and new Alsbridge Managing Director, Andrew Peel, will not only share his practical experience creating budget clarity and chances for much needed “headroom,” but also discuss three simple and proven tools for analyzing current IT spending by application development and infrastructure towers.

Attendees will learn how to identify and optimize opportunities for real savings by assessing:

• The most overlooked areas in your budget
• Drivers of new age outsourcing opportunities
• Linkages in spend and innovation
• How software licensing and maintenance drain away precious cash
• Telecom, the hidden value driver
• The Alsbridge roadmap for removing risk from managing annual spend

This eSeminar will provide important information for CIOs, CEOs, CFOs, CPOs, Sourcing Executives, VM Executives, Global Business Services Executives and Procurement Executives.

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