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Downtime
Vikas Gadre, CIO, Tata chemicals Ltd
 Title:
CIO
Company: Tata chemicals Ltd
Industry Vertical: Manufacturing
Age: 57
First Job: As maintenance engineer in a dyestuff manufacturing
company at Bombay.
Total Experience: 34 years
Biggest Career Influence: Five years of working with
Eureka Forbes in a variety of roles and five years of working with Rallis India
Ltd as the CIO.
The person who influenced you the most: My spiritual
guru
Biggest challenge in your industry: There exist a variety
of challenges such as managing the supply chain, information security, identifying
business risks, to mention a few.
Technology that best suits your industry: We use multiple
technologies in our diverse operations. We have SAP, JDE, Movex as ERP systems;
Hyperion for consolidation, planning and budgeting; Exchange and Notes for e-mail;
Mobile phone/ PDA/ handheld devices based UI for business transactions on the
field. We use multiple technologies for security and risk management.
Upcoming technology decision for your company: Hyperion
for budgeting and planning; SAP for IFRS requirements, and farmer-level CRM.
Your success mantra: Do your best and leave the rest
to the God Almighty. Kal Ho Na Ho!
Technology you cannot live without: I cannot live
without a Windows-based PDA.
What do you enjoy doing the most: Travelling and working
along with the sales and service field force.
Your most memorable moment: I got admission to IIM
and also to four other US universities on the same day. It was not a difficult
choice to make, since I did not have the money for airfare. I do not regret
the choice at all.
Favorite movie: Guide
Favorite book: Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
Biggest achievement so far : Being part of the team
that helped turn around Rallis India from a loss-making unit into a highly profitable
company.
One thing you want to change about yourself : I am
not regular in exercising and meditation. I would like to change that.
A piece of advice to fellow CIOs : IT is in customer
interactions and shop floors. Do not get stuck in bits and bytes (C category
issues).
Any wish to be fulfilled : I would like to take a break
and go for a trek (Padyatra) in the Himalayas.
— Rajendra Chaudhary
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