Experiences in The IT Industry

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Challenges faced by an IT Manager

(Insights given by Makarand Prabhune, Exchange Student)
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Entry into the IT industry in 2000
Armed with an engineering degree from Mumbai University and a diploma
from C-DAC (Center for Development and Advanced Computing), I entered
the IT industry in 2000 as a Trainee Software Engineer at COSL (CitiCorp
Overseas Software Ltd). My immediate responsibility was to provide client
support for the banking software system installed in CitiBank branches in East
Africa. This was very challenging as I was new to the industry without much
technical/domain knowledge. However, it was a great learning experience for
the one year. I always learned something new (either technical stuff or user
requirements) everyday.
Job Responsibilities in 2001
After one year in the organization, I was promoted to the post of Systems
Engineer. The company name was now changed to OrbiTech. I was assigned
to the credit card and loans processing application for Citibank Chennai
branch. Interesting thing was in a team of 5 members, I was the only one
posted in Mumbai and the rest were in Chennai. So my interactions with the
client were limited and being a lead developer this meant a lot of pressure
(working late nights and on innumerable weekends). This one year passed like
one month. Before realizing, I was almost 2 years old in the IT industry!
Challenges in 2002 and early 2003

After much hype and uncertainty, the company was taken over by Polaris
Software Labs Ltd. This meant reformulation of HR strategies and new role
designations for employees. This was the year of greatest learning for me, both
from the technical and client understanding point of view. I was promoted to
Associate consultant and posted at Citibank branches in Kenya and Tanzania
to support the IT system and resolve any client issues during the branch audit.
It was during this period that I understood the exact needs of the end users and
how a minute bug from a technical persons point of view may be viewed as a
serious bug by the end user. The bank staff was technically sound and was
eager to learn more about it. The bank employees in Kenya were extremely
professional with their work and I wondered if Indians too could be like them
some day!
Whats there for an MBA in the IT industry?
According to me, just having an MBA (even with systems/IT specialization) is
not enough to be successful in IT project management. What one needs is tons of
hands-on experience (at least 4-5 years), experience in requirement analysis, knowledge of
documentation standards, domain knowledge, understanding of the clients business and
superior time and people management skills. Thus it is a combination of technical and
soft skills that matter the most. However, I know IT managers with not so
good technical skills but are highly successful due to extraordinary people skills.
Time and again, I have experienced that IT projects never get delivered on
time. Either there are a lot many bugs in the system or the system fails to meet
the exact requirements (as were originally agreed upon) of the customer.
Valuable time and effort is lost later in modifying the code or even rewriting it
for factors like better efficiency. After extensive negotiation and reassuring the
client, managers then decide on a system rollout whereby they plan to provide
the functionality in stages. I would say this is a runaway from the loopholes in
the existing system.
Almost all IT projects are work intensive and require superior efforts on part of
the technical and management team to deliver a bug-free system to the client
on time. This means giving up on a lot many weekends, missing out on special
occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc of near and dear ones. Under
such circumstances, people management becomes crucial. I always had the
experience of a key member missing from the team with the date of project
delivery around the corner. This means it is important to keep ready any alternative
resources available in case of an emergency.
Above all, we Indians need to be more professional. I have seen IT managers giving
false promises to the client (I dont know why they do it!). If you are not able to
deliver the system say within 200 man-days, communicate this clearly to the
client. There are no second thoughts on this. Giving false promises to the client
will only cause putting extra pressure on your developer team resulting in
creating loop-holes and lots of bugs in your system, ultimately an unhappy
client and lost credibility.
The Indian IT professional need to understand the real meaning of
professionalism. Probably, this is where a formal management education can
play an important role. I am impressed by the level of professionalism shown
by people outside India especially in Japan where the culture focuses not only
on team work and total dedication but also on very high levels of
professionalism. I believe that India has all the required technical and
managerial resources available but it is only more professional attitude can
provide us a sustained competitive advantage.

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Challenges faced by an IT Manager

Challenges in 2002 and early 2003

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