From distributors to suppliers, business partners are getting connected with the large corporations. Though B2C is still a long way to go, in many cases company information is available on the Internet. Collaborative computing environment is spreading roots beyond the company boundary. VVR Babu, the chief information officer of ITC group, speaks to eFE on the problems and prospects of collaborative enterprise systems.

What IT issues do large Indian enterprises face while extending their collaborative applications to their partners?
For the large enterprises, creation of the right kind of integration of applications with the existing IT infrastructure of partners is very important.

In case of an exclusive relationship, there is no issue as both the parties decide the kind of applications to be used in carrying out the business process.

For the large enterprises, the right kind of integration of applications is very important

But if it is not an exclusive one, most of the time the distributor could be using a software which is used by parent A but not by parent B, and this creates a serious problem.

Then comes the issue of availability of IT manpower to manage the partners’ system. Our partners are not only located in metros but also in rural areas. Issues like literacy level, comfort level in IT systems are big challenges for large corporations as well as their partners.

Along with these, presence of reliable communication systems to drive the applications across the network is also an issue with the enterprises.

To have a successful online collaborative enterprise system, it is important that there should be a high quality communication infrastructure. Though in the last five years, things have improved, still a lot needs to be done.

Can the open source software help enterprises in creating the right kind of connectivity with their partners?
I don’t think it can make any difference if, instead of time-tested proprietary applications, one implements open source applications to run their collaborative business processes. The issues that I have raised could not be addressed simply by introducing open source software in the enterprise-computing environment.

What is the role of Web services in collaboration applications?
One of the advantages of a fully developed Web service model is to access information using any device. So if today it is the desktop, tomorrow it could be a PDA, mobile phone or an Internet kiosk. The Web service should enable me to access company information using any device, anywhere with total security. This part is still evolving and emerging.

What kind of system architecture should a company create for connecting its system with those of its partners?
The architecture should be centralised in nature. The partners like dealers will exchange information using a Web enabled system. Unless it is a centralised system, it will be difficult for a company to quickly implement the changes in the system. Otherwise any small change will require the changes in the partner’s system.

This is not only time-consuming but also makes it difficult to roll out changes in a situation where there are a large number of business partners. Collaboration in an extended enterprise situation means the entire company should be connected online with its partners and all work be done on a central database, that is partitioned and secured according to the enterprise’s needs.