Entrepreneurs, Know How To Get A CIO Interested in Your Product

Bangalore: Product companies selling to Enterprise customers often find it a big challenge to get through to CIO decision makers. On the other hand, the role of a CIO is changing on a day-to-day basis since the evolution of technologies are transforming IT’s role and the role of every worker. 

CIOs also are having their own challenges in allocating attention to new products companies and often find startups not completely ready with their messages or products. In a recent event organized by NASSCOM, Atul Jayawant, senior president and group CIO, Aditya Birla Group, said at a session vibrantly named ‘CIOs Talking – Are you listening, Mr. Product Vendor?’ - “Start from something that doesn’t exist and bring it out into reality.”  The talks covered the good, the bad and the ugly experiences that the CIOs faced in trying new products from new vendors.

The sitting panel featured other eminent personalities like Naren Gupta - Co-Founder, Nexus Venture Partners and Piyush Singh - Sr. VP & CIO, Great American Insurance Company, along with Vishwas Mahajan, Founder & CEO, Smiles & Trust group who brilliantly managed the whole session.

 “Trends change along with business valuation. In today’s world value addition is the most important stuff,” said Jayawant. “For an upcoming entrepreneur, you have to be smart and do smart business.”

On the other hand, Piyush started up with a three piece advice to entrepreneurs that reflected on steps to approach a company with a business idea. According to Piyush,” First is to research the company comprehensively before you approach. The second is to understand their business imperative and the third point, which is the most important, is to understand the BU leadership profile along with the CIO profile.”

At the same time, Naren Gupta spoke on what entrepreneurs should do with their products before approaching investors. “Never do the copy-cat stuff. Business organizations are not interested in it. If you have an idea, why not make that idea unique from others?” asks Gupta. “Before finding an investor, understand your motivations, find out what the appropriate investment and also choose wisely.”

Gupta also shed some well-needy light onto the motivating factors for entrepreneurs such as simplifying the environment, knowing the infrastructure and extending the business.