Suresh Karanam
AVP - Global Head For BI Consulting & Solutions
Mahindra Satyam
Suresh Karanam is a member of:
- Expert
The Journey: Early Days to How I Got Here
It
is important to get a first-hand & direct view of what BI
stakeholders within organizations are after. Towards this, I think my
onsite engagements at customer sites early on helped. I was able to
demonstrate value to them within the data that was theirs – capital
tranche (for a BFSI customer); mobile subscriptions analysis, churn
analysis, downstream campaign management (for a Telco customer) &
worked with them to achieve the business outcomes. Thereafter, it was
about executing a large EDW/BI transformation project within a large
program to customers’ success criteria. I then took up a BI Consulting
role with the experience gained till then; and now propose BI solutions
for multiple prospects/customers.
Decisions That Mattered
I
think I figured out what my interests were, early on within the larger
IT pie. Having been analytical by nature, it was always “data”. BI is in
my genes. Once that was done, I have tried to give my best – making
hands dirty with the BI tools & technologies. Along with BI
technology aspects, developing proficiency in the business areas that I
worked on has gone a long way to demonstrate that I was a part of their
journey
The Turning Points
It
was about figuring my interests early on - From Infrastructure support
to OLTP application development to BI/DW. Also, transitioning to a BI
Consulting role from a Delivery role in 2009 amidst considerable
pressure and extending it to MDM subsequently.
Work and Role: Then and Now
Currently
I am proposing BI Solutions & Value to prospects/customers whereas
earlier I was executing them. My present role requires interacting with
Industry Analysts, Product Partners & attending BI Conferences.
Two Years Down the Line
Leading
a team where we create solutions that can deliver consistent value at
each stage of the lifecycle in the ever evolving BI space.
Evolution of BI as I See it
BI
has evolved from good-to-have to need-to-have for organizations in the
last 12-15 years, in my view. My profession today is all about
demonstrating real business value of BI initiatives & how valuable
it is within the larger IT application landscape.
What I learnt along the way
Figuring out area of interest (our professional DNA)
Trends to Watch Out For
In-Memory
Analytics, Self-Service BI, Big Data, Real-Time BI, Social Media
Analytics, BI on Cloud. To me, these are opportunities & challenges.
Opportunities to evaluate, create & demonstrate solutions in these
areas; challenges in finding the right solutions in the market and
enjoying the challenge in creating.
My Advice If You are Starting Out
Welcome
aboard BI! You can expect only more & diverse opportunities with
the BI trends being the most matched in the market (we BI Practitioners
claim!)
Must Focus Areas in BI Domain
Predictive
Analytics with Statistics, Figuring out Master Data (with all the
internal & external sources of data), Open-Source BI.
Do We Need Certifications?
It
was a must-have to get into newer areas. TDWI Certification (CBIP),
TOGAF certification would go a long way to keep the concepts in-tact,
while addressing the evolving BI needs.
Books/Websites I recommend
Business Intelligence Roadmap by Larissa Moss & Shaku Atre;
Some of the websites i recommend are
http://tdwi.org; http://searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/; http://www.information-management.com;
http://www.b-eye-network.com
Last but not the least
We
lead a social life, after all. Hence, it is important to have
conversations with BI Customers/Analysts/Practitioners when we get an
opportunity to share our perspectives and lead BI Industry to glory.