Risk management, a high priority for Indian tech cos

By siliconindia   |   Saturday, 20 November 2010, 08:04 IST
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Mumbai: Compared to other sectors/industry verticals, risk management in Indian technology companies has gained significant importance and has emerged as one of the highest priorities for the C-suite. According to risk advisors and insurance brokers Marsh, regulatory changes in the western world, especially related to privacy and data security, have made it mandatory for most Indian tech companies to have a robust and formally documented risk management plan. In fact, for many companies this risk management plan goes beyond management of operational risks and focuses on business continuity and issues like succession planning as well. Many technology companies have also created a new department or a position for risk management reporting directly into the board of directors. This and many such topics were discussed at the Marsh Annual Technology Conference, titled 'The changing face of risk' held in Mumbai. Speaking at the conference, Sanjay Kedia, Country Head and CEO, Marsh India said, "There are over one thousand technology companies in India and most of them of them have set up formalized risk management departments. This clearly shows that risk management is important for the C-suite and cannot be ignored." Marsh India has monitored emerging trends and broad themes related to risk and insurance among Indian technology companies over the last one year. It asserts that risk management has moved up the agenda at the most senior level, risk is being more formally & objectively addressed at board meetings, strategic and operational risks are being perceived as almost as important as financial and macroeconomic risks, and new technologies or developments in older ones like the cloud, social networking, open source etc. spell opportunity but are also throwing up challenges related to risk for technology firms in India.