It’s all about people, processes and technology!

This used to be the favorite line of Ralph - my VP at Citibank, NA.  And I must admit, he had quite some influence in shaping my thought process. And at the tail end of it, I feel the quality of these three things - People, Processes and Technology - translate directly into the success of any enterprise.

It still remains a difficult proposition for me to rank these in any particular order, but I think I am a bit biased towards “people” - primarily ‘cos I can relate directly to it and have seen how much of an influence a person can make,  and given a choice between quality and quantity, I have a penchant for the former.  All successful enterprises have one thing in common - they all had great leaders and visionaries.  Be it Bill Gates, Steve Jobs,  Larry Page or Sergey Brin. They all had a dream and the will & courage to see their dreams tanslate into Microsofts, Apples and Googles of today. And the “people” factor assumes all the more importance in the context of IT industry, where the most precious assets of a company are not land or machinery, but it’s workforce. Even though we are witnessing tumultuous times today,  I am still a firm believer in that age old adage - “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.”

“Processes” are vital for the success of an organization, specially as it grows bigger in size. Some may argue that people may come and go, but it’s the “process” which is integral to an organization. But processes are only as good as the “people” following it, so the discipline needs to be enforced. And in today’s dynamic environment, a process also needs to be constantly revisited and revised.

And as someone who is very much part of the technical world, I will be the last one to undermine the importance of technology. The power of technology is immense. And for an organization, it offers the best means for cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Thanks to technological advancements, traditional mail is a thing of history now, offshoring is the new mantra, VoIPs have fast replaced ISDs, Video Conferencing has substituted costly travels et al. And as constantly evolving human beings, we always strive for better - and technology is the means to accomplish just that.

To sum up, to say one thing is better than other doesn’t mean we can do without the other - all three are imperative for the success of an organization.