CIO & LEADER-Issue-01-April 2018 (1)

Cover Story
working in the start-ups that make
them attractive to large enterprises.
CIOs are always looking for a fresh
wave of talent among their midst,
which helps them to innovate, to
inspire internal employees, and to
implement a technology product in a
short span of time.
Despite the pressure of digital
transformation and the compelling
need to work with start-ups, large
enterprise CIOs need to be certain of
a start-up's intention. Organizations
should be able to gauge that early on
if it is just a marriage by association.
Many a times, a start-up may display
lack of transparency based on past
experiences of having been taken
advantage of, which makes it difficult
for them to accurately assess a startup’s
product or service, and may
ultimately, face rejection.
It is the job of the start-up to
understand the requirements of
the business. Most start-ups are
rejected because of their failure to
present a viable business case for the
organization. In situations like these,
it is the CIO's or the business head's
prerogative to advise and mentor the
start-up in a direction that helps them
to churn out a success story.
All said, a leap
of faith goes a
long way in any
partnership
Like HDFC Bank, many large
organizations host competitions,
hackathons, and events for start-ups
around a particular technology or a
theme. These events provide the
right kind of exposure and the
opportunity to interact, meet faceto-face,
and display maturity that
opens doors to new relationships and
business partnerships.
In the last three years, digital
transformation has been the driving
force for many large organizations to
seek greener pastures for talent, ideas
and technology. As a result, CIOs and
their organizations are opening their
doors to innovation and new forms of
collaboration with start-ups.
Companies such as RJ Corp,
Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, and ONGC,
are only a few examples of large
organizations that are committed to
working with start-ups and in the
last 3-4 years, have kept a consistent
dialogue with the start-ups that they
have worked with in the form of
product upgrades, new business, and
building relationships with them.
Start-ups also should understand
that they must preserve their business
models and stay true their DNA. A
lot of organizations employ the same
tedious assessment process that they
do for other technology partners. As a
result, they expect start-ups to tow the
line and adjust to implementing a little
'extra' on the side. In such cases, startups
must be clear about the business
they are in, and how must they are
willing to accommodate. However, a
lot of start-ups also see this as a form
of additional business opportunity
that will help them mature their
products and make them more
attractive to big customers.
Start-ups have to overcome their
fear of being let down. Many complain
that they are made to work with teams
at large organizations that pose as
innovation centres, and the technology
solution never sees the light of day.
Therefore, organizations and
start-up must clearly define this
We have a total
of 70 clients in
India; Bajaj being
our number one
client with having
deployed 150 so
far. They have been
buying cobots since
2010. Thanks to
them, the top 5 twowheelers
are using
our technology.
Pradeep David,
CTO, Universal Robots
partnership and set up deadlines
for product planning and execution
– even if it means shorter timelines
for a 3-month long technology
implementation. Large organizations
must also appoint people who
understand the start-up ecosystem
and work towards building trust and
creating continuous engagement.
Partnerships demand a lot of time
and investment. Therefore, once you
take the plunge, start-ups and large
enterprises must work together to
sort out their differences at every step
of the way, respect boundaries, and
co-develop innovative new solutions
that better serve their customers – just
like a dream team playing to win
April 2018 | CIO&LEADER
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