Information Technology & Digital

In this interconnected world, Information Technology (IT) and now Digital Technology can create and drive market differentiation. Technology is redefining the competitive landscape. It is creating new business models, value chains and revolutionising the way a company engages with customers, partners and employees.

VISION AND STRATEGY

Technology & Digital has become an integral part of the Company as it remains aligned to its IT Vision: ‘Aspire to be a Strategic Partner through Innovative solutions for Rapid growth Enablement’.

The Company has made significant progress by combining its assets, knowledge and digital technologies and is investing heavily to improve processes, increase productivity and delight customers.

While the Company has launched multiple initiatives in getting technology-ready for business to build an enterprise ecosystem, it continues to embrace the industry-proven bimodal IT approach of strengthening the core and building for the future.

While the Company realises the importance of getting technology-ready for business and has created a strong foothold, it has started focusing on getting business-ready for technology. The first step in this direction was the ‘Piramal TechFest’ platform, which created excitement and enthusiasm about technology in the Company.

Key Group-level Initiatives

Getting Technology-ready for Business

  • Established Centre of Excellence: Set up a Centre of Excellence for Digital, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Business Intelligence. RPA enables automating select processes and redeploying or removing excess capacity. Seven processes were automated across Financial Services, Shared Services and PCC, resulting in significant time savings of employees towards process execution.
  • Enhanced employee experience: Enhanced the online Human Resources portal, My>Piramal, and improved its user interface, through increased standardisation and automation.
  • Effective communication and collaboration: The best-in-class Enterprise Service Management platform, iHelp, has been enhanced with self-service capabilities. New workflows and functions such as HR and Supply Chain are being added to enhance visibility, transparency and productivity. iHelp has emerged as a single unified tool for the Company: One Piramal – One Tool.
  • Cloud journey: The Company has migrated the Global Human Resource (HRMS) function and corporate websites and portals to the Cloud. The Company has also initiated migration to Microsoft’s cloud platform, Office 365, to improve employee productivity and collaboration, and increase flexibility and cost.
  • Information security, data protection and privacy: The Company developed a New Data Privacy Management Framework and continues to invest in implementing data protection management systems to ensure privacy of employees, customers, suppliers and business partners. The programme is split into two waves. Wave-1 focuses on achieving compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the European Union and Wave-2 for non-European Union locations. As part of this programme, Data Privacy Policies and Procedures have been developed and necessary website notices, consent statements and privacy clauses have been added, wherever applicable. To educate employees on Data Protection, Privacy and Compliance, we have initiated necessary employee awareness programmes.

Getting Business-ready for Technology

  • Build digital culture: We launched Piramal TechFest to introduce emerging technologies, which can be implemented in its businesses and individual functions, to all its employees. The inaugural event had 1,000+ participants, including business leaders, leading technology partners and start-ups. The second ‘Piramal TechFest’ is planned for all major locations in India and international Piramal sites over the year.
  • Continuous learning: The IT Academy is an integrated platform that addresses gaps in individual technology capabilities and expands domain knowledge by providing access to a multitude of learnings. To create a digital culture in the Company and build a strong network of Tech Champs, the IT Academy platform was extended to all business employees.

Financial Services

The Financial Services business has identified and shortlisted key opportunities across multichannel products and services and the following four technology pillars are helping the Company to build a state-of-the-art technology-driven business.

Strengthening Our Core Platforms
The Company is focused on building scalable, secure and resilient core systems. This is being achieved by re-hosting and re-platforming the technology architecture using a loosely coupled framework for efficient scale-ups enabling a faster go-to-market.

Digital Innovation for Enhanced Customer Engagement
The Company is:

  • Developing more digital channels for customer interactions
  • Adopting new generation technologies such as AI, Robotics, RPA and Mobility Solutions
  • Adopting cloud and open source technologies
  • Moving aggressively towards integrating third-party systems using APIs

Effective Risk Management

IT facilitates in implementing a strong Risk Management Framework by:

  • Building tight information security controls to ensure insulation from threats
  • Developing pro-active and robust risk detection, management and mitigation mechanisms
  • Implementing robust IT governance models
  • Leveraging technology-based tools for better underwriting and decision-making

Key Differentiators

The Company is imbibing technology learnings from peers and engaging partner ecosystems, as well as implementing them by:

  • Using agile fintech ecosystem to bring competitive advantage and operational efficiency
  • Aligning technology strategy and design with enterprise goals to ensure optimal delivery for sustained growth
  • Continuously engaging with external thought leaders through the technology review council
  • Developing new and enhanced business engagement frameworks and synergistic alliances with fintech players
  • Creating smarter execution plans (right-sourcing)

Pharma

The Pharma business strategy continues to focus on Customer, Quality, Workforce and Capabilities. It is aligned with the Company’s Technology and Digital strategy with an aim of creating a differentiator, and generating higher stakeholder value through improved profitability, better operational efficiency, and higher customer and employee satisfaction.

Enhanced Customer Experience
The Company has taken several initiatives to increase transparency and discipline while achieving data accuracy. The Company has introduced newer technologies to improve customer experience by providing a virtual laboratory tour using Tele-presence via physical robots at the site.

Workforce Efficiency
The Company plans to improve workforce efficiency using chatbots for HR-related functions, enhance collaboration using Microsoft O365 and digitalise all offline processes.

Quality/Compliance
The Company continues to drive automation of regulatory and quality systems across locations. Further steps to enhance compliance have been taken using innovative solutions such as chatbots for IT compliance and RPA for improving workforce productivity.

Capability
Newly acquired entities and products have been seamlessly integrated into enterprise-wide core systems and processes to increase overall productivity. The Company has leveraged technology to enable business expansion to newer geographies while being compliant with local regulations.

The Company has started its transformation journey with new-age technologies such as RPA, chatbots, and Business Intelligence. Some of the use cases in the focus areas are digitalising R&D, digitalising supply chain using blockchain, real-time data-driven business reviews using the Business Intelligence platform, customer and employee facing chatbots, and Virtual Reality (VR)-based site tour.

The Way Forward

The Company’s aim is to create value for its customers as well as shareholders by enhancing its Technology & Digital footprint. Our technology strategy will continue to play a vital role in renewing customer experience, automating core business processes, and improving technology systems by deploying cloud and cyber security solutions and as-a-service models. The Company will continue to build on a digital culture that is closely aligned with the business, talent and technology strategies to facilitate digital transformation at a greater scale.