CxO Of the Week: Suman Nandy, CEO, ePaathsala

CiOL has chosen CxO of the week and this time its Suman Nandy, CEO, ePaathsala. He has experience of over 10 years in compliance in India and U.S.Suman Nandy has completed his B.E. from Jadavpur University and MBA from IIFT before joining Wipro as a consultant.

He worked with Ernst & Young at Seattle, U.S.A. on audit and advisory. His major clients include Sony, Microsoft, UTC, Albertsons and a number of other clients.

Suman was part of a startup in 2000. A CISA, CISSP, Suman has been speaking at ISACA and many conferences. Suman has worked on institutional sales, business continuity.

Your top priority while making decisions to improve tech infra in your organisation?

My top priority while making decisions to improve tech infra would be to understand the total cost of ownership keeping in mind future prospect and my target users. Target users determine the minimum technology standard required to be implemented. Based on the minimum technology standard, I would like to choose a future-proof technology with lower cost of ownership, availability of support and also easy availability of qualified resources to maintain the same.

Challenges you face in driving digital transformation?

The major challenge for driving digital transformation is resistance to change - the human psychology factor. Users are comfortable with certain operational ways and they do not want to change it or learn new technologies. The key to success for a digital transformation lies in the change management.

Do you feel that freshers in the industry come with only basic knowledge but don’t have the right skills to fulfil job requirements? If yes, your suggestion to students and colleges?

I feel many freshers in the industry do not have the right skill set to fulfil the job requirement. The colleges need to take a look at revising the syllabus by incorporating topics that are helpful for the students. For example, the students for many technical courses do not learn the topics required for their day-to-day activities once they start working and often undergo a technical training program after they join the industry. Secondly, arranging an internship during the course of study would help the students get an exposure to the type of skillset or knowledge required and help them to prepare for the same during the course.

What’s your mantra to become successful in life?

There is no shortcut to success, and hard work and perseverance pays off. Also, it is important to be honest. We all have limitations, but we need to work around it.

What would you like to give back to the society?

I would really like to contribute towards improving the quality of education. There are many institutions in the country where they do not have enough resources or tools to provide quality education. We have started a program called Accredited Bharat under which we provide free ICT tools and resources to any educational institution to implement quality education.

Your favourite book and what are you reading now?

I like reading various books. I like reading travelogues, and inspirational stories. Currently, I am reading the book Men of Steel.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I like playing golf. Recently I have started learning swimming.

Achievements (Awards & Recognitions)

I have been one of the founder members of Linux groups in India back in 2000. I also used to speak regularly in ISACA conferences in USA and India.

Experience

I started my career with Wipro in USA for accreditation and compliance. Later I moved on to Ernest & Young in USA working on the domains of accreditation, compliance and audit. Currently, I work with institutions in India and Australia assisting them with Quality improvement and Accreditation management.

First Job - Wipro
Education - I have completed my Engineering from Jadavpur University and MBA from IIFT.

Take a look at the previous CxO of the Week