Mindtree Meets With Corporate Information Systems

Started in 1999, Mindtree is a global IT solutions company, with just under 8,000 employees in 20 countries. As a practice, the company gathers its best minds every year in Bangalore to participate in the company's annual planning exercise. With the slowdown, that seemed like a luxury.

Highlights

-- The corporate information systems (CIS) team included video, IM, and presentation sharing capabilities.

-- The initiative, which cost Rs 14.25 lakh (US$30,360) saved the company just under a crore.

"The unprecedented turmoil required MindTree to scrutinize every expenditure item," recalls Sudhir K. Reddy, CIO, MindTree. "One day, I received a call from our chief strategy officer asking me if there was anyway to minimize travel for the annual plan meeting using technology."

Reddy examined telepresence-on-rent and HD video conferencing. But given the size of the meeting - 120 people from up to 14 cities around the world - and the duration of the meeting - six full days - Reddy and his team quickly zeroed in on video collaboration.

The solution Reddy and the corporate information systems (CIS) team deployed included video, IM, and presentation sharing capabilities. An audio bridge was kept as back up.

Reddy's team then evaluated the voice and video quality over different conditions. An optimal configuration was demonstrated to two top management representatives and when they got the go-ahead, the team asked for the meeting's timetable. The list of participants was broken down into those from the local MindTree campus and those from elsewhere. Cameras were shipped to all participants at remote locations. Test conferences were scheduled by CIS teams in all time-zones.

"We had carefully reserved about 384 kbps per external participant and all conference rooms (about 15Mbps in total) to ensure that the video did not freeze or break-up," says Reddy.

But the solution wasn't all technology. The senior management team, which was not used to conducting such important meetings over video conferencing let alone desktop video conferencing, needed convincing. To ensure the technology did not let them down, 10 CIS members babysat the meetings. "If we had to attribute our success to one factor, it would be the meticulous planning and orchestration of the event by the CIS team," says Reddy.

The initiative, which cost Rs 14.25 lakh saved the company just under a crore.