My Take – Mphasis plans to make its research arm Next Labs self-sustaining

To maintain competitive advantage, all organisations are to establish R&D arms to nurture creative instincts and endeavours to identify and focus on ever changing end customer expectations and preferences and come out with workable solutions. In the IT (technology) world, such customer preferences can be grouped under Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction / Management and Efficiency Improvement. Unfortunately all organisations (including Mphasis) appear to focus on immediate return on investments. In the R&D world such immediate returns are near impossible things to happen, but when they strike, they strike gold. Making R&D arms to play a secondary role in delivery scheme of things will not yield in desired results either. If this is forced upon, I can visualise talented research minds will not digest such diminished roles to play the role of order takers and they will leave the organisations eventually. Do these organisations really want this to happen? In that case they can directly talk to their R&D personnel and they will understand the predicament and do the needful on their own.

In my view, R&D personnel will need a tenderly approach and total support from their top management. Going by my experience and reading of the market place, I can share my view – some organisations have lost their opportunities – they exited R&D focus just about the time they were about to stumble upon industry path breaking changes / discoveries – just missing the gold trails by an inch?.

If we are to ensure our organisations to turn themselves into everlasting organisations, if the owners and the shareholders want to pass on their wealth and ownership to their future generations, we need organisations such as Mphasis to emphasize on R&D.

Coming to Mphasis, I would like to suggest reconsidering their latest move. Stipulating revenue/profit targets for R&D efforts will yield negative results only in addition to driving away their brilliant minds. I am willing to share more thoughts and focus areas in BFSI domain from my hands-on experience in banking and financial technology space in R&D efforts if required.

Thanks for this opportunity to interact..

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