Gigabit December 2018

EXCLUSIVE! THE LAUNCH OF INDUSTRY X.0
www.gigabitmagazine.com
DECEMBER 2018
How digital
transformation is
revolutionising
health
A sustainable
journey
TOP 10
BUSINESS
TECH TRENDS
CHAD WILKERSON
OUTLINES THE TELCO
GIANT’S SUSTAINABLE
TRANSFORMATION
Digital transformation in an evolving industry

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, FOLLOW US!!
04
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Laura Mullan...................
MANAGING EDITOR
Andrew Woods..............
Olivia Minnock...............
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Daniel Crawford............
CREATIVE TEAM
Frazer Jones.....................
Mitchell Park...................
Lucie Miller......................
Hollie Crofts–Morris......
Erin Hancox.....................
Alicia Lolotte...................
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Georgia Allen.......................
PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE
Daniela Kianickova......
DIGITAL VIDEO DIRECTOR
Josh Trett...........................
DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCER
Emily Amos......................
SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVE
Callum Rivett..................
PROJECT DIRECTORS
Justin Brand.....................
Charlotte Clarke............
Craig Daniels...................
Mike Sadr..........................
Alex Page...........................
Kristofer Palmer............
Lewis Vaughan...............
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Alex Barron......................
UK MANAGING DIRECTOR
James Pepper..................
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Andy Turner....................
PRESIDENT & CEO
Glen White.......................
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WELCOME
Hello and welcome to the December
issue of Gigabit magazine, bringing
you the latest news, analysis and
insights across the technology business
landscape.
Across every industry, sustainability
goals are increasingly driving change
in global businesses, and technology is
no exception. Telecommunications
giant T-Mobile has lofty ambitions to
reduce its carbon emissions promote
a clean energy future.
For this month’s cover feature,
Andrew Woods caught up with Chad
Wilkerson, Director of Sustainability
and Infrastructure Sourcing at
T-Mobile, to learn how the telco plans
to use 100% renewable energy for all
its operations in three years’ time.
“We frequently evaluate our environmental
impacts to determine how
we can make significant improvements
or offset the impacts of our
operations,” says Wilkerson.
Next, we spoke to SITA Labs Lead
Engineer, Kevin O’Sullivan, to learn
about the potential behind blockchain
technology.
Additionally, as challenger banks
challenge the status quo, Simon Healy,
Industry Director for Unisys Financial
Services EMEA, queries whether SMEs
are willing to make the banking switch.
We’ll also look at the top industry
events you won’t want to miss and we’ll
conclude the issue by rounding up the
top 10 business trends that are set to
disrupt the technology sector in 2019.
Don’t forget to also check out our
company profiles on Accenture,
Microsoft Canada, Zimnat and more.
We hope you enjoy this month’s
bumper issue and, as ever, you can find
us across social media @GigabitMag
Enjoy the issue!
Laura Mullan.
Laura.mullan@bizclikmedia.com
05
www.gigabitmagazine.com

CONTENTS
T-Mobile
North America
42
10
52
Connecting
the world: the
future of
blockchain
Is your SME
up for the
challenge?

Top10
Business tech
trends
82
Accenture
North America
64
108
Ross Video
North America
130
Brown-Forman
North America
148
Aerojet Rocketdyne
North America
162
Collabera
North America

PetalMD
North America
186
198
Santander
Europe
174
Microsoft Canada
North America
Emasa
Europe
218
Swedish Mining
Automation Group
Europe
232
Telekomunikasi
Indonesia
Asia-Pacific
248

Shera Public
Company Limited
Asia-Pacific
268
FWD Insurance
Asia-Pacific
284
Digital Realty
Asia-Pacific
302
SBM Bank
Africa
314
Zimnat
Africa
328
Abu Dhabi University
Middle East
344
09

10
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
11
A
sustainable
telco
WRIT TEN BY
ANDREW WOODS
PRODUCED BY
GLEN WHITE
www.gigabitmagazine.com

T-MOBILE
We speak to Chad Wilkerson, Director, Sustainability
& Infrastructure Sourcing at T-Mobile regarding
the telecommunications giant’s ambition to use
100% renewable energy for all its operations in three
years’ time…
12
T
-Mobile has an ambition: the
telco giant aims to be using
100% renewable energy for
all its operations by 2021. As sustainability
dominates the thoughts of many
industry leaders as well as their clients
and customers, for a company as large
and expansive as T-Mobile, which
covers manufacturing, IT, construction
and much more, ambitions as bold as
these require an agile and strategic
approach that will cause as little
disruption to its day-to-day operations
as possible. Chad Wilkerson, Director,
Sustainability & Infrastructure Sourcing
at T-Mobile, is the man entrusted
with delivering this program – we
caught up with Wilkerson at his Dallas
office to find out more.
“I get to lead a great team of people
that are doing things differently in
energy sustainability across T-Mobile,”
he explains. “With RE100 and our
commitment to be powered by 100%
green energy by 2021, we’re not just
buying green energy, but taking a whole
systems approach to sustainability. For
example, we’re working to make sure
our operations are as energy efficient
as possible, we’re working to decrease
our carbon footprint and we’re supporting
third parties like the Nature Conservancy
to promote a low-carbon, clean
energy future. Our goal is to make an
impact on the whole sustainability realm
– and lead the wireless industry in this
area. At T-Mobile we want to make the
biggest impact we can, not just in the
environmental space but really, in every–
thing we do – that is the Un-carrier way.”
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
“We’ve been relying more on
electronic communications
with our customers and about
70% of our clients have signed
up for paperless billing”
—
Chad Wilkerson,
Director, Sustainability & Infrastructure
Sourcing, T-Mobile
13
Telcos can seem rather
amorphous when it comes to
internal processes and infrastructure,
but of course there
is a physical architecture that
feeds T-Mobile’s processes and
products. “Telcos do have an
interesting model that you might
not have in your normal retail or
manufacturing footprint. Not only
do we have retail stores, corpo-
www.gigabitmagazine.com

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Small Cell
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Delta’s misson is to provide innovative, clean, and energy-efficient
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commitment to sustainability with it’s high efficiency DC power systems,
complete portfolio of 5G telecom enclosures, and low-emission stand-by
generators.

#IoT-based Smart Green Solutions
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T-MOBILE
rate offices, call centers and data
centers, we also have a massive
network infrastructure and antennae
network – and that’s where the bulk of
the green energy we’re acquiring is
being utilized – to sustainably power
that infrastructure.”
SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
So, what exactly does T-Mobile’s
sustainability strategy look like? “At
a high-level, we didn’t just look at
the standard environmental, social,
governance (ESG) model – we went
beyond that and took an Un-carrier
approach, like we do with everything
else. In this case, we focused on three
key pillars - protecting the planet,
inspiring our customers and employees,
and leading responsibly. Our Un-carrier
culture is really rooted in the belief
that business success is measured not
just with financial results, but in our
commitment to delivering a positive
and sustained impact on the economy,
community and the planet as a whole.”
16
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘T-MOBILE GOES GREEN: JOHN LEGERE
CHALLENGES AT&T AND VERIZON TO CHOOSE RENEWABLE ENERGY’
17
www.gigabitmagazine.com

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A KEY STRATEGIC
PARTNER
T-Mobile selected Longroad as a partner
following a competitive process that drew
the interest of dozens of renewable energy
developers from around the globe. T-Mobile
valued Longroad’s wind and solar development
expertise, experience working with corporate
customers, its in-house operations and asset
management capabilities, financial strength
and competitively priced clean energy.
In addition to partnering with T-Mobile,
Longroad is actively developing renewable
energy projects across the United States.
Longroad has a greenfield development pipeline
of over 8,000 MW and recently completed the
development of two utility-scale wind and solar
projects in Texas. Both projects, which include
a 315 MWdc solar project (the largest solar
project in Texas), will sell their renewable energy
to corporate customers.
The Longroad team is comprised of long-time
energy industry veterans with a proven track
record of successfully developing renewable
energy projects. The core team began
developing renewable energy projects together
over a decade ago at Longroad’s predecessor
company, First Wind. During their time
together, the Longroad team has successfully
developed 35 utility-scale wind and solar
projects across the United States totaling
approximately 3,800 MW.
Longroad is an industry leader in operating
and managing operating wind, solar and
energy storage projects. The Longroad
Energy Services (“LES”) team is comprised of
experienced Operations & Maintenance and
Asset Management professionals. LES staffs
a 24x7 Remote Operations Center (“ROC”)
to continuously monitor, troubleshoot and
proactively oversee the 1,236 MW of operating
wind and solar projects currently under LES
management. Through its commercial, technical
and data-driven approach, LES has helped
financial investors and corporate customers
achieve their investment objectives.
www.longroadenergy.com

T-MOBILE
20
T-Mobile is growing, and
Wilkerson and his team are
tasked with ensuring that
with this expansion the
green energy programs
keep up with the new power
needs. “We frequently
evaluate our environmental
impacts to determine how
we can make significant
improvements or offset the
impacts of our operations.
We first aim to decrease our
carbon footprint through
energy efficiency, sourcing
renewable energy and utilizing
innovative techniques to
reduce our greenhouse gases.
The greenest, most economic energy you can get is the
energy you don’t use, right? So, that’s a big focus for us.
We aim to mitigate the impacts that our operations have
on the environment to help ensure the long-term viability
of our communities and our business.”
Of course, by tackling climate change, there is also
a vested interest in protecting the T-Mobile supply chain.
“As far as how the environment affects the supply chain...
if there’s flooding in an area where our supply base is
located, or even in areas where, like us in Texas, our
network is located, it affects our operations. If a network
or a store can’t open, or an employee can’t get to work,
it affects our staff and the communities they live in. So,
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
focusing on minimizing our impact on
the environment is good for customers,
employees and the community alike.”
T-Mobile, a green power partner with
the EPA, is expanding its commitment
to operating sustainably in partnership
with our supply chain. “The suppliers
we have the best relationships with
are those that echo our values and our
thinking – and are focused on implementing
new, innovative solutions and
structures for the future. With suppliers
like Ericsson for example, we can
together have a much bigger impact
21
www.gigabitmagazine.com

R
The Power of
Partnership
At Enel Green Power, we believe it makes good business sense
to match renewables and sustainability goals with underlying
corporate values.
Each company has unique requirements, so it’s critical to find a
partner who understands your needs, and has the ability to
deliver a customized solution.
Enel Green Power has a track record of delivering tailor-made
sustainability solutions to our partners world-wide.
Follow us
enelgreenpower.com

Sustainable Energy Powers this Partnership
Ahead of Earth Day 2017, T-Mobile announced
magenta was going green with Enel Green Power
(EGP). The Un-carrier made the largest wind power
investment ever by a U.S. wireless company, purchasing
the clean energy produced by EGP’s Red
Dirt Wind Farm in Oklahoma. This partnership will
enable T-Mobile to meet its progressive sustainability
targets which call for using 100% renewable energy
for their entire business by 2021, including the
company’s operations across U.S. retail stores, call
centers and network operations.
Corporations continue to see the value of supporting
renewable energy, and wind power is among
the cleanest available sources of renewable energy,
according to the EPA. T-Mobile, the only major wireless
company to commit to 100% renewable electricity,
is recognized by the EPA and Green America
for leading the way to #CleanUpWireless. T-Mobile’s
sustainable practices don’t end there. From LEED
certification and composting at their main campus,
to device recycling and paperless billing, they’ve
claimed a clear leadership position in environmental
stewardship within the wireless industry.
Sustainability runs deep in EGP’s value chain as well,
from how we construct our wind farms to the power
that our energy facilities produce, we are committed
to delivering long-term sustainability for the local
communities that we call home. Red Dirt Wind Farm
is part of EGP’s sustainable construction program
which includes activities like recycling reclaimed
materials for community projects, wood-recycling
programs, conducting repair and maintenance on
local roads, and investing in critical community operations
and initiatives such as local fire departments
and community centers.
Enel Green Power North America, part of the Renewable
Energies division of the Enel Group, is a
leading owner and operator of renewable energy
plants in North America with projects operating and
under development in 24 U.S. states and two Canadian
provinces. EGP operates over 100 plants with
a managed capacity exceeding 4.2 GW powered by
renewable hydropower, wind, geothermal, and solar
energy. In 2017, EGP added more capacity than any
company in the U.S. with a record-breaking 1.2 GW
and currently in the U.S. and globally, EGP has the
second largest amount of contracted capacity with
commercial and industrial customers.
We have seen a growing number of enterprises
contracting for renewable energy to secure cost
savings and provide long-term cost certainty. Our
Power Purchase Agreements and partnerships with
our customers serve as an industry example of how
corporations can leverage renewable energy to reduce
costs and operate more efficiently.
When companies like T-Mobile choose to invest in
renewable energy through EGP’s projects, they are
signaling to the market that sustainability is a core
value and essential to remaining competitive in the
future.
ed Dirt Wind Farm - Kingfisher & Logan Counties - Oklahoma, USA

ENERGY IS A
COMMODITY.
PEOPLE
AREN’T.
Some of our clients call us power consultants. Others think of us as
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NORTH AMERICA
25
both for the planet and the economy!
T-Mobile is also currently working
with Tradewind Energy and Enel
Green Power on a number of initiatives
including one, Red Dirt Wind
Farm. “That’s a large project. We’re
utilizing partners that are in alignment
with us, and have proven they can
deliver results that pave the way for
our future renewable progress. We
are also working with Engie North
America on Solomon Forks, located in
Thomas County, near the city of Colby
in northwest Kansas, which is going
to be T-Mobile’s second wind farm.
T-Mobile is also working with Puget
Sound Energy to power it’s Bellevue,
WA HQ with 100% green energy that
is locally sourced through PSE’s
Green Direct Program.”
T-Mobile’s sustainability strategy is
part of the company’s broader CSR
program which aims to leverage its
brand, technology and people to positively
impact the community and planet.
“In addition to sustainability T-Mobile
www.gigabitmagazine.com

T-MOBILE COMPANY FACTS
26
Device Recycling Program
In 2017, T-Mobile USA collected
over 4 million used cell phones.
Of the over 4 million used devices
and accessories we collected in
2017, we reuse or resell a 86% of
that hardware—which is by far
the most eco-friendly approach.
The rest are responsibly recycled
by providers we select. Since we
launched our recycling program
back in 2008, over 14.4 million
T-Mobile customer devices (and
counting) have been reused or
resold. Because cell phones contain
precious metals, recycling not
only conserves these materials,
but also helps prevent pollution
and greenhouse gas emissions.
Renewable Energy Savings
T-Mobile utilizes about 2.7 million
megawatt hours (MWh) of energy
across our headquarters, stores,
cell towers, call centers and other
locations. To address this energy
use, T-Mobile has taken the initiative
to enter the renewable energy
space. Through our renewable
energy use we plan to cut our
energy costs by around $100 million
dollars in the next 15 years.
Renewable Energy Leader
T-Mobile has quickly established
itself as the benchmark for the
telecommunications industry in
renewable energy performance.
In April 2017, we made the largest
ever wind power investment to
date by a US wireless company,
signing a long-term agreement of
up to 160MW from the new Red
Dirt wind project in Oklahoma.
The project, operational as of
January 2018, is expected to provide
T-Mobile with over 625 GWh
of renewable energy annually, or
approximately 27% of our overall
power use. Not satisfied to stop
there, in January 2018, T-Mobile
unveiled a 2nd major wind
farm project, an agreement for
160MW with Infinity Renewables'
Solomon Forks Wind Project in
Kansas. This project, expected to
be operational in early 2019, combined
with Red Dirt, will generate
320 MWs for T-Mobile or enough
to meet an estimated 60% of our
total energy needs nationwide.
Growing our Network
Efficiency
T-Mobile calculates its Co2e
emissions in proportion to its
transmitted data volume [in
TByte]. Data volume is an important
indicator for T-Mobile to
create a direct link for the performance
of its networks. T-Mobile’s
data volume transported by its
Networks increased significantly
for 2017 while its carbon emission
intensity figure decreased for that
year by 29.3%

www.gigabitmagazine.com
27

Towards a
sustainable
future
Integrating sustainability and responsible
business practices into our operations is
vital to our long-term success.
Our vision is empowering an intelligent,
sustainable and connected world through
relentlessly innovating technologies that
are easy to adopt, use and scale.
ericsson.com/sustainability
Facebook @technologyforgood | Twitter @EricssonSustain
Our company impact
We are committed to the Paris Climate Agreement by
joining the Science Based Targets initiative, with the target to
reduce our carbon footprint by in 2022.
35%
Our product performance
We strive to ensure that the
product portfolio shall be 10x more
5G energy efficient than current 4G by 2022.
Our contribution
to climate action
We innovate ICT solutions that have
the power to help reduce global
greenhouse emissions by up to 15%.

NORTH AMERICA
has a strong focus on supporting
veterans, youth development, assisting
communities impacted by disasters
and enabling our employees to give
back to their communities and favorite
non-profit partners. So far, in 2018,
T-Mobile has given more than US$8mn
and employees have volunteered over
34,000 hours – and this is all before
Giving Tuesday which kicks off the
busiest giving season of the year.
T-Mobile plans to give up to $2mn for
Giving Tuesday alone.”
T-Mobile has also been recognized
for its commitment to diversity and
inclusion and overall ethical business
practices. “T-Mobile is one of Fortune’s
Best Places to Work for Diversity, and
one of Forbes Best Employers for
Diversity, and for five years in a row
has received a perfect 100 from the
Human Rights Campaign’s annual
Equality Index, earning the “Best Place
to Work for LGBT Employees” for
2017. We also received a top score
from the Disability Equality Index for
“Best Places to Work for Disability
Inclusion” for 2017. And finally, for
the past 10 years T-Mobile has been
voted Most Ethical Company by the
Ethisphere Institute.
29
“We frequently evaluate
our environmental
impacts to determine
how we can make
significant improvements
or offset the impacts of
our operations”
—
Chad Wilkerson,
Director, Sustainability & Infrastructure
Sourcing, T-Mobile
www.gigabitmagazine.com

T-MOBILE
30
GREEN OPERATIONS
T-Mobile has a number of LEED certified
facilities including its Bellevue campus
which achieved LEED Certification
from the US Green Building Council.
T-Mobile just announced a $160mn
renovation that – over the next three
years – will transform its Northwest
headquarters into a modern, inclusive,
connected and flexible workplace to
better support innovation and collaboration
among employees. The new
offices will earn a LEED certification
with sustainable green building design,
construction and ongoing maintenance
and operations. In addition, the redesigned
HQ will be the first corporate
campus in the US to achieve a Fitwel
certification, a wellness standard that
promotes a comprehensive approach
to a healthier workplace through
increased physical activity, accessible
design, access to healthy food options,
natural lighting and outdoor spaces.
Also, the T-Mobile Arena is a LEED
Gold certified facility and first LEEDcertified
sports and entertainment
facility in Las Vegas.
Some of the key initiatives T-Mobile
has introduced include waste reduction
programs such as paperless billing,
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
31
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NORTH AMERICA
“We’ve also recycled
over 25,000 technology
items from our
offices… it’s about
300,000 pounds of IT
equipment that would
have gone to a landfill”
—
Chad Wilkerson,
Director, Sustainability & Infrastructure
Sourcing, T-Mobile
minimizing product packaging and
increased use of FSC certified recycled
and post-consumer materials. “We’re
really cutting back on the amount of
paper receipts we’re using in our stores,”
Wilkerson explains. “Reducing collateral
– like direct mail advertising and customer
billing. We’ve been relying more on
electronic communications with our
customers and about 70% of our clients
have signed up for paperless billing.”
“We work closely with the CTIA
Green Working Group to efficiently and
effectively protect the products we sell,
like phones and accessories, while
minimizing the impact, footprint and
waste associated with our packaging
as much as possible. The results have
been pretty good, and include eliminat-
ing plastic insert trays, labeling all
packaging with internationally recognized
symbols to encourage recycling,
and reducing volatile organic compounds
to less than 10%. We’ve also
recycled over 25,000 technology items
from our offices including computers,
servers and monitors. It’s about 300,000
pounds of IT equipment that would
have gone to a landfill. In addition to
internal electronics and battery recycling,
we have a consumer device recycling
program and since we started that,
we’ve had over 18mm devices reused
or recycled, and that continues to grow.
Just having the incentives in place for
33
www.gigabitmagazine.com

T-MOBILE
DECEMBER 2018

T-MOBILE COMPANY FACTS
Energy Efficiency on
our Network
In select markets, T-Mobile removed
HVAC equipment from existing
telecom shelters at cell sites, and
replaced them with a direct air
cooling system by installing new
cabinet doors designed with variable
speed, high efficiency fans to
optimize airflow. This investment
resulted in decreased energy consumption
at the sites and reduced
energy costs by 30%.
Setting Ambitious
Emissions Targets
We have set a number of goals to
decrease our carbon footprint,
including sourcing 100% of our
electricity from renewable energy
by 2021. Our goals are driven by
our interest in reducing our dependence
on fossil fuels, improving the
cost and security of our fuel supply
and reducing the harmful impacts
of greenhouse gas emissions on the
planet. With the RCP 2.6 scenario,
T-Mobile has committed to reduce
combined absolute scope 1 and
scope 2 GHG emissions 95% by
2025 from a 2016 base-year. Additionally,
T-Mobile also commits
to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions
by 15% per customer by 2025 from
a 2016 base-year.
LED Lighting at Retail Stores
ENERGY STAR certified LED
Lighting was installed at approximately
1,500 new corporate and
dealer stores constructed in 2017.
We also completed additional
lighting retrofits across the
T-Mobile commercial real estate
portfolio. The upgrades were completed
in T-Mobile Call Centers,
Switch Sites, Regional Business
Offices, and its corporate headquarters.
We now require all new
construction and upgrades to
lighting across the company to
be LED. Through these upgrades,
in 2017, we saved over 5,742,000
KWh of electricity while avoiding
the release of nearly 3,000 metric
tons of Carbon Dioxide.
LEED Certification of
Service Center
Partnered with our landlord to
achieve LEED Certification from
the US Green Building Council
at our Field Service Center in
Bellevue, WA. The operational
changes made to achieve the certification
include implementing
composting throughout the campus
that significantly reduces
waste to landfill.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

FZSONICK, born from the Italian
passion of the Dolcetta family, produces
and sells batteries with the innovative
Sodium Nickel Chloride Technology,
commonly called Salt Batteries.
FZSONICK serves 3 vertical markets:
Energy Storage: solutions for network
optimization and energy self-sufficiency
thanks to innovative systems and
products for energy storage.
Energy Backup: solutions in
telecommunications applications
(telephone exchanges, repeaters, etc.)
and industrial applications (utility, oil
and gas) to guarantee the continuous
functioning of emergency, security
and alarm systems to compensate
for the interruption of electricity.
Sustainable Mobility: solutions for
mobility with particular regard to industrial
vehicles, fleets for urban public transport,
delivery vehicles, school buses, vehicles
for street sweeping and mines.
Technology Advantages:
SODIUM NICKEL
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• 100% recyclable
• Extremely safe, no risk of explosion
• Integrated BMS for monitoring
• Very compact and easy installation
• Protected against water
and dust (IP55)
www.fzsonick.com
info@fzsonick.com
Kara Haag | kara.haag@fzsonick.com

NORTH AMERICA
our customers to encourage them to recycle
and trade in their devices is vital. We have
efficient LED lights in the stores and offices,
and smart thermostats that significantly
reduce energy use as well. We sit down with
our partners on the construction team and
help them make decisions and design things
with sustainability in mind. We’re not just
considering what the upfront cost is, but the
total long-term costs of ownership when we
look at our facilities. Obviously, if you’re able
to reduce your energy use to become more
efficient, then you’re lowering your operational
expenses over the life of that facility and
having a better impact on the environment
at the same time.”
37
GREEN DATA
As a telco, T-Mobile is no stranger to data,
www.gigabitmagazine.com

T-MOBILE COMPANY FACTS
Printer Optimization and
Paper Reduction
Instituted a printer optimization
project that has eliminated over
1,000 printers enterprise-wide.
More than 75% of our customers
now opt for online billing, which
gives us one of the best records in
the industry and saves thousands
of pounds of waste every year.
The T-Mobile Arena in Las
Vegas, Nevada
The T-Mobile Arena is a LEED
Gold certified facility and the first
LEED-certified sports and entertainment
facility in Las Vegas.
38
Green Commuting
We promote energy-efficient
commuting and carpooling
by providing location-specific
benefits to our employees.
Commitment to Combating
Climate Change
Beyond our strong partnerships
with groups like RE100 and GeSI,
we also make our public position
known through our aggressive
brand marketing. Our CEO,
John Legere, has been an outspoken
voice on #CleanUpWireless
and has issued a $1.5M challenge
to AT&T and Verizon to follow
suit on our commitment to 100%
renewable energy by 2021.

www.gigabitmagazine.com
39

We build solar projects with high
brand value at competitive prices for
a brighter, more sustainable future
for your business and your customers.
Community Energy has a twenty-year
track record of developing and
delivering reliable renewable energy
at scale.
Learn more?
Visit communityenergysolar.com
or reach out to Jay Carlis at jay.carlis@communityenergyinc.com.
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
but it’s now utilizing metadata to drive
its sustainability strategy. “We believe
in the old adage ‘you can’t manage
what you can’t measure’.
So, we regularly assess our energy
footprint to track the progress we are
making toward our goals and identify
other areas of opportunity.
“Obviously, we’re looking at how IoT
and 5G will impact our sustainability
efforts as 5G is the future. However, as
our ability to get more and better data
increases and we have better information
we can more quickly identify
where the inefficiencies are and make
the changes that will have the biggest
impacts. That’s pretty cool and we
“T-Mobile is one of
Fortune’s Best Places
to Work for Diversity,
and one of Forbes’
Best Employers for
Diversity”
—
Chad Wilkerson,
Director, Sustainability & Infrastructure
Sourcing, T-Mobile
expect that to just keep getting
better over time! We are well on our
way to RE100 and a sustainable
future for T-Mobile, but there is still
more to do and – we won’t stop!”
41
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LEADERSHIP
42
Connecting
the world: the
future of
blockchain
WRITTEN BY MARCUS LAWRENCE
SITA Labs Lead Engineer Kevin
O’Sullivan outlines the potential
impact blockchain technology is
set to have over the coming years
DECEMBER 2018

www.gigabitmagazine.com
43

LEADERSHIP
44
The excitement surrounding
blockchain, and the benefits its
development and integration could
have for myriad industries, has been
palpable in recent years. Originally an
anchor for cryptocurrencies, blockchain’s
transparency and traceability – combined
with the collaborative possibilities that its
inherent distribution entails – have brought
it to the forefront of tech research in many
sectors, not least the transport industry.
SITA is a multinational IT giant focused on
the air transport industry, and in its 2018 IT
Air Transport IT Insights report, the company
found that blockchain attracted the most
research attention this year of any technology
among airline and airport CIOs. The
report found that 59% of airlines and 34%
of airports plan to implement blockchain
technology research programs by 2021.
Kevin O’Sullivan, Lead Engineer for
research and development arm SITA Lab,
has been leading blockchain technology
research for airports and airlines over the past
two and a half years. O’Sullivan, whose
experience encompasses 25 years in the
travel technology space, was keen to discuss
blockchain’s development, what it will achieve
for businesses around the world, and what the
future holds for the disruptive technology.
At present, blockchain remains in its infancy. “I
“I see a strong
parallel between
what we saw in
the 90s, when
the internet came
along, and there
was also huge
hype. Everyone
was predicting
this was going to
change the world,
but nobody really
knew how”
—
Kevin O’Sullivan,
Lead Engineer, SITA Labs
DECEMBER 2018

www.gigabitmagazine.com
45

LEADERSHIP
46
see a strong parallel between what
we saw in the 90s, when the internet
came along, and there was also huge
hype. Everyone was predicting this was
going to change the world, but nobody
really knew how,” O’Sullivan says. “I feel
like that’s where we are with blockchain.
I think the technology itself is relatively
straightforward – it’s well described,
there’s no mystery about it. But the real
issues now are to figure out how it will
work from a business perspective and
a governance perspective.”
Naturally, such a radical and disruptive new technology
draws huge questions about integration, governance,
compliance and access. Can this technology step into a
business’ processes with minimal disruption? With an
open, collaborative platform, who is in charge? Who
conducts its maintenance? Who has access to what data,
and who makes that decision? “Blockchain is a collaboration
technology, and there’s
a promise that, by encouraging partners, suppliers and
competitors to all collaborate effectively on the same
technology, infrastructure, and data, we can eliminate
friction in how we do business and improve trust across
different stakeholders,” O’Sullivan says. “But it introduces
significant problems from a regulation point of view
because the legal primers of what a government expects
companies to do from a compliance and auditing perspective
doesn’t work across blockchain.”
With the promises of what blockchain can offer,
DECEMBER 2018

“By encouraging partners, suppliers and
competitors to all collaborate effectively
on the same technology, infrastructure,
and data, we can eliminate friction”
—
Kevin O’Sullivan,
Lead Engineer, SITA Labs
tackling these complex issues is certainly
worth the expense and headaches. Aside
from what blockchain
can do for airline and airport stakeholders,
passengers themselves could stand to enjoy
a far more streamlined experience. Self-sovereign
identity, a new form of digital identity,
blends cryptology (writing and solving code)
with anchor points on a blockchain to
ess-entially provide a digital copy of an
individual’s passport, boarding pass and
more. “The immigration officer can, without
having to refer back to the issuing government,
have that peer-to-peer connection,”
O’Sullivan explains. “They can verify the
digital data hasn’t been tampered with, verify
who it was issued by, and verify it was issued
to that particular passenger.”
SITA Lab is currently working on trials
whereby passengers can cross border
control, undergo biometric checks, and
effectively leave the airport without any
47
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LEADERSHIP
48
disruption. “From a government perspective,
they’ll get advanced information about that
passenger,” O’Sullivan says. “They kind of
do already, but right now it still has to go
through an airline processing system whereas
this shifts responsibility over to the passenger.
This means the governments get the data they
want, and they can verify that it’s come directly
from another government, and they get it sooner
than they currently would.”
For O’Sullivan, however, this does not represent
the biggest opportunity that blockchain offers.
Data noise causes issues in every sector: for
every piece of information, a variant will exist
for each relevant stakeholder. Maintaining
truth across each of these copies is extremely
difficult, O’Sullivan says, but with blockchain
serving as a single source of truth the issue is
eliminated. “This is an incredibly collaborative
industry. Flights take off from one airport, go to
another, you’re dealing with immigration, cargo,
ground handlers, and everybody’s got to work
together. At the moment, there are too many
points of friction.”
The impact caused by the inefficient communication
of the truth manifests as delays for passengers
and increased, unnecessary costs for airlines.
By providing stakeholders with verifiable,
trustworthy information that has the promise of
universality, airport and airline operations could
be made considerably more efficient, mitigating
DECEMBER 2018

49
CLICK TO WATCH: MEET KATE, SITA’S NEW INTELLIGENT ROBOTIC KIOSK
www.gigabitmagazine.com

LEADERSHIP
50
costs, building strong brand images,
and making the passenger experience
far smoother.
Answering the question of governance
when building this single source
of truth – deciding who gets to see
what and why, and who makes these
decisions – is first met by the issue of
private vs public. A public blockchain
ledger that is truly decentralised and
freely distributed is necessary for cryptocurrencies,
but this public freedom
of information is not appropriate for
the aerospace industry. Instead, the
blockchain technology under development
at SITA Lab operates under private
permissions. O’Sullivan adds, however,
that the tech’s immaturity means that
this in itself does not solve the issue
of governance.
O’Sullivan says that figuring out who
is responsible for the blockchain, who
maintains it and who ultimately owns it
are questions being answered by collaboration
across the industry. “You have
this incredibly valuable dataset of the
true information about a flight, and the
question of who owns that data. That
needs to be decided as well. Collaboratively,
we need to come to an agreement
on how we manage that.”
SITA Lab’s Aviation Blockchain
Sandbox project, launched in October,
looks to facilitate this intra-industry
collaboration, enabling stakeholders
from around the aerospace sector
to develop the tools necessary to
operating a successful private permissions
blockchain solution.
Once these issues are resolved,
blockchain offers a shakeup of the
B2B space that O’Sullivan says could
DECEMBER 2018

“SITA Lab is currently working on trials
whereby passengers can cross
border control, undergo biometric
checks, and effectively leave the
airport without any disruption”
—
Kevin O’Sullivan,
Lead Engineer, SITA Labs
rival the revolution of B2C engagement
driven by the rise of the internet.
“I think there’s huge potential on the B2B
engagement model. For businesses
there’s been quite a bit of friction when
two businesses begin an engagement
between them in terms of due diligence
to each other, and accounting, legal
frameworks, and all that sort of stuff. I
think there’s potential to make that a lot
more frictionless, a lot more seamless,
and therefore a lot easier to
chop and change.”
Ultimately, the technology still has
a long way to go, particularly as the
dust begins to settle around the hype
and challenges begin to present
themselves in earnest. “I think we’re
going to be a little more circumspect
about blockchain in 2019, and then,
hopefully, see some realistic things
happen in 2020,” O’Sullivan says.
“We still need blockchain to prove
itself. We’re definitely coming to the
end of the honeymoon period, and
entering the more realistic period.”
51
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Is your SME
52
up for the
challenge?
Challenger banks are challenging the status
quo. Simon Healy, Industry Director for
Unisys Financial Services EMEA, asks:
Are SMEs willing to make the switch?
WRITTEN BY SIMON HEALY
DECEMBER 2018

www.gigabitmagazine.com
53

DIGITAL DISRUPTION
54
With stories breaking of banks
suffering from technical glitches,
leaving customers locked out
of their accounts, and chief executives
resigning due to the effect of IT meltdowns,
it’s a reminder that it isn’t good enough in
today’s customer-centric world to expose
customers to poor digital services.
Despite these shortcomings, customers
are still reluctant to switch bank accounts
from established brands - which is increasingly
becoming a problem with small to
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In fact,
recent research (from a Unisys study) has
shown that 97.8% of SMEs expressed
satisfaction with their existing provider,
while 60% of SMEs have no plans to
change banking provider in the next five
years, citing trust as their main reason for
choice. The research also highlighted the
quality of today’s digital offerings were not
a driver for SMEs when choosing their
provider. With recent banking technology
blunders, challenger banks are able to
prioritise robust digital services and new,
innovative propositions could force a power
shift in the banking industry.
During my time as co-founder at challenger
bank Aldermore the SME savings market
was materially under-served. We saw an
opportunity to address this as SMEs
“1 in 6 SMEs stated
that they would be
willing to switch
accounts in the next
twelve months. Even
more staggering is
that almost half
(47%) stated if they
did switch, they
would move to
a challenger bank,
digital bank, or nonbanking
brand”
DECEMBER 2018

55
believe what they’re offered lags behind
offerings to consumers. It was successful
because the starting point was having
a clear focus and target customer in
mind, then making sure you richly understand
and meet their needs. The limitation
in the market for SMEs is that
offerings are similar across providers
with a one size fits all businesses approach.
Given the diversity in the sector
it’s not appropriate. We typically offered
a more bespoke approach focusing on
one-man bands, consultants and
contractors, rather than large organisations.
SMEs are looking for a great return
while making processes as simple as
possible. We ended up with a proposition
described as “great returns effortlessly”
which became the guideline to how we
operated at Aldermore. We delivered the
UK’s first end to end fully online account
opening process for SMEs which took
just 10 minutes rather than days or
weeks - it was a huge enabler and key
pillar of our offer.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

DIGITAL DISRUPTION
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘UNISYS 2018 OVERVIEW’
56
ARE SMES SETTLING FOR AVERAGE?
The banking giants face the danger
of losing SME customers to digital
competition, especially amidst the
constant flurry of IT issues; recent
research discovered that 39% of
SMEs regularly experience tech
problems with accessing the banking
services they require, and nearly 10%
said it happens “every time” they try to
access these services. As technology
continues to advance at a rapid rate, it
cannot be acceptable for customers to
consider as normal that they experience
an issue every time they use a
banking service. It begs the question,
should SMEs be considering a service
they love that also better addresses their
needs, rather than simply accepting
the familiar?
ARE SMES PREPARED TO SWITCH?
1 in 6 SMEs stated that they would be
willing to switch accounts in the next
twelve months. Even more staggering is
that almost half (47%) stated if they did
switch, they would move to a challenger
bank, digital bank, or non-banking
brand. So where are the big banks getting
it wrong? The main incentive for a switch
DECEMBER 2018

would be if providers could better meet
their needs. As it stands, 20% of SMEs
cited trust in the brand as the number
one reason for the choice of their current
bank, but only 10% and 6% chose digital
services and innovation respectively. This
highlights how the digital propositions
are becoming a necessity to modern
businesses, and something that financial
institutions that need to take advantage
of to encourage switching and further
competition in the market.
TECHNOLOGY IS KEY TO UNLOCKING
THE SME CUSTOMER BASE
While human interaction remains
important to some, SMEs are increasingly
favouring a technology and data-
led approach to banking that removes
in-branch interactions. Over half (52.1%)
of respondents would value an app that
gave them access to all their banking
facilities in one place, and more than
a third (37%) are comfortable with having
little to no human interaction with their
business banking interactions.
Not innovating purely for innovation’s
sake is key - it should be about finding
ways you can use technology to find the
sweet spot and add real value to your
bottom line while delighting customers.
57
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DIGITAL DISRUPTION
58
At Aldermore we did a number of things built
on talking to our customers and understanding
how they were using things and what they
needed. We then developed a number of
innovative new services and solutions. These
included a customised fixed-rate account
which was born of the recognition that, in the
context of savings, SMEs were cyclical. They
would save money for tax and pay it off every
so often… Our product replaced the need for
a fixed-rate account over one year so whenever
a customer needed money back we’d return
it to them on a specific date with a set rate for
that time. This allowed customers to maximise
their return – it enriched customer experience,
and met a need that wasn’t previously ad
dressed while increasing our product penetration.
Using APIs we developed functionality
which, together with a third-party data provider,
allowed you to find out the rate being
paid on your bank account more easily from
Aldermore than your own provider. The widgets
let you check your rate and see how much
more you could earn from Aldermore. It drove
customer engagement and allowed us to
improve conversion on the back of it. We
used technology and available solutions in
a meaningful way.
We’re already seeing innovations from high
street banks such as Metro who are offering
in-app services that allow the blocking of lost
“Not innovating
purely for
innovation’s sake
is key – it should be
about finding ways
you can use
technology to find
the sweet spot and
add real value to
your bottom line
while delighting
customers”
DECEMBER 2018

www.gigabitmagazine.com
59

DIGITAL DISRUPTION
cards, which previously required
a lengthy phone call, or same-day
account opening, which eliminates
the amount of paperwork that would
usually ensue. These tailored digital
offerings are typical benefits of Open
Banking, and SMEs were found to be
3.6 times more likely to switch to if they
understood it. There is some way to go
before the full comprehension is there
but Open Banking remains a significant
force and the sentiment towards it is
overwhelmingly positive.
60
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
Research shows there’s a big take up
by SMEs in online, digital and mobile
solutions - much higher than it is for
consumers. It’s born of the greater
efficiency that brings and the additional
value it has to business owners. One of
their core needs is in terms of managing
processes and cash flow. It’s hard
for SMEs, experts in what they do, to
suddenly become experts in the financial
implications of tax and accountancy
while running a business so they often
end up with a network of disparate
solutions. I learned with Aldermore that
integrated solutions delivered through
mobile will add value to SMEs and help
“I learned with Aldermore
that integrated solutions
delivered through mobile
will add value to SMEs
and help them understand
and manage their
business. Number one is
joining accounting,
invoicing and banking”
DECEMBER 2018

them understand and manage their
business. Number one is joining accounting,
invoicing and banking so when
invoices come in the system books
them into your savings account and
accountancy package recognising
you need to save a contribution
towards tax - that kind of functionality
is incredibly valuable. The other key
area lies in providing analysis, insight,
forecasting and nudges as to how best
to manage cashflow scenarios from
a base level aggregated view of your
business finances. It comes to life when
you start adding guidance and ways to
help business owners make better
decisions for financial efficiency.
While we cannot deny the dominance
of established financial
institutions in the market, the disruptive
presence that challenger banks
are already making in the industry
shouldn’t be overlooked. While SMEs
may be somewhat comfortable now,
the reasons to switch accounts to
non-traditional banking partners are
becoming ever more enticing and
compelling. Coupled with the growing
recognition amongst SMEs that they
should be embracing a financial
service that facilitates the innovative
new propositions that they’re ultimately
looking for, the momentum that
challenger banks now have won’t be
slowing down soon.
61
www.gigabitmagazine.com

Covering every angle
in the digital age
The Business Chief platforms offer
insight on the trends influencing
C and V-level executives, telling the
stories that matter
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www.businesschief.com

TOP 10
64
DECEMBER 2018

Top10
Business tech
trends
65
This article examines the top ten business
technology trends of 2018, according to a report
by research firm Gartner. These trends will,
Gartner believes, reshape the ways in which
companies do business in the ensuing decade
WRITTEN BY HARRY MENEAR
www.gigabitmagazine.com

TOP 10
CLICK TO WATCH: WHAT IS ‘HONEYPOTTING’?
66
10
Continuous Adaptive Risk and Trust
While traditional security techniques, like software ownership and
control, and infrastructure and perimeter protection, are struggling
more and more in the digital marketplace, unable to ensure accurate
detection of threats or to protect against “ behind-the-perimeter
insider attacks”, digital businesses are turning to new tools like
CARTA to combat attacks. According to Gartner, CARTA (Continuous
Adaptive Risk and Trust Assessment) “allows for real-time, risk
and trust-based decision making with adaptive responses to security-enable
digital business”. Allowing developers a greater role in
‘people-centric’ security is paving the way for new techniques.
According to Spanish banking group, BBVA, one such technique is
‘honeypotting’, which uses “tools that … deceive attackers by setting
traps that lure them to the system and then neutralize them”.
DECEMBER 2018

CLICK TO WATCH: THE POWER OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
09
Event-Driven Technology
The ability to recognize, respond to, and capitalize on business
events is, according to Gartner, increasingly central to the success of
digital businesses. Business events “reflect the discovery of notable
states or state changes, such as completion of a purchase order”. By
using new Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things technology,
digital businesses can analyse these events in shorter amounts of
time, allowing Event-Driven technology to take advantage of the data.
Event-Driven technology, according to BBVA, takes the form of “automatic
decision making processes within a business, triggered by
a series of pre-established events … given a situation ‘x’ in a specific
context, systems must be capable of activating ‘y’.”
67
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TOP 10
CLICK TO WATCH: BLOCKCHAIN EXPLAINED
68
08
Blockchain
Don and Alex Tapscott, authors of Blockchain Revolution, describe the
software as “an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions
that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but
virtually everything of value.” This incorruptibility and independence
from the individual allows “untrusted parties to exchange commercial
transactions”, according to Gartner. While the conversation around
blockchain typically centers on finance, the software’s inherent transparency
and accountability promises to have “many potential
applications in government, healthcare, content distribution, supply
chain and more.”
DECEMBER 2018

CLICK TO WATCH: TEDX TALKS – HOW AUGMENTED REALITY WILL CHANGE EDUCATION
69
07
Immersive Experience
Virtual, Augmented, and now Mixed Reality technology “are
changing the way that people perceive and interact with the digital
world”, according to Gartner. Implications range from key shifts
in user experience - towards “invisible and immersive” applications
- to the possibility, according to BBVA, of attempts to “adapt this
technology to specific work environments such as training”. The
prevalent public perception of AR and VR is “as exclusively linked
to entertainment”, something the release of Google’s and Apple’s
new VR and AR releases may change.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

TOP 10
CLICK TO WATCH: ALEXA FOR BUSINESS – EMPOWER YOUR ORGANIZATION TO USE ALEXA
70
06
Conversational Platforms
The ability for users to communicate with applications, websites,
and devices by using informal, everyday speech is driving “a paradigm
shift in which the burden of translating intent shifts from user
to computer”, Gartner states. While current conversational platforms
can perform relatively complex tasks, containing multiple
steps and interacting between different applications, the efficacy
of user input often relies on formalised responses, which “is often
a frustrating experience”. Gartner predicts conversational platforms’
increasing sophistication and robustness will lead to customers
managing “85% of their relationship with an enterprise without
talking to a human by 2020”.
DECEMBER 2018

CLICK TO WATCH: FROM THE EDGE TO THE CLOUD
05
Edge Computing
Gartner describes Edge computing as “a computing model in
which information processing and content collection take place
near the sources of this information.” This technology is advantageous
in comparison to cloud computing - where all information is
uploaded to a remote site and then retrieved - because it allows
devices to play a role, reducing latency issues. This advantage will
be particularly pronounced in systems that heavily utilise IoT technology.
Edge and Cloud will not be entirely competitive, according
to BBVA: “Edge computing refers to a new topology that places
computing processes on the ‘edge’ of the network, closer to connected
users or objects. The cloud, on the other hand, is a system
71
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TOP 10
CLICK TO WATCH: INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL TWIN: SIMPLE, BUT DETAILED
72
04
Digital Twins
Early in the concept’s existence, authors Edward Glaessgen and
David Stargel’s analysis of Digital Twins’ role in US military and NASA
projects: “A Digital Twin is an integrated multiphysics, multiscale,
probabilistic simulation of an as-built vehicle or system that uses
the best available physical models, sensor updates, fleet history,
etc., to mirror the life of its corresponding flying twin”. The upshot is
that a digital twin can cheaply and more effectively represent a real
world mechanism or system, with “potentially billions of dollars of
savings in maintenance, repair, and operation. According to Gartner,
“In the short term, digital twins offer help with asset management,
but will eventually offer value in operational efficiency and insights
into how products are used and how they can be improved”.
DECEMBER 2018

CLICK TO WATCH: HONDA – SAFE SWARM
73
03
Intelligent Things
Designers are using AI and machine learning techniques to improve
the ways machines and devices interact with humans and their environments.
Honda’s new system, Safe Swarm, usesvehicle-to-vehicle
communication, allowing cars to pass information on to other cars
in the vicinity. The semi-autonomous nature of intelligent things
means “as the technology develops, AI and machine learning will
increasingly appear in a variety of objects ranging from smart healthcare
equipment to autonomous harvesting robots for farms”, according
to Gartner’s report.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

TOP 10
CLICK TO WATCH: INTELLIGENT APPLICATIONS AND ANALYTICS CLOUD PATTERNS
74
02
Intelligent Apps and Analytics
Gartner’s report states that in the future, all applications will employ
some form of AI or machine learning, operating at a background
level in current application categories, while “giving rise to entirely
new ones”. AI is becoming the principle ‘battleground’ for the software
and service markets. According to BBVA: “these apps have the
potential to transform the nature of work in the future, by creating an
intermediary between people and systems, as seen in virtual customer
assistants.” Gartner’s report also stresses the importance
that intelligent applications be used to augment human performance,
rather than replace humans entirely.
DECEMBER 2018

CLICK TO WATCH: BBVA – GEOFFREY HINTON
01
Artificial Intelligence Foundation
BBVA claims that “by 2025, AI will become the ‘essential’ tool both
for redefining customer experience and for reinventing a broad
variety of business models”. Currently, Gartner reports that only
41% of organizations surveyed have “already made progress in
piloting or adopting AI solutions”, while 59% are still gathering
information and formulating strategies. While Gartner’s report
acknowledges the potentially far-reaching possibilities of ‘broad’
AI, the report notes that current digital business applications are
limited to ‘Narrow’ AI. Narrow AI is an umbrella term for “highly
scoped machine-learning solutions that target a specific task”.
Gartner vice president, David Cearley, recommends that “enterprises
should focus on business results enabled by applications
that exploit narrow AI technologies and leave general AI to the
researchers and science fiction writers”.
75
www.gigabitmagazine.com

EVENTS &
ASSOCIATIONS
The biggest industry events and conferences
from around the world
WRITTEN BY LAURA MULLAN
76
05–06 DEC
Chief Data & Analytics
Officer, Europe 2018
[ DUBAI, UAE ]
Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition
and Conference (HITEC®) is the
world’s largest hospitality technology
exposition and conference brand.
HITEC Dubai 2018, co-produced by
Hospitality Financial and Technology
Professionals (HFTP®) and Naseba,
will feature 30-plus speakers, 500-plus
hospitality stakeholders and 50-plus
solution and service providers. The show
will give Middle East buyers currently
worth over $75bn, access to global
top solution providers in hospitality
market, through a top-notch education
program planned by the expert HITEC
Dubai Advisory Council, as well as an
exhibition debuting the latest in hospitality
technology, and a summit with
one-to-one business meetings.
Click here to visit website
08–1 1
JAN 2019
CES
[ LAS VEGAS, USA ]
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
is the world’s gathering place for all
those who thrive on the business of
consumer technologies. It has served
as the proving ground for innovators
and breakthrough technologies for 50
years — the global stage where nextgeneration
innovations are introduced
to the marketplace.
Owned and produced by the Consumer
Technology Association (CTA), it
attracts the world’s business leaders
and pioneering thinkers.
January’s conference will open with
IBM Chairman, President and CEO
Ginni Rometty delivering an address
to discuss how technologies such as
AI and quantum, when built on a foundation
of trust and transparency,
will drastically change business and
society for the better.
Click here to visit website
DECEMBER 2018

25–28 FEB 2019
Mobile World Congress
[ BARCELONA, SPAIN ]
The GSMA Mobile World Congress
is the world’s largest exhibition for
the mobile industry, incorporating
a thought-leadership conference that
features prominent executives representing
mobile operators, device
manufacturers, technology providers,
vendors and content owners from
across the world.
Mobile World Congress 2019 will once
again take place at its traditional Fira
Gran Via venue in Barcelona and next
year will be built around eight core
topics: Connectivity, AI, Industry 4.0,
Immersive Content, Disruptive Innovation,
Digital Wellness, Digital Trust and
The Future.
Click here to visit website
04–08 MARCH 2019
RSA Conference 2019
[ SAN FRANCISCO, USA ]
RSA Conference is one of the biggest
IT security conferences in the world,
with 2019’s main event taking place in
San Francisco.
Attendees can expect to learn about
the latest cybersecurity developments
in expert-led sessions, inspiring keynotes
and in-depth seminars. They
can also demo innovative products
and solutions, network with infosec
insiders and peers, and help move the
industry forward as part of an engaged
and empowered global community.
This year’s theme is ‘Better’. According
to RSA Conference, this means ‘working
hard to find better solutions. Making
better connections with peers from
around the world. And keeping the digital
world safe so everyone can get on
with making the real world a better place’.
Click here to visit website
77
www.gigabitmagazine.com

EVENTS &
ASSOCIATIONS
78
04–05 MARCH
Gartner Data & Analytics
Summit 2019
[ LONDON, UK ]
In this world of ambiguity characterized
by uncertainty, risk, doubt and fake news,
now is the time to lead with purpose and
bring clarity through data and analytics
you can rely on and, most importantly,
trust. Data and analytics leaders are
driving digital transformation, creating
monetization opportunities, improving
the customer experience and reshaping
industries. We’ll share new strategies,
guidance and best practices to help you
realize your future - a future based on
data you can trust, agile analytics you
can rely on, and the clarity needed to
empower you with the continuous intelligence
and pervasive insights necessary
to excel in the digital economy.
Click here to visit website
25 APRIL 2019
AI and Big Data
Conference
[ LONDON, UK ]
TheAI & Big Data Conference& Exhibition
taking place25-26th April 2019
at the Olympia Grand, London and is
a showcase of next generation technologies
and strategies from the world
of Artificial Intelligence & Big Data, an
opportunity to explore and discover the
practical and successful implementation
of AI & Big Data in driving forward
your business in 2019 and beyond.
4 co-located events. 21 conference
tracks. 12,000 attendees. 500+ speakers.
350+ exhibitors.
Click here to visit website
DECEMBER 2018

MAY 2019
TECHSPO
[ NEW YORK, USA ]
TECHSPO Technology Expo showcases the next
generation of technology & innovation; Contextual
Tech, AR, VR, IoT, Wearables, Mobile, Internet, 3D
Print & Emerging Technology, Exhibitors have the
opportunity to show off their companies to consumers,
the highest caliber investors, hordes of press, the
most sought after talent, and the greatest pool of tech
enthusiasts looking to celebrate emerging venture.
Be prepared to be inspired, amazed and educated on
how these evolving technologies will impact your
business for the better.
Click here to visit website
JUNE 2019
Digital Banking
2019
[ LONDON, UK]
MoneyLIVE: Digital
Bankingis the leading
digital banking conference
for innovators
across the industry.
With 11+ hours of content
from 40+ speakers,
2018’s event tackled the
most pressing questions
facing the banking
industry today.
Click to visit website
79
www.gigabitmagazine.com

10 & 11 April
RDS Dublin
#DTS19
dublintechsummit.com

MARTHA LANE FOX
Founder, lastminute.com
CASSIE KOZYRKOV
Chief Decision Scientist,
Google
DTS19 SPEAKERS
DOUGLAS TERRIER
NASA CTO
JEETENDR SEDHEV
New York Times
Bestselling Author
MIHAI ALISIE
Co-founder, Ethereum

82
ACCENTURE —
DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
THROUGH
INDUSTRY X.0
WRIT TEN BY
TILAK MITRA
PRODUCED BY
ANDY TURNER
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
83
www.gigabitmagazine.com

ACCENTURE
ACCENTURE IS CHANGING THE DIGITAL
LANDSCAPE WITH INDUSTRY X.0;
A FRAMEWORK THAT UNDERPINS THE
DIGITAL REINVENTION OF INDUSTRY,
THROUGH WHICH ORGANIZATIONS
LEVERAGE ADVANCED DIGITAL TECHN-
OLOGIES TO TRANSFORM THEIR CORE
BUSINESS OPERATIONS…
84
T
hese are unprecedented and exciting times, an
era in which the very fabric of human living is
being reimagined and redefined every day by the
ways in which humans now get to interact with the ‘things’
around them. The ‘things’ have been injected with life; life in
the form of software-defined intelligence that can not only
make the things ‘think’ and act smartly, but also connect
and collaborate with other things and more importantly,
with humans. Our social network is not just defined by
our friends and relatives any more – there is a new class
of friends, in the form of the ‘living things’ all around us.
Connectedness has been redefined – it is not only
confined to just the 7bn+ humans anymore but is extended
to include the 8bn+ ‘smart and living things’ that exist today.
Coexistence with smart living things has evolved into
embodied cognition – our smartphones and cars are
extensions of our character and profile and they seamlessly
transfer the extensions when moving away from one
and entering into the space of the other. The rate at which
things are getting smarter and connected is staggering.
Gartner projects there will be in excess of 20bn smart
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
85
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ACCENTURE
86
and connected things by 2020. There
has to be a structured and methodical
approach to manage this exponential
growth of our connected ecosystem
such that the inclusion of the new class
of ‘smart and living things’ into day-today
life, is focused on increasing human
productivity and efficiency, and ultimately
improving our lifestyle. A framework
is imperative to making this connected
ecosystem work for us.
At Accenture, Industry X.0 is defined
as such a framework that underpins
the digital reinvention of the industries,
through which organizations leverage
advanced digital technologies to
transform their core business operations
in order to reimagine human-
Accenture Industry X.0 experts spent the day
talking to visitors about real use cases with
industry examples at ITAP 2018
centered worker and end-user experiences,
and ultimately to drive innovation
and growth. New levels of operational
efficiencies are harnessed – in the core
business operations of research and
development (R&D), engineering,
product design and manufacturing,
by leveraging advanced sensors and
networks, and by embedding softwareenabled
intelligence into integrated
products and services. Workers and
customer experiences are reimagined
and redesigned through immersive
and AR/VR technologies. Innovation
and growth is accelerated – new
business models are formulated and
revenue streams generated by unlocking
and harnessing the value trapped
inside the ecosystem that is developed
through connectedness.
One of the fundamental philosophies
of Industry X.0 is to transform the core
business systems and processes.
By introducing modern architecture
patterns and principles, legacy systems
can be modularized and modernized
which then opens opportunities to
introduce digital technologies into legacy
systems. The digital technologies (e.g.
microservices, analytics and immersive
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘ACCENTURE —
REINVENT POSSIBILITY WITH INDUSTRY X.0’
user experiences) introduce layers of
utilities that unlock the trapped value
from such systems and processes.
The value realization and operational
efficiency gains naturally lead to more
viable cost economics. The savings
obtained can be subsequently apportioned
to invest in rotating the business
strategy and innovation to the ‘new’ –
an absolute imperative to sustain and
thrive amidst the systematic digital
transformation of everything. To
consolidate, there are six foundational
capabilities that should underpin the
digital business strategy to systematically
rotate to a new digital business:
1. Transform the core – invest in
digitization along with horizontal
and vertical integration of enterprise
systems in core business operations
around R&D, product engineering &
design, and manufacturing operations.
2. Focus on experiences and
outcomes – shift the business strategy,
innovation focus, and core competency
away from product centricity and into
a needs-first true experiential platform.
3. Rearchitect the ecosystem – to
identify, assemble and liaise with the
right ecosystem partners to drive
innovation and differentiated capabilities.
4. Innovate new business models –
87
www.gigabitmagazine.com

MindSphere
lets you speak
with
the Internet
of Things
Every machine holds a wealth of data.
MindSphere – the cloud-based, open IoT operating
system – leverages this data and makes it available
for advanced analytics.
siemens.com/mindsphere

Siemens’ MindSphere: Empowering the
Industrial IoT revolution and digital enterprise
Industry 4.0 is here
Around the globe, industries are searching for new ways to
optimize operations, improve products, increase sales, and
reduce costs and risk. Automation, digitalization and the
adoption of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are key
requirements for companies that are embracing Industry
4.0, as they seek to lower costs, drive new efficiencies, and
find new business opportunities.
During the race toward IIoT, however, some have struggled
to unify disparate assets that lack standards or a universal
method of connection. Enterprises are faced with proprietary
and legacy applications, on-premises infrastructure,
and piecemeal solutions that can be barriers to transforming
and reinventing their business.
Enter MindSphere
MindSphere is a cloud-based, open IoT operating system
developed by Siemens, that enables industries to easily
connect machines, devices, and physical infrastructure to
the digital world. With extensive device and enterprise
connectivity, MindSphere enables powerful industry solutions
with advanced analytics, as well as complete digital twin
methodologies and tools throughout the value chain.
Transforming big data into smart data
The MindSphere operating system allows you to quickly
connect, bring data into our operating system, and then
build applications that can turn that data into business value.
Applications
End-to-end digital twin
The ability to simulate, predict and optimize products,
processes, and services before investing and deploying is
now a reality with performance data and insights from
MindSphere. Creating digital replicas of physical assets,
processes and systems, by using data from multiple sources,
allows near-real-time representation of how IIoT devices
operate throughout their lifecycle.
With Siemens’ portfolio of solutions to deliver a complete
end-to-end digital twin, rapid and efficient prototyping and
accurate modeling empower closed-loop feedback and
continuous optimization of new products, production, and
performance—at minimal cost.
“The MindSphere team at Siemens is very
excited to be working with Accenture as a
MindSphere Platinum Partner. The Accenture
Industry X.O vision fits perfectly with the
transformative business opportunities of
introducing Siemens’ MindSphere IoT
operating system into client environments.
Partnering with Accenture gives Siemens the
ability to leverage MindSphere with
Accenture’s outstanding integration abilities
and deep industry knowledge, to help enable
our clients’ digital transformation journeys.”
Paul Kaeley
Senior Vice President
Global Partner Ecosystem
Siemens PLM Software
MindSphere Connect
Accelerate digital transformation
With an end-to-end IIoT digitalization approach you gain:
– End-to-end IoT security
– Managed service platform
– Extensive connectivity options
– Open platform-as-a-service
– Multiple IaaS in public, private, hybrid cloud and
on-premises
– Advanced analytics
– Global scalability
Companies connecting physical assets and IT systems to the
digital world are already reaping the benefits, sharpening their
competitive edge, and realizing greater performance and
profitability. It’s never too late to begin or accelerate your
digital transformation journey, and MindSphere can help you
harness a new world of IIoT potential.
siemens.com/mindsphere
mindsphere.io/partner
Note: MindSphere is a registered trademark of Siemens AG.

ACCENTURE
90
by offering consumer experiences,
leveraging industrial consumerism
patterns to disintermediate and reach
the end consumers, while innovating
new revenue streams and models.
5. Build the workforce – in a commensurate
capacity by new skilling, re-skilling,
and upskilling the next generation talent.
6. Manage the wise pivot – balance
the investment, workforce, and funds
“THE ESSENCE OF INDUSTRY
4.0 IS BASED PRIMARILY ON
HARNESSING OPERATIONAL
EFFICIENCIES IN MANUFAC-
TURING OPERATIONS”
—
Tilak Mitra,
CTO Industrial,
Managing Director, Accenture
allocation between transforming the
core and rotating to the new.
The term X.0, in Industry X.0, is neither
coined in error, nor it is a misrepresentation
of 4.0 (as in Industry 4.0): it has
a purpose and rationale. To begin with,
the term X.0 is in recognition and
acknowledgement of the fact that digital
technologies are advancing at such
a rapid pace that the technology staging
posts can no longer be pinned down for
more than a moment; what is 4.0 today
is quickly going to progress to 5.0, to
then 6.0, and counting. The framework
for digital transformations hence needs
to be constantly assessed, analyzed
and refreshed to take advantage of the
rapid advancements.
Secondly, it is important to acknowledge
that the essence of Industry 4.0
is based primarily on harnessing
operational efficiencies in manufacturing
operations by leveraging technology
to increase the Overall Equipment
Effectiveness (OEE) which is typically
defined as the product of Availability,
Productivity and Quality metrics.
However, digital transformation is truly
much more than just the operational
efficiency gains. Business value is
increasingly favoring innovation around
the generation of new revenue streams
that is not only driven by innovative
As-A-Service business models but
also through hyper personalization of
consumerism that is driving micro
segmentation and hence an exponential
expansion of the addressable
consumer base. Industry X.0 addresses
not only the cost economics driven by
traditional operational efficiencies of
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
Industry 4.0 but also the generation of
new consumer centric business models
and hence new revenue streams.
X.0 signifies the exponential pace of
progression in digitization.
Digital transformations are technology
enabled but business led. Bold innovations
are only possible when they are
not just episodic in nature, but strongly
encouraged by their inculcation into the
fabric of the enterprise. At Accenture,
Industry X.0 is one of the firm’s strategic
growth areas and has aligned focus,
investment, capabilities and expertise
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Tilak Mitra is the CTO of Industrial Manufacturing applied to the broad
industry sector of Industrial. In his role, Tilak develops and drives
global thought leadership and innovation around digital transformations,
for Accenture’s truly world-class capabilities, solutions, and offerings,
in Industrial and Industry X.0. He is responsible for combining his
technology expertise and foresight with deep industry domain knowledge,
in Automotive, Industrial Equipment, EPC and Freight & Logistics,
to develop truly transformative solutions for a diverse set of clients.
He also scales true lateral innovation by leveraging and combining his
experience, insights and successes in adjacent industries like Oil
& Gas, Chemicals & Petroleum, Aerospace and Electronics.
91
Tilak is a master at abstracting and packaging deep
technology landscapes into true business drivers, value
propositions, and business models, and empower the
C-suite to shape and drive their organization’s next
generation transformations and innovations.
He is also a prolific writer, having authored and
co-authored three books and many journal publications.
He blogs his ideas, thoughts and vision and firmly
believes in scaled information sharing.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

IF YOU DON’T
MAKE WHAT YOUR
CUSTOMER WANTS,
THERE’S ONLY ONE
THING LEFT TO DO.
MAKE IT.
STREAMLINE YOUR
SUPPLY CHAIN WITH SAP.
With SAP’s solutions for the digital
supply chain, you can design
flexible, modular products that
your clientele can customize
effortlessly. So you can build to
order. Delight any customer at
any time. And transform your
business just as fast.
sap.com/scm
© 2018 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

THE QUEST TO
CONNECT DIGITALLY
TO PERFECT REALITY.
B:303 mm
T:297 mm
S:291 mm
In a world fraught with economic, political
and social uncertainty from tariffs to
trade, regime changes and civil unrest to
an increasing social influence on markets,
businesses must reinvent themselves to
stay competitive and survive.
These pressures and those brought forth
by the digital economy is turning industries
upside down. Companies are relying
heavily on the formation of highly agile
supply chains to quickly capitalize on new
opportunities and to break down old barriers.
Companies of all kinds are moving into
industry sectors and markets previously
shut off to them and competing for
market share in completely new ways.
The days of mass production are yielding to
customer expectations for mass customization
as companies move away from a wholesale
model to a more customer centric approach.
Intelligence in the supply chain with smart
products that can sense consumption and
predict replacement needs are becoming
the norm and customers are making
purchase decisions based on an entirely
new basis. Companies are expected to tailor
their products to the unique needs of their
customers in a highly variable configuration
and fluctuating demand environment.
And, on top of that, they expect this to be
done at low cost, with the highest measure
of quality, delivered in record time!
A few years ago, in a meeting at Nike, I was
witness to the marketing team announcing
their intent to provide a uniquely designed
shoe for every consumer. The supply chain,
design and manufacturing representatives were
looking uncomfortable to say the least. How
could they support such a seemingly crazy
idea? Yet, they did it by creatively redefining
and digitizing their supply chain processes
from initial design definition to manufacturing
and logistics. By taking advantage of this,
my son, who is an aspiring MLB player now
wears fully customized cleats bought for a
mere 15% premium and delivered within
a two-week window – an amazing “feet”.
At SAP, we are helping our customers adapt
to the ever-increasing demands of the digital
economy by connecting their processes
digitally across the entire supply chain. This
enables a digital supply chain that transitions
their go to market approach from cost
savings and efficiency to a strategy that drives
competitiveness and differentiation. We call
this initiative Connect Digitally to Perfect Reality
and while the subject touches on so many
aspects of a company’s business, it ultimately
gives the customer the perfect reality
of their requirements – the perfect
baseball cleats.
Robert Merlo
VP Marketing
SAP Digital
Supply Chain

ACCENTURE
94
“THERE IS AN X FACTOR
IN ACCENTURE’S
INDUSTRY X.0 THAT
CONTINUES TO
DIFFERENTIATE OUR
CLIENTS AS THEY
INITIATE, ACCELERATE,
INDUSTRIALIZE, AND
VALUE REALIZE THEIR
DIGITAL TRANSFORM-
ATION JOURNEYS”
—
Tilak Mitra,
CTO Industrial,
Managing Director, Accenture
to be commensurate with the industry
direction and demands. Accenture
continuously refreshes, refines and
leverages the Industry X.0 framework
to not only help its clients build a strategic
business case and roadmap for digital
transformation but also help them
initiate, prototype, demonstrate value,
and then industrialize and sustain their
digital journey.
Innovation in Industry X.0 broadly
touches the disciplines of Connected
Products, Connected Operations,
Connected Worker and the Connected
Enterprise. Across all the disciplines
there is a resonating shift in business
strategy from building products to
delivering outcomes through digital
services and human-centered experiences
around the physical product or
an ecosystem of products – there is
a palpable shift in strategic innovation
away from product centricity to building
true experiential platforms. Connected
Products has a pathway that typically
follows the progression from Products,
to Products & Services, to Products
& Differentiated Services, and ultimately
to Products As A Service. The benefits
and value realization follow a similar, but
potentially more exponential, uptake
path. While the first wave of maturity of
connected products enhances products
and the spare parts sales, the second
wave of Products & Services introduces
value through offering customized
after-sales plans and hence increased
customer touchpoints and engagements.
Products & Differentiated Services
opens channels for upselling more
premium services fostered by increased
maturity and sophistication of the
product and its overall performance.
Products As A Service opens entirely
new opportunities for different economic
models like risk-and-reward based
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘WEF 18 — ACCENTURE — INDUSTRY X.0:
DIGITAL REINVENTION OF INDUSTRY’
95
revenue sharing, ‘pay for what you
consume’, as well as other innovative
consumption-based payment models.
The value progression not only increases
the number of touchpoints along the
consumer’s interaction with the product
but also increases the addressable
customer base. It is the layers of utility
that are innovatively engineered into
the connected product that fosters the
exponential uptake; a few of which go
on to disrupt the market.
From a technology standpoint,
a set of digital technologies are settling
down to form the foundation of digital
transformations resulting in:
1. Autonomous robots – which
are enabling smart, connected and
intelligent machines to collaborate
alongside humans in transforming
business processes.
2. Horizontal and vertical integration
– of the enterprise and business
ecosystems (think of partners and
suppliers) to develop real-time integrated
views of data and networks across
the value chain.
3. AR/VR – that is reimaging
assisted diagnostics, support and
maintenance.
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NORTH AMERICA
4. Additive manufacturing – where
technologies like 3D (and most recently
4D) printing are used for production of
small batches of highly customized and
programmable products.
5. Cloud – that has helped in
commoditizing the compute, storage
and network consumption among other
well-known advantages of scale and
the sharing economy.
6. Simulation – providing the ability
to digitally simulate entire production
assembly lines for rapid prototyping
and innovation before even the
physical construction has started.
Think digital twins!
7. Big Data & Analytics – that is truly
enabling massive scale data processing
and insight generation targeted at
timely decision making across the key
business processes.
8. IIoT – i.e. the Industrial Internet
of Things that is enabling the infusion
of intelligence into products, processes,
and services that communicate
with each other and humans over
a global network.
9. Cybersecurity – ensuring that
the enterprise assets, both physical
and IT infrastructure, are truly secured
from the cyber threat vectors that
are continuously on the rise as more
systems gets interconnected.
The Industry X.0 framework fosters
the convergence of both strategy-led
as well as technology-led initiatives
with the methodical and systematic
focus of helping organizations formulate
an innovation driven strategy and
pathway for digital transformation that
is underpinned by both quantitative
and qualitative business value.
An example of a qualitative lever is
a business strategy around industrial
consumerism. For example, the essential
philosophies of industrial consumerism
are based on the tenets that:
97
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ACCENTURE
98
“IT IS IMPORTANT TO
DEVELOP PRODUCTS
WITH A MINDSET
THAT IS NOT PRODUCT
FIRST BUT INSTEAD
IS DRIVEN BY VALUE-
DRIVEN END-USER
EXPERIENCES”
—
Tilak Mitra,
CTO Industrial,
Managing Director, Accenture
1. The loci of power have shifted out
of the organizations and into the hands
of the consumer. The ubiquity of choices
is leading consumers down the path of
intolerance to anything that is mediocre;
they have multiple choices to shift
to other brands.
2. Since the choice and control
are now in the hands of the consumers,
it is important to develop products
with a mindset that is not product first
but instead is driven by value-driven
end-user experiences. This will be
imperative for some organizations, e.g.
industrial manufacturers and retailers,
so as to leverage the increased number
of consumer touch points (with the
connected products) and convert them
favorably into a consumer behavior that
is more collaborative, and ultimately
more co-creative, than the current
consumption driven mindset.
Innovations that are driven by
such mindsets are proven to open
up new opportunities and hence
revenue streams.
Examples of quantitative value
levers are often use-case driven. In
boosting operational efficiencies,
untapped or unrealized value is more
often than not related to availability,
productivity and quality of not only
the operational processes but also of
the final product that is built. Some
of the use cases seen as very common
across a wide diversity of industries
are around:
• Optimized asset utilization.
• Asset downtime prediction
and reduction.
• Production throughput and
yield optimization.
• Reduction of total maintenance
cost – proactive reduction of
repair and fix cycles.
• Early detection and
mitigation of operator related
productivity losses.
• End to end supply chain visibility.
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
• Quality early warning on
both process and product
quality parameters.
Another dimension of quantitative
value lever is delivered through
executing on laser focused initiatives
targeted at cost take outs across the
various operating business units.
Applying the proven framework of
Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB) into
manufacturing processes and operations
has proven dividends on significant
cost take outs. Accenture uses the
framework called ZBx where it applies
its uniquely tailored techniques of
Zero-Based budgeting to spend (ZBs),
to supply chain (ZBSC), among other
pertinent dimensions. Applying Zero-
Based Spend (ZBs) and Zero-Based
Supply Chain (ZBSC) techniques and
methods to the Cost of Goods Sold
(COGS) brings a unique dimension
to optimizing operational efficiencies
in manufacturing and is leveraged as
a part of the Industry X.0 framework.
In order to make Industry X.0 real for
our clients, it is important to have an
implementation and execution engine
– one of Accenture’s flagship differentiators
in Industry X.0, as it pertains to
99
www.gigabitmagazine.com

IFWE unlock the value of the virtual
Can we make our future more sustainable?
Today’s manufacturing organizations are in the midst of a global Industry Renaissance. This
renaissance extends beyond delivering digitalization and personalized solutions. The emergence
of new businesses and new categories of solutions, processes and services prioritize sustainable
innovation and experiences over productivity gains. Digital experience platforms are the
infrastructure of this industry renaissance.
To keep up, businesses must be faster, more integrated and more agile than ever. Those leading
the way are the ones that create value through networks to deliver new products that are both
sustainable and innovative. A talented workforce that is agile and committed to constant learning
of new ways to deliver new products, services and solutions in a combined virtual and real way
will win the race for new customers.
Discover more at: www.3ds.com

NORTH AMERICA
the implementation of digital transformations,
is called the Digital Services
Factory (DSF). DSF is an execution
framework that packages a continuously
refreshed set of processes, tools,
skills, advanced digital technologies
and operating models that are carefully
designed and packaged to accelerate
the clients’ digital transformation
journeys.
The primary challenge it addresses is
time to market – not only does it takes
an enormous effort to bring innovation
to market but also some laser focused
discipline to pivot on a shifted business
strategy, thinking, and core competency
that is away from a products-first and into
a needs-first, outcome-driven innovation
model. DSF works by offering an endto-end
innovation service: from ideation
to prototyping, industrializing, scaling,
and finally operating the digital business
– a combination that is hard to aggregate
and harmonize. The framework is
customized to suit every client’s unique
requirements as well as their current
maturity vis-à-vis their desired state in
their digital transformation journey. One
of the core principles of using the DSF
is that it is executed as a joint venture
“A VISIT TO ONE OF THE
ACCENTURE INNOVATION
CENTERS IS OFTEN
A STEPPING STONE TO
SHOWCASE THE ART
OF THE POSSIBLE IN
ADVANCED DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES AND
INDUCE CONVERGENT
THINKING TO FORMULATE
OUR CLIENT’S DIGITAL
AGENDA”
—
Tilak Mitra,
CTO Industrial,
Managing Director, Accenture
with the client, bringing in not only the
best capabilities of Accenture, but also
that of the ecosystem’s partners and
alliances, to collaborate and co-create
along with the client’s best minds. The
customized outcomes are then quite
easily fabricated into the client’s unique
ecosystem. Clients are encouraged to
first try using the execution engine
before they buy fully into it. Once used
and implemented, and once the value
realization benefits are obtained through
DSF, the clients gain an innovation
engine and a well-established factory
for building, hardening, and offering
101
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ACCENTURE
102
“NOTHING SUCCEEDS
LIKE SUCCESS AND
LEVERAGING THE
INDUSTRY X.0
FRAMEWORK FOR
DIFFERENTIATED
ADVANTAGES – OF
INNOVATION, AGILITY,
AND TIME TO VALUE,
IS NO DIFFERENT!”
—
Tilak Mitra,
CTO Industrial,
Managing Director, Accenture
digital services to their end customers.
There are way too many organizations
who have already dipped their feet
into innovation through a series of
prototypes and proof-of-concepts.
However, and as is often seen, it is not
until the time comes to industrialize
a service or a product or an offering
that the true value of DSF comes to
the advantage – in terms of scaling an
innovation fast and accelerating an
offering to market, DSF is the answer.
Nothing succeeds like success,
and leveraging the Industry X.0 framework
for differentiated advantages –
of innovation, agility and time to value
– is no different. Although there is
a significantly growing number of case
studies that exemplifies the true value
of leveraging the Industry X.0 framework,
two which best illustrate this are
Schneider Electric and Biesse Group.
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
Schneider Electric is a French multinational
corporation that specializes in
energy management and automation
solutions spanning hardware, software
and services. Schneider wanted an
asset monitoring solution to monitor
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
the heat and humidity of its electrical
distribution assets. They wanted to use
small wireless thermal sensor technology
for sensing, coupled with the LORA
wireless protocol for communication.
Monitoring the heat signature of its
critical assets is extremely important
to Schneider not only to extend their
lifetime but also from a safety standpoint.
This was a very important
program for Schneider – important
enough that it could not wait for their
typical three-year timelines to take an
innovation from ideation to the field.
Schneider teamed up with Accenture
and together they developed and
piloted their digital transformation
program leveraging the DSF. By
collecting data and applying AI and
deep learning algorithms, Accenture
helped to not only develop and industrialize
the service offering but also an
operating model to operate it at scale.
The service offering helped to not only
prevent critical asset failure but also
prevent power grid downtime. The true
value came when Schneider Electric
realized its time horizons from ideation
to field enablement were cut from its
typical three-year timelines down to
a whopping eight-month cycle. The
true power of Industry X.0 and DSF
was realized.
BIESSE GROUP
Biesse Group is a global leader in
technologies for processing wood,
glass, stone, plastic and metal. It
designs, manufactures and distributes
machines, integrated systems and
software for manufacturers of furniture,
door/window frames and components
for the construction, shipbuilding and
aerospace industries. Based on
customer research and the company’s
103
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ACCENTURE
104
strategy to develop true experiential
platforms with new digital capabilities,
Biesse Group wanted to improve
operational efficiencies, reduce costs
and open up new revenue streams
such as machine usage analysis and
production process optimization, much
beyond just machinery production.
As part of the roadmap, Biesse Group
customers would be able to choose
from different subscription levels that
offer an extensive range of features
from remote diagnostics, warnings and
alerts to more sophisticated production
process optimization capabilities that
help improve overall business productivity
and customer satisfaction. They
collaborated with Accenture to build the
business case, an operating model, and
a cloud-based pilot and roadmap, for
a connected asset management solution
using the Accenture Connected
Platforms as a Service (CPaaS) IoT
platform deployed on Microsoft Azure.
The platform’s flexible architecture
and preconfigured IoT services enabled
the team to reduce the overall program
complexity and duration using pre-built
and pre-configured architectures,
technologies and APIs. This enabled
Biesse Group to start piloting a solution
to clients in only five months. The solution
was piloted across eight machines at
a subset of customers with services
like preventive maintenance alerts,
machine management and manufacturing
events analysis. The pilot helped
Biesse improve customer service and
loyalty, reduce warranty and maintenance
costs and obtain real-time
customer data and alerts. The insights
from the field helped Biesse to improve
product development, adding features
that would be beneficial to the customer.
These insights also enabled the company
to develop closer customer relationships
by providing suggestions on how to get
the most productivity and efficiencies
from its machines. For customers,
the flexible menu of services helps to
improve machine productivity and
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105
customer satisfaction by minimizing
machine outages through predictive
maintenance and in-depth analytics.
Based on the pilot’s success, the Beisse
Group planned to roll out services
encompassing 20,000 machines; the
progression from pilot to industrialization
and accelerated scale out is where
the value of leveraging the DSF execution
framework became paramount.
To reiterate, it is important to acknowledge
that true innovation cannot be
sustained through episodic attempts.
Innovation should be a continuum,
embracing an embedded fabric of
continuous exploration, looking for new
breakthrough thinking and adopting
a culture that fosters an innovation
engine. In order to keep up, the rate of
innovation must also be exponential.
Organizations need to be bold enough
to encourage continuous exploration of
innovative ideas to stay relevant in the
digitally disruptive market. Business
leaders must not only embrace but also
foster a business culture that encourages
bold innovations. At Accenture it is
seen as important for even the smartest
of business and technology leaders to
get away from their daily business
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ACCENTURE
106
routine; quite frequently the best ideas
are triggered when leaders and
executives are taken out of their daily
grind and immersed into an environment
that not only fosters high impact
disruptive thinking but also provides
an opportunity to experience the art
“ACCENTURE BELIEVES
IN BRINGING ITS
CLIENTS INTO ITS
GLOBAL INNOVATION
CENTERS THAT ARE
TRUE SHOWCASES OF
DIGITAL TRANSFORM-
ATIONS IN THE FIELD
OF INDUSTRY X.0!”
—
Tilak Mitra,
CTO Industrial,
Managing Director, Accenture
of the possible that may be applicable
to their business.
Accenture believes in bringing its
clients into its global innovation centers
that are true showcases of digital
transformations in the field of Industry
X.0. These innovation centers are set up
in true manufacturing like facilities that
showcase a diverse display of advanced
digital technologies with industry
$34bn
Approximate
revenue
Dublin
Company HQ
449,000
Approximate number
of employees
relevance. While some demonstrations
focus on operational efficiency gains
some others demonstrate the art of
the possible in hyper personalization,
industrial consumerism and generating
new revenue streams. Client leaders
brought into such centers are allowed
to explore the true art of the possible
in technology-led digital disruptions.
This induces their creative ideas as they
get to touch, feel, and play around with
the solutions on display. More often
than not, there is at least one solution
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idea that sparks their interest; clients
are encouraged to explore further. In
the subsequent session client leaders
are taken through a very focused design
thinking workshop, organized at the
Innovation Center, that is facilitated by
a highly trained and specialized team,
and in which the areas of interest are
aligned to their own business processes.
The outcome of such a few hours of
high-octane workshops results in the
ideation of the most innovative ideas
that our client leaders get to take away
and make their own. Seeding innovation
through such client visits at Accenture’s
Innovation Centers have shown startling
results for clients and continues to be
one of the key innovation entry points
for Industry X.0. One of the most recent
additions is the Detroit IIoT Innovation
Center that was opened earlier this year.
Clients are highly encouraged to come
visit one of the centers and experience
how Accenture can truly help them in
their digital transformation journey.
Industry X.0 is truly transformative
and is one of the strategic areas of
priority as Accenture aligns itself to
client needs, demands and expectations.
In the current era of digital
industrialization, it is Accenture’s
structured, systematic, and outcomedriven
way of encouraging its clients
to approach us with a problem or an
idea, and take away with them an
innovation that helps them accelerate
to market and get into a position of
competitive differentiation.
There is an ‘X factor’ in Accenture’s
Industry X.0. Come and experience it to
drive differentiation for your business.
107
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108
CUSTOMER CENTRICITY
IS KEY TO ROSS VIDEO’S
PERFORMANCE
TRANSFORMATION
WRIT TEN BY
ANDREW WOODS
PRODUCED BY
ARRON RAMPLING

NORTH AMERICA
109

ROSS VIDEO
Broadcast media
company Ross Video
has an extensive
procurement department
that delivers
end-to-end services
to a global client
base… We speak
to Bill Pulcine, Vice
President of Supply
Chain Management,
to find out more
110
T
he supply chain organization
at live production equipment
manufacturer Ross Video is
“laser-focused on meeting the needs
of our customers”, according to Bill
Pulcine, Vice President of Supply
Chain Management. “I think the fact
that we’ve grown about 500% over the
last 12 years, and have been able to
integrate other manufacturing facilities
from around the world into Ross Video’s
Canadian manufacturing location, is
an exciting and compelling story.”
In the electronics world, it’s increasingly
rare to find companies that do a substantial
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Ross Video’s manufacturing facility
in Iroquois, Ontario, Canada
amount of their own build. Subcontracting
and offshoring have been constant trends
in the electronics industry for the past two
decades. Ross Video, however, bucks that
trend. “The reason the Ross model still works
so well,” says Pulcine, “is that we’re very high
mix, low volume across a mixed model of
manufacturing disciplines. Having our own
shop allows us to be vertically integrated and
also gives us the crucial ability to have direct
control of quality.” Ross Video sells solutions
in the broader sense and from a manufacturing
angle offers a huge range of equipment to
broadcasters, stadiums and arenas, as well
as other vertical markets.
111
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NKK Switches (NKK) is a world leading designer and manufacturer of
innovative electromechanical switches. By designing, producing and selling
the industry’s most extensive selection of electromechanical switches,
NKK sets the standard for quality, stability and reliability in switch solutions.
NKK provides comprehensive full-service solutions to include system
design, programming and value-added support by combining over 65
years of expertise and a true commitment to our partners’ success.

ROSS VIDEO
114
SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY
Ross Video started life in Montreal
back in 1974 and soon after established
a manufacturing base in Iroquois,
Ontario, Canada. As the televisual and
media landscape changed, Ross and
its procurement space moved with it.
“It’s an interesting market. I think part of
the reason we’re successful and have
been able to have this dynamic
manufacturing setup here is that we
service a quite specific market,” says
Pulcine. “It’s not consumer goods. Scale
is a very popular term these days but it
is not always the biggest concern
when you are making very high-value,
application-specific products. We’re
not selling a billion units, and what we
do make is highly variable. Approximately
45% of our business is essentially
driven by printed circuit board
assembly (PCBA), and we manufacture
roughly 300 different PCBAs. There’s
also a large amount of mechanical
assembly and server-based products
where melting solder isn’t a significant
element. In a recent 12-month period
we shipped over 2,000 different
products on over 7,400 different
orders to over 3,500 different end
users in 98 different countries. To put
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CLICK TO WATCH: ‘ROSS END-TO-END VIRTUAL
PRODUCTIONS WORKFLOW DEMONSTRATION’
115
The Ross Video Supply Chain
Management Team
that in perspective, Apple currently makes
about 27 products,” he adds. “You can’t
run a business like this without a skilled
and dedicated team. We have a very
experienced group here that knows and
understands both the specifics of Ross
Video’s business needs and the requirements
and dynamics of the electronics
manufacturing industry in a broader
sense.”
There are three main categories of
inputs that Ross Video procures. According
to Pulcine, a lot of parts are built to a required
specification or drawing. “Mechanical
pieces such as those used in our robotics
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SMITH DELIVERS MORE.
Whether you need a reliable supply of scarce components or a solution for
long-term inventory management, Smith will meet your unique needs with
customized support. The best sourcing and above-and-beyond service - it’s all
part of the package.
www.smithweb.com

Founded in 1984, Smith sources,
manages, and distributes the
electronic components that go into everything
from mobile phones and computers to
appliances and directional drilling systems.
In 16 cities around the world, from Silicon
Valley to Seoul, Smith’s legion of employees
communicates in 50 different languages and
dialects and buys and sells components 24
hours per day, with global annual sales
exceeding $1.5 billion.
Smith is always moving: helping manufacturers
navigate market shifts; customizing supply
chain solutions; testing components using
cutting-edge technology. With testing and
logistics hubs in Houston, Hong Kong, and
Amsterdam, Smith’s processes focus on critical
issues, from quality management to counterfeit
prevention and environmental safety. Smith’s
operations, purchasing, and sales worldwide
are seamlessly integrated with the company’s
global IT infrastructure, offering real-time
inventory and logistics visibility anywhere in
the world.
Smith is the leading independent distributor of electronic components and ranks
number eight among all global distributors. Smith’s Intelligent Distribution model
adapts to ever-changing demands by providing reliable global electronics sourcing
and logistics, regardless of distribution channel or locale.

ROSS VIDEO
118
products, or the bare-boards that are
used in printed circuit board assembly,
are our designs. We own them and
there’s competition for our business
from around the world. These items are
built to print, and reflect the diversity of
the finished products we sell. Once
again, it’s high mix, low volume for
these suppliers.”
On the other side of the coin, Pulcine
and his team are buying other people’s
designs, such as semiconductors and
interconnect components. “We use the
famous names that people who know
electronics would recognize; the same
manufacturers are found in telecommunications
products, computing and
so on. In total, we are using over 5,000
different components from over 500
different manufacturers across our
current portfolio. These numbers have
doubled over the last six years as Ross
Video’s product offerings have expanded.
Most of the manufacturing suppliers
involved do not sell direct to companies
like Ross, but sell via a layer of
distribution. Ross uses a combination
of the largest international electronics
distributors and smaller niche players,
where appropriate. There are some
Left to Right: Sandra Miller;
Stockroom, Jamie Lake;
Purchasing, Melanie Talia;
Quality and Materials, Bill
Pulcine, Deborah Dougherty;
Export Compliance, Logistics,
Order Entry, Order Management,
Brad Somers, Master
Scheduling/Planning
electronic component manufacturers
who will sell direct to us, but they’re
largely the exception. It’s a complex
ecosystem, really.” Ross Video uses
many distribution companies including
NF Smith & Associates which operates
out of Houston. NF Smith deals in a
massive line of electronic components.
Finally, Ross has a multitude of OEM
agreements in place. “Given the
diverse needs of our customer base, it
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
119
doesn’t always make sense to design
and build every element ourselves,”
says Pulcine. Ross has taken the OEM
model a step further with its Emmy®
award winning openGear® platform,
part of the Infrastructure product line.
openGear is the industry standard
platform of choice for modular signal
processing equipment. As the world’s
first modular platform open to other
manufacturers, openGear provides
solutions derived from hundreds of
individual cards from dozens of
companies. This cooperative effort
gives users best of breed product and
budget options, all while ensuring
common control and monitoring within
the Ross DashBoard ecosystem.
Pulcine elaborates; “This means that
openGear partner companies can
design and sell products (PCBA’s) that
work in the Ross openGear frame. This
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ROSS VIDEO
120
is unique. Competitors in this vertical
typically deliver solutions that are
exclusive to their products. You can’t
put anyone else’s product in their frame.
The Ross openGear solution gives the
customer a lot more choice and allows
the platform to evolve rapidly”.
Ross works closely with other companies
to develop the elements
required to realize its product vision.
CEO David Ross has worked extensively
with NKK to develop componentry for
Ross products. “NKK is a Japanese
firm that develops control switches
– the human interface into our flagship
product line of production switchers.
That’s a good partnership because we
don’t own that design. We don’t own
that technology. We’re not capable of
making these switches – nor do we
want to be – but we worked very closely
with the manufacturer to develop the
product that meets our needs.”
As technology evolves, so does the
company’s procurement strategy. “If
we’re using company X’s semiconductors,
and then company Y comes out
with a better one, and we’re in a design
cycle where we can pick up the better
one, we’re going to do it. It doesn’t
mean that you end the relationship and
never go back, because a lot of these
An Acuity A3M switcher, part of Ross’
flagship Acuity line, features switches
that Ross helped develop with NKK
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
technology companies leapfrog each
other. Their positions might change
every six months to a year. There’s
certainly a balancing act in trying to
make the supply chain better on all
fronts. Sometimes that means introducing
new competitive elements to
the situation. You might be reasonably
happy with your supplier or suppliers,
but that shouldn’t stop you from
pushing to see how the situation might
be improved. That may mean looking at
competitors. We certainly value our
suppliers and give them every opportunity
to compete and maintain their
business, but not in a laissez-faire way.
We need to do this to be competitive
and to drive value for our customers.”
GROWTH THROUGH ACQUISITION
Ross Video has experienced rapid
growth through the strategic acquisition
of other companies and this
directly affects the procurement
function. “We have never acquired a
company that was more than 10% our
size,” Pulcine explains. “That said, we
have made many strategic acquisitions
that really changed Ross. We quickly
went from two product lines to twelve.
Buying up these other companies has
“It’s an interesting
market. I think
part of the reason
we’re successful
and have been
able to have
this dynamic
manufacturing
setup here is
that we service
a somewhat
limited market”
—
Bill Pulcine, Vice President of
Supply Chain Management, Ross Video LTD
121
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ROSS VIDEO
122
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘ROSS XPRESSION REAL-TIME
MOTION GRAPHICS OVERVIEW’
expanded our ecosystem. It’s still live production
but not always the same customer base
and often different verticals in that market.”
According to the acquisition philosophy of
CEO David Ross, the incoming products
need to “touch the edges of the current
product lines”.
For a long time, Ross Video was known
as a production switcher company before it
then expanded into another part of broadcasting
known as ‘infrastructure’. Together
these two lines defined Ross Video in the
market for many years. Subsequently, the
company became very big in character
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NORTH AMERICA
The XPression hardware
that enables Ross’
graphics solutions
generators – the software that enables
graphics to appear on screen during live
broadcasts – following the acquisition of a
startup. “You might be watching a sporting
event and one of the players makes a big play.
A graphic will then appear in the corner with
his headshot and some statistics about how
they’ve been doing, such as ‘Averaging 0.78
goals per game this season’. Well, that
graphic has to be called up by an operator.
The format of it will be pre-canned, so to
speak, but it’s produced on the fly in a live
situation. We have some very sophisticated
software that allows you to create and change
the look of on-screen graphics in real-time,
and add very sophisticated animations and
effects. Taking this concept further, we can
also add virtual or augmented reality elements
to broadcasts and help make programs more
visually interesting and compelling. Nine
years after entering the market Ross is now
arguably number one in broadcast graphics.”
123
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ROSS VIDEO
A SHIFT IN STRATEGY
That acquisition brought a whole
different manufacturing and supply
chain challenge to Ross Video’s
traditional PCBA-based work as it
began manufacturing servers specifically
engineered for the broadcast
market. “We buy commercially available,
high-end motherboards, CPUs
and disc drives, and assemble them
to make a custom-built application
specific server that is uniquely a Ross
product. The XPression graphics
acquisition was key to sparking a major
spurt of growth in the company.”
Soon afterwards, Ross bought
another two companies that manufactured
products related to its Infrastructure
product line. “They weren’t so much
competitors as complements to our
124
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NORTH AMERICA
existing product lines, and this again
expanded our reach. One company
was manufacturing video routers in
Australia. The other company was
manufacturing products mainly
focused on embedding data into
broadcast transmissions and was
based in Ottawa. Again, the acquisitions
touched on the edges of the
pre-existing products and we added
routing and data insertion to our range
of solutions.”
Another product range Ross wanted
to offer its customers was camera
robotic systems. Robots are used in
broadcasting to allow one person to
control multiple cameras, as opposed
to having an operator at every camera.
“You can create more sophisticated
and visually interesting camera moves
125
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ROSS VIDEO
126
with a robot, so it’s an attractive solution
for content producers. We acquired two
robotics companies; one in Belgium, which
was a small but fast-growing business, and
one in California, which was a little more
established and had a longer track record.”
This foray into camera robotics brought its
own challenges to the supply chain team.
“As you can well imagine, the supply chain
to build a robot is completely different to the
supply chain for building a server or making
printed circuit boards. The challenges in the
internal manufacturing processes are also
completely different, as they were when we
moved into embedded computing. Robots
introduced a significant mechanical engineering
challenge to the Ross team and,
again, the capabilities of the supply chain
organization had to morph to include a
Robotic products, such
as the Furio pictured
here, drove another
significant expansion of
Ross’ product line and
underlying supply chain
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NORTH AMERICA
COMPANY FACTS
• Ross Video provided
the equipment, including
Vision Production
Switchers and SoftMetal
Video servers, that
were used extensively
by the host broadcaster
at the Vancouver 2010
Olympic Games
different supply base. As you can tell,
all of these things are still related to live
broadcast, so it’s still the same
customer base.”
“We concentrate on quality, service
and cost, which is not a revolutionary
approach. Lifecycle management is
extremely important, because of the
heavy investment Ross chooses to
make in R&D in order to stay at the
forefront of our market. Significant
product improvements require
significant change management and
new product introduction. New product
introduction is much smoother when
third parties such as subcontractors
are not part of the equation. Inventory
has a reputation of being evil, but the
fact of the matter is that inventory is
either what you make or what you
bought to be able to make what you
make. If there’s hardware in your
product, inventory is what you sell –
so why is it considered to be so evil?
Inventory allows us to be responsive
to our customers’ needs. We have the
best lead times in the industry and this
is a definite competitive advantage.
Inventory only becomes evil when it
loses its ability to turn into revenue.
Our customers need us to support
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ROSS VIDEO
128
them for typically ten to twenty years. You
don’t make substantial purchase decisions
without the expectation of long-term support.
This adds another significant layer of complexity
to supply chain management.”
GLOBAL PRESENCE AND THE SUPPLY CHAIN
“Our presence in Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America has
increased dramatically. Over the last decade,
we have moved from selling less than 20% of
our solutions to these markets to now selling
50% to countries outside North America.
When we talk about supply chain here, we
think of it as an end-to-end fulfilment entity,
not just procurement. Yes, Ross Video’s
supply chain team buys the parts, but we
“Over the last
decade, we
have moved
from selling less
than 20% of our
solutions to
these markets
to now selling
50% to countries
outside North
America”
—
Bill Pulcine, Vice President of
Supply Chain Management, Ross Video LTD
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
COMPANY FACTS
• Ross Video Provides the
switchers that are used by
top music acts, including
The Police, Bruce Springsteen,
The Rolling Stones, The Who,
The Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Korn, Blink 182 and Rush,
to run video for concerts
when they’re on tour
also manage the inventory, plan the shop
build schedule, and coordinate configuration
activities with the shop floor. We work closely
with R&D, Sales and Marketing to manage
product lifecycle. We take customers’ orders
and provide them with acknowledgement of
the order and a promise of delivery. We work
in concert with the customer to handle the
logistics of getting the goods to the end
destination. It’s quite complex when you have
thousands of different inputs into thousands
of different outputs, sold to thousands of end
users in almost every country in the world.”
129
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Brown-Forman
130
DECEMBER 2018

131
WRIT TEN BY
LAURA MULLAN
PRODUCED BY
ANDY TURNER
www.gigabitmagazine.com

BROWN-FORMAN
Brown-Forman may be
better known for its
iconic repertoire of spirits
and wines, but the
American company is
also earning its stripes
as a digital trailblazer
132
F
rom Jack Daniels to Woodford
Reserve, Old Forester to Canadian
Mist, today Brown-Forman’s brands
are a mainstay of any bar or cocktail cabinet.
The American wine and spirits company was
founded almost 150 years ago when the
founder, George Garvin Brown, created Old
Forester, a brand that is often cited as America’s
first bottled bourbon – and it seems that
this pioneering approach is still present today.
The century-old company is keen to preserve
its long-lasting legacy but it isn’t naïve enough
to think that the alcohol market will be
untouched by the latest wave of digitization.
In fact, Brown-Forman has put its weight
behind a root-and-branch digital transformation
that hopes to cement its brands as
household favourites for years to come.
DECEMBER 2018

“We look at every
employee as
a tremendous
brand builder”
—
Tim Nall,
Senior Vice President
and CIO at Brown-Forman
133
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Is the most
transformative
perspective the one
you don’t have?
In this transformative Age, the opportunities that
emerge from disruption are ready to be seized.
ey.com/betterworkingworld #BetterQuestions
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135
With over 18 years of experience at
Brown-Forman under his belt, this job
has fallen partly into the capable hands
of Tim Nall, Senior Vice President and
Chief Information and Data Officer
(CIO/CDO). With an acute understanding
of the inner workings of the American
company, married with a continuous
improvement mindset, Nall and his
team have ensured that IT no longer
plays a back-end function but rather is
a key strategic driver of Brown-Forman’s
operations. “Brown-Forman used to be
a traditional place where IT was viewed
as a back-office function,” observes
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BROWN-FORMAN
136
Nall. “But a few years ago, we began to look
at what tools Brown-Forman needed to really
advance in this data economy. We began to
view IT as an enabler and business partner,
a function that could provide true solutions
not just for the back office but for production
teams, sales teams and marketing teams.”
This has been a seismic shift in mindset for
Brown-Forman, but it is undoubtedly an
essential step for any company wanting to
remain at the top of its game in today’s
digital economy.
Storytelling and brand building are the
backbone of a successful food or beverage
brand, and it is a skill which Brown-Forman
has honed for decades. “We absolutely
believe the consumer is king,” observes Nall.
“Our ultimate goal is for our consumers to
understand our product – we want them
to make educated choices, we want them to
be fans of our brands.” How best to connect
with these consumers is a pressing question
for any food and beverage business, and
Nall believes that technology could be a key
part of the solution. “Whether you’re
communicating on social media with that
consumer, whether you’re creating interactive
tools for that consumer, how you’re
targeting that consumer – it all requires
technology,” he explains.
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CLICK TO WATCH: ‘WHO IS BROWN-FORMAN?’
137
Over the past few years, the Jack Daniels
maker has implemented a slew of technologies
to become a more digitally savvy firm.
These include everything from cloud-based
productivity and collaboration tools to a modern
data stack. “First, we realized our existing
data stack was not adequate enough for us
to really gather, harmonize and interrogate
our information. We knew we had to modernize,
so we started looking for a modern data
ingestion platform that our employees could
leverage and we settled on Talend as our
partner working with the Talend Data Fabric,”
explains Nall.
“We knew we also wanted a modern, robust
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BROWN-FORMAN
138
“We want our consumers to know the
stories behind Brown-Forman. We want
them to engage with us so that we can
tell them about Old Forester, the first
bottled bourbon. We want them
to understand our recipes so that they
can create the perfect Manhattan”
—
Tim Nall, Senior Vice President
and CIO at Brown-Forman
DECEMBER 2018

warehouse for all this information to go
into so we chose to work with Cloudera.
Then we asked ourselves how our
employees and our partners would
really interrogate and examine the
information that we give them. We
wanted to ensure that we had modern
toolsets out there as well, so we looked
at different products and settled on
Tableau as our visualization platform
and RStudio as our analytical, statistical
modeling platform.” Through these
cutting-edge technologies, Brown-
Forman has sought to democratize
data and its analytics so that employees
from all departments can utilize this for
their own ad hoc analyses every day.
Gaining the data is only the beginning.
For this tool to really earn its
stripes, Nall points out that you
need to gain true insight and
analysis of the figures. “We’re
always cautious to say that,
in a way, the data isn’t doing
anything,” he explains. “It’s the
insights we’re gleaning from the
information that are important.
Data without analysis is wasted
money. We’ve transformed how
we look at the information; it’s
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BROWN-FORMAN
140
surfacing new ideas that are really driving
positive action within the company.”
At Brown-Forman, data has been the
bread and butter of the company’s digital
transformation and it’s helping to deliver
insights that drive tangible, real-life
results, such as more informed pricing
decisions. “It’s helped us see how our
competitors are moving with regards
to their price and how that affects us.
Over the past few months, we’ve been
rolling out a revenue management
application globally that’s been well
received,” explains Nall. Data analysis
has touched every corner of the
American company, including the heart
of its operations: its production division.
“We worked closely with the production
organization and we saw that there
were issues that data analytics could
help resolve. Using data, we’ve taken
a hard look at our barrel yield to see
what issues could be affecting it.
Leveraging a lot of internal information
and even external information like the
temperature and other variables, we’ve
provided dashboards that are really
helping our production partners better
manage and forecast barrel yield.”
With its quintessential southern
American charm, Brown-Forman is
$3.25bn
Approximate
revenue
1870
Year founded
4,600
Approximate number
of employees
well known for its captivating marketing
efforts but the company has taken
this one step further with its use of
data technology “We’ve engaged
with partners like Salesforce to help us
provide modern toolsets, and we’ve
also looked at exact target marketing
and consumer journeys so we can
better communicate with our customers
and deliver a better experience,” says
Nall. The wine and spirits firm has also
made its first foray into chatbots and
has used SMS text engagement at its
DECEMBER 2018

141
distillery tours. Additionally, as a sponsor
of the Kentucky Derby, Brown-Forman
says it can use a balance of marketing
and data analytics to track whether
event promotions have been effective
and to forecast the success of its
future campaigns. This, in turn, helps
marketing dollars go further and
increases brand awareness.
The biggest tool for marketing, though,
is undoubtedly Brown-Forman’s team.
With a 4,600-strong workforce worldwide,
teams are not only seen as
employees but are also viewed as
brand ambassadors. “We look at every
employee as a tremendous brand
builder,” observes Nall. “We want our
consumers to know the stories behind
Brown-Forman. We want them to
engage with us so that we can tell them
about Old Forester, the first bottled
bourbon. We want them to understand
our recipes so that they can create the
perfect Manhattan. I think that’s the
real benefit for the consumer: they get
this information and it’s digestible.
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BROWN-FORMAN
142
We view data and analytics as playing
a significant role in our future successes.”
Over the past decade, technology has
undoubtedly revolutionized the customer
experience. With a few swipes and taps
of our devices, we can get the goods and
services we want when we want them.
Today’s consumers expect their experience
to be seamless and indeed today’s
workforces are no different.
“Just like we want to understand the
expectations of our consumers, we also
want to understand the expectations
our employees,” Nall adds. “Our
employees expect a consumer-like
experience.” Making working life
simpler for staff in over 160 countries
is not an easy feat, but by leveraging
trailblazing technologies and
processes Brown-Forman is
hoping to bridge geographical
gaps and bring its teams
closer together.
“Whether it’s regarding
their paycheques, their
communications or their
training, we want to make
sure that it’s delivered
seamlessly and that our
employees have a great
DECEMBER 2018

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143

BROWN-FORMAN
144
experience with it. We want to make sure
that all our 160 countries are connected.
You could do that by hopping on aeroplanes
but that can be very costly and
so we are leveraging modern technology
to help connect our team.”
Pushing for better communication,
Brown-Forman quickly got on board
with cloud technology like Google’s G
Suite platform and Cisco’s Webex tool.
“We believe these tools help eliminate
borders and time zones,” says Nall. As
a Salesforce customer, Brown-Forman
has not only adopted the firm’s customer
relationship management (CRM) tool
globally, but is also using its Chatter tool
that allows employees to keep in touch.
“Our employees are used to tweeting
and using instant messaging apps in
their personal life so Chatter gives that
to them professionally,” he adds. “It really
allows all of these employees just to
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145
“We definitely believe that
technology isn’t a solution,
but it’s an enabler for change”
—
Tim Nall, Senior Vice President
and CIO at Brown-Forman
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BROWN-FORMAN
“Data without
analysis is
wasted money”
—
Tim Nall, Senior Vice President
and CIO at Brown-Forman
146
DECEMBER 2018

stay connected despite the time zones.”
As more and more technologies come
to the fore, it seems it’s an exciting time
to be in the alcoholic beverage space.
However, Nall is keen to point out the
saying ‘if you have a hammer, everything
looks like a nail’ – that is, if a business
relies too heavily on particular tools it
may miss out on the perfect solution or
idea. Instead, he suggests: “When we
think about digital we always think
about our stakeholders, our employees
and our consumers. We definitely believe
that technology isn’t a solution, but it is
an enabler for change.”
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148
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
perational
excellence
in the digital
factory
149
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DALE BENTON
PRODUCED BY
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www.gigabitmagazine.com

AEROJET ROCKETDYNE
With an advanced manufacturing
facility, providing the digital factory of
the future, Aerospace Rocketdyne
demonstrates operational excellence
150
F
or over 70 years, Aerojet
Rocketdyne has delivered
innovative solutions to
aerospace and defense market
customers all over the world. The
company provides propulsion and
energetics technologies to space,
missile defence, strategic, tactical
missile and armaments customers,
and lives and dies by a simple
mission: to build a ‘brighter future
for the next generations… who look
to new frontiers and advances in
global technologies’.
As technology continues to
disrupt and redefine industries and
markets all over the world, such
a leading company as US-based
Aerojet Rocketdyne must evolve in
a changing landscape. This is
something Chief Technology Officer
(CTO) Alan Avakian understands.
“Technology continues to leapfrog
and the industry has changed a lot
in the past decade,” he says. “With
Aerojet Rocketdyne today, I am
managing a group of outsourcing
partners that provide IT services to
our company. I look at strategy and
technology development and then
work out how we bring those
technologies to the operation side
of things so that we can start
implementing those enhancements
while adding business value to our
internal customers.”
Working with customers across
a market as delicate and important
as the defence and aerospace
industries, where information and
data are key, there is one conversation
surrounding technology that
continues to grow even today.
“There’s definitely a major focus
on cybersecurity, given the number
of high-level security breaches that
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NORTH AMERICA
151
“WHAT DOES ‘DONE’
LOOK LIKE IN OUR
WORLD? WE ARE
CONSTANTLY FIGURING
OUT HOW WE GET
THERE, WHILE BEING
ABLE TO MEASURE
OURSELVES ACROSS
THAT JOURNEY”
—
Alan Avakian,
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
at Aerojet Rocketdyne
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AEROJET ROCKETDYNE
152
have happened over recent years
across the globe,” says Avakian. “Right
now, it’s all about how we protect our
company assets and information, and
make sure it is maintained for competitive
advantages. Then we look at how
we enable those critical business
capabilities where we can focus in on
digitisation, retire high-risk legacy
systems and look towards creating
intelligence out of that information.”
This, he feels, is where we see an
industry-wide turn towards robotics,
artificial intelligence (AI) and machine
learning as well as robotic process
automation (RPA) which helps
companies like Aerojet Rocketdyne
develop new opportunities and new
markets that previously did not exist.
Avakian points to Uber as an example.
“Nobody dreamed up Uber ten years
ago but here it is today and it’s a
multi-billion-dollar company,” he says.
“That’s what AI and robotic machine
learning are providing us with: they’re
creating new markets for companies
that don’t even exist yet.”
The challenge, then, as Aerojet
“WE’RE AT A VERY PIVOTAL POINT WITHIN THE WORLD
RIGHT NOW WHERE THE ENVIRONMENT IS CHANGING
RAPIDLY. IT’S DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT WAS IN YEARS
PAST AND INFORMATION APPEARS TO BE KING. SO,
IT’S HOW DO WE USE THAT INFORMATION TO OUR
ADVANTAGE AND CAPITALIZE ON IT GOING FORWARD?”
—
Alan Avakian,
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
at Aerojet Rocketdyne
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153
Rocketdyne moves into new markets
and explores new opportunities
through technology and innovation,
becomes one of catering to new and
evolving customers. The customer of
today requires cost-effectiveness
without compromising on quality.
Avakian recognises that the company
must be able to provide its market leading
best practices, all the while doing
so in a cost-effective way and maintaining
a competitive advantage. When
working with NASA to put satellites
into orbit and providing missiles and
defence systems to protect the
country, the challenge is accelerated.
“Our customers are looking for that
innovative solution that provides those
technologies or competitive edges,
but does so from an affordable
perspective where increased competition
is encouraged to get the best
value proposition,” he says.
“So whenever I’m thinking of those
new things that are innovative and
cutting edge, I’m always thinking about
how we can implement them in such
a way that it is secure and meets our
customers’ requirements as well as
enabling the business so that we can
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AEROJET ROCKETDYNE
start accelerating things. It’s about getting to
a point where we’re innovating and being able
to provide IT using a services model versus
building it in as an on-premise solution.”
As a testament to this understanding,
Aerojet Rocketdyne has invested in the
construction of an Advanced Manufacturing
Facility in Huntsville, Alabama. This new facility
represents complete technology enablement
through the use of information, since Aerojet
Rocketdyne prototyped a number of digital
factory initiatives that utilise IT through automation,
robotics and even 3-D printing
equipment. “This facility and the innovation
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we are fostering there provides us with
a competitive edge,” says Avakian. “We’re
taking it to the next level where we implement
more automation as it provides us with
more information and creates
markets that we didn’t have before.”
“IT brings it all together: our manufacturing
execution system, our product lifecycle
management system, our ERP system and
our business intelligence systems all working
together to bring information to our fingertips.
We can then start making better decisions
based on that information.”
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AEROJET ROCKETDYNE
156
Building and operating an Advanced Manufacturing
Facility places Aerojet Rocketdyne
at the cutting-edge of technology and
innovation, but, as noted above, modern
customers demand a combination of innovation
and cost-effectiveness. To this end, as
Aerojet Rocketdyne moves into new markets
and develops new technologies, it must
continuously assess its own capabilities to
do so. One such way in which the company is
doing this is through its Competitive Improvement
Program. The goal of this program is
a simple one: to ensure that its products are
more affordable across the enterprise and
bring that value back to its customers.
The Advanced Manufacturing Facility is but
one part of this program as Aerojet Rocketdyne
chose to consolidate its footprint; the
next step is rationalisation across the entire
enterprise. “It’s about our product affordability
going back to our customers,” says Avakian,
“and along with that we’re also reducing
our administrative and overhead costs. In
order to bring value back to our customers,
it’s about making sure we’re using everything
that we can from an efficiency and
effectiveness perspective.”
A Continuous Improvement Program is all
well and good, but much like the information
provided through automation and machine
learning, Aerojet Rocketdyne must extract
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157
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AEROJET ROCKETDYNE
158
the value from this information in order
to ensure that it is achieving what it set
out to achieve. To this end, Aerojet
Rocketdyne uses service level agreements,
metrics, key performance
indicators (KPIs) and critical performance
indicators (CPIs) as a means
of measuring the company against its
strategy and architecture. “What does
‘done’ look like in our world? We are
constantly figuring out how we get
there and measuring ourselves across
that journey,” says Avakian.
“Using data to get there is very much
ingrained in our company so that we
can ensure we’re making objective,
quantifiable measurements to be able
to evaluate if we did realise what we
were trying to achieve in the beginning.”
In the technology space, the
measurement of success is crucial
both internally and externally and with
technology and innovation evolving at
an increasing rate, communication
proves key. Avakian is a firm believer
in proof of concepts and providing real,
tangible examples of the returns on
investment (ROIs) that technology can
bring. He feels that in today’s digital
age, this is more vital than ever since
software as a service (SaaS) companies
are able to “spin up environments
and applications with the snap of a finger
and a click of a mouse.”
“Now we can bring technology to our
customers more quickly,” he explains.
“They can touch it and feel it and that
provides them with the confidence that
we can invest in it and provide that to
the masses,” he says. “That’s how
I think it’s changed the value proposition
while being able to get something
to market so much more quickly than
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
we could in the past.”
Aerojet Rocketdyne has been a market
leading innovator for more than 70 years
and as technology has continued to
define and redefine the market land-
scape, it shows no sign of slowing
down. Through sound investment in
its Advanced Manufacturing Facility
as well as its Continuous Improvement
Program, the company has readied
159
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Alan Avakian
Alan Avakian is the Chief Technology Officer of Aerojet Rocketdyne.
In this role, he leads the organisation’s Technology
Management function responsible for shared business service
strategy and operations including Networking, Infrastructure,
Applications, and End User Support services. He coordinates
with line-of-business leaders to understand their needs
(including anticipated technology and product changes)
and works with IT outsourcing partners for execution.
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AEROJET ROCKETDYNE
“WHAT IT DOES, IS BRING ALL THE DATA TOGETHER
WHERE OUR MANUFACTURING EXECUTION SYSTEM,
OUR PRODUCT LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM,
OUR ERP SYSTEM, AND OUR BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS ALL WORK TOGETHER TO
BRING THAT INFORMATION TO OUR FINGERTIPS SO
WE CAN START MAKING BETTER DECISIONS”
—
Alan Avakian,
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
at Aerojet Rocketdyne
160
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘WITHOUT LIMITS’
DECEMBER 2018

NORTH AMERICA
itself to cement its market leading
position as it embraces the future of
technology and innovation. Avakian
recognises this and points to information
as being the true enabler of technology,
both today and tomorrow.
“We’re at a very pivotal point within the
world right now where the environment
is changing rapidly. It’s different from
what it was in years past and information
appears to be king – so it’s about
how we use that information to our
advantage and capitalize on it going
forward,” he says.
“Staying in front of it will provide you
with the ability to enable competitive
advantages and things of that nature,
as we successfully continue to do here
at Aerojet Rocketdyne. We must share
that information to be able to collaborate
and get to these new things that
weren’t even possible before.”
161
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162
Achieving
and sustaining
success in the
midst of a digital
transformation
WRIT TEN BY
SEAN GALEA-PACE
PRODUCED BY
TOM VENTURO
journey

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163

COLLABERA
Atul Kumar, Global Chief Information
Officer at Collabera,
discusses how his company
is embracing technology in
the midst of the firm’s digital
transformation journey
164
C
ompanies of all sizes are beginning
to embrace technology in order to
establish and maintain success. With
the aim of becoming more digitally advanced,
Collabera is in the middle of a four-year digital
transformation journey. Having been a leader
in IT staffing for over 25 years, the organization
provides companies with comprehensive
IT and professional staffing and services to
help businesses achieve their goals.
Atul Kumar, Global Chief Information Officer
(CIO) at Collabera, believes his company’s
digital journey has come a long way since
beginning its transformation two years ago.
“We have made significant progress in the
last two years and I feel I helped accelerate
this when I first joined the company,” he
explains, reflecting back to September 2017
when he took the role. “We targeted the most
impactful areas of the organization and looked
for the opportunity to transform our business
through digital technology.”
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“It’s important to us that we
ensure we have state of the art
innovative applications which
leverages the power of artificial
intelligence, predictive analytics
and smart automation to make
recruiters smarter and efficient”
—
Atul Kumar,
Global CIO, Collabera
167
In joining the company, Kumar was
tasked with driving the firm forward
and created a digital transformation
roadmap to outline his targets. “Through
my digital transformation roadmap,
I established the areas where I felt we
could achieve the most impact. We
started with three key goals: increase
the revenue, improve the margin and
provide world class experience to its
customers, candidates and employees,”
explains Kumar. “As a result of
that, I picked up all the big-ticket items
for 2018 as well as some for 2019, and
I’m pleased to announce that at least
80% of that is done. However, that
required a lot of change in our organization
and people don’t have much
patience when things aren’t right.
Everyone wants to see a positive
outcome immediately.”
EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGY
In order to obtain support and confidence
before the beginning of Collabera’s
transformation journey, Kumar
delivered ‘quick wins’ in a bid to give his
company confidence. Now, by introducing
innovative business solutions,
Collabera has geared to achieve
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COLLABERA
profitable growth and digitalization
is making it easier for the company to
improve customer experience, increase
efficiency and engage candidates in
much more meaningful way.
“We rolled out an expense management
mobile app, automated our
candidate screening process through
AI-based parsing and matching tools,
launched a new intranet which was
a personalized integrated workspace
for employees, and integrated a service
desk chatbot,” explains Kumar. “We
have to fulfil the client’s requirements
faster and find the right candidate at
all times. It’s important to us that we
ensure we have state of the art innovative
applications which leverages the power
of artificial intelligence, predictive
analytics and smart automation to make
recruiters smarter and efficient. We are
continuing to look for opportunities about
168
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NORTH AMERICA
how we can provide that world class
customer experience to our clients by
offering them quality candidates at
a faster rate than our competition.”
By connecting talented professionals
to innovative companies, Collabera has
looked to form partnerships to help
implement the new technology for
sustained success. Kumar affirms that
the collaboration of Collabera and its
partners has been key to achieving
substantial growth. For example, automated
candidate outreach business
Glider.AI has proved an invaluable partner
to Collabera. “Glider.AI provided the most
advanced technical assessment and
video interview platform which was
integrated seamlessly into our system.
The platform helps internal recruiters
and hiring managers to quickly and easily
discover great talent with demonstrated
competency and engagement. This
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Atul Kumar
Atul is an accomplished IT leader with 21+ years of international
and domestic experience in strategic planning, large scale IT
transformations, business development and business operations
gained through progressively more technological roles. He has
successfully built and managed large diverse, cross functional
high energy teams and has influenced positive outcomes in difficult
situations through his collaborative leadership style. He
has worked with clients in a wide variety of industries including
Consumer Goods, Retail, Manufacturing, Logistics, Banking &
Financial Services, High-Tech and Automobile Industries solving
business problems by designing and structuring solutions for
clients by involving business consulting and technology services.
Currently, he is responsible for driving digital transformation initiatives
at Collabera through new technology adoption and improving
the customer experience across the organization.
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COLLABERA
170
has resulted in an increase in the quality
of submissions by candidates to our
clients and closing more positions
successfully,” says Kumar. “Meanwhile,
Sysfore Technologies provided the
architectural consultancy services and
API economy principles for the application.
This helped us to integrate some of
the functionalities of this application into
other applications very quickly and easily.”
The company has also teamed up
with cloud-based a cloud-based
knowledge automation, collaboration
and communication platform from
Witty Parrot to help develop an AI-based
digital assistant for Collabera’s sales
team to be effective on the go.
“Glider.AI provided
the most advanced
technical
assessment and
video interview
platform which
was integrated
seamlessly into
our system”
—
Atul Kumar,
Global CIO, Collabera
TRANSFORMING THE ROLE OF A CIO
With technology constantly evolving, the
role of CIO has developed in order to
keep up with the latest trends. Kumar
believes a CIO’s job description has
undergone a major transformation
following the introduction of new technologies
and innovations in the last decade.
“I believe the position of a CIO has
changed significantly who is now expected
to be business technology leader with
domain expertise. In the past, their most
important skill was technology know-how
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171
and deliver what business wants, primarily
an order-taker kind of a role. You were just
enabling the organization by automating
some of the processes,” says Kumar.
“Over the last 10 years, it has taken more
of a front row seat in the organization and
has begun to contribute to corporate
strategy. Five years ago, people used to
say, ‘technology has become the enabler’
– but in 2018, technology has become the
driver for business. Now, the CIO role is to
successfully formulate business solutions,
create global capabilities, develop new
revenue opportunities and foster innovation
within their companies.”
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172
MAINTAINING SUCCESS
For the last seven years, Collabera has
consistently won the award of ‘Best
Staffing Firm to Work For’ in the large
firm category by Staffing Industry
Analysts. “Now we want to be called
most digitally advanced world’s leading
staffing company which is taking
advantage of emerging technologies
to make the company more efficient
and drive revenue,” explains Kumar.
He believes Collabera’s biggest
achievement has been to increase
recruitment productivity through
technology. “We have Fortune 500
clients and small clients, too. We get
requirements from them and then
60+
Offices
worldwide
15,000+
Pros worldwide
24/7
Staffing support
match to the millions of candidates in
our database. It then becomes our
responsibility to submit their resumes
and the client interviews, screens and
finally selects them,” explains Kumar.
“Through increasing the recruitment
productivity and reducing the time and
cost of filling the clients’ requirement, it
has meant that the quality of candidate
submission, as well as candidate
experience, has been enhanced – and
our Glassdoor rating has risen too.”
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173
Looking to the future, Kumar affirms
that Collabera can continue to grow as
long as the company remembers its
core principles but remains primed to
adapt to the latest trends. “It’s vital that
we continue to achieve what we have
done in the same fashion as long as we
remain focused on providing a great
service to our client and candidate. We
must continue to embrace the technology
revolution and improve our
processes and business models with
digital first mindset,” says Kumar. “The
moment we begin to think we have
arrived; our growth will stop. The only
constant is change and we have to live
with that. I think we’ll continue to grow
as long as we adapt to change and
embrace new technology.”
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174
HOW
MICROSOFT IS
TRANSFORMING
CANADA’S
HEALTHCARE
It is no exaggeration to say that Microsoft
has changed the world, as it has transformed
nearly every part of people’s working and
home lives – after all, around a fifth of the
world’s population use Microsoft products
on a daily basis. Next, the IT giant is set to
revolutionise healthcare.
WRIT TEN BY
LEILA HAWKINS
PRODUCED BY
ANDY TURNER

175

MICROSOFT CANADA
176
I
t is no exaggeration to say that Microsoft has
changed the world, as it has transformed nearly
every part of people’s working and home lives
– after all, around a fifth of the world’s population uses
Microsoft products on a daily basis. Next, the IT giant
is set to revolutionize healthcare.
The healthcare system faces some tough challenges.
Wait times are lengthy, whether in the emergency room,
referral to a specialist, or making appointments to see
a doctor, and processes can generally be slow-moving.
Meanwhile healthcare IT has traditionally been
focused on hospital-based Electronic Health Records
(EHR), but part of Microsoft’s digital vision is to move
beyond this and onto more efficient processes. Peter
Jones, Microsoft’s Industry Lead in Healthcare for
Canada, explains:
“Traditionally we’ve spent a lot of money and resources
on digitizing healthcare records. We are now focused
more on systems of insight that will enable us to access
data and make better decisions on patient care and the
operations in the hospital.”
As well as shifting from systems of record to systems
of insight, Jones explains they are moving towards
systems of engagement, making it possible for patients
to interact with healthcare providers in new ways.
Patient engagement is one of the four pillars of
Microsoft’s model to transform the country’s healthcare
system, alongside empowering care teams, optimizing
operations and transforming the continuum for better
patient care.
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
177

MICROSOFT CANADA
178
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT
Now that it’s possible to book
everything from a taxi to a grocery
shop via a touchscreen, it makes
sense for patients to want healthcare
to be just as accessible.
New technology that enables care
teams to monitor patients remotely is
of huge benefit to people with chronic
conditions, as it cuts down on wait
times for appointments, and means
those with limited mobility, such as the
elderly, don’t need assistance with
travelling to appointments.
The eVisit, developed in conjunction
with telemedicine specialists Novari
Health, makes it possible for patients
to schedule virtual consultations with
doctors. It’s as simple as clicking on
a meeting request in an email to carry
out a virtual appointment from the
comfort of the patients’ home. “You
can get access to a member of your
care team including doctors and
nurses,” Jones explains.
EMPOWERING CARE TEAMS
There are better ways to help clinicians
communicate, collaborate, team
and learn. The Office 365 platform
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
“WE ARE NOW FOCUSED
MORE ON SYSTEMS
OF INSIGHT THAT WILL
ENABLE US TO ACCESS
DATA AND MAKE
BETTER DECISIONS
ON PATIENT CARE
AND THE
OPERATIONS
IN THE
HOSPITAL”
179
—
Peter Jones,
Microsoft’s Industry Lead in
Healthcare for Canada
www.gigabitmagazine.com

Optimize
Healthcare
Facility
Performance
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Automate physician schedule
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Artificial Intelligence
Optimize time and resource
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Synchronize appointment booking
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Ensure communication and document
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Adopted by 150 hospitals
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or call a specialized advisor at 1-888-949-8601.

CANADA
allows members of the care team
to communicate and collaborate on
better patient care.
“If you look at how we’re moving
beyond EHR, one of the biggest
challenges has been communication
amongst care teams” Jones says.
“Many care team members are overworked
and struggling to produce
but putting the communication and
collaboration tools in place has allowed
them to become more efficient and
more effective in their job.” A good
example of this is a solution from
a partner called PetalMD.
It offers a cloud-based solution
to help physicians create, manage
and collaborate on scheduling
shifts with co-workers. It helps
saves time, allows remote access
to schedules, provide tasks and
transfers all in one platform on Azure,
dramatically reducing errors and
prevent outdated information or
duplicates. All information, such as
schedule events or even a physician’s
phone number, are instantaneously
updated. Members can easily
communicate through a secure
messaging channel.
OPTIMIZING OPERATIONS
Health is data rich and information
poor. Jones goes on to say that the
data collected in clinical systems is
generally for operational, communication
or medical purposes, most
systems do not store communications
in a way that makes analytics easy,
and an enterprise-wide system view
doesn’t emerge organically. “For an
industry that prides itself on being
evidence-based, health does a poor
job at using the most recent and relevant
evidence, their own data.
“We see analytics as a continuum
spanning retrospective reporting,
real-time dashboarding, predictive
analytics, and even prescriptive
decision-making using cognitive
services and machine learning. Even
relatively basic initiatives like patient
journey-boards and KPI dashboards
can have a huge impact on baselining
performance, identifying bottlenecks
and streamlining operations.
“We see that effective use of data
analytics as the only proper way of
achieving population health, whether
it’s management of chronic disease to
prevent unnecessary re-admissions,
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MICROSOFT CANADA
182
or supporting patients to manage
their care plan, timely and accurate
information is key.
“We’re seeing a lot of our partners
build cloud-based solutions that are
addressing these challenges and are
easily adopted” he adds. One of these
partners is Oculys, who have been
able to show significant savings for
hospitals by using data analytics to
predict emergency room wait times and
monitor patient flow and bad management.
“If you can track it you can manage
it more effectively” Jones says.
TRANSFORMING THE CONTINUUM
Some of the most exciting models of
care leverage cloud computing. This is
currently the primary focus for Microsoft.
Once viewed with scepticism by the
health industry due to perceived security
or control limitations, the cloud is now
undeniably being embraced by health
organizations around the world. Gartner
predicts that within this decade organizations
will be going to the cloud
precisely because it is more secure
than the on premises counterpart. Part
of this momentum is driven by cost
efficiencies and outsourcing, but there
is another motivator that is becoming
increasingly apparent – some capabilities
are only possible in the cloud.
“The cloud is essentially a global supercomputer,
that you can access on
demand and pay only for what you use.
You get all the benefits, yet the cost
is spread across all the users. Kind of
like timeshare.”
The virtually unlimited storage pool
makes medical imaging storage cost
effective, or any other big data scenario
for that matter. The incredible processing
power makes genomic sequencing
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
“STORAGE
COSTS FOR
CLOUD
COMPUTING
ARE THE
LOWEST WE
CAN SEE”
—
Peter Jones,
Microsoft’s Industry Lead in
Healthcare for Canada
feasible. Machine learning and artificial
intelligence are most practical in the
cloud. Aggregations of software as
a service provider, like an enterprise app
store, allow organizations to discover,
trial and deploy new applications with
a minimum of risk and hassle. There is
potential of the cloud to defragment all
the data silos that frustrate holistic health
information management.
Making cloud computing trustworthy
is a key priority. Part of that involves
making sure it is secure, and Microsoft
invests over a billion dollars annually to
that end. Just as important though is
making sure that the cloud can be used
compliantly, so Microsoft has invested
in many industry certifications like
HIPAA through a Business Associates
Agreement, HITECH, and FedRAMP.
Keeping information private, being
transparent about datacentre operations,
and allowing users the controls
to manage their own data round out
the trust story.
LOOKING AHEAD
The seemingly limitless capacity of the
cloud is advantageous for initiatives
such as genomic sequencing, a field
183
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MICROSOFT CANADA
184
“THE CLOUD IS ESSENTIALLY
A GLOBAL SUPERCOMPUTER,
THAT YOU CAN ACCESS ON
DEMAND AND PAY ONLY FOR
WHAT YOU USE”
—
Peter Jones,
Microsoft’s Industry Lead in
Healthcare for Canada
that is greatly expanding, and one that
includes researchers investigating
causes and early detection of serious
conditions such as cancer. It is an area
Microsoft is doing a significant amount
of work in, and one that requires
a tremendous amount of storage given
that a single human genome takes up
at least 100 gigabytes of space.
“Storage costs for cloud computing
are the lowest we can see, and the
number of genomes we will need to
sequence in the future is going to put
a huge demand on a lot of the infrastructure
that exists on premise today”
Jones explains. “The other benefit is
allowing researchers to share their
data. The larger the genomic data set
the better the research, so we’re
starting to see researchers coming
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
185
together with genomic data sharing
platforms that allow them to get
access to larger data sets.”
One of the organizations that has
moved its genomic data to the cloud is
BC Cancer, a government-run agency
that conducts research and operates
patient treatment centers.
The healthcare industry has historically
been risk averse, as Jones says,
with providers generally waiting for
others to adopt new processes before
making the move themselves. However,
with these innovations in telemedicine,
cloud solutions and operational data,
more and more are joining the digital
revolution to reap its benefits.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

186
Revolutionizing
the healthcare
sector with
digital disruption
WRIT TEN BY
LAURA MULLAN
PRODUCED BY
ANDY TURNER
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
187
www.gigabitmagazine.com

PETALMD
In the healthcare sector,
every minute in invaluable.
Offering innovative web
solutions for healthcare
professionals, PetalMD
is helping physicians save
valuable time so they can
save lives
188
I
ncredible advancements have continued to
disrupt the healthcare sector but, behind the
scenes, a lot of administrative work is still done
with the faithful pen and paper. In a sector where time is
of the essence, this has created a mammoth hurdle but
it is one which Patrice Gilbert hoped to overcome when
he founded PetalMD.
The idea came to him when he talked to doctors and
nurses about their daily grind in the healthcare sector.
“I was shocked by their use of technology,” he recalls.
“I realized that there was a real lack of technology penetration.
In the beginning, I really saw how that, when
it came to administrative tasks like scheduling, people
were making decisions not based on data but subjective
matters and I knew something had to change.”
One of the largest drains on time that Gilbert identified
was the creation of on-call schedules. Puzzling
over Excel sheets and trying to juggle conflicting time
constraints of physicians means that creating schedules
can cost valuable hours of time — time that could be
spent saving lives. By digitizing the entire process, the
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
189
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PETALMD
190
PetalMD cloud platform aims to solve
this. Comprised of Petal Booking, Petal
Scheduling and Petal On-Call, this innovative
platform hopes to facilitate
patient appointment booking, optimize
physician schedule management
and secure information exchange.
“The first module is physician scheduling:
it allows a group of physicians to
better manage their group schedules,”
explains Gilbert. “The platform allows
physicians to create, manage and share
their schedules more easily in real–time.
It seems obvious that a group of physicians
would have this technology today,
but most of the time, when we deploy
PetalMD we replace pen and paper.”
Combined with its Petal On-Call
module, Gilbert says that physicians
also have access to a hospital dashboard,
a clever tool that gives staff
easy access to the hospital’s on-call
list in real-time, on any device. “This
makes sure that all the staff at the
hospital know who is on–call as well
as the physician’s schedule for the
clinic. It saves faxes and emails back
and forth and it can improve hospital
productivity by making sure that
everybody who needs to access this
information can do so in real–time,”
he notes.
With its third and final module, Petal
Booking, the platform also offers rich
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Patrice Gilbert
Founder and CEO at PetalMD, Patrice Gilbert began his
career as a product engineer at Thales Canada and
Domosys. His natural leadership and vision led him to a
position as Team Leader in Product Development at Taleo,
where he moved up the ranks to become Product Manager
for Eastern Europe in Germany. In 2009, he returned to
Quebec and founded PetalMD, which earned him the title
of Young Business Person of the Year for Technology and
Research in 2010. Today, his passion for product development
drives him towards finding new and innovative
technological solutions for healthcare professionals.
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
“Comprised of
Petal Booking,
Petal Scheduling
and Petal On–Call,
this innovative
platform hopes to
facilitate patient
appointment
booking, optimize
physician schedule
management and
secure information
exchange”
—
Patrice Gilbert,
Co-founder and CEO of PetalMD
insights into when the hospital is likely to
be busiest or less in–demand. “There is
no way a hospital can align their medical
offering and their investment in equipment
if they are not aware of their patient
demands,” Gilbert explains. Using
the Petal Booking platform, hospitals
can automate tasks that are currently
done manually like booking appointments
or providing further information
and reminders. This is then taken one
step further thanks to artificial intelligence
and data. “We help hospitals
and their staff to better understand patient
demands and, by using artificial intelligence,
we can then forecast future
patient demands, such as periods that
191
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PETALMD
192
‘The physician tool provider has
close ties with Microsoft — its
cloud-based platform is deployed
on Microsoft Azure — and this
has given PetalMD the global
expertise and knowledge needed
to become a global operation’
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
are likely to be busier,” he adds. “It enables
physicians to plan their next schedule
ahead of time. It’s the holy grail for
hospitals because they are able to
make decisions based not on thoughts,
or subjective matters, but on real data.”
The result? More time saved, a better
work-life balance, and ultimately better
patient care. For physicians, it’s been
an invaluable tool. “Many of the hospitals
we work with, they initially reach
out, because that want to improve the
personal life and working life balance
for their physicians,” observes Gilbert.
“They need to ensure that shifts are
distributed evenly within team members
so, for example, when you’re working
in the emergency department, they
can ensure that you’re not doing too
many nights in a row because this isn’t
good for your health. By having all this
data, hospitals can make sure to better
serve their physicians. It also improves
their quality of life as it’s easier to swap
shifts with a few clicks of a button.”
For patients, the difference has also
been palpable. “From feedback we’ve
received, we see that both patients
and physicians feel empowered,” Gilbert
says proudly. “Patients feel like
the clinic or the hospital is listening to
193
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PETALMD
194
them. They can say that they’d prefer
to have an appointment on a Tuesday
afternoon and you can more efficiently
meet that demand. Additionally, patients
also have greater access to information
so they understand their healthcare
journey and they feel empowered.”
Technology has the ability to truly
revolutionize the healthcare sector but
as more and more tools enter the fray
it can be difficult to determine what
is truly useful and what could just be
technology for technology’s sake.
In the past, healthcare technology
was built solely by technologists or IT
professionals for clinicians, but that
is changing. Today, collaboration with
clinicians is critical. Sensing this sea
change, PetalMD has done just that.
Indeed, in Gilbert’s eyes, what helps
PetalMD cut through the noise is the
fact that it has been developed in collaboration
with physicians, with their
demands being placed front and center.
“In the beginning, we worked with the
physicians, not just the hospitals, who
would buy our software,” Gilbert remembers.
“We made sure that the solution
would be truly helpful to physicians
and that it would meet their needs. That
2009
Year founded
51-200
Approximate
number of
employees
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
CLICK TO WATCH: PETAL SCHEDULING – SCHEDULE
MANAGEMENT FOR PHYSICIANS
195
way, they’d want to use it.” By proving
its value to doctors, PetalMD has been
able to leave a lasting impression on
the Canadian healthcare sector — and
it’s proven to be a simple recipe for success.
Today, the technology has over
48,000 users including 32,000 physicians
across the country, yet PetalMD’s
growth isn’t just restricted to the Canadian
market. It is also making inroads
on the other side of the Atlantic; in just
over a year, no less than eight hospitals
in Switzerland, Belgium and France
have adopted the PetalMD platform.
Expanding globally can be a difficult
feat but by leveraging global expertise,
PetalMD has done so seamlessly.
The physician tool provider has close
ties with Microsoft — its cloud-based
platform is deployed on Microsoft
Azure — and this has given PetalMD
the global expertise and knowledge
needed to become a global operation.
“Because our infrastructure and
our data are deployed within Microsoft
Azure, we can ensure that each
time we have a discussion with a
new country, we’re compliant with
this country’s legislation,” explains
Gilbert. “This is for us a major partner-
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PETALMD
196
ship advantage because Microsoft
has a worldwide footprint. This allows
us to deploy our technology within any
country in the world without modification.
Additionally, their commercial
relationships with our customers are
amazing. They already know all the
hospitals around the world because,
of course, most hospitals are already
using Microsoft products as we speak.
So, we have relationships with potential
customers around the world as well.”
As users’ online experiences become
more and more seamless, customers
are expecting more from their IT platforms.
Looking forward, Gilbert says
“It seems obvious
that a group
of physicians
would have this
technology today,
but most of the
time, when we
deploy PetalMD
we replace pen
and paper”
—
Patrice Gilbert,
Co-founder and CEO of PetalMD
the Canadian firm will continue to invest
in technology to ensure it can keep
pace with the IT landscape at large.
“Thanks to the experience people
have with Facebook, LinkedIn, or similar
tools, we believe that we can’t lower
the bar,” he reflects. “Our IT platform
has to be mobile, it has to be accessible
on a computer. It has to reflect the
highest norm in security, making sure
DECEMBER 2018

CANADA
197
that we can work with hospitals and
patient data. So, we’re always investing
in new technology, and this is very
important for our employees.” On top
of this, the company is also eyeing up
further opportunities abroad, building
on the world-class reputation it has
developed in the Canadian market.
“Today, we receive many demands
from healthcare professionals in other
countries and, because of all the success
we had in Canada, we’re starting
to explore these opportunities.
In the future, I want to take PetalMD
across the word. We want to take all
the lessons we have learnt and apply
them elsewhere to help other countries
provide better healthcare.”
www.gigabitmagazine.com

198
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
199
Technology
transformation
to remain
a trusted partner
WRIT TEN BY
OLIVIA MINNOCK
PRODUCED BY
JAMES PEPPER
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SANTANDER
Banking behemoth
Santander is undergoing
a significant digital
transformation in an
evolving industry —
Andy Pearson and
David Hayes explain
how this improves
the lives of customers
and communities
200
P
art of the global Santander Group,
Santander UK has become a
mainstay of British banking, and is
a familiar sight on the UK high street with over
1,000 branches and 50 corporate business
centres across the nation. Now, the finance
giant is undergoing a significant digital
transformation in order to improve the lives
of its customers and their communities.
Keen to explain this transformation and
what it means to the bank were David Hayes,
Chief Data Officer and Head of Data Services;
and Andy Pearson, Managing Director of
Santander UK Technology and Head of
Digital Services. We caught up with the pair
at Santander UK’s Milton Keynes office.
Known throughout the UK as a ‘new town’
built almost from scratch just 50 years ago,
Milton Keynes has a reputation for cutting-
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
edge modernity and so the location, as well
as the office itself which has been revamped
with colourful open spaces and well-lit
breakout areas to promote collaboration
between staff, truly reflects Santander’s
personality as a decades-old institution
which is still tech-driven and keenly keeps
up with a changing sector and the rapid
development of customer demands.
AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY
Technology is disrupting every industry, and
banking is no exception – but with organisations
like Santander forming such an integral
part of everyday life, present at key moments
and within communities, this throws up unique
challenges and opportunities in the sector.
Hayes comments on the recent transformation
of the industry: “Data has become prominent
for many reasons. Here in banking, there’s a
whole world of data at our fingertips that can
help us improve the lives of our customers.”
The entire industry is adapting to new
technology, and indeed Hayes is an active
participant in national organisation DataIQ
Leaders as well as FIMA, an annual European
conference on financial information management.
Hayes also recently spoke to the Bank
of England about how Santander leverages
Big Data among other disruptive technologies.
201
www.gigabitmagazine.com

Transforming businesses
to lead in the digital
data economy
New data solution gives faster answers.
everis is a multinational strategy and
technology consultancy - part of the NTT
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We transform companies through
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We work in a multitude of sectors, amongst
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Scenario
Some companies operate in highly
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Challenge
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Many banking institutions do not have access
to a golden customer or product record, and
therefore joining disparate data sets is
laborious and slow.
In addition to this challenge is the regulator’s
demanding SLA and required level of
guaranteed accuracy for this unified view.
Solution
In answer to the challenge, everis
developed a new advanced Data
Platform that provides a toolset and
methodology to develop and deploy new
data use cases.
This toolset utilises the latest data & analytics
technologies, which provide rapid and
powerful results.
We underpinned deployment automation
with an integrated platform support service,
ensuring reliable and faster delivery and
operation of the new data asset.
This new platform has been the backbone
of multiple successful data transformation
and regulatory reporting projects providing
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Benefits
• Generation of an integrated view of
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• Improvement on the regulator’s SLA:80%
reduction (from 3 days to less than 8
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which foster increased productivity,
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• Industrialised services definition, to
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE

EUROPE
“Customers are used to
using Instagram and
Facebook — they’re
used to instantaneous
responses, so we
need to be able to
provide that. Our goal
is to give a seamless,
transparent journey
to our customers”
—
Andy Pearson,
Managing Director,
Santander UK Technology
“They’re on a very similar journey to us,
and were keen to discuss some cultural
and principle things Santander is doing
that they can learn from. As a whole, the
banking industry is really taking these
technologies on,” he adds.
A TECHNOLOGY FOCUSED INSTITUTION
Santander is taking these industry
changes in its stride, all the while
focusing on the most important
aspect: customer experience. As
Pearson explains: “Technology is
fundamental to banking and fundamental
to what we do here. Our aspiration
is to be the best open digital bank
so we need to stay abreast of the latest
developments and adapt to new ways
of working, and be responsive to what
the market and the customer needs.”
Pearson cites two key elements of
technology transformation: “One is
how we interact with our customers
– and the changes in the way we’re
building applications for mobile… we’re
looking to digitise the way we interact
with our customers.” However, the
second element comes from within:
“We also need the right data at the back
end, and to explore that data to make
sure those interactions are as meaningful
and insightful for our customers
as they can be.
“Data is fundamental to both of these
things, and as we move forward increasing
our understanding of data through
AI and machine learning is key,” he
adds. “Customers are used to using
Instagram and Facebook – they’re
used to instantaneous responses, so
we need to be able to provide that. Our
goal is to give a seamless, transparent
journey to our customers.”
205
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SANTANDER
206
ALL ABOUT THE DATA
Gathering as much data as possible can help
to improve this customer journey – but only
if the right tools are in place to make use of
it. “Data gives us the ability to analyse and
understand how our customers interact
with us, so we can design processes more
effectively,” Pearson explains.
Within Santander too, it’s the data that makes
the difference. “Big data has been absolutely
transformational to us as an organisation. We
partner with Cloudera to run our big data
platform here in Santander UK. I was able
to understand through this collaboration that
we don’t need to have silos of data going
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Andy Pearson is the Managing Director of Santander
UK Technology Engineering and Head of Digital Services.
After a successful career in consultancy, he joined
Santander in 2006 and held senior roles in IT during Santander’s
integration of other UK banks. In 2015 he took the
lead of the engineering and delivery division which he
brought into the digital era.
Now, Pearson is driving the transformation of Santander
UK into an agile organisation bringing the business, operations
and technology teams together under a domain-driven
and service-driven model.
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
207
forward – and if you get rid of silos, you
can truly transform the way people
across the organisation behave.”
Santander’s use of data reflects its
commitment to its customers, as well as
how integral a part the bank plays in
people’s everyday lives and in wider
communities. “The human element is
really key, particularly if you’re making
difficult financial decisions,” says Hayes.
“If you’re going to take out a mortgage
which is going to shape your life and your
spending for the next 25 years, you need
to trust and know that you can rely on us.”
A TRUSTED MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY
“Communities are really important to
us in Santander,” Hayes emphases.
“Santander has targets to make sure
everyone takes part in community work,
be that abroad or locally.” Indeed,
recently a group from the Milton Keynes
office returned from building classrooms
in Cambodia, whilst raising money for
charities closer to home, Age UK and
Barnardo’s, and last year Hayes himself
spent some time helping a local food
bank. “The motivation you get from
making a real difference in your local
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EUROPE
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘TRUST IN BANKING AT SANTANDER UK
WITH CDO DAVID HAYES AND MD ANDY PEARSON’
209
area is great, and is very healthy for an
organisation like Santander,” he adds.
In addition, Santander as a global
organisation is busy strengthening its
commitment to the UK with a revamp
of its Milton Keynes site and a brandnew
£75mn office in Bootle, Liverpool,
which is set to house 2,500 staff. “These
are historic sites for Alliance and
Leicester and Abbey National. The UK
bank is one of the biggest elements
of the Santander group and we’re very
committed to our UK base,” Hayes
explains. “We’ve got 14mn active
customers here and over 20,000 staff
in different parts of the organisation.”
This commitment to communities
reflects the trust which Pearson is keen
to emphasise as integral to Santander.
“Trust is a really strong foundation – security
is important because our customers
have entrusted us with their information.
Security is fundamental for any bank,”
he explains. “We have a design principle
of building security from the bottom up,
and going forward the banking industry
has the opportunity to build on that trust.
There are new value propositions we can
explore here, and indeed for the wider
banking industry, to provide identity
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SANTANDER
210
management for the wider market.
“Customers are trusting us with their data.
We need to verify identities for a whole variety
of regions – so there are opportunities for
a bank as that trusted partner within the wider
industry, and that’s something we need to look
at going forward.”
This strong culture of trust, community and
collaboration runs through every aspect of
the business, not least the relationship
Santander maintains with its vendors and
partners, all of which have equally stringent
principles on security and much more.
“When we work with a third party, we try to
make sure we work in partnership with them,”
he emphasises. “We spend a fair bit of time
making sure they have the right fit for us,
both culturally and architecturally.”
“Part of our methodology is to see, experiment,
improve concepts, test and learn before
we take a leap into particular technologies,”
says Pearson. “Experimentation and building
that collaborative relationship is important in
understanding we’re working with the right
partners moving forward.” Alongside Cloudera,
a leading platform for Big Data and data
science which enables Santander to become
data driven, the bank works with a variety of
carefully selected partners that have been
critical for its ongoing digital transformation.
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
This includes Microstrategy, which provides
an enterprise wide platform for Business
Intelligence (BI) and analytics; NuoDB, a cloud
database for digital applications that can run
on premise; Pivotal, a technology development
company that provides platforms and tools
enabling organisations to develop digital
experiences; and Everis, a consultancy
providing business and technology solutions
for mission critical challenges.
THE RIGHT CULTURE
Throughout the significant technology
transformation Santander continues to
undergo within a changing industry, its
211
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
David Hayes is Santander UK Chief Data Officer
and Head of Data Services.
He is a recognised leader in the data industry with
a long career in different areas of Santander UK. He
has been driving the cultural change about data in
Santander UK since he was appointed as CDO in 2014.
Hayes is passionate about what data can do to create
value for customers and communities and thus is
transforming data into a commonplace asset that
everyone in Santander can use to help customers,
always with the utmost awareness to governance,
privacy and security.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

Digital transformation begins with
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b. The brightest minds
c. Your favourite tools and apps
d. All of the above, and a platform that
brings them together.
The Intelligent Enterprise uses emerging technologies like
AI, machine learning, and NLG to streamline processes and
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ON THE PLATFORM THAT CAN DO IT ALL.
Learn more at microstrategy.com and start
your digital transformation journey today.

EUROPE
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘ANDY PEARSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF
SANTANDER UK TALKS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION’
213
people remain key, and managing the
significant culture changes transformation
brings is vital. “It’s easy to underestimate
the amount of impact that cultural
change has on the ability to make
technology change,” Hayes reflects.
“We run change management programmes
and provide training, but of
course we have some way to go. We’re
on a journey. One thing we have to do
is to articulate data as a profession;
understand and appreciate the different
elements of that. There are very
different skillsets that come in – soft
skills and technical skills need to be
brought together to drive change.”
Ensuring that these skills are in place
across the organisation, Santander is
also committed to diversity, such as
ensuring a mix of men and women in the
tech-led organisation. “Gender diversity
is very important to us,” says Pearson.
“We were a founding signatory of the
HMRC Women in Finance Charter. We
know that in the industry about 17-20%
of roles in technology are filled by women.
We’re fortunate that we have about 30%
of our roles filled by women – however,
we currently only have 19% in senior
roles, so our goal is to get that to 25%
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SANTANDER
Cloud.
Containers.
Culture.
Transform your business, not just your IT.

EUROPE
215
by 2022. Role models are very important,”
he adds. “We are participating in the
Thirty Per Cent Coalition where we have
role models, both men and women, to
mentor women in our organisation, and
women at Santander are being mentored
by those from other organisations.”
TECHNOLOGIES OF THE FUTURE
In addition to Big Data being fundamental
to Santander’s offering and the care it
can provide each and every customer
and community, the bank will continue
to explore other technologies such as
artificial intelligence, machine learning
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SANTANDER
216
capabilities and more. “Machine learning
is a technology we’re exploring with some
gusto at Santander,” says Hayes. “So far,
it’s been important from an operational
efficiency perspective. It’s going to
change the way we work, the way we
think, the decisions we go through, the
speed at which we interact with our
customers and the offering we can give
them – but to embed machine learning
we need to make sure it’s built with great
data engineering to sit behind it.”
Pearson adds: “Establishing our big
data ecosystem is key to us. We’re still
early on in our journey of AI and machine
learning. Now we have that core data
platform, that’s going to allow us to
explore these new technologies
increasingly as we go forward.”
Hayes, Pearson and the Santander
community all keep a finger on the pulse
of new developments in the evolving
industry, with Open Banking set to take
centre stage. “That changes the game
for us,” says Hayes. “Data is an asset
and this allows competitors to build on
assets we’ve got – when you then throw
in the capability to build AI or run machine
learning algorithms, the opportunity
through technology is massive.”
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘DAVID HAYES, HEAD OF DATA
AT SANTANDER UK TALKS CHANGE CULTURE MANAGEMENT’
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
“Here in banking, there’s
a whole world of data
at our fingertips that
can help us improve the
lives of our customers”
—
David Hayes,
CDO, Santander
217
Pearson, too, cites Open Banking
as one of “a whole series of regulatory
activities that are changing the face of
the banking industry”. He adds: “The
making available of information about
customers to a whole range of new
players is going to fundamentally change
the way customers interact with financial
organisations. There will be new players
– and as a bank, we need to respond to
that. We need to measure the experiences
we build, and remain relevant for our
customers as we support their goals in
life. Opening up banking data gives us
opportunities to understand who our
customers are and how to be more
relevant in their day-to-day activities.”
Overall, Hayes concludes that the
centuries-old banking industry will
fundamentally transform with Santander
at the fore. “I firmly believe that technology
will completely change banking in
the next 20 years. The challenge for
the industry will be to embrace those
technologies – and the winners will be
those who can do that in a way which is
right for the customer.”
www.gigabitmagazine.com

EMASA
Combining
technology
218
with purpose
WRIT TEN BY
CATHERINE STURMAN
PRODUCED BY
LEWIS VAUGHAN

EUROPE
219

EMASA
Investing in new technologies
in order to
provide essential
services to its citizens,
EMASA remains a leader
in the utilities market
220
O
ne of the first Spanish cities to have
a company for the management of
the water supply system in the 19th
century, Málaga remains at the forefront of
environmental innovation. Undertaking the
management of the integral water cycle
in the city of Málaga, Empresa Municipal
Aguas de Málaga (EMASA) treats water from
detection of the necessary hydraulic resources
from distribution, purification, sanitation,
and supply, to the disposal of waste water
or reuse of waste water.
Once responsible for designing and
implementing all the new information systems
for the toll road between Málaga and Marbella,
Chief Information Officer, Pedro Galdón joined
EMASA in a bid to unlock new opportunities
and gain the ability to grow within a large public
organisation. Responsible for 15 people, he
explains that his role has evolved to one which
is more focused on business, in order to drive
further value through technology.
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
221
€70mn
Approximate
revenue
1986
Year founded
425
Approximate number
of employees
www.gigabitmagazine.com

One solution.
Any application.
Only Nutanix delivers a single software OS
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between private, public and distributed clouds
invisible. Nutanix solutions combine web-scale
engineering with consumer-grade management to
power any workload in multi-cloud environments.
Experience it Now

EUROPE
“For more than
seven years, EMASA
has been developing,
promoting and
implanting an
intelligent reading
system in our city”
223
—
Pedro Galdón,
Chief Information Officer
www.gigabitmagazine.com

EMASA
224
“Technology is everywhere, but here
in EMASA it plays a key role. In fact,
we are the leading company in smart
metering in the Spanish water sector,”
he says. “For more than seven years,
EMASA has been developing, promoting
and implanting an intelligent reading
system in our city. Smart metering has
put us at the forefront of the sector at
a national level. We already have more
than 115,000 electronic meters installed
in Málaga.”
Whilst the European Water Charter
has stated that ‘there is no life without
water. It is a treasure indispensable to
all human activity,’ Galdón is keen to
stress the potential of new technologies,
where the company will gain the ability
to analyse big data and provide solutions
to tackle global water shortages.
“We treat waste water in our facilities.
Purifying water, reusing it to irrigate
and turn solid waste to solid fuel. The
water we can’t reuse is pumped into
the city offshore. We are now starting
to use drones for inspection tasks,
where it is difficult for workers to reach
or there is a high level of risk. I think in
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
225
Name Pedro Here Galdón
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Approx A Computer 100 words Engineer quam by aut background, aut eaturi with sequi an quiasit, MBA and qui PhD
dolupta from Malaga cusdand University, enistium Pedro acienimi, Galdon offici has conem worked quo in the IT
blaudi field since occumqui 1993. His cone previous laborep role ratur? as IT Sundant Manager as at rempe Autopista de
voluptu del Sol led ribus, to the sequo design omnisitem and implementation laut a dolut occulparum
for all new
hillant Information quibus Systems mi, voloreprovit for the new ende Toll deres Road aliandit between harit, Málaga
net, and offic Marbella. temperro con experat. Cum faccum quati officiet
peresti In 2005 ncitia at ISLANDA, in restrum an Open faccum Source quo el Development illuptam dolupta Company
erempor sited at the alitaquo Technological tem secae Park vellant. of Málaga, Ta quid Galdon’s qui veliqui role as
nobitius CTO saw diti him atibusa advance consediossit the company’s evel strategy ius des qui surrounding
con ped
quam, technical sedit, resources, totatust evaluating dis nonsequ and aepernam implementing fugiti new conestotas
and everes infrastructures. id ut autem He et joined moluptius. EMASA Igenis in 2006 soloribus as Technical accate
systems
sendit, Head, becoming que nos et CIO que in ebit 2014. et omnih.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

EMASA
226
the near future all dangerous jobs will
be undertaken by a robot or drone.”
Previously, the company housed
a traditional IT team suitable for the
era in which its infrastructure was
developed. However, upon bringing
on board SAP technologies, EMASA
faced a challenge in upgrading its
outdated systems and looked towards
gaining significant expertise. Working
alongside Nutanix, the business has
deployed a hyper-convergence
system, but faced resistance from
a number of large manufacturers.
“We are now starting
to use drones
for inspection
tasks, where it is
difficult for workers
to reach or there is
a high level of risk”
—
Pedro Galdón,
Chief Information Officer
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘YO GESTIONO MI AGUA NUEVA APP DE EMASA’
227
“We still took this forward and embarked on
this hyper-convergence adventure. Nutanix
gave us an escalation in performance with
a very simple management system. They put
data as close as possible to where it is executed
and I think that’s the key to improving traditional
performance. It seems like a simple idea,
but nobody had thought about it before.”
Moving from traditional quality assurance
to adopting lean methodologies,
all parties have now become involved in
EMASA’s new culture in eliminating
waste and ensuring quality across every
process designed, whilst enhancing the
customer experience. All of its operations
www.gigabitmagazine.com

EMASA
COMPANY FACTS
• Málaga was one of the
first Spanish cities to have
a company for the management
of the water supply
system in the 19th century
€
228
• EMASA treats water from
detection of the necessary
hydraulic resources from
distribution, purification,
sanitation, and supply, to the
disposal of waste water
or reuse of waste water
• Working alongside Nutanix,
the business has deployed
a hyper-convergence system
• As drought continues to be
a key challenge in Málaga,
EMASA has sought to raise
awareness and create campaigns
on the ways its citizens
can reduce water usage
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
“We are the leading
company in
smart metering
in the Spanish
water sector”
—
Pedro Galdón,
Chief Information Officer
229
will be further bolstered by the EMA-
SA’s Laboratories, which adhere to all
international standards.
Through the use of its support platform,
Virtual Office, customers have gained
the ability to carry out a number of
processes 24 hours a day. It is also
a key project which the company is
presently working to develop further.
“For me, it is one of the most important
things we can do for our customers.
In 2019, we are aiming to develop
a new Virtual Office, which will
become our flagship technology.”
As drought continues to be a key
challenge in Málaga, EMASA has
sought to raise awareness and
create campaigns on the ways its
citizens can reduce water usage.
However, Galdón notes that the
business should also further invest
in improving its present facilities.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

EMASA
“EMASA is an advanced
environmental management
company and we want to
make the citizens the aware
of the importance of the
dangerous of water scarcity”
—
Pedro Galdón,
Chief Information Officer
230
DECEMBER 2018

EUROPE
“EMASA is an advanced environmental
management company and
we want to make the citizens the
aware of the importance of the
dangers of water scarcity. What
also makes EMASA different is our
promotion of scientific research,
cultural activities and assisting with
the preservation of the environment,”
he adds.
“We are transforming EMASA
in a technology company. We are
facing the fourth revolution with
data sensors, drones, devices,
applications and more.
“We have to be able to take
advantage of all of these technologies.
If we do that, we will
transform EMASA into a more
efficient, environmentally
friendly and customer-oriented,
public company. We will
be the kind of public water
company you would want
your children to have.”
231
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SWEDISH
MINING
AUTOMATION
GROUP
232
PROMOTING
DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
IN CANADA’S
MINES
WRIT TEN BY
LAURA MULLAN
PRODUCED BY
RICHARD DEANE
DECEMBER 2018

MINING
233
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SWEDISH MINING AUTOMATION GROUP (SMAG)
234
Business Sweden Canada
with partners from the
Swedish mining industry
has created SMAG to help
the mining sector evolve
into a more sustainable and
innovative industry. We
spoke to Project Manager
and Mining Industry Advisor,
Christian Orrego Silvander,
to find out more
DECEMBER 2018

MINING
M
ining is often cited as one of the last
remaining industries to be disrupted by
technology, but that is changing quickly.
From driverless trucks to robotic drills, digitisation
is quickly bringing a new measure of safety to
mines. It’s also boosting the efficiency of how
we obtain the precious minerals needed to make
everything from modern cars to devices. In the
coming years, mining automation is primed for
explosive growth, and it seems that one Nordic
country is set to be at the epicentre of it all.
Sweden may be a small mining nation but when
it comes to mining technology, it’s considered to be
in a league of its own. Looking to collaborate and
foster innovation in the mining sector, six Swedish
mining technology firms have joined forces with
Business Sweden to create the Swedish Mining
Automation Group (SMAG). Formed just one year
ago, SMAG is a collaborative ecosystem that plans
to revolutionise mining, creating a more sustainable
industry by innovating holistic solutions together
with mining companies.
Jointly owned by the Government of Sweden
and representatives from the Swedish business
community, Business Sweden works across an
array of different industries but mining has proven
to be a key area for optimism. One such person
who helped to steer this new focus is Business
Sweden’s Project Manager and Mining Industry
235
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SWEDISH MINING AUTOMATION GROUP (SMAG)
236
Advisor Christian Orrego Silvander. He
believes that this collaboration between
Swedish automation groups and other
global miners is a win-win partnership.
“Our mission is to help Swedish
companies grow internationally, as
well as to attract foreign investments
to Sweden,” Silvander
explains. “Sweden has a long history
of providing solutions to the mining
industry and it’s quite famous for
having some of the leading original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in
mines. Today more than 50% of the
technology used in underground mines
comes from Sweden.”
Ericsson, Eprioc, SKF, Mobilaris,
Sentian Technologies and Scania
Mining: the founding members of SMAG
make for impressive reading, and in
conjunction with Business Sweden,
they plan to bring the latest industry
know-how and technologies to mining
regions across the globe. One such
country where SMAG is leaving a lasting
impression in is Canada. A force to be
reckoned with on the mining stage,
Canada is a country that is renowned
for its mining heritage. Last year, the
industry contributed CAN$72bn
DECEMBER 2018

MINING
“SWEDEN HAS A LONG HISTORY OF
PROVIDING SOLUTIONS TO THE
MINING INDUSTRY AND IT’S QUITE
FAMOUS FOR HAVING SOME OF THE
LEADING ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT
MANUFACTURERS (OEMS) IN MINES.”
—
Christian Orrego Silvander,
Project Manager and Mining Industry
Advisor at Business Sweden
(US$54.8bn) to its GDP, according to
Natural Resources Canada. As such,
Business Sweden and SMAG decided to
zero in on Canada as a key regional focus.
“The reason we revived this focus on
mining was due to the positive outlook
on mineral prices as well as the environment
here in Canada,” summarises
Silvander. “The mining industry is also
focusing greatly on creating a more
sustainable and innovative future
through industrial collaboration and
this resonates quite well in Sweden.
Even though we’re quite a small mining
nation – we only have 15 active
metals mines – we have a long history
of innovating through collaboration.
That aligns well with the vision of the
237
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SWEDISH MINING AUTOMATION GROUP (SMAG)
238
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘SIMS MINING — THE HORIZON 2020 PROJECT’
Canadian mining industry too, which is
hoping to become more sustainable
and innovative.”
There’s a lot Canada can learn from
Sweden, observes Silvander, citing
Swedish mining operators Boliden and
LKAB as “amongst some of the most
progressive in the world”. Both of these
companies have been early adopters
of digital and automation technology
but interestingly, Silvander points out
that this isn’t about technology for
technology’s sake it’s, first and foremost
about safety, productivity and efficiency.
“For example, Boliden said that they
don’t have a strategy for digitising or
automating their mines, but rather they
have a strategy to improve safety and
increase productivity,” Silvander explains.
“For them, the best way to do that was
to use digital technology.” Looking at
connectivity, precision technology,
stabilising processes and eliminating
waste as well as implementing new
mining methods, these mines have
proven to be gleaming examples of the
benefits of mining automation and this
technological prowess hasn’t gone
unnoticed worldwide.
“Recently, there’s been a lot of
DECEMBER 2018

MINING
239
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SWEDISH MINING AUTOMATION GROUP (SMAG)
FA C T S
• Last year, the
mining industry
contributed
CAN$72bn
to Canada’s GDP,
according to
Natural Resources
Canada
240
examples of different demonstration
projects that have been done mainly in
Sweden and Europe quite recently,”
continues Silvander. “All of them have
a goal to create safe and efficient mines
by implementing automation technology.
But this shouldn’t only be on Swedish
soil. This should be something that is
implemented internationally. For Sweden,
with a population less than 10 million
that’s dependent on international
collaboration, I see this as a very good
opportunity for us to be the one who’s
leading the development but together
with other leading mining nations.”
Cross-country collaboration is at the
core of SMAG’s mission and ethos. But
how has the organisation managed to
bridge both a geographic and cultural
divide? “When we started this initiative,
we tried to connect with key mining
organisations, the ones that are driving
innovation within the industry. We
started working with these regional
and national companies. We found out
their needs, how they operate, and how
we can collaborate with them because
we all more or less have the same
DECEMBER 2018

MINING
ambition of transforming the industry
to make it more sustainable.” By
analysing the individual needs of
mining operators and disseminating
the ‘Swedish mining model’, SMAG has
the ambition to help Canadian miners
navigate their long-term roadmaps to
digitise and automate their mines but,
perhaps more importantly, they are also
lowering the barriers between suppliers
and mining companies to foster cooperation
and future innovation.
“With SMAG, we’re trying to foster
a co-development culture and lower
241
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Christian Orrego Silvander
Management consultant with passion for innovation, strategy
and collaboration. Strong communicator with expertise in conceptualizing
business ideas and pitching technology solutions.
In depth experience of business development and internationalization
of tech companies and start-ups in industries such
as mining, healthcare, biotech, and cleantech.
Currently leading the Swedish Mining Innovation Group
(SMAG) with six leading mining suppliers with the intention
to enable holistic solution within mining through cooperation
with mining companies. In addition establishing strategic
alliances with Canadian stakeholders with the objective to
establish a mining collaboration platform between Sweden
and Canada.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SWEDISH MINING AUTOMATION GROUP (SMAG)
the variant between vendors and
mining `that can really be learned
from Sweden,” observes Silvander.
“The Canadian Mining industry has
created solid roadmaps for innovation
but there is a need to convert
them to actions. Most of the industry
also have innovation managers so
they’re very keen to transform the
industry. But I think by allocation
more resources to trying innovative
solution in the mine rather than
establishing new roadmaps for them,
will accelerate the transformation.
That is really what I see as the missing
link to this puzzle. I think they are
242
DECEMBER 2018

MINING
“TODAY MORE THAN 50% OF THE
TECHNOLOGY USED IN UNDERGROUND
MINES COMES FROM SWEDEN”
—
Christian Orrego Silvander,
Project Manager and Mining Industry
Advisor at Business Sweden
243
www.gigabitmagazine.com

True digitalization of underground mines, enabling doubledigit
productivity increases AND safety improvements.
Real-time Situational Awareness
Fix those low hanging fruits that waste time
and lower face utilization.
Short Interval Control
From just being monitoring to become
operational and able to replan during a shift.
Ventilation On Demand
We let the presence of machines control the
ventilation which is very fast to
setup remotely.
Emergency Evacuation
Save lives by shorten the time to evacuate
the mine in the case of an emergency.
Optimized Machine Utilization
Analyze integrated machine data vs plan to
optimize your machine utilization.
Mass Localization
Another low hanging fruit that locates
equipment in a very cost-efficient way.
Traffic Awareness
Minimizing traffic congestions and make your
transports smooth and safe.
Improvements by Analytics
Enables you to continuously monitor the face
utilization outcome and track productivity.
www.mobilaris.se/mce

MINING
245
going in the right direction and SMAG
could definitely help with this challenge.”
How to meet the demands of Industry
4.0 is one of the most pressing questions
for mining operators today. By
working with a rich ecosystem of holistic
solutions rather than single products,
SMAG believes it provides a unique
solution. “This way of working together
with a group, as opposed to one vendor
is a very new concept, especially in the
mining industry,” asserts Silvander.
“There’s also a mix of different companies.
Take, Ericsson: they’re a telecommunication
company that offers mine
connectivity and today, they’re deploying
5G technology which could be an
innovative way forward for mines in
Canada. We also have one of the most
prominent OEMs, Epiroc, who when it
comes to the automation of equipment
or meeting KPIs in underground mines,
they are one of the firms leading the way.”
Other members of the ecosystem
include Mobilaris, which provides critical
decision support for production
efficiency and safety. “They’re very
prominent in the mining intelligence
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SWEDISH MINING AUTOMATION GROUP (SMAG)
480+
Number of Business
Sweden employees
2017
Year founded
246
53
Number of offices
around the world
“THIS WAY OF
WORKING TOGETHER
WITH A GROUP, AS
OPPOSED TO ONE
VENDOR IS A VERY
NEW CONCEPT,
ESPECIALLY IN THE
MINING INDUSTRY”
—
Christian Orrego Silvander,
Project Manager and Mining Industry
Advisor at Business Sweden
area and are developing tools for
positioning and enabling real-time
short-interval control,” highlights
Silvander. Sentian Technologies has
also played a key role in this ecosystem,
standing as a company with a long
background in AI. Additionally, Scania
Mining, which Silvander says “provides
fleet management and mine site
optimisation by applying lean manufacturing
principles” has gotten onboard
DECEMBER 2018

MINING
247
alongside SKF, which has “been in
Canada for over 100 years and are
experts in rotating machinery, reliability
and offer advanced data analytics
and predictive maintenance. Looking
forward, Silvander is keen to include
more suppliers in this ecosystem and
is eyeing up further opportunities in
mining hubs like Australia and Chile.
“We have an ambition to go global,”
he says brightly.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

248
Telkom
Indonesia:
transforming
Indonesia
into a Global
Digital Hub
WRIT TEN BY
DALE BENTON
PRODUCED BY
KRISTOFER PALMER
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
249
www.gigabitmagazine.com

PT TELKOM INDONESIA (PERSERO) TBK (TELKOM)
250
Identified as
Asia’s next digital
powerhouse,
Telkom Indonesia
will help make the
nation a Global
Digital Hub
s one of Asia’s foremost
A
mobile-first nations, with
close to 72% of internet
traffic originating from mobile devices
and around 215mn internet users
expected by 2020, Indonesia’s digital
economy is one of incredible potential.
If unlocked, this potential will establish
Indonesia as the biggest digital
economy in South East Asia that is
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
251
projected to reach US$130bn in 2020.
Indonesia will be Asia’s next digital
powerhouse.
Tasked with realising these predictions
and truly unlocking this potential
are the major technology players in
Indonesia. One such company that
understands the key role it will play in
redefining the landscape of Indonesia
is Telkom with its subsidiaries (Telkom-
Group). TelkomGroup is the biggest
digital telecommunications company
in Indonesia. Today, it has embarked
on an ambitious transformation journey
that will see the company become ‘the
king of digital in the region’ and ‘lead
Indonesian digital innovation and
globalisation’.
“A new digital era is upon us here in
Indonesia,” says Abdus Somad Arief,
www.gigabitmagazine.com

ASIA–PACIFIC
CLICK TO WATCH: TELKOM COMPRO 2017 V.RUPS 2018 253
Director of Wholesale and International
Service of Telkom.
“We prepared for the inevitability of
this digital wave of business around
five years ago, now we are not only
talking about connectivity and legacy
business, we are looking at digital
business. Our vision is to be at the
very top of a digital ecosystem here
in Indonesia in which we will aggregate
big and smaller players in Indonesia
and regional as well.”
TelkomGroup also aims to strengthen
the development of digital infrastructure
in Indonesia to provide the best
digital experience in this growing
digital sphere. This will see the company
continue to develop new innovative
products and services but also
strengthen the business ecosystem to
achieve sustainable growth in all digital
segments of the market. “We’ve built
the biggest digital telecommunications
infrastructure in Indonesia and we have
already connected with fiber optic
everywhere,” says Somad Arief.
TelkomGroup deploys around
160,680km of terrestrial and subma-
www.gigabitmagazine.com

PT TELKOM INDONESIA (PERSERO) TBK (TELKOM)
254
“Our vision is to
be at the very
top of a digital
ecosystem here
in Indonesia in
which we will
aggregate big
and smaller
players in
Indonesia”
—
Abdus Somad Arief,
Director of Wholesale and International
Service, Telkom Indonesia
rine cable networks domestically and
globally including: a 'South East Asia
– Middle East – Western Europe – 5'
(SEA-ME-WE 5) cable system, and
a 'South East Asia – United States'
(SEA-US) cable system. To connect
the European, Asian and American
continents, the group is currently
building the Indonesia Global Gateway
(IGG) submarine cable system. Telkom-
Group’s network is also present in 33
countries with 72 network Points of
Presence (PoP) that bring traffic and
connect carriers with customers.
TelkomGroup also operates a worldclass
neutral and internet exchange
data centre called neuCentrIX, which
aggregates service providers, network
providers and content providers from
all over the world to reach more than
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
255
Abdus Somad Arief
Abdus Somad Arief or familiarly called ASA has been with
the company for 27 years and took over his role as CTO/CIO
in December 2014. Since 21 April 2017 he has taken up a
new assignment as the Director of Wholesale and International
Services of Telkom. He has dedicated his life
to working in the telecommunications industry
and is passionate about his work.
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ASIA–PACIFIC
“By leveraging
digital culture
and adopting
the latest
technologies,
we try to inspire
the people
around us”
—
Abdus Somad Arief,
Director of Wholesale and International
Service, Telkom Indonesia
265mn Indonesian people through a
seamless, secure and reliable network
to drive the growth of the global
digital industry.
Though TelkomGroup’s digital
infrastructure, Somad Arief recognises
that the company has played, and
will continue to play, a huge role in
enabling this digital economy by
bringing out national capabilities while
leveraging outside capabilities to truly
build the nation.
On TelkomGroup’s journey to establish
Indonesia as a global digital hub, it can
be easy to forget that for all the
innovative technologies that the world
has to offer, it means little if people lack
the right capabilities to utilise them. This
is something that the digital ecosystem
helps TelkomGroup address first hand,
equipping both the company’s employees
and customers with the necessary
understanding required to fully capitalise
on the opportunity and value of this
digital culture.
“Through the ecosystem and working
with international partners, we are given
access to the latest technologies that
are transforming industries all over the
world,” says Somad Arief. “It allows us
to prepare for the technology of today
and the technology of tomorrow.
“By leveraging digital culture and
adopting the latest technologies, we
try to inspire the people around us,”
he adds. “As a group, we are then more
aware of the services and technologies
that are coming, be it robotic technology
or Artificial Intelligence (AI). It
means we don’t reach too far where
we can’t go but we are aware of what’s
coming and can prepare our people
for these technologies of the future.”
Digital transformations often require
257
www.gigabitmagazine.com

PT TELKOM INDONESIA (PERSERO) TBK (TELKOM)
SHM
MOS
EIG
MAN
LON
LUX
DUB
PRS
MRS
AMS
WRS
FRA KIV
SWI
VNA
MDR
MLN
SOF
PAL
IST
LSB
SHA
SEO
TYO
C2C
258
ALG
CAI
RYD
MAC
HKG
SHI
TWN
APCN-2
DUB
ND
RGN
DJI
IMEWE BBG
SEA-ME-WE 5
SEA-ME-WE 4
DUM
BTM
BKK
HAN
BSW
SG
DVO
MDO
SJC
JKT SBYDPS
DIL
IGG
JHB
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
JUS
SJ
CHG
NYX
TOR
UNITY
SLO
LAX
ASH
FASTER
TNG-IA
HWI
AAG
259
GUA
SEA-US
“TelkomGroup deploys around 160,680km
of terrestrial and submarine cable networks
domestically and globally including South East
'Asia – Middle East – Western Europe – 5' (SEA-
ME-WE 5) cable system and a 'South East Asia
United States' (SEA-US) cable system. To connect
the European, Asian, and American continents,
currently we are building Indonesia Global
Gateway (IGG) submarine cable system”
—
Abdus Somad Arief,
Director of Wholesale and International
Service, Telkom Indonesia
SP
www.gigabitmagazine.com

BUILDING A FULLY CONNECTED,
INTELLIGENT WORLD
Huawei is a leading global provider
of information and communications
technology (ICT) infrastructure
and smart devices. With integrated
solutions across four key domains
– telecom networks, IT, smart devices,
and cloud services – we are committed
to bringing digital to every person,
home and organization for a fully connected,
intelligent world.
Huawei’s end-to-end portfolio of products,
solutions and services are both
competitive and secure. Through
open collaboration with ecosystem
partners, we create lasting value
for our customers, working to empower
people, enrich home life, and
inspire innovation in organizations of
all shapes and sizes.
At Huawei, innovation focuses on
customer needs. We invest heavily
in basic research, concentrating on
technological breakthroughs that drive
the world forward. We have more than
180,000 employees, and we operate
in more than 170 countries and regions.
Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private
company fully owned by its employees.
FIND OUT MORE HERE

ASIA–PACIFIC
261
a change in culture and process.
Even for the largest telecommunications
provider, this is no different – but
attempting to adopt a new operating
model into a business that has
been incredibly successful can prove
difficult. Nevertheless, Somad Arief
points to an intense focus on cultural
change within the company that
overcomes this challenge. This is
exemplified best by the company’s
Global Talent Program. Somad Arief
explains: “We send our people out to
our subsidiaries in over 11 countries
and we do so with the purpose of
training them directly in the field.
“It gives them practical knowledge
and skills in digital business but
looking more internally, we also have
an initiative designed to nurture the
www.gigabitmagazine.com

PT TELKOM INDONESIA (PERSERO) TBK (TELKOM)
262
creative millennial employees because
they are growing to be the leaders of
the future.”
This initiative is called the Digital
Amoeba programme. Launched in 2017,
the program was designed to incubate
and accelerate ideas (digital innovation)
from Telkom employees in order
to create digital talents and digital
businesses to contribute to Indonesia’s
digital economy. Through this program,
TelkomGroup inspires employees to
collaborate and provides them a true
platform to think differently, ultimately
incubating those ideas and incorporating
them into the market through
new services and products.
TelkomGroup’s core mission is one of
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
263
“We also have an initiative designed
to nurture the creative millennial
employees because they are growing
to be the leaders of the future”
—
Abdus Somad Arief,
Director of Wholesale and International Service, Telkom Indonesia
www.gigabitmagazine.com

PT TELKOM INDONESIA (PERSERO) TBK (TELKOM)
264
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
$1.37trn
Approximate
revenue
(September — 2018)
1965
Year founded
24,065
Approximate number
of employees
(TelkomGroup — 2017)
265
www.gigabitmagazine.com

PT TELKOM INDONESIA (PERSERO) TBK (TELKOM)
266
transformation and development which
prepares for and stays ahead of the
growing digital economy of Indonesia.
As a matter of fact, the company’s
vision of becoming the ‘King of Digital
in the Region’ will see TelkomGroup
become the top 10 market capitalisation
telco in Asia-Pacific by 2020. This
is a relatively short timeframe but
Somad Arief believes that 2018 will
go down in the company’s history as
a crucial year. “This year has been our
initial year as we began our journey to
creating this global digital hub and it’s
the year in which we aggressively built
the digital infrastructure,” he says. “But
of course, the infrastructure is only the
foundation. Now it’s time to build on that
foundation and fill the ecosystem.
“Our immediate goal is to complete
our connectivity infrastructure through
our data centres. We have 11 in Indonesia,
but the Group has five across
Singapore, Hong Kong and Timor Leste
which are seamlessly connected. So, for
us, 2019 is the time to fill this infrastructure
with the players and to begin this
ecosystem of collaboration.” The
presence of neucentrIX as a neutral
data centre and internet exchange and
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
“The infrastructure is
only the foundation.
Now it’s time to
build on that foundation
and fill the
ecosystem”
—
Abdus Somad Arief,
Director of Wholesale and International
Service, Telkom Indonesia
other infrastructures such as submarine
cables system, PoP, satellites, along
with the development of digital society,
is expected to not only drive the digital
economy in Indonesia but also make a
global impact. Through digital transformation,
TelkomGroup is building
Indonesia up as a centre of digital
business in the Asia Pacific region to
become a true Global Digital Hub.
267
www.gigabitmagazine.com

268
A digital transformation of
the customer
experience
WRIT TEN BY
CATHERINE STURMAN
PRODUCED BY
MIKE SADR
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
269
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SHERA PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
Leading the way in the roofing and
walling industry with its creative
flare and pioneering spirit, SHERA
has implemented new technologies
to transform the customer experience.
We spoke to Vice President
of Information Technology, Athikom
Kanchanavibhu
270
R
anked as the consumers’ number one
provider of fibre cement building material
in Thailand for the seventh consecutive
year in a row, Shera Public Company Limited is
widely revered across the fibre cement industry.
However, having operated for more than four
decades, the business is routinely aware of its
need to remain adaptable and responsive to the
ever-changing needs of its customers, by investing
in new technologies while upskilling its workforce
to retain its global position.
As innovations such as the Internet of Things
(IoT), predictive analytics and intelligent innovation
continue to gain momentum, manufacturers
are increasingly looking at new, agile ways to create
a seamless infrastructure to transform business
processes, not only to improve efficiency, quality
and safety across their operations, but to remain
profitable year-on-year across an emerging
digital landscape.
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
271
www.gigabitmagazine.com

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ASIA–PACIFIC
Responsible for overhauling SHERA’s
business processes to further engage
and enhance the quality of its products
and services, Vice President of
Information Technology, Athikom
Kanchanavibhu, has sought to fully
disrupt the market, viewing technology
as one of the key tools for growth, not
only for distributors and retailers that
sell SHERA’s products, but for its
contractors, architects and home
owners that use its innovations.
“There is a lot of discussion at
management level surrounding digital
transformation strategy, how to
integrate technologies and conduct
surveys to understand not only our
customers, but also our stakeholders,”
he says. “We are in the middle of our
journey with over 20 projects in
progress. In the past 18 months, we
have completed quite a number of
“Consumers are
now expecting
products to be
more varied in
terms of patterns
and colours. We
need to be flexible
enough to allow
that tradeoff”
—
Athikom Kanchanavibhu,
Vice President of Information Technology,
Shera Public Company Limited
273
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SHERA PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
274
projects, such as corporate network and
cloud infrastructure transformation while
utilising new digital solutions, such as sales
force automation to transform how our fields
sales approach our customers.”
Whilst SHERA has previously focused on
how much it could sell to its customers,
through its digital transformation it has
sought to invest in the development of new
cloud-based technologies on Microsoft
Azure, transforming its outdated processes
to gain a greater understanding of its
customers’ sales and inventory situation,
enabling more collaborations to focus on
generating demands from end-users.
“Our centralised
Palo Alto firewall
has also
enabled us to
have better
security and
visibility across
our factories
and head office”
—
Athikom Kanchanavibhu,
Vice President of Information Technology,
Shera Public Company Limited
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘SHERA CEDAR ROOFING’
275
“We now understand more about how our
products are sold to customers. In terms of
our IT operations, Microsoft Office 365 and
chat bots have been transforming our
communication standards internally. We have
restructured our team to have people focus
more on new digital technologies, evolving
teams together in the business direction we
are going. Our business data are now on
multi-cloud, so we are equipping people with
analytics tool to extract business insight from
growing data that we continue to integrate
from new digital solutions,” he says.
Focusing on its shipping capabilities and
the quality of its products, SHERA is aware
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SHERA PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
276
of the need to provide agile services,
built with the customer in mind.
“In the past, we made a product with
a set choice of design, but consumers
are now expecting products to be
more varied in terms of patterns and
colours. We need to be flexible enough
to allow that trade off. This is something
we are addressing. Another focus
is on making things more solution
centric,” he explains.
“Although we have been innovating
on the product itself, we also need to
be pushing forward the solution. Everything
handled by us will be simplified,
from purchasing the products to the
installation by contractors. Another
area of focus is customer needs for
products that promote safer and
healthier home living, these are
example of things we are thinking
about at the moment.”
Across its manufacturing operations,
SHERA has been focusing on two
essential areas: one being preventive
maintenance, the other is quality
control. Working alongside a number
of vendors, SHERA has gained the
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
“We have restructured
our team to
have people focus
more on new digital
technologies,
evolving teams
together in the
business direction
we are going”
—
Athikom Kanchanavibhu,
Vice President of Information Technology,
Shera Public Company Limited
277
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Athikom Kanchanavibhu
Athikom Kanchanavibhu is Vice President of Information
Technology at Shera Public Company Limited,
responsible for overall strategy and execution of all IT
pillars and co lead digital transformation programmes
with other business executives in Thailand and investment
countries. He has 18 years of experience in IT &
project management, as well as diverse technical proficiency
to connect the dots between business and
technology. Prior joining Shera, he already had experience
working with global FMCG company like Nestle
and leading consulting firms like Accenture, IBM, AtoS
on various scale transformation initiatives for leading
companies in 7 industries. He has B.A. in MIS and MBA
from Chulalongkorn University, and holds PMP certification
from Project Management Institute (PMI).
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SHERA PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
ability to monitor and capture vital data,
which has been analysed to transform
its production operations. Machine
learning technology is also being
explored to further enhance and
automate manufacturing process.
In terms of network and firewall
infrastructure, SHERA removed five
vendors and partnered with Thailand’s
largest mobile phone operator and
leading ICT Service Provider, AIS,
which has seen the business build
a robust ICT infrastructure across
its operations.
“Our centralised Palo Alto firewall has
also enabled us to have better security
and visibility across our factories and
head office,” adds Kanchanavibhu.
“Previously, if a malfunction or breakdown
in equipment occurred, the
company would suffer both in downtime
costs and productivity, particularly
as different sites held alternate policies.
Utilising a decentralised model made
processes difficult to manage and led
to inconsistencies.
“We took time to review all network
security policies between six different
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ASIA–PACIFIC
COMPANY FACTS
• Ranked the number one
choice for consumers in the
use of fibre cement building
material in Thailand for
the seventh consecutive
year in a row
• SHERA has sought to invest
in the development of new
cloud-based technologies,
transforming its outdated
processes to gain a greater
understanding of its customers
situation and needs
• SHERA has been focusing on
two essential areas: one being
preventative maintenance, the
other quality control
locations and public internet. With that,
we migrated simplified single policy to
the new Palo Alto firewall. Everyone is
now under a single policy and our
visibility is greatly improved. We have
just one centralised dashboard to
effectively monitor every traffic,
including cyber security threats in our
networks across factories, private
cloud data center and office locations.
Our users also get access to network
via automatic single sign-on authentication
between Active Directory and
new firewall.”
By moving all its operations into the
cloud, employees are also able to work
on the move, creating a seamless
experience, bolstering collaboration.
279
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SHERA PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
COMPANY FACTS
280
• Partnering with Thailand’s
largest mobile phone operator
and leading ICT
Service Provider, AIS, has
also seen the business build
a robust ICT infrastructure
across its operations
• By moving all its operations
into the cloud,
employees are also able to
work on the move, creating
a seamless experience and
bolstering collaboration.
• Sales teams are utilising
new salesforce automation
(SFA) system, leading the
business to fully eliminate
traditional paper-led processes
to fully engage its
customers.
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
Sales teams are also utilising a new
salesforce automation (SFA) system,
leaving the business to fully eliminate
traditional paper-led processes to fully
engage its customers.
“We have fully equipped our field
sales with SFA tools from mobileOne.
They now have proper route planning for
visiting several thousand customers
across Thailand on their mobile devices.
At the same time, our management
team can see all the information in real
time,” says Kanchanavibhu. “Aside from
that, in terms of cloud infrastructure, we
have moved our on-premise data
centre to cloud. Our vendor, TCC
Technology, has been working closely
with us to successfully migrate all our
critical applications and servers to run
on private cloud.”
Whilst the business has been a
roaring success for more than four
decades, it will remain imperative for
SHERA to remain ahead of the curve,
enabling employees to embracing new
technologies in such a digitally-led
climate and fully skill up its diverse
employee demographic.
“All of this takes some form of effort,”
notes Kanchanavibhu. “When we
moved to Office 365, it was a big
281
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SHERA PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
282
change compared with how people
worked in the past. Now, they can do it
all through web-based applications.
We need to educate our people about
the benefits that can be unlocked
through moving to the cloud, as well as
new technologies which we implement.”
As the company remains steadfast
on its digital journey, removing outdated
legacy processes and promoting
connectivity, SHERA has transformed
its processes, leading to increased
quality, safety and compliance across
its operations. With 3,000 employees
throughout its headquarters in Bangkok,
its five manufacturing and
distribution plants in Thailand, its three
and expanding oversea offices, the
company will continue to provide
essential employment opportunities,
support local talent and further its
world-class reputation for its customerled
services, sustained by innovation.
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
“We have equipped our field
sales with SFA tools from
mobileOne. They now have
proper route planning for
visiting several thousand
customers across Thailand
on their mobile device”
—
Athikom Kanchanavibhu,
Vice President of Information Technology,
Shera Public Company Limited
283
www.gigabitmagazine.com

FWD
Thailand:
284
promoting
engagement
across the
insurance
sector
WRIT TEN BY
CATHERINE STURMAN
PRODUCED BY
ALEX PAGE
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
285
www.gigabitmagazine.com

FWD INSURANCE
286
Growing rapidly across Asia,
FWD Insurance has become
renowned as a dynamic player
in Thailand’s insurance market
ocused on creating fresh
F
customer experiences
through the use of digital
technology, FWD Insurance has
a vision to change the way people
feel about insurance.
Providing life and medical insurance,
general insurance and
employee benefits, it has expanded
its footprint to Hong Kong, Macau,
Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Vietnam and Japan.
FWD in Thailand, however, is focusing
on life insurance, employee benefits
and investment-linked insurance.
Such is its impressive growth, the
business has become renowned
in Thailand’s insurance market, with
over 800,000 customers nationwide,
earning the country’s top company
award in insurance by Business Plus
Magazine in conjunction with the
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
287
University of the Thai Chamber of
Commerce this year, as well as CMO
Asia’s Thailand Brand Leadership
Awards in its insurance category.
Recently in 2018, FWD Thailand earned
the Best Contact Center Award and
the Best Corporate Social Responsibility
Award from Thai Contact Center Trade
Association.
As technology continues to revolutionise
the way we live, work and
engage with traditional services,
companies are frequently investing
in new tools in order to appeal towards
a wider target audience. Millennials,
in particular, are demanding greater
accessibility, rapid engagement and
a greater choice of products and
services at affordable prices.
With experience working for a number
of esteemed companies, such as Tetra
Pak, Generali Insurance and Bupa
www.gigabitmagazine.com

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INSURANCE
the region. Our
supporting life
lysis to product
s.com

FWD INSURANCE
290
“Our uniqueness
is that we are
the insurance
company with a
startup mindset.
We’re working
very fast – we try
to give experiences
to the
customer that
work; get feedback
quickly,
and continuously
improve
our propositions”
—
Verapat Chantaravannakul ,
Chief Information Technology Officer
Health Insurance, Verapat Chantaravannakul
joined FWD Thailand
in 2016 to implement its long-term
digital strategy and become part of an
exceptional, award-winning business.
Appointed as Chief Information
Technology Officer, Chantaravannakul
has delivered new initiatives whilst
maintaining everyday functionalities.
He has also launched new ways of
working in alignment with the company’s
vision. By fully adopting an
entrepreneurial leadership style,
he has promoted agility across all
business fronts.
“I’m always the one who jumps up
to do something new. It is about inspiring
people with a new mindset to change
their processes using technology to
better serve the customer. It is not just
about the tools, it’s about people’s
mindsets,” he says.
“Our uniqueness is that we are
the insurance company with a startup
mindset. We’re working very fast –
we try to give experiences to the
customer that work; get feedback
quickly, and continuously improve
our propositions.”
With over 25 years’ experience,
Chantaravannakul has gained a greater
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
CLICK TO WATCH: FWD INSURANCE PROFILE
291
understanding of the value that technology
can bring. However, this is with the
caveat that longstanding employees,
some with decades of experience
at the company, have to also see this
value in order for the business to reap
financial rewards.
Providing mindset and culture training
which is open for any interested
employee, the business has therefore
focused on making its workers more
agile and has also worked to enhance
their emotional intelligence.
“We can customise our courses
which are open for all employees to
better understand who they are as a
person. What are their key strengths
against particular areas of improvement?
At the same time, infusing the
Agile mindset and Lean thinking, which
we believe are the key ingredients for
our highly dynamic and fast-moving
environment” adds Chantaravannakul.
For FWD Thailand, ‘digital’ doesn’t
solely encompass IT or technology,
but is a mixture between customer
centricity, marketing, operations and
IT. Over 150 people from multiple
departments consequently form
part of its digital operations.
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ASIA–PACIFIC
TECHNOLOGY
“[Digital
transformation]
is about inspiring
people with a new
mindset to change
their processes
using technology
to better serve
the customer”
—
Verapat Chantaravannakul ,
Chief Information Technology Officer
293
CHANGING MARKETS
Combining a fast-moving market with
its ambition to provide outstanding
customer experience and change
peoples’ views on insurance, FWD
Thailand has sought to utilise a blend
of in-house and outsourced solutions.
Whilst its in-house team has focused
on its business domain and use of
available technology, as well as all
integration and all governance
requirements, its exploration of new
technologies has been outsourced
with close collaboration along with
in-house technology leaders. This
provides the advantage of fast-moving
technology skillsets and the alignment
with business domain knowledge.
“The cost of technology is approximately
the same everywhere but when
it comes to implementing these technologies,
especially in the insurance
industry, the customisation to fit
local culture, regulation and local
recreation is mandatory,” explains
Chantaravannakul.
“The challenge is balancing the
standard technology used which
www.gigabitmagazine.com

FWD INSURANCE
FWD INSURANCE
• FWD Thailand has a vision to change the way people
feel about insurance.
• FWD Thailand has expanded its footprint to Hong
Kong, Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Vietnam and Japan.
• Over 800,000 customers nationwide
• The company has earnt the country’s top company
award in insurance by Business Plus Magazine
in conjunction with the University of the
Thai Chamber of Commerce (2018)
294
• Verapat Chantaravannakul joined FWD Thailand
in 2016 to implement its long-term digital strategy
and become part of an exceptional, award-winning
business.
• Through engagement platform application, FWD
MAX, customers are able to earn loyalty points which
can be redeemed at various places, such as coffee
shops, wellness and lifestyle recreational facilities.
• The company’s call centre has been recognised
as one of the most distinguished customer contact
centres in Thailand, winning the Consumer
Protection Call Centre Award in 2017
• FWD Thailand renewed its existing partnership with
bank partner, TMB Bank, in 2017, forming a critical
part of its growth
DECEMBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY
gives us better leverage in terms
of cost, but also the local customisation.
This is quite a challenge, but we
handle it quite well.”
Delivering an array of products,
FWD’s Call Center and Chatbots
remain areas which provide direct
impact to the customers. Additionally,
its API Gateway and microservices
platform on the cloud have guaranteed
further flexibility and a quicker
time to market.
Through engagement platform
application, FWD MAX, customers are
also able to gain rewards. By tracking
their activity, such as jogging and
running, customers can earn loyalty
points which can be redeemed at various
places the company is partnered with,
such as coffee shops, wellness and
lifestyle recreation facilities.
Across its entire portfolio, personalised
customer services have become
vital to FWD Thailand’s success.
Through its customer portal, big data
and customer analytics are utilised in
order for the business to gain a greater
understanding of customer needs,
where various products and services
are then matched to each customer.
On top of using popular instant
295
www.gigabitmagazine.com

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While the first wave of Point of Sale tools revolved There is growing demand from distributors to
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technology to support online desktop/laptop based
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device. Also, they would like to transact business
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They are looking for insurers to provide qualified
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new technologies like AI, OCR based data capture, All these growing demands is pushing insurance
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the standard underwriting rules. The millennials
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The old age models of selling insurance thru tied
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basis, launch innovative contests to grow business,
improve persistency, etc. while reducing distribution
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distribution operation and also way of doing
business to remain ahead of the competition. They
are compelled to make use of new tools, systems,
processes to improve productivity, efficiency and
reduce operation cost, which will help them to reduce
product pricing to gain competitive advantage.
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ASIA–PACIFIC
297
messaging system, LINE, as well as
artificial intelligence (AI) and personal
agents that engage with customers,
the company has retained its call
centre, which has been recognised as
one of the most distinguished customer
contact centres in Thailand, winning
the government’s Consumer Protection
Call Centre Award in 2017.
SEAMLESS COLLABORATION
By embracing long-term partnerships,
particularly in bank assurance, FWD
Thailand renewed its existing partner-
“The challenge
is balancing
the standard
technology used
which gives us
better leverage
in terms of cost,
but also the local
customisation”
—
Verapat Chantaravannakul ,
Chief Information Technology Officer
www.gigabitmagazine.com

FWD INSURANCE
298
ship with TMB Bank in 2017, forming a
critical part of the company’s growth.
“We have been partnered with TMB
Bank for more than 10 years, and have
signed on for another 15 years. I would
say it’s a bit unique and not just a
normal broker or intermediary partnership.
It’s somewhat like the hand and
hand management consideration when
it comes to thinking about customers,”
observes Chantaravannakul.
“TMB said they want to make the
difference in the financial world. We
say we want to change the way people
feel about insurance. It is all about
giving something inherently better
to the customer, so the strategy of the
two aligned closely.”
“Additionally, C2L BIZ is one of our
long-term partners, providing service
and support in several key systems. In
our front office layer, we are using their
SymbioSys platform, which integrates
well with our core policy admin system.
We also use their Distribution Management
System (DMS) for sales
commission and compensation.”
Throughout its mission to revolution-
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Verapat Chantaravannakul
Verapat has been at FWD Life Insurance Thailand since
2016 as Chief Information Technology Officer, overseeing
all aspects of IT initiatives, software development and
IT infrastructure.
He is passionate about digital transformation, starting
from the paradigm shifting in people mindset and working
closely with the business units to deliver new value
to the customers.
Prior to this role, Verapat was the CIO of Generali Insurance
Thailand and the Business Transformation and IS
Director for Bupa Health Insurance.

ASIA–PACIFIC
299
ise the customer journey, FWD
Thailand’s sister company, PCCW
Solutions, has also become significantly
advanced with regards to its
technology. Furthermore, the company’s
partnership with system integrator,
Golden High, has supported the
company to overhaul its customer
communication engagement platform.
“Golden High have been providing the
service for our sister entities in Hong
Kong, as well as other countries where
we market,” notes Chantaravannakul.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

FWD INSURANCE
“Golden High have expertise in terms
of handling this communication management
platform and have been selected
as our lead implementer in Thailand.
They are really flexible, and I like them
because in FWD Thailand we work our
technology enabler from a businessvalue-creation
point of view and they
are flexible enough to adjust themselves
and embrace our Agile way of working.”
300
“We will use
technology
throughout our
transformation
to change the
inside of our
organisation,
while also innovating
products
and services
which we give to
our customers”
—
Verapat Chantaravannakul ,
Chief Information Technology Officer
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
301
With the aim to change the way
people feel about insurance and
better serve its customers through
the use of digital technology and data,
FWD Thailand will continue to look at
further opportunities to drive the
business forward.
“We will use technology throughout
our transformation to change the
inside of our organisation, while also
innovating products and services
which we give to our customers,”
observes Chantaravannakul.
“But then what would be the
destination? The world changes so
fast, but one thing we know, we have
to hold to the heart in giving the best
to our customers, which remains the
first priority for us.”
www.gigabitmagazine.com

302
Digital Realty
spearheading
Sydney’s data
centre market
with digital
WRIT TEN BY
NIKI WALDEGRAVE
PRODUCED BY
GLEN WHITE
disruption

ASIA–PACIFIC
303

DIGITAL REALTY
Digital Realty has just opened its
third Sydney facility. Its Director
of Construction, Daniel Howard,
tells Niki Waldegrave why it’s so
important to the APAC footprint
304
D
igital Realty prides itself on delivering
a portfolio of data centre solutions
with a record of 99.999% uptime
for the past 11 consecutive years, equating
to more than 1.7 billion operating minutes,
unmatched by any other data centre provider
in the world.
It has more than 195 centres globally
across over 30 markets throughout Europe,
North America, Asia and Australia, servicing
top-tier clients including Facebook, IBM,
AT&T, LinkedIn and Equinix. Its Sydney data
centres are hugely important to its Asia-Pacific
business and SYD 11 – its new Digital Erskine
Park 2 Data Centre – is the new kid on the
block, following the adjacent SYD 10 facility.
The SYD11 facility on 13-23 Templar Road
is the largest facility the business has built in
Australia and is located adjacent to its existing
data centre in Erskine Park, which opened in
November 2012.
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA–PACIFIC
It opened to much fanfare on the
15th November and is a 16.8MW
two-storey, six-data hall facility data
centre with office space. MV Power
Generation (11kV) is installed within the
SYD11 facility, capable of efficient and
fast demand response and to date, the
capital investment for the facility is
around $100 million, with another
$50-100 million to go.
“We’re just finishing at the moment,
putting the final polish on,” says Daniel
Howard, Digital Realty’s Director of
Construction APAC. “It’s a two-story
data centre and we are using the
lightest technology in lithium battery
UPSs, which has given us a much more
streamlined footprint, so we can fit
more power into a small space in
comparison to our previous generation
data centres, such as the SYD10
Erskine Park I facility.
“We’ve got MV Power Generation
so we’ve got the ability to come off grid
quite simply now and can support the
whole site with generation. This allows
us to match the generation capacity
to the load experienced at the time,
whereas, with the traditional or low-voltage
generation system you can’t really
305
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ASIA–PACIFIC
align your generators that well with the
load, so you can quite often end up running
more generators than you require.
“But with the MV generation, we can
select which generators are required
and match it to the load that’s experienced
on that day. We’ve completely
fitted-out the first level – half the building
– with IT power ready to go so you can
power-on generators.”
The next phase to be fitted-out with
UPSs, generators and capacity is
the ground floor, and that should be
completed by the middle of next year.
Interest in the building is off the scale
due to Sydney being a global hotspot
for innovation. It boasts the biggest
tech start-up ecosystem in Australia
and ranks 16th among 20 cities on the
Start-up Ecosystem Index, with 64%
of Australian tech startups in Sydney.
“The demand that’s in the market in
Sydney at the moment is unprecedented
with regards to data centre capacity,”
adds Howard, who is an expert in the
delivery of complex data centre projects,
with experience in project management,
design management, construction
307
ERSKINE PARK,SYDNEY
Digital Erskine Park 2 is a new facility
located adjacent to our existing data
centre in Erskine Park. It is a 19MW
facility to be built in phase with 9MW
ready in Q4, 2018. Digital Erskine
Park 2 has the ability to reach out
to PIPE-IX , the 2nd largest IX in
Australia in Digital Erskine Park 1.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

DIGITAL REALTY
308
management and property development.
He built the SYD10 Erskine Park I facility in
his previous role at FDC Construction before
moving client side.
“This building may be completely filled up
within a year of its opening, which is exciting
in itself. We have existing customers that are
energising or going live very soon after we hand
it over to them, so we’ve fitted-out two of the
six data halls and we’re in discussions about
the remaining four data halls to be leased.
“We’ve built-in the SCEC requirements
within the fabric of the building so that any
customer coming in can upgrade their data
suites to SCEC which allows for the government
work. It’s exciting to see so much interest
in the building, and in contrast to our previous
buildings, that has probably been a steady fill
over a four-year period.”
When it comes to construction, the business’
partners include key contractors, including
A.W Edwards, Barnwell Cambridge for
electrics, D&W Plumbing, Cummins, Schneider
and Parratech.
“Construction is always challenging,” he
explains, “but we’ve got well-established
relationships – and when you’re working with
people that have worked with you before, it
makes it a lot easier.
“The demand
that’s in the
market in
Sydney at the
moment is
unprecedented
with regards
to data centre
capacity”
—
Daniel Howard,
Director of Construction,
Digital Realty
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA PACIFIC
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘DIGITAL ERSKINE PARK 2 —
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA’
309
“We grab our knowledge from across the
globe. We’ve got our design construction
centre in Boston and we use our experience
across all the facilities globally in both building
construction techniques and technology.”
The cooling system in SYD11 is a Vertiv DSE
CRAC unit with rooftop condensers which
provide indirect free cooling via pumped
refrigerant technology achieving an industry
leading PUE.
“It’s what they call an ‘indirect free cooling
system’,” he adds. “It has a roof-top economiser
and pump refrigerant that uses the
outside air to cool the facility without having
www.gigabitmagazine.com

DIGITAL REALTY
310
to bring the outside area into the facility.
“We’re the only company in Australia
that I’m aware of that’s using the BSE
system and we pioneered that with
Vertiv in the United States for our US
systems. We’ve applied it in Australia
because it’s a very good climate for
us so we’re getting low PUEs across
construction, high reliability with the BSE
system and just overall energy efficiency.
“The major variable with technology
is generally cooling equipment based
on different climates around the world.
In Sydney, we’ve gone with the US-style
sort of Virginia-Dallas DSE units,
whereas in Europe we use an indirect
adiabatic solution because it’s got
a cooler climate.”
Indirect adiabatic is essentially
a cooling system that relies more on
water than it does power. In European
regions such as Dublin, for example,
where you’ve got the maximum temperatures
of 30 degrees, you’re able
to use that with much less energy.
“In Australia, we need to have provisions
for the 45-46 degree days that
we have every now and again,” he adds.
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA PACIFIC
“In Sydney, we’ve
gone with the
US-style sort of
Virginia-Dallas
DSE units, whereas
in Europe we use
an indirect adiabatic
solution
because it’s got
a cooler climate”
—
Daniel Howard,
Director of Construction, Digital Realty
“We need equipment that will accommodate
for that but also when it’s not
45 degrees it’s still very efficient, and
that’s where the BSE system has come
into play.”
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Digital Realty has also just secured
land for the construction of another
two-story building nearby (Sydney)
of around 16,000 square metres which
will go through the planning approval
process in tandem with fitting-out the
remainder of SYD11 so there is another
facility ready to go as soon as that
capacity is leased-out.
311
Daniel Howard
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Howard is from a construction background, which is a bit different, as in
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www.gigabitmagazine.com

DIGITAL REALTY
312
“It’s good to be in a position where
as soon as we’re finishing one building,
we’re thinking and acquiring land for
the next,” adds Howard. “The key
thing about Erskine Park is that there
are probably three hubs in Sydney at
the moment.
“You’ve got one hub in and around
the airport where a lot of the sub-sea
cables are landing, which have the
connections to the rest of the globe up
to Singapore and Guam and over to the
US and New Zealand.
“The next hub is probably the Macquarie
Park area, and then, the last hub is
out in the Erskine Park Eastern Creek
area. The major attraction to that area
is the ability to do large scale because
of the power availability in that area.”
There are multiple data centres within
the area, so it’s carrier-rich, with lots of
communications cabling around the
area, and the Western Sydney Bulk
Supply Point Substation – a 1500 MVA
transmission station – is connected
directly to the power station.
Next on the construction agenda for
Digital Realty is doubling the APAC
footprint, with the new space in Sydney,
land in Melbourne and acquiring more
space in Singapore, Osaka and Tokyo.
$2.475bn
Approximate
revenue
2004
Year founded
1,436
Approximate number
of employees
“We’re looking for sites that are around
two to four times the size of our existing
sites,” he adds. “We’re now looking at
six to 10-hectare sites; that’s just an
indication of which way we’re going.”
“In Osaka, we’re working on developing
the next 70 megawatts of IT load
for our clients and the market. We’re
also undergoing a process of procuring
renewable energy and that’s where the
data centres have the biggest impact
DECEMBER 2018

ASIA PACIFIC
313
with regards to energy consumption.”
Howard, who was the project manager
for the general contractor client side
and organised all the steel and trades
for the first three Sydney facilities, will
be overseeing all the builds. He’s worked
with all the vendors at a direct level, as
well as being the one step away from
it, and says “It’s a good thing because
we’ve got a very good relationship
with the contractors.
“It’s very important that the contractor
relationship ensures that the people
who are doing the work are aligned
with what you’re trying to achieve.”
www.gigabitmagazine.com

314

AFRICA
SBM LEVERAGES
TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFORMATION
TO SYNERGISE
ITS GLOBAL
315
OPERATIONS
WRIT TEN BY
OLIVIA MINNOCK
PRODUCED BY
JUSTIN BRAND
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SBM BANK
SBM’S ASHWIN RAMPHUL
DISCUSSES HOW THE COMPANY’S
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
JOURNEY IS ALLOWING IT
TO LEVERAGE THE LATEST
TECHNOLOGY TO SYNERGISE
ITS GLOBAL OPERATIONS
316
C
urrently the second largest bank in the country
with a 25% market share, SBM Bank (Mauritius)
Ltd is part of the SBM Group, a leading financial
group in Mauritius, with over 1,600 employees in Mauritius
and a growing international presence. The Group is
also present in Kenya, India and Madagascar and, from
early next year, the Seychelles. Last year, SBM Group
acquired a majority stake in Kenya’s Fidelity Commercial
Bank Limited followed this year by the acquisition of
selected assets and liabilities of Chase Bank (in receivership),
which has positioned SBM Bank (Kenya) Ltd as a
top Tier 2 Bank on the Kenyan market, with more than 60
branches across the country and around 700 employees.
SBM is also the first foreign bank in the world to have
obtained a Wholly Owned Subsidiary Licence from the
Reserve Bank of India to operate as a full-fledged wholly
owned subsidiary on the Indian market. SBM is also
expected to start operations in the Seychelles early next
year. With digitalization as one of its strategic pillars, the
bank is working to leverage the industry leading technology
platform from Infosys Finacle, to provide the best
possible customer experience in a digital world, as well
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
317
as improve its operations from within.
Head of IT Application at SBM,
Ashwin Ramphul, was keen to discuss
this digital transformation. Ramphul
boasts 18 years of experience in IT,
and has been heavily involved in
the implementation and management
of core banking systems and digital
solutions for a number of financial
institutions across Africa, Mauritius
and the Indian Ocean.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SBM BANK
318
Ramphul spent most of his career in
the banking and consultancy space,
where he occupied a number of key
positions in IT, and recently joined SBM
where he was ready to take on new
challenges within the finance industry.
At SBM, Ramphul is responsible for
all IT applications used on both the
customer side as well as internally. He
also heads the Project Management
Office and the Business Solutions Group.
“When I joined the bank in January,
one of the key projects was the upgrade
of the internet banking and mobile
banking platform,” he recalls. Ramphul
and his team hit the ground running to
get the project done and by April, it
had successfully gone live.
Keenly aware of SBM’s place in the
banking sector, Ramphul believes it is
“imperative” for SBM to implement
innovative digital solutions in order to
surpass its main competitors. This is
key not only in terms of customer
service (with the likes of SBM’s new
mobile banking platform), but also in
the inner workings of the bank itself.
“If we want to go digital outside, our
processes and operations within the
bank need to be fully digital as well,”
“We can’t go
digital outside
if our processes
and operations
within the bank
are not truly
digital”
—
Ashwin Ramphul,
Head of IT Application, SBM
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
he explains. “That’s why we’re really
looking at the end-to-end and insideout
processes.”
Part of SBM’s aim is to offer potential
digital channels to fulfil customers’
expectations and financial needs. “In
Mauritius, traditional branches still
have a big role to play in serving
customers,” he explains, citing the
country’s ageing population who will
always prefer going to their local
branch and having someone to talk
to, meaning a balance must be struck
between digital innovation and the
expectations of clients.
With this in mind, SBM has invested
in digitalising and improving internal
processes and efficiencies, while also
enhancing customer experience.
Processes within the bank are being
robotised and several avenues are
now being explored to enable the bank
to become a “truly digital financial
services institution”.
“We’re looking at RPA, AI and data
analytics, and at some point we were
also investigating the use of Blockchain
technology – our intention is very strong
on these fronts,” says Ramphul. For
example, Infosys Finacle RPA is now 319
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Ashwin Ramphul is Head of IT Application at State Bank
of Mauritius (SBM). He joined the company in January 2018
and has been responsible for digital transformation at the
bank, including the upgrade of its internet and mobile
banking platforms.
Previously, Ramphul worked at MCB Group, the largest
bank in the country, for 16 years and was responsible for
core banking systems.
Ramphul holds an MSc in Analysis, Design and Management
of Information Systems from the London School
of Economics and Political Science, which he obtained
following a BSc in Business Information Systems with
Management at Middlesex University.
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SBM BANK
320
used to process inward remittances at
SBM – this has reduced processing
time from over 15 minutes to just 2-3
minutes, and as Ramphul adds: “The
advantage with robots is that they
operate on a 24/7 basis.”
With operations spanning in Kenya,
India and soon the Seychelles, Ramphul
is keenly aware that SBM’s customers
will increasingly demand and expect to
be able to bank digitally at their convenience.
“We’re present in countries
where innovations and digital solutions
have really hit the roof. India is like
a honeypot where digital solutions are
concentrated, and Kenya has the
highest digital penetration point in
the whole of Africa. Our technology
partners such as Infosys Finacle have
tremendous experience in these markets,
and we are constantly leveraging their
expertise. One of the key things with
technology is user experience, so
revamping the user interface for our
internet banking and mobile banking
customers was a necessity. We really
felt they needed to have a proper user
experience (UX), which is more
modern, more appealing and more user
friendly, so it was necessary to move
to a more digital-friendly solution for
“With technology, we
are able to deploy
our staff to do true
value-adding tasks
and more revenuegenerating
initiatives,
instead of getting
bogged down with
administrative tasks”
—
Ashwin Ramphul,
Head of IT Application, SBM
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
both internet and mobile banking.
“Nowadays, everyone has a smartphone
and most companies use
corporate banking through the internet
– so the issue of security is getting a lot
more attention,” he adds. “We felt we
needed more secure internet and mobile
banking solutions than our competitors,
so we came up with some security
features no other banks have in Mauritius.”
One such solution has been the use of
biometrics – fingerprint recognition –
to access mobile banking. This is a first
for Mauritius, and for Ramphul this is
a strong message to our customers
that SBM values security.
Ramphul also comments that to work
for a bank which innovates it is imperative
to ensure that an optimal level of
security is in place. “When I joined SBM,
I was pleasantly surprised to see that
the level of cybersecurity, and even the
level of general IT security, are incredibly
strong. Everything is properly controlled
and the right tools are in place.”
The IT operating model of an organisation
also plays a significant competitive
role. “Most of our systems are
managed by a system integrator,” says
Ramphul. “Having said that, we do
realise that we cannot rely solely on
321
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AFRICA
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323
third party systems and partners,
especially when it comes to customer
service and innovation. The most
innovative banking ideas normally
surface from within the organisation
and that’s where you get flexibility
and rapidity rather than going fully
outsourced. For this, one requires
a capable, agile team; flexible technology
platform; and reliable partners,”
he adds.
It’s therefore a careful balancing act
between those who work within the
bank and understand what it needs and
what the customer expects, and those
system integrators with the expertise
and technology that are so vital to
development. SBM is therefore working
to rebuild some internal capacity for
strategic innovation, and looking at how
to utilise the best technology that will
truly add value to its operations. “For
example, the implementation of robotic
process automation (RPA) in some of our
key processes has yielded good results
– this was done with a third-party provider
in collaboration with our team.”
This kind of collaboration is vital in
building the partnerships that make
SBM work. “If you don’t have a good
www.gigabitmagazine.com

SBM BANK
“We always do our
market research
and have a proper
business case in
place to ensure that
any solution we
bring in will truly
add value”
—
Ashwin Ramphul,
Head of IT Application, SBM
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AFRICA
working relationship with the service
providers, everything goes down the
hole,” Ramphul comments. “You need
to be agile. It needs to be a two-way
working partnership. We can’t just
expect a system integrator to do everything
for us. We need to understand our
customer requirements and communicate
those to our service providers.
“This relationship needs to be developed
and nurtured, not only in terms of
contractual agreements – there needs
to be trust. We need to understand each
other properly. That’s where a true
vendor-customer relationship needs to
be at its optimum operating capacity,
otherwise it doesn’t work. We really
need to be on our toes and make sure
everything is being developed in
the proper way – it’s not about being
a watchdog over them, but being
collaborative and guiding them as well
as them guiding us and making sure
that the relationship is working.”
With a well-established international
presence, a key challenge for the bank
going forward will be to maintain levels
of quality and brand expectations whilst
also catering for the local communities
it serves. “The market context is very
different in Mauritius, India and Kenya,”
Ramphul comments, “so before we
bring in any kind of solution or innovation
we always do our market research
and have a proper business case in place
to ensure that any solution we bring
in will truly add value.”
Already, SBM has launched a plethora
of digital solutions and the bank’s digital
transformation journey is still ongoing.
It has been vital to keep staff on board
with all the new developments and
implement proper change management.
“When we launched the new
internet banking and mobile banking
325
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SBM BANK
326
for instance, we had to train all our
front-end staff,” Ramphul explains.
Corporate customers were accompanied
with small teams of experts to
ensure they understood the new
platforms and the value the changes
were adding. “We were present with
our corporate customers before and
during the launch, guiding them
through the new system.”
When it came to individual customers,
SBM’s customer service centre
was vital. “Our contact centre played
an important role in this – we had to
ensure that all staff were up to scratch
in terms of competency, knowing what
the platform was all about. One of the
ways of doing this was to involve them
in our user testing. They were an integral
part of the project,” he says.
Ramphul is confident that the bank
is already reaping the rewards of
implementing new digital solutions,
both from a customer service perspective
and through automating operations
within the company. “With technology,
we are able to redeploy our staff to do
more value adding tasks and more
revenue generating initiatives, instead
of getting bogged down with administrative
tasks. The second aspect of
technology is in terms of reducing
human errors – the cost of errors can
be really huge, like a manual error
where a transaction is duplicated and
processed twice… the risk of this with
solutions like robotics is mitigated and
minimised, so the cost of errors goes
down significantly.”
20%
Domestic
marketshare
1973
Year founded
1,500+
Approximate number
of employees
Moving forward, SBM will look to
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
327
synergise its digital solutions across
its key markets in order to grow in a
sustainable, successful way. “The most
important strategic initiative we should
really be focusing on is to leverage our
group digital offering in Kenya, India
and Mauritius, have this digital ecosystem
in place and work toward making
it a success,” says Ramphul.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

ZIMNAT
328
Digitally disrupting
the insurance
sector in Zimbabwe
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
329
WRITTEN BY DALE BENTON
PRODUCED BY JUSTIN BRAND
www.gigabitmagazine.com

ZIMNAT
Through a digital
transformation, Zimnat
brings Zimbabwe’s
insurance space into
the digital age
330
or over seven decades, the
F
people of Zimbabwe have
placed their trust and belief in
Zimnat to protect their assets, manage
their wealth and ensure that their
assets and funds are passed onto
future generations. Over the past two
decades, however, the global financial
services industry has radically transformed,
and technology has become
the key driver.
As the global industry continues this
evolution, Zimbabwe has been playing
catch up. But with over 15mn mobile
customers and around six million
internet users in 2018 alone, now is the
time for Zimbabwe to fully embrace the
technology conversation and leading
companies like Zimnat will play a key
role in this shifting landscape.
“From a global perspective, the
industry is evolving and as Zimbabwe
further opens its arms to technology
and innovation, we want to be at the
forefront,” says Mustafa Sachak, CEO
of the Zimnat Group. “We want to
position ourselves as the first ones to
both create and implement a digital
offering to customers here in Zimbabwe.”
As the industry evolves, so does the
customer and Sachak is keen to stress
that when Zimbabwe fully embraces
technology, it will be defined and driven
by the customer. With more than 15mn
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
331
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AFRICA
“Through our digital
transformation we
have been able
to find customers
who would never
be able to find us
through traditional
means”
—
Mustafa Sachak,
CEO, Zimnat
digitally enabled customers, through internet
and mobile usage, the financial customer of
today demands one thing: speed. “People
want convenience and they want ease of use,”
he says. “The CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos put
it best when he said that the customers of today
are divinely discontent as their expectations
are never static.
“They will see insurtech offerings happening
on the global financial stage and they’ll
expect that from us. That’s what set us on
our journey.”
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Mustafa Sachak
Mustafa is the CEO of the Zimnat Group which includes Zimnat
General Insurance, Zimnat Life Assurance, Zimnat Asset
Management, Zimnat Microfinance, Grand Reinsurance and
Botswana Insurance Company. The Zimnat group has partnered
with Sanlam which is now the largest non-banking financial
services group in Africa.
333
Mustafa started his career at Motorola in the USA where
he spent 10 years in various roles starting as a process
engineer before moving to Zimbabwe in October 1996
to pursue a different career path.
Mustafa has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from
University College London, a BSc in Electrical Engineering
from Florida Atlantic University and an MBA from
Florida International University.
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ZIMNAT
334
“Our digital journey
speaks to our
responsibility to
educate them
and change that
perception. That’s
our purpose,
making people’s
lives better. That’s
what drives us”
—
Mustafa Sachak,
CEO, Zimnat
That journey is an ambitious digital
transformation, not only of Zimnat’s
insurance offering but of Zimbabwe’s
entire insurance space. As the company
prepared to embark on this transformation
journey, it needed a roadmap defined
by the customer experience.
Sachak notes that in this digital age, it
is no longer good enough to satisfy the
customer. A company has to go above and
beyond to exceed the customer expectation
and ensure that it is providing the
greatest customer experience possible. In
the insurance space, the customer journey
begins from the very moment they lodge
a claim. “From that moment, to the time we
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
CLICK TO WATCH: ”TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE LIFE BETTER”
335
actually pay the claim, there are a series
of touchpoints along the way,” he says.
“This digital journey is all about understanding
and improving that customer
experience. Companies that create
exceptional customer experiences can
really set themselves apart from their
competitors and that’s what we are
striving to achieve with Zimnat.”
In order to better understand the
customer experience, Zimnat has
invested in data analytics. For Sachak,
the long–term ambition will be for
Zimnat to be able to utilise Big Data and
Artificial Intelligence in order to move
from protecting customers from risk
with financial products to actually
preventing risk in the first instance.
“Data is the new gold,” he says. “Big
Data, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence…
technologies like these will
enable us to leapfrog the competition.
“Having the ability to use digital
technologies to actually help prevent
risk from occurring through making
intelligent predictions, that would be
completely game-changing.”
The challenge that comes with data
capture, particularly as an insurer with
millions of clients and customers, is
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AFRICA
turning that data into a real and
quantifiable value. To this end, Zimnat
has implemented a number of dashboards
that are readily accessible to
all internal staff and advisors. Through
these dashboards, Zimnat can dig
deep into customer data to create
a rounded picture of the customers
and their behaviour in order to provide
them with relevant services and
solutions. “Through data analytics we
can really personalise our service
offering for customers because not all
customers will want the same insurance
cover,” says Sachak. “Once you
start to analyse that customer and look
at how they engage with Zimnat then
we can offer solutions specific to them.”
“At the moment this is very generic,
but as we grow and the technology
matures here in Zimbabwe there is
incredible potential.”
Data analytics in particular is
something that Sachak is extremely
passionate about and has ensured
that Zimnat has invested in the right
resources to support this data
enablement, creating a full time data
analytics role as well as a marketing
and digital officer to continue to better
understand and improve the customer
“Through data analytics
we can really
personalise our
service offering for
customers because
not all customers
will want the same
insurance cover,
once you start to
analyse that customer
and look at how
they engage with
Zimnat then we
can offer solutions
specific to them”
—
Mustafa Sachak,
CEO, Zimnat
experience. Additionally at the senior
level, the Zimnat Group has recruited
a Chief Digital Officer and a Group
Marketing Executive.
As a result of challenging economic
environment over the past 20 years,
insurance penetration in Zimbabwe
has been stuck at around 1.5%. Rewind
the clocks back to the 1990s and
insurance penetration painted
337
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ZIMNAT
£70mn
Approximate
revenue
1946
Year founded
338
540
Approximate
number of
employees
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
a different picture, reaching as high
as 6%. Under the leadership of a new
President, 2018 represents a changing
tide for Zimbabwe and the insurance
space and Zimnat’s responsibility to
cement confidence in the sector is one
that Sachak recognises.
“A major challenge we have faced is
getting everyone in the leadership
team and all of our stakeholders to fully
appreciate that this digital transformation
is real and that we have to embrace
this technology,” he says. “This extends
to our customers. We have not been
able to access a large part of our population
because the penetration of
insurance and the education we can
provide for them hasn’t been there.
Technology and digital platforms will
allow us to reach them.
“Through our digital transformation
we have been able to find
customers who would never be
able to find us through
traditional means. It’s
actually increasing the
market for us.”
Sachak feels that
educating the market is
a critical ingredient,
not only in growing
339
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341
the company but developing the
insurance sector in Zimbabwe. He
points to the company’s purpose of
“making life better” and how that starts
with changing a negative perception
that insurance and insurance companies
have in Zimbabwe.
“There’s a general view that insurance
companies simply take money
from the public and then don’t pay up
when it comes to claims,” says Sachak.
“Our digital journey speaks to our
responsibility to educate them and
change that perception. That’s our
purpose: making people’s lives better.
That’s what drives us.”
Key to moving forward and to
making people’s lives better is listening
to people and recognising where the
company is both succeeding and
failing and ultimately, responding.
Sachak understands that in order to
understand how the company is
performing with the customer it must
www.gigabitmagazine.com

ZIMNAT
“What we’re doing
right now, and what
we will continue
to do, is strive to
make sure it’s not
only a seamless
experience for the
customer but an
experience that has
them saying, ‘Wow.
This was superior’”
—
342 Mustafa Sachak,
CEO, Zimnat
ask the customer. “We can sit and
pontificate as much as we want but in
reality, the customer defines that
conversation,” he says. “It’s never been
easier for a customer to move to
another provider, so we have to ensure
that we are looking after their interests
and delivering on our promise.”
The insurance space in Zimbabwe
will continue to evolve and so too will
the customer prompting Zimnat’s
digital transformation to evolve with it.
DECEMBER 2018

AFRICA
343
Over the next 12 months the company
will increase its investment into data
analytics in order to establish and
provide a loyalty reward platform.
Sachak notes that Zimnat will continue
to dive deeper into emerging technology
trends and assess how it can bring
those technologies from all around the
world into both the company and the
Zimbabwe market.
Ultimately though, Zimnat will continue
to do one thing. “It’s really about
a customised experience for the
customer,” he says. “What we’re doing
right now and what we will continue to
do, is strive to make sure it’s not only
a seamless experience for the customer
but an experience that has them saying,
‘Wow. This was superior.’”
www.gigabitmagazine.com

344
Abu Dhabi
University puts
students at the
centre of its
technology
transformation
WRIT TEN BY
OLIVIA MINNOCK
PRODUCED BY
CRAIG DANIELS
DECEMBER 2018

MIDDLE EAST
345
www.gigabitmagazine.com

ABU DHABI UNIVERSITY
Joseph Aninias, Director of
IMTS (Information Management
& Technology Services) at Abu
Dhabi University, discusses
the university’s commitment
to student satisfaction and
improved overall experience
through digitalisation
346
A
bu Dhabi University (ADU), already one of the
UAE’s major educational institutions, is working
toward an ambitious goal: by 2020, the whole
facility will be a smart campus, using artificial intelligence (AI),
data and information management, as well as working to
improve energy efficiency and personalise services on offer.
In September this year, it was announced that the
University has invested more than
US$5.44mn (AED20mn) in expanding
and enhancing its facilities
across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai.
Improvements have been made to
teaching facilities, such as specialised
laboratories and classrooms,
including the upgrading of internet
connectivity forming a key focus on
overall student experience.
The University currently has over
7,500 students of 80 different
DECEMBER 2018

MIDDLE EAST
347
nationalities and as such must provide
first-class facilities at an international
quality, while catering to the needs and
culture of the local community. As such,
ADU is striving to become ever more
connected and aims to improve student
life through significant technology transformation
– from a newly developed
platform bringing together all the information
needed by students and staff,
to location technology helping students
find their way around campus. All this
and more puts students at the heart
of ADU as it strives to compete in an
increasingly competitive space.
www.gigabitmagazine.com

ABU DHABI UNIVERSITY
348
CLICK TO WATCH: ‘ADU CORPORATE VIDEO 2018’
The man behind this technology
transformation is Director of IMTS
(Information Management & Technology
Services), Joseph Aninias, who
has previously worked in Dubai for
a prominent Australian University. Prior
to the education sector, he has worked
on a logistic group in Jebel Ali Free
Zone and an Internet Service Provider
Company in the Philippines. Through
this experience, Aninias has developed
a natural customer-centric attitude and
a hospitable personality which positively
contribute to Abu Dhabi (UAE) culture.
“Coming from that background, custom-
DECEMBER 2018

MIDDLE EAST
er interaction is always the top priority
– in the Philippines for example, there
are lots of service providers so competition
is very high. If they don’t like your
service, they’ll move to another,” Aninias
explains. “Similarly, here in the UAE,
there are a lot of universities offering
the same programme so you have to
develop a competitive advantage while
keeping in mind the quality of service.
Why would a student, or indeed a parent,
choose your university?”
Across the UAE, internet connectivity
is a basic service with the majority
of commercial and business premises
offering free internet access. ADU has
four different campus locations, all of
which are linked with a dedicated private
network from ANKABUT, which serves
a national private ISP for educational
institutions. Many universities can
benefit from a quality network connection
at special educational pricing
from ANKABUT. “Anywhere you go,
there should be a wireless network,”
says Aninias. “Even cafés or restaurants,
if they don’t have wi-fi they’re
seen as a bit backward. I’m exploring
what a difference this makes when it
comes to the university.”
349
“ In the UAE, there are lots of
universities offering the
same programme so you
have to develop a competitive
advantage while keeping
in mind the quality of
service. Why would a student,
or indeed a parent,
choose your university?”
—
Joseph Aninias,
Director of IMTS, Abu Dhabi University
www.gigabitmagazine.com

ABU DHABI UNIVERSITY
350
One development reflecting ADU’s student
satisfaction commitment is the implementation
of an indoor navigation platform which
will work like Google Maps to help new
students find their way around campus. “This
is something I’m exploring at the moment, at
a proof-of-concept stage, to see if it gives
added value for students.”
Student satisfaction runs through the
veins of ADU, and its technology transformation
is no exception. “The education
industry is changing,” says Aninias. “If you
put yourself in a student’s shoes, what
they’re learning for those first four years
is just a foundation.” He cites technology,
economic factors and social media as
elements impacting a future workforce
which must learn life skills and sees this
as an area in which a University must add
value. “The services we offer should be
aligned with what’s going on in the outside
world, so we can prepare students for the
challenges of adulthood.”
The significant developments Aninias has
achieved thus far at the university have not
been without their challenges. Since ADU is
a renowned institution people remain at for
a long time, it risks being one with a workforce
set in its ways. “When an organisation
is used to a process, it is a challenge to
persuade people to adapt to changes. You
DECEMBER 2018

MIDDLE EAST
351
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need to walk the walk, as well as engage
and educate. Present drivers from
external factors are relevant and add
value to your internal change drivers.”
In managing this significant culture shift,
Aninias points out that “awareness is
a critical point – enforcing awareness
and centralising communication”.
Communication is indeed being
centralised across ADU, with Aninias
and the team developing a single
platform for student information.
“There are so many piecemeal technologies
all spread across departments
– without a service catalogue,
it is very difficult to track the KPIs
(Key Performance Indicators), SLAs
(Service Level Agreements) or overall
effectiveness of Information Systems
and Technology. One project I’m
working on is to develop the centralised
portal for the University,” he
explains. “This will present current
information for ADU and will have
a responsive interface, with a device
agnostic as every individual has its own
preferred gadget or device – this is by
default now, not a choice. Discoverable
interface and user experience should
be the scope of every implementation:
DECEMBER 2018

MIDDLE EAST
if this doesn’t run on mobile, tablet
or PC, if I can’t present the information
well on the phone or the user’s preferred
device, it’s not a good investment. We
have all these different types of platforms
so you need to put this into a seamless
interface, which is also a challenge –
with cost being a significant factor.”
In meeting these various challenges,
Aninias maintains student centricity is
key. “When we implement any new
project, we do so with input from the
students. We have a student council
which is part of the decision making.
This strong representation from the
student side is a critical strategy for
ADU because every organisation claims
to put students first, but some do not
really involve them in the decision making.”
A significant focus for the IMT depa-
rtment is to bring all student information
together. “Information System
management is critical – especially
in educational institutions, a significant
component of the operation is
managing the information of the
student: prospective students, current
students, alumni, classrooms etc.
Everything that runs under the university
processes, and revolves around
student life.
“You have to consider the implication of
the older, manual form in digital format,”
he continues, and indeed moving from
various legacy systems to a fully digital
environment has been a challenge
which involves flexibility. “Paperless,
for example, was in discussion for ages –
but how can you move to paperless if
a significant number of users need
353
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Joseph Aninias
Joseph Aninias is Director of IMTS at Abu Dhabi University,
where he has worked since February 2017. Aninias
previously worked as Manager of IT at University of Wollongong,
an Australian University, in Dubai since 2001.
He holds an MBA from the University of Wollongong and
previously attended Far Eastern University, where he
studied Computer Engineering and IT.
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printing services ‘I want print’?
You still have customers who
prefer, and are maybe more
efficient at, doing things the
old way. So that is a challenge
not to fix, but to improve. The
biggest point is to gain people’s
trust on technology initiatives.”
The student information
system, finance, HR and
procurement are all united
under one enterprise
resource planning (ERP)
system from Oracle. Again,
as well as cost, student
needs have been placed at the fore,
with a student survey gaining feedback
on how the improvements have
impacted those who matter most.
“After taking action on the IMT dep-
artment capability assessment, all
these technological changes in the
classrooms, building governance and
strengthening the overall IT infrastructure
and behavior of the team, the
total response was 75% satisfaction
across ADU,” says Aninias. “Now the
next challenge is to achieve 80-85%
satisfaction for the next cycle. If I
cannot measure the things I’m delivering,
how can I implement them?
“The services we offer
should be aligned with
what’s going on in the
outside world, so we
can prepare students
for the challenges of
adulthood”
—
Joseph Aninias,
Director of IMTS, Abu Dhabi University
DECEMBER 2018

MIDDLE EAST
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How can I improve a service if I don’t have
actionable feedback?”
ADU is currently in its 15th year of
operation and working towards Vision
2022, which will involve student engagement
and a holistic learning experience
through innovation, as well as delivering
an efficient, seamless experience for all
stakeholders while improving collaboration.
“We’re in a process of continuous
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ABU DHABI UNIVERSITY
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improvement,” says Aninias, noting that in his two years
at ADU he has inherited an enterprise resource planning
(ERP) system which was adopted from an older process.
Collaboration and effective communication is also
key, whether with other members of staff or vendors.
“There’s a lot of collaborative effort here to get the best
value – most IT projects are primarily driven by the value
of the investment. The budget must be justified and
preferably contributing to the bottom line. This requires a
lot of planning and preparation
to avoid project delays.” Currently, Aninias is in
the midst of getting a number of projects he has inherited
and which have been delayed up to speed. “I made sure
certain projects were executed in an acceptable timeline
and have to be prioritised, otherwise it would affect the
future development of the university.”
DECEMBER 2018

MIDDLE EAST
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