I s s u e 1 9 • w w w.t h e i n t e r f a c e . n e t
BUILDING AN INTELLIGENT WORKPLACE Revolut Singapore: Digital banking in the new normal Directness and understanding: How Mark Wright succeeds in a crowded marketing sector...
The great makeover – Venkat Gopalan, CDO of Belcorp, dives deep into the company's astonishing transformation and the technology behind it
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Welcome to issue 19 of Interface Our exclusive cover story this month centres on Venkat Gopalan, Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer for Belcorp. A business that’s fully and passionately dedicated to ¨promote beauty to achieve personal fulfilment¨, Belcorp is creating something new for itself that’s not a cultural reset, per se, but a cultural reboot. The message behind this Latin American beauty corporation, which operates across 14 countries, remains the same – but it’s now better, stronger, even more deeply ingrained in each and every fiber of the business. What is, on the face of it, a digital transformation for Belcorp has actually been a full people-centric makeover from the inside-out – it just happens to have been driven by technology. With his hand on the tiller is Venkat Gopalan, Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer for Belcorp, who stepped in 18 months ago to help push the digital plan, resulting in a hard press on the fast-forward button for the company’s development. Elsewhere, we catch up with Lori Snyder CIO, Information Systems & Technology at the State of Nebraska for the Department of Health and Human Services, to see how the state is using digital strategies to battle COVID-19. We also speak to BBTS CIO, Alexandre Souza da Conceicao, regarding his various roles executing digital transformation within the Brasilian banking sector… Plus, we have exclusive interviews with former Apprentice winner Mark Wright, Director of Climb Online and James Shanahan, CEO Revolut Singapore. We also list 5 essential tips to building an intelligent workplace. Enjoy the issue!
ndrew Woods, Editor in chief A content@b2e-media.com
EDITOR IN CHIEF Andrew Woods
EDITOR Dale Benton
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Callum Rivett
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Nell Walker Kevin Davies
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dhruti Vithani
CREATIVE LEAD Mitchell Park
VP GLOBAL FINTECH & INSURTECH Alex Page
VP TECHNOLOGY Andy Lloyd Craig Daniels
VP PROCUREMENT Heykel Ouni Greg Churchill Richard Deane
PRESIDENT & CEO Kiron Chavda
Contents
6
Belcorp
32 Revolut
4
40
The State of Nebraska
56 BBTS
70
Directness and understanding
80
Building an intelligent workplace www.theinterface.net
5
The great makeover Written by
Nell Walker
Produced by
Craig Daniels
Venkat Gopalan, Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer of Belcorp, dives deep into the company’s astonishing transformation, the technology behind it, and how this year’s pandemic has actually accelerated it
B e l co rp
www.theinterface.net
7
A
business that’s fully and passionately dedicated to ¨promote beauty to achieve
personal fulfilment¨, Belcorp is creating something new for itself that’s not a cultural reset, per se, but a cultural reboot. The message behind this Latin American beauty corporation, which operates across 14 countries, remains the same – but it’s now better, stronger, even more deeply ingrained in each and every fiber of the business. What is, on the face of it, a digital transformation for Belcorp has actually been a full people-centric makeover from the inside-out – it just happens to have been driven by technology. With his hand on the tiller is Venkat Gopalan, Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer for Belcorp, who stepped in 18 months ago to help push the digital plan, resulting in a hard press on the fast-forward button for the company’s development. Gopalan has a long history of this type of transformation within retail giants like Estée Lauder, Sephora, Walmart Labs, Nike, AT&T and Target, focusing on digi-
Venkat Gopalan Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer Belcorp
tal transformation. He even had his own startup, before returning to the corporate world. “I was very passionate about
job is to create the vision for the team,
bringing both products and services
and to make sure everybody – both the
to the consumer through technology.
technology team and business team –
That’s my passion. Now, as a leader, my
is successful.”
B e l co rp
Gopalan’s vision
consumer wants. The business had, in
Right from the start, with Belcorp,
fact, already begun its transformation
Gopalan’s priority was the human
before Gopalan came on board, but the
element of business and what the
introduction of him as CTO/CDO was www.theinterface.net
9
Swipe
The perfect match for Belcorp’s beauty transformation. valtech.com
e right.
w w w.th e in te r fa ce . n e t
11
game-changing. He drew up his vision for Belcorp, driven by company strategy and business needs by creating a new Technology organization with clearly defined roles, technical career path, product taxonomy model and new ways of working, creating a technology strategy and roadmap with clear outcomes which included foundational capabilities and enablers like Cloud and API first approach, new UX Design system, Data platform & Advanced Analytics, Cybersecurity, Automation, new tools and processes. Even from these broad headings, it’s clear to see that Gopalan’s vision was always about creating a total corporate shift and making sure every part of the business was not only on board, but fully engaged. Obviously, the dream that I had was that we would be the best Technology team in order to transform the business and consumers’ life. It was important to align that dream to the existing organization before honing the technological strategy. To do all of this, you need the best talent and inspiring leaders. You need different ways of working and to make sure all technology systems are performing exceptionally - you need a full ecosystem. To get started, I did a reorganization within my first 90 days and then measured the outcomes,” Gopalan explains.
The Belcorp mindset ‘The best talent’ also needs to be on the same page, especially in a business as large as Belcorp while widespread change is happening. The Belcorp Technology team is driven by eight behaviors aligned with Company values: customer centricity, the ability to embrace and drive change, transparency, founder’s mentality, datadriven decisions, being learning-obsessed, execution B e l co rp
Venkat Gopalan Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer Venkat Gopalan is Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer at Belcorp, where he is responsible for leading the beauty multinational’s digital transformation and enabling the company’s corporate and sustainability strategy through technology. Venkat has more than 22 years of experience leading large-scale global technology organizations in companies that have achieved exponential growth. He has led transformation programs for Fortune 500 companies such as EstÊe Lauder, Sephora, Nike, Walmart, Target & AT&T, among others focused on retail, CPG and e-Commerce.
www.theinterface.net
13
w w w.th e in te r fa ce . n e t
15
Our recipe for success Create a company where people enjoy what they do, put well-being of your people before profits and the growth will come. We work hand-in-hand with companies to help them through digital transformations. Our skills and . solutions in e-Commerce, Infrastructure, AI, and Cybersecurity allow us to provide powerful responses during Covid times. That is the main focus of our scope of work with Belcorp.
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leading by example
— Ve nkat Go p a l an
C h i ef Tech nology, Data & D i g it al O ff i cer
“
“
I’m a strong believer in
excellence, and diversity. This is where
Agility Index (BAI) to measure business
the change begins and ends – with the
KPIs and consumer satisfaction, faster
people driving that change.
delivery of MVP, finance and risk reduc-
“At the end of the day, any transformation is not just about technology, it’s
tion, as well as employee engagement.” In the last 18 months, they were able to
about the culture, the mindset,” Gopalan
deliver 400% more projects compared to
explains. “These goals were created from
2018 and reduce time to market by 40%.
a behavioral standpoint, and from there
That leap in agility is no surprise, given the
I was able to align the organization. We
depth of change Gopalan has created. In
created OKRs within Technology, specif-
a year marred by a pandemic that nobody
ically three objectives and four results
could have predicted, one that has shaken
for each of them, to measure where we
our lives to their core and sent many
were going. We also created six KPIs
businesses to their knees, the changes
to measure how we would become a
implemented at Belcorp have meant that
high performing team, and we have a
the business has not simply survived, but
Technology dashboard to track that
thrived and grown. In fact, Belcorp has
progress. From there, we were able to
continued to on-board new people and
drive agility. We came up with a Belcorp
introduce technology as a viable career www.theinterface.net
17
Technology Services B e l co rp
Digital Optimization
Digital Business www.tismart.com
path to newcomers. “In Technology, there was only one
Belcorp was already prepared for this, thanks to the groundwork laid down by
career path and we needed to create a
the Technology team. Before, on-board-
technical career path,” Gopalan explains.
ing a new employee took several weeks
“You can have software engineers, archi-
– now, it takes less than a week. Gopalan
tects, Data scientists etc. and Belcorp
is passionate about self-learning, and
is a pioneer in Latin America for creat-
not only does the new-and-improved
ing these paths for our employees. We
on-boarding process give new staff an
want staff to really own their careers – it’s
increased sense of ownership, but their
important, in terms of retention and satis-
learning doesn’t stop there.
faction. So, nine job families were created
“I focus heavily on a continuous learn-
in different levels, and we moved 50% of
ing mindset,” he says. “Technology
our employees to the technical career
changes so fast, and it’s important that
path.”
the organization learns. So, I expanded
Due to COVID-19, all on-boarding this year had to be digital – fortunately,
the Belcorp learning ecosystem, which covers everything employees can learn
www.theinterface.net
19
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“ It’s very important for us to move from a siloed mentality to a more cross-functional way of working” — Ve n kat Go p a l an C h i ef Techn o lo gy, Data & D i git al O ff i cer
about technology. We have a partnership
Radical candor in leadership
with Udemy and LinkedIn for the tech-
So, once all of this incredible talent is in
nical courses and soft skills, we have
place, who leads? Leadership is another
workshops, and we used to do meetups
vitally important element of Gopalan’s
before the pandemic. We also have an
vision; he’s all about leadership develop-
Agile Academy and a Data Academy –
ment, and what he calls ‘radical candor’,
there’s a lot of different formats for learn-
which focuses on having the mindset
ing. Before COVID-19, we even had pizza
and framework to enable transparency
nights where we used to bring in entre-
and honest feedback between manag-
preneurs to talk about their journeys in
ers and staff. “Leaders must care for the
a casual environment.” Gopalan also
employees personally, but also challenge
instituted the Tech Awards, which rightly
them directly and give honest feedback,”
celebrate employees and ensure they
says Gopalan. “Thanks to our strategy of
feel recognized for their hard work and
having the best talent, and managing that
what they’ve learned.
talent in a successful way, there’s then a life-cycle in place. I did several workshops on talent management with our www.theinterface.net
21
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B e l co rp
leaders, and shared my personal leader-
but when remote working became a
ship philosophy within the team, inviting
necessity, they broadened their busi-
them to create their own.”
ness.” Belcorp worked with Valtech to bring best-in-class experience to their
Best-in-class partnerships
e-commerce and virtual store. They also
With the right talent and the right lead-
partnered with Perfect Corp to bring
ers in position, Gopalan then shifted
AI/Augmented Reality tools like Virtual
his focus to look closely at the vendors
Make up/Try on to their consumers,
to ensure Belcorp was partnering with
and this especially helped during lock-
truly best-in-class organizations. Before
downs. Companies like Valtech, Inetum,
he joined the team, Belcorp had to limit
Pyxis, Globant, SAP, Tismart, Altimea and
itself to what was available within Latin
Zoluxiones are key partners in Belcorp’s
America, but now is working across the
Digital Transformation. These strategic
globe. “This is actually thanks to COVID,”
partnerships bring specialized tech-
Gopalan says. “Initially, a lot of vendors
nology expertise into the corporation,
insisted on face-to-face communication,
allowing it to continue along its digital
www.theinterface.net
23
transformation journey. Working with the best has allowed
high resiliency across the board. And the relationship with vendors
Belcorp to move its workloads to the
doesn’t end with simply integrating their
cloud; 93% of products/workload is on
services – Belcorp considers itself a true
cloud, and by June 2021, it will be 100%.
business partner, with these relation-
In fact, Belcorp is the largest consumer
ships being a two-way street. “We work
of cloud in Latin America for Amazon
very, very closely with our vendors as
Web Services. “This enables the speed,
thought leaders, to drive technology,”
agility and advantages of innovation
says Gopalan. “One of the things we have
that we require. From a digital transfor-
rolled out is a collaboration tool for the
mation standpoint, this is a very impor-
business. During COVID, it has helped us
tant enabler for us.” Moving to the cloud
work remotely and communicate across
has been just one part of modernizing
the organization. Plus, we have a vendor
Belcorp’s entire infrastructure – it has
management strategy in place to always
also rolled out DevOps using SRE and
keep an eye on our relationships, and
performs world-class monitoring of its
we’ve developed our roadmap manage-
platforms to provide high availability and
ment in terms of how we, strategically,
B e l co rp
make changes in a flexible and agile way,
the consumer, they must be the rich-
based on market conditions and busi-
est person in the world!” Gopalan jokes.
ness needs. It’s very important for us to
“Understanding those needs meant a
move from a siloed mentality to a more
lot of experiments, and moving into an
cross-functional way of working.”
experimental mindset requires new tools, processes and a fresh mindset.”
Testing the waters
Advanced data analytics, AI, business
With how quickly and efficiently the vari-
enablement tools – these are all just a few
ous changes across Belcorp have been
of the elements Belcorp has delved into
rolled out, you might think there was no
over the past year to give the consumer
room for experimentation in the process
what they need, along with automation of
– but actually, experimenting along the
manual processes which has eliminated
way proved key to the continued success
close to 1,600 hours of manual processing
of Gopalan’s vision. As Belcorp moved
per month. More processes will be auto-
into a far more digital sphere, it was diffi-
mated in 2021, streamlining the business
cult to know what the consumer would
even further. The sheer volume of projects
want. “If anybody says they truly know
being developed in the background, while
www.theinterface.net
25
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U n de rstanding EQ and h ir ing for it i n a p o st-pa n d emi c wo r l d
create the vision
— Ve nkat Go p a l an
for the team and empower them
C h i ef Tech nology, Data
“
“
As a leader, my job is to
& D i g it al O ff i cer
Belcorp continues to improve itself at
career progression for employees, is
every level, is incredible. They were able
unity. Gopalan is utterly dedicated to
to deliver 400% more projects compared
the idea of professional togetherness,
to 2018 and reduce time to market by
in a way that goes far beyond the broad
40% by improving deployment frequency,
range of training and learning offered
lead time for changes, MTTR and change
to staff. From the Tech Awards, to Tech
failure rate. “The transformation has
Day – which this year was all about
been amazing between 2018 and 2020,
the consumer journey so that Belcorp
and 2021 and 2022 will be even greater
employees could better understand the
in terms of not only delivering projects,
end-user – to Data Day, which promotes
but the value of the outcomes across the
data culture, to pre-COVID physical
business,” says Gopalan.
meetups, to large-scale video catch-ups, team spirit is a must in Gopalan’s vision of
Professional togetherness At the core of Belcorp, connecting digi-
Belcorp. “And, obviously, we want to have fun,”
tal transformation, the relationship with
Gopalan adds. Last year we had a
consumers, improved leadership, and
costume contest on Halloween, as well www.theinterface.net
27
as a Comic-Con-style event. I’m a strong
working, and that’s why I didn’t want to
believer in leading by example. I dressed
stop having spaces where employees can
up as the Mad Hatter with full make up for
be virtually together, share, learn and have
our Halloween contest. This year, we did
fun. This kind of thing is important; people
a remote costume contest for Halloween,
have been under tremendous stress.”
and we’ve had dress-up video meetings a talent show! I wanted to create better
Adapting to the consumer’s new normal
integration, and for everyone to have fun.
All of this begs the question: what exactly
People really, really enjoy this.”
was Belcorp like before Gopalan joined?
with everybody joining in. We even had
“For me, as a leader, the last eight
Why was the sheer volume of change
months have been challenging because
necessary? “Consumer needs are chang-
everybody’s working longer hours; since
ing, and customers are demanding
we’re all remote, our people are manag-
more,” explains Gopalan. “And, as Latin
ing their home lives, sharing bandwidth
America is becoming more digitally-savvy,
with family and making other sacrifices
the consumer is looking for things on
as they’re adapting to the new ways of
an immediate basis, and that means
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U n de rstanding EQ and h ir ing for it i n a p o st-pa n d emi c wo r l d
DIGITAL ANALYTICS
businesses need to be available. As well as that, our independent beauty consultants had to be reframed as influencers to keep up with the trends, and we also had to get into a position where Belcorp could handle COVID-like situations. Hopefully we won’t experience another pandemic in our lifetime, but the ability to weather a disruptive event is necessary for future-proofing.” It’s difficult to imagine how the business might have coped with the pandemic before Gopalan pushed its transformation into hyper-speed.
2021 is going to be pivotal for that path.”
Part of this new-and-improved flexibility had to involve the business pivoting
Creating empowerment
to handle new needs – after all, when the
The aforementioned consultants are the
world went into lockdown, people who
main beneficiaries of Belcorp’s desire
previously wore makeup to work every day
to empower women. The purpose of
were probably no longer doing so, mean-
Belcorp is to promote beauty to achieve
ing they didn’t need to stock up in the same
personal fulfilment – it aims to enable
way that they might have before. This could
woman entrepreneurs to manage their
have been a serious blow for a beauty
own businesses, developing a diverse
business like Belcorp; instead, it moved
range of skills in a way that suits their
quickly to launch a branded hand sani-
lifestyle. “We’ve done that successfully
tizer – a real essential in The New Normal
for more than 50 years,” says Gopalan.
– and observed increased demand in other
“It used to be that they’d go door-to-door
product markets, such as skincare, adapt-
direct selling, which left them restricted
ing to those as necessary. “Through our
by geographical boundaries; now, with
consultants and various digital channels,
the digital tools we’ve created, they can
we’ve been able to keep in close communi-
reach out to customers wherever they
cation with our consumers,” says Gopalan.
might be. We’re rolling out more tools
“We want to be a fully digital business and
next year to improve this even further,
this year has been the start of that journey.
and we’re bringing in a new profile, which www.theinterface.net
29
we call the Beauty Community Manager. This will help the consultant be more of a beauty advisor and influencer and build a stronger relationship with their customers to create loyalty.”
Opportunity in crisis Gopalan is, rightly so, incredibly proud of what has been achieved during a year which could have been incredibly difficult, and has been for many. “There’s been amazing collaboration and alignment across the board, resiliency, leadership, and putting employees first, overall. We were even one of the first companies to start working from home, because we wanted to protect our staff. People will always come first. Also, mindset change has been a very important aspect of this entire journey, and the next two years are going to be critical in how we accelerate things. Nobody knows the future, but the right mindset makes all the difference. To my mind, every crisis is an opportunity; Belcorp has proven that.”
B e l co rp
www.theinterface.net
31
Revolut Singapore – digital banking in the new normal Nell Walker talks to James Shanahan, CEO Revolut Singapore, regarding an exciting new dawn of digital banking‌
Written by
Nell Walker
Revo l ut Singap ore – digital bankin g i n t h e n ew n o r ma l
www.theinterface.net
33
James Shanahan CEO, Revolut Singapore
The banking sector has experienced so much disruption in recent years, hasn’t it?
anything, you can change the world. And
My background is banking and insur-
with Revolut, we can see that as we bring
ance for many years. One of my obser-
ourselves into more and more markets.
vations ever since, has been the emer-
The difference that makes to our custom-
gence of internet banking where the
ers and the difference that makes to our
operating models of banks are very much
ability to scale the business very rapidly
outdated and customer experience is
is immense. The fundamental business
lagging behind what customers expect
model of banking is the balance sheet,
and experience in other industries. One
leveraging the balance sheet, taking in
of the opportunities that Revolut brings
deposits, lending those deposits out, and
to the table or has built, in fact, is that we
essentially, making a margin on that busi-
continue to expand on a new perspec-
ness. That business is not being disinter-
tive on customer experience and a new
mediated. The balance sheet business
perspective on the underlying operating
of a bank is intact and sound and will
model of banks. We’ve built, and continue
continue on for hundreds of years into
to expand on, a global operating model.
the future, is my expectation. However,
It’s a contemporary approach with a
the surrounding systems, the surround-
single underlying infrastructure; one that
ing protective systems, whether they’re
makes the business highly scalable. And
credit systems, whether they’re profit and
I think in order of magnitude, less costly
loss generating platforms or new prod-
and more efficient than your run-of-the-
uct platforms, you will want to cut the G
mill bank.
and L platform: the credit scoring, the
we’ve seen that in many industries in the past and as we move down that path
risk engines, all of these are designed
Why is this so important?
to protect those balance sheets. And
This is important because when you
then, of course, we get to the distribution
take a zero off the cost of pretty much
where the high cost of branches, the high
Revo l ut Singap ore – digital bankin g i n t h e n ew n o r ma l
cost of ATM networks, are the millstone
dramatically or vastly inefficient to what’s
around the neck of banks that no longer
possible using the kind of technology
performs the way it has done in the past.
we have available today. And so, when
I mean, with the advent of technology, we
you reimagine that from the perspective
can disintermediate at that level.
of an organisation like Revolut, you can conceive of a global bank that operates
How does a restructuring of a platform help?
on a single common platform. You can
Looking at it from a more holistic
same operating model universally. And
perspective, the business model of a bank
when you start to do that, you are able to
is intact, but the way it is carried out is
scale the business far more rapidly than
conceive of a global bank that shares the
www.theinterface.net
35
scaled markets, are going to be individual
I guess change is coming to many banking enterprises?
stacks. The stack we have in one country
There are some banks starting to move
is different from the stack that we have
out of that mindset, but it’s like turning the
in another country. And that leads, obvi-
ocean liner. And we’re coming along in
ously, to very high cost and the inability
perhaps not a speed boat anymore, but in
to move rapidly and to act in a very agile
a fast-moving, rapidly expanding boat that
manner. So, by re-conceiving the infra-
can move quickly, can turn quickly and
structure of a bank, if you like, the way
can speed past, some of the incumbents
that a bank delivers its services, you can
in the market. In any markets, we always
take an order of magnitude off the cost,
overestimate what can be achieved in
number one, and you can bring a level
one year, but we dramatically underesti-
of experience to the customer that’s not
mate what can be achieved in 10 years.
hamstrung by old tech, by old thinking,
So, Revolut is five years into its existence.
by siloed approaches, and even a silo
I mean, ask me that question in five years
at a country level. Because frankly, that
or 15 years, and I hope to show you that
school of thinking, that style of thinking is
Revolut is a global bank with tens, if not
really what’s held banks back and contin-
hundreds, of millions of customers on
ues to do so, today.
board able to operate at margins which
any bank. Most banks, if you look in their
put banks in their current form to shame. Security issues obviously increase with these transformations… Well, look, security is a war, and a war that will continuously wage. I think there’ll be no end to that. The good guys versus the bad guys will go on forever. What I see is this is increasingly... What we all see is a tech battle as we move to technology as a way to distribute financial services. I think a company that has a stronger tech underpinning and is digitally native, if you like, in its understanding of that technology, will always fight a better battle than Revo l ut Singap ore – digital bankin g i n t h e n ew n o r ma l
“ By re-conceiving the infrastructure of a bank, the way that a bank delivers its services, you can take an order of magnitude off the cost and you can bring a level of experience to the customer that’s not hamstrung by old tech, by old thinking, by siloed approaches…” — Ja m e s S h an aha n C EO, Revolut S ingapore
we can make it easier for customers to stay secure. We can educate them through the way that the application is laid out, through the way the customer journey moves. And we can avoid situations by running, if you like, a rule set or machine learning, or some artificial intelligence tools around the transactions, in addition to the usual transaction monitoring tools and protection tools to guide customers and to help them in a way that many, I think, less contemporary organisations don’t have the flexibility to do. That allows us to do, build in a level of customer awareness of security right from the beginning, and to adjust that on the fly. We can adjust our front ends
those who have to learn the tools of war
very, very quickly and lead customers to a
and have to bring their approaches to a
better position.
new battlefield, if you like. I think there’s the ability to leverage technology more
Does this inevitably lead to lower fraud rates?
completely and with more modern and
We find our fraud rates, for example, to be
up-to-date tools, if you like, but also the
significantly lower than industry stand-
usability factor here. So, a lot of security
ards right across the board. And I think
issues are not driven by weaknesses in
this does reflect the fact that we have
the underlying security, but rather weak-
a more agile and more technological-
nesses in customers’ behaviour or lack of
ly-sound understanding of what’s going
understanding on the part of protagonist
on, and we can apply it more completely.
in the transaction as to what might repre-
There’s also something to be said for
sent a less secure way of doing things. By
the ability to manage customers’ expec-
having a lot of agility and flexibility on the
tations in this regard. So, it’s quite clear
front end with this customer experience,
coming onto a digital-only platform from
a second part of it as well. So, not only
www.theinterface.net
37
a financial services perspective, that
customers’ behaviour and a dip in spend-
customers need to be educated, need to
ing, but we’ve also seen a rapid recov-
be made secure, need to be reminded, if
ery from that, in particular as people
you like, or nudged in the right directions.
moved online. So, an acceleration in
And that’s easy to achieve with a digital
the tendency of people to move online
front end much more so than, in a branch
occurred. Perhaps we saw three to five
or an ATM machine or other offline kinds
years’ worth of growth in several months
of environments. So, I think the opportu-
in some markets. And then, secondly, I
nity to be vastly more secure is built into
think it creates almost like a pendulum
the operating nature of what we’re doing
effect. When people are unable to spend,
here with Revolut and other technology
particularly in their disposable income,
platforms.
a demand builds up. And as we saw in various markets now, as lockdowns were
I guess Covid has driven some of these changes…
eased or removed, we’ve seen spending
You could argue that, absolutely. I think
lum effect, in some cases higher than
a lot of our customers are driven by
it was before we went into the COVID
convenience, less so than an age demo-
period.
graphic. And I think convenience also raises a question in people’s mind, “Whilst this is easier to achieve, am I being safe? Is my bank, A, being responsible, and B, do I inherently understand the change in risk profile that I’m taking on with moving to this platform?” I think in the end... I don’t know. Maybe let’s leave it at that now. Obviously, there’s been some changes in customer behaviours. I mean, despite all the best intentions, travel has evaporated around the world, as we’ve come to see. So, spending has been affected, but I would say that it’s more muted than we expected. We saw a change in our
bounce back, and again, with the pendu-
“ Looking at it from a more holistic perspective, the business model of a bank is intact, but the way it is carried out is dramatically or vastly inefficient to what's possible using the kind of technology we have available today” — James Sh an ah an C EO, Revo l ut Si n gap o re
Revo l ut Singap ore – digital bankin g i n t h e n ew n o r ma l
www.theinterface.net
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Department of Health and Human Services at The State of Nebraska The Human Element To Digital We speak to Lori Snyder, CIO, Information Systems & Technology at the State of Nebraska for the Department of Health and Human Services, to see how the state is using digital strategies to battle COVID-19‌
Written by
Andrew Woods
Produced by
Craig Daniels
State Of Neb raska
www.theinterface.net
41
2
020 will forever be remembered as the year that COVID19 triggered a dramatic halt to
life as we knew it, as billions of people were ushered into a world of isolation, economic disruption and total uncertainty. But behind the scenes, as the scientific community battled away to find a vaccine, there were many more working above and beyond to keep communities informed, healthy and safe. Lori Snyder is the CIO, Information Systems & Technology at the State of Nebraska for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the lead agency in the state on COVID response, which has five divisions: Behavioral Health, Children and Family Services, Developmental Disabilities, Medicaid Long-Term Care and Public Health. And three months into her new role at the
the software and the solutions we’ve put
DHHS, slap bang in the eye of the COVID
in place for the COVID response really
storm, Snyder is clearly up for the scale of
helped with the testing, getting test
the challenge in front of her. “I’m a pretty
results back and notifying people.”
quick study, so I’ve jumped into a lot of
Snyder has previously worked in health-
things,” she says. “And I think that the
care, manufacturing, mail services, insur-
state and the federal government have
ance, government, and with the military,
done a really good job in terms of putting
but has never really specialized in a
together solutions so quickly with no
particular industry. “I really like to learn,
notice, but at the same time, when you get
and I get bored if I’m not learning,” she
a few months in, you can see opportuni-
explains. “So, I try to keep that learning
ties to improve and make things better.
curve going. I was getting to the point in
For example, we have seen places where
my career where I wanted to help other
State Of Neb raska
img credit: State of Nebraska
people in some sort of service role. I
area in order to give better service as
needed to be in a leadership role where I
the logistics of rolling out new vaccines
could have a big impact. And so, with the
dovetailed with track and trace. “We’re
COVID crisis going on right now, it really
looking at places where we can commu-
gave me an opportunity to pitch in and
nicate with people in a way they desire,”
find a place where I can really help, not
she explains. “Which is such a normal
only typically where you would assist a
thing in the E-commerce world, but we
company in moving forward, but in terms
didn’t have time to build this into track
of helping save lives.”
and trace. So, we’re finding ways to do
One of the key COVID challenges that
things online, through texting, and email,
Snyder and the State of Nebraska had to
where before it was a call – now a contact
face was communication and the devel-
tracer will reach out and get the informa-
opment of new ways to expand that
tion from the individual. We’re now looking www.theinterface.net
43
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View the briefing
State Of Neb raska www.microsoft.com/government
at places where we can track symptoms
in that first group (healthworkers), right?
and use that tracking to help people know
But as you get deeper into the popula-
when to go into work, or to help them
tion, it’s not as clear who is going to alert
provide a letter to their employer for tax
people when they’re next. Who’s going
credits through the Cares Act.”
to encourage them to sign up? Who’s
Although vaccines are being rolled
going to help them remember which kind
out across the globe, there are many
of drug they had, since there are multiple
logistical challenges inherent in such a
doses? If they had Pfizer first, they then
campaign, with transport and storage
need the Pfizer second dose. If they had
being two notable concerns. “We’re look-
Moderna at first, they need the Moderna
ing at not only getting the vaccine from
second dose. Who’s looking at systems
the manufacturer, but also to the places
to track and curb the adverse reactions?
providing the vaccine,” Snyder says.
Now, a lot of these systems are in place,
“And in this case, it’s critical because
but we’re going to extend the capabilities
we’re using ultra-cold storage. So, you
in some way because maybe some of this
can’t give it to every provider who would
work was done by a provider in the clinic
normally receive a vaccine. You have to
previously, and now we need to reach a
select those who have that ultra-cold
wider population. Sometimes you have
storage. And then, how are we going
people who don’t have a regular provider,
to help the people within the State of
as maybe they’ve moved, or maybe they
Nebraska to get that vaccine? So, the
just don’t go to the doctor that often. And
hospitals help identify the people who are
so, they may need help finding out where
“ We have seen places where the software and the solutions we’ve put in place to help with the COVID response really helped with the testing, getting test results back and notifying people” — Lo r i S nyd e r C IO
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45
to go to get the vaccine. So, there’s all
picture together, showing the life cycle
these extra things around the edges that
of a person and all the things that they
get us looking to either take the systems
might need for support mechanisms for
we have in place and extend them, or
COVID and vaccinations. I think it’s been
looking to add some extra components,
very helpful to take that strategic holis-
such as the Microsoft Vaccine solution.”
tic approach, and look at the solutions
Contact tracing relies on exposure noti-
we have, making sure they integrate well
fications that identify people who were
together, ensuring that the data commu-
exposed, beyond just word of mouth.
nicates well together to improve the
“It’s one of those problems where you
service we’re providing to the folks who
start reaching out to community leaders,
live in the State of Nebraska.”
or chambers of commerce, or provider
The context and background to this
groups or whatever, that identifies even
work is stark. The clock is well and truly
more needs. And so, we’re really trying
ticking, as Snyder, her colleagues and her
to put that together in a holistic picture.
peers try to gain an upper hand during
I just gave a presentation to the gover-
this pandemic while people continue to
nor of the State of Nebraska, to put the
fall sick. The key to control is the spirit of
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partnership and collaboration. “I’ve met
no-code types of solutions, like Microsoft
with 48 different people or companies,
Dynamics 365, or the Microsoft Power
from other state leaders, to vendors, to
Apps,” says Snyder. “We were doing that
providers, to staff members and external
anyway, but what this pandemic has done
parties who are trying to solve this prob-
is accelerate how we need to get those
lem,” she reveals. “It’s really jump-starting
things going faster or where we can lever-
things for me and enabling me to put that
age some of those technologies or some
whole picture together for my leadership
of those small pieces of the puzzle toward
team, so that we can make good deci-
solutions for the pandemic, while still
sions about what we do to support the
realizing we have these bigger projects
people in the state. Some of the things we
that will continue progressing, and that
were doing anyway but were not related
will still come to the table within their own
to COVID. We are now looking at how we
timeframes.”
can best serve the State of Nebraska and the folks here better.” The I Serve Nebraska Portal is a new
“Government sites often have these little rectangles on their websites and I call it ‘pick-a-box,’” she explains. “And
data warehouse built upon the concept of
people try to figure out where to go to get
serving Nebraskans better with improved
the benefits they need. And so, they might
access, user experience and data around
select a box and it takes them down a
Economic Assistance and Medicaid. “We
path and ‘no, that’s not it.’ And they come
were looking at how we could provide
back to the top and they eventually figure
smaller solutions using low-code and
it out. The next time they come back,
“ I think it’s been very helpful to take that strategic holistic approach, and look at the solutions we have, making sure they integrate well together” — Lo r i S nyd er CI O
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47
they can’t remember that and so they
intelligence so that people can answer
go through the same pick-a-box, right?
the questions just once. We can now help
What we are trying to do with this new
them identify what benefits they qualify
portal is make this intuitive and easy for
for by merging those applications into
those first-time users, as they’re proba-
one. Plus, how can we pre-fill information
bly already feeling like they don’t want to
for them? None of these things are rocket
reach out for help. We want to make this
science in the E-commerce world, but
easy for them so we’re not compounding
you don’t always see it in the government
that struggle. Now we have multiple appli-
world.”
cations and if you maybe qualify for two
Snyder is visibly moved by the spirit
or three benefits, you have to go through
and commitment shown by vendors
that process two or three times. We want
during these challenging times as they
to drive the questioning in the appli-
join forces to develop highly anticipated
cation with better design and artificial
solutions. “Vendors are really thinking
State Of Neb raska
about the problems as thoroughly as they
what they are doing with exposure noti-
possibly can,” she enthuses. “When I look
fication, because I know that they are
at demos, let’s say on vaccine manage-
diverting other work in order to do this.
ment or something like that, and you start
And at least Google and Apple in the U.S.
thinking about all the different scenarios,
are offering some free technical capabil-
these solutions are coming to the table
ities for states, governments and cities
really well thought-out. People are invest-
to use. Well, that kind of thing doesn’t
ing thought time where maybe it wouldn’t
always happen, right? People are taking
have been invested quite so dramati-
this so personally they’re doing it on
cally, and quite so quickly, before. I think
their personal time, too. They’re invest-
there’s a personal nature to this because
ing really deep thinking and thought and
it matters to people’s lives.”
work and development time in this, which
“I was talking to folks from Apple and
is testament to the good in people and
Google yesterday and thanking them for
the good that we see coming out which
img credit: State of Nebraska
www.theinterface.net
49
wouldn’t usually be visible. I really believe in win-win vendor partnerships.” According to Snyder, Microsoft has been super supportive in terms of understanding technologies and finding faster ways to go to market, things they can do to speed the processes up “while still giving a really high-quality solution, allowing us to bring other vendors to the table to do the implementations”. Snyder’s department has a small legislator app going live in just four weeks. “Which is kind of unheard of,” she laughs. “That’s the beginning of the contract to the deliverable, so that’s a pretty fast cycle, especially in state government. Microsoft was very instrumental in bringing the vendor to the table, getting the licensing done, making sure we understood how to get through all the technical steps so we could launch. This will be a cloud launch with a very small app, but start to finish, exactly what we need to track our legislative bills.” A second app going live is the legislative bill tracking, to allow constituents to send questions to provide visibility on who has been contacted for answers and making sure the answers get back to the right people. Snyder and her team have also been working with Cordova Solutions and Microsoft, plus collaborative work with Snowflake regarding how they’re going to move data to the Cloud while making public health data available so “that we can do better work in the COVID space and ultimately the broader public health and Medicaid areas”. Snowflake has been really instrumental in looking at workflows, helping to identify gaps, providing ideas and solutions, and then ultimately providing vendors who can implement. There have also been fruitful working relationships with Qualtrics and the State Of Neb raska
img credit: State of Nebraska
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51
“ All of this is about getting people everything they need. And making sure they feel dignity in doing this. Everything we do comes from this really caring spot” — Lo ri S nyd e r CIO
Salesforce team in implementing some of its COVID solutions. Teamwork and partnerships during COVID have obviously worked across state lines too, as people cross state borders, potentially transporting this disease. “Our solutions work better if your neighboring states are working alongside you. We have people in our state crossing borders every day, maybe going to jobs, school or visiting relatives who live across these state borders,” Snyder explains. “If we deploy some of these solutions in a way that you can still get the information flowing across the border, we are going to have a better solution for the people in our state. So, a lot of good can come out of this. I think sometimes people are afraid of that collaborative notion and sometimes people want to develop things on their own, but I’m really about accomplishing results and that means leveraging others in a positive way and allowing them to leverage my knowledge as well State Of Neb raska
and having us all work together to identify
for her clients to interact, thus freeing
better solutions more quickly. Learning
the DHHS staff so they can really spend
from someone else is on one hand free-
more of their time with clients. An exam-
ing, but more importantly, it gets us to
ple is the new portal, iServe, which is
solutions faster.”
currently being deployed. iServe is a
Snyder is working hard to bring her
smart app that asks learning questions
private experience, as well as that of her
to make it easy for clients to apply for
vendors, to the table to help drive things
benefits without answering extra ques-
in a direction that makes it a lot easier
tions. “Instead, they can spend their time getting to know them, understanding
img credit: State of Nebraska
their needs, maybe helping them qualify for more benefits than they’re aware of, but really making good decisions to help them get the help they need. This really is something that’s helping people maintain their dignity, and to get them on their feet if they’re facing some initial or one-time adversity. Or they might have something long-term or ongoing. We’re making it efficient for them so they can spend their time taking care of whoever it is they’re taking care of whether that’s themselves or a loved one and not spending their time on a computer trying to figure out how to get the benefits that they need. The Snowflake data warehouse for example is a chance to pull the data together so the state can use it for people’s good. Not only can we use that to provide benefits better, but we’re going to be able to use it to find ways to produce those benefits more cost-effectively so we can use that money more wisely for the people of the www.theinterface.net
53
State of Nebraska. We’re also going to be able to use it in the public health area to help drive better health for the State of Nebraska folks, because if we can find trends or better ways to serve them, so they get the health information they need, maybe we prevent some diseases beyond preventing COVID. It further supports our mission of helping people live better lives.” Anytime Snyder looks at an IT project, she centers in on the human element. “It’s that emotional connection that helps people understand what you’re trying to do so that the people working on that feel that sense of urgency? When they feel that sense of urgency and they feel that sense of connection, they go that extra mile so the people using these processes and tools feel better about their jobs and lives. It creates this circle of goodness.” “All of this is about getting people everything they need. And making sure they feel dignity in doing this. Everything we do comes from this really caring spot. And I love that. It makes you feel that people really are in this to serve the people of Nebraska. They’re really in it because they care. And this is meaningful to me. I want to spend my life and my time giving back.”
State Of Neb raska
img credit: State of Nebraska
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BBTS: a digital strategy We speak to BBTS CIO, Alexandre Souza da Conceicao, regarding his various roles executing digital transformation within the Brasilian banking sector‌
Written by
Andrew Woods
Produced by
Craig Daniels
B BTS: a digital st rategy
www.theinterface.net
57
A
lexandre Souza da Conceicao is
BBTS, pretty much overseeing the overall
moving onto pastures new, but
operation of the company in terms of IT
his love for his sole employer,
processes and systems development. “I’m
up till now, is palpable. “A job at Banco do
enhancing and improving the digital solu-
Brasil is something really desired by the
tions we are offering, not only to Banco do
Brasilian population,” Conceicao explains.
Brasil, but to other banks and companies
“You find one of its branches everywhere
in the market too,” he explains from its
you go in this country. It’s a big company
Brasilia headquarters.
and one of the best places to work. The
BBTS is a solutions provider primar-
company’s very kind to employees and
ily focused on the banking industry.
everyone loves working for BB.”
“Because that’s pretty much our DNA,
BB Tecnologia e Serviços, BBTS is a Brasilian state-run technological solutions provider controlled by Banco do Brasil (99.97%). Focused on information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO), BBTS was founded in 1974. Alexandre Souza da Conceicao has been working for BBTS and its controlling owner for some 35 years, the outgoing CIO at BBTS having joined Banco de Brasil in 1985, as an office-boy in a local branch when he was just 14 years old. His entire career thus far has been working for the same company and during those 35 years, he has delivered numerous innovative projects across the bank, its numerous business units and now its subsidiary, BBTS. Conceicao’s final role for the bank – and the one he is about to depart – placed him in charge of the technology, directory and digital products and services at B BTS: a digital st rategy
“ Every time I had a meeting or a conversation, I found an opportunity to push for a better way of doing things. It was a very interesting time, and by the end of 2019, we were already able to deploy a brand, new platform that was capable of automating the decision-making process” — Al exa n d re C o nc eic ao C IO, BBTS
right?” Conceicao explains. “A lot of our time is spent in the banking industry just serving Banco do Brasil, since the bank is really big. We serve the organization all over the country and through that work we developed the muscles to support any bank, because Banco do Brasil is pretty much the largest banking branch network we have in Brazil.” BBTS has 35 regional technical assistance units that provide services for over 3,500 Brasilian municipalities, including equipment installation, corrective and preventive maintenance, monitoring and equipment support. It also offers security equipment such as CCTV surveillance, revolving doors with metal detectors, access control, and alarms, as well as our own PSIM (Physical Security Information Management) software to monitor all the security alerts as an integrated solution. BBTS also offers contact centers, collections center, helpdesk and telemarketing services, as well as document management and printing, software manufacturing and testing, phone system outsourcing with telecom management www.theinterface.net
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The Power of Many. www.suse.com U n de rstanding EQ and h ir ing for it i n a p o st-pa n d emi c wo r l d
including mobile and telephony services billing. When Conceicao stepped into BBTS for the first time in 2019 – having departed a role in IT for the bank – his biggest challenge was to push the company towards innovation and change. “There was a lack of transition or transformation, let’s say, to a more digital operation,” he says. “It was a technological environment, developing products and serving customers with technology and yet, the company
Alexandre Conceicao CIO, BBTS
itself was not so invested. They didn’t push so hard. It was much more geared towards the demand of the customer, but not for themselves, or the internal units and departments.” Alex sparked an immediate sea change at BBTS and pushed towards digital solutions. “Every time I had a meeting or a conversation, I found an opportunity to push for a better way of doing things. It was a very interesting time, and by the end of 2019, we were already able to deploy a brand, new platform that was capable of automating the decision-making process. Instead of getting everything written on paper and getting things signed, we created a digital workflow where at the different levels of the organization, we could interact to get the right approvals from
Alexandre Conceição leads the IT area and ITO business as CIO in BB Tecnologia e Serviços, a fully controlled subsidiary of Banco do Brasil. He formerly headed the software development unit in Banco do Brasil for operating efficiency as IT General Manager. He joined BB in 1985 and his last 32 years were dedicated to the IT field and digital transformation. He held several positions in BB, starting as an office boy and having served previously as BB’s IT Manager for North America region, in New York. Alex had established the sponsor partnership with the MIT/CISR and had worked as the liaison between Banco do Brasil and the Center for Information Systems Research, pushing forward the digital transformation journey of the bank. He is also contributing with Ativos Gestão as a board member of its Fiscal Council and as a member of Audit Committee in Cielo. Alex is Graduated in Data Processing with specialization in Distributed Systems with Object Oriented Programming by Finatec/UnB. He is certified in Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) by ISACA and holds a MBA Degree by NYU Stern School of Business.
every department and back to the board. www.theinterface.net
61
With this movement, I could expedite and
Banco do Brasil’s sponsorship of the MIT
increase the speed of the decision-mak-
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
ing processes in the company. In fact, that
CISR (Center for Information Systems
was key to helping us during the pandemic
Research), which fosters and promotes
this year.”
the digital transformation of organizations.
Conceicao has overseen major digi-
They do a lot of research and share expe-
tal transformations at Banco and BBTS
riences and use-cases. They come out
having cut his teeth in IT while working
with a dozen of frameworks on how you
in North America for the bank in 2007.
could apply a digital strategy, right?”
Alex spent six and a half years in the
In 2013, Conceicao returned to
US – in New York – helping to establish
Brasil with the knowledge and exper-
a stronger US presence for BB. “During
tise garnered from his time in the US.
that time, I had the chance to establish
“When I came back, that’s when my
B BTS: a digital st rategy
digital transformation approach became
One of the key challenges Conceicao
stronger within the bank, because I came
faced when returning to BB in Brasil was
back to the IT area as a general manager
altering the mindset of the board and its
to promote a better IT governance
executives. “Most of them came from a
process and mitigate the risks of IT, while
different time when everything was trans-
increasing the value delivery. I pushed
actional and mechanical,” he explains.
harder in terms of digital transformation,
“There was no economic explanation
cultural change, new methods of develop-
or understanding of how digital could
ment and applications redesign. Lean IT
promote exponential growth for the bank.”
and agile methods were the key method-
Conceicao created a workshop for the
ologies I implemented, to make IT leaner
executive board, so they could under-
and lighter while making the value delivery
take a journey in terms of understanding
stronger for the bank.”
use-cases of other banks from around
“ One of the contracts BBTS implemented for Banco do Brasil was a customer collection center, offering a multichannel interaction process, which helped BBTS choose the best approach to reach customers through a variety of channels” — Al exa nd re C o n c e i c a o CIO, BBTS
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63
the world, and uncover what the bank should be doing to push further in its digital transformation. The workshop was co-created by Peter Weill, the Chairman of MIT’s CISR. One of the biggest projects Conceicao undertook at the bank was the Technology Transformational Program; a group of projects that reconstructed the platform of the bank through the applications, and the creation of components that could be regrouped to a more scalable architecture. “That’s what the market called SOA, or services-oriented architecture,” Conceicao explains. “We pretty much pushed that approach forward so that everything would be based on the customer journey. Instead of delivering a product based on the capacity or char-
develop. The first initiative was pretty
acteristics of the product, we changed
much the credit or loans and how we
the approach, and created a customer
served customers with loans that used
journey, and said, ‘What would be the
this new architecture we deployed. We
point of access of the customer with the
put those in different tracks although
organization, and how can we enhance
we could reuse the components every
that experience?’”
time we had to go back to a new project.
“Using those components, we broke
This was giving us speed and reduced a
them apart, and put them back together,
lot of effort in time and cost and in terms
in a way that could deliver a better expe-
of the development of other products.
rience. We put everything in a brand,
That happened during 2014 and 16’, and
new web interface, which was much
‘17, ‘18, I had the chance to transition to
more friendly. Then, we created a certain
other units fostering the bank’s efficiency
architecture of reference that searched
with projects for internal processes, cost
for every other product we started to
reduction and better backoffice support,
B BTS: a digital st rategy
until I joined BBTS, in 2019.” When Conceicao joined BBTS in 2019,
multichannel interaction process, which helped BBTS choose the best approach
he faced similar issues to that of the
to reach customers through a variety of
bank. The structure at BBTS was the
channels including an automated text
same as the bank before, with no agile
assistant, called VIC, which uses artificial
methods being employed. “We pretty
intelligence to interact with the customer,
much had to start something very similar,
and negotiate condition for the payments
but I could make it faster, because the
of debt. “We could really increase the
company is much smaller. I could push
speed of the communication to the
the culture to change a little bit more
customer and enjoy a greater precision
intensely, because there were fewer
in terms of approach and interaction,” he
projects than at the bank.”
says. “Out of more than 400K custom-
One of the contracts BBTS imple-
ers contact during the last two quarters
mented for Banco do Brasil was a
of 2020 VIC was effective in more than
customer collection center, offering a
46% of the times she’d interacted with the www.theinterface.net
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customer, avoiding the need of human support. And we are working to make it even higher.” Another big project Conceicao has overseen at BBTS is Hiveplace, which allows BBTS to serve consumers and suppliers of banking or data services making an easy, simple and cheaper integration. It’s focusing to adapt to the regulations of open banking and the data protection laws pushing the banks to create APIs, to ensure that they can be connected to any other institution that would like to share information – or if the customer requests to get their data back to another company or bank. “The financial organizations are really pressed by the law, because they don’t own the data,” he explains. “The data belongs to the customer. And for many years, they (the banks) believed that the data belonged to them, and they could use the data by themselves, or just for the benefit of the business. But that’s actually the other way around. It belongs to the customer and so they have to have consent to use that information in any way, from the customer. With that law in place, the landscape changed completely. Now, you need to interact with multiple companies, banks, or fintechs, so the data belonging to the customer can flow into that organization as the customer requests.” B BTS: a digital st rategy
Alex and his team developed a part-
are scaling it, so we are connecting more
nership with Skilltech to build the digital
companies, establishing agreements and
ecosystem Hiveplace that could be offer-
creating ample use. We are a subsidiary of
ing single integration with multiple peers.
the bank, and we are working with many
According to Conceicao, a bank that’s will-
different business fronts of the bank, but
ing to offer a product like a loan would be
also offering this platform to the market.
a provider in this hub. But a credit fintech,
From a security perspective, for instance,
say, would be consuming that API, while
we could check the records from a data-
also connected. “Hiveplace reduces a lot
base of customers as a proof-of-concept
“ I truly believe that banking-as-a-service will be a new frontier. You have to understand banking-as-a-service and foresee a forgo of the building full of bricks, with a safe inside. That cash handling may be quite down in the next coming years” — Alexandre C onceic ao C I O, B BTS
of the effort and time to integrate multiple
experiment just to be sure that we can
institutions. It’s a single integration that
double check the data. We connected to
you have with your product. Let’s say you
11 bureaus of databases of customers,
have an investment fund; you can make
and we check that data against the data-
that fund available for investment from
base the bank has sent to us. They started
multiple customers, allowing any fintech
with 5,000 customers just to check how
to connect. It’s a single integration instead
many we could confirm are positive and
of developing the integration to each one
authentic records, rather than fraud or
of those fintechs or start-ups. The plat-
the result of misleading information in the
form was launched this month, and we
records. We found almost 10% of it was www.theinterface.net
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fraud and we gave that back to the bank. And they liked that. It’s a good sign as it shall become a product or business in Hiveplace in a way that they could benefit from.” You don’t spend your entire career, with a single employer, unless something is working for you and with his time at BBTS and Banco drawing to a close, Conceicao is foreseeing new market opportunities within the openbanking space. “This is the future of the financial system and there will be many services, creating multiple lines of revenue,” he says. “With very low interest rates, banks are not making money as they used to do and that’s the biggest challenge. Banks’ payroll is still a high-cost item in the financial statements and we may see a reduction as they push to the digital landscape. Banks won’t be able to charge services as they used to do. “I truly believe that banking-as-a-service will be a new frontier. You have to understand banking-as-a-service and foresee a forgo of the building full of bricks, with a safe inside. That cash handling may be quite down in the next coming years. And that’s certainly how I see my next challenge and the next transition in terms of the business, and technology.”
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Directness and understanding How Mark Wright succeeds in a crowded marketing sector... Mark Wright, Director of Climb Online and a successful entrepreneur with a passion for business and a love of digital marketing (and the winner of Apprentice UK back in 2014) discusses the importance of speaking the right business language when operating in a crowded digital marketing sector.
Written by
Dale Benton
Directness and understanding: How Mark Wright succeeds in a crowded marketing secto r. ..
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Marketing is something that everyone thinks they’re an expert on, so how do you cut through that?
to understand which marketing strategy would be most appropriate for this business.
It’s an excellent question. It comes back
For example, if you’re working with a
to understanding the customer’s indus-
plumber that’s got a great personality,
try and business that you’re dealing with.
looks great on camera, something like
No digital marketing campaign is ever
YouTube ads or social media marketing
the same, and that’s because no busi-
ads with video of that guy talking about
ness is ever the same. The fundamen-
his products and services could be
tal flaw most digital marketers make,
phenomenal because he’s got something
or most people in the online world, is
his competition doesn’t, which is him, his
taking a cookie cutter approach, treating
personality. Then, you might have some-
every business like the same, and every
one that’s shy or hates being in front
campaign should be the same, when
of the camera, but is very creative, and
every business needs to be displayed
that person could do great testimonials,
and understood differently. What I
great imagery, and case studies on their
did very, very well early on is person-
website and boost it out through blogs or
ally get to know the individual that I’m
whatever it might be, their way.
dealing with, and their personalities and the personalities of their business
It’s understanding what’s going to work for the customer and what works best
Directness and understanding: How Mark Wright succeeds in a crowded marketing secto r. ..
for that industry. That’s why these cheap,
business. I said to her; “You’ve been
outsourcing it to India, cookie cutter
with other marketing companies before,
approach businesses don’t work. 99
and you failed every single time. Now, if
times out of 100, I go and meet a busi-
I presented you the same strategy and
ness and they tell me, “I tried marketing.
the same approach that you’ve done
It didn’t work,” but they’ve tried market-
over, and over again, we will fail again.
ing that’s worked for everyone else, but
“You have come to me and paid me
hasn’t had anyone understand what they
very hard-earned money to come to me
should be doing.
to let me do your marketing. Then, you’re going to ring me up and tell me how to
You work with clients, for example, Emirates, but also the local dentist. That’s going to be different conversations but both are wanting the same outcome, so how do you communicate with them?
do your marketing. Then, if I listen to
Well, I am a very direct person. I was very
pay me good money to do that for you?
upset with me because she didn’t feel
You must listen to me.”
the marketing approach I was displaying for her business was right for her
you, we’ll fail, because I am the expert. I am the person that is the best marketer, is the best company to go to, and I’m charging you. Now, if I was to listen to you and do your strategy, why would you
I don’t ring you up, if you’re a dentist, and tell you how to fit a crown, or whiten my teeth, or do this, because I don’t really know. I might have watched a couple of YouTube videos or heard about it down at the pub, but I don’t really know what I’m doing because I haven’t got the experience, I haven’t got the expertise. The funny thing about marketing is everyone is a bit of a bedroom DJ. They think they know their onions, so to speak, but the truth is that I’ve worked 11 years every day, as you say, day-in, day-out, working with thousands of companies. I get it. I understand what to do. www.theinterface.net
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I have to be quite blunt with people sometimes and just say, “Just leave me to it.” Because you don’t put your car in the garage with the mechanics and stand over him and tell him which wrench to use and which filters to change. You understand that that person has experience, qualifications, and the understanding of what to do. Generally, the biggest problems I’ve ever seen in marketing campaigns is owner-operators dipping their wick in, and going in and making changes and putting their two bucks worth in, or not spending enough money. Then, they tell us that marketing doesn’t work. If you hire experts, if you work with people, you’ve got to let them do their jobs and not tell them how to do their jobs. Because Steve Jobs was a great
question. Any company, any entrepre-
advocate for if you hire A-players, you
neur or any business person that stops
need them to let them be A-players. Let
innovating starts dying. The day you
them be creative. Let them do the things
start standing still, you start moving
that you hired them for, and that’s when
backwards, so you’ve got to constantly
you get the best results.
challenge yourself to stay ahead of the market. That’s listening to your
Forgive me if I’m wrong, there are thousands of marketing companies that could say and promise the world to clients, but what do you do to ensure that you stay ahead of them?
customers, that’s listening to tech-
Yeah, there’s thousands of compa-
VR? Is it going to be UX? What is it going
nies that do. This is the million pound
to be that’s going to be the next Google
nology. Understanding what the next Facebook’s going to be, what the next video content’s going to be. Is it going to be augmented reality? Is it going to be
Directness and understanding: How Mark Wright succeeds in a crowded marketing secto r. ..
AdWords for our sector? Our job is constantly investing in
whatever the third-party of the day is. There have been people that have come
research, constantly investing in new
into that market, that their products
products and new markets to make
have been so good, it killed the other
sure that we’re ahead of every other
competitors.
marketing agency out there. Once
My job at Climb Online is making sure
upon a time, you used to walk into a
that our product and our technology
phone shop and there were hundreds
gets our customers such good results
of phones on the wall. You’d go into a
that there’s no other option than to go
carphone warehouse, and you could
with us, and it kills those other thousand
pick up to 150 phones off the wall to be
competitors. That’s what I think about
your handset. Now, you walk into the
every day as I’m getting up and I’m going
shop, there’s three. You’ve probably got a
into work; “What am I doing today for my
Galaxy, you’ve got an iPhone, and maybe
customers that’s going to make me so www.theinterface.net
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essential to their business that everyone
on top of analytics and data. That’s the
has to use me?”
thing that I’ve seen over the last couple of years that’s really impressed me,
What are some of the current trends you are seeing in the industry?
and the thing that I think is going to be
We’re living in just the most fascinating
If you’re in business right now, under-
time in human history. The advances in
standing your customers and what they
technology that we’re seeing are just
want to see, what they’re feeling, how
unbelievable. You go back 70 years ago,
to talk to them is really important. There
they didn’t have the TV. We now have
is technology out there to do that much
the Internet. I still remember, in my time,
better than you’re doing it right now.
when we had dial-up Internet, and you
It’s the customers that are understand-
would have to sit there for 10 minutes
ing that technology and how important
while the box made all that noise, and
analytics are that are the ones that are
it’d take five minutes for a website to
going to be successful over the next
sort of click down the browser. We’re
few years.
the big game changer moving forward.
living in a time where machine learning, algorithms, analytics are just changing the game. Some of the stuff I’m seeing in analytics, things are being done online using data and analytics that we cannot even dream of. I’m seeing technology, that it just blows your mind in terms of data prediction and output that is just breathtaking. The stuff that the companies are collecting in terms of data, and using to segment audiences, supply advertising data, but also control what we’re seeing, and feeling through the media that we’re consuming, is just really intelligent stuff. I think we’re moving really quickly, and the thing that I’d want to back is being Directness and understanding: How Mark Wright succeeds in a crowded marketing secto r. ..
What have you seen in terms of the impact of COVID on the business landscape?
all using technology.
It’s been a very challenging period. At
ness side has really sorted out the
the same time, when I’ve reflected on
men from the boys, shall we say. It’s
it recently, I’m very grateful for where
sorted out the skilled sailors from the
we are and what we’ve learned. I mean,
people that were just floating around
for example, the amount of money that
on a wooden door. There’s businesses
we’ve discovered we were wasting
that are going under right now, and
on going to face-to-face meetings all
they’re saying it’s because of corona-
around the country, getting on a plane
virus. Jamie’s Italian went under about
here, a train here, a hotel there, when
a year ago, 12 months ago, right before
our sales process is now improved. It’s
coronavirus. If they went bankrupt right
now shorter. We’re doing more things by
now, they would blame coronavirus.
Teams, Zoom, et cetera, like this, saving
They didn’t go bad because of corona-
the company money. We’re closing
virus. They were just a bad business.
bigger deals. We’re closing them faster,
There are many companies that were
COVID has changed the world. Now, the health side of it is terrible. The busi-
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over-leveraged, that had poor market share, that had too many employees, that had bad technology, and now they’re blaming coronavirus. On the flip side, there are some companies like airlines that are just affected, holiday companies that are really affected by coronavirus, and I get that. Our job, as business people, is to understand who it is affecting and who it isn’t. At the start of this, it did affect my business a little bit, but we’ve improved our processes, we’ve learned from it, and we’ve understood what we can do better through technology, through working with different industries, different niches, to make sure that we’re more protected for the future. We’ve also understood that there was wastage in our business that we could improve on. Tough times are always going to be around. This year, it’s coronavirus. In
anyway, and your job is to be serious. It comes back to that honesty. Look at yourself and say, “Is this coro-
the future, it will be something else. We
navirus, or is this a bad business? Is this
can either sit back, furlough ourselves,
a bad employee, or is this a coronavirus
furlough our employees and blame the
problem?” I think this period has been
environment for failure, or you can tackle
a great time for really true reflection.
it head-on and you can learn from it.
Looking at yourself, looking at your busi-
If you can run a business right now, if
ness in the mirror and understanding
you can thrive right now, you’ve got an
what is good and what is bad. What do
incredible business. If your business
I want to change, and what do I want
makes it through this, you have some-
to keep? There’s been a lot of natural
thing for the future. If it doesn’t, you
cleansing in this period. I think a lot of
probably didn’t have a great business
people, whilst right now it feels really
Directness and understanding: How Mark Wright succeeds in a crowded marketing secto r. ..
ugly, in 12 months time, they’re going to
it is I was going to do, and I focused
have made some decisions or be in a
on that, day-in, day-out. I watched
totally different business or career, and
You-Tube videos about it at lunchtime.
be really happy and glad this happened
I worked until midnight about it, day-in
because sometimes, things always have
and day-out. It is really finding some-
a natural way of working themselves out.
thing that you enjoy, finding something you’re good at and passionate about,
What is your key to success?
and then just really working at it like
Find whatever it is you love to do, and
crazy. If you do that, it doesn’t matter
then get obsessed with it. If you want to
what tools you have behind you, what
be successful, you have to be obsessed
mentor you’ve got, this, that, and the
with being successful in whatever it
other, you’ll get there eventually if you
is. That’s the best advice I could give
stick at it long enough.
anyone. I learned, very early on, what www.theinterface.net
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Building an
Intelligent
Workplace
Written by
Andrew Woods
Today, smart buildings are becoming more dynamic and tailored to individual requirements, specifically within the office space. And with Gartner predicting that the greatest source of competitive advantage for 30% of organisations over the next few years will be their ability to creatively exploit the digital workplace, the pressure is on for businesses and building owners alike to invest in the latest technologies and techniques to provide even better user experiences. B ui l di n g an Intelligent Wor kp lace
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1 Employee Expectations
Research reveals that millennials would be willing to take a pay cut to work in a nicer office; and also consider quitting if their workplace is either outdated or inefficient. Employers need to keep up with the rapidly changing demands of employees in order to stay competitive when attracting and retaining talent. To achieve this, workspaces are now becoming more ‘aware’ through an ecosystem that allows buildings to dynamically adjust to the requirements of users through the convergence of IT and Operational Technology (OT) such as building management systems, energy and space management. There is an expectation in place that facilities and building management firms will adapt to meet employee expectations; if not, then they will fall behind.
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2 Collaboration and Productivity Many companies are leading the way with shared office facilities and hot desks on a part-time or multi-lease basis. With desk layouts developed by algorithms, companies are responding to the demand for mobility and flexible consumption in the modern digital workspace. By configuring open and closed spaces through noise-absorbing fabrics and glass doors, buildings are providing the privacy of individual offices within an open plan setup, meaning that staff no longer need to be confined by physical walls. Furthermore, data can be collected about user movements, machinery condition, energy usage and other activities within the building that can be used to optimise the user experience and enhance collaborative processes further. For example, mobile phone controlled AV screens, wafer-thin sensors that can detect occupancy and trigger the air conditioning system, ongoing measurement of internal environmental conditions including temperature, humidity and CO2, and indoor mapping and navigation platforms. B ui l di n g an Intelligent Wor kp lace
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3 Sustainability
With 72% of office workers revealing that a sustainable environment is important to them, embracing this new movement has become a competitive necessity. Through clever environmental design which optimises space, consumption and resources, smart offices can reduce the overall environmental impact and save money and resources along the way. From autonomous energy systems that shut off heating and lighting when rooms are vacant to systems that monitor and optimise the use of water and electricity, these offices can identify their most wasteful aspects and also lessen the pressure on the national grid.
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4 Making the Business Case Â
Smart buildings in themselves are opening up new revenue streams. But the cost of IoT implementation may be perceived as a barrier to its adoption and development. Many smart offices are built from scratch so existing workplaces need to be retrofitted with technology. And although there is an upfront investment or cost to retrofit an existing building, once installed, additions such as optimised lighting make running these spaces much more cost-effective to the building owner.
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5 The Role of the MSP Â
Managed Service Providers have a valuable potential role to play beyond providing Digital Communications and collaborative infrastructure including high speed internet lines, Wi-Fi and cloud based collaboration technology such as Microsoft Teams. The MSP can work with an emerging ecosystem of expert IoT infrastructure, device and applications companies to deploy IoT sensor devices, capture and flow data to cloud based applications for insight and action. The MSP can become the agent of new efficiency gains for buildings and their users, generating new income streams and increasing user satisfaction. B ui l di n g an Intelligent Wor kp lace
Conclusion People are the largest investment of an organisation, and as new technologies evolve to make their lives easier and safer, it is important to look at which technologies, strategies and approaches will create the most positive, productive and efficient impact for your office and users. IoT technologies, effectively overlayed and combined with existing digital infrastructure and collaboration initiatives, potentially deliver new data insight to further improve and enhance the intelligent workspace and productivity. An ecosystem of expert IoT companies working with incumbent MSPs can be an effective design, deployment and management mechanism for tapping into the intelligent workspace opportunity.
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