Interface magazine – Issue 18

I s s u e 1 8 • w w w.t h e i n t e r f a c e . n e t

Falling in love with fitness, on demand.

Expertise, engagement and support

Banking on a positive partnership

Creative innovation through systematic design thinking to solve human problems – S angya Singh, Chief Experience Officer and Director of Product Management, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights at Microsoft

Listen to our best of 2020 podcasts

Gayle Carpenter

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James Shanahan CEO, Singapore, Revolut

Rob Galbraith

‘The most interesting man in insurance’

Welcome to issue 18 of Interface This month’s cover exclusive features Sangya Singh, Chief Experience Officer and Director of Product Management, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights at Microsoft who takes us ‘behind the scenes’ as she reveals how Microsoft achieves design-thinking-driven digital transformation…

“The need for transformation is greater now than ever before. We are facing problems around the world that can be solved only through innovation: whether it is unaffordable and unavailable health care or energy usage that outpaces what we can support, to education systems that fail many students, to companies and organisations whose traditional setup are being disrupted by new emergent technologies or demographic change or global pandemic like COVID-19. All these problems have people at their heart. They require human-centred, creative, iterative and practical approaches to find the best ideas and solutions that will democratise the benefits of technology and bring in equity to all.

Design thinking is just such an approach to innovation. It requires a different type of leadership style and culture in place; an effective innovation culture is one where we are willing to set aside our initial conception or understanding of what the problem is…”

Plus! We have exclusive executive insights from Moneta , Les Mills and Fiserv, as well as the Top 5 Financial Security Challenges of 2020 and in-depth guide to AI strategies.

There’s a lot to get through!

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 Enjoy the issue!

ndrew Woods, Editor in chief A content@b2e-media.com

Contents

6

Microsoft

20 Moneta

4

30

36 Fiserv

AI Strategies

66

Marsh UK

48

Les Mills

FIVE FINANCIAL SECTOR SECURITY CHALLENGES OF 2020

84

92 HPE w w w. t h e i n t e r f a c e . n e t

5

Microsoft: Creative innovation through systematic design thinking to solve human problems Sangya Singh, Chief Experience Officer and Director of Product Management, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights at Microsoft takes us ‘behind the scenes’ as she reveals how Microsoft achieves design-thinking-driven digital transformation…

Written by

Andrew Woods

Produced by

Craig Daniels

Mi c ro soft : Creat ive innovat ion t h ro u gh systemat i c d es i gn

www.theinterface.net

7

T

he need for transformation is

by looking at the competitive landscape

greater now than ever before.

and gaps in our products and have had

We are facing problems around

success as we’ve added value. At a large

the world that can be solved only through

company like Microsoft there is a need

innovation: whether it is unaffordable and

to continue to do that and balance that

unavailable health care or energy usage

with discovery-based innovation. True

that outpaces what we can support,

innovation comes about when you apply

to education systems that fail many

a systematic methodology like design

students, to companies and organiza-

thinking to discover and solve unartic-

tions whose traditional setup are being

ulated and latent user needs. Leaders

disrupted by new emergent technolo-

now look to innovation as a principal

gies or demographic change or global

source of differentiation and competitive

pandemic like COVID-19. All these prob-

advantage.

lems have people at their heart. They

Design thinking used to be the process

require human-centered, creative, itera-

of just creating designs potentially limited

tive and practical approaches to find the

to design discipline. Today it is broadly

best ideas and solutions that will democ-

used as a systematic process that is reli-

ratize the benefits of technology and

able and repeatable for creating solutions

bring in equity to all.

utilizing creative problem-solving tech-

Design thinking is just such an approach

niques where all disciplines participate.

to innovation. It requires a different type

It is not about validating preconceived

of leadership style and culture in place;

hypotheses but to help experimenters

an effective innovation culture is one

learn something new from each itera-

where we are willing to set aside our initial

tion. It is powered by thorough under-

conception or understanding of what the

standing and through direct observation,

problem is. Where we lean in with curi-

of what people want and need in their

osity and observe and study ourselves

lives and what they like or dislike about

on how users experience the problem in

the way particular solutions and prod-

the real world; a process that allows us to

ucts are made, packaged, marketed,

develop empathy for their situation and

sold and supported. Simply put, it is a

then we can figure out what creates value

discipline that uses the designer’s sensi-

for their customers. We have all built the

bility and methods to match people’s

next version of our service or product

needs with what is a technologically

Mi c ro soft : Creat ive innovat ion t h ro u gh systemat i c d es i gn

“ The first dimension is if it’s real.

Is there a market for it? Is this addressing a real customer need?

How will you add value to users?”

— S angya Si ngh C hief Ex perience Officer an d D i re c to r of P ro duc t M anagement , Dy na mic s 365 C usto m e r I n s i ghts at M i c ro s oft

GET THE GUIDE

FIND OUT MORE Video: Return to the workplace

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9

Move to the cloud with the people who know how.

We embrace the power of change to create 360° value by putting cloud at the core of your business. Our approach puts your business needs first, creating industry-specific solutions to get you moved to—and benefiting from—the cloud now.

Let there be change.

Mi c ro soft : Creat ive innovat ion t h ro u gh systemat i c d es i gn

feasible and viable business strategy that

and uncertainty caused by the current global

converts into customer value and market

pandemic. My team released three high-

opportunity.

value solutions: Return to the workplace,

I have led multiple strategic efforts

Hospital Emergency Response Solution

at Microsoft over the last 18 years and

and Regional Emergency Response &

every time they’ve created something

Monitoring solution that organizations

truly innovative and differentiated, it was

could rely on for their day-to-day opera-

the outcome of the team going through

tions. In each of these cases, even when

the human-centered discovery process,

time was of crucial essence we always

numerous iterative cycles and hard work

had what we called ‘client zero’ from

of prototyping, testing and refinement.

day one that we engaged with multiple

I was recently asked to lead creation of

times a week through all the phases of

solutions for healthcare organizations,

exploring the problem, creating multi-

local & state governments and global

ple concepts and prototypes and finally

organizations dealing with the disruption

narrowing it down to our first alpha we www.theinterface.net

11

“ But true innovation comes about when you apply a systematic methodology like design thinking to discover and solve unarticulated and latent user needs” — S an g ya Si ngh Ch i ef Exp erience Officer and Dire c to r of P ro d uct Ma na gement , Dyna m i c s 365 C u stomer Insights at Micros oft

wanted to start the release with. Similarly,

while still balancing and addressing key

I contributed to the new revolution we are

customer asks and gaps in our products.

seeing around remote work or the “new

So, let’s take a quick sneak peek into

norm” and the use of Microsoft Teams

what a systematic approach looks like. It

by releasing modern powerful Microsoft

is divided into 3 phases; Explore, Create

Power Platform horizontal apps in Teams

and Implement. I am so enthusiastic and

to spark users’ and organizations’ imag-

passionate regarding the explorative and

ination around how to increase their

creative element of the first two phases.

tech intensity and digitize their busi-

The Exploration phase is where you need

ness processes in Teams. Prior to that

to fall in love with the problem at hand and

my team reimagined and delivered how

not jump quickly to designing the solution.

time management surfaces on mobile

This involves the use of lots of different

and desktop web evolve to meet the

techniques to remove your own biases by

needs of our users across work and life.

We managed to do all these innovations

• observation and interviews with all stakeholders

Mi c ro soft : Creat ive innovat ion t h ro u gh systemat i c d es i gn

FIND OUT MORE

Video: Outlook on the mobile web

• creating stakeholder maps

generate ideas. The best results come

• decomposition of the interview into

when it is an inclusive exercise by all

insights and patterns of user needs • journey maps for jobs to be done across multiple user types and

disciplines with the combination of giving folks focused individual deep-thinking exploration to coming together and brain-

• clearly documenting main and lead

storming and building on each other’s

user types and their emotional and

ideas. Brainstorming, storyboarding,

functional needs.

sketching and decomposition of user

The outcome of this phase is clearly

feedback are a few techniques to apply.

articulate target users (mainstream users,

Then we group the ideas into themes

lead users and extreme users), emotional,

to see concepts developing and start

functional and latent needs and to iden-

doing quick early prototyping to get user

tify opportunities to go after.

feedback. We’ve learned through vari-

The second phase is Create where you brainstorm together as a team to

ous efforts that quick early prototyping and storyboarding and getting weekly www.theinterface.net

13

feedback from users early is an absolute must as it allows us to course correct

spark emotional connection.

Then we have our classic

and fail forward fast as we might not have

Implementation phase where we build

understood user needs well or risk creat-

the actual release candidate, documen-

ing high-fidelity prototypes that we fall

tation, marketing site and partner & field

in love with. The goal here is to test for

strategy. There are times my team and

learning and not test to validate your idea.

I have identified the needs, and created

We iteratively develop the concepts with

a product that fulfills it and it still doesn't

user feedback and end up with an alpha

take off as well as expected. In some

prototype after several iterations. That

cases, it didn’t take off because there's

alpha prototype then goes through visual

no emotional connection. So, aesthetics

designs and aesthetic exploration to

does play a role. Great design satisfies

Mi c ro soft : Creat ive innovat ion t h ro u gh systemat i c d es i gn

have formed in school and their personal life and bring it to work for easy user adoption and frictionless onboarding.

So, you can see that innovation is not a random spark of brilliance but a systematic process through multiple iterative phases with clear activities and outcomes defined that is reliable and repeatable so we can create innovation on demand. both our needs and our desires. Time and

So why is it hard to innovate and why is

again we see successful products are not

everyone not able to do it? Firstly, design

only first to market but first to appeal to us

thinking is hard because it is unnatural to

emotionally and functionally. I hear a lot

put your bias aside. It is unnatural to not

that maybe enterprise software doesn’t

fall in love with your idea. It is unnatural

need the consumer gradable experience.

to conclude what you have been explor-

But we’ve learned that this is not true

ing is not worth developing. To over-

as the demographics change on us and

come that you have to apply a systematic

people demand similar easy-to-use expe-

process and framework that the team

riences across both work and life. In fact, I

goes through that is proven to remove

would argue it is a great strategy to lever-

bias. Secondly, it’s important to develop

age the user experience habits our users

a design thinker’s mindset across all www.theinterface.net

15

“ The Exploration phase is where you need to fall in love with the problem at hand and not jump quickly to designing the solution” — Sa ngya Si ngh Chief Ex perience Offic e r an d D i re c to r of P ro duc t Management , Dy na mic s 365 C usto m e r I n s i ghts at M i c ro s oft

disciplines and up and down your lead-

every detail of the experience to reduce

ership chain. A great design thinker is

cognitive overload and user adoption.

empathetic and can imagine the world

They experiment and iterate fast and are

from multiple perspectives and can envi-

very collaborative. They are not afraid

sion solutions that are inherently desir-

to put some out that is not perfect and

able and meet explicit and latent needs.

polished to learn. They lead with curiosity

They are optimistic, no matter how chal-

and not judgement. We know significant

lenging the constraints are in that at least

innovations don’t come from incremen-

one potential solution is better than the

tal tweaks, we need leaders and indi-

existing alternatives. They obsess about

viduals with a mindset that can explore

Mi c ro soft : Creat ive innovat ion t h ro u gh systemat i c d es i gn

FIND OUT MORE Designing high value solutions a v a i l a b l e i n M i c r o s o f t Te a m s t o transform business processes in the digital workspace.

constraints in creative ways. And lastly,

secondary and latent needs. The second

I learned a useful framework we learned

dimension is if you can win. Can we

at Mastering Design Thinking at MIT; the

develop a solution that is technically

three-innovation challenge framework

feasible and also better than what the

to think about what constitutes truly

competition or whatever the user is habit-

successful innovation. Real-Win-Worth

ual to today? The third dimension is if it

it framework. The first dimension is if

is worth it. Is there a viable and sustain-

it’s real. Is there a market for it? Is this

able business model? Will we be able to

addressing a real customer need? How

make profit or gain market or user share

will you add value to users? It requires

to pay back all the investments we are

you to talk and observe actual custom-

making. Here we also think about the

ers; mainstream users, lead users and

environmental sustainability impact of our

extreme users across different market

product and service and its supporting

segments to understand their primary,

ecosystem. www.theinterface.net

17

My current role sees me working with AI in the customer data platform and customer experience space, helping organizations glean insights into their customers. Microsoft customers are large enterprises who through many years and acquisitions have data about their customers locked into many different data silos. It can be customer interaction data from different transactional systems like point of sales, customer service, marketing automation to behavioral signals coming from the company’s website and mobile app. That data can reveal how customers are experiencing your product and services individually and holistically. Today, that data is all over the place and they don't have one unified view that every team can leverage as they make business decisions to better serve their customers. We take those data silos and through our AI powered Dynamics Customer Insights product, unify all this data in a very seamless way and generate insights. What I am most excited about is the opportunity of how we democra-

Sangya Singh Chief Experience Officer and Director of Product Management, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights at Microsoft Chief Experience Officer and Director of Product Management, for Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights enables organization to unify and understand their customer data and harness it for intelligent insights and actions.

Seasoned leader with over 27 years’ experience across consulting and building world class products and services like Power Platform, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, Outlook and Sharepoint.

Known for being a creative product innovator and multiplier of talent that leads with human centered design thinking and optimizes for fast pragmatic iterative business results towards a great vision.

tize AI in a responsible way so regular business users can take advantage of it without being a data scientist. It’s this time to value and empowering the business users with data and AI that is easy to adopt and earns their trust is what excites me to come to work every day.

Credits and work consulted for this article: • C layton Christensen on Jobs to be done framework • Tim Brown on Design Thinking • MIT on Mastering Design Thinking • R ita Gunther McGrath on Discoverydriven planning • A ccenture and Avanade Human centered design studio and partnership

Mi c ro soft : Creat ive innovat ion t h ro u gh systemat i c d es i gn

Trust is a priceless commodity and is by far the most powerful human emotion our Microsoft brand stands for.

I am so happy to be contributing and evangelizing the Chief Experience Officer leadership role; a unique brand of Product Management senior leaders that will become more and more critical and common as leaders leverage them as part of their differentiated strategy to deliver successful and disruptive innovation.

Video:Microsoft Customer Data Platform

FIND OUT MORE www.theinterface.net

19

Banking on a positive partnership Moneta Money Bank's CIO, Jiri Mizera, describes the successes the company has enjoyed, in spite of the pandemic, thanks to its collaboration with Fiserv

Written by

Nell Walker

Produced by

Alex Page

Mo n eta M oney Bank

www.theinterface.net

21

T

he past six months has been a

with their own plans for improvement and

time of change for us all, but the

expansion when many others have had

digital banking sector has experi-

to press pause. Now, with the business

enced an unexpected shove in the direc-

world beginning to see the light at the end

tion it was already moving in. Lockdowns

of the tunnel, banks are actually thriv-

all over the world meant businesses

ing; this is certainly the case for Moneta

remained shut for weeks or months,

Money Bank, a trailblazer in the market.

taking all exchanges of money online,

We spoke with CIO, Jiri Mizera, about

and even now, many bricks-and-mortar

the company’s digital transformation,

businesses which have since reopened

and its collaboration with Fiserv which

aren’t accepting cash. Banks and digi-

has helped it to stay on course during a

tal financial services have been able to

pandemic.

reap the benefits of this, and forge ahead

Mo n eta M oney Bank

Moneta is the fourth largest bank in

the Czech Republic in terms of number

strategy and the ongoing improvement

of clients, serving around one 1,500,000

of the bank of the future, in its own right;

retail customers, as well as 10,000 small

currently, it’s full steam ahead with creat-

businesses and entrepreneurs. Formerly

ing refinancing and mortgage services

GE Money Bank, Moneta went IPO in

online – basically, almost all of the prod-

2016, and its main goal was to become

ucts in its portfolio can be offered either

a digital innovator in the Czech market

fully online, or as a hybrid digital/physical

– something it has certainly achieved.

service.

Now, it provides extensive digital program

Moneta has tackled digital transforma-

and job transformation information, and

tion in the most successful way it knows

was the first bank to introduce current

how – it started with a vision of what it

accounts online in the region back in

wanted to deliver, and set up strategic

2017. Moneta is deeply focused on digital

goals to achieve that, tackling challenges

“ We are very customer-centric, which is proven by our rankings” — J i ri Mizera

Moneta m o n ey ban k

www.theinterface.net

23

Partners in Possibility Collaboration drives business results and consumer value in commerce and financial services.

Proud to partner with Moneta Money Bank

Mo n eta M oney Bank

fiserv.com

as they appeared. It was never a case of just hoping that positive results would come to the business; the strategy is continuously being updated, and the though process is always ‘what do we want to achieve?’, followed by ‘how can we enable that?’.

Mizera himself joined Moneta in 2017 as the Head of Commercial Digital Banking.

For almost two years, he worked closely with entrepreneur clients, mostly, and implemented business unsecured loan, overdraft and credit card services, fully online, for both existing and new Moneta customers. “It was very appreciated by them,” says Mizera, humbly. “When that project was finished, it was agreed that I’d be promoted to Chief Strategic Change Officer. ” In March this year, Mizera was promoted once again, to CIO.

A sustainable outlook The biggest task in the last two years,

Moneta uses something called a multi-

for Mizera, has been the implementa-

card solution, which means it moves all of

tion of a new card management system

its processing into the Fiserv data centre,

platform for all cards related operations,

integrated with Amazon Web Services

with Fiserv as partner. Moneta is an early

cloud, where Moneta is moving the major-

adopter of top-tier technologies such

ity of its operations, providing something

as ApplePay or GooglePay; meanwhile,

close to software-as-a-service. “With that

the Czech Republic is one of the lead-

approach, we have reduced our running

ing countries in e-shop penetrations and

costs dramatically,” Mizera explains. “It

contactless payments usage. Therefore,

also allows us a great platform with all

the shift has been a huge challenge.

the advantages of other banks who use www.theinterface.net

25

“ It has been an honour to work with the professionals at Fiserv” — Ji ri Mi zera Moneta money ba nk

the same platform.” He admits that this

country only has three EVs per 10,000

wasn’t his own idea – it was down to the

people; in France and Germany, it’s

board of directors, especially the CEO

three per 1,000 people. One of the major

– but it feeds into Mizera’s future-orien-

issues is that there aren’t enough charg-

tated vision for Moneta. “Sharing an infra-

ing points across the country, so despite

structure with top-tier banks across the

the interest of civilians and businesses,

globe is really big thing for us, and, overall,

it’s not a viable choice for many. This

reduction of costs between banks is quite

is where innovators like Moneta come

innovative. When Fiserv explained whole

in – the company has made the choice

concept, we were definitely in”

to use electric vehicles for the sake of

That future-orientated outlook extends

the environment, which is precisely the

beyond the internal workings of Moneta

kind of bold move which makes broader

and into the way it physically operates.

change and will push those in charge to

Interestingly for a bank, it is the company

install more charging points, thus push-

with the biggest electric car fleet in the

ing the EV market in the Czech Republic

country – around 70 cars. “The decision

and allowing it to catch up with the rest of

behind that was mainly to do with sustain-

Europe in its adoption.

ability,” Mizera says. “Cost comes into it

It’s this attitude which has helped

too, but the sustainability aspect is reso-

cement Moneta as the most digitally-ad-

nating across Europe, so it’s a wise solu-

vanced, forward-thinking bank. “We are

tion for the environment.”

very customer-centric, which is proven

Interest in electric cars (EVs) as been

by our rankings,” Mizera says. “We really

mounting, in the Czech Republic, but

tackled our digital transformation from

they’re far from an everyday sight on the

a positive angle, with the goal of deliver-

road. According to Delta-EE.com, the

ing something, and set up a strategy to

Mo n eta M oney Bank

achieve that. That strategy is regularly

the agile way of working that changed –

updated, made possible by how agile we

for the better – led by customer feedback.

are as a business.”.”

We were able to implement the support of government guarantees, thanks to

The impact of COVID-19

our drive towards agile working, and we

Of course, a digital transformation never

achieved amazing market share of 15% -

really ends – it just continues to evolve. At

more than double our usual market share,

the beginning of this year, before COVID-

which is roughly six per cent.”

19 became something that changed all

Moneta’s success during COVID-19

of our lives dramatically, Moneta had a

doesn’t end there; its partnership with

strong, clear road map in mind; when

Fiserv allowed Moneta to implement its

the pandemic hit, surprisingly – and

FirstVision migration – its move to the

impressively – little of that changed.

cloud, as touched on earlier – even during

“Strategically, the plan remained very

this global crisis. “It was something we

much the same,” says Mizera. “It was just

chose as one of our strategic priorities,” www.theinterface.net

27

explains Mizera. “The change itself has been huge, for several reasons. Firstly, there were more than 28,000 mendays on call, and more than 200 people – during peak times – which, of course, is pretty challenging. We were delivering whole solution impacting 28+ of banking systems around nine agile teams delivering integrated demos, every six weeks.

I believe that was one of the reasons why the implementation was successful, because we were always able to deploy, on time, a workable solution. That was a good experience.”

There were challenges, of course, but Moneta foresaw these, and set up the window for migration a long tine in

and we didn’t know how the situation was

advance. Another boon was that Fiserv

going to go, but we needed to support

has huge experience in transformations

our clients. Obviously, we decided to

such as these, and helped Moneta to

go ahead with the migration but run it

run, essentially, dress rehearsals – four

completely off-site – which, I believe, was

training sessions in preparation for the

a first for Fiserv. After my son’s birth, it

migration weekend – for the teams. There

was definitely the most challenging time

were, in Mizera’s words, “a thousand

of my life! But it was really successful,

tasks which needed to be done” between

and it has been an honour to work with

Friday evening and Monday morning,

the professionals at Fiserv and the whole

but the company and its trusted partner

team. It was really ‘fire of our life’ as my

achieved what it wanted to achieve.

boss Albert Van Veen once said.”

“I have to give credit to everyone involved – we all agreed that it was almost

The results

unbelievable that we managed that inte-

Post-implementation, FirstVision has

gration in given conditions,” Mizera says.

proven stable – a primary concern after

“The pandemic added a lot of pressure,

a huge implementation. After watching

Mo n eta M oney Bank

the new system closely for the first

accepted. A lot has changed, more

few months, everything has worked

recently, because we’re able to sign

out smoothly, and Moneta continues to

contracts digitally and accept much more

receive strong support from Fiserv. As an

advanced credit scoring. And, of course,

added bonus, Moneta is already seeing

when you consider how COVID-19 has

the financial benefits of having made this

pushed remote approvals, that has defi-

change, and will continue to do so – after

nitely changed customer nature. We have

all, the push towards digital banking has

a huge online portfolio, now, so we’re

only been accelerated by COVID-19.

entirely ready for the continued change in

“Going digital has created a huge change in the target operating model,

customer needs.

“This transformation isn’t finished – it

and in customer behaviour,” says Mizera.

won’t ever be – and we’re always adjust-

“Even in the Czech market, we had a lot

ing to what the customers need accord-

of new banks, in the past, who were able

ing to their feedback. We take that feed-

to offer, for example, current accounts

back very seriously, and this is why I

online but they couldn’t be fully online

believe we will continue to be successful

because the digital signature was not

in the future.” www.theinterface.net

29

Risk versus impact the seven sins of enterprise AI strategies

Ri sk ve rsus impact t h e seven sins of enter p r i s e A I st rategi es

With virtually all companies looking at AI, what are some of the key risks they need to consider before implementation?

Written by

By Jeremy Barnes, Element AI

www.theinterface.com

31

1– DISOWNING THE AI STRATEGY

Jeremy Barnes

This is probably the most important

Element AI

sin. In this case, a CEO and board will say that AI is a priority, but delegate it to a different department or an inno-

T oday virtually all companies are forced to innovate and many are

vation lab.

However, success is not based on

excited about AI. Yet since imple-

whether or not a company uses an inno-

mentation cuts across organisational

vation lab—it’s whether they are truly

boundaries, shifting to an AI-driven

invested in it. The bottom line is that the

strategy requires new thinking about

CEO and board need to actively lead an

managing risks, both internally and

AI strategy.

externally.

This blog will cover “the seven sins of enterprise AI strategies”, which are governance issues at the board and executive levels that block companies from moving ahead with AI.

2- IGNORING THE UNKNOWNS This happens when companies say they believe in AI, but don’t reach a level of proficiency where it’s possible to identify, characterise and model the threats that emerge with new advances.

Even if it is decided not to go all-in Ri sk ve rsus impact t h e seven sins of enter p r i s e A I st rategi es

on AI innovation, it’s still important that

increased risk in exchange for impact

there is a hypothesis for how to address

but it will come as part of the continuous

AI within a company and an early warn-

cultural enablement of an experimental

ing system so the decision can be

mindset.

re-evaluated early enough to act. Being izational preparation and lead time as

4- STARTING WITH THE SOLUTION

leadership.

This is the most common sin. It’s impor-

a fast follower requires as much organ-

tant to be able to understand the specific problems you’re trying to solve, because AI is unlikely to be a solution for all of them, and especially not blindly implementing a horizontal AI platform.

Have the conversation at board level to ensure that an overarching AI strategy, and not simply quick-fix solutions, is the priority.

3- NOT ENABLING THE CULTURE The ability to implement AI is about an experimentation mindset. That and an openness to failure need to be adopted across the company. Organisations need to keep in mind that AI doesn’t respect organisational boundaries.

Most companies want high-impact, low-risk solutions that could simply lead to optimising, rather than advancing new value streams. It is hard to accept www.theinterface.com

33

5- LOSE RISK, KEEP REWARD As mentioned in the third sin, it is natural for companies to want to implement AI without any risk. But there is no reward without risk.

A vendor motivated to decrease risk will also decrease innovation and ultimately impact by making successes small and failures non-existent. AI creates differentiation only for companies that are willing to learn from both their successes and their failures. A company that doesn’t effectively balance risk in AI will ultimately increase its risk of disruption.

6- VINTAGE ACCOUNTING Attempting to fit AI into traditional financial governance structures causes problems. It doesn’t fit nicely into budget categories and it’s hard to value the output.

The link between what you put in and what you get out can be less tangible or predictable, which often makes it harder to square with existing plans or structures.

Model the rate of return on AI activities and all data-related activities. This demands that these activities affect profit (not just loss) and assets (not just liabilities).

7- TREATING DATA AS A COMMODITY The final sin concerns data and its treatment as a commodity. Data is fundamental to AI. If data is poorly handled, it can lead to negative impacts on decision-making.

Data should be treated as an asset. The stronger, deeper and more accurate the dataset, the better models that you can train and more intelligent insights you can generate. But, at the same time, when Ri sk ve rsus impact t h e seven sins of enter p r i s e A I st rategi es

personally identifiable information is stored about customers, it can be stolen, risking heavy penalties in some jurisdictions.

You need to build towards data from a use case rather than invest blindly in data centralisation projects.

So, now you know what not to do.

Here are some of the simple things that you can do to move ahead. First, talk to your board about how long it will take to become an AI innovator, modelling it out, rather than simply discussing it conceptually.

Second, prepare for change and put in place monitoring. AI shifts all the time, so you’ll want to regularly check in to adjust and pivot your strategy. It’s important to develop a basic skill set so you can redo planning exercises with your board.

Third, model out risks in both action and inaction.

But don’t model them in a traditional approach, which is to push risk down to different business units and then compensate those units for reducing risk rather than managing trade-offs. Instead, view those tradeoffs in terms of risks and rewards, and start to think about how you are accounting for the assets and liabilities of AI. Ultimately, you want to start to model what is the actual rate of return for all these activities that you are doing. Then benchmark it against what you see in other companies from across the industry, and that will give you a good picture of the current situation and where to go. www.theinterface.com

35

Expe r ti se, engagement and sup p o r t

Expertise, engagement and support Ana-Maria Sturzu, International Head of Issuing at Fiserv, explains why the business was the perfect fit for MONETA Money Bank's digital transformation during a pandemic

Written by

Nell Walker

Produced by

Kiron Chavda

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37

W

hile the uncertainly and upheaval of a global pandemic could have

deterred MONETA Money Bank from the execution of their digital transformation strategy, the bank chose to adapt and move forward, achieving success with help from global financial services technology provider Fiserv. The expertise of Fiserv and the use of a “virtual team” approach enabled MONETA to achieve their goal of reduced dependency on customized systems, as the bank moved to a Software as a Service solution using the FirstVision™ platform from Fiserv.

Teams from both organisations worked to complete the migration using multiple video-conferencing technologies, rather than being co-located as normal.

Ana-Maria Sturzu is responsible for the global strategy of issuing product solutions at Fiserv in all regions outside the

migration is different, because each client

US and was at the front line of enabling

is using different technology platforms

MONETA's new direction. Her team

and has unique product offerings, but

manages a technology platform that spans

there are common elements. We have a

the entire customer finance spectrum,

long-standing history in managing port-

from credit, debit, prepaid and commercial

folio migrations behind-the-scenes, with-

cards to consumer loans, instalments, and

out consumer disruption. We're able to do

POS finance, along with a comprehensive

that thanks to the experience and exper-

suite of surround solutions including orig-

tise of our people.”

inations, financial crime, risk management and digital solutions.

Sturzu explains, “Each and every client Expe r ti se, engagement and sup p o r t

That expertise makes it fairly straightforward to identify the pain points of the customer, because, despite the

challenges that come alongside working with a variety of customers, in Sturzu's words, “the pain points are pretty much consistent across the industry. We are very familiar with the types of challenges the financial sector has – they're the result of platforms that aren't fit for the future, and they're impeding the client’s growth strategy. Also, there are regulatory and compliance changes that each

“ It’s important to add that transformation never ends. It’s an evolving strategy that needs to be reviewed and updated, constantly”

and every financial institution has to

— A n a- Maria Stu rzu

accommodate every year. Sometimes,

I nte rn ati o n al He ad of I s s ui n g at F i s e r v

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39

the CTOs and CIOs of the industry

chaotic time for the world, with the COVID-

decide the best way to move forward is

19 virus shutting down business of every

outsourcing the processing to a global

type since March, Fiserv has continued to

payments processor like Fiserv.”

put its clients first. “We're privileged to be

Every financial institution is at a differ-

in a position to reinforce the message and

ent stage in its digital transformation,

the commitment we have to serving our

but each one is certainly forging ahead

clients,” Sturzu says. “We've been able to

with said transformation; it's an inevita-

prove that we're a resilient global strate-

bility. “It's important to add that trans-

gic provider that can help ensure business

formation never ends,” Sturzu adds.

continuity, even in this stressful situation.

“It's an evolving strategy that needs to

We were able to carry on with the migra-

be reviewed and updated, constantly,

tion of MONETA in the midst of the lock-

based on the most recent changes in

down and were able to process the entire

consumer behaviour, emerging trends

move remotely.

and regulatory changes.” Both technol-

“We're also in a position of strength

ogy and finance are incredibly fast-mov-

because we've demonstrated that we have

ing sectors, after all, and Fiserv exists to

the right platform and the right delivery

enable that ongoing digital transforma-

model to address client needs that have

tion, irrespective of where a customer is

emerged during this period.”

in its journey, helping them to accelerate their own business.

There are, and will continue to be, some positive changes as a result of this very difficult time. For one thing, the changes

Surviving and thriving

that were already beginning to happen in

At a potentially very difficult, uncertain,

finance have been given a push in the right

“ MONETA’s tech-savvy approach and the ability to be agile and adapt to the new situation helped propel them over the line at an unprecedented and uncertain time” — A na - M ari a St u rzu Inte r nat ion al Hea d of Issuing at Fis erv

Expe r ti se, engagement and sup p o r t

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41

direction; lockdown boosted digital trans-

speed up their delivery and solutions. And I

actions, and even now, with the world tack-

think we'll be seeing an increased demand

ling a 'new normal', cash usage remains

in the marketplace around flexible finance

reduced. Innovation is moving apace, and

solutions for customers. We're likely to be

financial trends have been fast-tracked;

in an economic downturn for some time,

Fiserv knows this, and has its finger on the

and consumers need that flexibility so they

pulse, keeping itself on the forefront of this

can manage their cashflows and still be

change to ensure it remains flexible and

able to make payments, remotely, without

responsive.

any hassle.”

“There are certain areas where emerging market trends and consumer behav-

The partnership

iour changes have been accelerated,” says

The Fiserv team spent time with

Sturzu. “Definitely digital strategy, digital

MONETA to understand its current path

enablement and engagement with the

and strategy and determine how best

consumer. These were already at the fore-

to move the transformation forward.

front of CTOs' minds and they continue to

“Then, we defined a specific solution

accelerate because face-to-face contact

that met their needs,” Sturzu explains.

in banks is likely to remain extremely

“We agreed on the solution and its bene-

limited. The pandemic reinforced for many

fits and moved quickly onto an execu-

of our clients the imperative to continue to

tion process. We started migrating the capabilities they had on their in-house

“ When lockdown started, we stayed on plan and delivered a smooth migration, and MONETA started to incur savings immediately” — Ana- M a ri a Sturzu Inter nat ion al He ad of Issuing at Fis erv

Expe r ti se, engagement and sup p o r t

platform into our hosted Software-as-aService solution, called FirstVision.”

When MONETA decided to migrate to FirstVision, the shift was a significant one; it required changes in over 27 systems and 150+ API services and involved 250+ resources and the migration of over a million cards. “For any transformation of a running business, data transformation and migration are key elements,” says Ramakant Akhairamka, Programme Director at Fiserv. “This is a highly

complex exercise, but the migration

working individually from their homes,

was managed in a way that was seam-

and feedback from MONETA was over-

less to the customers. The program is

whelmingly positive. “Our partnership is

also helping MONETA achieve its objec-

successful due to multiple factors,” says

tive of being a leading digital bank in the

Sturzu. “Firstly, we're able to support

market by providing cutting edge digital

MONETA's strategic transformational

solutions to its customers, such as real-

agenda, which was set in 2016. Secondly,

time onboarding. MONETA’s tech-savvy

they were able to reduce their technol-

approach and the ability to be agile and

ogy platform ownership costs, and thirdly,

adapt to the new situation helped propel

they now have access to a broader solu-

them over the line at an unprecedented

tion set to support their clients and their

and uncertain time.”

business growth strategy.

The FirstVision migration was delivered on time, with most of the team involved

“Moreover, in the last six months since they joined our platform, the management

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43

Expe r ti se, engagement and sup p o r t

“ MONETA and Fiserv worked hard to make that happen. The message, the idea, the approach and the mindset were very positive and collaborative, which is what made this such a success for both of us” — A n a- M aria Stu rzu Inte rn ati o n al H e ad of I s s ui n g at F i s e rv

decision of outsourcing was further positively reinforced. When lockdown started, we stayed on plan and delivered a smooth migration, and MONETA started to incur savings immediately. They saw the benefits of having a global solution, through which they can enable new capabilities and solutions for their customers, and my team worked directly with MONETA’s team to enable additional solutions after they went live on the FirstVision platform.”

“I have to give credit to everyone involved – we all agreed that it was almost unbelievable that we managed that integration in such a short time,” Jiri Mizera, CIO MONETA Money Bank says. “The pandemic added a lot of pressure, and we www.theinterface.net

45

didn't know how the situation was going to go, but we needed to support our clients.

Obviously, we decided to go ahead with the migration but run it completely off-site – which, I believe, was a first. It was definitely challenging, but was really successful, and it has been an honour to work with the professionals at Fiserv.”

Ongoing engagement Something that's very important to Sturzu, and to Fiserv in general, is that the close relationship it develops with clients don't end the moment the migration is complete – that's actually where the hard work begins. “You need to keep it going to be relevant to them and continue to meet their needs. We have an ongoing engagement model that is supported by our relationship management on the ground, and we're constantly in a two-way dialogue with the client. That's ever-evolving.”

It's satisfying to see that MONETA and Fiserv both feel positively about their relationship. “We're so happy when we're able to deliver a smooth and successful migration, supporting the client throughout the process,” says Sturzu. “MONETA and Fiserv worked hard to make that happen.

The message, the idea, the approach and the mindset were very positive and collaborative, which is what made this such a success for both of us.”

Expe r ti se, engagement and sup p o r t

Ana-Maria Sturzu International Head of Issuing Solutions Ana-Maria Sturzu is the Head of International Product division at Fiserv.

Ana-Maria is leading the development and innovation strategy of consumer finance issuing solutions offered by Fiserv to Financial Institutions across APAC, EMEA and LATAM. Since joining Fiserv in 2017, she started the transformation of Fiserv’s Global Issuing proposition – First Vision- delivering an API-enabled platform, enhancing the developer’s experience, creating an open architecture and launching innovative digital solutions designed to delight consumers across the globe. Her mission statement is to help clients revolutionise their consumer finance business, delivering cutting edge technology and tuning into the consumer expectations.

www.theinterface.net

47

Falling in love with fitness, on demand Written by

Dale Benton

Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

How connectedness and a community are vital to bringing the world together through fitness and exercise...

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49

I

n what is almost a redundant statement, due to the very obvious nature of it, technology has taken over

every facet of the modern world. From the way we eat (ordering a takeaway or watching a YouTube cooking tutorial) to the way we purchase the very clothes on our backs (via H&M, Zalando etc.), technology is right there as an enabler.

In fact, in 2020, global retail sales are projected to amount to around $26.tn dollars, with an estimated 1.9bn people worldwide purchasing goods (including food) or services online. Go back just one year to 2019, and e-retail sales surpassed $3.5tn worldwide. The fact of the matter is, technology has made this possible and it will continue to drive these numbers to almost unimaginable levels. The really fascinating thing about this however, particularly in a year beset by lockdowns and restricted movement outdoors, is how many of these trans-

actions were made from home and how much of that $3.5tn has been spent in the palm of our hands?

Demand for fitness In all the talk of global markets and industry being disrupted and revolutionised by technology we often focus on those trillion dollar ones because they are the traditional ‘big hitter’ industries. Over Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

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51

the past decade however, one industry

174mn global members. It’s clear to see;

sector has seen incredible growth all over

the health and fitness space is not to be

the world and technology (to no surprise)

sniffed at. One of the biggest, if not the

has seen that growth take on a whole

biggest, ways in which technology has

new level. In 2019, the global fitness and

redefined the fitness industry is through

health club industry exceeded $96bn.

on-demand services. Like everything else

There are more than 201,000 health and

in our lives, we want it and we want it now.

fitness clubs worldwide and more than

But for Jean-Michel Fournier, CEO of

Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

Les Mills Media, it’s important to remem-

Being able to be part of a community and

ber what people want with their fitness

believing in something bigger than you

experiences before getting lost on

is way more motivating than exercising

working out how to provide that to them

by yourself and not being able to share

through technology.

what you achieve or what you’re doing.

“We are more and more connected,” he

It’s about trying to connect with people

says from his home gym in San Francisco.

who have the same goal, or same expe-

“Connection in fitness is very important.

rience or someone who can advise you.

So that community is very important and with technology now you’re able to be engaged and supported by your community, anywhere, anytime.”

That sense of a shared community, through health and fitness, defines the very core of Les Mills. Headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, Les Mills is on a mission to create a fitter planet not by making people work out but by helping people fall in love with fitness so that they want to work out.

Les Mills provides workouts that are licensed by 25,000 partners in 100 countries around the world and has a team of 140,000 certified instructors to deliver the likes of BODYPUMP, BODYCOMBAT and GRIT workouts to millions of members. With the future of fitness merging between physical and digital, the company has led the charge in delivering immersive training and workouts on demand. This is where Fournier, a fitness fanatic and a student of Silicon Valley, looks to continuously drive engagement www.theinterface.net

53

“ Being able to be part of a community and believing in something bigger than you is way more motivating than exercising by yourself and not being able to share what you achieve or what you're doing� — J e a n - M i ch e l Fourni er C EO, Les M ills Media

Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

with members and it starts with that

one question; how can we help people

sense of connectedness and love affair

get better access to fitness services. The

with fitness.

answer is through technology.”

“Actually, I don’t really care about tech-

Fournier believes that technology is the

nology. Technology for me is an enabler.

key to democratising fitness services,

Technology’s here to help improve the life

making it truly available to everyone. Les

of our community,” he laughs. “It’s really

Mills offers all of its fitness programs and

my very first company where I’ve seen

workouts, together with advice and FAQs,

how we help people to live a better life.

through a simple and easy to use mobile

To feel better when they wake up in the

and tablet app. This app will capture all

morning, exercise and fall in love with our

kinds of data from its members and their

fitness classes, where people are doing

activity and feed it back to them in a way

BODYPUMP™ and BODYCOMBAT™ on a

that is personalised to each user. While

daily basis and they share their pictures,

we are competitive by our very nature

their achievements, their feelings through

and we do crave the shared community

the community. It’s so exciting when I see

that Fournier speaks of, we all have our

that and that’s what feeds me, honestly.”

own personal goals and our own achievements that we strive for. But how can an

Fitness for pleasure, business or luxury?

app provide personalised experiences

The health and fitness space is notori-

world? The answer is, again, technology.

ously costly and often seen as a luxury,

Specifically Artificial Intelligence and

pricing people out entirely. So surely tech-

Machine Learning.

nology and on demand services would

for well over a million users all over the

“The technology allows us to think

simply follow suit? Fournier recognises

about things that are perhaps within our

this, recalling the unfortunate passing

subconscious that impact our motivation

of his father over the past few years and

to exercise,” says Fournier. “When are we

how that had made him rethink the role of

most motivated to exercise? How does

technology in fitness. “Before my father

our sleeping habits impact our perfor-

passed away, he told me that he wished

mance? At what point during a day am I

he could go back and be in shape and feel

going to get the best results? These are

proud of his physical fitness,” he says.

all things that AI and Machine Learning

“That really impacted me. It made me ask

will allow us to think about and understand www.theinterface.net

55

better. It’s really opening everyone’s eyes and making that process of falling in love with fitness that little bit more seamless.”

The democratisation of fitness Machine Learning, while not a new concept, is still in its infancy in terms of global implementation. Fournier believes that we are “at the beginning of a tsunami” when it comes to Machine Learning

“ Actually, I don’t really care about technology.

Technology for me is an enabler.

Technology’s here to help improve the life of our community”

and that when it does become a norm, personalisation will come naturally. He compares the concept of personalisation in fitness to that of other streaming on-demand services like Netflix.

Personalisation in those platforms can only stretch as far as presenting films that you like based on your activity, or personal lists you create. In fitness, the variables are so sparse and unique to each individual that a “one service to many” approach simply will not work.

“Technology in the fitness spaces

— J e an - M i ch e l Fourni er

creates a sense of accountability with

C EO, Les M ills Media

both the community and the coaches” says Fournier. “You are starting to see more and more coaching platforms out there and we are doing some experimentation with this at Les Mills, where people have a coach in their pocket to help them get the most out of LES MILLS™ On Demand. Now they are connected with the coach and the coach is going

Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

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57

to communicate directly and check on

help to create this connection between

your performance, on your motivation

your data and your community. There’s

and how you are feeling. They look at the

going to be this golden triangle of infor-

data, see that you’ve done the workout

mation here.”

and congratulate you for it. Then you feel proud and motivated to push forward.”

Fournier admits that it also works both

The benefits of technology are clear to see; the personalisation of the user experience comes directly from it, so

ways, thanks to those extremely differ-

Les Mills should just go ahead and throw

ent variables; “Say you haven’t done it,

all of its eggs into the technology basket

the coach can ask you why. It’s because

right? Wrong. Les Mills, since the very

you’re tired, or you’ve hurt yourself. The

beginning back in 1968, is a business

coach can then work with you to adapt

built on the foundations of family and

the workout. So that’s going to create this

community. Right from the top with Phillip

accountability and technology is going to

Mills and his wife Jackie, through to their

Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

children Diana and Les Jr who also hold

sure you have a good understanding of

senior positions in the company, there

the mission,” says Fournier. “At the end of

is a culture that looks at fitness services

the day if there are people out there tout-

and exercise, marrying that with technol-

ing the next best tech thing in fitness and

ogy to inspire a love of fitness across the

they’re being more successful, good for

world. The technology will never drive

them. At the end of the day the mission for

the business, the community will. This in

Les Mills is not to conquer the world, or to

itself brings an interesting challenge to

be a dominant company. At the end of the

the table, yes Les Mills wants to serve

day, we are here to really help people.”

the world and help each and every one

Les Mills is driven by people, for people.

of us, but it’s also a business and a busi-

That is abundantly clear. Personalisation

ness will also be driven by revenue and

is one challenge that the company faces

bottom line results through innovation.

and for the most part succeeds in, but

“So how do you innovate? You need to be

what about the actual user experience? www.theinterface.net

59

Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

How easy is it for someone to log in to

architecture while working with the best

the CMS, search through the copious

CMS platform out there is critical. Around

amounts of workouts and then stream

four years ago, coinciding with when I

those workouts in a truly seamless expe-

came into the business, we laid down

rience? Les Mills, like many businesses

a very strong and robust platform that

right now, works to provide an omnichan-

can support millions of recurrences and

nel experience for users so they can

millions of subscribers, to be sure we can

indeed access it anytime and anywhere.

provide the quality that our users need

But omnichannel is a word that has

regardless of their situation.”

fallen into the trappings of many other keywords in technology right now. How

Digital convergence

does the company look to move away

The lines between health and fitness

from simply following a trend and offer a

and digital are increasingly blurring and

true omnichannel experience?

reaching a point as to where we may

“It’s hard,” says Fournier. “Not every-

not be able to think about exercise and

body has an internet connection at 100

fitness without a livestream, at home

or 200 megabytes. Not everyone has

experience. As with any technological

the same bandwidth and capabilities to

shift, there is also a generational shift

stream. These days there are a number

running alongside it. It isn’t simply a case

of successful platforms out in the world,

of older generations of gym users and

which makes it easier. Having stream-

fitness professionals suddenly pivoting

ing capabilities and adding a strong

to digital or being alienated as the world

“ H uman nature will always go back to convenience and people will want to go back to the convenience of a fitness club or a class” — J e a n - M i ch e l Fourni er C EO, Les M ills Media

www.theinterface.net

61

around them becomes an increasingly

to digital, and we were able to support

digital one. As we have seen in many

these clubs in helping their members to

other industries, it is not that black and

stay active and engaged through a gener-

white and it comes as no surprise that this

ous offer of 60-days’ free access to LES

is something that Les Mills understands

MILLS On Demand. Thanks to the great

more than most.

work we did in previous years in building

“If someone wants to enjoy our content

a robust platform, we could absorb the

on an app, they can. If they want to enjoy

resultant millions of extra recurrences

our content in a live streaming class, they

into our platform and keep the right level

can. If they want to enjoy our content in a

of stability.”

live class with a real instructor they can do it as well,” says Fournier. “At the end of the

Connectivity and the community

day we are a content provider. What we do

For Les Mills, it has always been about

is create amazing fitness choreography

the community and when that community

linked to music and we do so in a way that is truly accessible to all and for all.”

In 2020, the world was forced to stand still as it became gripped by the coronavirus pandemic. With lockdowns and restrictions put in place to protect the lives of people the world over, this closed a lot of doors for the likes of restaurants, retail stores and yes; gyms and fitness centres. One could be forgiven for thinking that Les Mills, pioneers in the streaming on demand space for fitness, were well prepared for this and suffered minimal impact from this. “Our customers are those fitness clubs and the community centres that provide Les Mills classes to their communities,” reflects Fournier. “So we were hurt as much as they were when lockdown came in. Everybody moved Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

is forced to stay indoors and to stay

classes. They wanted to talk with their

away from the physical connectedness,

instructors live, so we did a lot of live

the focus changes slightly. Connected

Q&As that were pretty amazing.”

community has always been a corner-

Fournier points to one example where

stone of Les Mills, but in these difficult

the BODYPUMP Program Director, Glen

times the company changed tact and

Ostergaard, presented a live streaming

became much more connected to its

class to over 25,000 people worldwide.

community than ever before. “I’m very

Just a few short years ago, this would

proud of the Les Mills team because we

have been unprecedented even for Les

really focused on what was important.

Mills and yet here Glen was, leading

The focus was really on responding to the

one of the largest live streaming fitness

customer needs,” beams Fournier.

classes in the world and exceeding all

“People wanted more connection, so we generated some live streaming

expectations.

Elsewhere, in the absence of live

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63

classes, Les Mills needed to think about

evolution prior to 2020, this evolution

how it could support its 140,000+

and convergence of fitness and technol-

fitness instructors around the world

ogy will continue at an incredible pace.

and enable them to connect with the

As we talk of new norms, what does that

people. “These people aren’t just the

actually mean for Les Mills? Can it ever

faces you see on our apps and work-

go back to what it was before? “Some

outs, they are the community who run

people enjoy exercising from home.

the classes in centres and in gyms,”

Some people are enjoying working out

says Fournier. “They understand fitness,

more outdoors and hiking or going to the

they understand health and wellness

park and doing their exercise routines

and they are a part of the whole commu-

there. And you will always have people

nity, so we started to connect and to

missing their fitness club,” says Fournier.

create a networking effect, connecting

“Human nature will always go back to

the expert to the community that has a

convenience and people will want to go

need. It has been quite amazing to see

back to the convenience of a fitness club

this level of engagement and communi-

or a class.”

cation with instructors and seeing how they can adapt.”

“I firmly believe that club operators need to evolve and continue to focus on their members. There are an increasing

The future of fitness

amount of members who enjoy exercis-

Right now, the future and what it will

ing outside the club as well. You see the

look like for many remains uncertain.

evolution right now, more and more are

The last year has taught us to rethink

embracing digital, creating some chal-

our perceptions of how industries can

lenges and motivating people to exercise

and should operate and has forced a

outside of the club as well as in it. It’s a

lot of businesses to rethink their oper-

pretty big shift and one that’s going to

ations. In some cases, this has created

continue, so we have to continue to look

great opportunities and change for good.

at our offering and how we can continue

For fitness and exercise, which as we

to serve our clubs, instructors and

know was already going through its own

community in the best way possible.”

Le s Mi l l s : Falling in love wit h f it nes s , o n d ema n d .

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65

Marsh UK – the new normal and associated risks WRI T T EN BY PRODUCED BY

Ma rsh UK

Andr ew Woods Al ex P ag e

Left: Rachel Hoyle, COO of UK Corporate at Marsh

Interface magazine interviews Alistair Fraser the CEO of UK Corporate at Marsh and Rachel Hoyle, its COO, regarding the massive transformational change at the insurance brokerage, that seeks to help enterprises survive and thrive during a global pandemic‌

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Alistair Fraser, CEO of UK Corporate at Marsh

Ma rsh UK

C

OVID-19 has turned the world on its axis.

The health and wealth of nations have been hit on a global scale not seen for a lifetime.

Governments, enterprises and the public at large have had to reconfigure their operations and behaviour amid

an ongoing crisis with no clear exit strategy in sight.

Marsh is an insurance broker that excels in the expertise it provides to its clients: risk. When a client turns to Marsh to assess and manage associated risks with its operations, it trusts Marsh to provide the best fit, in terms of insurance and insurer. Marsh – with over 35,000 colleagues operating in more than 130 countries – is the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser and helps clients quantify and manage risk whilst also unlocking new opportunities for growth.

The notion of ‘risk’ associated with any human or business function gathers a sharp clarity when the world is gripped by an invisible killer. It is down to enterprises such as Marsh to provide some element of comfort and assurance to its clients amid a rapidly changing environment. To this end, Marsh published the Political Risk Map 2020: Mid-Year Update, providing risk ratings for 197 countries across nine perils covering the security, trading, and investment environment from January to July 2020. One key finding from the map found that all 197 www.theinterface.net

69

Building digital solutions that add value The digital revolution shows no signs of slowing down and traditional markets, such as insurance, are embracing digital solutions now more than ever before. Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) specialises in underwriting and claims handling, providing brokers and clients with a wide range of product capability and capacity for specialty insurance and reinsurance markets worldwide. The company is committed to advancing and enhancing its digital offering to brokers and clients, having developed a number of key digital platforms and initiatives to maintain its service levels in all situations.

“We have three pillars; commercial insurance, specialty insurance, and re-insurance,” explains Carol Baker, Head of Customer Proposition. “Through our commercial insurance pillar we typically have more interaction with our insured clients in a retail environment. That’s where we started to really look at developing digital solutions for our customers that could also add value across our specialty products.”

LSM has recently launched their new global website in multiple languages. This website acts as the start point of a broker’s or client’s journey, providing them with relevant, dynamic information in the country where they operate.

Another example where LSM enables brokers and clients to access dynamic information is through its Risk Reduce and Risk Appetite portals. Clients are given a 360-degree view of all risk activity from the moment LSM binds a policy. “It has a data-driven dashboard for the customer, which connect to their Liberty contacts, as well as their broker contacts, and allows them to interact through the site,” says Baker. “The broker has a view of this as well. It’s the same risk data, but it presents it differently for the audience. All of our risk engineering

WRI T T EN BY D al e B en t on

and claims activities, every kind of service point we have with that customer in terms of working with them on improving their risk, all of that interactivity is accessed centrally through the portal. It’s important for us to have really compelling value around our digital offerings.

The broker articulates that to the customer as part of the Liberty proposition. When you are a customer of Liberty, you don’t just get the policy. You don’t just get standard services. You get this added value throughout the customer lifecycle.”

In 2019, LSM was recognised by Placing Platform Limited (PPL) as the top syndicate for placing risks electronically.

LSM works closely with a number of key strategic partners, one of which is Marsh; the global leader in insurance broking and risk management. Through a shared partner insights programme, which sees both Marsh and LSM gather information from across both organisations, the two can continuously identify opportunities to improve service and communication. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this saw the two collaboratively develop a Virtual Rooms service. “Our relationship teams would have weekly meetings and provide feedback on performance, how we were communicating with them, and what issues they were finding both in the market and with customers - around support required because of the restrictions enforced by COVID,” explains Baker. “Through this we were able to discuss the concept of Virtual Rooms and work closely with them to identify further opportunities, ensuring that what we develop remains relevant, is fit for purpose and will allow us to continue to grow, not just from a competitive standpoint, but from a relationship standpoint as well.”

rated countries experienced an increase

Alistair Fraser, the CEO of UK Corporate

in their risk scores between January and

at Marsh, from Marsh’s Bristol office. “Our

July 2020, compared to 30% in the same

role is to advise our clients on their insur-

period in 2019. Of those that increased

ance and risk requirements so that they

in score, the magnitude of the changes

can manage risk in a more controlled

was also much greater in 2020. In 2019,

way, helping them to protect their busi-

97% of increases were small (0.1-0.4), com-

ness, roll out new products and services,

pared to 7% in 2020. Further, 40% of

and continue to thrive.”

score increases have risen between 1.0 and 1.4 so far this year.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s economic

Marsh’s Corporate business provides risk management advice, insurance brokerage and claims advocacy services to

and social impacts are driving significant

mid-size and large organisations through

shifts in global political risk — introducing

its extensive network of 20 UK offices.

new dynamics and accelerating existing

Unsurprisingly, for a prominent figure

geopolitical megatrends, such as trade

at a company intrinsically linked to risk,

protectionism and the transition to a multi-

Fraser wants to discuss the COVID-19

polar world order.

pandemic. “As a business, there are lots

“We segment our service delivery to

of dynamics to a pandemic, not least to

clients based on their size and needs

a changing world,” he says. “Risk in itself

around risk and insurance,” explains

is changing for companies. If you look

“ I f you look at some of our clients who perhaps historically did a lot of sales and revenue through physical assets, they’ve had to pivot and do it through digital platforms now, which brings with it, different types of risk” — A L I S TA I R F R A S E R , C E O O F U K C O R P O R AT E MARSH

Ma rsh UK

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73

at some of our clients who perhaps

across the UK got involved, took a posi-

historically did a lot of sales and revenue

tive attitude, and actually, I don’t think

through physical assets, they’ve had to

our service to our clients dipped at all. If

pivot and do it through digital platforms

anything, I think we’re probably closer

now, which brings with it, different types

to our clients now than we were previ-

of risk. You’re not just insuring the build-

ously because we are all engaged in

ing; you’ve got cyber risk, you’ve got

the video conferencing type technology.”

reputational risk, you’ve got client data risk plus many others.

“The pandemic has resulted in some very

Like many business leaders there have been some COVID-related shifts in operations and process that could

interesting conversations with clients

still be here long after the pandemic has

as they’ve adapted to rapidly evolving events.

been successfully managed. “I’ve said to

As their insurance broker and risk adviser, our role is to help clients to navigate what are unprecedented, and at times quite frightening, times.”

So, how did COVID-19 affect Marsh and its operations, while it was looking out for its clients? After all, Coronavirus sees no barriers to its spread. Fraser explains how Marsh mobilised when the impact of COVID-19 first hit: “Firstly, we mobilised through remote working extremely quickly and extremely efficiently. We’re very fortunate in that we’re an organisation that can transact its business remotely and already had a great deal of the infrastructure required already in place. On reflection, I think if we had tried to do something like that without the threat of a pandemic over us, it would have been a more challenging task. All of our colleagues Ma rsh UK

my executive team that if we go back to

meeting with clients for certain aspects

working the way we always worked, then

of our work, but for getting our experts in

we’ve failed. I think we’ve learned some

front of clients, the new world is provid-

brilliant new skills in terms of using video

ing us with a huge opportunity. I also think

conferencing to get access to each other

the pandemic has brought us closer as

across the country, and also getting acc-

a company.”

ess to our clients in a more efficient way.

The ability to shift operations in the way

I think our clients are more receptive to

Marsh has requires an agile and robust

having ad hoc meetings by video confer-

digital architecture, the result of an ongo-

encing rather than waiting for the formal,

ing transformative programme of digital

in-person meeting. I don’t think we can

change at the company. “Look, our focus

ever fully replace the formal, in-person

(the UK business) always has to be:

Video: Working With Kindness

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“ T he pandemic has resulted in some very interesting conversations with clients as they’ve adapted to rapidly evolving events” — A L I S TA I R F R A S E R , C E O O F U K C O R P O R AT E MARSH

Ma rsh UK

where can we be better? Where can we make the colleague experience better?

How do we make the client experience better? How can we be operationally better? How can we reduce inefficiency so that we can reinvest in talent and grow our existing talent? We’ve started to look at this in conjunction with our Executive Committee and with Rachel Hoyle, my COO, who’s been instrumental in driving this. A key focus is, where have we got inefficiencies in our process? And how can we use digital and technology to remove those inefficiencies?”

“It’s much more than a digital transformation,” says Hoyle from her Manchester office as she outlines the transformational programme at Marsh. Hoyle details two global initiatives currently running at Marsh: Operational Excellence (OpEx) and Digital. “You cannot realise one without the other,” she explains. “Within OpEx are operational reviews, whether it be reskill alignment, BPI (Business Process Improvement) and enhancing offshore capabilities to digital technologies and solutions. These will create new business processes and customer experiences, fundamentally changing how we operate, which in turn enhances the colleague experience and provides value to our customers.” www.theinterface.net

77

A question often raised at the start of

these wants and needs, we are embrac-

such a process, is ‘Why are we doing

ing change and encouraging growth.

a digital transformation?’ “Regardless

A well-executed digital transformation

of the current climate, our clients and

will ease the burden on many fronts. It

colleagues are ever evolving and chan-

can streamline operations without com-

ging, and so should we,” Hoyle explains.

promising client service, and increase

“As an organisation, by responding to

employee efficiency while reducing

Ma rsh UK

overhead costs.” Fraser echoes this: “It’s

do that? Our trading system, end -to-end;

about how do we make ourselves as effi-

are all the stages necessary, and if they

cient as possible, remove duplication of

are necessary, do we have the right infor-

effort, improve the client experience, and

mation in it? So, it’s that constant review

improve the colleague experience. So

of that, and then down to what client facing

that’s right down to how we do our invoic-

technology we want to deliver for clients

ing. How can we use robotic software to

that isn’t just a fascia for the business,

Video: Marsh: A Digital Transformation

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79

but actually has real value to the client. Quite often companies rush to put out client facing technology because they feel they should have to, but does it really add value to the client experience? If it doesn’t, then there’s no point in doing it from my perspective.”

Marsh’s digital strategy focuses on emerging ideas and technologies, innovation, data labs, new digital products and insurtech collaboration, strengthened data, the client digital experience and analytics tools.

The key focus, according to Hoyle however, is ensuring, at the heart of it all, that there is an “excellent experience for both colleagues and clients”. End to end trading platform benefits for colleagues include: automated workflow, single data entry and manual rekey -ing reduction, the pooling of client records in one single place and accurate market intelligence. Clients benefit from improved client service, quicker binds, standardised documentation and swift invoice production, Hoyle enthuses: “Digital solutions free up colleague time to focus on client services and the higher-level tasks, giving them increased job satisfaction and career development.”

Marsh’s transformation programme is fuelled by a collaborative spirit both internally and externally. “We have global relationships that extend to a local presence,” Hoyle explains. “Internally we have the Digital & Data Community, which allows us to build connectivity among colleagues sharing good practices, updates on local and global tools and initiatives, and enlists us as advocates for deployment of new digital applications into our business areas. What’s key throughout all of this is that we learn and grow together along the journey.”

Ma rsh UK

“ Regardless of the current climate, our clients and colleagues are ever evolving and changing, and so should we” — R AC H E L H OY L E , C O O O F U K C O R P O R AT E MARSH

Of course, digital transformation is a journey and not a destination. “It’s made huge improvements and we continue to prod and press and get feedback on what does, and doesn’t, work,” Fraser explains. “It all comes back to how, ultimately, we improve the colleague and client experience. And actually, if we improve the colleague experience, the client experience will improve anyway. There’s no replacement for the human connection in an advisory business like ours; we will always have that. It’s how we use digital technology to make the advisory piece as beneficial to the colleague and the client.”

For a business like Marsh, data is everything and a datadriven strategy runs through every aspect of its organisation to make informed decisions for clients. “I think the opportunity now is how do we digitise that data so we can use it both locally and internationally to help www.theinterface.net

81

clients across the world,” Fraser. “Quite often we’ve had pockets of data in different parts of the world and people haven’t seen it or had access to it. Digitising it makes it far more accessible and beneficial for everybody.”

“We are a business that bases itself on doing things the right way,with integrity,” says Fraser. “And for me, that’s absolutely sacrosanct for any business that I want to operate with. I joined Marsh 13 years ago not only because of Marsh’s size and its expertise, but the human factor.

The business has a great soul, which is down to having fantastic experts all over the world who can support clients, colleagues, and communities alike.”

Ma rsh UK

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Five

Financial Sector Security Challenges of 2020 Written by

Dale Benton

The ‘Financial Sector, Threat Landscape 2020’ report revealed five top security challenges that the financial sector are currently facing, the risks of future threats, and how to spot these risks before it is too late. Here, Interface magazine takes a closer look…

Fi ve Fi n ancial Sector S ecur it y Ch a l l en ges of 2020

D O W N LO A D The ‘Financial S e c t o r, T h r e a t Landscape 2020’ report

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85

We are no stranger to the notion of cyber security, but one industry that suffers the most from cyber security threats is the financial secretary. Key security measures within the sector have evolved dramatically with the likes of key codes, two factor authentication, voice ID, behavioural analysis, one-time passcodes, protective messaging and digital fingerprinting.

One Ransomware

Amazingly, the term “ransomware” was

will be given back or decrypted even if

only added to the dictionary three years

you pay up. Worse still what's stopping

ago. In that time however, ransomware

them coming back to attack you again?

has increased dramatically in terms

The report found that once an attack is

of the frequency of incidents and the

made, the bad actor will sell the details on

range of methods used to conduct them.

to their associates to go after the victim

Let it be known that the attackers are

again after deployment, because the

extremely sophisticated. Once they have

payload can still be there, activated and

your data, who’s to say that your data

deactivated.

Fi ve Fi n ancial Sector S ecur it y Ch a l l en ges of 2020

Two Internal Threats

The report takes a look at the Verizon,

most common issues when it comes to

2020 Data Breach Investigations Report

the notion of insider threats. Next time

(DBIR) where it shows that ‘employees’

you forward an email or send one to the

mistakes account for roughly the same

wrong person/recipient, click on the

number of breaches as external parties

wrong mailing list, that’s a misdelivery. In

who are actively attacking’ the organisa-

the interests of fairness, misdelivery is

tion. Now isn't that terrifying? Misdelivery

almost always accidental and non-mali-

within the company, by which informa-

cious, but the effects can be devastating.

tion has inadvertently been sent to the

Especially if sensitive data is inadvert-

wrong person, stands tall as one of the

ently shared to the wrong recipient.

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87

Three App Developments

There’s an app for that. There really is.

and do not have contingency plans in

Apps in the investment and finance space

place to mitigate the effects of a cyber-at-

have grown substantially in 2020 which

tack. What that means then is personal

is of course a good thing, as the ability

information of app users is relatively

to invest online is quick and easy, and

easy to steal and sell. This can be done

accessible to all. But, with demand comes

by creating duplicate fraudulent apps to

rushed development. Many of these apps

trick the user. On these duplicate apps,

were developed quickly and quite frankly

the imagery and language of the genuine

are not ready for cyber-attacks. So that

app is mirrored. Once the personal infor-

means no two-factor authentication, no

mation is supplied, all the money involved

protection from appropriate regulations,

(real and virtual) is up for grabs. And so

are not patched or maintained properly,

begins the circle of ransomware life.

Fi ve Fi n ancial Sector S ecur it y Ch a l l en ges of 2020

e www.theinterface.net

89

Four Third-Party Risks

Few organisations work on their own.

essential to business operations and a

Quite rightly too. Think about third

lot of these third parties share IT systems

parties that they use. Vendors, part-

and even sensitive information through

ners, email providers, service provid-

legal teams so it goes without saying that

ers, web hosting companies, law firms,

third parties may very well be an open

data management companies, subcon-

backdoor into your financial systems for

tractors. The list goes on. They are all

attackers to infiltrate.

Fi ve Fi n ancial Sector S ecur it y Ch a l l en ges of 2020

Five COVID-19

Yep, even cyber crime has been

attacker wanted to sabotage a company

affected by COVID. It is that unavoida-

or steal data, they would target the busi-

ble. Cyber criminals are continuing to

ness itself. They’d aim their sights at the

target the financial sector even during

website, the social accounts, the logins

the pandemic. There has been quite

and all their vulnerabilities. In response,

the spike in cyber attacks on banks,

organisations had counter measures in

financial organisations and the third

place. But now, you just need to target a

parties connected to them. Going back

single remote worker and the house of

to simpler times before COVID-19, if an

cards comes tumbling down. www.theinterface.net

91

HPE GREENLAKE:

DIVING DEEP INTO THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE We speak to Erik Vogel, Global Vice President, Customer Experience at HPE to see how the global, edge-to-cloud Platform-as-a-Service company is transforming the customer journey with GreenLake to provide an ‘everything-asa-service’ offering…

WRI T T EN BY PRODUCED BY

HPE

Andr ew Woo d s Cr ai g D ani els

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93

or many sectors and enterprises,

the experience we are creating for our

the notion of a customer jour-

partners aligns to their expectations,”

ney, has been virtually non-ex-

explains Erik Vogel, Global Vice Pres-

istent until fairly recently. The digital landscape turned all of that on its head however,

ident, Customer Experience at HPE. Vogel leads the Customer Experience

and now the delivery of a seamless and

Area at HPE with regards to its Green-

painless customer journey can be make-

Lake solutions. “About a year-and-a-half

or-break for every business right now,

ago, I became part of the HPE GreenLake

regardless of sector. No more so, than in

team,” he tells us. “We’re really focused on

the sales of the very hardware, software

customer experience and I think of my-

and services that facilitate the digital realm.

self as something of a customer expe-

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is in the midst of a multi-year transformation to offering their entire portfolio as

rience zealot. I'm customer obsessed, which I have to be, in the markets we’re in.”

HPE has been offering a GreenLake-

a service by 2022. This is no small feat,

type model for the past ten years and it

as HPE is a large company offering serv-

was last summer during HPE’s Discover

ers, storage, networking, consulting and

event that Antonio Neri, the HPE CEO,

support as well as financial services. To

made the announcement that the comp-

successfully navigate this pivot, HPE has

any was pivoting to an everything-as-

embraced the importance of a customer’s

a-s ervice company. HPE GreenLake

journey through its many offerings and

brings the cloud experience to apps

services.

and data everywhere, enabling speedy

And HPE is focused on delivering a better

adoption of transformative technol-

customer experience by gaining insights

ogy to simplify operations. GreenLake

from both direct sellers and partners. The

delivers public cloud services and infra-

customer experience needs to extend to

structure-as-a-service on premise, fully

anyone who interacts with the customer,

managed in a pay-per-use model at the

regardless of the logo on their badge. “We

edge, in colocations, and in the client’s

spent time with our key partners like CBTS

data center. “We’re offering everything

that really informed us about the expe-

we have as a service underneath the HPE

rience they need to be successful. We

GreenLake brand,” Vogel explains. “We

lear-ned a lot from these discussions, and

are moving beyond just selling hardware

HPE

in a consumption model, to providing it as

loying any of the hardware or software

a true end-to-end service.”

required for the service.”

“As part of the end-to-end service, we

According to Vogel, when we think about

can extend the service to include soft-

as-a-service and how customers want

ware from leading providers. For example,

to consume and use as-a-service solutions,

we can add leading back-up and recov-

it's no longer about speeds and feeds;

ery software from Commvault or Veeam,

a faster processor or a faster server. “Now

on top of our GreenLake infrastructure

it's all about the experience and the out-

to provide a SaaS like experience for our

come,” he claims. “So, we've recognized

customers. In this model, we can give

we need to think differently about how

them a true as-a-service experience, for

we talk and interact with customers, to

backup and recovery, without the cust-

really get that customer obsessed view,

omer every having to worry about dep-

to provide that service with an experience www.theinterface.net

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CBTS Client Benefits with HPE GreenLake Solution CBTS is an HPE Platinum and Inner Circle Partner with a strategic relationship in place for 30+ years.

CBTS generates over $1 billion in revenue annually by supporting over 3,000 clients in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. CBTS employs 2,000 highly skilled associates holding 260 HPE technical and sales certifications across the entire HPE and Aruba portfolios

THE GREENLAKE PARTNERSHIP: CBTS, HPE

over-provisioning, enabling the client to

AND A GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT FIRM

have instant access to capacity for business

A global asset management firm turned

growth, and most importantly align the

to CBTS for assistance when refreshing

cost of IT infrastructure to the client’s busi-

their data center infrastructure for mul-

ness usage and technology requirements.

tiple locations in the United Kingdom THE IMPACT: A 5 year partnership between THE STORY: A US-based, global integrated

the client, HPE, and CBTS represented by an

asset management company focused on real

HPE GreenLake service agreement executed

estate, credit, equity, and other financial as-

via the HPE GreenLake for Partners program.

sets that serves clients across North America,

The resulting solution for this client is a mod-

Europe, Asia, and Latin America approached

ern, optimized, and agile data center based on

their CBTS support team to assist in address-

an innovative pay-for-use service platform with

ing a challenge for their business. The client

immediate access to on-premises variable ca-

had a need to refresh their data center infra-

pacity ensuring a sustained business outcome.

structure for multiple locations in the United Kingdom. With past refresh projects requiring

WHY CBTS

a significant amount of capital, the client was

The extensive HPE portfolio of products and

seeking an innovative and collaborative solu-

services is critical to our ability to assemble

tion through CBTS. A partnership with CBTS

comprehensive, valuable, and innovative IT

and HPE was required to deliver a solution with

solutions for our clients. By taking advantage

the latest technology, sized effectively to sup-

of HPE certifications, local training events, HPE

port the client needs, and structured to align the

Discover, and webinars our CBTS team is

costs of the refresh and new IT infrastructure

always at the forefront in understanding the

to the business usage. The partnership journey

latest products and innovations available

began with a discovery discussion, assess-

from HPE. Our clients benefit from the CBTS

ment, multiple technology review sessions,

HPE subject matter expertise and our exten-

sizing discussions, platform reviews, a trip to

sive experience in delivering HPE solutions

HPE Discover, and a comprehensive review of

across multiple industries in the global market-

the HPE GreenLake solution.

place. CBTS greatly values our relationships and access to HPE executives, our executive

THE SOLUTION: A thorough review of the

sponsor, partner business managers, and other

client’s IT requirements and technology needs

strategic resources. Our relationship with

determined that the new infrastructure would

HPE enables CBTS to support our valued clients

be optimized by a combination of HPE Synergy,

and earn their business in the most complex

HPE 3PAR, and HPE StoreOnce. The solution

situations while maintaining a trusted advisory

was delivered via an HPE GreenLake service

relationship over the long term.

agreement to eliminate the extensive cost of

“It's very difficult to lay out a CX transformation or a CX journey without understanding where you are today? What does it look like today? Where do you want to get to?

What are the customers saying? What are they looking for from you? What do they need from you?”

— ERIK VOGEL G L O B A L V I C E P R E S I D E N T, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, HPE

that our customers are demanding. My

some hardware in and let them try it. But in

role is to really focus on the experience.

the services world, it becomes a do-it-them-

Are we providing the right experience?

selves model. They want to kick the tires;

Are we delivering the outcome that our

they want to try and test things. They want

customers are looking for?”

to talk to other developers, or they want

One of the first things HPE tried to under-

to talk to other data scientists about what

stand in terms of the customer journey

they're doing in a community forum. They

was how a customer navigates through

want to pose questions.”

“the awareness phase”; how they learn about the HPE GreenLake service, whether that's through marketing or social media channels or communities or forums.

Once through the awareness phase, customer move into a conversion phase, where “Now they've heard about it and they're going through, ‘Is it going to work for me, and do I want to buy it?’ And ultimately making a buying decision and thinking differently about what types of content, collateral and information clients need in the as-a-service world. In our traditional transaction world, we'd send a seller out with a PowerPoint deck or we'd drop HPE

The next stage of HPE’s investigations into

when I order a pizza, why can't I see my

its customer journey centred around the

order status real time when I've ordered

purchase process. How do they want to

a HPE GreenLake solution?’”

buy? “You think about services, now you

As HPE reconsidered both the conver-

buy with a credit card swipe or an app on

sion and the purchase processes, it organ-

your phone. Even though maybe it's not a

ically led to the building of an experience

direct competitor of ours, one of the things

that its customers were expecting once

we've learned about experience is we're

they’d bought it. How could they stand

now being judged across the broad set of

that up and think differently about getting

experiences our customers interact with.

the infrastructure right? “Customers want

It's no longer just competing against Dell

things fast,” says Vogel. “One of the key

and Lenovo and saying we have a better

pillars of our experience is speed, and

experience than Dell. We have to have an

we don't have time to take 90, 120 days

experience that's on a par with Uber, Apple

to go build hardware and put it through

and Disney, and some of the big banks.

our supply chain and get it to a customer.

Our customers are saying, ‘Hey, if I can

Because they want this as-a-service, the

see my delivery status real time on Domino’s

expectation is ‘we want it right away’. So,

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99

Follow the Data.

Always On. Always Protected.

HPE & Veeam LET’S GO

we had to start rethinking that operating

expecting? And bringing in that voice of

process; that end-service that's delivering

the customer to start rethinking what this

an outcome.”

experience needs to look like. We started

The final phase of research and devel-

with understanding the journey map, and

opment involved a focus on ‘renewal and

really defining the journey a customer is on

a growth’. HPE is determined that the cust-

with these six stages we're using: aware-

omer should be “so happy and so delighted

ness, conversion, purchase, initiate, oper-

that they continue to buy it over and over

ate, grow/renew. And that was the first

and add to it because it's been such a

step in really understanding that this is diff-

good experience. “My job has been to

erent to the journeys our customers typi-

understand that end-to-end process and

cally go on if they're buying a transactional

start to rethink how we approach these

product. So, the first step was to lay that out.

six different journey stages our custom-

“The second step was to get the data

ers are going through, relative to what the

and the analytics behind it. It's very difficult

industry’s doing? What are our customers

to lay out a CX transformation or a CX

HPE

journey without understanding where you

fast, and whether this is from what they're

are today? What does it look like today?

used to in cloud or SaaS providers that

Where do you want to get to? What are the

they've gotten accustomed to where they

customers saying? What are they look-

can go and sign up and, in a day, or two,

ing for from you? What do they need from

it's up and running. They don't have to buy

you? So, we started with some customer studies commissioned by analysts. We did some of our own customer feedback where we went out and talked to customers and started to bring that together to get a good handle on what customers are looking for from an experience. What would be a great experience in our customers’ minds?”

“ B eing customer-centric, means we’ve got to be listening, watching and understanding what our customers are doing” —

ERIK VOGEL G L O B A L V I C E P R E S I D E N T, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, HPE

Customer experience is perceived, and only the customer can decide if it was a good

hardware and deploy things; they get it

experience or not.”

right away. Or cloud, where they really

As a product company, one of the funda-

could swipe a credit card if they wanted

mental shifts or insights HPE gleaned was

to and have an environment in 10 minutes.

to look beyond speed-to-market by flipping

But speed was paramount because their

the telescope to focus on the customer’s

businesses are accelerating and getting

end view. “When we move to this as-a-ser-

more competitive. The business cycles

vice or the CX model, it's really about

are shortening. What used to be a slow

starting with the customer in view,” Vogel

cycle business is now standard cycle, and

explains. “What's the value we can add to

what's standard cycle is now fast cycle,

the customer? Where do they want to get

and what is fast cycle is hyper fast cycle.

value, because it's not about that faster

Or business cycles are compressing from

server, it's about value to the customer.”

18 months to 12 months to six months, so

A result of commissioning these cust-

they have to work much faster. So, as a

omer viewpoint studies, Vogel and his team

result, speed was critical. We recognize

established what they refer to as their

that a key component of the experience

three North Star principles; the first one

we had to provide was speed and think-

being speed. “So, customers want things

ing about not just whether the processors www.theinterface.net

103

and equipment is fast, but the end-to-end

for example?’ What kept coming up was,

journey from ‘OK, I've heard about it. Now

‘It's easy. It's simple. It's standardized. It's

I want to test it, I want to demo it, I want

intuitive.’ Whether it's learning about the

to try it. I want to make sure it's going to

service, getting a price for the service,

meet my needs. I want to buy it, I want it

operating the service, provisioning some-

deployed, I want to be operating it and

thing from an operations perspective,

generating value.’ Because every day we

we had to think about each stage of that

delay in getting them that solution, we are

journey and say, ‘How do we make that

delaying the value they're going to cre-

easier and lower effort for our customer?’

ate from that solution. So, speed is critical.”

And understanding that the task of our

The second principle is what Vogel calls

customer is not just operating the envi-

‘low effort’. “So, in the CX world, we talk

ronment, but a customer may come in and

about effort or ease. We have to make

say, ‘Hey, will this interact with my other

things simpler and easier, and when we

environments? And I want to learn about

talk to customers about, ‘Hey, what do

that.’ Or ‘I want to get a price for this solu-

you love about your cloud experience,

tion. I don't want to take a month waiting

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So, we had to think about low-effort, and that was another key component in how we make things easy across every stage of the journey and reduce the amount of effort in the task that our customers are working on. Every interaction has a goal associated with it. They're doing it for some reason, and how do we make it easier to reach that goal?”

The third ambition represented the provision of differentiated value. HPE did not want to go out and declare themselves

conversion and purchase, traditionally

another Amazon Web Services, Microsoft

we've done that in an analogue motion.

Azure or Google Cloud. “We have to really

By that I mean we send a seller out with

focus on what we do well. What is our busi-

a PowerPoint deck or we do a traditional

ness, and how can we differentiate and

sales call. In the as-a-service world, cust-

provide value in ways that those other

omers want to do a lot of it themselves.

cloud providers cannot do or SaaS provid-

So, we had to create a whole digital front

ers cannot do; including our traditional

door where customers can come in and

competitors, the Dells or Lenovos of the

learn about HPE GreenLake. They could

world. How do we continuously provide

read testimonials, join communities and

that differentiated value? Those quickly

get a price for the purchase process. They

became our North Star principles. So,

can estimate their own price by filling in

we have this journey we built. We talked

a few details about the size of their envi-

to customers, we established those North

ronment and what they're looking for. We

Star principles that it has to be fast, it has

started to simplify and digitize that aware-

to be easy, and has to provide differen-

ness conversation and purchase process.”

tiated value, and those were absolutely critical.”

“When we think about awareness and

HPE then started to harness the customer feedback to understand what, and why, things were happening within the www.theinterface.net

105

“I think my favorite quote on this whole CX thing is what Walt Disney said. He said, “Do what you do so well that your customers will come back and they’ll bring a friend.’”

— ERIK VOGEL G L O B A L V I C E P R E S I D E N T, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, HPE

GreenLake experience. Vogel and his

platform. And that will be a key component

team deployed Qualtrics as a CX plat-

as we're continuing to grab and gather that

form and data aggregation platform. “We

customer data.”

were already good at what I would call

Integral to the development of any

the operational data. So, we would see

successful customer journey is feedback.

how many people would click and how

What do the customers think? What do

much time they would spend on the site.

the customers want? HPE is continu-

We had good visibility into what was

ing its interaction with clients to finesse

happening. What we didn't have visi-

its offerings. “Being customer-centric,

bility into was why it was happening. So,

means we've got to be listening, watch-

we started to deploy Qualtrics, and we're

ing and understanding what our custom-

in the process now of deploying that site-

ers are doing.” Vogel and his team then

wide across the entire HPE GreenLake

provide this knowledge to their frontline

HPE

employees; the sales teams and account

there might be something here.’ It gives us

teams. “Because we recognize that when

a much better view of what's happening

we think about product decisions and

in the world of the customer, and again,

where we want to go with a portfolio, we

being customer obsessed means we have

expect to get a lot of detail and data from

to be constantly listening to the customer.

our customers telling us what they want.

We have to think about our sellers, our

But we also expect to get good informa-

account teams and even our partners as

tion internally. We're now allowing our

well as our customers.”

sellers to provide that type of feedback

Digital is key for HPE with everything

at scale where we can now do analytics

available on demand, whether thar’s infor-

on it. We can triangulate, ‘Hey, we heard

mation, quotes or confirmation. HPE is

this account team say this and we had

also focusing intently on personalizing

these three customers say that. Hey look,

the experience with the data its collecting www.theinterface.net

107

regarding its customers. The final piece of the jigsaw is the move to making everything omnichannel. “What I call seamlessly omnichannel,” Vogel explains. “Again, it used to be they would come to our website to look at speeds and feeds. We'd send out our seller with a PowerPoint deck, very single channel, very easy. But now these services are being bought by different personas, the channels where they consume and receive the information is different. I think my favorite quote on this whole CX thing is what Walt Disney said.

He said, "Do what you do so well that your customers will come back and they'll bring a friend.’ So, we're doing what we do well with the on-prem in the data center and we're doing it so well by doing it fast, doing it easy and offering this differentiated value so that our customers are coming back. In fact, we have a 90+% renewal rate, and a very high NPS (net promoter score), so, they're maybe not bringing a friend, but they're telling a friend. They're promoting our service to their friend. And that’s a great feeling.”

HPE

Erik Vogel Global Vice President, Customer Experience HPE

Erik is customer obsessed with an innate passion for customers to not just fix their problems, but to delight them. And he is dedicated to unifying the way HPE employees view Customer Experience (CX). As the CX leader for HPE GreenLake, Erik is driving the CX focused transformation to delivering everything as-a-service by making sure HPE lives and breathes a customer-centric approach.

Erik is a powerful storyteller who, instead of presenting customers as numbers can bring the customer to life in rich detail. This allows him to make complex topics easy to understand, share insights, and present data in actionable formats to make it relevant and meaningful. And Erik believes in connecting a great customer experience to a clear and concise measurement framework and treating metrics as an asset because they offer key insights into what customers want and how to make them happy.

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