Interface – Issue 20

I s s u e 2 0 • w w w.t h e i n t e r f a c e . n e t

THE NEW PARADIGMA OF INSURANCE Three years of Open Banking – how far have we come?

What can CTOs learn from the GB Cycling Team?

Data, Digital and AI… the journey – D r. Christian Vogt is Cisco’s Chief Innovation Officer of Data & Analytics, responsible for driving the adoption of digital, analytics, and artificial intelligence at Cisco…

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‘The most interesting man in insurance’

Welcome to issue 20 of Interface Our exclusive cover story this month is an in-depth look behind the scenes at Cisco; the company that helps its clients adapt to an ever-changing world by providing the building blocks of a digital ecosystem that allows more agile and efficient communication alongside operational prowess.

But what about Cisco itself? What does transformation look like inside this Silicon Valley giant, and how does it successfully harness data-driven, digital technologies to improve its own operations to boost growth and profitability ?

We caught up with Dr. Christian Vogt, Cisco’s Chief Innovation Officer of Data & Analytics at his Silicon Valley office. Christian’s mission is to drive the adoption of digital, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence at Cisco, and to incubate and scale the capabilities needed to accomplish this, both inside his organization and across the company. Some of these technologies are developed

by Cisco’s own engineers, while others are the result of partnering. To achieve the latter, Christian has established an open-innovation arm that partners closely with worldclass startups and venture capital firms in Silicon Valley and beyond. “My goal is to make us a more data-driven, digitally enabled, and AI-powered company,” Christian explains.

Elsewhere, we also meet up with Aviva Italy to see how a cloud-native ecosystem will help the company address the new paradigma of insurance. Plus, we look at the past, present and future of Open Banking and examine how CTOs could learn so much from the GB Cycling Team!

Enjoy the issue!

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

EDITOR IN CHIEF Andrew Woods

EDITOR Dale Benton

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Callum Rivett

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Nell Walker Kevin Davies

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dhruti Vithani

CREATIVE LEAD Mitchell Park

VP GLOBAL FINTECH & INSURTECH Alex Page

VP TECHNOLOGY Andy Lloyd Craig Daniels

VP PROCUREMENT Heykel Ouni Greg Churchill Richard Deane

PRESIDENT & CEO Kiron Chavda

Contents

6 Cisco

26 Aviva

42

What can CTOs learn from the GB Cycling Team?

76 Three years of Open Banking – how far have we come, and what’s next?

50 Belcorp

84 98 BBTS

106

The State of Nebraska

Five apps that supported remote working in 2020

Data, Digital and AI… the journey Dr. Christian Vogt, is Cisco’s Chief Innovation Officer of Data & Analytics, responsible for driving the adoption of digital, analytics, and artificial intelligence at Cisco…

Written by

Andrew Woods

Produced by

Craig Daniels

Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

www.theinterface.net

7

A

cross the globe and every sector, enterprises are looking to transform their operations

and offerings through the harnessing of data-driven, digital technologies. For many, the necessity to digitally transform is seen as a competitive edge in the marketplace. For others, it is simply a case of transform or die. Either way, no one wants to, or could afford to, ignore the potential of digital. But, away from the headline-grabbing technologies that drive this trend, what does innovation and transformation actually look like at ground level?

Cisco is an American multinational technology conglomerate that sells networking, collaboration, and cybersecurity hardware and software. Cisco’s technology is utilized in industries as diverse as smart cities and transporta-

improve its own innovation while boosting

tion, healthcare and manufacturing, finan-

growth and profitability?

cial services and retail, government and education.

Cisco helps its clients to adapt to an

We caught up with Dr. Christian Vogt, Cisco’s Chief Innovation Officer of Data & Analytics at his Silicon Valley office.

ever changing world by providing the

Christian is responsible for driving the

building blocks of a digital ecosystem that

adoption of digital, analytics, and artificial

allows more agile and efficient commu-

intelligence at Cisco, and for incubating

nication alongside operational prowess.

and scaling the capabilities needed to

But what about Cisco itself? What does

accomplish this, both inside his organ-

transformation look like inside this Silicon

ization and across the company. Some

Valley giant, and how does it successfully

of these technologies are developed

harness data-driven, digital technology to

by Cisco’s own engineers, while others

Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

are the result of built-in partnerships. To achieve the latter, Christian has established an open-innovation arm that partners closely with world-class startups and venture capital firms in Silicon Valley and beyond. “My goal is to make us a more data-driven, digitally enabled, and artificial-intelligence-powered company,” Christian explains.

“There are essentially three reasons behind this,” he reveals. “Firstly, we want to drive growth and profitability right across the company. Secondly, we want to accelerate Cisco’s transformation to a recurring-revenue company,

www.theinterface.net

9

Understanding customers better with the Snowflake Data Cloud

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? The world is seeing an explosion of data growth. A plethora of devices are generating data, video, and audio content, and our way of life globally relies on countless embedded devices such as RFID tags, IOT devices, smart vehicles, and security equipment, as well as the ecosystems they interact with such as our homes, shopping malls, traffic grids, and cellular networks.

Enterprise data at Cisco has also grown over the years.

The appetite and demand within the organization for data-driven insights has also grown exponentially as Cisco realized the potential of driving growth and business outcomes with insights from data, revealing new business levers and opportunities.

“Customer service agents can now immediately pull case reports and support Cisco customers on average 20x faster than with Hadoop.”

DAO/CX

With the business pivoting towards an accelerated datato-insights cycle and the demand for analytics exploding, it quickly became apparent that the technology landscape would need to evolve rapidly to meet demand.

“The Snowflake GUI has saved days in query development time. New application onboarding is seamless and allowed us to immediately onboard [geospatial] Cesium reporting on Snowflake.”

SUPPLY CHAIN, T&Q

With Snowflake handling Cisco’s data warehousing workload, performance has significantly improved across multiple dimensions including reporting and transformations. Transformation jobs that would take 10+ hours to run are now done within an hour, a 10x performance improvement. This provides Cisco business teams with more-current data on their dashboards, allowing for more accurate insights based on the latest data. Reports are, on average, 4x faster, with a 4x concurrency improvement as well, which gives Cisco analysts the flexibility to run reports in parallel based on business needs.

The simple SQL-based technology has reduced the overall time to develop new capabilities or enhance existing ones.

Cisco’s enterprise stakeholders report an approximately 30% productivity improvement, allowing faster time to capability, which was a key goal with this journey.

After significant evaluation, Snowflake was chosen for Cisco’s enterprise data processing and analytics. Early POCs indicated that Snowflake was 2–4 times faster than Hadoop for complex workloads, and the fact that Snowflake was ANSI SQL-based yielded several advantages including a larger qualified talent pool, faster development cycles, and improved time to market.

Snowflake’s platform also offered a higher concurrency and lower latency compared to Hadoop.

“By retiring redundant applications during the cloud migration, we were able to save $350K in FY20 and future costs of $100K a year for data processing.”

TAC OPS, CX

snowflake.com © 2021 Snowflake. All rights reserved.

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Unleash the Value of Your Cloud Data Maximize the value of your cloud data warehouse and accelerate speed-to-insight for everyone across your business with search & AI-driven analytics.

Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

pivoting from a purely systems business

is important. Then we jointly prioritize

to increasingly a purveyor of subscrip-

based on alignment with corporate strat-

tion software and network-as-a-ser-

egy, as well as potential and feasibility.”

vice. And thirdly, we want to drive data

One of the key decisions Christian

literacy across the company, by moti-

and his team have to address pertains

vating and enabling our colleagues all

to build-versus-buy solutions. “Some

across Cisco to make decisions based

solutions must be built in-house, while

on, and communications through, data,

others are better developed through

while also measuring results and impact

partnership,” he reveals. “However, if it’s

based on data too.”

a ‘buy’ decision, we go and find potential

Christian leads two teams that work

partners and do our due diligence. Once

hand in hand to accomplish these three

one or two partners have been short-

objectives. One is a team that acts as a

listed, we proceed to arrange a pilot. And,

trusted partner to the business functions

if everything goes well and the pilot is

on all things involving digital, analytics

successful, we scale the use of the tech-

and artificial intelligence. Cisco Venture

nology in terms of number of users and

Labs works closely with business leaders

geographic footprint.”

to discuss and prioritize opportunities to

Another key part of Cisco Venture

generate value from these technologies.

Labs is an external network of startups,

“We then go out and find solutions for

venture capital firms and academia,

each opportunity, do our due diligence,

which enables Cisco to not only iden-

and finally pilot and scale the use of the

tify potential partners to work with, but

solutions in production,” says Christian.

to stay on top of emerging technol-

“These business leaders are our stake-

ogies including novel use-cases and

holders, and we meet with them on a

best practices for deployment. “We

regular basis and use these conversa-

learn much from our external network,”

tions to understand what is working well,

Christian explains. “The startups,

what is not working well, and where they

venture capital firms, and universities

face challenges that can be addressed

are our external network, and the lead-

with new technology. We also use the

ers of Cisco’s various business functions

meetings to explain what these technolo-

are our internal network. We are in the

gies can, and cannot, do for them. There

middle: essentially acting as the match-

is a lot of hype, of course, and so the latter

maker. So, that is one team.” www.theinterface.net

13

The Industry’s Leading Data Catalog An AI-driven platform for data search & discovery, analytics, data governance, data stewardship, and digital transformation.

Learn more at alation.com/cda Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

Christian’s second team, Community

forward, a significant portion of the value

Success, drives data literacy across the

created from our data would come from

company, for all roles and at every level.

advanced-analytics and artificial-intel-

“We do this with a portfolio of educa-

ligence applications,” he explains. “So,

tional programs, an array of global events

we wanted to drive the adoption of these

that run on a regular basis throughout

technologies beyond a pilot here and

the year, and various tools we provide to

there, and instead operationalize them at

help data practitioners be successful and

scale.” However, deploying advanced-an-

collaborate efficiently. A big part of being

alytics and artificial-intelligence applica-

data-literate is about asking the right

tions requires a very different and signifi-

questions, understanding which data is

cantly more comprehensive process than

relevant, and interpreting data critically.”

deploying data and business intelligence

Two and a half years ago, Cisco

tools. “These are not just new technol-

decided to establish its Data & Analytics

ogies,” Christian says. “You also need a

Office as the company wanted to be

new approach, and a set of fresh capa-

more data-driven than they had been in

bilities, to deploy these technologies

the past. “The initial focus was very much

successfully at scale,” he explains. “The

on data,” Christian explains. “The office

typical data and business intelligence

defined and implemented the master data

tools are dashboards and comparatively

as a ‘single point of truth’ for the company,

straightforward to deploy, but this is very

established data governance, and began

different to when you move to advanced

to provision self-service tools to let busi-

analytics and artificial intelligence

ness analysts across Cisco consume the

because these use cases are generally

data. Then, the office started to develop

operational and embedded into business

a range of business intelligence appli-

processes, which means you will end up

cations that make use of the data, help-

changing the way people work, day to

ing leaders across Cisco to make more

day.”

informed decisions.”

Christian’s entrance to Cisco coincided

The deployment of advanced-analytics and artificial-intelligence appli-

with the company’s decision to lever-

cations therefore requires a consulta-

age advanced analytics and artificial

tive approach. You cannot simply build

intelligence more meaningfully across

the application and wait for adoption;

the company. “We realized that, moving

you also need to help your business www.theinterface.net

15

stakeholders through the change. This is the hard part that many companies struggle with. “The journey we go through, together with our business stakeholders, which prioritizes, validates, operationalizes, and scales these technologies, is as important as, if not more important than, the technologies themselves. We call it the ‘stakeholder journey’. This is reminiscent of the term ‘customer journey’ that our colleagues inside go-to-market functions use because, at the end of the day, our stakeholders are the internal customers of the Data & Analytics Office.

Executed well, one successful initiative of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence will generate demand for further initiatives. So, in a way, the stakeholder journey becomes a flywheel for the adoption of new technology.”

According to Christian, everything starts with the external network: startups, venture capital firms, academia, leading vendors, likeminded corporates – in order to identify emerging technologies, novel, high-impact use-cases for these technologies, and proven best practices for deployment and scaled operationalization of these use-cases. “Some technologies we build ourselves, some come from leading vendors, and a good portion come from startups at the cutting edge of innovation,” he explains. “One reason Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

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17

“ At the end of the day, this needs to be a needs-driven exercise. You need to find problems that are really keeping people up at night – stuff that is not working today – and then find a solution” — Dr. C h ri st i an Vogt C h i ef I n novat ion Officer of Data & Analy t i c s , Cis co

behind working with venture firms, and

by investors. At that stage, startups will

not just with startups, is because they are

also have a number of paying customers

our amplifier. They help us find the start-

already. The sweet spot for us is series

ups we are looking for.”

A and series B. Why? Because, at these

There are a number of key criteria

stages, the startups have, on one hand,

Cisco uses to select startups to work

already proven themselves, whilst on the

with. “We ignore the whole seed-stage

other hand, they’re still young enough to

startup space because, for us, there is too

treat you as a priority customer.”

much risk. We want startups to have gone

Armed with all this information, Cisco

through two funding rounds, meaning

also reaches out to its internal stake-

they have already been endorsed twice

holders. The goal? To build a trusted

Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

relationship with leaders across Cisco

To get the discussion started, Christian

for whom digital technologies, advanced

and his team might bring a few examples

analytics, and artificial intelligence

from the startup space that could poten-

could be a game-changer. “The goal is

tially be interesting for them just to get

to become the trusted advisor for all

the discussion going and get the “crea-

things advanced analytics and artificial

tive juices flowing”. “At the end of the day,

intelligence for our business stakehold-

this needs to be a needs-driven exercise.

ers,” says Christian. “And that includes

You need to find problems that are really

a number of things, such as education.

keeping people up at night – stuff that is

‘What can this technology do for me? And

not working today – and then find a solu-

what can it not do for me?’”

tion. Therefore, in your discussion with www.theinterface.net

19

your stakeholders, you should get to a

is aligned with corporate strategy, you

point where you start to understand the

can be certain that people will invest the

stakeholders’ work. What is working well,

resources to make it successful. If some-

what is not working well and where these

thing is not aligned with corporate strat-

new technologies and digital intelligence

egy, you can be certain that, after the

can help them.”

initial excitement, this will quickly wear off

Having identified these use-cases, there is then a need for prioritization.

“You can’t start everywhere at once,

and people will lose track of it. So, it has to be aligned with corporate strategy.”

The other two dimensions are potential

and so you prioritize upon three criteria:

and feasibility. Potential in terms of the

potential, feasibility and alignment with

return-on-investment Cisco can extract

corporate strategy. The latter is impor-

from this, and the feasibility of just how

tant, yet often overlooked. If something

likely this will succeed. “Has this business

Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

still high feasibility. And the third would be the ‘big bets’ or use-cases with high potential and low feasibility. These are the riskiest ones. Then, almost as a part of this, you decide if this is going to be bought off the market or built in-house. It doesn’t make sense to build in-house if a good fit already exists. And by a good fit, I mean, it’s a technology that does what it’s supposed to do, that scales and is sufficiently customizable to Cisco’s needs.

Will the team make a good, trusted, longterm partner for all of Cisco? If that is available, there is no reason in the world to reinvent the wheel in-house. It would always take you longer and you would nearly always pay more overall, end to end. If a partner is not available, or if the use-case is very Cisco-specific, then you have to build it yourself. And we have a stakeholder already done something

team of data scientists, data engineers

with artificial intelligence in the past?

and software engineers who can do this.”

Have they had experience with change

Ensuring you have the right team in

management and transforming the way

place is crucial to any pilot of a new

they work? Maybe they have used some

technology, and at Cisco an emphasis

other digital technology before. Using

is placed on a cross-functional group of

this prioritization criteria, you will know

early adopters needed to make things

pretty quickly which use-cases are the

happen. “We work with data, and data is

no-brainers; the ones keenly aligned with

sensitive,” Christian explains. “There is

corporate strategy, with a high return on

a lot of sensitivity around it in terms of

investment, and a high feasibility. The

privacy and legal requirements, and so

second pocket would be the low-hang-

the team is always very cross-functional.

ing fruit; the ones with less potential, but

More often than not, it includes not just www.theinterface.net

21

the IT organization, but security too, as both have to sign off on this, in validating the new technology to reach our security standards. It’s actually quite rigorous at Cisco, as you can imagine. The privacy office is also included, if personal data is involved, be it from employees, suppliers, or customers; human resources is also going to be a part of this. In some countries, the workers councils are going to be part of this too. And then, obviously, you have the procurement organization as well and sometimes legal is also involved.

So, now we have IT, infosec, privacy, legal, HR, workers councils, procurement, and the Data & Analytics Office.

That’s a highly cross-functional team.

And for many of these products you actually have to have someone from each of these organizations at the table. So, the best way to do this is if we have a contact person, a liaison, inside each of these organizations.”

The big difference between piloting an application and operationalizing that application at scale is that now you can’t just work with the early adopters anymore. Now everyone has to use the application, and this is where change management becomes paramount during this stakeholder journey. “You need to work hand in hand with your business stakeholders to make sure the Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

“ The journey we go through, together with our business stakeholders, which prioritizes, validates, operationalizes, and scales these technologies, is as important as, if not more important than, the technologies themselves. We call it the ‘stakeholder journey’” — Dr. C h ri st i a n Vogt Ch i ef I n novation Officer of Data & Analy t i c s, Cis co

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23

“ You need to work hand in hand with your business stakeholders to make sure the employees understand what is happening and how to use it. They actually get a little excited about it as well” — Dr. C h ri st i an Vogt C h i ef I n novation Officer of Data & Analy t i c s , Cis co

Ci sco – Data , Digital and AI… t h e jo u r n ey

employees understand what is happening and how to use it. They actually get a little excited about it as well. As part of this, it’s usually a good idea to talk and write about it as well. Essentially, frame it as a success story, which at that point, it is, because they’ve already shown through the pilot that this is working. And then you publish this, at least internally, maybe even externally, as this will kill two, if not three birds, with one stone. Number one, by just publishing it and making it a success story, you get the employees excited. The second benefit is, because you’re publishing this at least internally, other potential stakeholders will see it and might come to you and say, ‘Hey, can we do something like this as well?’

So, it becomes a marketing tool for yourself. And, thirdly, if you choose to publish this externally, the same applies for your external network. Startups, venture capital firms, perhaps universities might reach out to you, or at least it will become easier for you to reach out to them, in order to sign them up for your external network.

And this closes the circle. Because by publishing your success, you actually seed the next success too.”

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25

Aviva and cloud: the new paradigma of insurance Through a digital transformation, how can Aviva, Italy, better serve its digitally enabled customers?

Written by

Dale Benton

Produced by

Alex Page

1

O

ne of the biggest industries in the world has, almost unbelievably, found itself saddled with

an antiquated label. With global insurance premiums reaching more than $3trillion in value, it’s no secret that the insurance sector is one of the key markets and yet even now in 2021, with the total digitalisation of business, insurance is still finding itself lagging behind. The question then becomes a simple one: why? And more importantly, what are insurers doing to shake off this label?

“Our General Insurance (GI) CEO always says that we as an insurance company are fighting a battle on behalf of the unsatisfied customer against the traditional complexity and lack of clar-

Aviva embarked on a significant transfor-

ity of the insurance industry,” explains

mation of its operating model in order to

Lorenzo Chiofalo, Head of Innovation

provide innovative solutions that places

at Aviva, Italy. “Technology is simply our

the digitally enabled insurance customer

enabler to defeat the sense of mistrust

right at the very heart of its services

that customers have towards the insur-

ecosystem. Simply put, the transfor-

ance industry.”

mation journey started with the desire

With over 30 million global custom-

to get rid of the perception of insurance

ers, Aviva is one of only a few insurance

as antiquated, slow and ineffective. This

companies in the world that can provide

drove Aviva to take on board a greenfield

customers with life, general and health

approach.

insurance, and asset management in one

“Starting everything from scratch we

place – a composite insurer. Recognising

have been able to remove the many

that the insurance industry needs to

constraints faced in the past with the

address the challenge of continuously

old processes and systems,” explains

adapting to an ever evolving digital world,

Chiofalo. “As we had no bindings, we

Av i va

have been free to design the system we wanted, around the proposition we wanted. This helped us to minimise risks, fail fast and disrupt the way customers were facing the insurance business.”

“We set customers and their needs at the centre of a new ecosystem of services that we have been able to develop fast and fine tune afterwards. In just a few short years, we have shaped new product propositions and gained expertise with new touch points to get our AvivaPlus offer wider and up to date.”

Chiafalo recognises that while the company needed to effectively start from scratch in order to build this new system, it was fundamental that it needed to

“ We as an insurance company are fighting a battle on behalf of the unsatisfied customer against the traditional complexity and lack of clarity of the insurance industry”

address the modern insurance customer.

The customers of today are digitally empowered in almost every way, with access to so much information in the palm of their hand and this has forced many organisations to rethink how they must cater to them. He even goes as far as admitting that this has changed the traditional competitors of the insurance space.” Competitors for insurers are not insurers themselves anymore,” he says. “We need to look to other business models to offer the experience that

— Lore n zo Ch i ofa lo

customers are looking for: freedom to

H e a d of I nn ovat ion at Aviva , Ita ly

cies or ask for services and a no frills

choose how and when to manage poli-

www.theinterface.net

29

Achieving your Purpose in the “Speed Economy” As a company operating in more than 30 countries and serving more than 400 insurers,

Openness | Openness is the capacity to look

we are privileged to work with the insurance industry every day and learn better ways to serve

environment. In regard to insurance, openness is the capacity to look outside of the industry

its needs directly from its protagonists. Over the years we have seen diverse stories and witnessed both great successes and hard challenges. In our

to identify new ways to serve customers, and take inspiration from the best players, even if

experience, we have found that all successful customer journeys share the following common elements:

Ambition | This ambition extends beyond results and quantitative objectives. It includes

for solutions from outside of the company’s

they operate in another industry. When it comes to software, openness means approaching that software as if learning a new language, and doing so according to its own principles, even if they are different from our native language.

Agility | The third and final element is agility,

a purpose, and the willingness to change and become uniquely recognizable within the market.

Ambition allows companies to easily explain and communicate their strategy, and consequently empower the entire organization to own and make informed decisions, whether on an

meaning the ability to be ready to adjustment and refine the immediate plan at any moment.

This is a true mindset shift, which sees change as

individual or group basis; to follow the clear and defined priorities.

tempers strategic transformation initiatives, both short- and long-term.

guidewire.com

an opportunity to be preserved and potentially built upon, as future opportunities present themselves. Agility is the vital mindset that

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31

experience and flexibility.”

This is where he speaks of Spotify and Netflix as key influences on this new approach to insurance services.

Customers are looking for experience, as Chiofalo notes, rather than a simple purchase and they establish a relationship with the brand more so than the product itself.

This is not unique to Aviva customers, or indeed unique to insurance customers overall, but it is a major challenge that many organisations are still looking to address.

“Digital is a new ‘paradigma’. It is a new way to manage the relationship between customer and insurer based on new touchpoints that exist in an omnichannel ecosystem,” he says. “This is the reason why we started our journey to become one of the most innovative insurers in the market.”

So the goal for Aviva was quite clear, but for any insurance organisation there’s going to be a common challenge of addressing a so-called technology debt. As Chiofalo has highlighted, technology is the enabler of all kinds of business. The IT ecosystem, based on technology infrastructure, devices and software, is evolving at such a pace that it is undoubtedly difficult for a non-tech company like Aviva to close the gap without creating a technical debt and start the way for obsolescence.

“Companies must bridge this gap,” he says. “Staying current is the only way to enable innovation. A key example is a Cloud native solution. This is a game changer, as the Platform (software and Infrastructure) will already embed the latest technology by design, avoiding any gaps.”

And so the scene was set for Aviva; implement a cloud-native SaaS model that would truly change the game for the way Aviva works with its customers and Av i va

www.theinterface.net

33

provide insurance services. In a world

good software while also ensuring that

awash with technology, and an industry

any future operating model would seam-

that’s aware of its own technology debt,

lessly work with Aviva’s current technol-

finding the right solution was crucial and

ogy. In an industry as suspect to disrup-

Chiofalo had to start by identifying the

tion and change, “uncertainty is probably

why before looking at the what. Here he

the main certainty thing in these times”,

speaks of how an SaaS model will allow

adds Chiofalo.

Aviva to focus on its core business, leav-

The Guidewire Cloud solution will

ing the non-differentiating technology

enable Aviva to be focused on the core

topics to a partner. Aviva Italy chose

business, shifting any technological

Guidewire to manage the P&C core appli-

aspects into the hands of a technol-

cations as enablers for its transformation.

ogy company. It provides the software,

With Guidewire, Aviva had access to

Av i va

manages the infrastructure and ensures

quality of software through the Cloud

engagement,” says Chiofalo. “They are

Assurance and quality of the service

innovating the platform with new features,

through specific SLAs. This software

like the Advanced Product Model which

is also upgraded twice per year by

empowers our business users in the

Guidewire itself, improving benefits in

Product modelling and design.”

several areas: providing new technology

This ultimately means that Aviva can

based on APIs/microservices integration,

truly turn the old paradima on its head.

rules engine that can be easily config-

Where once the business would ask for

ured and Plug&Play Solution extensions

new features that the IT department must

through the MarketPlace.

then implement, technology becomes

“What this means for us is that it is

the fly-wheel for the business in which

improving the digital capabilities for a

it, proactively, suggests new features,

better customer experience and final user

innovations and new technologies for

www.theinterface.net

35

business and final users.

Cloud software is not a new concept, but it is one that remains something of a challenge for some businesses when it comes to truly understanding the power it possesses. As Chiofalo can now attest to, companies would upgrade their software and technology every 5-7 years and, due to cost complexity, they would upgrade as less as they could. “Thanks to the Cloud, the software is constantly upgrading to the latest and greatest software version and users can toggle the features provided, as needed,” he says. “Moreover, in adopting the Guidewire Cloud Solution, Aviva can rely on huge R&D activities, with the opportunity to adopt the most advanced features.”

When addressing technology debt, one can be forgiven for getting carried away as you focus on the changes and the future and the outcomes. But what about that existing technology and infrastructure? You can’t just switch it off and start fresh. “You need to build up a solution that lasts over time and cannot consider past experiences. This is important to avoid the mistake of following the ‘we’ve always done in this way’ approach that comes with any change,” says Chiofalo.

“We’re not in the era of replacing an application on a simple feature-by-feature comparison anymore. I believe that the Av i va

“ Digital is a new ‘paradigma’. It is a new way to manage the relationship between customer and insurer based on new touchpoints that exist in an omnichannel ecosystem” — Lo ren zo C h iofalo H e ad of I n n ovati o n at Avi va , I tal y

most important aspects are related to

and nurture sponsorship achievement in

the ability to embrace the change and its

transformation projects, whose duration

evolution, which should be embedded

spans over years, is hard,” he says. “So

in the way the software has been built

there are two key ways that we do it: first,

but also on the corporate culture and

evolve fast, and prove continuously that

methodology.”

the journey is happening and second; be

Naturally with any transformation there

able to engage the entire organisation in

requires a conversation around opera-

the purpose, turn the transformation initi-

tional buy-in. The main question will often

ative into every employee’s initiative. This

be; is this right for the company? Chiofalo

is crucial.”

admits that this is the most important

This transformation journey was born

prerequisite for any initiative that he and

back in 2019, with a new product devel-

Aviva look to implement. “To maintain

oped and the greenfield approach ready www.theinterface.net

37

Lorenzo Chiofalo, Head of I n n o v a t i o n a t Av i v a , I t a l y

Av i va

to begin. Throughout 2020, Aviva had successfully been able to re-design, improve and implement all major Personal Line offerings (householders, mortgage, fire, personal liability, personal accident, SME, catastrophe) as well as launching its first Commercial Line offering: product liability. During this time the company had also successfully worked through its legacy decommission. As we speak in 2021, the focus will be moving forward with the Guidewire Cloud Solution.

It would be remiss of us not to discuss the COVID19 pandemic and the impact it has had, not only on the world around but on businesses such as Aviva. Now faced with a dramatic shift in customer behaviour, where customers were not able to manage their policies face-to-face with their intermediaries, agents were required to interact with electronic signature and remote payments. A process that Chiofalo admits that even just a few weeks before the pandemic they were very reluctant to do so.

Agencies were closed during national lockdowns and processes needed to change ‘in a snap.’ Insurance regulators demanded an immediate intervention to ensure coverage and assistance to all insured customers. Aviva faced the immediate, urgent need of an unprecedented flexibility in terms of processes and www.theinterface.net

39

services changes. But the pandemic has

companywide agile approach, learning a

in many ways, presented great opportuni-

new culture based on open collaboration

ties for reflection and for growth.

where ideas win on hierarchy) and

Aviva had already embarked on

Open Innovation (open to externals,

this transformation journey, following

open collaboration, open business model

three main drivers which allowed the

and an open ecosystem). “Through our

company to mitigate the challenges of

approach and our key drivers, we were

the pandemic, continue its transformation

able to move faster and really be there for

journey and most importantly, be there for

our customers during this difficult time,”

its customers.

says Chiofalo.

These drivers were Technology

As we look to the future, Chiofalo

(first-in-class software to be always

and Aviva can be proud of what it has

flexible and adaptive combined with

achieved so far along this journey. As

Guidewire Cloud), Agile methodology: a

the first insurer in Italy to adopt the only

Av i va

SaaS solution in the insurance market,

the comparison between alternatives

the Guidewire Cloud solution, the future

has profoundly changed. As consumers,

is most certainly bright for Aviva as it

we are no longer looking only at price

truly removes the shackles of an older

and quality, we look to emotional factors

model of insurance. Chiofalo is cautious,

and to the experience. I like to think

acknowledging that a journey like this

that Aviva is a forerunner in innovation

takes time in order to succeed. “This new

inside the insurance market and being

model, like any new model at the begin-

so enabled us to continue our journey

ning of its journey, requires time to land

even in the most complex timing during

in a steady-state phase. We take the risk

the pandemic in Italy, and will allow us

by adopting a new model as first-mover

to continue to provide the best services

because this is in the DNA for those who

and solutions that our customers want

want to innovate,” he says. “Being the

through an experience that strikes a key

first in today’s economy is important as

connection with them.”

www.theinterface.net

41

What can CTOs learn from the GB Cycling Team?

It sounds like a strange parallel to draw, but when it comes to the implementation of a digital transformation project – specifically the automation of business processes – Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and their senior counterparts could learn a lot from the Great Britain Cycling Team...

Written by Terry Daniell, operations director at Trenches Law

W hat c a n CTOs lear n f rom t h e GB Cycl i n g Tea m?

www.theinterface.net

43

L

ike phrases such as big data,

answer and what will finally stop holding

digital transformation and

digital transformation projects back?

Artificial Intelligence before it,

‘automation’ has grown to become quite

The aggregation of marginal gains

the buzzword in the world of business. In

Organisations embarking, from scratch,

fact, there’s now so much talk about the

on a quest for greater automation, need

use of technology to ‘streamline opera-

to stop worrying about moving mountains

tions’, that automation is almost an unat-

from day one. Instead of focusing on the

tainable panacea in the eyes of many

entirety of what’s possible, there is argu-

– even in the tech sector where organisa-

ably more value in breaking the job down

tions should perhaps know better.

into actionable and achievable compo-

Yes, at an enterprise level, there are some corporate giants thinking big and really nailing it. Likewise, there are some vast organisations with dedicated project teams and six or seven-figure budgets, that become so shackled with scope creep that their automation aspirations remain nothing more than pipedreams.

There are also smaller – and often nimbler – businesses that would be ideally placed to implement automation-led initiatives large and small, but they simply don’t know where to start.

Their CTO may have an articulate vision and the ‘toolkit’ to achieve it, but the all-important buy-in from the wider management team – if not the rest of the organisation – doesn’t exist.

It’s certainly a mixed bag, but it needn’t be such a minefield.

This narrative will be ‘preaching to the

nent parts.

“ ..there’s now so much talk about the use of technology to ‘streamline operations’, that automation is almost an unattainable panacea in the eyes of many – even in the tech sector where organisations should perhaps know better” — Terr y Dan iell O p e rati o n s di re c to r at Tre n c h e s L aw

converted’, for many CTOs. So what’s the W hat c a n CTOs lear n f rom t h e GB Cycl i n g Tea m?

In this respect, much can be learned

significant aggregated performance

from Sir Dave Brailsford, head of British

increase. The mentality centred on

cycling, who took the long-suffering

progression, not perfection.

team from winning only one gold medal

Likening this to automation in busi-

in 76 years, to seven at the 2008 Beijing

ness may seem like a stretch, but the

Olympics – an achievement mirrored in

same principle applies. The possibil-

London four years later.

ities that automation can unlock are

Aware that aiming for gold felt like

almost endless, so to cover everything

a daunting and perhaps even impos-

will probably never be feasible. But

sible plight, he applied the theory of

by making individual systems and

marginal gains to the sport. In other

processes more ‘joined up’ – as well

words, he deconstructed everything

as quicker and slicker to execute, with

to create a checklist of micro tasks

an eye on best practice throughout –

and concentrated on improving

means even 1% efficiency gains will

each element by just 1% to secure a

soon add up. www.theinterface.net

45

W hat c a n CTOs lear n f rom t h e GB Cycl i n g Tea m?

Removing digital silos Some businesses may have far to travel on their automation journey, whereas others may have already made a start by ‘thinking digitally’.

This is something at least, because the digitisation of processes represents an important step. But what happens if these tools and technologies continue to exist on ‘digital islands’, with varying degrees of customisation and few – if any – ‘bridges’ between them to enable the data to do what it needs to. If someone must pull all the strings to make multiple products work together – with a questionable degree of effectiveness – there remains much to do.

The key to automation is to define the process that will spontaneously enable widget A to press buzzer B that activates application C and produces data point D – and so on.

Everything needs to work together, much like a team. And it’s OK to start small.

In simplistic terms, a business may decide to outsource its mailing so it’s saving time – and money – that would otherwise be spent licking stamps! This soon outweighs the cost involved.

But automation can be far more sophisticated too, of course. An email marketing platform can talk intuitively to a CRM tool as a sales pipeline advances, for example, www.theinterface.net

47

“ Automation – or certainly, an automation-savvy mindset – can become the lifeblood of a firm’s scale-up strategy, which empowers the business to grow at speed, with a constant eye on cost control and service levels too” — Terr y Dan iell O p e rati o n s di re c to r at Tre n c h e s Law

W hat c a n CTOs lear n f rom t h e GB Cycl i n g Tea m?

before auto-updating a billing engine when

outcome. But it needn’t cost the earth.

a deal converts and triggering a conver-

For senior professionals who have

sion report to better understand ROI.

perhaps worn the t-shirt a couple of

Without this automation, people

times over, it’s better to communicate

involved in any one part of the process

that – making it relatively easy to move

would still have confidence the data

forward as a result.

existed in there. However, the time other-

Secondly, automation is not trying

wise required to uncover it, and then

to rid people of their jobs and replace

manually push it through the system,

them with ‘robots’ – a fear that seem-

could mean the insight soon becomes

ingly shows no sign of fading. On the

obsolete and the associated opportunity

contrary, at a time when employees are

is consequently lost. The real-time nature

becoming increasingly discerning about

of the intel is where the value lies – much

their workplace fulfilment levels, it can

like the of-the-moment performance of

liberate them from burdensome, admin-

the GB Cycling Team – hence the beauty

istration-centric tasks, and free up their

of triangulating these multiple elements

time to focus on activities that make

to create a truly integrated eco-system.

better use of their skills – boosting both productivity and engagement as a result.

Only for big players?

Thirdly, the benefits associated with

In saying all this, one of the most impor-

automation aren’t isolated solely to staff

tant points to perhaps note is that auto-

motivation and workplace efficiencies.

mation shouldn’t be feared. It is not

Automation – or certainly, an automa-

necessarily a complex process that

tion-savvy mindset – can become the

lies only within the reach of gigantic

lifeblood of a firm’s scale-up strategy,

corporations with equally large budg-

which empowers the business to grow

ets. Yes, data volume makes an invest-

at speed, with a constant eye on cost

ment in automation easier to justify.

control and service levels too. In the

And a degree of technical competence

current economic climate, this agility –

is needed to orchestrate the integra-

not to mention bottom line protection –

tion of tools that lead to a super-slick

has arguably never been so important.

www.theinterface.net

49

The great makeover Written by

Nell Walker

Produced by

Craig Daniels

Venkat Gopalan, Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer of Belcorp, dives deep into the company’s astonishing transformation, the technology behind it, and how this year’s pandemic has actually accelerated it

B e l co rp

www.theinterface.net

51

A

business that’s fully and passionately dedicated to ¨promote beauty to achieve

personal fulfilment¨, Belcorp is creating something new for itself that’s not a cultural reset, per se, but a cultural reboot. The message behind this Latin American beauty corporation, which operates across 14 countries, remains the same – but it’s now better, stronger, even more deeply ingrained in each and every fiber of the business. What is, on the face of it, a digital transformation for Belcorp has actually been a full people-centric makeover from the inside-out – it just happens to have been driven by technology. With his hand on the tiller is Venkat Gopalan, Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer for Belcorp, who stepped in 18 months ago to help push the digital plan, resulting in a hard press on the fast-forward button for the company’s development.

Gopalan has a long history of this type of transformation within retail giants like Estée Lauder, Sephora, Walmart Labs, Nike, AT&T and Target, focusing on digi-

Venkat Gopalan Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer Belcorp

tal transformation. He even had his own startup, before returning to the corporate world. “I was very passionate about

job is to create the vision for the team,

bringing both products and services

and to make sure everybody – both the

to the consumer through technology.

technology team and business team –

That’s my passion. Now, as a leader, my

is successful.”

B e l co rp

Gopalan’s vision

consumer wants. The business had, in

Right from the start, with Belcorp,

fact, already begun its transformation

Gopalan’s priority was the human

before Gopalan came on board, but the

element of business and what the

introduction of him as CTO/CDO was www.theinterface.net

53

Swipe

The perfect match for Belcorp’s beauty transformation. valtech.com

e right.

w w w.th e in te r fa ce . n e t

55

game-changing. He drew up his vision for Belcorp, driven by company strategy and business needs by creating a new Technology organization with clearly defined roles, technical career path, product taxonomy model and new ways of working, creating a technology strategy and roadmap with clear outcomes which included foundational capabilities and enablers like Cloud and API first approach, new UX Design system, Data platform & Advanced Analytics, Cybersecurity, Automation, new tools and processes. Even from these broad headings, it’s clear to see that Gopalan’s vision was always about creating a total corporate shift and making sure every part of the business was not only on board, but fully engaged.

Obviously, the dream that I had was that we would be the best Technology team in order to transform the business and consumers’ life. It was important to align that dream to the existing organization before honing the technological strategy. To do all of this, you need the best talent and inspiring leaders. You need different ways of working and to make sure all technology systems are performing exceptionally - you need a full ecosystem. To get started, I did a reorganization within my first 90 days and then measured the outcomes,” Gopalan explains.

The Belcorp mindset ‘The best talent’ also needs to be on the same page, especially in a business as large as Belcorp while widespread change is happening. The Belcorp Technology team is driven by eight behaviors aligned with Company values: customer centricity, the ability to embrace and drive change, transparency, founder’s mentality, datadriven decisions, being learning-obsessed, execution B e l co rp

Venkat Gopalan Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer Venkat Gopalan is Chief Technology, Data & Digital Officer at Belcorp, where he is responsible for leading the beauty multinational’s digital transformation and enabling the company’s corporate and sustainability strategy through technology. Venkat has more than 22 years of experience leading large-scale global technology organizations in companies that have achieved exponential growth.

He has led transformation programs for Fortune 500 companies such as Estée Lauder, Sephora, Nike, Walmart, Target & AT&T, among others focused on retail, CPG and e-Commerce.

www.theinterface.net

57

w w w.th e in te r fa ce . n e t

59

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leading by example

— Ve nkat Go p a l an

C h i ef Tech nology, Data & D i g it al O ff i cer

“

“

I’m a strong believer in

excellence, and diversity. This is where

Agility Index (BAI) to measure business

the change begins and ends – with the

KPIs and consumer satisfaction, faster

people driving that change.

delivery of MVP, finance and risk reduc-

“At the end of the day, any transformation is not just about technology, it’s

tion, as well as employee engagement.”

In the last 18 months, they were able to

about the culture, the mindset,” Gopalan

deliver 400% more projects compared to

explains. “These goals were created from

2018 and reduce time to market by 40%.

a behavioral standpoint, and from there

That leap in agility is no surprise, given the

I was able to align the organization. We

depth of change Gopalan has created. In

created OKRs within Technology, specif-

a year marred by a pandemic that nobody

ically three objectives and four results

could have predicted, one that has shaken

for each of them, to measure where we

our lives to their core and sent many

were going. We also created six KPIs

businesses to their knees, the changes

to measure how we would become a

implemented at Belcorp have meant that

high performing team, and we have a

the business has not simply survived, but

Technology dashboard to track that

thrived and grown. In fact, Belcorp has

progress. From there, we were able to

continued to on-board new people and

drive agility. We came up with a Belcorp

introduce technology as a viable career www.theinterface.net

61

Technology Services B e l co rp

Digital Optimization

Digital Business www.tismart.com

path to newcomers.

“In Technology, there was only one

Belcorp was already prepared for this, thanks to the groundwork laid down by

career path and we needed to create a

the Technology team. Before, on-board-

technical career path,” Gopalan explains.

ing a new employee took several weeks

“You can have software engineers, archi-

– now, it takes less than a week. Gopalan

tects, Data scientists etc. and Belcorp

is passionate about self-learning, and

is a pioneer in Latin America for creat-

not only does the new-and-improved

ing these paths for our employees. We

on-boarding process give new staff an

want staff to really own their careers – it’s

increased sense of ownership, but their

important, in terms of retention and satis-

learning doesn’t stop there.

faction. So, nine job families were created

“I focus heavily on a continuous learn-

in different levels, and we moved 50% of

ing mindset,” he says. “Technology

our employees to the technical career

changes so fast, and it’s important that

path.”

the organization learns. So, I expanded

Due to COVID-19, all on-boarding this year had to be digital – fortunately,

the Belcorp learning ecosystem, which covers everything employees can learn

www.theinterface.net

63

Today is the beginning of a new digital era

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“ It’s very important for us to move from a siloed mentality to a more cross-functional way of working” — Ve n kat Go p a l an C h i ef Techn o lo gy, Data & D i git al O ff i cer

about technology. We have a partnership

Radical candor in leadership

with Udemy and LinkedIn for the tech-

So, once all of this incredible talent is in

nical courses and soft skills, we have

place, who leads? Leadership is another

workshops, and we used to do meetups

vitally important element of Gopalan’s

before the pandemic. We also have an

vision; he’s all about leadership develop-

Agile Academy and a Data Academy –

ment, and what he calls ‘radical candor’,

there’s a lot of different formats for learn-

which focuses on having the mindset

ing. Before COVID-19, we even had pizza

and framework to enable transparency

nights where we used to bring in entre-

and honest feedback between manag-

preneurs to talk about their journeys in

ers and staff. “Leaders must care for the

a casual environment.” Gopalan also

employees personally, but also challenge

instituted the Tech Awards, which rightly

them directly and give honest feedback,”

celebrate employees and ensure they

says Gopalan. “Thanks to our strategy of

feel recognized for their hard work and

having the best talent, and managing that

what they’ve learned.

talent in a successful way, there’s then a life-cycle in place. I did several workshops on talent management with our www.theinterface.net

65

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B e l co rp

leaders, and shared my personal leader-

but when remote working became a

ship philosophy within the team, inviting

necessity, they broadened their busi-

them to create their own.”

ness.” Belcorp worked with Valtech to bring best-in-class experience to their

Best-in-class partnerships

e-commerce and virtual store. They also

With the right talent and the right lead-

partnered with Perfect Corp to bring

ers in position, Gopalan then shifted

AI/Augmented Reality tools like Virtual

his focus to look closely at the vendors

Make up/Try on to their consumers,

to ensure Belcorp was partnering with

and this especially helped during lock-

truly best-in-class organizations. Before

downs. Companies like Valtech, Inetum,

he joined the team, Belcorp had to limit

Pyxis, Globant, SAP, Tismart, Altimea and

itself to what was available within Latin

Zoluxiones are key partners in Belcorp’s

America, but now is working across the

Digital Transformation. These strategic

globe. “This is actually thanks to COVID,”

partnerships bring specialized tech-

Gopalan says. “Initially, a lot of vendors

nology expertise into the corporation,

insisted on face-to-face communication,

allowing it to continue along its digital

www.theinterface.net

67

transformation journey.

Working with the best has allowed

high resiliency across the board.

And the relationship with vendors

Belcorp to move its workloads to the

doesn’t end with simply integrating their

cloud; 93% of products/workload is on

services – Belcorp considers itself a true

cloud, and by June 2021, it will be 100%.

business partner, with these relation-

In fact, Belcorp is the largest consumer

ships being a two-way street. “We work

of cloud in Latin America for Amazon

very, very closely with our vendors as

Web Services. “This enables the speed,

thought leaders, to drive technology,”

agility and advantages of innovation

says Gopalan. “One of the things we have

that we require. From a digital transfor-

rolled out is a collaboration tool for the

mation standpoint, this is a very impor-

business. During COVID, it has helped us

tant enabler for us.” Moving to the cloud

work remotely and communicate across

has been just one part of modernizing

the organization. Plus, we have a vendor

Belcorp’s entire infrastructure – it has

management strategy in place to always

also rolled out DevOps using SRE and

keep an eye on our relationships, and

performs world-class monitoring of its

we’ve developed our roadmap manage-

platforms to provide high availability and

ment in terms of how we, strategically,

B e l co rp

make changes in a flexible and agile way,

the consumer, they must be the rich-

based on market conditions and busi-

est person in the world!” Gopalan jokes.

ness needs. It’s very important for us to

“Understanding those needs meant a

move from a siloed mentality to a more

lot of experiments, and moving into an

cross-functional way of working.”

experimental mindset requires new tools, processes and a fresh mindset.”

Testing the waters

Advanced data analytics, AI, business

With how quickly and efficiently the vari-

enablement tools – these are all just a few

ous changes across Belcorp have been

of the elements Belcorp has delved into

rolled out, you might think there was no

over the past year to give the consumer

room for experimentation in the process

what they need, along with automation of

– but actually, experimenting along the

manual processes which has eliminated

way proved key to the continued success

close to 1,600 hours of manual processing

of Gopalan’s vision. As Belcorp moved

per month. More processes will be auto-

into a far more digital sphere, it was diffi-

mated in 2021, streamlining the business

cult to know what the consumer would

even further. The sheer volume of projects

want. “If anybody says they truly know

being developed in the background, while

www.theinterface.net

69

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NYSE (GLOB) public traded company since 2014

U n de rstanding EQ and h ir ing for it i n a p o st-pa n d emi c wo r l d

create the vision

— Ve nkat Go p a l an

for the team and empower them

C h i ef Tech nology, Data

“

“

As a leader, my job is to

& D i g it al O ff i cer

Belcorp continues to improve itself at

career progression for employees, is

every level, is incredible. They were able

unity. Gopalan is utterly dedicated to

to deliver 400% more projects compared

the idea of professional togetherness,

to 2018 and reduce time to market by

in a way that goes far beyond the broad

40% by improving deployment frequency,

range of training and learning offered

lead time for changes, MTTR and change

to staff. From the Tech Awards, to Tech

failure rate. “The transformation has

Day – which this year was all about

been amazing between 2018 and 2020,

the consumer journey so that Belcorp

and 2021 and 2022 will be even greater

employees could better understand the

in terms of not only delivering projects,

end-user – to Data Day, which promotes

but the value of the outcomes across the

data culture, to pre-COVID physical

business,” says Gopalan.

meetups, to large-scale video catch-ups, team spirit is a must in Gopalan’s vision of

Professional togetherness At the core of Belcorp, connecting digi-

Belcorp.

“And, obviously, we want to have fun,”

tal transformation, the relationship with

Gopalan adds. Last year we had a

consumers, improved leadership, and

costume contest on Halloween, as well www.theinterface.net

71

as a Comic-Con-style event. I’m a strong

working, and that’s why I didn’t want to

believer in leading by example. I dressed

stop having spaces where employees can

up as the Mad Hatter with full make up for

be virtually together, share, learn and have

our Halloween contest. This year, we did

fun. This kind of thing is important; people

a remote costume contest for Halloween,

have been under tremendous stress.”

and we’ve had dress-up video meetings a talent show! I wanted to create better

Adapting to the consumer’s new normal

integration, and for everyone to have fun.

All of this begs the question: what exactly

People really, really enjoy this.”

was Belcorp like before Gopalan joined?

with everybody joining in. We even had

“For me, as a leader, the last eight

Why was the sheer volume of change

months have been challenging because

necessary? “Consumer needs are chang-

everybody’s working longer hours; since

ing, and customers are demanding

we’re all remote, our people are manag-

more,” explains Gopalan. “And, as Latin

ing their home lives, sharing bandwidth

America is becoming more digitally-savvy,

with family and making other sacrifices

the consumer is looking for things on

as they’re adapting to the new ways of

an immediate basis, and that means

U n de rstanding EQ and h ir ing for it i n a p o st-pa n d emi c wo r l d

businesses need to be available. As well as that, our independent beauty consultants had to be reframed as influencers to keep up with the trends, and we also had to get into a position where Belcorp could handle COVID-like situations. Hopefully we won’t experience another pandemic in our lifetime, but the ability to weather a disruptive event is necessary for future-proofing.” It’s difficult to imagine how the business might have coped with the pandemic before Gopalan pushed its transformation into hyper-speed.

2021 is going to be pivotal for that path.”

Part of this new-and-improved flexibility had to involve the business pivoting

Creating empowerment

to handle new needs – after all, when the

The aforementioned consultants are the

world went into lockdown, people who

main beneficiaries of Belcorp’s desire

previously wore makeup to work every day

to empower women. The purpose of

were probably no longer doing so, mean-

Belcorp is to promote beauty to achieve

ing they didn’t need to stock up in the same

personal fulfilment – it aims to enable

way that they might have before. This could

woman entrepreneurs to manage their

have been a serious blow for a beauty

own businesses, developing a diverse

business like Belcorp; instead, it moved

range of skills in a way that suits their

quickly to launch a branded hand sani-

lifestyle. “We’ve done that successfully

tizer – a real essential in The New Normal

for more than 50 years,” says Gopalan.

– and observed increased demand in other

“It used to be that they’d go door-to-door

product markets, such as skincare, adapt-

direct selling, which left them restricted

ing to those as necessary. “Through our

by geographical boundaries; now, with

consultants and various digital channels,

the digital tools we’ve created, they can

we’ve been able to keep in close communi-

reach out to customers wherever they

cation with our consumers,” says Gopalan.

might be. We’re rolling out more tools

“We want to be a fully digital business and

next year to improve this even further,

this year has been the start of that journey.

and we’re bringing in a new profile, which www.theinterface.net

73

we call the Beauty Community Manager.

This will help the consultant be more of a beauty advisor and influencer and build a stronger relationship with their customers to create loyalty.”

Opportunity in crisis Gopalan is, rightly so, incredibly proud of what has been achieved during a year which could have been incredibly difficult, and has been for many. “There’s been amazing collaboration and alignment across the board, resiliency, leadership, and putting employees first, overall. We were even one of the first companies to start working from home, because we wanted to protect our staff. People will always come first. Also, mindset change has been a very important aspect of this entire journey, and the next two years are going to be critical in how we accelerate things. Nobody knows the future, but the right mindset makes all the difference. To my mind, every crisis is an opportunity; Belcorp has proven that.”

B e l co rp

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Three years of Open Banking – how far have we come, and what’s next?

Three years on from Open Banking launched in the UK, let’s look at what we’ve done and where we can go from here

Written by

Ammar Akhtar, CEO, Yobota

Thre e ye ars of Op en Banking – h ow fa r h ave we co me, a n d w h at’s n ext ?

www.theinterface.net

77

Ammar Akhtah Co-founder and CEO of Yobota

E

arlier this year, UK Open Banking celebrated three years. Since 13 January 2018,

regulated third-party providers have been able to integrate with bank APIs to access customers’ financial data, in an effort to break down the barriers standing in the way of seamless data sharing.

The overarching goal of this new regime was to give consumers and businesses

So, as we reflect on three years of Open

greater visibility and control over their

Banking, the question is: how much

finances, with technology at the forefront

progress has been made, and what’s in

of this mission. Specifically, the pioneer-

store for the future?

ing Open Banking initiative was created providers to bring innovative new propo-

Increasing collaboration through innovation

sitions to the SME and consumer market.

The introduction of a new requirement for

to enable financial technology (fintech)

By extension, the users of Open

all UK-regulated banks to allow customers

Banking would benefit from products that

to share their financial data with author-

were better suited to their unique finan-

ised third-party providers introduced a

cial situation, enabling them to compare

new era of collaboration within a previ-

available products in order to find the

ously segregated market.

best deals on the market.

Joined by one overarching mission

Thre e ye ars of Op en Banking – h ow fa r h ave we co me, a n d w h at’s n ext ?

Since its inception, Open Banking has served to shift the power to the customer and increase competition within the sector. By utilising new apps and digital platforms, banking customers now have access to a fuller and clearer view of their finances. This allows individuals to budget more effectively, switch products more easily, and generally make more informed decisions.

Increasing uptake Since the initiative was launched in 2018, Open Banking adoption among UK consumers and businesses has surged.

While generating awareness about its benefits has been a slow process (a recent PwC study found that only 18% of consumers were aware of what Open Banking – namely, to drive innovation and deliver

means for them), the COVID-19 pandemic

the best possible customer experience

has driven Open Banking usage.

– large banks and fintech startups began

Today, over two million users utilise Open

forming valuable partnerships. Thanks to

Banking-enabled applications and services.

more efficient data sharing, incumbents,

This number has doubled since January

for instance, have been able to integrate

2020, with the pandemic likely having a

propositions developed by fintechs into

strong influence on the rate of uptake.

their own platforms, in an effort to better

As disruption took hold and personal

meet the evolving needs of the customer.

finances took a hit, many people turned

The benefits to the customer are

towards online banking and money

evident: a more interconnected and open

management apps, in search of tech

financial ecosystem, which enables them

solutions that could bolster their finan-

to browse available products and access

cial confidence. Since the first lockdown

the right services for their needs.

in March 2020, almost one in five (17%) www.theinterface.net

79

“ Many of these fintech solutions use Open Banking to connect directly to users’ bank accounts to provide a more tailored service” — A m m ar Ak ht a r CEO, Yob ot a

of UK adults have started using an online

service.

banking service to help with their money

At the same time, it has also enabled

management goals, with this figure rising

financial services providers to obtain an

to 45% among 25-34-year-olds.

accurate and up-to-date view of an indi-

Without the advent of Open Banking,

vidual’s financial situation, as well as their

the accessibility and value of such solu-

past and present behaviours, in order to

tions would be questionable. After all,

deliver more personalised guidance.

many of these fintech solutions use Open Banking to connect directly to users’

How will Open Banking develop?

bank accounts to provide a more tailored

Open Banking today generally covers

Thre e ye ars of Op en Banking – h ow fa r h ave we co me, a n d w h at’s n ext ?

personal and business current accounts,

develop, with competition from non-tra-

credit cards and online e-money

ditional players such as fintechs and

accounts. In the future, the concept will

challenger banks stepping in to provide a

extend to cover all financial markets

range of new services – particularly within

– from pensions to investments and

industries that previously strayed away

insurance.

from large scale digital transformation.

Now that we have built the underly-

As the ability to let information flow

ing infrastructure, it will become easier

between applications continues to

to build on top of this. More complicated

improve, new products and iterations of

use-cases of Open Banking will begin to

existing offerings will be built, integrated www.theinterface.net

81

and modified at a much greater speed than before. We will shift away from a closed banking system to one that encourages new aggregators, service partners, and payment providers to add value to existing businesses models, and in doing so, create a range of new customer-centred financial services.

Examples of innovations that we are already seeing include services that provide personalised advice to banking customers looking to improve their credit score, and applications that enable employees to save directly from their salary.

We’ve come a long way in the Open Banking revolution, giving consumers and businesses greater control over their financial lives and the ability to choose products and services that work best for them. As we progress further towards Open Finance, this initiative will give customers greater influence over a wider range of their financial data, and offer access to enriched financial services.

Ammar Akhtar is the co-founder and CEO of Yobota, a London-based technology company. Founded in 2016, Yobota has built a fast, flexible, cloud-native core banking platform, which allows clients to create and run innovative financial products. You can follow Yobota on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Thre e ye ars of Op en Banking – h ow fa r h ave we co me, a n d w h at’s n ext ?

“ Innovations that we are already seeing include services that provide personalised advice to banking customers looking to improve their credit score, and applications that enable employees to save directly from their salary” — Am m ar Ak ht a r C EO, Yob ot a

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BBTS: a digital strategy We speak to BBTS CIO, Alexandre Souza da Conceicao, regarding his various roles executing digital transformation within the Brasilian banking sector…

Written by

Andrew Woods

Produced by

Craig Daniels

B BTS: a digital st rategy

www.theinterface.net

85

A

lexandre Souza da Conceicao is

BBTS, pretty much overseeing the overall

moving onto pastures new, but

operation of the company in terms of IT

his love for his sole employer,

processes and systems development. “I’m

up till now, is palpable. “A job at Banco do

enhancing and improving the digital solu-

Brasil is something really desired by the

tions we are offering, not only to Banco do

Brasilian population,” Conceicao explains.

Brasil, but to other banks and companies

“You find one of its branches everywhere

in the market too,” he explains from its

you go in this country. It’s a big company

Brasilia headquarters.

and one of the best places to work. The

BBTS is a solutions provider primar-

company’s very kind to employees and

ily focused on the banking industry.

everyone loves working for BB.”

“Because that’s pretty much our DNA,

BB Tecnologia e Serviços, BBTS is a Brasilian state-run technological solutions provider controlled by Banco do Brasil (99.97%). Focused on information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO), BBTS was founded in 1974. Alexandre Souza da Conceicao has been working for BBTS and its controlling owner for some 35 years, the outgoing CIO at BBTS having joined Banco de Brasil in 1985, as an office-boy in a local branch when he was just 14 years old. His entire career thus far has been working for the same company and during those 35 years, he has delivered numerous innovative projects across the bank, its numerous business units and now its subsidiary, BBTS. Conceicao’s final role for the bank – and the one he is about to depart – placed him in charge of the technology, directory and digital products and services at B BTS: a digital st rategy

“ Every time I had a meeting or a conversation, I found an opportunity to push for a better way of doing things. It was a very interesting time, and by the end of 2019, we were already able to deploy a brand, new platform that was capable of automating the decision-making process” — Al exa n d re C o nc eic ao C IO, BBTS

right?” Conceicao explains. “A lot of our time is spent in the banking industry just serving Banco do Brasil, since the bank is really big. We serve the organization all over the country and through that work we developed the muscles to support any bank, because Banco do Brasil is pretty much the largest banking branch network we have in Brazil.”

BBTS has 35 regional technical assistance units that provide services for over 3,500 Brasilian municipalities, including equipment installation, corrective and preventive maintenance, monitoring and equipment support.

It also offers security equipment such as CCTV surveillance, revolving doors with metal detectors, access control, and alarms, as well as our own PSIM (Physical Security Information Management) software to monitor all the security alerts as an integrated solution. BBTS also offers contact centers, collections center, helpdesk and telemarketing services, as well as document management and printing, software manufacturing and testing, phone system outsourcing with telecom management www.theinterface.net

87

SUSE, the world’s largest independent open source company, provides unparalleled customer choice and powers digital transformation for the enterprise by simplifying, modernizing and accelerating traditional, cloud and edge solutions

The Power of Many. www.suse.com U n de rstanding EQ and h ir ing for it i n a p o st-pa n d emi c wo r l d

including mobile and telephony services billing. When Conceicao stepped into BBTS for the first time in 2019 – having departed a role in IT for the bank – his biggest challenge was to push the company towards innovation and change. “There was a lack of transition or transformation, let’s say, to a more digital operation,” he says. “It was a technological environment, developing products and serving customers with technology and yet, the company

Alexandre Conceicao CIO, BBTS

itself was not so invested. They didn’t push so hard. It was much more geared towards the demand of the customer, but not for themselves, or the internal units and departments.”

Alex sparked an immediate sea change at BBTS and pushed towards digital solutions. “Every time I had a meeting or a conversation, I found an opportunity to push for a better way of doing things. It was a very interesting time, and by the end of 2019, we were already able to deploy a brand, new platform that was capable of automating the decision-making process. Instead of getting everything written on paper and getting things signed, we created a digital workflow where at the different levels of the organization, we could interact to get the right approvals from

Alexandre Conceição leads the IT area and ITO business as CIO in BB Tecnologia e Serviços, a fully controlled subsidiary of Banco do Brasil. He formerly headed the software development unit in Banco do Brasil for operating efficiency as IT General Manager. He joined BB in 1985 and his last 32 years were dedicated to the IT field and digital transformation. He held several positions in BB, starting as an office boy and having served previously as BB’s IT Manager for North America region, in New York. Alex had established the sponsor partnership with the MIT/CISR and had worked as the liaison between Banco do Brasil and the Center for Information Systems Research, pushing forward the digital transformation journey of the bank. He is also contributing with Ativos Gestão as a board member of its Fiscal Council and as a member of Audit Committee in Cielo.

Alex is Graduated in Data Processing with specialization in Distributed Systems with Object Oriented Programming

by Finatec/UnB. He is certified in Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) by ISACA and holds a MBA Degree by NYU Stern School of Business.

every department and back to the board. www.theinterface.net

89

With this movement, I could expedite and

Banco do Brasil’s sponsorship of the MIT

increase the speed of the decision-mak-

(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

ing processes in the company. In fact, that

CISR (Center for Information Systems

was key to helping us during the pandemic

Research), which fosters and promotes

this year.”

the digital transformation of organizations.

Conceicao has overseen major digi-

They do a lot of research and share expe-

tal transformations at Banco and BBTS

riences and use-cases. They come out

having cut his teeth in IT while working

with a dozen of frameworks on how you

in North America for the bank in 2007.

could apply a digital strategy, right?”

Alex spent six and a half years in the

In 2013, Conceicao returned to

US – in New York – helping to establish

Brasil with the knowledge and exper-

a stronger US presence for BB. “During

tise garnered from his time in the US.

that time, I had the chance to establish

“When I came back, that’s when my

B BTS: a digital st rategy

digital transformation approach became

One of the key challenges Conceicao

stronger within the bank, because I came

faced when returning to BB in Brasil was

back to the IT area as a general manager

altering the mindset of the board and its

to promote a better IT governance

executives. “Most of them came from a

process and mitigate the risks of IT, while

different time when everything was trans-

increasing the value delivery. I pushed

actional and mechanical,” he explains.

harder in terms of digital transformation,

“There was no economic explanation

cultural change, new methods of develop-

or understanding of how digital could

ment and applications redesign. Lean IT

promote exponential growth for the bank.”

and agile methods were the key method-

Conceicao created a workshop for the

ologies I implemented, to make IT leaner

executive board, so they could under-

and lighter while making the value delivery

take a journey in terms of understanding

stronger for the bank.”

use-cases of other banks from around

“ One of the contracts BBTS implemented for Banco do Brasil was a customer collection center, offering a multichannel interaction process, which helped BBTS choose the best approach to reach customers through a variety of channels” — Al exa nd re C o n c e i c a o CIO, BBTS

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91

the world, and uncover what the bank should be doing to push further in its digital transformation. The workshop was co-created by Peter Weill, the Chairman of MIT’s CISR. One of the biggest projects Conceicao undertook at the bank was the Technology Transformational Program; a group of projects that reconstructed the platform of the bank through the applications, and the creation of components that could be regrouped to a more scalable architecture. “That’s what the market called SOA, or services-oriented architecture,” Conceicao explains. “We pretty much pushed that approach forward so that everything would be based on the customer journey. Instead of delivering a product based on the capacity or char-

develop. The first initiative was pretty

acteristics of the product, we changed

much the credit or loans and how we

the approach, and created a customer

served customers with loans that used

journey, and said, ‘What would be the

this new architecture we deployed. We

point of access of the customer with the

put those in different tracks although

organization, and how can we enhance

we could reuse the components every

that experience?’”

time we had to go back to a new project.

“Using those components, we broke

This was giving us speed and reduced a

them apart, and put them back together,

lot of effort in time and cost and in terms

in a way that could deliver a better expe-

of the development of other products.

rience. We put everything in a brand,

That happened during 2014 and 16’, and

new web interface, which was much

‘17, ‘18, I had the chance to transition to

more friendly. Then, we created a certain

other units fostering the bank’s efficiency

architecture of reference that searched

with projects for internal processes, cost

for every other product we started to

reduction and better backoffice support,

B BTS: a digital st rategy

until I joined BBTS, in 2019.”

When Conceicao joined BBTS in 2019,

multichannel interaction process, which helped BBTS choose the best approach

he faced similar issues to that of the

to reach customers through a variety of

bank. The structure at BBTS was the

channels including an automated text

same as the bank before, with no agile

assistant, called VIC, which uses artificial

methods being employed. “We pretty

intelligence to interact with the customer,

much had to start something very similar,

and negotiate condition for the payments

but I could make it faster, because the

of debt. “We could really increase the

company is much smaller. I could push

speed of the communication to the

the culture to change a little bit more

customer and enjoy a greater precision

intensely, because there were fewer

in terms of approach and interaction,” he

projects than at the bank.”

says. “Out of more than 400K custom-

One of the contracts BBTS imple-

ers contact during the last two quarters

mented for Banco do Brasil was a

of 2020 VIC was effective in more than

customer collection center, offering a

46% of the times she’d interacted with the www.theinterface.net

93

customer, avoiding the need of human support. And we are working to make it even higher.”

Another big project Conceicao has overseen at BBTS is Hiveplace, which allows BBTS to serve consumers and suppliers of banking or data services making an easy, simple and cheaper integration. It’s focusing to adapt to the regulations of open banking and the data protection laws pushing the banks to create APIs, to ensure that they can be connected to any other institution that would like to share information – or if the customer requests to get their data back to another company or bank. “The financial organizations are really pressed by the law, because they don’t own the data,” he explains. “The data belongs to the customer. And for many years, they (the banks) believed that the data belonged to them, and they could use the data by themselves, or just for the benefit of the business. But that’s actually the other way around. It belongs to the customer and so they have to have consent to use that information in any way, from the customer.

With that law in place, the landscape changed completely. Now, you need to interact with multiple companies, banks, or fintechs, so the data belonging to the customer can flow into that organization as the customer requests.”

B BTS: a digital st rategy

Alex and his team developed a part-

are scaling it, so we are connecting more

nership with Skilltech to build the digital

companies, establishing agreements and

ecosystem Hiveplace that could be offer-

creating ample use. We are a subsidiary of

ing single integration with multiple peers.

the bank, and we are working with many

According to Conceicao, a bank that’s will-

different business fronts of the bank, but

ing to offer a product like a loan would be

also offering this platform to the market.

a provider in this hub. But a credit fintech,

From a security perspective, for instance,

say, would be consuming that API, while

we could check the records from a data-

also connected. “Hiveplace reduces a lot

base of customers as a proof-of-concept

“ I truly believe that banking-as-a-service will be a new frontier. You have to understand banking-as-a-service and foresee a forgo of the building full of bricks, with a safe inside.

That cash handling may be quite down in the next coming years” — Alexandre C onceic ao C I O, B BTS

of the effort and time to integrate multiple

experiment just to be sure that we can

institutions. It’s a single integration that

double check the data. We connected to

you have with your product. Let’s say you

11 bureaus of databases of customers,

have an investment fund; you can make

and we check that data against the data-

that fund available for investment from

base the bank has sent to us. They started

multiple customers, allowing any fintech

with 5,000 customers just to check how

to connect. It’s a single integration instead

many we could confirm are positive and

of developing the integration to each one

authentic records, rather than fraud or

of those fintechs or start-ups. The plat-

the result of misleading information in the

form was launched this month, and we

records. We found almost 10% of it was www.theinterface.net

95

fraud and we gave that back to the bank.

And they liked that. It’s a good sign as it shall become a product or business in Hiveplace in a way that they could benefit from.”

You don’t spend your entire career, with a single employer, unless something is working for you and with his time at BBTS and Banco drawing to a close, Conceicao is foreseeing new market opportunities within the openbanking space. “This is the future of the financial system and there will be many services, creating multiple lines of revenue,” he says. “With very low interest rates, banks are not making money as they used to do and that’s the biggest challenge.

Banks’ payroll is still a high-cost item in the financial statements and we may see a reduction as they push to the digital landscape. Banks won’t be able to charge services as they used to do.

“I truly believe that banking-as-a-service will be a new frontier. You have to understand banking-as-a-service and foresee a forgo of the building full of bricks, with a safe inside. That cash handling may be quite down in the next coming years. And that’s certainly how I see my next challenge and the next transition in terms of the business, and technology.”

B BTS: a digital st rategy

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Five apps that supported remote working in 2020 Written by

Nell Walker

Many of us have adapted seamlessly to working from home over the last 12 months. Technology, and the way software organisations have stepped up to the plate to supply the tools we needed most, has been key to this.

We take a look at 5 apps that have underscored the new necessities of remote work: collaboration, security, employee engagement... and a well-equipped home office, as identified in Okta 2021 Business at Work report.

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

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99

The five most popular apps by number of customers While it now feels utterly normal to join a professional video chat and see the inside of people’s home offices, kitchens, or sheds, the fact is that it’s only been normal for less than a year. Many people thrive on home working, although some did struggle with the shift, and numerous reports have explored the clear benefits of a more flexible working situation than most of us had pre-pandemic.

One of the main reasons why many of us have adapted so seamlessly is the role technology has played, and the way software organisations stepped up to the plate to supply the tools we needed most. ‘A shakeup in our top apps underscores the new necessities of remote work: collaboration, security, employee engagement... and a well-equipped home office’, states the Okta 2021 Business at Work report.

As well as a rise in the use – and choice – of tools that enable us to better work with our colleagues, clients, and peers, remote workers have required additional protection that their employers would normally take responsibility for, hence the rise in security-related apps. Additionally, HR teams are busy investing in whatever will give them the best employee engagement, in order to ensure staff feel happy and supported at a time when they’re separated from their co-workers.

Interestingly, the Okta report shows that 90% of the fastest-growing apps are brand new to the top 10 – the first time in the report’s history. ‘Companies needed to enable remote work, which means supporting at-home workspaces and virtual collaboration, and these apps helped them do it. Also, for the first time, security tools claim four top spots in the fastest growing category, and an HR-centric tool appears for

the first time since 2016’.

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

One Microsoft 365

The real heavyweight app of 2020/21

of the Okta report, ‘Since our first report

was Microsoft 365, which is no surprise

in 2015, Microsoft 265, Salesforce, and

considering most office workers need to

Google Workspace have held three of our

use at least one element of the app every

top four spots. They may have rebranded

day, and many of them haven’t invested in it

once or twice, but they are embedded in

for their personal computers. In the words

our desktops and our work lives’.

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101

Two T AWS

Amazon Web Services is a cloud comput-

become this year’s second most popular

ing service that works on a pay-what-you-

app by number of customers’.

use basis – it’s not surprising, then, that

it’s such a popular choice, particularly at a

‘The new second-place global rank for

time when the way we work has changed

AWS is driven by its strong growth in

so drastically. ‘We’ve seen some excit-

EMEA and APAC, where it has seen over

ing changes in out top rank’, the report

25% growth since April 2020, compared

states. ‘Cloud platform AWS has risen

to 16% growth in North America during

steadily from sixth place five years ago to

the same time period’.

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

Three Salesforce

A CRM platform and cloud comput-

ranks are underpinned by their popular-

ing service, Salesforce’s popularity has

ity in North America’, the report states. In

remained steadfastly near the top of the

APAC and EMEA, Salesforce is several

list. This is thanks, in part, to its usage in

spots lower, but this hasn’t affected its

the US: ‘Salesforce and Zoom’s global

appreciation elsewhere.

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Four Google Workspace

Formerly known as G Suite, Google

expect they would tighten their belts where

Workspace combines collaboration and

they see clear redundancy. However, 36%

productivity tools, and cloud computing. Its

of Okta’s Microsoft 365 customers now

broad appeal has brought it to the top four

also deploy Google Workspace, the largest

spot, regardless of how it overlaps with

jump in the past three years. Top collabora-

other apps. ‘While companies may splurge

tion tools have never been more important

on a few best-of-breed apps, we might

for productivity’.

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

Five Zoom

Zoom is no longer simply a name – it’s a

ended this current data period in sixth

verb. “Shall we Zoom later?” is the latest

place. In our Businesses at Work (from

“Google it”, thanks to the video call app’s

Home) report in April, when we high-

usability, stability, and business-friendly

lighted apps that had seen significant

features like the ability to record meet-

growth in numbers of corporate and

ings and set a photo of the Taj Mahal as

personal users in March, Zoom was our

your background. ‘Tools enabling collab-

fastest growing app by number of unique

oration, including Zoom, have jumped in

users. While unique users dipped a bit

the ranks’, the report states.

over summer, by the end of September they were reaching new highs, likely

‘[It] had only joined the top apps by

related to Zoom’s extensive efforts to

unique users for the first time in 2019,

support distance learning’. www.theinterface.net

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Department of Health and Human Services at The State of Nebraska The Human Element To Digital We speak to Lori Snyder, CIO, Information Systems & Technology at the State of Nebraska for the Department of Health and Human Services, to see how the state is using digital strategies to battle COVID-19…

Written by

Andrew Woods

Produced by

Craig Daniels

The State of Neb raska

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2

020 will forever be remembered as the year that COVID19 triggered a dramatic halt to

life as we knew it, as billions of people were ushered into a world of isolation, economic disruption and total uncertainty. But behind the scenes, as the scientific community battled away to find a vaccine, there were many more working above and beyond to keep communities informed, healthy and safe.

Lori Snyder is the CIO, Information Systems & Technology at the State of Nebraska for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the lead agency in the state on COVID response, which has five divisions: Behavioral Health, Children and Family Services, Developmental Disabilities, Medicaid Long-Term Care and Public Health. And three months into her new role at the

the software and the solutions we’ve put

DHHS, slap bang in the eye of the COVID

in place for the COVID response really

storm, Snyder is clearly up for the scale of

helped with the testing, getting test

the challenge in front of her. “I’m a pretty

results back and notifying people.”

quick study, so I’ve jumped into a lot of

Snyder has previously worked in health-

things,” she says. “And I think that the

care, manufacturing, mail services, insur-

state and the federal government have

ance, government, and with the military,

done a really good job in terms of putting

but has never really specialized in a

together solutions so quickly with no

particular industry. “I really like to learn,

notice, but at the same time, when you get

and I get bored if I’m not learning,” she

a few months in, you can see opportuni-

explains. “So, I try to keep that learning

ties to improve and make things better.

curve going. I was getting to the point in

For example, we have seen places where

my career where I wanted to help other

The State of Neb raska

img credit: State of Nebraska

people in some sort of service role. I

area in order to give better service as

needed to be in a leadership role where I

the logistics of rolling out new vaccines

could have a big impact. And so, with the

dovetailed with track and trace. “We’re

COVID crisis going on right now, it really

looking at places where we can commu-

gave me an opportunity to pitch in and

nicate with people in a way they desire,”

find a place where I can really help, not

she explains. “Which is such a normal

only typically where you would assist a

thing in the E-commerce world, but we

company in moving forward, but in terms

didn’t have time to build this into track

of helping save lives.”

and trace. So, we’re finding ways to do

One of the key COVID challenges that

things online, through texting, and email,

Snyder and the State of Nebraska had to

where before it was a call – now a contact

face was communication and the devel-

tracer will reach out and get the informa-

opment of new ways to expand that

tion from the individual. We’re now looking www.theinterface.net

109

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The State of Neb raska www.microsoft.com/government

at places where we can track symptoms

in that first group (healthworkers), right?

and use that tracking to help people know

But as you get deeper into the popula-

when to go into work, or to help them

tion, it’s not as clear who is going to alert

provide a letter to their employer for tax

people when they’re next. Who’s going

credits through the Cares Act.”

to encourage them to sign up? Who’s

Although vaccines are being rolled

going to help them remember which kind

out across the globe, there are many

of drug they had, since there are multiple

logistical challenges inherent in such a

doses? If they had Pfizer first, they then

campaign, with transport and storage

need the Pfizer second dose. If they had

being two notable concerns. “We’re look-

Moderna at first, they need the Moderna

ing at not only getting the vaccine from

second dose. Who’s looking at systems

the manufacturer, but also to the places

to track and curb the adverse reactions?

providing the vaccine,” Snyder says.

Now, a lot of these systems are in place,

“And in this case, it’s critical because

but we’re going to extend the capabilities

we’re using ultra-cold storage. So, you

in some way because maybe some of this

can’t give it to every provider who would

work was done by a provider in the clinic

normally receive a vaccine. You have to

previously, and now we need to reach a

select those who have that ultra-cold

wider population. Sometimes you have

storage. And then, how are we going

people who don’t have a regular provider,

to help the people within the State of

as maybe they’ve moved, or maybe they

Nebraska to get that vaccine? So, the

just don’t go to the doctor that often. And

hospitals help identify the people who are

so, they may need help finding out where

“ We have seen places where the software and the solutions we’ve put in place to help with the COVID response really helped with the testing, getting test results back and notifying people” — Lo r i S nyd e r C IO

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to go to get the vaccine. So, there’s all

picture together, showing the life cycle

these extra things around the edges that

of a person and all the things that they

get us looking to either take the systems

might need for support mechanisms for

we have in place and extend them, or

COVID and vaccinations. I think it’s been

looking to add some extra components,

very helpful to take that strategic holis-

such as the Microsoft Vaccine solution.”

tic approach, and look at the solutions

Contact tracing relies on exposure noti-

we have, making sure they integrate well

fications that identify people who were

together, ensuring that the data commu-

exposed, beyond just word of mouth.

nicates well together to improve the

“It’s one of those problems where you

service we’re providing to the folks who

start reaching out to community leaders,

live in the State of Nebraska.”

or chambers of commerce, or provider

The context and background to this

groups or whatever, that identifies even

work is stark. The clock is well and truly

more needs. And so, we’re really trying

ticking, as Snyder, her colleagues and her

to put that together in a holistic picture.

peers try to gain an upper hand during

I just gave a presentation to the gover-

this pandemic while people continue to

nor of the State of Nebraska, to put the

fall sick. The key to control is the spirit of

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partnership and collaboration. “I’ve met

no-code types of solutions, like Microsoft

with 48 different people or companies,

Dynamics 365, or the Microsoft Power

from other state leaders, to vendors, to

Apps,” says Snyder. “We were doing that

providers, to staff members and external

anyway, but what this pandemic has done

parties who are trying to solve this prob-

is accelerate how we need to get those

lem,” she reveals. “It’s really jump-starting

things going faster or where we can lever-

things for me and enabling me to put that

age some of those technologies or some

whole picture together for my leadership

of those small pieces of the puzzle toward

team, so that we can make good deci-

solutions for the pandemic, while still

sions about what we do to support the

realizing we have these bigger projects

people in the state. Some of the things we

that will continue progressing, and that

were doing anyway but were not related

will still come to the table within their own

to COVID. We are now looking at how we

timeframes.”

can best serve the State of Nebraska and the folks here better.”

The I Serve Nebraska Portal is a new

“Government sites often have these little rectangles on their websites and I call it ‘pick-a-box,’” she explains. “And

data warehouse built upon the concept of

people try to figure out where to go to get

serving Nebraskans better with improved

the benefits they need. And so, they might

access, user experience and data around

select a box and it takes them down a

Economic Assistance and Medicaid. “We

path and ‘no, that’s not it.’ And they come

were looking at how we could provide

back to the top and they eventually figure

smaller solutions using low-code and

it out. The next time they come back,

“ I think it’s been very helpful to take that strategic holistic approach, and look at the solutions we have, making sure they integrate well together” — Lo r i S nyd er CI O

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they can’t remember that and so they

intelligence so that people can answer

go through the same pick-a-box, right?

the questions just once. We can now help

What we are trying to do with this new

them identify what benefits they qualify

portal is make this intuitive and easy for

for by merging those applications into

those first-time users, as they’re proba-

one. Plus, how can we pre-fill information

bly already feeling like they don’t want to

for them? None of these things are rocket

reach out for help. We want to make this

science in the E-commerce world, but

easy for them so we’re not compounding

you don’t always see it in the government

that struggle. Now we have multiple appli-

world.”

cations and if you maybe qualify for two

Snyder is visibly moved by the spirit

or three benefits, you have to go through

and commitment shown by vendors

that process two or three times. We want

during these challenging times as they

to drive the questioning in the appli-

join forces to develop highly anticipated

cation with better design and artificial

solutions. “Vendors are really thinking

The State of Neb raska

about the problems as thoroughly as they

what they are doing with exposure noti-

possibly can,” she enthuses. “When I look

fication, because I know that they are

at demos, let’s say on vaccine manage-

diverting other work in order to do this.

ment or something like that, and you start

And at least Google and Apple in the U.S.

thinking about all the different scenarios,

are offering some free technical capabil-

these solutions are coming to the table

ities for states, governments and cities

really well thought-out. People are invest-

to use. Well, that kind of thing doesn’t

ing thought time where maybe it wouldn’t

always happen, right? People are taking

have been invested quite so dramati-

this so personally they’re doing it on

cally, and quite so quickly, before. I think

their personal time, too. They’re invest-

there’s a personal nature to this because

ing really deep thinking and thought and

it matters to people’s lives.”

work and development time in this, which

“I was talking to folks from Apple and

is testament to the good in people and

Google yesterday and thanking them for

the good that we see coming out which

img credit: State of Nebraska

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wouldn’t usually be visible. I really believe in win-win vendor partnerships.”

According to Snyder, Microsoft has been super supportive in terms of understanding technologies and finding faster ways to go to market, things they can do to speed the processes up “while still giving a really high-quality solution, allowing us to bring other vendors to the table to do the implementations”. Snyder’s department has a small legislator app going live in just four weeks. “Which is kind of unheard of,” she laughs.

“That’s the beginning of the contract to the deliverable, so that’s a pretty fast cycle, especially in state government. Microsoft was very instrumental in bringing the vendor to the table, getting the licensing done, making sure we understood how to get through all the technical steps so we could launch. This will be a cloud launch with a very small app, but start to finish, exactly what we need to track our legislative bills.” A second app going live is the legislative bill tracking, to allow constituents to send questions to provide visibility on who has been contacted for answers and making sure the answers get back to the right people.

Snyder and her team have also been working with Cordova Solutions and Microsoft, plus collaborative work with Snowflake regarding how they’re going to move data to the Cloud while making public health data available so “that we can do better work in the COVID space and ultimately the broader public health and Medicaid areas”. Snowflake has been really instrumental in looking at workflows, helping to identify gaps, providing ideas and solutions, and then ultimately providing vendors who can implement. There have also been fruitful working relationships with Qualtrics and the The State of Neb raska

img credit: State of Nebraska

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“ All of this is about getting people everything they need. And making sure they feel dignity in doing this. Everything we do comes from this really caring spot” — Lo ri S nyd e r CIO

Salesforce team in implementing some of its COVID solutions.

Teamwork and partnerships during COVID have obviously worked across state lines too, as people cross state borders, potentially transporting this disease. “Our solutions work better if your neighboring states are working alongside you. We have people in our state crossing borders every day, maybe going to jobs, school or visiting relatives who live across these state borders,” Snyder explains. “If we deploy some of these solutions in a way that you can still get the information flowing across the border, we are going to have a better solution for the people in our state. So, a lot of good can come out of this. I think sometimes people are afraid of that collaborative notion and sometimes people want to develop things on their own, but I’m really about accomplishing results and that means leveraging others in a positive way and allowing them to leverage my knowledge as well The State of Neb raska

and having us all work together to identify

for her clients to interact, thus freeing

better solutions more quickly. Learning

the DHHS staff so they can really spend

from someone else is on one hand free-

more of their time with clients. An exam-

ing, but more importantly, it gets us to

ple is the new portal, iServe, which is

solutions faster.”

currently being deployed. iServe is a

Snyder is working hard to bring her

smart app that asks learning questions

private experience, as well as that of her

to make it easy for clients to apply for

vendors, to the table to help drive things

benefits without answering extra ques-

in a direction that makes it a lot easier

tions. “Instead, they can spend their time getting to know them, understanding

img credit: State of Nebraska

their needs, maybe helping them qualify for more benefits than they’re aware of, but really making good decisions to help them get the help they need. This really is something that’s helping people maintain their dignity, and to get them on their feet if they’re facing some initial or one-time adversity. Or they might have something long-term or ongoing. We’re making it efficient for them so they can spend their time taking care of whoever it is they’re taking care of whether that’s themselves or a loved one and not spending their time on a computer trying to figure out how to get the benefits that they need. The Snowflake data warehouse for example is a chance to pull the data together so the state can use it for people’s good. Not only can we use that to provide benefits better, but we’re going to be able to use it to find ways to produce those benefits more cost-effectively so we can use that money more wisely for the people of the www.theinterface.net

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State of Nebraska. We’re also going to be able to use it in the public health area to help drive better health for the State of Nebraska folks, because if we can find trends or better ways to serve them, so they get the health information they need, maybe we prevent some diseases beyond preventing COVID. It further supports our mission of helping people live better lives.”

Anytime Snyder looks at an IT project, she centers in on the human element.

“It’s that emotional connection that helps people understand what you’re trying to do so that the people working on that feel that sense of urgency? When they feel that sense of urgency and they feel that sense of connection, they go that extra mile so the people using these processes and tools feel better about their jobs and lives. It creates this circle of goodness.”

“All of this is about getting people everything they need. And making sure they feel dignity in doing this. Everything we do comes from this really caring spot. And I love that. It makes you feel that people really are in this to serve the people of Nebraska. They’re really in it because they care. And this is meaningful to me. I want to spend my life and my time giving back.”

The State of Neb raska

img credit: State of Nebraska

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