November 2014 Business magazine for ICT professionals | ictnews.be/one
The gloomy universe of cyberthreats
Round table
CEOs of bpost, SD Worx, National Lottery, Belfius, STIB, GO! onderwijs and Proximus discuss transformation
Dossier
Dare to change
Dealing successfully with transformation means continually striving for improvement. Anticipating this changing world requires strong leadership and motivated employees. At the same time, the customer remains central.
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Welcome
“Transformation projects are never complete; the world is constantly evolving.” In October, we presented Proximus as the new brand name for all our products and services. This milestone offered the perfect opportunity to include your trusted One magazine in this new format. This edition is all about change. Transformation projects have a major impact and are also never complete. Companies continue to evolve constantly. This is probably the same for you. Why is that? The world around us is changing at breakneck speed. Just look at the evolution in technology, globalization, different ways of working and new ways to consume. In this context, your requirements in terms of communication and ICT are changing constantly too. In order to provide you with even better service, it was essential to make Belgacom into a new company.
You, the customer, always comes first at Proximus. We meet your requirements with a comprehensive range of simple but effective products and services. At the same time, we are ready to help you more than ever before. At Proximus, you have just one contact point for any product or service. As our name suggests, we are always nearby. Happy reading!
– Bart Van Den Meersche, Chief Enterprise Market Officer Enterprise Business Unit Proximus
Trends
fog the
Fiberglass: faster, higher, stronger
In the clouds with the Fog
Data networks’ bandwidth is increasing in direct proportion to their size. This requires adapted technology, such as fiberglass – the Usain Bolt of network connections. After all, fiberglass is synonymous with super-fast transmissions. The result: extra application possibilities (video conferencing, the cloud, etc.) and increased productivity.
Thanks to cloud computing, everything and everyone will soon be online. The result: data traffic problems. Fog computing offers the solution. The Fog connects computers and smartphones through intelligent routers that gather and store data, only communicating with the cloud when necessary. A new paradigm for the Internet of Things.
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The New Way of Working: a pillar of growth The flexible, autonomous methods of the New Way of Working create motivated employees and increased productivity. The question is not whether but how we organize this New Way of Working as a pillar of growth. Technology functions as a catalyst here, with the trend towards Bring Your Own Device as well as facilitating communication solutions.
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SPOTTED | 3D printing
3D printing State of the art You can now make a 3D copy of yourself! Twinkind, based in Berlin, prints extraordinarily detailed 3D dolls. Everything is exactly right, from your tattoos to your worn-out shoes. 3D printing is more than just art, however. In New York, the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital recently used a heart created with 3D printing to prepare for an operation on a baby with a heart defect. Thanks to the 3D print, surgeons could prepare optimally and only one surgical intervention was required. www.twinkind.com
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November 2014
In this issue TALKING HEADS 06 Q+A
INFOGRAPHIC
Jean-Pierre Bernaerts, CIO Indaver Group 12 Q+A Kurt De Ruwe, CIO Philips Lighting 34 The book of Bart Baesens Big data, the new oil
16 In this universe of expanding cyberthreats, you are in permanent danger.
DOSSIER
21-30
SOLUTION Conferencing-as-a-Service 11 Digital permits 41 Proximus Explore 07 Video
IN PRACTICE Belgian National Pensions Office Communication 2.0 10 Leuven city Residents can obtain parking cards online 13 EpiCURA Storage and back-up of vital importance 18 SmartLog Smart energy saving 32 Citrique Belge A cocktail of ICT on site and in the cloud 35 Ethias Free Internet and other benefits 39 Ontex Alternative to time-consuming travel 42 Van Breda A private cloud for each client-company 08
IN PRACTICE
35
Ethias “ Satisfied employees thanks to Packs for Employees are more productive and more involved in the company. They show more commitment towards customers.”
Change CEO Dominique Leroy on the transformation into Proximus, 7 CEO’s on how good companies keep evolving and Tom Auwers, FPS Social Security, on the need for successful projects.
SCOOP 20 New
smartphones iPhone 6 and Nokia Lumia 930 31 B ook review ‘Analytics in a Big Data World’ 38 The Internet of Things Goji Smart Lock and Vigo ALSO INTERESTING A publication of Belgacom nv Jaargang 8 / number 22 / Q4 2014 Publisher: Bart Van Den Meersche, Koning Albert II-laan 27, 1030 Brussels Coordination: Charline Briot, Markus Eggermont, Robbin Sacré, Jean-Marie Stas, Dirk Van Dijck Contributors: Andrew Beavis, Klaar De Groote, Robert Doran, Véronique Gilon, Davy Goris, Frederic Petitjean, Anneke Stoffels, Dries Van Damme, Frank Van den Branden, Jean-Luc Van Kerckhoven, Filip Van Loock Concept and production: Propaganda nv, Imperiastraat 16, 1930 Zaventem, www.propaganda.be For more information, contact: Robbin Sacré robbin.sacre@proximus.com Nederlandstalige versie: Mail naar robbin.sacre@proximus.com om een exemplaar van dit magazine in het Nederlands te ontvangen. Version français: mail à robbin.sacre@proximus.com afin d’obtenir un exemplaire de ce magazine en français. The technical specifications are indicative only. Belgacom reserves the right to make changes without prior notification.
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16 Infographic 40 Technology
A mountain of bits and bytes News The New Way of Working, the Cyber Security Symposium, the white paper cloud, the GPA Days 46 Column Luc de Brabandere 44 Proximus
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TALKING HEADS | 7 questions for Jean-Pierre Bernaerts, CIO of the Indaver Group
“ Motorbikes are a godsend. Traffic jams make me end up in an awful mood.” Jean-Pierre Bernaerts CIO – Indaver Group Who would you like to sit next to on a plane and what would you ask him or her? Next to Larry Page, one of the founders and the current CEO of Google Inc. I would like to know what he sees that we can’t see yet. What is his vision of the future and where are the boundaries? How transparent can influential companies like Google be?
Which brand are you eternally loyal to? Levi’s. I have always worn 501s. Apart from that I’m not a very loyal customer.
What is something that your employees don’t know about you? Personal Jean-Pierre says he delegates a lot, but insists on being properly informed. He likes to look forward and reads a lot about the future. Career Jean-Pierre began his career in 1985 as a Systems Analyst/Programmer
Which (IT) book would you recommend to everyone?
at NSM. He was ICT Project Manager at Wang
‘The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology’ by futurist Ray Kurzweil. By 2045, everything will be evolving so quickly that machines will be more intelligent than mankind.
Belgium as well as ICT Director at Carglass and the ‘De Financieel-Economische Tijd’ newspaper. In 1999 he became CIO of the Solvus Resource Group. Jean-Pierre gained experience in the food industry at Java (2009-2011) and the security sector at G4S (2011-2014). He has been CIO of the Indaver Group since February 2014. Company Indaver provides sustainable waste management. The company ensures smooth waste management systems and operates complex and innovative processing installations in sectors like petrochemicals, pharmacy, the automotive sector, electronics and metallurgy. The head office is located in Mechelen, but the group has various other sites in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and the UK. Employees On 31 December 2013 the Indaver Group had 1,665 employees. The ICT department has 45 employees working in different countries. 6
The fact that I can regularly be found on the Nürburgring. Five or six years ago I took a racing course there. I have since driven around 10,000 km on the Nürburgring and lots of laps on other race circuits in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.
What do you consider the most important innovation of the last 20 years? Everything that has to do with DNA. DNA testing makes it easier to find criminals, for example. DNA sequencing and mapping is resulting in unprecedented progress in healthcare.
What are the major projects you realized in your career? My first mergers and acquisitions project: the integration of Content (1999-2000), a large Dutch temporary employment agency, into the Solvus Group. Today, Solvus is part of USG People. My second project was establishing, analyzing and implementing the disaster-recovery solution for De Post (now bpost), which resulted in two redundant datacenters.
What would you invent to make your everyday life easier ? I look forward to a continuous correction for vision impairment by age. I have difficulties reading the small characters on the display of my bike, but I need to take off my reading glasses to drive. November 2014
SOLUTION | Video Conferencing-as-a-Service
Video Conferencingas-a-Service Video conferencing is becoming increasingly popular as a new way of communicating, recruiting, delivering training or improving the work-life balance. New ways of doing things require new solutions, this time in the cloud.
More info Go to www.proximus.be/videoconferencing or contact your account manager.
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W
ould you like to benefit from the advantages of video conferencing without investing in specialized infrastructure and staff to maintain and manage this? With Video Conferencingas-a-service (VCaaS), you have fast access to a system in the cloud, through which everyone can participate in meetings using different devices and networks.
Via the cloud The VCaaS virtual meeting room is a hi-tech but much more budget-friendly alternative to specialized, in-house infrastructure. The infrastructure is located at Proximus, so you can rely on an SLA-assured standard for your video conferencing. Your virtual meeting room is only for you and has its own online address, such as mycomp.VMR2@vcaas. be. You can invite up to ten people to a video conference per meeting room, as standard. You can plan a meeting like this in advance or start it yourself at any time. And everyone can participate. The virtual meeting room connects video systems and users through the Internet, ISDN and the Proximus Explore network. Video conferencing in the cloud is also stable and secure. The organizer and participants each receive a PIN number, providing them with full access, and the video and audio are encrypted. Live Assistance if necessary Virtual meetings don’t have to mean there’s no expert help available. You can always call VCaaS Live Assistance with any questions or problems, even during a meeting. If necessary, we will check your virtual meeting room remotely and
manage participants’ connections. Live Assistance also helps you solve practical problems when starting and participating in the meeting.
Meetings on personal devices With a VCaaS Personal account, you can participate in video conferences using the software on your personal device – a desktop, tablet or mobile phone. Each participant receives a personal account with an e-mail-type video name that can be shared and added to their e-mail signature. So you no longer need to invest in end-points. You and your employees can use personal devices or hire the necessary hardware video endpoints from Proximus. Choose from video systems with single or double screens, on a moveable platform or in a sealable cabinet. Each video system is mobile, includes all the requisite equipment, such as a video codec, a camera, a microphone and cables, and is installed at your location by Proximus.
Business benefits • HD quality, including multiple parties • No upfront investment in central video conferencing infrastructure, maintenance or management • For participants both inside and outside the organization • Transparent cost model • Support for end-users • Works with all standard video systems
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IN PRACTICE | O NP is at the cutting edge when it comes to listening to citizens’ requirements
About the Belgian National Pensions Office The Belgian National Pensions Office (ONP) is one of the largest social security administrative authorities in Belgium. Its remit is to inform the public about employees’ pensions, the pensions for self-employed workers and the guaranteed income for the elderly, and to calculate and pay those pensions and income.
Communication 2.0 T Every month, around 2 million Belgian residents rely on ONP to pay their rent, make their purchases and enjoy life after work. Meanwhile, around 4.5 million people get information from ONP in order to prepare for their retirement. ONP is the Belgian National Pensions Office. Given its substantial communication requirements, ONP needed a reliable technology partner.
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he problem for ONP in late 2011 was clear: its IP telephony provider had planned to stop providing technical support for its infrastructure during the following year. “For us, this meant that we would no longer be able to change this infrastructure in accordance with our new requirements,” Marc Vandersmissen, ONP’s Chief Information Officer explains. ONP set out its new requirements in a list of specifications – a mandatory procedure for local authorities – which included IP telephony, managing the November 2014
call center, and an internal collaboration system (chat) that was integrated into the existing office software. “In theory, this amounted to turning our 2,100 or so agents into agents who could provide information on and interpret the pension calculations performed elsewhere by our computers, like some gigantic multichannel call center, ranging from the Internet to the telephone, and including regular visits to our offices. All this was to be done according to the tightest possible budget,” Vandersmissen adds.
Neither telephone nor voicemail In this situation, Proximus’ proposal won the day, combined with the Voxtron call center solution, and the integration of Microsoft Lync. “This combination enabled us to benefit from an attractive per-minute pricing, even for our 0800 service. Meanwhile, the project lasted several months, and involved teams of three to five people for each function, both at Proximus and at ONP. Ultimately, after a few understandable hiccups, everything is now working perfectly,” ONP’s CIO observes. Aside from the technical aspect, particular emphasis was placed on internal communications and on the phased introduction of functions. “The system is particularly user-friendly whereas, in the past, the agents found it difficult to manage cascading calls or absences. The system virtually sold itself in our case, even though we organized a few extensive information sessions.” Nonetheless, the change has been noticeable. “From a physical standpoint, the agents no longer have a telephone on their desk, as it is integrated into their laptop. Thanks to the ‘at work’ function for the agents, we were ictnews.be/one
“ The telephone cannot ring if the PC is not switched on. It is a change in culture.” able to do without having voicemail boxes and concentrate our efforts on more interesting functions, like video conferencing, or sharing documents,” Vandersmissen adds.
A dynamic environment and a transparent system In addition, the new infrastructure enables us to promote remote working and so free up space in the famous Tour du Midi, which houses ONP’s head office on seven to eight floors, including significant travel cost savings and the option to relet the space that was freed up. For ONP’s CIO, “The administrative authority wanted to introduce a more dynamic working environment. The previous infrastructure did not allow us to deal with changes in the world of work or changes in the service provided to the public.” The system is completely transparent, both for the agents and for the public. “Thanks to VPN, an agent can work at home and print a document remotely, while our print shop then takes charge of mailing the physical document. As far as the public is concerned, the system distributes calls in the same way, regardless of whether the agent is in our offices or at home,” Vandersmissen concludes.
Marc Vandersmissen arrived at the ONP in 2003 as CIO. He led the transformation of the ONP from a decade of paper and calculators on mainframe to electronic dossier, automated processes and multi-channel communication with citizens.
Business benefits • Integration of IP telephony, management of the call center, and an internal collaboration system (chat) that is integrated into the existing office software • Minimal investment • Ease of remote working • Extracts the full benefit from the office space
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IN PRACTICE | L euven city council simplifies parking concerns for residents
As of 2015, people living in Leuven will be able to apply for their resident’s card or parking permit online. This means they are no longer restricted by the opening hours of the council offices. It will also free up council employees’ time, which can be used for other tasks.
Residents can obtain parking cards
online The inner city of Leuven has around
33,000 inhabitants.
The city manages
6,850
resident’s parking permits.
Surf to ictnews.be/one for more stories about how companies are meeting their ICT needs.
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Kris Torfs is Director of Civil Affairs at Leuven City Council. He studied economics and has previously worked for ten years in the telecoms sector.
City of Leuven Capital of the province of Flemish Brabant with more than 30,000 inhabitants in the inner city. The city manages around 7,000 resident’s parking permits, which allow unlimited parking in a designated zone, including locations in which use of a parking meter or parking disc is compulsory. Aiming for greater automation Leuven city council has been supplying electronic resident’s parking cards since 2009. In order to apply for or renew these, residents must visit the council offices. The city was looking for a way to automate the procedure, providing residents with a better service and reducing administrative pressure at the same time. Digital permits Belgacoms subsidiary Mobile-for developed a Belgian first for Leuven: a solution based on digital permits. The resident will be able to apply for or renew a resident’s parking card through the e-counter. The resident will use his electronic identity card to login.
he solution will check the validity T of the details through a link with the National Register and will check the license plate through a connection to the Belgian vehicle registration service (DIV).
Positive evolution for residents It will no longer be necessary to display a paper resident’s card in the car – the check takes place electronically, based on the vehicle’s license plate. Better service: applications or renewals for resident’s parking cards are simple and can be made 24/7 through the e-counter (including for temporary use, e.g. for a replacement car).
Business benefits • No administration for paper-based, resident’s parking permits • Residents no longer need to come in person, giving council staff more time for other services • Positive image of a modern, efficient council
November 2014
SOLUTION | Digital permits
It’s here: the online resident’s card
Belgacoms’ subsidiary Mobile-for, which was already known as a supplier of parking by text, is launching a new service, which is a first in Belgium. Cities and municipalities can now issue permits for parking cards online.
More info Please contact your account manager or go to www.mobile-for.be
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or cities and municipalities, the new online service represents a major cost saving. They no longer need to staff counters, for example. The entire process is automated and the provision of permits is now much quicker. This is a major improvement compared to the previous manual procedures, particularly in urgent situations, such as keeping roads clear for the emergency services. Residents can also apply for permits much more simply at any time of day from any location with an Internet connection.
Everything automated The automated application is very easy. Residents can log in through a website, using the details on their electronic ID card (name and address) and their license plate. The Mobile-for technology checks the National Register to confirm that the details on the e-ID are correct. The application also checks whether the license plate is actually registered to the applicant through the Belgian Vehicle Registration Service (DIV). The applicant for the permit or resident’s card can then receive his certificate in one of two ways. They will either receive an e-mail so that they can print the card off themselves or the permit will be included in a database so that traffic wardens can look the details up themselves.
For businesses too The new service from Mobile-for is not just useful for cities and municipalities. In the future businesses, such as the insurance sector, can also use it to provide customers with documents. There will be major cost savings for the organization here too, as well as a time saving for customers, who no longer need to visit the offices. Complete outsourcing Customers do not need to provide their own infrastructure in order to use the Mobile-for software. The technology operates at the Mobile-for datacenter and is managed there. Thanks to this hosting at a central hardware infrastructure, new customers can get started quickly and the costs are significantly lower than for an in-house system. Mobile-for is also responsible for the security of the environment and customer services for end-users.
Business benefits • Major cost savings through reduced manual work • Quicker procedures • M ore comfort and flexibility for the end-user/resident • No investment in central infrastructure, maintenance or management
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TALKING HEADS | 6 questions for Kurt De Ruwe, CIO of Philips Lighting
“ The length of the walk I take with my dog is determined by the Fitbit app. It motivates me to reach my activity target.” Kurt De Ruwe CIO – Philips Lighting
What is your greatest professional achievement? Program One: The introduction of the single global business process through a greenfield SAP ERP at Bayer MaterialScience. The transformation, including supply chain optimization, customer and product rationalization, legal entity consolidation and training for 12,000 users was completed in four years.
Who would you like to sit next to on a plane and what would you ask him or her? Kevin Mitnick. He ended up in jail for his hacking activities and wasn’t allowed to use phones or computers for a long time. He has been working as a security consultant since 2003. I would like to ask him how a company can protect itself against hacking by the government.
Personal Kurt De Ruwe used to sail a lot but is now kept busy by his sons’ sports: go-karting at international level and hockey. Career Kurt started his professional career as a Business Analyst at IBM Belgium in 1991. He also started in this role at ICI Polyurethanes, but quickly rose to become Development Manager. At Huntsman, also active in the chemicals sector, he was Global IT Director for five years. From 2013, he worked as CIO at Bayer MaterialScience. He has now been CIO of Philips Lighting for almost two years. Company Philips operates in three overlapping sectors: healthcare, lighting and consumer lifestyle. Philips Lighting delivers solutions for homes, shops, hospitals, street lighting, car lights, sports stadiums and more. Employees Philips’ more than 115,000 employees are spread over 350 locations worldwide. The ICT services are provided by around 3,000 employees.
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What is something that your employees don’t know about you? That I would like to write a children’s book about the political power games played at all companies. The rules of play are different at American, German or Dutch companies, for example. But the human resources manager can always be an evil witch or a good fairy.
What could you not go a day without? I couldn’t live without music. I often listen to Simple Minds and U2. I like eighties bands best but what I choose really depends on my mood.
Who or what made your career take a particular turn? Twenty years ago Graham Knaggs said, “Kurt, you made my day,” because I turned up to give a presentation to the board of directors in a colorful outfit. At first I thought it was a compliment but then he took me aside and gave me some advice that I have never forgotten.
What would you like to invent to make your daily life easier? A device that I could connect to my head to turn all my thougts into finished presentations.
November 2014
IN PRACTICE | E piCURA consolidates storage
Storage and back-up of vital importance With the fusion of two hospital networks to create the hospital group EpiCURA, a new data-storage strategy became necessary. Proximus devised a secure environment with good availability based on NetApp technology.
About Centre Hospitalier EpiCURA EpiCURA was created through a fusion of two hospital groups. Altogether, EpiCURA includes 450 doctors and 2,500 employees, spread over seven sites in the region of Ath and the Borinage region. The social headquarters is located in Baudour, the administrative headquarters in Hornu.
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IN PRACTICE | E piCURA
consolidates storage
“ The data is always available. If there is a problem, the system automatically switches to the other datacenters, without any reduction in the level of service.�
EpiCURA has a net data volume of
125 TB and
127 TB in back-up
A volume saving of
20 to 30% 14
November 2014
Bruno Liénard began his career as a software design engineer at Alcatel-Lucent. He then worked for a long time at ICT service provider IT-Optics. In 2012, he became head of the new ICT team at EpiCURA. The team has 27 members.
I
n 2006, the Walloon government decided to reform hospital care. The objective was to eliminate the fierce competition between various local hospitals and, at the same time, offer complete medical care for the entire population. EpiCURA was created from a fusion of two hospital networks (R.H.M.S. and C.H.H.F.). Today, EpiCURA combines three general hospitals and four specialist centers in the region of Ath and the Borinage region. First of all, Proximus, installed a WAN between the sites in Ath, Baudour, Hornu, Frameries, Beloeil, Dour and Boussu. Meanwhile, the IT team at the new hospital group considered the evolution of their storage needs.
Old clusters on new infrastructure “The storage environment for the hospital in Baudour needed to be replaced and there was already a storage project underway in Hornu,” says Bruno Liénard, CIO at EpiCURA. “We used the opportunity to immediately provide the whole group with new storage and simultaneously develop a disasterrecovery solution.” Proximus was responsible for the new environment, based on the NetApp MetroCluster architecture. In practice, the three old clusters were consolidated on the new infrastructure, constructed at the Baudour and Hornu sites. The two sites are linked through a double 4 Gbps DWDM connection. “We researched the work we would need to carry out – and what it would cost – in order to continue maintaining the current situation. This demonstrated that the new solution was the most attractive option in the long term. We now have an environment that will last for a long time.” Undisrupted service For EpiCURA, the availability of the systems and data is very important. At a hospital, ICT can sometimes literally be a matter of life and death.
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Via MetroCluster, the data replication at EpiCURA takes place through two datacenters, with an additional crossover backup between the two sites. “The data is always available,” says Bruno Liénard. “If there is a problem somewhere, the system automatically switches to the other datacenters, without any human intervention and without any disruption to use of the applications or reduction in the level of service.” At the same time, EpiCURA has achieved a great cost saving with the new environment. There are fewer maintenance costs and EpiCURA has a maintenance contract at a fixed price for the coming eight years.
Volume savings And that’s not all. “Thanks to the high quality of the current technology for deduplication, we can easily postpone investment in additional disk space for two years,” Liénard continues. “The new environment allows us to exercise better control over the growth in data volumes.” Today, EpiCURA has a net data volume of around 125 TB, with a further 127 TB in back-up. “We have achieved a volume saving of 20 to 30%. At some departments it’s as high as 35%.” The compression of the data takes place live, but this does not impact on the response time for users. “The new environment will take us to 2020,” Liénard concludes. “This gives us more than enough time to prepare for our next steps in terms of storage.”
Business benefits • Optimization of the storage infrastructure • Guarantee of security and availability of the data • Reduced costs and maintenance • Improved performance and use of data disks
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INFOGRAPHIC | ICT security
PHISHING
Mostly legitimatelooking e-mails & trustworthy-looking websites infected with malicious software (virus, worm, Trojan horse, spyware, ransomware).
DENIAL OF SERVICE
Attack designed to bring a service down (server, application, network …) by flooding it with useless traffic (ping of death, DDoS, website attacks).
SPOOFING
Attacker conceals his identity or fakes the identity of another user/pretends to be somebody else (masquerade, source routing).
ADVANCED PERSISTENT THREAT
Well-funded, stealthy, very targeted, orchestrated series of attacks, combining multiple techniques via multiple (technical and human) weaknesses to collect information over a longer period of attacks.
1
Methods
are in constant mutation and increase in sophistication.
SCANNING
Sending messages to each port of a device to determine what services are running (port scanning, sniffing, DNS cache poisoning, man in the middle, password cracking).
The gloomy universe of expanding
cyberthreats FOR AN ATTACKER
It takes a few seconds to infect the system and a few minutes to export data.
2
FOR AN ATTACKED COMPANY
It can take weeks or months to discover the data export and it will take days or weeks to counter and clean up the attack.
3
is the first step of any attack and often goes unnoticed.
Attackers and their motives evolve but ALL will search for information. ATTACKERS
CYBER CRIMINALS CYBER TERRORISTS GOVERNMENTS HACKTIVISTS CORPORATIONS INSIDERS SCRIPT KIDDIES
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Information gathering
MOTIVES INFORM HURT
MONEY DESTROY
▼▼▼ ▼▼▼ ▼▼▼ ▼▼▼ ▼▼▼ ▼▼▼ ▼▼▼
▼▼▼ ▼▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
▼▼ ▼▼▼ ▼ ▼▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼
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November 2014
ATTACKERS
4 USERS
CYBER TERRORISTS customers
CYBER CRIMINALS employees
YOU*
social big data
mobile
are in permanent danger, directly or indirectly, in this universe of cyberthreats.
INSIDERS cloud families Bring Your Own Device
CORPORATIONS Internet of Things Internet surfers e-anything
TRENDS
SCRIPT KIDDIES
HACKTIVISTS subcontractor
suppliers
GOVERNMENTS YOU = Your assets: reputation, trust, servers, networks, applications, data, devices, machines
*
5
Six times
The financial impact of cybercrime is
6 times the cost of protection.
Therefore... → Security should be part of your business strategy. → Prevent, detect and respond to security incidents. → A ssess, improve and monitor your security regularly. → Base your security on people, technologies and policies.
→C reate user awareness and clear policies. →U se the expertise of a trustworthy security services supplier.
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More info Proximus is your trusted partner to help you develop and implement your balanced security strategy. Surf to www.proximus.be/security or contact your account manager.
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IN PRACTICE | M2m platform supports HVAC-solutions of SmartLog
Smart energy saving
The new economic paradigm is win-win-win. Solutions that create a win for three parties – the customer, the manufacturer and the environment – must be intelligent. SmartLog has introduced two smart machine-to-machine solutions for environmentally aware and costfocused organizations, with Proximus as a strategic partner.
H
omogeneous energy management and predictive maintenance for machinery. These can only benefit a company. That was SmartLog’s reasoning when it began to develop two specific applications on its machine -to-machine (m2m) platform. Guy Claesen, COO of SmartLog, explains how the story started with the company ABN, active in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning). “Energy management was becoming increasingly important for customers. The existing products only provided monitoring of consumption, not control of installations. Around two years ago, ABN decided to develop a specific m2m platform with a smart algorithm. Since this platform can control not just HVAC installations but any machine or robot, the decision was taken to establish a separate company.”
Carefree energy management The fledgling company has strong ideals. Through m2m solutions, it aims to provide a total solution for customers. At the moment it is marketing two end-toend solutions to achieve this. “StoreConnect is intended for the retail market and prevents unnecessary energy loss through automatic control of air conditioning, ventilation, etc. The potential savings here are huge, if you remember that air conditioning makes up
About SmartLog SmartLog was founded at the start of 2014 and specializes in m2m solutions. It is a subsidiary of ABN, active in HVAC installations. SmartLog currently has four full-time employees and around ten research and development partners.
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40% of the total energy costs in non-food retail, for example.” A small console on the wall manages the entire installation and forwards all the information to the SmartLog databases. The customer has his own dashboard showing all the statistics: outside and inside temperature, consumption, CO2 emissions, etc. “We have been adjusting the interface for a long time as everything must look nice in the retail sector. Our customers are proud of their efforts and want to demonstrate this to their audience.” SmartLog’s second product, HealthCheckbox, is intended for predictive maintenance of machine fleets. “This can be used to take action before a machine breaks down, in the case of a compressor with pressure loss, for example. Interventions are more efficient, because you know exactly what is going on. Costs are reduced and the life span of the machinery is increased.”
Communication M2m solutions allow machines to communicate with each other autonomously and intelligently. Of course a producer of such applications needs to be able to depend on a reliable network provider. “First of all, communication must be possible at any time and should be of high quality. Stable and extensive network coverage is crucial. Our applications are also bi-directional – they report as well as control. So a secure communication with identification and authentication is also extremely important. This made Proximus the obvious choice. The combination of 3G coverage and its new m2m factory platform made the decision easy. Thanks to the platform, any connected object is able to send and receive data to any business application. The platform is state of the art, ready for use and integrated with 3G communication. Following a test, it was found to be perfect for remote management of our application.” Difference Four months after the first StoreConnect installations, the engineers can hardly keep up with the demand. This is only logical, with cost savings of 25 to 30% and a reduced carbon footprint. In a worst case scenario, the customer can expect an ROI of one year, but usually it is much less. “Our customers are beginning to see that smart technology really does make a difference. The smart story is a differentiating factor today. It generates a shift from ‘nice’ to ‘need to have’ and from ‘good profit’ to ‘happy profit’, which makes everyone a winner.”
More info Surf to www.proximus-m2m.be or contact your account manager. Follow the m2m solutions on Twitter @proximusm2m
November 2014
“ The combination of 3G coverage and the new m2m platform of Proximus made the decision easy.” Guy Claesen is COO of SmartLog, with a professional background in ICT and m2m, including various restructuring projects for LRM and companies like Ubizen and eXpanded Media.
Business benefits • Energy savings • Cost savings: energy costs, maintenance and repair costs • Operational continuity • Increased life span of the plant and machinery • Total solution: automated control • Reduced carbon footprint • Happy profit: corporate social responsibility
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SCOOP | New smartphones iPhone 6
Processor: Dual-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cyclone Operating system: iOS 8 Memory: 1 GB RAM and 16, 64 or 128 GB of storage Screen type: 4.7” LED-backlit IPS LCD multi-touch Screen resolution: 750 x 1334
Talk time: up to 14 hours (on 3G) Standby time: up to 250 hours (on 3G) Battery: 1810 mAh (nonremovable) Measurements: 138 x 67 x 7 mm Weight: 129 g Connection: 2G, 3G, 4G, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, NFC
138,1 mm
The new iPhone 6 is available in two sizes for the first time. The standard iPhone 6 has a 4.7inch retina HD screen that is 38% larger than the iPhone 5s, whilst the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch screen with no fewer than 1920 x 1080 pixels. The sleek design still transitions seamlessly from aluminium to reinforced glass, but inside there have been a lot of changes to both the hard- and software. You get 128 GB of memory, an energy-friendly 64-bit processor, fast 4G LTE support and an improved Wi-Fi connection. The iSight camera has also been improved with faster autofocus. The iOS 8 operating system integrates with Outlook, Exchange and Lync, including encryption. At home it supports peer-to-peer airplay, through which you can control your Apple TV directly, without having to connect through the Wi-Fi network. The iPhone family is perfectly compatible with the MobileIron and AirWatch mobile device management tools.
158,1 mm
Not just bigger!
SAR: 0,98 W/kg Bluetooth: 4.0 Camera: 8 MP (3264 x 2448) dual LED HD with autofocus; 1.2 MP front camera Extra: fingerprint sensor, extrareinforced glass, compass, barometer, Apple Pay 67 mm
77,8 mm
Apple’s new iPhone 6 builds on the appearance of the iPhone 5 but the large screen and internal improvements make a big difference. Nokia Lumia 930
The new Nokia Lumia 930 is the most recent flagship smartphone using the new Windows Phone operating system. The combination of metal and brightly coloured polycarbonate (white, black, orange or green) creates an attractive, modern look. The quality of the 20-megapixel PureView camera with ZEISS lenses is well ahead of the competition and the four microphones deliver excellent sound on video recordings. The sharp 5-inch ClearBlackOLED screen remains easy to read in bright sunlight. Windows Mobile 8.1 also facilitates integration with office applications such as Office, Lync and Skype but integration with Google Docs or Lotus Notes is possible too. Inside the phone there have been a lot of adjustments, including improved device management, exclusive Nokia applications, Dolby Surround Sound and support for Miracast Wireless Display.
Processor: 2.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Operating system: Windows Phone 8.1 Memory: 2 GB RAM; 32 GB storage Screen type: 5” ClearBlack-OLED Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080 (Full HD 1080p)
Talk time: up to 12 hours (15 hours on 3G) Standby time: up to 490 hours Battery: 2420 mAh Measurements: 137 x 71 x 10 mm Weight: 167 g Connection: 2G, 3G, 4G, 802.11ac, NFC, DLNA, Wi-Fi
137 mm
Quick and eye-catching
SAR: 0,60 W/kg Bluetooth: 4.0 Camera: 20 MP, dual LED, autofocus, PureView; 1.2 MP front camera Extra: wireless charging (Qi standard), nano SIM, compass, scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 3 71 mm
The Lumia 930 supports the fastest Proximus data connections (4G/LTE) which, together with the powerful processor, makes it one of the fastest Lumias on the market today!
Surf to www.proximus.be/devices or visit a Proximus Center to choose your new mobile device. 20
November 2014
Dossier
Change Interview
CEO Dominique Leroy on the transformation into Proximus
22 Dealing successfully with transformation means continually striving for improvement and innovation... 90 minutes
Anticipating changes that will take place requires continual evolution
26 ...where employees are led by strong management and the customer is central. Over to the expert
Tom Auwers, Belgian Federal Public Service for Social Security: “Little pilot projects don’t work. There needs to be a tipping point.”
30 ictnews.be/one
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DOSSIER | Interview with CEO Dominique Leroy
As close as possible to the
customer All Belgacom products are being renamed Proximus. This new name symbolizes the thorough transformation the company has undergone in recent years. Customers’ expectations have changed as well as the company’s identity. CEO Dominique Leroy explains Proximus’ transformation process.
“We developed a new growth strategy,” says Dominique Leroy. “Over the last ten years, the figures at Belgacom were going down. In order to survive in the long term, we had to put a stop to that trend. It’s essential for our future that we start to grow again.” In concrete terms, the revenue and profit need to start increasing again, as from 2016. “That’s the stick in the ground. We have developed a new strategy for this.” In order to achieve this objective, Leroy proposed a plan based on several pillars. “It begins with the company culture,” she says. “The ambition to achieve progress has to be an integral part of every employee’s attitude. This requires versatility and more cooperation but also perseverance. We should not be satisfied until the customer is satisfied.” At the same time, employees are given more space for creativity and ideas. “Those who don’t make mistakes usually don’t make anything at all. We encourage our employees to think more, about the company and the customer.”
Quality and emotional value The customer forms the second pillar of the growth strategy. “Everything we do is based on the customer’s needs and the way we can offer a solution to these. The customer is more central than ever for the new Proximus.” In order to 22
respond to the customer’s needs better, Proximus is simplifying its products and services. “Over the years, Belgacom grew to become a complex organization,” says Leroy. “We are changing this. It needs to be simpler, with a flatter organizational structure. Belgacom was always very good at developing new products but paid less attention to the transition from an existing solution to a new one. We are making changes here too.” This requires more efficiency, more cooperation and shorter hierarchical lines in-house. The final pillar has to do with the differentiating strength of Proximus as a brand. “We will be maintaining the quality Belgacom always stood for but we will be combining this with an emotional value at the same time. Proximus really wants to be close to the customer.”
Out of the comfort zone Dominique Leroy joined Belgacom in 2011 after a long career with Unilever. “I was surprised,” she says today. “I discovered a company with a wealth of excellent products and motivated, creative employees. Belgacom had everything it needed, but struggled to market its products simply. We are now more committed than ever to this: explaining the quality of our solutions to our customers in a comprehensible way.” This brings the conversation back November 2014
“ Now convergence is a fact. Fixed and mobile, voice and data, telephony and ICT: it’s all interconnected. That’s why we decided to offer all this as one brand.”
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DOSSIER | Interview with CEO Dominique Leroy
to the CEO’s favorite subject: the fact that the customer should be central to the company’s strategy. “We are keeping this objective firmly in mind. We have decided to follow a specific process and we know that this will involve leaving our comfort zone. The insight is there and the path towards renewed growth has been outlined. But, of course, we now need to mobilize. All employees – across all levels and departments of the company – need to start rowing in the same direction.”
Dominique Leroy studied business engineering at the Solvay Business School in Brussels. She gained 24 years’ experience in various roles at Unilever, including Managing Director for Belgium. In 2011 she became Head of Sales in the Consumer Department at Belgacom and went on to head the entire department. Leroy has been CEO of Proximus since January 2014.
Convergence is reality The results in the second quarter of 2014 were better than expected. “Of course this acts as extra encouragement. The figures spur us on to do even better.” Communication surrounding these results also creates a concrete reference point. “As I mentioned, the emotional aspect of the transformation is important too. If you have the right motivation, you will perform better.” At the same time, the CEO cannot force the transformation on people. It’s a process that takes time, because of its fundamental nature. “You have to be patient. You can’t force people to change. You can only convince them that it’s important to do so.” The fact that Proximus is replacing the brand name Belgacom only serves to highlight the change. “It’s only logical,” according to Leroy. “We have been talking about convergence for years. Now it’s a fact. Fixed and mobile, voice and data, telephony and ICT: it’s all interconnected. That’s why we decided to offer all this as one brand.” Customer support Proximus also resolutely continues this convergence in its customer support. There is one central contact point for all
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the company’s products. “We will also be coordinating the networks even more, so our customers are always offered the best deals, packages and combinations, through fixed, mobile, Wi-Fi, etc.” Because Proximus makes the customer central, the company also wants to work towards more complete solutions for the customer. “Take the New Way of Working, for example. This involves cloud solutions as well as a high-performance network, allowing employees to access applications and data remotely. Proximus wants to go further than ever to offer the full picture here. In this case that’s not just through ICT support but, in the long term, perhaps also the tools to support teleworking in the fields of HR and taxation.”
Cooperation This is just one of the many examples that will soon be possible. “The Internet of Things is another option,” continues Leroy. “Here it’s not just about connecting these things to the network effectively, but also capturing and analyzing the associated big data, as well as providing our customers with the required reporting on this.” Proximus is also increasingly opening the door to cooperation with technology partners. “In order to do this, we are creating a more open structure. It’s essential for our partners to be able to join in with the solutions we offer. We want to concentrate primarily on the things we are good at, through which we can help our customers to grow and offer a better alternative than the international competition. We don’t necessarily want to do everything ourselves any more. That’s part of our transformation too.”
November 2014
Proximus literally means ‘the closest’. The X stands for closeness and connection. In the new brand positioning, the customer comes first. Being close to customers as a company and ensuring they in turn are always connected to what’s important to them – family, information, friends, passions, work – is important.
“ We are committed to quality and we attach emotional value to this. Proximus really wants to be close to the customer.” – CEO Dominique Leroy
“The road we have taken to this point has not been easy. But then again the road to change never is.” – Barack Obama
Three steps towards a new positioning Proximus wants to keep people in contact with the world, so they can work more intelligently and enjoy life more.
84%
what’s important to you nearby
always
In your private life: family, friends, passions, relaxing, etc.
Everything and everyone is always accessible. You are always online, unless you decide not to be.
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It doesn’t matter where you are, what time it is or what device you’re using: you are always nearby.
In your professional life activities: colleagues, information, customers, results, etc.
A study carried out by the Katzenbach Center in 2013, with 2,200 respondents worldwide, found that 84% of the respondents consider a company’s culture important for the success of a transformation process. And: 64% think the culture is in fact more significant than the strategy or working model for the process. In 76% of cases in which transformation failed, managers did not take enough account of the existing culture. 59% of respondents hold the CEO and managers responsible for change to the culture, whilst 14% hold all employees responsible.
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DOSSIER | 7 CEOs around the table
90 minutes
on how successful companies keep moving Change is the only constant, according to the clichÊ. This statement leads to a paradox. Because even though the world around us is ever-evolving, people actually don’t like change at all. One magazine debated the impact of change on technology, education, mobility and all our lives.
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November 2014
E
very sector and every company needs to think about the future. This is a major challenge. “We shouldn’t limit ourselves to today’s world,” says Koen Van Gerven, CEO at bpost. “We have to think in terms of the world of tomorrow. Of course this is the most difficult part.” The company in question needs to create a vision of the role it will play in the future. “At the same time, you can’t get around the reality of today. At bpost this is very clear: even though we live in a digital world, our postmen and women still deliver 10 million letters every day.” But the question is how we respond to these changes in our environment. “Movement is necessary, that much is clear,” says Brieuc de Meeûs, CEO at the Brussels transport operator STIB. “As a company you need to guide your employees in this.” Changes in the world force an organization to look beyond its traditional environment. “In the future, our competitors may not necessarily be other HR service providers,” says Steven Van Hoorebeke, CEO at SD Worx. “I’m thinking about outsourcing companies from India, for example. They might take on the whole back office at a business, not just ICT but HR and accounting too.”
Seize the moment It’s certainly not just traditional HR service providers that know they have to come up with a completely new approach to their business. This actually ictnews.be/one
goes for all companies. “There’s no point trying to change your environment,” says Jannie Haek, CEO at the Belgian National Lottery. “It’s not a good idea to come up with an ICT infrastructure for the next ten years, for example. No, you have to seize the moment. And there needs to be space for new ideas. You need to be allowed to make mistakes as this will make you dare to try more.” The rapid evolution within technology is remarkable and some companies are having trouble keeping up with this. “It’s important for an organization to adjust to this brave new world,” says Dominique Leroy, CEO at Proximus. “In order to remain up to date in the long term, you need flexible management structures. This is also the path we are taking here at Proximus. We are leaving behind the strict hierarchical structure of the old Belgacom and evolving to a flatter, more organic, network-centric organization.”
Europe v. Asia and the US Our new, fast-evolving world requires a different attitude from employees and a different structure than was needed 10 or 20 years ago. “This is the great challenge in education,” says Raymonda Verdyck, Managing Director of GO!, the Flemish community education network. “We have to educate young people for a future world, even though we don’t know what it will look like yet. We have to teach them to cope with change, while the traditional educational environment is rigidly organized. So we really are facing a big task.” Teachers need to continue their training and the offering/ supply of teachers needs to fit better with the reality in major cities. “At the same time, we have to make savings, which means it’s difficult to produce new teachers.” The situation within education seems to reflect the simultaneous need for change and stability well. “This is primarily a European phenomenon,” says Marc Raisière, CEO at Belfius. “Europe has a very idle mentality. Everything is completely different in the US and Asia. A country like India is making huge investments in education, much more than we are in Europe.”
Participants
One magazine invited seven CEOs from the Belgian business world to discuss transformation.
Brieuc de Meeûs
CEO at the STIB “ T he new generation is more sensitive than you’d think. Young people expect some form of leadership at the company they work for.”
Raymonda Verdyck
Managing Director of GO! the Flemish community education network “ We have to educate young people for a future world, even though we don’t know what it will look like yet.”
Koen Van Gerven
CEO at bpost “ For the transformation you start today, you have to think in terms of the world of tomorrow.”
Steven Van Hoorebeke
CEO at SD Worx “ You have to respond to the world in which you live and work. Mobility is a problem, so we chose an office near the station.”
Jannie Haek
CEO at the National Lottery “ In the end it’s about culture. You can’t just impose changes or set them in stone.”
Marc Raisière
CEO at Belfius “ T he customer now comes first instead of the bank. This is the transformation we are undergoing.”
Dominique Leroy
CEO at Proximus “ It’s important for an organization to continually adjust to the world around it. This requires flexible management structures.”
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DOSSIER | 7 CEOs around the table
the memorandum we submitted to the government. Employees’ commitment is crucial but, at the same time, strong leadership is required, so that the process can be supported and implemented through channeling.”
“ You have to test employees’ ideas against the broad lines you previously set out, so you don’t let any opportunities pass you by.” – Koen Van Gerven, CEO at bpost
Download the One app and read the digital version of this magazine. Go to the App Store, Google Play or ictnews.be/one.
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Origins of transformation Change is usually a slow and steady process. But sometimes it’s different. The banking crisis caused the financial sector to undergo an enormous revolution. The whole context changed – from legislation to the relationship with the customer. “It forces us to take a whole new direction and to redefine our business,” says Raisière. “Belfius scored highly in terms of employee satisfaction, but achieved a low score among customers. This is the transformation we are undergoing: the customer now comes first instead of the bank.” In other sectors, the evolution has been less spectacular. So where does change start? How does the process develop? From the top down or the bottom up? “It’s never black and white,” says Leroy. “In some areas, you have to maintain a strict top-down approach and in others you can allow employees to take the initiative.” Commitment and leadership “It’s important for the top of the business to establish a framework,” according to Van Gerven. “At the same time, you have to be open and receptive to ideas from employees and customers. It comes down to testing their input against the broad lines you previously set out. That way, you don’t let any opportunity pass you by.” Commitment is necessary in order to get employees on board. “That’s why we talked to our staff,” says Verdyck. “We conducted a survey of 11,000 employees. Then we went into more detail on the results with 800 employees and this eventually formed the basis for
Space for ideas Change develops partly of its own accord, as more employees from a new generation come on board at an organization. “This is something that can create a fault line within a company,” says de Meeûs. “The new generation is a little more sensitive than you’d think. Young people expect some kind of leadership at the company they work for.” In an ideal situation, the business would offer a work environment in which the employees can contribute to developing new ideas. At the same time, this changes the way the company approaches its employees. “Seniority used to be an employee’s greatest asset,” de Meeûs continues. “That’s changing too. A young employee who develops a mobile app on their own initiative is contributing something to the company in a very concrete way.” A different way of working, different rules of play At bpost, management decided to provide structural support for these kinds of ideas. “We organized an innovation boot camp,” says Van Gerven. “Employees were able to develop their ideas further with some guidance.” This process resulted in the pilot project City Logistics for bpost, which offers an intelligent city logistics solution in Antwerp. “It’s about trial and error,” says Haek. “In a large organization, you have to provide space to test these kinds of new ideas.” This requires companies to take a different approach. “You have to be open to new input in business,” according to Van Hoorebeke. “You have to look at how the world is changing and respond to this.” SD Worx did this by establishing a new office near Brussels Central Station, for example. Van Hoorebeke: “Mobility is a burning issue. We have consciously ensured that our November 2014
Perspective
Change management and ICT office in Brussels is easy to reach using public transport. Teleworking is another option in the same debate. This requires new rules of play in other areas, as the relationship between employees and managers changes, or because clocking in and out is no longer relevant.”
4 secrets for success
Continuous process The main thing is for the business to undergo a sustainable evolution, for the change to last and for the company not to slip back into the old situation over time. “Ultimately, it’s mainly about a change in culture,” says Haek. “You can’t simply impose a change. There’s also no point setting the new situation in stone. It has to be a continuous process.” The new situation will also change into something else over time. “It’s about giving people an outside perspective,” says Verdyck. “As an organization you have to respond to this.” This should preferably take place in a rational manner, without simply following the hype. “You also have to leave plenty of breathing space,” concludes Raisière. “After a period of change, the organization needs peace, to absorb and process the evolution.”
Conclusion Transformation is necessary. An organization must continue to evolve constantly, in order to respond to, or even better, anticipate the changes happening around it. Employees’ commitment helps to create new ideas. Strong leadership keeps a transformation on the right track. But, in the end, the customer has the last word. It’s the customer who decides whether the business will continue to exist in the long term.
Your opinion matters! Would you like to respond to this round-table discussion? Go to www.ictnews.be/one or tweet using the hashtag #90minutes
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“What if we don’t change at all … and something magical just happens?”
1
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Commitment The main reason that change projects become diluted is lack of commitment. Commitment requires emotional and intellectual dedication. It’s not just about obedience, through which people implement a new process without really believing in it. You can’t force commitment, your employees have to make the leap themselves.
Community People in different areas need to work together in times of change. Change leaders explain the reasons and suggest how everyone can make the change a reality. Change agents plan, facilitate and implement the change. Change advocates use their influence to achieve the change.
Clarity People only change if they have a clear objective in mind and are motivated. A good idea is not enough. It has to be apparent why the current situation is not an option, at a personal level. Explain how you want to approach the change and what the difficulties will be. Try to map out the risks as well as the ways in which they can be avoided.
Communication Communication is the glue that holds everything together. It’s more than just sending an e-mail or giving a speech. It’s more than just an individual conversation or a Q&A session. Communication is a strategy, not a single event. It’s giving everyone the chance to express their grievances. It’s inspiring.
3
4
Source: Dan Roberts, CEO Ouelette & Associates, in ‘CIO Insight’
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DOSSIER | Over to the expert
Transformation requires vision without compromise “For a transformation project to succeed, you need vision but also emotional intelligence. This is how you get everyone on the same track. The transformation is successful if no one wants to go back to the old way of working.” This is the view of Tom Auwers, who led the Belgian Federal Public Service for Social Security through a metamorphosis, together with Frank Van Massenhove.
Tom Auwers, Director General and Change Manager, is one of the duo who led FPS – Social Security through a major transformation, together with Frank Van Massenhove. The process is now a benchmark for the New Way of Working, and not just within the government. They wrote the book ‘De collega’s werken thuis’ (Colleagues work from home) about it.
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“We implemented our transformation project in the context of a traditional bureaucracy. The FPS – Social Security has 1,300 employees, around 1,000 of whom are based in Brussels. Think of us as a large company with a central management and various separate departments. The management moved from an old, traditional office building, where the FPS kept ten kilometers of archives, for example, to the open-plan environment of the Finance Tower. There are all kinds of offices and meeting spaces there, so we can work together on dossiers, hold teleconferences, but also work alone and in silence, etc. The new office is the physical representation of the major transformation process we have undertaken.”
The tipping point “Transformation completely changes the trusted system. So it’s hard to get employees on board at the start. They have too little insight into the overall scope of the process and don’t believe that it’s possible. But afterwards, if the transformation is successfully completed, no one can imagine returning to the old situation. I like to explain this in terms of a tipping point. I don’t believe in a hesitant approach with lots of little pilot projects. They never end up working in practice.” Long-term strategy “Everything begins with a long-term vision. You need to know where you want to be in 10 or 15 years’ time. Developing this vision leads to
a strategic action program. In the case of the FPS – Social Security, it was all about programs relating to a new business culture, digitization, the work environment, customer focus and internal communication. You have to hold on to that vision. If you need to make compromises, the process will already have failed. The next step is political decision-making. You need to ensure that there is sufficient budget, even before you start discussing the actual content. If you don’t do this, it will become difficult to obtain budget from parties who may not be in complete agreement about the content of the action programs. After that you start working out the details.”
Something in return “To get employees on board with the process, there is a mechanism I call ‘social reciprocity’. You give the employees something they want, e.g. the opportunity to work from home some of the time. Of course you then ask for something in return, such as monitoring their performance more closely. If you allow people to choose where and when they work, they will automatically start to achieve better results. It’s not about working more hours but about higher productivity. Transformation is not flexible. Instead you should make it clear exactly how it has to happen. Only once a sustainable change is achieved and employees do not fall back into their old habits, is the transformation a success.”
November 2014
SCOOP | Book review
Why should you read it? What is big data? How can you use it? What can you do with it? ‘Analytics in a Big Data World’ goes beyond the hype and focuses on the daily problems confronting companies.
What is it about? The amount of digital data people generate is exploding. This towering mountain of ones and zeros contains data that is gold dust to companies and can be used for marketing, logistics, supply chain management, risk management and much more besides. The only problem is how to find the needles in this haystack.
Interested in a copy? We are giving away 20 signed books. Enter the survey about One magazine to win a copy. Go to www.ictnews.be/survey
Analytics in a Big Data World The essential guide to data science and its applications The focus of this book is on the practical application of big data and data mining in a fast-moving business environment. What do you need? Which approach should you take?
About the author
About the book
Prof. Bart Baesens has a master’s degree in business engineering, management informatics, and gained a doctorate in applied economics at KU Leuven. He is an associate professor at this university as well as a visiting professor at the University of Southampton. He has been researching data mining and its various applications for many years.
‘Analytics in a Big Data World’ draws on Prof. Bart Baesens’ expertise and covers a wide range of practical fields: marketing applications, calculating credit risks, predicting demand for new products, web analysis and limitation of fraud.
he book includes various case studies, used T to explain big data comprehensibly, without losing sight of fundamental mathematics and basic statistical principles.
Read the interview with Prof. Bart Baesens on page 34. ictnews.be/one
his book is about how you can integrate T business analytics within a company context and is intended for professionals in the retail, financial and government sectors, for example.
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IN PRACTICE | Proximus managed rapid carve-out at Citrique Belge
A cocktail of ICT
on site and in the cloud
T
ienen is home not only to sweetness at the sugar factory but also acidity at Citrique Belge. In fact, the two are closely linked. The company Citrique Belge was established in Tienen in 1929. This was a food business that used molasses as the raw material to produce citric acid. Molasses is a waste product of sugar production. Originally, the molasses used by Citrique Belge came exclusively from the Tienen sugar factory. Today, the company processes molasses from various sugar producers. Citrique Belge’s citric acid can be found in soft drinks, sweets, jam and medicines under the name E330. Shampoo and soap manufacturers also use citric acid. Citrique Belge is the second largest producer of citric acid in Europe.
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When Citrique Belge was acquired by new owners, the company had to find a solution for its ICT infrastructure in a short space of time. Proximus developed a cloud infrastructure, so that the ICT team at Citrique Belge could concentrate on the applications.
Rapid, cloud-based solution Up until 2010, Citrique Belge was owned by the Dutch chemical giant DSM. At this time the company used the group’s data infrastructure and ICT services. This changed when the German investment group Adcuram decided to take over Citrique Belge. The company had to look for a solution to its requirements in the area of ICT infrastructure and services. “The options were quite limited from the start,” says ICT Manager Michel Bangels. “There was no time to set up our own infrastructure. We only had two months for the whole carveout.” Citrique Belge therefore went in search of a cloud-based solution. In the analysis of four proposals, Proximus’ design was found to be the best. “The main advantage was the fact that our
About Citrique Belge Citrique Belge is a food company. The company, based in Tienen, produces citric acid, a flavouring and preservative for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Citrique Belge produces 300 tonnes of citric acid per day and is the second largest producer of citric acid in Europe. The company has 300 employees.
November 2014
cloud partner would host the complete infrastructure,” says Bangels. “Both LAN and WAN but also servers, storage, back-up and the helpdesk.” Proximus committed to providing a total solution. “This commitment was very important. Everyone had to be flexible, so that we could continue to be quick off the mark.”
Big bang This was a major challenge. Citrique Belge’s production is carried out day and night, 365 days a year. Of course the migration of the ICT environment had to take place with the absolute minimum downtime. So the preparation for the migration was crucial, including not only the planning of the technical migration but also the retraining for employees. Citrique Belge eventually chose a ictnews.be/one
combined solution. All office applications, printing and file servers run in the cloud, spread across two Proximus datacenters. There are around 20 servers and about 8 TB of data altogether. Around 30 production servers run locally at Citrique Belge’s site. Proximus also manages the company network, except the network for controlling the machines on the production floor. Citrique Belge prefers to keep this separate from the office network. “We chose a big bang approach,” recalls Bangels. “The entire migration was completed in one week. This was a very delicate task. As a company, you sometimes have to dare to take a big leap like this. Although we did have the advantage of being able to rely on 24/7 technical support from an experienced partner, of course.”
Michel Bangels has been an ICT Manager at Citrique Belge since 2012. He previously worked for eight years at NetApp and was Systems Manager at lighting company Sylvania for 18 years.
Business benefits • No in-house responsibility for infrastructure • M ore control over the effective ICT support for business processes • No in-house infrastructure managers or systems specialists required • Quick migration to a customized solution
33
TALKING HEADS | Interview with Prof. Bart Baesens
“It is not a research book but a manual on how analytics can be used in business.”
Prof. Bart Baesens on his book ‘Analytics in a Big Data World’
Big data, the new oil Big data is the new oil, a raw material that will become crucial to our economic growth over the coming years. In ‘Analytics in a Big Data World’, Prof. Bart Baesens of KU Leuven has written a handbook that shows companies how to use this new raw material.
Read the book review on page 31. 34
M
y own interest in big data began early on,” says Prof. Baesens, who is connected to the University of Southampton as well as KU Leuven. “The title of my doctorate was ‘Developing intelligent systems for credit scoring using machine learning.’ It was about data mining, as it was called back then: to look at whether a person was creditworthy or not. I am now head of a team of around ten PhD students, all carrying out research into data analytics.
Bridge between techniques and results “The reasons for writing the book were quite practical,” explains the professor. “The book is intended to bridge the gap between analytics as a technical discipline and a business-relevant activity that can be used to optimize processes or identify opportunities. It is not a research book but a manual on how analytics can be used in a business. Typical target sectors are banking, retail or even the government, where a lot of work with big data has been carried out recently.”
Patterns lead to benefits “Big data is still too often confused with elementary statistics, writing reports and creating graphics. But it goes much further than this. You can search for patterns in data that map your creditworthiness, it can predict the risk of fraud or you can use it for marketing purposes, for example. The quantity of data produced and left behind on sites by consumers is growing,” says the professor. “At the same time, the methods for analyzing this data are becoming more sophisticated. This brings headaches with it as well as lots of opportunities. People are concerned about their privacy. You definitely need to be aware of the data you are sharing but it’s also important to remember the advantages. When I go to Amazon, I immediately receive intelligent suggestions for books and music I will probably be interested. These predictions are the result of data mining and they are particularly useful.”
November 2014
IN PRACTICE | Ethias is offering Packs for Employees to its staff
Free Internet, and other benefits Any company that wants to satisfy its customers must first take care of its employees’ well-being. Ethias understands this, and is offering Packs for Employees to its employees. The latter benefit from a free Internet connection at home and on their mobile appliances, as well as reductions on other Proximus products.
Laurent Jaspers is an accountant and tax expert at Ethias. He is also involved in the Staff Friendly Society, of which all employees automatically become members.
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35
IN PRACTICE | E thias is offering ‘Packs for
Employees’ to its employees
E
thias was one of the first companies to offer a free Internet subscription to its employees. “Everything started 15 years ago with the Staff Friendly Society,” Laurent Jaspers, an accountant and tax expert, and the Society’s manager explains. “Since that time, we have been offering an Internet connection to our workers, who also benefit from discounts when buying a PC.” The package has changed over the years, and a telephony and digital television offer has been added. Ethias also provides a choice between various operators. “We offer the Packs for Employees via Proximus,” Jaspers explains. “The advantage for an employee is that everything is included in a single product.” The Packs for Employees are one of the four solutions for employees offered by Proximus, alongside Mobile for Employees, Devices for Employees and the Employee Privilege Program.
99% of employees have subscribed to the scheme Proximus has developed a tailored solution for Ethias. Although employees on permanent employment contracts could already benefit from a free Internet connection, thanks to Internet for Employees, they can now upgrade to Packs for Employees. Accordingly, they benefit from the advantages of this new offer, while Ethias continues to bear their fixed and mobile Internet expenses. “Since then, a huge number of employees have switched to Proximus,” said Jaspers. “Ninety-four percent of new staff members subscribe to Proximus’ Pack for Employees. The Internet subscription is free, and even though the employee makes a contribution for the digital television and fixed and mobile telephony services, they receive a nice reduction.” The Staff Friendly Society’s initiative has therefore been an outstanding success. “Around 99% of our employees have been persuaded. The remaining 1% results from the fact that both the husband and wife work for Ethias, for instance,” said Jaspers with a smile. More involvement Laurent Jaspers is the contact person at the Staff Friendly Society. This means that he is in constant contact with the employees. “This position enables me to see how much the workers appreciate this initiative,” he explains. “This is genuinely an additional service for the workers, which has nothing to do with the Internet connection made available to some managers and members of senior management in order to enable them to work remotely. In this case, we are talking about employees’ personal use.” However, the employer has obviously something to gain too. In fact, this offer amounts to an extra legal benefit that is attractive for both the company and the worker from a tax standpoint. “The main aim is obviously for the initiative to contribute to employee satisfaction,” Jaspers underlines. “Satisfied employees feel good about themselves. This means that they are more productive and more involved in the company, and show more commitment towards customers.”
36
About Ethias Ethias, which has over 1 million customers, is the third largest insurance company in Belgium. Over 200 advisers assist customers in 41 regional offices. The company’s head office is based in Liège.
1,800
employees, 700 of whom are based in Flanders
1,200
have opted for the Proximus Packs for Employees
94%
of new employees choose Proximus
Business benefits For the employer: • A single point of contact for the different solutions intended for employees • Alternative form of remuneration that reduces payroll expenses • A highly attractive extra legal benefit For the employee: • Free fixed and mobile Internet • Reductions on fixed and mobile telephony subscriptions, and on digital TV • Free TV Everywhere, also via 3G and 4G • Free Wi-Fi via Wi-Fi Hotspots
November 2014
“ The main aim is obviously for the initiative to contribute to employee satisfaction.�
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37
SCOOP | Intelligent equipment that makes life easier
INTERNET OF THINGS
The electronics around us are becoming ever-more intelligent. Today, your smartphone synchronizes with your TV and you can watch something via cloud services, based on the IPv6 protocol. When your car and blood pressure monitor begin to participate too, in the near future, the Internet of Things will become a fact. Intelligent devices will automatically start actions to automate life and make it easier.
Goji Smart Lock
Open sesame A door that opens automatically when you get home? The intelligent lock from Goji makes this happen. It recognizes your smartphone when it’s nearby, through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The lock connects to the background cloud service, which controls who can go in and when. When someone rings the bell, the doorknob sends a picture to your phone so that you can let them in remotely. You can also send someone a PIN number by text that will give them access just for a specific day. And, afterwards, you know exactly who came and when. An intelligent lock like this costs about €250. It’s compatible with most metal and wooden doors with a double lock and works with an iPhone 4S or above as well as modern smartphones with Android 4.4 and Bluetooth 4.0. Goji also offers wireless key rings that fulfil the function of the phone.
The Goji Smart Lock distinguishes itself through its unique ability to send real-time photos of visitors at the door. Vigo
Alertness guaranteed Blinking takes about a fifth of a second but a lot can happen in that short time behind the wheel of a car. When you’re really tired, you begin to experience micro sleeps without realizing it. These seriously affect your focus. Vigo protects drivers against this. This wireless Bluetooth 4.0 headset weighs 20 grams and includes an infrared sensor and movement detector. Together with a built-in processor and intelligent algorithm, they continuously monitor your state of alertness. If there is a risk that this will lapse, Vigo wakes you up with vibration, a light signal or music. The gadget is intended primarily for professional drivers but there’s nothing to stop you using it during a long, late-night meeting. You can continuously check your focus level on your smartphone.
Wearable gadget that analyzes the movement of your body to indicate your level of tiredness.
Read the dossier on the Internet of Things in the next issue of One magazine. 38
November 2014
IN PRACTICE | Ontex encourages video conferencing
Jurgen De Wolf studied business management at the Hogeschool Gent. In 2001, he started his career as ICT Hardware Engineer at Ontex. He went on to become Group ICT Operations Manager.
Alternative to
time-consuming travel With a new system for video conferencing, Ontex is connecting its meeting rooms all over the world. Now employees can also conduct virtual meetings using a tablet or smartphone. Jurgen De Wolf, Group ICT Operations Manager at Ontex, sums up the advantages.
Ontex Producer of personal care and hygiene solutions, such as nappies, feminine hygiene products and incontinence materials. Markets disposable hygiene products under various brand names and also works under retail brands. Belgian listed company with headquarters in Erembodegem, active in Europe but also Algeria, Turkey, Russia, China and Australia. Centralized IT support from datacenters in Buggenhout. 5,000 employees worldwide. Finding new support Ontex has been using video conferencing since 2007. V ideo conferencing has become an indispensable tool within the company. In order to work with the latest solutions, which ensure efficient and smooth communication, Ontex was searching for a new solution. .
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meeting rooms with Polycom video conferencing equipment, spread over
15 sites.
“ Managers were previously constantly traveling between the various sites. The arrival of video conferencing has resulted in major savings in terms of both time and costs.”
Polycom offers solution Proximus rolled out a new solution based on Polycom RealPresence, in 21 meeting rooms spread over 15 sites. Polycom RealPresence and Microsoft Lync are integrated. All employees receive access to video through Microsoft Lync. Through Polycom RealPresence, there are video connections between boardrooms at different sites. V ia Microsoft Lync, employees can also use their tablet or smartphone to participate in a video conference, no matter where they happen to be at that moment.
Business benefits • Efficient alternative for specific tasks, like weekly status meetings • Major time savings and a reduction in travel and accommodation costs • Infrastructure also available for training: employees from various sites can attend a presentation at the same time • V isual contact and the ability to share documents
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TECHNOLOGY | How can we store the growing stream of data?
A mountain of
bits & bytes In 2012, IBM estimated that we produced over 2.5 million terabytes of data worldwide every day. And, these days, an hour’s worth of video is uploaded to YouTube every second.
M
ost people can imagine what a kilobyte, megabyte or gigabyte represents. With terabytes and petabytes it become a bit more difficult. Exabytes, zettabytes and yottabytes are definitely hard to grasp. Luckily, technology offers ways to store all this data. With shingled magnetic recording (SMR) and phase-change memory (PCM), one terabyte of data can be crammed into a square inch (about 6.5 square centimeters) of silicon. In the future, heat-assisted magnetic recording
Surf to ictnews.be/one
(HAMR) and helium-filled disk drives will increase this to five terabytes. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, techniques are being developed to allow data to be stored for millions of years and remain usable. Despite these technical advances, good management of data remains indispensable. Data deduplication, master data management, compression and well-thought-out back-up and archiving strategies therefore remain necessary.
for more articles about technology and trends.
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November 2014
SOLUTION | Proximus Explore
The backbone P
How do you quickly connect a new business location to your existing sites? There’s no need to lose sleep over questions about your network.
of your
Proximus Explore is always available, secure and grows automatically along with your business.
company
roximus Explore is the customized private network that allows you to reliably connect all your business locations and employees. Explore is available throughout Belgium and can be fully tailored to your projects. It also supports the convergence of IT and communication, voice and data, fixed and mobile solutions, LAN and WAN. Unified communications and collaborations as well as cloud applications are also possible. You can depend on a safe connection with maximum availability that grows flexibly with your business communication requirements. Proximus guarantees the continuity of your business through constant management of your network. You can concentrate on your professional activities in stead of focusing on your network.
Your future working methods Your employees will want to be able to work or use your future business applications whilst traveling or from home too. Thanks to the connection of the mobile network and Explore, your applications are available all the time, from any location. Proximus guarantees this through effective SLAs, reporting on network performance and the 24/7 helpdesk. You can also give priority to business-critical applications on the network yourself. This Smart Explore Networking function saves each employee five minutes per day. That way, your network offers the opportunity to make savings and generate more business.
Business benefits Fiberglass Explore customers can use Proximus’ extra-fast fiberglass networks. Fiber is already in place in almost every major business park in Belgium. More and more companies have a direct connection to this digital motorway, but many companies still don’t realize the advantages fiberglass can offer them. They sometimes also have an incorrect idea of the cost price. So Belgacom has launched an information campaign, which started in July 2014 in Limburg and will then be rolled out in all other provinces. Belgacom has invested more than €7 billion in fast fixed and mobile networks over the past decade. It plans to invest another €900 million a year over the coming years. Go to www.proximus.be/opticalfiber for more info.
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• A company network you no longer need to worry about • Grows in step with your business • Cost savings and best available connection • Basis for all your business applications
More info Contact your account manager or go to www.proximus.be/explore
41
IN PRACTICE | Cisco technology offers Van Breda a long-term solution
A private cloud
for each client-company
About Van Breda Bank J.Van Breda & C째 focuses on the needs of selfemployed professionals and family businesses. Vanbreda Risk & Benefits helps national and international companies, public and social institutions, SMEs and self-employed professionals with insurance, risk management and employee benefits. Cigna (formerly Vanbreda International) manages international medical insurance and social security programs for international organizations.
42
November 2014
Proximus built a completely new server and network environment based on Cisco technology for IT service provider Informatica Van Breda. Each of Informatica Van Breda’s three customers now has a private cloud.
nformatica Van Breda has been active as a shared service center for IT and document management since 1998. Informatica Van Breda provides services to three specific companies: Bank J.Van Breda & C°, Vanbreda Risk & Benefits and Cigna (formerly Vanbreda International). A team of 45 employees handles all the infrastructure and operational support for the three companies. The infrastructure is spread over two datacenters at two locations. A private cloud has been developed for each of the three client-companies in the datacenters. “In order to offer our customers the required level of performance, we keep our infrastructure up to date,” says Bert Van Hove, Managing Director at Informatica Van Breda. “When it turned out that our servers needed to be updated, we decided to tackle the network at the same time.”
Separated servers and network Proximus provided specific assistance to Informatica Van Breda when rolling out a new server environment with 40 Cisco blade servers. All told there are around 900 virtual machines in operation, about half of which are in production. “We work in an environment that is 99% virtualized on VMware,” says Van Hove. “Thanks to the new unified computing technology, we are increasing the availability of these servers. The implementation of new server hardware is also now simpler and quicker.” Together with Informatica Van Breda, Proximus built up a new network, also based on Datacenter Switching Cisco technology. “We now have 10 Gbit at our disposal. The new network not only offers a higher bandwidth but also allows us to maintain the distinction between the three companies at network level. We have therefore achieved a complete virtualization – including in the network – through which we can offer our customers a real multitenant environment.” In concrete terms, this means that only the hardware is still shared, whilst at the level of the servers and network, everything is separate for each client-company. Van Hove: “The three companies we serve therefore each have their own private cloud.”
Support from Cisco technology Informatica Van Breda scoured the market, comparing offers from various players. “The supplier’s vision is very important to us,” Van Hove explains. “We wanted an environment that would work for years to come. It wasn’t just the technological choice and the cost price that played a role in our decision, but also the support the supplier could provide with it.” This turned out to be a deciding factor when Informatica Van Breda’s preference was for an integrated solution based on Cisco technology. The fact that Proximus was the final choice has a lot to do with the expertise that the integrator has built up around Cisco solutions.
Long-term investment, employees included Informatica Van Breda views the investment over a period of seven years. “Cisco will continue to develop on this basis, which offers us the future prospects we need.” Because Informatica Van Breda had no in-house experience with Cisco, Proximus’ expertise formed a key element in the project. Informatica Van Breda and Proximus came up with the design for the solution together. They then cooperated on the implementation, configuration and testing of the entire process. “Proximus provided the guidance and training for our employees. So we are now building up the necessary knowledge on our new environment in house.”
I
Bert Van Hove has been working at Informatica Van Breda for a long time. He started his career in 1990 as a programmer. Later on, he performed different functions within the IT company. He became director in 2003. ictnews.be/one
Business benefits • New server and network environment offers the end-user better performance • Private cloud for each client-company • Future-focused technology
43
PROXIMUS | News
Ready for the New Way of Working
Take the test Dozens of Belgian companies and organizations have transitioned to the New Way of Working, just like Proximus. They are striving for an open and dynamic working culture, thus allowing employees to achieve optimum performance and find the right balance between their work and private lives.
T
he carefully considered choice for the New Way of Working is bearing fruit. Proximus has also noticed this in recent years. Through a FLEX program, 69% of employees chose to work from home a couple of days a week, if their job allowed, with an average of 3.3 days per month. Since the introduction of FLEX, sick leave has decreased by an impressive 20% and fuel savings have increased by 40%. The New Way of Working is moving mountains, that much is clear.
NWOW Community The NWOW Community (with ALD Automotive, Proximus, Flanders Synergy, ING, Microsoft, Protime, SD Worx and USG Professionals as the main partners) was set up to promote all forms of the New Way of Working. The NWOW community evaluates employees on results, encourages time and locationindependent working, ensures a healthy balance between work and private life and lots more.
Is your business ready for the New Way of Working? Test this using the ten points in the NWOW manifesto, created by the NWOW community. You can sign this manifesto online at any time at www.nwowcommunity.be. 1
Employees are evaluated on results, not attendance.
2
Employees know exactly what is expected of them, through qualitative and/or quantitative criteria.
3
Employees have autonomy to determine how they achieve their results.
4
The necessary infrastructure is available to facilitate location and time-independent working (technology and workspace).
5
A certain form of flexible working is permitted. This is always a choice, not an obligation, for employees.
6
Dialogue and participation on optimal organization of work is encouraged.
7
Cooperation between employees is encouraged.
8
The balance between employees’ work and private lives is important.
9
Clear agreements are made on employees’ availability and reachability.
10 Employees are a source of inspiration for innovation and employee-driven innovation is encouraged
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November 2014
GPA Days
White paper
‘ Moving to the cloud’
Cloud
Moving to the cloud A quick overview of why and how
White paper | Cloud
P
roximus has been organizing a range of information days for local governments for more than ten years. Spread out across the whole country, seven events took place in September and October, attended by more than 400 people. The meetings are intended to improve the dialogue between Proximus and local governments. They are a unique opportunity for politicians and public servants to get to know each other and share experiences.
1
S
ocial media, big data, mobile solutions and the cloud form the driving force behind increasingly fast and radical changes. In this kind of environment, your traditional servers and storage infrastructure must make space for resources in the cloud. Proximus will help you with green datacenters, availability of 99.99% and high-speed connections. Download the white paper at www.proximuscloudpro.be
Belgian Cyber Security Symposium provides insight into risks
Cyber crime is big business. So the dangers to companies and consumers continue to increase. During the Belgian Cyber Security Symposium, customers had the opportunity to share experiences. The event also provided good insight into the current state of risks. ictnews.be/one
P
roximus organized the first Belgian Cyber Security Symposium at the end of October. Through this study day, Proximus aims to keep its customers up to date on the evolutions taking place within cyber crime and the measures available to combat this danger. Proximus was able to present its own experience, around a year after it fell victim to hackers. Proximus shared its story with the audience by explaining how it discovered the attack,
the steps it took to ensure all systems were clean again and how it communicated with its customers and the press on this matter. During the study day, the public also had an opportunity to meet the driving forces behind the Cyber Security Coalition. This is an initiative by Proximus, VBO, CERT.be, B-CCENTRE and Solvay Brussels School. Together, they unite 50 key players from the world of academia, industry and government, to share knowledge and
experience and obtain a better idea of the dangers posed by cyber crime in Belgium. The focus of this coalition will be on cross-pollination and knowledge sharing, raising awareness among citizens and companies and issuing recommendations for a more efficient policy. Such a concentration of forces from the business sector, the academic world and the public authorities will give new impetus to the digital economy and put Belgium on the map as a cyber-security-aware country. 45
COLUMN | Luc de Brabandere
“ Bosses of large companies never hesitate and always doubt” Luc de Brabandere is a corporate philosopher, a Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group, a conference speaker and the author of many books. He also teaches at the Louvain School of Management and at Ecole Centrale de Paris, and is a founder of CartoonBase, the communication-through-drawing agency.
T
he reality of business life is made up of decisions that must usually be taken quickly, in the ‘heat of the action’. If a problem suddenly arises in a telecoms network, or an emergency pricing offer has to be made, the manager must make a decision, as any hesitation may be damaging. If he is able to do so, it is because one day, he chose a high-performance IT architecture and an intelligent pricing policy. However, these strategic choices may date back several years, and the manager can never forget the fact that they were taken in a given context that may well have changed significantly since then. Accordingly, they need to return to the ‘white heat of thought’ from time to time, i.e. that special moment when new perceptions are established. No matter how brilliant it is, an idea is never more than just a working scenario. It is a representation of things that you agree to set in stone, in order to be able to change reality. You can only build a house on the day when you decide to no longer change the plans. An idea – which we might call a ‘strategic vision’ in the case of management, undoubtedly enables us to work, but it is only one option among others. Keeping this relativity in mind is what we call doubting.
46
In fact, doubt must be on a manager’s daily agenda, as they know that one day or another, in a world where so many things are changing, new ideas will be necessary. In short, there are two kinds of change: you can change things, and you can change the way you see things. However, if the second change doesn’t happen, the first is often disappointing. An investment in new technologies only fulfills its full potential if it is accompanied by its beneficiaries thinking in a whole new way. ‘Type one’ change happens within the system, which remains the same, as such. Although it changes the components, it nonetheless respects the underlying rule(s). Retroactive mechanisms protect the system, strengthen it even, and bring it back into balance, which leads to the famous saying ‘The more things change, the more things stay the same’! In contrast, ‘type two’ change succeeds in changing the rules to change the system. It necessarily involves a sudden illumination, and a new representation of reality. Although it sometimes appears illogical, this is because it is seen in the light of a ‘type one’ change. Creativity is therefore indeed a ‘type two’ change, while innovation is a ‘type one’ change. The first type aims to change people’s perception, while the second aims to change reality.
November 2014
SOMETIMES, YOUR NETWORK IS FULL OF
SURPRISES... Your corporate network offers access to valuable and sensitive information. Information that must never fall into the wrong hands. Can you be sure there aren’t any hidden “surprises” threatening your most precious data assets? No stealthy malware, back doors, data leaks or other security vulnerabilities? Don’t be caught unprepared. Uncover potential risks on your enterprise network.
Sign up for an on-site
checkpoint.com/securitycheckup
“With a reliable network I can lean back and relax.” With Proximus Explore your company continues to do business without interruption. • Secure private network, fully managed for you throughout Belgium • Extremely reliable and fast, also available with optical fiber connection • The ideal platform for cloud and unified communications • Grows flexibly in step with your company Find out all about it on proximus.be/explore