Driving digital transformation around the world
02
Providing the tools for digital transformation success WRIT TEN BY
M ARCUS L AWRENCE PRODUCED BY
K RIS PA LMER
QR Code-based mobile payment platform, a joint venture with Yahoo Japan, using Indian Paytm’s technology
03
w w w.so f t ba n k. j p /en
SoftBank has established itself as one of the world’s leading digital transformation providers, driving the uptake of disruptive technologies with a comprehensive offering
T
he SoftBank Group, founded and led by renowned business leader Masayoshi Son, is one of the country’s largest and
most prolific companies. The conglomerate is one of the largest telecommunications providers in the world, and has become a regular and signifi04
cant tech investor for firms globally. Its US$100bn Vision Fund, for example, has invested heavily in companies around the globe to drive technological advancement. SoftBank Corp., a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp., is also one of the leading providers of digital transformation services and solutions, and has become a go-to for companies worldwide for products and solutions including including its Internet of Things (IoT) platform, cloud technology, artificial intelligence (AI), automation, robotics, data analysis, cybersecurity, Fintech and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). SoftBank believes that data should be the key driver in all business decisions, and as such offers a suite of solutions that
Ken Miyauchi President & CEO
05
Softbank provides a coworking space in Japan at WeWork Japan, through a joint venture with The We Company
w w w.so f t ba n k. j p /en
We are pleased to be partnering with Softbank, a marquee wireless carrier. Tupl automates the most critical and complex tasks within network operations and engineering. We have gone beyond Big Data insights and built the world’s first use cases with complex automation all the way to closed loop level. Our live deployments are showing 100x improvement in resolution speeds, 90% level of automation, 4x improvementin accuracy, with 100% consistency.
The Tupl approach is unique: operators provide their most pressing manual work problems, and Tupl automates those processes. Use cases range from customer care to network optimization, automated alarm handling, even to construction management and prediction. Tupl is the leader in operations automation by AI. We are headquartered in the United States, with presence in Spain, Mexico and Japan.
Visit our Site
Digital Transformation Case Study: TUPL Network Advisor Get ready for 5G by Automating Your engineering & Optimization work by AI. There is a simple reason why certain high-complexity repetitive work has not yet been automated; it has been considered too difficult. Case in point: armies of engineers continue to do complex and exhausting troubleshooting and optimization tasks, day in day out. To make matters worse, this manual way of working will not be possible when you throw in another “G”, namely 5G, with network slicing and IoT complexities to boot.
ENTER TUPL NETWORK ADVISOR Award-winning Tupl Network Advisor helps network engineering teams unlock the power of AI to automate processes and scale up accumulated human expertise. This is accomplished by helping engineers do root cause analysis and actions which are dependent on the network operators’ overall strategy. This is the approach to use AI technologies to turn accumulated engineering knowledge into digital knowledge for scaling, speed and consistency.
Tupl has been running Network Advisor implementations with several major wireless carriers from the US, Europe, Latin America and Japan with very successful results that show not only efficiency gains, but significant side benefits from Intelligent Process Automation: 1. 90% Machine Learning accuracy, with intuitive and fast data labeling (supervised & unsupervised). 2. 80% overall automation. The remaining 20% are the most complex problems and should stay in open loop. 3. Performance gains of 50%-80% when executing the recommended actions by Network Advisor. 4. Enabling Customer Experience data to drive network optimization tasks, automatically. Might just be first time in the world these two domains work seamlessly together. 5. 100% consistent, and reducing human errors. This proves the power of Network Advisor’s capability as the perfect Staff Augmentation solution for any advanced operator. Based on the early results in one major operator, staff augmentation was calculated to a level of 40%, creating an annual value of $20M for the efficiency gains alone. Furthermore, consistency in AI decision making enable unique analytics for strategic decisions across the network, and frees engineering time for the most complex and important issues. For more information on Tupl and their Network Advisor, please see www.tupl.com.
08
© Taka – Fotolia
enable firms to harness the latent insights of their data sets. Data centres form a core part of SoftBank’s digital transformation offerings, providing colocation and hosting services for firms looking to offload operations to stateof-the-art cloud environments. Its White Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) provides the hosting capability for enterprises: a dedicated server platform that provides web, mail and database functions. Outside of the data centre, White Cloud ASPIRE is SoftBank’s Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution
‘SoftBank enables its customers to leverage the strongest cloud offerings from around the world through its Cloud Access service’
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘SOFTBANK TVCM – “SPEED L IMIT MAN”’ 09
that offers flexible on-premise cloud
and relationships within and between
environments for customers.
their data sets whilst offering a straight-
A joint venture (JV), called SB Cloud,
forward user interface (UI) to minimise
formed in 2016 between SoftBank and
disruption to businesses adopting the
Alibaba saw the launch of Alibaba’s
technology. DataV also displays and
cloud capabilities in Japan, leveraging
monitors data simultaneously, maxim-
Alibaba Cloud technology in a partner-
ising the efficiency of its analysis, as
ship that continues today. SB Cloud
well as offering a strong degree of
enables SoftBank customers to take
immediacy. SoftBank also enables its
advantage of a host of capabilities to
customers to leverage the strongest
make the most of their data, including
cloud offerings from elsewhere around
the DataV visualisation and analysis
the world through its Cloud Access
platform. The tool enables firms to id-
service, providing a direct gateway to
entify and interpret trends, patterns
those offerings through its own secure, w w w.so f t ba n k. j p /en
SCALEABLE DENSIFICATION SOLUTIONS TO EXPLOIT THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THE 4G/5G EVOLUTION Monetize your 5G business case today at a fraction of the cost.
With more than half a million cells deployed worldwide, Airspan allows operators such as Sprint, Reliance Jio, SoftBank, APT & Turkcell to disrupt the way their networks are deployed. Airspan offers the most comprehensive 4G/5G densification toolkit in the industry, which includes the new Air5G portfolio, the multi-award-winning AirUnity, AirDensity, AirSpeed, AirStrand, and AirHarmony. These products, tightly integrated with Airspan’s iRelay and Self Optimizing Network (SON) software allow operators to revolutionize deployment economics and maximize spectral efficiency.
airspan.com MONETIZING FUTURE 5G NETWORKS AirspanNetworks
airspan-networks
A complete toolkit to assist operators to monetize their 5G future Airspan’s 5G portfolio includes the new Air5G Virtual-
market. AirUnity and AirDensity cells with integrated
RAN (V-RAN) Macro platform that will allow mobile
5G Backhaul will help operators monetize their 5G
operators to reduce the cost of network densification
assets and services today by taking advantage of the
by up to 50% and still address the wide range of 5G
massively deployed 4G ecosystem that is already out
business opportunities, thanks to its revolutionary
there while improving overall user experience and
all open architectures. Airspan offers the perfect
existing macro performance. It will take a few years
toolkit to exploit advanced technologies including
according to even the most aggressive forecasts for
AI, mmWave, Sub 6GHz, Massive MIMO, and open
the proliferation of 5G device ecosystems. Therefore
V-RAN architectures.
solutions that can be shipped in a matter of days and installed in a matter of minutes that offer 5G
Airspan has always been about disrupting the
capacity and ultra-low-latency today will truly make
economics of network deployment. Operators can
the difference of who will be the operator to come
benefit from a 5G open V-RAN platform that can
out on top and monetize their 5G assets.
interact and interface with 3rd party equipment and software over open standard interfaces. Airspan’s
Over the next couple of years, 5G will be deployed
Air5G utilizes 3GPP, ORAN and Small Cell Forum
in Sub 6 GHz Spectrum and in mmWave for
interfaces to interact with off-the-shelf servers (COTS)
applications from Fixed-Wireless to Connected &
running L2 and L3 software. This open ecosystem will
Autonomous Vehicles, as well as industrial and venue
allow for Airspan to disrupt the deployment costs all
settings. Airspan’s 5G will add high-capacity, ultra-low
over again as it has done with the Sprint Magic Box
latency services that will truly enable operators to
and Reliance Jio’s greenfield network.
monetize their 5G business case.
Airspan’s multi-award-winning small cell portfolio
Contact Airspan today at airspan.com/contact/ to
of integrated access and backhaul solutions also
find out more on how you can monetize future 5G
allows for a phased approach and faster go-to-
networks.
MONETIZING FUTURE 5G NETWORKS airspan.com/5g solutions
12
Mobile stock trading app, with simple UI enabling all smartphone users to start from small amount of money closed network. Through SoftBank, customers can use Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services platforms, ensuring that clients can tailor their selection to the needs of their business or to align with existing technologies used in their operations. In keeping with its commitment to advancing the
ÂĽ3.6bn+ Approximate revenue
1981
Year founded
17,300
Approximate number of employees
technological capabilities of Japanese
management, and generation of action-
infrastructure, SoftBank announced on
able insights for enterprises countrywide.
20 March 2019 that it has entered a JV
In addition to the cloud services and
with Cohesity, the market leader in the
platforms that SoftBank provides, it
hyperconverged secondary storage
offers a variety of cybersecurity solutions
space and a member of the Vision Fund’s
to ensure the platforms have appropri-
portfolio. The JV is set to facilitate the
ate measures in place to keep data in
advent of a modern data infrastructure
the right hands. One example of these
in Japan that will drive backups, storage,
solutions is the Cybereason security w w w.so f t ba n k. j p /en
13
platform, which detects threats in real time and ensures administrators are informed immediately so that action can be taken before the breach causes harm. Automated processes within the platform enable it to assess the severity of threats independently whilst actively following movements across the network that could develop into malicious activity. The Cybereason solution is designed to minimise input from the client, enabling smooth deployment with little disruption. Cybereason can be integrated 14
into clients’ cloud platforms alongside Dome9, a visualisation service that presents the cloud environment’s settings to boost compliance as well as identify and rectify human errors. SoftBank says that around 40% of companies are considering IoT for advancing their data collection capabilities, irrespective of industry, and it is working hard to both encourage and cater to this trend. Harvesting data from myriad sources can be achieved through SoftBank’s rich catalogue of (IoT) solutions and its tailored offering to
Providing a coworking space in Japan through WeWork Japan, a joint venture with The We Company
each client. Gateways and sensors required for data collection are lined up against cost, power consumption, and long-distance communication, and are tied together with its low cost IoT platform capable of supporting an array of networks securely. SoftBank’s IoT devices collect information pertaining to facility operation, facility usage and vehicle usage statuses. This data is collated and housed within SoftBank’s secure IoT platform which includes its API and API management technologies that facilitate linkage and cross-referencing between data
Truck fleet auto-control experiment by 5G network
sets, enabling customers to leverage powerful data-driven insights like never before. The firm divides its solutions between manufacturing, transport and social infrastructure, meaning its offering is broad in scope and applicable for the majority of companies undergoing digital transformation. The company is also dedicated to maximising the value of staff by revolutionising internal processes. SoftBank’s SynchRoid solution enables automation of simple administrative tasks and processing procedures, freeing up w w w.so f t ba n k. j p /en
15
‘SoftBank has established itself as a leading digital transformation solutions provider’ 16
employees’ time for increased focus on more skills based tasks. This boost to operational efficiency not only ensures work is done sooner but also mitigates labour costs. The technology is also more accurate over the long term, eliminating the risk of human error for important tasks such as data input, counting and processing, and ledger management. SynchRoid is capable of functioning in myriad departments and roles, including finance, general affairs, human resources and sales. In sum, SoftBank has established itself as a leading digital transformation solutions provider. Through a host of innovative solutions, products and strategic partnerships that transcend borders, companies can leverage integrable technologies that both minimise disruption and enable the seamless flow of data from collection through to actionable insights within secure, tailorable and flexible cloud platforms.
w w w.so f t ba n k. j p /en
17
1-9-1 Higashi-shimbashi Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-7317 T (+81) 0120-03-0061 www.softbank.jp/en