DRIVING TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION AS A TRUSTED ADVISOR
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X O R E FUJI X A I L A R T AUS s
n o i t a d n solid fou y g o l o n h for tec n o i t a m r o transf WR IT TE N BY
O LI V IA M IN N O C K
PR OD UC ED BY
A N D R E W S TU B B IN G
S
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FUJI XEROX AUSTRALIA
Mike Schembri, Head of Information Management at Fuji Xerox, advises businesses to bring IT up from the basement in order to truly add value
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hile the term Xerox is synonymous with old fashioned photocopying, Fuji Xerox is much more than just print. Having evolved
from printing to technology solutions, the company now supports clients in global technology transformations, leveraging the experience that comes 04
with having processed millions of transactions. “We dealt with Big Data before Big Data was cool,” says Mike Schembri, Head of Information Management (IM) at Fuji Xerox Australia. “It’s always been at the heart of our business, and nowadays if you haven’t learned to do that your business fails.” Today, Schembri emphasises, Fuji Xerox now sees itself as a ‘knowledge company’. “One of the main mission statements we have concerns building environments for the creation and utilisation of knowledge. We have an audacious goal that’s bigger than technology or print: for us it’s now about evolving technology solutions. We’re doing more and more work with digital transformation.” Having joined the business solutions behemoth through a series of acquisitions, Schembri brings experience from startups as well as technology
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roles at global corporations like KPMG, and has successfully run IT transformations including cloud migration. His role as Head of IM is about much more than technology – as tech becomes less of ‘nice to have’ and more of a ‘must have’, it encompasses a wider business strategy, much as the company itself has developed. “One of the things I’ve always been fascinated by is process improvement, particularly lean management: how can you apply lean to business environments outside of the manufacturing space,” he comments. w w w.f uj i xe rox . com . a u
FUJI XEROX AUSTRALIA
“ We dealt with Big Data before Big Data was cool” 06
— Mike Schembri, Head of IM, Fuji Xerox Australia
GROWTH THROUGH TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION “The technology piece is in some ways becoming more and more commoditised,” Schembri observes. “It’s all about business value.” A key element of Schembri’s role is working with various partners to deliver the best business transformation results for the company’s clients, which has been especially fruitful when it comes to networks. “We’ve moved to a managed network because it scales really well, and somebody out there can do it better than us.” Schembri adds that the company interviews vendors as thoroughly as it interviews staff, and looks for those who will be as knowledgeable as Fuji Xerox is with its own clients. “Do they come up with value adding solutions? Are they agile and innovative?” “Comscentre has been a really strong partner. They’ve evolved, initially coming in as a managed network partner and are now our network provider,” says Schembri. The firm also enjoys relationships with consultancies such as AK Consulting as well as Protiviti, who Schembri has worked with for a number of years. “Some things they
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probably understand better than us,”
went on to build capability within Fuji
he comments, adding that strong part-
Xerox, embedding what is now known
nerships are key to the organisation’s
as ‘Compliance in Context’ – this is
‘journey to value’ and Protiviti is a key
the way Fuji Xerox ensures it deploys
element of this philosophy. “As a wholly
sufficient amounts of governance to
owned subsidiary of a Japanese listed
address the real risk.
entity, we are always held to a very high
“As a result of Protiviti’s work our
compliance standard,” Schembri adds.
internal understanding and skill level
“Protiviti engaged with Fuji Xerox five
increased, as did our level of compli-
years ago around some local challeng-
ance,” Schembri adds. “Protiviti also
es we had making sure our local IT was
decreased our spend as we became
compliant.” The organisation initially
more self-sufficient, so that’s a good
dealt with the urgent tasks of reme-
example of a partner demonstrating
diation and risk mitigation, and then
real value to us. Three years ago, when w w w.f uj i xe rox . com . a u
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FUJI XEROX AUSTRALIA
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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘FUJI XEROX AUSTRALIA FUTURE THINKING VIDEO’
it was decided that Fuji Xerox globally
aged data centre a couple of years ago
should pursue an ISO 27001 certifica-
as part of a hybrid model,” he explains,
tion, we again engaged Protiviti to help
adding that Amazon also sits within this
with the initial ‘heavy lifting’, to upskill
category as a cloud provider. Moving to
local staff and to embed ‘Compliance
the cloud will stand Fuji Xerox in good
in Context’. We achieved the certifica-
stead as it scales its business and
tion on our first attempt, with no areas
develops its customer offering. “It will
of non-conformance, and we’re part-
be more flexible for our purposes, and
nering again with Protiviti to extend
will allow us to provide more flexible
our scope and certification.”
services to our customers, while also
As it migrates more and more data
having the capacity to improve cost.”
to the cloud, Fuji Xerox has also been
While a few years ago, organisations
working with AC3 for a few years. “We
and consumers might have been wary
worked with them and moved to a man-
of the cloud, Schembri sees it as a
more secure way of storing data than
Throughout clients’ technology
on-premise solutions. “The notion that
and business transformation jour-
an in-house data centre is more secure
neys, Schembri says that Fuji Xerox
than a co-located environment, particu-
is able to bring its knowledge, skilled
larly a cloud environment, is funda-
employee base and carefully cul-
mentally flawed,” he argues, noting
tivated partnerships to bridge the
that experts who manage co-location
gap between commercial and digital.
data centres are more likely to have
“Because we somewhat own the mar-
experience with many security issues
ket in terms of interface and getting
as opposed to individuals from one
into digital, clients look to us to help
company. “You even see government
them with their non digital transac-
is more and more comfortable –
tions too.” Much more than just a tech
they’re signing up for Cloud and Azure.
vendor or software supplier, Fuji Xerox
My sense is that the security argu-
enjoys long term partnerships with its
ment is over.”
clients. “We work through vendor to E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Mike Schembri Mike is the Head of Information Management at Fuji Xerox Australia. He joined Fuji Xerox 2009 initially working with a services start-up who were acquired by Upstream a subsidiary of Fuji Xerox. After ‘falling’ into IT in the 90s Mike has gone on to ‘grow people and teams in technology’ for businesses including Start-ups, Global Tech Vendors, Retailers and Professional Services. Mike also serves as the Chair and provides management consulting for several midsize not-for-profit organisations working both locally and internationally. Mike’s current ‘pet project’ is the establishment of a health clinic in Butanza, Uganda, to be staffed locally but supported by Australian technology companies.
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PROTIVITI PARTNERING WITH FUJI XEROX Protiviti has worked collaboratively with Fuji Xerox for five
governance and compliance, cybersecurity, ERP (Enterprise
years assisting them throughout their digital transformation
Resource Planning) solutions, IT service management
journey. Creating a ‘one-team’ environment dedicated to
improvement and IT disaster recovery.
achieving Fuji Xerox’s goals and strategic objectives is at the heart of the Fuji Xerox and Protiviti partnership.
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guys (though of course beards are “ The notion that an in-house data centre is trendy now) who nobody wanted to talk to, and frankly they didn’t want to more secure than a talk to anybody either – they certainly co-located environment, didn’t want to talk about customers.” particularly a cloud For a successful digital transformation, environment, is bringing the IT department up from the fundamentally flawed” basement to the centre of the organi-
— Mike Schembri, Head of IM, Fuji Xerox Australia
sation is the place to start. With three adopted children himself, Schembri has often threatened to write a book entitled Adopting IT. “IT was
partner to trusted advisor, that’s the
often this group that was trying to find
stage we’re at now,” Schembri explains.
its place in the organisation – the ‘other’
“We dominate a lot of our markets and
guys – and it really needs to be adopt-
have a long history, which is incred-
ed by the business. They often refer
ibly valuable. You maintain relationships
to themselves as ‘IT and the business’,
by understanding the customer: if you
with the business as an ‘other’, while
create solutions that represent value to
someone in sales might talk about
them at a price and business model that
themselves as ‘sales and the rest of
represents value to us, everybody wins.”
the business’.” It’s a change that’s been managed successfully within
BRINGING IT OUT OF THE BASEMENT
Fuji Xerox, but this was not without its
Perhaps the most visible develop-
challenges. “Like all cultural transfor-
ment Schembri has seen – and driven
mations, it was difficult, but we were
– throughout his career has been in
clear that we wanted not a technology
transitioning IT from a single tech
department so much as a service de-
department to a leading element of
partment with a technology speciality.”
any business. “It used to be a very
As part of the transformation,
technical-centric group of bearded
Schembri brought in people from w w w.f uj i xe rox . com . a u
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FUJI XEROX AUSTRALIA
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non-technical backgrounds to roles
for the soft skills more than the techni-
that required a thorough understand-
cal skills.”
ing of the business. “There’s all of that
Within Fuji Xerox, the IM team had
technical competence you need, but
the aim of becoming known as ‘Awe-
actually for enhancing your business,
some IM’, a central cog in the organisa-
understanding is incredibly powerful.
tion. “We’re visual all the way to the top,”
You can teach most people a technical
Schembri comments. “You can walk
skill much more simply than you can
into our environments and see where
teach a cultural communication skill.
we’re at on what roadmap, ahead or
You do need to identify aptitude and
behind. Conversely, from the top down,
desire – there will be some people who
the senior leadership team meets
have no interest in learning about tech
once a month and works through the
and that’s OK – but we certainly look
process of what we’re doing on which
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projects, following up within three days
provement will always be ongoing), Fuji
with a shorter meeting with all the team
Xerox can be even more of a trusted
leaders to review those projects. One
advisor to its clients as they undergo
of the keys to being successful is that
their own journeys. “We’re focused on
we’re willing to fail fast and stop stuff
adding value to customers by making
that isn’t working. Management’s not
it simple, laying down clear pathways
the art of what you do: it’s the art of
of what we need to do. Compliance
what you decide not to do.”
is really important and the security of clients is sacrosanct,” he adds. “The
AN AGILE, LEAN ADVISOR
primary objective is to shorten the time
As a truly tech-led organisation with
to get clients up and running so they
its own IT function fully transformed
can serve their customers. You’re try-
(though Schembri is quick to note im-
ing to reduce overheads for them on w w w.f uj i xe rox . com . a u
FUJI XEROX AUSTRALIA
the internal stuff. We also reduce hard costs through most of our transformations, which allows us to provide better value solutions to customers as well. We’re a business just like our clients, so we’re always challenged to find better ways of doing things.” For any business embarking on a technology transformation, Schembri emphasises the importance of laying solid foundations before chasing after the bright, shiny object. “What’s the difference between driving a Ford KA 18
and a Ferrari into a brick wall? You get the same result, but one just looks more spectacular when it hits it.” Schembri describes the ideal process as a hierarchy of needs: “The basis of it is learning, and it’s our job to make a learning environment. Then you define standards, which is followed by an emphasis on continuous improvement, and above that is transformation and innovation. Those two things are addictive for executives, but if you don’t do the foundation first it gets ugly.” Fuji Xerox will continue to support clients from these solid foundations as they undergo their own journeys. “As our business comes up with new offers,
1960
Year founded
45,397
Approximate number of employees
2011
Fuji Xerox Australia wins ‘FSC Responsible Procurement Award’
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘FUJI XEROX NEW ZEALAND: MEET TRUSTPOWER’S ROBOT WORKFORCE’
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it’s about making sure our systems are robust enough to support those processes. While there are more technical challenges to deal with and there always will be, it’s not about technology: it’s about how to stay close to the business and understand what they need and how to fit in with that. We’ll continue to challenge ourselves to provide better value,” Schembri concludes.
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Fuji Xerox Australia Head Office 8 Khartoum Road Macquarie Park NSW 2113 Australia www.fujixerox.com.au