Business Review Europe magazine - December 2017 by Business Chief Europe

SPECIAL REPORT

D e c e mb e r 2017

ON DIGITAL DISRUPTION AND DIFFERENTIATION

www.businessrevieweurope.eu

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;S

RADICAL TRANSFORMATION Exclusive interview with Group CTO Yogesh Malik

TOP 10 EUROPEAN football clubs

Making societies more productive by helping our customers run their businesses. Birlasoft, one of the Global Leaders in IT service delivery, is proud to be associated with Close Brothers for last three years in its journey to become a leading Modern Merchant Bank. Birlasoft is a strategic partner of Close Brothers and supports its mission critical core banking application and Management Information System which puts it in a unique position to create value for next generation business transformations. Birlasoft has successfully implemented: A Fraud Detection Solution which has saved Close Brothers a million pounds since inception. It has been awarded

‘Best vertical solution of year 2014’ by IT Europa - European IT and Software Excellence Award. Close Brothers Premium Finance IT team has successfully delivered a very large Customer Service Program (CSP) by transforming the Banking Application for which Birlasoft was the partner of choice.

Founded in 1995, Birlasoft is a Global IT Services provider and part of 150 year old, multi-billion dollar CK Birla Group. Birlasoft deploys a host of innovative solutions and service architectures across the globe in Banking, Financial, Insurance Services and Manufacturing industries. Our core values lie in being a dependable service provider, with years of experience in managing mission critical systems for our esteemed customers. We achieve our mutual goals by engaging and integrating human capital across our people, customers and partners. Our expertise makes us unique as we challenge the status quo and strive for excellence. Birlasoft (UK) Ltd. 53-54 Grosvenor Street, London, W1K 3HU www.birlasoft.com | birlasoftuksalesteam@birlasoft.com Tel: + 44-207-319 5700 | Fax: +44-208-711 5103

“Birlasoft have had a strong delivery track record for Close Brothers; what separates them from other vendors I’ve worked with is the level of partnership and ﬂexibility the y consistently display” Chris Loake, CIO – Close Brothers Premium Finance

FOREWORD OUR COVER FEATURE this month is a must-read interview with Yogesh Malik, Group CTO of VEON. Malik, recently named Oracle’s CIO of the Year, is the driving force behind the Dutch telco’s root-and-branch digital transformation. Through his innovative ‘clean-sheet thinking’, Malik has revolutionised VEON’s approach to technology, putting the customer’s needs at the centre of everything it does. “In 12 to 18 months, I think it’s no longer going to be green shoots we’re talking about, it’s going to be the new harvest brought by this change,” explains Malik in a refreshingly open chat with Romily Broad. Also in this issue, we speak to JDi’s Chris Phillips about being one of Europe’s brightest young entrepreneurs, while Jess Shanahan takes a look at Germany’s thriving technology startup scene. This month’s Top 10 reveals which European football clubs are benefitting most from the increased money in the game, with the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid featuring in our revenue rankings. Finally, our exclusive digital reports feature interviews with Accord Healthcare, Basefarm, BetBright, Deutsche Bahn, Difi, Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund and West Ham United, as well as VEON – all involving in-depth discussions with top executives and industry experts. Enjoy the magazine, and join the conversation on Twitter: @BizReviewEurope

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F E AT U R E S

CHRIS PHILLIPS Born to do

BUSINESS

INTERVIEW

TAKE OFF FOR THE GERMAN TECHNOLOGY STARTUP MARKET TECHNOLOGY

December 2017

T O EUROPEP 10 A FOOTBA N LL CLUBS TOP 1 0

C O M PA N Y P R O F I L ES

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CONSTRUCTION

VEON

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West Ham United

December 2017

BetBright RETAIL

Basefarm

Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund

Deutsche Bahn

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Difi

SUPPLY CHAIN

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Accord Healthcare SUPPLY CHAIN

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CHRIS PHILLIPS Written by BEN MOUNCER

INTERVIEW

Born to do

BUSINESS

INTERVIEW

BUSINESS REVIEW EUROPE speaks exclusively to Chris Phillips, whose hugely successful investment firm ‘Just Develop It’ has made him one of the continent’s standout young entrepreneurs CHRIS PHILLIPS HAS already squeezed more into his 32 years than most business leaders fit into a lifetime. Phillips is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Just Develop It, one of Europe’s most ambitious investment and incubator hybrids. It works with over 25 separate businesses through a network of over 300 employees, investing hundreds of millions of pounds to aid growth and profitability. The venture led to the Portsmouthborn entrepreneur pocketing an estimated personal fortune of £70mn before turning 30, earning him recognition on numerous young persons’ rich lists alongside the likes of Ed Sheeran and Andy Murray – but Phillips’ rapid route to success hasn’t always been smooth. Growth speed at Dot5hosting, the web hosting service representing his initial foray into business, saw the company accumulate an 12

December 2017

uncontrollable amount of debt before it was eventually saved through a sale. Phillips pinpoints that period as a defining time in his short career. “Those lessons were probably the most valuable because we learned what not to do in business, which is just as important as the success,” he tells Business Review Europe in an exclusive interview. “It was great watching the sales and the money come in, but it was the things that we did wrong that probably put me in best stead for the business we did after that.” Like most enterprising businesspeople, Phillips can trace his entrepreneurial instincts back to his youth, when his desire to enter the world of work, along with his lack of interest in academic pursuits, pointed him in one direction. Most teenagers take on a paper round to earn money, but Phillips took this to another level, obtaining four

Philipps cuts the ribbon at a Just Develop It Literacy Lab

rounds from a local agency before subbing them out to his close friends. By the age of 16, he was selling web hosting space to his father – the beginnings of the business that was to become Dot5hosting, the £10 per month service that would eventually attract thousands of customers. “It was kind of a case of right place, right time as the industry was just taking off,” explains Phillips. “I was in a nice bubble where anyone who was

INTERVIEW

much younger than I was couldn’t do it, as they were still in school. Anyone that was too much older didn’t really have a grasp of what the internet was, so to speak, and they were already set in their jobs or university courses anyway. Everyone wanted a website though, it was the .com boom. Everyone wanted a site, everyone wanted an email, everyone wanted an online presence. And it just snowballed from there.” Dot5hosting’s eventual sale to 13

INTERVIEW iPower led to Phillips working as a contractor for the company in the US for 18 months before he returned to Europe, eager to prove himself once again, but now armed with the money to kickstart the venture capitalist firm Just Develop It. Having initially harboured ambitions to match the power of the Virgin brand, Phillips and his team quickly established that investing in a company’s own image and people while driving to develop those areas left them with the flexibility to approach any business in which they saw potential. It proved to be a smart decision. While Just Develop It still works with companies that share their roots in technology and computing – including JustHost, another hosting service that turned over £25mn worth of revenues – its success can be also be put down to the branching out into more varied sectors, such as leisure and property. The firm now runs over 200 properties in the UK. “I have a theory that the general principles of business are the same,” adds Phillips. “If you’re selling bananas, if you’re selling web hosting, a house, a jet, antivirus software – whatever you’re selling, the core 14

December 2017

business principles are the same. “Obviously every business has its own problems, its own categories. For example, with our aircraft business (Xclusive Jets) you need important people that really understand the legal side and the safety side. If you’re building a house, you need to have someone that really understands the foundation and the structural side. But from a high level, I think the core principles of what you’re doing in business don’t really change.” Risk-taking is also at the heart of Phillips’ philosophy. He adds: “In order to have the growth that we have, there needs to be an element of risk, especially when you’re competing.

“WITH MOST BUSINESS IDEAS, IT’S NOT NECESSARILY THAT BUSINESS THAT’S GOING TO MAKE THEM MONEY OR BE THEIR SUCCESS, BUT THE PERSON BEHIND IT” CHRIS PHILLIPS Founder and CEO, Just Develop It

Particularly on the internet where there are so many people competing in your space: in web hosting, antivirus, cloud, whatever you’re in. “We’ve always been particularly aggressive in our marketing stand and the way we promote the product because it gives us that edge. Up until about five years ago, any time we started a company, we would roll on and then pretty much 100% of those proceeds would go into the next business.” Just Develop It doesn’t define itself as a regular venture capitalist firm, however: it looks to do much more than just accelerate the growth of its businesses through finance. Companies that Phillips 15

Philipps has won several awards in his career to date

“WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN PARTICULARLY AGGRESSIVE IN OUR MARKETING STAND AND THE WAY WE PROMOTE THE PRODUCT BECAUSE IT GIVES US THAT EDGE” Chris Phillips, Founder and CEO, Just Develop It 16

December 2017

INTERVIEW and his team see potential in can also expect to receive expert mentorship and guidance. As part of the package, startups will benefit from Just Develop It’s expertise in finance and exit strategies to sales, marketing, HR, branding and design, giving any kind of company the opportunity to succeed. A culture of togetherness is fostered in the company’s new Fareham headquarters just outside Portsmouth, where a number of its businesses have gathered under the same roof. Phillips is careful to create a collaborative environment where resources are pooled and ideas shared, but his primary focus is on the people he works alongside, from the CEOs to Just Develop It’s growing team of workers. “Any business that we invest in is more for the person than the business,” says Phillips. “With most business ideas, it’s not necessarily that business that’s going to make them money or be their success, but the person behind it. We like that because the idea might not be great, but we’re going to go along for the ride because, eventually, they’re going to have something else. “I work directly with the CEOs of every company, sometimes with

the COO, and you learn things as you go just by being involved in the businesses. The knowledge I have is probably 5% of what each of the CEOs has within their company, and we give complete free range to anyone that runs whatever company, which allows them to make some mistakes and learn from them. “They take everything on personally, and they’re responsible for their own section and their own company. That kind of helps the businesses run themselves, and we don’t have to get too involved on a day-to-day basis.” But what of his own personal profile? Phillips has achieved a remarkable amount not just for himself but for a number of other business owners in his short career, but has he grown used to his wealth being compared to that of some of the country’s most famous musicians and sportspeople? “When it was the first time that it (The Independent’s list of the 24 richest people aged 30 or under in Britain) came out, it was like five years ago and I didn’t know I was actually going in the paper,” he reveals. “I can remember someone telling me and I leaned down in shock, right there. That first one was specifically cool!” 17

TECHNOLOGY

TAKE OFF FOR THE GERMAN TECHNOLOGY STARTUP MARKET

From left to right: Daniel Wiegand, Matthias-Meiner, Sebastian-Born, Patrick-Nathen

Investment in a flying taxi startup will not simply revolutionise electric mobility - itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part of a very strong year for investment in German startups Written by JESS SHANAHAN 19

TECHNOLOGY GERMAN FLYING TAXI firm Lilium has picked up $90mn (€75mn) in series B funding from a group of investors spread around the world, signalling the strength of the German startup market. Investors, such as major Chinese technology company Tencent, are backing electric technology startup Lilium’s plans to bring a five-seater vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle to market within the next decade. The Lilium jet is the next stage in electric transport, allowing passengers to travel five times faster than by car. The goal of the company is to revolutionise transport-as-a-service (TaaS) by allowing anyone to call one

The Lilium Jet – The world’s first all-electric VTOL jet 20

December 2017

of these flying taxis with the touch of a button. Passengers will simply pay per ride and it is hoped the service will become as affordable as riding in a car. The funding group consists of Tencent; LGT, the international private banking and asset management group; Atomico, founded by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström; and Obvious Ventures, whose co-founder Ev Williams is also co-founder and former CEO of Twitter. The investment brings the German company’s total capital raised to more than $100mn. Daniel Wiegand, Lilium’s co-founder and CEO says: “This investment is a tremendously important step for Lilium as it enables us to make the five-seat jet a reality. This is the

next stage in our rapid evolution from an idea to the production of a commercially successful aircraft that will revolutionise the way we travel in and around the world’s cities. It makes Lilium one of the best funded electric aircraft projects in the world. Our backers recognise that Lilium’s innovative eVTOL technology puts us in the lead in this exciting new industry, with no other company promising the economy, speed, range and low-noise levels of the Lilium Jet.” The investment will be used for the development of the five-seat Lilium jet that will fly commercially, as well as to grow Lilium’s existing team of 70 employees. The company is aiming for its first manned flight

in 2019, with a fully-functional jet. By 2025, on-demand air transport will start to become a reality. In April, Lilium achieved a world first when the full-sized prototype successfully performed its most complicated manoeuvre – transitioning between hover mode and horizontal flight. There’s still a lot of work to be done before the first manned flight but the statistics look promising. Lilium says the jet will be able to travel 70km in just 15 minutes, allowing workers to escape the city in record time. Lilium’s website also states its plans for costings, in comparison with getting a regular road taxi from Manhattan to JFK airport. Taking a car currently costs $56-73. Initial pricing for the

“TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES PLAY A FUNDAMENTAL ROLE IN STRUCTURING OUR EVERYDAY LIVES” DANIEL WIEGAND

Lilium’s co-founder and CEO

TECHNOLOGY

journey in a Lilium jet would be $36, going down to just $6 long term as the business becomes more established and the infrastructure grows. David Wallerstein, Chief Exploration Officer at Tencent, explains the importance of the Lilium jet. He says: “Transportation technologies play a fundamental role in structuring our everyday lives. Lilium’s electric powered eVTOL aircraft offers new mobility options that can benefit people around the world. From underdeveloped regions with poor road infrastructure, to the developed world with traffic congestion and sprawl, new possibilities emerge when convenient daily flight becomes an option for all of us. Lilium offers a substantial and environmentally-friendly transportation breakthrough for humanity.” Lilium isn’t the only disruptive 22

December 2017

transport company to receive this kind of investment. In August 2017, German carmaker Daimler was part of a consortium to invest €25mn in Volocopter, a rival flying taxi startup. Volocopter is progressing quickly with trials of its autonomous air taxi starting in Dubai this year. Investment in these kind of businesses is important for Europe’s startup scene. Not only are investors thinking about the future of transport and helping to move it along by funding projects such as Lilium, but these developments can only give a boost to other technology companies in Germany. Germany’s startup scene is booming: in the first half of 2017, the amount of money invested into German companies grew 123% on

“The production of a commercially successful aircraft […] will revolutionise the way we travel in and around the world’s cities” Daniel Wiegand, Lilium’s co-founder and CEO

TECHNOLOGY the first half of 2016. Alongside Lilium, there are a number of other startups that are generating interest in Germany and beyond. Almost all of these operate in the tech space, with a number identifying as fintech startups. SolarisBank is just one of these companies. At its core, it is a tech company but it happens to have a German banking license too. The Berlin-based startup has built an API-accessible banking platform that enables digital businesses to create custom solutions for their varying financial needs. Daniel Wiegand, Lilium’s co-founder and CEO Also in the fintech vertical are startups like Clark, an insurance company aimed at retail customers; Candis, which develops intelligent financial workflows; and Kasko, another insurance company, this time in the form of a digital platform that allows companies and brokers to market new on-demand products. Lilium isn’t alone, however, when it comes to transport tech. German startups have been racing those in Silicon Valley to reinvent transport for some time. Moia is a company owned by Volkswagen that is building on-demand shuttle buses, equipped Lilium app

“From underdeveloped regions with poor road infrastructure, to the developed world with traffic congestion and sprawl, new possibilities emerge when convenient daily flight becomes an option for all of us”

December 2017

Lilium Landing Pad with smart AI that will work out where people are and where they want to be dropped off. The AI will be able to trace an optimised route through a town that gets people around quickly and efficiently. The goal of Moia is to make cities more liveable and efficient with the first tests now starting in a 90 sq km area of Hamburg. The initial fleet of 20 Volkswagen vans will help to develop the technology, with

customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; help, for future roll-outs across Germany and beyond. Germany has long been a leader in efficient, innovative technology but the global interest in these transport companies puts pressure on other startups around the world. Mobility as we know it is changing and whether that change is pushed from Germany, Silicon Valley or somewhere else entirely, it all points towards more efficient travel in our future. 25

T O P 10

T O P EUROPE 10 A FOOTBA N LL CLUBS Busines s Revie w Europ takes a e l o ok at th Europe e 10 an footb all club with the s highest revenue accord , ing to F orbes HARR

December 2017

Writte Y MEN n by EAR

T O P 10

10 / TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

The UK Premier League club’s current value is estimated at $1.05bn, with revenue reaching $310mn earlier this year, according to Forbes Magazine. Tottenham’s yearly revenue has risen by $3mn since the 2014 appointment of Argentinian manager Mauricio Pochettino. Currently undergoing extensive renovations, which are scheduled for completion in time for the 2018/19 season, the club’s home stadium, White Hart Lane, will cost an estimated $528mn and increase seating capacity to 61,000 - 25,000 more than can could previously have been accommodated. Season tickets for 2018/19 range from $917 to $2244.

$310mn

December 2017

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CLUBS

$379mn

09 / JUVENTUS F.C.

Based in Turin, Juventus F.C. is Italy’s most valuable football club, with a net worth of $1.258bn. The club’s annual revenue in 2017 totalled $379mn, an $11mn decrease (3%) from the 2015/16 season. Juventus has maintained a positive annual operating income of at least $20mn since 2012, when it experienced a $38mn deficit amid allegations of match-fixing. Since then, Juventus’ operating income has risen overall, reaching a high point of $81mn in 2016. Its home field, the Allianz Stadium, has a seating capacity of 41,507. Season tickets for 2018/19 range from $1,028 to $1,908. 29

T O P 10

08 / LIVERPOOL F.C.

Liverpool F.C. is currently valued at $1.492bn, with an annual revenue of $448mn. The club’s net worth experienced a 4% decrease between the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons. 31.7% ($472mn) of the club’s value is attributed to commercial sales, with only 16.9% ($252mn) originating from matchday income, and $559mn annual income from broadcasting, making for a disproportionately high dependence on brand commercial sales for an English football team. Liverpool’s home stadium, Anfield, has a seating capacity of 54,074, and season tickets are valued between $904 and $1,147.

$448mn

December 2017

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CLUBS

$497mn

07 / CHELSEA F.C.

Chelsea Football Club has a current value of $1.845bn, and an annual revenue of $497mn. The organisation’s net valuation has grown by 11% in the past year, from a 2016 value of $1.661bn, although revenue has fallen by $8mn in that time. Chelsea’s revenue peaked in 2015 at $526mn but has grown significantly, on average, since the club’s 2003 takeover by owner Roman Abramovich. As of 2015, Russian billionaire Abramovich has made interestfree loans to the organisation in excess of $1bn. These have been used to purchase new training grounds, improve Stamford Bridge stadium, and furnish Abramovich’s $1.3mn private box. Stamford Bridge’s current capacity is 41,663, and 2018/19 season tickets range in price from $785 to $1,650. 31

T O P 10

06 / ARSENAL F.C.

Arsenal FC has a net worth of $1.932bn, and an annual revenue of $520mn. The organisation’s value increased dramatically between 2015 and 2016 - rising from $1.3bn to $2bn - before falling by $86mn the following year. Regardless, the club’s operating income has more than tripled since 2014, currently reported as $122mn. Arsenal’s annual income for match day sales is $495mn, accounting for 25.6% of its estimated value. Season tickets at the Emirates Stadium (60,432 capacity) are the most expensive in the Premier League and the second most expensive in Europe, with prices ranging from $1,339 to $2,658 for the 2018/19 season.

$520mn

December 2017

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CLUBS

$578mn

05 / PARIS SAINT-GERMAN

The top-valued French football club, Paris Saint-Germain, has a net value of only $841mn, the lowest on this list. However, the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual revenue is over $578mn. PSG is one of only three teams in the European top 10 to be free from debt, the others being Chelsea and Bayern Munich.The club attributes 46.9% of its net estimated value to commercial sources, also the highest on the list. As of 2017, the club signed Neymar da Silva Santos JĂşnior. Valued at over $249mn, the Brazilian forward became the most expensive player in the world. Saint-Germain also boast the highest season ticket costs in Europe, with the price of admission to the 48,583 capacity Parc De Princes reaching as high as $3,418, accounting for $134mn in annual sales. 33

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04 / BAYERN MUNICH

Bayern Munich is Germany’s most valuable football organisation, valued at $2.713bn, almost $2bn more than its nearest competitor, Borussia Dortmund. The club made $657mn in revenue in the 2016/17 season, a 1% increase on the previous year. 46.3% of Munich’s value ($1.256bn) originates from commercial and merchandising sales, the largest portion of any club in Europe worth over $1bn. Since 2010, the club’s value has grown by at least $50mn, while 2015 was the high point for revenue which reached $661mn. The BM supervisory board primarily consists of managers from prominent German companies, including Adidas, Audi, and Deutsche Telecom. The Allianz Arena seats 75,000 and season tickets cost just $138, based on 2015 prices, making them the cheapest of any large club in Europe.

$657mn

December 2017

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CLUBS

$000mn $688mn

03 / BARCELONA F.C.

Barcelona F.C. is valued at $3.635bn, with an annual revenue of $688mn. Barcelona’s annual revenue has grown steadily since 2013. The club has a long history of resisting corporate ownership, and remains staunchly in the hands of its 180,000 members. The club’s president, Sandro Rossell, recently oversaw Barcelona’s first sponsorship deal worth $196.2mn with Qatar Airways, citing the need to compete with private and corporate investment in foreign clubs. Camp Nou, Barcelona’s home ground, has a seating capacity of 99,354. 35

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02 / REAL MADRID

Spain’s largest football club, Real Madrid, is valued at $3.580bn and collects $688mn per annum in revenue. The club has the highest broadcasting revenue of any football organisation, at $1.183bn, and is third in Europe in commercial and merchandising sales which amount to $1.216bn. Revenue, which is brought in by advertising and sponsorship, has decreased by $58mn since 2015, and the club’s worth is currently 2% lower than 2016. The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium seats 81,044, and season tickets range from $234 to $1,930.

$688mn

December 2017

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CLUBS

$765mn

01 / MANCHESTER UNITED F.C.

With a net valuation of $3.689bn, and an annual revenue of $765mn, Manchester United F.C. is the wealthiest, most profitable football organisation in the world. In 2017, the club experienced its highest revenue and net value figures ever. This net worth growth of 11% from $3.317bn in 2016 to $3.689bn in 2017 is matched in the European top 10 only by Chelsea F.C. However, at 24%, the club also has the highest debt proportionate to its value of any club of similar size. After undergoing an 8,000-seat expansion in 2006, Manchester Unitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Old Trafford Stadium seats 75,643, with season tickets ranging from $703 to $1,255. 37

A CLEAN-SHEET

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Written by Romily Broad Produced by Glen White

YOGESH MALIK, 2017’S MOBILE EUROPE GROUP CTO OF THE YEAR AND ORACLE CIO OF THE YEAR, IS LEADING A ROOT-AND-BRANCH DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AT ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST TELCOS, VEON. OBSESSED WITH HIS CUSTOMERS, MALIK HAS REDEFINED THE MEANING OF ‘CLEAN-SHEET THINKING’ TO HELP THE COMPANY SERVE ALL 235MN OF THEM

“

You know, the word ‘transform’ is used a lot. It’s everywhere. Transformation. I’m transforming. You’re transforming. Everyone’s transforming! “But it’s the purpose. That’s the key.” Yogesh Malik stands in a corner office on the sixth floor of VEON’s headquarters in Amsterdam, describing a philosophy that has helped him drive a root-and-branch reformation of one of the largest telcos on the planet. Malik has been awarded a Group CTO of the Year 2017 by Mobile Europe and has just been named Oracle’s CIO of the Year. As he reveals the stunning scope of the transformation he’s

December 2017

helping to lead, around us the final touches are being made to the decor of a building that now looks as aspirational as the company’s brand, products and culture feel.

VEON the platform The company renamed itself VEON, from VimpelCom, in February of this year. A commitment to what the company calls ‘radical transformation’ is encapsulated in the name – it’s the brand of its existing personal internet platform, technology through which it doesn’t just connect its customers, it aims to provide worldbeating localised services and liberate them from such anxieties as going

TECHNOLOGY

VEON

dark when the credit runs out. Years of divestments and organisational change have led to this moment – a process focused squarely on shedding the ballast of a traditional telco in order to surge forward as a large but agile technology company. The VEON platform leverages powerful data analytics and artificial intelligence, offering users a variety of new, personalised and contextualised services on anything from entertainment to

financial services using data insight to predict and satisfy customer needs. It bundles in messaging capabilities to enable users to connect by voice, text, picture and video through a constantly iterated proprietary platform. The aim is to securely provide everything online at a tap of a finger, and importantly zero-rating is a ‘fundamental component of the service’, with users able to stay online for free even when they are out of credit.

“That’s key when you transform. Keep the customer, understand the forces acting on them. Forget about the rest” YOGESH MALIK GROUP CTO, VEON VIDEO: The Veon platform 42

December 2017

TECHNOLOGY

Emblazoned throughout VEON’s freshly appointed offices are reminders of its core values, foremost among which is to be ‘customer obsessed’. It’s a purpose that has fuelled the company’s transformation and that is made real in VEON’s core consumer offering, fine-tuned as it is to the needs of customers across the frontier markets it serves – majoring in Russia and Pakistan, but stretching from Tajikistan to Algeria. It’s also a major player in Italy, in partnership

with Hutchison under the brand WIND Tre. It’s where the VEON platform first cut its teeth. The company employs around 40,000 people across its 13 territories, under six distinct brands.

Clean-sheet thinking It’s all a result of what Malik describes as ‘clean-sheet thinking’, where the customer’s needs are sacred and drive decisions from top to bottom. “It’s about thinking about your customer and nothing

VIDEO: Clean-sheet thinking

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w e u ro p e . e u

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LEAD OR LOSE: A VISION FOR COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDERS’ DIGITAL FUTURE Communications Service Providers (CSPs) understand all too well that digitalization in the world has not yet translated into new value for themselves. Continuing a trajectory of cost cutting is only going to be a race to the bottom. The industry is at a turning point. The European Telecommunication Network Operators – ETNO – recently issued the “Lead or Lose” report, based on Accenture Strategy research, that looks at Europe’s digital future. It defined three foundational capabilities for success: an ecosystem built around the Internet of Things, pervasive digital networks and institutions reinvented as digital entities. Networks are at the heart of these developments, but will CSPs be leaders, utility providers or subsidiaries of foreign disruptors? To flip the race to the bottom to a “Race to the Top”, CSPs need to grow their core business while transforming it but scale new “S curves of growth” by innovating their own and 3rd party digital services which can potentially gain much broader reach across a platform-based ecosystem. Accenture has defined four growth models, but also pinpointed fundamental moves for CSPs to insure their future success, starting right now. Hyper-personal, hyper-relevant Get as close as possible to the customer and

become part of their “Digital Daily Routine”. That requires personalization and contextualization, with an omni-channel customer experience providing services that understand customers, rather than the other way around. Embed intelligence to monetize CSP strengths Develop beyond data and analytics capabilities and embed intelligence via a cognitive technology platform at the core of the CSP. In digitally-driven future ecosystems, the orchestrators—the operators who own the data and therefore can be the first touchpoint and define what a customer gets and when and how— will have disproportionate power over the whole value chain. Through automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and continuous learning, the “CSP Brain” opens new possibilities for creating and monetizing innovative services for customers via trusted third parties across an expanding ecosystem. In a digital future that’s evolving at an everaccelerating pace, CSPs possess a crucial advantage: a primary relationship with the customer. At Accenture, we are working with many Tier 1 CSPs to help them transform their way into the champions’ circle. They have strengths that the disruptors can’t buy – identity, quality of experience, security and billing relationships, which can be turned into tradeable assets for the ecosystem.

VEON

else,” he says. “Not about your competition, just the customer. “See what the customer really wants, then look at what’s impacting the customer and what affects their choices. Is it a competitive thing which is influencing them? The internet, their freedom? What is going to make up the customer’s mind on what to choose and what not to choose? “Clean-sheet thinking is something like the automotive industry moving towards a completely electronic car. An electronic car is nothing but a computer on wheels and Tesla figured that out. “It’s very hard for the incumbent big auto manufacturers to make a hybrid car. They are building on the same chassis, they’re constrained by the engine room, by the back room. But Tesla clean-sheeted – they wanted space, a beautiful dashboard with everything visible like a computer screen… “That’s key when you transform. Keep the customer, understand the forces acting on them. Forget about the rest. Then find

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a way to provide the best solution for the customer while being sustainable and competitive in the marketplace.”

Leading technology transformation Malik and VEON’s leadership clean sheeted their entire organisation and pivoted it around the needs of their customers. For a company with over 235mn customers across a wide variety of territories, embarking on such a comprehensive reformation was certainly bold. But Malik is adamant that VEON represents more than a rebrand - the company’s mission, identity, and culture are ready for the future and the rebrand is a ribbon on the package. “VEON is a company where on one hand we have extremely big size and diversity - but not only that, we have a great pioneering spirit. Amongst the diversity and the scale, we are able to pioneer new frontiers, and that makes us very, very special,” he says. “Now the CTO role for me is extremely important in this journey. It’s about moving from conceptual

LEADING 5G INNOVATIONS ZTEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Latest 5G Achievements in 2017

www.zte.com.cn

Strategy-Boosting 5G Ecosystem Together Cooperation in Standard & Research

Cooperation with Operators

Key player and contributors of 5G standard organizations

Cooperation with many mobile to explore, research and verification of innovative technologies

Cooperation in Ecosystem

Vertical Industry

Acceleration the commercial 5G maturity

• GIA (Global IoT Alliance) founded by ZTE has more than 140 members so far. • ZTE concentrates on Smart City, Smart Home, V2X, Industrial Internet and related business models.

ZTE Corporation is a global leader in telecommunications and information technology. The company is committed to providing integrated end-to-end innovations to deliver excellence and value to consumers, carriers, businesses and public sector customers around the world to enable increased connectivity and productivity. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. In 2016, ZTE achieved an annual revenue to over RMB 101.2 billion, bolstered by growth in the company’s Carrier Networks and Consumer Businesses. With the industry’s most comprehensive product range and end-to-end solutions, ZTE offers cutting-edge wireless, access & bearer, value-added services, terminals and managed services to telecommunications carriers, in addition to ICT solutions for enterprises and government agencies. ZTE’s advanced capabilities enable leading telecommunications operators and Fortune 500 enterprises in more than 160 countries to achieve their business objectives and increase competitiveness. In addition, ZTE’s acclaimed AXON and Blade mobile devices are chosen by consumers around the world.

VEON

1992 Originally founded as VimpelCom

40k+ Number of staff at VEON

$8.9

billion The annual revenue for VEON (2016)

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thinking to delivery and strategizing the next move. Transformation leadership is central to a CTO role. “We need to understand software. Coming from telecoms we were very linked into hardware and software, coupled together. Those elements needed to de-couple to understand software much better as a skill in its own right. “And we need to be extremely financially savvy. As a CTO, I cannot just bring ideas to my CFO, my CEO, which I wouldn’t believe in if it was my own money. The metrics of customer engagement, the metrics of brand, the metrics of return on investment, they need to be very, very closely felt in the technology strategy in order to make the transformation real.” The company’s emergence as a brand – and platform – called VEON speaks very publicly about how it can deploy technology to empower its customers. As it advertises to the world, it offers customers a chance to “Be Truly Free”. There is no doubt it’s an ethos very closely aligned to Malik’s own personal beliefs in terms of how the company should be operating. He tells us that as a child in India he endured frequent trips to doctors to patch up the scrapes of his adventures. As a result, he aspired to become a doctor himself at the time, to improve lives and “excel in solving their problems”. While his career took a different path, he says the same basic

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purpose still informs him when leading technological progress at VEON. He says passionately: “Who am I really serving? How can I make my effort in such a way that I see delight on the customer’s face? That is a main driver for me. What do we need to do next to serve our customer? How can we make the service better? How can we make it more effective? How can we explain things more easily? How can we inspire? “For me what holds a lot of importance is to have a purpose. Because without a purpose

“VEON is taking radical steps to own its future and influence the shape of things to come” YOGESH MALIK Group CTO, VEON

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you cannot really transform anything. “It’s absolutely key to have a purpose as a centre, and customer is a purpose. Then, of course, we need to have an open-mindedness. We cannot go into any situation thinking only one solution would work. We’ve got to balance things. Sometimes a local opinion matters, sometimes a global opinion matters. “Thirdly, we should walk the talk. If you don’t do that, we just kind of stumble preaching something, it never gets done. “Have purpose, be very openminded, walk the talk, all of the time.”

The future of telecoms VEON is taking radical steps to own its future and influence the shape of things to come. In Malik’s view there has been a breakdown in the value chain in the telecoms industry more generally. OTT content services are leveraging networks to build closer relationships with customers than the network providers themselves. Infrastructure is installed and maintained as a commodity

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divorced from the needs of their end users. Devices and sales swirl competitively around the edges. The outcome is an increasingly disengaged customer. The reincarnation of VEON from VimpelCom – and all the change that has occurred under the hood - is geared around fostering customer engagement from the grass roots, by transforming the fundaments of both company and service. “As a telecoms industry, we were given 3G as a tool,” Malik says. “We were given 4G as a tool and now we are talking about 5G, but we have never addressed our core problem: How do we address customers in a real-time, personalised manner? How do we empower our customers and our consumers more, so that they feel in control in the same way they feel in control of their bank account, or their airline ticket, and how can we take this customer confidence to the next level? “That is what we are dealing with right now and, in my opinion, if we do not deal with that, we can keep building networks of new

VEON’S TRANSFORMATION

VIDEO: Transformation VEON’s journey to transformation began as a reaction to the increasing entropy it perceived in the telecoms industry, as well as growing headwinds of currency devaluations in the markets it calls home. CEO Jean-Yves Charlier has written that the industry risked becoming dumb pipes facilitating the real engagement being driven by fast-growing OTT players. Meanwhile, VEON – or VimpelCom as it was then known – was performing poorly versus its competitors and was riven with inefficiency. It chose to aggressively and systematically disrupt itself. It’s vision: “a unique telco & tech combination that allows to capture the “best of both worlds” The company set about massively improving its capital structure via the consolidation of its two leading markets – it launched the WIND Tre joint venture with Hutchison in Italy and merged Mobilink and Warid in Pakistan. It then refreshed its management team, overhauled its compliance structures, installed new corporate values and hugely reduced its costs.

In 2016 CTO Yogesh Malik and his team initiated group-wide implementation of a new digital IT stack. It is the largest technology transformation the industry has ever seen, completely overhauling how the company is managing its business globally. It is replacing a patchwork legacy infrastructure that has grown country-by-country with one central, cloud-based platform. It is bringing new product development back in-house. The platform provides the analytics power to supercharge product development and helps to realise the company’s goal of offering streamlined, personalised services to customers in real-time. A rebrand to VEON and the global roll-out of its eponymous personal-internet platform followed from February 2017. As the company reported a 9.5% year-onyear revenue growth for the 9 months 2017, at $7.2bn, the platform surged to a potential userbase of more than 170mn. It is already stacked with almost 140 content partnerships, and will be available in all VEON markets in 2018. An all-new, global tech company has arrived.

VIDEO: The future of telecoms

“In 12-to-18 months, I think it’s no longer going to be green shoots we’re talking about, it’s going to be the new harvest brought by this change“ YOGESH MALIK Group CTO, VEON

December 2017

technologies, but we will never address a core of the issues. And the core of that is the IT behind the networks serving our customers. “And what can we do with the data we have? Following all the regulations, we can personalise that customer journey. We can make that customer be the customer, not a SIM card holder. “Today, everyone is going after SIM cards, but actually the customer is either owned by Apple, or by Google, or by Yahoo, whatever brand they identify with. They are not owned by the telecom operators. This is

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what we would like to change, and this next step for us to become a trusted advisor is going to be key.” Malik is confident, though, that change is afoot, and he believes the reborn VEON can be a pioneer for this new methodology and way of thinking across the industry. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it has begun. Malik is leading the charge at a company in a prime position to succeed. It refers to the countries it serves as the ‘markets of the future’ and with its huge, diverse team and bold technology strategy it aims to make a dramatic impact. “Now it’s not just a concept or a vision, there are actions to back it up,” he says. “I think that whole transformation on network, customer angle, complete ID transformation, and bringing data to customers’ lives will really give birth to a datadriven company culture. In fact, that’s happening right now as we speak. In 12-to-18 months, I think it’s no longer going to be green shoots we’re talking about, it’s going to be the new harvest brought by this change.

“It’s hard for me to comment on the strategies of other companies, but I do understand there are complexities when you’re sitting on a huge legacy infrastructure skillset, and on revenues that you do not transform too swiftly. You need to be careful, and passionate, so it will very much depend if other telcos have the similar kind of pioneering spirit as us. “There are a couple of examples in Asia and the US where companies are really changing with a huge vision of conquering the next horizon as well. Otherwise you will be a commodity. You will perhaps be essential to the market, but you will not be a differentiator.” By now VEON’s offices, gleaming in the heart of Amsterdam’s burgeoning Zuidas business district, will be resplendent in its final livery. After we talk, Malik heads straight to the airport for a flight to Algeria. He has the look of a man who’s delivering the future personally.

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West Ham United

Digitising the game to accelerate fanengagement Written by Catherine Sturman Produced by Andy Lloyd

West Ham Unitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at the London Stadium presented a unique opportunity to revolutionise its IT infrastructure

December 2017

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ong rooted in English history, football is an emotive sport followed by loyal fans who travel far and wide to see their favourite team compete against rivals. However, in the last 10 years the traditional game has changed in the face of a vast demographic, where digitisation has disrupted the way in which we communicate and interact with others. Fans are able to now share experiences and speak to the players themselves through the emergence of social media. Technology continues to impact the sport and has consequently altered what fans expect to receive out of attending matches. Having won the bid to relocate to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the iconic London Stadium, the Club looked to Mike Bohndiek to help them review their technological landscape. Initially appointed in a consultancy role and now Head of IT he looked at Upton Park (the club’s previous stadium) and its technological capabilities. Understanding the demands the

industry faces to cater to both fans and staff, Bohndiek undertook an essential gap analysis to ascertain what the club lacked from a technological perspective, and what it needed to ensure not only an exceptional venue which would cater for all ages, but would deliver an excellent fan experience each time. “What quickly became apparent was that IT had been in a dark corner for quite some time,” he says. “The primary challenges surrounded the club’s decentralised, ageing infrastructure.” Although Upton Park had been the home of West Ham since the late 1890s, Bohndiek explains: “When you’ve been in a physical location for so long, things work, not because they’re best designed or most efficient, but because they’ve worked before. The attitude is that they worked yesterday so they’ll work tomorrow, without a vision as to how it might be modernised and mobilised.” Observing that many departments at the club were siloed, with servers out of warranty, machines which ran

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W E S T H A M U N I T E D F. C .

Windows XP and an outdated switch estate, Bohndiek adds that the club suffered from a number of network storms, which saw them come close to the cancellation of a Premier League match on one occasion. “It meant that the access control systems weren’t functioning a couple of hours before kick-off,” he says. Additionally, West Ham also had a widespread apprehension of adopting and procuring new technologies, something which Bohndiek had to address quickly.

Greater flexibility By eliminating the use of classic virtual private networks (VPNs), the implementation of hybrid cloud solutions has seen West Ham overhaul its outdated processes and provide increase mobilisation and flexibility. Staff are able to work anytime, anywhere through the use of remote access and twin factor authentication, providing substantial organisational growth and ability for cross-collaboration. “We broke into the Brand Finance’s

“It’s an interesting marketplace with the likes of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, who are starting to see some fierce competition from startups, where people are bringing genuine innovation to the market” Mike Bohndiek Head of IT at West Ham United Football Club

December 2017

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top 15 European clubs as a part of the move, and had European exposure and much more global exposure,” comments Bohndiek. “We want to be sending coaches out to countries such as Japan which they have recently visited. We want them to be signing promotional partnerships on the go.” “I think it is an interesting marketplace with the likes of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, who are starting to see some fierce competition from startups,

where people that are bringing genuine innovation to the market,” continues Bohndiek. “Approximately 70% of what we do is in the cloud.” Additionally, the club’s collaboration with Sage saw it digitise its HR platform and create solutions within its manual paper processes, such as job applications and internal items such as the booking of annual leave. Staff will soon be able to access team and company-wide updates from smart devices and be more sustainable in the process.

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With much to be done to transform the London Stadium experience, partnering would be a key success factor. Partnering with Ricoh ITS throughout the migration project, Bohndiek says: “There was great synergy with Ricoh and their growth in the ITS business, particularly in the UK and more widely in Europe. Similar to their strapline ‘Imagine, Change,’ we were looking at reimagining the future and bringing it to reality.”

The collaboration between the two parties saw the club reduce its number of active suppliers from 150 to just 32, whilst consolidating a large number of maintenance contracts, pricing and payment terms to drive further business savings. Consequently, the club has seen a reduction in supplier costs of approximately 25%. “Our work included consolidating our multiple CCTV providers across

West Ham United partner with Ricoh to deliver IT change and business process transformation “The transformation project that Ricoh has helped West Ham deliver is critical to the business and a significant catalyst for change. Staff have seen IT go from a poor relation into something that really works for them day-to-day. It has challenged thinking across the business. Before it was muddling along with an adequate IT service, now it’s become an enabler for better, smarter and more productive working.” Mike Bohndiek, Head of IT, West Ham United FC

Watch the West Ham video Click Here

Ricoh delivering IT change at West Ham United • Cuts capital and on-going costs £60k on hardware, £180k annually on support • Transforms IT, enables business process change and smarter working • Reduced hardware footprint – virtualised servers, 50% cut in desktops devices

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Mike Bohndiek’s talk at the The Stadium Business Summit in 2017: ‘A technology Shift: West Ham FC’s Move to London Stadium’

the club’s estate to just one contract and one maintenance contract, saving up to 30%,” notes Bohndiek. “We have accumulated savings of over £200,000 in a number of areas, while making a fruitful partnership.” Changing regulations Furthermore, Bohndiek remains acutely aware that changes to existing data privacy laws come into force in April 2018, in light of the dangers facing fan and staff security in the midst of the rising number of cyberattacks and need for enforced security to ensure

confidential data remains sealed. Through a partnership with Foregenix, Bohndiek has been subsequently been behind the development of a new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) strategy at the club, and has closely examined the complexities surrounding the data in which it holds, particularly within the healthcare space. “We are multi-faceted from a data perspective. Areas such as health and medical records, high net worth individuals are outliers and can be targeted for cybercrime at West Ham.

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W E S T H A M U N I T E D F. C .

“The industry is recognising that a scalable and suitable solution was found here that’s really made a business impact. We try to do that as a concept across all of our business units” MIKE BOHNDIEK Head of IT at West Ham United Football Club

December 2017

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With players and doctors working under our medical services, as well as contractual and financial information, which is another layer that we have, we then have our more classic business areas, such as CRM and data sources,” comments Bohndiek. “Foregenix are checking how users access data, what the policies are, how our consents are looking at CRM level, et cetera. Foregenix’s key strength is in PCI DSS compliance, where they have a number of experts in that field. In a field without a clear framework we feel it prudent to go to those who are experienced in data security frameworks in other fields and use their structured approach to identify the key steps.” “For us to be compliant with the green guide and with our safety advisory board, people have to allow us to do certain things with their data but how do you promote that to them?” asks Bohndiek. “Who are the controllers? What are the joint arrangements between us and the London Stadium as an entity to ensure privacy is being maintained? Is it in the boundaries of what is required? It’s getting really interesting. “We’ve had that within full protection of medical records, full protection of high net worth individuals, understanding of how we will function as a business because, as a football club clearly, playing football matches in front of capacity crowds is our core business. Supporting that with the core business

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is a very different beast from a GDPR perspective for football and for venues with a neutral audience. “Whilst May is when the regulation comes into effect, we have an internal March deadline which will see us understand the framework, train the staff so the company can live and breathe data protection and GDPR by default.”

and remote sites,” explains Bohndiek. “We also had promotions set up on three systems depending on whether fans bought over the phone, online or in store – all of which didn’t talk to one other.” Integrating these systems has seen the club utilise a complete omnichannel solution for all its commercial operations. Moving to a larger venue has also seen the club extend Commercial growth its service offering With such renovation through increased within its internal technologies. It has The year that operations, West increased its till West Ham Ham’s fragmented numbers from 25 on United F.C. technology estate has a match day to over 50 was founded also been revamped to available for peak match enable commercial growth days. With roaming tills and accommodate any peaks available in its executive lounges, it in demand. Its retail capabilities, has also enabled fans to purchase from in store and warehousing to its merchandise in their box or lounge. online delivery abilities, have all been “Since the implementation, the streamlined to cater for increased system has processed over £8mn traffic surrounding match days and of payments across the estate. festive holidays such as Christmas. The third one recently opened in “We previously had problems with Basildon, so the retail solution is shrinkage and stock control, and the scalable,” comments Bohndiek. balances to push these out to stores “The industry is recognising that

1895

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a scalable and suitable solution was found here that’s really made a business impact. We try to do that as a concept across all of our business units. What is a commercial need in order to best sell sponsorships and get ourselves on the move, sharing and collaborating?” he adds. “What does the media team need in terms of the amount of storage and live streaming from Facebook Live? What do the CRM guys need in terms of moving Dynamics and Office 365 and look towards hosting our

customer view? We really went endto-end within our transformation.” A Look to the Future; increased fan-engagement Nonetheless, the biggest impact of all these changes will be most clearly seen within the fan experience. From extending the match day, assisting fans on route or promoting transportation routes, the infrastructure layers which can support data analytics is being explored to allow the

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“Fans have got this connected world in which they can tap into. They want to be talking to people. They want their friends and family involved and understanding what they’re doing or be showing off that they’re at a particular match” MIKE BOHNDIEK Head of IT at West Ham United Football Club

December 2017

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club to look at ways to further shape the fan experience into something exceptional. So, what further challenges does West Ham have to tackle? With its vast demographic, catering for all ages, Bohndiek explains that there will be different levels of knowledge not only from a technological perspective, but also the history surrounding the club itself. “Some older fans will know who Bobby Moore was, what he achieved and the legendary status he has. A 10-year-old will perhaps not have that context,” he says. “What better way than to use something like augmented reality, and have a young fan view the history and culture of the club through a medium in which they are used to. They will then start sharing this experience and happiness with the game on social media. “Fans have got this connected world in which they can tap into. They want to be talking to people. They want their friends and family involved and understanding what they’re doing or be showing off

that they’re at a particular match,” Bohndiek continues. “They want to be sharing photos, sharing videos, sharing clips and emotions and feelings they were having at that time. “So, there’s now two products when you come to football. There’s the on-the-field experience and watching the match. But there’s actually a wrap-around experience that transcends the operational. How do you get to the grounds? How are the bag searches? Could you find your seat ok? And then there’s the engagement side: Did you have fun, did you use the app, did you win a prize, did you compete with these people, did you meet a player afterwards, and that wrap-around.” However, despite its challenges, West Ham’s IT migration project completed on time and within budget, an impressive feat for any project of such magnitude. Impacting all areas of the business, West Ham remains committed to developing new and existing technologies to cater towards its fans. It’s partnership with Ricoh will

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also see the transformation of its merchandising for the future. With ambitions to make all of its services multilingual, West Ham is continuing to work with Ricoh, which is working towards developing the industrial process of printing commercial products, such as its t-shirts and wallpaper, and tailor these products to its fans. “By taking any photo of any fan at a game, we want to have the ability to get his or her image printed on these products, which can be paid for on the day or delivered to a fan’s home as an additional bonus,

December 2017

and create a treasured memory for our fans,” explains Bohndiek. “Paperless is becoming more common as it revolves in new verticals and new markets. We’ll continue working with Ricoh to push those sorts of elements. Equally, they’re also looking at the Internet of Things world more around virtual presence devices, which we would like to be involved with in the future.” With such breadth of sporting knowledge and talent, Bohndiek notes that he is soon to leave West Ham Football Club, as its IT migration is now complete. With over

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10 years’ experience in supporting sporting facilities in digitising and integrating their services, he now aims to break out into sports consultancy with Pragmatic Technology Insights (PTI) Consulting. “I’m looking to take this knowledge and experience and work with a variety of businesses to help them mature more quickly, as the risk, as I see it, to many stadia or many clubs partially is getting left behind and losing that next generation. “As well as football, I’ve been in the realm of professional cricket, as a coach and a mentor. I’ve worked

with people in that element from first team, right the way down to looking at performance analytics,” he adds. “I’m now able to engage with the all aspects of the business – from the boardroom, to the business units to the 1st XI and their analytics - and make recommendations around the tools and software that are out there to help them digitise their services. “This is on top of the infrastructure for a stadium, as well as deskside experience and what CRM systems could look like in the future. The holistic experience gained is what I’m aiming to share.”

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BetBright on digital disruption and differentiation Written by Dale Benton Produced by Glen White

In the bid to disrupt the status quo of the online gambling and casino industry, BetBright has an ace up its sleeve

BetBright website

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To deliver a disruptive and differentiated vision for the sports betting and casino sector.” That’s the mission statement of BetBright. Founded in 2012, BetBright is a digital entertainment company, providing an innovative and unique online platform for gambling as well as an online casino. Based in Dublin, and operating throughout the UK, it is not the only gambling group of its kind, so how can it stand apart from its competitors? How can BetBright disrupt an already crowded market? That task falls into the hands of Marcus Brennan, the founder and CEO, and Ronan Murphy, Technology Director. Thankfully for the company, both men bring unrivalled experience in the technology and gaming space. For Brennan, having launched the world’s first mobile subscription lottery service in Ireland, the key to pushing the boundaries with BetBright is his core belief in technology and innovation. “I bring the same ethos and approach to BetBright that I have brought to my previous businesses,”

says Brennan, “which is a belief in technology ownership as an enabler of innovation, differentiation and speed to market in order to disrupt.” This is a sentiment echoed by Murphy, who himself comes from a career with significant experience in transforming the gaming industry, a career that saw him develop automation for Paddy Power, work with Finsoft (Sportsbook provider) and Boss Media (Poker and Casino) as well as working with Disney. “I believe in making the most of technology, processes and people to deliver superior results,” he says. “I have spent over 25 years building and operating complex software. This has given me the experience to be able to focus on what is important: what will thrill our customers.” Growth and disruption Since its launch in 2012, BetBright has grown significantly, with forecasts predicting that the company will see revenues increase by at least 170% for 2017 over 2016. In this time, the company has also seen a major expansion of staff, with

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BETBRIGHT

around 120 people now operating under the BetBright umbrella, 70% of which focus directly on technology, product and marketing. So, what is the overall vision of BetBright, and how will it not fall into the trap of being just another online betting platform? “The long-term vision is to disrupt using big data, our own bespoke recommender and personalisation technologies, superior UX and artificial intelligence across our operations,” says Brennan. “It’s about bringing the best practice e-commerce technologies and capabilities from outside this sector empowered by our own technology. Technology control is a core value for us.” While it is most certainly a long-term ambition, the speed with which BetBright has grown shows that continued growth is very much in the immediacy. “In 18-24 months’ time, BetBright will have transformed completely. We have control of our technology; we are fast, nimble and have a clear vision and understanding of that future product and service. We

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“In 18-24 months’ time, BetBright will have transformed completely. We have control of our technology; we are fast, nimble and have a clear vision and understanding of that future product and service. We are ideally positioned to shoot ahead and disrupt” MARCUS BRENNAN, CEO

really are ideally positioned to shoot ahead and disrupt.” Says Brennan. He sees it as an opportunity to tap into significantly untapped potential. “People do not realise the potential there is to rethink this sector. We do. We have identified many areas of the gaming experience that can be radically improved,” he says. “The gaming sector can sometime be inward looking. We look for inspiration from many sectors.”

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Marcus Brennan, CEO Big data It is a pretty bold statement to come into a crowded market and say that you want to disrupt the status quo, particularly when that status quo involves the likes of Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and Bet365 – all wellestablished and hugely successful online gambling companies. Murphy is keen to stress this use of big data, and how that will be a key driver of innovation. He points to the

way in which BetBright will utilise the data captured from its users to inform the company’s operations and, in effect, create a more personalised and dynamic user experience in real time. “Think YouTube, Amazon, Netflix – all of these companies know their customers behaviours,” he says, “and they present videos, movies and services based on who is online. Their content adapts in real time to how people interact with it. It’s a dynamic

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BETBRIGHT

and personalised experience.” This calls back to Murphy’s experience, not only in the gaming and entertainment sectors, but working with technology across multiple outside sectors and bringing the best practices from those sectors into the online gambling space. Most if not all online gambling and entertainment companies utilise a white label platform, one that is built by a third part developer and utilised by the host company. BetBright has developed its own SportsBook. Developed 100% in house, The Sportsbook platform provides

BetBright with a level of control that most other online gambling companies cannot surpass. As Murphy notes, it allows BetBright to be more agile and more customer focused than most of their competition. “This level of control means that we are extremely responsive,” he says.” In the time it would take some of our competitors to set up meetings to discuss something that has been flagged, or an interesting opportunity on the horizon, we’ve already delivered new innovations to production. With this control, we can deliver new software at least twice a week.” Twilight Team Challenge

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Ronan Murphy, Technical Director Technological innovation For a company whose operations are 100% run through an electronic online platform, it goes without saying that technology truly is the lifeblood of BetBright. But in the ever-changing world of technology, with today’s practices almost rendered obsolete by tomorrow, how does it stay ahead of the game and ensure that the products and services it offers continue to not only be what customers want, but continue to disrupt? “The pace of change is relentless,” says Murphy. “But we know exactly where we are going and more

importantly, how to get there. “We constantly research and keep up to date with innovations in other sectors and we are constantly optimising our product offering. We study how our customers interact with our platforms. If we notice any friction points, we immediately remove them.” In line with listening to what customers want and just good business sense, BetBright launched its own casino which significantly expanded the business. Brennan notes that when looking at the existing players in the market, close to 50% of all revenue is

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BetBright operations

generated through an online casino platform. BetBright, in order to both keep up and continue to push the boundaries as to what can be expected of an online gaming and entertainment company, launched its online casino platform in 2014. “Casino,” Brennan adds. “Is an essential part of the customer lifetime value. Customers expect to find a casino element and if you don’t have it, then you’re going to lose customers. Yes, we integrated it over time, but it was never an option. It was in our plans from day one.”

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Data management As noted previously, BetBright is not the only player in this market and both Brennan and Murphy admit that in order to succeed and stand apart from these competitors, BetBright cannot ignore what they are offering. To do this, BetBright has a Product Management team specifically focused on understanding what the customers want, what they like and dislike, and to look at how customers interact with and engage with competitors. “Our Product Management team and

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“BetBright is highly automated. We are integrated to a range of provider feeds which send us everything from race card information with runners, riders and prices to football fixtures and prices” MARCUS BRENNAN, CEO

our Data Insights team use big data to understand what customers want, but they also track our competitors’ offerings too,” says Murphy. There will always be instances of a competitor launching a new service before anyone else can get there. Murphy concedes that in this market, in order to disrupt what’s currently out there, you cannot turn your back on what others are doing. “Cash Out is a great example of a feature that was launched by a competitor,” he says. “It very quickly became a must have

feature, and we had to copy. “It will certainly happen again in the future and quite frankly, to ignore what competitors are doing would be foolhardy.” Brennan has alluded to a clear vision, a roadmap in which BetBright knows exactly where it wants to be and how it needs to continuously evolve and innovate in order to get there. This Product Management element, and utilisation of customer data, allows BetBright to pour over the data rich environment that is the gaming industry. Powered by content providers To tap into this data and extract the true value that it can yield, BetBright continuously partners with suppliers and providers that enable the company to process vast amounts of data, efficiently and quickly. “BetBright is highly automated and as such we are integrated to a range of provider feeds which send us everything from race card information with runners, riders and prices to football fixtures and prices,” says Brennan. “It would be impossible

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2012 The year that BetBright was founded

Staff on the IT Operations team

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for us, and any competitor, to compile all of this information and input it into the systems alone, especially when you factor in the rapid change that comes with live in play betting.” To that end, one could argue that BetBright is heavily dependent on its content provider partners, particularly in its casino element. As the company does not develop the casino games that are integrated into its online platform, it relies on game providers such as Evolution, NetEnt, IGT, Scientific Games, and MicroGaming. Now in its fifth year of operation, BetBright is very much a growing company and as Brennan mentioned previously, the company has a clear roadmap for the journey ahead. This roadmap is dictated by the company’s unrivalled commitment to listening to what the customer wants, what it needs and researching and optimising to meet that changing need. It’s all about growth and innovation – that core mentality of pushing the boundaries and continuing to disrupt the status quo remains at the very heart of every decision that BetBright chooses to make. After all, Brennan feels this is a market not only full of potential, it’s a market that’s actually lagging behind some of the broader e-commerce world. This, he truly feels, BetBright can change. “We intend to be the first to take it to a new level,” he says, “and that will be wonderful for our customers.”

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A SOLID BASE FOR MISSION CRITICAL Written by Fran Roberts Produced by Lewis Vaughan

An in-depth Infonetics Research survey found that companies were losing as much as US$100mn per year to downtime, making Basefarm’s guarantee of 100% uptime all the more important, especially when it owns the largest data centre in its home city of Oslo. Erik de Jager, VP Data Centre Services, explains more

“

Colocation and data centre services are a part of Basefarm’s core business,” explains Erik de Jager, VP Data Centre Services at Basefarm, which was founded in 2000 in Norway as a specialist in high-availability managed hosting. “Basefarm has unique qualities, with these we expanded into foreign markets. We went first out to Sweden in 2003. Then in 2010, we entered the Dutch market. Recently, we acquired a company called The Unbelievable Machine Company, so we’re now also represented in Germany and Austria. As we progress, we always want to improve continuously, whilst maintaining all qualities. We aim to be specialists in our field.”

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As a Dutchman, de Jager originally came on board in 2009 to help establish the company’s Amsterdam office. Over the years, he has held several roles within the company, both in the Netherlands and in Norway, before beginning his current role at the beginning of 2017. “I came back to Norway again having been given the opportunity of further developing the colocation services for Basefarm Norway,” he explains. HIGH-END SERVICES, 24/7 With the current rise of data centres, especially in Norway, colocation is hotter than ever. As such, the need for high quality data centres providing flexible

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Erik de Jager, Basefarmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VP of Data Centre Services

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solutions has never been greater. Edge computing and IoT solutions put high demands on computing infrastructure that exists close to the sources of data. Basefarm’s newly opened datacentre in Oslo is designed and built for tomorrow’s demands. The new centre called OSL5, is the largest data centre with tier III standard in the greater Oslo area with a data floor surface of 6,000 sqm. The centre is fully redundant and certified to all important security standards. “The business of our customers relies not only on our stability but also our efficiency,” remarks de Jager. Basefarm gives clients access to modern, secure and environmentally friendly data centre capacity centrally located in the Oslo area. “In this facility, we have ample

place for colocation customers and ourselves, of course, because we want the best data centre services available for our own managed services as well. This facility has the same values as any other Basefarm service – deliver high-end services, be constructive as well as close to our customers and do this with dedication,” observes de Jager. “That means that even customers who have the most critical systems and a need for 24/7 service and security with 100% uptime will find a great partner in Basefarm.” GREEN ENERGY Norway is known as a supplier of clean energy and it is no secret that this is becoming increasingly important worldwide. Using hydro power and boasting environmental

“What is unique about Basefarm’s offering is that we are not only a colocation provider but we also have a managed service department. It means that we can integrate” ERIK DE JAGER VP Data Centre Services w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w e u ro p e . e u

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certification (ISO14001), Basefarm takes its responsibilities seriously. “It is essential to demonstrate both externally and internally that we respect and care about the environment,” de Jager explains. Security, too, is an essential part of Basefarm’s offering. “Of course, we provide all physical security to make sure nothing stops or interferes with the operation of the centre, but we also specialise in security of our operational service – meaning our Basefarm’s data centers have video surveillance, physical barriers, locks, mantraps and secure access control

routines and workflows, digital threats. Security is in our DNA,” says de Jager. A PIONEERING PROVIDER As with any business, Basefarm’s customers are at the heart of its operations and the company takes great pride in the service it offers. “The services which we offer on top are in the same line – treating all of our customers as unique and giving them full service as opposed to just giving them a key and wishing them good luck. We are

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Above: (Left to right) Arne Sunde – CIO, Nina Kloster – VA Product Management, Patrick Tahiri – Compliance Manager rated number one in service delivery by Whitelane for a reason,” states de Jager. “What is unique about Basefarm’s offering is that we are, as mentioned, not only a colocation provider but we also have a managed service department. It means that we can integrate. For example, if a customer needs data centre space and services from our centres, and also has a need to have storage as a service or backup as a service, we can actually arrange

those services for them. If they have an interest in cloud solutions, we can build hybrid solutions straight from the data centre out to the cloud.” MODULAR BUILDING This adjustability of Basefarm’s solutions is also applied to the way it constructs its facilities. “There is a very high degree of flexibility because of the way Basefarm builds data centres. This means that 4,500 sqm is

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Sverre Støkken – Lead Architect (left) and Poul Henning Sørensen - Senior Systems Consultant

“We don’t want to just expand the data centre, we want to expand our services. We can really make a difference in the strategies of companies we’re housing” ERIK DE JAGER VP Data Centre Services 92

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still available for the customers. It gives tremendous flexibility for people having special wishes. This could be anything. It could be customers that wish odd shaped spaces, some have a desire to be extra close to communication lines, or customers that do not want to be close to outside walls. Anything will be possible. Also, construction of EMP solutions is a viable option. It’s also quite a good way to ensure that customers don’t get burdened with too much investment,” de Jager notes. CONTINUOUS EXPANSION Whilst Basefarm already offers an impressive amount of solutions to its clients, the company is keenly focused on what it can offer in the years to come. “The long-term vision is always in focus because customers, while they need a place to reside their data, at some point, they will also need to look at future technology and how to service their customers better. If you look at large oil companies or banks who reside in our centres as colocation customers, several are already looking to

transform to data driven enterprises,” de Jager advises. “They’re looking at artificial intelligence, they’re looking at the cloud. These are things that are normally not associated with colocation. For Basefarm, this is also core business.” Assisting clients with those additional services is a key goal for Basefarm in the upcoming years. “There’s a huge demand at the moment so we’re looking to fulfil that demand and build out our data centre to house all grade customers,” de Jager adds. “Our dream is, of course, to integrate this with all the other cool stuff that Basefarm does. As I mentioned, clients want to move to the cloud or get involved in big data or artificial intelligence. We would like to be there for our customers. We don’t want to just expand the data centre, we want to expand our services. We can really make a difference in the strategies of companies we’re housing and helping them achieve their goals.”

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DEUTSCHE BAHN and the journey to a digital future Written by Catherine Sturman Produced by Richard Durrant

DIRK KLEINOW, HEAD OF IT SYSTEMS IN DEUTSCHE BAHN’S PROCUREMENT DIVISION, DISCUSSES HOW THE COMPANY IS WORKING TOWARDS A DIGITAL FUTURE

nvesting approximately €1bn in a number of digitisation projects, Deutsche Bahn has become heavily focused on transforming its service delivery over the last five years. With an additional venture capital totalling up to €100mn, its ambitions have seen its overall operations and transport infrastructure overhauled, as well as adopting an enhanced ‘customer-centric’ attitude along the way. Obtaining positive financial results in 2016, Deutsche Bahn has continued on its digitisation journey and has placed significant emphasis on guaranteeing positive customer experiences. “Since I started working at Deutsche Bahn, we have placed a greater focus on customer satisfaction. We see procurement as an integral part of the business, where collaboration between different departments has become vital,” explains Dirk Kleinow, Head of IT Systems.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;We see procurement as an integral part of the business, where collaboration between different departments has become vitalâ&#x20AC;? DIRK KLEINOW Head of IT Systems, Procurement

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An example of Deutsche Bahn’s pilot programmes has seen the implementation of autonomous and semi-automatic vehicles in its logistics operations

Working within Deutsche Bahn’s procurement division for over 10 years, Kleinow has seen the company strenuously work to strengthen its partnerships with suppliers through the adoption of new, data-driven business models in order to become a leader within the transportation sector. New technologies Utilising an ERP system to support its supply chain management operations, Deutsche Bahn has also begun to implement cloudbased services to not only simplify its procurement processes across

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its global base, but factors into its long-term ambitions to obtain industry-leading procurement. “When we moved to the cloud, we had a depression in our pricing systems,” observes Kleinow. “Nonetheless, we have become more flexible in deploying these systems, and not just in Germany. Since we are now on the cloud, we are more linear and are able to deploy our systems within different countries. The time to invent and implement systems within different countries is getting shorter and shorter. “We are continually trying to

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renew the system and get more outside information into our supplier management systems, which will support the procurement team to find better sources of supply. We think it is a good place to look at for the future.” To this effect, the company is also undertaking a number of pilots surrounding robotic process automation to further support data sharing on different platforms. Not content with solely digitising its supplier management procurement operations, Deutsche Bahn’s logistics operations have also been overhauled. The implementation of autonomous and semi-automatic vehicles is currently something which the business is working towards, which will ultimately drive long-term benefits. “At the end of the day we are a logistics support company and we try to look at what the trends are and how we can participate in these trends or even get a lead in these trends,” comments Kleinow. “We are also looking at artificial intelligence, but at the moment the maturity grade of AI is not at the level that we can apply it to our systems. I’m thinking three to five years and this will be a field where you will definitely see growth.” Customer benefits So, how are customers benefiting? Throughout its digitisation, Deutsche Bahn has been committed

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to ensuring service quality remains concerns within its service delivery exceptional and consistent across its operations. “The two throughout. Since the start of 2017, words translate to ‘the future of rail’,” Wi-Fi, TV and films are all now freely says Kleinow. “We are looking at available on all of the company’s rail getting more information out of our services, highlighting the company’s systems, which we feed back to the commitment to listen to customer responsible divisions. It also covers demand. All rail customers are also the sourcing of materials so that all able to take advantage of Deutsche rolling stock is ready in time. Bahn’s ICE portal, which “Sustainability is provides detailed travel also a big issue for Number of information and us,” continues employees at electronic newsletters Kleinow. “Our Deutsche Bahn to inform and entertain industry initiative, customers on their Railresponsible, journeys. Listening concerns the green to customers has delivery chain for become intrinsic to the our goods which we very fabric of Deutsche Bahn, are receiving into the where it understands that customer company.” Launched back satisfaction has become key to its in 2015, the initiative focuses on innovation and continual success. improving sustainable practices However, none of this would have and efficiencies across the been possible without Deutsche railway supply chain, promotes Bahn’s quality programme Zukunft transparency and enables capacity Bahn. Launched in 2016, Zukunft building with industry suppliers. Bahn enables Deutsche Bahn to listen Its members include Deutsche better to customer requirements Bahn, Abellio, Alstom, Arriva, and eradicate any bottlenecks or Bombardier and many more.

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The future of rail Deutsche Bahn has been strengthening its rail infrastructure in Germany, with the long-term ambition to support the development of smart cities. Its new rail line running from Berlin to Munich opens in December, which will reach speeds of up to 300 km/h. “It will link the capital with Munich in less than four hours, which is quite quick for 600km, which is around 325 miles,” comments Kleinow. “We are trying to get more people

“Innovation will change our way of working, but it will also change how we gather information and improve the speed of our services” DIRK KLEINOW Head of IT Systems, Procurement

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onto the rail, and attract customers with better prices and more availability within all of our trains. If we have more trains running more frequently, people will easily be able to change from using the car to utilising the rail.” The company’s continued focus on delivering not only quality services, but also building strong partnerships with suppliers, will see it continue to go from strength to strength. Its long-term ambitions to remain a leading employer in

Customer service is a key focus area for Deutsche Bahn

Germany will also see it continue to innovate alongside the development of the market. “Innovation will change our way of working, but it will also change how we gather information and improve the speed of our services,” Kleinow adds. “I think that the procurement department will change its way of negotiating contracts; it will come to be the facilitator of ‘the sourcing event,’ put it that way,” concludes Kleinow. “We’ll gather all the information, bring all the parties together, and create collaborative teams. This, I feel, is the future of procurement.”

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DIFI: DIGITISING PROCUREMENT Written by Catherine Sturman Produced by Richard Durrant

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The Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi) discusses its work in transforming the public procurement sector in Norway

igitisation is transforming the way in which businesses operate. From personalising services for its customers through enhanced data analytics to automating the supply chain, the procurement sector has become a significant area of focus for businesses and governments worldwide. Creeping financial pressures amidst an ever-changing customer demand has led both the public and private sector to look at ways to unlock further savings to deliver value for money, whilst collaborating with suppliers in order to transform traditional procurement processes. Back in 2008, the Norwegian government saw the need to transform its long-established business models and further support the procurement industry through

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its digital transformation. The Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi) has since been behind the Norwegian government’s ambitions to establish not only the capacity to unlock value within procurement, but to adopt and implement e-procurement at both a central and local level. “Dag Strømsnes became the Director of the Department and I was in charge of the taskforce surrounding e-procurement,” explains André Hoddevik, Head of the e-Procurement unit at Difi. “I have been responsible for Norwegian government e-procurement efforts since 1999, also before Difi was established in 2008.” Following on from the establishment of the Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL) four-year, large-scale

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“Norwegian PEPPOL based e-invoicing has grown from 100 invoices per month, to 5,000,000 transactions in September 2017 alone” André Hoddevik Head of e-Procurement at Difi

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“If we’re going to invest in more innovation, improve service delivery and experiences, suppliers need to be more involved and work to be better service providers as part of the procurement process” Dag Strømsnes Chief Procurement Officer 108

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pilot project in 2008, Difi has played an essential role within the ongoing management and delivery of the project, which resulted in the growth of a new European technological infrastructure. Co-funded by the European Union and 18 government agencies, the project enabled businesses to exchange electronic procurement documents with other organisations and suppliers, and simplified the overall purchase-to-pay process. After the successful completion of the PEPPOL project in 2012, Difi took a leading role in establishing the member-based international nonprofit association OpenPEPPOL to maintain services and ensure long term sustainability of the PEPPOL project results. André Hoddevik, Project Director of PEPPOL, had been the elected Secretary General of OpenPEPPOL since the start. “As part of the project, we utilised PEPPOL for national purposes,” observes Hoddevik. “The most important effort was to use PEPPOL as a basis for Norwegian e-invoicing,

first of all for legislative work, and from 2011 it was mandatory for all central government entities to have the capability to receive invoices in a PEPPOL based national format (EHF). “From 2012, Norway had a change in its regulations in that it became mandatory for all central government entities to require e-invoicing from their suppliers. From there onwards, Norwegian PEPPOL based e-invoicing has grown from 100 invoices per month to 5.2mn transactions in September 2017 alone. “We have also grown from being initially a few hundred public sector entities in the network to having 90,000 recipients coming from both the public and private sector,” continues Hoddevik. “It has become a national infrastructure which supports public sector needs but also the needs of the private sector.” Unlocking value Each invoice placed on PEPPOL will now save each recipient around

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10 minutes of work. Although not a lot of time, with approximately 50mn transactions the last 12 months, such high volumes have created 4.2bn Norwegian kroner (NOK) in socioeconomic savings, reducing the overall time taken for thousands of recipients in both the public and private sector. “Protection costs are one of the most important things to work on,” adds Dag Strømsnes, Chief Procurement Officer at Difi. “We need to work hard to reduce this.

We know that especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), they have said how difficult it is to take part. It is essential for us to simplify the rules and regulations, and the government understands that in terms of the national procurement and European Union thresholds.” To this effect, Difi is set to open its national programme for partfinancing a number of digitisation projects in next financial year to support a large number of SMEs.

Difi keeps workers and clients up to speed on the latest key trends

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“Our aim is to support the whole public sector and provide guidance to the supplier side, but our main focus is on the government and public sector” André Hoddevik Head of e-Procurement at Difi

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The NOK 120.9mn co-financing scheme will further support business growth in the public sector and provide a number of advantages for SMEs against bigger players in the market. Supplier relationships With the changes in legislation, calling on all central government entities to receive invoices electronically in Norway, Difi has been committed to supporting the market through utilising open source software for connectivity. Additionally, the organisation has built essential validation tools and toolkits regarding its current invoicing processes, which will also work to help simplify the e-procurement process. “Our aim is to support the whole public sector and provide guidance to the supplier side, but our main focus is on the government and public sector,” says Hoddevik. Such changes have also filtered down to its supply chain management processes. The success of PEPPOL has resulted in a growing number of e-invoicing suppliers within the e-procurement space, all of which offer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in Norway. One such company is Norwegian international company Capgemini IBX, which has been acquired by cloud-based business Tradeshift. Hoddevik explains that the business currently has a contract on delivering e-procurement

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Commerce for All Tradeshift ‘Doubles’ Commitment to Norwegian Public Sector The central agreement between Norway’s Diﬁ (Agency for Public Management and eGovernment) and Capgemini will expire and not be renewed in May of 2018. This has many in Norway wondering what will happen next. Fortunately, the ability of organizations to practice e-commerce will only improve in the aftermath, and so will the ability of IBX Business Network (now Tradeshift) to support its clients’ interests. In early May 2017, Tradeshift completed its acquisition of IBX to create the world’s largest business network, consisting of 1.5 million businesses in over 190 countries. With its beginnings rooted in the delivery of technology to the Danish government and its instrumental role in both the development of Pan-European Public Procurement Online (PEPPOL) and e-document standards, Tradeshift is no stranger to public procurement. Once the agreement between Diﬁ and Capgemini expires, the services that organizations associate with it will remain while the freedom of choice expands through providers of open networks, such as Tradeshift. Though Ehandelsplatformen as a central agreement will end,

the Elektronisk handelsformat (EHF) format will ensure that business in Norway is conducted on an open network. By standardizing document exchange, the EHF format allows both suppliers and buyers to connect to their partners more easily. The result is an open network in which organizations can select whichever service provider ﬁts them best without having to worry about how the decision will impact their ability to reach their partners. “We entered into a partnership with IBX (Now Tradeshift) already in 2001, when the e-commerce market was very immature,” said André Hoddevik, Head of eProcurement at Diﬁ. “Together with IBX [Tradeshift] we have been working to increase the spread of e-commerce during this period and see a strong maturation of the market especially in the last four years. Now, with common standards (EHF) and an open messagesharing infrastructure [i.e., PEPPOL], e-commerce services can be delivered by a wellfunctioning market. New players have arrived and we see even more on their way in, so we are keen on how the market - where Tradeshift will still be an important player - will develop in the future.”

www.tradeshift.com

Fortunately, this change does not require IBX customers to find a new PEPPOL access point. Tradeshift (and IBX) already has a certified PEPPOL access point, meaning that all of its customers are already PEPPOL compliant. Furthermore, Tradeshift and IBX have extensive experience working with the EHF format, providing a unique ability to support transitions onto the PEPPOL network without disrupting business processes. IBX Business Network offers 16 years of experience working with electronic procurement in Norway in addition to 7 years as a PEPPOL access point. This experience, combined with Tradeshift’s 7 years as a PEPPOL provider, makes the combined company a uniquely knowledgeable option as an access point ready to connect you to the PEPPOL network and enhance your procurement process with an eye towards the future. The future of procurement in Norway is exciting in large part because of the changes that will result from the end of the Difi central agreement. Tradeshift looks forward to guiding the future of procurement as the market becomes more mature and open.

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SaaS services in the Norwegian opportunities in the public sector public sector and “have played within the different categories an important role in the roll-out of on the service, which details all e-ordering and e-catalogue tools competitions, bids and contracts to more than 300 public sector with a value of more than NOK 1.1mn. entities in the Norwegian market”. “If we’re going to invest in more “However, on a separate note, we innovation, improve service delivery have also seen a significant growth in and experiences, suppliers need startups dealing with support parts to be more involved and work to of the procurement be better service process, such as providers as part supporting suppliers of the procurement and public-sector process,” adds entities with invoicing Strømsnes. “The solutions,” continues key thing is more Hoddevik. “We see involvement; The year this spreading to for contracting that Difi was e-capital investments authorities to founded and into the full have more market procurement knowledge before chain. Suppliers they send out therefore need to step up their tender documents, understand game and offer value at the highest suppliers and how competition level, and that’s the challenge should be established to get the we are giving to the market.” most value out of suppliers.” For all tender notifications, Difi has implemented tender service Doffin, Risk management which works to simplify the process Housing a high number of for suppliers and contracting stakeholders which utilise authorities. All parties can see all Difi’s procurement division,

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Strømsnes explains that the Norwegian government has great ambitions in relation to corporate social responsibility. “Many workers, especially from Eastern Europe, do not receive the required salary,” he says. “To increase the number of suppliers, it is important that people are given the right salary. We also work to improve considerations relating to work completed in the developing world. The procurement of uniforms

is an example. We look at working conditions as children have been involved in producing these textiles. “We developed a risk matrix for certain categories related to textiles, to computers, to more physical work, but also from which country the production takes part in,” Strømsnes continues. “There are some projects related to countries where alarm bells ring, and you need to work with ones which are a higher risk to secure responsible procurement.”

Developing skills is essential if Norway is to continue digitising procurement practices

André Hoddevik Head of e-Procurement at Difi

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“If medical kits are made in a third world country like Bangladesh, it is a high-risk product that needs to be followed, detailed and monitored,” supports Hoddevik. “An awareness is then built and buyers in the public sector have the required tools to follow up and handle these risks responsibly for these types of products.” Future potential Although digitisation is providing

a multitude of advantages for the procurement sector, it also continues to present a number of challenges for Difi. A number of industries continue to lack the resources and expertise required to support the digitisation of procurement, as well as house engaging managers and leaders. “We also see the lack of strategic ICT skills which could be used to improve our processes,” comments Hoddevik. “This is an obstacle which we will seek to address

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Difi ap mo

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fi is hoping parliament pproves plans to spend ore on digital projects

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in the upcoming years.” From a Norwegian perspective, we rely on the market to deliver these solutions, and the market lacks some incentives and is prevented from offering shared services.” However, Strømsnes adds that it remains vital for an increased awareness of the strategic potential related to public procurement. “In the budget proposal for next year, the government aims to strengthen Difi in a number of areas related to digitalisation,” adds Hoddevik. One of the areas where the government would like to invest more money in the next few years is the digitisation of public procurement process. Hoddevik concludes: “The budget has been put forward and if approved by Parliament this autumn, it will give a significant increase of resources available for digitalisation of public procurement from 2018 and onwards. Priority is given to support the full rollout of integrated eTendering processes, but continued growth in eOrdering, eInvoicing and payment initialisation and use of statistics to improve procurement practices is also very important.” Watch this space…

Agency for Public Management and eGovernment

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Superheroes of the sustainable Swiss supermarket supply chain Written by Fran Roberts Produced by Richard Durrant

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Migros is Switzerland’s largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. In 1926, the company built its first store in Zürich and its second store, in Ticino, presaged the future as it was founded as a cooperative. Now, almost a century later, the company is pioneering once more as it looks to reduce energy consumption within its supply chain

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We are a cooperative with over two million members so nearly every household in Switzerland is an owner of Migros. Our core business is to sell food in our supermarkets but then we also have a wide range of non-food products,” remarks Sandro Glanzmann, Sustainability Specialist for Non-Food Products. “What’s also special is that the Migros Group has its own industry [M-Industry] in which we produce a large portion of our food assortment. Also, we have our own industry, which produces cosmetics and washing detergents for Migros. We have our own factories which produce these products.” Migros was founded in 1925 in Zürich as a private enterprise by Gottlieb Duttweiler, who had the idea of selling just six basic foodstuffs at low prices to householders. At first, he sold only coffee, rice, sugar, pasta, coconut fat and soap from five lorries that went from one village to another. His strategy to cut the intermediate trade and their margins was met by broad resistance from his competitors, who goaded the producers to boycott him. As a

reaction to this threat, Migros started creating its own line of goods beginning with meat, milk and chocolate. Today, as one of the 40 largest retailers in the world, Migros has greatly expanded the number of goods it creates for itself. “Our own industry delivers about 80% of the food products that the Migros Retail company sells,” reveals Manfred Bötsch, Head of Sustainability at Migros Retail. With its 25 Swiss companies and seven foreign businesses, M-Industry produces over 20,000 high-quality food and non-food products, making it one of the biggest own-brand producers in the world. Reducing impact As such a large producer, Migros has committed to reducing energy consumption within its supply chain. “Two years ago, we adopted a new sustainability strategy. In this strategy, we designed the main topics we thought Migros needed to take action on in terms of sustainability. Unsurprisingly, one area of action was that we wanted

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to reduce our impact was regarding the use of natural resources. We decided that we want to continually increase resource efficiency, to minimise the use of non-renewable resources, reduce total resource consumption and avoid creating waste,” Glanzmann comments. “We’re therefore setting goals to take action to reduce energy and water use, and emissions in this area. In the meantime, we realised that our main environmental footprint is not at Migros itself. In many cases it lies in the production of our products – they are much more relevant in terms of energy use or water use than the stores. I think a core point of the strategy is that we look at the whole value chain of products and see then

where the biggest impacts are in terms of energy or water use or emissions.” The setting of strategic goals is key to the plans at Migros for measuring energy consumption – they give the company something to work towards. “In the end, strategies are one thing, the other is having concrete measures to really reduce it and we have a goal,” continues Marcus Dredge, Head of Energy Efficiency and Climate Change. “There’s a lot of detailed work going in there because in the end, the reduction on the energy consumption and climate gas emissions is done within all different little pieces at each individual plant. Of course, it’s also in the retail stores and we try to do the same thing there and emphasise energy efficiency as much as possible.”

“In the end, strategies are one thing, the other is having concrete measures to really reduce it and we have a goal” MARCUS DREDGE Head of Energy Efficiency and Climate Chage

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Migros has been serving customers for almost 100 years

Least possible energy consumption To many people, the idea of production conjures up images of factories with plastic, metal and wooden objects being manufactured. Yet of course, all of our food is produced. “At the end of the day we want to sell to our consumers a chicken or fish with the least possible energy consumption along the value chain,” explains Bötsch. “So, we work on the agricultural level, we work on industrial levels and we work also on the logistics in between. Of course, there is the topic of packing

materials, which is also an energy topic, so we also work on that issue.” Dredge, too, notes the importance of looking along the whole value chain. “The energy efficiency or greenhouse gas potential is not always just an issue about doing it in your own plant - it’s also about the whole supply chain. If you use a little bit less material, this is a big lever in the whole supply chain,” he comments. Food production is water and energy-intensive, accounting for 70% of global water use and 6% of global energy use, according to the IHE Delft

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Institute for Water Education. “On the sustainability. These topics have been farm level, we have developed a barn completely integrated in the corporate to produce chickens and this is also strategies, with actions, investments a barn which has a self-sufficiency in and supplies carefully selected, taking energy consumption,” reveals Bötsch. into account every environmental Many in the industry have been and social aspect related to them.” positive about working with Migros on its goals. “We were very surprised that Minimising hotspots at least one of our main suppliers Within the non-food sector, the were themselves eager to business has launched a know where they are scheme to reduce energy The year compared to others,” usage. “We analysed that Migros explains Bötsch. our assortment to Genossenschafts “For example, in see what are the Bund was founded certain value chains resources or the raw we have calculated, materials that we’re fully integrated using the most. In the and undertaken life non-food assortment, cycle analyses for those we’re using a lot of wood, products and they actually cotton, metal and we’re using want us to create a differentiation plastics,” Glanzmann notes. “For these potential for those raw materials.” raw materials, we analysed the whole Such positivity is not confined only to supply chain to see where we have the the food sector, as Domenico D’Angelo, biggest impact in terms of environment CEO at Sofidel, illustrates: “Sofidel or social issues and then asked how wanted not only to fulfil the growing we can minimise those hotspots.” requests from markets and regulators, Bötsch continues: “In the paper but be recognised as a leader in social sector, with towels and tissue paper, responsibility and environmental we have created a pilot project

1925

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“We want to sell to our consumers a chicken or fish with the least possible energy consumption along the value chain” MANFRED BÖTSCH Head of Sustainability at Migros Retail

alongside one of the biggest producers for us. With them we have really tried to have a benchmark on the energy consumption of paper and cellulose products. This is just an example and we’ll actually roll this out to all our topmost energy consuming industries. Logically, in our own industry it’s easier to do with farmers but we are quite far along in this respect. It’s even more complicated to go in the value chains where we don’t have our own industry – for example paper and cellulose – but it’s important for us that we really also champion these topics.” The pulp and paper industry is one of the most energy-intensive sectors of the EU, with average energy costs around 16% of production costs, and in some cases up to 30%, according to the European Commission. “We chose the paper sector because we wanted to start with a well-developed supplier and to learn from them and then spread the findings over to maybe less-advanced industries. We analysed,” explains Glanzmann. With this in mind, Migros chose to partner with Sofidel on this project, having shared a commercial relationship for over 15 years. “Sofidel is delivering to Migros paper produced with a lower energy consumption than in the past and with a higher content in renewable energy,” advises D’Angelo. “Sofidel believes that in the coming years product innovation will be necessarily linked to sustainability. In the period 2013-2016 Sofidel invested

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€52mn for energy efficiency, combined generation of heat and power, and renewables. Our average specific water consumption for paper manufacturing is the lowest in the paper sector.” Understanding the situation Migros asked them what they have to measure to benchmark the environmental performance of its suppliers. We then adopted 10 key performance indicators, which we asked the suppliers to give us the data on. Then we“We want to understand first the actual situation with respect to the environment-relevant points in the processing and the production of the

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products, and then afterwards we want to collect data from the processing stage for these paper products to find out if it is feasible to get that data from suppliers” explains Glanzmann. “We wanted not only to collect environmental data for our direct suppliers, but we also asked what are the relevant steps in the whole supply chain in terms of this environmental data. We go even further back in the supply chain than only our direct suppliers.” Migros intends to expand this pilot scheme to other industries – such as metal production – in spring 2018. “We really have a programme to improve resource efficiency because we not

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only talk about energy, but also water, for example. We are impressed with these companies in cellulose and paper and were surprised that they already had some KPIs. Most surprising for us was that they also had KPIs from their pre-produce,” Bötsch observes. “That gives us the impression that, in certain areas at least, the management is very caring about it and we can really work together to bring all these advantages, improvements and innovations to the front and to the consumers.” Producing more efficient products While Migros is working on the paper pilot with Sofidel, one of its

“We want to collect data from the processing stage for these paper products to find out if it is feasible to get that data from suppliers” SANDRO GLANZMANN Sustainability Specialist for Non-Food Products

main suppliers, M-Industry, also has non-food producers within it that are looking to reduce energy consumption. One such producer is Mifa, which creates homecare products for Migros. “We’re working on reducing the energy consumption during the washing cycle. Our focus is on the washing temperature not in production,” comments Michael Lang, Head of R&D at Mifa. “If you look at the lifecycle of detergents, the biggest chunk of the energy consumption is during the use of our products. Previously, you had to produce them by mixing one hot substance with one cold substance.

MIGROS GENOSSENSCHAFTS BUND

Today you are able to mix those substances at low temperatures so you are more efficient in producing those detergents. The second step is then the use of this detergent in the washing cycle – you can wash your clothes at a lower temperature than before and have them as clean as you had them years before where you had to really heat them up. Producing more efficient products can help the customers wash their clothes more efficiently. There are various ways we can help customers to be more efficient.”

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Pressing issues Looking ahead, Migros remains focused on sustainability. “It’s a long walk and we are not doing it on our own,” observes Dredge. “We’re doing it together with a lot of other companies and individuals that try to go in the same direction. I think that climate change is one of the most pressing issues worldwide so we have to do it.” And he is not alone in this view: “I agree with Marcus because sustainability is a journey, it’s not a destination. You also have a

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“We’re working on reducing the energy consumption during the washing cycle. Our focus is on the washing temperature not in production” MICHAEL LANG Head of R&D at Mifa

vision of where you want to go,” Bötsch observes. “I have this vision that on a scientific level but also from a production level, Migros is one of the top players in recycling and sustainability.” Indeed, Migros is looking to play to its strengths in order to increase sustainability throughout its operations. “We have a train connection on our site and Migros has to maximise the transport of goods by train. We’re looking for international customers or warehouses with a connection where we can use our advantage also their advantage,” explains Lang. Sofidel is one company that has already taken advantage of this. “For most of the products shipped to Migros, Sofidel has chosen the railway as the preferred means of transport, which gives an additional energy saving if compared with the traditional transport made with lorries,” D’Angelo observes. Migros is the largest rail transporter of goods in Switzerland. “It’s only a small part but now we are looking at putting a good focus on that – we try to avoid road transport,” Lang concludes.

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ACCORD HEALTHCARE AGILE SUPPLY IN A CROWDED MARKET Written by Dale Benton Produced by Richard Durrant

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Following a major acquisition of another leading generic pharmaceutical company, Accord Healthcare looks to carry on supplying the medicine industry in greater volumes

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or any company, undergoing a major merger or acquisition can be disruptive, often challenging and in some cases, can even break apart a client or customer base. After all, if a leading conglomerate swallows up a smaller company, will that smaller company and its smaller operating model and attitudes continue to exist? This is the question facing Accord Healthcare, a subsidiary of Intas Pharmaceuticals, born out of the acquisition of Actavis UK and Ireland ltd in January 2017. The goal of Accord? To become the best supplier of generic medicines in the UK and Ireland. Heading up the company’s supply chain operations is Brandon Turk, Director of EU Supply Operations. Brandon brings with him more than 20 years’ experience operating in the supply chain space across a number of sectors, before joining Actavis back in 2015. In fact, it is this diversified experience across multiple sectors that allows Brando to steer this ambitious company towards that goal

of being a leading European player. “I very much view supply chain as a toolset that you can take with you from company to company,” he says. “If you understand how things are made, you can apply that logic and best practice supply chain processes to pretty much any industry.” Accord is very much a growing company and in the generic medicines space, this can present a challenge in trying to establish a solid footing in a crowded market. Prior to the merger, Actavis was already a leading supplier of generic pharmaceuticals in the UK, with a portfolio that supports more than 85% of pharmacists dispensing needs. Intas Pharmaceuticals is among the top 10 Indian pharmaceutical companies and is the largest privately held pharmaceutical company in India. With the coming together of two leading pharmaceutical players, where then does that leave Accord? Is it an extension of what’s come before or is it a new entity altogether? “It’s one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in

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“We spend a lot of time every year building up strong, responsive, strategic partnerships with suppliers who can be as responsive and as agile as we are and as we need them to be” BRANDON TURK Director of EU Supply Operations

Europe,” says Brandon. “Through the acquisition of Actavis, we have a very strong pipeline of new generic medicines coming to the market, a significant investment into R&D and a constant desire to grow the business rapidly.” Brandon notes that in the pharmaceutical space, remaining competitive is a continuous challenge as consumers and pharmacists aren’t just choosing products based on the packaging; rather the key drivers are the quality of the product, the reliability of the service and most importantly, availability. This is where Accord differentiates itself, as the company prides itself on its consistent level of service and its agility. In the pharmaceuticals market, agility, it seems, is king. “Pharmaceuticals is a very, very dynamic market,” says Brandon. “It’s commodity driven, so when a branded player or another generic supplier goes out of stock, that’s where the we

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THE NUMBER OF COUNTRIES THAT ACCORD’S MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK COVERS

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have to be very agile and have that responsive supply chain.” That’s exactly what Brandon is trying to do with Accord, developing and cementing an agile and responsive supply chain in order to ensure that Accord’s products are on the shelves when patients need them. “It goes back to what I said earlier, putting those practices in place so that Accord can build a reputation

as a reliable supplier,” he says. In order to be an agile supplier, Brandon cannot stress enough the importance of market intelligence, forecasting and almost predicting the gaps that will emerge in the market. Accord achieves this through strategic relationships with key partners and suppliers. “We have a very structured account management organisation between managers, buyers and suppliers, and through this there is an exchange of data, which means we don’t sit and wait for an order – we are proactive,” says Brandon. One key relationship is with the Department of Health (DOH), the governing body on healthcare throughout the UK. Accord maintains regular links with the DOH which enables the company to, in Brandon’s words,

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“keep an ear close to the ground”. “It’s all about making sure that we are aware of what’s going on in the market and we work hard on our relationships in the market so that we know that when there is a gap in supply, we are there, we are agile and we can fill it,” he says. As Accord continues to grow, the company is continuously expanding its portfolio. Launching more and more products in larger quantities, Brandon seeks out suppliers that can respond to the changing pace of demand that runs alongside this growth. “We spend a lot of time every year building up strong, responsive, strategic partnerships with suppliers who can be as responsive and as agile as we are and as we need them to be,” says Brandon. One such example of this is Essentra packaging, the principal supplier of the packaging components used to blister, label, leaflet and carton their products. Essentra has demonstrated the same level of agility that we strive for, responding to business opportunities at short notice and offering a flexible yet reliable service offering. Brandon explained that Accord packs large volumes and very quickly, thus relying on high quality components from its’ suppliers that perform consistently. The two organisations have spent many years building this partnership across not only the procurement function but also the artwork, regulatory and importantly quality sectors. Key staff retention during acquisitions is

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“Through the acquisition of Actavis, we have a very strong pipeline of new generic medicines coming to the market, a significant investment into R&D and a constant desire to grow the business rapidly” BRANDON TURK Director of EU Supply Operations

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“Accord is continuously diversifying its portfolio, launching new products into new markets, so really we are only at the beginning of our journey” BRANDON TURK Director of EU Supply Operations

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critical to protecting your business continuity and with many of these projects under it’s belt Accord has a great track record. “In pharmaceuticals, people are very conscious of what it is they’re supplying. Whereas in other industry supply chains, you understand what the product is and sometimes where it’s going, it’s different for pharmaceuticals,” says Brandon. “We believe in High Performing teams across the Accord network, through our culture of behaviours, our real aim is to attract grow and retain great people. “We’ve actually been very good at retaining these people because they see what we do, the difference that we can make to patients as well as plenty of development and progression opportunities throughout the company.” Accord has lofty ambitions and at the rate at which the company is growing, equipped with the best supply chain practices and an experienced and passionate workforce, Brandon can look beyond being a leading player. “You can make it into the top 10, but you want to be number one,” he says. “Accord is continuously diversifying its portfolio, launching new products into new markets, so really we are only at the beginning of our journey. Who knows where we’ll go from here.”

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78 NOVEMBER 2017

FRANCE  PARIS PORTE DE VERSAILLES  PAV. 4

Heading for a collaborative & digital supply chain

• EXHIBITION • BUSINESS MEETINGS • CONFERENCES www.supplychain-event.com

20-23 MARCH 2018

FRANCE  PARIS NORD VILLEPINTE  HALL 6

International Week of Transport and Logistics

• 40,500 PROFESSIONALS • 800 EXHIBITORS • 100 CONFERENCES • 8 HIGHLIGHTS • THE INNOVATION AWARDS • SMART HUB by SITL www.sitl.eu

20-23 MARCH 2018

FRANCE  PARIS NORD VILLEPINTE  HALL 6

Materials handling exhibition for industry and distribution

• 15,000 PROFESSIONALS • 150 EXHIBITORS • CONFERENCES • THE INTRALOGISTICS EQUIPMENT AWARD • SMART HUB by INTRALOGISTICS