How STC is leading the digital revolution in MENA
02
How STC is leading the digital revolution in MENA WRITTEN BY
MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY
GLEN WHITE
03
w w w.stc . com . s a
STC
Haithem M. Alfaraj, Chief Technology Officer at STC, explains how its technology transformation has made it a digital leader
“ T
echnology transformation is a major enabler of our overarching strategy, which is to be a world-class regional digital leader
that provides innovative services and platforms that enable the digital revolution of the MENA region, and enrich people’s lives,” says Haithem M. Alfaraj, 04
Chief Technology Officer at STC Group. Alfaraj has considerable experience in implementing new technologies and driving innovative transformation programmes. He has been with STC since 2016, assuming his current role in the early part of last year. A key responsibility in this position is the developing and leading of transformation projects designed to improve the organisation-wide deployment of innovative IT and communications solutions. It has been, he explains, “an interesting and informative experience that required a high learning curve in terms of my leadership, both with regards to technology and the wider company’s ambition and transformation. It also creates an opportunity to develop new digital leadership that can take the company to the next level and support the national transformation of the country’s Vision 2030.”
05
During Alfaraj’s tenure, STC has been no stranger to innovation. It has pioneered the use of 5G, for example, becoming the first operator to launch a live 5G network in May 2018. In June of 2019, it launched 5G services commercially. These developments, Alfaraj notes, as well as other wider initiatives and technology innovations, form part of the wider transformation he has overseen. “We focused on developing a strong technology strategy that would advance our capabilities and enable our business w w w.stc . com . s a
STC
“ Our customers’ experience and achieving true customer-centric operations have been fundamental principles in our transformation” 06
— Haithem M. Alfaraj, Technology & Operations SVP at STC
to be successful – we knew we always had to be at the advanced stages of development when it comes to technologies covering infrastructure, platforms, cloud, applications, AI and Big Data to maintain our leading position in MENA’s digital revolution. At the same time, we worked on our operating model to ensure it was both agile and collaborative.” A key focus for Alfaraj was to ensure that STC’s technology transformation supported the organisation’s wider DARE strategy. This outlines the key pillars under which the business looks to expand: Digitise by becoming a data driven, technologically agile organisation focused on enhanced experiences; Accelerate core asset performance through cultural and technological change, as well as growing both B2G and B2B market segments to lead the market; Reinvent the customer experience through the personalisation of interactions with technology to create new, attractive journeys; and Expand aggressively by pursuing all opportunities for growth related to services and applications, platforms
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘STC’ 07 and connectivity and infrastructure. Digital and technology are key
“In so doing, it was apparent that our legacy infrastructure wouldn’t have
aspects of realising DARE, he notes,
been able to meet the requirements
outlining how he focused on certain
of the new services we were looking
domains such as services and appli-
to introduce or meet the expecta-
cation, AI and analytics, platforms
tions of our customers in terms of
and connectivity, and infrastructure.
the quality standards we expect to
However, much of the overall devel-
deliver. As an example of our digital
opment was driven by the desire to
transformation, in the wholesale
reinvent STC’s customer experience.
domain, technology demands and
“Going through this transformation
gaps are covered by digitisation,
provided an opportunity to baseline
which is a result of agile partner-
our current operations and archi-
ships adapted during the innovation
tecture and better understand our
phase of the solution. These part-
business performance,” says Alfaraj.
nerships resulted in improvement of w w w.stc . com . s a
STC
08
time-to-market, cost reduction and
company’s capabilities and create an
automation of processes.
evolution to customer satisfaction.
“If you look at technology and opera-
“Our objective,” he adds, “is to make
tions as a sector of the business, then
customer experience a competitive
our customers’ experience and achiev-
advantage and a true differentiator for
ing true customer-centric operations
us in the market – something we have
have been fundamental principles in
successfully managed to do over the
our transformation,” Alfaraj continues.
last few years.” Key aspects of that
He details how this has been achieved,
success include leading the region in
including through a focus on baselin-
investing in technologies that continu-
ing and reimagining customer journeys
ously measure customer experience,
and stories through in-depth customer
revamping assurance and operational
design thinking with our business
processes to make service and
units to ensure they are in line with the
customer experience the priority,
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Haithem M. Alfaraj Engineer, Haitham M. Alfaraj joined STC in 2016 and currently serves as Senior Vice President of Technology and Operation. He is responsible for conceiving, planning, operating as well as leading the implementation of transformation projects to improve organisationwide deployment of information technology and communication services and solutions. Previously at STC, Haitham served as Vice President of Operation Sector, where he led challenging transformation programmes that excelled the technical operational performance of STC communication services. Haitham joined STC in 2016 from Etihad Etisalat, Mobily Company, where he was Chief Technology Operations Officer. He spent 11 years with Mobily in leadership positions for infrastructure and service management operations. Prior to that, he worked at Saudi Aramco for four years. He holds a Bachelor in Computer Engineering from King Fahad University in Dhahran, and enrolled in multiple executive leadership programmes from Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and other institutes. Haitham is currently on the board of STC Specialized, STC Solution. He is an experienced technology executive who possesses extensive technology knowledge, strong leadership skills and superb relationship management abilities. Haithem has a well-rounded business foundation with keen strategic insight that allows him to manage relationship building, talent development, and organisation turnaround and realignment activities. He has additional expertise in telecom and information technologies, quality management, infrastructure planning, performance improvement, partner alliances, operations excellence, vendor management, outsourcing strategy, and facility/data center and cloud services.
w w w.stc . com . s a
09
STC
“ Technology transformation is a major enabler of our overarching strategy, which is to be a world-class digital leader that provides innovative services and platforms that enable the digital revolution of the MENA region”
12
— Haithem M. Alfaraj, Technology & Operations SVP at STC
With regards to specific technologies, connectivity and speed of connection have been a large focus for Alfaraj and his team. STC already has the highest mobile speed and the most reliable network in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, yet it continues to improve this through investment in its ‘backbone’ – data centres, transportation networks and each individual layer of its overall network. “Our new MySTC app has also had a significant impact,” he notes. “This is entirely in line with our digitalisation vision, and facilitates the purchase of smart devices and SIM cards through the
establishing a dedicated service
app store, complete with free delivery.
performance and customer services
It also covers fixed services with intel-
unit, and creating new KPIs and KQIs
ligent customer support capabilities.”
that are aligned with a customer-
On 10 November it was announced
centric approach. To achieve these
that MySTC had received the ‘App
objectives, STC leveraged its data
of the Year’ Golden Award at the
and analytics capability it has built
Network PGs 2019 IT World Awards,
over the years to not only improve
an event organised annually in San
customer experience, but also to
Francisco to recognise excellence in
generate revenue and optimise cost.
technology worldwide.
This capability includes employing
To achieve such significant change
AI techniques such as machine-
requires effective relationships with
learning, NLP and RPA to introduce
key partners and vendors. Here,
efficiency into its operations.
Alfaraj explains that the business has
13
collaborative platforms at every level
solutions to our customers. For more
of the organisation. “Going through
mature technologies and services, we
this transformation has actually
prefer an ‘off the shelf’ approach that
opened doors for us to have better
is efficient, cost-effective and allows
strategic dialogue with our partners
for faster delivery of products through
and to explore new technologies and
their lifecycle.”
solutions with them,” he says. “For all
STC works with many of the larg-
new or emerging technologies and
est tech and telco brands, including
services, such as 5G, telco-cloud, vir-
Accenture, for digital telco transforma-
tualisation or network transformations,
tion, Ericsson, Huawei and Nokai for
we adopt a collaborative development
5G development and IoT, Redhat for
ecosystem in which we work together
cloud technology developments, and
as partners to identify and deliver
Teradata and SAS for Big Data analyt-
optimal, agile, robust and high-quality
ics. Accordingly, says Alfaraj, STC w w w.stc . com . s a
STC
14
has “vast experience� in managing successful collaboration. To do this, he explains, the business approaches each collaboration with firm guidelines in mind that cover such areas as joint planning and strategising, business alignment and planning, executive engagement, technical integration and field readiness, and more. Naturally, greater use of technology brings heightened risk, particularly in terms of cybersecurity. Being a digital leader, STC well understands the risks and how
1998
Year founded
51,963mn Revenue in Saudi Riyal
13,383 Number of employees
critical they are to a successful technology transformation, particularly with the adoption of cloud and IoT solutions. The company invests in three key areas: people, process and technology. “This includes hiring the best cybersecurity professionals and consultants and training a large pool of Saudi graduates in the latest preventative security technologies, all in line with our vision,� says Alfaraj. In addition, the company has established a strong cybersecurity governance, risk and compliance capability within its cybersecurity sector. This combines policies, standards and audits for use in the STC partner ecosystem to ensure consistency in all operations. In terms of technology and partnership, STC has invested in security technologies to complement the governance aspect of protection, deploying the largest Threat Intel programme and Anti-DDoS capability in the Kingdom. These two programmes, as well as several others, have protected STC and the Kingdom at large from major globally known cyberattacks, guaranteeing not only STC’s continued service, w w w.stc . com . s a
15
STC
but business as usual for every STC client (Government, Enterprises and Consumers). High-level partnerships with giants like Saudi Aramco, Cybersecurity Center under the World Economic Forum and FIRST. org have been forged to solidify STC’s contribution to local and global Cybersecurity. With the continuous evolution of technology security risks, STC is mandated to sustain and ensure full command around risks mitigations and proper controls. 16
Looking more broadly, STC intends to continue leading the digital revolution in MENA in line with the
“ Once the leadership adopted the changes, the rest was a chain reaction right through the organisation” — Haithem M. Alfaraj, Technology & Operations SVP at STC
transformation Alfaraj describes. One example of this is the company’s contribution to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme, which includes objectives around digitalisation and extending high speed internet access to all citizens. Steps the business has already taken in this area include streamlining of its vision with that of Vision 2030, adopting a digitalisation framework to significantly lift the nation’s digital potential, improving infrastructure and technology, and upskilling its workforce.
17
In the latter, Alfaraj is resolute in his
significantly into building our capabil-
belief of the importance of people.
ity across the company, and we were
“Any transformation is about people
fortunate to have a management team
and how we work – we knew from the
committed to driving that change.
start that this journey would be about
That has brought real innovation in
enhancing capabilities, increasing
the way we run our operations, and it
collaboration and developing new
was important to our overall success
ways of working,” he explains. “Our
– once the leadership adopted the
change management was built
changes, the rest was a chain reac-
around three themes; clarity, capabili-
tion right through the organisation.”
ties and commitment. We made sure everyone knew of all the changes every step of the way, we invested w w w.stc . com . s a
www.stc.com.sa