Business Chief North America - June 2020

NORTH AMERICA www.businesschief.com

JUNE 2020

Digitalising the modern benefits experience

Busiest airports

IBM’S BLUEPRINT

FOR A DATA-DRIVEN ENTERPRISE Inderpal Bhandari, IBM’s Global Chief Data Officer, discusses data and cognitive transformation strategies City Focus

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FOREWORD

W

elcome to the June edition of

transforming healthcare, and Joel

Business Chief North America!

Raedeke, Senior Vice President at

This month’s cover features Inderpal

Broadspire, expands on the company’s digital transformation.

Bhandari, IBM’s Global Chief Data Officer on the topic of data and cognitive

This month’s City Focus explores

transformation strategies and his role

the home of Botox, Greenpeace and

as Chief Data Officer.

California roll sushi, as Business Chief explores what drove Vancouver’s

Other leaders that feature in the

economy prior to COVID-19. Our

magazine include Ed Hofstede,

Top 10, meanwhile, counts down the

President, and Inthida Ngeth, Vice

busiest airports in North America

President of Operations, at PPI Benefits.

based on recorded passenger numbers.

They discuss how the company is prepared to deliver a modern benefits

Do you have a story to share?

programme, while Lt Col Woody Groton, CIO of the NH Army National Guard

If you would like to be featured in an

details interstate collaboration and

upcoming issue of Business Chief

the annual Cyber Yankee exercise.

North America, please get in touch at georgia.wilson@bizclikmedia.com

Elsewhere in the magazine, Chris Hutchins VP, Chief Data Analytics

Enjoy the issue!

Officer at Northwell Health explains how data and analytics are

Georgia Wilson

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

03

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PUBLISHED BY

PRODUCTION MANAGER

PROJECT DIRECTORS

Owen Martin

Arron Rampling Craig Killingback Jake Megeary Nicholas Bochmann Ryan Hall

DIGITAL VIDEO DIRECTOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Georgia Wilson EDITORAL DIRECTOR

Matt High CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Joshua S Peck DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS

Kieran Waite Sam Kemp MARKETING DIRECTOR

Steve Shipley

Leigh Manning

CREATIVE TEAM

DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

Oscar Hathaway Erin Hancox Sophia Forte Sophie-Ann Pinnell

Shirin Sadr DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Kayleigh Shooter

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Georgia Allen Daniela Kianicková

Mike Sadr

DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Jason Westgate OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Alex Barron CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

Stacy Norman PRESIDENT & CEO

Glen White

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

CONTENTS

28

10

IBM’S BLUEPRINT FOR A DATA-DRIVEN ENTERPRISE

46

56 70

City Focus

82

Busiest airports in North America

114 Mircom Group of Companies

100 Army National Guard

128 Broadspire, A Crawford Company

142 Northwell Health

160

176

Bleakley Financial Group

Star2Star

190 Servus Credit Union

220 Canopy Growth Corporation

202 HOOPP

10

Empowering clients with new technology and services WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY

ARRON RAMPLING

JUNE 2020

11

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

PPI BENEFITS INC.

Ed Hofstede, President, and Inthida Ngeth, Vice President of Operations, explain how PPI Benefits is prepared to deliver a modern benefits programme

P

art of Canadian insurance and financial services company PPI, PPI Benefits is an experienced team of consultants

and third-party administrators for group benefits.

With a reputation for outstanding customer service and cutting-edge proprietary solutions, the 12

organisation provides access to plans that cover over 1,000 businesses across Canada, tailored to suit that particular enterprise’s individual needs.

An expert in its field, the company offers technical support, consulting services, comprehensive implementation services, a range of benefits plans and more, all for an affordable, manageable cost.

The success and results of PPI Benefits are driven by its leadership team, who join together in a united effort to promote the best services for clients. Ed Hofstede, President, has been in the insurance sector for over 30 years and calls PPI – “a major player in the Canadian insurance marketing sector” – a natural evolution in his career. Joining the company almost 15 years ago, he started out as a Regional Leader at PPI Financial Group before going on to become the JUNE 2020

13

1995

Year founded

60

Number of employees

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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PPI BENEFITS INC.

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Ed Hofstede Title: President Location: Toronto, Canada

Vice President (VP) of Marketing at PPI Advisory, the VP of PPI Benefits and finally President in 2016. Inthida Ngeth, VP of Operations, on the other hand, came up via a slightly less linear path. “I don’t have much background

16

Ed Hofstede is President of PPI Benefits and its fast-growing administration division, CustomCare, where he has embraced technology to build one of Canada’s leading Third Party Administrators (TPA’s).

As a prolific idea generator, Ed has reshaped companies through focus on a differentiated customer experience, team building, and revenue growth. Ed believes that people perform their best when they enjoy being at work so he tries to keep things light and even serious meetings are rarely concluded without a few rounds of laughter.

His formula for business is: (Innovation + Execution) X Caring = Success Ed is a passionate, vibrant speaker and an active advocate for workplace and youth mental health initiatives. When not working, you will likely find Ed with family, golfing, exercising, or playing guitar.

JUNE 2020

in employee benefits or insurance per se,” she explains. “My background is in technology, consulting and telecoms; I worked in different roles across various industries before focusing on technology transformation.” Ngeth states that PPI’s open attitude towards digital innovation and its desire to

leverage technology to improve its

change should look like. “I’ve tried to

customers’ and advisors’ experience

always view our business as working

is what encouraged her to join in early

through advisors to help their clients

2019. “I wanted to be part of something

create healthy, engaged, loyal and

exciting and evolutionary; the industry

productive employees,” Hofstede says.

is changing right now.”

He identifies this simple strategy as

Change is certainly in the global zeit-

integral to helping PPI’s clients provide

geist – whether socially, economically

necessary services and be success-

or technologically motivated, in the

ful. “ We believe our role goes beyond

digital era, most businesses are finding

simply employee benefits and pension.

that the only way to stay relevant is to

Our mission is to help clients improve

identify trends and adapt to them. In

their work environment and build an

this regard, PPI Benefits has a clearly

exceptional employee experience for

defined view of what good industry

the modern world.”

PPI Business Formula CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:32

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

17

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2020-05-19 2:21 PM

PPI Benefits: The Advisor centric TPA CLICK TO WATCH

|

0:29

19 This ability to see beyond the mere

contrast that with the Actual results

product or service which it provides is

they are currently achieving,” explains

what gives PPI its edge and continues

Hofstede. Focusing on the two ‘Ps’ –

to inform its approach. Having worked

Possibilities and Priorities – PPI helps its

with some of the top advisors in the

clients identify what’s important to them

country, PPI has developed a sophisti-

and how to execute an effective plan.

cated mode of operation which factors

Access to the latest technology and

in high business ethics, technological

an integrated system for deploying it

innovation and a strong, customer-

is crucial to this operating model, and

centric philosophy. “We use what we

that, in turn, requires a well thought

call a ‘G.A.P.P. consulting methodology’:

out digital transformation. “We know

we look at the goals set by the client,

what our member and advisor jour-

understand why they are running a

ney should look like in terms of what

benefits programme and what they

we aspire to and how we want to

are trying to accomplish, and then we

transform in each of the steps,” says c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

PPI BENEFITS INC.

Ngeth. Taking an iterative approach,

problems and allows staff to focus their

PPI Benefits has begun to deploy AI

energy on more critical client-facing

(artificial intelligence) in increments to

activities. “I want to automate the

automate less crucial functions whilst

predictable so we can humanise the

gradually developing larger tech solu-

exceptional,” he adds. “It’s all about

tions. It’s an approach that allows the

making PPI Benefits really effective

company to constantly be achieving a

and efficient on the predictable pro-

string of small victories which will add

cesses so that we’ve got more time

up to a larger goal. After all, Hofstede

to deal with people.”

says, repetitive data-entry tasks are

20

Handling the vast amounts of data

tedious for employees and subject to

relevant to the insurance sector and

manual error. Transferring the respon-

placing it in an integrated environment

sibility of these tasks from humans to

for analytics software led PPI Benefits

machines eliminates this margin for

to start moving to a cloud-based

PPI Automation & AI CLICK TO WATCH

JUNE 2020

|

2:16

platform – the company as a whole is actively transitioning to the cloud.

Gathering, analysing and presenting that data to advisors and clients forms one of the company’s biggest techno-

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Inthida Ngeth Title: Vice President, Operations Location: Toronto, Canada

logical challenges. “We’re looking to evolve how we gather the information in a way that is easier and more consolidated in one location. From there, we can slice and dice it any way we want and structure it accordingly to make it meaningful,” Ngeth states. In the digital era, where data is king, knowing how to extract value from it and use historical

Inthida Ngeth is Vice President of Operations at PPI Benefits. She oversees P&L performance across divisions and leads all facets of operations.

As a value builder and connector, Inthida thrives on bringing vision, ideas, and people together to create new potential. With 15 years of experience across the insurance, tech, consulting and telecom sectors, she has led organisations and teams to exceptional growth, by leveraging her diverse operational, marketing and strategic background to deliver impactful results and create customer-first solutions and services.

Passionate about helping others develop and succeed, Inthida is a coach and mentor, and serves as an advisor for a portfolio of emerging startups. She is also an active champion for diversity and inclusion and the advancement of women in leadership.

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

21

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www.ppi.ca

patterns to determine decision-making,

we also know that there are a growing

predict and inform risk assessments

number of millennial clients coming

is PPI’s objective. However, far from

through, and sometimes they may also

being purely utilitarian, Hofstede

value interacting with a chatbot, so we

emphasises that a technological

need that capability too.”

approach is crucial to business conti-

Despite a strong tech underpinning

nuity with a new generation of people

to its operations, PPI Benefits ensures

with different expectations. “PPI is

that the human touch is never lost at the

starting to use AI in the customer ser-

customer service level. The company is

vice realm and there’s an opportunity

also careful to ensure that its staff can

to use it for some of our narrower prod-

wield the digital tools they are equipped

uct deliveries. Our wonderful people

with securely. Indeed, cybersecurity

have always been an important part

is a top priority of both clients and the

of PPI Benefits’ value proposition, but

modern, digitalised insurance sector.

PPI AI + Machine CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:54

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

23

PPI BENEFITS INC.

24

“ Our role goes beyond simply employee benefits and pension.

Our mission is to help clients improve their work environment and build an exceptional employee experience” — Ed Hofstede, President, PPI Benefits

JUNE 2020

The company’s focus on digitisation couldn’t have come at a more fortuitous time; the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has made global businesses question the integrity of their previous ways of operating and seek out more advanced solutions. In this uncertain, new environment, Hofstede says that forging a way forward is “about picking partners that PPI can work with to deliver the digital employee and advisor experience” that it envisions. Critical to helping PPI Benefits on this journey so far have been companies like Oliver, a modern benefits and pension administration software company; and Venngo, a work-perks group discount programme, and IA Financial Group. Although they all collaborate with PPI Benefits on different things, Hofstede explains that there’s one consistent element that these relationships are based on: trust. “One of the first things PPI Benefits does is assess the reasonableness of their promises and commitments.

We deal with partners and suppliers every day, so we have to ensure we’re comfortable dealing with them. If we choose to work with them, it’s because they provide high-quality goods and services, they’re ethical and they work well with our team.” c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

25

PPI BENEFITS INC.

26

“ I think, more than anybody else, we’re poised for success with our foundation of technology. PPI Benefits is optimistic because we know the possibilities and how to reach them” — Inthida Ngeth, Vice President, Operations, PPI Benefits JUNE 2020

Although the rest of 2020 will be a challenge, both Hofstede and Ngeth are confident that PPI Benefits has hit the ground running. The changes being ushered in are all about creating a better experience for the people who need PPI’s services, and the company is not being complacent in trying to find out the best way to secure that goal.

“These days, you’re not just being compared to other advisors, administrators or insurance companies,” Hofstede says. “Now, you’re being compared to the best experience a customer can

27

have anywhere, dealing with anybody.”

to empowering advisors with new

With companies like Amazon revolu-

technology and services to deliver bet-

tionising the convenience of shopping

ter value for corporate clients. “We’re

and same/next day delivery, why

excited about the future and how we’re

shouldn’t PPI Benefits try to do some-

doing it differently,” Ngeth concludes.

thing similar in its field, he asks. “In

“I think, more than anybody else, we’re

addition to just the traditional benefits,

poised for success with our foundation

dental plan and pension, maybe there

of technology. PPI Benefits is optimis-

could be an employee assistance pro-

tic because we know the possibilities

gramme, a mental health programme,

and how to reach them.”

alcohol treatment program, employee discounts, etc.” Clearly, the sky’s the limit for what a modern benefits programme could be, and PPI is dedicated c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

28

JUNE 2020

IBM’S BLUEPRINT FOR A DATA-DRIVEN ENTERPRISE WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY

GLEN WHITE

w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

29

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

Inderpal Bhandari, IBM’s Global Chief Data Officer, discusses data and cognitive transformation strategies and the role of the Chief Data Officer

“ T

o be a good Chief Data Officer is a true craft; when I walk into an organisation I immerse myself in the business strategy

and the detailed end-to-end business processes to know exactly what I’m going to implement, the strategy behind it, measure how well it’s going to unfold and the milestones to be hit,” says Inderpal 30

Bhandari, IBM’s Global Chief Data Officer. With more than 20 years of experience transforming industry-leading organisations, Bhandari has defined the scope, expectations, and deliverables of the modern Chief Data Officer role. Indeed, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest he is the Chief Data Officer.

Bhandari is a recognised expert in transforming data into business value. He improves customer experiences by delivering strategic and innovative capabilities that use data-driven insights to enable growth and streamline productivity. Most recently, he has been doing so at IBM. Bhandari joined the global tech leader in December 2015 to lead IBM’s data strategy and to drive its internal data and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation. This work,

JUNE 2020

31

w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

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L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

“ Our aim was to transform IBM into a data and AI enterprise”

34

His experience and an intimate knowledge of what an effective Chief Data Officer can deliver took shape in the trenches of corporate America where data was becoming the new natural resource. “I became the very

— Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer, IBM

first CDO in the healthcare industry in

which Bhandari joined us to discuss

on in the profession – at that point

in more detail, has culminated in the

there were four of us globally. Today

company’s Data and AI Enterprise

the role has expanded massively with

Blueprint – a roadmap for IBM clients

thousands of CDOs, Chief Analytics

to use when embarking on their own

Officers and Chief Digital Officers,

data and AI journeys.

and I’ve been fortunate to have been

2006, and was an entrepreneur in data products before that. It was very early

at the forefront from the very beginning, learning, and understanding the profession.

“Data is a hugely valuable asset and so the importance of the role has transformed within enterprises,” he continues. “My experiences enabled me to contribute to multiple

JUNE 2020

IBM - DATA STRATEGY CLICK TO WATCH

|

2:18

35 organisations while honing the craft

to the cloud – cloud computing has

of using data and technology to fuel

been a major game changer at the

the powerful and complex transforma-

industry level,” he states, expanding

tions that enterprises are undergoing.”

on the technology evolution that has shaped today’s landscape. “And with

TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSFORMATION: DRIVING CHANGE

that came a heightened focus on

Understandably, during his career

which remain core areas for any CDO.

Bhandari has been at the forefront

Once the resources become available

of technological innovation. He has

through cloud or, more recently, hybrid

also seen data evolve to become a

cloud, AI and many of the devices

crucial success factor for the mod-

at the ‘edge’ can and will come into

ern enterprise.

play, such as robotic technology, the

“The rapid change we’re seeing today really started with the journey

cybersecurity, data privacy and ethics,

Internet of Things (IoT), and autonomous vehicles.” w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

36

The ability to keep ‘building’ on

terms of transforming their businesses.

the hybrid cloud, says Bhandari, will

Leaders and organisations all over the

accelerate the adoption of AI as part

world have come to realise that it’s not

of enterprise transformation. Other

a question of ‘should we do it’, but a

important technologies that will be

question of ‘when do we do it’. If you

adopted include 5G and blockchain,

don’t, you’ll very quickly be irrelevant.”

which he says has the potential to “It’s a rapidly changing industry. But

IBM: THE CDO’S BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE

with that, comes an acute awareness

When Bhandari joined IBM five years

and willingness on the part of the

ago, his role was specifically created

c-suite and enterprises to gain a much

to facilitate the mission of transform-

greater understanding of what these

ing IBM into a Data and AI enterprise.

trends and technologies can do in

He built a transformation strategy

transform data and data ownership.

JUNE 2020

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Inderpal Bhandari Title: Global Chief Data Officer Company: IBM Corporation Industry: Information Technology & Services

Location: New York

Inderpal Bhandari rejoined IBM as Global Chief Data Officer in December 2015.

In this newly created role, he has leveraged his extensive experience to lead the development of IBM’s data strategy and drive IBM’s internal data and AI enterprise transformation. The work has culminated in the Data and AI Enterprise Blueprint; a roadmap for IBM’s clients on their own transformation journeys.

Inderpal brings to IBM more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles at such leading companies as Cambia Health Solutions and Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions. Prior to joining IBM, Inderpal served as Senior Vice President and Chief Data Officer of Cambia Health Solutions where he led the development of Cambia’s data strategy and drove the transformation of the company’s consumer experience strategies. Prior to that, Inderpal served as Vice President

of knowledge solutions and Chief Data Officer at Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions, where he was responsible for maximizing the utility of the company’s data and its readiness to respond to emerging market trends. Before that, he founded Virtual Gold, growing the company into an international market leader for analytics in call centers and professional sports. Inderpal is an expert in transforming data into business value and improved customer experiences by delivering strategic, innovative capabilities that use analytic insights to enable growth and productivity. In 2017, he was named U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year by the CDO Club, and has been featured as an industry expert by Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, US News & World Report, CNN and FOX. Inderpal earned his Master of Science Degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and holds a PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

37

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

IBM - ARTIFICIAL INTELIGENCE CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:43

38

roadmap based on three steps:

the company is going to make money,

develop a clear data strategy; execute

maximise business impact, and delight

enterprise-wide data governance and

customers,” he explains. “In IBM’s case

management systems; and become the

it was clear that we were going to make

central data and AI framework for the

money primarily from best-in-class AI

IBM enterprise.

and hybrid multi-cloud offerings. But

The first is crucial for any enterprise

it wasn’t clear what AI meant for an

embarking on such a journey and starts

enterprise or how to go about it. Thus

with one straightforward question:

we thought why not make IBM itself into

what is your company’s monetisation

an AI enterprise and use it as a show-

strategy? This is, says Bhandari, key to

case for our clients.” Bhandari created

a successful data strategy. “Any data

a dedicated team that consists of

strategy has to be tied to the business

world-class data and AI specialists who

strategy, and that revolves around how

collaborate across the entire business.

JUNE 2020

“ To be a good Chief Data Officer is a true craft” — Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer, IBM

IBM’s Data and AI Blueprint encompasses technology, organisational considerations, data, and business process transformation. For example, cognitive services give the ability to see and contextualise across all data as well as infuse insights into the work-

Next, the focus rested on consolidat-

flow of business processes. Hybrid

ing critical enterprise data and making

cloud solutions encompassing public

it available as a service. Rapid inte-

cloud, private cloud and on-premise

gration of critical data into a single,

environments, provide enterprise cloud

consolidated data platform can bring

container support while implementing

unprecedented connection and is

and enforcing security standards

the moment, Bhandari says, where a

and privacy policies. Further, the

data strategy ‘really comes alive.’ He

convergence and curation of data that

adds that a unified data platform is the

would have previously been siloed and

fundamental enabler of advanced AI

fragmented across an organisation,

solutions in an organisation, and brings

to create a reliable and trusted source

new business capabilities, drives effi-

that AI systems can build upon.

ciency and top-line improvement.

“Our aim was to transform IBM into a Data and AI enterprise,” he notes.

According to Bhandari, AI systems – all of which are underpinned by data – have four main attributes: they learn from data, they support forms of expression more natural for human interaction, their primary value is their expertise, and their learning evolves continuously as they encounter new information or scenarios. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

39

IBM

“ Cloud computing has been a major game changer at industry level” 40

— Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer, IBM

JUNE 2020

Cognition also brings distinct advantages to points of business that require significant human judgement. In Bhandari’s Global Chief Data Office, for example, several projects utilise IBM’s Data and AI Platform.

“As an example,” he adds, “take a role within our business, which essentially revolves around an employee having to classify whether a client that we’re working with is a government-owned entity. We hold ourselves to very high standards, and so that kind of classification and judgement is crucial.

We have to get it right. Previously, that classification would have involved research, communication with other parties and eventually arriving at the classification. This is a perfect example of where AI comes into its own.

Using our IBM Watson capabilities, we can now access historical data as to how we have previously labelled companies, and we can sift and monitor real-time information about those same businesses.

“That capability makes the decision more quickly, accurately and improves efficiency of the work,” he continues.

“As an example, it may be at a lower w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

41

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

How the IBM Integrated Analytics System Helps You Do Data Science Faster CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:51

42

“ We have to work AI into every business process, whether it’s supply chain, finance, marketing, accounts payable.

There’s no area it can’t bring significant advantage to” — Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer, IBM JUNE 2020

level in terms of the vast amounts of activity we undertake at IBM, but you multiply it one million-fold across every significant business decision that we make, and you have an insight into the potential of AI. That’s what I envisioned when I began this journey – we have to work AI into every business process, whether it’s supply chain, finance, marketing, accounts payable.

There’s no area it can’t bring significant value to.”

The challenge, says Bhandari, is for enterprises to undertake that scaling of data and AI solutions. Core to that,

he says, is a strong central function

quickly ramp up their AI solutions and

which is the role that he and his imme-

processes and drive business value

diate team provide. However, he also

covering areas including data strategy

adds that in his experience, many

and architecture, automating business

organisations are still in the early

metadata, data privacy and trust, and

stages of their AI adoption journey.

AI applications.

IBM’s learnings from its data and AI

“When I started the Global Chief Data

transformation form the basis of how

Office at IBM, we were effectively at

IBM interacts with clients.

‘ground zero’ in terms of this,” Bhandari

Take the company’s AI Enterprise

notes. “But our success allows us to

Accelerator as an example. This col-

share and take it to a completely new

laborative cross-enterprise initiative

level for both internal transformation

builds on IBM’s AI transformation

and with our clients. Our Enterprise

and is designed to help leaders

Data and AI platform was established

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43

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

1911

Year founded

$79.59bn+ Revenue in US dollars

350,000 Number of employees

44

at the end of 2017 and by year end

freely admits to adopting a ‘fail fast’

2019 we had over 100,000 active

approach to his role and mission at

users on it internally, who were infus-

IBM and is not afraid to admit – even

ing AI into their business processes,

with his experience – that he and his

and several clients replicating these

team are always learning. “If you are

use cases externally. That’s a really

the CDO then you must be aware it’s

high rate of adoption for both internal

a transformation role and you are

use and by our customers.”

primarily a change agent,” he explains.

“You have to change the enterprise to

A BLUEPRINT FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS

transform it, so the data and AI blue-

Any transformation journey is an

print that we developed has all of the

ongoing process, even with a CDO as

aspects that any change agent should

capable as Bhandari at the helm. He

focus on.

JUNE 2020

45

“You use the data and the technol-

data comes from millions of devices

ogy to affect the change, of course, but

at the edge. That and technologies

there’s also the people and culture fac-

such as quantum computing have the

tor that is equally important. You can’t

potential to revolutionise everything

neglect any aspect of that blueprint if

we do. It’s an exciting prospect and a

you want to succeed. Technology will

very exciting time for Chief Data and

continue to evolve, and so we must

Technology Officers at the forefront

evolve too. The move to the hybrid

of these transformations.”

cloud is only accelerating, for example, and things like cybersecurity, privacy and data ownership will become more and more relevant. Similarly, edge computing will be a critical driver as w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

C O R P O R AT E F I N A N C E

46

JUNE 2020

47

Susan Bowen, CEO of Aptum Technologies, discusses how IoT may hold the secret to unlocking the full potential of Big Data and enterprise systems WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING

w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

C O R P O R AT E F I N A N C E

TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY AND YOUR ROLE AT APTUM I’m Susan Bowen, I have been the CEO and President of Aptum Technologies, formerly Cogeco Peer 1, since May 2019. Prior to this, I held the position of President at Cogeco Peer 1 and before that Vice President and General Manager of EMEA for three and a half years, based in the UK. As CEO and President of Aptum, my purpose is to guide and empower the Aptum organisation to drive growth for our customers and our business, enabling data as infrastructure globally.

During my first 150 days as CEO of Aptum, my time 48

has been occupied with establishing goals, building a knowledgeable and experienced leadership team and creating a strategy to achieve those goals.

Creating the new foundation for the business has been extremely exciting, and our dedicated team has embraced our vision and made its success possible.

Any organisation is only as good as its employees, and as CEO, it is vital to empower employees to propel the business forward.

LAST YEAR, YOU WERE ACCEPTED INTO THE EXCLUSIVE FORBES TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL. WHAT DID THIS HONOUR MEAN TO YOU AND HOW WILL IT SHAPE YOUR APPROACH GOING FORWARD? To be accepted to join the Forbes Technology Council, and the members that uphold that prestigious name, is an achievement of which I am JUNE 2020

“ Businesses today are encountering amounts of data that grow at an exponential rate, which means they require the appropriate technology to exploit it” — Susan Bowen, CEO, Aptum Technologies

49

w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

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helping businesses unlock the poten-

YOUR COMPANY’S NAME LITERALLY MEANS ‘ADAPTABILITY’– IS THIS AN IMPORTANT QUALITY IN A TECH COMPANY, PARTICULARLY ONE INVESTING IN DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE?

tial of their data as infrastructure has

Due to the ever more complex and

proved successful.

unpredictable economic, political and

extremely proud. The opportunity to become part of this community of fellow esteemed tech professionals is testament to the work we have done at Aptum. Our unique approach of

The Council isn’t just about recognition,

social environment in which we currently

though. It encourages contribution and

find ourselves, adapting is crucial not

creation of debate, with the overarch-

only to a business’ success, but to its

ing goal of driving society forward

survival. The speed, intricacy and global

through technology. Being able to col-

nature of today’s disruption is at a dif-

laborate with industry leaders in this

ferent scale than ever before and

private forum will expose me to new

businesses must be conscious of that.

and original perspectives which I will take back to my own forum at Aptum.

We are always looking for opportunities to discover new insights, and where better to receive it than from my colleagues on the Council?

“ The sheer volume of data IoT devices promise means their value is integral” — Susan Bowen, CEO, Aptum Technologies w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

51

C O R P O R AT E F I N A N C E

While technological change has continuously brought about unprecedented opportunities for those capable of innovation, it can also be the downfall of those who are inflexible and reticent to change. Adaptability, then, becomes an indispensable trait for businesses that want to succeed. Due to the highly competitive market, businesses must keep up with the rapid pace of change. The key to this is placing an emphasis on developing and establishing a mindset which favours 52

adaptability into all levels of the workforce, from the boardroom, through to a business’ IT infrastructure.

Businesses today are encountering

hybrid infrastructure solutions with

amounts of data that grow at an expo-

secure data centre, cloud, connectivity

nential rate, which means they require

and managed services across North

the appropriate technology to exploit

America, Latin America and Europe.

it. Reliable platforms which harness the power of their data enable better decision making and generate new insights and deeper customer engagement.

With a 20-year heritage helping

DATA AND IOT ARE INTRINSICALLY LINKED. HOW DOES YOUR APPROACH TO THEIR UTILISATION DISTINGUISH ITSELF? At Aptum, we believe that data should

customers maximise technologies to

be treated as infrastructure. As the

store, manage, move and secure their

source of insight into performance,

critical data, Aptum is one of a select

markets, and innovation, data should

group of companies able to offer true

be considered the backbone of the

JUNE 2020

just one component of an IT ecosystem designed to enable businesses to unlock their data potential. But, the sheer volume of data IoT devices promise means their value is integral to that ecosystem.

MANY IN THE INDUSTRY POSTULATE THAT 5G NETWORKS ARE SET TO REVOLUTIONISE IOT. DO YOU AGREE AND WHY? The benefits of 5G will revolutionise IoT. More bandwidth, higher reliability, lower latency and the ability to support a vastly greater number of connected devices will propel IoT into the mainmodern enterprise. We help busi-

stream. The diversity of IoT means

nesses discover the true value of their

that each use case can take advan-

data and support them on the best

tage of 5G in different ways. For

ways to utilise their data sets for their

example: higher processing speeds

desired business outcomes.

will enable faster production in manu-

IoT has the potential to scale the

facturing; lower latency means remote

value of data at an unprecedented rate.

control of machinery from production

Data from hordes of sensor points

plants to hospitals will be possible; air

across an IoT network can be trans-

traffic monitoring would need high reli-

mitted and processed in real time.

ability and service quality; and smart

Aptum’s approach helps organisations

cities will be able to leverage a higher

cleanse, process and manage this

density of devices.

data in order to generate analyses that optimise processes. IoT devices are

5G will indeed transform IoT, but it is important to recognise that this w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

53

C O R P O R AT E F I N A N C E

“ 5G will indeed transform IoT, but it is important to recognise that this revolution will not be quickly realised across all applications” — Susan Bowen, CEO, Aptum Technologies

Put simply, as an emerging technology, solutions for many unforeseen problems simply do not exist yet. Software that

revolution will not be quickly realised

secures laptop, mobile, and server end-

across all applications. Due to the grad-

points are not as far developed for IoT

ual nature of 5G’s implementation, where

devices as they are harder to identify.

3G and 4G sites are developed or new 54

This is where the fundamental prob-

infrastructure is built, IoT development

lem lies. For secure control of IoT

will in turn be slow and complex. Some

devices, visibility over all assets is nec-

use cases will involve a large amount

essary. Panaseer commissioned a study

of data, many devices, autonomous

of 200 enterprise security leaders.

machinery, and advanced analytics. 5G

When asked about the assets into

will develop at the same time as these

which they had least visibility, IoT

systems, so due to the sheer scale of the

devices topped the list. An IP address

task, a speedy timetable is not likely.

can rarely be found on an IoT device, and even if it is found it is difficult to

ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRY HURDLES THAT WILL NEED TO BE OVERCOME BEFORE THE CAPABILITIES OF IOT CAN BE FULLY ENABLED?

tell what the device’s function actually

The main challenge facing IoT is secu-

naturally decreases. This leaves secu-

rity. Recent increases in distributed

rity teams completely in the dark of

denial of services (DDoS) attacks have

the risk individual devices pose and

brought attention to the issue, and beck-

what vulnerabilities can be exploited

oned calls for action in IT communities.

by hackers.

JUNE 2020

is and what it is connected to. With multiple networks in different locations, containing multiple devices, visibility

55

However, companies that work with

Crucially though, it is the role of a tech-

technology partners with experience in

nology partner to be experts in emerg-

securing these technologies will have

ing technologies. As new methods of

the best expertise available to them to

securing IoT devices are developed,

help secure their IoT devices. When first

the partner will be in an informed posi-

enrolling IoT devices into an ecosystem,

tion to conduct their implementation.

they undertake rigorous checks, reviewing the manufacturing guidelines on the best ways to securely configure a device. A full inventory will then be undertaken mapping out each device and its function to increase visibility. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y

56

THE DIGITAL EVOLUTION OF SUPPLY CHAIN

OPERATIONS Dr. Frank Himpel, Faculty Member at CSE Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Jaap Bruining, Head of Coyote Europe, Coyote Logistics, discuss the digitalisation of supply chain

WRITTEN BY

JUNE 2020

GEORGIA WIL SON

57

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D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y

I

n today’s supply chains, fast paced innovation and complex operations built on legacy systems are commonplace chal-

lenges within the industry. To combat this,

supply chains are digitally transforming in order to create more efficiency. With digitalisation, supply chains are experiencing cost reductions, as well as increased agility, end to end visibility and flexibility, resultingin a competitive advantage against others in the industry.

Speaking with Dr. Frank Himpel, Faculty Member at CSE Hamad Bin Khalifa University, 58

and Jaap Bruining, Head of Coyote Europe at Coyote Logistics, we discuss current supply chain digitisation trends, the benefits, the challenges and the future of supply chain technology.

HOW CAN THE SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRY BENEFIT FROM DIGITISATION? Dr. Frank Himpel: Supply chains link customers on buyers’ markets with production capacity and resources needed from resource markets. This occurs on a global scale, making the world a smaller place.

Global ordering and deliveries are a reality in many industries already. In order to facilitate accuracy, forecasting, operational efficiency, and strategic flexibility of the entire chain, JUNE 2020

59

w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

ericsson.com/ 5g-switch

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Ericsson.

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With automated provisioning and insight-driven service assurance, Ericsson Dynamic Orchestration simplifies operations, moving you closer to the zero-touch experience.

This means greater savings and shorter time to market.

Dr. Frank Himpel

“ Digitalisation can help to reap the benefits of a more agile supply chain portfolio network for the benefit of all parties involved – customers, companies, suppliers, and logistical service providers” — Dr. Frank Himpel, Facility Member, Engineering Management and Decision Sciences division, College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

of a company trying to satisfy the needs of its ever-more demanding customers. Digitalisation can help to reap the benefits of a more agile supply chain portfolio network for the benefit of all parties involved – cus-

digitalisation has played a crucial role.

tomers, companies, suppliers, and

In the past, logistics and supply chain

logistical service providers. To that

management was considered a purely

end, digitalisation is a great opportu-

operational play that could be opti-

nity in many industries worldwide.

mised by lowering costs as well as overall quality for the customers.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF DIGITALISATION?

Transportation tasks and logistical

Dr. Frank Himpel: The digitalisation

coordination were often outsourced to

of a supply chain network has several

achieve greater cost control through

benefits. Depending on the specific

scaling. However, through the advent

industry, products can be delivered to

of digitalisation, this view has been dis-

customers much faster than before.

rupted. Nowadays, logistics and supply

This reduces lead times and delivery

chain management is a strategic asset

times, in particular of so-called high

lead times, while trying to increase

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61

D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y

62

runners. Here, predictive analytics

even if the production points are on

tools are employed to simultaneously

the other side of the globe. Thirdly,

and continuously assess internal and

the production concept of mass cus-

external data with regards to improv-

tomisation will be more fully and

ing forecasting of demand volumes

broadly implemented. While this

and demand patterns, as well as provi-

concept has been introduced to the

sion times. Another benefit largely

management discipline already some

associated with digitalisation is to

time ago, it has not been able to show

increase the flexibility of the produc-

its potential on a global scale in many

tion infrastructures (i.e. factories),

industries. Through the disruptive

no matter where they are located

advent of digitalisation, the benefits

geographically. The more interlinked

of mass customisation (i.e. highly

coordination with logistics and trans-

individualised production at compa-

portation capacity ensures the timely

rably lower factor costs) will become

delivery to end users and customers,

available for many industries

JUNE 2020

Coyote Logistics: Helping You Deliver on Your Promises CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:03

63 worldwide. Also, operations can be

autonomous production and logistics

managed in a more granular manner.

capabilities. This spans autonomous

This implies the availability of learn-

mobility of trucks outside the ware-

ing systems to continuously calibrate

houses and factories with more fully

performances (and measure devia-

automated sorting and picking func-

tions accordingly). Therefore,

tionality in warehouses, to factories

management of operations and pro-

that can be steered and adjusted

duction capacity becomes in a way.

from large distances away. All in

To learn about unrealistic KPI targets

all, the benefits of digitalisation in

does not take whole planning cycles

logistics and supply chain manage-

anymore, so that strategic adjust-

ment are very promising, however,

ments can be implemented much

only few companies and industries

sooner. Last but not least, another

have started the journey towards

benefit of digitalisation is the integra-

achieving more digitised production

tion of more fully automated and

potential. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITALISATION? Dr. Frank Himpel: Digitalisation is not without its challenges. Several technologies need to be integrated in a technology network that supports a data network (e.g. the so-called cloud), and both networks need to be linked to production capacities and forecasting methodologies. If one element of the entire setup is missing, or not fully operational, then the benefits might not be achieved. In other 64

words, implementing digitalisation as a step-by-step approach, which is often cautious in nature, might not lead to success. Digitalisation is pretty much a binary system – either a sys-

and stakeholders of a supply chain

tem is being digitalised (and if so, then

network. And, to refer to a classical

all-encompassing), or a system is not

metaphor – the chain is only as strong

being digitalised more profoundly.

as its weakest link.

Island-like solutions, such as those

Jaap Bruining: Another challenge

we have witnessed in past decades,

in the digital supply chain is measuring

where ERP systems co-existed with

the impact of supply chain technology,

more traditional legacy systems, are

to determine improvements in efficiency

not the way forward when it comes

and costs reduction. The importance

to the digitalisation of supply chain

of this came through loud and clear

networks. Of particular relevance

in research from Coyote Logistics last

is the holistic, integrative, systemic

year. Supply chain professionals

implementation along all partners

reported that, while measurement is

JUNE 2020

65

essential, many shippers still struggle

“ One major trend through the eyes of logistics and transportation is the advent of so-called supply chain management-as-aservice” — Dr. Frank Himpel, Facility Member, Engineering Management and Decision Sciences division, College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

with it. In fact, a majority ranked identifying return on investment as a top supply chain technology challenge.

Integrating with systems, managing tools and analysing data completed the top four.

HAT ARE THE CURRENT TRENDS W WITHIN SUPPLY CHAINS IN RELATION TO DIGITALISATION? Dr. Frank Himpel: One major trend through the eyes of logistics and w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y

WHAT INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY HAVE YOU SEEN IMPLEMENTED AS A RESULT OF DIGITALISATION WITHIN SUPPLY CHAINS? Dr. Frank Himpel: As companies around the globe aim to capitalise on the benefits of digitalisation,

66

transportation is the advent of so-

artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data,

called supply chain

machine learning (ML), and blockchain

management-as-a-service. Supply

have become highly prominent. In

chain management capability can be

particular, blockchain technology

bought on the basis of need, as pro-

is having inroads into innovative sup-

vided by specialised external vendors,

ply chain concepts in the food and

rather than having such functionality

healthcare sectors. In general, AI

in-house. The whole concept of out-

aims to support a company’s desire

sourcing business functions, which

for greater supply chain automation.

began more than half a century ago

Advanced analytics and the internet of

with outsourcing of IT departments,

things (IoT) sources help better fore-

might be adopted to the outsourcing

casting of demand patterns and supply

of supply chain management functional-

potentials, for example. IoT in particu-

ity. Here, completely new business

lar is considered suitable for supply

models can emerge that will specialise

chains where higher uptime and higher

as per lead-time constraint, mode-of-

asset utilisation are key.

delivery-constraint, and/or factor

capacities. Here, flexible transporta-

WHAT IS THE BEST STRATEGY FOR ADOPTING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WITHIN SUPPLY CHAINS?

tion networks will ensure the delivery

Dr. Frank Himpel: Hybrid supply

of resources to factories, and/or prod-

chain strategies, where paper-based

ucts to customers.

and IT-based approaches are mixed,

allocation constraint. Another trend is the ‘uberisation’ of transportation

JUNE 2020

rarely achieve the level of efficiency

need to build on existing skills sets

required for successfully spanning

and/or recruit to plug any skills gaps.

global supply chains in the long run.

Keep in mind that out of 13 supply

Therefore, those technologies would

chain tasks, shippers did not think a

need to be adapted swiftly. Here, it

single one should be 100% human or

requires bold decisions, rather than

100% technology — both were con-

cautious tactics. However, acting

sistently the most frequent choices.

alone through one’s own ecosystem

Even those predominantly human or

also might not be suitable – therefore,

technology tasks should have some

allocating partners and orchestrating

blend of both. Once strategy creation

them in a concerted effort is key.

and execution is underway, remember

Jaap Bruining: It’s also important to know what the aims are, how tech-

to stay informed on industry trends and new technology.

67

nology will help meet them and how

priorities with those of the business and

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE DEVELOPED IN RELATION TO DIGITALISATION?

executive leadership. Secure IT’s input

Dr. Frank Himpel: Talking about

to the strategy. It’s also essential to

technology and advancements in

you will measure the impact it has.

Start a steering committee and align

involve human resources as you may

“ Innovations in technology continue to advance capabilities in business planning, measurement, operations and more”

Jaap Bruining

— Jaap Bruining, Head of Coyote Europe, Coyote Logistics w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y

68

digitalisation falls short of mentioning

business, and even the advent of

that logistics and supply chain man-

Supply Chain 4.0 will not completely

agement is a people-intensive

get rid of human resources in our

business. Even more so, people in

supply chain networks. However,

logistics and transportation have

as facets of efficiency of increased

a wide variety of educational back-

digitalisation capability are likely to

grounds, with regards to specialisation

(partially) diminish the role of human

and maturity. Logistics is a people’s

beings in these networks, alternate

JUNE 2020

69

jobs need to be allocated for these

measurement, operations and more.

individuals. So, rather than wishing

Advanced AI solutions, better freight

for even more roboterised production

market forecasting tools, technology

and logistics systems, I would suggest

to streamline supply chain and block-

to not forget the human dimension.

chain as a viable operating system

Jaap Bruining: Innovations in

were at the top of the supply chain

technology continue to advance

wish list for shippers, Coyote Logistics’

capabilities in business planning,

research revealed last year. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

C I T Y F O C U S | VA N C O U V E R

70

City Focus

VANCO

JUNE 2020

The home of Botox, Greenpeace and California roll sushi, Vancouver is a city full of surprises.

In this article, Business Chief explores what drives the economy of this unique location WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING

71

OUVER w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

C I T Y F O C U S | VA N C O U V E R

I

t has been estimated that, prior to European settlement, Canadian Aboriginal peoples occupied the area now known

as Vancouver for close to 10,000 years.

Following its exploration by Spanish naval officer José María Narváez in 1791, it was later toured by George Vancouver in 1792, after whom the city was eventually named.

Despite being founded in the late 18th century, Vancouver was finally incorporated in 1886. Growing from roughly 1,000 people to 100,000 by 1911, the city has continued to 72

grow ever since, and over 2.5 million citizens now call the Greater Vancouver area their home. The place of origin for Botox treatments, Greenpeace and California roll sushi, Vancouver’s history is written by the creativity and success of its people — Ryan Reynolds, Seth Rogan and Michael Bublé were born and raised there, amongst many others.

ECONOMY Formerly reliant on resources (oil, gas, gold, etc) and shipping, Vancouver’s economy has successfully transitioned to include technology, media, tourism, finance, aviation and myriad service-based companies. The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and third-largest in North America by volume JUNE 2020

© Greenpeace

73 shipped per annum, whilst its cruise ship terminal ranks fourth-largest in the world. The total GDP of the city is US$136bn, with a GDP per capita of $39,914. Vancouver, particularly the West, contains some of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the country: the average income per household ranges from CA$63,000 to $120,000, which could be accounted for by the abundance of movie stars and high-ranking executives who take up residence in the area. Vancouver has been dubbed as the ‘Hollywood in the North’ for its flourishing film industry. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

C I T Y F O C U S | VA N C O U V E R

74

“Vancouver’s history is written by the creativity and success of its people”

HOOTSUITE Founded by internet entrepreneur Ryan Holmes in 2008, Hootsuite is a social media management platform that has transformed from an SME to a Fortune 500 company. Currently serving over 18 million customers, the company utilises its renowned expertise with the platform to build strong relationships, explore data that could contain potential transformative consumer insights and integrate the customer experience. Companies that trust Hootsuite to deliver them a nextlevel social media presence include

JUNE 2020

75

10 Years of Hootsuite CLICK TO WATCH

|

2:11

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C I T Y F O C U S | VA N C O U V E R

TELUS: 20 Years of Good CLICK TO WATCH

|

0:31

76

Domino’s Pizza, General Electric and the British Museum.

It is estimated that 50% of the world (3.8 billion people) are now active social media users. Therefore, it’s likely that the services of Hootsuite will only continue to increase in demand.

However, far from resting on its laurels, the company is constantly looking for innovative new ways of operating, such as its recent integration with Oracle Eloqua. “We’ve been using Oracle Eloqua for several years — having our social media efforts JUNE 2020

The Port of Vancouver

tied into our lead generation process through Hootsuite’s integration is going to provide a huge benefit of seeing customer and prospect brand engagement across our social channels,” said Neil Tolbert, Director of Marketing Communications, in a press release.

THE PORT OF VANCOUVER Handling over 147 million metric tonnes of cargo per annum (worth CA$240bn), the Port of Vancouver requires over 115,300 staff to operate and contributes $11.9bn to Canada’s

“Vancouver has been dubbed the ‘Hollywood in the North’ for its flourishing film industry”

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77

C I T Y F O C U S | VA N C O U V E R

Over 2.5 million citizens now call the Greater Vancouver area their home

Average income per household ranges from CA$63,000 to $120,000

78

The city’s GDP is US$136bn, with a GDP per capita of $39,914

JUNE 2020

79

Handling over 147 million metric tonnes of cargo per annum (worth CA$240bn), the Port of Vancouver requires over 115,300 staff to operate and contributes $11.9bn to Canada’s GDP

w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

C I T Y F O C U S | VA N C O U V E R

2.5mn

Population of Vancouver, Canada

1886

Year founded

transported in conventional containers and bulk cargo. Not just focused on delivering a diverse, high-quality and reliable service, the organisation is also active in philanthropic and CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives.

Organisations recently sponsored by the port include Harvest Project, Mission Possible and the Reach Child and Youth Development Society.

Nearest Major Airport 80

13km

Vancouver International Airport

TELUS One of the premier telecoms companies in Canada, Telus has built a reputation for providing consistently fast internet speeds and well-managed overall customer experience.

GDP. The port was established by the

Set up in 1990 by the government of

Government of Canada in 2008 to con-

Alberta, Edmonton, the company later

solidate three separate port authorities:

merged with BCTel in 1999 and relo-

the Port of Vancouver, the Fraser River

cated its operations to Vancouver. Telus

Port Authority and the North Fraser

is constantly seeking to improve its

Port Authority. Covering a coastline area

services and provides regular updates

of 350km, the facility features 27 marine

on its progress. New milestones so far

terminals and three ‘Class 1’ railroads, as

in 2020 include reaching 75 Mbps 4G

well as a variety of services for the ship-

download speeds, introducing wire-

ping community.

less services to all British Columbia

The port covers five primary sectors:

communities with more than 1,000

cars, containers, cruise ships, pro-

residents and bringing internet to the

ject/breakbulk cargo that cannot be

Dunsmuir SkyTrain line.

JUNE 2020

City of Vancouver: Awards of Excellence 2020 CLICK TO WATCH

|

0:22

81 Telus is currently seeking to expand its operations by raising $1.3bn in funds through a public stock offering on the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange).

sources of fuel will shape the future of energy.

For those planning on sticking around until mid-summer, the 43rd Annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival will be

WHEN IN VANCOUVER, YOU MUST SEE…

held at Jericho Beach Park between

The city will play host to the

17 and 19 July. A cornerstone of local

Canada Gas & LNG Exhibition and

culture, celebrating the best in contem-

Conference between 12 and 14 May.

porary and traditional folk music and art,

Featuring more than 200 booths,

the 40,000 expected attendees will be

seminars and conferences bringing

treated to 40 acts from all over the world.

together over 500 industry experts, the event is sure to be informative and instructive for those searching to find out how these two essential w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

T O P 10

82

JUNE 2020

Busiest airports in North America Business Chief counts down the top 10 busiest airports in North America based on recorded passenger numbers in 2018 WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING

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83

T O P 10

10

84

Toronto Pearson International ONTARIO, CANADA [49,849,520]

Operating five runways, two passenger terminals and numerous cargo and maintenance facilities, Toronto Pearson IA is the busiest airport in Canada and one of the busiest in the world. Named after Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, the airport operates 75 different airlines and serves 180 destinations.

In addition to its regular passenger terminals, Pearson IA also has a VIP terminal for handling privately chartered aircraft and features a 24/7 concierge service, a private customs and immigration section, dining facilities and exclusive ground transportation.

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Seattle–Tacoma International SEATTLE-TACOMA, USA [49,849,520]

Also known as Sea-Tac IA due to its near-central location between the cities of Seattle and Tacoma, the airport has become known as one of the fastest-growing in America. Covering an area of 3.9 square miles, it is significantly more busy for a facility its size in comparison to other airports in the country. Serving routes to North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the most popular destinations for passengers include Los Angeles, Anchorage, Vancouver and Seoul–Incheon. Featuring only one terminal, the airport has 80 gates, four concourses and two satellite buildings. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

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McCarran International Airport LAS VEGAS, USA [49,863,090]

Situated just five miles south of ‘fabulous Las Vegas’, McCarran IA has its origins from an airfield built by the US Army in 1942.

Following the end of World War Two, the site’s military application was discontinued and passenger flights began operating instead.

Named after Senator Pat McCarran, a prominent politician who did much to promote aviation across the US, the airport features two passenger terminals. Some of the more popular airlines favoured by passengers include WestJet, Air Canada Rouge and British Airways. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

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07 San Francisco International (SFO) SAN FRANCISCO, USA [57,738,840]

With a dedicated mission of providing exceptional levels of service to the almost 58million passengers who fly with it annually, San Francisco IA ensures that its facilities are equipped to make customers feel at ease. The airport is engaged with environmental and social sustainability projects to ensure its vision of quality extends to the wider community.

Aiming to be eco-conscious at all times, SFO has been constructed and maintained to minimising the airport’s impact on the environment. This includes the protection of water supplies, natural habitats, air quality and reducing carbon emissions.

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John F. Kennedy International NEW YORK CITY, USA [61,623,756]

Originally named New York International Airport upon opening in 1948 (commonly known as Idlewild Airport), it was subsequently renamed to commemorate the memory of the late President.

JFK IA operates more than 90 airlines and operates both direct and stopover flights to nearly 200 destinations on five continents.

Among the busiest international routes are London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Mexico City. A major hub for air-freighted cargo, it is estimated that 21% of US cargo by value passes through the airport each year. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

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Denver International DENVER, USA [64,494,613]

The fifth-busiest airport in the US and 20th-busiest in the world overall, Denver IA (DEN) is one of the most important hubs in the global aviation market. Generating US$33.5bn in revenue for the Colorado area, it is a vital asset to the state. Currently the largest airport in the US if measured by land area (52.4 square miles), DEN also features a 3.03-mile long runway (16R/34L) which is the seventh-longest in the world. The scale of the airport doesn’t stop there: with approximately 35,000 employees keeping it in operation, it is also the single-largest provider of employment to the state of Colorado. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

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04 Dallas/Fort Worth International DALLAS-FORT WORTH, USA [69,112,607]

Dallas/Fort Worth IA (DFW) services 260 destinations – 67 international and 193 domestic – and is the second-largest airline hub in the US after our No.1 entry on this list. Featuring an impressive five passenger terminals (A to F) and 182 gates, the airport was actually constructed with the option for an expansion which could almost triple its number of terminals to 13 and increase its gates by 43% to 260. Each terminal is designed for economy of motion – the time and distance it takes for a passenger to arrive and board their designated airplane has been streamlined to decrease DFW’s overall traffic congestion.

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O’Hare International CHICAGO, USA [83,245,472]

Beginning as a manufacturing plant for Douglas C-54 airplanes in 1944, the airport was named after the US’ first Medal of Honour recipient during the course of World War Two, Edward O’Hare. Among the first airports to be developed following the end of the war, the building’s design pioneered innovative concepts which would become commonplace in later years: concourses, highway access to the terminal, underground refuelling systems and bridges to cover and guide passengers directly into the aircraft. O’Hare IA held the distinction of being the world’s busiest airport for 35 years (1963 to 1998). w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

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02 Los Angeles International LOS ANGELES, USA [87,534,384]

The second-busiest airport in the US and the third-busiest overall, Los Angeles IA (known by its distinctive code LAX) provides a major international gateway to America and is one of the most popular destinations to fly to in the country. The design of LAX features the distinctive Google Theme Building, constructed in 1961. Made to look like a grounded flying saucer, the building contains a restaurant which provides a sweeping vista of the entire airport. A stylish relic of the space age in which it was constructed, it is a must-visit for passengers seeking a unique dining experience before their flight which feels ‘in the not too distant future’.

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Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International ATLANTA, USA [107,394,029]

Calling itself “the busiest and most efficient airport in the world”, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta IA (ATL) is both vital to the state of Georgia, which it contributes US$34.8bn to each year, but also to the US itself. Offering scheduled flights to 220 destinations (70 international and 150 domestic) and forming the largest airline hub in the country, ATL features 300 commercial venues in its deluxe concessions programme. The airport has a multitude of dining, entertainment and shopping opportunities for passengers who have the pleasure of travelling through. w w w.busi ne ssc hief. com

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JUNE 2020

THE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD’S CYBERSECURITY RESPONSE WRITTEN BY

JOHN O’HANLON PRODUCED BY

MIKE SADR

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A R M Y N AT I O N A L G U A R D

TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE LEARNS FROM LT COL WOODY GROTON, CIO OF THE NH ARMY NATIONAL GUARD, ABOUT INTERSTATE COLLABORATION AND THE ANNUAL CYBER YANKEE EXERCISE

I

t hardly needs to be said that human conflict has over the last couple of decades shifted from military confrontation

of the kind seen in the wars of the last century to 102

more complex and subtle platforms. Nations still spend significant proportions of GDP on defence hardware, but have woken up in the present century to the fact that more can be done to destabilise, weaken, threaten or confuse other nations or groups of nations by targeting the core systems and communications everyone relies on today.

In the United States, the Army National Guard is, with the Regular army and the Reserves, a key branch of the armed services, with 337,000 personnel on call nationally. Community-based, units report to the governor of their respective states unless called to protect US domestic or national interests at times of conflict or natural disaster.

“Always ready, always there.” The Guard has, like the rest of the U.S. military (not to mention business and the rest of society), had to evolve rapidly into JUNE 2020

“ CYBER SECURITY IS INTEGRATED INTO EVERYTHING WE DO” Lt Col Woody Groton, CIO, NH National Guard

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Lt Col Woody Groton with Senator Maggie Hassan

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A R M Y N AT I O N A L G U A R D

“ WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH THE ELECTRICAL POWER AND WATER INDUSTRIES” Lt Col Woody Groton, CIO, NH National Guard

the digital era, and one of its key tasks today is to always be ready to foresee and defend against threats to the nation that come from cyberspace.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a natural disaster, has given rise to uncertainties that could be exploited by an attacker, whether motivated by criminal or political goals. For example, imagine that a hospital system might be targeted at this time, muses Lt Col Woody Groton, Chief Information Officer of the New Hampshire Army National

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Guard. As a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Groton leads a team of IT professionals responsible for the Guard’s network and ensures its readiness to counter any threat. “Cyber security is integrated into everything we do. With IoT permeating everything, almost any activity you care to name could potentially be disrupted, so network modernisation is one of the top U.S. Army priorities currently.”

The Army’s cloud strategy isn’t too different from that of any large business or organisation, partnering with names like Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, JUNE 2020

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Lieutenant Colonel Woody Groton Title: CIO / Cyber Officer Location: Sunapee, New Hampshire Lieutenant Colonel Woody Groton has served in the United States Army for over 20 years. He is an Army Cyber Officer currently assigned as the Chief Information Officer for the New Hampshire Army National Guard as well as the commander of the 195th Regiment, Regional Training Institute. He also serves as the Chair of the New Hampshire Information Technology Council.

LTC Groton has a Master’s of Science in Information Assurance/ Cybersecurity from Regis University, a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science from Loyola University Maryland. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and Certified Information Systems Auditor.

LTC Groton is the current Exercise Director for Cyber Yankee, which in 2020 is part of the FEMA National Exercise Program. He is considered an expert at whole of government response to cyber-attack against critical infrastructure and state/local government.

His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal for Valor, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Ranger Tab, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault badge, and the Joint Staff Identification Badge.

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Army National Guard: Gain a Cyber Career CLICK TO WATCH

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AWS and others. “The networking infrastructure we use is all the same.

Our logistics system or our new integrated personnel and pay system for example are semi-custom implementations of best-in-breed systems from the likes of SAP, PeopleSoft or Microsoft.” The recently concluded Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract awarded to Microsoft in 2019, against hot competition from

“ FOR SOME OF THE SMALLER UTILITIES, PARTICIPATING IN CYBER YANKEE IS A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY THAT LINKS THEM WITH LARGER PLAYERS AND HELPS THEM PROTECT ALL OF THEIR CUSTOMERS”

AWS, is a huge step toward placing cloud-enabled technologies like AI at the service of the Department of

Lt Col Woody Groton, CIO, NH National Guard w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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Defense (DoD). “The one part we keep

“ THE RELATIONSHIPS WE HAVE BUILT HERE IN NH ARE REALLY IMPORTANT. WE HAVE MUTUAL TRUST AND REAL FRIENDSHIP”

firmly in-house is in the cryptology piece, and for our classified networks of course we work with the National Security Agency.”

From its inception in 2015, Groton has been a key leader in the annual Cyber Yankee Exercise across the six New England states. This, he explains, is an initiative which coordinates the National Guard’s cybersecurity

Lt Col Woody Groton, CIO, NH National Guard

response team (its ‘Blue Team’) with entities outside of the DoD from national agencies like DHS, FBI,

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109

FEMA and U.S. Cyber Command to a

of the participants don’t have the

broad range of local and regional gov-

resources to put together a cybersecu-

ernment, law enforcement, academic

rity exercise with over 300 participants,

and commercial bodies as well as

a virtual network range and a live

private companies. “As an example, in

opposing force. That includes some

2019 the U.S. Army account manager

of the smaller utilities; for them, par-

for Tenable reached out to us and

ticipating in Cyber Yankee is a learning

became a very valuable participant in

opportunity that links them with larger

the exercise, offering additional cyber-

players and helps them protect all of

security tools. Likewise, we’ve worked

their customers.”

closely with Cisco Systems among

A simulated but realistic threat is

other major players over the years.”

put forward, and these partners are

The Guard works with regional utilities from critical infrastructure. “A lot

invited to test their ability to respond effectively. “We work very closely with w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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“ W HEN WE HAVE A PROBLEM WE SOLICIT SOLUTIONS FROM THE TEAM RATHER THAN DIRECTING THEM IN ANY PARTICULAR WAY!” Lt Col Woody Groton, CIO, NH National Guard

applies right across the region. For example, the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority utility has been an important partner over the years, inviting guardsmen in to review its operational technology systems, since a cyber incident at any utility could be crippling for the entire community.”

For now, COVID is keeping people at home but Cyber Yankee needs to go ahead as soon as it is safe to do so, to give new soldiers and airmen coming

the electrical power and water indus-

into the services the cybersecurity

tries,” he says. “Engineers from these

training they need and to cement

utilities participate in the exercise to

third party relationships for the future,

see how ready critical infrastructure

Groton believes. “But you can be

is to face any attack.” So, training is a

assured we are in a state of heightened

clear goal of Cyber Yankee. However,

awareness and preparedness, at times

Gorton is keen to stress the benefits

like this pandemic crisis, to meet any

of deepening relationships between

attempts to take advantage of the dis-

all interested parties at a regional level,

traction it provides.”

and this has been brought into sharp

The National Guard has some

focus by the current COVID-19 crisis, in

amazing talent within its network,

response to which the entire exercise

he emphasises, with some of the

has been put on hold until July 2020.

smartest and most experienced

“The relationships we have built here in

penetration testing, cyber intelligence

NH, for example with the State CIO or

and encryption professionals. Groton

the Chief Information Security Officer

is passionate about his team, and

(CISO) are really important. We have

for a career soldier he is refreshingly

mutual trust and real friendship. That

democratic in his approach. “Rank is w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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not really relevant, because we have extremely capable IT professionals here, whose entire focus is technology.

When we have a problem we solicit solutions from the team rather than directing them in any particular way!”

You might think the army was not the natural home for a geek, he jokes, but in the best sense of that word the Guard attracts people who relish the most intractable problems, and will work all hours till they are solved.

So compelling is the need to guard the whole of society against disruption, that the U.S. Army Cyber Command, formed in 2009, is now changing its name to the Army Information Warfare Command. The level of threat from malicious actors, whether state proxies, criminals or financial opportunists will continue to increase exponentially, Woody Groton predicts, making it vital that the National Guard always keeps several steps ahead of them.

The DoD and the NHNG does not endorse (expressly or by implication) any Non-Federal Entities referenced in this article.

The views presented are those of the author or LTC Groton and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components. w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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MIRCOM GROUP’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF REAL ESTATE WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH

JUNE 2020

PRODUCED BY

ARRON RAMPLING

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MIRCOM

JASON FALBO, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, MIRCOM GROUP, DISCUSSES HOW THE COMPANY USES TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE BUILDINGS SMART FOR THE BENEFIT OF TENANTS AND OCCUPANTS

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e work hard every day to modernize the real estate industry, which from a technology standpoint hasn’t changed as much

as other industries in the last 50 to 100 years,” says Jason Falbo, Chief Technology Officer at Mircom Group, a Canadian leader in the smart building space. “Our goal is to make buildings safer, smarter, and more livable.”

Tracing its origins back to the 1960s with founder Tony Falbo’s involvement in predecessor company Mirtone, today Mircom remains a family business that nevertheless competes with the largest corporations. “We’ve seen great consolidation amongst the competitors in the market and we now find ourselves one of only a handful of global players in the fire and life-safety industry. Our competitors are behemoth companies, all multi-billion-dollar, multinational firms. Fire is a very small part of their business, whereas, it’s our primary focus and the biggest part of what we do on a daily basis.”

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MIRCOM

Mircom offers a broad range of products and solutions for the modern smart building. From a long-established core of fire detection sensors and alarms, to security solutions such as perimeter protection, intercoms and access control, the company rounds out its offering with building automation products covering heating, ventilation and cooling, lighting and power metering.

Since 2010, it has also offered its flagship OpenGN building intelligence product, based on a prediction 118

that building control systems were only going to become more integrated in the future. “We developed award-winning 3D facility management software called OpenGN, which ties

“ W E SEE OURSELVES of hardwired or wireless building sensors in a way that’s simply beautiful and easy AS THE DIGITAL to navigate,” says Falbo. “It’s a software CONSULTANT FOR THE package that is scalable for the modern smart building and supports both PEOPLE PUTTING UP Mircom and third-party products through interfaces and open standards such as BUILDINGS TODAY” together the monitoring and visualization

Modbus. Recently, we’ve been prototyping the next generation OpenGN, which

will be cloud hosted and available as a subscription software offering” JUNE 2020

— Jason Falbo, Chief Technology Officer, Mircom Group

That level of flexibility is important when considering the different vintages of technology employed by its customers, as Falbo explains. “It’s very important for us to maintain legacy wiring and communication options for many of our products, in addition to offering IP and POE solutions, because we understand not all of our users are cloud ready today. Although it’s becoming increasingly popular, we have to be able to migrate along timelines that are comfortable for them.” Nevertheless, Mircom’s cloud offering is robust and comprehensive, from mobile apps to a

Mircom: Corporate Video CLICK TO WATCH

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MIRCOM

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service known as the Unified Building

connected service bus that pulls data

Solution (UBS). “We partner with sev-

from different edge devices covering

eral companies to deliver this service

the domains of fire, security and auto-

to our end users in the real estate and

mation within buildings and campuses.

property management market,” says

The previously siloed system data is

Falbo. “Microsoft, Dell, and Arrow

then pushed to tools like OpenGN for

Electronics are all considered key part-

enterprise monitoring manifested as

ners and they’re helping us to deliver

visually stunning dashboards.”

on our smart buildings as a service

Data is the lifeblood of smart

model. We’ve modified, enhanced

buildings, with the data produced

or adapted existing products and

by sensors being fed back into the

solutions that we’ve been offering for

building to drive efficiencies and

almost 30 years now. We’ve developed

optimization. Consequently, the data

an enterprise solution that uses a

Mircom collects runs across all the

JUNE 2020

areas its products cover. “We collect environmental data, especially on the fire and life-safety side, looking for things like smoke, heat and gas levels that might create a hazardous issue for building occupants. On the security side, we’re collecting data that tells us who is in the building, where access has been granted or denied, who let the visitors in, at what time, which doors are open, which doors are locked, whether there’s an intrusion alarm going off in the building. Then there’s general building performance

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Jason Falbo Title: Chief Technology Officer Company: Mircom Group of Companies Industry: Electronic Manufacturing

Location: Canada

Jason is the Chief Technology Officer at Mircom, Canada’s most successful intelligent building solutions provider. Jason is a software engineering graduate from Western University in Ontario, Canada, and has obtained his MBA at a joint program offered by “Bocconi University” in Milan, Italy and “UCLA” in Los Angeles, USA. Jason has led the design and development of multiple successful products in the domains of fire, security, and automation. Mircom designs, manufactures and distributes smart building products to over 100 countries around the world in addition to a branch network for sales and service across North America. w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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“ EMPLOYEES SHOULD NOT BE LEFT ALONE TO DEAL WITH THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION” — Jason Falbo, Chief Technology Officer, Mircom Group

data. Things like the temperature of different zones, the humidity levels, power consumption, light levels. All of those pieces of information can be used to optimize building comfort for the occupants and to keep the operating costs down for the management companies.”

Gathering this data typically involves a hybrid cloud architecture wherein edge devices act as gateways, promoting data to the cloud for monitoring systems.

Securing that data, meanwhile, are bestin-class Microsoft cloud services, with all data written to Azure Storage being encrypted and access tightly controlled.

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MIRCOM

With such a volume of data, there are many opportunities to use AI to gain insights into a building’s performance. “AI plays a really important role for our end users,” says Falbo. “The building data that we collect allows operators to lower the total cost of ownership of their properties. AI can support the implementation of energy strategies based on consumption data, with predictive analytics to tell you, for instance, the best time to turn off the lights automatically.”

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Aside from the technology it offers to customers, Mircom has experienced its own digital transformation, with cloud-based technology at the core of its systems. “We have a number of servers that were previously deployed on-prem that are now moved entirely to the cloud. Things like an active directory for our account credentials management, our email server, which is now completely on the Office365 platform, a corporate intranet site for data storage and sharing. We use SharePoint as well, which is also hosted on the cloud. Then we also have several areas where we’ve leveraged cloud, not necessarily for primary JUNE 2020

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“ OUR GOAL IS TO MAKE BUILDINGS SAFER, SMARTER, AND MORE LIVABLE” — Jason Falbo, Chief Technology Officer, Mircom Group

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MIRCOM

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application delivery, but for either scalability or backup purposes.” Alongside the introduction of new technology, Falbo emphasizes the intertwined consideration of culture. “Our opinion is that employees should not be left alone to deal with the challenges of digital transformation. Executive leadership should be involved from the CEO’s office to the front line. Digital transformation is more of a business strategy than an IT strategy these days.

As a smaller player in the industry, we recognize the need to be nimble and JUNE 2020

1991

Year founded

$100mn+ Revenue in US dollars

500+ Number of employees

127

quick to help our people adapt to new

considerations you should have, not

business models and tools. That’s one

only for providing application specific

of our advantages we have versus our

solutions, but also ensuring those

bigger, more bureaucratic competition.”

solutions form a cohesive, integrated

Due to such an approach, Mircom has positioned itself as a go-to part-

environment for the needs of your occupants and tenants.”

ner for the real estate industry. “We see ourselves as the digital consultant for people putting up buildings today,” says Falbo. “If you’re looking for financial advice, you find a financial advisor. If you’re looking for building advice, we’re the people that you can count on to guide you through the w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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Digital transformation grounded in client objectives WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING

PRODUCED BY

MIKE SADR

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

BROADSPIRE

Joel Raedeke, Senior Vice President at Broadspire, expands on the company’s digital transformation via technology and culture shift

A

s part of Crawford & Company, the world’s largest independent claims management company with over 700 offices spread

around 70 countries, Broadspire provides customised, integrated claims solutions to clients across the globe. Broadspire has garnered an outstanding 130

reputation for its handling of worker compensation, auto and general liability claims admin, medical management, and absence and care management through Crawford’s mission to enhance lives, businesses and communities while helping to increase productivity and reduce costs for clients. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, but with an interconnected reach which extends to 85 locations throughout the US and Europe, the company employs best-in-class leadership techniques and technology to deliver consistently high-quality results and white-glove service to its clients.

Joel Raedeke, Senior Vice President of Analytics and Technology, entered the industry in 2001 and joined Broadspire as a manager in 2004. He quickly immersed himself in the technology which makes the claims sector tick. Choosing to report JUNE 2020

1941

Year founded

$1.07bn Revenue in US dollars

9,000 Number of employees

*Facts relate to Crawford & Company (Broadspire's parent company)

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BROADSPIRE

“ One of the strategies that I’ve used is to (imaginatively) step outside of the company to look at a problem from another perspective.

I think ‘what would a fintech company do?’ ‘What would a tech-first company do to solve this problem?’”

132

— Joel Raedeke, SVP, Broadspire

JUNE 2020

up through the Chief Client Officer rather than the head of IT has been a formative aspect of Raedeke’s career.

This has shaped his conviction that technology has to be focused on the clients’ objectives, rather than being siloed within the organisation. After a five-year period (2007-2012) as VP for Strategic Outcomes with ESIS, Raedeke returned to Broadspire as SVP of Analytics before rising to his current position in early 2019.

Raedeke’s client-focused background is foundational to his approach

COVID-19: Don’t get lost in the data CLICK TO WATCH

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133 for shaping technology’s evolution.

the myriad decision nodes that occur

He captures the essence of his strategy

throughout the workflows.

in three principles: 1) all engineering

Critical to the engineering of tech-

is grounded in client objectives; 2) a

nology centered around the needs of

primary goal of the executive should be

the client, Raedeke states, is providing

to create an environment that empow-

a unified ecosystem for each client.

ers line-level employees to identify

“A company like Crawford has a wealth

and solve problems in order to achieve

of capabilities around the globe, so

high-level client objectives; and

establishing a unified experience for

3) In order to effectively integrate

our clients is critical. Our clients’ objec-

technology such as AI or straight-

tives can be expressed in a number of

through processing, in domains such

ways: take care of my people, reduce

as claims handling it is critical to

my total cost of risk, execute the

first model the claim process with its

process my way, and so on. Our eco-

macro and micro workflows, as well as

system gives our clients a unified way c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

BROADSPIRE

134

to experience the evolution of our tech-

things,” Raedeke explains. While the

nology to achieve continual success

engineering teams were previously

in meeting their objectives,” he says.

project-based, most engineering is

While successful technology

now squad-based and far more ver-

transformation starts with the client

satile. “Each of those squads is made

objectives, fostering an engineering

up of developers, user experience

culture that can pursue those objec-

designers, subject matter experts and

tives is equally important. Establishing

business analysts.” Empowering its

the best culture possible has taken a

workers to be highly agile and inde-

complex, multi-dimensional execution,

pendent means that the company’s

but one which has ultimately enabled

squads can utilise their first-hand

a diverse spread of knowledge to

knowledge to target better perfor-

make Broadspire highly effective.

mance through self-selected KPIs

“There’s been a shift in how we do

(key performance indicators).

JUNE 2020

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Joel Raedeke Title: SVP Analytics and Technology Location: Chicago, Illinois USA Joel Raedeke is responsible for overseeing the strategy and execution of consultative analytics, data science and technology for Broadspire US. Joel has nearly two decades of industry experience related to RMIS, data science, IT and business consulting all in support of establishing and strengthening client partnerships. He began his career in the insurance industry in 2001 as a RMIS Analyst at RSKCo CNA. When RSKCo was sold to Broadspire, Joel became a manager of custom reporting, analytic technology and data conversions. In 2008 he took a VP of Analytics position with a major US-based third party administrator. In 2012, Joel rejoined Broadspire and became a Senior Vice President charged with building teams and technology to support Broadspire’s objective to drive continual programme improvement for each of its clients. In 2016, Joel was put in charge of all client facing technology for Broadspire. In 2019, in addition to Broadspire’s consultative analytic practice, data science and client facing technology, Joel was asked to oversee all technology for Broadspire US. Joel holds a Bachelor’s of Science from the Wheaton College.

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

135

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1:16

137

“I communicate to them what our

predictive models and AI by attempting

strategic objectives are,” Raedeke con-

to change the nature of the work of

tinues, “but then I allow them to select

the end-user, but an adjuster shouldn’t

opportunities within that and then align

need to become a data analyst in

the KPIs they’ve selected with client

order to engage with benefits of data

objectives.” This front-line ownership

science. In my view, AI should be hap-

allows for the discovery and evolution

pening somewhat behind the scenes,

of features that are immediately

or at least in a way that’s curated. Our

relevant to the client and end-user.

teams have discovered how to optimise

An example of insight uncovered by

the decisions in the claim process with-

the squad-based approach relates to

out requiring the end-user to become

the incorporation of predictive scores

a data analyst him or herself.”

within the claim process. Raedeke says, “Some organisations incorporate

It’s an approach which truly highlights the emphasis that Broadspire c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

BROADSPIRE

138

“ In my view, AI should be happening somewhat behind the scenes, or at least in a way that’s curated” — Joel Raedeke, SVP, Broadspire

JUNE 2020

places on innovation and its importance. The company’s rapid R&D (research and development) capabilities are essential to driving stakeholder value. The flexibility and innovative mindset that this requires are reminiscent of a startup’s approach and Raedeke states that this is intentional.

“One of the strategies that I’ve used is to (imaginatively) step outside of the company to look at a problem from another perspective. I think ‘what would a fintech company do?’ ‘What would a tech-first company do to solve this problem?’.”

While establishing the right objectives for technology and the right culture for innovation is critical, it is also foundational to have a unified map of the domains for the core business. “If we are trying to optimise a process — let’s take the Workers Comp claim process, for example — it can be helpful to understand it as a macro workflow,” Raedeke says.

“Obviously it starts when the claim is filed, ends when the claim is closed and has many steps in between those points. The process gets really interesting when you discover and map c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

139

BROADSPIRE

140

the micro workflows within the larger

this kind of mapping has been done, at

claim process, each of which have their

least in part, we can understand where

own beginning, middle and end, some

to integrate automation such as AI, ML

of which are controlled by the adjustor,

and predictive modeling.”

some by the nurse, team leads, client

This complex network can make

and so on. Going deeper, it is critical

mapping out and measuring improve-

to map out the various decision nodes

ment very difficult, but Raedeke

within and at the edges of workflows,

highlights that the scalability benefit of

some of which involve a single owner

developing a solution from the ground

and others which require collabora-

up will pay dividends in the long run.

tion between multiple parties. Once

“If you start by doing foundational work

JUNE 2020

“ If you can create an atmosphere where innovation is occurring naturally, my main job then is to cultivate a healthy, well-resourced environment where it can flourish” — Joel Raedeke, SVP, Broadspire

141

first, such as entity modelling and really

innovation is occurring naturally, my

mapping out a domain, this is where

main job then is to cultivate a healthy,

concepts such as micro workflows and

well-resourced environment where it

decision nodes become very helpful.”

can flourish. This is how technology

This leads back to Broadspire’s

can contribute to client success.”

teams being able to set their own KPIs centred on client objectives and allow their organic capacity for innovation to shine through. It is this, Raedeke says, which forms his core focus. “If you can create an atmosphere where c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

142

NY’s biggest healthcare provider’s data-driven transformation WRITTEN BY

LEILA HAWKINS PRODUCED BY

MIKE SADR

JUNE 2020

143

w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

N O R T H W E L L H E A LT H

Northwell Health’s Chris Hutchins on how data and analytics are transforming healthcare

“T

echnology has enabled us to accomplish a lot more than we’d imagined,” says Chris Hutchins, VP, Chief Data and

Analytics Officer for New York State’s Northwell Health, discussing how the healthcare provider has adapted its operations to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We basically flipped the switch one day, and most 144

of our workforce who are not involved with direct patient care started working remotely. I can only imagine that the load on the system was massive, but we didn’t experience a lot of disruption. It’s been remarkable,” he adds. “Our entire executive team has taken extraordinary measures to prepare the health system for many scenarios that involve disruption to health system operations.”

Northwell is the largest healthcare provider in the state with more than 72,000 employees.

Founded in 1997, it has 23 hospitals, nearly 800 outpatient facilities, medical and nursing schools, as well as the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, which alone has 50 research labs. “It’s the most truly integrated delivery network that I’ve ever seen,” Hutchins elaborates.

JUNE 2020

145

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N O R T H W E L L H E A LT H

“ Technology has enabled us to accomplish a lot more than we’d imagined” Chris Hutchins, VP, Chief Data and Analytics Officer for New York State’s Northwell Health

being deployed in inpatient units that enable communication, entertainment, food service options and much more.

Its use, says Hutchins, is “about providing the patients with some of the comforts of home”.

For some time, healthcare has been shifting to a preventive model, with the aim of reducing the need for hospitalisations. “Thanks to technology and advances in medicine there are more and more services that

Presently, a key focus for Northwell 148

can be done in outpatient settings

is understanding the entire health

or in same-day surgery facilities so

system from the patient experience

that patients don’t require long-term

perspective. Indeed, the organisation

hospitalisation,” Hutchins affirms.

has a department dedicated to this

Telemedicine, which makes virtual

led by a Chief Experience Officer,

appointments with clinicians possible,

who, along with other members of

and chatbot technology, which helps

the executive team, examines every aspect of potential interactions with the health system from a patient perspective. They assess environment and services, noise levels, ease of access, signage, comfort and even the patient dining experience.

According to Hutchins, technology is helping Northwell to achieve a more personalised, positive patient experience. For example, smart devices are JUNE 2020

Northwell Health Fertility – State of the Art Fertility Clinic CLICK TO WATCH

|

2:03

149 to rapidly identify patient test results

isolation, which Hutchins says, has

and is integrated with the electronic

been received very well. “I have heard

medical records (EMR) have come to

a number of stories where patients

the forefront. According to Hutchins:

were having to say goodbye to their

“Northwell is really depending on

family this way, although my favour-

these types of technology, particu-

ite stories are the ones where the

larly right now, because we have to

patient recovered and was reunited

limit our interactions due to social

with loved ones. Those are the best

distancing guidelines.”

stories of course, but, sadly they’re

This has taken on greater signifi-

not all like that. But just being able to

cance due to the impact of the global

deploy innovative technologies and

COVID-19 pandemic. For exam-

solutions that we previously hadn’t in

ple, patients are being given smart

order to make that kind of difference

devices so they can communicate

for those receiving healthcare is

with their families while they’re in

really significant.” w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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Hutchins has been interested in healthcare since his early days, when his mother worked in a hospital radiology department. During vacations and on weekends he gained valuable experience, learning about managing care from the ground up. “I liked the idea of being able to help people,” he

1997

Year founded

$12.5bn Revenue in US dollars

says, “and over the years I have had amazing opportunities to get involved in new areas.”

A variety of roles followed, from working in back-end operations scheduling appointments and cod-

72,000 Number of employees

ing visits from physicians’ notes, to learning how to build databases and

was blessed with the opportunity

integrating budgeting systems, until

to join Northwell Health.

he was heading up reporting and

Over the course of his over

analytics, which led to a role as an

20-year career in healthcare he’s

IT director. His duties grew untill he

seen how data and analytics have

was responsible for building out new

increased in importance. “It’s only

facilities when practices expanded,

really been in the last decade or so

and for big enterprise analytics. This

that companies in the US have had

eventually led to a role where he was

a chief data officer,” he says. “It’s a

responsible for extending an enter-

result of recognising the important

prise data warehouse function while

role that data and analytics play,

integrating three different data ware-

in helping you to make decisions and

house environments, and helping to

in developing effective strategies

lead implementation of a new consoli-

that not only support your business,

dated EMR. A year or two into this role he

but improve and grow it.” w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

151

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“ It’s a result of recognising the important role that data and analytics play, in helping you to make decisions and to develop effective strategies that not only support your business, but improve and grow it” Chris Hutchins, VP, Chief Data and Analytics Officer for New York State’s Northwell Health

locations we’ll need vehicles, and where we’ll need to bring in assistance from the countless professionals that have come to support us in New

The value of data and analytics is

York from across the country, as well

particularly evident in the midst of the

as local and state government. All of

current crisis. Northwell’s emergency

those things are being supported with

operations centre uses analytics to mon-

data and analytics.”

itor call center volumes, occupancy rates,

Similarly, analytics is also enabling

staffing and load balancing and multiple

the company to better coordinate

other critical data points to enable coor-

care so it can provide the right level of

dination of critical activities. Hutchins

information for scheduling, for exam-

explains: “We’re monitoring where we

ple when a patient is due for various

have capacity to send the patients so

screenings, or lab testing.

that there are no surprises and sites are prepared when patients arrive.”

The company also uses analytics to make predictions such as anticipating what the demand for ICU beds, ventilators and personal protective equipment will be, along with how many staff and transportation vehicles are needed. “It helps us to see in which w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

153

N O R T H W E L L H E A LT H

154

“ We really have a unique opportunity to make significant discoveries if we can harness this data. I believe it could reveal tremendous transformational insights that can have a positive impact for future generations” Chris Hutchins, VP, Chief Data and Analytics Officer for New York State’s Northwell Health JUNE 2020

Hutchins says that one of the things

taking for them to be seen from the

that’s been most impactful is the crea-

minute they walk in. We’re understand-

tion of a registry that’s updated in near

ing what the workflow is that will predict

real time. By analysing records, includ-

where we need to increase staffing

ing data from clinical systems, billing

levels. It’s tied into our emergency

data from insurance claims, and other

operations centre, so they’re able to

information, the company is able to tell

determine where to route patients that

if a patient is due for a test, for example.

call in for emergency services.

“We’re looking at virtually every patient

“We’re also using datasets to man-

in every emergency room we have in

age emergency response vehicles,

the health system, understanding how

and understanding what’s happening in

long they’ve been there, how long it’s

the geographic locations that we serve,” 155

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Chris Hutchins Title: VP, Chief Data & Analytics Officer Industry: Healthcare

Location: New York

Chris is a senior health care leader with over 20 years’ of experience developing analytic teams, establishing data governance, data warehousing and business intelligence implementation, delivering solutions focused on patient experience, outcomes, cost, population health, quality, regulatory and risk based arrangements, revenue cycle, health system operations. He has extensive experience with organisational transformation and specialises in integrating analytic, IT and Informatics teams across organisational lines to improve solution delivery and enabling data driven insight. w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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he continues. “This means we’re able

enterprise data visualisation across

to anticipate where surges may arise,

multiple departments, including strat-

and so can move those emergency

egy, quality, operations and finance

response vehicles proactively so we

because, as Hutchins explains, it’s

can respond quickly. It’s heavily used

intuitive and easy to interact with.

in logistics, and we’ve seen that more

SAP is widely used for cost account-

so with Covid than ever before.”

ing and financial reporting; it also

Internally, Northwell has several key

uses Sutherland Healthcare Solutions

partnerships that help it manage its

for robotic process automation,

operations. Athena Health has been

primarily focused on revenue cycle

the company’s enterprise physician

areas presently.

revenue cycle tool for a number of

Allscripts provides the enterprise

years, using its billing and accounts

electronic medical records platform as

receivable management and analyt-

well as managed IT services. Northwell

ics. Tableau Software is used for

and Allscripts are teaming up to build

Clinical Laboratory of New York CLICK TO WATCH

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2:12

w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

157

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for cancer prevention and treatment.

I want to see us continue to attract the best minds for research, medical practice, Information Technology and data science.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity here in the New York City area. We have an enormous population centre that’s incredibly diverse, and has repa next-generation EHR that will incorpo-

resentation of the population across

rate input from physicians, nurses and

the globe,” he adds. “We’ve been accu-

other medical experts and relies on an

mulating data for a couple of decades

infrastructure that includes voice recog-

here that would take an unlimited sup-

nition, clinical decision support, artificial

ply of money, and a lot of time to build

intelligence and machine learning.

a similar infrastructure in other parts of

Looking ahead, Northwell continues

the world to start capturing this data.

working on a platform that they have

We really have a unique opportunity

deployed that allows patients to inter-

to make significant discoveries if we

act directly with the health system,

can harness this data. I believe it could

using the web and their smartphones

reveal tremendous transformational

to schedule appointments, search

insights that can have a positive impact

for physicians who can treat specific

for future generations.”

problems — for example by typing in simple keyworks like ‘joint pain’ — and even look for healthy food options in their area.

“I’d like to see us continue to grow and I’m sure that we will,” Hutchins says, “doing more breakthrough research and innovation, particularly w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

159

160

JUNE 2020

Knowledge, experience, commitment: Bleakley leverages

fintech WRITTEN BY

JOHN O’HANLON PRODUCED BY

SHIRIN SADR

w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

161

BLEAKLEY FINANCIAL

Bleakley Financial’s CDO Kyle Wesley discusses digital transformation in a growing asset and wealth management company

B

leakley today has a team of some 43 advisors on its team, managing more than US$6bn in client assets. In 2015, it

decided to go independent and spin out from the umbrella of Northwestern, opting to provide advisory services through LPL Financial’s hybrid RIA 162

platform for its custodial and brokerage services.

Since then, Bleakley has doubled assets under management, attracting more than 15 new advisors since the beginning of 2018 alone.

Bleakley has expanded its footprint to a dozen offices nationwide, the latest at Dayton, Ohio. The headquarters, where most of its 80-plus staff work, remains at Fairfield, NJ and the sum the firm manages is between advisory, financial planning brokerage and 401(k) retirement planning business, according to Kyle Wesley, who joined Bleakley’s leadership team early in 2016 and has been Chief Digital Officer (CDO) since May 2019.

To an organisation like Bleakley Financial, financial technology or fintech is the key to not only to the reliable and smooth running of its operations, processes and communications, but also to its JUNE 2020

163

w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

BLEAKLEY FINANCIAL

“ We eventually went to RedBlack, which we felt was by far the best fit specifically for our business” — Kyle Wesley, CDO, Bleakley Financial

ability to continue to expand. “I am responsible for all of our internal digital technology, setting up compliant practices when new offices are onboarding, making sure they understand that technology, making sure that we’re reviewing our internal technology and generally ensuring that we function day-to-day,” explains Wesley.

Before he came on board, Bleakley had committed to Morningstar’s tRx (Total Rebalance Expert) solution for household rebalancing alongside its

164

core portfolio accounting platform Orion. It was an ad hoc decision that worked well at the time, he explains, though after a while tRx showed it wasn’t flexible enough to service clients’ portfolios across the book in a tax-efficient way and update their legacy positions. Rebalancing portfolios at scale when Bleakley has more than 10,000 accounts on its books, each containing a complex mix of assets, is a hard-to-solve challenge. “This led us to look at other platforms; we eventually went to RedBlack, which we felt was by far the best fit specifically for our business.”

Bleakley needs to be flexible around JUNE 2020

Fourth Quarter 2019 Analysis & 2020 Expectations CLICK TO WATCH

|

5:41

165 its standard portfolios and also to be

and we need to segment out different

able to move tactically to take advan-

groups because one group may oper-

tage of movements in the markets,

ate a little bit differently than another.”

something that was not easy under

The need to have multiple users of

the former system. “Now when our

the system doing 100 tasks simultane-

advisors make a decision to buy a par-

ously and efficiently is what led them

ticular asset we can see at once what

to RedBlack, he says. “We can run

the sale price is, and then go back and

hundreds of accounts a minute, where

prorate other securities down to move

previously we didn’t have that ability.

fast and at scale, seamlessly across

So as we grow, it’s just become more

our entire database. As the firm contin-

and more important that we can trade

ues to grow we need that flexibility to

seamlessly right across the whole

satisfy our clients’ needs. At the same

book of business.”

time we need to be able to administer

For Kyle Wesley, Bleakley’s com-

it; our analysts do most of the trading,

mitment to its clients from corporate w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

BLEAKLEY FINANCIAL

166

executives and large institutions to

had served well, but once again, added

small business owners and retirees

flexibility was felt to be needed in the

dictates the focus of the digital trans-

CRM platform, tying in advisors and

formation he leads. Last year has been

clients with sales fluctuations and a

a busy one for him and his team. As

number of other variables. The plat-

well as onboarding new businesses

form chosen was Practifi, which now

in some numbers and concluding the

overlays Salesforce. “The move was

shift from tRx to RedBlack they have

in response to the growing number of

affected a radical upgrade in their

requests we were getting from users,”

approach to CRM. For a company

says Wesley. “We encourage staff to

whose credibility lies in the trust of its

speak up when they have an idea. We

customers, this was an operation that

couldn’t execute on a number of those

had to be carried out with sensitivity.

ideas given our current Salesforce

The functionality within Salesforce JUNE 2020

environment.” We were telling them

they could make small changes like

you’re dealing with a CRM migration,

adding a field here and there, but we

every single user in the office has

couldn’t make big changes which is

their business disrupted. As advisors

what an office our size needed.”

prepare to review for a client I need

The migration from standard

to know all the past interactions and

Salesforce to Practifi involved a true

planning notes. Now I have AUM, my

database migration as opposed to a

clients, their family members, dates

plug and play implementation, and car-

of birth, emails – everything – on a

rying this out successfully is, he says,

one page tear sheet, something we

the achievement he and the team are

couldn’t even have dreamed of in the

proudest of since it was so challeng-

old system.”

ing. “When you are making changes

And, at the same time, he’s able to

to a trading platform you are perhaps

get metrics more reliably through

affecting a quarter of the office: when

Salesforce, with neat data integrations

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Kyle Wesley Title: Chief Digital Officer Industry: Financial Services Location: New York Kyle Wesley is the Chief Digital Officer for Bleakley Financial Group. He officially joined the firm in 2016 but worked very closely with its operations team as a Senior Trader with LPL, one of Bleakley’s five custodial platforms. After joining the firm, he became an integral part in the expansion of its technology platform – from enhancing its reporting capabilities to implementing a new CRM system for its advisor teams.

Kyle’s key focus is to continue growing the digital platform of Bleakley, ensuring that the experience benefits both the advisors and its clients. w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

167

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“ When you are making changes to a trading platform you are perhaps affecting a quarter of the office: when you’re dealing with a CRM migration, every single user in the office has their business disrupted” — Kyle Wesley, CDO, Bleakley Financial

with Orion. “Orion is definitely the data hub of everything,” he explains.

“Data flows from custodians like LPL, Pershing, Schwab, TD and Fidelity into Orion where it’s reconciled and made available by 0830 Eastern Time each day. We can migrate that information to Practifi/RedBlack to display it to our advisors. This is a very robust system.”

At a guess he reckons the new systems have doubled the internal efficiency of the business. It has definitely increased the capacity of Bleakley’s analysts and client service associates to get data to the advisor quicker,

About Bleakley CLICK TO WATCH

|

4:41

w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

169

BLEAKLEY FINANCIAL

170

CO MPAN Y FACT S

Bleakley Disclaimer Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Private Advisor Group, a registered investment advisor. Private Advisor Group and Bleakley Financial Group are separate entities from LPL Financial.

JUNE 2020

“ We can run hundreds of accounts a minute, where previously we didn’t have that ability” — Kyle Wesley, CDO, Bleakley Financial

prepare for their meetings, and made them more proactive in growing their business. Within such a diverse organisation people accept change at different speeds, Wesley admits.

“Some people struggled with the CRM migration but now we’re getting feedback that it was the best decision we’ve ever made, and that they love the Practifi migration!”

Bleakley’s vision is to become the top wealth management firm in the Northeast area, doubling its size in the next four or five years. It will depend heavily on digitisation of its operations to achieve that. “We’re recruiting heavily right now,” concludes Kyle Wesley. w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

171

BLEAKLEY FINANCIAL

172

JUNE 2020

173

2015

Year founded

$6bn

Revenue under management

80

Number of employees w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

BLEAKLEY FINANCIAL

175

“ We’re trying to create a company and a culture that allows advisors to do what they’re best at”

“Unlike some of the big wirehouses, we’re trying to create a company and a culture that allows advisors to do what they’re best at and make sure we actually align with their goals. When someone asks: what does your advisor do for you? We want our clients to say, “Everything – Bleakley literally does everything for me!”

— Kyle Wesley, CDO, Bleakley Financial

w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

176

INNOVATION IN COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY

TOM VENTURO

JUNE 2020

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w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

S TA R 2 S TA R

Michelle Accardi, President and CRO, explains why Star2Star’s industry-recognised communications solutions are so popular and why remote working is the company’s 2020 focus

W

ith the new paradigm of remote working suddenly becoming a necessity for many businesses stemming from the COVID-19

(coronavirus) pandemic, having a solid communications network with the latest technology has taken on global importance. It is arguable that few companies are poised to remedy the situation quite like Star2Star.

178

Having recently enhanced its remote work solutions with extended features and capabilities, the company understands the current challenges that businesses face when transitioning to a remote environment. Star2Star’s bespoke communications solutions factor in the size, operational scope and technical requirements for businesses of various operational models and industry backgrounds.

Relatively unique in the industry, all of Star2Star’s enterprise solutions are developed in-house, meaning they are seamlessly compatible with each other and able to be scaled up or down depending on the customer’s requirement. It was this aspect of the company which attracted Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer, to join Star2Star in 2013. Having previously worked in a range of different roles at companies such as JUNE 2020

179

w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

S TA R 2 S TA R

“ I can relate to the challenges of my partners and my customers because as a business leader myself I now fully understand what they are facing”

180

This expertise also helps Accardi

— Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer, Star2Star

focus on how to direct Star2Star’s

CA Technologies, Accardi states

When the subject of her being recog-

that these experiences have created

nised by CRN as a Channel Chief – an

her holistic approach to working at

endorsement of an individual’s effec-

Star2Star. “I’ve been in all areas of

tive management and high standing

the technology and communications

in the business community – for the

business, whether that’s develop-

sixth year consecutively is mentioned,

ment, operations, marketing or sales.

Accardi is modest and states that

I can relate to the challenges of my

she is simply happy to play a part in

partners and my customers because

Star2Star’s mission. “It means a lot and

as a business leader myself I now fully

to be recognised for building a busi-

understand what they are facing.”

ness that enables other companies

JUNE 2020

efforts in developing solutions that meet and answer a market need.

Star2Star — A New Perspective CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:30

181 to be successful,” she explains. “Being

communications system. Possessing

recognised as a Channel Chief means

a portfolio that includes solutions

that you’re truly impacting a greater

for voice, video, instant messaging,

ecosystem of people and reaching

mobile, fax, collaboration, integration

more customers. So, I think it’s quite

and communications management

an honour.”

tools, Star2Star’s comprehensive

The breadth of Star2Star’s expertise and the crafted integration of

solution set is designed to meet every business need.

its platform are, for Accardi, vital. Its

When asked what trends she sees

cloud-based business phone and

as important, Accardi has a simple and

communications facilities, includ-

prescient answer: the cloud. “There

ing VoIP (voice over IP) services and

are still some companies that aren’t in

its enterprise solutions platform

the cloud and that is something which

deliver the reliability, flexibility and

will either drive transformation, or, if

integrity required of a corporate

they don’t adapt, could result in them w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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DESK PHONES

CONFERENCE

MOBILITY

S TA R 2 S TA R

184

“ It means a lot and to be recognised for building a business that enables other companies to be successful” of a ‘complete cloud communications’ — Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer, Star2Star

platform.” The importance of the cloud for Star2Star cannot be overemphasised, as it is the environment from which the company’s vision of a com-

going out of business.” She goes on

plete integrated platform sprang; it was

to address Star2Star’s new position-

by leveraging the inherent potential of

ing, saying, “We’re changing how we

the cloud that the company is able to

talk about our platform. We previ-

offer its scalable and seamlessly inter-

ously called it a full spectrum solution

woven solutions.

because it offers end-to-end applica-

For Accardi, it is the company’s in-

tions, but now I’m envisioning it as more

house development capabilities which

JUNE 2020

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Michelle Accardi Title: President and Chief Revenue Officer Industry: Telecommunications Location: Florida, United States As President and Chief Revenue Officer, Michelle’s mission is to inspire and maintain growth for the company and its partners and ensure that customers get significant value from Star2Star’s products and services. Michelle works with the executive leadership team of Star2Star to define long-term vision and operational strategy to assure that growth and market potential are achieved. In pursuit of this goal, Michelle sees as a primary function of her role to engage and listen to employees, partners, and customers to gather information needed to keep Star2Star on the optimal strategic path. In this way, customer success is assured as employees and partners are inspired to deliver an excellent product and experience with every interaction. In her previous position as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Michelle used these same methods to develop new processes and systems to streamline business interactions. She grew departmental leadership and expanded Star2Star’s support capabilities to better serve customer and partner needs. Michelle is also regarded a technical thought leader on nextgeneration marketing and communications strategies. Her book, Agile Marketing, chronicles her experiences applying agile methodology to the marketing process for better results and faster time to value. She brought her substantial executive-level and tech industry experience with her to Star2Star, having driven innovative, agile, revenue-producing field and channel marketing programs for one of the world’s most relied upon technology companies, Computer Associates. In 2016, Michelle was named to the CRN 2016 Power 100 – an elite subset of CRN’s prestigious annual Women of the Channel list – for the second year in a row. In 2015, she was named a CRN Channel Chief, an annual list representing select leaders in the IT channel who hold direct responsibility for driving growth and revenue through the reseller channel. In 2014, Michelle was honored to be named Businesswoman of the Year by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Michelle holds an MBA from American Intercontinental University and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida. w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

185

S TA R 2 S TA R

Tour de Star

186

CLICK TO WATCH

JUNE 2020

|

2:42

2006

Year founded

99.4%

Customer retention rate

250+ Number of employees

w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

187

S TA R 2 S TA R

188

“ Our mission this year is to help other companies that are going to struggle” — Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer, Star2Star

JUNE 2020

distinguish it from its competitors.

“The technology we’ve built ourselves enables really great call quality and capabilities for a good price, whereas other companies, because they’re dependent on third-party products, whether it’s video or contact centre, it drives their costs up,” she states.

“Because our competitors only have the ability to work with third-party products, they don’t have something that’s built specifically for their network

With the need for reliable communication networks growing rapidly as more workforces settle into working from home, Accardi views remote working and business continuity as paramount to the company’s vision for the rest of 2020. “Thankfully, Star2Star is a very financially healthy organisation.

Our mission this year is to help other companies that are going to struggle,” she says. Identifying the assistance of other businesses and organisations is characteristic of Accardi’s approach and representative of Star2Star overall. Its flexibility, diversity and tech expertise packaged with a highly customer-oriented approach has already earned it acclaim and is sure to to ensure call quality.” This end-to-end

build a strong reputation in the North

development forms the crux of what

American communications sector. “We

makes Star2Star so valuable in today’s

have solutions for every business, big

market: it’s a company that wants to

and small,” Accardi concludes. “We

provide great value to its customers by

believe what we offer is far better than

bundling services together and scaling

what customers could get piecemeal or

the product to suit their business needs.

even in bundles from other competitors.

And its approach seems to be working:

We’re focused on doing everything we

Star2Star has an impressive 99.4%

can to help companies as they deal with

customer retention rate amongst its

the new challenges of remote working.”

thousands of clients, a sure indicator of the perceived quality of its services. w w w. b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

189

190

Servus Credit Union: the changing landscape of cybersecurity WRITTEN BY

GEORGIA WILSON PRODUCED BY

JAKE MEGEARY

JUNE 2020

191

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

SERVUS CREDIT UNION

Jakub Mamos, Vice President of IS Risk Management at Servus Credit Union, discusses the evolution of cybersecurity and the adoption of innovative technology

J

akub Mamos has always been intrigued by both the security and technology spaces, especially where the two connect.

“I was always fascinated by computers, encryption 192

algorithms and cryptography in general, as well as the overall concept of security. I started my career working for a utility company in data security, working on systems that were still connected to mainframes. I have been very fortunate to work with very smart people within the industry, who helped me to combine technology and security in a meaningful and productive way. Over the years I have progressed from security analyst to security architect, through to private consulting, working for construction and financial companies,” says Mamos. Today, Mamos is the Vice President of IS Risk Management at Servus Credit Union, which he has been working for since 2011 with responsibilities including operating information risk management, cybersecurity, change management and disaster recovery.

JUNE 2020

193

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

SERVUS CREDIT UNION

Servus Credit Union: The Servus Origin Story CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:10

194

Servus Credit Union is a member-

good credit score, or to help financial

owned and community-based financial

businesses maintain security,” he adds.

institution which dates back to 1938.

Since joining the company nine years

“Servus Credit Union’s primary concern

ago, Mamos has seen the institution

is making sure its members are taken

go through several mergers, consoli-

care of and receive excellent financial

dating its operations in order to be as

products and services, as well as

effective and efficient as possible

committing to sustainability and giving

while maintaining its core mission

back to the community,” says Mamos.

and service to its members. “Over the

“Our vision is to ‘shape member finan-

years we have grown – when I started

cial fitness’, which can be applied in

we had just under $10bn of financial

multiple ways, be it to help people stay

assets, now we have over $16.3bn with

financially fit in terms of planning for

400,000 members, which we plan to

the future, saving and maintaining a

double in the next few years. We have

JUNE 2020

also evolved new initiatives in regards to innovative technology to provide the most value for our members.”

Within the industry, Mamos has seen cybersecurity evolve many times over the years. “When I started in the industry, the primary focuses were internal matters such as file security, email security and spam. Compare that to today, where we have advanced levels of criminal activity such as phishing, fraudulent transactions and taking over accounts. Therefore it is important for organisations to remember that, while

“ Our purpose is to ‘shape member financial fitness’, which can be applied in multiple ways” — Jakub Mamos, Vice President IS Risk Management, Servus Credit Union

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Jakub Mamos Title: Vice-President IS Risk Management Industry: Financial Services Location: Canada Jakub Mamos is the Vice-President IS Risk Management with Servus Credit Union, and a passionate security practitioner. Jakub has worked in both the physical and information realms of the security industry for over 25 years. His leadership roles in the security space include stints in various industries, including utilities, consulting, non-forprofit, government and financial services. Jakub received his BA in Sociology and Political Science in 1998 and Master of Information Systems Security Management from Concordia University as a member of the first graduating class in 2007, and has held his CISSP designation since 2003. c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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YOUR APPS ARE EVERYWHERE. YOUR APP SECURITY SHOULD BE, TOO.

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Your apps’ data—usernames, passwords, business development plans, IP—is your business’s most valuable asset. It’s valuable to attackers, too. Today’s fast-evolving threats often evade traditional defenses.

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“ When I started we had just under $10bn of financial assets, now we have over $16.3bn with 400,000 members, which we plan to double in the next few years” — Jakub Mamos, Vice President IS Risk Management, Servus Credit Union

money around, and while this is a positive for customers, it is important to be responsive in an innovative way to combat criminals and ensure that interconnectivity remains a positive.” To enhance cybersecurity within its own operations, Mamos explains the importance of of data for the company.. “If you don’t know, then you can’t respond.

At Servus Credit Union we are heavily investing in data gathering, monitoring, analysis and automation. We are using a combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence, data analytics, advanced analytics and predictive analytics to detect anomalies and stay

everybody wants to deliver innova-

ahead of potential threats.”

tions and provide their customers and

However, Mamos highlights that

members the best experience as fast

within the world of technology, people

as possible, companies need to ensure

tend to focus on the ‘coolest’ or ‘lat-

that securing those innovations isn’t

est’ technology, sometimes forgetting

overlooked,” says Mamos.

about the principles. “It’s not that we

Other challenges within cybersecu-

don’t use innovative technology, but

rity that Mamos has faced include the

perhaps it is better to call it innovative

lack of borders with digital clients:

approaches. Being able to be respon-

“If you wanted to rob a bank you would

sive is something that in this space is

have to physically be there in order to

unfortunately not a common occur-

execute a robbery. With the intercon-

rence. It is important to go back to

nectivity of different countries and

basics to ensure that the simple things

jurisdictions it’s much easier to move

are in place to build a strong foundation c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

197

SERVUS CREDIT UNION

198

JUNE 2020

“ If you don’t know, then you can’t respond. At Servus Credit Union we are heavily investing in data gathering, monitoring, analysis and automation” — Jakub Mamos, Vice President IS Risk Management, Servus Credit Union

for digital transformation.” In addition to this approach, Mamos states that Servus Credit Union is working to truly integrate security within every aspect of the organisation, as well as authenticating all internal communications.

“It’s more than just an add on - security provides value in ways that people may not have originally thought. Security technology monitors for potential anomalies in vast amounts of data, and sometimes anomalies are not always security related. Sometime the analysis c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

199

WE GET CYBERATTACKS CAN HAPPEN ANYWHERE. CDW can help you stay protected no matter where your employees are working from.

Our specialists can help you determine a comprehensive and secure plan by identifying risk and building a solution to ensure your remote workforce is securely enabled to conduct business.

Learn more at CDW.ca or by contacting your CDW account team at 587.441.5156

of data can lead to business opportunities, adding more than just assurance and security to a business.”

When it comes to security management, Mamos highlights the importance of managing the ‘human element’ of cybersecurity. “In our environment, security is people, process and technology, and they all have to work in unison. No matter how good your process and your technology is, you need to invest in people in order to see the biggest value. Which is why we invest in education, working with people and explaining the purpose of a new JUNE 2020

process or technology to increase the

Big Data, data analytics, machine

effectiveness of our security.”

learning and artificial intelligence are

Key trends Mamos is seeing within

really important. Data governance is

data analytics, Big Data and data gov-

the same in terms of maintaining data,

ernance are the increases in pragmatic

managing it and providing direction in

approaches. “In today’s economic

order to enable business disruption,

climate you have to be able to show the

while ensuring you are compliant with

value. We have been entrusted with all

rules and regulations.”

that data to make security decisions

When reflecting on the organisa-

and offer protection, so we need to

tion’s operations, Mamos highlights

look beyond assurance, protection and

that he is “very fortunate to have a

security, to look at how we can utilise

core group of partners that I can rely

it even further. Which I think is where

on no matter what. Our partners are an important part of our operations to drive innovation and success.” When forming these partnerships Mamos explains that, although it’s a simplistic approach, he looks for companies that “treat people how they want to be treated. “I am very transparent and direct with our partners while maintaining ethics,” he says. Accordingly, Mamos believes that Servus Credit Union’s biggest strengths are “being a diverse, member owned organisation.”

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

201

202

JUNE 2020

203

HOOPP: delivering a world-class digital IT strategy WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY

JAKE MEGEARY c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

H E A LT H C A R E O F O N TA R I O P E N S I O N P L A N ( H O O P P )

HOOPP’s Reno Bugiardini discusses how an innovative IT digital transformation strategy has seen the business thrive against COVID-19 disruption

W

hen Reno Bugiardini and his colleagues reached the culmination of a sweeping, innovative three-year IT strategy at the

end of 2019, the disruption and impact to countless industries worldwide as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic was still a way off. That plan, which 204

aligned with the broader five-year strategic plan at Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), has driven vast change within the organisation.

It was, says Bugiardini, based around three fundamental areas of focus: a cloud-first approach, adopting Agile working methods, and ‘flattening’, through the creation of teams aligned to business groups, a previously hierarchical structure. “Our goal has always been to ensure that we are the single point of contact for the business, and that all departments feel they can come to us with any of their priorities. This is helped by the fact that I report directly to the CEO and am part of the senior executive team, which is not always the case for IT heads in organisations. By giving IT a seat at the executive table, HOOPP ensures that our digital strategy is aligned to the organisation’s strategy.”

JUNE 2020

205

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

H E A LT H C A R E O F O N TA R I O P E N S I O N P L A N ( H O O P P )

“ From an IT perspective, it’s a new adventure” — Reno Bugiardini, Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Facilities Services, HOOPP

Bugiardini is a driven and highly experienced innovator and leader.

He holds the position of Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Facilities Services at HOOPP, a role that sees him responsible for providing strategic vision and direction for IT and facilities services at the organisation.

HOOPP is a defined benefit pension

That the strategy was a success,

206

plan that is tailored to the healthcare

and positioned the organisation well

sector and provides financial security

for years to come, is something of

for industry workers in retirement.

which Bugiardini, who has been with

The organisation’s purpose, says

the business since 2002, is rightly

Bugiardini, is to “deliver on the

proud. That it also placed HOOPP in

pension promise”. To facilitate this,

an enviably strong position to seam-

the IT division has to serve the entire

lessly navigate any potential disruption

organisation and, most significantly

from COVID-19 is remarkable.

two core functions: investment management and pension administration.

The latter two are directly responsible for the investing and pension admin respectively, with IT empowering them to do so in the most effective

JUNE 2020

Thank you from all of us CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:27

207 way. “We’re a world-class IT organisa-

innovative IT organisation that’s

tion that exists to provide and enable

impossible,” he continues. “Each of

innovative solutions and strategies

those three areas – cloud-first, Agile

to the entire business,” he explains,

and the restructuring – gives us the

expanding on the core aspects of the

ability to innovate, to be a flexible

three-year strategy he was tasked

strategic partner and to develop quick

with leading. “The way in which we

proof of concepts for the business

deliver those IT services over the last

when it’s exploring new opportuni-

three years has absolutely evolved –

ties. Take being cloud-first as an

it has to, so as to ensure we maintain

example. Moving over 95% of our

the competitive advantage that differ-

compute infrastructure to the cloud

entiates us in the sector.

gives us a scalability and flexibility

“We exist to deliver the very best

that just wouldn’t be feasible with a

solutions to our business partners,

self-managed data centre, and it means

but if we don’t have a progressive,

we can explore and scale at minimal c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

Diane Dale, Senior ObjectSharp Consultant @HOOPP

Product Ideation & UX Design

Cloud-Native Architecture

Serverless Software Development

Embedded Agile & Coaching

DevOps & Orchestration

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At ObjectSharp, we have one very specific mission: to help you deliver innovative business solutions faster, and with higher quality. True Agile experts, we partner with leading organizations like the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) to imagine, design, build and deploy scalable software solutions that improve their competitive edge.

objectsharp.com

1-877-767-4277

@ObjectSharp

Driving Digital Transformation With True Agile Delivery at HOOPP HOOPP works every day to build the foundation for a financially secure retirement for Ontario’s healthcare workers. The mission of its IT team is to deliver highvalue, right-sized and timely solutions that enable the plan to deliver its pension promise to its more than 350,000 members.

Since 2014, ObjectSharp’s team of senior consultants have worked embedded with HOOPP’s IT teams, helping them navigate change and foster innovation with the right combination of people, processes and products.

HOOPP chose ObjectSharp for its unique embedded partnership approach. A true partner, ObjectSharp is not just another consultancy that advises and walks away. ObjectSharp is different. Our culture is one of results-driven partnership; we work embedded with you to identify and provide value where you need it most, coaching your teams in the Agile delivery model as we go.

Initially embedded with HOOPP’s Investment Services Group, and then later its Corporate Services and Pension Services groups, ObjectSharp’s team of senior consultants have leveraged their deep knowledge of Agile and expertise in DevOps and the Microsoft Azure Cloud to drive digital transformation by: implementing CI/CD and establishing a true DevOps culture that drives rapid development and faster release cycles; increasing software delivery velocity and quality with sophisticated automated regression testing and reporting solutions; building HOOPP’s first reusable React UI component library, used by HOOPP’s in-house team of investment professionals in their daily management of the plan; using infrastructure as code to reduce help desk ticket response times by 80%; improving data governance and risk management by operationalizing security and privacy policies as code and configuration in the Cloud; and coaching executive leadership and management to lead and succeed with Agile.

“ObjectSharp has been a key partner in our digital transformation over the last 6 years, working embedded within HOOPP to identify and unlock value, solve complex problems, and coach our teams in the Agile delivery model.”

- Reno Bugiardini Senior Vice President, Information Technology

End-to-End Capabilities, Full Stack Results As HOOPP’s needs and priorities have changed on its digital transformation journey, ObjectSharp has met them at every step of the way.

A full service consultancy, ObjectSharp provides expertise across the entire spectrum of the software development lifecycle. Our capabilities include: embedded Agile and CI/CD automation cloud-native development and architecture DevOps & automated testing AI strategy and machine learning data security and governance

Embedded Expertise, Where It Matters Most Whether it’s building a product, improving a user experience, adopting Agile delivery backed by automation, or transforming your business to realize the promise of the Cloud, ObjectSharp works embedded with you to navigate change and foster innovation.

Whether you’re just beginning your digital transformation journey, or face new questions along the path, ObjectSharp’s team of embedded experts are ready to help you lead and succeed with digital and the Cloud. objectsharp.com 1-877-767-4277 @ObjectSharp

H E A LT H C A R E O F O N TA R I O P E N S I O N P L A N ( H O O P P )

210

cost and meet business needs when

sprints whereas, previously, that just

required. Similarly, now that we’re an

wouldn’t have been attainable for us.”

Agile development shop, we’re much

Naturally, achieving such a tech-

closer to our business partners –

nological transformation relies on

aligned in teams so we can deliver

close collaboration with best-in-

solutions significantly faster and

class partners. Bugiardini is keen to

more accurately. The result is that

highlight two in particular: Thinkwise

our business is leveraging solutions

has been instrumental in our migration

sooner to meet their business needs

to the cloud and the decommission-

and demands. We can leverage

ing of our self-managed data centre,”

the advantages and opportunities

he explains. “They provided consul-

of cloud to very quickly procure-

tation, leadership, and programme

compute and explore new ideas

planning, which made for an overall

and complete tasks in two-week

far more seamless transition. Similarly,

JUNE 2020

ObjectSharp has been a key partner in

concerns and allow HOOPP to

our digital transformation over the last

continue to deliver on its pension

six years, working embedded within

promise. This ability to continue pro-

HOOPP to identify and unlock value,

viding the highest levels of service

solve complex problems, and coach

was greatly helped by the tireless

our teams in the Agile delivery model.”

work of Bugiardini and his team

Of course, global events this year have created a landscape in which

to deliver that digital strategy.

From the challenging transition

traditional approaches to business

to a significant remote working

count for little. As an organisation

programme, through to continuing

HOOPP has responded rapidly, rec-

to serve the needs of the organisa-

ognising the unprecedented change

tion, the scalable, flexible and newly

facing its members and launching

restructured HOOPP business has

a series of measures that address

allowed COVID-19 disruption to be

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Reno Bugiardini Title: SVP, Information Technology & Facilities Services Industry: Financial Services Location: Toronto, Canada Reno brings with him more than 25 years of IT leadership experience from various industries. He is an innovative leader focusing on providing his business clients with agile technical solutions that are driven by business requirements, challenges and opportunities. Having a great passion for IT and its dyanmic nature drives Reno, accompanied with his strong client service attitude. This ensures that his team delivers technical solutions aligned with HOOPP’s strategy that are enablers and differentiators to our business. c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

211

CONGRATULATIONS HOOPP ON YOUR TRANSFORMATIONAL SUCCESS!!

Thought provoking leadership with sensible governance

Unleash the potential of cloud for your organization!

dealt with in a remarkably seamless

successfully with few challenges in a

fashion, he recounts. “We’d been

72-hour period borders on the heroic.

closely monitoring the crisis through

The team did a great job that weekend

our Business Continuity Management

and really demonstrated the impor-

programme since early January,

tance of the work we have done.”

considering the impact on our organi-

Indeed, the most noticeable chal-

sation, and modifying operations

lenge – a VPN performance issue

accordingly. It was on 12 March that

– was rapidly dealt with. “We were

we took the biggest step yet – to move

able to procure additional hardware,

to work-from-home for the whole

we spun up another VPN, mobilised

organisation. With more than 700 peo-

our IT team to test it and ensure func-

ple, that’s not a small transition. The

tionality with minimal disruption to the

IT team had practiced before and,

business,” Bugiardini says. “In a tradi-

of course, we had contingency plans,

tional data centre or workspace that

but that they managed to do it

capability simply wouldn’t be possible.

JUNE 2020

“ We’re a world-class IT organisation that exists to provide the very best services to the entire business” — Reno Bugiardini, Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Facilities Services, HOOPP

noted that the transition to the cloud in particular was fortuitous, affording Bugiardini and HOOPP a level of security that, instead of disruption, saw the company effectively in a ‘situation normal’ mode.

Technology aside, Bugiardini is a keen proponent of the benefit of flattening the structure within an IT team, a process he describes as critical to the way in which the organisation

Similarly, if we didn’t have that Agile

operates. “You don’t have red tape,”

way of working and our teams organ-

he says, “and that makes everything

ised the way we do, I don’t think we’d

more simple. People and teams are

have been able to achieve what we

empowered to make their own deci-

did to accommodate the business

sions and to take ownership of the

in 72 hours.”

results.” He refers back to the per-

That success is testament to the

formance challenges experienced

effectiveness of Bugiardini’s digital

during that hectic first 72-hour period

vision for HOOPP. Indeed, so water-

as a good example of this. “We had

tight were the deliverables of the

speed and the agility to do whatever

strategy that he somewhat casually

we needed to. There were several

describes the process as “really just moving folks from the physical office to their homes. Because of the infrastructure in place many of the concerns being discussed about such a transition – cybersecurity, for example – just haven’t really been a concern for us”. On that point, it should be c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

213

H E A LT H C A R E O F O N TA R I O P E N S I O N P L A N ( H O O P P )

214

1960

Year founded

$94.1bn Assets in Cdn dollars

725

Number of employees

JUNE 2020

“ We can leverage the advantage of cloud to very quickly procure compute and explore new ideas and complete tasks in two-week sprints” — Reno Bugiardini, Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Facilities Services, HOOPP 215 automation and process tasks in that initial period that just happened; no one needed approval to carry out a task, or to ensure they were in sync with the broader thinking of the business. If we weren’t built that way we’d probably still be here debating whether we should deploy another VPN in the cloud or not.”

Of course, it would be foolish to state there has been no challenges.

However, rather than being technology-related, these have been based around the sheer change management and shifting of workplace culture that every organisation has undoubtedly c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

H E A LT H C A R E O F O N TA R I O P E N S I O N P L A N ( H O O P P )

216

experienced. “Collaboration has

capabilities of certain technologies

always been a big part of how we work

like video conferencing tools, for

at HOOPP, particularly as a result of

example, but there’s positives to that

the teams we have created and the

shift too. It’s refreshing to ‘open up’

technologies that we can now lever-

your personal life to your colleagues –

age. Sure, moving to a working from

whether that’s kids in the background

home environment has meant a ramp

or your dog barking during a meeting

up in terms of understanding the full

– and it’s refocused our perspective

JUNE 2020

on working from home when we consider future IT and business strategies, for example.”

Having reached the culmination of the three-year plan at the end of last year, Bugiardini is naturally already focused on the next step of his digital vision. The changes brought about by COVID-19 have, he says, reorganised the prioritisation of some of the digital initiatives being considered, particularly around the greater automation

refinement rather than anything dras-

of some processes, for example. But,

tic. “Our ability to do business hasn’t

it would seem the success afforded

really changed, we’re just not doing it

by the existing strategy calls for

in the office. There are so many businesses that have had to rethink their

“ If we didn’t have that agile way of working and our teams organised the way we do, I don’t think we’d have been able to achieve what we did to accommodate the business in 72 hours” — Reno Bugiardini, Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Facilities Services, HOOPP

entire processes because they’ve previously failed to leverage technology to its fullest.

“On the contrary, we’ve been able to scale and to meet demand while delivering services to our members and pensioners – productivity hasn’t dropped at all,” he continues. “The market has been impacted by the volatility, but on our plan operations side, our service delivery levels to members actually improved. And, on that investment management aspect of the business, we were able to give c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

217

H E A LT H C A R E O F O N TA R I O P E N S I O N P L A N ( H O O P P )

218

“ We’ve been able to scale and to meet demand while delivering services to our members and pensioners – productivity hasn’t dropped at all” — Reno Bugiardini, Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Facilities Services, HOOPP

our investment management staff full

stand still. Accordingly, Bugiardini is

computing capability at home right

in the process of forming the next IT

away, and scalability when they need it

blueprint for HOOPP, which will be

through the cloud, to ensure they were

developed in collaboration with busi-

able to adapt to the volatile markets

ness partners. It will, he says, align with

and not miss out on any opportunities.”

the organisation’s broader strategy

Any digital transformation, even

and be built around delivering the high

when it is facing unprecedented

performance culture that is instilled

disruption and uncertainty, doesn’t

in every part of HOOPP.

JUNE 2020

219

“This has certainly changed everything,” he explains. “It’s opened up the

strategy in place to continue to absolutely succeed at that.”

opportunity to hire the very best talent from around the world – there are fewer barriers to business now. From an IT perspective, it’s a new adventure that is now about us serving and supporting 700 internal clients remotely and we have the infrastructure and c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

CANOPY GROWTH: WORLD’S LARGEST CANNABIS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

220

WRITTEN BY

JOHN O’HANLON PRODUCED BY

ARON RAMPLING

JUNE 2020

221

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

C A N O P Y G R O W T H C O R P O R AT I O N

CANOPY GROWTH CORPORATION’S LOGISTICS DIRECTOR MATTHEW SLY TALKS ABOUT THE POST-LEGALISATION CHALLENGE OF DISTRIBUTION IN A REGULATED ENVIRONMENT

C

anopy Growth Corporation (Canopy) was established in 2013 at Smiths Falls, Ontario as a grower, processor and

producer of medical cannabis. Cannabis originates from India and Asia, where it’s been used for many thousands of years and is so widely 222

used today that a history review is unnecessary.

It’s only recently though that western medical science has started to accept the efficacy of cannabis in alleviating illnesses such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis (MS) and muscular spasms as well as a host of other conditions, both physical and mental. Research and trialling will doubtless isolate and validate many new cannabinoidbased remedies.

The debate about legalising cannabis has rumbled on for decades, those in favour pointing out that it is less addictive or physically harmful than either tobacco or alcohol, those against arguing that it is a gateway to hard drugs. However that argument is pretty much lost: legalisation in many countries has generally been welcomed

JUNE 2020

“ THERE WAS NOBODY TO FOLLOW, NO REARVIEW MIRROR: WE WERE THE LEADERS!” — Matthew Sly, Logistics Director, Canopy Growth

223

c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

C A N O P Y G R O W T H C O R P O R AT I O N

“ THE RECREATIONAL MARKET IS WHERE THE MAJOR PART OF OUR BUSINESS NOW COMES FROM” — Matthew Sly, Logistics Director, Canopy Growth

by enforcement agencies because it decoupled pot from the illegal drug trade controlled by criminals.

Cannabis for recreational use was legalised by the Canadian government in October 2018, opening a completely new market opportunity to the already well-established industry leader Canopy Growth and its subsidiaries, Tweed Inc (which grows the plants) and Spectrum Therapeutics (which supplies medical formulations).

Today, Canopy is the world’s biggest

224

producer and distributor of cannabis and employs some 3,500 people.

From growing sites all around Canada, some under glass producing up to five harvests a year, some in open fields yielding a single harvest, the bulk product is brought in armoured trailers to the processing and packing plant at Smiths Falls.

It was in the run-up to legalisation that Matthew Sly was appointed Logistics Director of the company.

At that point the company employed just 150 people, he recalls, and had no formal logistics department. Until then it had been comparatively simple as all operations were out of a single site at JUNE 2020

Canopy Growth: Regional Distribution Center CLICK TO WATCH

|

2:19

225 Smiths Falls. But as acquisitions were

concentrates, had yet to be formulated

made in other provinces, licensing and

for a completely new market. One

moving the cannabis became more

big unknown was how large this new

complex and a supply chain profes-

retail market might become: Canopy

sional was needed.

increased production and growing

For him, the challenge facing Canopy

capacity at this time to meet expected

called to mind how the first settlers

demand but has since modified its

moving westward across Canada must

approach. It aims to maintain its posi-

have felt over a century ago. “There

tion as the world’s leading cannabis

was nobody to follow, no rear-view mir-

company but growth is being carefully

ror: we were the leaders!” Legalisation

matched to market demand as that

presented so many unknowns, and

becomes clearer.

though the core product was now

Recreational shipments outstrip

legal, today’s product portfolio, includ-

medical by a factor of around 10:1

ing edibles, vapes, beverages and

in units, says Sly. “That is where the c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

Once in a blue moon, we even get to carry the moon.

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C A N O P Y G R O W T H C O R P O R AT I O N

The Great Clone Transfer: Moving over 120,000 cannabis plants from Smiths Falls to BC CLICK TO WATCH

|

4:51

228

major part of our business now comes

they provide, has made for a very

from.” And remember that this is a

successful partnership. We can have

high value, rigidly regulated product

goods to the value of anything from

requiring specialised handling. Brinks

CAD$5mn to CAD$20mn on a trailer,

is the global leader in security bulk

and this needs very specialised treat-

transfer of cash and securities for

ment because it not only has to be

banks. Within a month of legalisation,

secure but also in temperature con-

Canopy signed an ongoing agree-

trolled and pharma-grade transports.”

ment with Brinks Canada to provide

Brinks continues to be a key partner,

logistics for its domestic recreational

and it’s not hard to understand why.

distribution network. “We have a fleet

Its CEO Douglas Pertz was excited by

of armoured tractor trailers that we

the tie-in with Canopy, he estimates

use for all our deliveries. The value

the global cannabis industry to be

Brinks brings to us, and the network

worth around US$160bn. As finance

JUNE 2020

is increasingly traded electronically, it’s not just producers like Canopy who will be the winners.

The recreational product is confined to Canada, the medical distribution

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Matthew Sly Title: Director of Logistics Location: Ottawa, Canada

is destined for Europe, Australia, and South America. Starting to export cannabis was quite challenging, Sly admits.

“One of my first challenges was figuring out how to move cloned plants and cultures to other continents. Navigating the regulations around the movement of agricultural products is one thing, doing that with a controlled substance is another!” His first international shipment was to Germany to open up the Europe market. His second international shipment was to Australia, which required special temperature and humidity-controlled shippers that were custom designed to make sure the cloned seedlings and cultures would not flower or come to harm in up to 36 hours of transit.

Part of Sly’s original brief was to set up a Canada-wide warehousing operation and he continues to help design all Canadian and global storage loca-

After a decade in the pharmaceutical and high-tech industries, Matthew turned his attention to logistics.

During his 20 years in the field, he has managed one of the largest auto parts fulfillment centers in North America and has also managed Walmart’s Eastern Canada Distribution Center. Now as the Director of Logistics at Canopy Growth Corporation, Matthew oversees all logistics and worldwide distribution of medical and recreational cannabis out of the world’s largest cannabis distribution center in Smiths Falls, ON. In 2018, Matthew piloted the design of Canopy’s Regional Distribution Center and continues to improve efficiencies with state-of-the-art technologies and innovative solutions.

tions. Here the experience he’d had of running Walmart’s massive Canadian c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

229

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231 distribution facility equipped him for the daunting challenge. At the beginning of 2018 he was asked to plan and implement a recreational distribution network ready to capture a new and quite unknown demand. He had five months to buy a distribution center, set it up, work out the excise stamp requirements, and put contracts in place with carriers.

This called for him to be very creative to cater for as yet unknown quantities, products and even destinations.

Back at the Smiths Falls distribution center, Canada’s rigorous excise

2013

Year founded

$226mn Revenue in US dollars

3,500 Number of employees

stamp requirements were a further c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

C A N O P Y G R O W T H C O R P O R AT I O N

232

Canopy Growth: Corporation Culture CLICK TO WATCH

JUNE 2020

|

5:33

challenge – and in this case an opportunity to implement the reliability, flexibility, speed and data capture that only automated packing can really ensure. As with tobacco, cannabis producers have to obtain a licence from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) permitting them to buy excise stamps – and each province and territory’s stamp is differently coloured “Every unit we ship out has to carry an excise stamp; and they come without adhesive. So I worked with a partner called Plan Automation LP to develop custom excise stamping equipment and high speed packaging lines that allow us to

“ THE VALUE BRINKS BRINGS TO US, AND THE NETWORK THEY PROVIDE, HAS MADE FOR A VERY SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP” — Matthew Sly, Logistics Director, Canopy Growth

pick and place these stamps, at rates from 100-300 units per minute, with the flexibility to accommodate all our different product types.”

There’s been a big automation programme at Canopy, he says, placing it ahead of its competitors in being able to respond to customer orders flexibly and fast. An order can be received, packaged, stamped with an excise stamp and dispatched within four hours for delivery anywhere in Canada by 8am the following morning. Digital transformation is not achieved in c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

233

C A N O P Y G R O W T H C O R P O R AT I O N

234

isolation of course. Brinks for example

to eliminate paperwork and transac-

has custom-designed its own systems

tional errors. We simply can’t have

so that Canopy can track exactly

errors because we are required by

where its trucks are, what orders are

Health Canada to account for every

on them and when they are delivered,

single gram. And we are introduc-

with proof of delivery (POD) instantly

ing more production automation, for

relayed to Canopy and triggering

example robotic picking and packing

an automated bill. “Because of the

of orders. The digital transformation

complicated regulatory environment

of our industry is the one key thing that

we work in we’ve had to automate a

will enable us to grow and be more

lot of our internal processes including

cost efficient.”

documentation controls and transfer processes, JUNE 2020

Flexibility and agility are qualities Sly has learned from experience, he says.

235

He could have added a great deal of

reach their potential to deliver value

confidence, since many would have

for themselves and the organisation

fled from some of the challenges he

– it is, he says, a fun environment for

describes. With a CV verging on the

someone who thrives on change.

picaresque, he has worked with con-

“Logistics is the heart of the company;

struction equipment, high-tech PCB

if the heart is not pumping properly

manufacture, pharmaceutical products,

everything will shut down.”

English teaching, auto parts fulfillment (at a rate of 20,000 products a day) and large retail distribution. Now, he is truly working in a culture that suits his personality. Canopy, he notes, gives its people the autonomy they need to c a n a d a . b u s in e s s c hie f. c o m

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