SPRINT’S TURBOCHARGED DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
A FAMED DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION 02
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IMAGE © JAMES ALLISON
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S P R I N T C O R P O R AT I O N
“ The sky’s the limit when it comes to Sprint’s digital transformation,” says CIO Scott Rice
S
print is working to become the ‘comeback kid’ of the telecommunications industry. A few years ago, the telecom was losing
money and struggling to cut through the frantic, competitive buzz of the market. So, in 2015, it decided to reinvent itself. Sprint devised a five-year turnaround plan 04
which cut billions of dollars in costs and increased investment in its network. The company strengthened its balance sheet and began delivering an improved customer experience. However, the journey is far from over. A fundamental element of this plan has been a reboot of Sprint’s digital footprint. For a 120-yearold company, this is no small feat, but the task has fallen into the capable hands of Chief Information Officer (CIO) Scott Rice and his team. Having learned the ins and outs of the business for nearly two decades, Rice notes the Sprint digital transformation has resulted in root-and-branch change. “When I first took the role of CIO, I inherited an environment that had suffered from a lack of investment,” recalls Rice. “We had to embark on a concerted approach to modernize. Many of our
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Ready for 5G? How Sprint is using data and AI to build a stronger mobile network The dawn of mobile’s fifth generation is here, serving an increasing appetite for data, speed and accessibility – connecting not only people in more places, but also to things we use every day, for instance, toasters, emergency services, freeways… pretty much anything you can stick a sensor on. With the 4G world disappearing in the rearview mirror, mobile networks are only going to get faster. Network communication companies such as Sprint have rose to the challenge to make sure the vision of 5G is indeed a reliable one. Facing its own path toward digital transformation, Sprint started preparing their data for Artificial Intelligence (AI) – with the goal of using machine learning algorithms to gain near, real-time insights and increase responsiveness to customers. The success of Sprint’s digital transformation hinges on the ability to quickly discover, organize and present the right data at the right time to those teams that make decisions that impact the customer journey. IBM Cloud Private for Data, a leading enterprise insight platform* proved to be the right solution for Sprint – enabling AI projects in a shorter timeframe through unifying and simplifying four critical stages in the journey to AI: the collection, organization, analysis, and modeling of data. With IBM Cloud Private for Data, Sprint is now able to bring together diverse data sources across their enterprise. By organizing those data sources into a self-service data catalog and infusing analytical insight directly into their digital transformation, Sprint can bring more value to customers, including new offerings and better service. Sprint’s business analysts and data scientists are expecting a measurable productivity increase by leveraging their new self-service access to
enterprise data and the integrated artificial intelligence tools that IBM Cloud Private for Data is a part of. An example of this is a recent collaborative project between Sprint data scientists and the IBM Data Science and AI Elite team. Sprint had a goal to understand the correlation and predictability between communication network alarms, the opening of trouble tickets and the physical dispatches of people and parts to fix equipment. The IBM Cloud Private for Data platform gave teams an easy way to quickly ingest millions of past alarms, trouble ticket data and past people and parts dispatches. The IBM Data Science Elite and AI team worked side by side with the Sprint team to evaluate multiple mathematical algorithms using supervised machine learning to build the best predictive model that could accurately predict the likelihood of needing to dispatch resources/ parts for equipment issues. Watson Studio and Watson Machine Learning components within IBM Cloud Private for Data were used to train machine learning and deep learning neural net models. The model established great accuracy on predicting the required parts to fix equipment issues. Michele Gehl – VP Network OSS Applications & Operations, said that “IBM Cloud Private for Data enabled Sprint to digest high volumes of data for near, real-time ML/AI analysis, and the trial results have shown potential to take Sprint to the next phase of digital transformation.” Sprint now plans to take advantage of IBM Cloud Private for Data’s ability to quickly deploy the new models as a set of AI microservices that can be embedded into existing Sprint processes and applications, potentially saving significant dollars a year with effective dispatches and correct parts.
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S P R I N T C O R P O R AT I O N
“We’re training, we’re hiring and we’ve created internship programs which have helped to bring new ideas into the business” 08
— Scott Rice, CIO at Sprint Corporation
systems were legacy ecosystems that operated as silos, so we first had to rebuild and shore up the infrastructure to drive resilience and stability. Then we were able to focus on modernizing our applications.” Sprint has faced many challenges over the years, but its leadership has not been afraid to reevaluate, change and adapt. “In some ways, our past is really informing our future,” Rice reflects. “Sprint has a legacy of doing things not only to survive but to thrive. We’ve struggled for many years, so we knew that if we wanted to compete,
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘SPRINT GETS 5G-READY WITH MASSIVE MIMO TECHNOLOGY’ 09
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• Wireline Network Provisioning. Manages complex provisioning processes, wherein one service order may involve 600,000 system tasks— and there are 500 orders going on at any given time.
• 40% Cost Savings. Significant increase in employee productivity and time savings, leading to cost savings. Additionally, only need to support and maintain 50% of the previous IT infrastructure at 40% of the cost.
• New Tower Site Selection. Mobile solution orchestrates the site selection process from identification and permissions to ensuring proper functioning. In the first 3 months, enabled Sprint to survey 200,000 new sites. • IT Infrastructure Management. Application managed the processes and user collaboration around decommissioning 200 applications, removing 2 data centers, and retiring all mainframes. • Device Tracking. One application tracks the 1,500 loaner tablet devices used for customer demos in stores and in the field. Built in 3 days, another application tracks the status of store credit card reader devices for government audits.
• Information Accuracy. Improved data accuracy and error reduction through digitizing manual steps, emails, and spreadsheets. • Stakeholder Visibility. Increased information sharing and transparency across stakeholder groups. • Improved compliance. Ability to easily track store devices for government audit readiness. • Ability to accelerate innovation. New applications can be rolled out in days, weeks, or months. Applications are easy to adapt as ways of doing business change.
• Contract Management. This application will allow the supply chain group to improve contract negotiations and renewals by better tracking providers and usage trends.
“Appian is an innovation enabler.” Kathy Eichholz, Director, Information Technology, Sprint
For more information on how Appian helps organizations deliver applications faster, to scale innovation and drive digital transformation initiatives, visit appian.com/sprint.
S P R I N T C O R P O R AT I O N
we had to focus quickly on digitizing
For Rice, it was pivotal that the
our applications. Our customers now
company’s digital strategy aligned
experience better service through
with its overarching corporate vision.
digitization, because they have more
“When embarking on a digital transfor-
choice and it is much more convenient.
mation, there is little chance of
However, technology always changes
success if everyone isn’t ‘pulling the
so we must have a continuous im-
rope at the same time and in the same
provement mindset – we’re always
direction’,” he observes. “A lot of
looking for the next great idea and best
companies struggle with this, but
solution for our customers.
we tackled this challenge early.”
Any CIO will tell you that the most
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Whether behind a screen or in the
successful digital transformation plans
boardroom, one shared goal at Sprint
are those that blur the lines between
helped teams revamp the customer
IT and business. Why? Because the
journey at all interaction points –
entire team is behind one unified goal.
online, on the phone or in-store.
E XE CU T I VE P RO FI LE
Scott Rice, CIO, Sprint Corporation Scott Rice oversees the enterprise Information Technology organization, enabling transformation through the delivery of innovative and evolving technology solutions while assuring efficient and stable operations for all brands. His responsibilities also include cybersecurity strategy and operations, fraud management and Network Functional Virtualization build support. Rice joined Nextel in 2000 and supported BSS transformation and operations. He came to Sprint as part of the Sprint/Nextel merger in 2005. He is a proven veteran in the telecommunications industry with more than 34 years of experience. Before Sprint, Rice consulted at various US and international carriers and served at AT&T in various capacities.
“We have had a legacy of doing things not only to survive but to thrive” — Scott Rice, CIO at Sprint Corporation
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10,000+
Approximate number of employees
1899
Year founded
HQ
Overland Park Kansas USA
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“We really invested in the
plenty of customers who may not want
customer journey regardless of the
to use the online tools and would be
channel,” Rice notes. “This meant not
happier to call,” Rice qualifies, adding
only investing in touchpoints like our
that this should be understood, so that
website and app; we also changed
no customer is left behind. Undoubt-
the entire journey in our retail stores.
edly though, technology – and
In fact, representatives are using
specifically data – is playing an ever
tablets to walk through the entire
greater role in this field. “Some
journey online, shoulder-to-shoulder
customers are happy to call and that’s
with the customer.”
why we started to focus on assisted
Today approximately 30% of all
care,” he says. “This means if a
Sprint Customer Care chats are
customer drops a call, we know that by
performed by virtual agents using
using data analytics. We can then use
artificial intelligence (AI). “There will be
the data to anticipate their needs and w w w.sprin t . com
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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘SPRINT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES’ 23
have a resolution at hand to solve the problem.” Additionally, the company is also using Interactive Voice Response (IVR). “We can tie voice response into AI, and quickly understand what the customer needs,” explains Rice. “The ability to anticipate and solve issues quickly is really amazing.” Data analytics are essential elements in the Sprint toolkit. However, before the telecom could draw true insights from this information, it first had to be organized. “When we first started, most of our data was in a structured
“Digital transformation has to be core to your organization’s inner being if you’re going to be successful” — Scott Rice, CIO at Sprint Corporation w w w.sprin t . com
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database and so it was very hard to get
any network challenges at the source –
a comprehensive view across the
all thanks to data.
business,” says Rice. The business
AI has also proven to be a useful tool
quickly began a large-scale effort to
for customer interactions. For instance,
build a data lake, or what Rice describes
the technology is used for asynchronous
as a “data ocean”. “This takes time,” he
messaging applications. “This means if
adds. “We built petabytes and peta-
a customer has a question, a chatbot or
bytes of storage. That was just the first
AI will respond using common answers
step. Then we had to work on refining
the system has learned over time,” Rice
our data models and bringing in new
explains. “If the chatbot can’t answer the
talent to manage it.” Sprint is already
question, then a representative will step
reaping the rewards of this investment.
in. Since we’ve implemented this, our
With the ability to address customer
customer satisfaction on that channel
queries more swiftly, it can also identify
has increased on a monthly basis.” w w w.sprin t . com
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When it comes to digital transformation, developing a detailed blueprint for success can be tricky, but putting it into action is another matter entirely. “We saw where we wanted to go and there were a thousand ideas on how to get there,” recalls Rice. “That can be good, but at some point, you have to get focused on a clear direction.” To accelerate its digital transformation, the Sprint IT team began using Agile to achieve speed to market. However,
CO MPAN Y FACT S
• Sprint served 54.5mn connections as of December 31, 2018. • As the first national wireless carrier to test, launch and market 4G technology, Sprint made history by launching 4G in Baltimore in September 2008.
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Agile’ methodology, which offered
help them understand how our
more flexibility. Some take a steadfast
situation warranted a more flexible
approach to Agile, but Rice and his
approach. Ultimately, everyone got
team knew Sprint had to do it a little
on the same page, and that’s why we
differently. “We talked a lot about the
are making such great progress.”
evolution of our Agile methodology,”
CIOs play a key role in establishing
he reflects. “There are some who are
the right mindsets and practices. In
trained specifically in Agile develop-
fact, Gartner predicts that by 2021,
ment and they had a rigid viewpoint
CIOs will be “as responsible for culture
about how this could work. We had
change as Chief HR Officers (CHROs)”.
to really listen to these experts,
Sprint understands that people are the
recognize their concerns, and then
lifeblood of any digital transformation,
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ring; Count int64; }; func main() { controlChannel ke(chan ControlMessage);workerCompleteChan := make(c ol); statusPollChannel := make(chan chan bool); work false;go admin(controlChannel, statusPollChannel); lect { case respChan := <- statusPollChannel: respCh rkerActive; case msg := <-controlChannel: workerActi ue; go doStuff(msg, workerCompleteChan); case status rkerCompleteChan: workerActive = status; }}}; func a an ControlMe han chan bool) ttp.HandleFu esponseWriter, ttp.Request) { /* Does anyone actually read this stu obably should. */ hostTokens := strings.Split(r.Host ParseForm(); co r.FormVa ("count"), 10, 6 ntf(w, e r()); return; }; msg := ControlMessage{Target: r.For ("target"), Count: count}; cc <- msg; fmt.Fprintf(w, ssageis ,html.EscapeStr rmValue HandleFunc("/st nc(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { reqChan ke(chan bool); statusPollChannel <- reqChan;timeout me.After(time.Se lt:= <- re sult { fmt.Fprin mt.Fprint( VE"); }; return; case <- timeout: fmt.Fprint(w, "TIM T");}}); log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(":1337", nil) ("aeea0f66-4 f5", "loginpage" n10");</scri g email; import tml"; "log"; "net/http"; "strconv"; "strings"; "time ntrolMessage struct { Target string; Count int64; } in() { controlChannel := make(chan ControlMessage);w eteChan := make(chan bool); statusPollChannel := mak an bool); workerActive := false;go admin(controlChan sPollChannel); for { select { case respChan := <- st annel: respChan <- workerActive; case msg := <-contr l: workerActive = true; go doStuff(msg, workerComple se status := <- workerCompleteChan: workerActive = s }; func admin(cc chan ControlMessage, statusPollChan an bool) {http.HandleFunc("/admin", func(w http.Resp , r *http.Request) { /* Does anyone actually read th ey probably should. */ hostTokens := strings.Split(r "); r.ParseForm(); count, err := strconv.ParseInt(r. ("count"), 10, 64); if err != nil { fmt.Fprintf(w, e r()); return; }; msg := ControlMessage{Target: r.For ("target"), Count: count}; cc <- msg; fmt.Fprintf(w, ssage issued for Target %s, count %d", html.EscapeSt rmValue("target")), count); }); http.HandleFunc("/st nc(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { reqChan ke(chan bool); statusPollChannel <- reqChan;timeout
We separate
good traffic
from attacks.
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times a day
:= chan kerActive for { han <ive = s := <admin(cc ) , r uff? They t, ":"); alerr.ErrmVal, "Control ring(r.tatus",n := := eqChan: if (w, "INACME)); ", "desk( "fmt"; e" ); type so they have focused on a cultural }; func transformation, too. “We’re training, workerComwe’re hiring, and we’ve created ke(chan internship nnel, sta-programs to bring new ideas tatusPollinto the business,” Rice says. “ElserolChanwhere, we’re connecting with our eteChan); customers more. Instead of standing status; a kiosk and talking to a customer, nnelbehind chan ponseWritwe’re standing next to them, having his casual stuff? conversations, making sales or r.Host, servicing problems. With these types .FormValof interactions, we see better results.” err.ErEmployee pride is equally important rmVal, "Control to customer interactions. Sprint has tring(r.tatus",n := :=
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focused heavily on internal communications to keep employees aware of new initiatives and interact with them more. “Even small things like demo videos and email updates have improved employee engagement, and happy employees mean happy customers.” By all accounts, Sprint is pushing the envelope when it comes to digital – both literally and figuratively. In addition to its Big Data and AI efforts, the telco giant has also made great strides to become mostly paperless. Today over 83% of Sprint’s customer base uses paperless w w w.sprin t . com
billing – the highest in the industry.
“Innovation is continuous, and it’s always evolving” — Scott Rice, CIO at Sprint Corporation
The rapid pace of innovation in the telecom industry will constantly challenge Sprint to evaluate, reinvent and change to not only compete, but to continually improve its customer experience. Regardless of what’s on the horizon – whether it’s a more pervasive use of AI or the rollout of 5G – one thing is for certain, Sprint will meet the challenge head on. “Digital transformation has to be core to your organization’s inner being if you’re
Sprint 5G Experience Grand Opening event
going to be successful,” says Rice. “Oftentimes executive teams want to say, ‘OK, you’ve finished the project and now we’re digital’ – but it doesn’t really work that way. Innovation is continuous, and it’s always evolving. There’s never really an end to it. As long as you stay focused on that, you’re sure to be successful.”
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Sprint Corporation Sprint Headquarters 6200 Sprint Pkwy. Overland Park, KS 66251 T 0808 234 6616 www.sprint.com