IT’S ALL IN THE CLOUD

How Digicel Group’s Infrastructure Transformation led to the standardization of processes, increased stability and recoverability with Azure

The Digicel Group implemented an Azure Digital solution, along with their partner Maureen Data Systems, and is now completing the most extensive Azure deployment in the Caribbean. This move is part of the company’s Infrastructure Transformation to support increased business agility and cost control, augmenting their Digital journey. This, paired with the benefits of avoiding system outages and focusing on increasing scalability and stability, were key influencers in pursuing this change.

As a complete communications and entertainment provider, Digicel is delivering powerful digital experiences to consumer and business customers in 25 countries across the Caribbean and Central America.

For Digicel it’s all about keeping customers connected to the people and things they love. Digicel does that by providing world-class, superfast networks and services that provide customers with the ability to operate at the forefront of the global knowledge economy, right where they belong.

Having robust, scalable infrastructure is central to delivering the best experience for their customers. That’s where Microsoft comes in.

A step towards the cloud

One of the pillars of the Digicel IT strategy is to focus on a Cloud-First approach, which helps to prevent outages in on-premises data centers and focus on increasing scalability and improving stability in their infrastructure. As part of Digicel’s digital journey, agility and flexibility are core to the business model and enhance further IT development, standardization, security, and governance.

According to Melinda Lloyd, Digicel Group’s IT Program and Project Manager, Microsoft’s Cloud Solutions met with their extensive standards. “Microsoft is a longstanding partner with the most wholesome or complete approach and Azure offerings, including Edge Cloud. This factor was a critical component given the dynamic locations in which we operate. We made the right choice”, says Melinda.

The implementation started in 2019, supported by Maureen Data Systems, a Microsoft partner. The first step was to initiate a Cloud Transformation Program to migrate applications to the Azure Public Cloud, followed by a Data Transformation Program building a central Azure Data Warehouse across two geographic zones. The Digicel Cloud Transformation team later extended its Azure Platform to local Azure Stacks. While this expansion is in progress, it is already the most extensive Caribbean Azure Cloud Transformation program, being deployed across all 25 Digicel markets.

Azure empowering the business

Digicel built a complete cloud adoption framework strategy, including hosting digital apps for its customers and a robust roll-out plan underpinned where necessary by local Azure Infrastructure to be able to host all applications. It also included the creation of a landing zone and a hybrid cloud environment using Azure Stack Hub and HCI in local markets for performance in a mixed physical and virtual environment.

Completing Project implementation and formalizing app modernization activities

“From a quantitative perspective, one of the benefits is the standardization of our internal processes, which is helpful in structuring how our operations will look and be governed after we complete this phase”, says Melinda.

The company has achieved what was intended with the standardization of processes, increased stability and recoverability, and Virtual Machine benefits of using the platform as a service; helping them align with IT security goals. A large number of servers and services are now operated by an Agile Cloud Services team, capable of doing more with fewer resources.

“We have increased agility, scalability, stability and patching automation, which helps us to minimize manual effort. The most significant benefit, however, is to be able to better serve our business and end customers, which is the main reason for this change and direction. As a company, security is essential to us and our customers as we need to meet global standards. This transformation helps us to achieve these goals.” Melinda adds connoting feedback from Digicel’s Group IT Chief Enterprise Architect, Gareth Hunt

With the Digicel internal IT Cloud Transformation well under way and reaping the benefits, Digicel is keen to showcase and help our customers achieve the same Cloud adoption level.

Source: https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/1592461454769733852digicelgroup-telecommunications-azure-en-jamaica

Symptai CEO Urges Tech Investment, Bold Thinking and Intentional Leadership to Fuel Growth with Marlon Cooper

Symptai Consulting Limited, which offers technology advisory and assurance services in data privacy and protection, cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and digital transformation, is rapidly growing. The company, which is now close to celebrating its 25th anniversary, has recently been energized by a strategic partnership with the Digicel Group. Marlon Cooper, the company’s CEO, describes himself as a servant leader who is passionate about ensuring employee wellbeing while maintaining a highperformance environment.

His focus for 2023 (and beyond) is finding better ways to serve Symptai’s customers throughout the Caribbean. In this issue of DigiBuzz, Marlon shares his views on intentional leadership, using technology to reduce risk and what business leaders should focus on to thrive in the post-pandemic era.

DigiBuzz (DB): What is the kind of leadership needed to navigate through a crisis?

Marlon Cooper (MC): I think leaders are now required to demonstrate humanity and authenticity. Whereas before, the focus was more on business acumen and emotional intelligence. Employees, customers, stakeholders all have different needs that must be considered. Many of those needs were not properly balanced previously.

Crises also reinforce the importance of culture. Many of the things you take for granted when you are together in the physical space, you have to be intentional in replicating in a virtual one. We also had to make sure that employee wellbeing was prioritized.

Many of our employees were working non-stop. We had to ensure that our people had well-equipped office spaces within their homes so that there could be a distinction between home and work. There was also a significant mental health impact, and we provided therapy for those who needed that support, including me.

DB: What is Symptai Consulting’s core advice for business leaders today?

MC: We are encouraging leaders to harness technology to safeguard their business, and by that I mean to build resilience. Technology is incredibly useful, but there are also bad actors out there who are using it for nefarious purposes. We are primarily a cybersecurity company, and 70-80% of breaches that happen from a cybersecurity perspective can be connected to a human. People are always the biggest risk because inevitably they will do things they are not supposed to.

Businesses should invest in educating employees to raise their level of digital literacy and security awareness. For example, Symptai does phishing exercises for our customers to test which employees will click an unsafe link and then conduct training sessions with those employees. We repeat that process periodically because the threats are continuous and evolving. Those threats can be mitigated as systems can be safeguarded, by training people who operate systems, and by putting in place rigorous protocols that are tested regularly.

DB: Where are you seeing opportunities for businesses in 2023?

MC: I think many CEOs were waiting for the pandemic to be over so that they can return to normal. That is a big mistake. What we thought of as ‘normal’ has changed, that’s not the world we are living in today. Both employees and customers now have different expectations. A crisis creates massive disruption that will lead to greater opportunities.

Here’s a shift that occurred for us - during the pandemic we doubled in size. Prior to that, anyone who wanted to work with us typically had be living around Kingston and coming into the office every day. Now we have people who live in other areas of Jamaica, even other countries, opportunities emerging. In the financial industry, for example, we see the rise of digital wallets and mobile money throughout the Caribbean. The pandemic was an accelerant for the disruption now occurring in the traditional finance space. Today, every company is a technology company! and that’s where they work. The pandemic created an opportunity to onboard people who we wouldn’t have hired before and to use technology to work in new ways. Companies that thrive or make exponential leaps tend to do so in the space of disruption. We have to seize the opportunities that now exist. Customers know there are other ways to access products and services, and their consumption has shifted to having them on-demand. In every industry, you are beginning to see new

DB: Do you believe that there are opportunities for growth?

MC: We are in a moment when the focus is on a looming recession. For many businesses the thinking is let’s hold strain and tighten the belt. That mindset will not lead to growth.

The companies that will emerge doing well will first ensure that they are solid at their cost base but will equally be looking to take advantage of opportunities. That includes looking at possible mergers and acquisitions. Bold companies should think about how they can transform processes, how they realign their teams, leverage partnerships, and collaborate (even with competitors) to tap into what customers really want. They will also be looking for the best ways to use technology to move ahead.

After a period of rapid growth, economic uncertainty, rising cases of theft and vandalism of network resources, energy price shocks, and the normalisation of COVID-19-era consumption habits bared down on the technology sector in 2022. While the past year challenged us to be more resourceful and resilient, we remain optimistic as we continue to see signs of increased digital adoption, tremendous investment impact, and sustainable growth for new and emerging local innovations.