Digital Transformation IE - Q3 2021 by Mediaplanet UK&IE

READ MORE AT BUSINESSNEWS.IE

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET WHO TAKE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENT

How change management can drive successful digital transformation To make digital transformation a success, you’ll need to manage change properly. That means having a clear sense of why the change is taking place – and who it will impact.

S Paid for by Storm

o, you want to make a change in your organisation. Whether it is technology or process related, there’s no point in changing just for the sake of it, says Catherine Finn, Head of Change Management and Adoption at business technology consultancy, Storm Technology. To implement change successfully, you must understand the bigger picture. That’s why the first thing Finn asks customers is: why do you want to change? And what will that change mean for your staff and the way they work? “Often an organisation hasn’t quantified that,” she says. “So, we ask them questions that help define the change. Once they find their vision for change, we can help them get to where they need to be.”

Making changes that will be fully adopted by staff Successful change management isn’t rocket science, admits Karl Flannery, Storm Technology’s CEO — but there is a discipline to it. Do it right, and change will be well-adopted by your workforce, helping you achieve your business goals. Do it wrong, and changes simply won’t stick. “Poor change management is expensive,” he says. It’s vital to bring the organisation along with you, insists Finn. “Change management is about involving and consulting staff,” she says. “It’s not about getting their permission, but you have to let them know why the change is taking place, how it impacts them and helping them see the benefits to both them and their organisation.”

Paid for by NUI Galway

Why a change manager needs strong listening skills Staff need to feel supported and that their voices are being heard. “One of the key skills a change manager needs is strong listening skills,” says Finn. After all, your staff are the people who will be at the sharp end of the change. They know how they work best and where their business pains are on a day-to-day basis. Always be open and upfront with them and — when changing tech — demo the new system to highlight its capabilities. If there is resistance to change, it’s important to identify and understand where it’s coming from.

Catherine Finn Head of Change Management and Adoption, Storm Technology

Karl Flannery CEO, Storm Technology

After all, your staff are the people who will be at the sharp end of the change. They know how they work best and where their business pains are on a day-to-day basis.

WRITTEN BY Tony Greenway

“Along with having a desire to make a change and clarity on the reasons, staff also need to have the skills to make the change,” says Finn. “Training plays a key part of the change process, however training alone is not enough to build your staff’s proficiency in the new technology, ongoing support is crucial, particularly in the early days of the change initiative.”

Find out more at storm.ie

Find out more at nuigalway.ie/digitaltransformation

Empowering Why a Business Information individuals through Systems degree is a digital transformation pathway to opportunity with citizen development

igital transformation has become a core priority for CEOs in recent years. But just as the pandemic accelerated the need for change through digital transformation, it laid bare the massive global shortage of skilled software developers needed to deliver and operationalise transformations. Against this backdrop, we are witnessing a new method across industry of delivering low-code development to accelerate and expand digital transformation called “citizen development”. This method hides the sophistication and complexity of coding but empowers subject matter experts to design, develop and deploy applications into production as though they were full-on, experienced coders. This approach leverages recent advances in technologies such as web technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning to hide code complexity while delivering on code functionality.

READ MORE AT BUSINESSNEWS.IE

Citizen development empowers individuals within organisations to create and deliver on opportunities for change and eliminate inefficient processes. Organisations are creating new hyper-agile operating models that enable non-IT developers to create applications in response to business opportunities without dependency on core IT developers. Dr Noel Carroll, Citizen Development Lab and Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, is leading new research initiates on digital transformations and citizen development. For more information contact noel.carroll@nuigalway.ie or visit

citizendevelopmentlab.com

Dr Noel Carroll Citizen Development Lab, J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway

Before joining a product engineering firm, Katie Lernihan studied a four-year BSc in Business Information Systems, which gave her a range of career opportunities and skills. What is your current role? Since March, I’ve been Engagement Lead for a customer innovation team. I’m working with customers from a range of sectors, including automotive and life sciences, so every day is different. I’ve been at SAP since 2019, when I graduated with a BSc in Business Information Systems from NUI Galway. Why did you study Business Information Systems? It provided so many different career opportunities because it mixed business courses such as economics and accounting with tech subjects such as databases and systems analysis. I had the chance to explore different domains within the tech and business industries and work out what I wanted to pursue — which was innovation.

Katie Lernihan Engagement Lead, CIM [PROTOPIA] Moonshot Prototyping, Customer Solution Support & Innovation, SAP Product Engineering WRITTEN BY Tony Greenway

How did it prepare you for your career? Work placement is part of the BSc, so I did an eight-month presales internship with SAP in 2018, which was invaluable. I also went to a business school in La Rochelle, France, as part of the Erasmus Programme. It also equipped me with a range of soft skills, such as communication and presentation experience. Do you work with BSc BIS interns in your current company? I do! They always present so professionally; their knowledge and enthusiasm make it hard to believe they are still undergraduates. There are also many BIS alumni working at SAP in a variety of roles, including developers, project managers and consultants.

MEDIAPLANET

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET WHO TAKE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENT

How to implement a successful digital strategy Irish companies are primed to drive their digital transformation strategies but should ensure they have a holistic digital plan and that it can evolve over time, as the business grows. Conor O’Donovan Head of Marketing Communications and the Client Digitalisation Unit, Enterprise Ireland

ost Irish companies are somewhere along the digital maturity curve; from very early stage which means they have only begun to look at ways to optimise their business through moving to the cloud for example or implementing a CRM, to improve how they engage and record customer data and interactions. However, many businesses don’t know where to begin or who to speak with about their digital roadmap and find it challenging to select the right partner and vendor. Ensuring that these skills are available to the business either internally or externally are key success factors, as is developing a digital mindset across the business. There are four key aspects to a successful digital strategy: • Firstly, ask yourself why you need a digital strategy. It’s easy to read about a new platform or technology solution but a good digital strategy must be aligned to your business strategy. Ask yourself what’s the business objective that the digital plan can enable? This is key to know where to start. • The second key factor is process. It is hugely important to review and optimise processes before layering on digital technologies. Otherwise, an inefficient process before digital will remain an inefficient process after digital. • The third key element is people. Digital strategies will only work if people at the senior levels and across the organisation understand digital possibilities, see the benefits to the business and champion its adoption. It must be driven by multiple people across the organisation and developing a digital culture and mindset across the business is key. • Finally, the technology piece. It’s important to take the time to really assess the technology required as part of the digital strategy and to ensure interoperability as new technology comes on stream as part of a multi-year plan and that the technology ‘speaks to each other’. This will avoid expensive integration and data extraction issues later on.

Full information is available at globalambition.ie

Enterprise Ireland can help Irish exporting businesses take the first step on their digital strategies with a new 9k digitalisation voucher.

Ireland, moving from digital health laggard to leader Martin Curley shares how the HSE has begun the process of transforming our healthcare system using digital technology. What is the current state of digital transformation in the HSE? We have created an overarching digital transformation strategy which is driving our focus. We have taken an important and impactful first steps on our journey to become a European digital health leader. As a result of COVID-19, we have introduced several new platforms which are enabling completely new capabilities and improving patient safety and outcomes.

monitoring platform co-developed with PatientMPower, thousands of COVID-19 patients have been monitored from home or have had an earlier discharge. With PMD solutions, we have installed an automated respiration rate measurement system, Respirasense, into 19 acute hospitals so far and this is providing up to 12-hours notice before a patient deteriorates, giving time to react and help patients recover more quickly.

What is the purpose of the leap ahead strategy? Ireland currently has a health system which is a paper-based system focussing on ‘presence’ at primarily acute hospitals. Many countries have installed electronic health record systems in acute hospitals in the past few decades but Ireland did not do so. Aligned with Slaintecare, we propose to leap ahead and move the focus of care to a digital home and community centred approach which is supported by digital, mobile and cloud based solutions. All sorts of Internet of Medical Things based solutions will enable better remote monitoring, proactive healthcare, shared care records and better health outcomes.

What is the Stay Left, Shift Left strategy? Stay Left, Shift Left (SLSL) helps us coordinate and align the ecosystem to help us deliver the most impactful digital health solutions and is fully aligned with Slaintecare. Stay Left is about keeping well people well, or if you happen to have a chronic condition you can be managed best of all from home. Shift Left is about moving patients as quickly as possible from acute to community to home care. In Stay Left, Shift Left, we look for four outcomes through digital interventions - these are reduced cost, improve care, improved quality of life and better clinician experience. The cumulative impact of SLSL is that citizens should be able to live longer healthier lives and we can shift the focus of the healthcare system from reactive to proactive, improving lives and saving money.

Can you give examples of what is possible with digital transformation in the health sector? In our Heartcare at Home living lab, jointly developed with Centric Health and Roche, 100 patients are being remotely monitored to detect exacerbations early and proactively respond. To date in 2021, there have been 32 exacerbations but not a single patient has been hospitalised. Using our remote respiratory

MEDIAPLANET

Martin Curley, Director Digital Transformation and Open Innovation at Health Service Executive

READ MORE AT BUSINESSNEWS.IE

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET WHO TAKE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENT

The high-flying as a service IT model that is flexible and secure A global airports group has migrated its operations to a cloud-like service run from its own data centre. This means it manages its own security while only paying for the IT it uses.

IT as a service is helping us move to more flexible service provisioning models, while managing our risk levels and keeping us in our historical comfort zone.

hen daa — the global airports and travel retail group — decided to update its IT system, it faced two choices. It could either invest in more infrastructure at significant expense. Or it could switch to paying for its IT as a service (ITaaS), an increasingly popular model driven by the cloud revolution. The group, which is headquartered at Dublin Airport, had been running its operations on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) hardware, servers and storage that were approaching end-of-life. “We began exploring our options and were offered an upgrade to a pay-as-you-go model from Hewlett Packard Enterprise called HPE GreenLake,” says Martin Clohessy, Head of IT Infrastructure, daa. “This gave us the chance to replace our aging technology and get better performance and more capacity.”

The big advantages of pay-as-you-go IT It was also value for money, which was a major consideration, admits Padraic Doyle, VP Technology, daa. The pandemic had vastly reduced passenger numbers; so with business revenues down, financial scrutiny had increased. The irony was that fewer passengers hadn’t resulted in a significant reduction of daa’s IT consumption. “We still needed to keep our IT operation running,” says Doyle. “But with pay-as-you-go we didn’t have to worry about replacing obsolete infrastructure or making business cases for capital expenditure to invest in servers and storage. With HPE GreenLake, all those problems were taken away from us.”

After HPE engineers installed the new system in just a matter of days, the group’s in-house IT team completed a migration operation. HPE GreenLake now runs daa’s core operational services, including passenger handling, security systems and business intelligence. It also runs daa’s national retail operation and part of its international retail operation.

Padraic Doyle VP Technology, daa

Asset upcycling for greater sustainability gains Because some of daa’s existing tech was converted into the new system — while obsolete legacy assets were upcycled and resold by HPE Financial Services to provide additional funds for the digital transformation — it was also a greener option. “That was a bonus for us because we have very aggressive sustainability objectives,” says Doyle. “Being sustainable is key to our success going forward. We have a number of initiatives to help reduce our carbon footprint in particular.” Some of daa’s data and legacy applications are not suitable for the public cloud. But because the new system is housed in the group’s own data centres, daa receives all the advantages of the cloud — flexible, managed technology, and only paying for the services it uses — but with the security and assurance of on-premises IT. “We maintain physical access to the system which is also behind our firewalls,” says Clohessy. “There’s a level of comfort in knowing that it’s under our control.”

Martin Clohessy Head of IT Infrastructure, daa WRITTEN BY Tony Greenway

Adding capacity as and when it is needed It’s a more flexible and agile model too, because more capacity can be added as necessary by HPE at the push of a button. “Previously, when we needed more capacity, we’d have to build physical infrastructure as required,” says Clohessy. “That might take us eight to 12 weeks and could entail a significant capital outlay.” Plus, by using its own data centre, daa gets to leverage the value of a physical infrastructure investment it has already made, while not wholly relying on a third party. “If there was a major external network failure, we could still run much of our IT,” says Doyle. “Whereas once you become totally dependent on public cloud services, you’re at the mercy of your network providers.” Which is not to say that daa is anti-cloud; some of their systems run in the public cloud today, but they’re not ready to push key services there. “But, for now, IT as a service is helping us move to more flexible service provisioning models, while managing our risk levels and keeping us in our historical comfort zone,” says Doyle. Find out more at hpe.com/GreenLake

Paid for by Hewlett Packard Enterprise

READ MORE AT BUSINESSNEWS.IE

MEDIAPLANET

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET WHO TAKE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENT

Tackling the IT skills shortage in Ireland For the last 18 months we’ve been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world slowly returns to a new kind of normal, we can’t just pick up where we left off as the digital landscape has changed.

he period of digital transformation we were gradually moving towards preCOVID has been accelerated and we can no longer have a gradual digital transformation. Alongside this period of digital growth and transformation is the European Commission’s lofty ambition to have 20 million ICT professionals in Europe by 2030. This requires a huge investment to train future generations of workers and to upskill and reskill the workforce. Addressing the ICT skill shortage There is currently a skills shortage, not only in Ireland but across Europe, making it hard for companies to find the staff they need with the qualifications that are required in this ever-changing landscape. There will always be a role for the traditional academic undergraduate degree, but these must reflect the changing nature of the world. One solution to Ireland’s skills shortage lies in ‘micro qualifications’ training courses that allow people to continue to upskill without committing to full-time degrees. The European Commission is committed to bridging this skills gap and as a result is funding a number of digital skills initiatives, including the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition. Upskilling existing employees allows individuals to broaden their knowledge and skillset whilst increasing the skills within the team. The future of the IT profession The IT profession is central to the health, growth and sustainability of an innovative IT sector. Unlike many older professions, IT has arrived in our economies by many different routes and is not subject to traditional professional regulation. The profession has made great advances in its short life, from the days when the early pioneers used their skill and creativity to innovate and produce wonderful things that changed our lives forever. However, as technology is so pervasive and mission critical for all things, personal, social, economic and environmental, it is time for some governance and standards to provide quality assured outputs and to generate trust and confidence in IT professionals.

Mary Cleary Secretary General, Irish Computer Society

MEDIAPLANET

Technology – the promise that

always delivers

Ireland is currently the global digital leader. But to retain its position, it needs to recognise the benefits of technology and embrace the changes.

“

Technology has become such a common word; we have forgotten its origin. It is the application of scientific knowledge to achieve human aims. Technology makes things better for people. It is a promise – a promise that always delivers. That’s why Ireland must recognise the technology sector as the primary engine driving Ireland’s recovery.” Importance of the sector Una Fitzpatrick, Director of Technology Ireland, is passionate about the benefits of technology for everyone. The dramatic changes, enforced by the pandemic, demonstrated that Ireland’s technology sector is central to every aspect of economic and social life. The world has changed and adapted and the technology sector has led that change. Ireland, uniquely in Europe, maintained overall economic growth throughout the pandemic. Much of that was due to a digital sector that employs over 240,000 people directly and sustains and enables countless jobs in other sectors. For Ireland to retain its place as a digital hub there are priorities that should be addressed in Budget 2022: • The forthcoming National Digital Strategy must recognise the necessity attached to digital transformation for all areas of business, government and society. The Government must role model behaviour that encourages best practice, particularly regarding digital transformation and procurement of cloud. The Cruinniú GovTech report, published almost two years ago must be implemented immediately. • Ireland must develop a sustainable long-term funding model for higher education across core, capital and recurrent funding to improve the success and quality of its education offering. • Expand CGT entrepreneurs’ relief to passive investors in high-potential and high-risk areas to increase the supply of equity for Irish companies and introduce a pro-forma R&D tax credit.

• Ireland must embrace its role in EU digital regulation, strengthen regulatory capacities and lead on digital policy issues at an EU level. Data-related regulatory issues have become a major investment attractor. Ireland should ensure the Data Protection Commission continues to be adequately resourced to match its increasing workload and provide for a robust and predictable regulatory environment.

The dramatic changes, enforced by the pandemic, demonstrated that Ireland’s technology sector is central to every aspect of economic and social life. Future sustainable success While spelling out what needs to be done to enable the Irish technology sector to fully drive Ireland’s recovery, Fitzpatrick remains optimistic. “Ireland has a very bright future if we do this right. The pandemic has taught us that we can’t control everything, and we certainly can’t predict everything, but if we execute that which we do have control over, Ireland will continue to do well and build for future success in a sustainable way that benefits all sectors of our society. Technology is good for us.”

Una Fitzpatrick Director, Technology Ireland

READ MORE AT BUSINESSNEWS.IE

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET WHO TAKE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENT

Digital transformation: why the leadership challenge is so important True digital transformation requires informed leadership to inspire change.

F Dave Feenan Network Manager of Technology Ireland, ICT Skillnet

ew people in business can have avoided the term digital transformation. It has been discussed at length in many forums and its importance can hardly be understated. However, despite its ubiquity, there are still common myths, misconceptions and pitfalls that must be tackled. The first of which, and perhaps the most critical, is that digital transformation is not about technology, but about leadership. Clear vision Consultant, educator and author, Niall McKeown of Ionology, says that amongst the most common mistakes organisations make in digital transformation efforts is failing to clearly define into what they are transforming. This, he says, can stem from a failure to differentiate between digitising and digitally transforming, another common pitfall. “You can’t digitally transform without digitising first,” warns McKeown, but sometimes organisations get stuck on the digital, neglecting transformation aspects. Clear leadership, to understand the pressures, drivers and the opportunities of transformation must be translated into a precise vision for the organisation that can be easily stated. This vision must then be communicated as widely as possible to allow everyone in the organisation to understand why transformation is necessary, the major steps and what success will bring. “Digitising is about practising innovation, leveraging new technology, but with the specific goal of taking a new position in the digital economy. If you can’t take that new position, it is just a transition from where you were,” says McKeown. “If you can articulate that, then internally people will buy in, and externally, existing customers will understand the shift and help you make it.” Transformation strategy With strong leadership based on a clear vision that everyone understands and supports, a strong digital transformation strategy can be developed. McKeown warns that a unified strategy for the entire organisation is required, not a list of strategies for different parts of the business. “Digital transformation requires a strategic repositioning of the business,” he says. Resources are a critical element of transformation and their division has a major bearing on success. McKeown reports another common mistake is that while many business leaders understand the greater part of efforts must be dedicated to transformation of the business, and the lesser to technology, often when it comes

READ MORE AT BUSINESSNEWS.IE

to material resource allocation, the majority goes to tech. Leaders must understand, he argues, that people, teams, skills, environment and culture all require major change which will have more impact on the success of digital transformation efforts than any technology deployed. People time True transformation will be disruptive throughout and therefore needs leadership at every level so that each person in the organisation can understand how the part they play will contribute to the overall success of the efforts and the organisation. Veteran of transformation projects, Dejan Cusic, business director, Ireland and UK at Endava, says empowering someone to lead, from the bottom up, is not enough. “People are used to command and control, therefore, that leads to huge cultural change within an organisation. When you combine that with new technologies in an organisation, often making some roles or existing skills redundant, you are in a very complex change environment.” Only leaders who are invested in the process, who understand its implications and its ultimate value, can bring people with them. Especially when they may perceive threats to their positions from the likes of artificial intelligence and automation. Business leaders, McKeown asserts, must continually set aside the time to educate themselves on digital transformation. Understanding the business value of emerging technologies, without getting too deep into the tech itself, is vital for creating new roadmaps and new business models as markets and environments evolve, making transformation part of a cycle, not an end goal.

Paid for by Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet

Our fully funded Digital Transformation Programme for business can be found at ictskillnet.ie

MEDIAPLANET

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET WHO TAKE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENT

Why hybrid working calls for SD-WAN solution As Irish enterprises emerge from the pandemic, technology can be the secret to business growth as we embrace hybrid working.

usinesses across Ireland can boost their productivity and customer experience by adopting a new next-generation networking service. A cloud-based SD-WAN solution (software-defined networking in a wide area network) is being rolled out nationwide by Virgin Media Business Ireland, helping companies adapt to hybrid working. It will keep data secure while enabling enterprises to optimise their data to gain a competitive advantage. The SD-WAN approach uses cloud-native software to connect enterprise networks (including across different sites and data centres) with more open and flexible hardware. Businesses no longer need to buy additional services and bandwidth to access cloud-based applications. Large organisations can also access cloud data, applications and software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based offerings from multiple branch sites. Virgin Media Business has partnered with Versa Networks to provide a fully managed package covering both the software and the network elements of SD-WAN.

The Virgin Media Business solution offers next-generation cloud security, traffic encryption, an integrated firewall and a central management platform. Invest for the future Many organisations are also put off migrating to a cloud solution because they view digital transformation as too complex. Yet ageing infrastructure can hold businesses back. An investment in SD-WAN enables enterprises to optimise and modernise their systems quicker and cost-effectively. “This is about maximising the return on investment an enterprise has already made in technology and improving productivity by simplifying existing systems,” says Kelly. “It also makes it easier to share data insights.” Businesses also need to react quickly to different levels of demand across different sites and locations. With a SD-WAN solution, sites can be connected using a central platform and portal that employees manage remotely. “Companies want their staff to be able to use the technology and be productive from day one on a new site. This technology also provides better visibility of products and people across different locations to help with deployment decision making.”

Emer Kelly Head of Sales and Marketing, Virgin Media Business WRITTEN BY Steve Hemsley

Customer experience boosts growth Research by McKinsey & Company reveals that 73% of us say customer experience impacts our purchasing decisions. Yet employees can only give customers what they want if they have the right tools and are empowered to make decisions. Being able to collect real-time customer data has a direct impact on growth because it helps to provide a frictionless experience. Enterprises can use the SD-WAN technology to react quickly to how customers are behaving at a particular time and share data effectively between different channels. It also means employees working at different sites can forecast more accurately.

Many organisations are also put off migrating to a cloud solution because they view digital transformation as too complex. Yet ageing infrastructure can hold businesses back.

MEDIAPLANET

Data security Emer Kelly, Head of Sales and Marketing at Virgin Media, says some enterprises are reluctant to adopt SD-WAN solutions because of perceived data security concerns. “It is essential in a hybrid environment to keep business and customer data secure,” says Kelly. “You need to know who is accessing data and systems in real time and ensure it is easy to stay up-to-date with internal and industry security standards. You also need to control access to systems and data based on people’s clearance levels.”

Making it work for employees According to Insight: The Employee Experience - only 29% of employees are happy with the technology they use at work and many are prepared to quit because of it. The secret to business growth post-pandemic will be to adapt to people’s digital needs in a hybrid world while keeping data secure. This means connecting all company and personal devices in a smooth and safe way. “Employees need fast and secure access to critical business applications and databases wherever they are,” says Kelly. “It’s important that employees always have access to the digital tools and resources they need to serve their customers.”

Paid for by Virgin Media Business

Find out more at virginmedia.ie/ business/

READ MORE AT BUSINESSNEWS.IE