Mobile Magazine July 2020

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Driving 5G in the telecoms market at NTT DOCOMO Roderick Boss, CEO of DOCOMO PACIFIC, on delivering 5G innovation in a unique market

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FOREWORD

W

elcome to the July issue of Mobile Magazine.

This month’s cover feature sees us speak with Roderick Boss, CEO of DOCOMO PACIFIC, to discuss the importance of providing world-class telco services in a unique market context.

“This is a very unique territory to be operating in, due to both our geography and our identity as a US territory,” says Boss. “Being in the US but so close to Asia gives us a big advantage that’s maybe disproportionate to our population size.”

Elsewhere in the magazine, Noha Samara, Head of Customer Logistics (MENA), discusses how HMD Global’s revival of the Nokia phones brand is driven by robust logistics strategies.

We also discover how IoT innovation is changing the mobile sector and uncover the key trends that are driving digital disruption.

Be sure to also check out in-depth features with SAP Global Centre of Excellence, Comcast, Telstra, Vodafone Qatar, BH Telecom d.d., Telkom, Capgemini and StarHub. Finally, this month’s Top 10 looks at 10 of the leading mobile brands worldwide.

Would you like to be featured in the magazine? Get in touch at sean.galea-pace@bizclikmedia.com Enjoy the issue!

Sean Galea-Pace

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PUBLISHED BY

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Owen Martin DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Matt High

Kieran Waite Sam Kemp MARKETING DIRECTOR

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Steve Shipley

Leigh Manning DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

CREATIVE TEAM

Oscar Hathaway Erin Hancox Sophia Forte Sophie-Ann Pinnell PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

Georgia Allen Daniela Kianickovรก

Shirin Sadr DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Jake Megeary Jordan Hubbard Craig Killingback Stuart Irving DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Jason Westgate CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

Stacy Norman PRESIDENT & CEO

Glen White

Evelyn Howat MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR

James White PROJECT DIRECTORS

Andrew Stubbings w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

CONTENTS

DOCOMO PACIFIC: industry-leading services in a unique market

10

28 How digital technology is driving telecoms transformation

42 Delivering Cambodia’s 5G digital transformation IoT: driving 62

transformation in mobile

56 HMD Global: flexibility and dynamism in customer logistics

70 Mobile brands

86

110

126

SAP Global

Digital Realty

168 Telstra Purple

142 Comcast

192 Vodafone Qatar

208

100

BH Telecom

222

250

Telkom

StarHub

236 Capgemini

100

10

DOCOMO PACIFIC: industry-leading services in a unique market WRITTEN BY

HARRY MENEAR PRODUCED BY

STUART IRVING

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D O C O M O PA C I F I C

Roderick Boss, CEO of DOCOMO PACIFIC, discusses providing world class telco services in a unique market context

H

ome to fewer than 170,000 people, annually buffeted by tropical storms, and a transPacific junction for undersea cables, the

island of Guam represents one of the most unique market contexts in the telecommunications industry. It is culturally and politically a US territory, but 12

sits a mere three and a half hour flight away from Tokyo and Manila; its user base is smaller than the population of Fort Collins, Colorado, but Guam’s telecommunications market is one of the most sophisticated in the world. It’s competitive too, with four mobile industry operators vying for a market share smaller than most others.

“This is a very unique territory to be operating in, due to both our geography and our identity as a US territory,” says Roderick Boss, CEO of DOCOMO PACIFIC. “Being in the US but so close to Asia gives us a big advantage that’s maybe disproportionate to our population size.”

Founded in 1991, DOCOMO PACIFIC is the biggest telecom operator in both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). As the only overseas subsidiary telecom operator of NTT J U LY 2 0 2 0

1993

Year founded

530

Number of employees

13

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D O C O M O PA C I F I C

“ Being in the US but so close to Asia gives us a big advantage that’s maybe disproportionate to our population size” — Roderick Boss, CEO, DOCOMO PACIFIC

DOCOMO, a leading Japanese mobile provider, DOCOMO PACIFIC brings a unique value proposition to a wholly unique market. We sat down with Boss to find out more about the strategies and values that have allowed the company to become the region’s leading telecom provider, and why Guam itself is the perfect test bed for NTT DOCOMO’s 5G ambitions.

According to Boss, Guam’s hypercompetitive market is one of the key drivers behind DOCOMO PACIFIC’s

14

success. “We have a very competitive market here, and our position as the leading provider in the region is hard won,” he explains. “That competition is a driver behind a lot of the innovation that we do: we have to innovate in order to attract the business of this very sophisticated population. People want the latest devices, the best possible network quality, reliability and world class customer service – and we have to provide them with that.” Boss joined DOCOMO PACIFIC in the summer of 2018, a continuation of multiple decades of experience in the telecommunications sector. Even after years working in Japan, the Philipines and J U LY 2 0 2 0

Nokia: Interview about 5G with Roderick Boss, CEO, DOCOMO PACIFIC CLICK TO WATCH

|

5:03

15

across the Pacific, he acknowledges

SOPHISTICATION AT (ISLAND) SCALE

that the opportunities and challenges

The unique combination of a sophis-

that Guam and the CNMI present have

ticated population that demands

required a unique adjustment. “Coming

technological excellence, status as US

to this market definitely required an

territories, and small market scale make

adjustment, compared to working for

DOCOMO PACIFIC a uniquely valuable

a telecommunications provider in a

card in NTT DOCOMO’s hand. “There

big market,” he reflects. “Here, we still

are a couple of reasons they’ve invested

need to provide everything that you’d

in us,” explains Boss. “Our proximity

expect from a world class telecom

to Japan makes it very convenient,

company, but it has to be the island

as well as the fact that we’re in touch

version of that. That doesn’t mean

with what’s going on in the US market;

lower quality or less technology, it’s

there’s a lot that we can learn from

just a different version.”

them and that they can learn from us.” w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

D O C O M O PA C I F I C

16

Whereas NTT DOCOMO is a mobile-

different cultures, perspectives and skill

only provider, DOCOMO PACIFIC is a

sets. “We have a very diverse organisa-

quad-play organisation, which provides

tion. We have people from all over Asia,

a singular opportunity for its executives.

from the local Chamorro population, a

“We’re tiny when you set us against the

big Filipino population as well as distinct

whole NTT DOCOMO world, but we

Korean and Japanese demographics. So,

have about six or seven executives at

add to that all the military personnel that

a time who come on a rotational basis

come and go and you have a very diverse

from Japan to work here with us and

and dynamic little island,” says Boss.

learn how our full fixed service and

“I feel like that diversity is a real strength

mobile business works,” says Boss.

in our operation. It allows for innovation

Sitting at the intersection of the Pacific,

and a very respectful environment.

US and Asian markets, DOCOMO

I think that’s something that DOCOMO

PACIFIC has access to a wealth of

PACIFIC puts a lot of value in.”

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

Roderick Boss Roderick Boss is currently President and CEO of DOCOMO PACIFIC in Guam.

Prior to joining DOCOMO PACIFIC, he held senior positions at ManpowerGroup in the US, Japan and the Philippines. Before ManpowerGroup, he was the President and CEO of Pacific Crossing Limited, the owner and operator of a subsea fiber optic telecommunications cable system in the Pacific.

Before joining Pacific Crossing he was the President and CEO of Japan Telecom America, the US arm of Japan Telecom, then Japan’s third largest telephone carrier and largest broadband service provider. JT is now part of Softbank Communications. Before returning to the US and Japan Telecom America, Rod held various senior positions in Japan Telecom in Japan.

He was responsible for all global services and products.

Rod spent a total of eighteen years living and working in Japan at a variety of telecom companies including PowerBand Communications, J-Phone, International Digital Communications, AirTouch International, and Vodafone.

He started his telecom career at AT&T where he worked in Tokyo, New York and New Jersey.

Rod began his career at Honda Motor Company in Tokyo where he was a member of the first group of foreigners hired into Honda’s management training program.

Rod holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of International Management Degree from the Thunderbird School of International Management.

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“ We have a very competitive market here and our position as the leading provider in the region is hard won” — Roderick Boss, CEO, DOCOMO PACIFIC

THE RACE FOR 5G “We started our 5G journey more than two years ago,” notes Boss. “NTT DOCOMO was developing as a global leader of 5G innovation and we were talking to them very early on about the possibility of testing 5G capabilities in our market.” In February 2019, the company unveiled a new DOCOMO 5G Open lab at its headquarters in Tamuning, Guam. “NTT DOCOMO already had three other labs in Japan – in Tokyo, Okinawa and Osaka – and number four was their first international 5G lab, which was opened here,”

The other major benefit that

explains Boss. The lab serves to com-

DOCOMO PACIFIC’s secluded market

plement DOCOMO’s Open Partner

provides is its role as an ideal test bed

Program, which allows outside compa-

for leading-edge technologies. Around

nies to partner with DOCOMO PACIFIC

the world, the advent of 5G adoption

in order to test their 5G applications,

is creating a revolution in the telecom-

equipment and new concepts at no cost.

munications industry. With implications

However, the island’s fiercely

that range from lightning fast, reliable

competitive market quickly spurred

digital communications, to a cornu-

DOCOMO PACIFIC on to greater

copia of IoT and smart infrastructure

heights of innovation. “A few weeks

applications, the next decade of digital

after the launch of our lab, one of our

communications are set to be defined

competitors held a big press confer-

by the rise of 5G. Early adopters and

ence to announce that they were

innovators in this space can expect to

going to commercially launch 5G in

reap huge rewards.

Guam and the CNMI by the end of w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

19

D O C O M O PA C I F I C

2019,” recalls Boss. “I kind of took that as a personal challenge. I said “if they’re going to launch before the end of the year, we’re not going to be beat.” DOCOMO PACIFIC launched its fixed network 5G services in Guam in October, and Boss explains that the company is set to follow up with a mobile 5G service in the near future.

“We actually launched ahead of NTT DOCOMO in Japan,” he says. Given the early adoption stage of the technology, and the world class nature of 20

DOCOMO PACIFIC’s extant 4G/LTE network – which he notes consistently achieves 70-80 mbps speeds – Boss explains that he isn’t planning to cover Guam’s entire 549 km² of land. Rather, DOCOMO PACIFIC has established three major hot spots in the island’s busiest villages. “The rest of that deployment schedule will be defined by the market and driven by demand, not the other way round,” he states.

A key driver of market demand for mobile 5G services will be the increased capability of widely available handsets. “Initially we’d been using an LG phone that uses the same frequency for 5G as Sprint’s J U LY 2 0 2 0

network in the US, and we managed to get that ahead of schedule,” Boss explains. “Now, of course, Samsung’s S20 is 5G capable. This means we’re seeing a progression from one highly specialised handset, to having a very mainstream model of phone that’s 5G capable. For us, that really changed the game, because anyone with an S20 is going to be able to use 5G when they’re within one of our hot spots.”

Beyond flagship mobile devices, however, Boss notes that there’s an array of potential applications that are particularly suited to Guam’s needs.

“Our geography makes us isolated, which can present limitations to our healthcare system. It’s hard to get a lot of specialist doctors to come all the way to this small island so, when people have something serious, they get on a plane to Tokyo, Manila or Hawaii,” he explains. The high speeds, reliability and low latency that 5G provides has far-reaching implications for delivering medical expertise to remote locations around the world. He also explains that, since Guam has a single university and one community college, the potential benefits of distance learning for the w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

21

D O C O M O PA C I F I C

22

island are also substantive. However, he

a game changer.” Guam is located in

notes that both applications are prin-

what’s colloquially known as “Typhoon

cipally based upon fixed 5G networks,

Alley”. Every year, some of the world’s

and that the process of finding applica-

most devastating storms sweep across

tions for 5G mobile that aren’t already

the Pacific and break on the island.

being supported by the last generation

As a result, Boss explains that build-

of technology is an ongoing process.

ings on the island tend to be made

“For me, there’s one major applica-

of reinforced concrete. “In-building

tion for mobile 5G in Guam that I’m

penetration is a big issue,” he says.

most excited about and that’s fiber

“If I can use 5G to go into a neighbour-

replacement. If I can get internet

hood and achieve fiber-like speeds

speeds that are comparable to fiber

through wireless, by dropping a tower

without having to dig up the ground

near my users, that’s a significant

or drill holes in people’s walls, that’s

game changer for our market.”

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A VITAL ECOSYSTEM

Nokia, which provides our network

Providing world-class services in a

equipment. Another key partner is

tiny market is an ambitious goal, and

Commscope, who we’ve bought a

DOCOMO PACIFIC fully leverages

number of products from over many

its network of partner relationships

years. We see the members of the

to support its goal. “Our partnerships

companies we work with as members

are incredibly important to us,” says

of our own team, so those relationships

Boss. “Because of our scale, we have

are incredibly important.”

limitations in the skills and knowhow that we can have inhouse. So we rely

THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE

on our partners’ expertise and by hav-

The ongoing global pandemic repre-

ing close working relationships, we

sents an unprecedented challenge

can make their expertise our own. We

for the modern enterprise. As coun-

have a long and close relationship with

tries around the world close their w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

D O C O M O PA C I F I C

“ If I can use 5G to achieve fiber-like speeds through wireless, that’s a significant game changer for our market” 24

— Roderick Boss, CEO, DOCOMO PACIFIC

DOCOMO PACIFIC: You + Dreams #BetterTogether CLICK TO WATCH

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|

1:00

this spike because we’ve been making the transition to data for a long time,” explains Boss.

Guam went into lockdown in midMarch. “In our case, immediately following the first case of COVID-19 being diagnosed in Guam, we switched to a virtual work strategy across our entire company. Our call centre operations, for example, all went virtual within a two-day period. I was pretty proud of the team’s ability to do that,” says Boss. “Obviously, the ability to stay connected remotely is a service we sell to people, so we were in a good position to move to that very quickly.” borders to travellers, and the global

In response to the pandemic’s effect

economy is forced into history’s big-

on the region, DOCOMO PACIFIC has

gest experiment with remote work, it

placed its customers first, waiving late

falls to telecommunications provid-

fees, providing uncapped data to its

ers to ensure that the world remains

customers and donating PPE to front

connected.

liners in Guam and the CNMI.

“Over the past five years, we’ve seen a big shift from voice to data. During

CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE

the current COVID-19 pandemic we,

“It’s an incredibly exciting time in

along with telco operators all over the

the industry for us. We have a lot of

world, have seen a massive increase in

really fun things that we’re doing,”

our broadband business – about a 90%

enthuses Boss, reflecting on the fact

increase – and haven’t had any network

that DOCOMO PACIFIC represents

throttling. We’ve been able to handle

his first experience with the TV and w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

25

D O C O M O PA C I F I C

T O K YO 20 20

26

“Because we’re a small island operator, and most suppliers adjust rates according to volume, it’s important that our suppliers recognise that.

One example of that is the “2020 Olympics. We were hoping to get the sponsorship to be the official telecom supplier to the Guam National Olympic Committee. This is managed by the IOC, and they charge astronomical fees for these sponsorships. We were hoping that they would understand that we’re a tiny market with our own Olympic team separate

J U LY 2 0 2 0

from the US. We thought that with it being so close to us geographically, and with us being part of a Japanese telco, it would be a great sponsorship opportunity. It actually turned out very well; they were able to understand our scale and give us a rate we could afford. Now, we’re Guam’s official telecommunications sponsor for Team Guam to the Summer Olympics event. We need a lot more of our partners to recognize that we need worldclass products and support, but at small island prices.”

“ I love this industry.

It’s where new technology comes first, it’s incredibly competitive – and I love competition” — Roderick Boss, CEO, DOCOMO PACIFIC

That’s something that we’re going to see launched here very soon and I’m really excited about it,” he says. “I’ve watched my cable business shrink, year-over-year, for some time. Rather than just wait and see what happens with that, I’m ready to be a player in this new market as well.”

From new technology, new strategies and constant competition to stay on top, to its inherent customer centricity, DOCOMO PACIFIC is a uniquely capable company that punches above

broadcasting business. “The media

its weight, operating in a market unlike

and TV businesses are at an inflec-

any other. “I love this industry. It’s where

tion point right now around the world.

new technology comes first, it’s incred-

OTT broadcasters are seeing this

ibly competitive – and I love competition

phenomenal growth, creating their

– and it’s fun to come to work everyday,”

own content, and that’s driving this

says Boss. “We’ve built a great team

huge transformation.” In response to

here at DOCOMO PACIFIC. We’re

the rapid acceleration of OTT adoption

lucky to have a very supportive share-

and the proportional decline in tradi-

holder that allows us to do some things

tional cable services, Boss is exploring

we might not otherwise be able to do.

ways for DOCOMO PACIFIC to once

I’m very happy to have that and, looking

again thrive in response to market

at the future, I think it’s pretty bright.”

pressure and competition. “What I want is for those people to leave me for me. That means that I’m developing my own IPTV offering for people who are moving away from full-service cable. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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TELECOMS

How digital technology is driving telecoms transformation WRITTEN BY

28

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M AT T HIGH

29

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TELECOMS

Ant Morse, Head of Digital Solutions at O2 (Telefonica UK), discusses digital transformation in telecoms and the potential impact of 5G

o

ne innovation is perhaps more synonymous with the way in which technology

has changed our lives than any other: the mobile phone. Whilst the acceleration of digi-

tal transformation over the last decade or 30

more has left few industries untouched, the mobile phone and the telecoms industry more broadly, continues to play a central role in this. Our smartphones are our 24/7 access to the internet; they allow us to shop, to exchange money or organise mortgages or loans; and, more recently, they have allowed us to continue working despite the disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. “The one constant in our industry is change,� says Ant Morse, Head of Digital Solutions at O2 (Telefonica UK). Morse is a highly experienced digital leader in the telecommunications industry. Having spent more than quarter of a century with the telecoms giant - through its previous iterations as Cellnet, BT and O2 - he is passionate about J U LY 2 0 2 0

31

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This means greater savings and shorter time to market.

how digital technologies and trends

Morse explains. “I think that most

can change the way in which we live

would agree that the introduction and

our lives and works to bring value and

progress of the internet has perhaps

support through innovation to custom-

had the greatest impact on our lives.

ers’ digital business journeys.

However, the progress of the mobile

He is also a strong proponent of the

phone during that time - from the basic

influence of the mobile phone, albeit,

product to the incredibly powerful

he admits, with ‘unashamed bias’.

devices we now carry everywhere in

“Some would suggest that we are a lit-

our pocket - has seen it not only

tle too addicted to our devices, but the

become our access point or window to

mobile phone started it all - the reality

the internet, but also the remote con-

is that it’s the zeitgeist of our time,”

trol to our ever-increasing digital lives.

33

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TELECOMS

34

“The global adoption has been a by-

In many ways the mobile phone is

product of innovation and consumer

the public face of telecoms digital

adoption,” Morse continues. “Devices

transformation. But, like other sectors,

that ‘just work’ easily and intuitively

the industry has embraced innovative

resulted in mass adoption across every

and new technologies, such as IoT,

age range. On top of that, innovative

cloud and, more recently, 5G and har-

new applications across a host of areas,

nessed them to deliver a more

from news and social media through to

customer-centric, connected way to

workflow and home automation, firmly

work and play. Morse currently leads

established adoption further.”

the digital solutions teams at

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buzzword or at veneer level, he believes it important to explore what it means in practical terms. “Some look at digital transformation as a transition from a manual process to a digital service, for example,” he explains. “In my opinion, that’s digital progress rather than transformation.

The latter, for me, is in the introduction and use of digital solutions that bring positive change to how an organisation works, both as a business internally, and more importantly, how it services its customers. You can see the impact of such transformation and disruption across nearly every industry, from retail through to how we book a cab or use room share services instead of a hotel.”

Morse is keen to reiterate that true Telefonica Enterprise and MNC, the

digital transformation should be con-

dedicated business-focused arm of

sidered across every business

the global integrated telecoms com-

function, not merely in how it impacts

pany that delivers digital solutions such

or changes existing services. This, he

as cloud and security and telecommu-

adds, is his focus at Telefonica: “Our

nications services to help customers

broad and progressive portfolio lets

realise the possibilities of technology.

us support transformation at the cus-

As such, digital transformation is

tomer’s pace, whether that’s

Morse’s bread and butter. However,

optimising their current solutions or

far from using the phrase as a

deploying new innovative solutions. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

35

TELECOMS

We do that with our expertise, advice,

provider. “The role of the CIO and IT

guidance and support. The real key

team in general has changed consid-

to supporting true transformation,

erably,” he notes. “It’s progressed from

however, is to take it more broadly

keeping the lights on, driving efficiency

than our portfolio. For example, we

and keeping up to date with the latest

consider the impacts of innovation,

innovations to now also having to con-

future trends and so forth - it makes

sider the risk of digital disruption and

for a pretty impressive outcome.”

disintermediation from new entrants

Specifically around enterprise cus-

and innovators. It’s become a critical

tomers, Morse explains that digital

and pivotal part of every organisation

transformation has honed what is

and the suppliers supporting those

required from a telecommunications

roles have also had to adapt. From my

36

J U LY 2 0 2 0

perspective, the key areas in that

real-time. It’s already enabling sur-

regards are providing the right advice

geons to carry out remote operations

way beyond the basics of the service,

worldwide, for example.

delivering end-to-end solutions that go

“5G will also bring innovation and

beyond supplying devices to integra-

progress to smart cities and the wider

tion and deployment.”

world of IoT,” he continues. “With its

While service is, naturally, a crucial

ultra-low latency, faster speeds and

element of that transformation it is,

new capabilities, it’s completely differ-

and continues to be, dominated by

ent to anything we’ve seen before,

innovations in relevant technology.

giving it the potential to transform the

Morse points to several key digital

way businesses operate, the way they

trends that are driving change across

engage, empower and communicate

the sector, including unified communi-

with their people and how they serve

cations and collaboration (UC&C)

their customers. The greater speed of

services, AI, the growth of voice

5G will let us do everything we do, but

assisted technology and extended

faster - it will improve communications

reality (see box out for more details).

Of course, much has also been made of the potential that lies in the rollout of 5G, particularly with regards to how it may change the way in which businesses and organisations are able to employ innovative technologies to their advantage. “It will play a vital role in progressing a number of services and solutions like video calls, where low latency will enable realtime, ultra-high definition calls that allow us to better read the emotion on our faces, or speak with a doctor in w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

37

TELECOMS

DIG I TA L T R A N S F O R M AT I O N I N T ELECO M S: K EY T REN DS According to Morse, there are several key trends dominating digital transformation in the industry: Unified Communications and Collaboration Services (UC&C): “While of key interest to many organisations as the natural progression of voice services I

38

predict that, as a result of COVID-19, we will see almost full adoption of UC&C solutions as the core business communication services.

We will build ‘remote first, desk second’ infrastrutures providing far greater f lexibility and security and I predict a major transformation and disruption of the current UC marketplace over the next two to five years.

AI: “Staying with the progress of UC&C, the introduction of AI into these solutions will drive incredible efficiencies, allowing a project or task owner to set task-specific requirements then let AI source the skills required, find the people with those skills, allocate the tasks within the project and track, monitor and chase up the tasks day to day.

J U LY 2 0 2 0

“As a member of a project your diary and day will be set around the task and actions you have in play; AI will schedule your day accordingly and prioritise the import and time sensitive tasks. As a project lead you will see a dashboard of the progress and inputs, seeing exactly who is inputting what and when, and where things are on track or falling behind. I see this having a positive impact on the gig/freelance economy too.”

Voice: “As voice assistance technology continues to improve, we will also likely see new services introduced in the consumer space, progressing home voice assistance solutions moving them from voice search assistants into personal assistance, learning more about our behaviours and patterns and making suggestions to support our day-to-day lives. Voice will also play an increasing role as more aspects of our lives are digitised - the need to reduce screen time will be important to our wellbeing and voice is an obvious alternative.”

XR – VR and AR – Extended Reality: “These technologies will now likely begin to take off for a couple of reasons. As a more remote, but better connected world, I foresee development of dedicated VR technologies beginning to increase, using UC&C solutions for the majority of communications day to day but then dropping into VR for a

Big Data: The power that data insight can offer is incredible and in my opinion is greatly underutilised. The O2 data sets gathers population movement and demographic data insight from over 25 million UK mobile users, the data is fully anonymised and aggregated, only using data at a crowd level data to understand patterns and trends, making it one of the most accurate and securest data sets in

focused project, such as a tour of a building or review of an engineering component. AR Glass technology will likely be re-introduced by one of the tech giants very soon - as we see the growth of multi-tasking consumption of media, glass is an obvious solution to enable. Couple it with voice technology and imagine watching a movie and saying out loud ‘what else was that actor in’ and an instant view in your peripheral vision shows you a

the UK. As an example, we’ve worked closely with a number of government departments and a wide range of pandemic research organisations during COVID-19 to provide critical data on the movement of people prior to lockdown and insight on overseas travel and visitors to the UK from countries with high cases of COVID. While it may only offer a small contribution to the wider situation we are incredibly proud to have supported the country, government and

list of the films they had appeared in.

citizens during this challenging time.

“In industry, the use cases are perhaps

Our work here will continue as we

more precise, with AR technology already present in utilities, where an field operative can see underground asset using AR and the screen of their phone. As the progress of smart cities and IoT solutions continues, AR will offer a wide range of opportunities.”

now support a number of clients in the business arena to understand the travel and movement of people in our post COVID new normal. This is a critical time for many organisations and data insight will be key in supporting their businesses. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

39

TELECOMS

where digital technology is progressing far beyond solving basic problems to bringing incredible change to our lives - even changing the course of our lives entirely.”

There are, he affirms, three key areas in which this change may be evidenced: the current, the mid-term and the long term. In the former, Morse points to the way in which technology has helped countless people to transition to a working from home environment and organisations to miti40

between remote workers, introduce

gate the impact that COVID-19 has

new possibilities such as 3D holo-

had. The same tools, he adds, have

graphic calls or augmented (AR) or

changed our personal lives too, as

virtual reality (VR) that educates and

video calls replace long days of travel-

informs in new and exciting ways, and

ling, allow us to still partake in gym

it will enable the creation of immersive

classes, learn new skills online or use

new experiences. It’s an exciting tech-

digital health technology far more

nology for our industry and has the

effectively and proactively in terms of

potential to deliver incredible transfor-

our lifestyle choices.

mation across several industries.”

The potential of new and innovative

In the mid term, Morse explains that “as AI technology progresses in man-

technologies like 5G should not be

aging projects and workflow tasks, we

understated. However, beyond the

will see the growth of the gig economy

impact to his and his customers’

and people will look to work for organ-

industries, Morse anticipates the

isations that provide output-based

potential transformation to be even

measures utilising technology to work

greater. “I think we are now at a point

more efficiently, or for a range of

J U LY 2 0 2 0

41

organisations at the same time. With a

shower and asking for your prefer-

longer term projection, Morse pre-

ence for dinner while simultaneously

dicts the rise of the ‘personal digital

reordering your food supplies,” he

assistant’, our very own digital organ-

explains. “The constant and exciting

iser that will pull together a wide range

part of this industry is changing and I

of digital services to support our lives.

know that to some this could sound a

“This could range from automati-

little far-fetched, but true innovation

cally setting your alarm clock based

occurs when technology solves a

on your day ahead, including booking

problem. After all, our lives are com-

your train or uber, through to a voice

plicated enough in the modern world

assistant talking you through your

- a little more digital assistance might

schedule as you take your morning

not be such a bad thing.” w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

42

Delivering Cambodia’s 5G digital transformation WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH

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PRODUCED BY

GLEN WHITE

43

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CELLCARD

Cellcard’s CEO, Ian Watson, discusses how the telecoms company is enabling a 5G-driven digitisation of Cambodia

D

igital technology and the greater use of data have irreversibly changed virtually every industry, and the telecoms sector

is no exception. Indeed, the advent of one specific innovation has forever changed the way that we communicate, bank, work and engage with the 44

world, as well as our expectations as consumers: the smartphone.

“The smartphone has become one of the most important tools in our lives,” shares Ian Watson, CEO of telecoms leader, Cellcard. “The smartphone is your connection to the digital world. It is the means to purchase items and pay bills, the vault which holds the data of your life via photographs and videos, an assistant which tells you where you need to be, and can act as the advisor of how to get there. It can measure your health and advise you on issues, and is the instrument which allows you to receive your correspondence and entertainment.”

Cellcard is at the forefront of telecommunications innovation and digital transformation. The business, which is fully Cambodian-owned and

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45

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CELLCARD

“ We view Cellcard as moving away from the traditional mobile network operator model to being a full digital life service provide” — Ian Watson, CEO, Cellcard 46

operated, is committed to providing access to mobile technology and connectivity to all Cambodians, regardless of their location. In doing so, it has risen to become the preeminent telecoms company in the Kingdom - it was the first to offer nationwide coverage and prepaid services in 1998, the first to provide a 3G network with streaming services in 2005 and, in 2010, the first to launch a mobile payments platform.

More recently, Cellcard is now the operator of Cambodia’s fastest 4G

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Cellcard: Big Love $8 = $2000 = 80GB CLICK TO WATCH

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0:45

47 network, with the Kingdom experi-

its own transformational journey. “We

encing a 36% growth in mobile data

view Cellcard as moving away from

subscribers since its launch.

the traditional mobile network opera-

In short, Cellcard sets the standard

tor model to being a full digital lifestyle

for telecoms innovation in Cambodia.

service provider,” he explains. “We’ll

With Watson at the helm, however, it

make sure that your device – whether

doesn’t rest on its laurels. The busi-

a handheld or wearable device - is

ness is currently dedicated to driving

truly connected to the world. It’s all

and leading Cambodia’s ongoing

part of a wider ecosystem that we’re

digitalisation through the develop-

building that we call our ‘walled gar-

ment and launch of the Kingdom’s

den’. When you’re in our garden you’ll

first 5G network. As Watson reveals

be able to access all the services you

during the course of our conversation,

need. It will be a great place to be

despite its technology-first approach,

that’s driven by the latest technology,

this has also seen Cellcard undergo

and you won’t want to leave.” w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

Building a Fully Connected, Intelligent World “Huawei, our key strategic partner has been working side-by-side with Cellcard on 4G projects within many key cities and provinces in 2019. With the support from Huawei’s high technology solution, we have completed the first real 5G trial test in Cambodia following the download speed that reached 1.6Gbps with lower latency rate at less than 10ms. Cellcard is confident in choosing Huawei to embrace digital life to every person, home and organization in Cambodia for an intelligent future with intelligent connections.”

Let’s Move Forward to a 5G Era

“ The smartphone connects you to the world” — Ian Watson, CEO, Cellcard The industry is changing rapidly, particularly in Cambodia. Watson explains that while this is in part driven by the evolution of technology, it is also a product of the broader change in the Kingdom. “It’s not the biggest that survive, it’s those that adapt the quickest. As we move into the digital world, it’s vital to be up to speed with those changes and all of the dynamic developments around 5G and other telecom innovations.

“The key driver of change, particularly in Cambodia, is the increasing appetite for large data,” he continues. “If you look at the history of the country, there has never been a fixed line infrastructure. Instead,

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

Ian Watson Ian Watson is recognised within the telecommunications community as one of the leading figures in relation to 5G and digital transformation having built a 30-year career in the industry across global markets. His most recent industry recognition was the 5G Asia People’s Choice Award for Operator CXO of the Year.

He has also gained significant exposure in the past year as the driving force behind one of the most aggressive 4G roll-outs in the SE Asian region, achieving for three years running both the Ookla and Opensignal Awards. His focus now is firmly set on driving the digitisation of Cambodia with early adoption of pre-5G and the introduction of 5G across the key segments of Consumer, Government and Corporate.

as we’ve moved into the digital age, Cambodians have gone straight to mobile broadband, mobile data and connectivity. At the same time, we w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

49

CELLCARD

C E L LC A R D : U S I N G 5 G T O C O M B AT C OV I D -1 9

50

In March Cellcard announced the Kingdom’s first use of 5G for a telemedicine service at four locations across Phnom Penh to help with critically ill patients.

Cellcard demonstrated 5G speeds of more than 1.6 gigabits per second, and installed the service at: • The Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital • The Chak Angre Health Center • Ministry of Health • Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications The initiative was led by Royal Group Chairman Neak Oknha Kith Meng in full cooperation with both Ministries. Watson says: “the Chairman of the company is Cambodian and his mantra is to support the digitalisation of Cambodia with the Royal Government. Cellcard will be the leading 5G digital network and will drive that vision.”

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Cellcard Chairman Kith Meng

5G live test

have a very young demographic

he explains. “It is for sure going to

– 60% of the Cambodian population

be a strong force in the global digital

is under 30 years of age. This is gen-

transformation, and a leading pro-

eration X. It’s people who want to be

ponent of the digital world. We, as a

connected, to be social, bank and shop

company, are very much part of that

through their devices, it’s an absolutely

journey culturally too.

modern lifestyle and we have to be sure we’re providing for that.”

Cambodian lifestyle and the cul-

“We pride ourselves on our Cambodian heritage; 99% of our employees are Cambodian,” Watson

ture that pervades throughout the

continues. “But you can’t be digital

Kingdom is important internally, too,

on the outside unless you’re digital

says Watson. Indeed, as the company

on the inside. As a result, and as part

navigates the rollout of 5G, he finds

of this journey to the 5G digitialsing of

the strong cultural aspect of Cellcard

Cambodia, we’re having to re-engineer

to be vital to progress. “One of the

and reprocess virtually the entire

things that attracted me to Cambodia

company from the top down. And it’s

is the culture, it’s so rich and diverse,”

not just about processes, it’s about people, having good digital change managers and a concerted effort to bring the whole company into the digital world.”

It is also, says Watson, about building and developing technology that is embedded in that Cambodian heritage. “For example, we’ve created a Cambodian Chat app called Mith Laor, which means ‘good friends’. The app includes a TV platform to host video and other content, a payment platform that sees us explore more w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

51

lifestyle-type services, and more.

completed, will see it “having built one

It’s all part of this broader end-to-end

of the best, most dynamic digital 5G

digital platform that we will deliver

platforms not only in Cambodia, but in

through the 5G rollout, and it all works

the world”, says Watson.

through a smartphone app. To ensure

Cellcard has several sites that it

this is best-in-class we’re already

has been running for some time as

looking to integrate other innovations,

part of that process. The company

such as AI, integrated voice assistants,

recently used its 5G infrastructure

chatbots and robotics”.

to provide an important service as

As to the implementation, Watson

part of Cambodia’s efforts to combat

explains that Cellcard’s network is pre-

the COVID-19 pandemic. In March it

5G enabled, with all 5G testing already

announced the Kingdom’s first use

being concluded some two years ago.

of 5G for a telemedicine service at

The company is currently working with

four locations across Phnom Penh

the government ministries on a test

to help with critically ill patients. The

and releasing spectrum that, once

service allowed doctors to use video

MONTH 2019

“ To have a dynamic 5G network it has to be accessible.

It must be fast and deliver everything that we promise” — Ian Watson, CEO, Cellcard

been helped and underpinned by our existing, superfast 4G network too, which remains the best performing in Cambodia.”

Naturally, any significant transformation journey brings challenges and a degree of change management. For example, says Watson, a company can’t digitalise if it doesn’t have the technology. Cellcard has invested significantly in its network to facilitate the rollout of 5G, but also in building a team of people with the correct mindset and ambition to drive the

conferencing technology linked to mobile phones and devices across

Kingdom’s digitalisation.

On the technologies that will enable

Cambodia to assess patients in real-

this, Watson explains that “to have

time. This extends to the provision

a dynamic 5G network it has to be

of real-time clinical care, counselling

accessible. It must be fast and deliver

and therapy, as well as education

everything that we promise. But it’s

for consultants and support for

not just about speed, it’s about under-

medical teams.

standing and incorporating all of the

“It’s part of what we are trying to do

new opportunities that can be gained

as we move into a full 5G environment,”

from a 5G world, so things like network

Watson explains. “We’re looking at

splicing, enhanced mobile capabilities

using the technology for remote diag-

and the Internet of Things. Second to

nostics in all provinces, to support

that, is ensuring you have the neces-

medical staff and for other diagnosis

sary platforms to deliver all of the

and treatment services such as rec-

products and services. This includes a

ognising cataracts and more. It’s all

robust cloud computing platform and w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

53

CELLCARD

54

“ 5G will underpin the true digital transformation of the Kingdom and we’re plugged in and ready to deliver on that vision” — Ian Watson, CEO, Cellcard J U LY 2 0 2 0

watertight cybersecurity practices.”

The latter, he explains, is crucial as networks and data grow. “In a true digital world, it won’t just be your handset that you should be concerned about, it’ll be every device in your home,” he states. “For organisations like us, it means the need to authenticate a large number of devices latching to the network, ensuring robust perimeter defences so that people can’t get into the network in the first instance and more. We invest huge

Looking ahead to a 5G-enabled Cambodia, Watson elaborates on the benefits that the technology will bring, not just to consumers but also the Kingdom’s enterprise economy. “The B2B market is, in my opinion, one of the biggest selling points of 5G,” he states.

“We’re already setting up a dedicated 5G digital enterprise department to focus solely on the B2B and SME sectors and we are investing heavily in data centres so that enterprises can manage and have access to the vast amounts of data that they will need.

“For Cambodia, the future is very exciting. It’s a young, dynamic county and it has huge potential that can amounts into our security protocols –

be realised by digitalisation. 5G will

we simply have to.”

underpin the true digital transforma-

For this, and other areas of technology,

tion of the Kingdom and we’re plugged

Watson states that partnerships prove

in and ready to deliver on that vision,”

important. A good technology partner,

he concludes.

he says, must fit Cellcard’s digital vision and be prepared to work towards the long-term ambitions of the company and the Kingdom. He cites a long-term partnership with Microsoft as a good example, through which Cellcard has access to the company’s video conferencing and other technologies. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

55

TECHNOLOGY

56

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HMD Global: flexibility and dynamism in customer logistics WRITTEN BY

MARCUS LAWRENCE

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

57

TECHNOLOGY

Noha Samara, Head of Customer Logistics (MENA), discusses how HMD Global’s revival of the Nokia phones brand is driven by robust logistics strategies

I

n 2016, a startup by the name of HMD Global acquired the Nokia phones licence from Microsoft, along with its mobile

assets, and since then the brand has enjoyed a marked resurgence. HMD Global’s investment strategy, coupled with strategic use of Nokia phones’ enduring reputation and the demand for 58

feature phones that hark back to its heyday, has seen rapid gains across the smartphone and feature phone markets.

In its first year, HMD’s approach to the mobile market and its insistence on disrupting the industry saw it achieve unicorn status, with over 50 offices worldwide and a partnership with Google that sees its handsets lead the charge with the latest Android OS iterations. Its offering is differentiated against the competition with a market-leading approach to handset aftercare, with the promise of years-long security and OS patches to ensure end users aren’t left behind in a fast-moving industry.

While HMD Global’s leadership in marketing, design, and offering development are the most outward-facing factors driving this brand growth,

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TECHNOLOGY

“ By changing nothing, nothing changes” — Noha Samara, Head of Customer Logistics (MENA), HMD Global

the behind-the-scenes operations are the glue holding the resurgent Nokia phones together. In the world of ecommerce and next-day deliveries, fulfilling customer orders in the most timely and efficient way possible is the backbone of any consumer brand growth. Not only is logistics responsible for delivering on customer purchasing, but also on the wider brand promise of reliability, performance, and customer-centricity.

Noha Samara, Head of Customer

60

Logistics for the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) region, leads the function in some of HMD Global’s most diverse and fast-moving markets.

Samara joined HMD Global at its inception, moving on from successful periods in the customer logistics wings of Microsoft and Procter and Gamble. Educated at Ain Shams University, Samara graduated in 2006 with a BSc in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, and in 2011 completed her MBA from The American University in Cairo. “I started my career with Procter and Gamble in manufacturing, and then I moved into the supply chain and fell in love J U LY 2 0 2 0

Nokia 8.3 5G - Elevate your creativity CLICK TO WATCH

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0:40

61 with it,” says Samara. “Within P&G

requirements that we see from dif-

I worked on several regional assign-

ferent countries and new regulations

ments on category, market and

that are always being put in place. This

demand planning. Afterwards, I moved

can definitely be a challenge, so we

to Microsoft where I led the MENA

work hand in hand with our partners

region before joining HMD Global.”

to leverage their capabilities and set

In her current role, Samara views the

up systems together where automa-

smooth operation of customer logis-

tion can play a role. We have set up

tics to be the beating heart of Nokia

a standardised global framework

phones’ brand growth, particularly

strategy that enables flexibility and

in territories where market share is

agility for the specific requirements

transient and hotly contested.

of each region. For example, there are

“The MENA region is dynamic, with

barriers to automation across custom-

lots of emerging markets,” Samara

ers and geographies, so we need to

explains. “It also has fast moving

be aware of the levels of flexibility and w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

TECHNOLOGY

62

capability available. To overcome

opportunities for increased efficiency.

the challenge, we jointly develop solu-

“In general, the region is being driven

tions with partners that marry both our

by emergent technologies such as

capabilities and that of our customers

augmented reality (AR) and artificial

to enable compatibility and synergy.�

intelligence (AI), along with innovative

This approach to ensuring each link

new solutions including blockchain

across the HMD-to-customer supply

and machine learning which are dis-

chain is consolidated by techno-

rupting the traditional supply chain

logical solutions that provide visibility,

model. We’ve been highly aware of this,

transparency, and the identification of

and I would say we have been some of

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

Noha Samara Title: Head of Customer Logistics (MENA and Turkey) Industry: Mobile Noha Samara is a seasoned supply chain professional with deep experience in supply chain transformation, category and initiatives planning, demand planning, and customer logistics.

She has a strong track record of leading and building up operations within both global MNCs as well as rising unicorn startups.

Noha has spent a large extent of her career in the FMCG sector; with the retail giant Procter & Gamble where she worked across diverse categories (Baby Care, Beauty Care and Luxury Cosmetics) before moving into the consumer electronics industry with Microsoft. She joined HMD Global in 2016 as the MENA Head of Customer Logistics and Supply Chain Director.

Noha has led several complex supply chain transformation projects throughout her diverse career.

She possesses great team leadership skills with a high level of discipline and rich experience in process improvement and standardisation.

Noha is an electronics engineer with an MBA from the American University in Cairo. She has published three case studies on operations management and corporate strategy.

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

63

TECHNOLOGY

“ We jointly develop solutions with partners that marry both our capabilities and those of our customers to enable compatibility and synergy” — Noha Samara, Head of Customer Logistics (MENA), HMD Global 64

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TECHNOLOGY

66

PARTN ERS

that HMD Global uses to oversee its

We build partnerships to last, constructed based on our partners’ capabilities.

We have a clear set of aligned and mutual KPIs, and we share our global objectives with partners regarding growth and expansion strategies.

We consider our partners as a driving force of our success. The more we grow, the more they also grow, so we have very strong relationships with our partners.

supply chain functions. With its wide

Noha Samara, Head of Customer Logistics (MENA), HMD Global

presence, both regionally and globally, and many shipping locations with varying lead times, HMD uses this control tower function in close conjunction with its partners to ensure on-time delivery. “Time to market and time to ramp up for our devices are vitally important in our industry, so we rely heavily on those relationships to support our focus and strategy,” continues Samara. “We have a clear set of aligned and mutual KPIs, and we share our global objectives with partners regarding growth and expansion strategies. We consider our partners as a driving force of our success. The more we grow, the more they also grow, so we have very strong relationships with our partners.”

This close cooperation provides

the first adopters of these new tech-

end-to-end visibility across the supply

nologies. We have implemented many

chain function, with digitisation boost-

of these across our supply chain opera-

ing flexibility in ever-changing market

tions, particularly in terms of Big Data

situations. HMD’s distributors benefit

management and analytics, automation

from an online supply chain portal that

and AI.”

provides accurate real-time informa-

Each of these developments feed

tion, flagging areas of inefficiency and

into a ‘control tower’ organisation

clarifying areas to target strategically.

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“ The more we grow, the more they also grow, so we have very strong relationships with our partners” — Noha Samara, Head of Customer Logistics (MENA), HMD Global w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

TECHNOLOGY

68

“ The MENA region is dynamic, with lots of emerging markets. It also has fast moving requirements that we see from different countries and new regulations that are always being put in place” — Noha Samara, Head of Customer Logistics (MENA), HMD Global J U LY 2 0 2 0

combined with bi-weekly leadership meetings focused on innovation and efficiency; the sum is an organisation that is flexible and able to rapidly react to shifting market conditions and fluctuations in demand.

“By changing nothing, nothing changes,” Samara concludes, and HMD Global is committed to this principle. Reinstating Nokia phones at the forefront of the mobile conversation has required a focus on challenging the current status quo, seeking areas to innovate and move fast in ever-evolving markets where customer demand for the latest and greatest is a constant. Nokia phones is on the rise, and it is clear that HMD Global’s robust approach to supply chain management and logistics across its operations is a vital and effective driver of this return to prominence.

The dynamism of MENA markets, and the four-to-six month lifecycle of each handset, is addressed by both this cutting-edge approach to visibility and HMD’s hands-on approach to demand forecasting and preparation. Weekly demand forecasting is w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

69

IOT MOBILE

IoT: driving transformatio in mobile 70

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on 71

WRITTEN BY

HARRY MENE AR

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

IOT MOBILE

How is IoT innovation changing the mobile sector and what are the key trends driving digital disruption?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is radically redefining connectivity on a global scale. IoT technology is permeating new industries and markets at an incred72

ible speed. Experts estimate that, by the end of 2020, there will be more than 31 billion IoT devices connected to the internet, and 127 new ones are being connected every second. This staggering growth is affecting every industry vertical in every market, as more and more companies begin to reach a mature relationship with the technology. IoT spending is also growing massively. In 2016, global IoT spending totalled $737bn. In 2020, that figure is expected to reach $1.29trn.

In short, IoT technology is the process of connecting physical things (everything from cars and home appliances to barometric pressure sensors and parking meters) to the internet. The technology allows for massively increased data gathering capabilities, greater transparency, and facilitates more computing to take place nearer to the edge of networks.

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w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

Between hope and possible there’s a bridge.

There from the beginning to where we stand today. And to where we will go from here. One company. One promise.

If you can imagine it, we will build the bridge to get you there.

The Content Supply Chain CLICK TO WATCH

|

11:34

75 The IoT revolution is expected to have

As IoT saturation grows, and its

significant and transformative implica-

applications become more sophisti-

tions for the mobile device and software

cated, the implications for the future

markets, particularly as cellular IoT gains

of the mobile hardware and application

traction. This year alone, 3.5 billion cellular

development space are only going to

IoT connections will be installed. The

become more profound.

technology involves connecting physical

“Smartphone... technologies such as

devices to the internet by piggybacking

built-in sensors, Bluetooth, radio-fre-

on mobile networks. The combination of

quency identification (RFID) tracking,

existing cellular infrastructure, the

and near-field communications (NFC)

ability for mobile networks to bring IoT

allow it to be an integral part of IoT and

capability to remote areas, and the

IoE world as the most-used device in

application of new communications

these environments,� wrote Mehdia

technology like 5G has led to this being

Ajana El Khaddar and Mohammed

one of the biggest growth areas for IoT.

Boulmalf in the InTechOpen journal. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

IOT MOBILE

Here, we consider the trends shaping the ongoing relationship between mobile and IoT, and examine the industry-wide transformation this new technology is driving.

OMNI UI POWERED BY IOT Omni UI is a growing trend in the smart home, marketing and retail sectors, and is integrally linked to an IoT-powered future. To fully understand this trend, it’s helpful to take a look at the one that came before it.

76

Back in 2015, Andy Goodman, a group director at the digital marketing

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“ The IoT omnichannel evolution is here and it’s gaining traction quickly” — Ketan Karia, head of IoT Practice at Ness Digital Engineering

company Fjord, gave a talk on the future of advertising. He painted a picture of a world where human interaction with technology would move beyond the inhibitions of screens and physical interactions.

Instead, we would make an almost universal transition to haptic, audio and ambient interfaces. In short, a Zero UI world.

In a way, this bold prediction came true. Between 2017 and 2019, smart speaker ownership in the US grew by more than 135%, and today an estimatw w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

IOT MOBILE

“ Billions of people around the world use smartphones... It makes sense that mobile apps are the preferred channel for accessing IoT” — IoT For All

the screen. Why it’s important to remember the Zero UI craze is the context it created for the trend that rose in its opposition. In an interview conducted last year, Andrew Dunbar, general manager, EMEA at digital consultancy Appnovation, spoke to me about the emerging trend of Omni UI. “It’s not about having no visible user interface; it’s about having everything become an interface,” he explained.

Omni UI describes the ongoing

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ed 200 million smart speakers have

transformation by which proliferating

been sold. Beyond power and volume

smart devices turn every element of

controls (both of which can also be

automobiles, smart homes and cities,

operated via speech commands), these

and virtually every other element of

devices have no physical, tactile UI.

modern life into interface points for the

However, we’re half a decade

user. In an article he wrote for Informa-

removed from Goodman’s prophecy of

tion Age, Dunbar adds that “one of the

a Zero UI world and, with the exception

most intriguing aspects of the debate is

of some niche areas, our relationship

where the interface no longer involves

with technology is still firmly rooted in

the consumer directly. A combination of

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79 IoT and AI are opening up the possibility

day. Therefore, it makes sense that

that ‘commoditised’ decisions might be

mobile apps are the preferred

made for us by machines.” According to

channel for accessing IoT,” posited a

Ketan Karia, head of IoT Practice at

recent report by IoT For All.

Ness Digital Engineering, “the IoT

Accessing IoT solutions via mobile

omnichannel evolution is here, and it’s

apps is a logical development, since

gaining traction quickly.”

mobile app development is inexpen-

IoT technology (combined with AI)

sive, which makes the IoT increas-

is the backbone of this trend, and

ingly accessible through mobile

mobile devices are increasingly

channels. Data gathered from IoT

taking on the role of a universal

sensors can be efficiently managed

remote control, as well as an informa-

and monitored through mobile

tion portal. “Billions of people around

devices, and mobile applications are

the world use smartphones, and that

playing a significant role in support-

number is increasing rapidly every

ing the growth of the Omni UI. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

IOT MOBILE

The cell phone is already the most

in delivering IoT services in remote or

powerful data-gathering tool for

challenging environments, and in

companies looking to understand their

contexts where building dedicated IoT

customers. Cell phones track our

networks is cost-prohibitive. “With the

locations and browsing habits, contain

progressive rise of IoT devices and

more personal information than any

the pervasiveness of cloud-based

filing cabinet or physical storeroom, and

platforms and 5G deployment, cellular

are an essential tool in companies’

IoT connectivity will become a leading

quest to anticipate and adapt to the

technology within the next few years,”

needs of their client base. The prolifera-

said Lars Wemme, head of IoT

tion of IoT devices and their symbiosis

Security at Infineon’s Digital Security

with mobile technology is creating

Solutions division, in a recent state-

wealths of new data in real time.

ment. The ability to gather, analyse

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and process data beyond the reach of

CELLULAR IOT

fibre optic networks has massive

As mentioned above, cellular net-

potential for the agricultural, smart

works are set to play a significant role

city and medical industries.

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Simplified Logistics through Hardware Based Security | Infineon CLICK TO WATCH

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“ Cellular IoT connectivity will become a leading technology within the next few years” — Lars Wemme, head of IoT Security, Infineon

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IOT MOBILE

AT&T: The Company Behind the Telephone CLICK TO WATCH

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BLUES WIRELESS AND AT&T HARNESS THE POWER OF CELLULAR IOT Blues Wireless aims to increase the

network to offer a device that

connectivity between people and

combines prepaid cellular connectiv-

businesses using cellular IoT solu-

ity, low-power hardware design,

tions. The Seattle-based startup,

simple software design, and secure

which was founded in 2018 produces

communications into a single solution.

The Notecard. Currently in beta, the

“Our low-power wide-area networks

product is a simple, cost-effective

over LTE are built for IoT, delivering

and embeddable, mobile IoT solution

better indoor coverage, longer battery

for cloud-based monitoring and

life and other efficiencies. Notecard will

connected operations. AT&T is

make it easy and economical for our

collaborating with Blues Wireless on

business customers to put IoT solutions

the project, and the companies are

to work,” commented John Donovan,

hoping to use the telecom giant’s

CEO of AT&T Communications.

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VODAFONE: CELLULAR IOT IN CONSERVATION In order to protect endangered and

and monitor wild animals has long

threatened species, conservationists

been a problem.

need to fully understand behaviour of

Telecommunications giant Vodafone

those species, and which habitats are

is currently working with the SMRU as

key to their survival. Over the past few

part of its project to bring cutting-edge

decades, Scottish harbour seals have

connectivity to conservation efforts

seen a dangerous drop in population,

around the world. “We were the first

declining by as much as 90%.

people to put a telemetry tag on a seal

The Sea Mammal Research Unit

back in the mid-80s,” explains Bernie

(SMRU) is working to understand the

McConnell – Deputy Director of the

environmental factors that are

SMRU. “You stick it to the seal and it’ll

harming the seal population, but

tell you where it’s going and how far it’s

finding non-invasive ways to track

diving. The problem with that satellite-

“ Our low-power wide-area networks over LTE are built for IoT, delivering better indoor coverage, longer battery life and other efficiencies” — John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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IOT MOBILE

Vodafone Powers the Internet of Things CLICK TO WATCH

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84 based system though, is that we were

coverage improvements, which will

only getting the tip of the iceberg in

enable the SMRU to track the move-

terms of the data that was being

ment of seals far out to sea.

collected – we could only see an approximation of where the seals were

DOING MORE AT THE EDGE

once or twice a day.�

The ability for IoT devices to perform

Now, Vodafone is providing the

computing tasks at the edge of

SMRU with access to its open lab in

networks goes a long way towards

Newbury, England, so it can test new

solving one of the biggest problems

low power wide area (LPWA) technolo-

associated with centralised cloud

gies, which have the potential to allow

architecture. While centralised cloud

connected devices to have a far greater

architecture will continue to have a

battery life than those reliant on

place in networks for a very long time,

conventional cellular technologies.

in situations where vast quantities of

LPWA networks also deliver significant

data are being sent back and forth,

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they create lag. By using mobile

the world, as explored above, are going

devices to process the data gathered

to see their businesses affected in a

from IoT sensors at the edge of

number of ways. Cellular IoT is an area

networks, IoT powered edge comput-

with huge potential for growth, and

ing can reduce delays and even

takes advantage of mobile providers’

improve security.

extant infrastructure. Also, smart-

In addition to functions like business

phones are increasingly going to be

alerts, security monitoring and data

the linchpins of IoT networks, as they

gathering, the combination of edge

come to function as controllers for

computing IoT and cellular networks’

more and more devices, as well as

ability to move the IoT into more and

fundamental drivers of edge comput-

more hostile locations means that

ing solutions. IoT applications are

increasingly complex tasks can be

increasingly being developed for

accomplished more quickly in increas-

mobile, due to both ease and the

ingly diverse environments.

necessity of having flexible access to architectures that were designed to

CHANGE IN THE AIR

promote flexibility in the first place. The

The IoT evolution isn’t going anywhere

future of IoT is mobile, and a significant

but forward. Mobile operators around

portion of the future of mobile is the IoT.

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Mobile brands WRITTEN BY

HARRY MENEAR 86

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T O P 10 | M O B I L E B R A N D S

MOBILE MAGAZINE TAKES A LOOK AT THE 10 MOST IMPACTFUL BRANDS IN THE MOBILE SPACE “An iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator,” said Steve Jobs, standing on a plain black stage at the 2007 Macworld conference. “Are 88

you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device.” Although technically the title of first smartphone is held by the IBM Simon Personal Communicator, which hit the market as early as November 1992, the first generation iPhone is commonly held up as the flashpoint for the smartphone age. While it looks rudimentary in comparison with today’s flagship devices (it only had a 2-megapixel camera, a 3.5 inch screen and a mere 128MB of DRAM) the iPhone laid the foundations for almost every successive generation of smartphone. Along with Alexander Graham Bell’s (or Antonio Meucci, if you believe his patent claim) telephone and ARPANET, the smartphone is unquestionably one of the most impactful inventions of the past hundred years.

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T O P 10 | M O B I L E B R A N D S

From personal finance and ERP applications to gaming and social

ing power and storage are also being

media, the modern smartphone is

overcome by the integration of cloud

capable of routinely performing tasks

technologies. This has the potential

that would have been out of reach

to particularly impact the gaming

for the average personal computer

space, as companies like Google

even a decade ago. As users’ digital

Stadia and Vortex allow users to ac-

presences become increasingly inte-

cess the power of next-generation

grated, and IoT further interconnects

entertainment consoles through their

everything from smart home appli-

mobile connections.

ances to vehicles, the smartphone

90

places on capabilities like process-

Today, almost 4bn people use a

is becoming more and more of a

smartphone on a daily basis. The

universal remote control. The physi-

global smartphone market was val-

cal limitations that a cell phone’s size

ued at just under US$715bn last year, and is expected to exceed $1.3trn by 2025. While the global COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cause smartphone sales to decline by about 2.3% this year, (according to Gartner, global smartphone sales fell by a full 20% in the first quarter of 2020) a

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Steve Jobs Unveils The Original iPhone – Macworld San Francisco 2007 CLICK TO WATCH

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91 global trend of accelerated launches

However, the majority of cell phones

for new devices, innovations like the

around the world are powered by

foldable touchscreen, and the ongo-

Google’s Android operating system,

ing launch of 5G are expected to ac-

which accounted for approximately

celerate growth beyond 6% in 2021.

72% of the market at the end of 2019.

Pitched firmly at the premium

The remaining market share is divided

band of mobile devices, and limited

more or less evenly between Samsung

exclusively to Apple manufactured

(although the Korean tech giant primar-

products, the iOS operating system

ily runs Android on its devices), KaiOS,

maintains an approximate market

Windows and Series 40. By 2022,

share of around 25%. Currently, Ap-

Android is predicted to accumulate

ple iOS is seeing heaviest penetra-

even more of the global market share

tion in wealthier markets. In the UK,

of devices, reaching 87% adoption.

for example, iOS has captured about 50% of the market share.

Over the 13 years since Jobs unveiled the original iPhone, smartw w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

T O P 10 | M O B I L E B R A N D S

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phone manufacturers have become some of the premier consumer technology companies around the world.

Currently, the smartphone market is experiencing something of a midrange drought. Incredibly high-tech 5G, foldable, cloud-integrated devices are coming out at the upper end of the market, and the last few years have seen budget smartphones make dramatic leaps in quality, but there’s still a disconnect between these two market extremes. Also, some of the world’s biggest mobile manufacturers have had their efforts hampered by more than COVID-19.

Sony exited multiple smartphone markets in 2019, and Huawei continues to find itself hobbled by trade disputes and government sanctions.

Is the industry on the verge of a serious shake up? Or will the next decade see top players like Apple and Samsung consolidate their grip on the lion’s share of the market. From established titans to unexpected challengers, in this article, Mobile World breaks down the top 10 mobile brands from around the world, as of this year. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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T O P 10

10

Nokia

CEO: PEKKA LUNDMARK [HQ: FINLAND]

The oldest phone-affiliated brand in the world, Nokia can trace its roots back to a paper pulp mill in then-Russian-occupied Finland in the mid1860s. The Finnish brand was one of the earliest entries to the mobile phone business - following the divestiture of its television, tire, footwear and paper manufacturing business units at the end of the 80s - and its products have an enduring reputation for being nigh indestructible. Following a series of financial struggles - driven largely by Apple’s domination of the premium smartphone market in the early 2010s - the Nokia brand was sold to Microsoft in 2014. Two years later, HMD Global bought it back and has manufactured phones under the Nokia brand ever since. Once 94

the largest phone company in the world, the Finnish legacy player now pitches itself at the budget to mid-range market, with an emphasis on innovative camera design. After more than a decade of rocky terrain, the veteran brand appears to be on its way back to a secure market niche.

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09 09

Oppo

CEO: TONY CHEN [HQ: CHINA] 95

Founded in 2001, Oppo Mobile Telecommunications is part of the BBK Electronics Corporation, alongside fellow smartphone manufacturers OnePlus, Vivo and Realme. Oppo currently operates in more than 40 countries and regions, with over 400,000 sales outlets worldwide.

The company’s market impact peaked in 2016 when, to many people’s surprise, it made its way into the world’s five largest smartphone manufacturers. Unlike many smartphone manufacturers, Oppo’s marketing and sales strategy revolves around brick and mortar retail. In its busiest year, 2016, only 5% of its unit sales came through online channels. Last year, in combination with its fellow subsidiary Vivo, Oppo’s sales grew by 67% in the Indian market - one of the world’s biggest growth areas for mobile sales. Pitching its product range between Vivo’s budget offerings and Huawei’s premium products, Oppo’s phones stand out for their combination of reasonable price points and flagship-quality cameras.

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SERIOUS COMMITMENT IN PROJECTS AND SCHEDULES Telefuusio Ltd (part of Instalco concern) is a responsible-minded contractor specialized in telecommunications network (SCS) and audio-visual systems installation service (AV). We look after providing our customers with long-lasting telecommunications solutions. At the same, we take an active stand in regard to design errors, in case they occur during a project.

Area of operation: We operate throughout and, if needed, outside Finland.

www.telefuusio.fi info@telefuusio.fi +358 45 133 0881

08

08

Xiaomi

CEO: LEI JUN [HQ: CHINA]

Founded in 2010, the Xiaomi Corporation is one of the world’s largest smartphone producers, with massive penetration into the Chinese and Asian markets. The company has more than 213 million devices connected to its network, contributing to its status as the largest IoT platform operator in the world. Xiaomi became the world’s youngest Fortune 500 company in 2019, ranking 468th. Currently, Xiaomi products are sold in more than 90 countries, and is the biggest mobile brand in the Indian market, although the business’ penetration into US markets hasn’t taken off as promised. Its flagship phone, the Mi 10 Pro, is 5G capable and boasts a quad camera setup with 8K video capability.

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T O P 10

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07

ZTE

07

CEO: XU ZIYANG [HQ: SHENZHEN, CHINA]

As well as handheld cell devices, Chinese communications and technology giant is a globally respected provider of enterprise solutions and carrier networks, and an emergent leader in the 5G space. It has one of the most extensive networks of business verticals of any telco. The company was founded in 1985 and today employs almost 70,000 people, as well as managing more than $20bn in assets. The company has unquestionably slowed its device production since last year’s more or less blanket ban on Chinese telcos in the US market. However, its new flagship phone, the Axon 11 SE will be the first 5G phone to support all four carriers in the Chinese market, following the belated launch of China Broadcasting Network’s 5G capabilities earlier this year.

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OnePlus

CEO: PETE LAU [HQ: SHENZHEN, CHINA]

OnePlus was founded in 2013 and, along with Vivo and Oppo, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BKK Electronics Corporation. The company’s original team cites a perceived stagnation in smartphone design as the impetus for creating their company. Over the following years, the company established a reputation for including flagship features in midrange priced phones. Last year, the industry-leading features packed into its OnePlus 7 Pro handset lived up to the company’s self-styled identity as a “flagship killer”, and this year the OnePLus 8 Pro’ walked away ahead of Apple and Samsung with the T3 Awards 2020’s Best Phone award. The company doesn’t just put existing premium features in affordable packages; OnePlus’ Concept One handset is the first to use colour-shifting glass technology to create an “invisible camera.”

Last year, OnePlus’ sales exceeded $1.9bn, and has achieved better US market penetration than any other Chinese smartphone manufacturer.

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05

05

Motorola

PRESIDENT: RSERGIO BUNIAC [HQ: USA]

Another legacy player in the mobile space, Motorola was founded as a telecommunications company back in 1928. In the 2000s, the company made some of the most iconic mobile devices of the decade - most recognisable among them being the Razr. Today, the Motorola brand trades as Motorola Mobility and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lenovo. The company’s phones had faded in relevance somewhat over the past decade - faced by increasingly fierce competition from the Chinese market. Last year, however, the company made a big splash with an innovative reimagining of its Razr flip phone that incorporates a folding touch screen. While the Samsung Galaxy Fold and several offerings by Chinese manufacturers also boast folding capabilities, the Razr’s iconic aesthetic, mixed with leading edge technology has made the company a potential one to watch this decade.

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T O P 10

04

Huawei

CEO: REN ZHENGFEI [HQ: CHINA]

For a while in 2018, Huawei looked set to simultaneously become a consumer technology company to rival Apple and Samsung, as well as an enterprise technology firm on par with IBM and SAP. However, following a string of scandals and international sanctions in 2019, Huawei remains locked out of some of the world’s most profitable markets. As a result, other Chinese challenger firms have filled out the domestic market, and rarities like OnePlus have snapped up shares abroad. On the technology side of things, Huawei has begun licensing its intellectual property to foreign companies, rather than building and selling the technology itself. In the Chinese market, Huawei’s phones 102

are still the industry-defining flagship products. Its P40 Pro Plus device has one of the best camera suites to ever be put in a phone, and is one of three 5G devices the company has released this year.

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03

03

Google

CEO: SUNDAR PICHAI [HQ: UNITED STATES]

As one of the premier software manufacturers in the world, Google’s relationship with consumer hardware has been relatively patchy.

Its Android technology (the beta for the 11th version of which was released in June) is the most prevalent operating system for mobile devices in the world. However, with 2019 sales of its Pixel phones falling short of 8mn units, its efforts are dwarfed by other major cell phone manufacturers. Despite this, Google is turning out some of the most aesthetically pleasing and unique phone offerings on the market, and the fact that the company’s portfolio is so diversified means that its mobile devices can stay pitched firmly at the premium and flagship range of the market. The Pixel 4 released last year and was well received. The Pixel 5 is expected to drop in late 2020 and is expected to sacrifice a top of the line processor for a lower price tag.

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T H E D I G I TA L D ATA C E N T R E C O M M U N I T Y

POWERED BY

COMING SOON FIND OUT MORE

T O P 10

02 Apple

CEO: TIM COOK [HQ: UNITED STATES] The creator of the modern smartphone, Apple’s products have always occupied a unique position within the mobile market. Apple’s latest release, the iPhone 11, has reportedly solved the battery issues and design quirks that plagued former models and, in comparison to Huawei’s P40 Pro

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Plus and Samsung’s S20, it’s more reasonably priced. While the iPhone 11 lacks 5G capability, it was revealed earlier this year that the 2020 models going into production this July will be 5G ready. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are both expected to hit stores in September, and will see Apple switch out its traditional LED displays for OLED, which is fast becoming the industry standard for high-end devices.

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Shot on iPhone 11 Pro — Lady Gaga — Apple CLICK TO WATCH

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T O P 10

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01 Galaxy S20 Ultra: Revolutionary Camera.

5G Ready.

CLICK TO WATCH

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0:30

01 Samsung

CEO: KIM KI NAM R [HQ: SOUTH KOREA] The world’s biggest electronics company, Samsung was founded in Seoul in 1938 and today manufactures everything from consumer electronics to life insurance and housing. Samsung Electronics has assembly plants and sales networks in 80 countries and employs around 308,745 people. In 2019, the company reported sales just shy of $198bn in 2019. The company has firmly established itself as an innovator and market leader when it comes to cell phones. The Samsung Galaxy Fold, which released last year, was among the first viable folding smartphones, and the Samsung S20 is the leading 5G flagship phone on the market today. In Q1 2020, Samsung dominated the US 5G smartphone market, with a 94% share of sales.

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The intelligent enterprise driven by 5G WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY

GLEN WHITE

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SAP SE

Frank Wilde, Vice President Global Center of Excellence at SAP, on the power of 5G and data to enable digital change in organisations “

W

ith 5G, our business technology platform and our IoT capabilities, we can fundamentally change how our custom-

ers operate and go to market, it’s an exciting prospect and represents a step function change for enterprises,” says Frank Wilde, Vice President 112

of the Global Center of Excellence (CoE) at SAP. Wilde is a seasoned technology leader responsible for driving innovation with SAP’s customers using the latest technologies to digitally transform, create enhanced customer experience as well as unlock new revenue streams.

Given such an approach, Wilde and his Global CoE colleagues work closely with customers to use data and technology effectively, to think outside the box and to innovate in a customer-centric fashion.

“We help them think differently about SAP, and think differently about technology,” he explains. “We take a data-driven approach, in doing so we bring a team of data scientists and platform architects, and we help the customer think about their data differently. It’s like a test-drive - we’re not simply driven by a particular technology, for example. Rather, we J U LY 2 0 2 0

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SAP SE

“ It’s a level of intelligence and responsiveness that we can bring to life that we haven’t been able to do before” — Frank Wilde, Vice President, SAP

show how responsive our platforms and technologies can be, how rapidly we can change their business models, and demonstrate how exciting the possibilities are. Mentally, we really change the dynamic.”

Central to this work with customers is a blue sky approach to innovation that runs through SAP, and is a particular passion for Wilde. “It’s the centerpiece of how we’re able to instigate change,” he explains.

“Whatever the size of the customer

114

or the project, we work closely and collaboratively to drive success. I love solving problems - we all do - and working together on the strategy, the process and technology. An example is work we recently launched with Duke University in North Carolina.

They asked for our help to innovate, and when we sat down together they were unaware of our offerings and had little idea we could support data science and analytics, or that we used a platform-based approach to support innovation. And that’s where open and honest conversations are crucial.

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SAP 5G and Edge Services Tech CLICK TO WATCH

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115 what is available, so that collaborative

- in its most basic form - is like Lego

approach we utilise is key.”

blocks. We can create new busi-

Change is an underlying driver of

nesses or concepts in a very short

our CoE’s work, in particular helping

period of time with predefined and

organisations to better understand

pre-built services, or microservices.

technology so as to navigate a suc-

“The acceleration of moving from

cessful digital transformation. “We

a mainframe environment to being on

now have the ability for business

the cusp of edge services and edge

models on demand to come to life,”

computing, makes it exciting when

Wilde says. “Look at an Uber or a

you can weave together the fabric of a

Lyft, and you’ll see the shift towards

company in short order,” he continues.

a platform-based approach opposed

“You just have to look at the Fortune

to relying on a dedicated application

500 as an example; a third of those

or system to influence change. We

businesses are slated to disappear

base our work around a platform that

from that list in five to seven years w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

5G

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SAP SE

SAP Where to Start Tech CLICK TO WATCH

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- there’s a rapid escalation of new busi-

it forms a powerful proposition that

ness models coming to life enabled by

can bring new technologies and busi-

technology, and it’s really the key trend

ness models to life.” This proposition

that’s dominating right now.”

is the result of a partnership between

In terms of technology, Wilde and

SAP and Verizon that was announced

SAP drive customers to innovate

in October of 2019. The collaboration

and use technology in a customer-

sees Verizon’s network and platform

centric way. To do this, he explains,

capabilities married with SAP’s soft-

the company leverages its 49 years

ware and services.

of experience. “It lets us look at our

Through this work, customers are

customers through a unique lens,” he

able to benefit from new technologies

states. “When you marry data man-

such as 5G, software-defined net-

agement, analytics, and digital supply

working, and Verizon’s Intelligent Edge

chain services into a holistic platform,

Network capabilities. The former is an

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“ With 5G, our business technology platform and our IoT capabilities, we can fundamentally change how our customers operate and go to market” — Frank Wilde, Vice President, SAP

exciting proposition for both Wilde and SAP. SAP launched its 5G Council in 2018, for example, as a cross-industry collaborative council of SAP customers to better understand the changes necessary to adopt 5G. “5G represents a step function change in terms of capability, it’s like jumping from a bicycle to a race car,” says Wilde. “You’re able to pull together various aspects - data, AI, machine learning and edge services - and build a true hub and platform for innovation. The 5G Council represents a 5G

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

Frank Wilde Title: Vice President Company: SAP SE Industry: Software Location: San Francisco Bay Area Frank Wilde leads data and data science innovation focused on telecom & high tech as a Vice President for SAP’s Global Center of Excellence. In this role, Frank’s teams of data scientists and platform architects spark innovative thinking with SAP’s customers through a combination of data science and design thinking.

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Throughout history, there have always been problems.

No one likes them.

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“ We can create new businesses or concepts in a very short period of time with predefined and pre-built services, or microservices” — Frank Wilde, Vice President, SAP

on an Industry 4.0 approach for several manufacturers whereby we have created a 5G environment that can support innovations like autonomous vehicles, augmented reality technology that allows work to be digitally tracked as it flows through the shop floor, and so on.

“Similarly, there’s huge potential in the retail sector,” he continues. “For example, 5G gives us the ability to use video analytics at scale as well as mixed

ecosystem comprising our custom-

reality to scan product contents or

ers, partners and companies such as

look for drug interactions; you can also

Verizon and Ericsson, that addresses

introduce autonomous checkout and

new business models and monetisation strategies. Also, we have worked closely with Deloitte Consulting LLP to create 5G ‘playbooks’ that show what can be brought to life with the power of 5G in specific industries such as retail, manufacturing and oil & gas.”

The technology may still be in its relative early stages, but Wilde sees enormous potential to fundamentally change how businesses approach innovation. In particular, he explains, private deployment of 5G will likely gain significant traction over the next few years. “You look at manufacturing, for example,” Wilde says. “We’ve worked w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

121

SAP SE

“ Where current wireless networks enable a 2D world, 5G and edge computing coupled with SAP’s software platform enable 3D, immersive experiences for consumers and employees” — Frank Wilde, Vice President, SAP

122

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other innovations. As I said, 5G forms an entirely new platform upon which we can adopt these technologies for each customer and sector across the value chain. It really is an exciting prospect in terms of transforming business.”

Where that prospect becomes truly innovative, relates Wilde, is when 5G is coupled with edge services. “If I can have the processing occur on an IoT sensor or on a vehicle, then I can create a new experience or service,” he explains, “which means you remove any delays, any latency. It’s a level of intelligence and responsiveness that we can bring to life that we haven’t been able to do before. There are productivity changes there, too - you remove that complexity from the shop floor and change the experiences and effectiveness of workers and you immediately improve output. You’re going to see significant change over the next five to eight years as 5G rolls out, so we are bullish on our predictions in that regard.”

Of course, many of the approaches to business and digital strategies have been disrupted as a result of the COVID19 pandemic. While the impact of a shift to remote working has been felt by many w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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SAP SE

SAP Centre of Intelligence Tech CLICK TO WATCH

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1:31

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“ 5G represents a stepchange in terms of function and capability; it’s like jumping from a bicycle to a race car” — Frank Wilde, Vice President, SAP

industries worldwide, from a technology perspective there is a general sentiment that such a shift will focus many organisations on technology adoption.

For Wilde, 5G and its associated technologies could play a significant role in a post-COVID environment. “It offers a significant opportunity, particularly on the retail side to remove contact or friction from the experience. So, you could introduce technology that shows optimised routes through a store based on previous shopping trips, or mixed reality

J U LY 2 0 2 0

1972

Year founded

$28bn+ Revenue in US dollars

101,150 Number of employees

technology that lets you identify the

36 months you’re going to see a water-

contents of products with an immersive,

shed moment for 5G,” he states. “If I

3D experience. Upon that is the capabil-

look to 2021-22, when customers are

ity to build AI and chatbots, or a level of

able to visualise the proof points we

dynamic content that satisfies consumer

have put in place and the potential of

needs without requiring face to face

edge services, data management and

interaction with a store’s employees.”

5G woven together, then I see a strong

While no one is able to fully predict the ‘new normal’ we face, when it

case for why they should all have it high on their agenda ”

comes to 5G Wilde feels that SAP is well placed in rolling out the technology and working with customers to remain ahead of the curve. “In the next w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

125

126

J U LY 2 0 2 0

Inside Digital Realty’s strategy for an agile, interconnected world WRITTEN BY

HARRY MENEAR PRODUCED BY

TOM VENTURO

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

127

D I G I TA L R E A LT Y

Tony Bishop and Corey Dyer of Digital Realty discuss the data centre giant’s ongoing efforts to offer hyper-personalised data centre services from the single rack to the hyperscale

T

he global business landscape is experiencing a sea change. This transformation is permeating every industry

and market, seeing enterprises in the public and 128

private sectors swept along by a rising tide of demand for interconnected digital services. The ongoing transformation of the global economy is increasing the need for a wider array of digital infrastructure solutions, and is driving a seismic evolution on a global scale. “We’re the best positioned in the industry to address the broadest range of requirements. We build, design and operate some of the most highly interconnected data centres in the world,” says Corey Dyer, EVP of Global Sales and Marketing for Digital Realty.

Arriving at Digital Realty in January 2019, Dyer can look back on a year of continued growth and strategic success. Now, he and the rest of Digital Realty are looking forward, as the company embarks on the next phase of its digital transformation voyage.

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2004

Year founded

$3bn+ Approximate revenue

1,500

Approximate number of employees 129

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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Founded in 2004, Digital Realty supports the digital infrastructure needs of more than 2,000 companies across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, with industry-leading data centre, colocation and interconnection services. Being uniquely positioned as the largest provider of data centre and digital infrastructure solutions worldwide gives Digital Realty the opportunity to not only navigate the tides of change, but also direct them to help create even more value for its customers.

“The digital economy is remaking

“ The digital economy is remaking both private and public enterprises across all industries, transforming how they create and deliver value” — Tony Bishop, SVP, Platform and Ecosystem Strategy

both private and public enterprises across all industries, transforming how they create and deliver value,” says Tony Bishop, SVP of Platform and Ecosystem Strategy at Digital Realty. Now more than ever, Bishop believes, companies need to operate ubiquitously, providing on-demand services to customers, partners and employees enabled by intelligent analytics. “Companies are being forced to re-architect their IT towards a decentralised infrastructure to accommodate distributed workflows, which vary by participant, application, information and location w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

131

132

Aaron Binkley on the Role Data Centers Play in Sustainability

133 specific needs,” he elaborates.

infrastructure, a “one-stop solution

Dyer agrees. “These customers

that helps to interconnect their entire

need a platform that allows them

digital ecosystem,” enthuses Bishop.

to augment and change things in

“Customers will get to collaborate at

real time,” he says.

scale to solve the problems of global

From this market-wide demand

coverage and capacity through one

for solutions to the increasingly

provider; tailor their infrastructure

mission critical nature of agile,

deployments to their business needs,

on-demand capability is at the

irrespective of data centre size, scale

heart of Digital Realty’s newest

or location; and operate their deploy-

offering: PlatformDIGITAL™.

ments as a seamless extension of

Scheduled for launch this month

their global infrastructure to enable

at the company’s MarketplaceLIVE

globally distributed workflows.”

event in New York, PlatformDIGITAL™ is a new way of approaching digital

Digital Realty is a genuine global partner, placing customer service w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

Milton CAT is proud to have been a strategic partner with Digital Realty for over 15 years.

DIGITAL REALTY SITE 105 Cabot Street, Needham, MA

134

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at the heart of its business strategy.

“From a single cabinet, up to multiple

Dyer notes that the company is

megawatts, we’re a one stop shop for

uniquely positioned to deliver a ser-

all their infrastructure needs.” This

vice that is unavailable anywhere else

will be key to Digital Realty’s creation

in the data centre space. “We’re really

of a truly interconnected infrastruc-

the only provider that operates globally

ture offering. “We’re refocusing our

at scale, but at the same time, we

business to take advantage of this

offer this highly tailored experience

unprecedented opportunity and

to each individual customer,” he says.

become the global partner that helps

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

Corey Dyer Title: EVP Global Sales and Marketing Company: Digital Realty Corey Dyer is Executive Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing, with responsibility for sales, leasing and marketing efforts across the organisation. Prior to joining Digital Realty, Dyer served as Senior Vice President, Sales, Americas at Equinix, where he had responsibility for sales across the Americas region. Before joining Equinix, Corey worked at Hewlett-Packard, where he served as Vice President, Storage Sales, Canada and led the firm’s Canadian storage business. Previously, he held various sales and sales leadership positions at Dell, primarily in the server, software and peripheral businesses. Corey has over 25 years of experience as a sales leader with a track record of building and driving sales and marketing operations at leading technology companies. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Wake Forest University. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

135

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137

companies manage their digital

and other industries. We’re bringing

transformation with their data centre

together the community that builds

infrastructure as the foundation,”

the cloud, network and internet

says Bishop.

infrastructure to demonstrate how

At MarketplaceLIVE, the company

PlatformDIGITAL™ is built to lead

will launch PlatformDIGITAL™. The

companies into the future of the

event – taking place on 7 November

digital economy,” says Bishop. This

at Spring Studios – is intended to

future that Digital Realty is helping

facilitate discussions around the

create for (and with) its clients and

future of digital transformation.

partners is defined by interconnec-

“We’ll host conversations around

tion and the ways in which coming

connectivity and connected tech-

together fosters collaboration. “It’s a

nology across AI, cloud computing

huge opportunity for us to connect, w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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“ We’re really the only provider that operates globally at scale, but at the same time, we offer this highly tailored experience to each individual customer” — Corey Dyer, EVP, Sales and Marketing

not only with our customers but with our partner world,” says Dyer.

In addition to being an infrastructure provider, Digital Realty acts as a facilitator of expertise and connections to its client network. Offering a full range of fit-for-purpose data center solutions, from single cabinet colocation to private hyperscale facilities, Dyer remarks that there really is no end to the variation in the relationships and support structures Digital Realty provides. “Because we have such a strong partner community, we can be very agile in how

J U LY 2 0 1 9

we support our customers in such a

business has also completed the

fast-paced environment.”

acquisition

Digital Realty is continuing to grow,

of data centre infrastructure

both in scale and agility, through a

company Ascenty and entered into

combination of organic and acqui-

joint ventures related to three of

sition-fueled growth. In 2015, the

its data centres.

company completed its acquisition

The past year alone has seen

of data centre solutions company

Digital Realty expand its operations

Telx in a deal valued in excess of

in Frankfurt, Tokyo, Chicago, Dublin,

US$1.8bn. “The Telx acquisition

Northern Virginia, Brazil and more,

has been a huge boost to us and

as well as announcing plans to enter

our ability to provide interconnec-

the South Korean market for the

tion, which massively helped us build

first time. A large element of Digital

PlatformDIGITAL™,” Dyer explains. In

Realty’s growth is self-funded, an

addition to the Telx acquisition, the

impressive feat given what Dyer

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

Tony Bishop Company: Digital Realty As part of the Digital Realty CTO team, Tony plays a central role in helping the organisation build a differentiated global platform and ecosystem strategy to enable enterprises and services providers to accelerate their digital business strategies on PlatformDIGITAL™. Prior to Digital Realty, Bishop served as VP of Global Enterprise at Equinix, Chief Strategy Officer for 451 Research and served at Morgan Stanley as Managing Director, Global Head of Enterprise Datacenter Operations & Strategy. He is the author of Next Generation Datacenters – Driving Extreme Efficiency & Effective Costs Savings (July 2009). w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

139

D I G I TA L R E A LT Y

describes as the “capital intensive” nature of the industry. In September, the company sold 10 of its Powered Base Buildings® to Singaporian real estate developer Mapletree Investments, along with the establishment of a joint venture to co-manage three more facilities. The deal saw Digital Realty generate around $1.4bn in capital. “The transaction is going to allow us to continue selffunding our growth, diversify some of our sources of equity and capital, and really let us harvest value from our 140

fully stabilised assets so that we can redeploy the proceeds into higher

“ MarketplaceLIVE is a huge opportunity for us to connect, not only with our customers but with our partner world” — Corey Dyer, EVP, Sales and Marketing

yielding development opportunities,” Dyer explains. “It continues to build on our global expansions, and lets us stay focused on our core markets and the assets that we think drive the most value to our customers. It also reduces our reliance on capital markets, which can be volatile.”

As a leading builder and operator of data centre infrastructure, Digital Realty is aware of the role it has to play in the evolution of the market as a whole. Given that global internet

J U LY 2 0 1 9

several Northern California properties, and boasting more certified green buildings than any other data centre provider. “Reducing our environmental impact is a priority for us,” says Dyer. “Our long-term goal is to pursue 100% renewable energy for our global portfolio.”

The launch of PlatformDIGITAL™ at MarketplaceLIVE is the highlight of a year filled with global growth and billion-dollar deals, highlighting its importance to the company’s strategy. “The launch is going to be the big mover for us, and I’m very excited,” says Dyer. “It’s going to have a huge impact on our business, and our customers’ businesses as well.” usage has tripled since 2015, and is

Harnessing its industry leading scale,

predicted to double again by 2022,

its commitment to providing a per-

managing the amount of power con-

sonalised service to suit the needs

sumed by the world’s data centres

of each individual customer and an

and networks is key to operators’

increasingly sustainable portfolio,

sustainability goals. Digital Realty

Digital Realty is set to enter 2020 as

continues to set and exceed ambi-

a force for intelligent, interconnected

tious sustainability and renewable

digital infrastructure solutions.

energy goals, achieving 100% renewable energy for its EMEA portfolio, 100% wind power for its US colocation business unit, 100% carbon free and renewable power supplied to w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

141

142

Comcast: Introducing DevSecOps at scale WRITTEN BY

SEAN GALEA-PACE PRODUCED BY

CRAIG KILLINGBACK

J U LY 2 0 2 0

143

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

COMCAST

Larry Maccherone, Distinguished Engineer of Comcast, discusses DevSecOps’ growing influence on one of the world’s biggest telecommunications companies

A

s a global leader in media and technology, Comcast is the parent organisation

of three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast has more than 144

55 million subscribers, with Sky renowned as one of Europe’s leading entertainment companies operating in seven territories and Comcast Cable recognised as one of the biggest cable TV, high-speed internet, and phone providers in the United States. Sitting down in the new Comcast Technology Centre at its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Larry Maccherone, Distinguished Engineer of Comcast Cable, shared how the company is uniquely positioned for success in their agile approach to achieving a DevSecOps cultural transformation.

Maccherone’s professional background heavily revolves around data analytics and Lean-Agile, and he started his first business while still an undergraduate at university. “I’ve been a serial

J U LY 2 0 2 0

145

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“ I believe that if you’re doing DevOps right, then the security part is just automatically included” entrepreneur throughout my entire — Larry Maccherone, Distinguished Engineer, Comcast

career. My first business had 80 employees and made US$20mn annually in sales,” explains Maccherone. “We were writing software that controlled a large portion of the world’s power generation,

148

and it meant that if hackers exploited a vulnerability in the software, then it potentially brought down the world’s power grid. We got really skilled at writing software that didn’t have exploitable vulnerabilities.”

J U LY 2 0 2 0

At the forefront of DevSecOps CLICK TO WATCH

|

2:07

149 Upon joining Comcast in June

as empowered engineering teams

2016, Maccherone became responsi-

taking ownership of how their prod-

ble for overseeing the company’s

ucts perform in production, including

DevSecOps transformation. “I have

security. When you get development

a love/hate relationship with the

teams owning the problem, you

term DevSecOps. I believe that if

get a fundamental difference in

you’re doing DevOps right, then

decision making.”

the security part is automatically

Since its creation over a decade

included,” he explains. “You don’t

ago, DevOps has become a vital

call it DevTestOps or DevPlanningOps,

component of how companies oper-

it’s just DevOps. However, what

ate. Building upon the foundations

I do like about DevSecOps is the

of the agile movement, DevOps lev-

emphasis on security. My definition

erages automation, for quality and

of DevOps and DevSecOps is

security testing as well as for for-

essentially the same. I define both

merly manual deployment and w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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on software, and DevSecOps provides speed and security for its applications. By working with Veracode, Cox Automotive is realizing its vision, without being held back by security.

COMCAST

operations activities, in a bid to intro-

to achieve that level of trust,

duce software into production at

Maccherone introduced a trust algo-

speed. The primary goal of any

rithm. “The trust formula has three

DevSecOps initiative is to enable

terms combined in the numerator:

development teams to change their

credibility + reliability + empathy

mindset and adopt security practices

which are all divided by apparent

into their daily activities.

self-interest,” he explains. “It’s impor-

However, Maccherone believes

tant that the apparent self-interest

it’s impossible without healthy collab-

is as small as possible, with an

oration and mutual trust. In order

emphasis on shared interests.”

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

152

Larry Maccherone Larry Maccherone is a Distinguished Engineer at Comcast where he currently leads the DevSecOps transformation initiative. Previously, Larry served as the Insights Product Line Director at Rally, where he published the largest ever study correlating development team practices with performance. Before that, Larry worked at Carnegie Mellon with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and CyLab conducting research on cybersecurity and software engineering.

While there, he co-led the launch of the Build-Security-In initiative.

He has also served as Principal Investigator for the NSA’s Code Assessment Methodology Project, on the Advisory Board for IARPA’s STONESOUP program, and as the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Labs Fellow. He speaks and publishes regularly on DevSecOps, Lean/Agile, and analytics and he is the primary author of a dozen open source projects, one of which gets 400,000 downloads per month.

J U LY 2 0 2 0

153

Maccherone believes that under-

in its early stages back then and

standing and embracing each pillar

it’s fundamentally different now.

of the trust algorithm is vital to suc-

If you come into a meeting with those

cess in DevSecOps. “Credibility

old mindsets, make assumptions

means that you know what you’re

and use outdated terminology, then

talking about and it’s important that

the development team will pick up

you’re not just saying things for the

on that and you’ll lose credibility.

sake of it or repeating something you’ve read,” explains Maccherone.

“Writing code has

Reliability is the same regardless of the context; it’s the old business expectation of making and meeting commitments. It’s important to follow

changed a lot

through and do what you say you

in five years.

are going to do. Finally, empathy

DevOps was

is all about how much compassion w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

Time is precious.

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“ If you come into a meeting with those old mindsets, make assumptions and use outdated terminology, then the development team will pick up on that and you’ll lose credibility” — Larry Maccherone, Distinguished Engineer, Comcast

supersedes all of those challenges and give the reasons why. It’s vital that you aren’t dictating them.” The

you show, and the awareness of

importance of coaching rather than

how challenging something is.”

policing is a key aspect of Comcast’s

Following the foundation of the

strategy. The company also has

trust algorithm, Maccherone believes that it has successfully allowed for increased efficiency and has ultimately meant better decisions.

“Lots of security groups at other large companies spend an inordinate amount of time cajoling development teams to do things,” he says. “The reason they have to spend such a considerable amount of time policing is due to a lack of trust. Showing empathy is crucial and it’s important to acknowledge how difficult something is to do. However, it’s also fundamental to explain why you’re trying to make the case that this risk w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

155

50m lines of code driving the kids home The more powerful you make software, the more inseparable DevOps and security need to be.

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Working at Comcast: empowering change CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:08

157 a programme in place that provides

what we want; we want them to reach

immediate feedback to the develop-

out and partner with us.”

ment team while also providing

Change management is a key

aggregated metrics to guide coach-

driver to Maccherone and Comcast’s

ing efforts. “We created a workshop

strategy. “The traditional way of

where we sit down with the develop-

gathering a response was to produce

ment team, walk through the trust

surveys. However, we found that

formula and the company’s

the behaviour didn’t change,” he says.

DevSecOps practices and give

“We decided on a framework that

them a chance to internalise what

we can coach from and enable the

that practice means,” explains

developers to reflect on whether

Maccherone. “When someone feels

or not they meet the criteria. If we

like they’re being forced into out-of-

send an email to them then we get

context practices, their natural

almost no response. However, if

reaction is to avoid them. That isn’t

we sit with them and allow them w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

to ask questions directly then they instantly start changing their behaviour.”

With any successful transformation comes the challenge of recruiting and retaining top talent, and Maccherone believes it’s the most challenging part of any business.

“It’s the key to any tech company,”

1963

Year founded

$108.9bn Revenue in US dollars (2019)

affirms Maccherone. “The HR department that we have at Comcast is fantastic. They really understand the importance of exceptional talent.

Candidates want to have work that is interesting, fun and challenging,

190,000 Number of employees

w w w. m o bil e w o r l dm a g a z in e . c o m

159

COMCAST

160

“ Three years ago, I started a Google alert on DevSecOps and would get one hit a week or even a month.

Now, I get 10-20 every day” — Larry Maccherone, Distinguished Engineer, Comcast

J U LY 2 0 2 0

161

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

LEARN MORE

Comcast Partners CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:01

163 in addition to working with peers

are trying to design their products

they respect.”

to fit in with the direction we’re going.”

In a bid to achieve mutual success,

Maccherone believes that without

Comcast Cable has established

developing such robust and long-

a number of key partnerships, such

standing partnerships, the challenge

as with WhiteSource, Vulcan Cyber,

of reaching the level of success

Checkmarx, Go2Group, Contrast

Comcast has achieved would have

Security, Synopsys, Bugcrowd and

been significantly harder. “Our vendors

Veracode. Maccherone recognises

are a key to our success and we’re

the value of forming strategic, business

extremely excited and happy with

relationships in order to realise long-

the current set we have,” beams

term success. “We’re at the forefront

Maccherone. “They align well with

of DevSecOps, and lots of our vendors

our values and that’s been the differen-

see that,” says Maccherone. “We’re

tiator to finding ways to reduce our

constantly searching for vendors that

security risk.” w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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Ops

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“ When someone feels like they’re being policed, their natural reaction is to avoid the police. That isn’t what we want; we want them to reach out and partner with us” — Larry Maccherone, Distinguished Engineer, Comcast DevSecOps has become a 165

hot topic in the technology space in recent years and Maccherone has observed its rapid rise first-hand. “Three years ago, I started a Google alert on DevSecOps and would get one hit a week or even a month,” he says. “Now, I get 10-20 every day and we’re not even at the steepest part of the adoption curve for DevSecOps yet.” In 2019, Comcast’s goal was to scale the DevSecOps programme, the tech giant achieved that by tripling the number w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

167

of teams onboarded to the pro-

we reach that saturation point,

gramme. “By the end of 2020,

I anticipate that we’ll add more

we aim to double that number again,

capability, tools and practices over

and I expect that will get us close

the next few years.”

to the saturation point of all the teams at Comcast. We’ve gone from essentially launching the programme to evolving, optimising and scaling it to the point of saturation. After w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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Putting a spotlight on cyber security

WRITTEN BY

SEAN GALEA-PACE PRODUCED BY

LEWIS VAUGHAN w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

TELSTRA PURPLE

T

elstra Purple is a technology services business, comprising of 1,500 specialists in Australia, EMEA and Asia.

Bringing together Telstra Enterprise’s business technology services capabilities and a number of acquisitions, Telstra Purple is focused on outcome-based, transformative tech solutions.

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WHY CYBER RESILIENCE COUNTS TODAY Geopolitical risks and the impact of COVID-19 have put security technology at the top of every business leader’s agenda as the world rapidly responds to the threat. Manoj Bhatt, Head of Cyber Security Advisory and Consulting at Telstra Purple EMEA, has seen first hand the increased focus on risk management and cyber resilience in response to the crisis.

“The coronavirus has demonstrated the importance of cyber resilience as businesses move to remote working whilst ensuring they do so securely,” says Bhatt. “Cyber security isn’t just a concern for the security or IT department, and those organisations that already have a strong, ingrained security culture that is business wide will weather the storm best.”

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“ The coronavirus has demonstrated the importance of cyber resilience as businesses move to remote working whilst ensuring they do so securely” — Manoj Bhatt Head of Cyber Security Advisory and Consulting, Telstra Purple EMEA

As business leaders begin to evaluate their technology stacks to understand their efficacy, and consider how well they integrate with the current business while supporting its future needs and goals, security teams must remain one step ahead with answers to potential questions.

Rob Robinson, Director of Security and Network Services at Telstra Purple EMEA, believes that organisations must think of security as a business enabler.

“It goes back to the conversations we’ve been having with CISOs w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

TELSTRA PURPLE

recently. For a security strategy to be successful, all lines of the business – HR, Finance and IT – must stay informed and aligned with its goals,” explains Robinson. “CISOs admit to friction within companies, saying they don’t think their boards see information security as important a function as they do. It’s important that this thinking changes and security leaders offer guidance on how businesses can protect themselves and mitigate risk. Security has to be 174

considered an enabler rather than something that is negatively impacting the business.”

“ We understand that we’re on a journey in the security industry – there’s definitely no silver bullet” — Rob Robinson Director of Security and Network Services, Telstra Purple EMEA

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Dr Jessica Barker, co-CEO and Socio-Technical Lead of Cygenta, is an evangelist for driving security culture and awareness within organisations. She believes it’s essential to operate with an agile approach and remain aware of the latest vulnerabilities to maintain that visibility over potential cyber threats.

“Staying up to date with current attacks is crucial, meaning people in security don’t often get very many days off as they need to keep up with the latest news to ensure the greatest level of protection possible,” she explains. “However, it is also equally important that we remain vigilant against previous vulnerabilities that we’re already aware of, because it could be easy to get distracted by the latest trends or newest vulnerabilities.

In many cases, the biggest cyber attacks involve the vulnerabilities that we’ve been aware of for decades, so it’s just as important to remain vigilant against all kinds of attacks.”

Barker is also Chair of ClubCISO, sponsored by Telstra Purple, which is a private members forum for information security leaders, working across public and private sector organisations. More than 350 CISOs are currently registered members.

Barker believes there are a number of key advantages to being a member of the organisation.

“We work together to shape the future of the security industry, community and the CISO role,” she says. “The idea is to provide a voice to CISOs and offer an environment where they can speak between themselves, and externally, about what the CISO role is and what security looks like moving forwards.

It’s been great to have a place to build a network of like-minded individuals, share success stories, as well as navigate the challenges in the industry together and work out the best way to overcome those hurdles.

“This year’s ClubCISO Information Security Maturity Report reveals

“ Sometimes, the biggest cyber attacks can stem from the vulnerabilities that we’ve been aware of for decades” — Jessica Barker co-CEO and Socio-Technical Lead, Cygenta and Chair of ClubCISO

some interesting insights on how CISOs are coping with the additional pressures of COVID-19 and other geopolitical risks,” adds Barker. “The majority (61%) of CISOs believe that the stress of their job has increased over the past 12 months, yet 70% profess to love their job. I believe one of the most important aspects of a CISO’s job today is around cultural change, raising awareness of security threats and figuring out how to embed that cyber security culture within their organisations.”

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Reduce Vendor Risk.

Join the Largest Cyber Risk Exchange.

With access to over 68,000 companies on CyberGRX’s award-winning platform, users get actionable data and rapid insights that enable them to identify, prioritize, and reduce third-party cyber risk. Join our movement for innovative TPCRM today.

Join the Exchange data visualization of the companies on the exchange

GETTING CYBER SECURITY RIGHT: BEST PRACTICE AND LEARNINGS

threats and issues, and also to share

Cyber security doesn’t sit still, and

best practices.”

understanding the latest threats,

about the latest cyber security

Each year, ClubCISO surveys the

risks and solutions to these prob-

community in a live vote to get a col-

lems is a collective industry effort.

lective view of the current security

Bhatt also sits on the advisory

landscape and understand the con-

board of ClubCISO. Explaining the

temporary issues faced by security

community’s benefits he states:

specialists. The latest ClubCISO

“One of the things we really like

Information Security Maturity Report

about ClubCISO is that it’s a com-

was released in May 2020. This

munity of CISOs for CISOs – that’s

year’s live vote, which was held virtu-

the key thing. It’s a peer group to

ally for the first time due to the

share thought leadership and pro-

COVID-19 outbreak, drew over 100

vide a platform to talk to one another

CISO respondents.

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Meet a few of the ClubCISO Advisory Board CLICK TO WATCH

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“ We are seeing a reassuring shift in security investment and awareness, something which is vital for organisations to remain digitally agile” — Manoj Bhatt Head of Cyber Security Advisory and Consulting, Telstra Purple EMEA

“One surprising finding from this year’s report is that there isn’t as much maturity around the cloud as expected,” states Robinson. “We have asked that same question five years in a row, expecting the percentage to increase considerably each year. However, it has remained the same.”

Robinson postulates that this stems from a shortage of skill sets. Another related conversation in this space revolves around how to encourage more diversity in security – sparking an interesting debate around what security teams can do to be more inclusive and w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

TELSTRA PURPLE

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

Rob Robinson Title: Director of Security and Network Services at Telstra Purple EMEA Rob Robinson is the Director of Security and Network Services at Telstra Purple in EMEA and has over 15 years of experience in Business and Technology Advisory Services, working within consultancies, integrators and telecommunications companies. Prior to Telstra Purple, Rob joined Company85 through the acquisition of DVS Services in 2015, where he was the owner and Managing Director. As an advisor to CISOs and CIOs, Rob has first-hand experience of helping teams assess their position, build their strategy and deliver successful programmes. Working with his team in the UK and in his capacity of Security domain lead for Telstra Purple globally, Rob delivers programmes of change across multiple industry verticals.

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business needs now and in the future, and evaluating what kinds of technologies and implementations can support these. The priority in the current environment is supporting home working and guarding against cyber threats.

Bhatt sums up the current situation and issues a warning: “We’re certainly seeing a big drive from a number of vendors talking about how their security products are going to be ‘the silver bullet’, but it’s impossible to determine a solution without a proper assessment and understanding of business needs first.

“You must first understand what build up capabilities. To resolve the

already exists within your organisa-

issue for future generations, Robinson

tion, and what the current technology

believes it’s important to start talking

set up is, before you can consider

about security apprenticeships early,

what the best technologies for the job

and begin to raise the importance of it in

are. If you bring this thinking together,

schools now. “It’s vital to talk about the

it makes you more resilient against

importance of security and feed that

threats, whether that be COVID-19 or

interest into the security industry at a

an out-of-the-blue cyber attack. It’s

time where we increasingly need that

important to join the dots and take a

help and capability,” he says.

holistic perspective.”

The coronavirus pandemic has caused Uncontrollable circumstances such as

THE POWER AND THE THREAT OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

these highlight the importance of adopt-

As emerging technologies such

ing a ‘future state’ mindset, reassessing

as machine learning (ML) and

disruption in industries worldwide.

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TELSTRA PURPLE

automation become increasingly

apply technology and modern

sophisticated, so do those with mali-

approaches such as ML and automa-

cious intent. Businesses must be

tion to that,” he affirms.

prepared to keep pace with the threat environment to remain secure.

“The world’s changing,” states

“It’s important that we apply these technologies in a way that’s appropriate, as well as maintain an accurate

Robinson. “We’re not in a traditional

understanding of how we address

bubble where security is at the

and manage security incidents, oth-

perimeter and everything’s protected

erwise businesses will not be in a

centrally – there’s a much wider

position to respond and protect.”

attack surface. There’s a lot of

Whilst cloud is not exactly an emerg-

information sitting outside of non-tra-

ing technology, many businesses are

ditional environments and you have to

still at the nascent stage of their cloud

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What's YOUR Plan to Stop Them?

Find out how we can help you catch the phish in your inbox and avoid a breach. cofense.com

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

TELSTRA PURPLE

journey. Bhatt has observed that busi-

not recognising the benefits it is deliv-

nesses are split into three different

ering. These are typically organisations

camps when it comes to their cloud

that have not set out a clear path or

security strategies.

taken an objective-driven approach to

The first camp thinks about cloud, but has not embarked on the journey

their cloud strategy.

In the final camp sit the busi-

because they haven’t considered

nesses with cloud expertise that

where it might take them. The chal-

focus on cloud enhancement. This is

lenge is in identifying what cloud will

where a company has moved to the

achieve for the business, and how

cloud and is now looking to enhance

much can be saved by implementing it.

it with approaches such as contain-

In the second camp are businesses that have implemented cloud but are 182

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erisation. This marks the start of the next stage of the journey, where

Introducing a navigation system for your hybrid cloud. vArmour Helps Security Teams Navigate Operational Risk The relentless pace of digital business means more risk. As applications proliferate across clouds, so too do the relationships between them—exponentially. Of the hundreds of thousands of relationships in and across your clouds, do you know which of those might be malicious? Which are connected to a critical asset? vArmour leverages the technology you already own to measure, model, and control your risk.

Start your journey at vArmour.com.

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TELSTRA PURPLE

technologies such as automation and robotics become increasingly influential in the business.

With the pace of technology adoption showing no sign of letting up, it’s vital that businesses and their employees practise good cyber hygiene at their workplaces and homes.

“Security is a continuous journey that must be grounded in what the business is trying to achieve,” says Robinson. “Business leaders and their security advisors must assess the 184

environment the business operates in, understanding the risk landscape, the threat profile and how you place people, processes and technology around security to address these evolving needs. And finally, cyber security must align with all business functions to ensure there are no weak links.”

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TELSTRA PURPLE

C L U B C I S O I N F O R M AT I O N S E C U R I T Y M AT U R I T Y R E P O RT 20 20 Top three areas where CISOs have driven measurable improvements over the last 12 months: • Security awareness and training • Risk assessment and management • Building the security team

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Top three hot topics on the CISO radar: • Security culture • Cyber resilience • Cloud security The top three initiatives CISOs are using to foster a better security culture: • Security champions • Proactive “report it” no blame policies • Education around the value of data To check out the latest ClubCISO Information Maturity Security reports, click here

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

Manoj Bhatt

Title: Head of Cyber Security Advisory and Consulting at Telstra Purple EMEA Manoj leads Telstra Purple’s cyber security advisory and consulting capabilities for EMEA, working with a wide range of customers across numerous sectors building and running their cyber security services. Manoj is a passionate cyber security professional focused on embedding cyber security into the digital agenda and on the user and customer experience aspects of cyber security. Manoj sits on the advisory board for ClubCISO to share security innovations, best practice and thought leadership across the industry.

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TELSTRA PURPLE

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Telstra Ventures is a strategic growth investor passionate about scaling great products and leaders.

An independent venture capital firm backed by Telstra and HarbourVest – one of the world’s largest private equity funds – it provides venture capital investment via a ‘Strategic Growth Investment’ approach. This offers entrepreneurs access to the investment itself and reduces the time to reach global scale.

In almost a decade, Telstra Ventures has invested over US$350mn in 60+ companies.

Marcus Bartram is a founding Partner at Telstra Ventures and leads the security portfolio for ventures.

His main role is investing in new security startups, and then helping them scale to become successful large companies.

Telstra Ventures invests heavily in security ventures and is continuously seeking the best-in-breed security innovators globally. With expertise in picking cyber security companies to J U LY 2 0 2 0

invest in and helping them scale, Bartram believes it’s critical to pick a sector that you have a clear understanding about.

“The best way you can understand a particular area is to go out and talk to as many people in that sector as you can, be it entrepreneurs, customers or vendors,” says Bartram.

“Figure out who the best companies are, what they’re building, who the customers are and what problems they’re trying to solve. This will enable you to build a really rich knowledge base that informs where you invest.”

Telstra Ventures has an extensive portfolio of companies in the cyber security space such as Anomali, Auth0, CyberGRX, AttackIQ, Cofense, CrowdStrike, Varmour and Zimperium.

Bartram notes there are several key areas to scrutinise before investing in a cyber security startup: “It’s important that I understand who’s the team, what pain point they are solving and how many customers do we think

have that problem, what product have they built, and what trends are driving that market. We also consider if the deal makes sense financially. You’ve got to find the right combination of an amazing team, product and market that has the potential to allow the company to scale.”

“This is a threat intelligence company in California. We invested in (the founders) George and Dmitri, because they are very experienced security guys who were redoing protection on the endpoint and disrupting the existing vendors, detecting threats that other technology just couldn’t see.

“Telstra was a very early customer.

Crowdstrike is now the highest-rated vendor by Gartner in Endpoint Detection Response Solutions. It proved to be a really great investment for us because we felt that they had

the best technology, the team was amazing and customers were clamouring for a better solution.”

“This company provides continuous validation of enterprise security programmes. They’re trying to help CISOs answer the question: ‘How secure am I?’. They do that by deploying a platform that effectively tests all the security tools, people and processes on a continuous basis.

“AttackIQ can test all the control points in your environment, be that cloud, endpoint, network protection or controls. This is done by simulating attacks against those controls, and it can become a risk tool for CISOs as they can look at their environment in real time and measure the risks they face.”

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TELSTRA PURPLE

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“This is a risk mitigation specialist focused on helping customers understand and manage cyber security risk from their supplier base.

The company has built a data exchange which drives massive efficiency in how customers and suppliers collect and share information about their cyber controls.

“It is an incredibly important part of the security sector that affects every organisation globally in the same way. Regulatory drivers, the explosion in the number of suppliers companies use, and companies needing to protect themselves from threats that come from these suppliers make CyberGRX a great company to be a part of.”

“Cofense was set up to counter phishing – still the most common, never-ending problem facing the security industry. During the

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COVID-19 pandemic, phishing is being massively exploited by criminals.

“The founders, Rohyt and Aaron, started out by building technology to help employees recognise and report phishing emails, to raise the bar and stop people from opening links and attachments they shouldn’t. They have evolved from this to create a sophisticated platform that now integrates and shares data with their customers from tens of millions of data points on all the phishing threats they see, helping to protect customers from phishing attacks.”

“This is a company that lets you visualise and understand all of the traffic and application flows across the environment, particularly in a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud world.

That visualisation allows you to figure out who’s talking to whom and whether those conversations are OK. From that you can design the security controls to implement.

“The platform integrates into all of the native security controls in

AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or VMware to provide visibility into what’s going on and then be able to protect the customer. Customers are using this for cloud migration as much as they are using it for security controls.”

With the future in mind, Bartram affirms it’s essential to continue to seek value in innovative companies globally.

“We must continue to try and invest in these leading companies, because it is good for us, the entrepreneurs and customers in the long term. Telstra Ventures wants to invest in innovative startups in security, cloud, enterprise and consumer platforms, insurtech, healthtech and many other fields, helping those companies scale through Telstra and other relationships. We think and work incredibly hard to find the best companies, and assess how well they will perform. We remain passionate about finding the best entrepreneurs with a passion to build amazing products, which solve real problems in the world today and into the future.”

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

Marcus Bartram Title: Partner at Telstra Ventures Marcus is a founder and General Partner of Telstra Ventures. Prior to this he held various executive and senior roles in Telstra, Citigroup, nscglobal and Honeywell in Australia and the UK. Marcus invests in disruptive enterprise software, telecoms and cyber security entrepreneurs that are starting to scale their company. Investments made to date include Anomali, AttackIQ, Auth0, Cohere Technologies, Cofense, Crowdstrike, Corvus Insurance, CyberGRX, Elastica (ACQ:BlueCoat), Headspin, ipSCAPE, Matrixx Software, Dimmi (ACQ:TripAdvisor), vArmour and Zimperium. Marcus received an MBA from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Adelaide, South Australia.

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Global supply chain transformation WRITTEN BY

LEILA HAWKINS PRODUCED BY

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GLEN WHITE

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Hicham Nehme, Head of Supply Chain at Vodafone Qatar, on the complexities of the supply chain transformation and overcoming unexpected challenges

W

ith vast swathes of the population working remotely and living under lockdown

conditions as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the world has never been so dependent on telecommunications. Vodafone is playing a major role in keeping people and organisations connected. To do so, it has relied on a robust strategy that enabled it to overcome significant challenges to its supply chain.

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Hicham Nehme, A. Head of Supply Chain at Vodafone Qatar, on mitigating supply chain risk under COVID-19 CLICK TO WATCH

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2:51

195

Hicham Nehme, A, Head of Supply

This process involved recognising

Chain, explains that the Vodafone sup-

the difficulties that employees may

ply chain has been very much proactive

be experiencing in adapting to work

rather than reactive, beginning a process

from home; ensuring customers are

of stringent crisis planning as early as

getting the best possible service

December. First, the company identified

now that telecommunications are so

four pillars for supply chain management

essential to daily life; understand-

(SCM) resilience: employees, custom-

ing its supplier profiles so that it is

ers, suppliers, and emergency planning.

prepared for potential problems with

“After identifying these,” says Nehme,

sourcing and, finally, building a com-

“we had a much greater understanding

plete end-to-end strategy based on

of how to manage the crisis.”

these points.The latter would enable w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

A gateway to innovate, a channel to communicate

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Hayat Communications Company KSCC (HCC) is a publicly listed company in the Kuwait Stock Exchange focused on the communications industry.

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V O D A F O N E Q ATA R

Vodafone Qatar to move from crisis

six or more months of supply deliv-

mode to business as usual.

ered by March. It planned ahead in

SCM coordinated with each depart-

case of shortages that would lead to

ment on the local level, and with VPC

price increases, and signed three-year

on the group level, to determine what

contracts with all its suppliers.

the biggest problems would be and

“When the pandemic started, the

what actions should be taken to solve

first question was how can we import

these, both in the short and long term.

from China, and we generated tens of

SCM strategy has revolved around

scenarios looking at how we could do

being prepared – and anticipating

this,” notes Nehme. “Now the whole

scenarios rather than dealing with the

world is locked, and the situation has

fallout. For example, in January it bulk

changed to: ‘how can we import from

ordered stock to ensure it would have

the rest of the world?” It’s important

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Hicham Nehme, A. Head of Supply Chain at Vodafone Qatar, discusses the importance of leadership in supply chain CLICK TO WATCH

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“ Digital tools are not a privilege anymore” — Hicham Nehme A. Head of Supply Chain at Vodafone Qatar

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“ We’re now using data analysis more than ever before to forecast” — Hicham Nehme A. Head of Supply Chain at Vodafone Qatar

to learn from previous crises and manage change using new technology.” As a result the company has started using entirely virtual marketplaces such as Amazon.

Another key point is not being heavily reliant on just one territory, such as China. “I believe China will face a lot of problems in the coming years because of what people believe to be the cause of the pandemic. We don’t yet know how big companies that operate in China like Apple will react, but we need to prepare so the

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

Hicham Nehme Title: A. Head of Supply Chain

Company: Vodafone Qatar

Industry: Telecommunications Location: Qatar Hicham Nehme is an experienced procurement professional.

Having worked for 18 years in procurement and supply across different industries, Hicham is responsible for oversight of the procurement operations, strategic sourcing and digital transformation in supply chain. Hicham was instrumental in developing procurement policies and procedures and implementing procurement strategies, managing projects in the MENA Region, Europe and US. Hicham is CIPS and CPPM Certified, with a BA in Business Administration Systems. He is a father of three girls. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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V O D A F O N E Q ATA R

supply chain remains continuous and

Skype and Zoom. We know the whole

sustainable,” Nehme explains. “There

world will change after this, and

are a lot of different opinions out

the most important aspect is digital

there, but I think business needs to

transformation, now a main part

be spread across many countries, not

of any company.

centralised in one area.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has high-

202

“Every organisation must have at least a vision for digital transformation,”

lighted how essential digitalisation

Nehme adds. “For the supply chain

is. “Digital tools are not a privilege

in particular, digitising operations can

anymore,” Nehme explains. “They’re

improve speed and reliability, from

being used all over the world during

how fast products can be manufac-

this crisis. We’ve moved from attend-

tured to how promptly order fulfilment

ing school to e-learning, and doctors

and delivery to the final destination

are giving medical advice through

can be made. But to implement digital

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Hicham Nehme, A. Head of Supply Chain at Vodafone Qatar, on managing the COVID-19 crisis CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:40

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V O D A F O N E Q ATA R

Hicham Nehme, A. Head of Supply Chain at Vodafone Qatar, explains how the company builds and sustains partnerships CLICK TO WATCH

|

3:01

204 transformation well it’s also crucial

Technology aside, he shares that

to pay attention to the organisation’s

strong partnerships are also essen-

structure and how this will change.

tial to success. “If companies act

That’s why any successful digital

like solo endeavours they will fail.

transformation starts from the top,

Organisations depend on their sur-

from the leaders, and works down to

roundings and their suppliers to build

the employees.”

technology and share knowledge.”

While data analysis is becoming

Considering those suppliers, Nehme

increasingly useful, it will play an even

explains that the crisis has led to a

more important role in the future, along

redefining of what a partnership can

with blockchain and AI. “We’re now using

be. “It’s led us to reevaluate our suppli-

data analysis more than ever before to

ers based on how they react during the

forecast,” Nehme explains. “This is ena-

crisis, and whether they were available

bling organisations to look at potential

when we needed them,” he affirms.

impacts on projects and profitability.”

“How you react towards a crisis and

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how you support your organisation

Nehme has counted for many pro-

when it needs you, is the most impor-

jects. In the same industry, HATCOM

tant part of the supply chain.�

Telecommunications is another stra-

Among the company’s suppliers and partners are those in the telecommunications industry such as Hayat Communications, on which

tegic partner with which Nehme has worked across many projects.

Looking ahead, Nehme envisages the independence of supply chains:

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“For countries like the US or Europe, the first thing that they face is a lack of supply chain planning. They have

“ How you react towards a crisis and how you support your organisation when it needs you, is the most important part of the supply chain”

the capability but they don’t have the tools or the materials, so they’ll have to find new ways to bring in new materials and new products”, he says.

“We’re going to see supply chain organisations working separately and becoming businesses. The most important thing for any country right

— Hicham Nehme A. Head of Supply Chain at Vodafone Qatar

now is securing food, medication and medical equipment for its people.

They don’t need someone sitting behind a desk telling them their balance sheet has dropped. The most important thing now is how to survive, and to survive you need a supply chain.”

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Staying the country’s first choice WRITTEN BY

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WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY

LEWIS VAUGHAN

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

BH TELECOM

Adnan Huremovic, CTO, discusses how BH Telecom’s technological expertise, innovative culture and customer-centric focus has made it a leading provider

L

ocated in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), BH Telecom was founded in 1992 with the vision of pro-

viding high-quality telecoms services using the most up-to-date technology available. Now, 28 210

years later, the company has risen to become the country’s leading operator and its dedication to providing the best for its customers has not wavered.

A shareholding company but 90% publicly-owned, an integral component of BH Telecom’s motivation for success is the betterment of national network infrastructure, which it facilitates through competitive fixed phone, mobile, internet and IPTV services.

With over 3,200 employees and a managerial strategy which prioritises innovation, fast R&D and comprehensive solutions, BH Telecom has indelibly left its mark on B&H’s telecommunications sector.

Part of the BH Telecom journey for over 16 years, Adnan Huremovic joined the company as an Associate for Access Networks and steadily worked his way up to his current role as Chief Technology Officer in 2018. “The J U LY 2 0 2 0

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BH TELECOM

“ From my first role when I was working in infrastructure, then later to project planning and finally as a board member, my life and career are connected to communications” — Adnan Huremovic, CTO, BH Telecom 212

telecommunications field was my primary professional interest when I started,” he explains. “From my first role when I was working in infrastructure, then later to project planning and finally as a board member, my life and career are connected to communications.” A true expert in his field, Huremovic has maintained a relationship with his alma mater – the University of Sarajevo – as an academic and teacher, which, he states, continues to shape his approach to the CTO role at BH Telecom. “On one side, I have the opportunity to share ideas and my practical and business-related knowledge with future engineers. On the other, the students of the telecoms department are potential future employees.”

It is, perhaps, this openness to change and fresh perspectives that has led to BH Telecom’s superlative workplace culture – the driving force behind its success, Huremovic claims.

Striving to create an atmosphere which encourages and rewards the collective progress made by teams, whilst still taking the time to recognise the contributions of individuals, the

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365 of the most beautiful stories BH Telecom CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:29

213 company has succeeded in fostering

BH Telecom’s status as a government-

an environment where innovation can

owned organisation. “We are a public

develop naturally. “As a result, we have

company; our values are not solely

a lot of technical service solutions that

oriented to profit. Rather, our vision is

are made solely within the company.

the prosperity of all society.”

For example, our web-based TV ser-

Despite BH Telecom’s impres-

vice, our web portal and payments,

sive status and standing as the

also – f-commerce (mobile prepaid

leading company in its market, it

recharge through fixed line, IPTV

has steadfastly refused to rest on

etc.), billing systems and mobile apps

its laurels or become complacent.

are completely developed in-house

Formulating a clear and successful

by our engineers.” Another factor

digital transformation strategy has

of its success stems from a highly

been instrumental in cementing the

customer-centric ethos, a natural

company’s position. “The most impor-

consequence, states Huremovic, of

tant thing we needed to adapt was w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

BH TELECOM

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mindset,” says Huremovic, “across all levels, from workers up to managerial staff.” Providing intensive training and workshops across BH Telecom, the company was able to illustrate why tech progression was integral for business continuity and what benefits it would bring. This included enhanced efficiency through the digitalisation of paper-based processes, which streamlined myriad operations within the company, including procurement, payments and billings, sales, customer service and more.

The goal of becoming faster and better also emphasised the importance of BH Telecom’s partner ecosystem, which has been invaluable as a source of innovative new technology. BS Telecom, a manufacturer and supplier of integrated telecom systems for data processing, and one of BH Telecom’s key collaborators, has been instrumental in supporting its projects, both past and present. “BS Telecom has been one of our most valuable partners for a very long time,” says Huremovic.

“It’s already helped us achieve some

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

Adnan Huremovic Title: CTO Company: BH Telecom Industry: Telecommunications Adnan Huremovic is an acting CTO at BH Telecom Sarajevo. Born in 1980, graduated and achieved MsC, and PhD in electrical engineering at University of Sarajevo until 2016. Huremovic started as interim in BH Telecom Sarajevo in 2003, and worked on a number of various positions within the company. He became a member of the board in 2015 as a Chief investment Officer, Director of core network, and currently as a CTO. In this period, Huremovic managed implementation of new IMS and packet core network, complete 4G network swap, and 5G testing. He also teaches at the University of Sarajevo, and leads Bosnian Society for Telecommunication.

great projects, such as our previous SMS platform, and our existing ADMS w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

215

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platform. Currently, we are working on

explore artificial intelligence (AI) appli-

a very difficult project for a new billing

cations as its 5G capabilities develop

system. It’s one of the most complex

further. As part of its commitment to

IT projects we’ve had for a couple of

liability and providing its customers

years, but, because of our strong past

with the best experience possible, BH

relationship, we are very confident

Telecom has also rigorously developed

that this will be another joint success –

in-house end-to-end cybersecurity,

that’s the high level of confidence that

including DDoS protection, state-of-

we have in BS Telecom as an integrator

the-art application firewalls and fraud

for this endeavour.”

detection. However, one of the primary

Already utilising hybrid cloud

challenges of the modern telecom

computing and IoT within its digital

industry is the fast-paced nature of

transformation journey for the past

tech development and its ability to

five years, the company is planning to

completely transform old paradigms

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“ We are a public company; our values are not solely oriented to profit. Rather, our vision is the prosperity of all society” — Adnan Huremovic, CTO, BH Telecom

of working. Emerging global trends, such as 5G, have the ability to reshape the customer experience and the task, states Huremovic, will be for BH Telecom to prepare the necessary infrastructure to utilise it. “The big challenges are likely to be the regulatory and legal issues,” he says. Therefore, BH Telecom has a didactic role to play, along with its partners, in introducing this revolutionary new infrastructure to the public and authorities. “At the end of the road, we expect to see a 217

w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

BH TELECOM

BS TELECOM

218

BS Telecom is an IT and manufacturing services company for the telecommunications sector.

Founded in 2002, its corporate vision has been to research and develop custom solutions for the latest problems experienced in the industry. A valued partner of BH Telecom for several years, Adnan Huremovic emphasises the value and importance of BS Telecom in its past and future endeavours. “BS Telecom has been one of our most valuable partners for a very long time,� he says.

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fully-covered high speed, low latency network. From that, we’ll then have the basis to build newer services.”

Trust and its standing within the community is paramount to BH Telecom. Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult experience for everyone, Huremovic says that the company also recognised it as an opportunity to prove its mettle.

“Interestingly, we didn’t experience many problems or delays as far as technology development was concerned. I believe that this crisis actually motivated our employees to demonstrate that BH Telecom is something people can rely on.” Throughout the pandemic so far, the company has managed to avoid data congestions and network dropouts on services which have become vital as customers live and work primarily from home.

Additionally, BH Telecom has granted access to critical services free-ofcharge to schools and students.

Through its actions, BH Telecom continues to manifest its values and mission; one of the few governmentowned telecoms in B&H, its position and prestige as the best is a reputation w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

219

BH TELECOM

220

“ I believe that this crisis actually motivated our employees to demonstrate that BH Telecom is something people can rely on” — Adnan Huremovic, CTO, BH Telecom

that it intends to keep. Foreseeing a shift in the sector, the company is diversifying to include investment in domestic fintechs and focusing on expanding its capacity to include content production. Regarding the latter, Huremovic adds, “We already have some investments in local and regional content companies that we plan to build or even acquire. I see a global orientation toward content as something that will benefit every telecom’s portfolio.” Concurrently, fintechs and

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2002

Year founded

3,242 Number of employees

221

domestic startups will be assisted by

he concludes, “it’s that the integra-

BH Telecom’s ‘Start IT Up’ initiative, a

tion of digital processes and digital

programme which the company hopes

transformation has been accelerated

will position it as a central platform in

dramatically. During this time, it’ll play

B&H’s startup market.

an important role in keeping the econ-

Reflecting on the challenges of

omy healthy and allow the company to

2020 so far and how it will shape the

flourish. I think, after this situation has

market moving forwards, Huremovic is

passed, BH Telecom and its partners

proud of what BH Telecom has man-

will be on a whole new level.”

aged to achieve and feels confident in the new direction it has selected. “If there’s any silver lining in this pandemic situation for the telecoms industry,” w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

222

Driving digital transformation in South Africa WRITTEN BY

SEAN GALEA-PACE

J U LY 2 0 2 0

PRODUCED BY

JAMES BERRY

223

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TELKOM

Head of Data Insights Management at Telkom, on the challenge of navigating the South African market amidst a digital transform

T

elkom is a leading communications service provider in South Africa, operating in more than 38 countries across the continent of

Africa. Founded in 1991, it has transformed from the only telecommunications provider in South Africa to the diversified organisation delivering end-to-end 224

solutions to consumers and enterprise customers that it is today.

Telkom serves a range of business and residential customers and has all the key components of true convergence, allowing the organisation to provide integrated voice, data, fixed, mobile, IT and data centre solutions. Zjaen Coetzee is Head of Data Insights Management at Telkom. He affirms his organisation has significantly changed the way it operates over the last decade. “In the last 10 years, Telkom has transformed from a fixed line operator to a mobile operator,� he says. “We own and operate several subsidiaries; we do property management through gyro as well as the traditional Yellowpages, but we now have a complete digital platform incorporated specifically called Telkom SMB. We have a retail business that does mobile J U LY 2 0 2 0

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w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

TELKOM

and fixed line for consumers. We also

in other countries in packaging and

have BCX, which is the largest ICT

delivering solutions that don’t work in

company in South Africa, and has an

South Africa. However, this isn’t unique

international footprint specialising in

to us and is also the case for many

everything ICT-related. We really have

other telecom providers in the country.

become a fully diversified platform.”

South Africa is extremely diverse and

Coetzee believes there are sub-

it’s important that whatever you do in

stantial hurdles to overcome in the

packaging, it adds value and your ser-

South African market. “Navigating the

vice is reliable.”

market is the biggest challenge that we

226

In a bid to address a skills short-

face. There’s a big drive to cut down on

age in the country, the Explore Data

costs because people obviously want

Science Academy (EDSA) was estab-

cheaper services,” he says. “There’s

lished to increase local data science

also the cultural challenge because

skills through partnerships and spon-

there are things that typically work

sorship from large organisations to tap

“ We really have become a fully diversified platform” Zjaen Coetzee, Head of Data Insights Management, Telkom

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Telkom: Unlimited WiFi on Telkom DSL CLICK TO WATCH

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0:30

227 into this resource pool. Since its incep-

Engineer at Telkom, believes there has

tion in 2016, over 1,000 students have

been significant focus on developing

gone through the programme. “The

the role of the data scientist. “It has

EDSA has grown to become a massive

worked very well and injected lots of

learning platform that caters for data

resources into the marketplace,” he

science training in several ways, as well

says. “Telkom has benefited con-

as for individuals to use it to change

siderably as we see data scientists

career or pursue their passion in data

appointed into different divisions, as

science,” says Coetzee. “It has short

well as assisting with other types of

and long courses and ranges from

workloads that are powering Big Data.

high school programmes to executive

We’re also centred around enabling the

training. The prime aim was to invest

data engineering type of training and

back into the South African market

providing for those roles too.”

and get a running pipeline of skills to tap into each year.” CJ Smit, Lead Data

Smit understands the importance of leveraging Big Data into operations w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

TELKOM

228

and affirms harnessing value remains

People don’t always understand that

the key. “The traditional way in which

Big Data isn’t just the only technology

we produced customer insight and

that they use but is also one of the

recommendations was to simply

necessary technologies to enable

analyse transaction activity in a data

quicker time to value. It’s important to

warehouse,” he says. “However, the

deploy the right technology at the right

limitation is that only transaction

time in order to produce the quickest

activity is analysed. It doesn’t include

time to value.”

analysis of other high value data that

Thembani Phaweni, Senior Data

when pieced together offers a much

Scientist in the BCX division, believes

more complete understanding of a

Big Data has brought significant ben-

customer’s DNA. Therein, lies the

efits to countries such as South Africa

problem. We have to understand the

that have vastly different speaking

customer from a holistic perspective.

cultures. “There are many advantages.

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“ Navigating the South African market is the biggest challenge that we face” Zjaen Coetzee, Head of Data Insights Management, Telkom 229

As a retail focused business, distrib-

that while no one can successfully

uted technology personalisation and

predict the future accurately, instead

autonomous or smart technology have

you can take a view on the kinds of

all been key drivers,” says Phaweni.

technologies that seem promising.

“Personalisation is possible with deeper

“Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)

insights into customer behaviour and

is one of those promising technologies

their preferences. This means more

especially in a market as diverse and

granular segmentation and user driven

culturally rich as Africa,” he says. “The

product development. Autonomous

challenge is that speech requires good

and smart technology means fibre

and large datasets many of which don’t

networks and towers that report their

exist and others are simply too small

own faults and eventually autonomous

for commercial tools. Of course, the

agents that can repair them without

ASR does not standalone, it requires a

risking human lives.” Phaweni believes

plethora of natural language tools.” w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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TELKOM

232

“ Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is one of those promising technologies especially in a market as diverse and culturally rich as Africa�

Thembani Phaweni, Senior Data Scientist, BCX

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When beginning its data science journey in 2016, the first partner that Telkom collaborated with was Cloudera for a formal Big Data platform and the alliance remains strong today.

“Cloudera has played an influential role and assisted in shaping the roadmap and strategy for expansion, as well as increasing capabilities in tandem with BCX. As part of that, there is a strong partnership with BCX and Cloudera from an external marketing facing perspective” explains Coetzee. “For our cloud-based solutions we use Google Cloud Platform to develop and host most of our data science and analytics cloud-based applications and proprietary tools. Paired with this and the drive to rapidly prototype and deliver solutions faster we required a strong local partner that can assist with leading technology and for this we use Slipstream to manage our Tableau and Alteryx licencing, support and training relationships.” Coetzee understands the importance of forming sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships.

“We’re typically seeking a collaboration with someone that has the capabilities to support us, because if we do run into w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

233

TELKOM

234

any issues such as licencing then they

overall digital literacy within the organi-

can be easily resolved,” says Coetzee.

sation across the business,” explains

“We must always ask ourselves: is it

Coetzee. “We’ve been pushing data

affordable and does it make sense?

literacy for some time but people aren’t

Ultimately, it must be a company that we

always aware of the true value of data.

can go on a journey with and they must

This is one of the biggest challenges

be open to offering continuous support.”

that we face in terms of Big Data

Over the next few months, Coetzee affirms that Telkom will focus on data literacy. “Data literacy is a massive

because if you forget about the value of data then the platform won’t work.”

With the future in mind, Thembani is

driver and over the next few months,

excited about the impact that speech

we will be focusing on increasing the

technology could have on the South

J U LY 2 0 2 0

“ It’s important to deploy the right technology at the right time in order to produce the quickest time to value” 235

CJ Smit, Lead Data Engineer, Telkom

African landscape. “We’re invested in

for English does not work very well on

technologies that provide a richer user

South African accents. We’ve since

experience,” says Phaweni. “We are

realised that we need to build our own

very passionate about computer vision

ASR. We are starting by building a large

and natural language processing. The

dataset with thousands of hours of

future of autonomous technology is

transcribed audio. We’re excited about

very promising. Speech technology is

the potential that this has.”

a fascinating and important area going forward. We recently built a prototype meeting assistant for the South African market. We quickly realised that Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

At the forefront of industry 4.0 innovation WRITTEN BY

GEORGIA WILSON PRODUCED BY

STUART IRVING 236

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CAPGEMINI

Sandeep Nag, Director of 5G at Capgemini, discusses technological trends, 5G innovation and the impact of COVID-19 on the industry

A

t the forefront of innovation, Capgemini, founded in 1967, harnesses innovation to help clients address opportunities as

cloud, digital and platforms evolve.

238

Within the industry, Sandeep Nag, Director of 5G at Capgemini, has seen from a connectivity point of view a massive evolution for the technology. “In order to cope with the massive increase in connected devices, you need to have access to a wide area of coverage. The evolution of 4G networks into 5G networks and beyond has allowed for better connectivity and increased the efficiency of connected devices. Another trend I have seen within the industry is the use of open computer ecosystems with big enterprises no longer wanting to depend on the hardware OEMs. They want it to be more open, and then of course there’s artificial intelligence (AI), as well as an increased use of algorithms, API, social media and blockchain technology to make a more secure and resilient strategy for data privacy.

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w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

CAPGEMINI

“ From the top down Capgemini has a proactive approach to evolving trends and customer demands to harness industry 4.0 technologies the best way for its customers, as opposed to trying to make the technology fit” — Sandeep Nag, Director of 5G, Capgemini

When it comes to Capgemini’s own innovation strategy, Sandeep details that the company has specialised team domains, whether it’s automation, connectivity or cloud. “Capgemini has a very well defined structure of individuals working on specific domains with end-to-end expertise. Capgemini’s strategy is to not only have a technological knowhow, but to have a deep understanding of the industry so that it can address the exact requirement of that particular industry. From the

240 PA RT N ERSHI PS When it comes to Capgemini’s Over the years Capgemini has formed strategic partnerships, Sandeep Nag, many longlasting strategic Director of 5G at Capgemini details partnerships with the likes of Sooktha. that these alliances “enable more “These partnerships are mutually scope for solutions and service beneficial in the sense that either offerings leveraging open source and party acts as prime or co-prime for a standards communities. These business opportunity. This allows partnerships enable onboarding new early access to each other’s customers irrespective of domains. innovations thereby enabling faster The latest innovations and emergence GTM and early access to business of new business models require a opportunities. Long term relationships f lexible and modular approach both in through these partnerships enhance terms of technology and strategy, market share through enhancements hence these partnerships enable such in capabilities with more avenues of on-the go initiatives.” business opportunities.”

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Capgemini Invent: Technology is in the air CLICK TO WATCH

|

2:15

241 top down Capgemini has a proactive

and for assembly lines. With machine

approach to evolving trends and cus-

learning we have been utilising the

tomer demands to harness industry

technology for behavioral analysis

4.0 technologies the best way for its

trends and recommendations. This

customers, as opposed to trying to

is something we have been doing for

make the technology fit.�

many years and with that our IoT part-

Currently within the organisation,

nerships have evolved. In addition we

Capgemini is harnessing six key

also have our cloud practices which

technologies: AI, machine learning,

are not only with Microsoft Azure and

internet of things (IoT), cloud, Big

AWS, but also in house where the cus-

Data and 5G. Within its operations,

tomers want to have their captive cloud

“Capgemini has been harnessing

facilities. So we leverage those cloud

AI for its customer partnerships for

capabilities in terms of certified engi-

employee safety, anomaly detection

neers and certified professionals in our

in manufacturing and supply chains,

various domain expertise on the cloud. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

CAPGEMINI

242

“ We must not neglect the security aspect. We’d like to see these innovative technologies evolve seamlessly, but they must maintain security” — Sandeep Nag, Director of 5G, Capgemini

“When it comes to Big Data, we are harnessing this technology to capture many handles globally, providing large volumes of different types of data - unstructured, semistructured, sequential or any kind of big data.” With the evolution of data the industry has experienced storage challenges, resulting in the Big Data practice at Capgemini evolving to cope with this capability. In terms of 5G at Capgemini - with the various acquisitions and recent onboarding

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of experts within 5G - the practice has been taken very seriously, with the company in full force to establish an ecosystem of various initiatives and expertise within the 5G space.

Although it is still within the pilot stage, Sandeep sees the sector emerging and evolving significantly towards the end of the year.

Contemplating future innovations, Sandeep would like to see more evolution relating to the dis-aggregation of edge hardware, resulting in further innovation relating to open hardware ecosystems. He also anticipates the evolution of the software ecosystem, harnessing more open source technologies, however he does highlight the importance of maintaining security alongside this. “We must not neglect the security aspect. We’d like to see these innovative technologies evolve seamlessly, but they must maintain security.”

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ‘The new normal’ - the defining phrase of the current climate due to

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

Sandeep Nag Title: Director 5G Industry: Information technology Location: Mumbai, India Technically accomplished software , systems and platform architect with more than 21 years across telecom , ISV and product organizations.

Certified Enterprise Architect with flair in open source technologies leveraging open architectures in emerging technologies of 5G, IoT,AR/ VR/ER, AI and Machine learning.

Active contributor in open telecom services eco-system for private enterprise networks communities and user groups. Among the early stage innovators in mobile payment with patent in secured mobile payment technology.Believer of frugal innovation that enable fast adoption into day to day life.

COVID-19 - is a topic Sandeep has considered deeply. “The new normal w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

243

Wireless Access Solutions We are cellular wireless access specialists and offer software solutions for 4G LTE, NB IoT, and 5G NR Open RAN deployments

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Founded in late 2010, Sooktha has been working in the cellular wireless space for nearly a decade. With extensive global experience and expertise in the cellular wireless space, Sooktha has worked with leading test and measurement equipment vendors, semiconductor companies, OEMs, and telecom service providers licensing technology and providing system components.

After licensing its LTE base station software for the development of

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Spirent Communications Inc’s network emulator, Sooktha partnered with NXP semiconductor to demonstrate their virtual RAN (vAccess) hardware and software platforms across the globe.

In 2016, Sooktha successfully completed lab trials of both their Enterprise and Residential femto base stations with one of the leading greenfield telecom service providers in India. Subsequently, Sooktha expanded its portfolio to offer

a software-defined end-to-end NB-IoT solution, which is used for research in India and as ultra-lightweight test beds in the labs of North American service providers. Sooktha extended its LTE small cell solutions to pico and macro base station solutions for rural and railways deployments of Global OEMs. Today the company is developing and deploying 5G solutions for the Stand Alone (SA) mode of deployment by leveraging its experience in LTE in the process.

In addition Sooktha is focused on creating a software suite for 5G NR, which can be combined with different hardware modules to cater to a broad portfolio of 5G use cases.

The software is deployed in a distributed mode by installing the Centralized Unit (CU) software in a virtualized environment and Distributed Unit (DU) software on purpose-built hardware modules.

This architecture leveraging the Open RAN standard and ecosystem allows Sooktha to work with Capgemini to enable them to cater

to a wide variety of use cases.

Sooktha works in close collaboration with Capgemini to translate real world use cases into the right combination of its software suites on the right platforms.

The move from proprietary closed hardware systems, to open software centric wireless access solutions creates an opportunity for Sooktha and Capgemini to give them unprecedented levels of f lexibility.

Partnering with a large global player like Capgemini also helps Sooktha to address large business opportunities by leveraging the company’s massive scale and global presence, while remaining a focused niche player. Capgemini also provides Sooktha access to a larger ecosystem of global suppliers to put together innovative solutions.

Sooktha also has a geographical advantage in its partnership with Capgemini since it is headquartered in Bangalore and Capgemini has a significant presence in Bangalore and in locations in close proximity to Bangalore.

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CAPGEMINI

“ In terms of 5G at Capgemini, the practice has been taken very seriously, with the company in full force to establish an ecosystem of various initiatives and expertise within the 5G space” — Sandeep Nag, Director of 5G, Capgemini 246

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is no longer going to be people-topeople contact in a physical form.

Instead, there is going to be an increased reliance on communications technology, which requires resilient connectivity, and which will play a major role within future operations for organisations. The current trends due to the impact of COVID-19 is agility, being able to adapt to changing behaviours and circumstances and coordinated remote working. “ Current challenges within the industry have seen worldwide supply chains either stop, or reduce significantly. “Whether it’s sourcing, production or distribution, new challenges have arisen relating to not only maintaining a flow of materials and goods but maintaining employee safety at all times while carrying out operations. To maintain a sustainable business through this we are driving the initiative to adopt a patient approach with clear communication between all stakeholders: suppliers, workers and customers.

At Capgemini our HR practice has a strong infrastructure globally.

They understand the safety of the w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

247

CAPGEMINI

employee in this situation which is the primary importance. So right from social distancing through to cleanliness,hygiene and ensuring that each and every employee is protected, there are various HR driven initiatives to provide expert guidance and advice.”

1967

Year founded

HQ Paris France

When it comes to the technological capability of Capgemini to effectively implement a remote workforce, Sandeep details that “as far as connectivity is concerned, all employees 248

were ensured that they had access to the necessary tools and work facilities to efficiently work from home. You

“ The evolution of 4G networks into 5G networks and beyond has allowed for better connectivity and increased the efficiency of connected devices” — Sandeep Nag, Director of 5G, Capgemini

can imagine, being a huge company, this was no small task to provide the connectivity and technology to those who need it, but we seamlessly achieved it,” an achievement of which Sandeep is proud. During the crisis, Sandeep details that he has seen an increased use of the likes of Skype, Microsoft Teams and WebEx for conferencing capabilities as well as Google Hangouts and Zoom. “Another trend emerging is connectivity through a certified VPN.”

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249

When it comes to the future as

a long time. I also believe that a new

the world enters into a ‘new normal’

way of working will start to emerge,

for business operations. Sandeep

with people being required to do mul-

details that “the first steps will be

tiple roles. As we emerge out of the

to maintain social distancing rules,

lockdowns facilities need to become

and I believe that, while employees

more resilient and robust which is

will start to head back to work, I do

driven by connectivity.”

not think the entire workforce will be present. Maybe towards the end of the year but not yet. Instead the workforce will be asked to report to the office via a remote login. I believe working from home will continue for w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

ADOPTING I TECHN 250

WRITTEN BY

GEORGIA WILSON PRODUCED BY

SCOTT GEORGE

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NNOVATIVE NOLOGY 251

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S TA R H U B

Sebastian Tan, Head of the 5G Centre Of Excellence (COE) Unit, StarHub, discusses digital transformation and innovative technology

W 252

ith the imminent arrival of 5G technology, Sebastian Tan, Head of the 5G Centre Of Excellence

(COE) Unit at StarHub, sees industry trends accelerating towards the convergence of mobility first with cloud technology and artificial intelligence (AI). “With mobile edge computing and campus networks coming into fruition with 5G, these will enable mobile operators to offer an expanded set of integrated end-to-end capabilities beyond the telecommunication and connectivity services. I believe the industry will see the telecommunication sector transforming to play a more critical role in integrating the ICT space in the future,� says Tan, who ultimately believes 5G will provide a near seamless and digitally-enabled mobility experience.

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S TA R H U B

254

“ WE ARE CONSTANTLY LOOKING INTO NEW AREAS TO GROW AND PREEMPT NEW ENTRANTS” — Sebastian Tan, Head of the 5G Centre Of Excellence (COE) Unit, StarHub J U LY 2 0 2 0

In order to stay ahead of global business trends, StarHub – a leading telecommunications company based in Singapore and founded in 2000 – embraces the challenger mentality. “We are constantly looking into new areas to grow and preempt new entrants. This is achieved through regular strategy and business reviews to develop and transform our business models as necessary to maintain the challenger position,” comments Tan. “Digital transformation does not simply equate to automation of processes”

#HelloChangePromise – StarHub CLICK TO WATCH

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255

he continues. “We looked at digital

service subscriptions.

first strategy from a 360-degree per-

To date, StarHub has implemented

spective, from people, process and

robotic process automation (RPA) to

tools.” Fundamentally, the first step

help the company to streamline and

to digitally evolve StarHub includes

serve its customers more effectively.

the establishment of a transformation

“The RPA platform has built in AI

office to spearhead strategy execution,

capabilities to analyse the services

together with the appointment of

we provide with recommendations

a digital officer to charter the course

in areas to improve on. We are also

forward. StarHub aims to enhance and

utilising RPA to support our customers,

onboard most of its’ existing services

helping to simplify first call resolution

into its digital platform, allowing

in a timely manner,” Tan adds.

customers to easily access inquiries as well as procure or upgrade their

In addition, StarHub has been transforming its billing system with w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

S TA R H U B

“ WHILE WE CONTINUE TO OPERATE AND INVEST IN KEY ASSETS, WE WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO ESTABLISH NEW PARTNERSHIP ECOSYSTEMS TO SUPPORT US ON OUR GROWTH JOURNEY TOWARDS 5G” 256

— Sebastian Tan, Head of the 5G Centre Of Excellence (COE) Unit, StarHub

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257

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S TA R H U B

258

2000

Year founded

agile framework applications to support new business requirements.

“We have successfully transformed and consolidated many of our net-

$2.4bn+ Revenue in Singapore dollars

3,000 Number of employees

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works into a new software-defined virtual network function platform, allowing us to provision and manage our services cost-effectively.”

However, with these new innovations comes the challenge of security compliance. “All of our digital initiatives will require security reinforcement, which we are continuing to build upon our telco-grade cyber

259

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

Sebastian Tan With over 20 years of management experience in both the end-user and technology provider space, Sebastian has successfully managed different stages of the IT life-cycle, from providing thought leadership in visioning to driving transformational IT initiatives. Sebastian believes in building “esprit de corp� within the team and leads by example. An all round achiever, Sebastian has received multiple awards in and outside his professional career and represented Singapore in competitive cycling in the 1990s. One of his many wins was first in the Overseas Bank Corporation Cycle Singapore 2010 edition. w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

261

analytics framework, in partnership

we have also established a partner-

with our independent cyber security

ship to build a new multi-million dollar

unit called Ensign.” This security

hyperscale green data centre campus

transformation is not the first of its kind

and are starting industry trials for

which StarHub has invested in.

pioneering 5G,” explains Tan. Within

“In Singapore, we have undertaken

its digital strategy, StarHub has been

many initiatives to support our policy

incorporating these initiatives. “We

makers in developing our country to

are participating and supporting the

be a smart nation. In our recent initiatives,

policy makers in the industry on six w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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263 strategic focus areas, mainly around urban mobility, smart estates, maritime operations, smart airports and consumer and government application development. Our continuous rationalisation of our infrastructure has given us the ability to support such initiatives in a more efficient manner, keeping pace with the market demands. “Being in the service industry, where customer experience comes first, w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

S TA R H U B

“ IN SINGAPORE, WE HAVE UNDERTAKEN MANY INITIATIVES TO SUPPORT OUR POLICY MAKERS IN DEVELOPING OUR COUNTRY TO BE A SMART NATION” — Sebastian Tan, Head of the 5G Centre Of Excellence (COE) Unit, StarHub

Security-Driven Networking for a Hyperconnected World Fortinet provides top-rated network and content security, as well as secure access products that share intelligence and work together to form a cooperative fabric. Our unique Security Fabric combines Security Processors, an intuitive operating system, and applied threat intelligence to give you proven security, exceptional performance, better visibility and control.

LEARN MORE

FORTIGATE

265 StarHub has always adopted a partner-

being the challenger, StarHub will con-

centric approach so as to enable us to

tinue to transform to stay lean and agile

deliver our commitments jointly,” says

so as to be quick to respond. “While

Tan. ”While we continue to operate

we may be locally established, we are

and invest in key assets, we will also

constantly staying engaged globally.

continue to establish new partner-

This approach has allowed us to ser-

ship ecosystems to support us on our

vice our customers in the best possible

growth journey towards 5G.”

way, which we will continue to embrace

Reflecting on StarHub’s journey,

to ensure a win-win business outcome

Tan believes that “over the years

for both our customers and our share-

StarHub has transformed from a local

holders,” concludes Tan.

pay TV company into a quo-play service provider which has established both consumer and enterprise businesses.” With its strategy fixed at w w w. m o bil e m a g a z in e . c o m

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