Claro – Brochure 2021

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Claro: A digital transformation of a giant enterprise

Claro: A digital transformation of a giant enterprise We speak to Cesar Augusto Dos Santos, Director of IT and CIO of giant Brazilian Communication Service Provider Claro, regarding its digital transformation at scale, as the company enters an exciting new phase of its evolution…

Written by

Andrew Woods

Produced by

Craig Daniels

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A

ll major Communication Service Providers (CSPs) are undergoing unprecedented

transformation. With a constantly evolving technological scenario and customer expectations for an increasingly connected and disruptive world, Claro Brazil has been working hard to improve the experience and engagement in all its channels in a truly customer-oriented experience.

Currently, there is no longer a notion of ​​Information Technology that is only concerned with reducing cost and efficiency or availability of its systems. It is necessary for modern enterprises to innovate and modernize their platforms as well as implementing more connected and collaborative operational models with the entire ecosystem and its stakeholders. The impact of technology on organizations is currently the driving force for business transformation, contributing to the acceleration or disruption of business, thus creating new revenues and

digital first, Claro offers integrated solu-

products for a transformational journey.

tions for connectivity, entertainment,

As a leader in telecommunications

productivity and digital services in a truly

in Latin America and one of the largest

convergent way, joining fixed and mobile

multiservice operators in Brazil, Claro

platforms, thus firmly establishing itself as

Brazil is present in over 2,000 Brazilian

a leader in Pay-TV and broadband while

cities with its networks providing services

being the fastest growing operator in

to over 96% of the population. As the

mobile services, offering 5G connectivity

world continues to become increasingly

with Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS).

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Innovation is key for Claro Brazil and in

technology area in the years that

2017, the company decided to put Cesar

preceded his management, due to the

Santos at the forefront of Information

integration of Claro, Net, and Embratel,

Technology. Along with over 25 years of

which today is Claro Brazil, the chal-

experience in Information Technology

lenge was duly launched. “What bothered

and 20 years working in telecom at Claro

me most was that the technology area

in Brazil, Cesar was handed the challenge

could go beyond cost control manage-

of transforming the technology area.

ment and systems availability, to a value-

With so many changes in the

added and customer-centric positioning, www.theinterface.net

5

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Check those innovative telecom The way Microsoft operates in the telecommunications industry makes a very important point on how disruptive this company is. That is why, in order to better inform everyone, a podcast series was created, The Network. It focuses on how media and Telco industries imagine new ways to engage audiences, harness the power of 5G, and improve customer experiences as more organizations adopt cloud-based services.

Besides this particular series, another big news is how the Telco and Media industry is currently undergoing a network transformation by adopting a single unified, open, standards-based network automation and service orchestration platform to manage its virtual network services over multiple clouds and network resources.

All of this with the help of Microsoft technology.

Contac

d optimizing networks

utomation to ork efficiency, nd reliability.

Transforming customer experiences

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Provide an AI-enabled platform for the development, deployment and monetization of cross-industry services.

mmunications perspectives out Another major current event concerns the inclusion of 16 new attributes by the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Telecommunications Accelerator, extending and customizing the capabilities of the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 products to enable telco-specific application design and development.

In addition, it also fuels new innovation and automation for network operators, internet service providers, and mobile carriers.

ct us:

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And finally, Microsoft is now enabling telecom operators to rapidly develop, deploy, and monetize cross-industry edge, IoT, and other services. The offerings are IoT Plug and Play, a technology that enables automated device configuration, and Microsoft Azure IoT Central, a hosted managed app platform.

For other more specific cases, there is Microsoft Azure Edge Zones, Azure Stack Edge, and Azure IoT Edge or Azure Sphere guardian modules.

Microsoft Microsoft r fa ce . nCenters et Consulting Services w w w.th e in te Technology

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and with collaboration between stake-

services. It is a new operational model

holders throughout the organization,”

that crosses the entire organization.”

he told us from his Sao Paulo office.

Claro’s digital transformation journey

“We wanted to build a new architecture

started in 2018 with an ambitious and

and a sustainable operational model to

transformational Enterprise Architecture,

drive the digital transformation. At the

with a cloud platform-oriented, data-

end of the day, digital transformation

driven mindset, API-First approach that

is not just about technology, it’s about

challenged a decoupling of its legacy

the culture, people and mindset.”

system. “We introduced new digital BSS/ OSS platforms that allow us to improve

The transformation journey

not only revenue and market share, but

Transformation at scale, at a large

also new services to our customers,”

company like Claro, is not easy.

Cesar explains. When Claro started

According to Cesar, if Claro was a

this agile transformation five years ago,

startup, its challenges would be very

it was, according to Cesar, not a very

different. “Although a startup’s mindset

well-structured program, prompting

is needed to push some digital initia-

the introduction of a scaled process.

tives, and we are following this path, we

“We started from the CEO down, a very

also need to consolidate and maintain

well-structured program and last year,

the availability of our current platforms

we started Going Digital, which is a prod-

as we transform Claro’s business.”

uct-oriented process. They’re look-

Many network-based communications service providers are now

ing for the value-added services that we can provide to our customers.”

several years into their agile journeys,

Another big challenge was to change

but most have not yet achieved scale.

people’s mindsets and to implement an

CIOs leading enterprise agile adoption

enterprise agile culture by adopting a

need to address resistance associated

product mindset, promoting collabora-

with culture, processes, and a lack of

tion and trust, while coaching people

transparency. “In fact, these are chal-

through the change; an exercise that

lenges that we face on a daily basis,” he

requires discipline. “We know that

says, “and at the moment we are look-

Amazon, Spotify and Netflix have been

ing to scale our transformation jour-

using this methodology for at least for

ney with a view of product-oriented

10 years now, and we believe that we

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“ They understand that we must pivot IT from an operational department to a business partner, value-added and customer-centric positioning mindset” — C e s a r Au gu sto Dos Sa ntos D i re c tor of I T and CIO, Claro Brazil

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could have, as an enterprise company

Sourcing program with procurement in

or enterprise big tech company, this way

order to select real trusted vendors to

of working to launch new products.”

keep an eye on relationships and cost

One of the outcomes of the trans-

efficiency. “We’ve developed our roadmap

formation was the creation of a multi-

management in terms of how we stra-

year program: a Strategic Plan based

tegically make changes in a flexible and

on six pillars: Operational Excellence,

agile way, based on market conditions

Cost Efficiency, System Consolidation,

and business needs,” Cesar explains.

IT Modernization, Research and

In a year when the COVID-19 pandemic

Innovation, and New Agile Operational

caused an unprecedented crisis, 2020

Model. “To keep the core business

was a challenge that Claro Brazil success-

running we selected some traditional

fully overcame as it released brand new

pillars as Operational Excellence, Cost

services enabling a new e-commerce

Efficiency and System Consolidation,”

platform for the B2C segment, an API

Cesar reveals, adding, “but using a key

Management that enabled them to decou-

approach to speed up the transfor-

ple the Core and launch new services

mation with these three new pillars: IT

on digital channels, a complete ecosys-

Modernization, Research and Innovation,

tem for sales and customer service, new

and New Agile Operational Model. With

services for the B2B segment explor-

that approach, we started enabling

ing its monetization data with Microsoft

some new platforms in a cloud-based,

Azure Analytics components, and broad

API-first approach along with micro-ser-

implementation of collaborative compo-

vices to speed up new products.”

nents based on Azure. These are just some of the goals Cesar and his team

Trusted partners

achieved in 2019 and 2020. “Another

Another important aspect to developing

important aspect of the transformation

a digital transformation, especially in an

is a Data and Analytics Strategy, and we

enterprise as large as Claro Brazil, is the

have a dozen Tier 1 and Tier 2 partners

successful selection of reliable partners

and vendors helping us during this digital

who bring the experience of dozens of

transformation. Another trusted partner

similar sizable projects to enable speed

is helping us in that journey is SAS with

and assertiveness to the journey. For

its Analytics platforms across the multi-

instance, Claro developed a Strategic

ple use cases we have implemented.” www.theinterface.net

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Right people on the bus

at the vendors and business partners

Cesar and his team performed an impor-

to ensure Claro was partnering with

tant part of this transformation through

the right strategy, program roadmap

the building of the strategic plan and

and truly best-in-class organizations.

the pillars of the transformation that

“As a leader we must encourage the

closely aligned to the corporate stra-

teams to perform the best results they

tegic plan. “They understand that we

can, but I never said: ‘I am the Boss!’ The

must pivot IT from an operational depart-

most important thing to keep in mind

ment to a business partner, with a value-

is that you need to be side by side with

added and customer-centric mind-

your team and do it together. Leaving

set,” he reveals. With that in mind and

barking orders and guidelines will only

the right talent and leaders in position,

take you away from your team and help

Cesar shifted his focus to look closely

everyone lose. The way is always to listen

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to your employees’ dialogue and build

whenever necessary, adapt processes

together the best solutions. As a leader,

so that its employees can always create

you must act so that your team gets into

new solutions for the situations that will

synergy, so the skills and abilities of each

arise along its trajectory. When we rede-

member are enhanced. Do not restrict

signed our IT headquarters I encouraged

creative freedom. Perhaps this is one

the team to design, develop and imple-

of the most important lessons. Be very

ment a new work environment where we

careful not to strangle your employees’

could adopt the new mindset. The result

creative capacity with too many rules

was phenomenal. They created a truly

and plastered processes. Yes, processes

collaborative environment on their own.”

are important if you want to have quality management, but they are not everything.

Talk about partnership with business

Your company needs to have agility to,

To deliver best-in-class services for the www.theinterface.net

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company, a partnership with main stake-

Claro. Maurício Santos, Claro’s Financial

holders was fundamental to develop

Services Director explains: “IT, therefore,

new products. With that approach,

started to gain a new face, with an eye on

Cesar and his team started to develop

the business, looking for innovation and

new collaborative ways of working with

new values to meet the expectations of

them. So, at the beginning of 2019, the

the digital driven market and to be in line

pillar of Research and Innovation raised

with a new customer profile, eager for

the idea to build a Digital Wallet for

convenience. In this renewed journey,

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costs of collection and commissions, in addition to attracting and retaining customers for Claro, with intelligent use of data, customer experience, and digital engagement, connecting customers to the best solutions. In a marketplace concept with banks and FinTech to create value for Claro’s digital ecosystem, Claro Pay was launched in March 2021 after a business simulation process between Nov-20 to Jan-21.

Mauricio explains: “To my positive surprise, the technology team was already working on finding new business opportunities with a lot of technology, with Design Thinking and agile methodology. So, we designed Claro Pay together. IT’s vision, from the beginning was profoundly important to the project. In all phases of the project, IT work with a business mindset, partnership, and not only as an executor.”

Continuing this transformation, in 2018 Claro started a customer-journey focused strategy launching a IT had an important business partner.”

Claro Pay is an app with a digital

program initially called Customer Experience Center (CEC) followed by

account and mobile payments, created

SOLAR, “that means the sunshine of

with the objective of democratizing

Claro and a broader meaning for the

the use of payment services, eliminat-

real Customer-oriented approach”.

ing unnecessary bureaucracies and

Claro offers its cable and satellite

making financial services available in a

Pay-TV services, fixed and mobile broad-

safe and simple way. It aims to reduce

band, fixed and mobile lines, in addition to www.theinterface.net

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value-added and financial services. “With

analytical engines based on machine

all these services, and a fragmented

learning, and the use of robotiza-

architecture coming from companies like

tion. The micro-services-based archi-

Claro, Net, and Embratel, we needed to

tecture allows Claro to launch new

create something innovative and disrup-

features faster than ever, bringing the

tive that could bring speed and at the

greatest result for the business.

same time would bring total adherence

The project is based on a Digital BSS

to the organization’s objectives, while

architecture using the SalesForce

focused closely on the customer.”

platform, SAS Cognitive features and

The project brought disruptive archi-

micro-services Cloud-based on the

tecture and decoupled Claro from

Google/APIGee platform and provides

its legacy systems (CORE Systems),

to the customer its product personal-

using technologies based on cloud,

ization and offer greater adherence in

“ We assess whether the best journey with the greatest value for the customer and the return for the organization is in line with the main objectives of the program” — C e s a r Au gusto Dos Sa ntos D irector of I T a nd CIO, Cla ro Bra zil

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the retention and monetization of new

According to Gartner, a global consul-

acquisitions. “SOLAR aims to unify a

tancy firm, by 2024, 25% of large tradi-

360 ​​v iew of our customers, in a journey

tional enterprise CIOs will be held

centered on their experience, person-

accountable for digital business oper-

alized in all services. In this journey,

ational results, and by 2023, over 50%

we want to personalize their experi-

of employees in lines of business will

ence with Claro,” Santos enthuses.

be technology producers. This means

“The product objectives are reviewed

that IT is becoming more strategic and

quarterly, and we assess whether

a large and crucial part of the business

the best journey with the greatest

growth. “At Claro Brazil we have IT lead-

value for the customer and the return

ers joining business strategy teams as

for the organization is in line with the

Product Managers (PM) to develop and

main objectives of the program.”

deliver more value to the business and

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customers. This is some-

by investing in a special-

thing that is changing in

ized Big Data & Analytics

a real-world of transfor-

Centre (or CBDA in

mation, as technology

Portuguese) focused on

becomes the business.

accelerating the adoption

Enterprises are optimiz-

of big data, machine learn-

ing their approaches to

ing and AI. Additionally,

strategy, governance,

CBDA is responsible for

and operating models

data security and data

to reflect the long-term

governance; important

prospect of ongoing

disciplines that consoli-

turbulence, uncertainty

date and disseminate best

and transformation.”

practices, while setting

One of the key charac-

the rules of access for

teristics of organizations

each type of data such as

that have adapted well

sensitive and non-sen-

to this turbulent environ-

sitive customer data.

ment is that they accel-

The CBDA is a multidis-

erate efforts to break

ciplinary team composed

down operating models

of data scientists, data

and the organizational

engineering, statistics,

boundaries as well as

big data tech experts,

those related to role.

cloud experts and telecom experts. The team is

Data-driven journey

organized into Analytics

In order to reach the

Squads, acting in prior-

market’s expectation for

itized use cases or

high quality services and

complementary trans-

customer convenience,

formational project team

such as new payment

that require data and intel-

methods, cloud comput-

ligence to improve their

ing and IOT, Claro started

results. To succeed, the

its Data Strategy in 2017

CBDA only prioritizes use

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“ We have completed our mission planned for 2019 and 2020 with great success, but we know this is not enough” — C e s a r Au gusto Dos Sa ntos Di recto r of I T a nd CIO, Cla ro Bra zil

cases that can be measured financially.

home or on the antenna. In these cases,

Successful use cases include credit

algorithms are transformed into APIs

score algorithms, the location of best

to easily integrate with legacy systems,

offers that match with the customer’s

BOTs and RPAs, thus closing the cycle

profile and consumption habits, and eval-

of automation and auto-learning.

uations of the best places to expand the

The CBDA also generates business

net, evaluate the best places to open new

value to B2B clients, as the intelligence

stores and identify why some places or

created to solve internal problems is

devices (smart phones or modems) have

transformed into APIs which are exposed

poor network signal quality – in order to

in the Claro Insights Portal. Using the

take appropriate action. The actions can

CBDA, Claro utilizes its Datalake, which

automatically reconfigure the device or

has a big volume of data (+20 Petaytes),

open a work order to a technician who

to create the portal of intelligent solu-

can fix the problem at the customer’s

tions that optimizes decision-making

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while contributing to better results for

of services available. As a cloud-based

the company’s business. With an intuitive

product, the portal is available 24x7,

interface that facilitates the onboard-

and can be accessed from anywhere

ing of new customers and the hiring

and at any time through any device.”

of new services, the portal provides,

“They can then manage this consump-

through its showcase, the documenta-

tion with payment methods available

tion and internal processes of how to

directly at the portal. Until now, we had

contract, use and manage the consump-

long cycles in the development of new

tion of services. “The customer can

intelligent data services and, little inno-

monitor the consumption and perfor-

vation, directly affecting time-to-mar-

mance of the contracted products

ket for a solution to create, publish and

through analytical dashboards,” says

manage the services. To build this journey

Cesar. “For Claro, it is easy to manage

we always had a great support from SAS

its customers and make new releases

and Microsoft as Trusted Partners. Doing www.theinterface.net

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things in a collaborative way of working was fundamental for the success.”

Claro: The future and a solid foundation The digital transformation, well underway at Claro Brazil, lights the way to an exciting future for the Brazilian telco. “The future is here and now, and we believe we have delivered a solid foundation to continue delivering value to the business and transforming Claro Brazil to continue building upon and unlocking the door to greater innovation through a best-in-class Information Technology function,” Cesar enthuses. “We have accomplished great successes so far and have more to achieve. We have a 3-year strategy plan (TRANSFORMA_TI) that establishes where we want to be in this period of time, and this gives us the right way to capture the benefits of the transformation as soon as possible.”

“We have completed our mission planned for 2019 and 2020 with great success, but we know this is not enough.

The journey is only starting as our environment is very dynamic, technologically fast and perhaps will never end as we are also constantly evolving and always seeking excellence within our sector.”

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