Axiata Enterprise - October 2023

This is the headline of the feature Axiata Enterprise is powering xxxxxxxxxx digital transformation in Asia DIGITAL REPORT 2023

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IS POWERING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN ASIA

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Axiata Enterprise is revolutionising telecommunications and digital transformation across Asia.

CTO Dr Tomek Gerszberg discusses 5G, the cloud and security

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ext-generation telecommunications company Axiata Enterprise is the B2B unit of Axiata Group. Its core mission is to bring innovation, technology and telecommunication services to support digital transformation across Asia, from its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Dr Tomek Gerszberg is the CTO for Axiata Enterprise. In his role, Gerszberg focuses on products and solutions for the enterprises across Asia and supports delivering homogenous offerings for clients by responding to customer needs with fresh innovation.

“The business is based on connectivity as the traditional telco type of business,” he says.

“We grow towards managed connectivity, but also addressing the customer needs in the field of cloud, security, and system integration. Axiata Enterprise provides smart services with a strong focus on digital transformation, based on 5G. “My career went from traditional network management to delivering innovations for enterprises,” says Gerszberg. “The company itself is highly dynamic. The evolution of the company is much faster than the evolution of the telcos we know from Europe or even from the USA. “This is a unique opportunity for people like me to be a part of this fast transformation.

Before I arrived, it was a product-oriented company. Now it’s more service oriented.

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“ Axiata Enterprise provides smart services with a strong focus on digital transformation, based on 5G” DR TOMEK GERSZBERG CTO, AXIATA ENTERPRISE

In the last two years, Axiata Enterprise has strengthened the enterprise offering and grown the business in the enterprise segments, moving from a mobile-only, consumerfocused business into the B2B sphere.

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Previously, Gerszberg worked at Deutsche Telekom in Europe. Now at Axiata Enterprise, he manages different markets and adoption speeds.

“It’s not necessary to categorise countries as faster or slower, because every country has its own characteristics. Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia are different to the markets in Europe or the USA, which are homogeneous.

In Asia, the challenge is how to work out how to deliver the newest technology at the lowest possible price because that drives the adoption of the innovations.”

Gerszberg’s proudest achievement so far has been offering smart services for the

DR TOMEK GERSZBERG TITLE: CTO COMPANY: AXIATA ENTERPRISE INDUSTRY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOCATION: MALAYSIA

industry verticals and related networks like private 5G networks.

“At Axiata Enterprise, we have built a very strong ecosystem of partners and we can deliver best-of-the-breed solutions adjusted to the customer needs and capabilities.”

Axiata Enterprise uses high-security networking solutions like Open RAN, which Gerszberg believes makes them unique in comparison to the competition in this market.

“Axiata Enterprise has probably the strongest cybersecurity practices among all telcos in the region – and we provide services related to the cloud, like cloud migrations and cloud hosting. We are

Dr Tomek Gerszberg is a highly accomplished ICT executive with 25 years of experience in technology and business leadership. Known for developing innovative technology and business strategies, leading costsaving initiatives, and collaborating with global partners. Key expertise in service operations, strategic planning, product design, technology G2M and agile methodologies. Career highlights include roles at Axiata, MobiledgeX (acquired

by Google), and Deutsche Telekom, where he served as SVP Technology Strategy and SVP B2B innovations, and pioneered commercialisation of 5G, Edge Computing, and NB-IoT. He also drove successful business transformations. He is an influential figure in the telecommunications industry with a strong track record in technology leadership.

Solving the puzzle of scaled cloud capabilities at the edge Rakuten Symphony explains how its radically different approach – combined with in-depth knowledge & proprietary architecture – benefits private networks

Rakuten Symphony is a company that truly lives up to the moniker ‘innovative revolutionaries’.

Often, you find that companies spot a gap in the market and then idealise the fastest, cheapest way of filling that gap – but not Rakuten Symphony, which is taking a new technology approach, proven by Rakuten Mobile in Japan, and delivering it globally.

The company has married its knowledge with an automated approach that can be leveraged by any mobile operator, creating unique opportunities for its Symworld Cloud offering, including for private 5G deployments.

“Private 5G needs to be looked at from the perspective of connectivity as well as the use

cases that it serves, explains Partha Seetala, President of Rakuten Symphony’s Unified Cloud Business Unit “By combining innovations in storage, networking, computation and application management into a cloud-native Kubernetesbased architecture, Symworld Cloud provides the highest-performing, most cost-efficient solution.

“From a use case perspective, once a connectivity issue is solved, enterprises want to deploy more domain-centric workloads, like video analytics or apps churning a lot of data. That’s where Symworld Cloud shines – it addresses network and storage-based workload needs.

Workload considerations & partner needs Rakuten Symphony embarked upon a “programmatic”, “automated” and “orchestrated” journey, recognising that its technology stack already deployed for edge and Open RAN could also be leveraged for private 5G networks to support enterprises “augmenting existing network solutions”, according to Seetala.

“Storage, computer, and GPU management become critical in these environments and all of this is automatically enabled with the Symworld Cloud platform because it’s built for problem-solving in storage and network intensive workloads,” explains Seetala.

“Our expertise in managing underlying infrastructure through our cloud, as well as in centralised policies, means that everything can be automated and that’s a huge value for private 5G owners.”

Partnering with Axiata & separating out from the pack For companies such as Rakuten Symphony, there’s no higher praise than the validation of vendors that have chosen to trust your tech for their business endeavours. In Rakuten Symphony’s case, Axiata is one such vendor.

“They were exploring private 5G to solve use cases in multiple verticals – for example, manufacturing, healthcare and smart cities,” begins Seetala, “and they looked at Symworld Cloud and realised that the entire portfolio products that Rakuten Symphony brings is well-tested and actually designed using modern technologies.

“They also realised that the type of innovation we have brought to automation is critical for managing the private 5G networks of their own end clients in the most costefficient manner.”

Axiata chose Rakuten’s mobile network solution due to its software-centric nature and because of the “explicit intent that additional software policies would drive Axiata’s private 5G network”.

In a world overrun with private 5G and scaled cloud solutions, it’s important to find a way of separating from the pack. Boasting such a comprehensive, cost-effective and original solution, Rakuten Symphony have most certainly achieved just that.

Learn more

Solving the puzzle of scaled cloud capabilities at the edge We’ve revolutionized private 5G with a technology-driven approach.

At Rakuten Symphony, we’ve leveraged proven expertise from Rakuten Mobile in Japan to offer a cutting-edge solution for seamless connectivity and high-performance workloads, trusted by industry leaders for its innovative automation and cost-efficiency.

Learn more at symphony.rakuten.com

“ Axiata has one of the strongest cybersecurity practices among all telcos in the region” DR TOMEK GERSZBERG

Axiata also manages security and smart services, which are extended beyond traditional classical definitions of Industry 4.0, going also into new verticals and new ideas like e-health or agriculture.

delivering the security solutions, SD-WAN, SASE and managed security.”

“We also work closely with the Axiata Cyber Fusion Centre (ACFC), which is focused on real-time threat monitoring, proactive hunting, and robust protection of digital assets. With ACFC’s capabilities embodying a full spectrum of protective, detective, and rapid-response capabilities, our Enterprise customers benefit from having their information and data secured and protected, so their business resilience is assured.

Axiata Enterprise’s 5G rollout in Asia Axiata Enterprise runs a Regional Centre of Excellence for 5G. “The goal is to provide our operating companies with the access to industry specific knowledge and advanced smart solutions from Axiata solutioning partners.

This is augmented by state-of-the-art, costefficient private networking technology. In Axiata’s footprint the 5G public networks are not available, so private 4G/5G networking is the short cut for digital transformation.”

At Axiata Enterprise, exemplary applications of private 5G networks include:

CTO, AXIATA ENTERPRISE

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Smart Sea Ports and Airports 5G and smart solutions help greatly increase productivity of operations and the level of security. Visual analytics, drones, remotely operated equipment and AGVs require high reliability and low latency of wireless connections. Customer made integrations in 5G require strong skills in cellular technologies, edge computing, industrial systems etc, which Axiata can deliver to its customers out of one hand.

Smart manufacturing and industrial automation 5G offers communication that is highspeed and low-latency, ideal for industrial automation and control systems. 5G is not only replacing damaged cables, but also enabling collaborative use cases for AGVs 12

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and humans. Bringing overlay sensorics and smart devices helps to add the intelligent layer to existing equipment and secures evolutionary transformation, that is more controllable than revolutionary innovation.

XL Axiata projects for Indonesian mining companies are the best example of that.

Smart Cities Public security and safety are the main areas the Smart cities are addressing nowadays. Smart solutions can also help to cope with other challenges like traffic control and efficient public transportation, or target very city specific problems, like flooding in Jakarta.

As the public 5G networks are not available yet, these businesses need to have private 5G. We need also to look at

NAVIN PIERIS, GROUP CHIEF OFFICER , DIALOG ENTERPRISE, SRI LANKA Our commitment to enhancing the digital landscape for Sri Lankan enterprises has proven to be indispensable across businesses of all sizes in the country.

The demand for our solution verticals, including cloud, IoT, and intelligent networking, has been substantial. However, it’s worth noting that connectivity, which remains a major driver of digitalisation, continues to play a vital role in this transformative journey.

We are witnessing significant growth in the security solutions vertical, particularly with our Video Surveillance as a Service platform, which is set to incorporate 5,000 cameras across large enterprise sectors such as banking, finance, apparel and entertainment

by December 2023. Additionally, our SD-WAN technology has already connected over 1,500 branches in finance, banking, manufacturing and retail sectors, among others.

Our foray into the cloud industry through collaboration with major global hyperscale partners has been a resounding success. Rather than focusing on a single partner we have adopted a multi-cloud approach with established partnerships with all the hyper-scalers and complimentary connectivity solutions.

Furthermore, Dialog Enterprise Cloud achieved the distinction of becoming the VMware Sovereign Cloud Provider in the South Asian Region, reinforcing our commitment to industries handling sensitive data at scale.

Highly regulated industries like healthcare, banking and finance have critical requirements around data sovereignty. Our sovereign cloud

and hyperscale partnerships have helped us to establish long-term partnerships with the majority of banking and finance companies in the country, with cloud services becoming a pivotal driver for their digitalisation.

The IoT pillar has experienced unprecedented growth, driven by energy and economic crises, which have compelled industries to meter their utilities more efficiently and promote responsible resource usage in alignment with global sustainability standards. Our ability to anticipate client needs and provide solutions ahead of crises has fueled our innovation in this space.

All in all, Sri Lankan enterprises have embraced us not just as an ISP but an ICT Solutions provider, drawing on our extensive experience as a telco in our own digitalisation journey. They value our learning and consider us an integral part of their digital transformation efforts. We are dedicated to continuing our support and innovation as trusted partners in their digitalisation journey.

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“ We provide services related to the cloud, like cloud migrations and cloud hosting.

We deliver the security solutions” DR TOMEK GERSZBERG CTO, AXIATA ENTERPRISE

the specifics of the South Asian market where the needs of consumers and enterprises are very different, so forking 5G into consumer and enterprise one is a good strategy.

From this perspective, Axiata Enterprise has two streams which they have developed together with the group technology: one stream is designed to satisfy consumer needs on 5G and the second is to satisfy the enterprise needs.

“For the enterprise needs with regards to solutions, we have built a strong partnership with the leading, global network integrator like Capgemini Engineering and Tech Mahindra” says Gerszberg. “With those services and our capabilities, we also include strong local players to deliver the offers to the enterprises. So, our offer is a mix of global and local flavours.”

Axiata Enterprise has the 5G networking product stack which can run on any frequency, such as licensed 4G frequencies, or unlicensed bands.

“It can run on any frequency, and this gives the possibility to deliver the networking in every place.”

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This is something that Gerszberg believes makes the company so unique, especially in comparison to other operators who have been focused on delivering 5G to the public.

“We have bifurcated those processes and we focus on the enterprise needs that are very different from the consumer 5G needs,” says Gerszberg.

In Axiata Enterprise’s 5G networking, the team has signed agreements with partners such as Rakuten Symphony, Mavenir and Capgemini Engineering as network integrator. Yet there are many challenges to overcome.

For Gerszberg, the first challenge is the market perspective. “We see a very big openness to innovations,” he says. “In every market, we see that the people are curious, they want to change their business, they want to increase their efficiencies, they want to be competitive – not just locally, but on a global level.”

Gerszberg sees the willingness to innovate as one of the biggest cultural assets of Southeast Asia. At the same time, he observes a level of customer wariness. “If we consider the advanced solutions in other parts of the world, is this something that we can accommodate?

Does it fit our market? My answer, as I see the businesses, is yes. The markets here are ready.”

But first, Axiata Enterprise must build trust with the enterprises, which are not in any dimension different from the leading companies in other parts of the world.

“However, this is something that will take a couple of months – through trials, proof of concepts and so on. When these companies are confident that they can work with the newest innovations, we’ll be there for them.”

Leading successful 5G digital transformation To achieve the 5G transformation, certain technologies must be in place – primarily, 5G and the cloud.

MILA J. KUSHEVA, CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, SMART AXIATA, CAMBODIA Cambodia stands out as one of the fastestgrowing economies, consistently ranking among the top 20 countries in terms of year-on-year GDP growth. In Cambodia, both consumers and businesses of all sizes are extensively connected to the digital realm. Additionally, media consumption has predominantly shifted towards digital platforms. This constant connectivity to the digital realm has transformed the way people engage in commerce and stay connected.

The digitalisation of business and consumer interactions is happening at a high pace, presenting both opportunities and challenges. Connectivity plays a critical role across industries, customers and businesses in emerging markets where mobile technology is the predominant force. Recognising this, Smart Axiata has taken the lead as the first operator in the country to embrace a comprehensive solutions portfolio. This portfolio encompasses flexible connectivity solutions, a security layer powered by SD WAN and Versa, and additional options for automating business operations. By continuously introducing new and easy to adopt solutions, Smart has already been established as a preferred telecom provider to the financial industry in the country which is among fastest developing in terms of growth as well as digitalisation.

By leveraging cloud-based technologies, Smart is playing a crucial role in supporting businesses in Cambodia to advance further

in process automation and digitalisation.

Through collaborations with Axiata Enterprise and international partners, Smart introduces several cloud-based offerings. These include Aarenet, a cloud-based PBX system.

Additionally, Smart brings forth a cloudbased ERP solution in partnership with local startup CheckInMe, enabling organisations to streamline their operations digitally.

Furthermore, the collaboration with Cartrack provides a Fleet Management solution, enhancing efficiency and control.

Being a part of Cambodia’s dynamic ecosystem of businesses and consumers, as an operator presents an incredibly exciting opportunity. Through strategic partnerships, Smart Axiata brings international expertise to the table in an accessible manner, allowing companies to drive digitalisation and bolster digital security without requiring upfront investments. By offering these opportunities, Smart Axiata aims to fuel Cambodia’s journey towards a more digitised future.

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Innovations you want, experience you need Leveraging experience for innovations that push the limits of technology. With over 30+ years on the global market, our Loyalty and Telecommunications solutions fuel the new era of IT services

Discover our technology Comarch Loyalty Comarch Telecommunications

How XL Axiata empowers 50 million customers with Comarch Telco Business Development Manager Henry Locarno & Jan Svorobovic, Director of Business Development, discuss Comarch’s ongoing relationship with XL Axiata Polish IT company Comarch has been cooperating with one of Axiata Group’s Indonesian subsidiaries – XL Axiata, a leading mobile telecommunications services operator – since 2016.

With more than 30 years of experience in providing tech innovations for various industries – ranging from telecommunications through healthcare to finance, loyalty solutions, and banking – Comarch provides IT solutions including ERP business management systems, information security, CRM and sales support systems, electronic communications, network infrastructure management, IoT solutions, data analytics, and business intelligence.

“XL Axiata uses our awardwinning AI-powered loyalty management platform for designing, building and running successful loyalty programmes,”

Comarch’s Director of Business Development Jan Svorobovic explains. “Comarch is running six loyalty programmes for 50 million XL Axiata customers.”

The joint efforts yield impressive results, with each programme gathering millions of members.

Axiapp, an Android-based application developed by PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) for indirect channel partners, won a gold award at the 2021 International Loyalty 360 Awards in the USA in the CX category.

Sustainability at the core of Comarch’s projects in 5G and technology Henry Locarno, Comarch’s Telco Business Development Manager, stresses how much 5G technology contributes to the quality and delivery of its products - ensuring partners like Axiata can operate with confidence with business and environmental

sustainability in mind.

“5G equipped with modern, smart systems can enhance sustainability in corporations and across societies as a whole,” he explains. “Sustainability is a strong accelerator of the changes happening in telecoms. This is a new dimension of efficiency which was not previously possible, and would not have arrived so fast without pressure from society and governments.”

Meeting ever-changing expectations of customers “We’re constantly striving to perfect our technology and improve Comarch-powered loyalty programmes,” Svorobovic says. “With XL Axiata, we plan to keep polishing their already robust loyalty initiatives through a deeper analysis of the members’ needs and behaviors. We want to ensure our loyalty programmes are up to speed and live up to the ever-changing expectations of people who use them.”

“5G is a smart type of connectivity that enables new types of use cases, and the cloud executes the applications of those use cases,” says Gerszberg. “Here, we are talking about the edge cloud and distributed edge cloud, which are by nature the domain of the operators.”

Yet these two things mean nothing if the highest level of security is not guaranteed.

“Security has become an immersive technology for any other type of technology.

Combining those three from the competence perspective makes the telco space unique and so strong.”

Axiata Enterprise has a strong partnership with Versa Networks.

“This is a natural type of partnership; as we are helping our clients to migrate the cloud, in consequence we also help to modernise the security ecosystem with products like SD-WAN and SASE.

“We have built partnerships with the cloud players, helping them to reach the markets in our geography and helping our customers to get a strong representative. I believe we fit in well in the region.”

For its 5G networking, Axiata Enterprise has partnered with Rakuten Symphony, Mavenir and Capgemini Engineering.

Axiata’s partners deliver cutting edge solutions that address the needs of enterprises better than any other technology stacks. The networking is based on O-RAN technology, augmented with edge computing capabilities to run enterprise application workloads and is delivered in a fully cloud-native way, so standard off-the-shelf hardware can be deployed on customer sites. This helps Axiata Enterprise to offer very competitive pricing for the newest available technology.

Digitalisation and the cloud have transformed the telecoms world.

Over the next year, Axiata Enterprise is going to be more present in smart services, 5G networking and security.

MD. ADIL HOSSAIN, CHIEF ENTERPRISE BUSINESS OFFICER, ROBI, BANGLADESH

Robi’s evolution from Telco to Techco has helped the company to project itself as the leading tech-based solution provider across the industry verticals in Bangladesh. While we have a range of advanced solution portfolio, our Cloud and Colocation services clearly stands out, and already made significant headway into the market. In this regard, setting up the first ever Tier IV commercialized data center in Bangladesh has helped the company to command respect in the marketplace.

Prominent Banks, Fintech, IT, FMCG, NGO, News & Media etc. companies have already subscribed to our Cloud and Colocation services- this business took off significantly in 2023. Companies who struggle to invest in on-site solutions, have been particularly drawn towards our colocation service. While the hesitation to migrate to cloud persists, it is very encouraging to note that more than 60% enterprises are planning for cloud migration.

Like many other countries, we also see a great future for SD-WAN services in Bangladesh. Its ability to help organizations to effectively monitor and efficiently manage WAN traffic is beginning to entice the tech minded enterprises here. While the market yet lacks scalability, we have already carried out presale activities successfully in the Banking sector.

Though Bangladesh is yet to enter the 5G era, we are in discussion with the manufacturing and freight forwarding companies to enhance their operations through 5G. In this connection, we are actively working to create viable use-cases for the application of IOT, AR VR and AI Analytics in the manufacturing industries of Bangladesh.

In addition to our evolution into a Techco, our enterprise brand name- “Robi for Business” gives clarity of purpose to our prospective and existing clients. This clarity of purpose helps us to cut to the chase when it comes to pitching these advanced digital solutions in the market.

But despite many challenges, it is really encouraging to note that the industries here are very upbeat about embracing technology.

As the market slowly falls into place, our focus for now is to win the trust and confidence of our clients, while expanding on areas that are gaining traction already.

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“With the pace of the development at Axiata Enterprise, the next 12 months for the company is like 36 months in some other places,” he said. “This is one of the priorities. We’ll be much more visible in managed services on security and in all vibes of security related to on-prem security solutions, SD-WAN networking, and SASE.” Gerszberg anticipates future trends in the telco industry, which he and his team will have to roll with. “The telco industry is undergoing the biggest transformation since digitalisation, which was in the 1990s.

This is the biggest change in the last 30 years, because technology ecosystems and processes have changed so much. You need to change yourself internally with changing tools, in a changing market.”

The second trend, Gerszberg says, is consultative selling related to solutions in the vertical industries, like solutions for logistics and warehouses.

“Again, this requires knowledge about the solutions implemented worldwide,” says Gerszberg. “It requires knowledge about the business impact of the technologies in the specific verticals and it requires local capability to execute.”

He sees this as a new way of localisation, especially in the enterprise segments for the telcos. So how do you combine the global innovation trends with the local talents and local capabilities?

“I believe this is a kind of sweet spot for the telcos, because they can do that,” he says. “But the second thing is that they have the customer’s trust.”

For Gerszberg, this is still the biggest asset that any company could imagine.

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