HGC Communications brochure – April 2019

HGC GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS:

DIGITAL DISRUPTION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

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HGC GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS:

REMAINING RELEVANT IN THE DIGITAL ERA WRIT TEN BY

DA LE BENTON PRODUCED BY

K RIS PA LMER

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w w w.hgc . com . h k

How a digital transformation allows HGC Global Communications to leverage core technologies, infrastructure and services to enhance connections among people and businesses on both a domestic and international scale

T

he digital era is upon us and organisations all around the world are investing more than ever before into technology and innovation

to improve their operations and stay relevant for an evolving customer base. HGC Global Communica04

tions (HGC), a telecommunications company based in Hong Kong, owns an extensive fibre-optic network within the city and has five cross-border routes integrated with three of mainland China’s tier-one telco operators. This is on top of housing a world class international network and the first interconnection on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, linking HGC to the Greater Bay Area.

The company’s main mission is centred around leveraging core technologies, infrastructure and services to enhance connections among people and businesses on both a domestic and international scale. A ‘new’ HGC was formed in 2017 and Andrew Kwok, the new Chief Executive Officer, began to embark on HGC’s journey of digital transformation.

“I remember when we met,” recalls Chief Digital Officer (CDO) Jacqueline Teo. “He had a firm view

HGC headquarters in Hong Kong HGC owns an extensive fibre-optic network within Hong Kong

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about the need for HGC to transform itself as a business in order to be relevant in the new digital world. The role of CDO was created to lead us on this crucial journey and define new paths for growth and success in the digital era.�

Teo joined the business back in 2018 and brought with her extensive global experience in digital enablement, disruption and transformation.

Over the course of her career, she has played key roles in product innovation, managed complex technology busiw w w.hgc . com . h k

“ The role of HGC’s Chief Digital Officer was created to lead the digital journey and define new paths for growth and success in the digital era” — Jacqueline Teo, Chief Digital Officer at HGC Global Communications

me to think differently,” she says.

“What are people really looking for the technology to do? Then, how do people make decisions around technology that are not only based on the technology? How many ROI factors can I satisfy with this technology? These are multi-faceted questions and my experience has allowed me to empathise and be curious about financial, emotional, human, intellectual and rational aspects of the decision. Adding another layer that takes into account

nesses and their expansions in the

the diverse backgrounds of people

Asian market, and led multiple signifi-

whether it be age, gender, experi-

cant organisation wide transforma-

ence, nationality etc – this completely

tions. She also led the global technol-

applies to HGC’s digital journey.”

ogy integration and transformation

HGC’s digital transformation fo-

of a US$697mn acquisition, and has

cuses on two key areas: an internal

led the ground up establishment of

transformation of culture, technol-

several billion-dollar telecommunica-

ogy and process; and an external

tions startups in Asia and Australia.

transformation of brand, services

For Teo though, the most valuable

and experience that will see tech-

experience she has gained is an

nology as an enabler for its cus-

understanding of the “business of

tomers own digital journeys. Teo’s

technology”. “I look at technology as

remit covers digital businesses and

a means that will provide a positive

services, cybersecurity, data, cloud,

experience to the user, and having an

operations support system (OSS)

understanding of the importance of

and business support system (BSS).

that return of investment (ROI) allows

Teo describes having open, agile w w w.hgc . com . h k

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘HGC GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATE PROFILE’ 08 platforms as key to what a telecom

end, she immediately enhanced HGC

provider is capable of offering to its

with agile and scrum, multi-cloud

customers. “As we evolve more in this

management, DevOps and site

digital world, things collide and interact,”

reliability engineering skills. “Our first

she says. “You can’t look at one thing

major project as the new HGC was

and not look at others simultaneously.

extremely agile, cloud native, set up for

For example, you need to enrich cyberse-

continuous integration and continuous

curity with data and core OSS or BSS

delivery (Devops), and supported by

needs. To help our customers transform,

hybrid cloud methods from the start.

we need to transform ourselves. My

The team didn’t know any different, so

role is therefore to balance all these

we set up a culture of continuous

competing and sometimes conflicting

learning and agility to fail and fix quickly

demands, and ensure we have incorpo-

and everyone just got used to the pace

rated the right technology at the right

of speed and change. This first project

time for the right outcomes.” To this

was the establishment of our API and

Microservices hub with Axway to

approach, fail fast with HGC and have

open up our platform and it took us

the courage to push the boundaries

just three months to achieve. A year

of their technology.

in, this is the only way we will launch any new capability.”

In order to bring about change, Teo looked at where technology could be

To support HGC’s digital journey,

successfully implemented and that

Teo also sought partners who can

in itself required a rethink about the

work flexibly with HGC within a

value of technology to HGC. She notes

fast-paced environment, and remarks

that the current global perception of

that “it was more important they fit us

digital technology shows businesses

culturally first than have the cheapest

don’t really understand the depths and

price or the fanciest technology”. She

breadths of modern technology capabili-

cites partners like Enxoo, Axway and

ties. “They think it is easy because of

Cloudsmartz who have a ‘can-do’

own their digital experience, and they

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

Jacqueline Teo Jacqueline Teo is Chief Digital Officer, responsible for technology and digital capabilities in the service of customers and internal staff. Her remit covers strategy, roadmapping, architecture, delivery and support, as well as accountability for P&L, and she has led significant technological transformation projects for large and complex organisations.

During a career that stretches back 25 years, Jacqueline has held a number C-level posts in the global telecommunications, media and entertainment industries, and has earned a reputation for spearheading game-changing initiatives on behalf of customers.

w w w.hgc . com . h k

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“Smart cities, smart workplaces, smart cars, etc... Those areas all need thought leadership in the technology space to actually understand how the enablement of these technologies can support meaningful business models” — Jacqueline Teo, Chief Digital Officer at HGC Global Communications

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just want it and they want it fast,” she

space to actually understand how the

explains. This is where her experience

enablement of these technologies can

comes into play, as she is able to marry

support meaningful business models.

her background in finance with her

A good digital leader has to know how

business knowledge and understand-

to use technology as a progressive

ing of technology to optimise the

enabler and a disrupter – yet advocate

benefits to HGC and its customers.

for the customer while providing

She adds that thought leadership

universal benefit and work all positions

is crucial in achieving any form of

seamlessly to grow. You don’t always

success in a digital transformation.

need to be the smartest person in the

“Everything is smart these days,” she

room, but you do need to know who is

says. “Smart cities, smart workplaces,

and then create the environment

smart cars, etc. Those areas all need

where each strength has a voice to

thought leadership in the technology

shape the outcome.” w w w.hgc . com . h k

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A staff walkathon was organised. For every two employees who finish the walk, HGC will donate a 12-month free broadband service plan to a local grassroots student

Such leadership is fundamental

of this evolution,” she says. “A consum-

for a business like HGC which serves

er for a telecommunications service

a wide range of market segments on

has a different set of needs to one of

a local and international scale. With

the large corporates we serve, and

such a large mass market, Teo recog-

the way they’re perceiving things can

nises that transforming and digitally

be at very different extremes. Staying

enabling each and every facet in order

relevant to a customer that continues

to remain relevant is a challenge. She

to be empowered and has more

is keen to stress the need to have

access to information than ever before

empathy for those going through such

requires an understanding of just how

transformations and the challenges

much that customer has changed and

they face. “They’re at different stages

will continue to change.” HGC’s varied

of their own journeys of relevance and

market segments creates an incredibly

they’ve got customers at different cusps

diverse set of demands that it has to

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘VOLVO OCEAN RACE HK STOPOVER RECAP’ 13

be aware and ahead of. “People are

change management innovatively

changing at different rates, in different

to enable a new way of thinking, asking:

ways,” says Teo. “My take on this is to

“Where is that shift that will make our

put your customer in the middle of eve-

people look at and think about things

rything you do and start from the idea

a little differently?” and “How do I create

of ‘what is going to make my customer

a safe environment for our people to

successful today, tomorrow, next year,

collaborate and stay genuinely focused

in 10 years?’ Next,work backwards

on the customers’ needs?” Challenging

and challenge the way you think about

the company’s own thinking bias and

making your customer happy. Then

allowing people to be openly uncom-

and only then, how and which technol-

fortable about the impending change

ogy can enable that.”

has been essential. “It’s about having

In order to overcome this challenge, Teo approaches education and

different conversations, looking at how our customers and our partners will be w w w.hgc . com . h k

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axway.com/api

“ I made a strategic decision to enable AI capabilities to drive our sales from day one.

This includes chatbots for the consumer market and AI driven sales for all our direct sales teams” — Jacqueline Teo, Chief Digital Officer at HGC Global Communications

frictionless engagements with its customers, suppliers and partners.

Teo looks at artificial intelligence (AI), virtualisation and infrastructure as the key technologies defining this journey.

“Data becomes much more meaningful with AI,” she says.

“I made a strategic decision to enable AI capabilities to drive our sales from day one. This includes chatbots for the consumer market and AI driven sales for all our direct sales teams.” The next set of digital functions to benefit from AI are already in progress and Teo would like to see this extended to its customers as well.

affected and how we can tackle these

Additionally, Teo believes that the

challenges in different ways,” she says.

edge will become increasingly impor-

“Change is a certainty in this digital era

tant to all segments as we enter a world

and we must continuously look at where

of high volume, micro transactions

the dial needs to be in order to remain

driven by our growing love for all things

meaningful as a business and ultimately

‘smart’, the internet of things and 5G

to our customer.”

services. Functionality and intelligence

HGC’s customer requires an increas-

at the edge will increase and drive how

ing number of touch points with more

HGC continues to virtualise access

direct connectivity and access. In

to cloud and network resources while

response to this, HGC is exploring

enabling customers to virtualise their

ways in which it can build out from its

processes, prioritise their usage and

open platforms and leverage its data

dynamically use edge to optimise

capabilities to better create true

efficiency. w w w.hgc . com . h k

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Data Center ConneX™

Enabling Data Center Transformation Interconnect

Cross Connect

Cloud Connect

Enterprise Customers Want Flexibility & Control – TODAY Data Center ConneX™ is powered through CloudSmartz’ Acumen360 LSO & DCX foundational platforms – enabling Data Center Interconnect, Cross Connect, Cloud Connect for the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) CloudSmartz enabled Hutchison Global Communications (HGC) with point-to-point connectivity and Cloud Connect in Q1 2019.

“CloudSmartz utilized its Acumen SDX platform to design and develop the HGC ‘network-on-demand’ products.

Everything from initial design to hardware deployment and service launch along with 24X7 support was completed in record time”, says Manjeet Dhariwal, Co-founder & CTO, CloudSmartz. “Multiple network-on-demand services are available to customers today and this platform will serve as the launchpad for all future SDN and on-demand, zero-touch provisioning services."

CloudSmartz enables digital transformation for Next-Generation Service Providers to deliver the benefits of flexibility and control with the self-service consumerization of network services.

ENTERPRISE

PARTNERS

DCX Portal

OSS/BSS

Analytics

Inventory

Multi-Tenant

Orchestrate

CloudSmartz Data Center ConneX™ Metering

OpenFlow

Telemetry

OpenKilda SDN Controller Programmable Data Plane

SERVICE PROVIDER BENEFITS: 1

Enable on-demand products to be offered to customers via Data Center Interconnect

2

Create a marketplace between customers and the DC via automated Cross Connect

3

Offer automated self-service cloud connectivity to customers via Cloud Connect For more information please visit our website www.cloudsmartz.com or email info@cloudsmartz.com.

1995

Year founded

1,500

Approximate number of employees

New HGC celebrates its first anniversary with a HK$1mn broadband donation to grassroots student

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Software enabled infrastructure

service providers (CSPs) to enable this

(software defined networks or ‘SDN’,

part of its digital transformation journey.

known as virtual data centres ‘SDDC)

“CloudSmartz SDN development teams,

or infrastructure as code, is a key area

using CloudSmartz SDxSuite platform

for HGC to unlock operational efficien-

and OpenKilda SDN Controller, worked

cies though sellable, flexible and

closely with Jacqueline’s HGC teams

reconfigurable infrastructure. HGC can

to develop and globally launch SDN

also optimise availability and perfor-

network-on-demand products within 6

mance as well as automate provision-

months,” says Manjeet Dhariwal, CTO

ing and activation, allowing its custom-

and Co-founder, CloudSmartz. “This

ers elastic infrastructure and networks.

kind of speed and agility is unheard of

The company partnered with

- Congratulations to the SDN teams

CloudSmartz, a global provider of

and the leadership.”

software solutions for communications

Noting that while there are many w w w.hgc . com . h k

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“ It takes personal courage and organisational courage to stand up and say that we are happy to disrupt who we are and we are happy to take the first steps in evolving our business today, tomorrow and beyond that” — Jacqueline Teo, Chief Digital Officer at HGC Global Communications

SDN services companies in the world, Teo adds that CloudSmartz’s culture and shared goals set it apart from any other. “If you look at the culture that we built to thrive as being digital, CloudSmartz stood out for us for two reasons: one was their thought leadership. They know the software defined space, and they knew how to lead us to that space. The second was that they understood the diversity of

our customer base and are aligned to the empathy we have for our customers and customer focus of this journey.

Plus it helps that thy work at our pace.”

Teo uses the word ‘journey’ liberally, for she feels that transformation suggests a process of moving from one stage to another, whereas for HGC it is a continuous evolution to stay relevant in the fourth industrial revolution. Technology will continue to redefine the telecommunications space, and HGC has had to continue to redefine itself too. “HGC is courageous in the way it disrupts its own ways of doing business,” she says. “It takes personal courage and organisational courage to stand up and say that we are happy to disrupt who we are and we are happy to take the first steps in evolving our business today, tomorrow and beyond that.”

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HGC Global Communications 17/F, Hutchison Telecom Tower, 99 Cheung Fai Road, Tsing Yi, Hong Kong www.hgc.com.hk