Business Chief Asia Magazine – February 2019

ASIA EDITION FEBRUARY 20 19 asia.businesschief.com

MARSH

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION OF RISK MANAGEMENT

A CUSTOMER JOURNEY DRIVEN BY DATA

Generali:

Customer-centric solutions through digital transformation Hayden Seach on the global insurer’s disruptive journey

City Focus

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FOREWORD

W

elcome to the February issue of Business Chief Asia.

Generali has become one of the world’s largest insurance providers, with clients in over 160 countries. Laura Mullan caught up with Hayden Seach, Head of Global Corporate & Commercial Asia at Generali, to discuss the firm’s exciting customer-centric digital transformation. “We position ourselves as a company that responds to customers’ needs, rather than selling them an insurance policy or a product,” Seach says. “At Generali, our focus is on being agile, flexible and adaptable so we can meet the needs of our clients”. Discussing Generali’s four key digital transformation tools – data consolidation, business enablement, customer service and business management – Seach offers an excellent insight from the heart of the process.

For this month’s Leadership piece, we speak with Delphix’s General Manager and Vice President of Sales in APJ, Richard Gerdis, about the firm’s successful expansion strategy across the APAC region, and how digital transformation is combined with a focus on clients and strategic partnerships to expand Delphix’s reach.

For this month’s City Focus, Harry Menear explores the South Korean capital of Seoul, a booming tech hub in Southeast Asia. For this month’s Top 10, we rank the tallest buildings in the region.

Don’t forget to check out our in-depth company profiles for AXA Singapore, Bupa Australia and New Zealand, Airservices Australia, and many more.

Enjoy the issue!

Marcus Lawrence. marcus.lawrence@bizclikmedia.com

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

05

CONTENTS

10 Generali:

A customer-centric insurance provider fuelled by digital disruption

24 Delphix Letting data flow across APAC

Nuggets:

36

merging nd security a ce convenien through blockchain

46 OMNISTREAM A customer journey driven by data

56

Sustainability on a massive scale

70 TRANSFORMING THE BOARDROOM: INSPIRING WOMEN IN STEM

City Focus

80

SEOUL 90

APAC’s most influential brands

CONTENTS

138 OSM Maritime

160 104 AXA Singapore

178 Essilor

120 MARSH

FEBRUARY 2019

AMAN

210 190

Bupa Australia & New Zealand Accent Group Ltd

282

236 University of Technology, Sydney (NSW)

260

Airservices Australia

Level Crossings Authority

Generali: 10

A customer-centric insurance provider fuelled by digital disruption WRIT TEN BY

L AUR A MULL AN PRODUCED BY

A LE X PAGE

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

11

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

GENERALI

Generali has made a name for itself as one of largest global insurance providers. Now, it’s taking on one of its biggest digital transformations yet to sustain its customer-centric reputation

12

W

orldwide, it seems the insurance sector is on the cusp of momentous change and nowhere can this be seen better than at

Assicurazioni Generali. Offering everything from corporate insurance to life and health insurance, Generali has quickly become a household name, often cited as being Europe’s third-largest insurer, the leading insurer in Italy and the second largest in Germany. Now, it’s earning its stripes for another key facet of the business: the further innovation and digital transformation process, as stated in the new Group Strategy.

At its Global Corporate & Commercial division, a specialised unit within the company, Generali provides services such as property and casualty insurance to complex multinationals and large domestic commercial entities alike. Hayden Seach, Head of Global Corporate & Commercial Asia, is convinced that this digital transformation is not only FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

13

helping the company better manage its portfolio and relationships, but it’s also helping it deliver more informed risk management to its clients.

Historically, insurance has been associated with a product or contract between a customer and their insurance company covering risk. In stark contrast, Generali believes it offers services beyond this, going the extra mile to deliver a service-orientated experience for its customers. “We focus on providing service-led propositions,” Seach explains, “therefore we position a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

GENERALI

“ At Generali, our focus is on being agile, flexible and adaptable so we can meet the needs of our clients” Hayden Seach, Head of Generali Global Corporate & Commercial Asia

14

FEBRUARY 2019

ourselves as a company that responds to customers’ needs as a partner, rather than selling them an insurance policy or product.” Technology has undoubtedly been a key part of this strategy, and so Generali has devised a careful digital transformation plan to ensure its customers get the top-class service they deserve every time. “At Generali, our focus is on being agile,

TECHNOLOGY

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘THE EMERGING RISK – GENERALI GROUP’ 15 flexible and adaptable so we can meet

a global level. Generali is also using

the needs of our clients in a timely

a customer relationship management

manner,” adds Seach.

(CRM) tool from Microsoft Dynamics

At GC&C, digital tools involve data

which allows it to manage and maintain

consolidation, business enablement,

customer relationships, track engage-

customer service and business

ments and sales, and deliver actionable

management. When it came to data,

data. Because Generali also provides

Seach says that the company “recog-

loss prevention and risk engineering

nised it had an enormous amount of

services to its customers, it has also

data available to it” as a multinational

utilised Maximo by IBM to make the

insurer but that it wasn’t effectively

related reports, actions and results

“leveraging this to its full potential”.

electronically available.

To promote data consolidation and

But data consolidation is only the

portfolio analytics, the business rolled

start. With its digitally-savvy mindset,

out a Corporate Data Warehouse at

Generali also plans to enable the a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

Trusted Digital Advisor We help insurers connect the dots across the globe and region – becoming customer-led, operationally smart Connected Enterprises

Anticipate tomorrow.

Deliver today. kpmg.com/cn

Š 2019 KPMG Advisory (Hong Kong) Limited, a Hong Kong limited liability company and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in Hong Kong.

TECHNOLOGY

business further with a home-grown

Underwriting Workbench which

system called Gen-e-risk, short for

supports the full underwriting process,

Generali eRisk system. “Providing

from request for quotation to the

multinational insurance solutions is

binding stage. In turn, Seach says this

a very complex process,” observes

will allow the firm to “deliver technical

Seach. “This system enables us

pricing, risk assessment and portfolio

to provide multinational insurance

management as well as offer geoloca-

solutions to large and complex

tion and tracking information”.

customers, across multiple territories,

Today, insurance businesses face

compliantly.” As part of its digital

a new hurdle: how to become more

transformation journey, Generali has

customer-centric. However, this seems

developed a new system called

to be a challenge which Generali is 17

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

Hayden Seach I current hold the position of Head of Asia; for Generali Global Corporate and Commercial. I am also a member of the Board of Future Generali (India) Insurance Company Limited.

I have worked in the Insurance Industry for 25 years, holding various global and country leadership positions.

Other board memberships I’ve held include: Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance (Oman) SAOC. ( June 2010 — March 2011), Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance (Middle East) Limited EC (alt) (February 2009 — March 2011), Glencairn Group (South Africa) (August 2005 — December 2007).

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

GENERALI

18

tackling with ease. “We take the data-

and premiums status. Additionally, the

driven insights that we have from the

business is launching an Electronic

Corporate Data Warehouse and we

Policy Insurance service. Aligned with

present it back to the customer, allowing

its green strategy, this roll-out also

them to view the performance of their

aims to “promote better policy

business,” notes Seach. “This enables

documentation management for the

them to create better risk management

customer”, according to Seach.

of their own business.”

“We are also just about to launch

The fourth component of Generali’s digital transformation journey lies in

a Client & Broker web portal,” he adds,

business management. By consolidat-

highlighting how the service will offer

ing its data, Seach says it helped to

a documentary repository and will also

bring “full transparency” to the busi-

provide details on service delivery

ness, allowing it to better manage and

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

19

“ We position ourselves as a company that responds to customers’ needs, rather than selling them an insurance policy or a product” Hayden Seach, Head of Generali Global Corporate & Commercial Asia

track the performance of areas of the business like production, underwriting and finance. “Internally it provided us with a much better portfolio management capability,” he says. “The transparency of our portfolio has really enabled us to focus on profitability and portfolio performance. We’ve got a whole customer view, which has enabled us to deliver better results for our shareholders.”

“I think another thing that I’m really proud that we’ve managed to deliver a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

GENERALI

is a more informed risk management to our customers,” he adds. “Our customers are able to get the claims data analytics that we provide.” This has had real-life, tangible impacts for customers, he asserts, citing a major multinational hotel chain as one key beneficiary. “We were able to analyse and present to them incidents which were happening within their hotels around the world. So, for example, one hotel had a slip-and-fall problem at one of their buffet lines. Using data 20

analytics, we were able to isolate the cause of the problem and help them design a risk management control.”

In this instance, it meant implementing a service attendant rather than having a self-service model to prevent spillages.

Indeed, Generali Global Corporate & Commercial has taken a forwardthinking approach to innovation, tapping into some of the latest technology trends shaking up the market.

However, when the pace of innovation progresses at a rate of knots, how does the company keep up? “At GC&C Asia we’ve leveraged partners like KPMG who have been a fantastic supporter to us throughout our FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

journey,” Seach observes. “I think leveraging partnerships have really helped us drive our agenda as fast and effectively as the market requires.”

But this isn’t the only challenge facing the company. Seach points out how his division also had to contend with legacy systems, the scale of change and the challenge of implementing this strategy worldwide. “It really requires a strong leadership focus to cascade this approach to the relevant teams within each of our businesses,” he says.

It’s this strong guidance which will help the company it navigates a realm of new emerging technologies and strategies. “Leveraging robotics and other

“ We’ve leveraged partners like KPMG who have been a fantastic supporter to us throughout our journey” Hayden Seach, Head of Generali Global Corporate & Commercial Asia

emerging technology is the next phase,” notes Seach. “Our value proposition requires a lot of analytics and feedback to our customers and we can’t underestimate the amount of work that goes into that. This technology will reduce the turnaround and customers will be able to receive more live-time data feedback on incidents so they can manage their own risks and exposures more effectively.” In the world of insurance, compliance is paramount and whilst Generali is already using a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

21

GENERALI

160

Countries completed insurance solutions 22

71,000 Employees

1831

Year founded

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

tools like its CRM system and constant reviews to safeguard this, Seach highlights how the company is also exploring the use of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) for the future.

Change is underfoot at Generali: the company is investigating the use of trailblazing new technologies and is working hard to nurture the right culture necessary for change but ultimately, for Seach and his team, the most important thing is to remain laser-focused on its service-led customer experience. “Our service beyond policy approach is something that we’re really proud of within Global Corporate & Commercial,” Seach reflects. “Looking forward, if we can continue to be the best deliverer of corporate insurance to our customer that would be something that I would be delighted with.” In order to do this, technology is set to be a vital part of Generali’s future strategy, but when the end-goal is customer-centricity, it’s by no means a silver bullet. Seach affirms that whilst technology is a “clear enabler” which can help make the company more customer-centric, it won’t ever “replace the face-to-face environments that we’ve prided ourselves on here at Generali”.

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

23

LEADERSHIP

Delphix: letting data flow across APAC

24

Richard Gerdis, Delphix’s GM and VP of Sales in APJ, discusses the tech firm’s expansion strategy in the APAC region and the loyal clients that make it possible WRITTEN BY

FEBRUARY 2019

M ARCUS L AWRENCE

25

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

LEADERSHIP

R

edwood, California-based Delphix is committed to wiping data friction away. Whether between

DevOps and DataOps teams or companies and digital transformation specialists, the need to share data in a rapid, secure and relevant fashion grows by the day. To achieve this, a growing number of

firms around the world are leveraging Delphix’s Dynamic Data Platform.

Where there is technological advancement there is an influx of data that needs to be kept secure while remaining 26

accessible to those that need it. With this growth there is also increased demand for data specialists (of which there is a global shortage), database administrators and storage space for the data itself.

Richard Gerdis, General Manager and Vice President of Sales for Delphix’s Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) operations, says the Dynamic Data Platform solves each of these problems for firms in the midst of digital transformation, as well as for new companies seeking a significant boost in data efficiency.

Highlighting data consumers, Gerdis says that this increase in data volumes is matched by the amplified desire to harness it at speed. “What we’re seeing FEBRUARY 2019

is this huge rise in the amount of data and the number of projects being undertaken within organisations,” he says. “We’re really looking to move faster and to be able to manage that data across a much wider spectrum in an organisation.” Data operators, conversely, are contending with a huge increase in governance of risk that correlates with the sheer mass of data they must manage and maintain governance for.

“Between your data

“When it comes to smaller niche partners, they’ve got incredible knowledge of the geography that they play in” — Richard Gerdis, General Manager and Vice President of Sales in APJ, Delphix

consumers and your data operators, we have what we call data friction.

These teams are not working well together, and Delphix’s mission is really to eliminate that data friction and bring these two teams closer together. We empower the data operators, and we

make data quickly, easily and securely accessible for the data consumers,” Gerdis says. a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

27

LEADERSHIP

CLICK TO WATCH : DATA MANAGEMENT CLOUD ENVIRONMENT 28

These objectives are underpinned

incredibly important when you’re devel-

by Delphix’s security practices and

oping and testing applications, if it gets

commitment to ensuring that the right

into the wrong hands it’s absolutely

data flows only into the right hands.

useless. It’s meaningless data.”

The firm achieves this through data

As the Asia Pacific region experi-

masking, which itself is more secure

ences enormous technological growth,

than encryption through being far

particularly in Delphix’s ASEAN markets

harder to bypass. “With masking, we

comprising Singapore, Thailand,

take a field, for example our customer

Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the

record, and we mask it in that it may be

Philippines, Delphix is ideally positioned

your first name, my surname. It might

to capitalise on this market opportunity.

be someone’s credit card details and

“We’ve increased our new business by

somebody else’s address details. While

50% in the past six months and we’ve

it acts and looks like real data, which is

brought on eight new enterprise

FEBRUARY 2019

customers in the last six months in APJ,” says Gerdis, adding that the firm has doubled its headcount in the region over the same period.

With each of its APAC customers renewing their year-to-date subscriptions, Delphix has certainly struck a chord with the market.

To name a few, the firm counts Microsoft, Capgemini, Cognizant, Accenture and DXC amongst its customers. “When we look in Asia Pacific and Japan, we act to drive all of our business through partners,” Gerdis says.

In Japan, Delphix has accelerated its growth via partnerships with technology companies such as CTC, KK Ashisuto and Inside Technol-

“As data grows, the resources required to manage that data become exponential as well” — Richard Gerdis, General Manager and Vice President of Sales in APJ, Delphix

ogy, leveraging routes into the market through established players.

On 19 November this year, Japanese car manufacturer Mazda announced that it has selected Delphix’s data management solution, provided by KK Ashisuto, to harness DataOps for accelerated digital transformation and innovation. Delphix’s partner driven strategy has proven successful across the region, a further example being the business won in Australia through its alliance with Dimension Data.

“When it comes to smaller niche partners, they’ve got incredible knowledge of the geography that they play in,” says Gerdis.

“We have partners in Malaysia, for example, a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

29

LEADERSHIP

2008 Year founded $100mn Approximate revenue

+ 400 Approximate number of employees

30

that have great experience working with

as one of these issues holding compa-

Malaysian organisations. They open

nies back during their digital transfor-

doors for us, and they’re an extension

mation programs. “As data grows, the

of Delphix in that they help to continue

resources required to manage that data

to drive those relationships and then

becomes exponential as well.”

help us deploy the solution as well.”

Ultimately, Delphix’s expansion across

Delphix works with a healthcare provider in the region that has seen

the APAC region would not be possible

a 400% increase in its revenues over

without their high quality solution backing

headcount also quadrupled while

every step forward, solving real

its health insurance members tripled.

problems for firms wherever it is found.

“Over that six year period, their IT

Gerdis highlights resource constraints

headcount doubled. By using Delphix

FEBRUARY 2019

31

whilst their headcount doubled, their

however. “Delphix saved them a lot of

database administrator headcount

storage. They actually reduced their

remained constant, and that was through

storage from about five petabytes

the fact that we could actually provide

down to 300 terabytes. While we’re

self-service capabilities through to the

seeing data grow and the impact it has

data consumers. This really frees up

on infrastructure, Delphix is helping to

your database administrators and the

bring that down by lowering storage

traditional resources that manage data,

costs and streamlining the process for

to actually do their day jobs.”

data flow through an organisation. We

The resource-related benefits of

can do a lot more with a lot less.” As

utilising Delphix’s solution does not

Delphix looks to continue its expansion

stop with database administrators,

across APAC, Gerdis says the firm a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

LEADERSHIP

will continue with its focus on ANZ, Southeast Asia, ASEAN and Japan, but that its ambitions do not end there.

“We will look to expand our presence in Hong Kong, China, South Korea, and India in the near future,” says Gerdis.

“The number of approaches that I get every week from organisations across APJ is astounding,” he continues. “So many people are seeking out Delphix and looking for opportunities to work with us, and I guess the reason being is we have a great product and we have 32

very vocal customers that are continuing to talk about Delphix.”

Regulatory compliance is a big draw for customers across APAC seeking to adhere to it ever more closely, not just for “checking boxes for auditors and compliance officers”, according to Gerdis, but also for establishing good practices across the board. This transparency of compliance bolsters a company’s reputation, subsequently yielding stronger customer retention as well as becoming more attractive to prospective clients.

“There’s no better advocate for your company than your existing customers, and our existing customers are FEBRUARY 2019

“There’s no better advocate for your company than your existing customers, and our existing customers are continuing to renew with Delphix” — Richard Gerdis, General Manager and Vice President of Sales in APJ, Delphix

continuing to renew with Delphix. They are continuing to invest and increase their footprint, and they continue to talk about the benefits that they get, not only from a regulatory compliance perspective, but also from speed to market and continuing to enhance innovation.”

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

33

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TECHNOLOGY

36

FEBRUARY 2019

: s t e Nugg

g n i g r e m d n a y t i secur e c n e i n conve h g u o r h t n i a h c block

37

r e d n u o f n i Blockcha s n i a l p x e n o ns h o J r i a t s a Al of e r u t u f e h w hy t s t n e m y a p s s e l h s a c e r u c se ive t p u r s i d e h lies with t technology… W R IT TE N B Y

CK O L IV IA M IN N O

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

TECHNOLOGY

H

aving bank details lost or stolen is something many of us have experienced, but as technol-

ogy continues to disrupt the finance industry

the lengthy process of resolving the problem

seems increasingly archaic. This was certainly the case for Alastair Johnson, founder and CEO of blockchain startup Nuggets, upon losing his own card details. When he eventually received his replacement card, he had to re-enter new informa-

tion on dozens of websites and was struck by the 38

lack of both convenience and security at a time when data breaches were making the headlines.

“You wouldn’t write down your mother’s maiden name, email address and national insurance (NI) number on a post-it note and leave it in every cash till on the high street – but in a digital sense we do that all over the place,” he comments.

The experience prompted Johnson to found Nuggets, which promises to help customers “take back control” of their data in 2016. The ecommerce payment and ID platform allows users to store their payment details on blockchain technology to achieve a single sign-on method which means personal data doesn’t need to be shared with multiple organisations. “You can transact securely and verify your identity without somebody having access to that data and being able to take over FEBRUARY 2019

39

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

TECHNOLOGY

“ You can’t compete against WeChat Pay and AliPay but you can add value to them” — Alastair Johnson, Founder and CEO, Nuggets

40

FEBRUARY 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘NUGGETS – TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR DATA’ 41

your information. If a business doesn’t

Johnson cites two reasons for the

log the personal data in their central-

failings we see in the headlines. “There

ised silos in the first place, it can’t be

are people who don’t understand tech

breached,” Johnson explains.

and are being victimised for that and

With breaches at large tech compa-

there’s the other side where people do

nies cited as a ‘tipping point’, a recent

understand it and they’re trying to do

study by Gartner has found for the

best practices but those options where

first time that privacy is becoming

you have to log in with a username and

more of a priority over convenience for

password still exist.”

consumers – in 2009, it was reported

A key challenge for any tech company

that consumers remained unwilling to

then, no matter which platform is being

sacrifice convenience to keep their

provided, is to ensure convenience while

data secure. As organisations battle to

also assuring customers that keeping

develop their cybersecurity offerings,

their data secure is top priority – but for a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

TECHNOLOGY

Johnson’s single sign-on vision this presents more of an opportunity. “It actually gets more convenient with all the security, because you’re not passing around usernames and passwords: you’re verifying ID across a network.

So, it’s a lot more secure and convenient – you get the best of both worlds.”

STAYING SECURE IN A CASHLESS SOCIETY In an increasingly cashless landscape, Johnson explains how a single sign-on 42

system using blockchain will enable various societies to complete the

“ If a business doesn’t log the personal data in their centralised silos in the first place, it can’t be breached” — Alastair Johnson, Founder and CEO, Nuggets

transition away from cash and even card. “Now we have the technology to leapfrog plastic with a funded digital

ID to that payment app, so it allows

identity which can then be associated

access to my payment but I don’t need

with a digital watch or fitness band. It’s

a plastic card that the numbers can be

crazy that we’re still relying on this bit

copied off?’”

of plastic with a chip to come through

Tying in with the development of

in the post a week after it’s been

open banking which will involve closer

cloned,” Johnson argues, adding that

collaboration and data sharing,

cashless has yet to go far enough.

Johnson feels that the future of ID

“Even though you have Apple Pay and

technology should be agnostic. “In the

Android Pay, we’re still adding a plastic

past, you’ve seen a lot of wallet apps

card of information to make that work

from different schemes, but wouldn’t

as a secure payment source. At Nuggets,

it make sense that they all tied back

were saying ‘why don’t I add my digital

to the same APIs and services? When

FEBRUARY 2019

43

mobile phones first came out, you

Pay, serving over one million merchants

could only ring other people on the

across Asia. This partnership will mean

same network – this only lasted about

Alipay and WeChat Pay users can use

six months. In the early days, everyone

a digital ID to make payments as

comes out with their version but at the

opposed to attaching these to a bank

end of the day, the agnostic approach

card. “You can’t compete against

is going to be a winner.”

WeChat Pay and AliPay but you can

In China, fast becoming the home of

add value to them,” says Johnson.

cashless payments, Nuggets has

“Currently you’re going back to plastic

entered into a partnership with mobile

to enable them – you’re basically

payment technology, service and

rerouting to the old system. The potential

solution provider QFPay, which is used

is that you have your login and maybe

by epayment giants Alipay and WeChat

your profile data within your own realm a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

TECHNOLOGY

but it can be used for those products and services.” In Asia and further afield, Johnson is keen to highlight the potential of ID technology for business, particularly for SMEs. “It enables small businesses, people at food festivals or taxi drivers to transact without that chunky terminal. The potential for the smaller is immediately accessible… and this can also benefit larger businesses as well.”

A BLOCKCHAIN BASED FUTURE 44

“ It’s a lot more secure and convenient — you get the best of both worlds” — Alastair Johnson, Founder and CEO, Nuggets

For Johnson, blockchain technology was a clear choice in implementing a more secure and convenient platform.

“We spent time looking at other solutions to get to the same point – the key one being zero knowledge storage. Existing systems that do zero knowledge storage are quite clunky, and often they’ve got root level access to providers and such like. With blockchain, only the user has the key to their information,” he explains. “We have zero knowledge, we have the decentralised network, and we have encryption to an extremely high level – so blockchain ticked many boxes.” In addition, blockchain allows a kind of credit history to be set up due FEBRUARY 2019

Alastair Johnson discusses personal data storage @Retail Risk 2018

to the log it takes of every activity. “If you go and do 100 different payments to different places it demonstrates proof that you are a good actor on the network to the next person – you don’t have to be risk assessed.”

For any blockchain founder – and Johnson isn’t just ‘any’ founder, having been shortlisted for ‘Blockchain Founder of the Year’ at the 2018 BMW i UK Tech Founder Awards – it is often necessary to play the part of evangelist for this

Seema Khinda Johnson, Co-Founder and COO, Nuggets

fairly new technology which is often mistrusted or misunderstood, but even in the past six months Johnson says the potential is finally being recognised.

“It’s not just an intriguing tech conversation now – we’re starting to see real use cases coming out for blockchain and being applied. 2018 has brought the understanding of how consumers can react closely with the blockchain.

In years to come, people won’t know or care if they’re on the blockchain; it’ll be fixed into life,” he anticipates.

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INTERVIEW

A CUSTOMER JOURNEY DRIVEN BY DATA 46

Business Chief sits down with Omnistream founder Wendy Chen to find out how she’s using new methods and old tricks to survive and thrive in Singapore and beyond.

WRITTEN BY

FEBRUARY 2019

HARRY MENEAR

47

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INTERVIEW

W

endy Chen began her career in finance.

She worked as a trader for both Barclays and Jane Street Capital, largely special-

ising in ‘quant’ trading: large transactions involving

the sale and purchase of thousands of shares at once. “I was doing quant trading for a while”, Chen recalls, “and I saw this opportunity to bring that same type of thinking to enterprises in Asia”.

With her trading experience, Chen saw an opportunity to levy her skills and experience from the finance sector and apply them to a new market and a new company. Reflecting on the genesis of Omnistream, Chen confides that “what’s really interesting about 48

the quant trading business is that so much of the secret sauce is in how you operationalize the algorithms - how you think about business continuity and operational data.”

She founded Omnistream in 2013 with the goal of using a ‘quant’ trading’s algorithmic, machine learning-powered methods to provide a statistics-driven retail analysis service, capable of keeping up with “how fast things are changing” in South East Asia and other emerging markets.

“Speed and automation are quite important”, Chen explains. “Given infinite time and infinite humans, you could probably replicate a lot of analytics.

However, you’re talking about customers who want solutions in five days, not five months”.

“It’s very hard for Western enterprises to service South East Asia. A lot of it is just costs structure.

FEBRUARY 2019

“ GIVEN INFINITE TIME AND INFINITE HUMANS, YOU COULD PROBABLY REPLICATE A LOT OF ANALYTICS. HOWEVER, YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT CUSTOMERS WHO WANT SOLUTIONS IN FIVE DAYS, NOT FIVE MONTHS” — Wendy Chen, Omnistream founder

49

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INTERVIEW

They’re earning nice, juicy margins in the US and in the UK. It’s really hard for them to take that really high-touch, highcost structure they have for servicing customers and bring it to South East Asia.” Chen saw a gap in the market for a new style of analysis and consulting service.

Talking about the difference between Omnistream and its competitors, she explains: “it’s a very different service.

We probably don’t customise nearly as much, because we don’t spend nearly 50

as much time consulting. We also don’t do as many in-person surveys; we’re more data-driven.”

Omnistream’s more one-size-fits-all approach means it can offer its services at a rate that is significantly lower than those of traditional consulting and analytics firms. Chen laughs, “if you look at some of the income statements from these publicly traded companies, you’ll see that they cost a good soul.”

“Because we answer the same questions the same questions over and over again, we don’t need to give our customers all the bells and whistles.” She explains the service Omnistream provides as “just answering three quesFEBRUARY 2019

Wendy Chen, Omnistream founder

51 tions: where do you put a store? What do you put in a store? And at what price do you sell it?”

Omnistream answers these questions using three types of data which it feeds into its complex computational algorithms to create its insights. First, transactional data — “whatever it is the business generates by operating”—that can include everything from local foot traffic to loyalty program participation.

Second, “there’s open, external data”, says Chen. “What we mean by that is how far away are your closest competitors? Are they down the a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

INTERVIEW

52

road? Are there lots of them? Are they different?”

The third element of Omnistream’s service relies upon the application

Open data also deals with the number

of proprietary and open data to the

of people within a business’ “catchment

company’s artificial intelligence (AI)

area”. “It sounds obvious”, Chen admits,

algorithms. Part of the service Omni-

“but we’re talking about very dynamically

stream provides is the ‘fine-tuning’

changing countries, so the data from

of its AI software from previously gath-

a year ago is very different to today.”

ered data. Chen explains: “for machine

“We think of a retailer’s addressable

learning to work, your algorithms

world as more than people who just

basically need to have something

walk by,” Chen says. “If there are 120,000

called fine-tuning… you need to train

people who live in your catchment

your AI with lots and lots of data…

area, how come you’re only addressing

So, you need to work with founders

10,000 of them?”

who have worked in similar markets”.

FEBRUARY 2019

“ BECAUSE WE ANSWER THE SAME QUESTIONS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, WE DON’T NEED TO GIVE OUR CUSTOMERS ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES” — Wendy Chen, Omnistream founder

53

While the majority of analysis com-

we had a retailer tell us: ‘stop showing

panies gather this data, which clients

us dashboards. Just tell me what the

then use in-house data analysts to

answer is and why… I don’t want to

decipher, and the majority of consultan-

see your data’, they just want to get

cies rely on the “high-touch, high-cost”

to the solution.”

approach that too often proves too slow

The model is proving effective. In

and too expensive for the emerging

2018, Omnistream began operations

market, Chen has designed Omnistream

in Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar,

to offer data-plus-consultancy as

and Chen says the company plans to

a service. Chen reflects that customers

expand into Thailand, Japan, South

just want to know: “Hey! How do I grow

Korea and Malaysia soon.

faster and make more profits?”

“Everything in the middle is just chaos and noise.” She recalls that “yesterday

“We use the beachhead strategy”.

This method, Chen explains, involves specially selecting a client - ‘a sizeable a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

INTERVIEW

54

retailer’ - who is looking to expand into a new market and open to operationalising Omnistream’s insights.

Omnistream’s lower cost model makes no attempt to “bill large amounts of money up front. We actually want to do a revenue split with them”: Clients simply pay a portion of any increase in profits related to Omnistream’s services. Chen describes it as: “making an investment”.

While currently Omnistream’s operations are restricted to the Asia Pacific markets, its model of data-driven retail consulting is something that FEBRUARY 2019

Wendy Chen knows “definitely applies to more than South East Asia.” She believes that anywhere where growth and market instability is outpacing the traditional models for consultation and analysis could benefit from the Omnistream model. “The people who win in this region are the ones who can adapt and capitalise on change as it’s happening.”

“We’re definitely looking at the whole emerging world.”

The faith Wendy Chen has in her venture is undeniable. She is throwing her startup into an ecosystem where, more than anything, being nimble is key.

Omnistream’s outcomes-as-a-service structure is a testament to her confidence in its agility and ability to bring drastic cost reductions to its chosen clients. Chen laughs again: “How many big enterprise players actually say ‘Hey, only pay us if you win?’”

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

sustainability on a massive scale 56

We speak to Shannon Thomas Carroll, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T, to see how the telco giant is harnessing sustainability across its massive operations‌ WRITTEN BY

ANDRE W WOODS

FEBRUARY 2019

57

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

A

ligning the notion and practice of sustainability within the biggest companies on the planet is no small

undertaking and AT&T – founded by Alexander Graham Bell – is no exception. The world’s largest telecommunications company and ranked number nine on the Fortune 500, this

giant multinational conglomerate has just over 270,000 employees and posted a 2017 revenue of $190.5bn. This is a holding company whose operations spread out over numerous sectors and territories and to seek a sustainable road map at such a business 58

is as complex as it is integral.

Shannon Thomas Carroll is Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T and possesses a rich knowledge of both the company’s operations and its sustainable practices as he works to reduce the environmental impact of the telco’s operations. His key accomplishments include “being the internal driver for large scale renewable energy, zero-waste, and supply chain human rights audits”.

Carroll has been with the company for almost 20 years, having served in several different capacities across the 133-year-old conglomerate. “I’ve worked on a consumer side, the business side of the house and on the network side,” he explains. “So I’ve had lots of different FEBRUARY 2019

59

“ AT&T has an energy intensity goal, relative to its network, to be 60% more efficient” — Shannon Thomas Carroll, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

roles. I spent a lot of time in project

mental sustainability while I was still

management, as well as with a couple

in supply chain and was lucky enough

different business units. I did project

to transition that into a full-time role

management and compliance for our

over on the corporate side. I took that

supply chain; that’s one of the things

supply chain focus and expanded it

that transitioned me into my current

to a corporate view. Now my responsi-

role. On the compliance side, you have

bilities are specific to environmental

things like environmental health and

sustainability within our operations.

safety and that was one of the transi-

So, anything that has an environmen-

tional topics that really got me interest-

tal impact within our four walls is, gen-

ed in this work. Then I just started

erally speaking, something I would

asking for more work around environ-

look at.�

60

FEBRUARY 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘AT&T HELPS RESTORE COMMUNICATIONS AFTER HURRICANE MATTHEW’ 61 AT&T has had a long history of corporate social responsibility, even if it wasn’t always labelled as CSR. “We

also seeing how we can have the most sustainable business practices possible.”

One of the first things Carroll explored

have an extensive history of strong

when he stepped into his current role

energy management and corporate

was AT&T’s greenhouse gas footprint.

real estate management,” Carrol

Carroll monitored all the different

explains. “We looked at things like

aspects of scope 1, scope 2 and scope

waste water, and obviously there

3 through an inventory to gather the

are natural financial incentives to use

required information. “Once we had

those resources, but you also want to

that information, we had it verified by

look at being a good corporate citizen.

an independent third party,” he explains.

What are the positive environmental

“That was a great introduction to the

impacts of doing that? I see my role,

job because I got to touch all parts of

first and foremost, as looking into what’s

the business when undertaking a cor-

going to be best for the company, while

porate greenhouse gas footprint. From a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

62

there you then start looking at some of

important. You’re looking internally, but

the larger responsibilities, such as waste

you’re also looking externally. You’re

and how you dematerialise. What

trying to think strategically while you

projects have been done? What was

still have the practical responsibilities

successful? What wasn’t successful?

to get the job done.”

What maybe didn’t happen in terms of

As the scale of operations at AT&T

timing and can you pick up the ball again

is so vast, Carroll liaises with Chief Sust-

and start trying to work with what hasn’t

ainability Officer, Charlene Lake. They

been done? You have to be strategic in

operate at what Carroll describes as

your thinking. You’ve got to read the tea

the ‘inc. level’ or the corporate side of

leaves and see how the wind’s blowing

operations. “The advantage that gives

externally as well. There’s obviously an

us is we can go into all parts of the

importance to the business and what

business, essentially representing the

our stakeholders are asking of us is

company. What’s really important

FEBRUARY 2019

though is that we don’t just walk into

With support from AT&T’s corporate

the different business units and say,

level, Carroll and his team launched

‘This is what you’re gonna do!’ We have

10X Goals. AT&T’s renewable energy

to be good business partners, whether

investments are a part of this carbon

it’s internal or external. We’re very lucky

reduction goal, helping to enable

that sustainability really is at the core

carbon savings 10 times the footprint

of a lot of our work. So, as we go in to

of AT&T’s operations by 2025. “We

talk to our network folks or our corpo-

have somebody who works full-time

rate real-estate folks, or our supply

on that making sure the methodology

chain folks, they’re already doing a lot

is sound,” says Carroll. “We have some-

of this work. What we try to do is help

body who’s working on the numerator

frame that work and see what we can

part of that, making sure that our pro-

amplify; see what we can do better. We

ducts and services can deliver that.

just try to partner with them.”

You have me, I’m on more the denomi-

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63

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

nator side. I’m trying to shrink our own operational footprint so it makes it easier to achieve it. We’re very lucky. We are a large company, but we have the right amount of resources addressing sustainability here.”

One of the challenges Carrol cites as specific to large-scale renewable energy is that first time you put the practice into action. Thus, off-site research is essential in getting these methods right. “We’ve obviously been looking at renewable energy options 64

for years and years and years. We did have some onsite solar and we just knew, because of our scale, that if we’re going to have a significant impact we needed to look offsite at the largescale renewable energies. We look at what others are doing and then try to

FACTS

• AT&T’s renewable energy website, provides an overview of the deals the company announced this year and their impact: Click here for website • AT&T’s 10x website, which outlines the 10x goal and includes case studies of the company working with customers to reduce their environmental footprint: Click here for website • AT&T’s sustainability reporting website, which includes the information from the company’s annual CSR report: Click here for website • The Energy Management issue brief: Click here for website

figure out if that’s something that could potentially work for us. You do a lot of

go from a relatively small renewable

research and then bring that research

energy concern to one of the largest

and those findings home. We would

corporate buyers in the United States?

then start stakeholdering those. I’d say

A lot of education has to be done,

the biggest challenge is because you’ve

in getting people familiar with new

never done it before, you have to edu-

terminology. I’d say that’s the biggest

cate a lot of folks on what it is and how

challenge; the newness of it all.”

it works and how the mechanics of it

In reference to large scale renew-

work. What does it mean for AT&T to

able energy, AT&T is one of the top five

FEBRUARY 2019

65

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

corporate renewable energy buyers in

even if people don’t know it by name,

the US. “The fact that we were able to

they’re doing the work. These are folks

scale up so quickly is a credit to the

who do sustainability for a living. We

professionalism we have on our energy

already have folks who are trying to

management team. I would say the

save as much water as they can. They’re

thing I’m most proud of is just the scale

already trying to remove as many kilo-

’cause what you’re really looking for is

watts as they can from the business.

impact. We’re proud of the 820 mega-

They’re already trying to be as efficient

watts we’ve done so far. We’re the

as they can.”

evangelists. We’re going around talking

AT&T has an energy intensity goal,

about all the benefits. The interesting

relative to its network, to be 60% more

thing is when you go into the different

efficient. Carroll wants to push more

business units, my experience is that

data through the network using the same,

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FEBRUARY 2019

or less energy. “We have a public goal around that. We have a public goal to

“A few years ago, we worked with EDF on our water footprint. We’re always looking at every aspect of our operations” — Shannon Thomas Carroll, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T

reduce our fleet emissions by 30%.

We have lots of public goals that are already tagged at this work and within the business units.

They just have their heads down and are doing the really hard work to achieve this. When we come into departments and explain it’s really about the work that they’re already doing, the light bulbs go off and they become really good business partners. We’re constantly looking at the landscape in terms of the environment. A few years ago, we worked with EDF on our water footprint for example. We’re always looking at every aspect of our operations.”

Technology is driving sustainability and AT&T is largely a technology company thus possessing a read edge when it comes to finding solutions.

“I would say just about everything we do has a technology component,” Carroll explains. “For example, we’ve got a project called Icon. It’s basically our internal IoT solution, where we’ve put sensors on all types of internal equipment, including network equipment, a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

67

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

“ We’re proud of the 820 megawatts we’ve done so far. We’re the evangelists. We’re going around talking about all the benefits”

68

— Shannon Thomas Carroll, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T

FEBRUARY 2019

HVACS, water towers, everything you can think of. We then actively monitor that through our Icon dashboard and are able to look at predictive and preventative maintenance. Are things running as efficiently as they should? If they aren’t, how can we maximise their efficiency? There’s a lot of data out there, so the key is not just having accessibility to data, but being able to do something smart and good with it. We need to make good, smart decisions around that data.”

“I think it’s important when you’re a company our size that you’re comprehensive. You need to have a short-term plan, a mid-term plan and a longterm plan. You have to think strategically, you have to look far down the line.

You just can’t say you’re going to do this and that. You have to be transparent in the way that you do it. And you have actually have to do it.”

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PEOPLE

70

TRANSFORMING THE BOARDROOM: INSPIRING WOMEN IN STEM Business Chief takes a look at what some leaders are doing to promote gender diversity in traditionally male-dominated industries, and the rewards they are already reaping… WRITTEN BY

OLIVIA MINNOCK

FEBRUARY 2019

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PEOPLE

T

roughout the past year,

that Finastra sees itself as a regional

Business Chief has spoken to

sponsor of inclusion and diversity.

various business leaders about

“Something very close to my heart is

the importance of gender diversity,

creating a more diverse workplace –

especially in the traditionally male-

how do we get rid of unconscious bias?”

dominated field of technology. Several

72

organizations are taking big steps to

MENTORS AND ROLE MODELS

improve their gender balance and

Aside from efforts made by large cor-

promote female role models, while

porations, Gupta says it’s important for

many argue women must still work

women and men alike to be proactive

hard and motivate themselves and

and keen to learn. “While it’s important

one another to prove themselves in

to have role models, don’t wait for the

male-dominated sectors.

organisations to give you those models.

Speaking to our new FinTech Maga-

Go out and seek a coach who will listen

zine, Finastra’s APAC Marketing Leader

to you, is someone you trust, and is will-

Smita Gupta discusses the cultural

ing to commit time and be part of your

issues in creating a diverse workforce.

career journey.”

“People from each country have behav-

Vicki Batka, Vice President of Cisco’s

iours and attitudes driven by where

APJ Partner Organisation, echoes the

they come from, but it’s never too late

importance of mentoring, and she her-

to change,” she comments, adding

self acts as a mentor. She has noticed

“ If organisations want to fuel innovation, diversity and inclusion are key” — Smita Gupta, Finastra

FEBRUARY 2019

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PEOPLE

3%

of females say tech is their first career choice

27%

of females would consider a career in tech

16%

Stats taken from: PwC Women in Tech

74

of females have had tech suggested to them as a career

that for some, a conversation with an

‘I’ve got two; I’ll go for it’. Sometimes,

experienced leader is all it takes.

you’ve just got to go for it. I spend a lot

“Especially when I talk to females, usu-

of time talking to people about how to

ally they know what they need to do,

use their network.”

they just need someone to listen and

Gupta adds that those already in

help reassure them,” Batka comments.

leadership positions should strive to

As a mentor, she sees self-image as a

open up opportunities. “My call out to

key challenge faced by women espe-

women leaders, and male leaders who

cially in STEM fields. “A female will

have been successful, is to throw out

look at a job spec with 10 attributes

the ladder to the one behind them,

and say ‘I’ve only got five so I won’t be

whether male or female, and create

successful’, whereas a male might say

opportunities for others.”

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75

“ I think we see a lack of embracing opportunities in females. Sometimes, you’ve just got to go for it” — Vicki Batka, CISCO

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PEOPLE

“Role models are very important,” emphasises Andy Pearson, Managing Director at Santander UK Technology.

“We are participating in the Thirty Per Cent Coalition where we have role models, both men and women, to mentor women in our organisation, and women at Santander are being mentored by those from other organisations.” Santander is committed to having a mix of men and women across its tech-led workforce. “Gender diversity is very important to us,” Pearson adds, commenting that Santander 76

was a founding signatory of the HMRC Women in Finance Charter.

HARD WORK AND MOTIVATION Acknowledging that “women in the world are coming into the room at a disadvantage”, Amy Jadesimi, Managing

“ If you want to be successful as a woman, you have to be able to work hard and be extremely brave and strategic” — Amy Jadesimi, LADOL

FEBRUARY 2019

Jadesimi adds that organisations can however facilitate this, coming back to the importance of having someone to look up to. “I like to think that we can help by publicising what myself and other women have been able to achieve, as well as publicising how important it is to governments and corporations to have women succeed.”

FOSTERING DIVERSITY What else can an organisation do to foster a diverse workforce, both between genders and more broadly?

“It’s about how you create a more equitable workforce. As managers, Director of Nigerian oil and gas fabrica-

sometimes we are too blinded by the

tion and logistics base LADOL, says it’s

job spec. When I’m interviewing some-

still up to women to put in that extra bit

one, even if they don’t have the

of work in order to be recognised

immediate skill set I need for the job

among their male peers. “You do have

role, but I know they have the passion

to prove yourself – you have to be ‘bet-

and fire in their belly, I am willing to

ter than’ in order to be considered

invest in them and give them the oppor-

‘equal to’… if you want to be successful

tunity to thrive. We should look at

you need to be prepared to work hard.

identifying those hidden talents and

If you want to be successful as a

creating opportunities for those around

woman, you have to be able to work

us,” says Gupta.

hard and be extremely brave and stra-

Batka agrees that especially in tech-

tegic. Be brave enough to make tough

nology which changes so quickly,

choices. The tough choice in this case

softer skills like adaptability are impor-

is the choice society doesn’t expect.”

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77

PEOPLE

should be considered to fit the bill.

“At Cisco, we’re hiring people from very diverse backgrounds, not just technology.” For Cisco, diversity takes many forms. “Some people just think ‘women’, but for our region it’s also about ethnicity. We’re quite fortunate in Asia: a lot of women work and lead businesses in the Southeast Asia region in particular. But you have other countries where they don’t. All we can do is lead by example. A lot of companies talk about diversity, but Cisco truly believes and demonstrates it.”

78

REAPING THE REWARDS

“As organisations expand and want to target various markets, a diverse team they can be your eyes and ears in giving you those insights” — Vicki Batka, CISCO

Gupta, among others, is keen to outline the very real impact fostering a diverse workforce can have. It’s no longer seen as a positive CSR step, but in fact ben-

Diversity of course extends to a vari-

efits an organisation’s bottom line and

ety of cultures, abilities and skill sets as

is becoming a key strategic advantage.

well as genders. “If you draw on a vari-

“Enough research has been done to

ety of cultures, this insight allows you to

show it impacts the bottom line and the

serve customers better,” says Gupta.

profitability of the organisation,” she

“As organisations expand and want to

explains. “If organisations want to fuel

target various markets, when you have

innovation, diversity and inclusion are

a diverse team they can be your eyes

key. With more diverse leadership teams,

and ears in giving you those insights.

companies can earn more from inno-

You can look at clients’ needs from a

vation with higher EBITDA margins

completely different perspective.”

as well.”

FEBRUARY 2019

On a national and global level, vari-

79

ous studies have shown that

can help them and encourage people

supporting women in the workplace

who aren’t giving access to think differ-

adds significantly to GDP. “There is no

ently about what women can

country in the world right now that can

contribute.”

afford not to invest in and take advan-

Batka, too, is pleased with the tan-

tage of that,” comments Jadesimi.

gible results Cisco has seen in APAC

“Corporations could increase their bot-

and beyond thanks to its commit-

tom line by 40% just by supporting

ments to diversity, and looks forward

women. I think it’s really important to

to more progress in the future. “In the

show the economic rationale for those

old days, the IT industry was a boys’

women who don’t have a voice, an edu-

club,” she concludes. “Not anymore.

cation or other opportunities, so we

We’re here, and we’re different.” a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

CITY FOCUS

SEO City Focus

80

The South Korean Capital Area is a global hub for exports, imports and newly emerging markets WRITTEN BY

FEBRUARY 2019

HARRY MENEAR

OUL

81

Full moon over the Han River a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

CITY FOCUS | SEOUL

S

ituated on the Han River, Seoul is the capital and largest metropolis in South Korea.

The city, in combination with neighbouring city Incheon and the Gyeonggi province, forms the Seoul Capital Area, which is home to approximately half the country’s 51.45mn-strong population.

According to OEC, South Korea is the fifth largest export economy in the world. In 2016, the country exported US$515bn and imported $398bn, 82

resulting in a positive trade balance of $117bn. South Korea’s principal

Insadong entertainment district at night

exports are integrated circuits, electronics, passenger and cargo ships

the fact that locally brewed beer

and vehicle parts.

accounted for 90% of the beer supplied in the market in value (or 91% in

AN UNTAPPED MARKET

volume) as of 2016.” In the same year,

Korea is one of the world’s leading

domestic beer sales accounted for

markets for alcoholic beverage con-

$1.77bn across the country, with a pro-

sumption per capita, and in 2017, the

jected $85mn occurring in and around

United States Department of Agricul-

the Seoul Capital Area.

ture (USDA)’s report stated South

Of the domestic beer industry, the

Korea imported $263mn worth of beer,

USDA states that it “has been driven by

which represented a 45% increase

a small number of large-scale brewer-

over 2016. The report states: “The beer

ies over the years because of the high

market in Korea has been dominated

entry barrier set by the Korean govern-

by domestic breweries as indicated by

ment”. Oriental Brewery Company Co.

FEBRUARY 2019

‘With the relaxation of governmental restrictions, and the rising popularity of craft brewing worldwide, Seoul has become the centre of Asia’s craft beer scene’ and Hite-Jinro Co. have, until recently,

ming in appallingly bad beer”. Hassan

held almost complete sway over

Haider, one of the owners of one of

domestic beer production. According

Seoul’s leading craft breweries, Mag-

to the USDA, industry data indicates

pie Brewing Company told VICE: “The

that Oriental Brewery accounted for

catalyst for the movement was an arti-

60% of overall beer sales while Hite-

cle by The Economist… it said

Jinro accounted for 26% in 2017.

something crazy. It said North Korean

However, in recent years the Korean government has faced consumer and industry pressure to lower these barri-

beer is better than South Korean beer.

People didn’t like that.”

The USDA report supports this

ers to entry, allowing beverage SMEs

assertion, noting that “the environment

(microbreweries) into the market.

of limited market competition has led

According to a VICE report earlier this

the large-scale domestic breweries to

year, “South Korea used to be swim-

maintain a conservative product porta si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

83

CITY FOCUS | SEOUL

Currency

WON 18 BCE Foundation Year

84

25.6 Population

Nearest airport

27km

Narita International Airport

FEBRUARY 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : KOREA’S CRAFT BEER BOOM 85 folio over the years which was focused

Another brewery central to Seoul’s

on a limited assortment of low price,

exploding craft beer market is Satellite

low quality products.”

Brewing Company. The brewery was

With the relaxation of governmental

founded by Korean entrepreneur Jeon

restrictions, and the rising popularity

Dong-keun after falling in love with craft

of craft brewing worldwide, Seoul has

beer while studying in the US. He quickly

become known as the “centre of Asia’s

recognised the market potential in his

craft beer scene”. Founded in Seoul in

native city.

2011, Magpie Brewing company helped

A profile on Satellite in the Korea

revolutionise the Korean craft beer

Herald’s magazine The Investor notes:

scene. Starting from a single small

“The CEO of the fledgling craft brewery

brewshop in Kyungridan neighbour-

startup said investors seem to have

hood, Seoul, “with just one pale ale

believed in the potential of craft beer

on tap”, Magpie “set off a flurry of pale

business, his passion for brewing, and

ales being brewed across Korea”.

a unique business model that sells a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

CITY FOCUS | SEOUL

BIG BUSINESS

Magpie Brewing Company

Satellite Brewing Company

Founded in 2011 in Seoul, Magpie Brewing Company has grown from selling a single pale ale in a Seoul tap room, to distributing nationwide.

In 2016, Magpie opened a second brewery location on Jeju Island, the Hawaii of South Korea. At the heart of the brewery’s ethos is a dedication to local ingredients in combination with Western brewing techniques.

Founded by Jeon Dong-keun, Satellite Brewing Company is a supplier of craft beers to Seoul. As well as brewing locally, the other half of Dong-keun’s business is centred around the importation and sale of hops like Citra, Cryo and Cascade from America.

www.magpiebrewing.com

86

FEBRUARY 2019

www.thesatellitebrewing.com

90% of beer supplied in Korea was locally brewed in 2016

$50mn The forecast value of microbreweries in Seoul by 2019

100+ Estimated number of craft breweries in Seoul in 2018

exclusively imported hops to Korean breweries.” Over the past 18 months, Satellite’s output has risen to 860,000 litres, and the brewery now supplies over 70 pubs and restaurants in the Seoul area.

The Investor notes that Seoul’s microbrewery scene is forecast to grow from $35.2mn in 2017, to above $50mn in 2019. Jason Lindley of Magpie Brewery said in an interview that “Japanese real estate is too pricey for craft brewers, and the Chinese market is too green.” He continued, saying that Korea “is just right”. a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

87

CITY FOCUS | SEOUL

Lindley continues to note that from bases in Korea, craft breweries are positioned to expand into China and export to Japan. Seoul’s identity as an export hub makes it the ideal home for a burgeoning beer export market, particularly as the time taken to export beer from Europe or the United States to Asia makes maintaining a just-intime supply chain difficult, with

88

FEBRUARY 2019

‘Japanese real estate is too pricey for craft brewers. The Chinese market is too green. Korea is just right’ — Jason Lindley, Magpie Brewery

products often arriving relatively close

ernment reforms that took place in

to their sell-by date. “Because its loca-

August, allowing “microbreweries’ dis-

tion makes it a ready springboard for

tribution to grocery retail stores and

the rest of Asia, a lot of major compa-

wholesalers. Increased market pro-

nies are eyeing the Korean market,”

spective under these reforms has led

Lindley notes.

to openings of many new microbrew-

In 2018, the number of craft brewer-

eries throughout Korea over the last

ies in Seoul is expected to double,

couple of years.” Magpie, which set

from 54 the previous year to over 100.

2018 sales targets of $884,110,

The USDA report also notes key gov-

“aims to triple the figure next year”.

89

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T O P 10

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APAC’s most influential brands Business Chief Asia ranks the top 10 brands in Asia Pacific, according to Forbes Magazine.

WRITTEN BY

FEBRUARY 2019

HARRY MENEAR

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T O P 10

Uniqlo Headquartered in Tokyo, the Uniqlo clothing brand is a subsidiary 92

of Fast Retailing. Founded in 1984, the brand originally traded under Uniclo (a shortening of Unique Clothing Company), but switched to Uniqlo following a typo on the company’s Hong Kong registration form.

Uniqlo has over 1,900 stores worldwide, according to Forbes, and its brand was valued in 2018 at US$7.5bn, a 12% increase year-over-year.

www.uniqlo.com

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Panasonic Founded in 1918 and based in Kadoma, Japan, the Panasonic Corporation engages in the design, manufacture and sale of electronics, including white goods, health and beauty products, light fixtures, photovoltaic systems, air-conditioning equipment, car-use-multimedia equipment, mobile phones, projectors and digital cameras, according to Forbes.

It is the oldest company in the top ten. The Panasonic brand was valued at $7.8bn, representing a year-on-year growth of 12%.

www.panasonic.com

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

T O P 10

Huawei The only Chinese company in the top ten, Shenzhen-based telecommunications and technology company Huawei was founded by former 94

Chinese military officer Ren Zhengfei in 1987. According to Forbes, the company now employs 180,000 people across 170 countries and, with a 20% market share, is the largest smartphone distributor in China. In 2018, the Huawei brand was valued at $8.4bn, a 15% increase over 2017.

www.huawei.com

FEBRUARY 2019

95

Hyundai Seoul-based car brand Hyundai Motor was founded in 1967 and engages in the manufacture and distribution of motor vehicles and railways, according to Forbes. In 2018, Hyundai reported net sales of $85.9bn, its highest of all time. While the company’s asset portfolio has also grown by over $50bn over the past five years, 2018 represented a continuation of a decline in profits now amounting to $4.8bn.

Forbes valued the Hyundai brand at $8.7bn in 2018, a 2% decline year-over-year.

www.hyundai.com

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

T O P 10

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06

NISSAN The Nissan Motor Company engages in the manufacture and sale of automotive parts and marine equipment, according to Forbes. Headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, Nissan is ranked 94th on Forbes list of the world’s Top Regarded companies, and 52nd in terms of revenue. In 2018, the company reported $1bn in revenue growth, up to $106bn, while also securing over 60% growth in profit, up to a tenyear high point of $7.4bn. Forbes valued the Nissan brand at $9.4bn in 2018, up 5% year-over-year.

www.nissan-global.com

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97

Lexus The luxury vehicle brand of Toyota Motor Company, Lexus was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. Lexus is ranked

by Forbes as the fourth-largest luxury brand worldwide behind third place Audi. The brand’s vehicles were deemed the most dependable new cars on the market for the past seven years by JD Power Associates. The Lexus brand was valued at $9.5bn in 2018, a 4% increase in comparison to the 2017 financial year.

www.lexus.com

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

T O P 10

04

SONY Headquartered in Tokyo, the Sony Corporation engages in the development, design, manufacture and sale of electronic equipment and software. The company is ranked 42nd on Forbes list of top regarded companies, and 54th on its list of best employers for graduates. In 2018, Sony reported record profits of $4.4bn and a return to profitability after $393mn losses in 2017. Its brand is valued at $10.2bn, which represents a 23% increase in value year-on-year, the largest growth in brand value of any company in the top ten.

www.sony.co.uk

98

FEBRUARY 2019

99

Honda Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the Honda Motor Company engages in the design, development, manufacture and sale of cars, motorcycles and power products. In 2018, the company reported record figures for sales, profits and asset valuation, with $138.6bn, $9.6bn and $151.7bn respectively. Forbes valued the Honda brand at $25.5bn in 2018, which represents a 6% growth year-on-year.

www.honda.com

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

T O P 10

100

Toyota The Toyota Motor Corp is the largest manufacturer and seller of motor vehicles and auto parts worldwide. The company ranks 12th on both of Forbes lists of top regarded companies and the Global 2000. Toyota reported record figures for revenue, asset valuation and profits in 2018 with $265.2bn, $473bn and $22.5bn respectively. The Toyota brand was valued by Forbes at $44.7bn in 2018, representing a 9% increase year-on-year.

www.toyota.com

FEBRUARY 2019

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CLICK TO WATCH : HIGHLIGHTS FROM TOYOTA CONNECTED DAY 2018

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T O P 10

Samsung The Samsung Electronics Company is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea, and is the largest manufacturer of electronics, computer peripherals and cell phones in Asia. The company employs 320,000 people, according to Forbes, making it the largest employer in the top ten by almost 200,000 jobs. In 2018, Samsung’s achieved a two-fold increase in profits, up from $19.3bn in 2017 to $41bn in 2018. The Samsung brand was valued by Forbes at $47.6bn in 2018, up 25% year-on-year, the second-largest increase in valuation on the top ten list.

www.samsung.com

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CLICK TO WATCH : SAMSUNG GALAXY – BE TOGETHER

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AXA Singapore: a customer centric digital transformation WRIT TEN BY

CATHERINE S TURM AN PRODUCED BY

A LE X PAGE

TECHNOLOGY

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a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

AXA SINGAPORE

We spoke with AXA Singapore’s Chief Operating Officer, Eric Lelyon on developing customer centric products and services for its digitally savvy consumers

T

he Singaporean market is witnessing significant demand for life and health insurance products. Gaining double digit

growth across all product types, the life insurance market paid out more than S$5bn to policyholders and beneficiaries in 2017, with health insurance premiums also totalling S$374mn for YTD Q42017.

106

Singaporeans are now living to over 80 years of age, where longer lifespans, rising healthcare costs and an increased demand for new digital tools have placed increased pressures on existing insurance incumbents As part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s efforts to attract foreign investment to further ignite its economy, insurtech startups have brought new business models to the table, as well as new digital technologies, such as chatbots and mobile apps, helping insurance giants to step up to the challenge and remain competitive.

Transforming its service delivery across an entire gamut of insurance services, from Life & Savings, to Health and Property & Casualty, AXA Group has invested in overhauling its outdated processes and adopting a new digital approach in order to cater towards this growing demand.

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

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AXA SINGAPORE

“ We are very proud of our digital transformation projects, where we have up to 90% adoption rate on our sales too” — Eric Lelyon, Chief Operating Officer

108

“Every one of our competitors is

well as its IT and transformation

utilising self-service tools. At AXA

projects, Lelyon has also sought to

Singapore, we deal with all lines of

protect customer data as part of his

business,” explains Eric Lelyon, Chief

role as Data Privacy Officer. As the

Operating Officer, AXA Singapore.

customer’s need for personalised,

“We have competitors within life

digital services continue to grow at

insurance and general insurance, such

scale, it will remain imperative for AXA

as motor, travel, home and health, but

to adopt customer-centric engage-

all of them are trying to sell directly to

ment strategies to win and retain the

the consumer or tying up with partners

trust of its customers, and embed a

to create a digital ecosystem.”

blended approach in delivering person-

Responsible for insurance policy, AXA’s local customer call centre, as FEBRUARY 2019

alised products and services at a corporate and individual level.

TECHNOLOGY

CLICK TO WATCH : AXA IN REAL LIFE REPORT 109

“In Singapore, our life insurance

choices and convenience for custom-

segment has been auto-equipped

ers. We are equipping our sales force

with Digital technologies across sales,

with innovative digital tools to engage

services and marketing. We are very

and close a case with customers in

proud of our digital transformation

minutes,� he says.

projects, where we have up to 90%

In order to reduce paperwork and

adoption rate on our sales tool. Our

enable faster policy issuance turna-

agents are selling most of our prod-

round, the business has therefore

ucts online, which will bring significant

worked to overhaul its backend

advantages. The next step for us will

capabilities and upgraded its outdated

be an offline version, which we will be

systems to provide not only cost-effi-

launching shortly, enabling agents to

ciency, but to minimise human error

sell faster, better and offer more

and deliver exceptional support to a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

121 System

An award-winning Point-of-Sale platform used by leading insurers to complete their end-to-end sales and service journeys

Financial Needs Analysis

Product Recommendation & Quotation

Product Comparison

Application & Submission

Underwriting

Policy Issuance

Sell insurance anytime, anywhere with/without internet

Speedy policy issuance

Simple and intuitive user experience & interface

Paperless Straight Through Processing (STP)

Fast insurance product configuration & launch

Ensure regulatory compliance

End-to-end sales processes

Cross platform iOS/ Android/Web

sales@eabsystems.com +852 2576 6000 www.eabsystems.com

TECHNOLOGY

111

its digital savvy customers.

“There was a lot of transformation

customers. By taking an in-depth look at its distribution models, it has overhauled

in the backend because we didn’t need

a number of its processes, leveraging

anyone to do the processing anymore,

new technologies along the way.

but we did need to factor in regulatory

“With our life insurance, our agents

checks. However, we are now looking

make up more than two thirds of the

to change our back-end system as

business. We also sell insurance to the

well, for a system more flexible and

post offices, for example, as well as

cheaper to implement a new product,”

financial advisors (FA). We are also

states Lelyon.

exploring the increased value of APIs

Reducing its dependence on legacy

through an Insurance as a Service

systems and bringing a complete

proposition. We can do much more

omnichannel experience to the table,

on the General Insurance side, selling

AXA has sought to fully empower its

direct to the customer through the a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

AXA SINGAPORE

112

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

AXA GROUP

€98.5bn Approximate revenue

1985 Year founded 160,000 The approximate number of AXA employees

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

113

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www.kofax.com

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TECHNOLOGY

“ With our life insurance, our agents make up more than two thirds of the business. We also sell insurance to the post offices, for example, as well as financial advisors (FA)” — Eric Lelyon, Chief Operating Officer

115

phone or through digital means, but the

ties of consumer data. Investing in

intermediary must always remain. We

the development of a new security

are investing in checking-up on the cus-

protocols to safeguard all data under

tomer, ascertaining their needs before

its portfolio, AXA has partnered with

moving to a business process,” he says.

KPMG, undertaking a number of

Investing in new technologies and

assessments to ensure its effective-

business processes, the growing

ness, as well as implemented cloud

number of cyber-attacks is an area of

technology to further secure all

focus which has remained firmly on top

customer-related information.

of the agenda for AXA. High-profile

However, such change is not without

breaches have led to increased fears

its challenges. Transforming its organi-

on an international scale, particularly

sational structure and processes has

for businesses which hold vast quanti-

no doubt led to a cultural seachange a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

AXA SINGAPORE

A X A S ING A P OR E

116

Gaining double digit growth across all product types, the life insurance market in Singapore paid out more than S$5bn to policyholders and beneficiaries in 2017

AXA has sought to fully empower its customers. By taking an indepth look at its distribution models, it has overhauled its processes, leveraging new technologies along the way.

Singaporeans are now living to over 80 years of age, where longer lifespans, rising healthcare costs and an increased demand for new digital tools have placed increased pressures on traditional insurance companies

Two years ago, we rolled out an ambitious initiative locally for our front to back office transformation. We chose EAB Systems, HK as our lead system implementation partner and moved to the cloud for increased agility

AXA Group has invested in overhauling its outdated processes and adopting a new digital approach in order to cater towards this growing demand

We are utilising technologies from Kofax, Couchbase and Red Hat, choosing local software to complement our cloud-based solution

In order to reduce paperwork and enable faster claims turnaround, the business has worked to overhaul its backend capabilities to provide not only cost-efficiency, but to deliver exceptional support to its digital savvy customers

FEBRUARY 2019

We have onboarded about 1200 agents across different channels and launched all of AXA’s key products (21 in number) within an astounding one year time frame. We are now rolling this out across FA channel and this is the 1st time that AXA is opening STP solution for this group of distributors.

TECHNOLOGY

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a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

AXA SINGAPORE

118

at AXA, where the move towards digital

areas where we have the new operat-

integration has created a ripple effect

ing model and the old operating model

across its operations.

working next together, it is not efficient

“We are using this fantastic new tool to allow straight-forward process where there is a lot of change at the

with regards to cost efficiency,” explains Lelyon.

“I am working with two hands – one

organisation and the people who are

is to be definitive to the lives of our

working for us. At the same time that

customers and to go faster to enable

we are launching this new tool we need

a positive customer experience. The

to decommission the legacy. We are

second is to do with cost control, where

eradicating all the old tools one by one

I am looking at this further. The work

which will make us more agile. None-

will show it really has been the teams

theless, because we’ve got so many

of people in our company that are

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

“ With an emphasis on innovation, AXA will continually make insurance personal and simple at every touch point, utilising omnichannel data and solutions to better address the current and future needs of its customers” — Eric Lelyon, Chief Operating Officer

119

really understanding this and where

more services to the customer, particu-

we are moving to.”

larly on the health side where we are

With an emphasis on innovation,

exploring a growing interest in health

AXA will continually make insurance

and wellness solutions. We are really

personal and simple at every touch

excited about transforming our IT

point, utilising omnichannel data and

ecosystem, build stronger relation-

solutions to better address the current

ships with our customers where we

and future needs of its customers,

can take care of them.”

moving from a payer to a partner.

“What AXA is trying to move to is more servicing. We want to become a partner of the customer, rather than a payer,” notes Lelyon. “We want to offer a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

120

G V NA I A

THE RIS DIGITAL TRAN WITH M

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

T A I NG

SKS OF NSFORMATION MARSH WRIT TEN BY

L AUR A MULL AN PRODUCED BY

A LE X PAGE

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121

MARSH

122

AS THE FIRM UNVEILS ITS LATEST CMT RISK STUDY, WE SPEAK TO MARSH’S CMT PRACTICE LEADERS TO LEARN ABOUT THE RISKS BEHIND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND HOW THESE CAN BE MANAGED

L

ast year, the speed of innova-

success, this transformation doesn’t

tion kept up its blistering pace

come without its risks.

– and we can expect nothing

This is where Marsh offers a helping

less in 2019. This rings true in particular

hand with its latest CMT Risk Study.

for the communications, media and

Surveying 200 of its CMT clients

technology (CMT) sector, where the

globally, the insurance heavyweight

adoption of technologies from artificial

has identified some of the risks which

intelligence (AI) to the Internet of Things

are hindering CMT companies in their

(IoT) is quickly becoming the norm.

transformation journeys. Alexander

Yet, whilst technology is increasingly

Chao, Asia Communications, Media

heralded as the key to business

& Technology Practice Leader, believes

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

123

that one of the biggest hurdles revolves

to the back of the pack, making R&D

around R&D and financing. “The recent

mission critical. “They need to invest

market downturn, as well as the trade

heavily in R&D in order to find the most

war between the US and China, poses

advanced technology that will help

a great risk,” he observes. “Many

them survive in the CMT industry,” Chao

manufacturers, especially in Asia, have

adds. “If they make a wrong investment,

slowed down their capital expenditure

it will potentially cost a fortune and

because they don’t have a clear picture

generate a series of problems for the

of what the future holds.” Because the

CMT company.” Other issues like patent

sector is so innovation-driven, CMT

infringement or security could also

companies must keep up or risk dropping

hamper investment. a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

MARSH

“ T hey need to invest heavily in R&D in order to find the most advanced technology to help them survive in the CMT industry” 124

— Alexander Chao, Asia Communications, Media & Technology Practice Leader

The worries don’t end there: looking

hand, because CMT companies are

at the results for the 2019 CMT Risk

technology providers, they have liability

Survey, Thomas Quigley, US Comm-

if their technology fails to perform.

unications, Media & Technology

Whether it fails to ensure security or

Practice Leader, points out that the

simply doesn’t work as designed, it’s

top three risks identified by Marsh’s

a top liability risk.” Even if it is designed

clients are: data security and privacy;

well and is secure, there are still many

technology errors and omissions; and

ways technology can disappoint.

IT resiliency. “This shows why it’s so

“Maybe there’s an electronic interruption,

important to do a study specifically

maybe my backups didn’t work – there

for CMT companies,” he explains.

are several ways that technology can

“If you look across all industries, most

fail to work as intended,” notes Quigley.

respondents only talk about cyberattacks and data privacy. On the other FEBRUARY 2019

While some technology failures may seem minor, the ramifications of an

TECHNOLOGY

increase in the types of errors can be devastating. As technology becomes ubiquitous, Quigley says that “the severity of technology failures gets greater and greater every day”. Whether the technology is being used to protect personal records or to improve the efficiency of manufacturing operations, a failure of any kind can stop a business in its tracks. “If the fintech which supports my trading platform goes down for 30 minutes, that could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses,” he says.

“The more we depend upon technology, the larger the loss could be.”

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

Alexander Chao joined Marsh Taiwan in 1998, and has almost 30 years of comprehensive experience in general insurance. Over the past 21 years, he has been servicing large clients in the high tech sector, offering advice in insurance program design, technical review, strategic risk review, and market relationship management.

In 2016, Chao was appointed as the Regional Communications, Media and Technology Practice Leader for Asia, leveraging his deep expertise to spearhead business development initiatives throughout the region.

Prior to joining Marsh, Chao started his career with MSIG Taiwan as the Head of Property Underwriting.

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

125

MARSH

As the lines between the digital and physical become blurred, the consequences of technology failure are no longer just monetary: they could also be fatal. “We can also see bodily injury and property damage from technology failure,” highlights Quigley, citing autonomous vehicles as a relevant example. In previous years, if there was a car incident it was usually the driver’s fault but nowadays, this is quickly changing. “In autonomous vehicles, there are thousands of chips and millions of lines of code. As 126

autonomous mobility becomes more

“ A s autonomous mobility becomes more popular and as technology becomes commonplace in cars, it’s likely that liability will lie with the manufacturer” — Thomas Quigley, US Communications, Media & Technology Practice Leader

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

Thomas Quigley leads Marsh’s Communications, Media, and Technology (CMT) Practice in the United States.

He ensures Marsh delivers to its clients a deep understanding of the forces driving opportunity and disruption for CMT companies, and the innovative solutions required to address their rapidly evolving risk profiles. Quigley provides seniorlevel oversight and client service direction to our team of 600+ CMT colleagues.

Quigley’s focus includes a broad range of sectors and emerging ecosystems including communications, broadcasting, publishing, digital media, social media, information services, hosting, software, IT services, financial technologies, mobile payments, sharing economy, autonomous mobility, personal electronics, hardware, and electronic components.

FEBRUARY 2019

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127

popular and as technology becomes

edged sword is IoT. Communications

commonplace in cars, it’s likely that

giant Ericsson forecasts that there will

liability will lie with the manufacturer.”

be around 29bn connected devices by

As a result, survey respondents reported

2022, of which 18mn will be IoT-driven.

that they are increasingly being asked

From industrial IoT to connected cars

to take on more liability if an accident

and wearable technology, the

happens and can be traced back to their

possibilities for this innovation are

product or component.

endless – but so are the risks. Industrial

In last year’s edition of the CMT Risk

IoT is creating impressive efficiencies

Study, two-thirds of respondents said

in manufacturing operations but with

they believed that emerging tech-

unlimited connections, comes unlimited

nologies will increase risk complexity

ways to fail. “The biggest challenge, in

in the next three to five years. One

my opinion, is that IoT is unbounded:

disruptive technology set to be a double-

it’s limitless in terms of the number of a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

MARSH

128

“If you look across all industries, most respondents only talk about cyber-attacks and data privacy. On the other hand, because CMT companies are technology providers, they have liability if their technology fails to perform” — Thomas Quigley, US Communications, Media & Technology Practice Leader FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

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MARSH

things that can be connected,” Quigley explains. “With lots of devices comes greater vulnerabilities because many of the firms exploring IoT aren’t truly focusing on the security.” This is where risk enters the frame: as more devices are connected, it creates more and more opportunity for one of the devices to fail, causing the system to go down.

“For IoT to work you also need a stable and secure connection under the 5G environment,” adds Chao. “CMT companies need to invest a lot in R&D in order to keep up.” Some of the risks involved with IoT we may not even

130

be aware of yet. “I think we have to be

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TECHNOLOGY

ready for surprises,” says Quigley

should be treated with risk insurance

candidly. “We haven’t experienced all

and risk transfer afterwards or

the different loss events that could

whether they should be treated with

happen yet.”

risk assessment and risk prevention

With these risks and uncertainties

at the beginning, a large majority of

taken into account, it isn’t all doom and

our clients agree that for over 75%

gloom. In a consumer-centric market,

of the risks the focus should be on

IoT has the opportunity to generate

upfront assessment and prevention,”

a unique customer experience and, with

highlights Quigley.

the right risk management strategy,

Chao echoes this, highlighting how

firms can sidestep the common pitfalls.

any problem which occurs could

Marsh, and indeed its survey

tarnish a firm’s brand integrity. “Once

respondents, believe that the secret to

a harmful cyber event happens, it can

tackling cybersecurity could lie in

destroy the company’s entire operation

both acting pre-emptively as well as

if they don’t have a contingency plan

reactively. “When asked whether risks

in place,” he says. “Risk assessment

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“Risk assessment and prevention analysis need to happen as frequently as possible. You need to recognise where the next risks are going to be. You don’t want to slow R&D down; you want to enable innovation by making sure you can do as much as you can to address risks before they happen” — Alexander Chao, Asia Communications, Media & Technology Practice Leader

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MARSH

134

“It’s about making sure that your IT is resilient and that broad industry events like the WannaCry attack don’t disrupt your operations. It’s also about protecting your intellectual property and protecting customer data” — Thomas Quigley, US Communications, Media & Technology Practice Leader FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

and prevention analysis need to happen as frequently as possible. You need to recognise where the next risks are going to be. You don’t want to slow R&D down; you want to enable innovation by making sure you can do as much as you can to address risks before they happen.” To tackle this, the pair believe that CMT companies should take a lesson from traditional firms and understand how the end customer is impacted when technology fails. Traditional, non-technology orientated firms could take a leaf out of their book too, recognising that, when it comes to cybersecurity, they shouldn’t just focus on data privacy but also need to talk about IT resiliency and other aspects of digital transformation. “Cybersecurity is such a broad term,” admits Quigley. “It’s about making sure that your IT is resilient and that broad industry events like the WannaCry attack don’t disrupt your operations. It’s also about protecting your intellectual property and protecting customer data.” Cybersecurity investment is a “never-ending story”, adds Chao, as hackers will always migrate and evolve.

Risk management may seem a daunting task but Marsh believes it doesn’t have to be. To tackle this challenge, Quigley says that the industry a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

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MARSH

needs to “take risk data from multiple sources and use that to inform and quantify new risks”. On top of this, companies should go back to basics.

“We find that just by getting people in a room with a clean whiteboard you can talk about new products and potential loss scenarios – it’s critical to the process,” he says.

Marsh can help firms navigate this tricky terrain. As the world’s largest insurance broker and one of the largest brokers specifically 136

for CMT companies, it has a wealth of experience and insights that it can share with its clients. “We work

$6bn

Approximate revenue

1871

Year founded

30,000 Approximate number of employees

with thousands of other companies and industries across the globe,” highlights Quigley. “With all client confidentiality maintained, we can

As well as having the analytical

take learnings and insights from those

strength to aid risk management,

companies and apply those to CMT

Chao believes that Marsh’s talented

companies. We can help them think

team also gives the global broker an

about what the loss impact could be

edge. “For risk consulting, we have

if their technology fails to perform.

qualified risk engineers,” he says. “The

Thanks to this experience, we have

majority of our engineers come from

innumerable data points which we

the industry and so they have the know-

can use not only to brainstorm but to

how to craft the business contingency

model, quantify and develop solutions

plan for the client.” With annual revenues

for a whole set of emerging risks.”

of over US$6bn and more than 30,000

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TECHNOLOGY

137

colleagues worldwide, it seems many

understanding technology is critical,

have put their faith in Marsh to help

understanding digital solutions is

them navigate the realm of risk

critical and understanding risk

management. Combining leading

assessment and quantification is

expertise, experience and innovative

critical. We’ve aggressively built up

solutions, Quigley and Chao believe

this capability over the past few

that, for any firm, putting trust in Marsh

years to meet our clients’ demands.”

is a safe bet. “As a broker, our history is defined by helping clients secure the insurance solutions they need,” reflects Quigley. “But we also recognise that a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

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Competitive advantage through digital transformation WRIT TEN BY

HARRY MENE AR PRODUCED BY

MIK E SADR

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OSM MARITIME GROUP

We sit down with OSM Maritime CTO Chakib Abi-Saab to find out how the company is using AI, machine learning, IoT, drones, augmented reality, blockchain and automation to empower its 11,000-strong workforce

F

ounded in 1989, OSM Maritime has grown from a single crew-management contract to a fleet of over 500

vessels managed from 26 offices around the 140

globe. Business Chief sat down with OSM’s Chief Technology Officer, Chakib Abi-Saab to find out how one of the world’s largest maritime management companies is using breakthrough technologies to empower and unite its 11,000 employees. “Technology is not the solution to everything,” says Abi-Saab, “but it is a very important toolset that enables us to provide better and more reliable services, and facilitate greater transparency with our clients.”

He explains that “as a whole, the industry has not adopted technology on a large scale.

I think at OSM we have been very aggressive.

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Empowering tomorrow’s digital winners

Simplifai is your in-house automation partner, through the use of Artificial Intelligence we automate routine tasks in offices such as customer service, accounting and HR.

Find out more here www.simplifai.ai | Email: sales@simplifai.ai Phone: +65 9044 4716 (Asia) +47 4150 3263 (Europe)

TECHNOLOGY

equal a competitive advantage”. At the

access to correlations that we, as

heart of the company’s technological

humans, might not be able to see. We’re

transformation is its Maritime Opera-

expecting to move to the next level with

tions Centre, located in Singapore.

machine learning, so that we can perform

Abi-Saab presided over the Centre’s

predictive analytics and predictive main-

creation in 2018 and will oversee the

tenance which will become a cost

construction of a second facility in

savings to us and to our customers.”

Arendal, Norway in 2020. The Centre

As Chief Technology Officer, Abi-

enables OSM to monitor and manage

Saab is currently overseeing the adop-

the company’s global fleet 24 hours

tion of several new technologies to

a day. Abi-Saab explains that, with the

further enable OSM’s technical manag-

Centre in operation, “We not only have

ers to perform their roles. At the core

information that used to take weeks to

of each new technology, he empha-

gather, but the computer also gives us

sises, is the ethos that “technology is

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

Chakib Abi-Saab Chakib is a business leader and technologist with 20+ years of experience aligning technology with operational goals. Chakib has led significant global projects in multinational environments and has played several key roles in global organizations like Baker Hughes Inc. and Bumi Armada Berhad. Chakib is now the Chief Technology Officer of OSM Maritime Group. Chakib’s main focus is always on the utilization of technology as a driver to optimize costs, improve productivity, increase returns, reduce risks, and create new revenue streams. His technology expertise is in connected assets, analytics, automation, and predictive environments.

He is also experienced leading complex multinational digital transformations.

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OSM MARITIME GROUP

a way to give people the right informa-

best possible people to manage our

tion so that they can make decisions

ships. But the reality is that you cannot

based on what’s happening at that

have experts for everything on every

particular time, operationally and fin-

ship.” This is where one of OSM’s latest

ancially”. New initiatives that OSM is

pieces of technology comes into play:

aggressively testing or already using

augmented reality goggles. Allowing

include machine learning and AI, edge

on-ship staff to display in real time the

computing, augmented reality, drones

repair process enables OSM to “take

and blockchain.

advantage of the 11,000 people in the

“Imagine you are managing a ship

company for expertise that can walk

and one part of the engine breaks,”

our engineers through the solution,

says Abi-Saab. “Well, we in OSM do

because we can see what they see

the best possible job we can to hire the

and we can send diagrams that they

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘#TRENDSPOTTING WITH OSM & OUR AMAZING PARTNERS’ 145 see through the augmentative reality goggles,” explains Abi-Saab. “We expect that having these augmentative reality goggles on our ships will mean that challenges that could, today, disable a ship would be dramatically reduced.

We will have people with the right expertise helping us resolve those problems.

So, the efficiency gains will be dramatic.”

OSM also operates a number of offshore oil & gas facilities. In the past, an operational event that required an underwater inspection would result in halted production for prolonged periods of time, while trained divers a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

OSM MARITIME GROUP

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“ Simplifai has proven to have deep understanding of processes combined with RPA, among other skills” — Chakib Abi-Saab, CTO OSM Maritime

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OSM MARITIME GROUP

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TECHNOLOGY

“We believe that IOT is going to be the key to preventative maintenance” — Chakib Abi-Saab, CTO OSM Maritime 149

would be deployed for surveillance and

“Part of the immediate efforts to build

repairs. Now, Abi-Saab says, that

efficiencies through digitalization

could change. “When you stop a rig

includes working very closely with our

operation, you’re talking about hun-

partners of Simplifai to completely

dreds of thousands of dollars lost on

evaluate and re-engineer processes

an hourly basis. If you have a drone in

with the objective of then using Robotics

the water that can do the same job, you

Process Automation (RPA) to speed

do not have to stop the operations.

up the execution of repetitive tasks and

So, it not only increases safety but it

reduce manual intervention,” adds

increases profitability.” OSM is consid-

Abi-Saab. Simplifai is a holistic artificial

ering the adoption of drones for both

intelligence solutions company head-

underwater and aerial inspections in

quartered in Oslo, Norway. By using

combination with video analytics on its

Simplifai’s technology to automate

rigs and ships under management.

routine tasks, Abi-Saab estimates OSM a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

OSM MARITIME GROUP

C OMPA N Y FA C T S

• OSM: 11,000 employees, 25 office locations, a fleet of 500 vessels, and a 90% customer retention rate • Simplifai: OSM’s new partner experts in AI solutions, particularly Robotic Process Automation

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will be able to increase efficiency in

of machine learning, AI, IoT and edge

those areas by up to 50%. The adoption

computing to record the most relevant

of RPA will also bring scalability and

information from its fleet and parse it for

improved data quality due to the error

insights into operational solutions. “We

reductions inherent to automation.

believe that IoT is going to be the key to

“We are now an organization that takes

preventive maintenance,” Abi-Saab

advantage of data and business

says. “But we need to approach it very

intelligence to make better decisions,

smartly. You can find sensors for every-

and having error-free data means better

thing, but not everything that can be

decisions, and having only one version

measured should be measured and not

of the truth,” says Abi-Saab, adding

everything that should be measured

that “Simplifai has proven to have deep

can be measured. So we’re currently

understanding of processes combined

working to identify what are those areas

with RPA, among other skills.”

that, if we measure, would give us the

As well as tools for gathering and

efficiency gains that we are looking for.”

redistributing knowledge and raw data,

Uniting information from every indi-

OSM is dedicating itself to the adoption

vidual system OSM has in operation

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OSM MARITIME GROUP

152

within a centralised database, the

functions as a single harmonious

Operations Centre helps to prevent

ecosystem. “Having all the information

the company’s solutions from becom-

in a centralized database will give us

ing siloed. “We have experienced the

several advantages,” notes Abi-Saab.

same challenges as everybody else

“First is the ability to properly monitor

in the industry,” admits Abi-Saab. “Part

security. Second is the ability to properly

of the creation of the Operation Center

back up our data and restore it in the

comes in a second phase where we

event of an emergency or disaster so

will create a fully centralized database,

that we have proper business continu-

which holds information from every

ity. And third, it will give us the ability

system we have in the organization,”

to have smart algorithms of artificial

helping to ensure company’s tech

intelligence from our machine learning

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153

software going through the data, so

edge computing, and machine learning

that we can get correlations that would

as part of a centralised database will,

possibly not be imagined by humans…

Abi-Saab believes, lead to significant

Similarly, we are looking at edge comp-

efficiencies for OSM, as the company

uting technology so that, not only

gains insights into preventative main-

will we have analytics onshore in the

tenance strategies. “Imagine that you

operation center, but the people who

have a fleet of ships around the world.

manage the ships also have access

Normally, the way maritime companies

to real-time analytics so they can

work is you have Vessel Managers

make better decisions.”

onshore and you have the Captains in

Identifying trends in ship maintenance using this combination of IoT,

the ships who are the people responsible for the operations of the ship. Now, a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

OSM MARITIME GROUP

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“ Pursuing technology solutions will help us create technical ability,security, reliance and efficiency gains in everything we do” — Chakib Abi-Saab, CTO OSM Maritime

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OSM MARITIME GROUP

if a ship breaks in Brazil and then another breaks in Africa and another stops working in Europe, under normal circumstances each incident might be seen as an isolated case.

But, if you have all the information in one centralized database, artificial intelligence can detect a trend, ships that are similar, or parts that are similar that are breaking.

Then it starts telling you, based on the past history of Ships A, B and C that we should change a particular part of this type of ship because it’s about to break. That’s when you truly create value.”

156

OSM Maritime’s exploration and adoption of digitally transformative technologies is comprehensive and happening at speed.

A large part of Abi-Saab’s role is to ensure the company’s slogan, “It’s all about people,” is respected and adhered to. “We believe that technology, without the support and knowledge of the people, would not be as efficient and would not give you the value that you need,” he explains. “We are focusing on aggressive change management plans that not only choose the proper technologies but also communicate to everyone in the organization that will be affected what is happening, why that is happening, and how that will affect them.

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157

the positive impact the adoption of technologies has on their job, the more their resistance to it is reduced.”

For example, OSM is currently examining the possibility of a partnership with a company specialising in blockchain technology. The digital ledger technology would address a challenge faced by OSM crew members: paper certificates and documentation. “If those certificates are lost, it’s going to take them weeks, potentially months, depa si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

OSM MARITIME GROUP

$100mn Approximate revenue

1989

Year founded

11,000+

158

Approximate number of employees

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ending on where in the world they are, to get them back. Without those certificates, they cannot board a ship,” explains Abi-Saab. “If we have a blockchain solution that enables them to produce real time information about their training and certificates to ship owners anywhere in the world, then it would become quite an interesting solution.”

2019 and 2020 promise to be exciting years for OSM Maritime. Abi-Saab predicts that the next year will see a tipping point for the company, where “pursuing technology solutions will help us create technical ability, security, reliance and efficiency gains in everything we do today, with the aim to become a highly-predictive analytical, artificial intelligence and machinelearning-based organization in 2020.”

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UNDERGOING A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY WRIT TEN BY

SE AN GA LE A-PACE PRODUCED BY

LE WIS VAUGHAN

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AMAN

Group IT Director of Aman, Archie Natividad, discusses Aman’s approach to technology amid the company’s digital transformation

W

ith technology transforming the way companies operate and conduct their business, it has encouraged firms

worldwide to embrace technological change in order to provide an improved service to customers.

162

Although it is considered to be a destination that prides itself on offering a place to escape from modern life, Aman has undergone a digital transformation to deliver a luxury hotel stay where cutting-edge technology doesn’t compromise guests’ experiences. However, Group IT Director of Aman, Archie Natividad, believes that it’s important to offer guests the freedom of choice depending on the experience they seek. “Not all Aman have TVs. They’re hidden in cabinets, behind a cupboard or a sliding door. Aman means peace and that’s very much the essence when you arrive,” explains Natividad. “It’s important that we try and introduce the right technology. It’s always a challenge but we don’t want gimmicks. Each hotel has a different style of design that is unique to each property and they all offer different experiences.”

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The next generation of hotel Technology is not just for the guests Over the last few years, there has been a significant focus on technologies that can enhance the guest experience. In-room Wi-Fi, mobile check-in and guest interaction features are all aimed at providing a smooth and stress-free experience throughout their stay.

Much of the hotel technology investment has been focused in this area. But what about the hotel owners and operators themselves? What advances are available that they can benefit from?

How we helped Aman

Let us help You

Innovating IT Solutions For Greater Success With a myriad of information now available for hotel operations, from guest bookings, VIP preferences, to agent trends and more, there is a tendency to concentrate only on revenue generation items. But what about the day-to-day business? How can technology support the changing nature of business work ethics?

TRG has over 25 years of delivering solutions ‌in the Hospitality market place. This is the reason why hotel operators like Aman are engaging with TRG to deliver the next generation of business solutions. TRG, as an Infor gold level channel partner, deploys a suite of back of house applications covering financial planning, procurement, asset management & consolidation, for both onpremise and cloud solutions. They manage all data within the solutions, and as a result, provide a connected, intelligent network that can fully automate data processes, enable anticipation & predictions of trends and inform all stakeholders.

TRG/Infor solutions are designed to be beautiful The TRG / Infor solution sets offer users the ability to interface with information on

the move, by receiving current updates, processing workflow on data, managing approvals, or seeing alerts and more. In addition, the TRG / Infor solutions are beautifully designed, for excellent usability, and very high user acceptance. Customisable screens separate work tasks from information & alerts, allowing users to prioritise as they see fit.

As a result, the organisation enjoys a fully integrated solution with full workflow and processes, letting managers receive information pertinent to all roles through the workflow. The operating services manage the data interfaces and processing, while users are able to access the applications in environments familiar to them for their day-to-day IT experience.

To ease downtime issues, applications can be changed, upgraded or rebuilt whilst still retaining the overall process controls & real-time usage. Our upgrades cause no downtime, and the inherent business logic and data flows are retained, so finance can move to a continuous closing process and keep the books current.

TRG / Infor solutions deliver on the main goal of all hotels. Guests remain happy and so do owners, operators and staff!

About TRG International

Rick Yvanovich Founder & Ceo of TRG International

24 years of experience in delivering excellent IT solutions to more than 1000 clients in over 80 countries, ranging from budget hotels to 6-star luxury resorts, TRG International is a successful case study about excellent service and deep knowledge in the Hospitality industry

AMAN

1988

Year founded

5,200

Approximate number of employees

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘AMANYARA SEA TURTLE INITIATIVE – TURKS & CAICOS – LUXURY ISLAND RESORT’ 167 With 33 hotels in 21 countries, Aman

ience we’re giving to our guests. When

has expanded heavily by offering resorts

they come to Aman, they’re not only

in a diverse range of countries such as

coming because it’s a nice room, they’re

China, Morocco and Sri Lanka among

coming because they want to re-ener-

others. Each resort provides a different

gise. Guests want that mind, body and

experience and offers a different level

spirit experience. The opportunity for

of technology based on its location.

us lies in exploring technology that com-

Natividad affirms that while some of his

plements the experience instead of

companies’ guests are keen to embrace

distracting from it,” says Natividad. “The

technology, he under-stands that there

technology transformation approach is

is a proportion of guests that want to

on a case-by-case basis for each hotel.

immerse themselves in nature. “At Aman,

In Aman Tokyo, we have technology

we’re really looking at the environment

that allows our guest access to an in-

and trying to set that harmony between

room control for the management of

the design of the property and the exper-

lighting, blinds, and climate. However, if a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

AMAN

“ Aman means peace and that’svery much the essence when you arrive” — Archie Natividad, Group IT Director, AMAN

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AMAN

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you’re somewhere like Amankora in

allows artificial intelligence (AI) to help

Bhutan where our lodges are spread

guests perform menial tasks such as

across 5 unique properties in breath

turning lights on and off, through its

taking natural landscape and each

collaborations with companies such

take up to half a day to get to; it’s more

as DigiValet and TRG International.

about the journey. As you can imagine,

Due to Aman establishing these key

this environment technology has less

partnerships, Natividad believes that

an importance to this type of Aman

it has allowed the firm to accelerate

experience.”

its technology offering further.

“Through our work with DigiValet,

FORMING KEY PARTNERSHIPS

we’re allowing our guests to uncover

In order to help achieve its success,

and understand the essence of the

Aman will introduce technology which

Aman experience in the guest room.

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

Archie Natividad Archie Natividad is Group IT Director at Aman where he leads the IT function for the luxury hospitality group consisting of 33 resorts, hotels and private residences in 21 countries. Archie has over 20 years’ experience within the IT and Hospitality industry, having worked internationally in key IT leadership roles. A strong program and project management professional with extensive experience in leading and motivating high performing teams driving business change and IT strategies. Prior to Aman, Archie was at Marriott Vacations Worldwide for over 17 years where his last position was as Senior IT Director EMEA. He holds a BA in Information System and Business Management from the University of Greenwich, London.Â

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AMAN

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“At Aman,we’re really looking at the environment and trying to set that harmony between the design of the property and the experience we’re giving to our guests.When they come to Aman,they’re not coming because it’s a nice room,they’re coming because they want to re-energise” — Archie Natividad, Group IT Director, AMAN

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AMAN

This could come through creating

cate with the front desk, spa and even

personalised lighting and temperature

make bookings at the restaurants. Of

ambience in the room, creating one’s

course, the user interface on the iPad

own itinerary during the stay or even

is multilingual which allows the guest

just relaxing in one’s own room watch-

to choose the language of choice and

ing Netflix and ordering in room din-

the best part is that it can still get

ing. DigiValet allows guests to switch

communicated to the hotel colleagues

off all lights with one touch, set an

in a language they understand - leav-

alarm and wake up to soothing music

ing no scope for misunderstanding.

along with refreshing lighting,” says

This will allow all our employees to

Natividad. “While in the room, the guest

focus on delivering the service at the

can get all the hotel information at the

highest levels. I believe we’re definitely

touch of a button and also communi-

moving in the right direction to create

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that fine balance between technology

ments to capture. TRG provide us with

and service.”

high level support and industry know-

Aman’s partnership with TRG Inter-

ledge and experience” he says. “There

national has provided the firm with

are challenges and roadblocks but it’s

a significant support system that enables

certainly a collaboration and a partner-

Aman to meet challenges head-on.

ship that will see us be successful at

Natividad believes the collaboration

the end.”

has been vital to his company’s success.

The importance of building partner-

“With TRG, we’re undertaking a huge

ships is considered a key area for

investment in our accounting system

Aman. With additional partners such

as they understand the many workflow

as Oracle, Samsotech ID, Arcserve,

processes when operating in different

Sophos, Softcat, Infor and HRS Interna-

regions that have tax and fiscal ele-

tional confirmed as working with Aman, 175

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AMAN

Natividad points to what makes a successful collaboration work. “What really makes a great partner is their ability to take time to understand your business.

You get many partners who are just looking at their bottom line and once they’ve hooked you, their entire customer service or approach is very different,” he explains. “I tend to find the companies that work really well for us are the ones where they take time to understand us. We’re not your cookie cutter kind of hotel and we’re a leading ultra176

luxury brand. When they get to work with us and understand how we operate, it becomes very mutually beneficial for both of us.”

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TECHNOLOGY

FUTURE PLANS In order to remain sustainable, Aman plans to explore new markets worldwide to gain a firmer presence in a wider variety of countries. “We’ve got 33 hotels today and for us, to remain sustainable it’s important to grow and expand the brand. We’re opening new markets globally,” says Natividad. “We have a strong presence in Asia, and we have plans for growth in the Americas, Europe and in the Middle East. The launch of Aman New York will further strengthen the Aman brand in the region and the development into businesses such as Aman Retail and Aman Spa & Wellness will also complement the Aman brand well.”

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Delivering the gift of sight through a robust supply chain transformation WRIT TEN BY

L AUR A MULL AN PRODUCED BY

CHARLOT TE CL ARK E

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ESSILOR

Tasked with taking care of one of our most vital senses, Vladimir Zhirnov, Global Sourcing and Procurement Director of Supply Chain & Transport at Essilor, is ensuring the company’s supply chain is up to the challenge 180

8

0% of the sensory informa-

Every day, Essilor manages more

tion that the brain receives

than 3,000 lens flows and over one

comes via sight, making

million product references, relying on

vision one of our most important

an expansive network of 34 produc-

senses. However, our eyes are complex

tion sites, 14 distribution centres and

organs and are rarely perfect: in fact,

481 prescription labs. This means that

nearly two out of three people suffers

efficient supply chain management

from vision problems. The invention of

is crucial. One professional at the

lenses has been an invaluable aid, and

helm of this robust supply chain is

with a streamlined, agile supply chain,

Vladimir Zhirnov, Global Sourcing

Essilor, is ensuring that customers

and Procurement Director of Supply

can get these vital solutions as quickly

Chain & Transport.

as possible.

FEBRUARY 2019

With over a decade of experience

TECHNOLOGY

181

working at Essilor, Zhirnov has been

supply chain function to align it with

there every step of the way as the firm

the firm’s global vision. As a result,

has expanded its footprint through

Essilor’s network footprint now able

organic growth and local acquisitions.

to support more than 2mn unique

By drawing upon his expertise at

stock keeping units (SKUs).

Essilor from a local, regional and eventually a global level, Zhirnov says

A ROBUST, DATA-DRIVEN SUPPLY CHAIN

it’s given him “an entire understanding

Digitalisation drives Essilor’s global

of how the company functions, what

supply chain which is dedicated to

the current trends are, as well as the

producing and delivering over 540mn

needs of different countries”.

lenses a year with a high degree of

During this period, Essilor had to restructure its procurement and

personalisation for individual wearers.

Over the past two decades, Essilor a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

ESSILOR

has developed a robust digital backbone linking its ecosystem of production sites, prescription labs and distribution centres with over 350,000 customers, to its lens design, ordering and fulfillment systems.

It’s a highly data-driven operation, requiring millions of rapid digital exchanges between customers and every part of the value chain from receiving prescriptions and fitting details to sending manufacturing instructions to a lab. To ensure optimal speed, performance and reliability, Essilor has migrated certain steps as cloud-based services, for 182

example, a powerful calculator capable of generating lens designs to the more advanced personalized measures linked to the Group’s latest Varilux® X series™ progressive lenses. Essilor is already exploring the future of data-driven manufacturing with the creation of a concept Lab 4.0 at its Dallas campus, as well as exploring how artificial intelligence, machine learning, and collaborative robots can improve planning, production, and customer service.

The secret behind Essilor’s explosive growth lies in its commitment to R&D, with more than €200mn dedicated each year to research and innovation. This allows the firm to offer exclusive products that distinguish it from its competitors, but with swathes of FEBRUARY 2019

“ Essentially, the supply will be doubled, the external logistics will be doubled and we’ll also have two different systems and organisations that needs to be combined” — Vladimir Zhirnov, Global Sourcing and Procurement Director of Supply Chain & Transport at Essilor

TECHNOLOGY

customised products comes more logistical challenges. This is where Essilor’s worldclass supplier network lends a helping hand.

“We have more than 30,0000 suppliers, of which 1,000 are logistics and supply chain vendors,” explains Zhirnov. “We classify these suppliers into three grades whereby we have 14 strategic vendors, 500 preferred vendors and the rest classified as others.” With such a complex network of partners, supplier relationship management is critical and as such Essilor has developed a thorough relationship management program which ensures that its strategic vendors have a mutually beneficial partnership. “It helps us understand what the partnerships are going to achieve, what our plans are, and how we can support each other to complete these missions,” he says.

But why is supplier sustainability so important for Essilor? “We believe that if we work hand in hand with our suppliers, together we can increase the positive impact of our business in the communities where we work,” notes Zhirnov. “For the past two years in our Sourcing and Procurement team, we’ve set out to involve our network of suppliers in different ways. In addition to driving compliance with Essilor’s responsible business practices, we engage suppliers in three key areas: promoting visual health through awareness raising a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

183

ESSILOR

and screening actions; responsible

and his team. To tackle this, Essilor has

sourcing from economically vulnerable

developed a shrewd strategy to drive

populations; and positive environmen-

down freight costs in the form of regional

tal initiatives through sharing best

docking hubs. In essence, this means

practices and implementing eco-re-

that all products heading to Asia, for

sponsible approaches.�

instance, have one point of arrival by air freight. They are then distributed by

A GLOBAL POWERHOUSE, WITH REGIONAL EXPERTISE

road and air within the continent with

As is the case for any procurement or

“The concept is that we are entering

supply chain professional, managing

one continent by air freight at one

costs is a key consideration for Zhirnov

point and then we are leveraging our

help from local or regional partners.

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

Vladimir Zhirnov Vladimir Zhirnov, who began his career as a part-time sales rep while in college, serves currently as Global Sourcing and Procurement Director of Supply Chain & Transport at Essilor International. Based from Singapore, he helps to deliver value across the organization with global footprint in over 100 countries, 600 entities, and 33 manufacturing plants including wholly owned businesses, joint ventures and partnerships.

Previously in his career, he helped to lead the transportation/ freight strategy for Europe.

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

partners to distribute our products throughout the country,” Zhirnov says.

“If you have 30 plants and you are sending products to smaller markets, Malaysia for example, it’s quite costly to continuously feed into the country directly from across the global plants. Therefore, we send upstream shipments to our regional docking hubs and distribute products from there.”

“ We have more than 30,000 suppliers, of which 1,000 are logistics and supply chain vendors” — Vladimir Zhirnov, Global Sourcing and Procurement Director of Supply Chain & Transport at Essilor

Similarly, Essilor distributes all its Middle Eastern products from Dubai 185

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

DSV France : Service Marketing & Communication – communication@fr.dsv.com – Décembre 2018

You need it.

We move it.

Impossible n’est pas DSV

DSV – Global Transport and Logisitics We provide and manage supply chain solutions for thousands of companies every day – from the small family run business to the large global corporation. Our reach is global, yet our presence is local and close to our customers. 45,000 employees in more than 80 countries work passionately to deliver great customer experiences and high quality services.

fr.dsv.com | sales@fr.dsv.com

and all its European products from

Group’s capital is held by employees

Paris. Employing over 67,000 people

who are also involved in the com-

and developing its production and lo-

pany governance. “This decentralised

gistics footprint globally, this extensive

decision-making offers us transparen-

presence is a key accomplishment for

cy and the responsiveness to different

the firm. “We’re really helping to con-

regions,” he explains.

tribute to skills development in different countries,” Zhirnov says. Today, Essilor

CONCENTRATING ITS EFFORTS

has a global footprint spanning around

As well as selling a variety of lenses,

100 countries and as it continues to

Essilor has also claimed a portion of

grow this logistical challenge will only

the consumables market – providing

get greater. A key factor for Zhirnov is

vital tools and items needed to solder

ensuring regional needs are being met

parts and edge lenses, for example –

and this is in part achieved by giving

but this hasn’t come without its

employees a voice – 65% of employees

challenges. In the US market, for

are shareholders and around 4% of the

example, there were several players

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

187

within the group competing for a slice of the pie which threatened Essilor’s margins. By working closely with a third-party logistics (3PL) network design consultant, however, the firm has found data analytics to be a useful tool to tackle this hurdle. “We analysed all the inbound data, the sourcing data, and the customer-based data

“ We’re really helping to contribute to skills development in different countries” — Vladimir Zhirnov, Global Sourcing and Procurement Director of Supply Chain & Transport at Essilor

to identify our core areas in the US,” reflects Zhirnov. By redesigning its a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

ESSILOR

“ We ensure that the materials we are buying are not manufactured through child labour and don’t come from regions where minerals are extracted in an improper way” 188

— Vladimir Zhirnov, Global Sourcing and Procurement Director of Supply Chain & Transport at Essilor

consumables network, Essilor recon-

company’s merger with Italian eyewear

figured its distribution centre locations

company Luxottica, which owns brands

in the US and focused its efforts on

including Ray-Ban, Oakley and Sunglass

areas where it was needed most. This

Hut. This will not only propel Essilor’s

helped to drive labour, capex rationali-

and Luxottica reach farther into the

sation, reduce freight costs and more.

various markets, but it will also undoubt-

“It offered us better costs, lower

edly impact the firm’s sourcing logistics

investments and at the same, it ensured

and supply chain. Although this deal is

we designated channel champions so

still in its early stages, there’s a lot to

to avoid competing against each other.”

consider. “Essentially, the supply will be doubled and we’ll also have two

A HISTORIC MERGER

different systems and organisations

Another project which Zhirnov has a

that needs to be combined”, Zhirnov

keen eye on revolves around the

observes. So whilst this transition is

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

factured through child labour and don’t come from regions where minerals are extracted in an improper way,” Zhirnov adds.

On top of this, the firm has also set itself another impressive task: to eradicate poor vision by 2050. “It’s the most honourable part of why we go to work every day,” asserts Zhirnov, pointing out how 2.5bn people still lack vision correction today. Through forging partnerships with NGOs, national governments and the private sector as well as facilitating the development of local social entrepreneurs networks, Essilor hopes to understand local in its early stages, Zhirnov is confident

needs and barriers so that it can create

that the integration will be seamless.

vision care infrastructure that is both

Knitted into the fabric of Essilor’s core

purposeful and sustainable. In the

mission is its sustainable approach,

coming years, Essilor may grow its

and this hasn’t gone amiss when it

supply chain and procurement function

comes to the company’s supply chain

further, but it seems the top item on

and logistics management. As part of

Zhirnov’s agenda can be best summa-

its 2020 sustainability strategy, 100%

rised by the firm’s mission: “improving

of Essilor’s strategic suppliers will re-

lives by improving sight”.

ceive an external CSR audit and 100% of its preferred supplies will acknowledge Essilor’s Supplier Charter.

“As part of this, we ensure that the materials we are buying are not manua si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

189

ACCENT GROUP 190

A SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSFORMATION Accent Group LTD boasted record profits last year and moved 6.3mn shoes — ­ that’s one in five in Australia – thanks to its recent supply chain transformation. Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology and Supply Chain Manager, Mark Rizza, reveal the secrets behind their omnichannel strategy

FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

191

WRITTEN BY

NIKI WALDEGRAVE PRODUCED BY

GLEN WHITE

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A C C E N T G R O U P LT D

G

one are the days of successful retailers surviving on bricks and mortar alone. To be at the forefront

of retail now, businesses need a booming digital presence.

Accent Group Ltd – formerly RCG Corporation Ltd – is on the ASX and delivered its FY18 results in August, revealing a record underlying net profit after tax of $47.1mn, up 17.9% on the prior year. The business – which has more than 460 stores across Australia and New Zealand – has delivered strong 192

returns over the past five years through its brands including The Athlete’s Foot, Platypus, Hype DC, Timberland, Vans, Dr. Martens, Saucony, Merrell, Palladium, Sperry Top-Sider, Stance, Supra, Subtype, and kids’ funky online brand The Trybe.

Its recent success is thanks to a major collaboration across many business units involving a stunning digital transformation over the past 24 months, which involved a one key stream full supply chain transformation led by Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain and Technology, and Supply Chain Manager Mark Rizza.

FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

“We want to make sure we’re the best retailers out there.

Our CEO always says ‘We don’t do average’”

193

— Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology

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A C C E N T G R O U P LT D

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ADOBE EXPERIENCE : CUSTOMER SHOWCASE – MARK TEPERSON, CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, ACCENT GROUP LTD 194

“The rate at which this business rolls out projects is not matched anywhere else I’ve seen” — Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology

FEBRUARY 2019

“Our digital team led by Mark Teperson, our Chief Digital Officer, in conjunction with our technology team have effectively enabled 13 websites for the business in the last three years,” Greenstein reveals.

“In terms of the space that we play in – athletic leisure footwear and general footwear – we’re fortunate that that space has been growing and we’ve been able to open up more stores across Australia and New Zealand, which has also contributed dramatically to our growth. “But so has listening to our customers.”

S U P P LY C H A I N

Online sales are growing fast –

that to give it a bit of context, our

Accent’s FY18 digital sales are up

business tradition started as a whole-

131% on FY17 and up c88% YTD in

sale business and over the last decade

FY19 – with approximately 40 to 50%

or so has ramped up its retail presence.

of online sales now coming directly

“As that footprint has got bigger, having

from the stores, of which the majority

more stores and hitting the market with

are omni-enabled. New functionalities

these technological capabilities is

including ‘click and collect’, ‘ship from

allowing the business to leverage its

store’, same day delivery and endless

460-store network to drive growth

aisle, are all now enabled

with a true omnichannel strategy.

“We initially projected at 20 or 30%,

“We’ve also enabled new warehousing

so you can imagine the overflow of that,

capability which again, using state-

and what that means in store land…”

of-the-art automation at our new Toll

adds Rizza. “Adding another layer to

operated Preston facility in Sydney, will

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

Tim Greenstein is the General Manager of Supply Chain and Technology at Accent Group Ltd — Australia’s largest footwear retailer with over 445 stores across Australia and New Zealand. Tim has extensive experience in a variety of retail disciplines, focused on Supply Chain, Technology and Ecommerce.

Tim has developed a reputation as a change agent, leading several key high-profile change and strategic projects at Accent group through working with the business to deliver transformative change across The Athlete’s Foot, Hype DC, Platypus Shoes, Skechers, Vans, Merrell, Timberland, CAT, Saucony and Sperry.

Tim holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is a Director of a not for profit board.

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A C C E N T G R O U P LT D

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

Mark Rizza is head of Supply Chain for the Accent Group Limited. Mark is responsible for procurement, international and local logistics as well Customer Care for Brands such as Platypus, Hype DC, Vans, Skechers, Dr Martens and Timberland.

Mark has 15+ years of experience in this space and has worked for both local and global retail brands in an executive capacity such as Lululemon Athletica and Bras’n’Things. Mark is highly experienced in transformational projects using his passion for people an approach of simplifying complex issues to deliver what is best for consumers. Mark has completed his MBA through the Australian Institute of Business.

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S U P P LY C H A I N

“You have to have web and ERP platforms that are capable of handling complex integrations these days”

197

help us handle the business growth, increase volume and improve speed to market requirements, which ultimately advances the service to consumers.”

Accent recently constructed a purpose-built digital hub of excellence in Melbourne, which concentrates the digital expertise under one roof. There’s not one all singing, all dancing system these days in a big business that handles things end to end, and so Accent has utilised its current providers, as well as new providers to

— Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

With Smart Omichannel Order Management

fluentcommerce.com

info@fluentcommerce.com

The Athlete’s Foot —

As fast as their customers with Fluent Commerce Fluent Commerce is an Australian software company, headquartered in Sydney. They offer smart omnichannel order management allowing retailers to be easier, faster and more convenient to shop with than their competitors.

It means fulfilling orders in the most cost effective and quickest way possible whilst offering the customer as many delivery and pick up options as possible.

Accent Group wanted to create a single, streamlined technology stack in their transition from multi- to omnichannel customer engagement. Fluent Commerce was chosen for their order management requirements as this allowed them to turn their stores into mini distribution centres, enabling click and collect and ship-from-store.

Digital sales increased by 170% in the first six months of implementing ship-from-store.

The Athlete’s Foot now operates seamlessly across channels, its digital arm an extension of the store network.

Through Fluent Commerce, they are also able to access real-time inventory throughout the entire operation. This opens up all available stock to all consumers no matter where they are and which channel they choose to shop on; not just the stock available in the warehouse. The Athlete’s Foot are making out-of-stock situations a thing of the past.

Taking things further, ship-from-store capabilities also ensures that Athlete's Foot can implement an endless aisle strategy, allowing in-store associates to ship out-ofstock items directly to the customer from another store the following day. This means breaking the pattern of discounting stock that doesn't sell in a particular store or losing sales altogether, by redistributing stock according to customer demand and location.

fluentcommerce.com

S U P P LY C H A I N

“ Fluent Commerce is used for The Athlete’s Foot to manage click & collect fulfillment with their in-store technology” — Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology

201

enable its omnichannel strategy. The

for orders to be taken online and sent

websites’ eCommerce platform is

to different stores or warehouses for

Magento and Accent uses three key

fulfilment, in a particular and ideally

enterprise resource planning (ERP)

seamless way, in particular sequences,

systems – Apparel 21 , Erplyand Pronto

based on certain rules that the business

across its group of stores.

requires in terms of being effective.

“You have to have web and ERP

“Another key system aspect, certainly

platforms that are capable of handling

for our store enablement, was the ability

complex integrations these days,”

to effectively use third party software

explains Greenstein. “From our core

(middleware) providing us with intelli-

systems, we needed to facilitate that.

gent shipping and fulfilment solutions

The technology must enable the ability

to assist us in handling the freight a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

A C C E N T G R O U P LT D

C OMPA N Y FA C T S

• Accent Group LTD has more than 446 stores across Australia and New Zealand • In 2017/18 total digital sales grew by 13% • Accent Group has delivered strong returns over the past 5 years • Accent is on the ASX, and its total shareholder return over the past 5 years is 177% • It has 13 new websites across Australia and NZ, with two launching next year • Omnichannel sales are on track to reach 15% target of total sales within two years • Accent’s online sales are growing fast — 131 per cent in 2017 202

• Approximately 40 to 50 per cent of online sales now come directly from the stores, of which the majority are omni-enabled • Customer care is front of mind going into 2019 • 24/7 coverage will include across live chat and email • Live chat launched in October across Vans, Skechers, Timberlands, Doc Martens and Platypus, with Hype DC and The Athlete’s Foot coming soon • In the past 12 months, 3.5million customers registered through its various loyalty programs • Platypus launched same day delivery service in July 2018, more will be rolled out 2019 •Accent has hubs in Melbourne, Sydney and Manila • In just the last two months, Accent secured the rights to the Supra brand and launched kids online brand, The Trybe

FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

and dispatch flow, particularly from our store network.”

The middleware, in Accent’s case, have three applications, given the numerous business divisions – Temando, Fluent Commerce and Shippit – which allow for distributed order management at stores, as well as integrations with numerous freight providers to produce the freight labels and support the multi option freight requirements to make the store process more seamless. Fluent Commerce is used for The Athlete’s Foot to manage click & collect fulfillment with their in-store technology.

Its successful next day and same day delivery services is due to its existing relationships with Australia Post’s StarTrack Courier and Direct Courier. Being one of the first businesses to roll this capability out nationally across all stores, Accent hopes to ensure its delivery capability is never far from the customer and will safeguard it from online competitors such as Amazon, which recently launched in Australia.

“Interestingly, some of these purely online players are starting to play around with the physical stores,” muses Rizza.

“Many Pure online players have or are a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

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A C C E N T G R O U P LT D

“ We’ll never lose focus on our roots here in Australia” — Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology

204 contemplating a physical store presence, with Catch of the Day launching a pop-up recently.

“We’ll look to cover everywhere, and because we’re utilising our store footprint to assist in the fulfilment process, our aim of faster delivery nationwide will be greatly assisted by this capability.

“We have a really good opportunity, given our current enabled capability across stores and digital, at solidifying, growing this further and continuing to build on our digital and store strategy, so that we can stay at the forefront of the marketplace.”

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S U P P LY C H A I N

Customer care is also front of mind going in 2019, with 24/7 coverage, including across live chat and email.

Live chat launched in October 2018 across Vans, Skechers, Timberland, Doc Martens, Platypus, Hype DC with The Athlete’s Foot coming soon.

“Two and half years ago, we had one team member that looked after retail and ecommerce,” laughs Rizza. “Now, we have more than 25 people based at the hubs in Melbourne, Sydney and Manila, and that’s only going to get bigger. It’s driven by consumers demanding out attention and demanding increased support, and also our stores’ demands for support.

“We started live chat with some of the smaller brands and in a short space of time it’s taken off quickly. To put in perspective, over the last few weeks, it went from being a few tickets to now being nearly a quarter of overall volume through the chat channel, and that’s with us currently really only covering business hours, so we know for a fact that consumers want to talk to us.”

Obviously, such a digital transformation has been a huge culture change in the business, with the technological a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

205

“Our digital transformation strategy included Temando, a multi-carrier shipping solution that supports our vision to provide our customers with a great way to submit returns online –– helping us deliver consistent customer experience no matter how busy it gets.”

— Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology

Find out more: bit.ly/DemoTemando Temando, a Neopost Shipping company

S U P P LY C H A I N

improvements putting increased onus onto the store teams, and what their day to day roles look like.

In some cases, staff have

“Part of the learning for us is that we’ve created roles that we didn’t expect to create,” says Greenstein. “We had a view of how

gone from being purely

some of the requirements,

salespeople to having to

monitoring procedures

manage order fulfil-

and some of the

ments, and the group

operational processes

ensures that with every innovation that’s rolled out and executed, full training programmes and mechanisms are

would work, but what it’s actually led to wasn’t quite what we thought.

“As a result, we’ve had to tweak

there to support the team, who still

and create new roles to deliver and

need to be able to trade and fulfil the

help with the process management

consumers’ needs.

of all these functionalities that we’ve built on, as these roles never existed in our business before. So, it’s been understanding and navigating the training path well.

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A C C E N T G R O U P LT D

“ We’re definitely in the phase of a growing business: new digital presence, opening new stores, acquiring businesses, as well as looking for brand opportunities that we can bolt on to our 208 existing business” — Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology

“The business has a strong focus

“We want to make sure we’re the best

on stock integrity and stock trade

retailers out there,” explains Green-

mechanisms, as this is key to ensuring

stein. “Our CEO always says we don’t

the end to end omnichannel experience

do average – we try to be different and

is effective and accurate.”

really make a difference and it’s part of

They both concur that in order to succeed at Accent, employees need commitment, drive and a “can do” attitude.

FEBRUARY 2019

the ‘make it happen’ culture to make sure we try and recruit the right people.

“It’s very important to retain talent and give people the opportunity to grow

S U P P LY C H A I N

Promotional banner for The Athlete’s Foot

209

within the business. We also need people that can be very agile, the rate at which this business rolls out projects is really not matched

“Certainly, from the supply chain point of view, if you’re coming here just to have a day to day job of one task, that’s not going to fly

anywhere else that I’ve seen in my time,

because our business continues to

so you need people that can come in

grow and evolves so quickly that you

and be ready to move, depending on

need to have people that can thrive in

your role of course.

that environment – it’s not for everyone.” a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

A C C E N T G R O U P LT D

Accent’s footprint and capabilities

set to increase when Accent moves “Part of the are at some point internationally potentially learning for to Asia in 2019.

“We’ll never lose focus on our roots us is that here in Australia,” adds Greenstein, “as we’ve created demonstrated by our recently opened Platypus Superstore in roles that we 600sqm Melbourne Central and a Pitt Street didn’t expect Sydney Superstore opening mid-2019.

But we’re starting to explore how we to create” broaden our footprint is the next stage,

— Tim Greenstein, General Manager Supply Chain & Technology

210

especially as the digital economy continues to grow.”

The long-term visions of the AGL Supply Chain team are focusing on that speed to consumer portion. At board level, it’s to create greater opportunities from a vertical product perspective too.

Accent recently secured the rights to the Supra brand, launched kids’ specific online brand, The Trybe, and also purchased premium footwear brand Subtype, which plays in the premium space with one store and an online presence.

“Our strategy at the moment is very much to continue to invest in store infrastructure where it makes sense and where we see growth, while obviously driving all the other channels

FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

$676mn Approximate revenue

1981

Year founded

5,000+

Approximate number of employees 211 at the same time,” adds Greenstein.

“Our CEO and board are very proactive in finding brands that are going to

and speed, is becoming more and more critical.

“We must make sure that we can keep

align with us and help us solidify that

up with the requirements of what the

leadership space in the athletic

customer wants while always being

footwear or the leisure footwear space.

flexible and able to make sure that we

“We’re definitely in the phase of a growing businesses; new digital presence, opening new stores, acquiring

deliver and meet their requirements,” he surmises.

“Customers these days have a diffe-

businesses, as well as looking for

rent way of operating and engaging,

brand opportunities that we can bolt

and what’s convenient for one is not

on to our existing business.”

actually the same for another, so the

From the market perspective, the

time to be able to keep up with the

consumer continues to come up with

demand and need is going to be a critical

new ways and new requirements of

factor going forward.”

wanting product – how they purchase, a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

210

Technology transformation at Bupa is improving lives in Australia and New Zealand WRIT TEN BY

OLIVIA MINNOCK PRODUCED BY

MIK E SADR

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

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B U PA A U S T R A L I A A N D N E W Z E A L A N D

Sami Yalavac, CIO at Bupa Australia and New Zealand, explains how technology can be used to improve health and lifestyle alongside operational efficiency

M

ore than just a health insurer, Bupa cares for its clients’ health and wellbeing across many aspects, from dental

and lifestyle to aged care, and most importantly providing funding at vital moments. The company maintains a strong commitment to connecting 212

customers with affordable and accessible care, not least across the ANZ region which makes up almost half of the company’s global business.

This commitment rings true with Sami Yalavac, CIO at Bupa Australia & New Zealand, who drives the organisation’s technology transformation journey with a noble goal in mind. “It’s a great organisation with a great purpose – a day at work means you are helping people live longer, healthier and happier lives,” he enthuses, adding that the people involved in this mission make Bupa what it is. “There’s a really friendly, collaborative, supportive culture from the top down.” Indeed, of the 78,000 staff employed globally by Bupa, around 22,000 are based in ANZ. Despite making up approximately 45% of the company’s revenue, Bupa only entered the FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

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a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

WHAT CLOUD-BASED IDENTITY MEANS FOR AUSTRALIAN HEALTHCARE

Australia: +61 283104484 www.okta.com

Healthcare in Australia has traditionally lagged behind most other industries in terms of technology adoption. Many hospitals, GP practices and other organisations still rely on paper records, handwritten notes, siloed data stores and IT systems, and even film-based radiology images.

Information sharing across providers can be inefficient and data portability is rare. It’s not unusual to see patients in hospitals clutching paper cards with their personal treatment details, while communication, collaboration and coordination of care processes are all challenging.

However, things are beginning to change for the better and digital transformation is increasingly at the centre of government efforts to cut costs and boost efficiencies while improving the delivery of key services. My Health Record, for example, is a crucial first step in centralising and digitising patient records, to ensure a better service across healthcare providers.

Better use of technology in Australian healthcare would not only give patients more control over their health and well-being, but could also reduce the administrative burden for care professionals, as well as support the research and development of new medicines and treatments.

HEALTHCARE GOES DIGITAL In the rush to streamline processes and empower patients by migrating to cloud and app-based systems, identity and access management (IAM) has become vitally important.

Gartner Research VP and industry expert, Barry Runyon, believes the growing infrastructure, system and support requirements of healthcare organisations (HCOs), alongside increasingly tight budgets and staffing challenges, are driving them towards greater cloud adoption. Cloud services are already being used in some cases to support content management, medical record systems, portals and clinical collaboration.

Gartner’s Forecast Overview: Healthcare Provider Market, Worldwide, 2018 predicts this shift to the cloud, stating that “healthcare systems have been sceptical about the adoption of cloud, but cost pressures and the need to reduce capital expenditure have been changing that mindset. After enduring several high-profile breaches and realizing the maturity of various cloud providers (both in expertise and scalability), healthcare systems are finally less sceptical than they used to be about the cloud. Growth of as-a-service solutions will continue rapidly in several areas, such as hosting, storage, security, networking and disaster recovery.”*

patient data and IT systems. Data released this year by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) revealed that the healthcare sector was the most targeted by hackers, with nearly a sixth of all data breaches affecting a healthcare business. Identity as a Service (IDaaS) is the most reliable choice to ensure HCOs can leverage the transformative benefits of new digital platforms whilst staying safe, secure and compliant.

ENTER CLOUD-BASED IDENTITY Australia’s HCOs need a way to accelerate access to patient data while minimising password management problems. They need strong, multi-factor authentication (MFA) to negate the risk of phishing and password stealing/ cracking/guessing attacks. And they need to do all of this to stay compliant with current regulations. Doing so in a userfriendly way and with a dwindling budget is increasingly challenging. This is where single sign-on (SSO) can help, but organizations should be aware that legacy IAM tools are fast becoming obsolete.

The truth is that on-premises IAM tools are a poor fit for the kind of modern, cloud and app-based systems HCOs are increasingly adopting. They’re costly, time consuming to integrate and are inflexible, requiring significant ongoing maintenance and upgrade work every time a new app is added.

To manage an environment as complex as typical hospital, for example, you need to outsource IAM to the experts.

IDaaS is the answer: securing access at the cloud app layer rather than the perimeter and providing granular visibility into all apps, users and devices from a single interface. It’s also highly scalable — new apps and users can be added and managed with ease — it’s reliable, easy to set-up, and there’s no unnecessary downtime.

Cloud-based SSO enables approved doctors, nurses and others to access any cloud services with just one username, one password and one session. This helps improve productivity by reducing the time spent logging into each application; reduces costly helpdesk password reset requests; and improves account security as users are less inclined to use the same simple password for all apps.

It becomes even more powerful when backed with MFA for extra account security, which means attackers can’t guess, steal or crack log-ins in any meaningful way.

For HCOs currently exploring modernisation projects, IDaaS can provide a foundation for a secure transition.

However, HCOs are a major target for hackers, and even mistakes by employees can expose highly sensitive

FIND OUT MORE

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE’ 216 Australian market around 16 years

Dental, and eventually won some

ago having partnered with HBA, which

government tenders,” adds Yalavac.

Yalavac describes as “a really success-

Throughout this growth and

ful business with a successful leadership

development, technology has moved

team”. A healthy national economy and

to the fore as a key driver and is now

a relatively young population open to

central to the business, with Yalavac

new developments assisted Bupa’s

citing that 90% of funding and internal

entrance into the Australian market,

investment within the business goes

with the organisation having gone from

toward technology transformation

strength to strength over the last 12

programs. “It’s an additional enabler

years From health insurance, new

for business survival and business

business areas were explored

growth,” says Yalavac, as customers

including health coaching and

increasingly look to access services

telehealth. “We then entered the Aged

via digital platforms. In addition, the

Care market, moving on to Optical,

fragmented nature of healthcare in

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

Australia (with separate services across dental, optical, aged care and other areas) makes technology vital. “Technology is the glue that holds pieces together, making it easy to access information, get guidance and do transactions.”

DATA ACROSS SECTORS Across the many elements of Bupa’s business and healthcare in Australia and New Zealand more widely, Yalavac is keen to emphasise that data is key.

From providing funding to introducing technology into people’s lives to monitor

“Technology is the glue that holds pieces together, making it easy to access information, get guidance and do transactions” — Sami Yalavac, CIO, Bupa ANZ

their health and lifestyle, capturing real-time data can be vital in providing the insights Bupa and its clients need. “Through their demographics and real-time abilities, we can provide health coaching and advice,” he explains.

“As data collection increases, we can even detect some of the events happening in the body to proactively warn people to see a specialist or access a test. Data is your fuel,” he adds. “You might have a brilliant car with a great engine, but without fuel you can’t go anywhere.” As well as using data to improve the health and wellbeing of Bupa customers, Yalavac is also using data and insights to improve the colleague a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

217

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Digital transformation: Do you have the right strategy?

For many organisations, digital innovation is focused on the customer experience.

Most companies understand that to become future-ready, to gain competitive advantage, they need to build trust and loyalty through experiences that delight their customers. Omnichannel strategies, hyper-personalisation and innovative products and services are all part of this new customer experience. But that’s only part of the equation.

At its core, digital transformation is business transformation, and that makes it a people and organisational issue. Transforming the employee experience is just as important as transforming the customer experience. A stellar employee experience attracts talent and boosts workforce engagement, productivity and retention — which directly improves a company’s financial performance. Such companies out perform the S&P 500 by 122% and are 21% more profitable than companies with poor employee engagement. It’s all about the human impact.

Fortunately, companies don’t have to start from scratch with employee experience.

They already have a valuable tool at their disposal: the playbook they’ve used to enhance customer experience. By applying purpose driven, human-centred and customer-centric principles to the employee experience and internal business processes, companies create sustainable business value through increased cost efficiency, productivity and growth.

Ultimately, employee experience drives customer experience. For example, Bupa, one of the world’s leading health companies, recognised that it needed a transformation to achieve dual business outcomes: be an effective champion for customers, and enable and inspire its people. Avanade Advisory supported Bupa’s transformation across multiple domains to accelerate its journey toward a more digital business.

Avanade supported Bupa’s customer experience and personalisation program to deliver the right message to the right members at the right time through the right channel.

Avanade also helped Bupa set future-ready enterprise architectures and define key digital building blocks including cloud foundations, integration fabric and modern engineering disciplines.

In partnership with Avanade Advisory, Bupa also transformed its information services operating model and ways of working to better-equip its people to be effective champions for customers, embrace agile disciplines and collaborate seamlessly across the business through cross-functional teams.

Digital transformation requires a careful balance of investment in customer- and employee-focused innovations.

Avanade Advisory can help you develop practical strategies to make your digital transformation easier and accelerate business outcomes.

LEARN MORE

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AVA N A DE

Partnering for transformation

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Avanade has been a key partner throughout Bupa’s technology transformation. Bupa’s goal to be an effective champion for its customers and provide outstanding experiences is strongly supported by Avanade.

Bupa engaged the consulting and services company to help develop a strategy that would deliver personalised customer experiences, ensuring high-quality clinical outcomes and value for money. As Bupa continues to focus on customer experience, this is driven by providing employees with that same positive experience.

As such, Avanade has enabled Bupa to transform its workplace, enabling and inspiring its staff to best serve end users. Yalavac’s strong vision to develop Bupa’s business model involves bringing disciplines like marketing, sales, service and production closer to customers – and a digital innovation partner like Avanade is instrumental in this transformation.

FEBRUARY 2019

experience of the IT function. Over his three years as CIO the colleague NPS (Net Promoter Score) has improved from -16 to +30 in one year, reaching +20 in the second year and now standing at +30.

As technology disrupts every industry and the lines between sectors become increasingly blurred, Yalavac has improved the customer experience with the clear understanding it’s not his

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221

own sector he is competing with.

“Customers are not comparing us

lessly and efficiently, most often driven by tech. “The customer looks for

with our competitors as they aren’t

whatever the best experience is in the

usually with another health fund or

market, regardless of industry, and

insurer at the same time,” he explains.

expects Bupa to do the same thing.”

“Instead, they compare us with banks and travel agencies and likes of

EFFICIENCY ACROSS A BROAD MARKET

Amazon and Airbnb.” Customers

Technology drives growth at Bupa

compare their experience with Bupa to

not only through customer satisfaction

their experience accessing any other

in creating a seamless user experience,

facility, and this must be done seam-

but also in improving operational a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

The customer experience is always right.

Make experience your business.

For customers, great experiences are great differentiators. And there’s only one company that’s a leader in everything you need to deliver them.

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B U PA A U S T R A L I A A N D N E W Z E A L A N D

efficiency within a business that spans a broad and somewhat disparate landscape. As CIO, Yalavac is responsible for an IT team of over 600 people across 7 locations, and he credits technology as essential to helping people work together while maintaining that it can also bring significant culture shifts that must be managed across teams. The secret? “Communicate the vision and purpose really well, so everyone understands what we need to achieve and why,” he explains. “You then keep communicat224

ing back the progress: where you are, what’s left to do, success stories and lessons learned.”

Effective communication is vital to assuring IT professionals of their position within the organisation in relation to its overall mission and goals. “The role of CIO is of course being responsible for technology, but we should also see our job as a business leader and part of the executive team. The CIO is a trusted consultant and partner and if you don’t play that role you will miss opportunities because in the future, more and more business growth will rely on technology.”

Yalavac has taken steps to ensure the IT professionals he manages are viewed, FEBRUARY 2019

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

Sami Yalavac As Chief Information Officer, Sami Yalavac is responsible for delivering high-quality, reliable and performance-enhancing technology services across Bupa.

Having joined Bupa more than 12 years ago, Yalavac has held a number of technical and senior leadership roles across various Information Services teams, where he has driven significant performance and service improvements for the business, our customers and our people.

Since becoming CIO in February 2016, Yalavac has led the transformation of Information Services to become more customer-focused, agile, collaborative and efficient, which has improved the colleague and customer experience as ref lected by significant improvements in employee and colleague Net Promoter Scores. Yalavac was recently recognised externally for his track record as a transformational leader making a significant business impact, when he was placed in the Top 3CIOs in Australia, as judged by CIO50.

In addition to more than 30 years of information technology experience at a variety of industries spanning multiple continents, Sami’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Computer Engineering, a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Quality Management.

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TECHNOLOGY

“The role of CIO is of course being responsible for technology, but we should also see our job as a business leader and part of the executive team” — Sami Yalavac, CIO, Bupa ANZ

the teams really close to the business and close to the customers – ‘What’s happening over there? What are the exact pain points?’ – and then we start thinking about how technology can solve those. Without that mindset, you never efficiently deliver results. You’ll have a huge data warehouse but no idea what to do with it.”

Aside from focusing on customer needs and business growth, Yalavac also maintains that creating an environment people enjoy working in and can grow and develop in is paramount. “A positive environment attracts and retains talent, keeping everyone

and view themselves, as members of

connected to business outcomes,

the business’ overall teams – they are

customer expectations and strategic

not just referred to as the technology

partnerships” he says. Engaging his

team, but some members might be

people and developing a collaborative,

referred to as the ‘claims’ team, for

agile culture has been a huge focus for

example. “IT departments are part of

Yalavac since he became CIO. He has

the business – there shouldn’t be a

invested in building a high performing

separation of business and IT. We all

leadership group and giving his leaders

have the same responsibility to make

the skills to coach their teams through

sure this organisation delivers the best

change. In November 2017, he also

service for the customers. We’re here

launched the Tech-A-Gender program

to deliver the company’s purpose, not

to attract, inspire and develop female

deliver the technology.

talent into technology roles at Bupa

“In our IT department, we try and get

and the team have a vibrant program to a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

227

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D ATA M AT IC S

A strategic partnership

228

An important partner in Bupa’s digital transformation, and an example of a relationship Bupa hopes to carry on, is Datamatics ­— a global provider of consulting, IT, data management and business process management.

In what has grown to a 16-year partnership, Datamatics has been instrumental in setting up a delivery centre for Bupa.

The relationship has been mutually beneficial with Datamatics leveraging Bupa’s knowledge about insurance business processes and Bupa enhancing operational effici– encies while significantly reducing cost of maintenance and support, with support offered 24/7 on core business operations.

celebrate and support cultural diversity.

Indeed, this focus has yielded significant results: since Yalavac began transforming the department the employee NPS in the IT team has grown from +2 to +48, the highest in the organisation which averages at +16.

Overall operational efficiency has seen exponential benefits from technology transformation done the right way and in turn serves to motivate staff toward the wider Bupa mission.

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229

“We’re using RPA to make processes and transactions much quicker, cheaper and higher quality so we can utilise out people for more advanced, knowledge-based activities rather than just repeating boring tasks. We’re redefining our workplace strategy with technology as a key enabler.” For example, Bupa has implemented collaboration tools like Office 365, cloudbased solutions, video conferencing

“IT departments are part of the business – there shouldn’t be a separation of business and IT” — Sami Yalavac, CIO, Bupa ANZ

and webcasting. “It’s really a digital a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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231

space where it’s easy to collaborate and gives you flexibility and agility.”

STRATEGIC PARTNERS Implementing so many new digital solutions cannot be done alone, and as such Bupa must work to maintain partnerships with key vendors as part of its transformation journey, with global names ranging from Microsoft, Fujitsu, Oracle and Infosys to ServiceNow. Yalavac is clear on how this must

“A positive environment attracts and retains talent, keeping everyone connected to business outcomes, customer expectations and strategic partnership” — Sami Yalavac, CIO, Bupa ANZ

take place: “Our approach is to try and create long-term strategic partnerships a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

In this Transformative Age, convergence is driving the reimagination of industries to create limitless opportunities. ey.com/analytics/networkrevolution #BetterQuestions

Š 2019 Ernst & Young, Australia. All Rights Reserved. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. EDNone. PH1010063.

Does industry collision shatter or shape our future thinking?

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233

rather than just buying services from these organisations. We keep sharing our changes, inviting them to meetings and when we organise innovation days we include our vendors so they can understand our problems and join in.”

For example, customer experience technology giant Genesys has been involved in transforming Bupa’s contact centres through artificial intelligence.

“We share the challenges we have with them and develop solutions for our contact centres, such as speech-to-

“Our approach is to try and create long-term strategic partnerships rather than just buying services from these organisations” — Sami Yalavac, CIO, Bupa ANZ

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

234

“We have the responsibility to address and reduce the cost of health and improve access and quality of health provisions” — Sami Yalavac, CIO, Bupa ANZ

FEBRUARY 2019

text, or using AI to try and understand a customer’s emotions and what they need.” Another such collaborative partner is software giant Adobe, whose marketing platforms and tools are utilised by Bupa. “The platform allows you to understand your customer and manage campaigns, but also has a decision hub based on the information you log,” Yalavac outlines. “These solutions all form an ecosystem supporting one another and the only way to achieve this is through long-term

TECHNOLOGY

£9.8bn Approximate revenue (2014)

2002

Year founded in ANZ

78,000

Approximate number of employees 235

relationships with organisations.

government budgeting or funding

Everyone can access these compa-

challenges. We’re seeing affordability

nies but now every organisation can

issues in the market: customers are

utilise them well.”

less and less able to buy insurance

These vendors will be part of Bupa’s

products, or simple dental check-

ecosystem as the company contin-

ups for example. We have a respon-

ues to grow, and Yalavac outlines that

sibility to address and reduce the

Bupa will also look to startups to

cost of health and improve access

find new solutions across a changing

and quality of health provisions.”

landscape. “We keep working with startups, technology organisations, government, hospitals, even competitors, to address customer problems, a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

236

GLOBAL IMPACT ENABLED BY DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

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TECHNOLOGY

WRIT TEN BY NIKI WA LDEGR AVE PRODUCED BY MIK E SADR

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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UNIVERSIT Y OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS)

THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS) FOSTERS CONNECTION, COLLABORATION AND CREATIVITY. ITS CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER TELLS NIKI WALDEGRAVE HOW UTS’ DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS SHAPING ITS TOMORROW

238

R

Ranked Australia’s top young university and ranked 10th globally in the QS Top 50 Under 50 in 2019, the University of

Technology Sydney (UTS) is a leading public technology university, with 45,000 students and 3,800 staff. UTS is known for its emphasis on real-world research, as well as its unique approach to learning and cutting-edge facilities.

Since its inception UTS has been founded on strong industry links, and the exchange of resources and expertise with its industry partners continues to be a core part of its identity today.

This is seen in research partnerships with industry and a strong practice of students completing industry internships, in line with UTS’s model of practice-oriented learning. This all translates into a complex set of requirements for IT support.

“The technology environment at a modern university is complex” says UTS Chief Information FEBRUARY 2019

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239

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TECHNOLOGY

Officer, Christine Burns. “On one hand we are running a significant business

ting edge audio-visual technology.”

The smart application of these var-

and, like large organisations in other

ied technologies has been integral to

industries, we face challenges such

the continued growth and success of

as how to automate and streamline

UTS. On many levels the university has

processes, improve staff experience,

undergone a vast amount of change

and get the most from marketing tech-

in recent years, and the digital trans-

nologies. On the other hand, we have

formation led by Burns, supported by

research-specific challenges such as

Deputy CIOs Peter Gale and David

supporting extremely large and diverse

O’Connor, has played a crucial part.

data sets (and having these large data

In 2008, the university began its

sets move around our network), and

decade-long, $1bn-plus “City Campus

learning-specific challenges such as

Master Plan” - a significant enhance-

a growing campus filled with cut-

ment of the university’s physical cam-

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

Christine Burns Chrissy has worked closely with senior leaders across the university to develop an IT transformation strategy and is responsible for its implementation. Chrissy has operational responsibility for a team of more than 250 people across IT, Printing Services and Audio Visual Services functions. In line with the university’s vision, Chrissy oversees a large portfolio of IT capital projects to support teaching, research and engagement and maintain the university’s technology footprint.

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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UNIVERSIT Y OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS)

pus. This has resulted in a range of

Faculty of Science that includes a vast

new and upgraded buildings and open

‘Superlab,’ which can host a range

spaces to support both research and

of simultaneous teaching sessions

the way the organization approaches

across different subjects. Determin-

learning. This includes a technology-

ing how to enable this posed a range of

rich building to house the Faculty of

technical challenges for the IT team to

Engineering and IT. In addition to the

solve. Perhaps the best known build-

innovative collaborative teaching and

ing to date has been the iconic Dr Chau

student spaces, the building itself

Chak Wing Building which houses the

incorporates a vast array of sensors

UTS Business School, designed by

that are used in UTS research. It has

Frank Gehry, the architect responsible

also included a new building for the

for the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. Like the other buildings this includes an array

242

of innovative learning spaces – such

“THE TECH LAB IS A REALLY IMPORTANT FACILITY FOR ENABLING OUR ACADEMICS TO COME TOGETHER AND INNOVATE WITH INDUSTRY, AND THAT’S PART OF THE VISION FOR WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THAT SPACE” — Christine Burns, CIO, UTS

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

CLICK TO WATCH : UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS)

as 360 degree collaborative classrooms.

In 2018, the university launched its new UTS Tech Lab, where engineering and IT researchers from diverse fields work in close partnership with industry and government to develop new innovative technologies. This facility is the size of several aircraft hangers. “The University has a really strong background in industry partnering and partnerships,” explains Burns. “The Tech Lab is a really important facility for enabling our academics to come together and innovate with industry, and that’s part of the vision a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

243

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TECHNOLOGY

for what will happen in that space.”

UTS’s research footprint has ex-

number of ground-breaking initiatives.

One of the most recent is “Provisioner”,

panded rapidly over the past decade

a framework for research data man-

– both in volume and global impact.

agement and curation of research data.

That expansion has led to enormous

Provisioner provides UTS research-

demands on the IT team for software,

ers with storage in an automated and

compute, storage and data manage-

managed way. The initial implementa-

ment support. UTS has been lever-

tion of Provisioner links into a curation

aging cloud technologies since 2012

platform for microbial imaging called

to simplify its infrastructure and gain

OMERO that can generate several ter-

access to capabilities that are increas-

abytes of data a day from microscopes.

ingly difficult to obtain on-premises.

The IT team has fostered a number of

“One of our key strategies is that we want to do research that is re-

innovations to support the university’s

producible, so that when research is

researchers. UTS has rolled out a

done, it’s not based on somebody’s

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

David O’Connor As Deputy Chief Information Office, with specific responsibility for strategic planning and enterprise architecture, David’s teams help drive the university’s strategies though the smart and innovative use of technology. He has recently led a significant business transformation delivering a new ‘product line’ based technology investment and delivery framework, which also incorporates a shift to agile delivery methodologies and various enhancements to the IT operating model.

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UNIVERSIT Y OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS)

246

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

“THE TECHNOLOGY IS REALLY TRANSFORMING THE WAY THAT RESEARCH IS DONE. THIS IS MUCH BROADER THAN JUST MAKING IT EASIER TO STORE, AND PERFORM CALCULATIONS ON RESEARCH DATA” — Christine Burns, CIO, UTS

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

247

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TECHNOLOGY

subjective click on a particular but-

gree visualisation of data, is also used

ton, but we can reproduce the results

by those same researchers to look

from the data,” explains Gale. “Or,

at bacteria under a microscope in

if new data becomes available, we

a highly-visual way,” he explains.

can provide the exact same com-

The intention of Provisioner is to be

putational environment to that data

a framework that supports a multi-

set. Provisioner facilitates that”

tude of different technologies and use

Gale says another reason this

cases. “We are actively working with

capability is important is because

other research disciplines so that they

it allows UTS researchers to use

can plug directly into Provisioner.”

a variety of technology tools to access

Leveraging data as an asset can be

the same data. “Our immersive Data

instructive in a completely different

Arena, which is a purpose-built

research discipline, and Gale gives an

physical space allowing the 360-de-

interesting analogy of iceberg obser-

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

Peter Gale Peter joined UTS in 1991. He has over 20 years experience in the Australian Tertiary Education sector leading the delivery of IT technical services at UTS. He has managed IT operations in the Faculty of Information Technology, developed an eResearch computing and support capability, and managed all IT Technical Services for the University. He is currently Deputy CIO, IT Infrastructure and Operations, responsible for the development and delivery of data centre services, cloud services, voice and data networks and eResearch computing and storage platforms.

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UNIVERSIT Y OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS)

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY

• More than 150 companies partner with UTS • It has more than 45,000 students and more than 3,800 staff • In 2008, the university made a $1.2 billion investment to fundamentally change the way it delivers research, teaching and learning through its decade-long UTS City Campus Master Plan 250

• UTS has been moving apps to the cloud since 2012 • Its Data Arena allows the 360-degree visualisation of data • In April 2018, UTS launched Tech Lab • Office365 was deployed in 2017 • There are 2,200 wireless access points across its campus • The UTS chat bot can answer 130 common questions students would ask • Amazon Redshift-based data analytics platform is being used for a range of solutions

TECHNOLOGY

“THE UPTAKE INTERNALLY IS ACCELERATING AND WE’VE NOW GOT HUNDREDS OF RESEARCHERS USING THE STASH PLATFORM” — Peter Gale, Deputy CIO, UTS

a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

251

UNIVERSIT Y OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS)

252

vations made by 19th Century whal-

explains that data visualisation enables

ers as an example. “In the past, they

researchers to ask fundamentally

would just keep logs to show the ship’s

different questions than they would

journey,” he says. “Now, it is possible

have been able to do it in the past.

to use 19th century whaling ship logs

“So, the technology is really transform-

to map the recession of the Ice Shelf

ing the way that research is done in

in Antarctica over time. So, you get

more ways than just making it easier

information from one particular dis-

to store, and perform calculations on

cipline, and then later if you maintain

it.”

it well, you can use it in a completely different discipline to inform research.”

The Date Arena Gale mentions is

Some of the technology in the Data Arena is world first, including the ‘Data Arena Virtual Machine’ – a virtual

a completely immersive, three-dimen-

machine on a USB stick that research-

sional visualisation space. Burns

ers can plug into their laptop, to utilise

FEBRUARY 2019

TECHNOLOGY

“WE ARE A PUBLICALLY FUNDED INSTITUTION, WE DON’T HAVE MILLIONS TO INVEST IN UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITY THAT MIGHT NOT PRODUCE RESULTS FOR SEVERAL YEARS, WE NEED TO BE MORE NIMBLE AND EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITIES OF CLOUD TECHNOLOGIES WHEN IT MAKES SENSE” — David O’Connor, Deputy CIO, UTS 253

the entire functionality of a data arena

the researchers because ultimately

on their laptop. “This basically enables

it needs to make their job easier.

us to replicate the data arena for

Wherever there are opportunities for

development as widely as we want,”

automation, for example in the creation

adds Burns.

of data management plans, we take

UTS values cross-university collabo-

them. One of our goals is to remove

ration, and has teamed up with other

as much administrative overhead as

institutions to develop a research data

we can from our researchers, it’s an

catalogue, “Stash”, which is already on

ongoing process”. “This is just one

its third iteration. “The uptake internally

example of our broader evolution from

is accelerating and we’ve now got

project-thinking to product-thinking”

hundreds of researchers using the

says O’Connor, “In the modern IT world,

Stash platform,” says Gale. “We design

very little is launched and finished.”

and develop in close consultation with

The team has also needed to be a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

an

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TECHNOLOGY

255

flexible and creative in response to learning and teaching needs at the

as PhD research opportunities.

In order to deliver all these chang-

university. For example, Burns and

es Burns’ team has been through a

her team were required to act fast to

process of transformation. Burns

implement cutting-edge technology

identifies two key factors which have

to enable the rapid set up of the UTS

supported development of the agility

Animal Logic Academy – a unique

required to deliver against the fast

collaboration between UTS and digital

moving demands of the university.

animation and visual effects produc-

The first is that the team has invested

tion studio Animal Logic. In a world

considerable effort in its IT architec-

first, this award winning educational vfx

ture and the second is that it has

studio launched in 2017 and offers an

worked hard on developing a user

industry-led and first-of-its-kind Master

centric approach to every aspect of

of Animation and Visualisation as well

its operations. a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

UNIVERSIT Y OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS)

256

One foundation of the team’s IT

drivers, one being financial, because to

architecture is the platform strategy

invest in the type of on-premises data

developed by O’Connor. For example,

infrastructure to do the innovative work

Amazon Redshift was selected as the

we had in mind would have cost a small

university’s core data platform. UTS

fortune. We are a publicly-funded insti-

was one of the first organisations in

tution, we don’t have millions to invest

Australia to use the Amazon Redshift

in underlying technology capability that

data platform for a range of solutions,

might not produce results for several

including providing lecturers with key

years, we need to be more nimble and

information that enables them to bet-

embrace the opportunities of cloud

ter tailor their approach. “It was a bold

technologies when it makes sense.”

move at the time, but a good move,” reveals O’Connor. “There were several FEBRUARY 2019

In its quest to develop a UX capability, the team drew on existing expertise

TECHNOLOGY

£1.5bn Approximate revenue

2002

Year founded

1,800 Approximate number of employees

within the university’s Faculty of Engi-

IT team have done with Dr Tuck Wah

neering and IT. “There are some unique

Leong, a UTS researcher who special-

and exciting aspects to being an IT

ises in human-centred approaches of

team within a university of technology”

inquiry and technology design. “Work-

says O’Connor. “Certainly having so

ing with Dr Leong has been absolutely

many experts in the room can have its

fantastic” says Burns. “We have used

moments” he quips, “however there

his insight to guide many of our pro-

are some really nice intersections of

jects, every year we put a selection

academic and professional skills and

of IT staff through one of his subjects,

experience that we have been able to

and we have also leveraged the exper-

harness which would be impossible

tise and drive of his PHD students”.

in any other industry”. One example of this in action is the work that the

Looking forward, the trio are excited about the part that technology has to a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

257

UNIVERSIT Y OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY (UTS)

play in the university’s future. UTS has just released its new long term strategy “UTS 2027”. Staying true to its collegial and collaborative culture, UTS took a unique approach to the development of its new strategy, ensuring that the strategy was informed not by the ideas of a few, but instead by the ideas of its huge community of staff, students, alumni and industry partners.

Through workshops, advisory boards and an ideation technology platform (which was a huge success), com258

plex themes and ideas were shaped and moulded into the final strategy.

The IT team has played an important role in the development of the strategy. “We are moving to a world where technology really is at the heart of business strategy,” says Burns. “It’s exciting that the IT team has been able to show some thought leadership in the strategy development process.”

While the UTS IT team is through its first phase of technology transformation, further change is required to support the required digital enablement for the university’s new strategy. Burns likens the next stage to a ‘Mission to Mars,’ saying they are now looking at FEBRUARY 2019

“THERE ARE SOME REALLY NICE INTERSECTIONS OF ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HARNESS WHICH WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE IN ANY OTHER INDUSTRY” — David O’Connor, Deputy CIO, UTS

TECHNOLOGY

than ‘business requirements.’ This enables us to make reasonably solid bestbets without having 100% of the information, which is no longer possible.”

O’Connor reveals there’s enormous goodwill across the IT team towards the university’s mission, and says the team’s culture is supportive of the need for ongoing change. “That has really enabled the journey of developing, learning new skills,” he concludes.

“It does a take a constant vigilance, to see the new side and not let the wagon wheels run in the old rut all the time. But I think we’re getting there.”

Burns adds that “what is critical is that every member of the team has a mindset which is about constantly learning, developing, and re-skilling.

We’re committed to developing that mindset and our focus is on bringing everyone along. We’ve invested a lot of where the university needs to head,

effort in cascading down workshops,

and which skills and technology are

investing in the team, and getting

needed for this. Planning for the fu-

feedback into what we do. These are

ture is always difficult, says O’Connor,

big challenges, but we have proven

particularly as the pace of business

again and again that we have a team

change continues to increase. “We

that is ready to take the next step.”

tend to think in terms of underlying capabilities that will be required, rather a s i a . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

259

AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA – A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION 260

AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA’S VISION IS TO BE VALUED AND RECOGNISED AS AN INDUSTRY LEADER IN THE PROVISION OF SAFE AND INNOVATIVE SERVICES TO THE AIR TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY. ITS CIO, CHRIS SELLER, TELLS NIKI WALDEGRAVE HOW ITS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS DOING JUST THAT WRIT TEN BY

NIKI WA LDEGR AVE PRODUCED BY

ANDY TURNER

FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

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a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA

A

irservices Australia is the country’s air navigator provider, managing 11% of the

world’s airspace while providing air traffic control, aviation rescue and firefighting services.

Owned by the Australian Government and governed by a board of directors appointed by the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Airservices Australia manages domestic and international air traffic operations for more than 154mn passengers on more than four million flights annually.

The industry and workforce have faced increasing 262

disruptions over recent years, driven by new airspace entrants, continual growth in commercial aviation, new business models and digital technologies.

As a result, Airservices – which has a $1.08bn turnover and owns and operates a number of systems and services that are connected both internally and externally – reintroduced the role of chief information officer in May 2016.

Chris Seller, who has more than 30 years of experience in the IT industry in some of Australia’s largest organisations including Westpac, Qantas and Jetstar, got the role, and established the Information Management and Data Services group in 2016. “This was a key message to customers, stakeholders and staff of Airservices’ commitment to move towards to customer-centric information service delivery,” Seller, who leads a 400-strong FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

“ AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA’S VISION IS TO BE VALUED AND RECOGNISED AS AN INDUSTRY LEADER IN THE PROVISION OF SAFE AND INNOVATIVE SERVICES TO THE AIR TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY” — Chris Seller, CIO, Airservices Australia

263

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

POWERING YOUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Find out more

ASG GROUP’S GROUND-BREAKING PARTNERSHIP WITH AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA “The largest move to the cloud in Australian Government history” will be completed at the end of 2018 thanks to ASG Group’s five year contract with Airservices Australia.

The positive project update is a result of the engagement with ASG Group as its IAAS partner to deliver its corporate information technology services as a managed service. It provides these services via Vault Cloud, a platform certified by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).

“The first stage of the technology overhaul has been to migrate the support for all the technical infrastructure that runs the business side – email, the agency’s systems of record, the desktop environment etc to an ‘as a service’ model,” says Chris Seller, Airservices Australia’s chief information officer.

“ASG Group was awarded this infrastructure as a service contract and partnered with an Australian cloud services company – Vault Cloud. The migration to Vault’s secure private cloud environment has occurred over the last six months resulting in one of the largest and most successful cloud migrations undertaken by an Australian Federal Government agency to date.”

The migration, which includes around 88 servers and 130 applications including SAP core ERP systems is largely complete, with all systems serving around 3500 staff relocated from Airservices’ Canberra offices to both the Canberra Data Centre and the Vault Cloud platform.

ASG has demonstrated capability at managing large scale, mission critical and highly sensitive tasks for government customers, including providing Victoria’s Department of Justice & Regulation (DJR) with a secure platform for the cloud hosting of selected applications. By partnering with ASG, the move to cloud has delivered significant performance improvements for Airservices, and ASG’s Chief Operating Officer, Dean Langenbach, says, “As we have proven in the past, and once again through our work with Airservices, ASG is the genuine alternative to Australia’s traditional Tier 1 providers.

“We have brought to Airservices our trade mark commercial model, which has agility and flexibility at its core. And, with that, our proven capability in cloud transition and business transformation.”

“We’re local, we have the expertise, and we are invested personally in every project. Our parent company NRI – one of the world’s largest business consultancy and technology solution firms – has made enormous financial and resources commitments to ASG’s mission. We are more enabled and ready than ever before.”

- Dean Langenbach, ASG COO

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE ORGANISATION FOR THE FUTURE Along with its cloud migration, the transition to a managed services delivery model provides Airservices with a number of benefits, including improving service quality and availability, reducing overall information technology operating costs, enhanced information security and increasing service flexibility.

ASG’s five-year contract includes the delivery of a solution encompassing several key components: •Cloud Services Provision of ASD certified cloud computing capability (provided by Vault Systems) with industry best practice security, redundancy, and failover capabilities. ASG’s cloud services will also deliver both public and private capability allowing for segregation of secure and protected workloads.

•Consumption of services ASG provides with a range of services on a consumption basis with monthly service costs based on Airservices’ actual consumption of key services.

•Transformation A significant component of the journey to cloud capability is the transformation of ICT Services from on-premise to cloud, upgrade of end user computing, rationalisation of server infrastructure, and optimisation of the server and data layer for application performance improvement.

•Innovation and Continuous Improvement As a strategic partner, ASG has been engaged to assist Airservices to identify and execute initiatives to improve business efficiency and agility, while seeking to drive down operational costs. Supported by a jointly managed Innovation Fund, ASG and Airservices fund key initiatives across the business.

AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA

“ WE ARE MODERNISING AND SIMPLIFYING OUR ENTIRE TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT. BASED ON EMERGING AVIATION INDUSTRY TRENDS, IT IS CLEAR THAT WE WILL NEED TO PLAY A BROADER ROLE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ALL AIRSPACE FOR POTENTIAL USERS” — Chris Seller, CIO, Airservices Australia

team, says. “We are modernising and streamlining our entire technology environment. Based on emerging aviation industry trends, it is clear that information driven services will need to play a broader role in the management of all airspace for all current and future users.”

He insists key programs to refresh the organisation’s telecommunications network, cybersecurity capabilities, technology infrastructure, corporate and business support systems are critical enablers to support its business agility ambitions. “Our strategy has focused on driving new and innovative technology outcomes, both

266

internally and by working with industry partners to enable new operational efficiencies and customer services,” he adds.

Airservices Australia’s partners include NEC, Nokia, Telstra, Optus and SITA for telecommunications, Vault Cloud and ASG Group for technology infrastructure, SAP for business systems, and organisations like Saab, Frequentis, Metron, Ingegneria Dei Sistemi (IDS) and Thales Group for its air traffic management (ATM) systems.

Airservices is fundamentally transforming its information and technology services by integrating its Operational (Engineering) and Enterprise (ICT) capabilities to ensure it capitalises on the significant engineering and FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘24 HOURS IN AUSTRALIA’S AIRSPACE’ 267 safety-critical design capabilities within

performance-based operations –

the organisation, while introducing more

delivered through system and informa-

contemporary ICT skills and techniques.

tion integration based on a modern,

Five strategic imperatives have been defined that will shape the development of Airservices Australia’s information and technology roadmap: 1. Customer focused Information

scalable, and standardised enterprise architecture.

3. Automation and digitisation – designed to enable business agility and improve information capture,

Management – secure real-time

processing and human-to-system

information exchange across customer

interactions.

and stakeholder groups through the

4. Modernised, secure and agile

implementation of contemporary

ICT services – that support evolving

information management, analytics

business needs through the implemen-

and reporting practices.

tation of modular, scalable, commod-

2. Modernised ATM capabilities for

itised technology infrastructure and a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

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AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA

C OMPA N Y FA C T S

Airservices Australia: • Has a $1.08 billion turnover • Is the county’s air navigation provider • Is owned by the Australian Government and governed by a board of directors appointed by the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport

270

• Manages domestic and international air traffic operations for over 154mn passengers on more than four million flights in a region covering 11% of the world’s service • Provides air traffic control, navigation and aviation rescue, aeronautical data and firefighting services • Reintroduced the CIO role and established the Information Management and Data Services group in 2016

FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

“ O UR STRATEGY HAS FOCUSED ON DRIVING NEW AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY OUTCOMES, BOTH INTERNALLY AND BY WORKING WITH INDUSTRY PARTNERS TO ENABLE NEW OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES AND CUSTOMER SERVICES” — Chris Seller, CIO, Airservices Australia

telecommunications with isolation for protection of regulated safety critical components.

5. Cyber Security enhancements

a digital organisation, with a focus on information management and more contemporary technology to support a more efficient, agile business.

“One of the biggest things that we did, was to sit down and map out what our priorities are,” he says. “How do we take an organisation, which is one of the most highly respected, and arguably one of the best air navigation providers in the world, to actually build on that capability, to make it better, and take it beyond the capability that we’d already achieved?”

That work spawned an ambitious 5-year technology roadmap.

“This roadmap sets out a digital transformation strategy essential for us

– to detect, prevent, protect, resolve

to achieve our ambition. The first thing

and respond, enabling strict compli-

that was clear, was that when you’re

ance requirements for critical national

coming from a very asset centric

infrastructure while ensuring future

engineering organisation, you need to

developments can occur at a pace with

start looking at the culture, and move

confidence and trust in the integrity,

away from being an owner/operator,

confidentiality and availability of our

someone who builds things and oper-

information and systems assets.

ates them, to somebody who can

Seller claims one of the biggest

identify how to source fit-for-purpose

changes to the organisation has been

solutions, whether they be internal or

the shift in the thinking from being an

externally provided, and integrate them

engineering organisation, focused

to solve business problems.”

on asset management, to becoming

The first stage of the technology a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

271

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S U P P LY C H A I N

overhaul has been to migrate the support

The next stage of the infrastructure

for all the technical infrastructure that

transformation will be to modernise the

runs the business side – email, the

agency’s complex telecommunications

agency’s systems of record, the desktop

infrastructure.

environment, etc. to an ‘as a service’

“Our operations are highly dependent

model. ASG Group was awarded this

on reliable and resilient telecommuni-

infrastructure as a service contract

cations. Our network covers much of

and partnered with an Australian cloud

the Australian continent and has grown

services company — Vault Cloud.

organically over many years to meet

“The migration to Vault’s secure private

the needs of our air traffic operations

cloud environment has occurred over

and business systems. We have recently

the past six months resulting in one of

done a full review of our future telecom-

the largest and most successful cloud

munications needs and how future

migrations undertaken by an Australian

space-based services will integrate

Federal Government agency to date.”

with our terrestrial services. We have

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

Chris Seller has over 30 years experience in the IT industry and his career has included senior executive level roles with accountability for technology strategy and transformation, infrastructure and operations, enterprise architecture, strategic sourcing, organisational change management, program management, and applications development with industry experience extending across financial services, aviation, commercial software development, and cartography.

Chris’ role as CIO for Airservices is ensure the right technology systems and organisational structures are in place to prepare for the changes occurring in the global air navigation services industry. a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

273

AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA

“ O UR MAJOR POSTURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THAT WE’RE A VERY SAFETY-ORIENTATED ORGANISATION, AND WE ARGUE THAT WE ARE ONE OF THE MOST SAFETY CONSCIOUS ORGANISATIONS IN THE COUNTRY” — Chris Seller, CIO, Airservices Australia 274 begun the work on this modernisation program which will take about 2 years to complete.”

Another big driver for the digital strategy is the ambitious Digital Information Program, which will deliver enhanced information management capabilities and a broader information driven strategic direction through to the end of the next decade and beyond.

“That’s our ability to aggregate the data from a myriad of sources across our operational world, and our back office, into a standardised platform that then allows us to securely and efficiently process and distribute that FEBRUARY 2019

S U P P LY C H A I N

information, both internally and externally,” Seller explains.

“Previously, we hadn’t thought about how we might apply analytics beyond our basic operational needs but we believe we have the capability and know-how to add value way beyond what we have traditionally done. Much of the data that we manage in our environment, if we apply the right analytics, and the right transformation processes, becomes valuable – helping our customers and partners work smarter and perform better.”

DIG I TA L S T R AT E G Y

The five strategic imperatives defined to shape the development of Airservices Australia’s roadmap and portfolio of initiatives are: 1. Customer focused Information Management — this requires secure real-time information exchange across customer groups and the development of master data management, analytics and reporting processes.

“This platform, and the transformation in our information management capabilities, are two really big priorities that we’re working on at the moment.

The organisation is very keen for us to drive those initiatives as fast as we can.”

When modernising such an environment with more contemporary capability, security threats are a real issue. As a consequence, Airservices Australia is undertaking a major cyber security programme. “Our posture has always been that we’re a very safety orientated organisation, and we argue that we are one of the most safety conscious organisations in the country,” he says. a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

275

Commitment beyond technology.

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S U P P LY C H A I N

“But we’ve started to introduce the concept that, ‘can we really be sure it’s safe if it’s not secure?’ If we’re going to aggregate this data and distribute it, people will want to know that that is being done securely.”

“That gives us the best chance of delivering secure industry and customer outcomes more flexibly and faster than we’ve been able to do in the past.” he says.

Another major initiative that builds on the capabilities being delivered by the digital platform is the Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) program. “Airservices has been an industry leader in the Collaborative Decision-Making concept, where Airservices, Aircraft Operators and Airports work together through the

“ W E THINK THAT THE SUPPLIER AND THE MANUFACTURER OF THESE SYSTEMS IS OFTEN BETTER PLACED TO DO THE LEVEL TWO AND THREE MAINTENANCE” — Chris Seller, CIO, Airservices Australia

exchange of real time information to optimise air traffic network operations.

international flights into its demand

Significant benefits for the industry

and capacity program that manages

and travelling public can be achieved

traffic flow efficiency at all of the major

through implementing A-CDM which is

aerodromes across the country.

aimed at taxi time and air traffic flow management delay reductions.”

Airservices Air Traffic Flow Manage-

“This is another example of an information based collaborative decision-making system”,” he explains.

ment program will be another world

“We have a system that looks at the

first, using software built by Metron, the

runway demand, weather and other

company will soon be able to integrate

operational constraints to calculate how a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

277

www.frequentis.com

Rethinking ATC towers Frequentis is actively driving the evolution of digital towers

Frequentis customers benefit from more than seventy years

across the world through involvement in major research

of experience in mission-critical air traffic control solutions.

programs such as SESAR, and by driving standardisation

The desire to innovate and develop technologies that solve

through working groups like EUROCAE, to enable safe

safety, capacity and efficiency demands is at the core of what

operations.

we do.

FREQUENTIS Australasia Pty. Ltd. 1 / 425 Nudgee Road, Hendra QLD 4011, Australia

many aircraft can land safely at any

to integrate international flights into the

particular time at a particular aerodrome.”

same programme. This will allow us to

“This morning, with very heavy fog in

provide real time network information to

Sydney we would have had to signifi-

the airlines so they can make trajectory

cantly reduce arrivals or departures

adjustments during the most efficient

for a period of time. What we do is run

part of their flight to best fit in with the

a demand simulation that sets the safe

domestic operations at their destination

movement numbers and we work with

aerodrome.”

the airlines to assist them to figure out

Another exciting development is

the impacts across the network and

the investment in Digital Aerodrome

what options they have if they can’t land

Services. The opportunity is to use

in Sydney. Do they cancel? Do they

multiple high definition camera arrays

delay? What are the operational and

to provide a digital view of operations

customer impacts across the day etc?”

at an aerodrome. This means air traffic

“We’re currently building the capability FEBRUARY 2019

controllers will be watching real time

S U P P LY C H A I N

“ TO SUCCEED, WE NEED TO CONTINUE OUR FUNDAMENTAL CULTURAL CHANGE” — Chris Seller, CIO, Airservices Australia

high-quality video images – reducing emphasis on the traditional 360-degree view from a cabin high above a central point at the aerodrome. “This technology is in its early stages of its evolution and we see huge benefits in the near future as new capabilities like machine learning and pattern recognition are integrated to augment the services provided by controllers.”

All these initiatives are also aimed at supporting Airservices Australia’s ambitious Air Navigation Modernisation Program, OneSKY, which is delivering the new joint civilian and military air traffic system (CMATS).

“This is the first time in the world that

279 DIG I TA L S T R AT E G Y

2. Modernised ATM capabilities for performancebased operations — delivered through data and information integration based on a modern, scalable, standardised enterprise architecture.

3. Automation and digitisation — designed to enable business agility and improve information capture, processing and human-tosystem interactions.

this has been done at this scale, and a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA

DIG I TA L S T R AT E G Y with these many partners, anywhere, so there’s a lot of focus on that,” he explains. “And that will drive the predictability of passengers’ journeys.”

Part of that program is already live and the core system that the air traffic controllers use will come online around 2024, cementing the technology as the most modern and up to date air traffic control system globally.

With all of this technology transformation Airservices is exploring how to use its partners more efficiently without 280

having to become the technical experts for every system used in their operations.

“We think that the suppliers and the manufacturers of these systems are often better placed to support us when

“ WE HAVE SOME EXCELLENT FOUNDATIONS IN PLACE TODAY AND WE NEED TO BUILD ON THESE TO POSITION FOR THE FUTURE. STRONG CUSTOMER SERVICE FOCUS AND DEEP ATM EXPERTISE MATCHED WITH THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGIES AND PARTNERS ARE THE KEYS TO HARNESSING INFORMATION” — Chris Seller, CIO, Airservices Australia FEBRUARY 2019

4. Modernised, scalable, secure and agile ICT services — that support evolving business needs through the development of modular, scalable, commoditised network infrastructure with isolation for protection of regulated safety critical components.

5. Cyber Security enhancements — to detect, prevent, protect, respond and resolve security incidents to meet the strict compliance requirement for critical national infrastructure while enabling future developments to occur at a pace with confidence and trust in the integrity, confidentiality and availability of our information and system assets.

it comes to detail design and maintenance activities, our role should be to ensure we are getting the best solutions and services required to maintain our operations to the highest standards.” he explains.

“We must also embed agility and speed

S U P P LY C H A I N

$1.08bn Approximate revenue

1995

Year founded

3,500

Approximate number of employees

into our delivery. To succeed, we need

a strong service delivery focus and

to continue our fundamental cultural

deep ATM expertise. Their collective

change. Supporting this are technology

efforts over the past couple of years

services, solutions and business

have been outstanding. As we look to

partnerships that focus on innovation,

the future, we will need to embrace

automation and digitalisation – ruthlessly

change to ensure we balance these

driving standardisation as well as

foundations with the right blend of

creating new value outcomes.”

technologies and new capabilities to

“We are really proud of the team we

meet the challenges that lie ahead.”

have in place – we are building from solid foundation, with teams that have a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

281

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JANUARY 2019

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Back to the future: The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project WRIT TEN BY

NIKI WA LDEGR AVE PRODUCED BY

GLEN WHITE

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LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY

The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project has changed the face of Victorian suburbs.

Its project director, Brett Summers, tells Niki Waldegrave how blending the old with the new has made city living and commuting easier for future generations.

284

T

he train line from Melbourne CBD to Cranbourne and Pakenham is Melbourne’s busiest rail corridor, crossed by some of

Australia’s most congested roads, where boom gates were down for up to 82 minutes during the morning peak.

With a number of fatalities recorded at level crossings on both that corridor and others, in 2015 the Victorian Government tasked the Victoriabased Level Crossings Removal Project with removing 50 dangerous level crossings by 2022 in addition to other infrastructure upgrades across section of Melbourne’s rail network.

One of its showpieces was the $1.6bn Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project, an intensive logistical exercise led by project director Brett Summers.

One of Australian’s biggest construction plans, the Level Crossing Removal Project delivered the FEBRUARY 2019

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285

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LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY

project with an alliance in conjunction

ment, the Level Crossing Removal

with the likes of Lendlease, CPB

Project has already seen 29 level

Contractors, WSP, Aurecon and Metro

crossings removed out of the original

Trains Melbourne.

50 and following the result of the

They removed nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong in

crossings were prioritised for removal,”

Melbourne’s southeast by elevating the

says Summers.

Cranbourne/Pakenham line over the road in three distinct sections.

286

recent election, an additional 25 level

The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project saw the build

Due to the program’s success, the

of five new stations and 321 piers, each

government has expanded on the rem-

up to nine metres high. Its 40,000 ton-

oval of 50 crossings to now eradicating

nes of steel and 588 concrete beams

75 by 2022.

weighed more than 85,000 tonnes,

“A flagship program for the govern-

This was always seen as a relatively controversial project because we put the train line up in the air — Brett Summers Project Director, Caulfield to Dandenong at Level Crossing Removal Authority

FEBRUARY 2019

and opened up 22.5 hectares of space

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CAULFIELD TO DANDENONG: CONSTRUCTION AT MURRUMBEENA’ 287 – the open space is 11 times bigger than

metres in some areas such as between

the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Caulfield and Hughesdale. Many of the

thanks to building six kilometres of new

locations had residential properties that

elevated bridges.

backed right up against the corridor –

But the stakes were high. “It is the

of the 113 houses that were eligible

busiest rail corridor in Melbourne,”

for purchase by the government under

explains Summers, “so it has the most

a Voluntary Purchase Scheme, 74 have

amount of people moving backwards

settled to date, meaning the construction

and forwards, and we had to keep them

was very often right next to people’s

moving pretty much the whole time

homes and back fences. As a result, they

getting them from point A to B, while

pulled in the big guns by deploying a blue

we built this job in and around a live

straddle carrier, which allowed the 2000-

train environment.”

strong workforce to build above the exist-

The biggest challenge was that it’s a very tight rail corridor – less than 20

ing train line, while the trains continued to run underneath. a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY

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FEBRUARY 2019

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C OMPA N Y FA C T S

• In 2015 the Victorian Government tasked the Victoria-based Level Crossings Removal Project with removing 50 dangerous level crossings by 2022 in addition to other infrastructure upgrades across sections of Melbourne’s rail network.

• One of its showpieces was the $1.6 billion Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Projects.

• The last of the major works were completed around about October 2018 and the 17-kilometre-long shared user path and the linear park is now open to the public.

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LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY

9

level crossings removed

2,000 jobs created

10mn worker hours 290

Instead of lifting beams in a tradition-

is used throughout Asia, usually to launch

al method using cranes, needing lots of

big road structures, and it’s something

open space to truck the beams in, they

the team saw and thought they would

were instead lifted and transported long-

adopt to the rail environment. The project

itudinally down the corridor for installation

also used a track-laying machine. An

between Caulfield and Hughesdale.

Australian first, these machines move

“It’s the first time that has been done

up and down the new elevated rail line

in Melbourne but it meant that we didn’t

to place pieces of track, using hydr-

need to use adjacent land,” he explains.

aulic technology built for efficiency

“It was, obviously a huge logistical and

and precision.

safety challenge – but safety is at the

While the main benefits of the track-

forefront of everything we do, and lots

laying machine are speed and safety, it

of planning went into it.”

also played a key part in installing noise-

The technology for the straddle carrier FEBRUARY 2019

reducing features of the design, including

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concrete ‘plinths’ – a quieter, smoother

open to the public for a few months

alternative to the traditional sleepers

and it’s well-used by the community.

laid over stony ballast.

We have people using the basketball

The last of the major works were

courts, the table tennis tables, the

completed around October 2018 and

playground equipment, joggers and

all the space underneath the train line

cyclists, families riding their pushbikes

– the 17-kilometre long shared user path

along the entire length of the park.

and the linear park – is now open to the public.

“I’ve been out there myself for a jog and a run along the linear park. What has

“This was always seen as a relatively

really been probably one of the proudest

controversial project because we put

moments for the project team and myself

the train line up in the air,” he reveals.

is that it has really changed the face of

“So, in the early days, there was a bit of

these suburbs and the way that these

trepidation in the community about what

people interact around the train line.

it would look like at the end. But it’s been

“It’s opened up the entire suburb and

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

Brett Summers With more than 20 years’ experience as an engineer, Brett Summers took up the role of Project Director at the Level Crossing Removal Project in April 2015, overseeing an unprecedented overhaul of the Cranbourne/Pakenham line with the Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project.

Brett is no stranger to working on major rail projects across Melbourne, having held previous managerial roles for a number of years withthe Regional Rail Link Authority and Department of Transport.

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

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LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY

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made their lives easier to get from point A to point B.” Social inclusion is a very strong policy at the Level Crossing Removal Project, and something the

“We’re very conscious that, whilst we were building new infrastructure, we wanted to recognise and look back and reflect on the past that’d come 293 before us” — Brett Summers Project Director, Caulfield to Dandenong at Level Crossing Removal Authority

program is extremely proud of.

Whether it’s consulting train drivers and the end operators on the line about

tice is also something that was at the

signal designs, helping veterans out

forefront of everything the project did.

with a job in the construction industry,

From installing solar panels to using

or helping local underprivileged families,

the wood from original stations to make

Summers says: “With every dollar that

seats and playgrounds scattering the

we spent on this project, we tried to

corridor, to restoring station buildings

always find a way that we could return

– it worked with the Chisholm Institute

some benefit to the community.”

of TAFE to restore the original heritage-

Sustainability and world’s best-prac-

listed Clayton station building – Summers a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY

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FEBRUARY 2019

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“With every dollar spent on this project, we tried to always find a way that we could return some benefit to the community” — Brett Summers Project Director, Caulfield to Dandenong at Level Crossing Removal Authority

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LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY

22.5

Hectares of open space created

6km

Of new elevated bridge

Memorial plaques and monuments honouring soldiers who served in armed conflict along the corridor, including at Clayton and St Albans are also a nice touch, and the project works with Veterans in Construction, which helps secure veterans a pathway in to the construction industry.

There used to be an Avenue of Honour where trees had been planted

30,000 296

New trees and shrubs planted

explains it was important to retain the history.

“It’s marrying the new with the old,” he says. “In the seating backs we’ve installed at all these stations, we recognise the history of each of the individual places.

So, whilst it looks like a brand new station you can catch the train from, there’s actually old historical images and photos so you get a sense of what that area used to look like.

“Again, we’re very conscious that, whilst we were building new infrastructure, we wanted to recognise and look back and reflect on the past that’d come before us.”

JANUARY 2019

for veterans. The project took the seeds from those original trees and planted them early on to grow saplings, “and we

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recreated that original Avenue of Honour

project planted more than 30,000

in this remembrance space,” he adds.

trees and shrubs.

“The feedback was hugely positive

On the rail lines, both the train

and we had our first Remembrance Day

passengers and the drivers have been

ceremony there on the 11th of November.”

complimentary about the new tracks,

The team also needed to remove some very old river red gums during the project

replacing ones that were up to 100 years old.

and again, they took the seeds from

“You don’t get the clickety-clack and

those and planted them back the rail

bouncing backwards and forwards of

corridor. “It was something we were very

an old train,” he explains. “And when

conscious of and hold as a badge of

they hit these new sections, there is

honour – the fact that we have repopu-

a significant change in the look, the feel,

lated with some of the original species

the sound of how the train behaves. It’s

of plants,” he smiles, revealing the

very, very smooth.”

297 C OMPA N Y FA C T S

• The Level Crossings Removal Project has removed nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong in Melbourne’s southeast by elevating the Cranbourne/Pakenham line over the road in three distinct sections • Due to the program’s success, the government has expanded on the removal of 50 crossings to now eradicating 75 by 2022 a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY

“The proudest achievement for the project team and myself has been changing the face of these suburbs and the way people interact around the train line”

298

— Brett Summers Project Director, Caulfield to Dandenong at Level Crossing Removal Authority

FEBRUARY 2019

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Although the level crossings have been removed between Caulfield and Dandenong, the same Alliance is also undertaking work to upgrade signalling and power infrastructure along the entire Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, in preparation for the introduction of High Capacity Metro Trains.

Victoria is investing $2.3bn 65 next-generation High Capacity Metro Trains, which are a fleet of electric multiple unit trains on order for use by Metro Trains Melbourne on the Melbourne rail network.

299

They will eventually become the primary rollingstock used in the Metro Tunnel when it opens in 2025 and are due to enter service in mid-2019.

a si a .busi ne ssc h ief. com

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