Issuu

O2 CZECH REPUBLIC

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

ONBOARD THE DIGITAL EXPRESS IN ASSOCIATION WITH

ONBOARD THE DIGITAL EXPRESS

www . o2. cz

O2 CZECH REPUBLIC

JAN HRUSKA IS RIDING THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WAVE AT O2 CZECH REPUBLIC AND ITS TWO-YEAR-OLD CRM SYSTEM IS SERVING AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR NEW INNOVATIONS

an Hruska is a man on a mission. The CTO at O2 Czech Republic is not so much joining the post-pandemic wave of digital

transformation as engineering the technological tide which continues to revolutionise our corporate

and leisure lives. In the space of an hour we cover CRM, cybersecurity, apps, TV platforms, employee dynamics, 5G and mobile, and I leave our Zoom call with a sense that we could easily have talked another hour, such is the dynamism of O2’s business, scope of the mobile industry and seemingly endless permutations which have been presented by the pandemic. To date, the operator has almost 8 million mobile and fixed access subscribers. COVID-19 has impacted us all, and for Hruska, it’s been a case of juggling inherent paradoxes: while economies have slowed, the tech space has accelerated, and despite virtual being the new normal, we can’t skirt physical realities. He has had to keep a close eye on all four balls simultaneously.

www . o2. cz

Emeldi Commerce® Omni-channel CRM – a CSP digital transformation key enabler Emeldi provides a state-of-the art suite of Business Support Systems that offer Communications Service Providers (CSPs) the ability to monetize new services, implement new business models and differentiate content; delivering a seamless customer experience across all sales and care channels. We have a proven track record of delivering and supporting E-commerce, Order Management, CPQ, Enterprise Product Catalogue and Omni-channel CRM – all delivered within a modern microservices architecture. This enables CSPs to deliver innovative products and services at lower cost and in less time, with reliability and ease. The platform’s overall cost of ownership is highly competitive vis a vis our competitors and the investment is future-proofed by the architectural design which is “5G -Ready”. Emeldi Commerce® Omni-channel CRM was recently implemented at O2 Czech Republic, providing them with an omni-channel solution across all sales channels and customer facing touch points, fully-integrated with their OSS systems.

Learn the Emeldi way forward

“ The trend that can be seen is that the time for delivering changes is shortening, you have a smaller window of opportunity” — Jan Hruska, CTO, Czech Republic

processes finished with a stage that had to be completed physically – but now we are 80% digitised,” he says. “You can combine bundle services in the CRM and everything can be finished online. Normally IT and marketing are separate, but we wanted to create one team that’s focused on the customer experience and are the gatekeepers of the system.” Dusan Bystriansky, Director of Emeldi

“The trend that can be seen is that

Technologies, a leading software pro-

the time for delivering changes is

vider to the telco industry, explains how

shortening, you have a smaller window

its relationship with O2 Czech Republic

of opportunity – and it’s getting even

stretches back to 2001.

shorter with things changing overnight.

Reflecting on O2’s implementation

People are going more online following

of the Emeldi Commerce® Version 5.2,

lockdowns, though many telcos are still

he says: “O2 was really quite brave –

selling through traditional channels.”

they went with a big bang when it came

Fortunately, the bedrock to this con-

to the scope of transformation, not

stant change has been O2’s Customer

just with order management, sales and

Relationship Management (CRM)

customer care but also they combined

system, which chalked up its second

three billing systems into one.

anniversary in October. The success lies in its common inter-

Emeldi provides an ‘omni channel’ CRM for all sales and support chan-

face simplicity which is designed to

nels, which is supported by single

provide the same service and clarity

consolidated customer and product

of information, irrespective of whether

catalogue repositories. The platform’s

you’re a first-time customer or sea-

unified architecture provides digital

soned shop assistant.

commerce and CRM functionality in a

“It wasn’t digitised initially, as most

single application. www . o2. cz

O2 CZECH REPUBLIC

“ We have redesigned the architecture and the new app is totally scalable and can meet any scenarios” — Jan Hruska, CTO, Czech Republic

Bystriansky added that it is now working on a pilot project to decouple front and back end systems, which will likely start early next year, and continue to

‘break up’ elements in future as it implements the latest 6.0 and 6.1 versions. Emeldi Commerce® version 6.0, imple mented in June 2020 is serving O2 customers to support sales of phones

UNHINDERED BY LEGACY

and telecommunication equipment.

With the digital bandwagon in full speed

Next year O2 is planning to implement

across Europe, Hruska acknowledges

version 6.2 to enhance administration

each country is at different stages; he

of enterprise product catalogue, which

cites one of the advantages of the Czech

is the “heart” of the CRM.

Republic is it arrived later to digital and

“Emeldi is a key partner that we picked

is less restricted by legacy systems

because of their flexibility,” says Hruska.

prevalent in many European countries.

“We’re able to influence the product and

Hruska says there is still an internal

get any solution we need. Putting their

IT part to introduce, to make the system

technology in the middle of our CRM

even more efficient. “We originated the

is definitely strengthening our partner-

entire system in 2014 and it’s now time

ship,” he said.

to be modernized – this will be phase 2,

O 2 C O M PA N Y S TAT S

• Contract customers: 3,259 • Mobile registered customers: 5,862 • Mobile prepaid customers: 1,945 • M2M SIMs: 658,000 • Broadband internet customers: 840,000 • Customer base in Slovakia: 2,152

the modernization of the architecture,

FOCUS ON DIGITAL ONBOARDING

and we’re taking advantage of the CRM

Hruska continued: “Seamlessly we

solution that’s been recently developed

are adding “digital onboarding” to

for the continuous integration and con-

our CRM and launching phase two

tinuous deployment, supporting all the

of the transformation.”

modern buzzwords like devops, microservices, and running in containers.”

He is confident it will close the final 20% and be “fully digitised” next year.

Bystriansky added “Our solution ena-

Already a number of significant chan

bles IT and the Business to work much

ges are being implemented, from digital

more effectively and quickly together.

photocopies for ID registrations to

This overcomes the traditional problems

e-SIMs, which it introduced in February.

of “excess demand” from the business

More recently, it launched a Chatbot

for IT services suffered by many Telcos.

in August, under its Digital Care program, www . o2. cz

O2 CZECH REPUBLIC

10 which takes customer service to a new

technologies, such as microservices and

interactive platform. “This is great for

the cloud.

initial identifications and in some trou-

“The old architecture wasn’t scalable

ble shooting scenarios, we are able

enough. When people moved to digital

to automatically get a description of

heavily at the start of the pandemic,

the issue,” he says. “It means you can

we weren’t able to serve them properly.

offer better service to the customer so

So we have redesigned the architecture

there’s no need to wait in queues.”

and the new app is totally scalable and

Alongside customer benefits, the

can meet any scenarios.”

technology also helps reduce staffing costs and headcount. “Our ambition is

PANDEMIC CHANGES DIGITAL CONSUMPTION

to transfer 60% of call centre and back

The way consumers consume digital

office capacity, ultimately back office

during the pandemic has changed amid

should disappear completely,” he adds.

lockdowns, switches to work from home

Most recently, it rolled out a new

and increased job insecurity. In March

mobile app, based completely on modern

and April, Hruska said it had the best

sales for internet connectivity – but was

commercially as we converted cus-

mindful of cost pressures.

tomers. We had to move fast – it was

Consequently in spring O2 offered unlimited data for all, as people moved from offices to home and started using

developed in four days, and we needed to be agile.” If you are getting the full family bun-

the service in a different way.

dle, it’s a big investment, he concedes.

Laptops and notebooks surged in

“The traditional approach among telcos

popularity and it held promotions

was to do some discounts and subsidies

when students were in lockdown.

in exchange for fixed-term contracts.

“In a normal time we would mon-

Now more customers are refusing this,

etise but we wanted customers to use

they don’t see certainty and don’t want

the free data, and it was successful

to pay fixed terms. The installment

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

JAN HRUSKA

Title: CTO

Company: O2

Industry: Technology

Location: Czech Republic

Jan Hruška has been at the helm of O2’s Technology Division since 2018. The division bears overall responsibility for the operation of the company’s information technologies and networks, technological support of customers as well as product development for both fixed and mobile networks. Since 2004, Jan has held several positions within O2. Until 2018, he acted as Marketing Director for fixed network products and ICT. Prior to that he held, for example, the positions of Director for distribution strategy, planning and reporting, and e-shop manager. Before joining O2, Jan worked as an adviser with Anima Praha from 1997 to 2006. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, Prague. www . o2. cz

O2 CZECH REPUBLIC

“ Companies are now more exposed to cyber risks and we’re seeing double-digit growth in firewall and antivirus services” — Jan Hruska, CTO, Czech Republic

During the pandemic, the business had to pivot as shops were receiving fewer customers. “What we did was to plug in the call centre system, enabling shop floor staff to handle calls during downtimes,” he adds. “Even in summertime when restrictions were released, we decided to stick with it as there are always times of the day when

programme can help, and this is some-

stores aren’t busy. We also reduced

thing we launched in July.”

the size of call centres, and sent staff

Moving forward, if the marketing

there home overnight. We extended

team is proposing some features or

VPN, and are now serving 80% of call

changes, he says its ambition is to

capacity from home, as well as using

implement it in days – not in a tradi-

more part-timers. It’s much more

tional two-month IT cycle. “We must

flexible and efficient, and these are

have capability to do it quickly.”

permanent changes.”

5G OPPORTUNITIES There is much agility – and complexity – in the country’s 5G scene. Infrastructure provider CETIN, O2 Czech Republic and Telenor CEE are all part of PPF Telecom Group (the group holds an 81% stake in O2) and CETIN recently awarded Ericsson

EX EC UTIV E PROFILE:

DUSAN BYSTRIANSKY Title: CEO Company: Emeldi Group Industry: Telco

to build 5G radio networks, according to Reuters reports, aiming at ultimately replacing Nokia and Huawei as current technology providers. The central European country is starting an auction for 5G frequencies to attract a fourth operator alongside O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone. Hruska is upbeat about 5G’s potential and believes “the next big wave” will be the new iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, which will launch locally in November. “We are a small country and not normally on the first wave of countries, but I am positive about these models.

Dusan Bystriansky, from the role of Emeldi Group CEO, steers the company’s strategic directions and operations as one of the founders serving with the company since its inception in 1998. He brings to the company over 30 years of IT Telecommunications experience in leading enterprise consulting projects in Canada, USA, Australia, UK and continental Europe, and most importantly a passion to deliver solutions which meet and often exceed customers’ expectations.

Apple appeals to early adopters and I’m sure customers will upgrade.” Initially it is focusing its 5G efforts on Prague and Kolin, to be cost efficient, and has signed up 2,000 customers so far. Emeldi’s Bystriansky added: “The system is also 5G-ready. It supports www . o2. cz

O2 CZECH REPUBLIC

“ The IPTV upgrade next year will be cloud-based and mark a ‘step change’” — Jan Hruska, CTO, Czech Republic

all possible scenarios for delivering

ice hockey leagues. He said a pla

seamlessly innovative 5G products

nned upgrade next year will make a

and services to both businesses and

‘step change’.

consumers; whilst at the same time

“It will be cloud based and more

significantly reducing IT delivery time

resilient in terms of traffic peaks and

and costs through use of DevOps

growth of the customer base,” he says.

and CI/CD.”

“If you want to watch a match, you can buy the package in minutes – it’s fully

NEW GOALS FOR IPTV

digital. The architecture allows us to

One of O2’s most customer-focused

increase the performance and focus

platforms is its IPTV, which enables

on specific components, as well as

it to broadcast Premier League and

anticipate ‘spikes’ – this is unique to us.”

Champions League matches exclu-

Bystriansky amplified the point say-

sively, as well as Czech football and

ing “Our Enterprise E-Commerce suite

is indeed future-proofed, offering CSPs

O2 Czech Republic introduced a

both full cloud native architecture or

smartphone protection system last

SaaS offering. Both options provide

year so if you’re browsing the internet

CSPs with scalability, agility and end-

and something is suspicious, it will

to-end automation of operations.”

flag up whether to block or carry on. “We have around 200,000 users since

CYBERSECURITY GROWTH

the start. Everyone is now in the digital

Hruska notes increased demand for

space and trying to protect themselves.”

cybersecurity during the pandemic,

Hruska concludes that “All this is pos-

especially in the B2B segment, as compa-

sible thanks to our CRM system and our

nies are realising their vulnerability.

partnership with Emeldi Technologies.

“The pandemic is accelerating focus.

Having them in the middle is providing

Companies are now much more

us with flexibility and allowing for fully

exposed to cyber risks and we are

digital customer experience”.

seeing double-digit growth in firewall and anti-DDoS services.”

Be Together and activate our best service package (Czech) CLICK TO WATCH

0:37

www . o2. cz

O2 CZECH REPUBLIC IČ 60193336, DIČ CZ60193336, PRAGUE 4 MICHLE, ZA BRUMLOVKOU 266/2, PSČ 14022 www.o2.cz

P0WERED BY