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ISSUE 1 / November 2015 The digital economy Business-to-Business-to-Consumer
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Editor’s
note
Credits
VODACOM
EDITOR Gugu Mthembu
PROJECT MANAGER Sibonisiwe Dube
ITWeb
PUBLISHER Jovan Regasek
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Ranka Jovanovic
PROJECT MANAGERS Adrian Hinchcliffe,
Alison Job
COPY-EDITOR Patricia Czakan
CONTRIBUTING Tracy Burrows,
WRITERS James Francis,
Tamsin Oxford,
he dream of every retail business is to be open for business throughout
Adam Ross,
the day without facing the challenges associated with a 24 hour retail
Monique Verduyn
operation. The advent of digital makes this dream come true for most
DESIGN Zack Hoosen,
businesses; in fact many businesses are already living the dream.
Dominique Leong Son
For those that haven’t yet caught up, catchphrases such as cloud, big data, hosted
PHOTOGRAPHY Karolina Komendera
services has them curious; the latest in these catchphrases being the digital economy.
SALES DIRECTOR Robert Mace
Experts say if you’re not in it, embracing it, driving it, you’re not doing business. Your
rmace@itweb.co.za
customers aren’t communicating with you and you’re certainly not reaching them.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Caryn Berman
Which brings us to a shift in business focus towards the customer. The client owns
DIRECTOR: PRINT caryn@itweb.co.za
the relationship and if you as a business or government entity don’t realise that, you’re PRODUCTION MANAGER Sindiso Khupe
nowhere. This whole new way of interacting happens across social media, mobile DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT Marko Belic,
devices and the internet. The cloud brings it all together. Well, ignore it at your peril. Ana Golijanin,
But, you may ask, how do I get into this disruptive digital economy? The first step is Nebojsa Knezevic,
finding a partner who can guide you and provide the tools that you need to play in this Nenad Marjanovic,
particular sandpit. Not only the technology, but the network that it runs on. And the Stevan Srdic
cloud – which makes true mobility possible. SUBSCRIPTION Carrie-Ann Waldeck
Note that we’re not just talking about large enterprise or public sector here, the MANAGER carrie@itweb.co.za
same customer-oriented business focus applies equally to SMEs; because the cloud PUBLISHED BY ITWeb Limited
and mobility make it possible – and affordable – for any size of business to play in the www.itweb.co.za
digital economy. Access to an advisor to guide them on their digitalisation journey 326 Rivonia Boulevard,
is particularly important to small business, equally so for large enterprise and public Rivonia, 2128
sector, who rely on good advice when it comes to setting up a solution that is a good PO Box 2785, Rivonia, 2128
fit. Tel: +27 (0)11 807-3294
Connectivity is key in the digital economy and king is the partner that can provide Fax: +27 (0)11 807-2020
this. Since simple connectivity has evolved to omni-connectivity - be it WiFi, or mobile WEB www.brainstormmag.co.za
or satellite or whatever it may be, the experience should be seamless. Vodacom has SUBSCRIPTIONS brainstorm-subs@itweb.co.za
global networks, underpinned by the bedrock – cellular, and as the Vodacom Business ADVERTISING brainstorm-sales@itweb.co.za
Chief Officer Vuyani Jarana says, fibre will enable the rise of smart infrastructure to PRINTING Paarl Media Paarl
facilitate broader Internet of Things adoption.
Naturally, no Vodacom publication would be complete without a glimpse into Copyright © 2015 by ITWeb Limited. All rights
the Africa opportunity. Connecting companies with their customers, suppliers and reserved. No part of this publication may be
colleagues with one another regardless of where they’re located. Again, connectivity, reproduced or distributed in any form or by any
mobility, data, the cloud, and most importantly security, come into their own. This is means, or stored in a database or retrieval system,
just the start of something BIG. without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Opinions expressed in this publication are not
necessarily those of the editors, publisher, or
Gugu Mthembu advertisers.
Contents
02
in
READY BUSINESS
CONNECT
4-9 Primed for the 16-17 A global
digital economy partnership
Many technology players From Africa and beyond,
talk a big game. But few Vodacom Business crafts
can claim the experience rich partnerships and
and understanding solutions to ensure deeper
Vodacom Business brings connectivity and capability.
to the table. By Ta m s i n OX FO Rd
By J a m e s F r a n c i s
18-19 Owning the
10-12 The cloud
Collaborator Sometimes it’s an
and Customer advantage for Africa to be
Vodacom’s CIO may be a little late to technology
part of the business, but trends.
he also wears the hat of its By Ada m Ro s s
clients.
By James Francis 20-22 Connected and
secure in a
13 Case study: digital economy
Working Providing unified
to improve communications and
healthcare enterprise mobility
Nompilo is ready to solutions within modern
address the challenges frameworks and with the
faced by caregivers. latest technology is key to
SUPPLIED connectivity.
By TAMSIN OX FO R D
14-15 Connecting the
future 24-25 How safe is your
At its core Vodacom is data?
about connectivity. But As South African
connectivity in itself is companies come under
useless without enabling increasing threats from
technology’s potential. cyber-attack, security
By J a m e s F r a n c i s is a critical component
of the burgeoning digital
economy.
By M O NI Q U E V ER D U Y N
November 2015
03
26-27 Partnering for
better service
delivery
Access to a good
telecommunications
infrastructure can be life-
changing for South African
citizens.
By A DAM R O SS
30-31 Embracing the
digital economy
The digital economy
is developing rapidly
worldwide and is the
single most important
driver of innovation,
competitiveness and
growth – provided you
choose the right partner
for the journey
By M O NI Q U E V ER D U Y N
32-34 Connections
across Africa 35 CASE STUDY
Many different countries, Remote connectivity changes
cultures and regulations the face of farming
mean that Africa can Satellite solution creates
be an interesting place platform to build a sustainable
for multinationals to do farming future.
SUPPLIED
business.
By T RACY B U RR OW S
To download the digital version of
this magazine, please scan the
QR code below or visit:
books.itweb.co.za/vodacom
November 2015
Strategic overview
04
PRIME FOR THE
DIGITAL
ECONOMY Many technology players talk a big game.
But few can claim the experience and
understanding Vodacom Business brings to
the table.
BY: JAMES FRANCIS
Mobility is in our DNA,” says Vuyani Jarana, by businesses, organisations and government. Mobility is
alluding to Vodacom’s propensity to embrace in our DNA: in the African context, mobility is a catalyst for
the digital economy. To the Chief Officer of digital engagement, we are well positioned to enable clients,
Vodacom Business, it represents a genuinely good force in in a B2B relationship to be more successful in their own
the world. environment, but most importantly to be able to engage with
“The digital economy is characterised by an environment their customers on a B2B2C relationship.”
where a lot more consumers and citizens are able to Mobility in this case is interchangeable with technology,
engage with government and service providers through digital enablement, productivity gains and greater enterprise
online channels with a variety of devices. They can also agility. Thanks to the broad reach of the larger organisation,
connect through peer-to-peer collaboration such as social not to mention parent company Vodafone, Vodacom
networks. These are happening through digital platforms, Business is one of a handful of establishments that can offer
such as mobile devices, traditional web, apps and so on.” true end-to-end insights and solutions. Its investments in
leading solution integrators such as Stortech only galvanises
In bed with digital that position.
The comment inevitably leads to the question of Vodacom “Our technology capabilities, investment in fixed networks,
Business’ positioning – something Jarana has little doubt and mobile heritage – these give us a strategic advantage
about. Vodacom has a very favourable alignment with for our customers to leverage. It lets us stay ahead of the
the digital economy: it’s a communications company, a market. We’re very focused on foresight. What are the
consumer company, an infrastructure company and a trends, the next wave of evolution in the digital ecosystem?
business company. The nuts and bolts of the digital epoch Being part of Vodafone helps us pick up trends evolving
rattle in its toolbox. in different parts of the world readying us for the future,
“At Vodacom Business, we provide ‘business to business’ as we’re part of a bigger community. But we’re not aiming
(B2B) services, but also enable ‘business to consumer’ to be everything to everybody, developing alliances and
(B2C) by virtue of creating platforms for enterprises to collaborative partnerships to unlock value for our customers
interact with their customers. We sell services that may be is part of our operating philosophy. We partner with
enterprise, but are also consumed by consumers, such as people and companies with the insights and capabilities
mobile devices, and internet services. That gives us deeper that complement ours. Delivering the right solution to our
insights into the workings of the evolving digital economy; customers, at the right quality within expected timeframes,
after all it’s the people who consume services produced consistently, is our key focus,” he says.
November 2015
Vuyani
Jarana
November 2015
05
PHOTOGRAPHY: KAROLINA KOMENDERA
Strategic overview
06
The digital economy
is characterised by an
environment where a lot
more consumers and citizens
are able to engage with
government and service to prevent and cure illnesses: they can make healthcare
providers through online systems more efficient, sustainable and effective, too.
There is consensus in terms of the need to deploy the
channels, using a range of integrated national health information system, often the
access devices. High speed challenge is in the perceived complexity, risks and costs
mobile broadband networks, of deploying such a system. Vodacom’s view is that with
cloud-based services and rapidly expanding high-speed
Smartphone penetration, mobile broadband networks across the country the risks
mobile payments and of project failure are minimised. Moreover government
ecommerce platforms are could adopt an opex based model where there is no
substantial upfront capital outlay, which further de-risks
driving digital engagement. the project.
Vuyani Jarana “Understanding the healthcare challenge, we
didn’t simply fold our arms and wait for a government
tender; we built a cloud-based mobile health capability
that helps governments, NGOs and private sector
The key foundations and enablers of a digital organisations improve health outcomes without heavy
economy are cloud computing infrastructure, capital investments. Through our mHealth solution
smartphone penetration, high-speed broadband we’re able to track visibility of medical stock in clinics
networks, mobile payments and e-commerce platforms across continental Africa. We monitor the condition of
as well as e-government solutions. Sectors of significant medical stock such as vaccines to ensure they’re within
opportunity and benefit in a digital economy are the efficacy prescripts before they’re administered
healthcare, education, retail and SME enablement. to patients, as well as blood condition monitoring and
intelligent reporting. We support community healthcare
The healthcare context workers with technology to ensure accuracy of patient
Visibility of stocks in clinics that are geographically data and that vital information is shared seamlessly with
spread all over the country, limited human resources in clinical professionals,” says Jarana.
terms of clinical professionals, ensuring that the referral “Many municipalities collect health information, the
system across the tiered healthcare system functions Ward Based Health Information Systems for example,
optimally, as well as dealing with fragmented patient and a lot of that is still paper-based, clunky and prone to
health records, are some of the major challenges faced errors and data losses. Through our platform we enable
by our healthcare system. and digitise this information and make it easily accessible
Healthcare, alongside education, consumes one of and actionable. For this we don’t require any upfront
the biggest budgets from the fiscus. The incremental capex, clients simply pay for what they use. This is our
costs of the public healthcare system do not always contribution to healthcare in this country, and this is
translate into improving patient health outcomes, digital enabled by mobility and cloud capability.”
instead the increasing costs of healthcare have an
inflationary effect in the economy without a concomitant The education context
improvement in overall healthcare conditions of the Digital technologies are dramatically changing the
population. Limited use of technology and a lack of education sector and offering new ways to provide
integrated patient health records are making the education and training. The rise of innovative business
healthcare system inefficient and prone to costly models and services, in areas such as life-long learning,
leakages, thus putting pressure on the whole healthcare e-learning, learning apps and gamification, are offering
value chain, while at the same time public finances are new opportunities for organisations to reach their
under pressure everywhere. customers. Digital technologies mean that education
Digital transformation can help enable better patient providers can offer more personalised, easily accessible
care at a lower cost. Digital technologies don’t just help and tailored products and services.
November 2015
07
For any small business to thrive in the
digital economy, adopting cloud-enabled
online, e-commerce and related solutions is a
critical investment decision. For SMEs digital
is all about online presence, identity and
responsiveness.
Vuyani Jarana
For public sector education in South their best. “Gone are the days when people
Africa, digital technology is opening a new will buy a full album just because of one hit
chapter, children from rural and urban, rich song they like, today customers only buy that
and poor communities will have access to one song. Today, artists can produce and
the same online education resources, thus publish a song, list it in the digital mall and
helping leapfrog the upheavals of a lack of popularise it through social networks without
infrastructure, such as libraries. It’s all going a record company’s involvement. This is a
virtual and digital. digital revolution and at Vodacom we’re at the
“At Vodacom, we’re making a contribution centre of it,” says Jurana.
with our free education portal Digital technologies and the proliferation
(www.vodacom.co.za/e -school), that gives of payment methods to include solutions like
every child in the country access to free mPesa are expanding the online shopping
education resources. Our one tablet per market and breaking down geographical
child education solution will enable both e-commerce boundaries. With ‘click to buy’
government and parents to give our children online capabilities, national retailers are Vuyani
the best start in life – a better education. competing head-on with global retailers who Jarana
The good thing is that deploying digital leverage online demand aggregators, such
education doesn’t require new budgets from as AliExpress, to open new global markets
the fiscus, it’s simply redirecting budgets for them. “To open more markets beyond
used to produce paper-based textbooks into the national border, going online and going
producing and deploying digital curriculum digital is not an option; it’s an imperative. At
content through technologies such as Vodacom we’re well placed to support our
ePubs, thus bringing greater savings and customers as they transition into the digital
scalability to the education system. With domain.”
digital technologies, the possibilities are
endless,” he says. The enterprise vision
So what is the state of play for enterprises?
Retail Context Jarana sees their future reflected in how they
Digital technologies underpinned by consolidate their customer vision. Multi- and
high-speed mobile broadband networks omni-channel engagements are key, but
are transforming the retail sector in not only to satisfy customers. Disruption is
unprecedented ways. Some parts of the a fundamental characteristic of the digital
retail value chain are disappearing very economy, as it enables more entities to
quickly due to the development of the digital compete on the same level. For example, a
channel and maturing e-commerce and mass retailer may encounter competition
payment systems. Music chain stores, as from smaller ‘middleman’ operations using
well as music as a physical stock-keeping digital platforms and partnerships to create
unit, in traditional retail are disappearing their own shopping experience.
very quickly. In their place, new digital malls Companies not engaging in digital
such as Deezer and Spotify have sprung up channels will soon find themselves
taking advantage of the digital revolution. irrelevant. But it’s a challenge for
People buy music online and only buy the enterprises, buoyed by legacy platforms.
tracks they like, this is putting pressure on Jarana sees the cloud as a good remedy
both artists and record companies to be at for this.
November 2015
Strategic overview
08
“Moving towards cloud-based services lets you such as cloud computing, is indisputably one of the key
create horizontal and industrial scale platforms on decisions an enterprise needs to take in order to enable
which vertical industry solutions can be mounted. If your digital.
backend is configurable, dynamic and capable, you can
do a lot more at the front. Cloud makes this possible and Lifting SMEs
also makes scaling simpler, because capital expenditure Enterprises must pivot towards the digital economy,
is not an issue anymore.” because it may leave them on the back foot for good
Yet it’s not simply a technology change: “This is an reason: it offers a particular boon for smaller companies.
operating model, a culture, even a philosophy that SMEs stand to benefit the most from technology. Already
enterprises and governments should adopt to serve barriers to entry have been reduced as costs come
customers and citizens in the best way.” down and large business tools become available to more
Customers want seamless experience across compact players.
channels, from contact centres, retail to digital “A digital economy enabled by cloud is a big
engagement, they want a trail of evidence with seamless opportunity for SMEs. Look at the hospitality industry:
handovers from one channel to another without having we can take a bed-and-breakfast (B&B) business,
to restart the transaction or restate their case or connect it to global booking systems and help establish
requirements. Enterprises must gear themselves for this payment methods. It’s about identity, presence and
era where most customers want limited to no physical responsiveness – that creates opportunities, as all of a
contact with their service providers yet they expect sudden the B&B gets access to markets they never had
great service. Migrating to agile computing systems, and occupancy rates improve significantly.”
-
-
-
-09
Jarana says that the cost benefits are a
given: for a small business to thrive in the
digital economy, it should take advantage of
cloud and related services.
“We should not focus on enabling SMEs
just with Infrastructure as a Service. The
model we use for SMEs is based on strong
For a digital economy to thrive, connectivity
partnering. We look for solutions and is key – and not just any connectivity. High-
partners that are well-geared towards speed, reliable and scalable access is the
smaller players, researching what SMEs
watershed. Though Vodacom can boast
need.”
It’s not good enough just selling extensive and robust radio networks, the real
technology to SMEs. Small companies game-changer is fibre.
flourish when someone travels the journey
Vuyani Jarana
with them.
Africa beckons
Speaking of journeys, a pertinent topic for have regional hubs to help understand New business for a new age
many is the move into Africa. As the second- the different areas and a finger on the Yet what lies at the core of Vodacom
largest continent and home to over one billion pulse in terms of nuances and operating Business? Jarana points to the
people, Africa represents both great risk philosophy. That is just some of the insight misconception that it’s part of the technology
and reward. This has been its draw from the we bring to the table. old guard.
start, but the picture today is quite different. “We have mastered the art of managing “We’re challenging the space from
African nations have grown to set their own third party ICT vendors even in the most incumbents, so we can’t just go in with the
terms and expectations. A ‘show up and sell’ challenging markets on the continent, from same solutions. You have to be a lot more
attitude has become a sure recipe for failure. supply chain optimisation, to managing innovative and offer more than what our
Vodacom Business holds pride in helping third party networks and committing to customers are accustomed to from their
companies expand into the continent, stringent SLA. This is what our people current providers. We must address the
hinging its approach on two strategies: across the continent do to help our real issues the customer is facing. How? By
“Our big focus as a starting point is customers build their businesses in their investing in platforms and philosophies that
to enable investments by providing ICT chosen locations in Africa.” are transformational.”
services to multinationals, as well as regional
players. As they settle in different parts
of the continent – these are multi-branch,
multi-jurisdiction enterprises – they want to
integrate with their broader network. So no
matter where they are, they want a single
provider that can confidently tie their WAN
together in a secure manner.
“The second area is to focus on horizontal The fibre revolution
growth and support in established markets,
For a digital economy to thrive, connectivity is key can take a lot of pressure off mobile networks and
which include Nigeria, Tanzania, the DRC, – and not just any connectivity. High speed, reliable their spectrum, including offloading through WiFi
Mozambique and Zambia. Here Vodacom and scalable access is the watershed. Though hotspots. But it will also deliver new platforms,
Business places emphasis on end-to-end Vodacom can boast extensive and robust radio particularly in the machine-to-machine space.
networks, the real game-changer is fibre. Fibre will enable the rise of smart infrastructure and
delivery that covers connectivity, regulations, “The capillarity of the network must be extensive facilitate broader Internet of Things adoption. It will
local partners and the other facets of gaining through geography and speed. Fibre provides also forge a more data-driven landscape, ensuring
a foothold in a new territory,” says Jarana. that sense of limitless capability,” says Vodacom the performance that many technology solutions
Business’ Vuyani Jarana. “There will always be a require.
Both strategies are empowered through
role for high-speed mobile broadband. But fibre “This is just the start of something big. Even
Vodacom’s regional hubs, which cover the is key to meet demand in highly concentrated the foremost experts struggle to predict the true
African landmass and bring workforce areas. That’s why we’re investing aggressively in impact fibre will have on society. As such it is key
diversity to truly see things at grassroots the technology. South Africa needs it as part of its that Vodacom Business stays at the head of the
digital economy.” pack, innovating for our clients as fibre unveils new
levels. Jarana clarifies: “We have a sense Examples of this are numerous. Fibre backhaul opportunities.”
of the different parts of the continent. We
November 2015CIO perspective
010
THE
COLLABORATOR AND
CUSTOMER
Vodacom’s CIO may be part of the business, but he
also wears the hat of its clients.
BY: JAMES FRANCIS
s CIO of Vodacom, Jaydev Chiba sits in a rare cost. The trick is to strike a balance with affordability and
position: experiencing Vodacom’s offerings both effectiveness. The mantra of delivering for the business
as a collaborator and consumer. only becomes truer every day. We often talk about a CIO
“This is a bit of a two-headed conversation,” needing to be a stoic administrator yet also an innovator.”
he says. “I’m a CIO, so I represent the CIO community. But The role of the CIO has evolved towards being more of
being CIO at Vodacom also gives me interesting insights in an innovator partnering with business to meet the changing
how to leverage what we’re building.” needs of customers in an increasingly digital economy.
On one hand Chiba has first choice on many of The administrator part has become table stakes and is a
Vodacom’s innovations, but on the other he has to help given, any CIO who is an excellent administrator but poor on
drive new solutions that make sense for the market – innovation and partnering will not be relevant for long.
because they make sense for his own goals. Above all, he Customers want to engage with Vodacom through
experiences the same challenges as other technology channels of their choice and yet expect the same
leaders. experience across those channels. They express seamless
handover experience from one channel to another. Chiba
Leading as a CIO says, “Developing IT capability to ensure that at Vodacom
Being in a CIO or equivalent position is a double-edged we have a single view of the customer has enabled us to
sword. One could hardly hope for a better time to be have a better view of customer experience and transactions
engaged with technology. But with that comes great across all channels, whether it’s in the call centres, online,
pressure and responsibility to deliver on business webchats, Vodacom App or traditional retail. To achieve
expectations without breaking the bank. this, every organisation needs agile IT infrastructure and
“I’m like all futurists and love getting the latest and billing engines that provide for convergence of billable
greatest that’s out there. But these things come at a applications.”
November 2015011
Jaydev Chiba PHOTOGRAPHY: KAROLINA KOMENDERA
When CIOs have good foresight, working side by These are:
side with sales and marketing, they’re able to help the 1. Market-driven innovation based on foresights
organisation achieve greater success through development 2. Delivering organisational agility to be responsive to
and deployment of dynamic ICT solutions that are customer needs and first to market
responsive to future customer needs. 3. Business process transformation leading to cost
The CIO’s world of influence in the organisations can optimisation
be broken into four major domains of impact, says Chiba. 4. IT governance and security.
November 2015CIO perspective
012
How can a technology make an impactful
change without being excessive?
Jaydev Chiba.
“The advantage of being a CIO at Vodacom is having a This relationship also delivers some great benefits. For
finger in both pies,” says Chiba. “On one hand we’re able example, Vodacom’s security monitoring systems are not
to leverage the category leading solutions that Vodacom only world-class – they are among the best in the larger
Business offers to its customers, while on the other we’re Vodafone group. Though offered to business customers,
able to drive our own transformation which tends to later these weren’t designed as products but to solve a pertinent
become part of the products and services that Vodacom business problem internally.
Business takes to market. The Security Operations Centre “Like any enterprise we have a lot of people coming in with
(SOC) is one such example. their own devices. In fact, it’s a challenge we had years before
“Our customers are heavily steered to engage with us other companies. Mobile devices are part of our business,
through digital channels, this means that the commercial so we couldn’t just instruct everyone they can only use this
organisation for both consumer and enterprise market or that device. Nor did we want it all to focus on technology:
segments has to constantly evolve its offerings.” security is about people, so how could we blend the HR
This in turn places major strain on IT resources to build, element with the device world, fixing challenges on both
configure and integrate the new services or optimisation of sides?”
current products and services. “No organisation can cost- If a person is no longer employed, how long does it take
effectively meet high volume and incessant demand. As a to have their cancelled credentials resonate across the
CIO you must have a clear demand management strategy enterprise? And if a person arrives, how are they and their
to deliver on the organisation’s commercial priorities both devices vetted thoroughly, yet without delay? The security
short and long term.” solution was built to take all of this in, as well as enable those
with credentials – not just IT – to make changes.
Meeting the CIO’s needs Chiba adds: “You have to take a holistic view to security.
How is that culture translating into Vodacom Business’ A device may leave the system, but what about the person
solutions? As mentioned, Chiba and his team are both behind that device? At the same time you don’t want to inhibit
collaborators and consumers of the services. The same productivity. It would be easy to restrict information to a
connectivity and solutions that empower Vodacom specific desktop, but that just restricts the conveniences of
Business’ customers is what Chiba uses to orchestrate his modern work styles. If an employee can’t access data only
own delivery. because of security concerns, that’s not a win.”
“The reliability of connectivity underpins any solution This kind of thinking permeates Vodacom’s technology
you put in place. But that’s just the minimum to even be vision, one that finds its way into effective solutions that in turn
in the game. A solution provider must have end-to-end are offered to the market. As Chiba adds with a smirk: “They
capabilities – if Vodacom Business couldn’t deliver on my call it ‘eating your own dog food’. Well, we made that food long
demands, I would fail. It’s as simple as that.” before we ever thought about offering it to our clients.”
For Jaydev Chiba, the Vodacom reaching solutions, as well as better build new solutions and integration
Business difference is it not being shared service capabilities. My team methodologies. Vodacom’s systems
a one-note company. Though best manages private datacentres, but integrate with other providers,
known for its mobile pedigree, we also expand our services into the talking to them seamlessly. This
More than
Vodacom (and consequently same datacentres customers use.” spectacularly reduces turnaround
Vodacom Business) is also deeply Chiba includes Vodacom Business’ times for projects.”
mobile
invested in fixed-line services through scalability and partnerships as deal It would be tempting to consider
its fibre network. Other connectivity breakers: “The ability to scale is key, Chiba’s words as biased – after all,
technologies such as V-Sat and especially as we expand services he works for Vodacom. But he’s a
microwave have also helped it craft across Africa. Something like remote CIO like any other: with a mandate to
solutions for numerous scenarios. collaboration and managing diverse deliver and the pressure that comes
“The ability to straddle both mobile teams would not happen if we didn’t with that. So just like his technology
and fixed line in one organisation is have the right connectivity and demands, he doesn’t play lip service
great for exploiting technology. This scalability for the job. The same with his thoughts. He simply can’t
has allowed Vodacom to build far- counts for partners, as they help us afford to.
November 2015Case study
013
WORKing TO improve
HEALTHCARE
Nompilo is ready to address the
challenges faced by caregivers.
n a country as vast and diverse created its Nompilo service, an end-to-end
as South Africa, community monitoring and evaluation solution, part of
health workers play a crucial a wider initiative within the mHealth area. It
role in providing healthcare in kicked off with a pilot project involving 250
rural communities. Vodacom has created the field-based caregivers, supporting patients in
Nompilo application, which uses the power of local communities.
mobile technology to access patient records The Nompilo mobile solution enables
on the move. community caregivers to upload patient
Community health workers are a crucial information directly to web-based servers
component of South Africa’s healthcare via their smartphones. The simplicity of the
strategy. Often working in areas without solution allows caregivers to spend more
sufficient doctors and nurses, community time where they are most needed – with
engagement offers many advantages. the patient. Each Community Care Worker
Health workers are more likely to be in tune (CCW) has a smartphone loaded with
with local sensitivities; they tend to be more the Nompilo application. When they visit
trusted. And, in a country with pressing a new patient, the CCW registers them
health concerns and tight budgets, they’re electronically by assigning a unique barcode
more cost-effective and faster to train than to them.
doctors. Nompilo then shows the CCW what
However, community health is not without type of information needs to be collected,
its challenges. According to the 2007 including personal information for
UNAIDS report, South Africa is estimated to administrative purposes and medical/
have more people living with HIV than any physiological data to support the treatment Reduced costs: The system reduces
other country. Transport links are poor. It’s plan. the administrative burden on healthcare
not uncommon for rural communities to lack Current and historical patient information providers and better, timelier information
reliable water and electricity. This makes it can be viewed remotely, in real time – so allows managers to identify inefficiencies
difficult to deliver consistent healthcare, to there’s maximum visibility for community and reallocate resources so community
gather data and to train community health workers and seamless care provision for the caregivers’ time and skills are used more
workers. patient. effectively.
Using health resources efficiently and Nompilo also provides a managerial Issue identification: Information supplied via
effectively is critical. And with over 100 000 platform, enabling the healthcare providers mobile networks allows healthcare providers
community caregivers working throughout to track and respond to common issues to quickly identify and address issues when
South Africa, monitoring their work and encountered by caregivers. they arise without the delays associated with
handling the paperwork from their visits is The pilot has now ended, and the Nompilo paper-based systems.
difficult and time-consuming. Reports can solution has since rolled out to other Clear information: Geographical mapping
take as long as eight weeks to collate, and Vodacom Health projects. The pilot project and standardised entry systems improve the
data quality can be variable. resulted in several positive outcomes: data available for managers, enabling them to
Vodacom is working together with local Improved levels of care: Nompilo identify trends and issues.
non-governmental organisations and enables healthcare providers to allocate Improved security: Data from caregivers is
the Ministry of Health to overcome the their resources more efficiently, monitor logged into the central system immediately,
challenges of monitoring and managing caregivers’ work and improve the level of eliminating the risk of lost paper activity
caregivers’ work. In 2009, Vodacom support for communities. reports.
November 2015Technology
014
CONNECTING
THE FUTURE
At its core Vodacom is about connectivity.
But connectivity in itself is useless without
enabling technology’s potential.
BY: JAMES FRANCIS
Our role is to simplify
here are countless roles in the technology complexity on a neverending
world, many of which run behind the scenes. If basis.
technology was a train, its users most often talk
Johann Pretorius
to the conductor. It’s rare to get up to the locomotive, where
people are close to the coal and fire.
Johann Pretorius is one of those people. As Vodacom’s something Pretorius and his team take as a fundamental
Managing Executive for Enterprise Technology he certainly mission. Tomorrow’s technologies won’t be born if today’s
tours the carriages and meets the passengers. But his can’t be connected.
responsibilities also place him at the front, where Vodacom’s
connectivity happens. If the matter of connecting points A Lifting tomorrow’s worker
and B comes up, Pretorius is your guy. Unfortunately technology works best when fitted to
purpose, else Pretorius’ job would be a lot easier. He points
The invisible experience to the rise of fibre, a technology he’s very excited about. Yet
Asked what excites him about connectivity today, it’s not at the same time fibre in itself is not sufficient, not if omni-
just about one technology: “The fun stuff we’re looking at connectivity is to become a reality.
sits more around integrating the experience of the different “One emerging facet of today’s workspace is that you
technologies. The end user shouldn’t need to be aware of can work where you want to. Offices are morphing from
how they’re connecting. It’s about the experience and we enclosed work environments to work facilitation hubs,
want that to be seamless as you switch between different while the job itself can become mobile. But if you want to
connectivity types. So from WiFi to mobile to whatever else be fully mobile, not simply nomadic, you need more than
– a type of omni-connectivity.” fibre and WiFi. So as a company we have a responsibility
Why is this important? Pretorius says that connectivity is to constantly study, refine and deliver on what the market
key for today’s solutions – if the link fails, everything fails. But needs.”
it’s not the be-all: connectivity is pointless if above-the-line This enables innovation. Even though the word is thrown
services are lacking. around by anyone with a pitch to make, in this conversation
“Data is a means to an end, nothing more. If I purchase it holds true weight. Pretorius explains it as such: technology
data, I don’t sit and look at it. I use it for something, be that for today provides many individual blocks – various innovations
business e-mail or a new game expansion. That’s where the – that can be put together in new ways. It’s about meeting
value lies – what I get for my data. I don’t want to think about business problems by assembling the right pieces together.
the connectivity, but I will notice if it fails to deliver.” That’s really exciting, he adds: “I love it when our customers
That experiential quotient grows every day, acting as come to us with an idea for a problem they have – often
the glue that brings together things like Infrastructure as something we never thought about. When done right,
a Service and hosted applications. Though many new technology allows anyone into the sandbox and that leads
platforms are sold on how they can enable a company’s to real gains. It’s a world for thinkers, not product pushers,
innovation and agility, connectivity is the dealbreaker – which inevitably leads to amazing things.”
November 2015015
The state of
connectivity
Johann Pretorius dispenses some interesting
insights about key connectivity technologies:
Fibre
This is just the beginning. Fibre has a lot of future
capacity, most of which will be gained from
improvements around the infrastructure. Speeds
and capacities will continue to climb.
LTE
4G/LTE is still warming up and will create
impressive broadband connectivity for mobile
workforces. The main inhibitor is a lack of
spectrum.
5G
It’s too soon: the industry is still mulling the
standards for 5G and it probably won’t be a key
technology for at least another five years.
VSat
South Africa’s sprawling landscape means that
some remote areas could never make fibre
economically viable. But this is spurring VSat
technologies to be better and cheaper.
Copper
It is hard to predict copper’s future. On the one
hand the networks are vast and capitalised.
On the other, they increasingly require more
maintenance.
WiFi
PHOTOGRAPHY: KAROLINA KOMENDERA
WiFi is a dark horse, especially around reliability.
But it’s constantly improving and, when wedded
to fibre, creates some interesting opportunities.
Johann
Microwave
Microwave is fast becoming a favoured
Pretorius
solution for short-distance transfers of data to
connectivity hubs. Its star is rising particularly
fast in the machine-to-machine world.
It may start as simply as wanting to read the flow on a beer tap, to do exactly that. Customers don’t buy specifications on paper.
but that cascades into a flowering hill of ideas and directions – They buy an experience tailored to their needs, but also with the
collecting the data, honing applications around it, getting that to future in mind. It’s our job to make that happen, to explore all the
the right people at the right time. options, and to have a conversation with customers in simple, use-
So it is Vodacom’s role to tinker? Perhaps. But it has a greater based terms: what are they getting for the technology we deliver?”
responsibility, something Vodacom Business takes as its mantra: Solve problems, deliver consistency and keep scaling to open
“Our role is to simplify complexity on a neverending basis. doors for new technologies. This is what drives Pretorius, his team
Stringing different components together to provide an actual use and Vodacom Business. Okay, and really fast internet – but name
is a lot of work. But it’s a competent and responsible provider’s job anyone who doesn’t want that!
November 2015Vodafone global enterprise
016
A GLOBAL
PARTNERSHIP
From Africa and beyond, Vodacom Business crafts rich
partnerships and solutions to ensure deeper connectivity and
capability.
BY: Tamsin Oxford
We’ve created an array of
ultinational companies face an array of verticals that allow us to
challenges as they do business across cultures
and continents. These need to be overcome
work with our customers in
or managed to ensure that the organisation their own language.
remains viable and capable as it expands into Mickey Mashale
new markets. Vodacom Business has used its insight
and experience in mobility and understanding of global creating robust solutions. Everything the multinational
enterprise trends to create solutions that map back to the needs is available within the Vodacom array of solutions and
multinational’s requirements and support their continued systems.
growth and development. “It puts us in a very unique position in that anything from
“Our role is to make sure we enable our multinational the datacentre to the network is ours and adding this level
companies in terms of faster time to market, establishing of value to a client solution doesn’t mean we’re adding
presence in a new market and understanding what their anything to the price,” says Mashale. “It’s our infrastructure
future requirements are going to be,” says Mickey Mashale, and so we’re able to pass this value on to our customers.”
Managing Executive, Vodacom Business. “We work with
our clients to understand what their needs are going to be in Connectivity across the world
five or ten years and what kind of employee they will need to Another facet of Vodacom’s capabilities is its ability to
have and what kind of infrastructure will be required to cater provide a service in any country and on any continent. “We
for that.” are very ‘Glocal’,” says Mashale.
Vodacom remains at the forefront of current trends and “Regardless of where you are in the world or what your
market shifts to ensure it can provide clients with this high strategy is on a global level, regional level or local level,
level of insight and expertise. The mobile organisation also we will ensure that you’re confidently connected to your
partners with customers as opposed to just selling to them. enterprise, employees and customers, securely,” says
Mashale. “The service that clients experience from us
A position of strength globally is the same with the same standards and way of
“One of the key elements of the digital economy is, in our reporting. Not many companies from an operator point of
view, to offer value to our clients,” says Mashale. “We want view can say that.”
them to say ‘You enabled my value chain by connecting me Vodacom takes its learnings from across its multinational
to my employees, to my customers and to my suppliers’. bases, gathering the insight and experience gleaned from
It’s about enabling and adding value and ensuring that we different countries and their varying levels of development.
excel at our core, enabling better agility of our enterprise In some, the lack of resources has seen remarkable
customers. Once we get the basics right, customers are innovation that can then be translated across the company,
very easy to engage on a strategic level that looks to their in others it is taking established practices and sharing these
operational and business efficiency, not just ICT efficiency.” with less-developed countries. Our global presence in
It’s in the latter element that the mobile giant has a both emerging and developed countries enables us to take
powerful advantage. Vodacom owns its infrastructure the best of both worlds experience and expertise to our
and there’s no need to rely on other parties in terms of customers,” she adds.
November 2015017
“This means that our customers aren’t
the guinea pigs all the time when it comes to
adapting or implementing a new solution in a
new area,” says Mashale. “At any point in time
we have someone who can help, or who has
done it before. Many of our clients are across
a minimum of four countries excluding their
home country and on multiple continents
so this level of interaction across Vodacom
internationally ensures we’re aligned as a
multinational team.”
Market expertise is key
The company realised early on that its
services would need to be adaptable so
as to suit a variety of client requirements. It
then made sure that it always used industry-
specific expertise when engaging with
different market sectors – a mining expert for
the mining sector and a healthcare expert for
the healthcare sector, for instance.
“We’ve created an array of verticals that
allow us to work with our customers in their
own language,” says Mashale. “Our teams
understand that we need to engage with
the decision-makers and understand the
different challenges. We work with them,
doing innovation sessions that allow for
department heads to share their challenges.
We can then create solutions that tap into
these issues and that are richly layered and
suited to the business over the long and the
short term.”
From connectivity, voice, SMS, data,
storage, applications, Internet of Things,
financial services, operational performance
and security, Vodacom’s services to
Mickey
multinational corporates are as varied as the
PHOTOGRAPHY: KAROLINA KOMENDERA
Mashale
organisations themselves. There’s no one
simple layer of traditional telecoms anymore,
but rather different levels that each cater
to specific requirements and understand
the demanding nature of the multinational
market. It’s a collaborative and dynamic
partnership that has given Vodacom a
remarkable edge that can be shared with and
passed on to its customers.
Vodacom Business’ Mickey Mashale reveals how “We look at the value chain and find out who
Vodacom enables the multinational to leverage their suppliers are, who they need to link to and
the digital economy: we examine ways in which we can make this
Collaboration
“We look at our partnerships with multinational more efficient so the service they provide is even
organisations as a journey. We collaborate with better. Vodacom Business wants to take away
and cooperation
them to ensure that what they require to establish the pain points and replace them with confidence
their presence on the continent is provided by our and capability that ensure the quickest and
solutions. Our goal is to work with clients, going most efficient routes to market and allow the
through the journey with them and analysing the multinational to focus on its core business and
environment to make sure that we understand it what its customers want.”
and that the systems in place are supporting it.
November 2015Bespoke solutions
018
OWNING THE
CLOUD
Sometimes it’s an advantage for Africa to be a little late to
technology trends.
BY: ADAM ROSS
ny business starting up now can forgo the effort infrastructure, the management and delivering the apps,
of setting up its own IT department and get all its and work with IT solution providers like EMC to manage the
services through the cloud. transition into the cloud,” Quartero says.
“Much like Africa missed the whole fixed line Vodacom Business has also made a big push into
era and is very rich in mobile, most companies starting machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, a key foundation
up now can miss having to build their own infrastructure. for the Internet of Things. That gives it solutions for devices
They’re all going to go to the cloud,” says Ermano Quartero, like smart water meters, time and attendance systems
Managing Executive of Business Solutions at Vodacom and surveillance cameras, which connect to the cloud via
Business. Vodacom’s mobile network. In the cloud, real business value
“There’s absolutely no reason to build your own can be extracted from these solutions through the use of
infrastructure. All you need is a tablet with a broadband advanced analytics.
connection, and you buy all the software you need and have
your backup and storage in the cloud.”
Vodacom Business has been honing its cloud services
for eight years to become one of the major players in Africa. There’s absolutely no
It has long been able to host its customer’s equipment in its reason to build your own
own datacentres. But as the market matures, companies infrastructure.
are ditching their own hardware completely, and buying all
Ermano Quartero
their processing power and applications online.
Moving their apps and workloads to the cloud means
customers don’t need to invest in key technologies or Its parent company, Vodafone, is acquiring companies that
stress about hardware and uptime. “That lets CIOs worry develop M2M solutions, so Vodacom gains access to those
about the real IT challenges like the value IT brings to the offerings. “We can bundle these as part of our total solution,
organisation, rather than worrying about keeping the lights so the customer doesn’t have to have relationships with 20 or
on,” Quartero says. 30 different vendors,” Quartero says.
The move is becoming inevitable as more software A property management company, for example, can have
vendors adapt their programs to run this way, with Microsoft Vodacom run fibre networks to all its malls. Then it can use
moving totally towards the cloud with Office 365. Vodacom to host its core applications like management and
Advantages are that the software and data are always up accounting software, and use M2M technologies to operate
to date, you don’t have to worry about backing up data and the access and lighting control in its properties. Tenants in
you can access it from anywhere over the internet. It’s also the mall can also use Vodacom’s broadband to access the
cost-effective because service providers have the scale to internet.
buy hardware for a much better price and share that with “In terms of Vodacom Business, this is our future. Obviously
their customers. mobility and mobile data are still very key, but the future for us
is managing enterprise IT,” says Quartero. “Our biggest asset
A collaborative effort is our underlying network, but the real end game is using
It works with several partners to provide cloud solutions, those assets to provide total solutions. We probably have
including consulting companies like Accenture and Deloitte. one of the broadest range of solutions across Africa, so we’re
“We can’t be all things to all people, so we focus on the ready to be a serious challenger for total IT services.”
November 2015019
PHOTOGRAPHY: KAROLINA KOMENDERA
Ermano
Quartero
Vodacom Business has such compelling cloud refuelling. They have multiple fibre network links, as well
offerings that some customers have terminated their as wireless to take over if something happens to the fibre.
mainframes or datacentres and put everything into its For a client in Cape Town, the data mirroring for
hands. That’s a big responsibility, so Vodacom Business disaster recovery backup may be in Johannesburg. All
has invested heavily to make sure its systems are the data moves via Vodacom’s national fibre backbones,
Confidence
accessible everywhere, and are fail-safe. “If you don’t with no reliance on third party infrastructure suppliers.
have a robust network connection you won’t have “That’s the real advantage and it’s why telcos will become
in the cloud
access to your apps, so we’ve invested billions of rands the dominant cloud providers,” Quartero says.
in network infrastructure like fibre deployments, network Clients assessing which cloud service provider to
management tools and reach,” says Vodacom Business’ use should consider several criteria, he says. “Cloud
Ermano Quartero. “We’ve spent the past five years providers need to have very robust networks because
investing heavily in our network, our datacentres and our that underpins everything. It needs to have mobile and
software capabilities and we’ve been steadily building fixed lines, so end users get the advantage of delivery
up skills.” to mobile platforms as well. It needs built-in support
The company runs seven datacentres, all to the services and redundant facilities for backup. It also needs
very robust Tier III standards. They have backup diesel a big brand name with the financial backing to support
generators and enough diesel to run for a week before it,” he says.
November 2015Solutions
020
Connected
and secure
in a digital economy
Providing unified communications and enterprise mobility
solutions within modern frameworks and with the latest
technology is key to connectivity.
BY: Monique Verduyn
nterprise mobility, unified communications, “Using the power of the mobile device together with the
connectivity and machine-to-machine (M2M) power of the app and our robust security systems, we can
technology are all buzz words that dominate the create an end-to-end solution,” says Ross. “Increasingly
telecommunications industry today, and for good companies are asking for apps and so we build them on our
reason. In order for the enterprise to succeed and adapt platform, host them, look after them and manage them – all
to an increasingly mercurial market, it has to be nimble the business needs to do is use it. We spend time getting
and requires solutions that are capable and cost-effective. to know the business and this allows us to develop an
Given its mobile heritage, Vodacom Business has crafted ecosystem that taps into what they need across customers,
enterprise mobility solutions tailored for both large fixed and mobile networks, apps and so much more.”
enterprises and SMEs. In addition to its high-speed mobile
network, Vodacom has deployed next generation all IP Secure in the cloud
networks to create core capabilities that can adapt and Through Vodacom’s richly layered app systems and
change when needed. solutions, the organisation can access the services through
“Ubiquitous and high speed connectivity is the key to the the cloud on a central server, allowing all relevant users to
digital economy and Vodacom is in a privileged position log in securely and use the system. By using apps designed
to play a catalytic role to South Africa’s digital economy specifically for each organisation’s requirements, Vodacom
revolution,” says Chris Ross, Managing Executive of ensures the business has deeper control and management
Products and Services, Vodacom Business. “We ensure we of communications and data.
meet this demand by providing an array of solutions that are “Data goes through a series of controls to ensure it’s
not only tailored to the market, but ensure complete privacy secure and doesn’t go into the public domain,” says Ross.
and security.” “It’s sitting on a server in South Africa and being looked after
locally by Vodacom. Companies have to be obsessed with
The power of the app security today and they enjoy partnering with us because
In the enterprise mobility arena, Vodacom has been they know we understand this.”
developing apps that provide users with simpler and more
efficient ways of inputting data and streamlining business Bringing it all together
capabilities. These apps then tie into the mobility solutions Vodacom also provides unified communications solutions
implemented across the business to ensure that data is that bring together the fixed and the mobile world, blending
shifted easily from the rep on the road to the analyst in the them to create cohesive systems that can be used across
office to the decision-maker at the top. all types of business.
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