Digital Transformation – the difference between winning and losing is the execution and the timing

Whether an operator’s Digital Transformation is successful or not will depend on its execution and timing, according to Thomas Chalumeau, Strategy Director at Orange MEA. 

 

Making the comments during an exclusive Total Telecom Congress panel, titled “Restructuring Business Models to Accelerate Digitalisation,” Chalumeau stated that Digital Transformation depends on a strong overall business model. 

 

“I am struck by the fact that the industry is moving in the same direction but what will make the difference between the winners and the losers is the execution and timing,” he said. 

 

Chalumeau also explained how Digital Transformation and the ‘agile culture’ are much more than buzz words and go beyond being an evolution of something companies were already doing.

 

“What has changed is how quickly we have to put new solutions into the hands of our customers – we cannot spend months developing products,” he continued. “The competition is also changing. Telcos are now competing more and more against technology giants and small, agile digital players so everything has changed.”

 

Yves Dubuisson, Chief Strategy Officer at Ooredoo Algerie, agreed the Digital Transformation being talked about by the industry was not just an evolution, highlighting the new business models emerging as evidence of this. 

 

“There are things that are not evolution of the digitalisation process,” he said. “For example, an operator might want to position itself in the advertising world because with all the data we have, we could monetise that data – and that’s a completely different model. For this to be successful, you need the right governance – are you ready to invest in advertising and the new business model? Are you ready to create new teams to do this? 

 

“There are also things that are an evolution of digitalisation processes – it’s not new to automate but some of the things we are seeing now are completely different. There are examples in the past where telecoms have been introduced new waves of technology but here, we are introducing new business models.” 

 

Chalumeau and Dubuisson were joined on the panel by Erling Gudmundsson, CEO of Gagnaveita Reykjavikur (Reykjavik Fibre Network; Salah Abdullah AlGhamdi, Digital & Analytics General Manager at Zain; and Brendan Ives, VP and Head of Division X at Telia. Isabelle Paradis, President of Hot Telecom moderated the session. 

 

During the panel, what was behind Digital Transformation was also explored – with consumers being identified as the key driver – along with whether collaboration is the key to success when it comes to creating new business models. Having a clear leadership vision and getting new products to market quickly and letting customers provide feedback to develop them were also highlighted as key factors in Digital Transformation success.Digital Transformation – the difference winning and losing is the execution and the timing 

 

 

Whether an operator’s Digital Transformation is successful or not will depend on its execution and timing, according to Thomas Chalumeau, Strategy Director at Orange MEA. 

 

Making the comments during an exclusive Total Telecom Congress panel, titled “Restructuring Business Models to Accelerate Digitalisation,” Chalumeau stated that Digital Transformation depends on a strong overall business model. 

 

“I am struck by the fact that the industry is moving in the same direction but what will make the difference between the winners and the losers is the execution and timing,” he said. 

 

Chalumeau also explained how Digital Transformation and the ‘agile culture’ are much more than buzz words and go beyond being an evolution of something companies were already doing.

 

“What has changed is how quickly we have to put new solutions into the hands of our customers – we cannot spend months developing products,” he continued. “The competition is also changing. Telcos are now competing more and more against technology giants and small, agile digital players so everything has changed.”

 

Yves Dubuisson, Chief Strategy Officer at Ooredoo Algerie, agreed the Digital Transformation being talked about by the industry was not just an evolution, highlighting the new business models emerging as evidence of this. 

 

“There are things that are not evolution of the digitalisation process,” he said. “For example, an operator might want to position itself in the advertising world because with all the data we have, we could monetise that data – and that’s a completely different model. For this to be successful, you need the right governance – are you ready to invest in advertising and the new business model? Are you ready to create new teams to do this? 

 

“There are also things that are an evolution of digitalisation processes – it’s not new to automate but some of the things we are seeing now are completely different. There are examples in the past where telecoms have been introduced new waves of technology but here, we are introducing new business models.” 

 

Chalumeau and Dubuisson were joined on the panel by Erling Gudmundsson, CEO of Gagnaveita Reykjavikur (Reykjavik Fibre Network; Salah Abdullah AlGhamdi, Digital & Analytics General Manager at Zain; and Brendan Ives, VP and Head of Division X at Telia. Isabelle Paradis, President of Hot Telecom moderated the session. 

 

During the panel, what was behind Digital Transformation was also explored – with consumers being identified as the key driver – along with whether collaboration is the key to success when it comes to creating new business models. Having a clear leadership vision and getting new products to market quickly and letting customers provide feedback to develop them were also highlighted as key factors in Digital Transformation success.