Digital Transformation and building new technologies, structures and business models.

This year’s executive round-table panel discussion at Carrier Community 2020 was all about the topic of: “Digital Transformation and building new technologies, structures and business models”.  OnFore Founder Julia Lehmann has been invited to give her advice on Digital Transformation in the Telco industry.

Carrier Community is a global telecom club that has organized its 7th annual Central Eastern Europe 2020 GCCM in Berlin on 25th & 26th August 2020 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.  CC has brought together members and Telco Eco-Partners from various segments such as Data, Cloud, Application Providers, Voice, SMS Messaging , Mobile, OTT/ Content Providers. Amongst them members such as Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica or Twilio. While networking with peers and exploring new business opportunities they are discussing latest market trends at the executive panel sessions and showcasing their latest product launches.

Enjoy the Panel here:

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Panel Inisights: “It’s all about trying new ideas, test them, start with small business units or innovation labs, build prototypes and only implement full products when they add value to your business”

In general all participants agreed that we are experiencing a huge shift in thinking because of the pandemic. The whole world is facing this new challenge, and it’s not just influencing our own individual behaviour, but at a higher level everything from corporate decisions to the economy and our whole society. It looks like the crisis has helped us become more flexible and open to new technologies. If there is anything positive about this situation we can say that it has sped up digitalization more than any political dialog ever could.

In that aspect technical service provider or Telcos are quite lucky since Messaging or AI Services are still very much requested and brand customers are still looking for services that help them save costs, improve processes or increase efficiency.

Messaging

One of the biggest recent trends has been the boom in messaging and chat applications. Many people already prefer to use chat instead of email or talking on the phone. One of the reasons is that it’s a natural form of communication and it works seamlessly on your mobile platform. Customers already expect 24/7h services across their preferred channels but at least most German companies still rely very much on telephone and email. Germans trust in methods that work and have prooved reliable in the past. This kind of security thinking keeps them away from building new products or services and run the risk of failure. To combine security thinking with latest innovative technologies,  Julia Lehmann and Tomas Boele from Twilio agree on the concept of “testing” in the sense of trying new ideas, start with small  prototypes in innovation labs and only implement full products when they add value to your business. “Don’t be afraid of failing. But fail fast, learn from it and improve the process – only people that don’t try will never fail”

Regarding the question about choosing the right technology both suggest to identify the problem first and then select the technology. “The truth is, no-one uses tech for the sake of tech. Each device or application is the means to an end, to resolve a specific problem or need. Start with the problem and you will find the right solution”

 Customer Experience matters

Companies that want to stay competitive have to become more people-centric and put the customer at the center of their data strategy. Especially in Telecommunications where customer service is key. Being a one-stop chatbot solution provider Julia from Onfore recommends every telco or wholesale messaging company to handle potential business opportunities through chatbot solutions.  Not just because the ROI for Chatbot solutions in customer care is extremely high – In a similar project they have been able to save 68% of service costs – but because automation can enhance business messaging with latest technologies and provide a more innovative product offering. In that aspect it may also be interesting for aggregators to investigate upcomining business opportunities with Rich Communication Services (RCS)

All Carrier Community Webinars and TV interview can be found here:

The participants regarding the topic:

Thomas Boele: Director Solution Engineering Twilio

As Director Solutions Engineering, Thomas Boele is responsible for all activities covering pre-sales and solutions engineering in conjunction with the development and implementation of customer projects in the area of digital communications and customer engagement for Twilio in Europe and the Middle East and Africa. With more than 30 years of experience in technical development and digital transformation, both on the hardware and software side, Thomas Boele is a proven expert in strategic consulting for the implementation of successful IT projects and building high-performing solutions engineering teams.

Julia Lehmann: Founder OnFore

Julia Lehmann is a pioneer of Digital Transformation and has executed more than 100 digital projects across many industries over the past ten years. She has participated in and managed projects with leading brands, including DAX 30 companies. Since 2019 Julia is also a lecturer for Digital Marketing & Management (MBA) at the University for Applied Sciences in Nürtingen.

Sander Barens: Chief Commercial Officer Expero

After joining Expereo 11 years ago and setting up the first international Expereo office in Singapore back in 2008, Sander now works out of the HQ in Amsterdam as the Chief Commercial Officer. His team is spread out globally across 5 offices. Before joining Expereo Sander worked out of Australia for BT Global Services and Infonet Services Corp. His telecom career started in 1997 with Unisource Business Services and AT&T Unisource in Europe. Nice to know fact: before Sander went into telecom he was a helicopter pilot.

Artur Ostrowski: Chief Commercial Officer Enxoo

Artur has many years of general management and sales experience in an international environment predominantly within the telecommunications industry. Prior to joining Enxoo, Artur worked at T-mobile as a Chief Commercial Officer responsible for the B2B market in Poland, and before that, held different positions at GTS Central Europe.

Birgit Schönborn: CEO at Beginit

Mrs. Schönborn studied Computer Science at the Berlin Technical University and worked as a businesswoman since being a student. She founded and raised an IT-Consulting Company in 1994, a town-planning and smart city company in 1999 and an innovation and digital transformation consultancy in 2012.

After working with the newest technology trends for over 25 years, now Mrs. Schönborns focus is on empowering the digital readiness. She works as a consultant for the Management to find new Business Models and empower the employees for the change process. She leads towards a new vision, sets up the Digital Office and she is one of the few experts that train the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) in leading the digital transformation. Mrs Schoönborn loves to think different, out-of-the-box, unconventional and lateral to find new insights and solutions for processes and the way people collaborate. easily, agile and successful.