< Previous20 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 BUSINESS | DIAMONDS IGHT NOW, WHEN, WHERE AND HOW people do their jobs is undergoing the biggest change in history. The line is blurring between which tools are used at work and at home. Workers are accustomed to rich features and functionality on their personal devices and expect the same to perform their work no matter where they are. In today’s digital world, it’s no longer a matter of ‘good enough’. In order to achieve business success and more importantly, attract and retain talent, organisations must create a R BUSINESS | DELL better work experience because today’s workers are savvy and have higher expectations around their experiences than even just three years ago. The fact is, everyone wants to work the way they want, without restrictions, collaborating and communicating with colleagues in a natural, seamless way. Emerging tech today is not only creating new possibilities for how people and jobs find each other more seamlessly, they are also enabling new ways of working together. So, as work becomes less of a place you go, and more of a task you perform, employees expect to be able to work whenever they want, wherever they want. But are organisations truly ready to evolve the traditional nine-to-five desk job to meet the needs and expectations of both the business and their employees? In the next year, businesses will need to strike a balance between empowering employees to work virtual through advanced technology solutions and retaining a workplace environment that allows their employees to work onsite in the office while maintaining company culture and productivity.M AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 21 The transformation into a digital workplace that meets worker expectations does not come about easily. Older enterprises are set in their top-down approach to IT services, wherein enterprise product investment by the IT department has resulted in an environment in which only vetted and approved corporate applications can be used. As you can imagine, this approach falls flat with today’s workforce, who have a strong understanding of what technology can do for them and are at ease using communications and collaboration tools even in their personal lives. In today’s workplace, IT departments can barely keep up with the constant demands for personalisation and easy-to-use solutions, alongside the demands of employees to integrate their work and personal devices and applications. The unrelenting pace of digital and workforce transformation creates new challenges consistently and yet also presents huge opportunities for companies to get things right. So, what can you do to create that workplace edge? Give people the power to succeed and something incredible happens. They succeed. IT departments understand that an employee’s productivity is closely tied to the technology used by that worker and it is extremely important that each employee have the IT tools best suited to the work they are doing. Therefore, having a modern and digitally enabled workforce is made possible when silos are eliminated, and operations are simplified through end-to- end, integrated infrastructure from the edge-to-the-core-to-the-cloud. According to the Dell Technologies Realising 2030, Future of Work Study, 54 percent of business leaders believe companies should equip employees with latest personal tech solutions and tools.* From creating hyper-tailored experiences for everyone with the right apps, data, services and devices to enabling office, remote, home and on-the-go collaboration and easy communications with total security, an organisation’s technology choices are key to making modern workers more productive and their business more competitive. Digital technology should be accompanied by a true digital mindset amongst business leaders To define digital transformation as simply ‘the application of digital technology to impact all aspects of business’ is to diminish its true meaning. It also involves a change in how technology led innovation and adoption is perceived. Innovation has to tie-in to the vision of the organisation. We live in an era of disruption – of sectors, of products and of ways of life. Innovation in response to disruption can severely test this commitment, and this is a responsibility that the leadership shoulders, considering their greater custodianship of the organisation’s objectives. This directly links back to improved business outcomes. Building this transformation readiness is at the core of building a digital culture, requiring new ways of working across leadership policies, role definitions, and people processes. Engaging everyone in the business in learning, experiencing and enjoying exposure to new digital tools is the other half of the digital culture strategy. Looking ahead: defining the future of work in the next decade must begin now Ten years out, organisations that successfully achieve digital workplace transformations will be at an advantage over businesses struggling with legacy systems, massive amounts of data and workforces unprepared for change. Some companies will run the race quicker than others, which could widen the gap between businesses that are future- ready and able to benefit from emerging technologies, and those that are not. But one thing is for certain: the steps organisations take today – including modernising infrastructure, inspiring employees and deploying next-generation technology infrastructure – will lay the groundwork for their digital-future and help to bring to fruition the next wave of technology led, human progress. TECHNOLOGY IS RESHAPING THE WAY WE WORK TODAY AND INTO THE NEXT DECADE, WRITES MOHAMMED AMIN, SR. VICE- PRESIDENT, MERAT, DELL TECHNOLOGIES22 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 THE FUTURE OF TELCOS IN A POST COVID-19 WORLD BUSINESS | VIRGIN MOBILE 22 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020M AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 23M AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 2324 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 Erik Dudman Nielsen, Group CEO, Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa ITH THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC pushing the world to adopt new norms in conducting business as well as providing services, the telecommunications sector too has had to redesign its ways. While telcos have historically been more resilient to economic uncertainties, the current pandemic is unprecedented in the affect it is having on consumer behaviours, as the world looks more and more to digital solutions, reshaping consumer demand at a rapid pace. The future of the telcommunications industry is about being current to the needs of consumers, and those needs are – and will be ever-more increasingly – digital, as consumers become more and more used to doing things digitally. Yes, this will mean a shift towards data over W voice as the way in which we communicate evolves, but more intrinsically for telcos will be the changes in the expectations of consumers for more innovative digital propositions, and demand for outstanding customer experience, that will be the new driving force behind telecoms, both globally and in the region. The innovation moguls such as facebook and Google have been very successful in providing consumers with omni-purpose and app-based user experiences at a much lower operating cost – a challenge towards traditional telco companies. While this can seem daunting, it is indeed an exciting challenge for telco service providers in the region to rise to, as advanced digitalisation also provides a strong opportunity for mobile operators to innovate their strategy and develop new and unique offerings that can improve customer journey. BUSINESS | VIRGIN MOBILE Customer-centric Virgin Mobile’s brand promise is rooted in understanding customer’s needsM AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 25 The GCC region has some of the top countries in the world for digital adoption, with more than 100 percent smartphone penetration and more than 70 percent social media adoption – even higher than the United States – so there is a definite demand for more digital propositions in the region, which is only increasing as the global pandemic continues. Exciting digital experiences, and consumers’ desire for always on, on-demand services have instigated telecommunications operators to become digitally agile and responsive. In order to keep up in this experience economy, telcos must now create compelling digital propositions that meet customer needs by simplifying and improving the experience and relationship that customers have with their brand. Virgin Mobile’s brand promise, for example, is rooted in understanding customer’s needs and therefore providing a service experience that suits their evolving requirements, is tailored to customer needs, and is continuously evolving to drive quality of service. Not only can this reduce the cost to serve, but it will also delight customers and uplift the customer experience – ultimately driving top line growth and higher retention. As we try to navigate our way through the unprecedented impact of this global crisis, telcos will have to continuously explore the capability of digitalisation as consumers become accustomed to doing things digitally. With stores closed across the globe, consumers have adapted to a digital approach when it comes to payments and customer service. For example, one of the key USPs for Virgin Mobile is our unique home delivery service, whereby customers can order their SIM to be delivered directly to their door. Here in the UAE, SIM activations through home deliveries now represent 85 percent of the total activations across all channels and we are rolling out more e-commerce and delivery options at a rapid pace to meet this demand. The increasing rollout of eSIM functionality will provide even further opportunities for telcos, enabling 100 percent digital end-to-end sign-up, whereby a customer can set their plan, verify their identity remotely and have their service activated all at the touch of button, from wherever they are, whenever they want. Virgin Mobile has already started the roll-out of such a proposition in KSA and UAE, and, as eSIM becomes more widely available in the region, we expect this 100 percent digital proposition will become standard practice for mobile brands. Another major change we have experienced is the shifting attitude towards digital payments. Cash has traditionally reigned supreme in the Middle East, with a wide proportion of the Middle East audience very averse to credit card payments. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has turned this on its head, and we are now seeing such a rapid increase in demand for electronic credit card payments, that we have invested heavily in more digital payment gateways and partnerships – such as our partnership with Apple Pay in the UAE to set up the first recurring payment option in the region. Digital customer service and self-service are also becoming increasingly important, as consumers that have never engaged with a chatbot increasingly start to interact with brands and organisations through their OTT communications services and social media apps. At Virgin Mobile, we have been operating a work-from-home policy for the vast majority of our customer service team, managing all customer care functions via in-app chat or VoIP call, and we expect this trend to continue long after the current restrictions are lifted across the Middle East, as customers realise the ease of these services and begin to place more trust in them. While the outlook of telco industry remains positive amidst the pandemic, 2020 will be a true turning point for the telco industry as it chooses to seize the unlimited opportunities presented by the shift towards digitalisation. The shift in consumer behaviour towards ever-increasingly digital services is unlikely to be undone post Covid-19. Going forward, a critical success factor for mobile operators will be in identifying the extent of their role. Breaking away from the traditional wholesale model, mobile operators should now take charge as digital navigators moving to an agile digital business model which puts the customer at the centre of everything they do, embracing the new digital world. Digitalising the world Telcos must create compelling digital propositions that meet customer needs26 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 BUSINESS | THALES DATA SECURITY IS IN THE HANDS OF THE C-SUITE HE DRASTIC CHANGES WE’RE experiencing in our personal and professional lives would have been impossible to imagine just a year ago. Today, our new reality demands these questions are asked and answered by C-suite executives who must be certain about data security in these extraordinary times. Almost overnight, The Covid-19 crisis has created a need for employees to work remotely. As a result, companies around the globe are doing everything they can to maintain a “business as usual” pace so there is minimal disruption, even if it means relaxing security processes and quickly adopting new tools that may create new risks. However, fact of the matter remains that having a presence on the internet opens us up to risk such as hackers, disruptors and insider threats, and companies of all sizes, from the largest public enterprise to the smallest private firm, are all susceptible to cyberattacks. Before the Covid-19 crisis, IT professionals generally operated in two worlds: on-premise and in the cloud. The staff they support were typically also physically onsite – ostensibly more secure. But in the short span of a few weeks, IT departments are suddenly responsible for protecting more sensitive data emanating from living rooms and kitchens over unknown routers, various wi-fi connections and personal computers, making security even more difficult to ensure. Those two IT worlds are now but one: cloud. And because most business is now being done in the cloud, protecting data there is the top concern. Fortunately, we’re seeing evidence that more C-suite decision-makers are getting even more actively involved, and as the variety and severity of risks evolve, here are three critical questions that must be asked in the boardroom right now: 1. Are we protecting our data with end-to-end encryption and effective key management? According to the 2020 Thales Data Threat Report-Global Edition, half of all corporate data is now stored in cloud environments, and 48 percent of that data is considered sensitive. As a result, encryption is critical for protecting data in motion and at rest. Attackers can “eavesdrop” on unencrypted data travelling over a network, not only impacting privacy but also opening the potential to modify or substitute data to stage more sophisticated attacks. To truly protect data, especially in today’s multi-cloud environment, all data must T NEIL MCELHINNEY, HEAD OF CRITICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND CYBER SECURITY AT THALES MIDDLE EAST, BELIEVES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SECURING DATA AND MINIMISING CYBER THREATS IN GLOBAL BUSINESSM AY 2020 CEO MIDDLE E A ST 27 3. Can we meet all compliance requirements and maintain best practices during a rapidly evolving crisis? Amidst existing cyberthreats and new security issues brought on by increased remote working, an increasingly complex regulatory environment brings its own risks to businesses. As the report showed, 47 percent of organisations experienced a breach or failed a compliance audit in the past year, making the case for encryption and access controls stronger than ever – especially because non-compliance can immediately impact a business. Partnering with a data security vendor can help businesses with scalability, flexibility, and the efficiency needed to address expanding encryption and compliance requirements, while reducing cost and complexity. be encrypted and control over encryption keys must be well organised and strong. 2. Do we have control over who is accessing our data? Authentication and access management is extremely important as more people work from home and use cloud applications that make them a target for cyberattacks. The report shows that cloud applications are listed in the top three reasons an organisation might be attacked, just behind unprotected infrastructure such as IoT devices and web portals. We also know that the majority of IT leaders (95 percent) believe ineffective cloud access management is still a concern for their organisation. Without effective access management tools in place, organisations face a higher risk of breaches and incur extra costs from poorly optimised cloud. The ability to work from anywhere is more important than ever In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, constant access to information and services is essential for communication and getting business done whether you’re in sales, finance, marketing or the legal profession. This is especially true when we face global incidents like the pandemic, which has undoubtedly forced us to rethink how we work. It’s important to ensure employees can not only collaborate, and that they can access corporate applications and information remotely in the same, secure way as if they were in the office. Thorough planning by the C-Suite can help organisations to minimise the potential impact of cyber threats, protect sensitive data, and allow business continuity. 28 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO FORM HABITS TO FORM HABITS THAT STICK?THAT STICK? S THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 UNFOLDS, longer-term changes in behaviour and impacts on sectors from tourism to technology are attracting critical attention. Many attempts at projecting the longer-term impacts of the pandemic depend on the extent to which changes in consumer behaviour patterns turn out to be permanent once the lockdowns start to lift. Historically, crises have led to historic social change. After the 29th century’s world wars, universal health services were put in place (though not by the US), women earned the right to vote in many democracies (though not in Switzerland) and joined A THE CONSENSUS, ACCORDING TO RESEARCH FROM PSYCHOLOGY, IS THAT IT TAKES AROUND TWO MONTHS FOR A HABIT TO FORM. LOMBARD ODIER’S CIO, STÉPHANE MONIER, PREDICTS SOME OF THE LONGER-TERM EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC BUSINESS | LOMBARD ODIER the workforce in large numbers. After the terrorist attacks of 2001, we adjusted to airport security restrictions and the financial crisis of 2008 exacerbated inequalities, triggering a widespread rise in political nationalism and xenophobia. This time, we can envision broad changes in connectivity technologies, globalisation, geopolitics and sustainability. Technological dependents Our dependence on technology has been obvious in the last few weeks. Online e-commerce has increased, putting demands on logistics and postal and courier services work to maintain deliveries while demand for remote medical appointments, or telemedicine services, has surged. Sales of personal computers, monitors and printers have increased as we adapt to working from home and children learned to school themselves since confinement. The demand for ever-greater network capacity may continue to provide 5G mobile networks with a boost, especially considering the prospect of fiscal stimulus targeting connectivity. Digital sharing platforms, as well as potential implications for the value of commercial real estate, will all evolve as we adjust expectations of our living and working spaces both inside and outside the home. The growth of remote working also exposed online security vulnerabilities. Zoom saw subscribers increase 20-fold in the first weeks of confinement in Europe – only for many firms to ban employee use on security grounds a few weeks later. There will be handwringing about the failure of many governments to act sooner in response to the pandemic. Much of the world has not, for example, been able to follow the World Health Organisation’s “simple message for all countries: test, test, test” from March 16. Nor has every government been able to provide the protective equipment, including gloves and face masks that were the first line defences for health workers. Let alone the more sophisticated feedback from behavioural monitoring tools. Technology will certainly be part of the response, in the form of mass medical testing and population monitoring. While problematic from the point of view of civil liberties, it is certain to become more common. New tracking technologies are already deploying in China and being studied in Europe with the backing of Google and Apple. The pandemic is likely to act as a catalyst, accelerating existing trends in e-commerce, logistics and cyber security, as well as underlining the fragility of others. De-globalisation Globalisation has been intensifying since the second world war. But the liberalisation of trade in goods and services, facilitated and policed by World Trade Organisation M AY 2020 CEO MIDDLE E A ST 29 agreements and China’s accession, has been challenged since the 2008/2009 great financial crisis. The greatest threat to a coordinated response to the current crisis is the collapsing political trust in the multilateral system, sparked by rising inequalities and exploited by populist politicians. The latest example is the US decision to withdraw funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO). That matters because governments are in the economic driving seat, taking over where much of the private sector services has come to a standstill. This makes sense because governments can get paid to borrow and provide fiscal and monetary stimulus. In 2019, the economic focus was on the reaction of manufacturing to the difficulties of coping with the US/China trade dispute. Now, we expect to see the production of critical items, previously taken for granted, re-centered at national levels. Medical face mask production, to take an obvious example, is centered in Asia. France has only four sites capable of manufacturing surgical grade face masks. Furthermore, the issues of international cooperation and competition are neatly captured by the commercial haggling over face mask supplies. US President Trump, invoking his ‘America First’ policy, blocked the shipment of face masks from 3M to Canada. Other industries may look to cut their dependence on low cost manufacturing in Asia and China, insourcing production and sourcing new supply chain solutions. Another example may be low value- added chemical components, suddenly deemed essential because they are the raw ingredients of basic off-patent drugs. We may see the same trend in food sourcing as we adjust to changing supply levels and face up to the fragility of our existing supply networks, reliant on “just-in- time delivery” that has contributed to a decrease in levels of stocks held in reserve. The automation of industrial processes, warehousing and solving logistics bottlenecks will all undoubtedly accelerate to cope with the new urgencies and are likely to remain a priority for businesses long after the pandemic. Travel is an obvious short-term casualty and raises questions about how quickly it will recover once movement restrictions begin to lift. We may see more corporate travel restrictions and a prolonged impact on leisure travel, in particular long-distance travel. That is likely to combine with travellers’ growing environmental sensitivities, and may generate some shift from air to rail travel. In the short run, any lasting change in business and leisure travellers’ behaviour may prolong the pressure on oil prices, despite the recent OPEC/Russia deal, depressing oil prices still further since aviation fuel accounts for 7 percent of global demand. A new geopolitical axis? Given the very different experiences of managing the pandemic and controlling its narrative in China and the US, will historians look back at this period as a tipping point in the geopolitical balance of power between the US and China? That comes as some liberal Western democracies look especially weakened by populist leaders and questions over foreign election interference, and the US prepares for another presidential vote in November 2020. Finally, the solidity of the European Union’s cohesion is under more scrutiny. The time taken to agree a common response to the pandemic across the eurozone, which remains rather limited in comparison with the scale of emergency spending on offer in Asia, did little to reinforce federalists’ arguments. After stumbling to a compromise and side- lining the idea of corona bonds, the eventual result may prove effective with the additional firepower of the European Central Bank. In emerging markets, the impact of lower oil prices will probably generate a number of very different growth paths, stress-testing oil producers’ economic vulnerabilities and helping recovery in oil-importing countries, such as India and China. Sustainability in a time of Covid-19 Will world leaders still see climate change as a priority with their economies in recession or recovering? The United Nations’ climate change conference, scheduled for November, is postponed into 2021. From a climate science point of view, the current crisis is going to offer researchers an unparalleled opportunity to study the impact of human behaviour on the environment. There is a chance to learn what happens to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere when the world returns to 1950s levels of international transportation. Will commitments to reduce greenhouse gases be weakened? Or will the experience of lower levels of pollution spur more action? As residents of many cities have been enjoying cleaner air under lockdowns, public tolerance for a return to business- as-usual is likely to be diminished, along with increased recognition of the impact of air pollution on public health. Research is now linking exposure to pollution with the spread and mortality rate of Covid-19, through the effect of air pollution on the body’s immune response and on underlying health conditions. A review of the causes and contributing factors of the crisis may reinvigorate efforts to tighten emission controls, especially in transport. In addition, fiscal stimulus packages may provide a boost to green infrastructure. An increase in the availability of low-cost loans and capital will make investments in energy efficiency and renewable technologies more attractive, both of which require an upfront capital outlay but offer a positive economic return. From a business sustainability point of view, the pandemic is highlighting weaknesses in infrastructure and the need for more investment. The sustainability of numerous businesses will be scrutinised in new ways, and offer opportunities for the most nimble standouts, including tech sector firms. Overall, we are watching China and Asia’s economic re-start carefully, not just from the point of view of experience of the virus, but with an eye on the evolution of consumer preferences, focus and possible opportunities. An accumulation of social and political changes, consumption habits and technological demands are coming, if only because we will expect, personally, nationally and globally, to be better prepared for any repeat experience. Next >