Business transformation is an opportunity for every company

There is a study by the well-known research bureau Gartner that is highly significant for Stéphane Beauduin. "Years ago, Gartner put the question on the table. They asked how many processes in an organisation are supported by IT. CIOs always think that they follow-up the vast majority of processes," says Beauduin. "But nothing could be further from the truth. For the most part, an IT department handles just 50 to 60 per cent of a company’s processes. This is a vitally important realisation. It means of course that most companies, and their CIOs, have a blind spot covering 40 per cent of their processes."    

What is the impact of mobility in this story?

"Mobility offers an answer. The reason not to subject certain processes to IT was a sort of mobilisation obstacle that was in the way. There were a lot of processes that were outsourced. The problem was solved by mobile devices and communication."

"On the other hand, there are also a lot of processes in which machines participate that have never been integrated by IT. In the past, no one knew how to link a production machine or a delivery truck to the company network. But as its second point, Gartner says: connect those machines. So in summary, the automation of processes offers big opportunities in mobility, and more particularly, in connecting people and machines. The goal is to allow for structural new business opportunities as a result."

Can you give an example of such an automated process?

‘"’ll give the example of the mobilisation of the process from marketing to sales. It’s something that we apply at Orange using an application called Showpad. At first, it looks like a relatively banal application, allowing salespeople to share information and documents from marketers via tablets. Something like this hardly appears to be revolutionary. But the reality is completely different. You create a platform by which your marketing department knows exactly which sections of the information are being shared with which type of clients–at any moment of the day. It’s as if the so-called web-analytics from the Internet world was applied to the world of sales, but then done immediately on-site with the client."

"The second point is that it also allows sales people to give feedback to the source of the marketing department. People will know what does and doesn’t work more quickly than ever before. It’s all thanks to a simple application in the cloud, which barely requires any training or integration. In our case, it took just five days to be operational. On the process level, Showpad has ensured that we are get along with our clients more efficiently and more professionally."

Do you also see mobility playing a role in business transformation?

"Business transformation has been around for years. But business transformation linked to mobility is an unbelievable opportunity for companies. It’s a game-changer. For example, a manufacturer and installer of kitchen range hoods can perform all the necessary measurements, registrations and orders while still standing in the client’s kitchen."

"The importance here lies in a more efficient and professional relationship with our clients. It is about information that you can use from where you are that can make your processes more efficient or client-friendly. The context is, for example, a particular location–where is your machine or vehicle?–or situation–for example, the usage of a drink vending machine, being accessed by remote. But in the coming years, the sensors that can be registered by remote will really boom in the market. You’ll be able to truly enrich existing processes by making use of this context."

“ The importance of mobility
is also based on context.”

Can you give a concrete example of this?

"An example of a company that has applied information for the context is Nespresso. We all know Nespresso from use at home, but this company is also present on the professional catering market. The Nespresso machines are based on pads or capsules that offer a wide choice of different sorts of coffee. As it is, clients are happy with it. But you need to know that you have everything in stock. You can’t disappoint clients. To reach this level of efficiency, they have made it possible for the Nespresso machines to communicate. In every device used in the catering industry, there’s a  SIM card from Orange that constantly follows up on usage."

Apart from inventory issues, what further benefits could result from connected machine like this?

"The advantage is that you can support it with a sort of automatic planning in terms of stock, as well as repairs. On a lot of occasions there might be just one Nespresso machine. If this machine breaks down, there’s a real problem. But when people can follow up on the technical state of the machine from a distance, and perform precautionary maintenance when necessary, it will reduce the chances of genuine problems arising. Proactive maintenance is something that is becoming extremely important in the service sector. You don’t send a technician across to repair something, but to ensure that it won’t break down. You can only do this if you have connectivity."

What role does Orange play in the story of business transformation?

"We are going to inspire the client with an ecosystem of partners who think along the same lines as us on a strategic level. With these partners, we share the ‘mobile first’ DNA and the passion to give companies the flexibility needed to join this new world of innovation. Secondly, the client obviously needs to be ready with the right connectivity and devices to support these applications of people and machines. Thirdly, there is also a question in the management and security of all these mobile devices, the so-called Mobile Device Management. These three components form our offer based on what we, with Orange, can do to serve our clients."