Breaking down silos with big data and analytics at Celcom Axiata Berhad
Breaking down silos with big data and analytics at Celcom Axiata Berhad
Sunny Nirala, Big Data Programme Manager, Celcom Axiata Berhad, and finalist for TM Forum's 'Future Digital Leader' Excellence Award 2019, explains his role in orchestrating and implementing a robust platform to support all of Celcom's reporting and analytics requirements How would you describe your organization's drive towards enterprise-wide digital transformation? Celcom’s drive embodies being able to deliver excellence in experience for all participants in its value chain. This includes being able to bring disparate parts of the organization and its eco-system together, in a digitally-led world. In order to achieve this, big data and data analytics sits at the heart of the way the business is driven - being able to understand what has happened in the past and the future effects of it, as well as the actions that are required. What has your role been in helping to deliver on these outcomes? As Celcom’s Big Data and Analytics Programme Manager, my role was to build a new platform from the ground up; something which would be robust enough to support all of Celcom’s current and future reporting and analytics requirements, as well as something that was capable of IoT, machine learning and deep learning in the IR4.0 era. To enable this, a profound change was required in the way people, processes and technology interrelatedly operated. What new technologies or IT systems have you put in place which have impacted a change in working and operational practices? An enterprise-wide data lake now means that anyone, in any area of the business, at any time, can access the same data and the same business rules, subject to the various data governance and security controls. This affects the entire way of working, for example, analytics and data science teams are now able to develop predictive models based on a wider set of data, thus leading to increased accuracy and efficiency. In addition to this, other parts of the business use the data lake for descriptive analytics through self-service analytics. The magic here is that everyone gets to access the same data sets. How does TM Forum help you to achieve your digital transformation objectives? TM Forum provides a platform where all telecom operators across the globe can collaborate and bring a versatile set of parameters to the table, to push the boundaries of current thinking. This way of thinking helps to evolve the way we carry out our day to day lives, and ultimately helps to achieve paradigm shifts in the way we operate. In order to facilitate these shifts, TM Forum’s Information Framework (SID) and the various maturity assessments have been invaluable. Max Planck, the theoretical physicist said it well: “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Digital transformation is not just about changing processes and technology; it also involves a shift in organizational culture. How is your teamwork changing and what's your role as a team leader? It is true that processes and technology do not bring about the shift required in businesses today, however it is the thinking on which they base themselves. The culture which ensues beyond the implementation of various processes and technologies is of paramount importance. This means bringing together different parts of an organisation to achieve a single vision and importantly, ensuring the changes last. Through the implementation of the data lake, teams across the organisation that had previously operated in silos were required to bring their individual sets of problems to the table to define a way forward. As the team lead, I saw my role as pivotal in bringing everything together. It was important that I understood the professional, operational, environmental and cultural dynamics to build a future that would impact the principle modus operandi as well as the results that would be seen from it. Leadership is clearly paramount, but what makes a good digital leader? A good digital leader is one that knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. Digital leadership is about being passionate about the things that matter, and setting a clear vision with integrity, honesty and humility. It is about developing the skillsets required across the organisation to operate in an ever-evolving digital world. Digital leaders operate in an environment where everything is subject to change, where new technological advancements are happening exponentially and where tomorrow’s world dawns upon us today. The digital leader must be able to navigate through an ever more connected world. In terms of the wider societal impact of digitization, what are you looking forward to over the next decade? Over the next decade I look forward to the continual evolution of new technologies, and technologies that do not exist today, which will enable the physical world and digital world to inch closer and closer together. The way in which we carry out our day to day lives will continue to be transformed, as will the structure of how society lives and operates. The modus operandi will continue to be challenged and paradigms will evolve faster. The impact to society will require people to look beyond physical boundaries, and instead focus on evolving levels of thinking that bring the physical and digital worlds closer together. In terms of the wider societal impact of digitization, what concerns you? There are many factors that digitization will have, to the continued transformation of society at large, including the further penetration into our current ways of thinking and operating. Society will continue to evolve and will take along with it those that are able to adapt to the social, legal, economic, political and technological changes that are likely to take place. Ultimately at the heart of all of the change, will be the requirement to ensure that a continued learning approach is embodied. To meet more Excellence Awards 2019 Outstanding Achievement finalists and read about their transformation journeys, go to https://www.tmforum.org/about-tm-forum/awards-and-recognition/excellence-awards/finalists/#tab3