Reimagining the digital future

du is one of the most innovative companies in the region, but a digital leader is always looking at ways to reinvent themselves. CNME Editor Mark Forker spoke to du executives Martin Tarr, Chief ICT Officer, Mohamed Al Qubaisi, Head of Products, Solutions and Digital Services, Khaled Al Mazrouei, Head of Sales and Business Development, and Marwan Bindalmook, Head of Service Management and Delivery, to learn more about the company’s phenomenal transformation over the last 12 months.   

Martin Tarr – Chief ICT Officer, du 

Can you outline to our readers what direction the du ICT division is taking under your leadership – and what your strategy is for the next 12 months?  

We have been transforming the du ICT division over the last 12 months in our efforts to make the entity a more purpose driven, customer-centric, and performance-focused organisation.

Part of that transformation has inevitably led to an evolution of our product portfolio. We have evolved our product offerings to support our customers’ digital journeys by providing them with end-to-end solutions and services.

Some of these solutions and services include 5G connectivity, hybrid multi-cloud, our state-of-the-art datacentres, and cybersecurity infused with next generation SOC, IoT for Industry 4.0, plus the transformation of our clients’ business applications.

I think that it’s important to emphasize that the integration and deployment of these technologies are really driving business outcomes.

As you would expect with any large-scale transformation project, we have also established new best practices.

We have done this through the creation of a new digital advisory, and digital automation factory practice that will deliver a secure, flexible app development and automation capability (devsecOps) to our customers.

This will ensure that they become agile, and capable of responding to rapid business and technological changes. If we learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, then it was the importance of being agile.

In relation to Industry 4.0 we have also created a new practice, and as a direct result of that du is on precipice of accelerating Industrial IoT (IIoT) adoption for manufacturing and other industries in the UAE.

By leveraging our in-house best-of-breed 5G capability, we are designing and innovating use cases that take advantage of this technology to transform client organisations.

The purpose of introducing industry 4.0 technologies such as IoT in manufacturing is to drive digital transformation of production facilities and operations.

Deploying and integrating Industrial IoT technologies and solutions is aimed at revolutionising the way companies manufacture, enhance, and distribute their products.

Finally, talent retention and acquisition are a major problem for many companies, but again as part of our transformation, we have added new skills, and hired top-class ICT personnel to bring the best of du to our clients.

We all appreciate the importance of collaboration in our new digital economy, and over the next 12 months we will be looking at strengthening our alliances, and key relationships with global and local partners to help deliver economic and social benefits to the UAE.  

We have witnessed a tsunami of digital transformation across the Middle East region over the last few years, but it has become evident that many businesses are struggling to meet the demands of digital transformation. How has du leveraged its knowledge and expertise as a leader in ICT to help their customers achieve their DX goals and objectives?  

As businesses today are shifting the way they operate in the digital economy, they will need to further innovate by harnessing technologies that drive exceptional customer experiences, operational excellence, and data monetisation.

To achieve that then it is imperative that they embrace disruptive technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

We view challenges as opportunities to support enterprises’ innovation end-to-end, from digital infrastructure and cybersecurity, through to innovative customer experiences and operations.

The key challenges we address include barriers to delivering customer service excellence and optimising operations across industry verticals.

In addition to this, du continues to transform services in the public sector, such as cloud migration and the increased adoption of technologies such as Blockchain and 5G.

du is focusing on networking the ICT services of the future, by supporting and implementing smart city infrastructure, facilitate visualisation and optimisation, as well as solidifying its commitment to the betterment of UAE business communities.

Throughout, du sets on utilising industry partnerships to spearhead innovation that will drive industry success for stakeholders and partners.

You are regarded by many within the industry as a thought leader in the ICT sector. However, can you tell us more about your leadership style – and in an industry that is constantly evolving, what sort of leadership skills do you need to have to drive future innovation and change in the digital economy?  

A quote on leadership that has always resonated with me is from Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, “Leadership is all about — creating clarity, generating energy, and driving success”

For me, it all starts with establishing a clear direction and vision for the business. Once that has been established you need to foster a culture of innovation and cross collaboration, because culture is critical.

It is also so important that you attract the best ICT talent and invest in upskilling your current employees.

I think the best way to attract top talent, and motivate existing employees to do better, is to focus on the holistic wellbeing of your employees to make sure they are all happy and healthy, and again I think this all falls under the category of ‘culture’.

I think courage is also so important in business, you need to be courageous to take on a big challenge, to do what no one else will, to question the status quo, confront a difficult situation, and to never ever give up.

In addition to this, I think curiosity is a great trait, you need to question what’s possible.

Finally, it’s all about creativity, we need that creativity to solve the most complex problems in today’s ever evolving digital world, and that is something du has in abundance.

Mohamed Al Qubaisi – Head of Products, Solutions and Digital Services, du

Can you tell us about some of the new products that du ICT will be showcasing at GITEX 2022? 

We’re very excited to showcase what we imagine the future is going to look like. As one of the examples at GITEX 2022, we will be demonstrating some use-cases that we have established with the government on the Metaverse.

We’re really excited about our partnership with local government authorities. We are going to combine and blend our knowledge and expertise to fully reimagine government services across the UAE, which are completely focused on delivering better experiences.

What sort of impact do you believe these new Metaverse use-cases will have in the marketplace?

Everybody quite naturally is focused on data and trying to find new ways to extract value from data to make better business decisions.

Our idea is to infuse the concept of blockchain, and the Metaverse to deliver an enriched experience for those accessing government services, whether that’s an investor, or someone looking for healthcare, or transportation services, and so on.

However, the question becomes how can the Metaverse and this new digital world powered by blockchain transform that process into a very simply, easy customer, or citizen experience?

Our objective is to evolve the journey for entrepreneurs accessing government services to make decisions based on data.

Through the deployment of digital twin scenarios, and simulations, we can use all that data to give that investor a better decision point on where he is going to open his business, and how his business is going to perform by analysing all the data that we currently sit on.

What we want to do is utilise the wealth of data we have at our disposal, and then present that visualisation to the investor in a unique way, which is in a digital world, rather than a physical kiosk or counter.

We want to really transform that experience for the investor, so they can imagine and see what his business is going to look like in the Metaverse before he even opens it.

Khaled Al Mazrouei – Head of Sales and Business Development, du

Can you outline to our readers the evolution of the New Business & Investment strategy and execution (go-to-market) deployed by du Business – and what key industry verticals have you been focused on? 

My responsibility with du from a sales point of view is to move it from being a product-focused sales organisation to a solution-focused organisation.

Essentially, we are selling industry-focused solutions directly to the healthcare, education, manufacturing and defence and security sectors.

Our objective is to create and deliver digital solutions to solve business issues.

Take for example the healthcare sector, let’s say they have an issue with practitioner’s registering their licenses, that’s a business problem that they have. What we do is bring solutions globally, bundle it with products we have today, such as cloud and cybersecurity, and so on, to give them a holistic digital solution for their business issues.

I don’t go to them with a catalogue and say to them I have cloud and cybersecurity, and this is how much it costs. That is an old, archaic, and outdated approach, the new way of selling is all about delivering digital solutions to help customers overcome their business challenges, not their technical or technology challenges.

We are also moving from territory-focused sales to industry-focused – and that shift has worked very well in terms of best practices in large organisations in Canada and in America, and we expect it to yield excellent results for us as we seek to help our customers overcome their business problems.

There have been some major investments and acquisitions made in relation to the Metaverse, and many analysts have dubbed it the ‘future of the internet. What’s your view on it from a sales perspective? 

Sales organisations have traditionally always been revenue-focused because they have monthly targets to hit. We’re moving away from that mentality to a more market-focused approach.

I believe the market needs the Metaverse, because it represents the future, and we must be prepared for it.

Blockchain was an emerging technology three years ago, and the industries that were not market-focused are now lagging today as a result.

The Metaverse is firmly in our strategy and product roadmap, but we also must look and examine what the business cases are for the Metaverse, because creating a Metaverse just for the sake of it doesn’t work, you have to use it to overcome a business problem.

For example, we’re looking at digital health technologies, where medical universities can leverage the Metaverse to conduct surgical training in other countries, so the medical faculty could be located here in Dubai, but the students can be connected with surgeons in Singapore for instance, and they can collaborate together to see real-life examples of surgeries in real-time.

In summary, we are very focused on the new concept of the Metaverse, and we are working closely with our partners across all the key industry verticals to see how we can bring all the benefits of the Metaverse to life in a bid to solve real business issues.

Marwan Bindalmook – Head of Service Management and Delivery, du  

Can you tell our readers what it that ultimately differentiates du from its market competition? 

I believe there is several key differentiators that distinguishes du from the rest of our competitors. Firstly, we provide a one-stop-shop service for our customers, and we support them in an end-to-end capacity.

We also leverage our expertise and business acumen to really help our customers on their transformation journey. We do this by harnessing our knowledge to empower them to transform their business by migrating their legacy systems into digital infrastructure.

We are a company that has customer-centricity in its DNA, we build, transform and operate – and this is what really makes du such a unique organisation.

We know that we live in a digital economy driven by digital experiences – so it is critical for organisations to deliver first-class customer experience – with that in mind, we have a dedicated service management team who supports clients with contract fulfilment to ensure that all of our customers’ needs are addressed and delivered.

Our job is to really understand our customer’s pain points that are unique to them, we don’t engage in a hit and run when we meet our clients, instead we invest all our energy into supporting what exactly it is that they need to resolve their business issues.

Can you tell our readers more about your du centre of excellence – and the benefits of your managed services portfolio? 

We have a special subgroup within du called the TNT team (transition to transformation), and essentially what they do is assist and help customers in terms of understanding their problems, managing their internal services, and basically helping them on every step of their migration journey.

Once that end-to-end digital transformation journey of transition and transformation is completed, that’s when our Centre of Excellence team comes into the picture to lead technical requirements for the customers, as well as to manage customers’ partners.

Our Centre of excellence is engaged and focused on constructing this new environment – and they make sure that 24/7 monitoring and incident response is always operational.

The Centre of Excellence consists of multiple areas:

First Step: We provide managed services, 24/7 support, and skilled resources that can help any business and infrastructure development.

Second Step: We provide 360-degree support, which allows customers to focus on their core business and accelerate their competitiveness in the market.

Third Step: Our dedicated team is always on hand to ensure that all the technical requirements are met – and the primary objectives of a specific project are delivered according to the contract terms.

Fourth Step: Our team works with C-suite executives to manage key relationships – and the du Business team is proactively engaged with the client on every step of the journey, ensuring customers are satisfied.

In summary, it is our mission to work with our clients to ensure we serve them as best we can, which enables the client to focus on their core business, and they entrust us with the responsibility of resolving their challenges.

As a UAE national company, it is our goal to make sure that our clients have better opportunities to thrive and succeed in the new digital economy.