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Give Employees the Creative Freedom to Fail

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Deutsche Telekom CEO Says 5G Is the Future

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Imagining a New Future for the NHS

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For Online Gaming CIO Eran Elbaz, Teaming Up with Finance Is the Winning Move

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ZIM CIO: “The Business Today is Impatient”

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British Heart Foundation CTO Says Digital Transformation Is 80% Cultural

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Deutsche Telekom’s Dirk Eckert Harnesses Digital Disruption

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International Committee for the Red Cross Reshapes Humanitarian Relief through Digital Transformation

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"Failure" is not usually in most CEO vocabularies, but it’s a comfortable word for Oliver Hepfner. His leadership of Sparkassen-Finanzportal (SFP), the in-house service provider for Germany's Savings Banks Finance Group, is underpinned by a belief that allowing employees to fail drives their creative success.

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Hepfner recognizes that creativity and innovation are imperative for success in the finance industry. Traditional institutions need to keep pace with the digital experience of other industries. For savings banks, this often means modernizing legacy services.
“There are a lot of buzzwords out there. People are talking about blockchain, AI, that kind of stuff. I actually want to go one step back,” Hepfner shares. “We need to do a lot of digitalization and automation, especially in the banking sector. New technology can help us, but it cannot solve our problems.”
<h2>Perfection Does Not Exist</h2>
SFP helps digitize the services offered by Germany’s nearly 380 independent savings banks. It is also responsible for the Sparkassen Group’s marketing and communication services, such as online customer portals.
Under Hepfner’s leadership, SFP constantly develops new applications to enhance the customer journey. And with each savings bank’s board of directors needing to sign off new product launches (more than 1,000 decision-makers), his team focuses on time to market rather than pursuing perfection. “I tell my employees that perfection does not exist,” Hepfner says “It&#8217;s important to bring something out quickly because you will never have a 100 percent perfect product. You always need to improve, to collect user feedback and take that next step.”
An example of SFP’s commitment to rapid transformation is its real estate application, S-Immobilienportal. Hepfner and his team launched new, customer-friendly innovations in just ten weeks. Now, users enjoy a personalized experience, saving their favorite properties in a digital wish list.
<h2>People Are More Creative and Innovative if They Don’t Fear Failure</h2>
Critical to SFP’s success is the way teams are structured and work together. The company’s agile approach creates cross-functional development groups that curate key competencies. Engineers work alongside product owners and user-experience specialists.
“We empower people to make new products and try something out, but we also give them the freedom that they can fail,” Hepfner admits.
Failure is not a taboo subject at SFP. It’s an accepted part of the innovation process. And while Hepfner wants his teams to use common sense and make good business decisions, he also encourages out-of-the-box thinking.
“People are more creative, more innovative and they also don’t fear that they can fail,” he says. “Put all that together and you really can create an amazing product.”
<h2>Every Employee Needs to Feel Fearless</h2>
Digital transformation isn’t just a technical initiative for SFP. Hepfner ensures it’s part of SFP’s company culture.
Everyone in the business can contribute to user-experience improvements. And a regular feedback loop with customers means teams gain valuable insights that shape the future development roadmap.
To continue financial industry innovation, Hepfner hopes other institutions will develop the same accountable, fearless approach. “With this empowerment, you can free up every employee to make the best product and services for your end customer. And then you really have a win-win situation,” he concludes.

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This article is the latest in the Agents of Change series, a look at how technology leaders challenge the status quo to discover new possibilities for their organizations.

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Tim Höttges is a telco veteran. He joined Deutsche Telekom in 2000, was appointed to the board of directors in 2006 and became CEO in 2014. His leadership style proved invaluable as the COVID-19 outbreak unfolded, leading to record levels of employee and customer satisfaction.
<div id="attachment_23701" style="width: 1290px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23701" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-23701" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/5G_future_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg" alt="5G_future_Deutsche_Telekom" width="1280" height="670" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/5G_future_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg 1280w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/5G_future_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/5G_future_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/5G_future_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" /></a>VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next leader in the Agents of Change series: Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom.</div>
At the start of the pandemic, Deutsche Telekom sent 180,000 of its people home to work remotely. “We did that almost in one week,” he said. “All the IT went perfectly.”
Höttges ensured transparent, honest and frequent communication with his employees. As a result: “We have the highest satisfaction rate of people within the organization. Ninety percent of our employees say that they&#8217;re proud to work for Deutsche Telekom. They feel very well cared for by the organization.”
<h2>Helping Customers Deal With Lockdown</h2>

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Deutsche Telekom launched numerous initiatives to help its customers deal with the reality of lockdown. The company provided free video conferencing apps, so schools could educate children from home. It also offered apps, like Disney+, free of charge to keep families entertained.
“Despite the increased demand and <a href="https://news.vmware.com/nologies/future-of-work-deutsche-telekom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">employees working remotely</a>, Deutsche Telekom has not had a single network outage affecting its customers,” noted Höttges.
Its actions and reliability resonated well with customers, with the telco gaining its highest ever Net Promoter Score.
<h2>Connectivity Is in Deutsche Telekom’s DNA</h2>
In times like the pandemic, enabling connectivity plays an even more important societal role. “We won’t stop until everyone is connected,” explained Höttges. “I am excited about every technology which makes connectivity better for us.”
That’s why Höttges is committed to 5G: “For us, 5G is the next big opportunity and that is why we are investing in it. Everything which can be connected will be connected, and 5G is the enabler for that. One hundred times more speed, a dramatic increase in capacity and real-time low latency.”
To succeed in 5G, Höttges is ensuring Deutsche Telekom is an early mover and making the necessary investments to build out its substantial 5G network. For example, the company has invested 17 billion euros in infrastructure and services this year alone.

Dirk Eckert, managing director of Deutsche Telekom, talks about innovating at scale and the shift to 5G.

<h2>A Software-Defined Network</h2>
“We see a disaggregation of the infrastructure, the cloudification of services,” said Höttges. “Software is steering the infrastructure, and the cloud is the home of software.”
Evolving to software-defined networks helps Deutsche Telekom to increase its independence from individual vendors and, in doing so, lower costs.
“Disaggregation through software-ization, virtualization and multi-cloud means we can make services cheaper and the quality better,” he said.
An open approach is particularly critical for telcos. Höttges called for political support to convince vendors to open up and mandate the use of open radio access networks (O-RAN) in future. This technology would allow operators to combine products from several vendors at the same mobile site, resulting in a more software-based and potentially lower-cost network: “Even from a regulatory perspective, it should enforce the O-RAN standard and make our supply chain more independent and flexible.”
<div id="attachment_23702" style="width: 1290px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23702" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-23702" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tech_for_good_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg" alt="tech_for_good_Deutsche_Telekom" width="1280" height="670" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tech_for_good_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg 1280w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tech_for_good_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tech_for_good_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tech_for_good_Deutsche_Telekom.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" />“Keeping people connected is our purpose. I am excited about every technology which makes connectivity better for us,&#8221; said Höttges.</div>
<h2>Staying Connected</h2>
“Everybody&#8217;s focusing on COVID-19. Everybody’s focusing on trying to survive in this difficult environment, and I know how difficult it is. But we should never forget the big purpose of staying connected, of international partnerships, of cultural exchange across the globe,” he said. “It&#8217;s always about getting things done at the end of the day. Not talking, but doing. That&#8217;s my commitment and I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;re going to have success in the future.”

Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, wants to keep everyone connected in the 5G future. Watch this video to hear about

The 5G Future With Deutsche Telekom's CEO | VMware Radius

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Mark Hutchinson knew he was taking on a big challenge when he joined Gloucestershire NHS Trust in 2018. IT infrastructure was in desperate need of modernization. Six-year-old PCs without anti-virus protection and 16-year-old networking equipment were commonplace. At the same time, IT budgets were limited as the Trust addressed significant financial debt.
<div id="attachment_23432" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23432" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-23432 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1340" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536,804 1536w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048,1072 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next leader in the Agents of Change series: Mark Hutchinson, chief digital and information officer at Gloucestershire NHS Trust.</div>
<h2>Proven Ability to Drive Change</h2>
Appointing Hutchinson as chief digital and information officer was a smart move. With two decades of experience in the NHS, he’s proven his ability to bring about significant transformation. He set up the first telemedicine service in England. Then, he set up Salford Royal NHS Trust’s electronic patient records system in 2013, earning it recognition as the NHS’s most digitally mature hospital.
“When I arrived at Gloucestershire NHS Trust, we had a myriad of problems,” Hutchinson said. “We quickly put in place an ambitious five-year plan to address the digital deficit and bring about improvements for our clinicians and patients.”
<h2>Justifying Digital Investments</h2>
With the Trust under financial strain, technology investments underwent close scrutiny.
“Healthcare is getting more expensive over time, and hospitals need to treat more people. So when it comes to spending, the focus is quite rightly on patient care. Every time we invest in digital solutions, it’s seen in the context of the cost of a doctor or nurse on a ward. So, it’s really important to engage with clinicians and to engage with the board to ensure a shared understanding of how these investments will create tangible improvements in patient care—from both a quality perspective and also the financial benefit it will bring,” he said.
A key part of Hutchinson’s strategy was rolling out an electronic patient records system. Clinicians can now securely access patient records from anywhere and from any device. This innovation gives staff more time to focus on patient care.
“I think this job is the best in the hospital,” he said. “I have powerful digital tools that have the capability to make care better for every patient every day. For so many people working in a hospital, their day is consumed with patient care. To be somebody who can focus on imagining a different future and then make it happen for the clinical teams is really exciting.”
 
COVID-19 Accelerates Change
Like healthcare organizations across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic increased pressure. And hospitals rallied to the cause.
“The pandemic has been a phenomenally, powerful agent for change. In some cases, we did nine months of work in nine days in order to get people working from home, for example, enabling clinicians to be at home providing care to patients, who are also at home,” Hutchinson said. “Digital solutions that would have taken us years to persuade people to use are now commonplace. It’s really brought about change at a much faster pace than ever before.”
The organization also has a culture of constant improvement and innovation. Examples include its Quality Improvement Academy and recruiting talent from outside the industry to bring new perspectives. Hutchinson also believes successful transformation comes down to leadership.
“Constantly encouraging teams to look for ways in which they can improve the service they provide is really important. In an organization of 8,000 people, if everybody just spends a small proportion of their week looking for small improvements, we can make really big changes together,” he said.
When asked about the secret to leading big, successful digital transformation initiatives, Hutchinson points to three factors.
“You need technical solutions that you are really confident in. You need clinicians who are willing to champion change. And you need enthusiastic people in your digital team who will really push and drive the best solutions possible,” he said.

The CD&IO at Gloucestershire NHS Trust on the importance of building a shared vision with clinicians and the board.

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Imagining a New Future for the NHS - VMware News and Stories

In the fickle world of online gaming, technology has to work—no matter what the market or business throws. Fresh from a fast and furious Brexit-driven data center overhaul, 888 Holdings’ CIO Eran Elbaz knows just what it takes to rise to the challenge.
<div id="attachment_23062" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23062" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-23062 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/888-Holdings-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/888-Holdings-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/888-Holdings-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/888-Holdings-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/888-Holdings-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></a>VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Eran Elbaz, CIO of online gaming company 888 Holdings.</div>
From Operator to Orchestrator
As technology lifecycles shorten and transformation becomes almost continuous, Elbaz believes the job of IT is changing.
“IT is becoming a broker and orchestrator of a huge matrix of services. As technology leaders we need to create an ecosystem for decision-making that helps pick the right path through all the options,” Elbaz says.
Where some may view this shift with apprehension, Elbaz seizes the opportunity with both hands.  “Giving our users the best experience in such a competitive market needs constant attention to technology,” he says. “I’m proud to work with a team that sees the challenge as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.”
Elbaz believes the key is aligning the right people, skills, and culture with the right infrastructure. “I’m a big supporter of hybrid cloud,” says Elbaz. “It keeps all options on the table at a low cost.”
Elbaz put this view into practice when migrating 888’s entire data center to VMware Cloud on AWS, creating a U.K.-based operation ahead of Brexit. “We could have chosen to recreate the existing architecture we knew worked. But we asked: Is that the best decision for the business? We chose to re-architect the whole operation to create a more agile platform. By taking a hybrid approach, we’re ready to move fast on new services without IT cost as a barrier.”
The CIO-CFO Two Step
Moving fast and keeping costs low are essential in 888’s fiercely competitive and highly regulated sector.  When it comes to cost, Elbaz believes a close IT-Finance relationship is more important than ever.
“Finance is experiencing digital disruption just as much as IT. We need to learn each other’s language and focus more on moving together,” he says.
Capital expenditures become operating expenses as on-premise moves to the cloud. The shift changes how finance departments categorize expenses, which has significant accounting implications, particularly for public companies. Multi-year budgeting is also under strain as technology investment timeframes continue to shorten.
“These issues can create frustration between the two teams if we don’t have unified discussion,” says Elbaz. “We have to work together to make sure each side perfectly understands what the other is going to do. Then, economics and execution are in sync.”
Secure Common Ground
Security is one IT investment where budget and operations align. “Technologies, such as machine learning and AI, create a big advantage for the whole organization. They lower costs for IT, marketing, finance, and the rest. But as they get cheaper to consume, they create a cyber issue, because hackers can use the same technology to develop smart malware. That makes security an investment priority for finance as much as for IT and the business.”

The CIO of online gaming company 888 Holdings talks about the importance of a close IT-Finance relationship.

Online Gaming CIO Eran Elbaz, Teaming Up with Finance Is the Winning Move

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For Online Gaming CIO Eran Elbaz, Teaming Up with Finance Is the Winning Move - VMware News and Stories

“The biggest challenge in the CIO world—in my world—is to give the business solutions much faster,” says Eyal Ben-Amram, EVP and CIO of ZIM. Having led the cargo shipping company’s IT strategy for more than five years, he observes this shift first-hand.
<div id="attachment_22611" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22611" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-22611 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ZIM_AoC_QuoteCardFVg-002.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ZIM_AoC_QuoteCardFVg-002.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ZIM_AoC_QuoteCardFVg-002.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ZIM_AoC_QuoteCardFVg-002.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ZIM_AoC_QuoteCardFVg-002.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next leader in the Agents of Change series: Eyal Ben-Amram, EVP and CIO of ZIM, Israel&#8217;s largest cargo shipping company.</div>
“The business today is impatient,” he elaborates. “What could wait for months before is now expected in days.”
<h2>Agility &#038; Speed</h2>
Under his leadership, Ben-Amram built a highly agile IT infrastructure that can keep pace with the fast-changing needs of the organization and absorb rapid technological advancements. “Our digital strategy defines the speed at which we can respond to changes in the market, as well as time-to-market, for the best and most up-to-date services for our customers.”
<h2>Accelerating IT During COVID-19</h2>
Like so many businesses worldwide, the pandemic disrupted global supply chains and ZIM’s operations. ZIM’s organizational focus on speed and agility helped it respond quickly.
“During the coronavirus outbreak, the flexibility of our IT infrastructure enabled us to deliver business continuity. We did not lose even one day, and we maintained our high level of customer experience,” he says proudly. “But it required even more acceleration in the delivery of IT projects, as well as the fast delivery of brand new apps that we needed due to the crisis. We had to move thousands of employees to a work-from-home model all over the world, including our customer service teams.”
ZIM’s agile approach underpins its innovation. Ben-Amram recently moved the software development team to a cloud-native model. “We’ve empowered our developers to move faster with access to the right resources for building and delivering modern apps. This helps us deliver the customer experience excellence we need to differentiate us from our competitors even faster than before.”
<h2>Advanced Technologies Require Advanced Skills</h2>
Ben-Amram has a CIO mindset that acknowledges the need for continual transformative change. And he’s excited by the potential of some technology trends in his industry. “AI is becoming a useful technology, mainly in the field of revenue management, helping optimize pricing decisions. Blockchain will also have a big impact, significantly increasing the efficiency and transparency of supply chains across the world.”
But he adds a note of caution. “The main challenges these technologies bring is finding the right people with the right skills to handle them. That’s both in the IT department and in the business. Because using advanced technologies also requires advanced skills from our employees, this is a big challenge.”
<h2>3 Tips to Inspire Change</h2>
Ben-Amram offers a few suggestions to other CIOs who want to inspire change:
<ol>
<li>Build the right infrastructure to enable rapid change in the business.</li>
<li>Work closely with the business units and become the enabler for the business.</li>
<li>You cannot do it alone. You need a winning team. You need the right people with the right skills and the right motivation.</li>
</ol>

CIO Eyal Ben-Amram talks about his company’s focus on IT agility and speed.

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ZIM CIO: “The Business Today is Impatient” - VMware News and Stories

“During times of crisis and uncertainty, leaders need to make decisions quickly, even when information is incomplete. We must also embrace the mindset of continual learning because we have to be adaptive to the ever-changing challenges.”
This leadership advice comes from Ursula Dolton, chief technology officer at the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The charity funds research into heart and circulatory disease. It also supports the 7.4 million people living with these conditions in the UK.
<div id="attachment_22393" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22393" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-22393 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next leader in the Agents of Change series: Ursula Dolton, Chief Technology Officer at the British Heart Foundation.</div>
Under her guidance, the charity navigated the many challenges brought about by the coronavirus outbreak. This included dealing with a rapid drop in income with the cancellation of many fundraising events and the temporary closure of the charity’s 750 high street shops. Like so many organisations, a combination of strong leadership and technology was key to its successful response.
In a matter of weeks, Dolton’s team:
<ul>
<li>Enabled remote working for employees.</li>
<li>Increased digital fundraising.</li>
<li>Improved online service delivery for patients and families.</li>
</ul>
“It’s been tough, but it’s brought about even stronger alignment between the business and IT. It’s also pushed us to be creative in how we can better approach activities like fundraising with digital,” she says.
Innovation at a charity can never be for innovation’s sake.
“I&#8217;m constantly under pressure to make sure that we deliver innovation. We&#8217;re not short of ideas. We have hundreds of ideas because BHF is full of people who are absolutely passionate about everything they do,” Dolton explains. “But every penny we spend counts. I have to make sure innovation efforts help achieve our mission and provide true value.”
Dolton is excited about mapping and managing customer journeys to better support fundraising activity.
“We want our donors to have a consistent, positive experience and ensure they’ll continue to come back,” she says. “From a tech perspective, the challenge is all around data collection, analysis and insights. The other challenge we face—along with other charities—is attracting people with the right skills without being able to offer a financial package equivalent to commercial companies.”
When Dolton joined the BHF three years ago, she had a team of 20 people in the technology function.
“Leading BHF through digital transformation was relatively easy. Technology is in my DNA. I really had to focus on the cultural side of change, motivating people to do the work we needed them to do, and getting everyone to understand that these changes were the right thing for the business. I’d say that the success of big digital transformation projects is 80% cultural.”
Today, she leads around 200 people from backend IT to frontend digital and from information security to the change team.
“What I’m proud of is that BHF as an organization truly understands the value of tech,” she explains. “Everyone came together to create one technology department. We’re delivering digitally-enabled end-to-end change across the organization. I really can’t ask for more.”

CTO Says Digital Transformation Is 80% Cultural

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CTO says Digital Transformation is 80% Cultural - VMware News and Stories

Small changes for people with long-term care needs have big impacts. Jorrit Ebben believes technology has the power to create those changes. And he is on a mission to deliver.
<div id="attachment_22096" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22096" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-22096 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Jorrit Ebben, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Academy Het Dorp, a transformation consultancy to technology and healthcare organizations in The Netherlands.</div>
<h2>Technology that Improves Patient Care</h2>
Ebben is co-founder and chief strategy and innovation officer of <a href="http://www.academyhetdorp.nl">Academy Het Dorp</a>, a digital transformation consultancy in the Netherlands. He’s on a personal mission to make technology more useful in long-term healthcare.
“My CEO and I saw a need to help healthcare organizations access much more helpful technology and to improve the validation of the technology in cooperation with patients. For me, doing this has become a way of life,” Ebben says.
In his work with healthcare organizations, Ebben noticed smaller companies facing a particular challenge. “We see many smaller healthcare companies in the Netherlands struggle to implement health technology,” says Ebben. “More than the big players, they lack the time and skills to explore what it can really do.”
Other issues range from legacy infrastructure unable to cope with new technology to the cultural shift of a technology-enabled healthcare delivery model.
“For healthcare professionals and patients alike, the new way is completely different,” Ebben says. “We’ve gone from people relying on other people to help them live their lives to trusting technology to deliver some of that support.”
<h2>Quality Concerns</h2>
In Ebben’s experience, trust is still being earned. “We see many start-ups bringing technology to market that isn’t good enough. The intent is to help people, but they don’t know how to validate their technology.”
Ebben believes more regulation is necessary. He supports the European medical device regulation coming in 2020. He hopes these measures will facilitate good technology and keep the rest from the market. He also believes developers need to think more about people.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-22097 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg 1920w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
“The engineers want to make really, really cool technology. But what they deliver is technology-in-a-box. They forget about cooperation with the patient and healthcare provider. That cooperation is how you learn what to develop, test in real life, and refine based on performance,” Ebben says.
<h2>The Challenge of Personalization</h2>
Technology integration is another area of focus for Ebben and his team. “Ten years ago, a patient with long-term needs had one piece of technology from one provider to deliver care in their home. Now, they have many technologies from many start-ups. Integrating them into one solution for each patient need is a big challenge.”
The challenge isn’t just for technology teams, either. “For a healthcare professional, the ‘plug and play’ everyone talks about is ‘plug and, oh my god, it will never play,’” Ebben says.
Many health tech companies acknowledge they need to do more to make integration easy, both with other solutions and existing infrastructure. Last year, Academy Het Dorp set up a program for the Dutch Ministry of Welfare and Heath to support over 40 long-term healthcare organizations with these sorts of digital transformation issues.
<h2>Embracing the Future</h2>
The program reinforced Ebben’s belief that successful companies invest in helping healthcare and IT embrace the new care model.
“As IT becomes increasingly core to healthcare delivery, it brings a lot of changes,” Ebben says. “Healthcare companies need to rethink what they can and cannot do, which competencies they need and how to leverage technology’s possibilities. They need to explore how they bring different kinds of technology from different healthcare organizations to that one home for that one person’s needs. That’s how we’ll change the world.”

This chief strategy and innovation officer says small changes in digital healthcare have big impacts on patients.

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Academy Het Dorp’s Jorrit Ebben Unlocks Possibilities for Patients in Need - VMware News and Stories

Ahmad Yahya is driven. And that characteristic served him particularly well over the last few, very busy weeks. As CIO of American Hospital Dubai, he’s been leading the hospital’s IT response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
<div id="attachment_21547" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21547" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-21547 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Ahmad Yahya, CIO of the American Hospital Dubai.</div>
<h2>Rapidly Switching IT Priorities</h2>
Yahya had to rapidly switch the focus of his team to three key priorities:
<ol>
<li>Transform a hotel into an operational, 390-bed field hospital for COVID-19 patients, including secure access to the main hospital IT services.</li>
<li>Strengthen remote-working capabilities for the hospital’s administrative employees, which included call center, finance and HR functions among other areas.</li>
<li>Launch a new telehealth service—months earlier than planned—to ensure patients can still access medical experts and treatments. This was vital to patients and hospital operations.</li>
</ol>
“Agility has been key,” Yahya reflects. “You can’t always think in a structured manner. You’ve got to take risks to achieve the goal, even though it may not be perfect. You must really support the business. At times like this, you can’t say ‘no.’ You’ve got to figure something out. Even if it’s just 50 percent of what’s been requested, it’s better than saying no. That’s worked out well for us.”
Of course, as part of the hospital’s management team, Yahya has another priority: looking after the welfare of his IT staff.
“They are scared and are concerned coming to work,” he says. “You have to handle and understand their concerns about themselves and their family. You have to have empathy and assure them that the hospital’s management is putting their safety at the forefront.”
<h2>IT as a Strategic Partner to the Business</h2>
The speed with which American Hospital Dubai responded to COVID-19 demonstrates the value IT brings to the organization.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-21567 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinkedIn-Twitter_American-Dubai-Hospital-1.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="418" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinkedIn-Twitter_American-Dubai-Hospital-1.jpg 800w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinkedIn-Twitter_American-Dubai-Hospital-1.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinkedIn-Twitter_American-Dubai-Hospital-1.jpg?resize=768,401 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />
“These disruptive changes that COVID-19 has inflicted on society, which include customer behaviors and emergency responses, dramatically shifted our workload and focus,” he continues. “Our operational focus and transformational efforts had to be paused and re-purposed to think in an agile way to meet country, business and client needs. We had to redeploy our staff and shift focus to help us cope with the crisis. And this strengthened our sense of contribution and purpose.”
“In my opinion, in light of the current worldwide circumstances and looking ahead, we have to enhance all online channels to our organizations and support new interactions and business models for our services and customers,” he concludes.
American Hospital Dubai is known for its quality of care, forward-thinking and clinical outcomes. Their digital transformation journey includes investing in a new evidence-based clinical system that will enhance outcomes and patient safety. Yahya applied his strategic way of thinking by asking: Why not take this opportunity to build a new business model based on our strengths?
“The idea is to sell our services through a private clinical cloud to a network of affiliated clinics, extending American Hospital processes and best practices. This will ultimately generate revenue, which appeals to the board and builds their trust in IT as a partner in growth. The idea also aligns with the Dubai Health Authority push for ‘one patient, one record.’ And with this business concept, I’m building a case for higher-end tech investment,” he says.
Whether or not the organization adopts this idea, it’s certainly cemented the role of IT in strategy discussions.
<h2>Engage Clinicians or Fail</h2>
Whatever the business model, real-time access to healthcare processes, patient-centric data and visibility and transparency of operations are crucial for patient outcomes. For this to work, clinicians need to trust the processes and data to provide effective proactive and preventive care.
“If physicians aren’t on board, aren’t part of the vendor selection and change process, you’ll fail,” Yahya says.
In Yahya’s experience, trust comes when IT spends time engaging clinicians. This starts with the vendor selection process, which includes:
<ul>
<li>Attending demos of scripted clinical workflows.</li>
<li>Understanding the implementation process and value of data.</li>
<li>How it flows to support clinical outcomes for them.</li>
</ul>
An example of a very successful decision-making function available in leading clinical systems is sepsis alerts. The solution offers real-time surveillance and electronic alert notification capabilities for ICU patients, resulting in saving lives.
The function uses data and algorithms that correlate different indicators to alert and detect, resulting in a huge impact on mortality rates. When clinicians see the impact, they start to believe in the systems. They start participating and contributing ideas. And that’s when Yahya believes positive, sustainable change happens.
<h2>Bringing Patients into the Process</h2>
Involving patients in the change process is just as important to Yahya.
“Patient engagement and active participation in workflow designs during implementation will lead to a patient-centered system that will have positive outcomes and should be a critical objective for organizations like ours. It is important to ensure the best patient experience, outcomes and address data privacy concerns,” he says. “Physician‐patient interaction and communications also optimizes the patient experience.”
Yahya sees patient engagement as fundamental to the sustainability of healthcare, and technology is core to achieving it.
“It’s not about one interaction, one episode. It’s the whole journey,” he says. “With leaders, patients and clinicians in the decision-making process, you get a holistic perspective. You engage, you listen, you deliver. That builds trust. And when you have trust, the change you make can last.”

CIO of American Hospital Dubai talks about bringing business ideas to the strategy table.

Hospital CIO Re-prioritizing through Pandemic

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Hospital CIO Reprioritizing through Pandemic - VMware News and Stories

Over his career, Denis Onuoha has seen information security shift from technical backwater to core enterprise capability. As Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at U.K. communications infrastructure provider Arqiva, he sees the value of responding with a new style of technology leadership.
<div id="attachment_21381" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21381" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-21381 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Arqiva-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Arqiva-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Arqiva-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Arqiva-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Arqiva-AoC-Quote-Card.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></a>VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/agents-of-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Denis Onuoha, Chief Information Security Officer at Arqiva.</div>
<h1>A Function on the Move</h1>
Ten years ago, information security was a last-minute technical check before go-live, says Onuoha. Now, it’s a strategic competence on the board agenda due to high-profile data breaches and growing customer and regulatory pressure.
“Information security is no longer a tick-box compliance exercise. It’s baked into company DNA,” Onuoha says.
But while members of the board engage with the topic much more, there is still often a significant gap in understanding. This is where Onuoha sees emotional intelligence as the key to communicating security risk effectively at a strategic level. “Security leaders aren’t just the do-ers anymore. We need to change how we communicate. We need to listen to understand, not listen to respond.”
<h1>360-Degree Listening</h1>
For Onuoha, security leaders must understand the perspectives of customers, individual board members, employees, government and regulators.
“When most breaches happen, the impact is public. Take our B2B business, where we are part of our customer’s supply chain. If our service goes down during a major sporting event because we haven’t secured it, that affects our customers, their advertisers and everyone watching the event. For critical national infrastructure customers, the risk could be regulatory or shareholder value.  My job is to help the board understand, mitigate the risk and be ready to react and recover if a breach occurs,” Onuoha says.
Equally, boards can get frustrated when solutions don’t deliver tangible impact. This is especially true when facing pressure on total cost of ownership and customer value. Onuoha believes that’s when emotional intelligence really kicks in. Time spent listening to individuals and aligning with their needs outside key meetings is critical.
<h1>Managing Insider Risk</h1>
When it comes to employees, Onuoha believes it’s all about education and engagement. The insider is still the biggest security risk, he says, despite the public profile of threats from nation-states or corporate espionage. His approach is managing the risk holistically, starting with employee onboarding and continuing to educate and build employee brand ambassadors.
“Everyone is responsible for security. When people ask how big my security team is, I don’t tell them my direct reports. I tell them I’m building a team the size of our company,” he says.

core/pullquote

<h1>Building the Next Generation of IT and Security Leaders</h1>
Onuoha is passionate about the people side of his business, particularly the opportunity to engage more young people in technology.
“Everyone’s concerned about the lack of upcoming AI skills and machines taking jobs. I think we can stop worrying,” he says. “Humans will always have skills machines don’t. But we do need to give young people more opportunities to learn, to get experience.”
Onuoha’s personal experience of someone believing in him and giving him a chance makes this a topic close to his heart. He believes more intervention could make a real impact on individual lives, as well as on companies building skills for the future.
“Offering tech jobs to young people in disadvantaged communities could help them make the right choices. It’s not a complicated world. We’re not nuclear scientists or astronauts. We need to help them not feel scared of trying, to ask themselves ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ Then, they have a shot at a different future.”

Chief Information Security Officer at Arqiva explores the value of listening to understand, not listening to respond.

CISO Denis Onuoha Talks Intelligent Security Leadership

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“Less technology and more humanity.”
This is the guiding principle that Norman Lüttgerding, CIO of Braunschweig Municipal Hospital, uses as he navigates the German organization through its digital transformation journey. As CIO of a hospital with 4,000 employees and 1.2 million potential patients, Lüttgerding’s actions impact a lot of people.
<div id="attachment_21295" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21295" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-21295" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/digital_transformation_in_healthcare_cio.jpg" alt="digital_transformation_in_healthcare_cio" width="1200" height="675" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/digital_transformation_in_healthcare_cio.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/digital_transformation_in_healthcare_cio.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/digital_transformation_in_healthcare_cio.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/digital_transformation_in_healthcare_cio.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/agents-of-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Norman Lüttgerding, CIO of Braunschweig Municipal Hospital.</div>
“A hospital CIO must always remember that the primary job of the hospital is to improve the health of a patient,” Lüttgerding says. “Any changes the IT team makes to processes must benefit the clinician and the patient. That means we need to really understand what our clinicians do and ensure we enable them—not hinder them. This is what I mean by less technology and more humanity.”
Germany, along with many other European countries, faces increasing healthcare demand and costs driven by:
<ul>
<li>An aging population.</li>
<li>A skills shortage.</li>
<li>Strict data protection and IT security regulations.</li>
</ul>
At the same time, healthcare is becoming consumerized as patients become more knowledgeable and demanding about the treatment they want and expect.
Forward-looking CIOs like Lüttgerding leverage digital transformation to deal with these challenges. They must be change agents and innovators first—and technologists second.
“The role of the healthcare CIO has changed tremendously,” says Lüttgerding. “It’s no longer just about building and maintaining infrastructure and networks. Today, it’s about having a deep understanding of how the hospital runs and ensuring a focus on clinical outcomes as the primary goal of any transformation. CIOs today need business insight, change, energy and a focus on innovation.”
Braunschweig Municipal Hospital is progressing well through its digital transformation. Working with VMware, the IT team is ready to take advantage of new technologies and future healthcare developments. Lüttgerding is particularly excited about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT). He points to how intelligence from images and data sets will help staff with making diagnoses faster and with real-time clinical decision-making.
He also highlights how IoT can help solve a common challenge faced by hospitals.
“Unfortunately, medical equipment often gets lost, stolen or is in short supply. This can be really disruptive and have serious consequences on patient care,” says Lüttgerding. “With IoT, we will be able to track and locate missing medical equipment. It reduces the time spent finding the equipment and avoids replacement costs.”
When asked what he would say to others considering becoming a CIO in the health industry, Lüttgerding’s passion for his job is apparent.
“There has never been a better time to be a hospital CIO,” he says. “It’s a privileged position. You get to drive the future of the hospital and contribute to the future of healthcare delivery. What fascinates and excites me again and again is the complexity of the relationship between technology and human beings, between patients and digitization. That brings ever new challenges.”

Norman Lüttgerding talks about digital transformation in healthcare, the unique challenges hospital CIOs face and how the role evolves.

A Hospital CIO on Digital Transformation in Healthcare | VMware Radius

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VMware’s Agents of Change initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Dirk Eckert, managing director of Deutsche Telekom individual solutions and products.
Deutsche Telekom is Europe’s leading telecom provider, ranked seventh globally<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a>. Maintaining this position is no mean feat. In recent years, much of this success has been attributed to the company’s digital transformation journey.
“Embracing digitization has been critical to the ongoing success of Deutsche Telekom,” explains Dirk Eckert, managing director of Deutsche Telekom individual solutions and products. “It makes us more agile, innovative and faster—and this enables us to accelerate digitization for our customers.”
<h1>Innovating at Scale</h1>
Company-wide transformation and innovation can be difficult for businesses the size of Deutsche Telekom. Many are structured to suit their currently successful business model. But the decline of any business model is inevitable, and these lifecycles are shorter and shorter.
“What matters today is whether a company is structurally organized to absorb innovation and take it to scale,” observes Eckert.
For example, Eckert was instrumental in driving a huge transformation in the company’s internal <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/digital-workspace/">digital workspace</a> strategy. This required a new digital foundation, which enables the company to flex and absorb new mobile and cloud technologies without disrupting business operations. Now that it’s built, IT can easily and securely integrate application and device innovation while employees enjoy a seamless and easy experience.
&#8220;We want employees to be as comfortable with their work environment as with their favorite app at home,&#8221; he says. He succeeded in delivering his employee-first vision. In fact, it’s so successful that it launched as a service to Deutsche Telekom’s customers.

Germany’s ambitious telecommunications company knows how to adapt to disruption. Here’s how they embrace the future of work.

<h1>The Shift to 5G</h1>
Innovation is key to Deutsche Telekom maintaining its market position. The organization is overhauling its network to get ready for the roll out of 5G.
“The shift to 5G is really exciting. It’s going to be special,” says Eckert. “Things will be much faster and take place in real time. 5G will provide a fabric of connectivity between people and objects that we haven’t had before. It will bring us things that we do not even imagine and see today.”
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-20799 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Deutsche_Telekom_innovation_ecosystem.jpg" alt="Deutsche_Telekom_innovation_ecosystem" width="1200" height="675" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Deutsche_Telekom_innovation_ecosystem.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Deutsche_Telekom_innovation_ecosystem.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Deutsche_Telekom_innovation_ecosystem.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Deutsche_Telekom_innovation_ecosystem.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />
<h1>The Sweet Spot for Innovation</h1>
Of course, digital transformation and innovation is not only about embracing new technologies. It’s a complex, company-wide effort — and it must stretch even further. “Innovation requires smart collaboration with partners,” observes Eckert.
“I think it’s really important that companies like Deutsche Telekom open themselves up for an ecosystem of partners. In former times, companies were prone to operate alone, and I think this is completely changing. You cannot be successful today as a lone ranger. A good partner ecosystem brings you new perspectives and keeps you on the edge of technology developments.”
For Eckert, innovation happens when the two come together. “When you combine the technology intelligence you gain from your ecosystem of partners with your acumen about which technologies can bring about a disruptive change in your business models, that’s the sweet spot for innovation.”

<a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/030216/worlds-top-10-telecommunications-companies.asp

Deutsche Telekom ISP’s managing director of talks about harnessing digital disruption for the world-leading telecom provider.

Deutsche Telekom’s Dirk Eckert Harnesses Digital Disruption - VMware News and Stories

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VMware’s Agents of Change initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Charlotte Lindsey-Curtet, Director of Digital Transformation &#038; Data, International Committee of the Red Cross. 
No industry is immune to digital disruption, including humanitarian relief. That’s why the <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en">International Committee of the Red Cross</a> (ICRC) appointed Charlotte Lindsey-Curtet as its first-ever director of <a href="https://news.vmware.com/digital-transformation/">digital transformation</a> and data.
The ICRC works to protect and assist victims of armed conflict and other violence. Leading its digital strategy requires someone bold yet prudent enough to:
<ol>
<li>Identify and implement new technologies that improve how the 154-year-old organization responds in emergencies.</li>
<li>Ensure the utmost security of both field workers and the sensitive data that courses through its global systems.</li>
</ol>
“Technology is fundamentally changing people’s behaviors and how they deal with situations of conflict. This opens up tremendous opportunities for us to help them more effectively,” Lindsey-Curtet explains.
When people face a sudden catastrophe, they must flee their homes, possibly to never return. They only have a few moments to grab whatever they can carry. People usually take their smartphones. These devices will help them find their family and friends, keep up with news and plan where to go next.
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In response to the increased connectedness of its beneficiaries, the ICRC is growing its capacity to use algorithms to analyse huge volumes of data gathered from local social media platforms in conflict zones. This reveals patterns, connections and trends that aid the ICRC’s efforts. For example, the ICRC can better understand where victims are going or efficiently get information to victims about their options during fast-changing situations.
The system continues to improve with <a href="https://news.vmware.com/artificial-intelligence/">artificial intelligence</a>. Lindsey-Curtet now pilots facial recognition as an additional data source. “Of course, it will never be the only information we rely on. But people are posting increasing amounts of information online about what’s happening to them,” she says. “The quicker we can understand the needs on the ground, the better we can make the humanitarian response.”
Lindsey-Curtet passionately embraces such digital opportunities. Yet, she remains mindful of the potential risks and of the ICRC’s responsibility to mitigate these risks with best-in-class <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/network-security/">security</a>.
“The ICRC handles large amounts of data on individuals in highly insecure environments,” she says. “The mishandling of data could put the very people we are trying to help at risk and expose them to harmful repercussions from parties of armed conflict or from others. So, we have to invest in technologies that enable the privacy, encryption and anonymity of data. We’ve worked with VMware for over a decade. Together, we’ve built a reliable infrastructure to underpin our global operations while ensuring the protection of our data.”
This article is the latest in the <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/">Agents of Change</a> series, a look at how technology leaders challenge the status quo to discover new possibilities for their organizations.

International Committee of the Red Cross director shares the power of digital transformation for reshaping humanitarian relief across the globe.

Reshaping Humanitarian Relief with Digital Transformation

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