Telco growth: my objectives, vision, tactics, doctrine at Telefonica

As mentioned in my previous post, telco transformation through innovation and connectivity control requires a strong framework to guide the decision-making process. Here is a list of objectives, vision, strategies, tactics and doctrines that guided me through my time at Telefonica. I believe they can be adapted to many operators’ situation and organization to generate value through successful launch of new connectivity products.

Objectives:

• Fast creation of new products and services by systematically leveraging economies of scale, reusing modular technical solutions and automation.
• Creation of a toolbox of technological tools, operating models, best practices, documentation, blueprints, tests and certified solutions...
• Deliver complete products, not just technology, but also operating model, suppliers value chain and devops teams...
• Facilitate the transition from innovation to business
• Systematically evaluate new technologies, suppliers in the laboratory and in the field
• Fulfill our ambition to transform the industry

Vision:

Create a sustainable commercial growth factory for the company through the systematic research, implementation of services and products that achieve strategic, tactical, commercial, and technological advantages based on the network such as infrastructure or connectivity as a service.

Strategies:

• Explore and classify services, market trends, competitive and direct and indirect movements and their technological evolution to identify risks and opportunities to create/destroy value for the company based on the network as infrastructure or connectivity as a service.
• Creation or integration of network and IT technologies to disaggregate and control the cost structure of the purchase, implementation and deployment of connectivity functions and services.
• Choice and implementation of disruptive connectivity services, products or businesses by designing the E2E value chain
• Transfer of technological parts, services, products to commercial teams ready for production
• Systematic identification of differential competitive advantages for the company and strategies to achieve their implementation
• Implementation of innovative work and development methodologies, especially aimed at creating a DevOps/continuous development/continuous testing model for network technologies and connectivity services

Tactics:

• Systematic disaggregation of high-level commercial systems and products of network and IT integration to identify manufacturers, intermediaries, sources of savings and their organizational and process impact
•  Systematic prioritization of open source for MVPs, to learn the state of the art, limitations and development and integration needs
• Projects, products, technology parts delivered with operating model, manufacturers / integrators / ecosystem developers
• Identification and implementation of critical paths to deliver to the customer as fast as possible (MVPs, early prototypes deployed in commercial networks)

Doctrine:

• Customer first
• Development of services, projects, products with priority to the voice of the customer and the business over technology
• One size does NOT fit all
• Resist the model of trying to implement the same technology, solution, manufacturer for all parts of the network and all situations. Specification, design and development of technological and commercial solutions that are infinitely modular. Nothing monolithic, so that we can adapt the solutions to the realities of each market / segment
• Always open
• Technological development based on open models (APIs, standard and published interfaces, ...)
• Open Source, wherever possible
• Multi manufacturer and no lock-in by design
• Modular, serverless when possible > micro services > containers > VMs > VNFs > PNF
• Availability, generosity, active collaboration with commercial teams, third parties and transparency of communication
• Systematic use from the design of
• Data science
• UX
• Security
• Agility, speed and results
• Planning, development, iteration, continuous deliveries
• Hypotheses, design, development, testing, ... Repeat
• Pivot fast
• Take calculated risks
• Stop activities that fail to meet objectives
• Organizational flexibility for team members to have diverse and multi-project responsibilities, and can also change during the life cycle of each project
• Self-management and organizational structures with minimal hierarchy
• Simple and cheap
• Systematic simplification of legacy
• Good enough, cheap > >  over engineered and expensive
• DevOps
• Continuous development

If you would like more details, feel free to reach out, I have developed an innovation / transformation workshop to put in practice some of these strategies.
Also available:

• xRAN 2020 report and workshop
• Edge Computing 2020 report and workshop