Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Navigating the
Digital Age:
Takeaways from senior leaders
at top businesses who are
leading the charge, worldwide.
Cognizanti is an annual journal published by Cognizant. Our
mission is to provide unique insights, emerging strategies and
proven best practices that globally-minded companies can use in
their quest for business and IT performance excellence.
All articles published in Cognizanti represent the ideas and
perspectives of individual Cognizant associates and contributors
who have documented expertise in business-technology strategy
and implementation. The content of the articles published in
Cognizanti represents the views of the individual contributors
and not necessarily those of Cognizant. They are put forward
to illuminate new ways of conceptualizing and delivering global
services for competitive gain. They are not intended to be, and are
not a substitute for, professional advice and should not be relied
upon as such.
For more insights, and to continue the conversation online, please
visit our e-community at http://connections.cognizant.com or
download our Perspectives app from the Apple App Store or
Google Play at http://cogniz.at/itunescognizantperspectives or
http://cogniz.at/googleplaycognizantperspectives, respectively.
5 Editors Note
Learning from Those
Leading With Digital
13 Telecommunications
31 Retail/Consumer Goods
37 Health Insurance
Consumer-Centric Transformation
at Anthem: Digital and Then Some
With this issue, weve turned the exploration of digital over to practitioners namely, our clients.
In the pages that follow, we are honored to present stories from business leaders representing
top companies in their respective industries: Deutsche Telekom, UBS, Levi Strauss & Co. and
Anthem. We asked these executives veterans of the telecom, financial services, consumer brands
and healthcare industries to write from-the-trenches essays on their personal or organizational
digital journeys, assessing their individual and collective business accomplishments and challenges,
and gazing ahead to their near- and long-term objectives. Moreover, we asked them to offer recom-
mendations from which their peers could benefit essentially placing the work ahead in a distinctly
human context.
Were glad to say, these digital leaders didnt disappoint. Representing a cross-section of business
disciplines and industries, our essayists describe how their companies have established solid base
camps in their full-on digital journeys.
And although the frontier can be a lonely place, these digital leaders appear undaunted. They
convey an unbridled optimism that their organizations are better positioned as result of the digital
bets made so far. All express the belief that digital is as much a state of mind as it is a technology
adventure. And as such, they are working under the assumption that continued success will
depend not just on technological advancement but also on behavioral and cultural change. Given
this, they are undertaking a variety of important initiatives to demonstrate digital business benefits
that can, over time, be scaled across the enterprise.
Our issue opens with a fact-based look at the digital work ahead, informed by data collected and
analyzed by the Cognizant Center for the Future of Work. We then present our featured practi-
tioners, who offer sage advice for how traditional businesses can successfully embrace digital. Also
captured in this issue are commentaries from our well-connected columnists, Gary Beach and
Bruce Rogow, who offer thoughtful digital business prescriptions gleaned from their face-to-face
interactions with leading business and IT executives worldwide.
We hope you enjoy and benefit from the views shared by your colleagues and our commentators.
And if youd like your own digital journey featured in an upcoming issue of Cognizanti, or in our
Digital Perspectives app (available both at the Apple App Store and Google Play on smartphones
and tablets), contact me at Alan.Alper@cognizant.com. You can also share your point of view on
our Cognizant Connections e-community.
Cognizanti 5
First Word
Digital revenues will double world is taking shape. What became imme-
diately apparent is how quickly things are
between 2015 and 2018, moving. For the 2,000 companies we studied,
according to our recent study, digital drove $364 billion in revenue in 2015.
By 2018, the estimate doubles to $770 billion
and slow-movers are already in revenue per year or a staggering $2.3
paying a heavy Laggard trillion in gross revenue across all companies
we studied.
Penalty. Here are some
Clearly, the longer companies take to get on
insights into what it will take board the digital express, the more money
to succeed with the work they stand to lose in untapped revenues.
ahead.
The Laggard Penalty
As Figure 1 (next page) illustrates, companies
For many companies, embarking on digital that lag behind their peers in pursuing
transformation is like entering the great digital initiatives pay a large annual Laggard
unknown without a compass. While it can Penalty the difference in both cost and
be intimidating to navigate the uncharted revenue gains influenced by digital technolo-
territory, every organization needs to define gies. This penalty only increases over time. In
and gauge the impending scope, scale and fact, the Laggard Penalty is projected to grow
transformative impact of digital on its own from $262.5 billion across the companies we
terms. Taking a wait-and-watch approach studied, to a massive $1.3 trillion by 2018.
is exactly what companies cannot afford
to do. Success, to some degree, pivots on The penalty is especially severe in certain
developing an intimate understanding of industries. In financial services, for instance,
what lies ahead. digital leaders are realizing, on average
today, a total economic impact from digital
In this spirit, Cognizants Center for the of about 7.4% of costs and revenues vs.
Future of Work surveyed top executives 3.1% for digital laggards a 139% economic
around the globe, as well as futurists and advantage.
MBA students, to illuminate how the digital
Cognizanti 7
The Looming Laggard Penalty
The penalty will vary widely by industry, but between 2015 and 2018,
digital transformation laggards in each industry will forfeit a massive
amount of value.
Healthcare Payer
$1,651
Insurance $1,191
Financial $951
Retail $759
Life Sciences $478
Consumer Manufacturing $465
Industrial Manufacturing $430
Healthcare Provider $170
Although the actual amount will vary algorithms, automation and big data/analytics
depending on numerous factors, such as the to drive business forward.
industry, level of digital maturity and region,
the average penalty across all industries is Our respondents have a good read on how
about $692 million between 2015 and 2018. these new machines are now changing and
will continue to transform business. Nearly
all (97%) agreed that jobs and required skills
The Future Shape of Work will change significantly, particularly as their
Businesses are optimistic about how work work becomes more strategic. Rote tasks
will improve when digital technologies are which still represent a substantial proportion
applied to customer experiences and back- of most individuals day-to-day work will
office work. A vast majority (87%) expect transition to the new machine, freeing up
personal productivity to increase, and most time and energy to ask better questions, craft
anticipate improvements in over a dozen job better directions and generate more impactful
aspects, including efficiency, collaboration, innovations.
creativity, innovation, customer service, job
satisfaction and work skills. This trend will not, respondents said, lead to
large-scale headcount reductions. In fact, only
The incredible changes in the work ahead one-third of our survey respondents believe
are, to a large extent, the result of the it very likely that embedding greater levels
growing ubiquity and power of the new of AI across the organization will result in
machines, which blend artificial intelligence, reduced employment at their companies.
8
While digital transformation signals big change, senior
leaders do not foresee major obstacles blocking their
organizations digital pursuits.
Building the New Machine Technologies that respondents said will matter
most to business between now and 2020 are
We asked executives to name which forces already in use today: cybersecurity, analytics,
would have the biggest impact on work mobile, the cloud and sensors to instrument
between 2015 and 2018. The vast majority nearly every conceivable element of business.
agreed that big data/analytics (99%) and
AI (98%) will be the number one and Looking ahead to 2025, the picture changes.
two drivers of business change by 2018. Big data and analytics will still rank near the
Within that timeframe, every aspect of our top, but other technologies such as Internet
commercial world (and much else besides) of Things/sensors, cybersecurity and AI will
will be affected by the new machines. In move up dramatically, and stay there (see
short, the future of work is the mirror image Figure 2).
of the future of AI.
Cybersecurity +32.3%
Mobile +26.8%
Autonomous Vehicles +18.2%
Sensors/IoT +41.5%
Drones +17.3%
Cognizanti 9
With one notable exception blockchain The students reported being overwhelmed
all 10 of the technologies ranked as having with information, and concerned that they
a high impact on work by 2020 stayed in the are losing their ability to think and process
top 10 for 2025. While blockchains impact amid the digital deluge. Theyre beginning
is uncertain, its potential is so large that to question the always-on environment in
some leaders expect this technology to shape which theyve grown up, and express worry
business in the coming years. that work demands are never more than a
click away.
Looming Concerns
Amid the Optimism The Work Ahead
While digital transformation signals big
Despite their positive outlook, respondents change, senior leaders do not foresee major
were also clearly tuned into the obstacles obstacles blocking their organizations digital
and negative effects of technology on their pursuits (see Figure 3). Budget constraints
lives and jobs. While its not surprising to top the list, but 71% of senior leaders dont
see privacy top the list of concerns for 88% see funding as a major obstacle to becoming
of respondents, its less expected to see dread digital. Further, 75% of leaders dont see
about digital terrorism nearly tied for first security issues as a force powerful enough to
place (87%). Fears about fraud and theft, stop the coming change.
already a daily reality for all of us, ranked
high (86%), as did personal worries, such as If anything, digital transformation could do
becoming overwhelmed by information, job with a dose of reality, from the top-down.
cuts and becoming disconnected from the When we asked leaders how they thought
natural world. their companies compared with their
industry peers when it comes to benefiting
Interestingly, the MBA students and futurists from digital technologies, most said they
we surveyed were less sanguine than the were somewhere in the middle of the pack.
executives about the impact of technology. But when asked what would happen by 2018,
Obstacles to Transformation
Top obstacles include funding, security and
unpredictable market conditions.
10
How Companies Rank Their Digital
Progress vs. Peers
Executives seem unrealistic about the digital
progress theyll make in the next year.
2018 60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
2015 10%
about 40% thought theyd be average, while Clearly, business leaders know that digital is
60% said they would be performing better vitally important, but our findings illustrate
than the rest of their industry a mathemati- just how much is happening fast. Organi-
cal impossibility (see Figure 4). zations that dont take the leap are missing
critical opportunities to use new technolo-
The data shows a bit painfully that some gies to cut costs in the old and invent the
of the future laggards still think they will new. The choices we make today will mean
be winners. The only way organizations can the difference between a hopeful future or an
avoid this digital delusion is to take a hard uncertain one.
look at the reality of where they are today.
Conducting a digital audit is a good way for To learn more, please see our full report,
companies to assess where they stand. The Work Ahead Mastering the Digital
Economy.
Author
Reshma Trenchil is a Senior Manager on Cognizants thought leadership team. She
has 16 years of experience in business news and research. Before joining Cognizant,
she worked in equity research at UBS and conducted research at Deloitte. She has
a masters degree from Boston University and a bachelors degree from Stella Maris
College. She can be reached at Reshma.Trenchil@cognizant.com.
Cognizanti 11
Telecommunications
Cognizanti 13
Robots will help us live better. And the 2. Applying artificial intelligence (AI)
biggest blow: There will be no more phones. to provide better, lower cost customer
service. The CEO of our T-Mobile
When we reported back, our board members Austria unit has championed this
were unsettled. One said if phones go away, initiative. When a customer calls, a chat
our customers will count on us to provide window pops up and asks whats needed.
privacy for their information, which made If the chatbot doesnt know the answer,
sense. The European Union has been very theres a seamless handoff to a human
aggressive in implementing new privacy agent. In fact, we have found live agents
regulations during the past few years. We sometimes use chatbots to get answers to
could help enforce those and implement the their questions, as well. Weve recorded
necessary compliance. literally millions of chats between
customers and agents and selected a
Discovering New Value subset that we use for supervised learning.
But you cant just do things that might lead Customers will rate the quality of the
to a better future; you also have to build interaction.
up the core and drive value. Like most We started the initiative in Austria,
executives, our P&L owners are focused on and now others within the DT footprint
short-term results. So, we also needed to want to apply AI technology in their call
focus on incremental projects that would centers and stores. For call centers that
deliver results in the near term while have been selling phones, we can now
building credibility to experiment with start reimagining the in-store experience.
more innovative models. Several ongoing These automated agents have super
initiatives came out of our future mapping, insights to answer questions. We are now
including: bringing AI into the mainstream business.
14
You can do cool digitization once youve
translated these activities into a language
the business leaders understand how it
benefits the organization. Technology for
technologys sake never worked and it
still doesnt.
Cognizanti 15
Author
Dr. Christian von Reventlow, Chief Product & Innovation Officer (CPIO) at Deutsche
Telekom AG, is in charge of the group-wide innovation strategy, product development
and partnering as well as corporate R&D. He controls the Deutsche Telekom product
portfolio and defines the product roadmap for the group, as well as implementation in
the market via systematic innovation management and corporate R&D.
Before joining Deutsche Telekom in March 2015, he held several executive positions,
most recently as SVP Core platform at Nokias map service and navigation system
subsidiary Here.com. At Here.com, he supervised the development of the first real-time
cloud backbone for high-resolution maps in connected vehicles. Previously, he worked
at Intel, where he was responsible for the software development of the first and second
generations of Windows 8 and Android tablets, and at Avaya, where he managed the
relaunch of the Avaya Flare videoconferencing solution.
Von Reventlow earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Technische Univer-
sitt Berlin, a diploma in physics and physical medicine from Yeshiva University,
and a masters degree in physics from the University of Sussex. He can be reached at
Christian.Von-Reventlow@telekom.de | https://www.linkedin.com/in/vonreventlow/.
16
Banking and Financial Services
Cognizanti 19
Ive also noted the business sides keen
awareness of whats happening in the start-up
arena. Unlike previous IT-driven innovation
cycles, todays digital is not driven by and
confined to IT. People have approached me
saying, Oh, Spotify is doing this do you
think we can do it as well? As a result. we
are profiting from our collaboration with
fintechs and other product-centric start-ups,
and often view them more as partners than
competitors.
Customer Focus
Drives Digital
What strikes me as the most unique thing
about digital is its focus on customers. If you
think about it, digital really is about transform-
ing the way a bank operates by placing the
customer at the front and center of all we do.
innovation, and so far, banks are happy to Its about learning all we can about our
let them lead the way. Given their lean and customers, even from before they sign on
nimble nature, start-ups are ideally suited for with us. Its about anticipating their needs
fast innovation, and banks can take more almost before theyve felt them. Beyond tra-
time assessing which products suit the longer ditional e-banking, todays digital is all about
term needs of their customers. Start-ups lack empowering customers to make decisions on
the brand recall and customer trust that banks their own, if they choose, and enabling them
have built over the years. Thus, partnerships to also turn to us when they need or want.
between the two work to the advantage of Its about making their association with us
both fintechs and banks. as seamless as possible right from their first
contact with the bank.
Evidence of how much we value this col-
laboration is our sponsorship of the annual Focusing on the customer illuminates the
Future of Finance Challenge. This event digital transformation journey and clarifies
is an opportunity for us to take in new ideas what we need to do. For example, it helped
to test emerging products and services. For us realize we needed to improve our CRM
start-ups, it provides insight and feedback systems so we could focus on prospects even
to help them further develop their products before they became our clients. We needed
and services, which helps us progress on our to be able to reach out to them on the web,
digital journey. whether it was through mobile or a browser.
20
The adoption of Agile has brought about a change
in mindset in our technology organization, while also
providing results to internal clients every two weeks.
Capturing the attention of potential clients, etc. It wasnt easy, but not because of the
introducing the benefits we offer, learning technology people working in IT adopt
more about clients and prospects through the new technology relatively fast. The challenge
way they operate, onboarding clients quickly was in changing mindsets. Convincing
and smoothly, making all of this a more people to do things differently requires a bit
digital experience all of these are our goals. of fancy footwork, and its a challenge Ive
continued to encounter in the past four years
Overcoming Obstacles of our digitization journey.
Im now responsible for channel, CRM and The adoption of Agile has brought about
distribution applications across all business a change in mindset in our technology
groups. We support, develop and maintain organization, while also providing results to
the banks client- and advisor-facing tech- internal clients every two weeks.
nologies across the investment bank, the
Americas wealth management business, the For instance, our embrace of Agile facilitated
retail business in Switzerland, international intense interaction with the business on the
wealth management and asset management. look and feel of the mobile app for HNWIs.
This style of work demanded results every
While this is a wide array of businesses, I two weeks. The business folks werent going
notice the challenges are pretty much the to wait around to see the results of a change
same across the board. For IT, its about how they had suggested.
we can get software faster and more efficient-
ly using state-of-the-art tools and methodolo-
gies with less client disruption.
The Right People with
the Right Skills
Getting Past Legacy One of the reasons we struggled to shift
our focus from legacy applications was our
Technology & Thinking over-reliance on external partners to stay
The first and possibly the biggest hurdle we current with new technologies. Weve been
encounter in this quest are legacy applica- fixing that by hiring and promoting talent
tions. I realized this when I moved to Hong from within our ranks, training them and
Kong a few years ago with the mandate to getting them to work with our partners in the
shape the APAC organization to deliver on same room. Were looking to achieve a more
the digital agenda. sustainable balance between trained in-house
staff and our external partners, who provide
We had to change the focus from spending a knowledge buffer and help facilitate the
time on legacy applications and mainte- introduction of the newer methodologies and
nance, to creating an organization that uses technologies.
state-of the-art methodologies and technolo-
gies, such as Agile, applications prototyping,
continuous integration, Angular JavaScript,
Cognizanti 21
A commercially-oriented graduate who is not
IT-averse can be a great extension to a technical
team to enhance its understanding of the
business impact and benefits.
22
OO Agile adoption requires a major OO Fintechs are helping the banking
mindset change but introduces sig- industry drive innovation and should
nificant benefits for delivering best-fit be viewed more as partners than com-
digital solutions. Agile gets all stakehold- petitors. Banks should keep thinking of
ers to buy into the end product. It provides ways they can support fintech innovation.
the exhilaration of positive feedback every
two weeks, which is a great antidote for
inertia and resistance to change.
Author
Herb Wildhaber is Executive Director at UBS AG, where he manages delivery of
channels, CRM and distribution applications for UBS globally. In his nearly 20 years
at UBS, he has managed desktop standardization, automated software deployment
and optimized end-user support for UBS Wealth Management and Swiss Bank;
worked in application development, supporting group operations in Zurich; formed the
regional application delivery team in Hong Kong, supporting wealth management; and
managed the Global AD development pool in Switzerland and EMEA. Prior to UBS,
he worked at Air New Zealand and IBM. Herb earned his bachelors of commerce
and science at the University of Auckland and his MBA at IMD in Lausanne. He
can be reached at Herb.Wildhaber@ubs.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/herb-
wildhaber-1b112b/.
Cognizanti 23
Commentary
Cognizanti 25
Set clear objectives. Define success. Sounds technology managers rather than business
old-school (old-boss) to me. And consider leaders, content to fill their calendars
these four KPIs developed by the CIO at a with engagements focused on balancing
large public utility to measure the success of bi-modal legacy digital transformation
his companys digital transformation efforts: infrastructures and KTLO keeping the
lights on. Few have enough time to assess
OO Revenue increase or expense reduction customers pain and then craft solutions.
(previously budgeted). Many remain obsessed with getting a seat
OO Fractional expense reduction or avoided at the executive committee table.
costs. During a keynote speech at a tech
OO Process efficiency or effectiveness that conference in Boston, Dr. James I. Cash,
cannot be measured in dollars. former senior associate dean of the
Harvard Business School, said this pursuit
OO Softer goals such as corporate goodwill.
is misguided. To earn a trusted voice at
Why doesnt this CIO use new-age digital the table, Cash suggested, CIOs should
metrics, such as clicks on the website or covet a more important seat a seat in
number of bills paid electronically? These, he a customers office. In fact, savvy CIOs
said, are merely a means to an end. Mapping should spend a minimum of 30% of their
results against these four business benchmarks, time engaging with customers, he said.
he said, is the best indication of how his OO Digital ubiquity. Lets state the obvious:
teams hard work is moving the needle. Every employee, every department, every
business requires information technology.
Beyond the Numbers: Why Remember the early days of digital
transformation when CIOs fought (and
Digital Transformations badly lost) the bring your own device
Fall Short battle? How simple that digital skirmish
now looks. In the age of new machines
So, if theres nothing really new to
powered by artificial intelligence, enough
developing a formula for digital transforma-
available IP addresses for every grain of
tion success, and its relatively quantifiable,
sand on the planet, technology and big
why do 70% of these projects fail? I can point
data everywhere, most CIOs are choking
to four reasons.
on their companys digital exhaust.
OO A lack of leadership. Three decades Making matters worse, modern digital
after the debut of the CIO role, I find tools are the most empowering technology
many in this position have remained stack ever rolled out.
26
Larry Bonfante, CIO at the United States OO The social costs. The rapid prolifera-
Tennis Association, put it well recently tion of AI, analytics and robotic process
when he said, Digital cannot be owned automation across the extended enterprise
by the CIO, CDO, CMO or any other directly impacts the present, and future,
executive because it is a holistic way employability of humans. Most CIOs
of doing business. Digital is not a job pay lip service to work dislocation and
title, digital is not a thing, digital is not corporate training and development.
a department.4 Digital transformation Heres eye-opening proof: In 2017,
projects often fail because they produce Forrester Research claims U.S. firms will
too many versions of the truth, and invest $1.5 trillion in all kinds of digital
the corporate ubiquity of digital projects equipment, software and services.6 And
leaves them with no clear-cut throat to yet through December 2017, IDC reports
choke when things go badly. that CIOs will spend a miserly $8.4 billion
OO Talent disconnects. CIOs struggle or about $1,200 per company on
to manage workforces that now span worker training.7
four generations, from baby boomers to The next decade will witness a seminal
Generation Z. Many digital transformation shift in the definition of work work
projects at established companies remain done by machines and work done by
tethered to mainframes running Cobol. humans. As Cognizants Malcolm Frank,
Coaxing older tech workers to work one Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring write in their
more year, please is a real challenge. new book, What to Do When Machines Do
Meanwhile, STEM skills remain scarce Everything, there will be blood.8
among millennial and Gen Z populations,
which can slow progress toward creating Newtons third law of physics for every
or enforcing a digital mandate. Moreover, action, there is an equal and opposite
these workers also tend to job-hop, making reaction should serve as a roadmap. For
it difficult for CIOs to retain competent every digital transformation investment
talent. they make, they should make a corre-
sponding digital training investment.
How bad is the digital transformation
talent gap? Real bad. At the end of 2016,
there were 553,000 open tech jobs in the
U.S., alone including jobs that had been
open for 90 days or longer!5 This is an
ominous stat that projects out to 50 million
days of lost IT productivity every quarter.
Cognizanti 27
Digital leaders today need to be committed to
changing things and, yes, even be counted among
the misfits.
28
Footnotes
1
Richard N. Foster, Creative Destruction Whips through Corporate America, Innosight,
2012, https://www.innosight.com/insight/creative-destruction-whips-through-corporate-amer-
ica-an-innosight-executive-briefing-on-corporate-strategy/.
2
Julie Bort, Retiring Cisco CEO Delivers Dire Prediction: 40% of Companies Will Be Dead
in 10 Years, Business Insider, June 8, 2015, http://www.businessinsider.com/chambers-40-of-
companies-are-dying-2015-6.
3
CHAOS Report 2015, Standish Group, http://blog.standishgroup.com/post/50.
4
Larry Bonfante, Who Owns Digital? The Whole C-Suite, Heller Report, Jan. 18, 2017,
https://www.hellersearch.com/blog/who-owns-digital-the-whole-c-suite.
5
Gary Beach, Americas Tech Talent Pool: Make It Great, The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 20,
2017, http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2017/01/20/americas-tech-talent-pool-make-it-great/.
6
Mike Wheatley, Forrester: U.S. Tech Spending to Grow 5.1 Percent in 2017, Silicon
Angle, Oct. 26, 2016, http://siliconangle.com/blog/2016/10/26/forrester-u-s-tech-spending-to-
grow-5-1-in-2017/.
7
From a private IDC analyst call.
8
Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring, What to Do When Machines Do Everything,
Wiley, 2017, https://www.amazon.com/What-When-Machines-Everything-Algorithms/
dp/111927866X.
9
Apple Think Different advertisement, YouTube,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjgtLSHhTPg.
10
The Seven Traits of Effective Digital Enterprises, McKinsey & Co., May 2014,
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-seven-traits-of-
effective-digital-enterprises.
11
Julie Bort, Retiring Cisco CEO Delivers Dire Prediction: 40% of Companies Will Be Dead
in 10 Years, Business Insider, June 8, 2015, http://www.businessinsider.com/chambers-40-of-
companies-are-dying-2015-6.
Author
Gary Beach is the Publisher Emeritus of CIO magazine. He is also a guest
columnist for The Wall Street Journal and author of the best-selling book The U.S.
Technology Skills Gap. He can be reached at Garybeachcio@gmail.com |
sw sw swTwitter @gbeachcio.
Cognizanti 29
Retail/Consumer Goods
How Digital Is
Reinventing
Levi Strauss & Co.s
IT Business Model
By Roland Paanakker
Cognizanti 31
business, in an agile and sustainable way. I a seat at the table and collaborate with
think of it as IT at the speed of (digital) their business counterparts. This allows
business. IT to contribute and be recognized for the
business value thats created and closes the
Our three change imperatives include: gap between what the business needs and
1. Bring business and technology what IT does.
together, both organizationally and This structure also drives high account-
operationally, to speed up our service ability and ownership on both the IT and
and capability delivery to meet digital business sides for the investments we make.
consumer demands. With our roots as Today, we know immediately where we are
a traditional wholesaler and brand, we on our most important business metrics,
did not really have direct-to-consumer including sell-through rates, inventory and
interactions. With little retail of our own profit margins. It used to take us weeks to
(though we had plans to expand our figure out how we were performing. We
bricks-and-mortar presence) and no direct also have a new business intelligence envi-
digital presence, we had a lot to do to ronment (more on that below).
position ourselves to engage directly with
2. Build trust by shifting to fact- and
consumers. You have to be much more
metrics-based IT performance. Histori-
responsive and nimble to meet their needs.
cally, IT lacked business credibility from
A couple of years ago, we started to shift IT operations and project execution. IT
the entire organization toward operating work was often not aligned with business
in real time. To get there, were empha- priorities, was delivered late or did not
sizing the technology side of the house. meet envisioned needs. Weve addressed
We needed to shore up ITs relationship this by building a relationship rooted in
and credibility with business leaders by strategy, transparency and predictability,
creating an IT structure that matches the supported by facts and metrics.
business structure.
We provide operational excellence reports
Positioning IT leadership in matrixed that focus on how and where were deliv-
roles, at both the IT and the business ering against scope and time (and where
leadership table, has proved instrumental we arent). This is informed by more
to our success. While we used to organize sophisticated analytical tools visualiza-
IT by technology platform, we now tion dashboards, collaboration tools and
organize by business process for example, real-time technologies, such as Service-
e-commerce, sales and marketing. By Now, Tableau and SAP HANA. We can
making the technology lead part of the show results and measure performance and
business leadership team, we ensure we value add/ROI. Transparency and positive
surface the right priorities. results build credibility and trust.
Our business-savvy IT professionals are For example, three or four years ago,
full partners with the business. They have the business was not clear on what IT
32
Business leaders are more willing to increase
technology investments and to place bigger bets with
IT as we have been able to measure and prove the
value of our IT investments.
was working on and how IT initiatives By knowing whats needed, whats possible
supported strategic business priorities. and whats required to bring it to life, IT
It was unclear whether projects were leaders can be equal partners with business
delivered on time, on budget and on scope. leaders. Having established the trust
Now, we have dashboards and scorecards required to take risks with new technology
so we know what were doing, why were projects, IT now has the strategic influence
doing it, how we did at executing our ini- to help the business fully leverage digitals
tiatives, and whether or not the business new capabilities as they become available
achieved results. Data brings clarity. After at an ever-increasing pace. Once you have
projects are completed, we measure the proved that IT is reliable and predictable,
ROI in six- to 12- month intervals to see you can make additional investments in
if we achieved the benefits outlined in the innovative projects. This is the essence of
business case. our transformation.
Cognizanti 33
Having established the trust required to take
risks with new technology projects, IT now has
the strategic influence to help the business fully
leverage digitals new capabilities as they become
available at an ever-increasing pace.
right.
In addition to analytics and business intel-
OO Then, build a strong reputation and
ligence tools, were investing in the Internet
performance record with your business
of Things (IoT), RFID to accurately track
partners based on relevance, delivery and
inventory in the store and manage replenish-
reliability.
ment in real time, and omni-channel retail
capabilities to deliver on consumer expecta- OO Finally, unlock the true value of digital for
tions. We will incorporate these capabilities the business by inspiring and accelerat-
in our retail environments, supporting both ing deployment of differentiating digital
business-to-consumer and business-to-business technologies with and for the business.
with our wholesale and supply chain partners.
Author
Roland Paanakker recently retired as the Senior Vice-President and CIO at Levi Strauss
& Co., where he was responsible for managing all aspects of IT, ranging from strategy
and innovation to IT portfolio and program execution, and IT operations. In this role,
he focused on reenergizing and transforming IT into a critical growth-enabler of the
companys product and omni-channel strategies worldwide and creating technology value
for Levi Strauss & Co. worldwide accelerating top- and bottom-line growth through
differentiated IT services.
Prior to joining Levi Strauss in 2014, Roland held various positions at Nike, Inc. in
Europe and the U.S. over 18 years. As CIO, he was responsible for developing new
information technologies that enabled Nike to become the innovative product and
omni-channel leader in its industry. He also worked for IBM Netherlands. Roland
holds a bachelors of business administration & technology from H.E.S J. van
Zwijndreght in The Hague, The Netherlands. He can be reached at
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandpaanakker/.
34
Health Insurance
Consumer-Centric
Transformation
at Anthem: Digital
and Then Some
By Meg Rush
Cognizanti 37
Best-in-class consumer companies have raised the
bar by delivering simple, engaging and personalized
experiences.
platforms and a passionate team all of these on the context. To ground our teams on
are required elements for providing excep- consumer needs, we conducted a series of
tional, frictionless experiences. consumer studies NPS driver analysis,
cross-channel voice-of-the-consumer
Were aggressively tackling this challenge synthesis, and deep research on our touch-
and recognize that delivering exceptional points to determine their importance and
experiences across all stops on the consumer better understand how we performed in these
journey is a marathon, not a sprint. areas. We analyzed our end-to-end journeys
and identified the critical moments that dis-
Start With the Consumer proportionately add value to the experience.
Consumer expectations are rapidly increasing Consumers told us their basic needs:
when it comes to their experiences with
service providers, including health insurers. OO Confidence that they are covered and
Thats because best-in-class consumer will be taken care of in the event of a
companies have raised the bar by delivering health issue.
simple, engaging and personalized experiences. OO Clarity of coverage, free of industry
jargon, to avoid negative surprises when
Its critical to understand the different types
they need to use their benefits.
of experiences consumers need, depending
Source: Anthem
Figure 1
38
OO Convenience when interacting with Digital Transformation:
their health plans through their channel
of choice, as well as personalized, effortless More than Meets the Eye
service whenever they have a question or Using our understanding of consumer
an issue arises. needs and exemplars from leading con-
Grounded with this understanding, we sumer-focused companies, we identified
assessed our ability to deliver this type of the modern, flexible and scalable digital
experience, supported by our digital capabili- technology platforms required to deliver on
ties. Through an exhaustive evaluation of our ambition. Focusing on consumer needs
our existing digital capabilities, we learned helped business and IT teams operate as one
we needed to overhaul our foundational aligned on vision, goals and objectives.
technology platforms to enable the flexibility
To support our efforts, we transitioned our
and performance required to deliver on the
digital organizations from a traditional
personalized and effortless interactions our
waterfall development approach to a modern
consumers demand.
Agile software development approach. That
We started with consumer expectations, then was a very heavy lift. Anthem is an extremely
worked backwards to reimagine our digital virtual company, so not only were we making
experiences. And rather than just comparing the transition to Agile practices but we also
Anthem with other health plans to develop had to figure out the tools to enable collabora-
a strategy, we also looked outside the industry tion among virtualized work groups, teams and
at best-in-class consumer companies to study the larger organization. The digital business
examples of exceptional digital design. Our and the IT organization led the way into Agile
digital product and user experience design as part of the digital transformation process,
teams quickly realized the bar is fairly low if and now the entire company has rallied
they only look at healthcare solutions. around Agile to transform the enterprise.
We immersed ourselves in the experiences It has become very obvious that digital is
offered by brands like Netflix, Amazon, much more than a new technology, or a new
Zillow, TripAdvisor, Starbucks and Uber, app. It requires an enterprise-wide approach to
which all offer clean layouts with ample support the organization and truly enable the
white space, a defined visual hierarchy, business strategy. Were changing our culture,
intuitive navigation and interfaces with clear processes and technology essentially how
calls to action. They often feature guided we work. Were not only changing what we
experiences and warm personalized messaging deliver to our consumers but how we deliver it.
that reflects the brand personality. Learning
In short, digital transformation is a massive
from these exceptional examples, we focused
undertaking, with many critical activities in
our efforts on simplicity and ease as the new
progress on parallel tracks that need to be
norm for all of our experiences.
carefully orchestrated to deliver on consumer
expectations and our ambition to be a
leading consumer-focused organization.
Cognizanti 39
Delivering Results Surpassing Expectations
In 2015, we focused on the foundational The results from our digital transformation
elements: planning, prioritization, team teams were even better than expected. In
building and implementation of the addition to the portals and cost transparency
enterprise technology stack, which included solutions, we rolled out a visual design update
a portal platform, digital analytics and an to the mobile app. Within all these complex
enterprise content management system. releases, we logged an extremely manageable
None of this is particularly glamorous work, set of defects, all rapidly addressed by our
but it is all crucial and hard. new operating model. This was made possible
by new ways of delivering quality solutions
In 2016, we leveraged the foundational and new strategies.
technology to deliver new, modern experi-
ences to consumers, following our user- One small example is our customer care
centered design principles aligned with model. To provide white-glove service
Anthems brand promise. We did a lot of following major releases, we formed a
testing directly with consumers, such as hypercare team that would be on high
usability, navigation testing and feedback. alert for troubleshooting after each release
We completely overhauled our public to direct any issues to the right team for
Anthem.com site, which serves as our front resolution. In one case, we wound up
door for consumers, brokers, employers and disbanding the team in two weeks there
providers. Our second launch included a just wasnt a need for it.
fully redesigned secure member portal for 1.2
million members. And lastly, we delivered The results are in, and were pleased with our
an integrated cost and quality transparency progress. During any major redesign, those
solution to one million members. affected the most are existing (returning)
users. They tend to temporarily depress satis-
Response from our internal stakeholders faction scores as they get used to the new site
and consumers has been rewarding. In the and the new user experience. This is referred
first five months following the release of our to as the relaunch effect.
redesigned website, our public consumer
portal recorded 11.3 million unique visitors, What is encouraging is the comparison of
generating 65.1 million page views. Of those, scores from our first-time visitors with those
85% of the traffic came from desktop users, of returning visitors who said they come
and 15% came from mobile devices. monthly.
During that same timeframe, we also Members who are experiencing the website
deployed the first release of a secure member for the first time are giving us much higher
portal for an initial population of 1.2 scores (see Figure 2, next page). This will
million members. In the first five months continue to raise overall scores as the
of production, we recorded 870,000 unique relaunch effect abates, and the scores of
visitors, generating 14.3 million page views. both are blended together in future months.
Of those, 88% of the traffic came from
Our work continues, and our teams continue
desktop users, and the remaining 12% from
to get even better. They are self-directed, and
mobile phones and tablets.
because they work on products, not projects,
they can focus on the needs of the consumer
as their overall goal and create end-to-end
solutions instead of features or enhance-
ments. Most of these teams remain intact and
continually get smarter about how they work
together.
40
Redesign Receives High Marks
First-time visitors rated the new functionality higher than
repeat visitors did, indicating overall high satisfaction.
Satisfaction score
+10
Site information score +10
Recommend Anthem +10
Task process score +9
Site performance score +8
Source: Anthem
Figure 2
Author
As Vice-President of Digital Solutions at Anthem, Meg Rush leads a diverse team of
digital professionals whose passion and mission focuses on developing seamless digital
experiences that support consumers with their health and healthcare decisions. She
spearheads the companys digital strategy, leveraging consumer research and insights to
drive growth and develop new capabilities for Anthems online channels. Meg received
her bachelor of arts degree from St. John Fisher College in New York, and her
masters of management degree from Penn State University. She can be reached at
Meg.Rush@anthem.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-rush-6b624b2/.
Cognizanti 41
The Last Word
Senior business and IT CEO told me: It seems most of our digital
successes are famous and game-changing for
leaders get it that they [only] a few months.
must enable their enterprises Whats needed is a more thoughtful strategy,
to take advantage of plan and organizational approach. Enterprise
leaders who are pressing ahead with digital
digital opportunities. Their are acting on several common realizations:
frustration lies in how to
make that happen and
when they will see a material The digital journey
return. will likely be as prolonged
as the global journey.
Almost every senior business and IT As the CEO of an industrial equipment
executive I visit wants to exploit digital manufacturer recently told me, When we
technologies to enhance and extend their opened a sales office in Denmark in 1961, we
business. They dont need to be told again told investors we were global. Today, fully 55
about digitals importance. Nor do they need years later, we wrestle with being global every
to hear additional war stories. They want day. I think the goal of digitization will be
to know where and how to deploy digital, equally long. I equate our first digital product
as well as how to ensure their company is with that Copenhagen office.
getting a tangible economic return. Digitally-leading enterprises realize that digiti-
Most appear to be playing Whack-a-Puck zation will be a long journey. They adjust their
(going after perceived opportunities) or plans, management styles and approaches
Whack-a-Mole (trying to catch up with to a multi-year or decades-long perspective.
the digital business standard). Additionally, Several said it was reminiscent of their glo-
while most enterprises have had some success balization experience, where their companies
with digital, they also find their competitors took one step at a time, building on successes,
have quickly reached similar levels, and they choosing knowledgeable partners, adjusting
struggle to achieve digital at scale. Paraphras- products and services, and deploying the right
ing Andy Warhol, one business services people at the right place and time.
Cognizanti 43
directly related to cultural readiness, fit
and adoption. Additionally, the technolo-
Culture eats gies, while promising, are often complex,
strategy for breakfast. immature, evolving and untested. Despite
the opportunities, the audience and environ-
This Peter Drucker observation1 is proving ment within some legacy companies may not
true with digitization. Many digital efforts be ready.
depend on the voluntary awareness,
acceptance and use by numerous stakehold- Several business leaders described the need to
ers. One sales executive told me, Our sales restructure their organizations by timeframe
support team built a terrific set of digital tools or at least better link various functions
for our advisors and clients, but neither had working within the same time horizons.
time to learn them. An industrial products
development VP lamented that technicians A consumer services company, for example,
were ignoring their new built-in cloud-based established four teams:
diagnostics as they felt they knew better.
OO The Deliver Now Team: This group
Business leaders often enact a cultural and which consisted of marketing, brand,
readiness assessment of key stakeholders product development, supply chain, dis-
before launching digital efforts. They design tribution, sales and support focused on
the approach, launch, features, products, the digital aspects of its existing product
marketing and rollout based on what is portfolio and markets.
learned from the assessment. Successful digital
OO The Nexters Team: This team
enhancement is often more about cultural
which also represented the above business
adaptation and change than new technology
functions focused on digitally enhanced
and its application. Digital cultural assessment
products, services and markets ready for
and activity is as critical now as it was for
launch in 12 to 24 months.
companies seeking to go global.
OO The Horizon Team: This group
focused on anticipating and planning
Organize teams for the next two to three years. It also
prepared the market and staff with
according to time horizons. campaigns covering market needs and
As suggested above, successful digital internal resource capabilities over that
enhancement for legacy enterprises as well horizon.
as their enablement of supporting staffs,
OO The Possibles Team: The focus for
their markets and their consumers is often
this team was what the company would
need to be successful four to five years out.
44
Sorry to convey this bad news, but becoming more digital
costs real money, time and effort.
Instead, digital leaders start with a business The DNA and operating models of Modes
outcome and then fit an appropriate set of 1 and 2 are not similar, easily connected or
digital enhancement tools to the cultural integrated. Leaders have found they need
changes described above. very special staff and processes to select a
future direction for Mode 2 activities; they
Another company in this space approached then need to discontinue, link, integrate,
the problem differently. It wished to reduce adjudicate and migrate the effort, while
recurring outage impact. It scanned its supporting the shift of behaviors, expecta-
previous five years of repair tickets, identified tions, products and processes of a Mode 2
the characteristics of most frequent failures, activity to a Mode 1 footing.
and embedded cellular sensors/alarms into
10% of its pumps, compressors and valves in
70% of its regions. For a minimum capital
outlay, the company believes it has saved
millions on outage prevention and recovery.
By starting with the business outcome, it
achieved outsized results.
Cognizanti 45
If youre going to the At least two types
future, bring money. of digitization leadership
Sorry to convey this bad news, but becoming are required.
more digital costs real money, time and effort.
We often hear that a chief digital officer
Fantasizing that it can be accomplished by
(CDO) is needed to guide digitization efforts
applying funding from cost savings doesnt
across the enterprise. While this may be true
work. You dont need to lose the $800
for some companies, business leaders with
million that Uber lost in the third quarter of
whom Ive spoken appear to have two very
2016,3 but new, increasing investment will be
distinct CDO roles in mind, each with very
required. Everyone touts GE for its progress
different mandates.
in digitization. That wasnt funded out of the
ether.
The Digital Strategist
Leaders have learned that success always This role provides vision and direction to
pivots around money, time and effort advance the digital business strategy. This
invested upfront and along the way. They all may involve developing new architectures,
speak of continually learning, transitioning, adapting the business strategy, identifying
re-training, developing, recruiting, retaining opportunities, setting priorities, establishing
and maintaining digitally capable staff, enablement programs, selecting the program
culture, products, processes and markets. happenators4 and monitoring progress. Key
But many are caught between a rock and to this is understanding the readiness and
a hard place. They have activist investors cultural change involved, as well as the
demanding cost reductions, splits and associated economics.
spinoffs. There is no best practice, but many The digital strategist embodies a broad range
companies are developing a credible business of skills, talents and abilities to:
scenario for simultaneously making the
case for necessary investment, showing the OO Visualize, communicate and enable a
pathway forward, and then demonstrating digital future vision.
tangible results as they build support for the
OO Break the digital vision into realistic and
further enhancements. Even though uncer-
achievable programs and projects based on
tainty abounds on all fronts, its critical to
realization horizons.
develop a capital investment plan for digital
initiatives, similar to what would be created OO Establish and govern priorities, scope
for a new plant, set of stores or product. and accountability through management
structures and processes.
46
OO Understand the cultural change needed OO Ensure the coordination of all enabling
for digital success. aspects of programs and projects, as well as
benefits plans and harvesting.
OO Get things done with resources outside
the roles reporting purview while building OO Report and escalate issues to the digital
trust and getting real commitment. strategist on progress and impediments.
There are very few, if any, people with all the
The Digital Orchestrator understanding, management and leadership
The digital orchestrator acts as the overall talents or experiences for either of these
conductor of the digital efforts and is viewed roles. Digital leaders must have patience and
by some as the digital control tower. The role develop or augment these roles by building
involves providing guidance, promotion, coor- tight team relationships over time. The leaders
dination and monitoring of all digital efforts. I spoke with mentioned common themes:
To do this, the orchestrator must identify and OO It seldom worked to drop a digital wizard
coordinate the efforts, their major moving from Silicon Valley into the team to act as
parts and their inter-relationships, such as the strategist or orchestrator. These people
data, technology, markets and activities. often lacked the patience and understand-
Inspecting and ensuring the progress of the ing of the existing culture.
efforts is also required. Much of the orchestra-
OO A mix of internal and external resources
tors effort is directed at helping stakeholders
worked best.
over the bumps encountered, identifying
resources required, and ensuring the efforts are OO It was essential to develop an understand-
on a pathway toward business contribution. ing of and sensitivity to all team roles and
capabilities.
The digital orchestrator role embodies the
capabilities, skills and talents required to: OO It was crucial to recognize when teams
needed help, where to get it and then how
OO Break endeavors into broad programs and to apply it.
then into projects. As one CIO of a financial services firm told
OO Define, establish and manage resources; me: Analytics identified our most profitable
measure progress and enforce responsibili- clients, and we didnt know what else we
ties. could do for them.
Identify and address gaps, risks, needed
Words to the Wise
OO
Cognizanti 47
Footnotes
1
Although the quote Culture eats strategy for breakfast is often attributed to the late
management consultant Peter Drucker, there is no proof that he ever made this statement.
It does, however, reflect his management consulting philosophy. See https://www.quora.com/
Did-Peter-Drucker-actually-say-culture-eats-strategy-for-breakfast-and-if-so-where-when.
2
Bruce Rogow, The 50-Year Journey to Digital Business, Cognizanti, Vol. 9, Issue I, 2016,
page 83, https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/cognizanti-volume-9-issue-1-2016-co-
dex2092.pdf.
3
Eric Newcomer, Ubers Loss Exceeds $800 Million in Third Quarter on $1.7 Billion in
Net Revenue, Bloomberg Technology, Dec. 19, 2016, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/
articles/2016-12-20/uber-s-loss-exceeds-800-million-in-third-quarter-on-1-7-billion-in-net-
revenue.
4
A happenator is the person absolutely responsible and accountable for ensuring that the
change happens and does so with passion. For more detail, see Cognizanti, Vol. 5, Issue 1,
2012, http://www.cognizant.com/cognizanti.
Author
Bruce J. Rogow is a Principal at IT Odyssey and Advisory in Marblehead, Mass.
Known as the counselor to CIOs and CEOs on IT strategy, Bruce has for the last
15 years conducted independent, face-to-face interviews with thousands of C-level
executives. Previously, he spent five years as Executive Vice-President and Head of
Research at Gartner Inc. Prior to that, he was Senior Managing Principal at Nolan,
Norton & Co. Bruce can be reached at Bruce@ITOdyssey.com.
48
About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ-100: CTSH) is one of the worlds leading professional
services companies, transforming clients business, operating and technology
models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach
helps clients envision, build and run more innovative and efficient businesses.
Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant is ranked 230 on the Fortune 500 and is
consistently listed among the most admired companies in the world.
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Norwalk, Phoenix, San Ramon, Teaneck
(U.S.); London (Canada); London (UK); Frankfurt (Germany); Paris (France); Madrid
(Spain); Helsinki (Finland); Copenhagen (Denmark); Zurich, Geneva (Switzerland);
Amsterdam (The Netherlands); Hong Kong, Shanghai (China); Tokyo (Japan); Melbourne,
Sydney (Australia); Singapore (Singapore); Bangkok (Thailand); Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia);
Buenos Aires (Argentina); Dubai (UAE); Manila (Philippines).