What’s on the mind of Bas Burger

Bas, what’s the latest news from BT Benelux?
Our strategy remains essentially the same since our last newsletter.  What we’re focusing on today is the execution of that strategy in our local markets.  We’re emphasizing the strengths and real assets that we have here—in our network, our datacenters, and our professional services capabilities—and we’re trying to translate that into real value for our customers.  We’re listening to our customers, to understand how they communicate.  And in response we’re applying the lessons—sector-specific lessons—that we are learning around the world. 

What is your view on cloud services? Is this something that is keeping CIOs awake at night?
From our customers’ perspective I don’t think that CIOs are particularly concerned with the cloud as such.  The cloud is pretty hyped at the moment.  But if you think about it, cloud services have been around for a long time.  In principle our earlier voice services were cloud services.  The internet is a cloud service too.  Notwithstanding the hype, our customers are keen on some of the key benefits inherent to cloud services.  At present we are still operating in an uncertain economic environment.  The economy has been picking up but most of our customers are still managing on the basis of uncertainty.  As such, they’re looking for flexible services that do not require much upfront investment and that you can pay for on an as-you-use basis.  Simultaneously, however, they’re keen to invest in innovation. That’s how BT can help.  Our cloud services have the necessary flexibility and scalability, but at the same time we’re constantly investing in the latest technology.  We are also integrating self-help functionality so that clients can pick and choose their own services.  So not only in price but also in service we want to be as flexible as we can.  That is a core principle that we’re integrating in our services.  And it is paying off; we’re seeing a lot of demand for these types of services, also in a worldwide context.

BT is in a unique position to offer cloud services on a worldwide basis and we’re actively investing in that regard, expanding our range of cloud-based services.  But we’re obviously not there yet. You cannot yet plug into our cloud anywhere in the world, and tap into all possible applications.  We have started offering cloud services in areas where we have particular strength, for example in Unified Communication and Telepresence.  These services are proving very popular with large enterprises but also smaller companies are beginning to buy into these services because they’re so much more flexible.  With Telepresence as a service, for example, we have placed some of the more expensive components of the service into the cloud and we supply the required infrastructure on a rental basis.  Companies pay a monthly price and we install the video conferencing room, the screens etc.  It is all very flexible; we’ll take the infrastructure away if the service isn’t needed anymore, or alternatively you can add screens as needed.  Interestingly, this service is not only used for long distance communication.  For example, in the Netherlands we notice that Telepresence is increasingly used for short distance communication, to connect two affiliate offices that collaborate closely together.  It makes sense.  Our own Telepresence link between Brussels and Amsterdam is hugely popular because we work so closely together.  I think this is an important trend; connecting local offices with each other.  Obviously it does mean that such communication—and the shared infrastructure supporting that communication—needs to be secure, but fortunately at BT we have a world-leading position in security; it is one of our core competencies.

Bring your own device
Increasingly, people are taking their own devices—smartphones, laptops and now tablets—to work and asking for access to their mail, calendar and documents.  This is especially true for younger people and senior managers.  This is an unavoidable reality for CIOs today.  I have an iPad that I purchased privately and I have applications on it for home use, for the children etc, but I also use it at work.  This is an unstoppable trend, no doubt.  Some companies are beginning to manage this well, others are struggling with it, be it from a security perspective or in terms of service & support. Companies need to take a pragmatic approach to this challenge.  You need to be able to enforce security policies and you need different types of security policies depending on the user profile and the sensitivity of the data.  Obviously you cannot manage fleets of different devices, so keep it manageable.  Don’t support too many devices and try to stick to standard operating systems.

In the coming months…
We will be launching a number of new cloud-based services in the coming months and will be talking to our customers about all these topics.  We are not doing a ‘big bang’ launch of numerous cloud services. On the contrary, we’re launching stepwise new services in the cloud and building on our existing strengths.  We don’t just want to launch new products; we want to deliver solutions that meet our clients’ needs, solutions that really work with proven, secure technology.
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