Norway’s largest telecommunications, media and technology provider adapts to rapidly changing customer expectations using a hybrid cloud approach

Telenor relies on SAS^® Viya^® on Microsoft Azure and SAS^® Customer Intelligence 360 to provide fast, personalized customer service based on real-time analytics

The telecom industry around the world is redefining communication services more frequently than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the urgency for profound, accelerated reinvention. When many aspects of human interaction moved online, technology service providers had to step up their game.

According to a recent McKinsey & Company report, customer behaviors jumped five to 10 years ahead due to COVID-19, as people shifted to online activities like remote learning, video conferencing and shopping.

This acceleration has proved challenging for digital service providers, already under extreme pressure and struggling to capture customer value to generate growth through new revenue streams.

But in this harsh climate, Telenor Mobile has managed to increase its revenue during a period where the telecom industry in Europe, and the world, has lost revenue. It achieved growth by using data, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to stay relevant to customers.

Telenor and SAS have been working together for more than 20 years. Today, Telenor is using SAS Viya, has started the migration to SAS Viya on Microsoft Azure, and is also using SAS Customer Intelligence 360 to provide enhanced customer service and make data-driven, scalable decisions to satisfy rapidly changing customer demands.

“If we don’t take an analytical and data-driven approach, then we won’t succeed,” says Nikolai Perminow, Head of Architecture, Channels and Analytics in the Mobile Division of Telenor Norway. “SAS adds substantial value to help us make faster and better decisions.”

Data is the key to staying relevant

Perminow leads a team of around 30 people with the goal to deliver a world-class customer experience in a smart and sustainable way. Everyone on the team is committed to the growth agenda. Their core focus is on staying relevant for their customers across core telecommunications services and additional services.

Part of the Mobile Division’s successful model is using the same data for different analytical purposes, whether it is simple reporting, complex analysis, or smart and automated engagement with customers, all in a way that speeds up the learning process. This, in turn, gives Telenor a competitive advantage in the market.

The democratization of analytics

Perminow’s mission is to democratize analytics, making it available to everyone in the organization so that they can make swift, well-informed decisions. To help achieve this goal, Telenor is using SAS in a hybrid approach, with data both in the cloud and on-premises. This hybrid approach also helps satisfy the strict and complex regulations from the Norwegian government and the European Union regarding where Telenor can store, manage and maintain customer data.

“We benefit from SAS’ agile approach to cloud, cloud on-site, software as a service (SaaS) and on-premises solutions to deliver what we need through a hybrid architecture,” Perminow says.

Telenor can organize its data through Viya with world-class models, giving it the opportunity to provide optimal customer service. Telenor wants to use this shift to the cloud to become more customer-centric, agile and innovative. A hybrid cloud approach will also allow Telenor to quickly meet changing customer demands and provide a personalized customer journey based on real-time analytics.

The solution with Viya has greatly improved how Telenor works with analytics, particularly the visual capabilities of the tool, which have helped strengthen the alignment between the analytics team and the other departments in the company.

“Previously, analytics lived as a separate function in our business, but now analytics is at the core of the company for everything we do to help solve problems and drive success,” Perminow says.

“In the Mobile Division, we are using SAS Visual Analytics on Viya as an analytical platform for doing advanced analytics, for engagement toward our customers, and for reporting and similar analytics. Using just one analytics solution to understand and engage ensures that we don’t get two different truths, as there can be differences between systems, no matter how thorough you are.”

Because SAS Visual Analytics provides a single application for reporting, data exploration and analytics, Perminow’s vision of democratizing analytics is coming to life. The interactive reports and dashboards are easy to understand and use, even if staff are not statisticians or data scientists.

“What we have seen is that if we want to create real value from the analytics insights and solutions we are using, we must make it super simple for the those within the organization to be able to access these insights,” Perminow says. “We need to inspire a shared vision of data and analytics in everything we do at Telenor, from the boardroom to sales managers to customers.”

Success requires scalability

Additional SAS solutions are also part of Telenor’s digital transformation. The company is reimagining marketing, using SAS Customer Intelligence 360 to help personalize the customer experience, define and activate engagement strategies and solve sometimes complex engagement challenges. And SAS Intelligent Decisioning drives real-time interactions and enterprise analytical decisions at scale, helping Telenor make better business decisions and continuously adapt to customers’ needs.

“The key to success today is asking the question, ‘does it scale?’ I’m obsessed with this question,” Perminow says. “If it does not scale, you are wasting your time, and you will not succeed.”

Now Telenor’s analytics team has a more structured way of working with analytics, which has helped align its processes, methods and tools.

“SAS has enabled our organization to be curious, driving insights, decisions and growth,” Perminow says. “This combination of software can handle enormous amounts of data fast and efficiently; it’s extremely valuable.”

His goal of transforming the Mobile Division is in motion. The team is shifting from providing answers to enabling everyone in the business to answer their own questions and use those answers to drive business forward. And SAS Visual Analytics on Viya is at the heart of this shift.

“Trying to tackle really challenging questions – and find ways to improve how we work and solve the unsolvable – is what really motivates me and drives me in my work,” Perminow concludes. “Wherever you go and whatever you do, the main thing that will propel you forward is curiosity. We need to challenge the way we think and the status quo and focus on how we can do things better. And that’s precisely what we’re doing at Telenor.”