Management Consulting and Integrated Markets

Vodafone D2

Creating an integrated
platform for further
growth through a major
CTO restructuring program
With more than 25 million customers relying on its mobile voice and data
telecommunications services, Vodafone D2 is the largest operating company in
the Vodafone Group, the world’s leading mobile telecommunications company.
The engine room of Vodafone
D2 is its technology organization,
headed by its Chief Technology
Officer (CTO). This is a pivotal
organizational unit responsible
for the development of new
products and services, business/
operational support systems
(BSS/OSS) and enterprise IT,
network planning and rollout,
as well as the associated
operational functions, both
central and regional.
Business Challenges
One year ago, Vodafone D2 identified
an emerging organizational issue
that, if left unattended, could
ultimately have affected its capacity
for growth. The problem is common
in the rest of the mobile industry,
but was made all the more pressing
for Vodafone D2 because of the
size and scale of its business. The
issue needed to be resolved in a
tight timeframe to avoid affecting
Vodafone D2’s strong forward
momentum and future growth.
To a large extent, the problem was
a result of Vodafone D2’s highly
successful growth strategy. A
combination of strong organic and
acquisitive expansion had resulted in
a sustained period of ‘hypergrowth’,
during which organizational
challenges were often managed
by adding resources and separate
organizational units, rather than
engaging in a more fundamental
redesign. As the CTO organization
grew over time, its structure
gradually moved out of an optimal
alignment with its core processes
and customers’ needs.
Helmut Hoffman, Chief Technology
Officer (CTO) of Vodafone D2,
quickly identified that this
organization was not optimized
for the opportunities and challenges
ahead. Key considerations included
the fact that the CTO organization
had developed a strongly vertical
structure involving 18 direct reports
to the CTO, each focused on specific
functions for particular technology
layers or geographies.
The existing structure was also not
optimized for the rapid convergence
between network and IT technologies
and the resulting need to manage
projects and initiatives across all
technology layers and assign clear
end-to-end responsibilities. These
issues were compounded by
increasing market saturation and
rising competition, which were
intensifying the cost and time-to-
market pressures facing the CTO area.
How Accenture helped
Vodafone D2 teamed with
Accenture to plan and implement
a comprehensive transformation
program to redefine the core
organizational units, processes
and governance structure of
the CTO area.
Accenture was selected to team
with Vodafone D2 because of its
deep understanding of the mobile
industry, its track record in assisting
other Vodafone operating units
throughout the world on major and
complex transformation projects
“Accenture’s support in the areas of organization
and process design, communications and training as
well as providing industry best practices were key
elements in transforming our technical organization
towards new levels of high performance.”
Helmut Hoffman – Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone D2.
and its technology pedigree in
collaborating with companies
to help them become high-
performance businesses.
Under the highly structured approach
chosen for the program, the most
important initiatives for the CTO
area were prioritized and then
implemented through four main
projects. These were:
1. Restructuring and streamlining
of service and IT development
2. Improving governance and
management of the regional
branches
3. Consolidating network planning
and design functions
4. Restructuring of IT operations.
These four discrete projects were
embedded in an overall program
management organization that
handled central communication
and change management, as well
as managing the coordination of
the various parallel projects. In each
case, Accenture helped to drive the
projects and brought in its cross-
industry experience and best practice
in areas such as IT transformation
and large reorganization projects.
Accenture was involved in all the
project phases from conceptual
design and mobilization through
design and implementation, as well
as supporting the stabilization phase
after the organization’s launch.
The restructuring of service and
IT development project began with
a seven-week conceptual study.
Vodafone D2 and Accenture used the
results of this conceptual phase to
design and implement a streamlined,
customer-oriented and clearly
focused development organization.
Even though the complexity and
degree of change were considerable
and affected a large number of
people, the project was launched
in just five months.
To improve governance and
management of the regional
branches, Vodafone D2 and
Accenture started by examining
various potential organizational
structures for the regional branches
and for the governance model
between headquarters and regions.
This enabled the joint team to
develop a new governance model,
quantify the potential cost savings,
define the necessary organizational
changes and design and plan the
implementation. This project was
implemented within four months.
The consolidation of the network
planning and design functions began
with a short conceptual phase during
which Vodafone D2 and Accenture
developed a holistic model for
integrating the different network
functions. Using this model, the joint
team designed and implemented
a new network organization that
features clear accountabilities for
all core processes (such as network
planning and network design) across
all network layers including core,
access, radio and construction
aspects.
Additional key elements of the new
organization are centralized tool
development and strengthened
project management capabilities.
Design, implementation and launch
of this unit took only four months.
The definition and implementation
of the target IT operations function
involved a four-month project. After
an in-depth ‘as-is’ assessment of the
current practices and performance
indicators, the joint team defined the
guiding principles and requirements
for the target organization. The
major inputs for this definition were
Vodafone D2’s previous experience
and a collection of Accenture’s
unique best-practices for high
performing IT organizations across
the world. The guiding principles and
requirements then drove the design
of a new fully service-orientated IT
operations department with a set of
clearlydefined responsibilities for
deployment, billing processes, CRM
and MIS services, infrastructure
services and project coordination.
Throughout the program, one of the
key challenges for both Accenture
and Vodafone D2 was the tight
timeframe within which it needed
to be carried out. The entire program,
from very first concept phase to
stabilization of the new organization,
including all four projects, was
completed in less than ten months.
CTO Helmut Hoffman was well aware
of this challenge: “The Accenture
team’s great support was key to
helping us achieve our aggressive
goal: to very rapidly realign the
technical organization to prepare
it for the future.”
High performance delivered
Vodafone D2 now has a CTO
organization which represents
a step-change from the previous
structure. The number of CTO direct
reports has been reduced from
18 to 5 – a result of introducing
clear accountabilities for the major
functions such as development,
operations and network
infrastructure expansion. The new
organization provides clearly defined
internal customer channels with
end-to-end responsibility across
all technologies and processes.
This new CTO structure is more
cost-efficient, with streamlined
and synergetic processes helping it
to achieve shortened time-to-market
cycles for development of new
services and IT solutions. This
greater efficiency is underpinned
by increased focus and control in
areas such as budget management,
strategy and project management.
With Accenture’s help, Vodafone
D2 transformed its CTO area into
a streamlined and future-proof
organization aligned with its business
needs and operational goals. CTO
Helmut Hoffman illustrates this by
saying: “Together with Accenture
we have built an efficient and
resultoriented organization that
allows us to manage our services
across all technology layers and
is fully focused on our internal
and external customers. This new
organization prepares us for the
future and enables us to reduce
time-to-market and cost whilst
further increasing transparency,
quality and customer satisfaction.”
The business benefits of the new CTO
organization are now beginning to
flow to Vodafone D2 – and these
will increase still further over time,
thanks to the increased capacity
Copyright © 2008 Accenture
All rights reserved.
Accenture, its logo, and
High Performance Delivered
are trademarks of Accenture.
for sustainable growth and greater
agility resulting from the CTO
restructuring undertaken with
the assistance of Accenture.
As Helmut Hoffman goes on to say:
“Accenture has very effectively joined
forces with my leadership team to
embark on this transformation
journey and supported us from the
initial organizational assessment
until after the successful launch
of the new structure. Together
with Accenture we have built an
organization that prepares us for the
opportunities and challenges ahead.”
The key to the success of this
new organization lies in the clear
definition and communication
of roles, responsibilities and
accountabilities to everyone affected.
As both Vodafone D2 and Accenture
know, technology is a critical enabler
– but it is people and organizational
structures that set the context
in which it can deliver high
Accenture is a global management
consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company. Combining
unparalleled experience, comprehensive
capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research
on the world’s most successful companies,
Accenture collaborates with clients to
help them become high-performance
businesses and governments. With more
than 175,000 people in 49 countries,
the company generated net revenues of
US$19.70 billion for the fiscal year
ended Aug. 31, 2007.
Its home page is www.accenture.com
performance business benefits.
Thanks to Accenture’s support in
this major transformation initiative,
Vodafone D2 is now getting the
best from its CTO people and its
technology. As Helmut Hoffman says:
“Accenture's support in the areas of
organization and process design,
communications and training as well
as providing industry best practices
were key elements in transforming
our technical organization towards
new levels of high performance in
a constantly changing business
environment.”
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