Industry
Communications, Media and Information Services
Connect. Curate. Comprehend: Unlocking Value Beyond Boundaries
Highlights
- Proximus, a leading telecommunications provider in Belgium, wanted to achieve operational and energy savings in removing the legacy copper infrastructure to replace it with an optical fiber network
- Decommissioning of the copper network resulted in a significant increase in workload for the operational teams, thereby putting extra burden on them and elevating the risk of data quality errors.
- TCS implemented a unified, business process management notation (BPMN)-based solution, enabling the telco to deploy robotic process automation (RPA), thus improving operational efficiency and resolving data quality issues.
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Overview
Proximus, a leading telecommunications company in Belgium, set out on a journey of transformation with a road map to shift to an optical fiber network.
To make the switch smooth, the telco wanted to refine its program to out-phase the existing copper network. This would help it reduce not only the maintenance cost but also the operational expenditure arising due to an increase in volumes of copper decommissioning jobs.
The telco wanted to also increase its efficiency by automating the process to remove copper design from multiple applications (inventory system containing the design of copper network), aiming to reduce manual administration and documentation work, and manage expected high volumes.
Standardizing and automating these processes would help Proximus to improve speed, accuracy, and overall operational efficiency as well as enhance the brand positioning of its own network after the rollout of the fiber optic network. This will also help realize energy savings very rapidly.
Proximus was looking for a partner who understood their BPMN framework and could assist them in their transformation journey of replacing copper infrastructure with optical fiber.
TCS, having a well-established, long-term strategic partnership with the telco, proven expertise in BPM, and experience in network planning, engineering, and construction (PEC), was the obvious choice of Proximus as a strategic partner for its digital transformation journey.
Challenge
Proximus was facing various infrastructural challenges in its transition to an optical fiber network.
The copper switch-off tasks increased workload, and the employees found managing it difficult. They were unfamiliar with the new end-to-end process and diverse tools required to decommission the legacy copper network.
As the telco aligned its operations with the surge of activities to decommission the copper infrastructure, the rise in manual tasks led to the loss of full time equivalent (FTE) and compromised data quality, highlighting the need for streamlined processes and enhanced automation to mitigate these issues.
Solution
Proximus Belgium and TCS collaborated to enable a robust, automated solution to overcome the operational challenges for the transition.
TCS, in collaboration with Proximus, adopted the BPMN framework for end-to-end transformation of the copper switch-off process.
TCS utilized a layered architecture to design processes from a high level to a low level. This helped identify several inefficiencies and non-uniformities in the copper and fiber designing and power disconnection processes.
Leveraging this framework, TCS helped the telco standardize processes nationally, while laying the foundation for robotic process automation and application enhancements—key requirements for evolving to an improved future state.
TCS has been a pivotal strategic partner in our transformation journey. Leveraging its deep expertise in business process management notation (BPMN), TCS not only enhanced our operational efficiency but also significantly improved our data quality, helping drive measurable outcomes.
Outcome
Process re-engineering and automation solution ensured seamless transition to optical fiber.
With the successful implementation of the BPMN framework, the TCS solution ensured 17% reduction in total lead time because of:
- 50% reduction in manual efforts through robotic process automation (RPA) of the power cut and design de-documentation process
- 100% efforts reduction by implementing structured process orchestration and automation of information flow between different teams
- 80% of manual efforts saved and risk of human error reduced through the automation of deconfiguration activities on the network
