Telenor: Next-generation Systems Operations Workforce

Accenture and Telenor merged disparate systems operations into a single location and deployed technology to automate the company's network alarm system. To help the company save even more time and resources, Accenture then worked with Telenor Networks to reorganize the 560-member field force operation and implement order management.

Telenor AS is Norway's leading provider of telecommunication, data and media communications services. With more than 22,000 employees in Norway and other countries, the company reported revenues of $6.5 billion in 2002. Through Telenor Networks, its wholly owned networking subsidiary, Telenor was the first telecommunications company in Scandinavia to offer Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), or broadband, services. Telenor Networks' domestic network is one of the most advanced fixed-line networks in the world and was one of the first to be fully digitized.

Telenor Networks has set a goal to become one of the leading service assurance units within the European telecommunications industry. To realize the high ambitions, the organization recognized it had some major challenges related to the high operating costs. Systems operations were handled at multiple locations; the reporting structures were unclear; duplication of efforts occurred; and there was a lack of focus on core activities.

Telenor Networks' 375-member system operations were inefficient and lacked adequate support for such important processes as monitoring the network and correcting faults. The company's complex IT architecture made it difficult to monitor the network for disruptions of operations—it required a large workforce to monitor its many screens and relied on manual processes. Meanwhile, the company's technology-oriented workforce lacked the customer-focus that is critical to understanding—and delivering—the network users need.

When Telenor Networks decided to cut operating costs and streamline efficiency as part of the major change initiative, it hired Accenture to help transform the company's workforce. Telenor Networks knew it could benefit from partnering with an outside organization during the change journey. Accenture was chosen because we offered the capabilities necessary to quickly design and implement the massive change effort Telenor Networks envisioned—everything from helping the company define its vision to training its trainers.

Accenture's multi-disciplined approach takes into account all of the strategic, process and technology-related issues that arise during organizational change. With more than 5,000 human performance professionals, Accenture has the deepest and most sophisticated skills and experience in the market. Those human performance professionals focus on the behaviors and skill sets of individual employees within the context of strategic objectives. Accenture has helped hundreds of global companies manage the biggest and most complex changes they ever faced, and without disrupting their ongoing business operations. Also important: In previous projects with Telenor Networks, Accenture demonstrated an ability to deliver measurable results on time and under budget.

In an initiative that was innovative in its holistic approach, Accenture collaborated with Telenor Networks to transform the company's systems operation from a function-based to a process-based organization. Accenture and Telenor merged disparate systems operations into a single location and deployed technology to automate the company's network alarm system—reducing the need to manually monitor 50,000 alarms. To help the company save even more time and resources, Accenture then worked with Telenor Networks to reorganize the 560-member field force operation and implement order management.

Accenture began the major transformation by helping Telenor Networks analyze the required organizational, process and cultural changes that would both reduce costs and significantly improve the effectiveness of the company's workforce. To achieve these objectives, Accenture helped the company create a transformed organization built around redesigned business processes. Working jointly, Accenture and Telenor Networks developed the new processes, determined the core competencies that would be required for each process, and then defined the new roles to support each competency. From that, the new, tightly structured organization was designed.

To ensure that employees focused on core activities, Accenture and Telenor created an organization in which each department had its own core competency. Employees were relocated to the appropriate departments. The move enabled Telenor Networks to more effectively utilize employees' skills and knowledge. No longer were they focusing on non-core activities, an improvement that has helped eliminate work redundancy.

Accenture also helped define the personal qualities necessary for Telenor Networks employees. The company wanted a dynamic workforce that was flexible, results-oriented, full of initiative and focused on satisfying customers' needs.

Accenture helped with the daunting task of managing the cultural change. Change agents were identified in each department—individuals who were involved in decisions and in communicating the importance of the changes to employees. Accenture also delivered the management training and is now developing a measurement and incentive system for workplace performance.

By teaming with Accenture, Telenor Networks has vastly improved the cost-effectiveness of its workforce, and reduced operating costs by as much as 25 percent. With the consolidated system operation, and the redesigned processes and organization, the company now requires 200 employees to achieve what only a year ago called for 375 employees. The innovative, wide-scale initiative to transform Telenor Networks was delivered on time and under budget.

Today, Telenor Networks is an efficient organization with a strong focus on its core business objectives. The company has boosted its ability to serve customers and is solidly positioned for future growth. Thanks to Accenture's role in guiding the change journey, Telenor Networks has strengthened its role as an industry pioneer. It achieved a vision that only one year earlier seemed virtually unobtainable.