VietNamNet Bridge – To keep up with the latest technology trend, MobiFone will provide Big Data services next year. Nguyen Bao Long deputy general director of MobiFone spoke about this first-hand experience and the firm’s business plan.

Nguyen Bao Long deputy general director of MobiFone

Could you share MobiFone’s experience of applying Big Data in the past two years?

In 2012, Big Data emerged as a new concept. We are thrilled by the potential Big Data holds for business growth so we went to many technical seminars to get updates on the latest trend as well as seek consultancy from our counterparts around the world. Two years later, we began to implement Big Data on a trial basis to analyse customer behaviour. As of 2015, we have conducted five marketing plans based on a collection of organised and analysed data. As a result, MobiFone has increased its total revenue by 13 per cent and retained nearly 500,000 pre-paid customers who had intended to leave our mobile network.

Applying Big Data technology, MobiFone can identify the products and services that satisfy customers’ demand. As a result, we can introduce tailored packages, take care of different groups of clients, and adjust our marketing plans effectively.

What are some challenges of implementing Big Data?

As this is a new field, we face many obstacles in finding Big Data analysts. In the beginning of 2012, we sought experts in the region, in places like Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia but there were only two qualified people. Out of those two, one analyst decided to join MobiFone.

Due to the shortage of human resources in the sector, we have invited data technicians to train our employees so that they can acquire the skills to understand the data and make decisions based on its analysis. The training lasts for six months, and only two employees meet the requirements. MobiFone hopes to tackle this significant hurdle soon to fully utilise Big Data’s potential.

How is MobiFone’s plan for 2016?

In terms of Cloud computing, we are building a new package based on the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). This is a form of Cloud computing that provides virtualised computing resources over the internet. Once completed, we will offer this package to businesses in Vietnam.

Based on an IBM Platform, we have plans to launch Big Data as a service in 2016, which covers data analysis, information verification, and forecasting. By adopting the model, companies can enhance their management, facilitate product innovation, improve sales and marketing plans, as well as strengthen security. MobiFone will provide the services to 20 affiliates as well as three subsidiaries and enterprises in demand. We are now working on the schedule to roll out the service next year.

What is your assessment of the SMAC trend for the time ahead?

The trend of applying Big Data and Cloud computing seems inevitable for businesses in various fields, especially for mobile network operators. As a pioneer of SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics, and Cloud) application in Vietnam, MobiFone has implemented the new technology in our daily organisation. This year, we are providing an in-house social networking site for employees to connect with each other, stay informed about business news, and engage in company-wide discussions. The number of social networking sites and mobile internet users is growing quickly, creating billions of gigabytes of data. MobiFone expects to facilitate the application of SMAC technology among the Vietnamese business community. Therefore, we organised the conference “SMAC 2015: Connecting values – Evoking potentials” for Vietnamese entrepreneurs to catch up on the latest trends, as well as learn best practices from top-notch experts like Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak.

VIR