LIVE FROM COMARCH USER GROUP 2018, KRAKOW, POLAND: Netherlands-based KPN suffered in the past due to taking an orthodox approach to technology, particularly in terms of winning business in the enterprise sector, an executive explained.

Abhishek Goel, theme lead of business market (pictured), said the operator began transforming its approach following pressure from customers and its board, which was concerned about a drop in KPN’s share price.

The executive highlighted the scale of the challenge, stating KPN had a “spaghetti of systems and interfaces” with way too many suppliers: “You name a supplier and we had it”, Goel commented.

KPN also realised that it was taking two-to-three years to implement new systems, by which time technology had moved on. It realised it needed to have a “culture of adoption and change”.

The company concluded simplification was key, along with being agile; making strategic decisions; investing in its employees; and cutting bureaucratic layers.

A major challenge it faced was how to serve both large enterprises and small businesses: to this end, in 2016 it acquired cloud services providers RoutIT to tackle SMEs, and in 2017 also bought Divider to target larger companies.

Goel said the changes are bearing fruit in terms of KPN’s overall net promoter score, which improved from a rating of -14 in Q3 2013 to 8 by end-2017.

The changes have borne fruit in terms of boosting KPN’s net promoter score (a measure of the readiness of customers to recommend a business) from a negative figure in 2013 to a positive score today.