Powering Use Cases and Monetizing Data with Advanced Analytics

Zain is a leading digital service provider in the Middle East and Africa with a commercial presence in seven countries

Founded in Kuwait in 1983, its workforce of over 7,500 people provides a range of mobile voice, data and digital services to over 50.9 million active customers.

Getting equipped for the second wave of digital transformation

The affordability of smartphones and increasing investment in information and communications technologies (ICT) means the Middle East and Africa is the fastest-growing region for internet users. With 1.3 billion mobile telephone subscribers and 92.5% of the population covered by a mobile cellular network, it is the second fastest-growing region after Asia Pacific for mobile internet penetration. 

As ICT continues to develop at an accelerated pace, so too must the telecommunications infrastructure required to support it. The second wave of digital transformation and the growing landscape of hybrid work have dramatically increased the demands on ICT providers as they work to strengthen their services and deliver the reliable connectivity needed to sustain our digital lives, power commerce, and enable national economies to remain competitive. 

To keep up with this transformation, ICT providers are turning to advanced data insights to help them optimize their operations and provide customers with the right solutions. Prior to partnering with Cloudera, Zain explored ways to maximize usage of data from its nationwide network, customer relationship management (CRM) system, billing, and digital channels. The company was seeking a way to use its data repository across different systems and integrate it with new data science and analytics capabilities.

Turning data into insight for action

Zain found its data solution by partnering with Cloudera. With its low-cost and open-source capabilities, Zain has eliminated data silos and is taking a holistic approach to analysis across the organization.

“The Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) has enabled us to integrate data science and analytics capabilities to our data repository – helping business users to get the right information at the right time to make the right decisions,” says Nawaf Algharabally, Zain Group’s Chief Technology Officer.

Instead of outsourcing the necessary tools, Zain acquired licenses to benefit from Cloudera’s support, services and expertise, and is putting these agile solutions to work for its data architecture, engineering and operational requirements.

Zain integrated CDP with its enterprise data lake for data streaming ingestion and running high-volume, repetitive data jobs. This has enabled Zain to achieve its commercial goals of optimizing its digital, B2B and network services, enhancing customer experience, and improving its data monetization. 

“Cloudera is enabling Zain to stay agile and achieve its business roadmap of using advanced analytics for artificial intelligence use cases and data monetization,” comments Ashraf A. Eid, Zain’s Information Architecture Manager, Business Intelligence Division. Previously siloed or underutilized data is now being analyzed and acted upon, resulting in increasing revenue.

Improving customer experience and monetizing use cases

CDP has enabled Zain to build different use cases, such as customer scoring and segmentation. One example is the Area Experience Score (AES), a subscriber-based metric used to quantify the customer experience in accessing services through the mobile network. With AES, Zain is proactively engaging with subscribers and using data insights to address customer complaints.

Another is deep packet inspection (DPI), which is used to analyze internet traffic in real time. By harnessing DPI with Cloudera’s tools, Zain can segment customers based on applications and behavior, such as their interest in gaming, television and film content. Complementing this is its CRM solution, which integrates the data with marketing applications for real-time, 360-degree visibility. 

The Business Intelligence (BI) team uses CDP to run reports and advanced analytics and is monetizing data by using it to inform the launch of new products, marketing strategies, and the creation of customer value management (CVM) campaigns. Zain’s network engineering department is also using CDP to run real-time analytics while its streaming capabilities have enabled its field engineers to take the necessary action when dispatched to troubleshoot and optimize networks. This in turn is improving business customer performance and customer experience.

“The Cloudera Data Platform at Zain is delivering the advanced analytics required to create business opportunities as part of its digital transformation journey,” says Nadia Alsaif, Zain’s Business Intelligence Director.

In the near future, Zain wants to further customize its data storage to reduce storage costs.