XL Axiata is a mobile telecom services operator covering Java, Bali, and Lombok, as well as the principal cities in and around Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi.
In 2007, it committed to becoming a leader in a challenging market, one with 98 percent prepaid subscriptions and a state-owned telco that held over 50 percent market share. “We had to be disruptive to compete,” says Simeon Iheukumere, head of IT service build, which manages XL software development. “We want to be a leader in mobile Internet with at least 50 percent of our revenues from data.”
One challenge was that functional IT systems were in discrete silos. “The lack of platform integration did not allow us to respond and support the business in the way we needed to,” says Mr. Iheukumere. “We required a platform that would provide reliability, scalability, and allow us to deliver functionality in an agile manner.”
XL’s marketing challenge is to predict the desires of its customers. Continues Iheukumere, “Our goal is to optimize sales and marketing, understand what customers want when they want it—to identify opportunities and provide value. It’s an integral part of being a leader in mobile Internet.”
