Digis Squared’s 2021 significant milestones

“2021 has been a year of significant milestones for the Digis Squared team,” shared Ziad Khalil, Digis Squared’s Co-Founder and CEO. “As the end of the year approaches, we send our gratitude and thanks to our customers and partners for their continued collaboration, and trust in us. As our business continues to grow, we know that our people, and the people we work with are absolutely vital to our success. We succeed together!”

+3 New Cloud-based AI-assisted tools launched.

To enhance our existing suite of cloud-based, AI-led, and vendor-independent tools – INOS suite for drive testing and field optimization, and  IPM cloud-based performance management solution – in 2021 we developed and launched Digis-One, a cloud-native Unified Fault Management platform, UCM an AI-assisted cloud solution for Unified Configuration Management, and Digis-Capacity, our ML & AI capacity management tool. Further new tools and enhancements are planned in early 2022, as we continue to invest in our market-leading multi-vendor, multi-technology solutions.

+10 Significant new customers and contracts.

Most notable public announcements included a very significant new end to end Managed Services and In-Building Coverage contracts for Africell Group’s new network in Angola.

x2 New regional offices.

We increased the number of global Digis Squared offices, and doubled the number of regional offices with the addition of a new facility in Luanda. Digis Squared now have offices in UK, Cairo, UAE and Angola.

+3 New strategic partnerships.

As a part of our technology-oriented System Integration, and through new strategic partnerships, we are now ready to introduce to our telco customers E2E use cases covering 5G standalone, private networks, Open RAN, IOT & support for public cloud adoption. Public partnership announcements: We have been recognized by Intel Corporation and awarded Intel Winner’s Circle Membership.

+44 Increased our global team.

With recruitment to support new contracts in the Middle East in our Dubai office at the start of the year, and significant recruitment in our new offices in Angola in the last quarter, in addition to growth in the teams in the Technology & Support Centre in Cairo, it has been an immensely busy year for the HR team and everyone involved in recruiting and onboarding new staff. (If you’re interested in working with us, all our current roles are here.)

#WeAre5

CEO Ziad Khalil says, “As a relatively young company, reaching the Year 5 milestone is an immense achievement, and something to celebrate. As a fully self-funded, profitable business, the founders are proud and thankful to have achieved this success. We know this is only possible because of the hard work and dedication of the entire team, and the trust our clients and partners continue to place in us. As a leadership team, we are mindful that the growth we are experiencing now is also an ambitious time for any business to navigate – we are working carefully to ensure our systems and processes scale, and our culture remains strong. We work flexibly and with care, always looking to improve, and acting with integrity. We can be counted on to deliver what we promised, and always focussing on delivering commercial value to our clients.”

Looking ahead to 2022

CTO AbdelRahman Fady shared, “All our state of the art software and solutions are future proof, cognitive, cloud-native, and with 5G support, ensuring that we provide independent, vendor-agnostic solutions for our clients. Our 2022 development schedule is ambitious, and there will be drops of new capabilities delivered as part of our agile development process. A number of our clients have early access already to some of our new capabilities, and their feedback is helping us refine further enhancements before we push them out on general availability. This development work is vital to keep pace with the constantly evolving issues we see as network interactions become more complex.”

CCO Mohamed Hamdy said, “2022 is already looking like a big commercial year for us. We have new clients coming on board, and extensions to existing contracts – a great mix! And, fingers crossed, at the end of February, we will get the chance to meet in real life at GSMA Mobile World Congress, where our exhibition stand will have live connectivity to our AI-led tools. If you want to see a live demo of network optimisation whilst you’re in Barcelona, drop by or get in touch to book a dedicated meeting!”

“I am very proud of the team and solutions we have built, and the difference we are making to the people and networks we manage and enhance,” CEO Ziad concluded. “To everyone who has contributed to Digis Squared’s significant milestones and projects this year, thank you! To the team, partners and clients we work with in the year ahead, we are ready, let’s help make your mobile network work, better.”

In conversation with Digis Squared’s Co-Founder and CEO, Ziad Khalil, CCO Mohamed Hamdy, and CTO AbdelRahman Fady.

If you or your team would like to discover more about our capabilities, please get in touch or email sales@DigisSquared.com .

Keep up to speed with company updates, product launches and our quarterly newsletter, sign up here.

Digis Squared, independent telecoms expertise.

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  • Digis Squared social media and blog banner image: Erwan-Hesry

Africell selects Digis Squared to support new network in Angola

Managed Services from Digis Squared will maximise mobile network efficiency and give Africell’s customers in Angola an outstanding user experience.

November 2021: Africell Angola has awarded Digis Squared a multi-year contract to provide end to end Managed Services to support the launch of Africell’s new network in Angola. In this article, Africell Angola CEO Christopher Lundh and CTIO Faissal Abdallah discuss the partnership with Digis Squared’s CCO, Mohamed Hamdy, and explain why it will contribute to the success of Africell’s launch in Angola.

Optimising digital connectivity

The multi-year contract will see Africell Angola benefiting from Digis Squared’s end to end Managed Services capabilities, covering Radio, Core, BSS, VAS and Field.

“Digis Squared’s tools will help our systems work smartly and efficiently”, says Christopher Lundh, CEO of Africell Angola. “We have been impressed by Digis Squared’s commitment to transferring skills to local staff, a goal which aligns with our own, and we are confident in their experience of multi-vendor systems. It is exciting to have Digis Squared join our new network team.”

“We thank Africell Angola for the trust they have invested in us with this significant commitment”, said Mohamed Hamdy, CCO of Digis Squared. “The contract for Managed Services will enable the new Africell Angola network to launch smoothly and undertake a successful rollout of solutions to customers. Digis Squared’s resources, AI assisted tools, and processes will ensure Africell Angola’s end-to-end services perform at their peak. With our support, Africell’s customers in Angola will be able to experience a revolution in network excellence and performance.”

Supporting Africell’s mission in Angola

Africell Angola’s mission is simple: to help Angola grow by providing innovative, affordable and reliable mobile services.

“The telecoms sector is key to the future success of Angola,” explains Christopher Lundh, “and we will play a big part in this success. Our team of staff and suppliers is tasked with building a network that excites customers, keeps pace with new technologies, and fulfils our vision of leading a digital transformation in Angola.”

Africell Angola’s CTIO Faissal Abdallah added, “The technical solutions we deploy now will form the backbone of the systems we use for decades ahead. Making sure that the complex web of systems deployed can work together seamlessly and resiliently is vital if Africell Angola is to be a network which delivers innovation, affordability and reliability over the long term – working in this new partnership with Digis Squared will enable us to achieve that.”

Africell Angola selects Digis Squared for in-building coverage optimisation

Digis Squared have also been entrusted with an additional contract for Africell in Angola, handling in-building coverage optimisation. In this workstream, Digis Squared will utilise their AI assisted tools including Digis One, INOS, and iPM solutions. Developed in-house by Digis Squared, these tools deliver intelligent, automated testing, benchmarking and analysis platform for network operators and service providers, delivering drive testing (DT), in-building solution (IBS) capability, end to end IoT system testing, as well as Unified Performance and Fault Management and much more, whilst decreasing both the time taken to complete the work and OpEx cost. These AI-led tools are ideally suited to analysing and optimising multi-vendor, multi-technology network implementations, including 5G.

“The contract for in-building coverage optimisation is significant to Digis Squared. When considered alongside our Managed Services contract, it shows that there is real momentum in our southern Africa business operations,” said Mohamed Hamdy. “It’s an exciting time for Digis Squared, and we are grateful to all our clients for the faith they have shown in selecting us. The team are excited to apply their skills, tools and experience to benefit Africell Angola and their clients.”

In partnership with Africell, Digis Squared aims to develop and enhance the capability of local engineers and other technical professionals, increasing their skills and experience. The target is to create a significant number of skilled jobs in the local Angola telecoms market. Says Mohamed Hamdy: “This is a key part of  how we work. Digis Squared is committed to developing local employees who can benefit from our international multi-technology and multi-vendor experience and form a vibrant and capable cohort of local engineers in Luanda”.

About Africell: a fast-growing mobile operator with a pan-African footprint
Africell provides mobile network coverage and related technology services to more than 12 million subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa. In January 2021 Africell won a competitive international tender process for a telecommunications license in Angola. Africell will launch mobile network services in Angola 2022.

These two new contracts between Africell Angola and Digis Squared follow the recent Digis Squared announcement of new offices in Luanda. With business continuing to expand across central and southern Africa, the new Digis Squared office space in Luanda will serve as a regional hub and give the growing Digis Squared team a Covid-19 secure space to meet clients and collaborate with colleagues.

Members of the Digis Squared team, Key Account Manager Ahmed Ma’moon, CCO Mohamed Hamdy, and Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer Yasser Elsabrouty outside the new offices in Luanda, Angola.

If you or your team would like to discover more about our capabilities, please get in touch or email sales@DigisSquared.com .

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Digis Squared, independent telecoms expertise.

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New office in Angola supports business expansion across southern Africa

In conversation with CEO and Founder Ziad Khalil, we discuss how Digis Squared’s new office in Angola supports business expansion across southern Africa.

Digis Squared Ltd, the UK-based managed services, system integration and telecoms consulting specialists, continues the expansion of its global footprint with the opening of new offices in Luanda, Angola this month. This latest announcement builds on solid business growth at Digis Squared, and enhances support to clients in the southern region of Africa.

Digis Squared’s London HQ, and Technology & Customer Support Centre in Cairo now have over 180 staff, an increasing team in the Dubai office opened in December, plus additional staff in-country embedded in clients’ offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The announcement today builds on the celebrations of Digis Squared’s fifth year in business, and their #WeAre5 campaign.

Ziad Khalil, CEO and Founder at Digis Squared, shared his insights into why the business is investing here in Angola, now,

“Our clients and partners have demonstrated their trust in the Digis Squared team and our capabilities, and as our commitment in the region continues to expand, this is reflected in our new investment in Angola. With increasing numbers of significant engagements locally, and across Africa, now is the time for Digis Squared to invest and open a new office in Luanda.”

With business continuing to expand across central and southern Africa, the new office space in Luanda will provide a regional hub, and ensure that the growing Digis Squared team has a Covid-19 secure space to meet clients, and collaborate in-person safely.

“2021 continues to be another year of significant success and growth for the Digis Squared team. The work we undertook for clients in 2020 addressed massive changes in mobile network demand caused by the pandemic, re-dimensioning and optimising network performance,” commented Ziad.

“This significant investment in new offices in Luanda, strengthens our commitment to clients in Angola and across the southern Africa region. The facilities will enable our local team to provide enhanced support to new and extended contracts, as our business continues to expand.”

“As 2022 approaches, and new technology deployments continue at pace, this location is ideally situated to deliver further business expansion and enhanced presence in the region for Digis Squared,” Ziad added. “This investment strengthens the local support and capabilities we can deliver to our clients and staff, and demonstrates our commitment to them.”

In conversation with Ziad Khalil, Digis Squared CEO and Founder.

If you or your team would like to discover more about our capabilities, please get in touch: use this link or email sales@DigisSquared.com .

Keep up to speed with company updates, product launches and our quarterly newsletter, sign up here.

Digis Squared, independent telecoms expertise.

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Digis Squared delivers one thousand hours of client training!

The Digis Squared team has recently achieved a huge milestone of delivering one thousand hours of client training. As we share our congratulations, we asked Amr Ashraf from the Training Team to talk about who we train and how – including solving real network issues on the courses, that students can immediately fix – and any tips he can share about capturing people’s attention on long zoom calls.

February 2020, pre-Covid-19. Amr (centre left with glasses) after delivering training on-site and in-person to the Vodafone team in Cairo Smart Village, Egypt.

Structured training for maximum flexibility

“Clients often have a mixture of highly experienced and new staff wanting to attend our courses,” said Amr. “My colleague Ahmed Ma’moon will work with the client’s HR team to assess existing knowledge. Together, they develop a tailored program to ensure that everyone ultimately reaches the same level, by providing specific courses to ensure gaps are filled. So, for example, before attending a 5G course, Ahmed will help to determine who needs to first cover specific elements of our 4G courses.”

“We work with HR departments to understand skills and knowledge, bringing everyone up to the same speed, so that each person joins the program at the level which is right for them. Then, they can progress through the courses until they acquire the knowledge and skills they need for their role. As their role changes and adapts in the future, we often return and provide more training, picking up from where they completed their previous training. This structured program is efficient and flexible.”

A slide from the 5G Deep Dive training course, used to illustrate a specific issue for discussion

And it’s not just the technical ops teams that attend Digis Squared’s courses. “Technology in the telecoms sector continues to evolve and move rapidly. It’s really important that senior staff continue to maintain and enhance their knowledge of new technologies. They need to keep pace with new skills and capabilities so that they can make critical investment and vendor decisions.”

Solving real-life network problems as part of the training

“HR staff often tell me that their teams prefer our courses, and certainly, once we start working with a team, they will continue to ask Digis Squared back to provide more and more training. One of the key reasons clients chose training from us is the way in which we approach the practical training. We work hard to ensure that everyone acquires some special experience of how the technology behaves and works in the real world. So, as we are teaching a specific topic, we will also consider and learn more about how their own network and unique configuration behaves. We don’t just teach how to code the solution, we teach how to tune it, and what to watch out for, what additional points to consider and how to monitor for issues once their solution is live.”

Team photos from training courses delivered to (clockwise from top left) Etisalat Egypt, Africell Uganda, Africell Gambia, Africell Sierra Leone, Etisalat Egypt, Africell DRC in 2019.

Typically, these in-depth, tailored training courses run over 10 to 15 days, and as well as providing extensive theoretical training, those receiving training also apply their new knowledge to specific practical issues the client is facing in their network – the teams immediately put their newly acquired knowledge to work, and gain a deeper, hands-on experience under the training team’s guidance.

As part of Digis Squared’s commercial work, our teams are constantly working with multi-vendor solutions across all our clients. Amr explains, “We have seen and experienced almost all systems and combinations of vendor systems at one point or another. We know inside and out the differences between different vendor solutions, and specific features and issues to look for. This experience is not something you can read about in books, you can only acquire it by experiencing it, or working alongside others who have.”

Training during the pandemic

In the past all of this training was delivered on site and in person. How has this changed with the pandemic?

“Of course, everything switched swiftly to online training in 2020. With such technical training, it’s more difficult for everyone to maintain concentration. Plus, there is not always enough bandwidth to maintain a video connection, and not everyone wants to keep their camera on. I think we are all very aware of personal boundaries now.”

So what tips can you share for capturing people’s attention on long zoom calls?

“Try to ensure a two-way exchange of information, and ensure it’s a dynamic conversation – sometimes if all the cameras are off I can feel as if I am talking on a radio broadcast for a moment, but then I will ask a question and the interactions are started again. I really love teaching, but doing everything online, well, it has really given me a great appreciation of the work teachers have done during this time, teaching all their students online – I really admire both the teachers and students who have done this.”

“In general, teaching and delivering training online, I would say it’s more difficult to be sure that everyone has understood each point. Whenever I can, I switch away from using slides. I will draw things out on the digital whiteboard instead, even if I have a prepared slide for the same point – drawing it out is often more memorable, and somehow it also encourages people to ask more questions.”

Teaching with real-life issues grabs the attention

“On Digis Squared’s courses, most of the time, we are teaching based on real cases in the client’s network wherever we can, trying to solve relevant problems they have encountered in their own network. This definitely grabs people’s attention! By working together in this way, we can solve many cases they have in their own network. So it’s not just a training course, it’s also a live problem-solving opportunity, and we exercise our knowledge and new problem-solving muscles during the training.”

“Naturally, sometimes, there are problems which are too complex to answer during the training, and we need to solve them with more time, resources or expertise.  For these bigger issues, the Digis Squared team can assist as part of our consultancy work, if the client wants us to.  Those on the training course have a far greater understanding of the complexity of these issues, and a deep trust in our ability to solve them.”

An example of the comprehensive reference notes attendees receive

Comprehensive reference material

“We deliver Digs Squared training courses in English or Arabic. When we teach in-person we provide all the students with a printed copy of all of the materials and notes. Sometimes our suitcases can be very heavy with all this paper! I think this approach is worthwhile though, as the students can then add their own notes and examples, and extra elements they learn from the conversation and problem-solving sessions.”

“When taught online, students get a full digital copy, and can add their own notes, images of my sketches, and other material to their digital file. This, combined with all the real-life network issues we consider and solve during the course, ensures they have a really comprehensive reference for the future.”

Celebrating one thousand hours of training to clients!

This blog post was written in conversation with Amr Ashraf, 5G, LTE RAN and Software Solution Architect and Trainer at Digis Squared.

Amr recently achieved a huge milestone of delivering one thousand hours of training to clients, and we celebrate his success! Amr joined Digis Squared in 2018, and started delivering training in September 2019. Since then he has delivered 30 in-depth courses for clients.  He has travelled extensively across the Middle East and Africa, delivering courses at the client’s premises, on a wide range of specific subjects in telecoms, and radio.

If you would like to know more about the training courses we offer, or request a copy of our training catalogue, please get in touch: use this link or email sales@DigisSquared.com , or contact Amr directly on Amr.Ashraf@DigisSquared.com .

Keep up to speed with company updates, product launches and our quarterly newsletter, sign up here.

Digis Squared, independent telecoms expertise.

Abbreviations

  • DRC / RDC   Democratic Republic of the Congo / République démocratique du Congo

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  • Banner image: Headway
  • All other images: Amr Ashraf, Digis Squared

Celebrating success: we are 5!

“This is a proud moment for the Digis Squared team! In July 2016, five years ago, we founded the business with offices in London and Cairo. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our journey so far. So many tech start-ups struggle in their early years. We are fortunate to have a solid team, growing together in strength and capability, with clients and partners whose trust we’ve earned. As our global footprint expands, the teams we work with inspire us to achieve even more. Today we have 3 offices and staff across 4 continents, serving even more customers across the globe. We look forward to working together and delivering even more successful projects in the years ahead!”

Digis Squared CEO and Co-Founder, Ziad Khalil

on behalf of the Executive Team, Abdulrahman Fady, Ahmed AboulGheit, Ahmed Zein, Amr Maged, Mohamed Hamdy, Reda Abd El-Hadi, and Yasser Elsabrouty.

#WeAre5

Please get in touch: use this link or email sales@DigisSquared.com .

Keep up to speed with company updates, product launches and our quarterly newsletter, sign up here.

Digis Squared, independent telecoms expertise.

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  • Digis Squared social media and blog banner image: Robert Bock.

Dubai ◦ New office to support business expansion in the Middle East

In conversation with CEO Ziad Khalil, and CCO Mohamed Hamdy, we discuss the new Dubai office.

This latest expansion comes as part of a year of solid business growth at Digis Squared, despite the difficult circumstances 2020 has brought with it. Digis Squared’s London HQ, and Technology & Customer Support Centre in Cairo now have over 150 staff, with additional staff in-country working alongside clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Ziad and Mohamed share insights into this new investment, and how this milestone fits into our business expansion plans.

“Thanks to the confidence clients in the Middle East have shown in us, we are pleased to announce that we have opened offices in Dubai.”

Ziad Khalil, Digis Squared Co-Founder & CEO

With business continuing to expand in the Middle East, the new office space in Dubai will be a regional hub, and ensure that the growing Digis Squared UAE team has a Covid-19 secure space to meet clients, and collaborate in-person safely.

“2020 has been a very busy year for the Digis Squared team,” Ziad explains. “We have worked with our clients to address massive changes in mobile network demand caused by the pandemic, re-dimensioning and optimising network performance. Our staff have worked incredibly flexibly, adapting swiftly to remote working and finding new ways to collaborate virtually with our clients. Now our teams are increasingly addressing 5G technology deployment projects, vendor changes and O-RAN introductions, particularly in the Middle East.”

“This has been a tough year – difficult, busy, but for our business, ultimately successful”, Mohamed shared with us. “Our team has restlessly supported customers during this difficult time to ensure the demand for mobile communications could be met. In parallel, we have invested heavily in our in-house AI tools and new innovations this year, especially in 5G and VoLTE, and extended the expertise we have in these fields. Now, here comes the harvest, with more clients entrusting us to be their telecom services partner of choice, resulting in the opening of our new Regional Office in Dubai.”

“With this investment in our new office in Dubai, Digis Squared is reinforcing its commitments to clients in the city and across the region. It will ensure excellent facilities for our local team who are busy supporting new and extended contracts, particularly in the Gulf Region,” Ziad added. “Looking forward to 2021, this location is well situated to support our business expansion and growing presence in the region. This investment strengthens the local support and capabilities we can deliver to our clients and staff, and demonstrates our commitment to them.”

“2020 has reinforced for all of us the value of communication and collaboration. Thank you to our customers and partners, for the trust you have placed in us, from all at the Digis Squared team.”

Mohamed Hamdy, Digis Squared CCO

In conversation with Ziad Khalil, Digis Squared Co-Founder & CEO and Mohamed Hamdy, CCO.

Can we help you? Please contact us via this link or email sales@DigisSquared.com to arrange an informal conversation.

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Image credit: Robert Bock