How we built cellular communications in Cambodia: part 2, about people

IT department of the company

The first topic was about how we built a data center and modern cellular infrastructure from scratch for half a year, and then abruptly entered the market. This is the second topic about how we communicated with Cambodians and how I trained my IT department .

So, let me remind you that at the very moment of arrival there was “nothing” - a license, a couple of rooms, a small Internet channel. And it was necessary to create a full-fledged competitive operator. And do it in 8 months. Enter the market, bring a brand new to the country. Form a state. Create a network. Create infrastructure. Create a material base. That is absolute freedom in any direction.
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The initial plan was to abandon the team from Russia (us), raise the network, train local residents and evacuate, leaving the new company to work in the market.

Russian assistance

First came specialists in infrastructure, billing, business processes, marketing, telephony. The work was immense: technical solutions, the formation of the process, the training of the hired personnel - everything was done simultaneously.

Moreover, staff training was very accented - everyone understood that it was necessary to transfer a unique and large amount of knowledge, that our presence was temporary and everything should be supported locally in the future. The concept of day-night is sometimes erased. Had to work with all time zones at the same time.

For example, the problem revealed in the evening in Cambodia was solved during the day of Russia and ended with the release of the release during the day, but already in the US, as a result, the implementation of the solution could occur at night. And the discussions and teleconferences were going on around the clock for us. I even remember a joke about us that “Cambodia never sleeps”.

At that time, there was an "international block" of VimpelCom, and all the forces of the staff were thrown at the task. People are all bright, devoted to work selflessly. Taking into account the simply insanely short period before the deadline - half a year where it took at least a couple of years in Russia - it was the fantastic dedication that made it possible to solve all the issues and really well and on time. Until now, the guys who worked on the project, keep in touch with each other as a team, united by a wonderful memory of a torn out victory.

Who called there?

Cambodia, in my opinion, is a country without a middle class. But the country of Buddhist culture. At the same time, these two factors give a fantastic effect. The average income in the region of 80-200 dollars. Vehicles - motorbike or car. But not a single motorbike is easier than a Suzuki or Honda. Machines simpler Toyota, too. By the number of luxury cars, Phnom Penh is ahead of our capital. IPhone phones are more common than in Moscow, but there are a lot of cheap handsets in the provinces. Great attention to quality. A quality product (telephone, car, thing) is bought, despite the cost. The quality of service, the quality of communication, the quality of the product is at the forefront there and is at the highest level, much higher than in Europe or Russia. And this is in everything - from cafe cafés to complex and complex products and services. Trust can be lost instantly and forever. Quality must be able to ensure and prove reliability over time.

There is a local currency, but the dollar is the main currency. The dollar rate has not changed in the country for 6 years. From the point of view of banks, this is rather an offshore zone of low confidence, however, this is what allowed us to practically not participate in the global currency crisis. The only bond with the “big world” is the resource sector and “clothing”. The country produces rice and clothing for export.

Variations of family tariff plans were very popular. In addition to the actual communication services, Beeline has released a large number of affordable and high-quality branded phones to the local market. They have gained real popularity. Perhaps also because we were the first to take into account the peculiarity of the "multi-symbol" market. Our phones are basically multisym with one Beeline card stitched. This allowed us to increase our presence and increase interconnect while simultaneously growing the Beeline community. Such marketing moves were a surprise to the market.

Globalization got there, and very lively . I remember somewhere before my departure there in the IT environment there was a serious discussion about the possibilities of hosting Google and Facebook servers. The government held IT forums, and with a very serious approach. I was holding in my hands internal reports and plans for the development of the country's IT infrastructure and had the opportunity to see that everything is being implemented, and on time. Probably there is no IT specialist in Cambodia who would not have a tablet.

Without a doubt, there are provinces where they live by hunting and farming, and where electricity is limited. But even in the most cozy places they willingly bought tariffs with mobile Internet. They have long understood that this is the most optimal way to communicate with relatives abroad. A lot of desks and Internet cafes offering IP telephony. The number of free hot spots is certainly more than in huge Moscow.

I first began to use cloud services there - peeped from local ones. They immediately stepped into the XXI century and get pleasure from it, they know how to appreciate it.

IT staff

So, I understood that I was coming from Russia to do, establish and launch an IT department. The final goal is local staff without exception. The first thing I encountered was the fact that I simply could not recruit people with the required or familiar experience or education. The fact is that in Cambodia there is a certain imbalance: the country is very young, everyone is very eager for education, so it often happens that an engineer’s resume is filled with an MBA who has an engineer’s experience at the level of “I set up a photocopier”. Nobody even heard about business processes. I had to do something like a local school, read lectures, teach everyone how to approach work, and directly professional skills. I remember, for example, how I myself compiled and lectured them on ITIL. We must pay tribute to them - more capable students rarely meet.

A separate topic is the psychology and culture of Asia . For example, death. For us, this is a very fatal concept. Anyone we have information about the death of someone causes regret, sadness, sadness. And the Cambodian will only grieve for his loved ones, and after learning about the death of someone from his colleagues, for example, he will rejoice: after all, a person has moved into a new world. Some reactions are not typical. For example, there are many cases when we react with a smile, but for Khmer it can be the other way around. In cinemas, for example, there is a “Nightmare on Elm Street”, and they will go to watch it as a comedy.

European culture dictates to a person that he must fight for something, go to something, yes, he must win it from the world. The culture of Buddhism says that a person has karma and there is luck transferred to him, and this luck should not be missed. This can lead to the fact that a person can just sit and wait for this luck. But we a priori were looking for employees with a different attitude to life, with a more European ability to fight.

Or, for example, the simplest thing: in the VimpelCom culture you don’t know - ask; you can always turn, they will answer you; if there is a problem - share and decide; and so on. In Khmer culture, this is simply unacceptable: if you have a problem, say, a misunderstanding with the leadership, with anyone, no one will talk about it. Why? Because if a Khmer talks about a problem, he will worsen his karma. Therefore, it is difficult for a Khmer to speak directly with superiors. He is more likely to solve issues at the management level or not at all to anyone - just to say nothing bad about the other person. I had to explain to them that if they come up with a problem, it helps to solve it: that is, it improves karma, but in a tricky way.

Or culture of non-objection to the authorities . This is the education of everyone: listen to the king, listen to the boss and never doubt that they speak correctly. I even had to put in front of my subordinates in a written order such a goal - to object to me at least six times in six months. But, by the way, they learned very quickly: once the Khmer departs from stereotypes, he realizes that he works in a new way faster and better, enjoys good karma and then does it right. True, it is important not to destroy their perception of the world, the workplace, the correctness of the matter. But then, having learned to object to us, a local resident will then go and object to someone who cannot be - and this will end badly for him.

There were nuances of mentality that directly influenced local services. For example, there is a service such as sending free SMS from the site. We are going to launch this service in Cambodia. Our Khmer (already taught to criticize) say: "It will not work with us." We: “Why, it's great, isn't it?” They: “No, we don't want that. No, we will not do that. ” The argument is brilliant: “What if someone takes and sends an abusive message to someone from this site? It will be anonymous. This possibility should not be allowed. We will not use it. ” Result? They convinced us, and we never did this service.

It was unusual and interesting for me to learn local customs. For example, when we moved to a new, newly rebuilt office, lighted sticks appeared there. The entire composition of the IT-department, humbly folding their palms with these chopsticks and putting out "donations" in the form of fruit, conducted a local ritual. For them it is important. Therefore, in the future, to open something big, we began to invite Buddhist monks. This created a positive effect.


Employees bless the new office.

Most local people are very afraid of ghosts . And for them this is not a joke, but really serious. They are afraid of dreams. Because for them the content of sleep has a different meaning, not the same as for us. They take this very seriously. There are areas in which, for example, the Khmer prefer not even to appear. For example, in Sihanoukville there is such a wonderful hotel. Inexpensive, but with good service, with excellent cuisine. But Cambodians say that in the days of Pol Pot (the time of the genocide) the pool of this hotel was filled with human heads. Therefore, it is absolutely undesirable for the Khmer to stay near this place.

At the same time, many Khmers have a good education, which does not allow myths to spread about the need for foil caps. People who write complaints about radiation towers, no. There are no generations of older people as such: people are either older than 50-60 years old, or younger than 30 or around 30. The intermediate generation is almost absent, it died in the days of Pol Pot.

The attitude of the locals towards Russia is also interesting . They value their own companies very much and are not big supporters of the expansion of foreign companies in their own countries. But still, we came out as a local operator. Yes, Russian roots, but ... and employees and investments, everything is local. Beeline has come as an international brand. Yes, there are still people in the country who remember the Russian presence. Yes, once they learned Russian. But now, of course, all this is mostly forgotten. Most of the population speaks English.

Yes, and they all have the same phones. The Khmers, it seemed to me, were very curious about everything new, progressive. Literally, any new technological thing, an expensive gadget is a toy that attracts, which will go for any price. The same applies to information services. It played, by the way, on the popularity of promotions. No one was afraid to try new things.

If there is a mobile number, you need to buy from all mobile operators alike. Let with different prefixes, but it must be “the same” entirely from one owner. “Beautiful rooms” cost a lot of money and are also bought and resold. The most expensive number in my memory was sold for 5 thousand dollars.

More Khmers have many relatives abroad (a consequence of immigration after the genocide). Most in the United States, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and in general around the world. For them, this is quite a normal part of their life, that they must have a relative somewhere. Therefore, international calls are often made. Hence, a positive attitude towards us as a big international operator.

Total

A year and a half after the project began, everything in the department worked almost like a clock. We went into regular mode, taught people to work. I then moved to the European IT-division.