HIGHLIGHTS CEO COMMENT BUSINESS MODEL OUR APPROACH OUR CUSTOMERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS FINANCIAL REVIEW KEY FIGURES MAKING EXISTING MODELS OBSOLETE MAKING EXISTING 1 ITERA ANNUAL REPORT 2016 HIGHLIGHTS CEO COMMENT BUSINESS MODEL OUR APPROACH OUR CUSTOMERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS FINANCIAL REVIEW CONTENTS 03 Story: Innovation 30 Board of Directors’ Report 04 Story: Hybrid Sourcing 39 Content Financials 06 Story: Design Sprint 41 Consolidated Financial Statement 08 Story: Bank and Insurance 46 Notes to the Consolidated 09 Story: Public Sector Financial Statement 10 Story: Gamechanger 70 Parent Company Financial 12 Highlights: Awards Statement 13 Highlights: Facts 74 Notes to the Parent Company Financial Statement 14 Highlights: In Brief 83 Directors’ Responsibility 15 Highlights: Key Figures Statement 17 CEO comment 84 Shares and Shareholders 21 Business model: Inputs 86 Corporate Governance 22 Business model: Core Activities 23 Business model: Outputs 24 Our Approach 22 Our customers: Digital transformation 24 Our customers: User Orientation 25 Our customers: eHealth 26 Our customers: Energy 2 ITERA ANNUAL REPORT 2016 HIGHLIGHTS CEO COMMENT BUSINESS MODEL OUR APPROACH OUR CUSTOMERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS FINANCIAL REVIEW INNOVATION You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. - Buckminster Fuller The term “innovation” is often used to refer to It can be said that there are four different sudden changes that deliver dramatic results. The approaches to innovation that depend on whether day-to-day reality for most of Itera’s customers, the context is a new or existing service and a new however, is much more a question of gradual inno- or existing market. Potentially disruptive innova- vation. Most revolutions appear to be evolutions tion is located in the bottom right quadrant. This when you are in the middle of them. approach is the most talked-about approach, but it is in reality rarely embarked upon. Service inno- ONE OF THE 25 MOST INNOVATIVE vation and market innovation are more common. ORGANISATIONS IN NORWAY The most common approach of all, however, is In 2016 Norway’s leading innovation news maga- incremental innovation, which is when an existing zine, Innovasjonsmagasinet, recognised Itera as service needs improving for a market that the one of the 25 most innovative companies in Nor- service is already in. This approach involves creat- way across all sectors, along with companies such ing results gradually using a pragmatic approach, as DNV GL, Norwegian, Snøhetta, Telenor, Statoil preferably with little excitement or elaborate and Schibsted. We greatly value this recognition. innovation models and programs. FOUR APPROACHES TO INNOVATION ITERA’S INNOVATION METHODOLOGIES Itera has worked systematically on innovation for many years. Our customers have a constant need MAKING EXISTING MODELS OBSOLETE MAKING EXISTING EXISTING SERVICE NEW SERVICE to develop their service and product offerings, and they need to do this quickly. We have therefore developed and refined nimble and pragmatic meth- INCREMENTAL SERVICE odologies that are end-user-focused and that ena- INNOVATION INNOVATION ble us to quickly move from hypotheses to services we can try out in the market. This enables weak EXISTING MARKET EXISTING ideas and incorrect hypotheses to be weeded out at an early stage, and this can represent significant savings in terms of time and expense relative to this taking place at a later stage in the process. Our MARKET HIGH-STAKES mantra is the Agile mantra “fail fast, fail often”. INNOVATION INNOVATION NEW MARKET NEW 3 ITERA ANNUAL REPORT 2016 HIGHLIGHTS CEO COMMENT BUSINESS MODEL OUR APPROACH OUR CUSTOMERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS FINANCIAL REVIEW HYBRID SOURCING In today’s disruptive environ- ment, sourcing needs to move away from approaches that are “built to last” to sourcing strategies that are “built to adapt”. The disruptive forces that are creating a wave of hybrid solution involving more than one of these digital opportunities in business have created a outsourcing options often represents the best need for a fresh approach to sourcing. Despite this, solution for aligning a customer’s business goals few organisations are ready for the speed of cus- and needs with those of its outsourcing provider, tomer-centric innovation or the myriad technology while minimizing costs. and business options that will define the next generation of business and market leaders. Itera believes the best sourcing model is a hybrid nearshoring model that combines both onshor- ACUTE DIGITAL SKILLS SHORTAGE ing and nearshoring in order to make it possible CLOSING THE GAP CLOSING Europe faces a shortage of 800,000 IT workers by to offer the best fit for each customer’s precise 2020, and this number will increase once the digital needs and budget. This model corresponds with revolution impacts all industries simultaneously. our position since it provides the greatest possible 37,000 people work in IT in Norway across busi- agility and speed in relation to customer-centric nesses and IT service providers, while the country’s innovation and the myriad technology and busi- universities and technical colleges produce about ness options that will define the digital businesses 1,000 IT graduates each year. According to IKT of the future. Norge (the interest group for the Norwegian IT industry), Norway faces a shortage of 10,000 IT Itera’s hybrid model offers customers outsourcing workers by 2020. Norway does not on its own that is optimized in terms of talent and cost with have the capacity to educate sufficient numbers just a single point of contact. An important quality of people to meet the fast-growing demand for IT when looking for a hybrid provider is that the pro- personnel. The other Nordic countries are in the vider ideally needs to have hybridity in its DNA – to same situation. have a strong cross-border culture based on using a single methodology and framework for managing It is consequently necessary to use outsourcing to its customers, data, processes and employees. access the labour force of other regions in order to Looking at the CVs of potential candidates is only close the skills gap. a minor part of a successful selection process. HYBRID DELIVERY FOR CUSTOMER-CENTRIC BUILT TO ADAPT WITH A TWO-SPEED INNOVATION APPROACH The three types of outsourcing – onshoring, In today’s disruptive environment, sourcing needs nearshoring and offshoring – all have specific to move away from approaches that are ”built to benefits, and each option is typically associated last” to sourcing strategies that are ”built to adapt”. with expertise in certain skill sets based on the At Itera, we have integrated our sourcing model 4 ITERA ANNUAL REPORT 2016 training available in the geography in question. A seamlessly into our Nordic organisation. HIGHLIGHTS CEO COMMENT BUSINESS MODEL OUR APPROACH OUR CUSTOMERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS FINANCIAL REVIEW Itera’s hybrid capabilities support a two-speed or bimodal approach in order to handle the rapid pace at which digital innovation has to progress with a controlled level of risk. Our nearshore locations are built from scratch as part of single cross-bor- der teams on the basis of the flat organisational structures and self-starting cultures of the Nordic region, and Itera employs the same world-class CLOSING THE GAP CLOSING agile methodology and business framework for managing its customers, data, processes and employees consistently across all locations. EU DATA PROTECTION AND SECURITY Because Itera has many customers in the banking and insurance sector, we were the first Nordic vendor to implement Binding Corporate Rules (BCR). This means we are able to make intra-organ- isational transfers of personal data across borders in compliance with EU Data Protection Law. We are also certified in accordance with the ISO/ IEC 27001 standard, which sets out formal spec- ifications for information security management systems. Last but not least, we engage fully with other international bodies and communities in the countries in which we are present, including with chambers of commerce, European Business Associations (EBAs) and other bodies. 5 ITERA ANNUAL REPORT 2016 HIGHLIGHTS CEO COMMENT BUSINESS MODEL OUR APPROACH OUR CUSTOMERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS FINANCIAL REVIEW DESIGN SPRINT Design sprints enable us to work in accordance with the innovation mantra of “Fail fast, fail often”. Creating new products and services is risky and customers in the course of a single week, fre- involves a lot of uncertainty. It is extremely rare quently on the basis of the following agenda: to get it 100% right at the first attempt and, since time to market is an important success factor, Monday – Building a shared understanding of design sprints can be an important framework. the task Itera uses design sprints as a central activity at The team discusses and researches the problem the start of the product and service development area. We begin at the end – what is the overall process in order to steer innovation work in the goal? What commercial opportunity do we want to right direction in collaboration with the customer. create? What will success look like? This framework enables us to work in accordance What do we need answers to from this sprint? with the innovation mantra of “Fail fast, fail often”. What do we need to confirm or disprove to be on FAIL FAST, FAIL OFTEN FAIL FAST, FAIL We start with a broad range of ideas and quickly the right track? test out whether they have the potential to solve the problem and whether they would appeal to the Tuesday – Developing ideas target group we are seeking to reach, so that we We look for inspiration from good user experi- can decide which of them are worth working on ences that have transferable value. Examples can further. be taken from both the analogue and the digital In addition to being an efficient approach to world, from competitors or from completely innovation, a design sprint creates a lot of positive different industries.