SA-born contact centre system goes global

NTT Data, a global leader in digital business and technology services, grew out of South African-based company Dimension Data. AWS is the largest cloud computing provider in the world. 

NTT Data will deliver AI-powered, industry specific contact centre solutions built on Amazon Connect, the cloud-based contact centre platform from AWS. This collaboration will help accelerate the adoption of AI-powered customer experience (CX) solutions worldwide.

As part of the agreement, NTT Data will launch Managed Customer Experience (MCX) for Connect, a modular platform designed to accelerate CX transformation across industries. By combining more than 30 years of NTT Data expertise in managed services capabilities with the power of Amazon Connect’s comprehensive cloud-based platform, customers will benefit from more personalised interactions and data-driven customer engagement.  

The platform will deliver solutions tailored to client requirements, ranging from voice and digital channels, to reporting and analytics, AI-enabled services and seamless integrations with existing business applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and IT Service Management (ITSM).

“This capability was built by our talented team in South Africa and is now being scaled globally – an outstanding example of the innovation and capability we have locally,” says Lauren Wortmann, vice president of applications at NTT Data for Middle East and Africa. “By helping both regional and international clients modernise their contact centres, we’re not only improving operational efficiency but also transforming customer experience outcomes. It’s a powerful demonstration of how homegrown expertise can drive global impact.”

Wortmann told Gadget in an exclusive interview:  “Our Amazon Connect journey for the South African business started during Covid. We saw in the South African market that some of our largest contact centre clients had made the decision to move from on-premise technology into cloud-based technology, specifically Amazon Connect, in financial services. 

“NTT Data, then Dimension Data, had 20 years being the incumbent provider of contact centre to financial services customers, and the shift to cloud really was a forcing function for the South African business to reevaluate our strategy in terms of technology. 

“At the same time, we had kicked off what was then called the technical accelerate programme. This was about bringing in young, bright graduates into the business and skilling them up on some of the then-emerging technologies.”

It was out of this cohort of youngsters that the company saw its first employee gain Amazon Connect certification – and that individual is is still with the company today. 

“From there we’ve taken a very intentional approach to build skills in Amazon Connect, because it is a newer technology and there is not a surplus of skills in the market, either in South Africa or globally. We now have 50 individuals that are engineering, development and architecture professionals, helping clients not just in South Africa, but around the world, migrate to Connect and, through our offerings, making sure that they realise continuous value.”

As part of the collaboration, the two companies will work together to create and deliver modular, AI-powered contact center solutions globally. Leveraging advanced technologies including AI, machine learning and advanced analytics, these solutions will modernize CX operations and improve key metrics such as average handle times, first-call resolution and customer satisfaction.   

Key highlights include: 

• AI-Powered CX Solutions: NTT Data will integrate Amazon Connect’s AI features into its MCX platform, enabling more personalised and efficient customer interactions. This includes accelerating the design and deployment of conversational AI agents leveraging real-time sentiment analysis, intelligent call routing and predictive service capabilities to deliver more intuitive, proactive engagement. 
• Global Innovation & Expansion: Leveraging NTT Data’s core CX intellectual property (IP) including real-time speech analytics, Smart AI Agent Ecosystem and industry vertical solutions, this collaboration will support the adoption of cloud-based contact centre solutions across NTT Data’s global enterprise client base. The initiative will focus on industries with complex customer lifecycles, including financial services, healthcare, telecommunications and retail. 

“This strategic collaboration agreement with AWS represents a pivotal moment in our mission to modernize customer experiences for the AI-first era,” said Sashen Naidu, global VP of customer experience at NTT Data. 

“By combining NTT Data’s contact centre heritage, digital transformation expertise and client experience innovation, with Amazon Connect’s powerful cloud-native capabilities, we are helping customers reimagine how they engage with their customers and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape.”

Solutions will leverage proven blueprints and results from existing deployments to accelerate time-to-value for priority industries, including financial services, healthcare, telecommunications and retail.

NTT Data will lead global delivery, implementation, hosting, security and ongoing managed services.