At the most recent Executive Conference in Puerto Rico there was an interesting unconference on IoT. The room was packed with a good mix of SIs and Partners, and the expectation of a deep dive into the topic was high. Like any unconference, the discussion started with “What do you want to talk about?” and surprisingly the most interesting topic was “What is IoT?” It was a little confusing for me that many of the SIs in the room were anxious to understand what that buzz word was about, and if and how it could affect them. It was clear that most of us had only a partial understanding of how, not just IoT, but all the new technologies, could impact our traditional business.
We are engineers and we love any new technological challenge. That’s our comfort zone! But this is not a technological problem - How this convergence of different technological opportunities is rapidly changing the business models in almost every industry and consumer market. There are many business trends that are rapidly and deeply changing how our clients are approaching the market. Examples of this include moving from capex to opex and designing products based on the services they will be able to attach to them. Do we think that they will impact us in any way? Will we be challenged on the business model side as well as on the technical side? Are we prepared to change or at least be aware of what’s happening? These are the questions that drove CSIA to set up a Business Model Task Force in preparation for the 2017 Executive Conference.
We started working in June. It immediately became clear that the big problem was not analyzing which business model we will need to adopt in the future, but it was understanding first which criteria had to be used to characterize a business model, and second how to define our current business model. We spent several meetings debating these two topics. After each meeting, it became even more clear how important it is to be able to clearly describe our own business model structure in order to subsequently organize the company and to communicate effectively its specific and unique value proposition. This is the foundation on which to build future change or adaption to market needs without risking getting stuck in the middle of nowhere or, even worse, to lose the company DNA.
I’m excited about how the team worked over the past several months and about what’s coming out of the task force. During the 2017 Executive Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, you will find a specific track on business models, as well as several sessions we are organizing to help members define their current situation and prepare to implement changes in business strategy. We are also working on a Business Model Definition Guide to help anyone working through the same exercise to do so without getting stuck, as we did.
I’m eager to get your feedback and learn if what we are doing is of value to you.