Traditional System Integrators Transformation to Solution Providers!!!

In a number of discussions this week and last year it was clear that in the next 5 to 10 years the role and way traditional System Integrators work in the Industry Supervisory/ Operational/ Information space, will transform significantly. Especially those serving the smaller to medium industrial market, customers will demand accelerated solutions with a different model of project management, eg no RFP, no long project cycle, expect pre canned domain knowledge. They will want setup fast, and results with understandable costs. Similar to Sales Force.com where your CRM system can be set up in days, is the model that early adopters are testing in 2014, and I expect to grow in 2015.

The leading System Integrators will start transforming to “Solution Providers” leveraging hosted industrial platforms of capability from leading industrial automation vendors, to build domain predefined operational solutions.

This is not far different to what system integrators do traditional as they take supervisory, scada, historian, mes, etc. products from industrial vendors and then configure and extend these products into a customer solution based on a customer definition.  So what is changing is that users are now wanting:

·         Solutions faster, minimal project removal of the project RFP process

·         Less involvement

·         Expect domain experience built in

·         Minimal impact on internal resources

·         Minimal risk

·         “Good enough” will do if it improves and minimal impact or up front cost

·         Minimal up front cost.

Traditionally customers have demanded their customer solution, with cost and impact of a project, but this is changing, with questions like:

• Why should they wait? 
• They cannot be the only company wanting do this? 
• Why is not just a proven module of capability, they we configure for us?

So the new generation of System Integrator in the industrial world will be a “solution provider”. Providing a service of domain solutions hosted and built on an digital industrial platform from vendors such as Schneider-Electric. They will engage the customer in 3 to 5 year service contracts, but projects will be in weeks not months, years, RFPs will go away to selecting modules and completing configuration questionnaires.

These solution Providers will add and evolve the domain value in the applications to increase users accessing the information, and interacting, while industrial vendors will develop the industrial digital platforms with increased flexibility, functionality to attract local domain “solution Providers”, to build solutions on their platform. The local aspect will still play an important role due to confidence and uniqueness.

It will be interesting time over the next 5 to 10 years to see the “thought leaders” take on this opportunity and capitalise on a new landscape! Is this now the answer is yes I am working with 2 Sis who are transforming and will leverage the real opportunity!