Transcript
Don Mishory: So we’re going to go to a little bit of a speed round here. And we usually don’t talk directly to types of solutions, but I do want to ask you about a few different types of solutions that we’re seeing in the market (these are solutions that Valorem Reply delivers as well) and where they fit in digital transformation.
The first area is this concept of a Digital Operations Platform. So Digital Operations Platform, there’s many definitions, but we define it as an online or mobile platform that allows customers and partners to directly engage with the company. It’s a little different than ecommerce, more about an engagement model with customers and partners. Where have you seen Digital Operations Platforms successfully deployed and what are your thoughts on investing in that type of platform that may not directly tie to a cash register ring?
Jim MacLennan: Well, I haven’t actually seen it deployed all the way. I’ve seen it go in pieces. Because it’s a fairly new idea, because all the pieces are now coming into play. But the pieces that are working, and the idea, is brilliant. Because it starts all the way from IoT - could be on your shop floor, could be on your customer’s shop floor – [and continues] up the operations channel (technical services), as well as through the distribution channels (sales and marketing). And then all the way back to your manufacturing floor where you’re making these products and creating new products. And if you have that full view of all the data and information and all the conversations around that going on, you have a much better idea of what’s working and what’s not. You can double down on what’s working and sort of address the things that are not.
It is much more straight forward. I’m not going to say it’s easy, but it’s much more straight forward now with a solid platform to pull that information in one place and have that more holistic view. And that can have a huge impact on your own operations as well as your ability to help your customers.
