Seven Principles is one of the most renowned solution providers in the German market in the area of enterprise mobility. At the system house congress "Chancen 2016 ", which takes place in Dusseldorf on the 26th and 27th of August, the experienced 7P-Manager grants Dr. Ing. Joachim Philippi,
Executive Director at Seven Principles AG , shows other partners how the business works in practice.
You entered the mobile solutions business very early on. What was the decisive occasion at that time?
Joachim Philippi: 7P has accompanied its customers through digital transformation for many years: traditional business models are called into question, working environments are changing. In this future market, mobile solutions are a central component.
We see ourselves as a partner who accompanies his customers along the entire path and takes responsibility for ensuring that the concepts and ideas also work in the real world.
And last but not least: 7P has been active in the telecommunications industry since its founding. Mobility is anchored in our DNA.
What did not initially work out as expected? What were the reasons?
Philippi: For the first mobile solutions, customers have often wished their desktop applications on mobile devices, even - supposedly - to save costs.
Negative user feedback due to poor usability and the non-exploitation of additional opportunities, such as location awareness, scanning documents by smartphone photo instead of paper handling, then quickly showed that this way does not lead to the goal.
In some cases, there has simply been a lack of imagination where mobility can add value. And last but not least, in some cases lacked the courage to make the necessary changes in the process and organizational structure.
A mobile sales solution is not just the replacement of the order block with an iPad , but can change the entire process chain between internal sales and external sales. The benefits are enormous, but the changes must be managed actively in the sense of change management.
How did you master these hurdles?
Philippi: As mobile solutions are developed that inspire the customer, a self-reinforcing effect emerges:
companies are geared to the best in their industry, and are trying to outdo each other. At the same time, there is growing pressure from customers and their own employees who simply expect mobile, flexible solutions.
You said recently that demand for mobile solutions is increasing significantly. Why and with what concerns do your customers increasingly come to you?
Philippi: In the course of the mobilization of business processes solutions are increasingly demanded from the fields of "nomadic worker" - eg sales force, mobile asset management - for example smart metering - or mobile payment.
The mobile solutions increasingly connect with the " Internet of Things ". As a result, the smartphone can soon be used as a car key.
From which areas do you increasingly take inquiries? Is it the CIOs, the managing directors or the specialist departments?
Philippi: Reinforces the departments: Mobile solutions create new sales channels, improve customer service and strengthen the image as an innovative company.
At the same time, process chains can be streamlined and media disruptions avoided - this saves costs. In addition, shorter processing and lead times improve customer satisfaction.
Against the backdrop of the digital transformation, not least completely new business models can be realized.
They also said that with app development alone, partners could no longer position themselves. This is now commodity. Which way do you go and recommend?
Philippi: It is important to offer solutions. This starts with the business models of the customer and the industry: In many cases, digital transformation demands disruptive changes, for which customers expect top-level consulting.
In terms of technology, the app, ie the application that runs on the mobile device, is just the tip of the iceberg. Of course, innovative operating concepts and features such as location awareness or augmented reality are expected here.
But even more demanding are usually the middleware and the connection of the backend systems: highest security standards as well as performance and transaction security as well as offline capability are required.
And last but not least, it's about 24/7 operations and application management in the sense of continuous deployment of the solution. 7P offers its customers the full scope of these services end-to-end.
Many partners are not yet addressing the mobile issue because they focus on other core competencies: expanding their business towards the cloud, for example. How risky do you feel about not entering the mobile market?
Philippi: Of course, even in times of "mobile" there will be a lot of business in traditional architectures and infrastructures. As you can see from the example of the big software manufacturers like SAP and Microsoft, there is a clear shift of priorities towards "Mobile first, cloud first".
As a medium-sized partner you can often not cover all topics. To what extent are cooperations the solution here?
Philippi: As a rule, our customers expect a "general contractor" who fully controls and provides the entire service provision.
At the same time, cooperations are an integral part of our business model: be it parallel implementation in various mobile platforms or tight customer specifications. With regard to an ever shorter "time to market", cooperation with partners also makes a lot of sense in near- and offshore.
