In
the Como province, a startup decided to focus on the value of data, placing
itself at the service of other companies to accompany them through their
digitisation process. A focus on Servitly, a startup that has developed a
software supporting the servitization process.
For FARE INSIEME STARTUP, Giampaolo Colletti interviewed Stefano Butti,
founder of Servitly
FARE
INSIEME STARTUP is the spin-off of the FARE INSIEME project dedicated to
presenting some businesses that form part of the Primo Ventures portfolio, a
company that manages funds specialising in the digital sector and new space
economy. Confindustria Emilia has started up a partnership with Primo Ventures
with the objective of providing its associates with new opportunities for
growth thanks to the presentation of the most innovative start-ups on the
market. Here are some of their stories.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
There are
encounters that leave their mark on the lives of people and companies. The
meeting with Tim Baines, a British innovator and business consultant, left his
mark on the story of this startup. “I met professor Tim Baines at an event, it
was the first time I had heard the word servitization. It was 2016 and we had
initiated the first phase of the startup, which focused on various IoT projects
requested by machine manufacturers. All
projects had similar requirements and characteristics, so we had found a common
need, but we had also understood that IoT could not be an actual need. That is
why we introduced the servitization concept,” explains Stefano Butti, founder
of this startup located in Lomazzo, Como, in the Como Next Technological Hub.
The company boasts 13 employees and a €700,000 turnover that originates 60%
from Italy and 40% from abroad, with a recurrent growth of 30% year upon year.
The DNA is made up of two closely-related elements, i.e. software engineering
and a passion for problems, which the team aims to solve as if on a mission to
accompany companies on their servitization journey thanks to digital
technology. “These two things have remained unchanged, and we adapted to the
rest: to the various industries and their market phases with or without
incentives, to the evolution of the digital maturity of companies, to change
linked with technology and servitization trends,” stresses Butti.
Company
profile. Servitly boasts structured, efficient and scalable modules. Its core
is data processing motors that constantly extract information. Conditions are
assessed, based on which actions are to be taken and on which automations are
suggested, meaning data is extracted and used as part of a connected service
logic, i.e. servitization. “Current European statistics tell us that 80% of the
data generated from connected products is not used. This does not surprise us,
as we understand all the difficulties of processing and extracting value and of
distributing to the device producer value chain. This a brand new field, where
those who started off are inventing new software that didn’t use to exist. But
it should not be like this. The software is all very similar, and needs
considerable investments to be efficient. We made a configurable software that
already features all those investments directly accessible,” says Butti.
Servitly is currently used by over 40 producers of devices and machinery and
manages over 20,000 connected products. It was very difficult for this company
to steer a straight course in the beginning, but then it started achieving
results. “There were various moments we are proud of, such as gaining the trust
of some big clients, exceeding the first 10,000 connected products, or
receiving an investment by Primo Digital.”
The wow
factor. When talking about technology, standing out is essential. The supply
must be verticalized. “At Servitly, we have various software modules that focus
on different uses. Each module addresses specific needs. One case is digital
portal, a portal where clients can access product data and its remote control.
Another case is connected maintenance, which makes maintenance operations
simpler, quicker and more manageable thanks to information that can
automatically deduce product data. Another is the monetization of digital
services, connected maintenance contracts and spare parts. The latter is also
known as machine customer.” In the meantime, servitization remains a slowly yet
constantly growing trend. “Various macroeconomic trends - sustainability,
generational turnover - show that we are increasingly headed towards an economy
of use, result and servicing instead of possession of an asset. We will
continue to invest in our software to anticipate the needs that will
increasingly develop along this line.” Professionalism, perseverance and
courage are the requirements needed to inhabit the future in the best possible
manner.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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