Not all projects that embrace the so-called digital transformation end up offering satisfactory results. This recognition is usually done among colleagues, but rarely by a manager of the sector. That is the reflection of Luis Álvarez Satorre, president of the computer services company Neoris for the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).
Álvarez elaborates: “Frustration over what was promised can translate into reproaches from the business units to the information systems management and from this to the provider, but things are not simple; It is probably the company itself that has not found the key to a business model that accompanies digitization or coexistence between disparate and sometimes overlapping models has not been achieved. This is the reason why we have created a Digital Acceleration Office, which we make available to customers”.
Because, as he adds, “no one pretends to be digital just for the sake of it, but rather so that it can be transferred to the business. We all have horrible and great experiences online. When they are great it is due to the correlation between the process and its economic impact”.
Behind the opinion there is a strategy. With the entry, last summer, of the Advent International fund with 65% of the capital, Neoris has begun to broaden its horizon. Since its inception, the Mexican group Cemex has been its sole shareholder and its destiny was to provide technological services to the owner; although in 2000 it decided to open up to foreign clients. It is not unusual for large industrial groups to give birth to IT subsidiaries that, over time, become independent without renouncing their original mission.
This is the case of Neoris: it has gone from coinciding with the geographical footprint of the cement company (Mexico, Spain, the United States and Latin America, plus some presence in Central Europe), to becoming aware that it has its own capacity to operate globally. This and the change in ownership explain why it has signed Álvarez, well known in the sector for having directed the international side of the British group BT Global Services for years.
Which gives a clue to the change of course: from the outset, Álvarez will lead an expansion in Europe, with a dose of inorganic growth. "40% of my time I am dedicating to talking with companies in which we might eventually have an interest." The arrival of Advent will make it possible to have more resources and develop capacities, while Cemex –which retains 35%– continues as the first client of IT services. "This formula gives us stability and flexibility which, among other advantages, provide the opportunity to replicate in other countries what has been done very well in Spain."
In his meetings with company clients, Álvarez says he has understood why the pandemic has aroused enormous interest in digitization: “There was a dammed-up need to transform processes, to optimize them; now we see a lot of people automating with artificial intelligence and better understanding the value of their data. And I think we can be a reference on the steps they should take”.
It was unavoidable to talk about the economic context. “Despite the uncertainties, which will remain alive, we see no signs that IT services are going to slow down. The existence of European funds is more than a palliative, it will stimulate investment, with a certain digitalization content”.
