During the last 6 months, we been interacting with service providers (Utilities, Facility Managers, O&M companies) on how they are looking to using data analytics at different stages as one of the core strategies to not just increase customer engagement and also look at adding new services in a bid to increase revenue & customer.
Most companies find themselves stuck with the dilemma of choosing between Build vs. Buy? My take is that it has to be combination of both.
3 things that have to stand out in making such decisions are:-
Flexibility- The solution has to give flexibility to both the end customer and the service provider. It has to have a high degree of platform independence, that’s the only way to increase the potential value creation from data assets.
Diversity- The Solution or people driving it having cross-sectorial expertise would come in extremely handy, potential to learn from other sectors & use cases are very high and is going to be one of the key differentiators going forward.
Leveraging IP- Most of the service providers have acquired deep domain understanding & knowledge over the years, something that is essentially the key differentiator. Any solution or business model that could help them to leverage it not just for existing customers but for future customers too is great value addition.