ARC consulted with the senior management team and ownership group of a well-established IT solutions supplier that wanted to enter the industrial market to grow its top and bottom lines.
Client Challenges
Senior management at a well-established IT solutions supplier wanted to explore the possibilities of expanding into industrial markets. They wanted to learn about those specialized markets to determine if their offerings could add value and be accepted and, if so, what modifications might be required to increase that acceptance. The company also needed to determine the total available and served markets for those solutions (by industry and geography), and a forecast to determine how fast those solutions could potentially grow in their respected segments.
The next challenge would be to develop a business plan to present to the ownership group to obtain approval and funding for this ambitious market expansion. If approved, work would need to be done with engineering to define any necessary solution modifications, as well as with marketing to create an awareness and credibility campaign of deliverables focused on potential partners and end users. The final challenge would be to create and execute these deliverables within a specific time schedule.
ARC Solution
ARC proposed a five-phase project. Here’s how it played out:
The first phase was for a senior ARC analyst to evaluate the solutions supplier’s portfolio. This evaluation determined that there was indeed potential for the company’s solutions in industrial markets, but modifications would be required to enable compatibility with key industrial automation standards, such as OPC UA.
The second phase involved determining appropriate industrial applications and market potential for the supplier’s solutions. This required tapping into ARC’s extensive database to create total available market figures, served market figures by industry and geography, as well as a five-year forecasted growth rate for each segment.
In the third phase, the analyst helped create and present a business plan to the ownership group.
Once approval was obtained, the fourth phase involved introducing the solution supplier’s engineering management to the OPC Foundation so the company could begin developing the needed product modifications. The ARC analyst also worked with the company’s marketing group to develop a 12-month market awareness plan. This included a series of short, “ARC View” white paper-type reports; analyst quotes for company press releases; participation in webcasts and workshops; and gold sponsorship of and active participation in ARC forums. ARC also helped tailor the company’s marketing communications and messaging, including on both social media and the company’s website. ARC then introduced the company’s management to their counterparts at major automation suppliers to help facilitate partnership discussions.
The fifth and still ongoing phase involves executing each of the deliverables and participating in internal supplier sales and marketing meetings to help further educate the teams about the manufacturing and process automation market and help refine the messaging and communications.
Results
This solutions supplier now considers industry (including both discrete and process automation) to be among its largest vertical markets. The company actively participates in the OPC Foundation and has partnerships with many of the major automation suppliers. ARC has completed a series of ARC View white paper reports, delivered several webcasts and workshops, and contributed relevant analyst commentary to the company’s new-product press releases. ARC and the supplier also frequently post guest blogs on each other’s blog sites and social media. ARC is now considered to be “part of the team,” and as such is a regular participant in the company’s internal sales, marketing, and senior management/ownership meetings. ARC is also providing additional local and regional market intelligence to support the company’s global field operations.