EMAIL INTERVIEW –  Nicolas Windpassinger and Ken Sinclair

Nicolas Windpassinger is the  Global Vice President of the EcoXpert Partner Program for Schneider Electric.
He has been recognized as one of the Top Midmarket IT Executives in 2017 as well as 100 People You Don’t Know But Should list by The Channel Company.

Sinclair:  You are about to publish a book on the Internet of Things in a context of digital transformation. What audience do you have in mind with the book? Business executives, IT managers, and CIOs, more technology-oriented readers, others?

Windpassinger:  This book is written for the CEOs, CDOs, and employees of companies that have built a performing analog business and that are asking questions about what the IoT holds in store, good or bad, for their business.

In particular, this book is intended to be used by senior leaders in manufacturing companies, resellers, software vendors, and associated channels, in particular—CDOs, CTOs, and CIO/CDIOs, who are at the forefront of leading the digital transformation of the company.

We address both the threats and the opportunities presented by the Internet of Things.

We balance actual company cases and market studies to form a strategy that gives companies the tools and methods needed to adapt and thrive through their digital transformation journey.

We address how the IoT will impact current analog companies, what strategies are applicable to transform a risk into an opportunity, and how to focus on specific areas of IoT implications.
 
Sinclair:  Why did you write a book?

Windpassinger:  Initially, I did not set out to write a book.  I had merely wanted to find such a book, but instead discovered it did not exist:

• I did find a lot of commercial and marketing books but very often with a lack of strategic guidance or anecdotal reference to what companies are facing.
• None of the technology books and blogs expanded on the IoT, beyond the pure technology element, in a way that would help companies understand how to transform, leverage themselves and supersede their competition.
• I have witnessed so much confusion and trepidation around the IoT with more questions than answers.
  

The big purpose of this book is to explain the new rules of the game and give simple and pragmatic steps to not only survive but succeed with digital transformation, to provide you with the essential knowledge to understand these new rules.
 
Sinclair:  Why Digitize or Die?

Windpassinger:  Choosing the title of a book is always one of the most important and challenging tasks—as it was most certainly for me. My dilemma was: How to impart the urgency and the significance of this technological era, so critical, demanding, and fast-moving? 

Digitize or Die: It may sound overly dramatic or cliché, however, it is simply the reality.
 
Sinclair:  There certainly have been major evolutions in recent times…

Windpassinger:  The IoT is at its inflection point. The window of opportunity to take advantage of the digital revolution is rapidly closing.  The Internet of Things will disrupt all businesses, including the leaders, and you can take full advantage of this transformation to your enormous benefit. Do you want your company to be a future case study for failure? The choice is entirely yours to make.  The IoT is already transforming numerous markets and companies. Making sense of these changes and more importantly, understanding how to leverage them in order to grow head and shoulders above your competition is one of the objectives of this book.
 
Sinclair:  On your blog, you recently wrote about false IoT beliefs. Can you elaborate and add some undeniable IoT truths?

Windpassinger:

FALSE BELIEF #1: YOU NEED TO BE THE FIRST ONE TO SUCCEED IN ANY IoT-RELATED BUSINESS
There is a common belief that the first in are always the winners, that to leverage digital transformation and innovation the first is the one that takes it all.  This can be a belief in IoT as well.

Bill Gross, IdeaLab’s CEO, did a research study (available on http://www.idealab.com) on what made startups successful among five essential elements: ideas, team, business model, funding and finally timing.  The results show that timing is, by 42%, the number one success factor across more than 200 companies. This should be no different for the IoT Market.  Indeed, continuous innovation in the IoT market, as well as others, enables pioneers to defend their market share against new entrants.

Peter N. Golder and Gerard J. Tellis in their research Pioneer Advantage: Marketing Logic or Marketing Legend highlight that market pioneers are de facto market leaders upon entry.  However, and importantly, this leadership does not appear to last very long – 12 years on average before being leap-frogged by later entrants.
Their results suggest that “being first in a new market may not confer automatic long-term rewards. An alternative strategy worth considering may be to let other firms pioneer and explore markets and enter after learning more about the structure and dynamics of the market.  Indeed, early leaders who entered an average of 13 years after the pioneer are more likely than pioneers to lead market today”.
 
FALSE BELIEF #2: YOU NEED TO BE A DIGITAL STARTUP TO SUCCEED IN IoT
Another common belief is that startups have all the cards in their hands to beat the well-established analog companies.  In fact, analog companies have great weapons to fight back and even lead the digital transformation; especially if they leverage their considerable resources to fight off the attacks including:
•    Investment capitals
•    Production capabilities
•    Strong brands & demand generation
•    Strong channels
•    In-depth relationships with global accounts
•    Salesforce on the ground
•    Influence power: Standardization, market price, specifiers, etc.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]When you add those two elements – time and assets – it’s not too late for incumbents/analog companies to adapt; they, in fact, have what is needed to lead and beat competition leveraging and adapting to the new rules of the digital-analog marketing game.
 
Sinclair:  You say that IoT is at its inflection point and that it's a start for businesses to educate themselves now. What did you mean by that?

Windpassinger:  Technologies are evolving laser fast, but have not yet established their “rules of the game.”   That which happened to digital cameras in the 1990s and with the internet at the beginning of 2000 is what is happening to the IoT right now.  It is indeed an exciting and important time, because you have a unique opportunity to change and adapt the game rules to suit your needs and preferences, and in so doing, outperform your competitors.

In a non-technical way, as well, this book will:
•    help point to what is going on in the industry,
•    helping to transform potential risks into opportunities.

There is a new paradigm that is building up which will transform our economic, social, and political world. It’s going to happen whether we like it or not. If your company is not already planning to take part in this new world, you might be losing the opportunity to lead the pack in your marketplace.
 
Sinclair:  Why should people buy your book?

Windpassinger:

•  The first reason would be an education goal:
  

My commitment here is to be your coach, to guide you and help you understand what the IoT may hold for you, as well as define a digitization strategy so you can put together an action plan to adapt and succeed.
If you commit to staying with me throughout this book, I promise to give you the knowledge to understand what lies behind the fancy acronyms and digital mirage.
If you don’t know the rules of the game, if you don’t spend time learning them, how can you expect to win?
If you don’t think about adapting, forget about succeeding. Your worry is going to be about surviving. 

• The second reason is that all benefits will be donated.

All benefits of the book will be donated to Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org) and Fondation de France (www.fondationdefrance.org).
 
To benefit from the launch promo visit: www.nicolaswindpassinger.com
 
For more information:
•             You can check my latest blogs on:  www.nicolaswindpassinger.com
•             You can check my linkedin profile on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaswindpassinger/
•             Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077HP8V4P