Steam’O & kobaltblau: Bonjour Digitaler Concierge
Facility management? Completely boring. Not at all.
Digitalization is also finding its way into the management of large complexes. And as always, some are faster than others. Our client Steam’O is considered one of the most innovative start-ups in the Paris region and its CEO Corinne Colson-Lafon is known for disruptive approaches in the otherwise conservative male domain of facility management. So how do you achieve a successful digital business model in a traditional industry? Simply with a differentiated approach and with a digital product that is designed by customers and users! And with kobaltblau!
Whether digital or analog: In hardly any other area is success or failure as clearly measurable as in facility management. Only the complete functionality of all services – for example in an office complex – guarantees customer satisfaction – in short, heating, electricity, security, dispatch and cleanliness must function around the clock. Disruptions in any of these areas are immediately noticeable to many people and immediately annoy customers. Competent service staff and their rapid availability are essential to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that faults are rectified quickly. They ensure prompt maintenance, repairs and services. One of the challenges in scheduling in this area is that breakdowns are difficult to plan and by the time the customer calls, it is actually already too late.
Very concrete digital strategy à la kobaltblau: rapid prototyping, SCRUM method and offshore development in Armenia!
And this is precisely where digitalization is massively changing an industry. Kobaltblau supported Steam’O in developing an intelligent digital strategy that enabled the company to introduce digital innovations for the benefit of its customers and significantly improve its own processes. At the heart of our approach was the “digital concierge”, which on the one hand provides a front-end platform for commissioning services and on the other hand establishes a back-office system for the internal planning and distribution of work orders.
The final digital product, the “Steam’App”, was developed by customers and users, based on simple, concrete and functional prototypes! Only what you see, and touch is what you get! This is precisely why kobaltblau recommended and successfully implemented the SCRUM method. With their help, the real benefits and functionality of the Steam’App could be permanently verified with service employees and customers during the course of the process and feedback from users could be incorporated into the progress of the project. In line with the short time-to-market approach as part of a sprint project logic, operable proto-apps and rapid results led to very fast releases. As a result, it took less than six weeks for the first version of the app to be released for Steam’O employees. At every step, Steam’O’s business logic, such as ordering maintenance work, was mapped; latency and process times (back-office system) were shortened and the overall foundation for future innovative and reliable services was laid. In the future, extended external services can be offered on the Steam’App platform, from passenger transportation to gift deliveries, digitalization sets no limits to the creativity of business ideas!
The fact that kobaltblau worked with a system house in Armenia as part of the project shows just how global digital transformation really is today. This offered the cultural advantage of a European way of working combined with the cost benefits of an offshore location. For a medium-sized company like Steam’O, traditional offshore countries such as India or Ukraine are out of the question.
Corinne Colson-Lafon, CEO Steam’O
“We are one step ahead of our competitors thanks to the digital platform and differentiate ourselves through the relevance of our services. We do not rely on digital because it is fashionable, but because it is in line with our strategy. kobaltblau helped us quickly and efficiently with the first step.”
kobaltblau supports the development of new business models in the platform economy!
Successful companies have recognized the importance of platform business models and are anchoring them in their business DNA. In the next step, Steam’O will integrate further external services into its app and thus establish itself as an industry pioneer in the “platform economy” – after a record-breaking project duration of just under a year. Corinne Colson-Lafon, the CEO of Steam’O, is happy about the collaboration with kobaltblau:
