Article STEAM’O

Supporting the STEAM’O Group’s digital transformation into Agile mode

Steam’O Group is one of the leading mid-sized players in the Facility Management and Business Services market. Today, it is recognized for its innovative approach to the market. Its distinctive positioning is based on an approach that is 100% centralised on customer service.

The Steam’O Group sought assistance in redefining its positioning strategy by integrating societal and technological trends at an early stage. This integration has made it possible to define a digital strategy that is perfectly aligned with the Group’s strategy. The Steam’O Group called on kobaltblau Consultants en Management for assistance from the definition of its Digitalisation Strategy right through to the implementation, by integrating the steering and monitoring of the development of mobile and back-office applications supporting the business processes interacting with customers.

Corinne Colson-Lafon, President of the Steam’O Group, talks about kobaltblau’ s support and the results obtained.

Can you tell us why you chose kobaltblau Management Consultants to assist you with your digitisation strategy?

• Mastering development processes in agile mode
• Knowledge of the constraints of our service businesses and understanding the issues at stake
• Trustworthy relationship and working habits between the kobaltblau consultants and the Web-Isi project managers in charge of the developments

How was this project planned and what were the critical points in respect of this planning?

We decided to launch the project in January 2017 through a first phase consisting of defining and validating our Digitalization Strategy.
This first phase carried out with kobaltblau enabled us to validate our Strategy and to qualify the scope of work, particularly in regard to the tools which needed to be developed. We also validated our Digital Strategy and the various stages of our digital journey.

Once our strategy was validated, we quickly initiated the first phase which consisted in developing our Steam’App, a mobile application for our users and end consumers.
The agile piloting managed by kobaltblau together with the Web-Isi integrator made it possible to deliver the first version of our Steam’App as well as the back-office tools within six weeks. I must admit that the working mode used allowed us to deliver, in record time, an application that goes beyond our expectations.
We started the second stage of our journey by developing digital tools for our technicians. The same agile mode methodology was applied in order to validate the business strategy, develop the digital tools and evolve our back-office.

Even though we had initially defined it, we decided to rebalance our digital strategy with kobaltblau before launching this second phase of development. In a fast-paced world, we need to ensure that our business and digital strategy are regularly and iteratively aligned with our clients‘ challenges.
This second step allowed us to deliver the App for our technicians, Steam’Tech, and the back office in just over two months.
Today we have all the tools at our disposal to become the Facility Management operator of tomorrow.

What did you retain from the methodology used, the agile mode?

First of all, the importance of the complementary aspect between kobaltblau Consultants en Management and Web-Isi who were able to establish a real relationship based on trust together with the Steam’O Group’s teams.

The first workshops with operational decision-makers made it possible to align all expectations, to share challenges, but above all to perfectly define the perimeter on which we were going to deploy our digital tools.

Secondly, the Agile mode was a very powerful transformation tool. We’re all under a lot of pressure on a daily basis and we can’t afford to spend our time in meetings. The Agile mode allowed us to optimize the time spent on the project, to affiliate ourselves with the consultants and developers in an enhanced and dynamic framework.

We were able to validate, based on mock-ups, very quickly the „look & feel“ of the applications, the necessary data and the whole synoptic. This methodology and especially the involvement of the consultants and their knowledge is what permitted the delivery of prototypes which needed only a few modifications. Global alignment is key to success in agile methodologies.

What are the concrete results of your cooperation?

In less than a year, we were able to rapidly position the Steam’O Group as the innovative player in Facility Management, thanks to the presentation of the application on the market.
Beyond the contributions of this external positioning to our customers and prospects, it has also enabled us to mobilize internal teams on our innovation strategy.

We are truly one step ahead of our competitors, and we bring a strong differentiation in the services we provide to them. This project is an investment for the general development of our group

And now:

We will continue our transformation by increasingly integrating digital modes into our processes, always putting the customer experience and user service at the heart of our concerns. We don’t seek digitalisation because it’s fashionable, we seek digitalisation in order to obtain a real strategy.

kobaltblau Management Consultants has enabled us to take the first step quickly and efficiently, but the journey has only just begun; many more steps lie ahead.