On Thursday, October 13, 2016, Cincom invited its French customers to Paris to thank them for their loyalty and to celebrate 40 years in the software industry in France. The gathering focused on Digital Transformation, and Cincom organised a real journey to the heart of this topic.
A Journey Back in Cincom Systems Time
The memories shared by Cincom Founder and President, Tom Nies, took us back to 40 years ago. In 1976, Tom came to Paris to develop his business within Europe. Tom impressed 3M, who at the time had already developed a taste for innovation, with his ERP solution, CONTROL: Manufacturing™. To this day, 3M is a loyal Cincom customer.
Alastair Sinclair, Cincom EMEA Director, was very proud to present a trophy to Erick Dubau, IT Research and Development Director at 3M, for being the first Cincom customer – not only in France but also in Europe.
A Journey to the Heart of Digital Transformation at Cincom Systems
As part of this celebration, we were fortunate to also have Didier Bonnet, Vice President at CapGemini Consulting. Didier is an outstanding speaker and author of the book Leading Digital, which was co-authored with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). During his keynote presentation titled, “Digital Transformation, Business Growth Driver,” Didier shared the findings of three years of research that he conducted jointly with MIT on the digital revolution and stated the strategic issues of this revolution and its impact on business models. He also illustrated this analysis with concrete examples of companies that successfully managed this transformation.
Didier brilliantly hosted the round table, “Keys to a Successful Digital Transformation,” which brought together a panel of experts from different fields including:
- Yann Bègue, EVP Consulting GFI Informatique and consultant for “Alliance, Industrie du Futur” (French government initiative)
- Fabienne Cohen, IT Customer Journey Program Director, BNP Paribas
- Jean-Marc Jagou, Xplor President and Founder of EXCEO
- Denis Poulain, CFA UPMC Director, Pierre and Marie Curie University
- Pascal Rivière, Deputy CEO, organisation-wide projects, OCIRP
Journey to the Heart of Paris
The many participants gathered together on a yacht that was located at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed a lunch cruise on the river Seine. The group continued to discuss digital transformation while sharing the camaraderie and enjoying a spectacular view of the architectural treasures of the Parisian bridges and monuments.
Journey around the World
In the afternoon, Cincom Systems customers visited the Quai Branly Museum, which features indigenous art and cultures. Guides presented a selection of works from all over the world including masks, jewelry, costumes, paintings, ornaments and sculptures. This meeting of cultures and knowledge surrounding iconic collections from Oceania, Asia, Africa and the Americas challenges us in our relationships between knowledge, universality, otherness and memory.
As you can see, this Cincom France customer day was rich with all kinds of exchanges – professional, cultural and simply from one human to another.