Relayr’s innovation is to share risk with its customers | Harbor Research

SHARING RISK

Relayr is an important exception to this rule. The upstart company is now in the process of stealing third by adding the business model component of “shared risk,” thus creating even more value for the customer.

“ROI looks really good on Excel sheets and paper, and then you hit reality, trying to get your first few assets onboarded, and it can look pretty different,” says Guneet Bedi, Senior VP and General Manager for the Americas at relayr. “We’re just trying to align with our partners and customers and say, ‘We will make money if you make money.’”

The problem with stealing third base is that our business culture does not democratize the things that make sharing risk easy, which in turn drives more assured outcomes for the customer and users. The typical business thinking remains overly self-interested and not customer-centric. Businesses want to protect IP and do things in secret.

By contrast, relayr offers its partners numerous new possibilities through its parent company Munich Re, which is one of the world’s largest reinsurers. These include, among others, warranties on business outcomes. Offering such warranties (for example, on operational efficiency gain, maintenance cost reduction, zero-unplanned downtime, etc.) is a unique approach to minimizing risks for both manufacturers and end customers. Relayr not only provides this warranty to its direct partners but also enables the manufacturer to offer it to its customers as well.

When the idea of sharing risk in this way becomes perceived by the business community as valuable enough (or necessary enough) to force the secrecy instinct to give way, ecosystems and collaboration will be added to the business model and then we’ll see a general rush to third base.

When that happens, the competition will find that relayr is already there. In the meantime, listen to our podcast with relayr’s Guneet Bedi. It makes clear what the possibilities of advanced technology can be when matched with equally sophisticated business thinking. We hope you enjoy it.