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Lorcan Camps: Making digital transformation happen - Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

In 2014, Lorcan Camps was bullish about his new venture, Resonance, a side project he'd undertaken alongside his work as a solutions provider for Microsoft at Infotech.

Then he went away between 2017 and 2022 to work on what he rather nebulously describes as working with a tech startup in Silicon Valley, a story he claims is still to be told.

Now he's back with a plan for business in TT, specifically a software as a service (SaaS) solution that targets medium-sized businesses with all the software tools needed to fully digitalise their entire operations.

In Camps' cross-hairs are businesses that have between 50 and 500 employees and revenues of over $10 million.

Nio Digital Ltd (niodigital.co) delivers and integrates modern apps for customer-relations management, human-resource-management enterprise and materials resource planning (ERP and MRP) on a secure, integrated cloud platform.

The digital business platform is built using open source components curated by the company through its partnership with Odoo, with whom it works as a gold partner.

Odoo (odoo.com), founded in 2005, provides open-source business software for companies ranging from a single user to 300,000.

Through Nio's gold partner status with Odoo, it can access source code to tailor its solutions more effectively for its clients.

Camps is working closely with the main business and trade chambers, Amcham, the TTMA and the TT Chamber to co-ordinate digital transformation efforts.

The company has also turned up as a sponsor and presenter at recent events, leading the digital transformation charge as part of its efforts to lobby and deliver substantive outreach support for efforts at encouraging change.

[caption id="attachment_969254" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Graphic of Nio's business offerings on its SaaS Platform. -[/caption]

"I'm an eternal optimist," Camps said. "Let us acknowledge that there have been lots of positive changes. The government now has a whole ministry dedicated to digital transformation and after covid, everyone who worked remotely can now see the need for it."

For all his enthusiasm, Camps is realistic about the reality he faces.

"Resistance mostly comes from the top."

Over more than 200 projects, many of them undertaken as a successful Microsoft solutions provider, he has seen most of the indicators.

"There is the 'God is a Trini syndrome' – not recognising the need to change, and hoping things will get back to normal, a position that isn't helped by the recent rise in oil and gas prices.

"The worry about price and a tendency to under-invest in technology. 'It's too expensive, how can we afford it?' ICT is a cost to be avoided and minimised, not an opportunity.

"Ignorance on multiple levels: they don't know what to do, don't know what they don't know and are terrified of the unknown and loss of control.

"I've spent my entire career dealing with these situations, and I've got the battle scars

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