I just spent four days at the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium bringing together both customers and press to learn more about Avanade’s partnership with Lotus F1 Team and how we are helping them realize results.
I drove down to Spa on Thursday morning with Erik Lamers, VP of Sales & Marketing for Netherlands, taking the route through speed limitless Germany to put in a bit of practice and get into the mood. The day started with lunch where I was joined by Marc Sorée, Belgian Country Manager, and four Belgian IT journalists for an afternoon of lively discussion, looking around at the track and also seeing first hand our work with the Lotus F1 Team. Lotus F1 Team’s CIO Graeme Hackland also joined us and provided some great insight, which seemed to impress the journalists.
The impact that our work has had can be seen during this short TV interview with Lotus F1 Team on Sky Sports F1 where we explored the challenges that this customer has faced, which we are addressing with extreme focus and planning. We realize that an auto part that is perceived as priceless on Sunday may be worthless on Monday. Everything is judged against one simple question: Does it make the car faster?
After the press event, we went to a hotel in Liege to greet five of our customers for the evening business event and view the free practice day. We all shared great examples of the work we’re doing for Lotus F1 Team. The following morning we went to the track and had a great day. Spending a full day with our customers in this kind of environment is priceless. Two concrete opportunities were born here together with building stronger relationships. It helps that Erik and I are both total car (racing) nuts…and can tell a lot about what is going on…without running the risk of boring everyone to death.
Finally, race day! We had two customers join us for the day and again it was a great experience! Of course, it was a pity that Kimi went out of the race with brake problems. On the other hand, we were in the pit box when this episode unfolded, hence experiencing great real-time action.
It was great to see the excitement and buzz around this partnership first hand – the enthusiasm is contagious. One of the most striking points about this partnership is how well the culture of Lotus F1 Team fits with Avanade: focused, going for victory while still maintaining a respectful and collaborative environment. It makes me very proud to be a part of Avanade.
I’m also excited to share a brand new piece of content that lifts the veil on our work with Lotus F1 Team aptly titled, DATA DRIVEN. You can view the first installment of this series below.