By Antonio Burinato, General Manager of Innovaway
The rapid technological evolution and an uncertain economic context are putting pressure on the competitiveness of businesses and the operational efficiency of public administrations, making digital transformation increasingly urgent.
This need unfolds within a scenario marked by unprecedented opportunities and risks. Artificial Intelligence is spreading rapidly, profoundly transforming the digital landscape: by 2027, it will be integrated into every technological solution. While this offers immense advantages, organizations must also manage significant risks — ranging from data management (privacy, bias, intellectual property violations) to inaccurate outputs (the so-called “hallucinations”). At the same time, cybercrime could cost as much as 10.5 trillion dollars by the end of 2025, demanding a security-first approach and an immediate response capability.
In this context, the role of IT partners becomes strategic: businesses and public administrations are looking for counterparts capable of accompanying them on a path of continuous innovation — not merely technology suppliers, but Digital Solution Integrators able to guide them through a complex landscape where infrastructures, applications, security, and data must operate in an integrated and synergistic way.
The role of the Digital Solution Integrator rests on one essential element: a deeply rooted service culture within the organization, which redefines the very nature of the relationship with the customer.
The fundamental difference does not lie in the ability to identify and sell the best possible technological solutions, but in the willingness and ability to build a long-term partnership characterized by continuous presence and consistent operational commitment. Client companies — constantly challenged by volatile and highly competitive markets — and public administrations — seeking models capable of ensuring efficient and modern services — need partners they can rely on not only during the design phases, but above all in the critical moments of execution and problem resolution.
Adopting this type of relationship means ensuring accessibility, continuous engagement in the customer’s goals, and a response that is always prompt and targeted. The service culture is concretely expressed in the ability to anticipate needs, in the shared ownership of results, and in a proactive — not merely timely — approach to problem-solving.
Equally crucial is the ability to integrate services with state-of-the-art technologies, ensuring continuous innovation, solution scalability, and consistent levels of quality over time.
A Digital Solution Integrator must therefore offer end-to-end services, covering the entire lifecycle of solutions: from design to implementation, from operational management to continuous evolution. Relying on a single partner that oversees the entire lifecycle of digital solutions primarily ensures continuity and consistency throughout the transformation journey, eliminating the risks of disruption, misunderstandings, and the dreaded “blame-shifting” that often occur when multiple vendors manage different phases of a project.
The continuous presence of the same partner also allows for the accumulation of deep knowledge of the business context, resulting in increasingly customized and effective solutions. From an operational perspective, seamless integration across different phases reduces downtime, accelerates time-to-value, and optimizes Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies.
Finally, a deep understanding of the infrastructure, applications, and business processes enables rapid adaptation to market changes. Today, agility and timeliness are more crucial than ever to generate tangible business value and improve the quality of services provided by public administrations.
This approach obviously requires a solid ecosystem of partnerships with technology leaders in order, first and foremost, to anticipate market trends and keep the offering consistently aligned with technological developments.
A common mistake is still to consider digital evolution as a project with a beginning and an end. The reality is different: it is a journey that will never stop, as technologies evolve, business models transform, and the expectations of both internal and external users change.
A crucial aspect that Digital Solution Integrators must communicate clearly to their clients is that what was done three years ago is fundamentally different from what is being done today, and the differences with what will be done three years from now will be just as significant.
This dynamic has important implications that must be understood and managed. Projects need to be structured with flexibility and adaptability, while people's skills require continuous updating. Infrastructures and software can no longer be implemented solely for current operations; they must also account for future evolution. At the same time, technology roadmaps need to be reviewed with increasing frequency to stay aligned with emerging opportunities.
The Digital Solution Integrator must therefore operate on two complementary levels:
On one hand, the Digital Solution Integrator must develop a structured approach to innovation that addresses both immediate and future needs, through continuous engagement with technology partners, integrating artificial intelligence into IT processes and data management solutions to enable intelligent automation, improve operational resilience, and support data-driven decision-making. From this perspective, Artificial Intelligence becomes a strategic lever to optimize decisions, costs, time, and quality.
On the other hand, it must have a forward-looking approach to innovation that, through a dedicated R&D structure, fosters a culture of innovation across the company, acting as a “hub” of knowledge and relationships, and designing and experimenting with new systems, services, and processes by creating prototypes, with the ambition of transforming these results into innovative market-ready solutions.
In summary, the role of the Digital Solution Integrator is measured by its ability to generate concrete and tangible value for its clients, not through technology implementation for its own sake, but through continuous and proactive support in the digital evolution journey, integrating deep technical expertise with a thorough understanding of the business and a shared focus on its objectives.
