The fourth industrial revolution has begun: banks and businesses face the challenge of digitization together, offering services geared to making exports a true business opportunity
In Milan Unicredit and the Var Group, along with international players of the caliber of Alibaba.com and Cisco, took stock of the state of the art on these themes at the event titled “Digital transformation to grow your business” (October 10th 2018).
Last April UniCredit launched a dedicated product, Easy Export, that gathered banking, logistical and online marketing services all under the same umbrella. Five months after the launch, the first results: 550 signed contracts, 20 meetings organized around Italy and about 2000 entrepreneurs involved.
“UniCredit is constantly committed to offering its clients real solutions that support them in their efforts at internationalization and at growing their company. For this reason, comments Giovanni Ronca Co-Head of UniCredit for Italy, we have chosen to work with Alibaba.com, one of the leading B2B online commerce platforms in the world, and the Var Group, one of the Italian leaders in digitization”.
Alibaba’s mission is to facilitate trade everywhere, supporting Italian and international businesses in their exports to China and around the world. Alibaba.com’s collaboration with a distinguished partner such as UniCredit, which offered its more than 3000 bank offices around the country, and with the support of the Var Group for digitization and Geodis for logistics, made it possible for us to reach companies across Italy” explains Albert Antonini Mangia, Business Development & Marketing Manager for the Alibaba Group. Thanks to this agreement, 300 companies have currently joined Alibaba.com, the primary B2B marketplace of the Alibaba group, and have the opportunity to reach buyers in 190 countries around the world. These are prevalently small to medium-sized companies from all around the peninsula, representing the major sectors of Made in Italy such as the food industry, fashion and design, all the way to industrial machinery and cosmetics.
Digitization brings with it opportunities and risks, but thanks to new ways of collaborating we can take advantage of its infinite opportunities
Michele Dalmazzoni
“In Cisco, says Michele Dalmazzoni, Sales Leader Collaboration & Industry, 4.0 of Cisco Italia, we connect spaces and people, enriching them with the digital dimension. What we offer is a complete end to end platform that can connect people, companies, spaces, factories and offices, all in an intrinsically secure manner”. The Digital Transformation strategy is transferred into the concept of smartworking and seeks to foster more agile ways of working, speaking of digitized experiences and physical spaces, as well as innovative business models.
“Var Group has outlined a digitization strategy for companies, founded on its solid experience with the realities of Made in Italy and a profound understanding of all the elements required for internationalization. Our role, states Paola Castellacci, CEO Digital Division Var Group, is to create a customised proposal for each company, integrating what our best partners offer in the ICT sector and developing projects that translate concretely into a competitive advantage for entrepreneurs”.
The task force communicates a clear message: you can only alight on a marketplace such as Alibaba.com with an effective digital strategy, counting on partners of proven excellence and innovation that support Made in Italy.
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translation by Olga Barmine
