SIATSA, a Mexican technology infrastructure company with nearly four decades of experience, has launched "El Costo Invisible" (The Invisible Cost), a series of video conversations with executives from finance, manufacturing, and the automotive and industrial equipment supply chain. The series, hosted by Arlet Delgadillo, Business Development at SIATSA, aims to shed light on the often-overlooked expenses associated with operating on outdated technology.
The conversations feature five industry voices, each bringing a unique perspective on how legacy systems hinder business performance. Carlos De Alba Gutiérrez, a financial strategy consultant, warns that an ERP is not a universal solution: "There are many types of companies where an ERP won't solve your problems. Before bringing in any ERP, verify that it's really what you need, the devil is in the details." Daniel Alameda Picazo, founder of DAP, a custom manufacturer of electrical components, highlights a common issue in Mexican plants: "In Mexico, there's a lack of foresight. Almost every plant I've visited follows the same pattern: they work under urgency. It's only once something has already failed that everyone starts running."
José Francisco Flores Alcalá, a data scientist and senior project leader, emphasizes the importance of communication in project management: "If there isn't good communication among everyone involved, that's where projects get delayed, and not just within one company, it can involve several." Jesús Adrián García López, an electrical design engineer at Wheelabrator Group, points out that human error and lack of organization lead to costly downtime: "There has to be some kind of structure, an organization that helps technicians know exactly which part is where. A lot of what goes wrong comes down to human error." He also notes that rush-ordered parts during equipment startups can cost up to fifty percent more while machines sit idle. Sergio Iván Torres Valdés, a product engineer at Bocar Group, adds that innovation is often neglected in Mexican manufacturing: "Many companies don't have the resources that some technology companies do, that's exactly where innovation can make a difference. In manufacturing in Mexico, the development side feels a bit abandoned, we rely heavily on clients to bring in what's new."
The series underscores a pattern SIATSA has observed for years: businesses grow, but the technology supporting them lags behind. The real cost of outdated infrastructure rarely appears on a budget line; it manifests in response times, unreliable data, and failed integrations. SIATSA's approach is to start with a diagnosis of the client's actual operation, rather than leading with a product recommendation. Its service model includes IT as a Service (ITaaS), Data Center as a Service (DCaaS), and AI as a Service (AIaaS), allowing mid-sized companies to access the technical solidity of larger corporations without the associated cost structure.
Fernando Regidor, CEO of SIATSA, explained the motivation behind the series: "For almost 40 years we've watched the same pattern play out in Mexican companies: the business keeps growing, but the technology underneath it falls behind, and almost no one is willing to say so out loud. With 'El Costo Invisible,' we're not selling a solution. We want more executives to have this conversation before the cost of avoiding it becomes too high to ignore."
By bringing together these voices, SIATSA aims to encourage a candid dialogue about the hidden costs of technological stagnation, urging companies to confront the issue proactively. The series serves as a call to action for executives to assess their infrastructure and consider modernization before the invisible costs become insurmountable.
