Interview with Marco Petrone, CEO Viasat telematics and Corporate Development Director the Viasat Group
Viasat between past, present and future and… a new editorial challenge. What is this about?
For Viasat, the past has been an exciting ride, the present is undoubtedly full of satisfaction and the future looks very interesting. One could think that Viasat was born as “the first, the original satellite anti-theft system”. But today, it is no longer just a synonym of security, safety and assistance: it also means Fleet Management. To meet the many and varied demands of the market, the company had to specialize specific teams in different segments. Similarly, 12 years after the first edition of the “Guida alla Sicurezza”, in collaboration with public institutions and private companies, we have decided for 2017 to redouble our commitment to providing clear and complete information to all our stakeholders. Thus, here is a publication specifically tailored for all the economic operators who are interested in the transport, logistics and management chain of all the assets and people located in different geographical areas, translated into Italian and English, so that we can reach all our readers and followers more easily.
How is the Group’s international growth progressing?
The history of Viasat Group – a company founded in 1974 and established in Italy as first mover and leader in the domestic market, before entering the international competitive scene – is a history marked by continuous, solid and sustainable growth. Its technologies have evolved year after year, progressively expanding the range of the telematics solutions requested by its old and new customers. A few years after the opening of its new international FMS business unit, Viasat has registered numbers from which it is not difficult to see the excellence of its technological, commercial and qualitative offer, with a base of connected vehicles and assets which has grown from almost 20,000 units in December 2013 to almost 150,000 in September 2017.
What is the source of the solidity of Viasat Group’s international project?
New fleet management and freight transport technologies are aways more important for logistic companies and for the community as a whole. On the one hand, vehicle monitoring and cargo tracking are now an investment that pays off immediately. On the other, in a common European area where people and goods can move freely, and in a historic time when people and goods can hide dangers for society, monitoring a vehicle and tracking what it transports also becomes a collective interest. Let us think, for example, of the risk of terrorism, or of food supply chain control.
So much enthusiasm for a long accepted challenge. Is this the reason behind your success?
Well, certainly one of them. But there are many other reasons why Viasat people take on the everyday challenges of business and professional life with passion and dedication. On the one hand there are their careers, their desire to improve, to successfully carry out the projects entrusted to them, to achieve their objectives, and so on. On the other hand, however, there are profound reasons, ones which our reason pretends to ignore and our instinct reminds us every day: the 600 employees of the Viasat Group, together with thousands of collaborators scattered across 4 continents, believe that these systems can enormously improve the quality of life of people. Together with them, we are happy to see that more and more people are sharing this belief.