In March, 2025, we attended the Belgian Offshore Days in Ostend. Organized by the Belgian Offshore Cluster, this conference and exhibition bring together Belgian and international companies active in the offshore wind industry. It serves as a platform for networking, fostering collaborations, and strengthening the sector.
What was there to discover?
The conference featured a lineup of guest speakers who highlighted both the ambitions and challenges within the offshore wind industry. Ongoing offshore projects were presented, offering insights into the sector’s latest developments. Additionally, industry suppliers showcased their solutions at various booths.
At our booth, we engaged with industry professionals, explored the evolving tech landscape, and gained firsthand insights into the challenges companies face in bridging the gap between technology and operations.
These are our key takeaways:
1 The so-called ‘ERP-implementation-stress’ is clearly still very accurate.
The typical scenario:
- The salesperson convinces the decision maker that the standard product can be ‘configured’ to meet all the needs.
- The tech team struggles to implement these promises in practice.
- The result? Extra budget, extra time and frustrated end-users working with a poorly crafted, inefficient solution.
2 In-house data analysts provide valuable insights, but transforming these insights into practical user-friendly tools demands specialized development expertise.
3 Hardware companies are increasingly expected to deliver integrated software solutions. Therefore, companies are hiring one or more software developers. However, developing robust performing software these days requires experts in different domains. It is essential to avoid relying on just one or two key people.
Recognizable issues? Our experts love to discuss on this matter in more detail.
