SIATSA, a Mexican technology infrastructure and AI company with nearly four decades of experience, has launched a new video series titled "El Costo Invisible" (The Invisible Cost). The series features candid conversations with executives from finance, manufacturing, and the automotive and industrial equipment supply chain, aiming to expose the often-overlooked expenses associated with outdated technology. Hosted by Arlet Delgadillo, Business Development at SIATSA, the series brings together diverse perspectives that converge on a shared diagnosis: technology infrastructure in mid-sized Mexican companies is falling behind the pace of the businesses it is supposed to support.
The series provides a platform for industry leaders to discuss the real costs of operating on technology decisions made years or even decades earlier. These costs rarely appear on a balance sheet; instead, they manifest in slow response times, unreliable data, and integrations that fail at critical moments. The conversations underscore that the true price of old tech is often invisible until it becomes a crisis.
Carlos De Alba Gutiérrez, a financial strategy consultant working with founders of consumer brands, cautioned that an ERP system is not a one-size-fits-all 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," he said.
Daniel Alameda Picazo, founder of DAP, a custom manufacturer of electrical components, highlighted a lack of foresight in Mexican industry. "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," he noted. Alameda built DAP after observing larger firms neglect smaller clients, and he has deliberately turned down investment offers to maintain close relationships with his customers.
José Francisco Flores Alcalá, a data scientist and senior project leader in the manufacturing sector, emphasized the importance of communication in project success. "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," he said. He described tracking documents his teams use to consolidate input across design, manufacturing, and testing to ensure no department works from outdated information.
Jesús Adrián García López, an electrical design engineer at Wheelabrator Group, pointed to human error as a major cost driver. "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 explained. He also highlighted the high cost of rush-ordered parts, which can be up to fifty percent more expensive while machinery sits idle during startups.
Sergio Iván Torres Valdés, a product engineer at Bocar Group with over 13 years in automotive manufacturing, observed that many companies lack the resources of tech giants. "In manufacturing in Mexico, the development side feels a bit abandoned, we rely heavily on clients to bring in what’s new," he said, stressing the potential for innovation to bridge this gap.
These conversations are more than just discussions; they reflect a pattern SIATSA has been addressing for nearly 40 years. The company offers IT as a Service (ITaaS), Data Center as a Service (DCaaS), and AI as a Service (AIaaS), allowing mid-sized companies to operate with the technical solidity of a large corporation without absorbing the associated cost and complexity. Rather than leading with a product, SIATSA begins with a diagnosis of the client’s actual operation, identifying legacy systems without documentation, IT teams stretched thin, and integrations layered on integrations that no one fully understands.
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."
For more information, visit SIATSA's website at https://www.siatsa.com/.
