Balearic Marine Cluster had the pleasure to interview Benjamín Robles CEO and founder of Easypier.
Could you tell us a bit about your company and the type of services you offer?
In 2013 iSystems and Portbooker partnered to develop technological and innovative solutions for the maritime sector. In response to the sector’s demand to facilitate, automate and simplify the management of marinas, ports and yacht clubs, EasyPier Marina Software was born, becoming the most complete and easy-to-manage marina and yacht club management software. Since then, we have helped many marines, both in Spain and in other countries, to improve the management of their services, to control costs and, in general, to be more efficient.
What would you highlight about EasyPier, how does it stand out from its competitors?
EasyPier is developed with the latest Cloud Computing technology, and is accessible over the internet, by using a web browser such as Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome, etc. EasyPier is hosted in our high-performance data center, so that marinas and ports do not have to worry about the maintenance of expensive IT systems.
Graphic interface: Marina Chart is the easiest and fastest way to access the main functions of the application, from a visual interface and with a click you will be able to create new reservations, modify existing ones, strandings, launchings, etc.
Full functionality for the management of marinas, ports, yacht clubs, shipyards and in general any company in the nautical sector that needs a system for invoicing, collections, budgets, expenses, etc.
Powerful reporting system: EasyPier uses the Microsoft’s high end reporting system, which generate any type of report you need. Work with listings, highlights, powerful graphics, etc. Surprise your audience with listings, summaries, graphs, etc. And if you prefer to work with your office tools, you can export any report to Excel, Word or. pdf to modify it, print it or add the information you need for your presentations.
Fully Flexible Configuration: EasyPier can be adapted to the needs of each customer
No investment, pay per use: since EasyPier has been developed with the latest cloud computing technology, you will not have to make any investment in complex computer systems, nor pay for expensive software licenses, you will only pay a monthly fee depending on the number of berths of your marina and/or the services contracted.
What is your vision of the sector and your perspective?
Traditionally technology in the nautical sector has had a slower and later penetration than in other sectors such as tourism, where hotels, travel agencies and aviation have been equipped with all kinds of tools to facilitate the interconnection of agents (GDS’s or Global Distribution Systems that allow bringing together the services of suppliers, Reservation Centers that allow a direct connection with inventories, Channel Manager that allows managing all sales channels from a central console, Online booking portals to reach the end customer without intermediaries, etc.). One of the reasons could be because the nautical sector, especially when we talk about marinas, is a very atomized sector, there are no large groups of marinas that have the technical and economic resources to face projects of such magnitude. Perhaps also, because there is no imperative need if we consider that most ports have very high occupancy.
In any case, in order to make progress in the digitalization of the sector, which is one of the European objectives for the coming years, the focus should be on solutions that allow all agents (customers, suppliers, intermediaries, etc.) to interconnect, creating Global Distribution System (GDS) solutions specific to the sector, defining standards in communication protocols and rules.
To tackle these projects, the participation and initiative of the sector’s associations and clusters is essential.
How do you value being associated with so many companies in the sector forming part of the Cluster? What would you highlight about the work of the Balearic Marine Cluster?
Balearic Marine Cluster is a cluster with a great diversification, in the sense that all its members belong to the nautical sector, but offer different services (refit, sales and brokerage, charter, moorings, insurance, technology, etc.). This circumstance generates complexity in the management of the cluster as it must offer solutions for all the members with very different needs, but at the same time it gives a very broad vision of all the agents that participate and that gives a lot of information and different points of view to understand which are the priority projects that can generate a change in the sector.
What would you highlight about the work of the Balearic Marine Cluster?
Its ability to analyse needs, find the best professionals who can develop solutions for the sector, follow up on projects and serve as a communication tool to inform all stakeholders of the solutions being developed. Finally, clusters are also a good instrument to attract funding and grants to carry out such projects. Especially now that Europe is promoting innovation through the EU Next Generation funds.
