What the race to cross the Atlantic by steam power teaches technology partners about disruptive innovation.
In today’s rapid-paced tech landscape, we often think disruptive innovation is unique to our era. However, the challenges faced by modern technology leaders echo those encountered two centuries ago when America launched its first transatlantic steamship. The story of the SS Savannah and its successors offers lessons for today’s technology businesses navigating the choppy waters of disruptive change.
When Innovation Meets Scepticism
In 1819, the SS Savannah was derisively labelled a “steam coffin” by critics who couldn’t envision steam power crossing vast oceans. Today’s wonders of the digital age often face similar scepticism from potential clients who prefer the comfort of established technologies.
The visionaries behind the Savannah—Moses Rogers and his investors—saw beyond conventional limitations. They didn’t create something entirely new but instead transformed an existing sailing packet into a revolutionary hybrid vessel. Similarly, successful MSPs don’t always need to be at the leading edge of technological change; but they must recognize transformative potential and champion solutions before they become mainstream.
The Hybrid Approach: Balancing Innovation and Reliability
Perhaps the most relevant lesson from the Savannah is its hybrid design. The ship featured both innovative paddlewheels and traditional sails, ultimately using steam for only 11% of its historic voyage. This pragmatic approach mirrors today’s most successful digital transformation strategies: implementing cutting-edge solutions while maintaining reliable fallbacks that keep businesses operational during the transition. Technologies that are recognisably grounded in familiar language and user experiences tend to be adopted more readily than ‘the shock of the new’.
Modern MSPs can learn from this balanced approach. Rather than pushing for complete technological overhauls that overwhelm clients, consider creating staged adoption programs with “technology sandboxes” where clients can experiment with innovations in non-critical environments first.
Building the Right Team for Innovation
Rogers encountered a fascinating talent acquisition challenge: he couldn’t hire a crew in New York where scepticism prevailed, but found success in New London, Connecticut where his reputation was already established. Today’s technology leaders face similar challenges in finding talent that can support both innovative and traditional technology stacks.
The lesson? Sometimes your innovation requires looking beyond traditional talent pools and investing in developing teams that believe in your vision. Creating internal “innovation literacy” programs and cross-functional implementation teams can help bridge this gap.
Executive Buy-In: The Acceleration Factor
The Savannah’s journey accelerated significantly after President Monroe experienced the technology firsthand. This historical example underscores the critical importance of executive sponsorship for any major technological shift.
Modern MSPs should consider creating dedicated executive experience centres where C-suite leaders can interact with emerging technologies in a low-pressure environment. This is where technology vendors and distributors can and should assist, typically offering physical facilities and virtual capabilities that can provide valuable experience. Examples such as Westcon Europe 3D Labs demonstrate the potential of this approach. Developing ROI acceleration programs that demonstrate financial returns within 30-90 days can transform ‘refusenik’ executives into powerful innovation champions.
Technical Success ≠ Commercial Success
Despite its technological achievement, the Savannah failed commercially. It couldn’t secure passengers or freight, demonstrating that innovation alone doesn’t guarantee market success. The implementation team failed to bridge the gap between technological capability and market acceptance.
Today’s technology providers must balance innovation with education, creating peer success networks where early adopters share experiences and “lighthouse client” programs where successful implementations become showcases for prospective clients.
Sustaining Competitive Advantage
While the Savannah made history, America didn’t capitalize on its first-mover advantage. Thirty years passed before another American steamship crossed the Atlantic, while British competitors quickly dominated the market with improved designs.
This teaches modern MSPs to focus on building sustainable innovation platforms rather than one-time technological leaps. Creating innovation pipeline services that regularly introduce incremental improvements helps clients maintain their competitive edge over time. The goal should be developing foundational platforms that can evolve rather than point solutions that quickly become obsolete.
Enter Brunel: A Different Model of Innovation Success
Where Savannah’s story ended in commercial failure despite technological achievement, the story of Isambard Kingdom Brunel demonstrates how a different approach to innovation can lead to both technological and commercial success.
30 years after the Savannah’s voyage, Brunel would revolutionize maritime travel with his SS Great Western, the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship. Unlike the Savannah’s hybrid approach, Brunel committed fully to steam power—and succeeded where the Savannah had failed.
What made the difference? Brunel’s comprehensive innovation model provides valuable insights for today’s technology leaders seeking not just technological breakthroughs but sustainable business success.
Comprehensive Systems Thinking
While the Savannah’s team focused on adapting an existing vessel with new technology, Brunel conceived entire systems rather than isolated components. He didn’t just build a steamship; he created an end-to-end transportation solution that included his Great Western Railway connecting London to Bristol, where his steamships would then carry passengers to New York.
For today’s MSPs, this suggests moving beyond offering individual technology solutions toward creating comprehensive digital ecosystems that address the entire business process. Instead of selling cloud migrations, offer complete digital transformation journeys.
First Principles Innovation
Brunel didn’t simply iterate on existing designs—he questioned fundamental assumptions. Rather than accepting conventional wisdom, he reimagined solutions based on performance requirements, not tradition.
Modern technology providers would do well to adopt this first-principles approach, questioning industry “best practices” when they no longer serve emerging needs. This might mean rethinking security architectures for a zero-trust world or reimagining infrastructure for cloud-native applications.
Rigorous Documentation and Planning
Where many innovators focus solely on technology, Brunel created meticulous drawings and specifications for even the smallest components. His comprehensive project notebooks documented decisions and calculations, creating both accountability and knowledge transfer.
Today’s MSPs can differentiate themselves by developing similarly thorough documentation practices. Creating detailed implementation runbooks, architectural decision records, and technical specifications demonstrates professionalism and builds client confidence during unfamiliar technological transitions.
Prototype-Driven Development
Brunel built working models and prototypes to test concepts before full implementation. He conducted extensive empirical testing and learned from failures, incorporating improvements in subsequent designs.
This approach mirrors modern agile methodologies and design thinking. For MSPs implementing disruptive technologies, this means creating proof-of-concept environments, conducting limited pilots, and embracing iterative improvement based on real-world feedback before full-scale deployment.
Cross-Disciplinary Integration
Rather than specializing narrowly, Brunel combined innovations across disciplines—structural engineering, propulsion, materials science—and applied advances from one field to solve problems in another.
Forward-thinking technology providers similarly recognize that today’s most disruptive solutions emerge at the intersection of technologies: AI with cybersecurity, IoT with edge computing, and blockchain with supply chain management. The ability to integrate multiple domains creates differentiated offerings that single-technology specialists cannot match.
Strategic Stakeholder Management
Brunel developed compelling presentations for investors and boards of directors. He created detailed prospectuses for funding his ambitious projects and maintained correspondence networks with other innovators.
MSPs can learn from this approach by developing executive-level communication strategies that translate technical innovation into business outcomes. Creating business value frameworks, executive dashboards, and ROI models helps secure the ongoing sponsorship that sustaining innovation requires.
Public Demonstration and Storytelling
Where the Savannah struggled to generate sustained interest, Brunel orchestrated public events to demonstrate his innovations and used publicity strategically to generate support for ambitious projects. He understood that innovation requires not just technology but narrative.
Modern technology providers should invest in creating compelling case studies, demonstration environments, and thought leadership content that helps potential clients envision the possibilities of emerging technologies within their context.
Vertical Integration When Necessary
When existing suppliers couldn’t meet his requirements, Brunel created new facilities and developed manufacturing techniques for specialized components. He controlled critical supply chains rather than accepting limitations.
Today’s most successful MSPs similarly recognize when to build versus buy. While leveraging existing platforms for standard functions, they develop proprietary methodologies, tools, and accelerators for differentiating capabilities that give them a competitive advantage.
Team Development Beyond Technical Skills
Brunel assembled teams with complementary skills, mentored junior engineers who became innovators themselves, and created collaborative environments where ideas could be debated openly.
Forward-thinking technology organizations similarly invest in developing both technical and business capabilities within their teams. They create learning cultures where challenging conventional wisdom is encouraged and cross-functional collaboration is rewarded.
Resilience Through Setbacks
Perhaps most importantly, Brunel persisted through setbacks and failures. He adapted designs based on real-world performance and continued innovating despite financial challenges and public criticism.
For today’s technology leaders, this resilience is essential. Not every disruptive technology implementation succeeds on the first attempt. The ability to learn, adapt, and persist—transforming initial failures into valuable insights that inform future success—separates sustainable innovators from one-hit wonders.
The Innovation Cycle Continues
The contrast between the Savannah and Brunel’s approach demonstrates a crucial truth: groundbreaking technology can fail if not supported by a comprehensive innovation methodology that addresses not just the technical solution but the entire ecosystem surrounding its adoption.
The Savannah was ultimately converted back to a traditional sailing vessel despite making history. Meanwhile, Brunel’s steamships revolutionized maritime travel, proving that visionary engineering combined with systematic innovation management creates not just technological breakthroughs but commercial success.
For today’s technology leaders, the lesson is clear: disruptive innovation requires both technical vision and methodical execution. By studying these historical examples, modern MSPs and VARs can develop comprehensive innovation approaches that will power business transformations not just today but for decades to come.
As we navigate our era of unprecedented technological change, we would do well to remember the steam pioneers who came before us—both those who made spectacular technological leaps without commercial success and those who built sustainable innovations that changed the world.
This article is based on my keynote presentation at the IT Europa Media & Intelligence Ltd Regional Growth Forum in Manchester on March 18th 2025.
