Asseco has just celebrated its thirtieth birthday. We started as a handful of people and today we are the largest IT company in Poland and in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. This success would not have been possible without our consistent implementation of the federation business model
Asseco has just celebrated its thirtieth birthday. We started as a handful of people and today we are the largest IT company in Poland and in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. This success would not have been possible without our consistent implementation of the federation business model we adopted, said Marek Panek, Vice President of the Management Board of Asseco Poland, who, in an interview with Asseconews.pl, talked about the principles governing the development of the Asseco Group, the companies with which we cooperate and how they work together.
The Asseco Group presents itself as an international federation of companies. Where did the idea for such a development model come from?
From the very beginning our strategy has been defined by the following motto: “we think globally, act locally”. This resulted from our experience in the banking sector, which was reluctant to cooperate with small, local companies despite the fact that they offered good IT systems. For financial institutions it was important that their supplier was a large company with an international reach. It was this need to effectively reach out to banking sector clients that gave rise to the idea of creating a federation. The then Management Board of Asseco, headed by President Adam Góral, assumed that in Poland's neighboring countries there were companies similar to us which, despite producing good software, were not able to reach large clients.
Last year, the Group achieved a record level of over PLN 10 billion in revenues, so it is difficult to doubt the rightness of this decision. The question arises, however, why a federation and not a corporation?
We focus on freedom of action and entrepreneurship. Previous managers (usually minority shareholders) continue to manage the company's operations. We rely on their experience and knowledge of local markets. What unites us are not only common business goals, but above all vision, values and partnership relations. We take a responsible approach to business and are guided by local patriotism, which is why Asseco companies pay taxes in the places where revenues are generated and support local communities.
What conditions must be met by a company in order to receive a proposal to join the Asseco Group?
First of all we are looking for companies that are similar to Asseco: with their proprietary products, stable financial standing, operating in similar sectors, whose owners would like to stay with the company after the acquisition and develop it together with us. In our search we assume that companies that merge with the Group should remain independent, and what we develop together (the so-called synergy) is a bonus that will benefit both the acquired company and Asseco.
What are the benefits of being a member of the Asseco federation?
We support cross-selling activities - we provide Group companies with access to commercial information so that they are up-to-date with offers from other members of the Asseco family and facilitate contact with key persons who can support a given idea for joint sales. Annually, we initiate over one hundred joint sales ventures, more than half of which end with the presentation of an offer. In addition, we have a dedicated team that independently promotes the Group's solutions, reaching out to potential new customers. We speak at industry conferences and support the business by seeking new markets, partnerships and strategic alliances. We have also created an international database of references and certificates used by companies selling solutions to the public sector. Every year, thanks to our mutual legal and formal assistance, we win contracts worth several dozen million euros. We also use our potential in negotiations with vendors. It allows us to obtain the best possible terms of cooperation and create partnership relations with companies such as IBM, Microsoft or Oracle.
Whereas, from the Asseco Group's perspective, international cooperation enables accumulation of comprehensive experience and know-how. Synergy of these competencies creates added value for our clients who receive top-quality products and services.
At present the Asseco Group operates in 60 countries worldwide, makes almost 100 acquisitions and employs ca. 27,500 people. What are the company's further plans?
Maintaining this upward trend. Last year the Group was joined by several new companies from the Israeli, American and European markets, complementing our offer with interesting products and competences. We continue to analyze the regions we are interested in and meet with new companies that are potential acquisition targets, although due to the pandemic we are more cautious in our decision making. We are taking a close look at companies, including those with whom we have already held talks. We are checking how they are doing in the current situation and how they are achieving their business goals.
More information: acquisition.asseco.com
