Yonder

HELPING CLIENTS TO FOCUS ON THEIR CUSTOMERS

YONDER

Removing the Software Burden Yonder is helping its clients to focus on their customers by removing the burden of software development, its agile, teambased approach enabling it to innovate at speed and empower employees Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Vivek Valmiki 2 | EME Outlook issue 35

As a child, I was fascinated by mathematics and pursued this passion ever since I was 10 years old. I entered all the possible competitions at a national level and when I had to decide on my future, I knew it should relate to science and technical education.

“It was back in 1999, after seven years of IT education, when I decided to join an IT company in Cluj, the city that I loved so much during university. At the

time, I was looking for a company with a healthy culture, with good values in place and with respect for everyone. In fact, I was looking for a company that matches my personal beliefs.”

Three days later, Cristian Inceu joined Yonder.

His friends from university followed a year later, colleagues who now help to run the company with Inceu serving as one of the firm’s Managing Directors.

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“We are still in Yonder and still having fun,” he quips. “It is difficult to say if Yonder shaped us or if we shaped Yonder, because it’s difficult to spot the difference.”

The firm was in its relative infancy when Inceu arrived. The MD helped to build on the growth generated since being founded in 1993, a time which he described as a sweet spot for Romania’s technology industry thanks to a high demand for IT professionals

in western European markets.

Indeed, the country’s reputation for excellence in science, mathematics and technical education stands it in good stead today, its culture defined by a clear focus on innovation and results, a positive attitude and commanding language skills.

THE YONDER WAY These attributes can be firmly applied to Yonder.

The organisation markets itself as a developer of software for the most prominent software companies, this unburdening process allowing clients the freedom to fully focus on market and customer demand.

Such clients are typically vertical market software (VMS) companies which have industry specific solutions, such as software for health, public sector, supply chain and other sectors.

Some of the common challenges EME Outlook issue 35 | 3

YONDER Yonder helps to remove the practice within TSS and burden from include modernCSI,” Inceu continues. “This ising legacy systems, looking means we have access to a after technical knowledge, vast library of knowledge optimising digital processes which gives us an advanand exploring new technolotage over our competition. gies and architectures.

Many of the TSS compa“We work with our clients nies are our clients, and in a partnership,” Inceu says. since we have joined CSI, “It all starts with understandwe have spread our wings ing the business goals of our Cristian Inceu, pictured to include CSI companies customers. We combine our across the globe. above, is one of experience in developing “But we also have Yonder’s Managing customer-driven solutions non-group companies Directors based on an agile approach as our clients as well as to our clients’ domain some financial institutions knowledge. and enterprises. Our knowledge, “In the end, it is about helping them pragmatic approach, focus on the to achieve their objectives through end results combined with Yonder meaningful solutions.” professionals is what sets us apart in Being part of Total Specific Solutions our playing field.”

(TSS), one of Europe’s leading VMS The firm’s approach to business companies and owned by Torontois also characterised by an agile listed Constellation Software Inc. (CSI), culture and structure. While the MD is also a major point of difference. explains that the company works as “Knowledge sharing is a best one Yonder, its work is carried out by

ABOUT YONDER

Chiriţă Chiriţă and associates is the first law firm in Transylvania according to its revenue and clients and second largest according to its active lawyers (25 at this point).

The company has granted permanent legal assistance to multinational corporations for almost 10 years.

We have a broad experience in corporate law and litigation both in the private and public sector.

We also specialized in EU law and litigation and have represented both public and private institutions in procedures before the European Court of Justice.

The private law and litigation is led by three partners: Oana Chiriţă, Raluca Colcieri and Anamaria Bota.

www.charita-law.com

deliver additional services to end users. These products are built from the ground up and may integrate with existing products.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: Supporting the development of existing client products.

Yonder is part of Total Specific Solutions (TSS), Europe’s largest vertical market software company. It has offices in Cluj, Iasi and the Netherlands, and offers services in the following categories: MODERNISATIONS: Solutions range from a complete rewrite of the current system to fit modern technology and architecture to creating a modern front end to satisfy user needs.

NEW INITIATIVES: As clients’ needs, the market and legislation change continuously, creating new addons or additional products to the core solution is a way to

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DEVOPS: Providing added value to software products, no matter the development stage or the technologies in which they have been written. This helps clients with challenges such as software development productivity, product stability, availability, security and performance, time to market, and cost-effectiveness.

CONSULTANCY: Clients and prospects may have a need for additional services that are not always considered when thinking of software development.

Yonder provides a software audit of the product to get a full insight of the state, code, complexity, and future options. This also includes a testing audit or strategy for a software product, creating the right agile environment and communication tooling for a software development collaboration, and reviewing the UI/UX status of the product.

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You’ll never walk alone

Chirita si asociatii law firm Cluj Napoca, Romania / office@chirita-law.com / www.chirita-law.com

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YONDER

SUPPLIER FOCUS As well as praising his own dedicated cohort of employees, Inceu also acknowledges the important role of external partners and suppliers to the ongoing success of Yonder.

“We value our partners and they come in many different types,” he says. “We have always embraced the latest technology trends and partnerships are key to this.

“We also regard universities as partners. Romania is a hotbed for software specialists, so we try to offer guest speakers at lectures and offer interesting internships for students in many different areas. Plus, we are looking into partnerships with companies that offer additional non-competitive services to ours so that we can give our clients a well-rounded offering.”

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a series of small, flexible teams. The result is a flat structure of empowered business units, groups which are known individually by the senior management who also build relationships with individual colleagues and clients.

REMAINING RELEVANT Each year customers are also invited to participate in the Yonder Hackathon in a bid to explore new ideas, remain fresh and build relationships.

While not to be compared with the likes of a Google Hackathon in terms of cutting-edge, flashy technology, Inceu explains how Yonder’s versions (which can also be arranged privately with individual clients) have a more pragmatic edge to them.

“In our digital world, you cannot sit still as a software company,” he says.

“You continuously need to look at optimisations and enhancements to keep your customer base happy and attract new customers. We discuss the

market needs with our clients, what are their competitors doing, and the new technologies that could deliver value to their solution.

“Our hackathons are based on pragmatic innovation, so the outcome should have the possibility to deliver commercial results for the customers.

The objective is to come up with a prototype that they can take back to their company and show to their clients, and many of the past initiatives have been developed into products over time.”

As well as providing impetus for customers, these events are also an opportunity for Yonder’s employees to explore ideas, part of an open and trustworthy culture where staff and their input are valued.

In order to attract the best talent in the industry, Yonder invests significant efforts in creating an attractive value proposition centred around building relationships, career growth, mentorship, fair recognition and numerous

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Leadership team

benefits and wellbeing events.

This all helps create a cycle of continuous learning, with training and development occurring on many levels, from team attendance at industry events and ‘techboard’ gatherings for knowledge exchange to various courses covering management, best practices and soft skills.

FUTURE FOCUSSED The pool of technology talent available in Romania is a large one, and a big part of the reason why Inceu is fervently optimistic about the future of both the country’s tech sector and Yonder.

For instance, every year around 5,000 IT engineers graduate from Romanian centres of excellence in the likes of Cluj, Bucharest and Iasi. Yonder

therefore works closely with universities and student bodies, offering full-year internship opportunities to those seeking real-world experience in the sector.

This active hub of learning makes for a promising next chapter in Yonder’s development, although Inceu is equally aware that the coming years will not be without their challenges.

One area which the MD highlights as an issue for the wider industry is a shortage in experienced IT security professionals, a reality which could prove problematic as ransomware attacks evolve in terms of sophistication and volume.

However, this also creates opportunities for the advancement of solutions such as robotic process automation, programmes which can help

organisations improve their overall efficiency and free up human capital to focus on data security.

For Yonder, keeping an eye on the security dynamic will be an important factor in its continued growth story, a journey which Inceu is determined to continue through 2020 and beyond.

Looking ahead to the future, the MD concludes: “We have created a global presence over the years with clients in Europe, North America and Australia.

Our goal is to expand our foothold in those regions. It makes for interesting engagements working with different cultures, and also makes Yonder an interesting company to work for in Romania.

“We aim to cover more of the verticals and to bring our expertise and new technologies into our clients’ landscape so they will remain competitive in their fields. We also aim to further extend our consultancy services and provide our expertise, best practices and benchmarks to customers to make them more efficient and future-ready.”

YONDER Tel: (The Netherlands): +31 85 273 3218 info@tss-yonder.com www.tss-yonder.com

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YONDER Yonder Nederland B.V., Ringwade 61 F, 3439 LM Nieuwegein, the Netherlands Tel: +31 85 273 3218 Yonder Cluj, Building A, Floor 1, Bulevardul 21 Decembrie 1989 77, ClujNapoca 400604, Romania Tel: Cluj: +40 264 599 351 Yonder Iasi, Strada Palas 7B, Iași 700051, Romania Tel: Iasi: +40 755 033 313 info@tss-yonder.com www.tss-yonder.com PRODUCED BY EME OUTLOOK MAGAZINE