The secret behind software success Systematic A/S is the story about how the aim to make a difference with software leads to a global company serving in excess of 47 markets and five industries. It all began at a hotel in Copenhagen. By Malene Emilie Severinsen | Photo: Christian Sølbeck
It was a summer’s day in 1985. Michael Holm went to Copenhagen to meet a potential business partner in a hotel lobby. They had never met. “He said that I would easily recognise him, sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette and drinking a premium beer. That was it. Systematic was established.” Thirty years later, Systematic has grown into a global enterprise with a 68-million-euro turnover and more than 100,000 users worldwide. Systematic is the workplace of over 500 employees. “The team is indisputably the key to success, and we never lost sight of our aim – to make a difference with high-quality software and solutions,” CEO Holm points out. Systematic simplifies critical decision making with software that removes complexity and increases effectiveness, 44 | Issue 88 | May 2016
productivity and safety – the most difficult solutions to build, but the core competence of Systematic. “We know that software contributes to a better world. We see it daily with our customers,” Holm says. Systematic operates in five different industries: healthcare, intelligence and national security, defence, public and private, and library and learning. Being close to customers is part of the success. “Our key to success is our high quality, anchored in our capability to focus on and understand the needs of our customers. We want to be the best in class.” Leadership is an important tool to achieve that. “We focus on leadership to ensure that we can make the right decisions at the right level at the right time,” says Holm. “Push the power of decision mak-
ing to where knowledge is – then you stay agile, gain speed and drive innovation.” Global presence is a key priority for the CEO. Systematic has offices in ten different countries worldwide. “It is not enough to go to market with outstanding software. You need products. A software company without products is like a company without identity. Products make you able to identify customers, but they also make customers able to identify you, which is important when you want to break the sound barrier in new markets.” Holm enjoys visiting customers to see software from Systematic in use. “Software is not an art form, but a craft you can learn. It is about building the right solution with the right customer and changing things for the better. Then you make a difference. After 30 years with software, that is still my fuel – to make a difference.”
For more information, please visit: www.systematic.com