In this blog series, we discuss some of our clients and tell a bit more about our cooperation. We will discuss the client's story, but also look at the project from our own consultant's perspective.
This week: Flexamit.
Flexamit is an IT partner with an incisive service based on Microsoft products. At the helm is Wim van Sprundel, an experienced entrepreneur who - over 8 years ago - decided to make IT services as functional as possible and has since then been able to relieve many customers of their worries.
What exactly do you do at Flexamit?
Wim van Sprundel: Flexamit is an IT partner for SMEs and organisations. This can be very broad: our customers range from social profits to production companies and even a notary's office. We offer IT solutions and always work individually to provide our customers with a tailor-made solution. We do not only provide the infrastructure, but also guarantee further support. Not with high additional costs, but with a fixed price per month. This also allows us to take a proactive approach to the further development of our customers.
How did the idea for Flexamit come to be?
Wim: Let's go back to 2011. I was working as a freelancer together with my current partner, Jethro Seghers, and noticed that we were confronted with the same story every time: an often expensive solution is implemented at the customer's site, after which a hefty sum is demanded in order to keep that solution functioning permanently.
We found that second part unnecessary. By basing our operation on Microsoft 365, we were able to ensure that the solution would continue to work no matter what. The server no longer exists in its old form, and we no longer have to concern ourselves with keeping it alive; this way, we can fully concentrate on the functional aspect, including security. This idea gave birth to Flexamit more than 8 years ago. Our goal: to base our offer on a reliable foundation, to give security an important share and to focus mainly on how we can unburden our customers and help them to always keep up with the latest developments.
In the Microsoft 365 package, we also find Teams. Have you noticed much influence of the corona crisis on the whole Teams story?
Wim: Of course. In concrete terms, this was most noticeable for our customers in the social profit sector when they made the switch from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams. Although Teams offered a range of extra features, these organisations were often not keen on the online story. "Yes, but Wim, we are a real consultation organisation, personal contact is very important for us", they said. But a year ago, the corona crisis came to our country, and today those social profit companies are the most intensive users of Microsoft Teams. Due to their active consultation culture, they eagerly used the online possibilities last year to stay in touch.
How did Flexamit end up at Wodan & Co?
Wim: We got into conversation with Wouter purely by chance, even before Wodan & Co was founded. In our first conversation, I felt the need for someone to be my sparring partner, business-wise, apart from all the technical IT aspects. In the end, after 8 years, our business is a company with more than 200 customers, which never actively thought about how we were going to do marketing. We were only concerned with how we could best help our customers.
But when I listened to Wouter's story for the first time, I knew immediately: we need that. Five years ago, we were not the company we are today. We grew from five people to a team of 17, and therefore we need more structure than in the past. That is why, a few months ago, we resolutely decided to start working with Wodan & Co again.
What kind of track did Flexamit follow at Wodan & Co?
Wim: In 2017, we were one of the first companies at Wodan & Co to start a programme based on the simple question: 'Where do we want to go in the long run?' That was already pretty clear to us, but those aspirations hadn't been so much written out yet. Since then, we do a similar trajectory every year, to be able to put our progress into perspective and think strategically about the future.
In the past year, we have taken significant steps in our business growth, among other things, and today the most important thing we do at Wodan & Co is to bring structure to our rapid growth. Thanks to Wodan & Co I have a moment - whether with Shana or Wouter - to turn off all channels and talk with people who know nothing of IT about the pure business aspect of Flexamit. Who are we, how do we present ourselves? What is the structure of the company, who will eventually take on which responsibilities? As soon as your company has more than 15 employees, you can no longer take on all the responsibilities yourself, no matter how much I want to.
Thanks to Wodan & Co I have a moment - whether with Shana or Wouter - to turn off all channels and talk with people who know nothing of IT about the pure business aspect of Flexamit
I have also clearly communicated that future perspective to my team. I told them about the process at Wodan and Co and informed them of the desired result: a blueprint of how Flexamit will continue to organise itself and what everyone's place in it is. That perspective brought a lot of relief to my team, and that was the goal. One of my main motivations within Flexamit is to ensure that the people in my company feel good. If they feel like a fish in the water, they radiate this to the users of our customers, who in turn ensure that our customers themselves are satisfied. For us, that is the goal of these projects, and certainly of our recently renewed cooperation with Wodan & Co: to ensure that people enjoy working here and that we can support solid further growth on that basis.
Is that perspective the main result of your processes? From what I hear, you also use Wouter and Shana as a sounding board.
Wim: Yes, and I think it will stay that way; we have found a very good match. The lack of IT knowledge is also a great asset, in my opinion. They can look at what I think from the sober perspective of a customer who often knows nothing about IT, and give their unvarnished opinion. It is important for me to be able to constantly check our ideas, and Wodan & Co is certainly the right place for that.
How did you experience the collaboration?
Wim: I am an entrepreneur who actually rolled into this without knowing in advance whether it was something for me. Now it seems to be - otherwise we would not have reached this point - and I notice that Wouter, Shana and also Lotte are very helpful to me. Talking to people is more important to me than what is written in books. People who have their two feet on the ground, are honest, and bring a no-nonsense story. They tell us what to do and how to do it, always tangible and concrete. And the fact that you are a client of ours is of course also interesting.
Talking to people is more important to me than what is written in books. People who have their two feet on the ground, are honest, and bring a no-nonsense story.
Wouter Danckaert: I have nothing to add. Wim summarised perfectly what Flexamit stands for and what we have achieved together. I am especially grateful that he trusts us to think very openly about what is necessary and useful for his company. Wim - and Flexamit - is a very loyal customer who over the years has also embraced the rest of our team. There is a lot of mutual understanding, respect and trust, but also a good dose of directness. We don't hide anything, and he appreciates that too. We are proud of the course that Flexamit has already travelled and the fact that we have been able to contribute a small part to it.
We would like to thank Wim van Sprundel for the interview and for trusting us to assist Flexamit, one of our oldest and most loyal customers, in their strategic growth for many years. It is great to see a company grow in a healthy and driven way, and we look forward to building the future of Flexamit for many years to come!