07/29/2022 - Since coming together as a group of independently owned IT services companies, QuinScape, SD&C, ixto and InMediasP have been working together as QuinScape Group to ensure that no one ever has to make bad decisions again.
What distinguishes the individual companies in the group, what are their main focuses and how do they complement each other? We shed light on this in our interview series "Meet the QuinScape Group" with the CEOs of the sister companies.
This time, Boris Labischinski, Managing Director of SD&C Solutions, Development & Consulting GmbH , takes our questions. He talks about how SD&C supports its customers holistically in the digital transformation, what role the human factor plays in this and what special challenges companies can expect in the future in terms of digitalization.
"The human factor also still plays a role in decision-making"
Hello Boris, you are the managing director of SD&C GmbH. What do you deal with?
What distinguishes us, as the overriding motto of our company, so to speak, is that we accompany the digital transformation of our customers, and do so holistically: from the phase of helping to shape a digitization strategy to planning a corresponding IT architecture. It is particularly important for us not to neglect the human factor. In this area, we have invested more in methods such as change management.
For us, this means looking at the entire lifecycle of a digital transformation. Our aim is to advise our customers across all technologies, to provide them with comprehensive support during the process, and to make the increasing complexity manageable so that they can make the right decisions in line with their IT strategy.
Do you have any industry specialties?
Historically, we have had an industry focus in energy. We have a team there that is very experienced in the processes of the energy industry. Against the backdrop of digitization, this is an exciting environment right now when it comes to questions such as how an energy supplier should position and differentiate itself for the future, right through to new concepts such as e-mobility or CO2 neutrality.
Otherwise, we have a diverse range of industries. We are very active in the municipal sector, especially in the areas of supply and disposal. Major customers include, for example, Berlin's municipal cleaning services, water utilities and transport companies. This regionality is a USP for us in recruiting, because we are one of the largest IT service providers with customers in the greater Berlin/Brandenburg area.
Then we also have customers in industry and the housing sector. Here, together with our sister company CapeVision, we offer a platform solution for electronic invoice data exchange.
Our largest customers include Nord LB, BSR, Vattenfall, 50Hertz, Contipark and Bundesdruckerei.
What are your technological focuses?
Since SD&C was founded almost 20 years ago, we have a strong footprint in the three areas of Microsoft, SAP and Oracle.
At Microsoft Technology Stack, we are very intensively involved in the area of "modern working environments", i.e. everything in the Microsoft 365 environment. Here, we develop applications and solutions with the aim of making the best possible use of the existing Microsoft products, but having developed added value based on them. For example, beyond the standard MS Teams functionality, we have created the solution "Virtual Workspaces", which simplifies and optimizes the use of Teams and enables seamless integration with other Microsoft products.
In the SAP area, we have a strong focus on logistics processes, specifically mobile maintenance. A classic example: A field service employee is called to an incident, ideally automated via predictive maintenance. Using a mobile device or a HoloLens, he can see what he has to do and install the right parts on site.
Our third technology focus is Data & Analytics, where we also focus on Microsoft technologies.
Let's take a look behind the scenes at SD&C. Who works for you and how are you organized?
We currently have just under 90 employees. Most of them are based here in Berlin. We also have an office in Hamburg with nine employees.
In terms of organization, we are divided into five divisions, all of which have a high degree of freedom to act, can shape their own portfolios and are very strongly guided by the division heads.
The five areas are: 1. Microsoft, with the areas of digitalization and cloud, 2. SAP, and 3. the area of business intelligence, which includes data management. Energy is the fourth area, which also includes Management and Methodology. The fifth area is our location in Hamburg.
Our cooperation is strongly cross-divisional. We advise and serve our customers accordingly. I see offering them technology neutrality in consulting as something that particularly distinguishes us.
Keyword digitalization. Where do you think companies stand today and what are the next challenges?
By now, most companies have had their experiences with digitization, have gone through projects with varying degrees of intensity, and have taken their first steps in the direction of agility. In addition to a strong learning curve, there have certainly also been one or two disillusionments.
What is important now, in my opinion, is to look at the big picture against the backdrop of the question of how I, as a company, can stay or achieve a step ahead in the market. So it's not so much about taking the next small step, such as digitizing a purchasing or sales process, but about considering whether a digitization strategy might even change the entire business model.
It is about much more fundamental issues, such as the positioning of IT or the interaction between business departments and IT. This classic separation is becoming increasingly blurred, with IT becoming much more of a co-designer and no longer just an executive body.
Let's move on to the QuinScape Group: as a founding member, what made you decide to become part of the group?
There is a big consolidation trend on the market, and if you want to be involved in the big, exciting digitization strategy projects, you also need a certain size. We have always cultivated a partner approach with other medium-sized companies in order to be able to realize the claim of serving the customer holistically. In this respect, it is a familiar game for us to operate in a portfolio with partners.
Against the backdrop of the group, what's new now is that we exchange ideas more intensively on best practices in organization, recruiting or marketing. This exchange at eye level is something that I value very much. It was a conscious decision for us to join the group at an early stage, with the aspiration of being able to actively shape it. We believe that the group constellation helps us to become better and to be able to implement things more quickly.
After all, the common vision of the QuinScape Group is that no one ever has to make bad decisions again. How does SD&C contribute to this?
When it comes to making the right decisions, the focus is often on the perspective of data & analytics. For me, however, the perspective is a different one: The human factor still plays a role in decision-making, as does a holistic view.
How do we help our customers to be successful in their digitization strategy and to set the right course? How can I support people in topics such as change management so that they also make the right decisions in this process and don't just listen to their analytics system, which perhaps doesn't yet take certain AI scenarios into account? The holistic approach is what makes the vision so exciting for me.
As SD&C, we are also the ones who realize the decisions made. I can make the best decision, if I don't implement it, it wasn't a good decision. Taking that next step, carrying the consequence of the implementation, ensuring quality in the process, that is what makes a right decision.
