2019 in review – on projects, people and products
PROMOS developers – new customers, products and designs
Consultants, developers, service employees and our Sales team have been working hard together on developing and enhancing useful products. Functionalities were critically examined and adapted to the needs of the customers. We respond to developments on the market with clever solutions, and we set new standards with innovative products.
In 2019, our development team focused, among other things, on creating the new easysquare Professional App, which is precisely tailored to the needs of users – simple navigation, attractive look with a tile design and useful widgets. The Professional App even gained its first customer last year – the municipal housing authority KOE Rostock. And that’s not all: at the beginning of 2020, we even managed to successfully go live to the customer’s complete satisfaction.
PROMOS achieved a very special milestone when it acquired EXAD Software. In the future, the software for consumption billing will allow customers to perform independent invoicing of operating and heating costs. Now that we have warmly welcomed the three-person developer team who work on EXAD and integrated them into the structures at PROMOS, we are focusing on developing a prototype. We are currently working on getting the product ready for the market in the tried-and-tested PROMOS developer style.
Looking forward to the coming year, converting our customers to SAP S/4HANA® is and will remain one of our main tasks. In 2019, we began tapping the full potential of S/4HANA® by making Fiori® usable for our customers in the real estate industry. The first go-live took place at the beginning of 2020.
Focus on project activity – perennial favourites, new trends and outlook
Against the backdrop of a varied range of new developments, in 2019 the day-to-day project business was once again the fire that fuelled our work. Best-practice project procedures and new project methods in software development ensured short project completion times and high customer satisfaction.
Our core business includes the introduction of SAP® as an ERP system. Our new customers benefit from comprehensive processes and the regular updates from our developer team. Our products in building management have attracted particular interested for many years. From maintenance solutions to our craftsmen portal and holistic quality assessment. With 24 projects relating to our easysquare mobile solutions, we can see a clear focus among our customers towards making their workflows more flexible. The high number of easysquare tenant app projects is particularly noteworthy: there were 15 last year! We have modernised the design and developed functions such as competitions, advent calendars, bulletin boards and other highlights. This year, we have already launched five more projects to implement new, useful features, and this is set to increase. In total, we earned revenues of EUR 22.7 million in 2019. The following chart shows the distribution of the main projects.
Figure 1: Apart from ERP implementations, the main focuses of the projects were distributed as shown.
Event highlight OPUF – experiences, exchange and guidelines for getting on the path to success
A truly special innovative spirit is always guaranteed at our OpenPromos User Forum. OPUF is an event that has become one of the true greats in the industry over the past few years and provides a platform for exchange between users and decision-makers from the entire DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) region. In March 2019, it was that time again. The attendees of the 14th OpenPromos User Forum got together with the experts from PROMOS over two days in Berlin, explored the latest trends in digitisation and gained inspiration from the successful projects of other companies. A great deal of experience, content and project expertise that was gained from the specialist presentations and collective discussions was expanded upon in follow-up appointments, ideas developed further and projects started. This year, working groups will once again be planning expeditions into the future relating to the topics of the tenant app and SAP S/4HANA®.
The perfect team – on growth and new entries
PROMOS has always been of the opinion that the secret is in the mixture and therefore focused on putting together balanced project teams – where experience and technical expertise meet visionary thinking and social cohesion. Last year, we were able to continuously expand our consultant, developer and service capacities. Compared with the start of 2019, we recorded growth of almost 10 percent. Through participation in various job fairs and the relaunch of our careers website, we are always seeking to win new experts for our team. A particularly important aspect for us is that our employees feel at ease and we can provide them with the best possible working environment. In 2019, we received a particular distinction for this – the Great Place to Work certificate.
There have also been significant changes within the Executive Board. Since the summer, Thoralf Beyer has added his many years of expertise to the management in the role of Chief Sales Officer. Thomas Brösicke rounds off the team and is responsible for the Consulting business area. Together, the five-person management team looks back on the events of the past year with satisfaction and is already eagerly working on a few very special innovations for the next decade.