CIO Volker Schulz on the strategic cooperation with Planon

Editor: Mr Schulz, PROMOS has just announced a strategic partnership with Planon. Can you give us some background on how this came to be?

Volker Schulz: Of course, I’d be glad to. In May 2023, Planon became an official SAP partner in the real estate management sector. The idea behind the partnership was to address the needs of the corporate and commercial real estate sector - that means essentially companies which manage properties as a business or for themselves. Companies in this sector have very specific needs which to date have only been catered to to a certain extent with SAP. Planon fills this gap with sophisticated solutions in space and workplace management. At the same time, this cooperation allows the finance aspects of real estate management to be optimally managed with an SAP S/4HANA^® system at the backend. In other words – a clear benefit to both partners.  Planon’s objective was to find an experienced SAP partner for the DACH region, who had built up extensive expertise in the real estate market over many years. That’s where we came into play. When it’s a question of providing targeted consulting for clients, especially in the DACH region, and offering comprehensive solutions for their needs over their complete lifecycle - we know the market, provide experience in order to advise clients on their SAP® business processes and implement the solution. There’s a very good reason why we are counted among the leading providers of IT and consulting services in the real estate industry. This makes us an ideal partner to be able to provide clients with the new combined solution “Planon Real Estate Management for SAP S/4HANA®” and to support them all the way through to implementation and operation.

Editor: Did you support CREM and commercial clients before this?

Schulz: Yes, in the past we have provided integrated solutions to businesses in this market segment. Today, this partnership allows us to meet the needs of these companies much more comprehensively. Until now, our options have been limited. Now, we can confidently say that we provide a tested and reliable 360˚ solution.

Editor: In which ways does this partnership expand your service portfolio?

Schulz: Planon’s portfolio includes, for example, solutions for workplace management, room booking, short-term lets of apartments, CAFM and ESG. Those are all areas which are necessary to CREM clients in order to build an all-in-one system landscape with fully integrated processes. Coordinating with Planon, we can now fulfill all of these requirements.

Editor: What are the advantages of this partnership for Planon?

Schulz: Planon benefits in multiple ways too. They can rely on us not just for expertise in technical implementation, including middleware. We can support them in finance modules too. This allows Planon to offer their clients an even more comprehensive and seamlessly integrated solution.

Editor: What does this mean for your existing client base, who are currently using RE-FX for the housing industry?

Schulz: As I mentioned at the beginning of the interview, SAP and Planon’s road map focusses on the corporate real estate and commercial sector. We are planning further developments of our combined solution in order to increase its scope of use in many ways. For the housing industry, the established SAP^® RE-FX and PROMOS.GT ready2 can continue to be relied on. Our existing clients can continue to enjoy the usual quality and reliability of our solutions. By the way, SAP has issued a maintenance commitment for RE-FX up until 2040.

Editor: What does the future of this partnership look like?

Schulz: We’re very optimistic. The partnership makes it possible to develop and implement innovative and sustainable solutions that can meet market challenges. By uniting our market understanding and IT know-how, we can provide one-stop comprehensive solutions. We believe that this cooperation will raise the bar in real estate, and we look forward to a successful future together.

Editor: Thank you so much for your time, Mr Schulz. We can’t wait to hear about the future developments and successes that this partnership brings.

Schulz: Thank you. We’re looking forward to a successful future too.