Our CEO Seppo Kuula on Enfo’s strategy and business transformation

Since the beginning of 2018, we have been executing our strategy. The strategy is based on enabling data-driven business transformation in the Nordics. While our approach is founded on supporting the business transformation of our customers, this strategy is at the same time transforming our own business. It’s no coincidence we all are going through business transformation, and we will sit on the driver’s seat.

Our time is defined by exponential and rapid change. The change that once took a century might now happen in a matter of months. And it has an impact on everyone and everything from climate to technology, from politics to energy consumption, even our eating habits. 

The Internet is probably one of the most significant innovations impacting our daily lives. It’s difficult to imagine a world without it. The Internet has transformed every aspect of our lives from how we communicate, search for and share information, shop, do business and entertain ourselves. Every day the number of devices connected to the Internet multiplies. And with it come challenges in collecting and storing data.

Our strategy is based on enabling data-driven business transformation 

This massive growth of data has affected the entire IT services industry and created a multitude of ecosystems to host and store data. As a result, this ecosystem is now highly complex and scattered across various platforms, making managing and applying data not only very difficult and expensive but also open to serious security issues.

As organizations have found themselves in need of integrating their existing on- and off-premise solutions with cloud solutions, their hopes are now pinned on the predominantly public cloud-based IT. The world has become data-driven, and we at Enfo aim to have a significant role in enabling this data-driven movement to cloud.

Towards 2020, Enfo’s focus is on comprehensive data management as well as supporting our customers in managing, refining, analyzing and using the data in the ecosystem to their business advantage. 

Our strength lies in our cross-platform expertise

Today we are 900 people using our skills and experience in data centers to different cloud-platforms, both building and running digital solutions for our customers. Our confidence in this cross-platform approach is so strong that we aim to be the leading cloud service provider in the Nordics by 2020.

We are also going through the business transformation of our own

What does our new strategy and vision mean to an organization with more than 50 years of history and nearly 20 unique business stories that represent all the companies we have acquired over time?

It means a business transformation of our own. We talk a lot about our customers’ business transformation, but what is business transformation to us? 

Business transformation is a strategic decision made due to a significant change in the business environment that has permanently interfered with the ability to continue robust and growing business. Business transformation is a process and a phase in the life cycle of an organization. During this phase, fundamental, “life-altering” changes are made to the raison d’être of the organization, what it envisions to accomplish and how it needs to go about it.  

While it is probably comforting to know that we are only talking about a “phase,” the short time frame of the transition emphasizes the gap between then and now. The adjustments can feel drastic as they force many of us to use our skills and expertise in ways we are not used to. 

The transition determines what success looks like from now on and what the new decisions we must take daily are, even when it comes to the most mundane tasks and routines. Each one of us brings the business transformation alive by altering the way we solve problems together and reach new goals. 

This can sometimes feel confusing, stressful, even irritating. But I can assure you that the transition period is indeed temporary. It won’t last forever. We are rapidly reaching the iteration phase, which comes with continuing the improvement with smaller tools.

How do we need to transform as a workplace?

We have communicated internally about our aim to be a workplace to love. We have talked about the importance of providing our 900 experts the authority to act and encourage each other to grow both professionally and personally. 

Regardless of our title or role, all of us are likely to make some changes to how we pursue our goals and manage the expectations we have of each other – and the expectations our customers and stakeholders have of us.

In the past, we perhaps focused a great deal more on internal processes and planning our way of working. But to succeed with our new strategy, we must shift our focus from internal operations to the external market, adopt new skills. And instead of centering on development, we must pay attention to delivery. Pull against of push.

We talk much about profitability. In essence, it means using our time wisely and more efficiently, learning to say no to what doesn’t deliver results and acting on what takes us to our objectives. 

If you asked me where to start, I would recommend stepping out of your comfort zone and evaluating how well you understand and care about your customer, be it the customer company, an employee of Enfo or the talents we want to hire.

Our own must-win battles to conquer towards 2020

As we transform our own business and execute our strategy, we still have must-win battles to conquer towards 2020.

• We continue to build a workplace to love: building a low hierarchy, enabling a brighter future for our employees, and strengthening a culture of caring. 
• We expand on collaborative value creation: aligning our sales and business areas in order to deliver our value promise to the customers.
• Becoming the trusted partner: increasing and broadening our understanding and knowledge about the market place, the competitive environment and what our customers need from us.

We have tremendous potential as an organization of 900 experts. We want to provide more growth opportunities through internal academies and leadership training. Our shared goal is to be better at seeing the whole instead of silos, delivering our promises, listening to each other, sharing information and enabling the best in each other. Don’t be afraid of the change. Be excited about what the future holds for us.