From November 2018, PSC Portal Systems Consulting GmbH will become Portal Systems AG. In the following interview, the new CEO Frank von Orlikowski explains the reasons for the conversion to a public limited company and what this will mean for our customers, partners and employees in the future:
Christian Mennrich: ‘First of all, congratulations on the successful conversion of Portal Systems into a public limited company and your new role as CEO! A step like this doesn’t come out of the blue. What was the decisive reason for this decision?’
Frank von Orlikowski: ‘Portal Systems has grown steadily and developed further in recent years. In order to continue on this path in the future and drive our growth forward, we as managing partners (André Hoseas and FvO, editor’s note) considered the conversion to a public limited company to be a logical, important and correct next step.’
CM: ‘And what exactly will change for our customers and business partners?’
FvO: ‘Not much, if anything. Apart from the additional bureaucracy involved in changing the supplier’s company name, of course. That’s where the quality of our customers’ contracts and supplier management will come into play (loughs). No, seriously: First and foremost, they will benefit from the fact that we have already created the necessary internal structures to operate as a public limited company. This includes clearly defining areas of responsibility, setting up a reporting and controlling system, and much more. People often talk about so-called growing pains in growing organisations. However, these are merely a reflection of a lack of structures. In other words, our customers experience continuity with us, even though we are constantly growing.’
CM: ‘The legal form of a public limited company is often chosen to raise additional capital. What role does this play in your considerations? What message do you have for the undoubtedly numerous interested parties who now wish to purchase Portal Systems shares?’
FvO: ‘In fact, we have already received a number of enquiries in this regard. First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks for this enormous interest. This shows great confidence in the further development of Portal Systems and confirms that we are on the right track. However, we are not planning an external financing round in the near future. We have increased our share capital to €400,000, creating a solid financial foundation. We are therefore not dependent on investors. Currently, our only plan is to give our employees the opportunity to purchase shares in the company.’
CM: ‘As you mentioned, Portal Systems has been continuously developing since it was founded around 15 years ago. What did this development look like in detail?’
FvO: ‘Initially a consulting company, we have increasingly moved towards becoming an IT service provider and system integrator over the years. We have now been marketing our own product, Shareflex (formerly pscBAF), for a good five years. And with extraordinary success.’
CM: ‘To what extent has this changed Portal Systems’ business area?’
FvO: ‘A large proportion of our customers already use Shareflex and our solutions company-wide. This makes Shareflex a strategic component of the IT infrastructure. This is particularly, but not exclusively, the case with well-known, internationally active companies.
When deciding to use Shareflex, therefore, it is often no longer just the product quality and competence of employees that are decisive factors. The size of the company and its ability to grow sustainably are now also extremely important selection criteria. Customers need future security.’
CM: ‘What measures has Portal Systems taken, apart from establishing the AG, to meet these requirements?’
FvO: ‘An AG doesn’t just fall from the sky! This change in legal form is merely an outward sign that we have been working intensively in recent years to create growth-oriented structures. In addition to the aforementioned increase in equity capital, our product development has been regularly certified, an internal QM system has been introduced in accordance with ISO 9001, and our partner sales network has been established and expanded. All of these aspects serve ‘growth’ and ‘future security’. Converting to a public limited company was therefore only logical. Even if nothing changes for our customers at first.’
CM: ‘Thank you very much for the open discussion, Frank! It all sounds like a solid, healthy basis for moving forward. But if you look further ahead, where do you think this path will lead? What is your vision for Portal Systems AG and Shareflex?’
FvO: ‘The shift towards cloud solutions is creating a new market segment, offering us many more opportunities whose potential cannot even be estimated today. Our customers and partners tell us that we are clearly setting the technological direction with Shareflex. We will continue to pursue this path consistently and aim to further expand our technological market leadership. Our goal is to establish ourselves as the market leader for SharePoint-based business applications, whether on-premises or in Office 365. To achieve this, I hope that we will continue to follow the successful path we have chosen – together with our customers, partners, and employees.’
Patrick Carl
Chief Sales Officer
Email: info[at]portalsystems.de
This post is also available in: German