Q: The global economy seems to experience challenges we have not seen in decades: very high inflation, the prospects of synchronized recession, higher and higher interest rates, and even war-amplified cybersecurity challenges. In this context, how do you deal with such challenges in your business sector?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: The current economic circumstances impose challenges on most businesses in the CEE region, and Romania is no exception. Although, as every business, we face economic challenges, it also provides us with opportunities to help our customers improve their performance by leveraging modern, digital IT solutions.
- Most businesses need to optimize their costs due to the increasing energy prices and rapid inflation. IT represents a major driver of cost optimization through digital transformation. There are various areas for improvement starting from optimizing the IT infrastructure with the help of modern technologies as well as increasing productivity and automating business process to become more efficient.
- Cybersecurity became one of the major concerns for businesses regardless of their size and industry. While there is a growing number of attacks, we see a positive trend too: enterprises are getting more and more conscious of the threat and are taking necessary actions. For Noventiq it is an opportunity to work closely with our clients and support them to find and implement the optimal solution meeting their specific needs.
- The hardware deliveries are still under high pressure, which negatively impacts planned investment in physical infrastructure. Organizations often require help to identify the ideal choice of hardware that is available and meets the requirements of their projects, especially in cases when projects are utilizing EU funds. We observe on the market, that the limitations in hardware availability oftentimes trigger cloud or hybrid infrastructure modernization and migration projects, where we can also support our clients already at the consideration and planning phase through the implementation, and even beyond with managed infrastructure services.
- The inflation and currency exchange rate fluctuations create a need for strong, long-term partnerships to balance the unpredictable economic circumstances with reliable business relations.
Q: The pandemic (seems) to be over. How did the Romanian companies continue their digital transformation process? What more must be done?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: We see a slowdown in digital transformation, and I personally consider it to be a risk for the next period. Digital transformation is a continuous process, and organizations need to leverage the ever-improving technology solutions to maintain their business advantage and stay ahead of their competitors. The current economical situation puts companies under high pressure to increase their productivity which can also be addressed through digitalization. And last but not least, the cybersecurity risk is increasing rapidly – businesses need to keep the pace of the attackers toremain secure, which requires continuous improvement in the implemented cybersecurity practices.
In our experience, the slowdown of digital transformation is caused by different factors in different business segments:
- For small and medium businesses it is challenging to create a clear digital transformation strategy. Many new solutions become available on the IT market every day, and it is overwhelming for smaller organizations to learn about all of them and decide which is the most appropriate for their company. Here collaboration with companies, like ours, can solve the challenges. Expert partners are able to screen the actual status of any business and to build a clear, tailor-made transformational path for them.
- For the Enterprises the lengthy decision-making process and slower adoption of technology due to the size of their organization cause the major challenge. Noventiq can address both issues: our experts can provide the necessary coaching, presentation and documentation to speed up the decision-making and we can share best practices that support the adoption of implemented solutions among the employees to fully leverage the benefit of digital transformation.
We consider the availability of EU funds to invest in digital transformation a major support to maintain the speed of digitalization. Businesses who will be able to leverage these funds will gain major advantage, and we are here to help them using these funds in the most efficient way.
Q: What does the name NOVENTIQ represent?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: The name NOVENTIQ represents an amalgamation of several things: NOV derives from the Latin word novus for ‘new’. Innovation is essential for NOVENTIQ´s customers, vendors and employees.
EN comes from entrepreneurial. It is the entrepreneurial spirit that everyone notices about this company. The never-ending quest for economic value and a ‘can-do’ attitude are what mark NOVENTIQ out from other companies in the industry. We are focused on serving enterprises around the world. EN is also energy, something that we bring to everything we do.
T refers to technology, the company´s expertise, passion, and product. T also stands for transformation, an essential requirement for any enterprise looking to ensure a successful future.
IQ – stands for intelligence and quality – two key features that characterise a successful provider, one who can address highly complex problems for customers, and deliver intelligent information solutions which are of the highest quality.
Q: How does Noventiq – a company operating in almost 60 countries – help Romanian companies to continue their digital transformation process? What are the local outcomes derived from global expertise?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: I think our motto reflects the most important aspect: Global expertise, local outcomes!
Noventiq has global delivery centers around the world, and our experts are delivering thousands of projects for our customers in almost 60 countries. This allows us to transfer knowledge and best practices between countries and as a result, our customers can benefit from the expertise that has been gathered in various industries, business segments, and regions.
While we have a strong global team, we are expanding our local footprint too: to serve our customers at the highest level we grow our team of Romanian experts too. We doubled our local team during this year, and we plan to further increase our local presence, as we believe, that combining local market knowledge and personal customer relationship with th global expertise gives us a competitive advantage.
Q: Which economic sectors might benefit more in Romania from Noventiq solutions? Is it the banking sector? Is it the health sector? Others? And why?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: We have important customers in all segments. However, the FinTech sector is one that I would highlight. This is one of the fastest developing segments with outstanding adoption of digital transformation and we have strong expertise in this sector locally and internationally that our customers can leverage in Romania.
Aside from the FinTech sector, I would also mention healthcare, manufacturing and retail, where organizations can benefit of our industry best practices and deep understanding of the vertical.
We are also recognized as one of the most important (if not the most important) transformational partners of educational institutions. Our experts have a deep understanding of the needs and evolving processes of educational institutions and how IT can positively impact them. We are proud to have several customer success stories and best practices globally and in the CEE region as well.
Q: Which and why seems to be the most attractive services Noventiq is covering? Is the services sector? The software & Cloud? The hardware? Does Romania differentiate itself from other countries? Why or why not?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: Romanian organizations are facing similar challenges as other businesses in CEE. The peaking energy price, the accelerating inflation, and the war happening at our borders are impacting the whole region. I could even say, that the challenges are very similar all around the world, especially in those emerging markets where Noventiq has a significant presence. In these circumstances, cloud solutions are becoming the first choice for many customers. Although moving to the cloud is not a question anymore, customers face challenges to decide which cloud provider and what services to use to reach their business goals. Noventiq offers its expertise to the customers from the very first step of planning throughout the whole journey to the cloud supporting the implementation and adoption of hybrid, single or multi-cloud solutions. We have expert knowledge in optimizing the IT infrastructure, and costs and creating a more agile IT infrastructure.
As already mentioned, there is a growing need for our cybersecurity services due to the constant rise of the cyberattacks. We provide assessments, analytics and recommendations to customers based on their current infrastructure and future goals, and of course we are supporting organizations in the implementation of the chosen cybersecurity solutions.
What is specific to Romania is the great opportunity through the available European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Funds that can accelerate the required transformation of different industries to become competitive in our globalized world. Noventiq can provide end-to-end support for companies and institutions to leverage available EU funds dedicated to drive digital transformation.
Q: Can you tell us, in very simple words, what are the main advantages for an average company in Romania of using Noventiq solutions?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: We assist organizations in every step of their digital transformation journey. The collective knowledge and expertise of our global team (which means hundreds of experts, architects and engineers) is available for our customers to be leveraged in transformational projects through best practice sharing and vertical knowledge transfer.
Digital transformation brought by Noventiq can be viewed as a way to modernize existing technologies and payment infrastructures to enable agility, reliability, and resilient system interoperability. Expectations of 24/7/365 global up-time have meant that technology needs to be scalable and reliable in order to avoid failures and mitigate any potential damage to our customers’ reputations.
Q: Big crises bring big opportunities. In your opinion, what are the main opportunities in the 2023 context?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: As I’ve mentioned earlier, EU funds should represent an accelerator for the companies and institutions in the digitalization adoption. Business process optimization, cost efficiency, and data utilization and governance will make the difference between market leaders and laggards, which will elevate IT solutions and processes to vital part of daily operations.
Last but not least, I see further potential in the improvement of organizations’ cybersecurity level and business continuity solutions to become more resilient against security and operational challenges.
Q: What is your main message to your clients/partners regarding challenges and opportunities for the short and medium term?
Mr. MARIUS FILIPAS: Digital transformation fundamentally changes how an organization operates. Companies can use digital technologies to shift to new business models, offer customers improved services, and reach new consumer bases. According to Gartner’s 2021 Digital Business Acceleration Survey, ‘65% of executives reported accelerating the pace of their digital business initiatives. Business leaders are opening their eyes to the possibilities for growth through digital transformation.
Digitalization enhances data collection, meaning companies get better customer insights. It leads to higher profits, increased return on investments, boosts employee productivity, and makes a business more agile. Agility is crucial to surviving disruptions in the digital age.
We as a country are in a good moment of time to have a leap forward through digitalization towards a competitive Global Economy. Choosing the right partner will enable organizations to have a secure, faster and enriching transformational process.
You can read the interview also in the document below:
