Flemming Madsen

Wavin Denmark chose freelance SAP specialists from Accuro for a difficult rollout assignment

From the beginning, the assignment was time-limited, scheduled and budgeted. Therefore, the management group decided to gather a team of freelance SAP specialists who could take on the project in collaboration with the group’s permanent Dutch IT crew.

High-quality freelance consultants with broad experience

There is a difference between consulting agencies. When we need freelance specialists, it is very much about trust between us and the consulting firm. As a starting point, we want them to understand selecting consulting profiles that can quickly familiarize themselves with our business and proactively identify the challenges and point out the right solutions. That's what Accuro can do.

– The price of SAP specialists is pretty much the same everywhere. So, it’s extremely important that the freelance consultants we bring in are the right ones, and that they know their profession.

– Over the years we have dealt with consulting agencies in connection with various assignments, and unfortunately, we have sometimes had to replace the freelance consultants we started with. This is regrettable, and it costs both time and money. Therefore, it’s important that we can trust that the freelancers offered by the agency can stand the pressure, and that the agency can stand by its choice.

– For this assignment we chose freelance specialists from Accuro. We got SAP consultants of highest quality, and it was not necessary to replace the chosen team. Accuro understood our needs and quickly provided us with the perfect profiles. From the very beginning, we could trust the level of quality and felt sure that the assignment could be completed on time.

– Since we are not an SAP business, it is critical for us that we have freelance consultants who are specialists in their field. Historically speaking, we are a rather heavy business with a very diverse group of employees. None of them implement ERP systems – we are an operational business – and this was one of our greatest challenges. It was therefore exceedingly important that we were provided with SAP specialists who were project-focused, project-related and accustomed to driving projects.

Good collaboration and business understanding

– It is also important that the specialists respect the company culture that we have as part of an international group. We really need freelance specialists who understand that they are the link between the IT function and the local operational organization. Therefor the freelancers must be able to participate in this interplay.

– It was not an easy task, but I feel that Accuro’s freelance consultants completed it very faithfully. They always tried to make the most of the solution that was provided and the template that the group had chosen to use. Their assignment was to adapt the Danish needs to the system.

– Obviously, it requires breadth of vision and an understanding of the business to collaborate with the IT team provided by the Wavin Group and at the same time accommodate the wishes of our team within local operations for the system that will finally be rolled out. The Dutch were very hands-on, and because the team has worked with rollouts over the past 4-5 years – one country after another – there was a huge challenge of understanding for our freelance specialists, who had to study the existing group template and ensure that the result was a usable, multi-pronged solution for our system rollout in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Solutions with added value

– I attach a lot of importance to personal qualities and collaborative abilities. Cultural differences, even within Europe, are not insignificant. There are great cultural differences. In Scandinavia we tend to be very direct in our communication and problem statements – but it’s not like that with the Dutch, for example. So, you must understand and act according to the art of the possible. As a freelance consultant it’s very important to be able to conduct by ensuring balance in the collaboration between the group IT team and the local division – in this case Wavin Denmark. And I think the freelance team that helped create the solutions for our SAP rollout did a great job.

Trust and responsibility

– Consulting agencies are not alike. When we need freelance specialists, it’s all about trust between us and the agency. Our starting point is that the agency must understand how to choose consultants that can quickly gain an understanding of our business and proactively uncover challenges and point out the right solution options.

– On a day-to-day basis, it’s primarily about whether the freelance consultant can accept responsibility, get things done and pursue the solution until it is achieved. Of course, we have many quirks and peculiarities, and nothing is functional until we dot the last i.

– The SAP rollout in Denmark, Norway and Sweden was a huge challenge. It was an uphill climb to create an understanding of the fact that the electronic exchange of data in our market is the cornerstone of how we do business. But Accuro’s consultants succeeded in creating a result that satisfied everyone.