SingularLogic was established in 1984 and it is the leading Software and Integrated
IT Solutions Group in Greece. It is market leader in the Business Software Services
and Business Software Licensing with 29% and 26% market share respectively. The
business has reached its current form through a number of mergers and it has been
listed on the ATHEX stock markets since 1990s. The Group provides integrated
solutions for the private and public sectors, in Greece and abroad, mainly in the
Balkan area (Bulgaria and Romania). The Company has a large installed base of
software and a leading market share in the Top 100 companies and SME segments
in Greece. The software portfolio offering covers more than 40 software product
solutions in 2006. The group had revenues of around €65Mill. in 2006 and its
revenue is expected to exceed €75Mill. in 2007.
The business is divided in three Divisions targeting different market segments and a
range of activities. EnterpriseDIS Division focuses on design and implementation of
Integrated IT Solutions for large enterprises of the private sector, including
distribution and support of well-established international IT products. Software
Division focuses on the development and distribution of business software
applications1. Integrator Division focuses on the design and implementation of
Integrated IT Solutions for the public sector organizations. The division also
engages in the collation and broadcasting of election results and in European
programs
Key findings
SingularLogic employs a total of 740 skilled professionals, of which 300 are certified
IT consultants and 140 are top class developers, overall 60 staff are working in the
R&D tasks. There is about 23 full time R&D staff, while 20 persons are working on
part-time basis and another 20 external persons are contracted from the universities
and research institutions. Besides personnel related costs R&D investments include
software licensing and equipments. R&D is carries out within the R&D department in
cooperation with the department in charge of software project management. Hence,
the R&D has a close linkage to customer interface. R&D function has a designated
budget and external funding is obtained from the national and EU sources, e.g., IST
and Leonardo programmes.
Nature and organisation of R&D
Typical outcomes of the R&D process are incremental improvements. The cycle of
new product/service launch depends on the client group and the applied marketing
approach. Project lead time varies between 4 months to 3 years. Often new markets
launches take place on once a year basis. Typical outcomes of the R&D process
are related to service delivery process, enabling technologies, service delivery
channel or the entire business model. The bottle-necks of the R&D are often related
to the cyclical nature of the business and survival of the projects & funding through
difficult times. It is so easy to save costs by cutting the R&D budget. Availability of
skilled staff is another potential bottle-neck for the R&D. The R&D process itself
could also be more organised and it could benefit from closer links to the business
community. Essentially this could make the process faster which is a crucial element
in the software services business. Awareness of the importance of the service R&D
should be better within the firms top management and also among the public sector
decision makers.
Typically the priorities of the R&D is decided on a yearly basis by the experts who
work in the business units. Typically R&D department works in cooperation with the
project management and most new ideas for the R&D come from the clients and
business partners. Multi-skilled personnel is necessary for the R&D process, e.g.
people who have experience in the ICT and marketing
.
Kuusisto, J. (2008, January). R&D in services – 17 business case studies (DG Research
European Commission). Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/invest-inresearch/pdf/download_en/service_cases_071217c.pdf
1
Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP), Commercial and Financial Applications, Customer
Relationship Management and Business Intelligence Systems, Human Resource and Payroll Management
Systems, Hotel Management Systems, Retail Systems and petrol station systems.
The post leading Software and Integrated IT Solutions appeared first on My Assignment Online.
