Juergen Steuer: Of course, it’s quite a change and different to work for a start-up. But big things always start small. That was something we understood at Siemens as well, which is why we promoted collaboration with start-ups e.g. via “next47”. The “47” refers to Siemens’ founding year, 1847. So even there, things started small. In my view, Vicoland is also at the beginning of a big story. And it’s already not so small anymore. When I look at the rapidly growing list of large customers, I don’t feel far removed from my professional past at all.

 

It’s the right innovation at the right time – the new service provider type called “Vico”! [editor’s note: abbreviation for Virtual Company]. On the one hand, cost efficiency remains to be increasingly important for customers, especially given today’s difficult supply situation. Many factors play into this: price pressure from shifting sales markets, rising energy – and material costs, and now also tariffs. A service provider type that operates without overhead thanks to a digital technology platform is naturally appealing.

But perhaps even more important: as a customer today, I need a service provider where I can be 100% sure that my agenda and theirs are fully aligned. I want a partner who, like me, has no interest in projects becoming more complex or lasting longer than necessary. That’s the strategic advantage of Vicos as service providers. Vicos, through their self-organization on the Vicoland platform and teams of freelancers, have no economic incentive to want anything different than the client does. Especially in IT procurement, where the focus is on the corporate infrastructure of the future, such strategic considerations are central.

 

Perhaps still unusual today – but the emphasis is on “still.” After all, Vicos are already working for half a dozen DAX companies and many mid-sized firms. Even the largest international service providers/system integrators gladly rely on Vicos. From conversations with Vicoland customers, I know that they often had initial reservations, for example about giving larger SAP projects to a Vico. But those reservations disappeared once they realized that Vicos are stable, flexible, and well-practiced teams of experts. Vicos are not randomly assembled groups. A Vico actually has less personnel turnover than a traditional company. And last but not least: Experience matters: nobody becomes a freelancer unless being confident enough in his/her skills and track record to stand on its own feet. That means these are people with 10, 20 years of experience and proven success.

 

As a customer, I naturally want just one contract for a project and a single, competent, and responsible point of contact – just as I would expect with traditional service providers. Vicos offer the same, but the legal construct is, of course, different. This is part of Vicoland’s innovation, where its Legal Tech plays an important role. Legally speaking, Vicos are consortia. As a client, I can conclude a single contract with such a consortium, just as with a traditional company. If I prefer, I can also contract directly with Vicoland as the intermediary. Either way, all the consortium formation is handled by Vicoland – and in such a way that false self-employment (“Scheinselbstständigkeit”) issues do not arise. That means a lot of legal details have been carefully thought through at Vicoland.

 

One has to start somewhere. The services market around SAP is not only large but also has a lot of optimization potential. This is a good field for Vicos with their strengths in quality and cost. But something else is important from my perspective as a former customer: in SAP there are many niche areas where one often ends up with “No-Bids.” The reason is that traditional service providers find such niches less profitable – leaving buyers with little or no choice, sometimes no reasonable offer at all. Some Vicos have formed precisely around such SAP niche areas. For all these reasons, Vicoland’s current concentration on SAP makes sense.

But of course, the potential and benefits of Vicos are not limited to one market segment. There are already some Vicos in other areas, for example CRM, Salesforce, or Content Management. I think that systematically expanding into other segments will be a strategic topic for Vicoland in the future. For now, the SAP business still offers a lot of potential, well beyond Germany and Europe.

 

After so many years in IT procurement, I honestly didn’t expect a truly groundbreaking innovation to appear in this market again. Vicoland was like a wake-up call. When the CEO offered me the chance to be part of it, of course I thought it over carefully. But it quickly became clear to me that I wanted to be part of this future project.