As the accelerated digitization process of the previous two pandemic years continues across all business verticals, Cegeka Romania, the local subsidiary of the same-named Belgian company, added eight new clients to its portfolio this year, five from the local market and three from the international market. While businesses continue to request new solutions, they also request initiatives to modernize the outdated IT technologies they now employ.
Read this interview with Ovidiu Pinghioiu, Director of Applications at Cegeka Romania, for Ziarul Financiar to learn more.
Digitization is far from over
"While many businesses accelerated digitization at the start of the pandemic in order to manage the situation, maintain operations, have efficient and secure communication with their employees, and provide excellent customer service, two years later we continue to see a growing trend in the area of digitization. Customers continue to create new applications, add modules to existing ones, and improve existing workflows, but they also choose to update their previous IT solutions. The largest digital transformation project in the history of Romanian business is currently underway ", according to Ovidiu Pinghioiu, Director of Applications at Cegeka Romania. He continued by saying that this year the company put a strong emphasis on strengthening existing client ties.
"The focus in 2022 was that the projects started in 2020, during the pandemic, when we won several important customers, would ensure the continuity of our business, but we also focused on expanding new requirements and services offered to our customers. Additionally, the pandemic has acted as a catalyst for bringing on new clients and expanding outside of Romania, particularly because we wanted to broaden the solutions we provide and take a more holistic approach to the markets we serve."
This year, Cegeka Romania began working with start-ups abroad and formed strategic alliances with clients in the financial banking, energy, and retail sectors. Ovidiu Pinghioiu stated, "since the beginning of the year, we have added 8 new logos to our client portfolio, with 5 clients from the home market and 3 clients from the foreign market.”
.NET is still a top choice for software development
As for the most used technologies in the projects carried out within the software development division of Cegeka Romania, he said that most of the projects use .Net technology on the backend side, while on the frontend side React.js and Angular.js technologies are increasingly used.
"We are up to date with the latest technologies and always keep up with the latest changes in the field. On the backend side, Cegeka Romania is and will be a supporter of .Net technology, as most of our projects use this technology. Of course, here we can also mention Java, where we also boast a lot of ongoing projects. If we talk about the front end, one technology that is gaining more and more ground is React.js, but also Angular.js. We are also currently focusing on the Microsoft Azure area as well because we want to grow in this segment and develop our capabilities."
Low-code technology is a game changer?
Cegeka Romania acts as a consultant for its clients, offering them a wide range of IT solutions developed on the latest technologies, one of them being low-code technology that comes with a number of advantages, such as lower costs and reduced execution time.
"It seemed only natural to us that low-code technology should become one of our customers' options, having strategic partnerships with several low-code and no-code platform providers. As a result, when we receive a request to develop a project or an application from scratch, we will come back to the client with two options: the first option is the classic software development method, and the second option is the use of low-code platforms, so they can see the differences both in terms of cost and delivery. Based on our experience so far, low-code technology reduces the cost of a project and the delivery time by 60%," said Ovidiu Pinghioiu.
Facts & Figures
Cegeka Romania's software development division recorded a turnover of €7.2 million in the first half of this year, which represents a third of the company's total business. In the same period of time, January-June 2022, the Cegeka European Delivery Center division, which serves Cegeka Group's customers, recorded a turnover of approx. 14 million euros.
Last year, Cegeka reported a total local turnover of 38.5 million euros, up 18% compared to 2020, and for the current year, it expects an increase of about 28% in business.
"We estimate that in total Cegeka Romania will reach a turnover of 48 million euros, of which about 16 million euros will come from local customers and 32 million euros from the other division. We are also currently recording a 28% increase in turnover and we expect to exceed this percentage by the end of the year, thus managing to progress beyond our expectations at the beginning of the year."
Cegeka Romania's software development division currently has a team of around 240 specialists, 15% more than last year, and the team will continue to grow.
"We estimate that by the end of the year we will reach more than 250 colleagues in this division. Also, if we add colleagues in the other development divisions and structures that service the group, we reach almost 830 employees at this point. Although initially, our expectations for team growth were much more ambitious, the market did not allow us to find enough people. But we are extremely pleased with the quality and results achieved in the area of recruitment and employer engagement," he concludes.