Stamford develops and innovates industry-specific IT systems with a focus on processes and flows in service companies and public organizations. For more than 30 years, they have delivered software, services and customized solutions to customers with very high demands on reliability in their mission-critical systems.
Stamford belongs to the Addnode Group and works closely with the Group’s other companies. 90 people work at Stamford’s offices in Stockholm, Karlstad, Gothenburg and Malmö, and have several of their own employees at Addnode India in Pune. In 2023, the company had a turnover of approximately SEK 108 million.
“We have ongoing development work in close collaboration with our customers, which ensures that the distance between our creative ideas and the practical benefit to the customer is short,” says Andrea Kosa, CEO of Stamford.
Many different industries
Stamford has mainly grown through acquisitions, which has enriched the business with a number of different industries.
Port authorities both in Sweden and outside use Stamford’s combined business and operational system that covers all the processes required to run a port.
Stamford also has systems and services specifically tailored for large retail chains and specialist retailers. They also have many collaborations in the field of defence and insurance. Preparation systems for the electrical industry and systems for the event industry are other parts of their product portfolio.
Challenges of diversifying operations
“Since we operate in many different industries, it was impossible for me as CEO and for the management team to keep track of all the threads. We needed to be better at connecting the company’s strategy and long-term goals with the operational activities in everyday life,” says Andrea Kosa.
For just over three years, after evaluating several tools, they have been using VisPlan for planning and management by objectives. VisPlan is an app for Microsoft Teams that allows you to formulate your strategy, coordinate and implement a governance model, priorities, programs and plans.
“It also helps us stay focused throughout the process,” says Andrea Kosa.
Got a good overview
She notes that being able to have a common picture of the planning and management by objectives has been particularly important for Stamford because they have so many different branches of business.
“By using VisPlan, we have gained a magical function that makes it easier to speak the same language and see the company as a whole. The fact that the goals and sub-goals are displayed visually and easily understands means that everyone can go in and update their part and quickly get a good overview of where we are going and what priorities are lagging behind,” says Andrea Kosa.
More effective meetings
She has seen that after the introduction of VisPlan, the management team meetings became much more efficient.
“The discussions became more concrete on an overall level and we completely cut out the bicycle rack issues. Nowadays, the meetings are increasingly about strategic issues that are prioritized at the moment.
Andrea Kosa has also seen that the use of VisPlan has made it easier for new members of the management team to familiarize themselves with the current situation and where their sights are set.
“It simply facilitates the integration of new leaders into the company, not least in the event of an acquisition and merger,” says Andrea Kosa.
The Stamford companies today are: Stamford AB, Elpool AB and Addoceo AB.
This is how Stamford uses VisPlan:
- Prioritization and goal setting: VisPlan structures the business plan on a single page, making it easy to identify and prioritize initiatives. In addition, it provides real-time information about the status of each activity.
- Unified business plan: By breaking down the master plan into sub-plans for each business unit, Stamford can see how each unit contributes to the company’s success.
- Increased transparency: VisPlan has increased transparency by clearly showing responsibility and progress for defined goals.
VisPlan is built for Microsoft 365 and uses Azure Active Directory for authentication. All data is stored in your own Teams environment and works seamlessly with Microsoft Planner
Contact
Contact VisPlan: Staffan Lindö, +46 76 600 66 67, [email protected]
This article is translated from an original piece “Verktyget som fick ledningsgruppen att tala samma språk”
published by VD-tidningen, 6 August 2024.