Kata Andrási: I am sitting opposite two good friends, but today’s conversation is prompted by an important announcement.
Béla Pogátsnik: Yes! We started our own business after long years in a multi environment. Furthermore at the end of last year we decided to join forces and together achieve one of our big dreams: to build the best consulting company in the world.
Kata Andrási: What led to the decision to join forces in a joint venture?
Plamen Dapev: Our professional relationship with Béla goes back a long time. We have been working together practically since the beginning of my IT career. This long period of working together has proved to be enough to build and develop an unbreakable trust, which is absolutely necessary for a joint venture. We have had the opportunity to follow and learn about each other’s professional development, to see who is strong in what, and where we can complement or even strengthen each other.
While we both worked in consulting in the large corporate segment, we mostly worked in different, complementary areas: Béla worked on application development and later on solution sales, while I managed the infrastructure development team and then the service sales area. Our client segments are also complementary, as while Béla was a prominent player in the business sector, I have been working mostly in the public sector. As a result, we can clearly say that we complement each other well, with a more colourful and broader portfolio of businesses together.
Kata Andrási: What type of company is Abylon? Where do you position it on the market?
Béla: Abylon is a business consulting company that always takes into account that we live in a digital age. We believe that our clients already have the most important tools for their growth and success, they just need to find the way to use them properly to their full potential. We want to provide new and innovative business solutions. One such area is gamification, which can radically reduce the time it takes to learn new skills. In our fast-paced world, this is an important success factor for everyone. Think, for example, of the new expectations of sales people! They have to sell new products to new customer groups in new ways. In this area, we are partners with a company called Badgeville from San Francisco, who are a leading solution provider in this field.
Plamen: And speaking of sales, I need to mention an important partnership. We recently signed an agreement with what we believe is the most innovative supplier in the field, Salesbox. It’s a Swedish start-up with a product I’ve always wanted to work with!
Kata Andrási: Beside your diverse business experience, you both have a strong IT background.
Béla: Yes we do and that helps us to deliver IT solutions that really improve operational efficiency. One such important area that is must-have for every company is business reporting systems and BI. We provide our clients with state-of-the-art tools to provide effective solutions for these needs. Examples include self-service BI solutions, data analysis models, or mobile dashboard visualization tools.
Andrási Kata: What segment does Abylon provide solutions for?
Plamen: We continue to focus on the large enterprise segment, because we have seen the problems specific to these organisations. But in my view, in the future, customer segmentation will not be as sharp as it is today. With the spread of mobility, IT solutions are emerging that are easily accessible to small or start-up businesses, but are also powerful tools for large enterprises. On the other hand, medium-sized or even small businesses are increasingly looking for solutions that are typical of large enterprises, which can help them speed up decision-making or increase efficiency. This process is already very visible in the field of data processing and data analysis. That’s why we want to develop channels to reach smaller customers. A good example is the Salesbox solution.
Kata Andrási: What are the short-term goals? And what kind of company will Abylon be in 5 years?
Plamen: Az előttünk álló időszakban a kormányzati ügyfeleknél felhalmozott adatfeldolgozási és adatelemzési tapasztalatainkat szeretnénk erősíteni. Keresni fogjuk azokat az ügyfeleinket, partnereinket, ahol ezt a tudást hasznosítani és kamatoztatni tudjuk. Azt látjuk a kormányzat szerkezeti és szervezeti átalakításainál és azon belül a folyamatokkal, illetve a gazdálkodással kapcsolatos döntéshozatalnál, hogy igenis szükség van adatelemzési és adatértékelési megoldásokra (BI).
Béla: Rövid távon az Abylon szeretne Magyarországon néhány kiemelt üzleti terület meghatározó szállítójává válni. Ilyen terület a szervezeti és az értékesítési hatékonyság, vagy a vezetői döntéstámogatás. 5 év múlva az Abylon egy, a régió több országában is jelenlévő tanácsadó cég, aki a saját hatékonysága és az elérhetőség miatt több szolgáltatását is digitálisan nyújtja.
Plamen: In the near future, we want to strengthen our experience in data processing and data analytics for government clients. We will look for clients and partners where we can leverage and capitalise on this knowledge. We see the need for data analytics and data evaluation (BI) solutions in projects aiming at government restructuring and organisational change, and in the decision making around the processes within government.
Béla. These areas include organisational and sales effectiveness, and management decision support. In 5 years time, hopefully Abylon will be a consulting company present in several countries in the region, providing many of its services digitally due to its own efficiency and accessibility.
The interview was done by Kata Andrási, Managing Director of PReport Pr and former press officer of the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources.
