AnnuAl Gener Al Mee tinG
The Annual General Meeting will take place at 3 pm on Tuesday 4 May 2010 in Guldfoajén, the Royal Opera House, Stockholm.
Shareholders wishing to attend must be listed in the shareholders’
register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB/VPC no later than 27 April 2010.
Shareholders whose shares are held in trust must ensure in good time that their shares are temporarily registered with VPC in their own names on the day in question. Notice of attendance shall be given to Acando no later than noon on 27 April 2010. Please state name, personal identification number or corporate registration number, address and telephone number on the notice.
Notice may be given by post to Acando AB, Box 5528, S-114 85 Stockholm Sweden, by telephone on +46 8 699 70 00 or directly via the company website at www.acando.com.
Shareholders represented by proxy must submit a power of attorney before the meeting.
reporting dates 2010
› Interim report January–March 2010 4 May 2010
› Interim report January–June 2010 23 July 2010
› Interim report January–September 2010 29 October 2010
›
The year in brief 4
CEO’s report 6
This is Acando 8
The market 10
Acando’s offering 12
Quality, environment and processes 16
Employees 18
Organisation 20
Risks and opportunities 22
Five year overview 23
The share 24
Directors’ report 27
Consolidated income statement 33
Consolidated statement of financial position 34 Consolidated statement of changes in equity 36 Consolidated statement of cash flows 37
Parent company income statement 39
Parent company balance sheet 40
Parent company statement of changes in equity 42 Parent company cash flow statement 43
Notes 44
Audit report 59
Corporate governance 60
The Board 65
Group management 66
Distribution policy 67
Addresses 68
Acando’s 2009 at a glance
Financial targets and dividend policy
Acando’s overriding financial target is to increase earnings per share by at least 15 percent per year. In addition, some restrictions apply regarding the maximum debt-equity ratio, as well as minimum available liquidity.
The Board proposes that the Annual General Meeting adopt a dividend of SEK 0.50 per share, corresponding to a
»during 2009, acando acquired a number of new customers and deepened collaboration with its most important customers and partners.«
› A number of important framework agreements were entered into during the year, with Försäkringskassan, Sandvik and SEB among others.
› An application management (AM) centre was established in Trondheim as an integrated part of Acando’s AM offering, but also as part of existing and new customer undertakings relating to application management in Norway.
› During the year, Acando entered into a number of contracts relating to operation and management of customers’
business-critical systems, with customers including Tibnor, Westinghouse, Helse SørØst RHF and Norstedts Juridik
› Acando’s offering “CRM as a service”, based on Microsoft CRM, was launched in Germany. This created a great deal of interest, and a number of client agreements for CRM services were entered into, in both the public sector and the private sector.
› Acando launched a solution suite for profitability analysis, ProfitModeler™. The solution is based on and closely integrated with Microsoft’s products. It has become operational at Alecta, and elsewhere.
› Acando in Norway signed an agreement with Statsbygg for the introduction of a service-orientated integration platform based on open source code. This further strengthened Acando’s position as a leader in delivery of solutions based on open source code to the public sector in Norway.
› Acando’s lean offering generated a large number of management consultancy assignments, particularly within service operations, in both the public and the private sector.
the year in brief
net sales, MSeK
1800 1500 1200 900 600 300
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Operating profit, MSeK
150 200
100
50
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
earnings per share, SeK
1.5 2.0 2.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
A year of two halves
The demand situation on the market for management and IT consultancy services,
which was good during the first half of the year, deteriorated considerably during the
second half. Capacity utilisation in Acando’s operation fell in line with the deteriora-
ting demand, which had a negative effect on profit. Average prices could be main-
tained, thanks to a changed assignment composition, with an increased proportion
of project undertakings. In order to meet the situation in regions with lower demand,
delivery capacity has gradually been adapted by reducing operations in such regions.
Significant events after the end of the financial year
› At the end of January 2010, Acando signed an agreement with the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) in relation to a new operational solution for relationship handling, structured information sharing and collaboration, internal and external. The NHO is the largest interest orga- nisation for companies in Norway, with around 20 000 member companies.
› On 18 January, Lotta Jarleryd joined Acando as Chief Financial Officer.
New members of the management team
Carl-Magnus Månsson took up the position as MD and CEO for Acando in June .
lotta Jarleryd was appointed Chief Financial Officer for Acando in October, starting on 18 January 2010.
»the brand acando celebrated its 10th anniversary.«
Quality
in June 2009, Swedish Quality index (SKi) repor ted the result from the 2009 study.
Acando was awarded very high marks from its customers, and was considerably over the sector average.
Acquisitions
Acando in Denmark signed an agreement relating
to the acquisition of the Danish SAP consultancy
company March it A/S. through this acquisition,
Acando strengthened its position in the important
SAP market in Denmark, gaining an additional
29 senior consultants and improving its position
within mobile solutions and logistics.
A year of change for Acando
2009 will go down in history as a challenging, but at the same time a good year for Acando in many ways.
After a strong start to the year, with continued high demand lingering on from autumn 2008, we saw an in- creasing number of customers starting to defer their decisions on new investments. When I joined Acando at the beginning of the second half of the year, the market was characterised by uncertainty and long decision- making processes at the customers’ end. However, thanks to close collaboration with our customers, we were able to simplify many of the decision-making processes, by clarifying the expected results and the payback period. Many customers, new and old alike, showed us renewed trust and we are proud of the results we have delivered. With a strong financial position, a broad customer base and unparalleled focus on delivery in each assignment, we are well equipped for the next phase of Acando’s development.
Our customers should be the most satisfied
Being an Acando customer should be special. Our passion for im- provements and our ambition to work closely with our customers, combined with absolute focus on delivery, produces results. We work to high quality standards and regularly measure customer satisfaction. When Swedish Quality Index (SKI) in June 2009 reported the results of their 2009 study, we were delighted to learn that Acando received a very high score from its customers here as well, and was considerably above the sector average.
However, the greatest recognition we can receive is new assignments from already established customers who wish to deepen their collaboration with us, and from new customers who see that we can succeed together with them. To my great satisfaction, I can announce that during the year we have further broadened our customer base, at the same time as we have continued to strengthen our position with our many existing customers. For instance, we have signed framework agreements with Försäkringskassan, Sandvik and SEB. We have also esta- blished a number of new customers, within both the public and the private sector in Germany and Norway.
A challenging year
The market for management and IT consultancy services, which was good at the beginning of the year, slowed down during the second half. Deterioration within the industrial sector was clear even at the beginning of the year, and an adjustment to our operation in western Sweden became necessary. Towards the end of 2009, the number of requests from customers started to increase again, but the decision-making cycles continued to be long. Demand varied significantly between different geographic markets and offerings. Rationalisation projects were high on the agenda for many of our customers, yet we also saw an increased proportion of projects aimed at capturing new positions on the market. Despite increased competition, we managed to maintain price levels by increasing the proportion of project assignments.
ceo’s report
»Many customers, new and old alike, showed us
renewed trust and we are proud of the results
we have delivered.«
A market in constant flux
After many years “on the other side of the table” in the dialogue with consultancy companies, I am totally convinced that we are operating in a changing market. Outsourcing aimed at creating long-term cost advantages will continue to be an important issue for many of our customers. At the same time, an increasing number of sectors will be characterised by increased demands in terms of being able to change business models, rationalise operations and quickly adapt to changed needs. The challenge of developing advantageous long-term cost structures, at the same time as creating direct benefit through short-term projects, will provide room for actors capable of working in integrated teams and who work with rapid iterations. Models where IT services are delivered direct via the Internet will provide an opportunity to create system support for changing processes quickly, which places demands on business-related IT knowledge on the part of suppliers.
A complicated picture in many ways is emerging of how an operation must develop in order not to fall behind. The require- ment of being able to act quickly under relative uncertainty is gro- wing, while at the same time an ever increasingly complex mass of information must be utilised to drive better decision-making, both strategic and operational. This challenge is already reality for many of our customers.
For Acando, the need for increased capacity in low-cost countries has therefore clearly increased. It is part of Acando’s strategy to solve this issue in the near future.
tion, irrespective of whether it is a new management model, a new process or new IT solution.
Strategies for continued success
We are now gradually strengthening our structure, management and staffing, in order to best utilise Acando’s combined mana- gement knowledge and IT competence. Strong leadership and constant further development of employees are important areas for creating a strong consultancy company. We want to continue developing ourselves, with the aim of giving our customers an even better experience of Acando. We strive to increase the proportion of projects where we take on overall responsibility and see great potential in projects for operations and areas where an information-centred approach gives rapid and measurable advantages. One example is the project at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (CSE), where Acando was responsible for introducing new operational support. Our experiences from this project are now being reused in a project for the Norwegian equivalent of the CSE.
We are focusing on continued growth on the geographic markets where we are already established, in order to safeguard our ability to undertake both major and minor projects. The acquisition of March IT A/S in Denmark is one example where we have strengthened our position in an important market through acquisition. We foresee further opportunities to strengthen our geographic presence through targeted acquisitions.
We are also intensifying our efforts to package relevant offerings and to create reusable solutions. One example is Acando’s solution suite for profitability analysis, ProfitModeler™, which is based on, and closely integrated with, Microsoft’s pro- ducts. During autumn 2009, the solution has become operational at Alecta, among others.
Application management is another area that we are intending to develop further. During the year, Acando signed a number of contracts on operation and management of customer’s business- critical systems. We are now managing more than 100 applica- tions, for customers such as Tibnor, Westinghouse and Helse SørØst RHF. An important step in our delivery model is the app- lication management centre in Trondheim, Norway, which was established during the year, aimed primarily at the Norwegian market.
thank you!
I would like to say a big thank you to all of Acando’s employees.
You are my everyday heroes. Thanks to your efforts, each year a number of operations are becoming a little quicker, a little more efficient, and a little bit smarter.
I would also like to thank all of Acando’s customers and sha- reholders for the great trust you have shown in Acando during a challenging 2009.
Finally, I would like to thank all of Acando’s partners for good collaboration during the year.
Carl-Magnus Månsson
»there is an incredibly strong culture within acando for each assignment to deliver lasting benefit to the customer’s business, and for this benefit to arise quickly. our consultants work in small, responsive senior teams, with different skills and experiences within management and it, and collaborate with customers in an unpretentious way in order to find the best way forward.«
listening well and delivering quickly are at the heart of Acando
As the new CEO, I spent my first months meeting a large number
of customers. What emerged from all these conversations as
the unique factor about Acando was an unparalleled focus on
delivery and great responsiveness to our customers’ specific
challenges. There is an incredibly strong culture within Acando
for each assignment to deliver lasting benefit to the customer’s
business, and for this benefit to arise quickly. Our consultants
work in small, responsive senior teams, with different skills and
experiences within management and IT, and collaborate with
customers in an unpretentious way in order to find the best way
forward. We work methodically together with the customer’s
employees to analyse unconditionally the challenge faced by the
customer. Acando’s role is to provide experience, methods and
tools to facilitate a process through which the customer’s em-
ployees find the best way forward. This way of working liberates
the potential of the customer’s employees, gaining a fantastic
impetus when the change is introduced to the customer’s opera-
Core values
Acando’s company culture is characterised by the core values of team spirit, passion and results.
team spirit: We act as team players with our custo- mers and collaborating partners. Together, we create sustainable business improvements.
Passion: We have a burning commit- ment to improve and develop our customers’ businesses.
results: We do not give up before creating real improvements and concrete values for customers and col- laborating partners.
Strategy
Acando’s strategy is based on three fundamental attributes:
close, comprehensive and industrialised.
Close: We strive for close collaboration between Acando’s employees and the customer’s em-
ployees. The pace and the method are ad- justed in accordance with the customer’s
prerequisites and situation.
Comprehensive: Acando’s manage- ment and IT consultants have a broad- based skills and technology platform, with specialist knowledge of the custo- mers’ core and support processes. We have great geographic distribution in- house or through collaborating partners.
industrialised: Acando standardises pro- cesses, methods, documentation and compo- nents in order to raise the quality and cost-effec- tiveness of delivery, and to shrink lead times and reduce the customer’s perceived risk.
this is acando
Acando is a consultancy company that in partnership with its clients identifies and implements sustainable business improvements through information enabled by technology. Measurable improvements are generated by developing processes, organisation and IT. We understand and are deeply rooted in information techno- logy, but our passion is improvements to customers’ operations. Our approach is driven by a strong focus on results and responsibility for the customer obtaining the expected effect fast. Acando is the local and close partner in both simple and complex undertakings.
Our culture is based on three core values: team spirit, passion and results, which characterise everything we do.
Business concept
Partners
Acando has the highest partner status with both its strategic partners:
› SAP – Service Alliance Partner
› Microsoft – Gold Certified Partner
Customers
Acando has a broad customer base. Around 80 percent of the customers operate within the private sector, where the majority are large international companies with more than 500 employees operating in several European countries. The largest sector segment is the manufacturing industry, followed by telecommuni- cations. Other important sectors are healthcare and the pharmaceuticals industry, the financial sector, the energy sector, consumer products and retailing, as well as service companies. Around 20 percent of Acando’s customers are within the public sector, in the form of state enterprises and public authorities, county councils and municipalities.
»acando’s logo represents a team working
towards a common goal. the orange dot
at the end is the common goal and the results
we achieve.«
trondheim
oslo
Köpenhamn Malmö Göteborg
stockholm linköping
Västeråsludvika
Manchester
München stuttgart
hamburg bremen
frankfurt düsseldorf
Århus
helsingfors borlänge
acando has around 1,100 employees in six countries:
› denmark
› finland
› norway
› united Kingdom
› sweden
› Germany
Acando’s vision is to be one of the leading regional consultancy companies for
business improvement enabled by information technology in northern
europe.
Offering
Information is a strategic resource. Handling and managing it is a complex task, par- ticularly in large organisations. In order to create real and lasting change, operations need to understand how information from the processes is returned in key ratios and direction, and also how information concepts and definitions are made consistent within the company itself, and in relation to the world around it.
While information is the catalyst, fuel and lubricant for driving development, the route always leads via people. With deep roots in business development and IT, Acando offers a complete and holistic perspective. Acando’s consultants know what information the different parts of an operation need, and how systems should be designed to contribute to this. They also have experience of implementing processes and solutions, and of encouraging organisations to adopt the new and let go of the old. Over time, Acando has developed powerful models, methods and tools, which quickly identify where customers should start, and how they can quickly reach the best results.
Acando offers services and solutions within management consulting, strategic IT, business intelligence, business systems, IT solutions and application management.
ballerup trondheim
New opportunities in an uncertain market
retained price levels
During the year, price pressure from customers increased, but the average price level for assignments was retained, through measures such as a slightly altered assignment mix with a greater proportion of project undertakings.
Demand differs between business areas
The general slackness which Acando experienced during the second half of the year, was replaced by a more mixed picture towards the end of the year. An increase in the number of customer initiated dialogues and requests particularly in Sweden, resulted in a number of new assignments for Acando, with delivery during 2010. The differences between different sectors, countries, regions and delivery areas remain great.
Smaller market
During 2009, the total demand for management and IT consul- tancy services has decreased in practically all the markets where Acando is active. Outsourcing is the only area that has grown.
These two movements are clearly connected. The internal orga- nisations of customers are increasingly becoming ordering orga- nisations, and work less on the actual execution of improvement projects. This reduces the need for local consultants, as the major part of the work can be carried out in so-called low-cost countries.
The change to the market has also led to further strengthening of Acando’s ability to deliver within the management consultancy area. The aim is to provide even better help to see
the customers become effective and qualitative ordering organisations.
A larger share of outsourcing in the IT delivery and a demand for faster change cycles, makes the combination of business knowledge and IT experience more relevant than ever, to achieve fast results.
Customers
Acando’s market consists of both private companies and public organisations.
The customer base is broad, with around 80 percent of customers within the private sector. The majority of these are major international companies with more than 500 employees operating in several European
the market for management and it consultancy services was good at the start of the year, but slowed down during the second half. Deterioration within the industrial sector was clear even at the beginning of the year, and an adjust- ment of Acando’s operation in western Sweden became necessary. towards the end of the year, the number of requests from customers increased again, but decision- making cycles remained long. rationalisation projects remained high on the agenda for many of Acando’s custo- mers, yet we also saw an increased proportion of projects aimed at capturing new positions on the market.
the MarKet
countries. The largest sector segment is the manufacturing indu- stry, followed by telecommunications. Other important sectors are healthcare and the pharmaceuticals industry, the financial sector, the energy sector, consumer products and retailing, as well as service companies. Around 20 percent of Acando’s customers are within the public sector, in the form of state enterprises and public authorities, county councils and municipalities.
Competitors
International, regional and local consultancy companies are found among Acando’s competitors. The international competitors impact particularly on the very largest customers, and then in conjunction with major projects, where IT is a prominent feature, such as business system implementations. Regional and local competitors are competing with Acando for other customers within the private sector and the larger organisations within the public sector. Staffing companies are today a clear competitor for all assignments where Acando supplies an individual with a specific competence, rather than assignments where Acando delivers a solution. This contributes to price pressure on the local market. Over the last few years, staffing companies have also widened their service offerings and offer ever more advanced IT and management consultancy services.
In general, competition has increased during 2009. Customers
are increasingly choosing to expose all assignments to com-
petition, even in those cases where long-term relations with a
consultancy company are already established.
nacK a Municipalit y
net sales per the ten largest customers
n ten largest customers n other customers
net sales per sector
n private sector n public sector
Increased citizen influence in Nacka Municipality
citizens should be able to expect a continuous improvement in services and information from the municipality. the vision is to give them more influence and to increase their participation in running and creating the municipality of the future.
the new web-based case and document handling system gives citizens, administrators and implementers access to the same system, where everybody can see the different parts of the case and information chain. the system will become available on the municipality’s website and new e-services will be launched.
– this will create an enormous increase in efficiency and greatly improved citizen services, says Mats bohman, admini- strative Manager at nacka Municipality.
acando has been part of the project from the start, and deve- loped the entire solution with models, tools and components from acando’s e-service platform. the system is integrated with Microsoft’s business intelligence platform.
– the bi functionality gives us the opportunity to use many dif- ferent key figures and to compare ourselves with other organisa- tions in order to improve the operation. the most important key figure is handling time. We will monitor this closely and set tar- gets for handling times for different types of cases. this will lead to constant improvements. this has not been possible before without considerable manual input, Mats bohman underlines.
although the new system has entailed a big change in working practices for many employees within the municipality, it has been received very positively by the organisation.
– Most members of staff are very happy and feel that the system gives them strong support in their work. for the first time, with just a few clicks they get complete control over all the cases they are responsible for, says Mats bohman, continuing:
– We are also very pleased with acando’s work. Mutual trust and confidence have been strong throughout the development process. and it is noticeable that the consultants live up to the motto ‘passion for improvements’. they are really burning to create improvements through innovation.
net sales per geographic area
n sweden n Germany n norway n other countries
33 %
80 % 57 % 10 %
8 %
25 %
67 %
20 %
acando’s offerinG
in order to act in an ever more global and digitised world, companies must change their focus. On average, a know- ledge worker is said to spend up to two working days a week just searching for information, or people who pos- sess certain information or knowledge. Over the last 100 years, we have focused on very efficient production of physical products; over the coming years, the efficiency of information workers will be critical to competitiveness.
the information-led company
So what type of company fulfils these requirements? In the early noughties, the term “real-time company” was coined.
Real-time companies are about becoming ever quicker at reacting to changes in the world about us.
The vision of the real-time company turned out to be dif- ficult to implement in practice. Many of the initiatives resulted in very complex projects, where the focus was entirely on technology. Even if the concept was a sound one, around 70 percent of these large projects still failed.
In the vision of the information-led company, Acando is continuing to build on the vision of the real-time company, but with the focus on getting the most important informa- tion right, making it accessible, and establishing a culture and tools that simplify collaboration. We are living in a knowledge economy, and are on our way towards a creativity economy, in which we are constantly having to rediscover our own bu- siness, own products and services and to create new markets.
The crucial factor is what we together can do with the informa- tion and the knowledge we have access to.
Information and people are the most important assets of a business
Business information in good order
Organisations must be able to ensure that flows of information, goods, services and monetary resources are under control and supported by integrated processes. Absorbing information is not just about having control over what is happening in the world around us. It is just as important to identify information from our own operation. With an iron grip on operationally critical information, the processes can be integrated internally and with our external surroundings. This makes it possible to manage, lead and change the operation continuously at all levels.
information management
Even if the operation has taken control over its data and ensured that there is only one version of the truth, this will not become the truth until everybody who needs to know it can do so, and actually does so. It is in the use of information that its value is realised. Today, and even more so in the future, we will
»We are living in a knowledge economy,
and are on our way towards a creativity
economy, in which we are constantly having
to rediscover our own business, our own
products and services and to create new
markets. the crucial factor is what we
together can do with the information and
the confeder ation of sWedish enterprise
The Confederation of Swedish
Enterprise increases its level of service to its 55,000 member companies.
the confederation of Swedish enterprise, with more than 50 employer and sector organisations, has launched its big- gest development project to date. When the new business system tellus was introduced, it was the object of consi- derable and intensive collaboration between the cSe and Acando.
together, the cse’s employer and sector organisations represent more than 55,000 member companies. tellus is intended to create the conditions for a new, uniform way of working. the system gathers together all member administration and invoi- cing.
in order to facilitate the implementation of tellus, we elected to base the system on three standard products from Microsoft:
dynamics crM, dynamics aX and biztalk for integration.
– We started the project with solid foundation work, where we agreed common project goals and guidelines. this created a clear goal, which contributed to everybody pulling in the same direction. the time we invested at the beginning of the project paid off many times over during the course of the project, says Marie rudberg, administration director at cse.
some thirty consultants from acando were engaged in the project, together with about the same number of employees from the cse and its member organisations. the project group developed the solution, established a management organisa- tion and implemented the necessary adjustments of adjacent systems.
– acando’s project management functioned like a motor during the entire project period. they were always one step ahead, and had the ability to inspire and enthuse the other project participants. i also appreciate the method support that acando brought to the project. they had a useful toolbox, with different working methods, and also have long experience of similar development projects, which made us feel secure, says Marie rudberg.
have to make something of our data in order to be competi- tive. We must understand it better, use it in new ways, create new information and insights.
Information management includes handling structured and unstructured information, as well as transactional infor- mation. The approaches have often been focused on creating order using traditional ways of working. With the Internet, we have gained an excellent platform for exchanging information and for collaboration. The Internet leads to changes in beha- viour and use of information. Enterprise 2.0 offers completely new ways of collaborating, structuring and finding informa- tion. By adopting its concepts and techniques, information management can create even more value for the operations of the future.
Competence mix secures a holistic perspective
Switching to being an information-led operation means that an organisation must understand both the problems and the opportunities, and do the right thing from the start. Acando possesses the necessary overall view of management con- sulting and IT. The consultants know the information needs of operations, and how systems should be designed in order to contribute the maximum to the operation. They also have experience of how to implement processes and solutions, and how to make an organisation adopt the new and let go of the old.
Continued on next page.
→
What is enterprise 2.0?
Many people assume social media and web 2.0 tools
to be synonymous with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace
and other meeting places on the Internet. Enterprise
2.0 is primarily about how social tools can be used
to improve collaboration, processes and innovation
work, as well as skills and knowledge inventories in and
between operations.
Acando’s services and solutions
Acando offers services and solutions within management consulting, strategic IT, business intelligence, business systems, IT solutions and application management.
Management consulting
Acando’s management consultants use the customer’s business needs as the starting point for creating sustainable improvements. Acando supports customers in implementing improvements by developing the organisation, business culture, direction and management, processes and working methods, as well as the requirements these place on the operation’s IT solutions.
Acando works to ensure the customer quickly achieves the desired improvement effect. At the same time, the foundation for lasting long-term success must be laid. To achieve this, skills and experience from several areas are combined, such as strategy and management consulting, performance mana- gement, direction and risk handling, customer relationship management and supply chain management.
Strategic it
Acando’s range of services and skills within strategic IT is aimed at ensuring customers get the best possible value from IT and ensuring IT is used so as to provide the best possible support for current and future business operations. The consultants have solid understanding and ability, on management and IT-related issues alike. Within strategic IT, Acando works at improving the IT operation throughout the value chain – from need to service, and from purchaser to IT units and IT partners.
The consultants work to establish and handle business-driven transformation of processes and management and decision- making mechanisms for IT as well as the total IT landscape.
Acando uses a utility-based and information-centred approach as the motor for change for the development and efficiency of the operation.
Business intelligence
Business intelligence is an area that has changed in recent times. The focus has clearly moved from technical issues to capturing business-related needs and realising the value of information. The goal is to make better decisions and to ensure that measures taken produce the desired effect. This requires both business competence and technical competence.
acando’s offerinG
Acando’s consultants contribute competence within infor- mation management and support the customer in finding the right management model. The projects are carried out in teams, where experts on management, information and technology collaborate in an effective partnership. Acando uses its own tried and tested methodology in order to achieve maximum business utility and to deliver business intelligence quickly, efficiently and iteratively.
Business systems
Acando is one of the biggest actors within business systems.
The company has a strong position with two of the biggest suppliers of business systems: SAP and Microsoft. Today’s business systems are functionally broad and also include much that was previously found in specialist systems. In order for customers to maximise business utility, Acando offers good understanding of the needs of the operation, and also in- depth knowledge about the technical and functional dimen- sions that today’s business systems cover. Acando supplies the entire chain of services, from needs analysis and procurement to implementation, roll-out, administration and management of change.
»acando offers services and solutions within
management consulting, strategic it, business
intelligence, business systems, it solutions and
application management.«
duni
Duni gets set for a more efficient organisation
For a company with large transaction volumes, as well as employees and sales in many countries, a common It and business platform offers great advantages. For this reason, duni started to consolidate its business systems platform a few years ago.
– using a common business systems platform, we can work in a uniform way, where everybody has access to the same informa- tion and operational support throughout the group. We will save both money and time. this will facilitate new, more efficient pro- cesses and ways of working, says christer sjöberg, cio of duni.
over the last ten years, duni has consolidated and streamlined its operation in order to become more efficient and to focus on its core business. today, there are two different sap platforms remaining; one for the european operation and one for German- speaking countries. in 2009, acando was commissioned to participate in the integration of these into a single, common sap platform for the entire group. in conjunction with this, duni, with support from acando, is also changing the integration platform to sap netWeaver process integration (sap pi).
acando started the sap collaboration with duni in 1998. the first project was the introduction of the business system sap r3, in both the swedish and the danish operations. this was a record-breakingly fast system implementation, which only took 16 weeks. since then, the collaboration with duni has continued, with development and maintenance of solutions for business systems, purchasing, ordering and invoicing, integration plat- form and business intelligence. the relationship has gradually deepened, and in 2008, duni appointed acando as strategic collaboration partner, particularly for business systems and inte- gration. the collaboration also includes advice and development support on a broad front within information management and systems development.
– the partnership means that we get access to considerable competence and resource support within acando as a whole.
this makes collaboration more efficient when we together plan future projects, knowledge transfer and resources, explains christer sjöberg.
Business Systems
Business Intelligence
Management Consulting SolutionsIT
Strategic IT Application Management
it solutions
Acando delivers both tailor-made and packaged IT solutions.
Acando has the competence to assist its customers with solutions based on leading platforms and development environments, often in combination with components and frameworks based on market-leading technologies. The focus is on information handling, and the end product is often a business-supporting business intelligence system, portals or digital document and case handling. Acando has adopted agile and iterative methods, such as Scrum.
Acando is also a major international supplier within the business integration area, and helps its customers to safeguard a strategically correct approach, an efficient organisation for handling integration issues, as well as quality-assured delivery of integration. Acando has many years of experience and spearhead competence within areas that are critical for efficient handling and delivery of integration projects.
Acando’s ability to systematise experiences from previous inte- gration projects, means cost-effective solutions can be offered that are of high quality and deliver concrete business value.
Application management
Today, operations are highly dependent on IT support. Active work with application management and IT service manage- ment becomes a prerequisite for ensuring IT is supporting and delivering services to the operation in an efficient, flexible and secure way. In this way, it can noticeably contribute to the business value of the organisation. Acando has long and solid experience within these areas, and uses the framework of ITIL (IT infrastructure library) as its starting point.
Acando offers support, administration and redevelopment
of an application over its entire life cycle, with the opportunity
of adjusting the service level to the operation and its needs.
Quality, enVironMent and processes
Sustainability is a competitive advantage
Quality is everybody’s responsibility
Senior management’s commitment to quality issues is a crucial parameter for achieving sustained customer satisfaction.
However, all employees have joint responsibility for striving after customer satisfaction by both participating in the deve- lopment of Acando’s intellectual capital and by complying with established processes.
Customer satisfaction is increasing
In order to ensure that work is moving the right direction, Acando regularly carries out customer surveys measuring customer satisfaction. The 2009 survey showed clear improve- ments in all parameters measured, with delivery security being top. Between 2007 and 2009, the customer satisfaction index has risen from 6.78 to 7.18, on a scale of one to ten. Acando’s long-term goal is to reach 8.0. One of the main activities for 2010 is to measure customer satisfaction for each individual assignment over a certain size, in order to carry out structured work on constant improvements. In June 2009, Swedish Quality Index (SKI) reported the result from the 2009 study.
Acando was awarded very high marks from its customers, and was considerably over the sector average.
intellectual capital
The development of Acando’s intellectual capital is coordi- nated by Acando’s senior management, methodology experts and Acando’s quality system. Intellectual capital is stored and made available to all employees through Acando’s know- ledge-sharing system. This is a precise process that requires time and attention. The results are efficient customer underta- kings, reduced risk and smoother processes.
Projects in focus
Acando’s delivery process has always been founded on a strong project management model, training of project mana- gers and quality assurance. While quality scrutiny and audits are usually the controlling factors, work is still in progress to carry out more proactive audits. For instance, there is a specific process for project audits. These audits are carried out during critical stages of undertakings, and provide an independent insight into the ongoing project deliveries, which enables improvements and safeguards final delivery.
environmental work
Acando’s environmental policy states: “Each employee at Acando shall actively work for the sustainable development of society by continuously improving and developing them- selves and all of Acando’s operations”. Acando strives for the operation to have as little negative environmental impact as possible. The biggest contributing factors are consultants’
travel and premises. Acando tries to reduce the impact of travelling by using telephone and video conferences. Acando’s offices are centrally located with good communication facili- ties. During 2010, Acando will move its head office to Water- front Building, a building with uniquely high environmental ambitions.
Quality is an important part of everyday work for Acando, and impinges on everybody in the company. it is central to the delivery to customers, but also in order to ensure that all processes work well. in a very competitive market, quality is a clear competitive advantage.
»senior management’s commitment to quality issues is a crucial parameter for achieving sustained customer satisfaction.
however, all employees have joint responsibility
for striving after customer satisfaction by both
participating in the development of acando’s
intellectual capital and by complying with
established processes.«
Acando’s processes
Direction and management
Sales Delivery
Support processes:
Hr, it, finance, communication and quality
norWeGian Minis try of Jus tice and the police
At the Ministry of Justice, continuous change is the rule, not the exception
one of the goals of the judicial system is to prevent and fight crime. through modern technology, this goal can today be reached both more efficiently and faster. this is the basis for a range of projects aimed at studying and realising information and communication technology in the work of preventing and fighting crime – the architecture is based on SoA (Service oriented Architecture).
the norwegian Ministry of Justice is carrying out several projects relating to electronic interaction in the work of preventing and fighting crime, with exchange of services and tasks between the police, the courts and the correctional system. all projects are based on a common architecture for the sector.
one of the big advantages of correct implementation of soa is increased ability to change. soa also creates opportunities for a gradual switch from current solutions to a future goal.
the new architecture is constructed around some important principles to facilitate future changes to the operation. one example is that the process logic is separated from the functional services, so that routines and organisation can be changed with out having to rewrite the systems. another example is the use of a rule engine for modelling. in this way, the operation can change the rules without having to involve it.
– acando has for many years been a key supplier to the legal sector, and has held several key roles in conjunction with the development of the new business architecture for the sector.
now acando is contributing support for the various projects implementing the new architecture in the operation, says odd storm-paulsen, principal administrative officer at the Ministry of Justice and the police.
Good enterprise architecture will support the strategy and goals of the operation, and must therefore be based on the insight that continuous change is the rule, not the exception.
acando shall:
› integrate environmental issues in its operation, so that the company fulfils and surpasses the requirements of public authorities and customers
› ensure it is perceived as a company committed to environmental issues
› show respect for natural resources, through economical use of raw materials and a high level of recycling
› use energy in a responsible and economical way
› ensure all products and services purchased fulfil high environmental requirements.
Processes
The internal processes are continuously being improved.
One priority area is integrating the sales and delivery processes
in order to create a continuous work flow, from initial sales
opportunity to final customer delivery. Another focus area is
Acando’s risk handling process for sales and delivery, with the
aim of strengthening Acando’s opportunities to plan and react
to issues arising. During 2009, the internal improvement work
resulted in the introduction of a group-wide financial system
starting in Germany and Sweden, a joint recruitment system
and further coordination within the IT area.
eMployees
The best consultants on the market
improved employee offerings
Acando’s employee offering entails the company offering its employees stimulating work, opportunities for career deve- lopment, recognition, a healthy company culture and being part of the continuing building up of a successful consultancy company. When it comes to remuneration and benefits, these have been developed further during the year, with individual private health insurance and parental salary now being a part of the employee offering. A review of the company’s group life, healthcare and business travel insurances has been made, entailing cost reductions with retained or improved protection for employees.
Continuous competence development
More than 90 percent of Acando’s consultants have one or several degrees from university or college.
Within the framework of the Acando Academy, various forms of competence development have been carried out during the year. Examples of areas where employees have been trained are project management, workshop techniques, the handling of change, management methods and models, business systems and lean.
Newly appointed managers have also started their further development in the Acando Leadership Academy, where the aim is to strengthen the leaders’ ability to create and
n 0–2 years n 3–5 years n 6–10 years
n 11–20 years n 21 years –
number of years of employment
other years sweden Germany norway countries total
0–2 258 95 41 64 458
3–5 158 114 26 28 326
6–10 137 56 12 12 217
11–20 51 0 10 3 64
21– 32 0 0 0 32
636 265 89 107 1,097
number of years of employment in the Group
age distribution in the Group
n –25 years n 26–29 years n 30–39 years
n 40–49 years n 50–59 years n 60 years –
Age distribution
other years sweden Germany norway countries total
–25 0 7 2 2 11
26–29 31 40 11 6 88
30–39 235 99 43 42 419
40–49 236 79 30 34 379
50–59 105 37 3 22 167
60– 29 3 0 1 33
636 265 89 107 1,097
number of men and women in the Group
n Women n Men
For a competence company like Acando, success is tied up with the employees and their development.
An important goal is therefore to ensure Acando is attractive to the best consultants on the market within it, business systems and management consulting.
Strategic Hr areas
Acando’s strategic HR areas are those that attract the employees of today and tomorrow:
› meaningful and stimulating work – work content that develops
› continuous competence development and increased responsibility – a successful career
› constructive feedback in combination with attractive remuneration and benefits – recognition
› colleagues with sound and business-like values – a healthy company culture
› participation in a successful company – pride.
All work within the HR area is constantly aimed at making Acando an even better employer on the basis of the areas above, in combination with a higher degree of efficiency within the HR area.
number of men and women
other sweden Germany norway countries total
Women 187 34 15 18 254
Men 449 231 74 89 843
636 265 89 107 1,097
develop business, in combination with close leadership. The programme includes various items in the form of Acando’s vision, goal and strategy, self-awareness, flexible leadership, leading teams, communication, etcetera. At the same time, it is today possible to see the positive effects of the leadership programmes carried out previously, in the form of increased understanding of Acando’s total offering, a higher degree of internal collaboration, as well as better dialogues with custo- mers, partners and employees. This strengthened leadership is also reflected in the employee survey, where the leadership received good marks throughout from the employees.
Continued recruitment
During the year, Acando has continued to recruit within areas where demand for consultancy services has been good. This has meant that several introduction events for new employees have been held. The aim has been for each individual staff member to get a good picture of the opportunities that exist within Acando, and the expectations that Acando has of its employees. During these days, an introduction to Acando’s history, overriding goals and strategies is also given. Expe- rience-based learning is also used in relation to how Acando works with sales, delivery of customer projects, the goal con- flicts and dilemmas consultants encounter on a daily basis, and also what characterises a successful Acando consultant.
During the year, a new web-based recruitment service has been introduced, which means that the handling of candi- dates has become both easier and better and consequently more efficient than before.
As the Acando brand celebrated its 10th anniversary, an alumni gathering with former Acando employees was held.
The response was very positive from the participants.
employee survey
The annual employee survey and associated improvement initiatives form an integrated part of the business planning and budget process. The areas that most stand out as positive are development opportunities, motivating leadership and structured leadership. Security and congeniality as well as motivation for work are also above those of the comparison companies.
»acando’s employees offering entails the company offering its employees stimulating work, opportunities for career development, recognition, a healthy company culture and being part of the continuous building up of a successful consultancy company.«
norsK riK s toto
Norsk Rikstoto strengthens horse racing with the intranet of the future
norsk rikstoto together with Acando have developed norway’s first intranet solution based on Sharepoint 2010.
the solution is a full-scale web 2.0 solution, which provides totally new opportunities for collaboration and coopera- tion. the result is greater efficiency and improved opera- tional quality.
– With the new solution, the employees have got a system where they can find all the necessary information about the company, projects in progress, other employees, customers and collabo- rating partners. the solution facilitates collaboration and makes the employees more efficient. now we can deliver work input of even higher quality, says cathrine holter saxebøl, project manager at norsk rikstoto.
the norsk rikstoto foundation, with its head office in oslo, has the licence to offer gambling on horse racing in norway.
More than 400,000 registered gamblers are served by 1,300 commission agents. solutions on the internet and a stand-alone tV channel broadcast the races. the aim of the foundation is to strengthen horse racing and breeding in norway.
in 2009, acando received the assignment to develop norsk rikstoto’s new intranet. the new intranet was to gather together information and make it available for the employees in a new and improved way. the solution was also to provide better support for collaboration and to make the employees visible with web 2.0 functionality.
as launch partner of Microsoft for sharepoint 2010, acando gained access to early product versions for its pilot customers. in this way, norsk rikstoto was able to get a flexible web 2.0 solution containing functions for internal news publication, project space and own pages for each department and section.
additionally, each employee is presented with links to per-
sonal content with the aid of My page. together with infopath
and excel services, a powerful collaborative solution was
implemented with schedule registration and internal financial
reporting. the solution is also integrated with other solutions at
rikstoto.
Structure for collaboration
Acando’s operation is carried out in six countries. the 1,100 employees of the Group work to help customers succeed within many different areas, but always with focus on sustainable solutions for the customer’s operation. in order to work efficiently, Acando has a flat organisation that favours integration between delivery areas and countries. the key word for the structure is cooperation.
Group management is close to the operation Group management consists of seven people:
› Carl-Magnus Månsson, MD and Group CEO
› Gunilla Bjerre, Deputy MD and responsible for marketing and communications, quality, HR, IT and premises
› Aasmund Fröseth, MD, Norway
› Lotta Jarleryd, CFO
› John Karnblad, CTO
› Michael Mörchen, MD, Germany
› Christer Norrman, Deputy MD and Sweden Manager the same offering in all countries
Denmark, Finland, Norway, the UK, Sweden and Germany are all free-standing country organisations. Thanks to cross- border collaboration, Acando’s total offering can be delivered in all six countries.
orGanisation
Md and Group ceo carl-Magnus Månsson
norway
Md aasmund fröseth
Major customers:
politiets data- og materielltjeneste, Kongsberg seatex, helse sørØst rhf, dnb nor bank, statens Vegvesen Vegdirektoratet.
Market comment:
acando in norway offers a broad range of services and solutions within it.
during 2009, the company gradually strengthened its position as a leading supplier of solutions for the public sector based on open source code.
www.acando.no
Danmark
Md anders engdal
Major customers:
Vestas Wind systems, banedanmark, Mondux forsikring, seas nVe holding.
Market comment:
acando in denmark operates within business systems (sap), business intelli- gence and management consultancy. the acquisition of March it strengthened the position further within sap, specifically within mobile solutions and logistics.
www.acando.dk
united Kingdom
Md phil Jacklin
Major customers:
astraZeneca, boehringer ingelheim, nycomed.
Market comment:
in the uK, acando delivers mainly it solutions, strategic it and management consultancy. during the autumn, the business was consolidated in order to increase efficiency and cut costs.
www.acando.co.uk
danderyd hospital
Vitally important improvements at Danderyd Hospital
At danderyd Hospital Heart clinic, waiting time in the emer- gency room and overcrowding on the wards have decreased sharply recently. At the same time, the staff have become more satisfied and less stressed. the improvement is pri- marily due to new working practices and routines designed according to lean management, which Acando has helped to introduce.
– the goal of lean was to improve the working situation of staff by reducing stress and increasing their participation in the development of the operation. the new format for working and collaborating has led to more efficient reception and handling of patients, a quicker referral and discharge procedure, and fewer patients leaving the emergency room before being seen, says Marie bennermo, consultant heart surgeon at danderyd hospital.
the first stage of the work started in spring 2009. the emer- gency room and two wards were the first to be introduced to the new way of working and thinking. Just a few months later, the results showed. Queuing and treatment times in the emergency room fell rapidly. by autumn 2009, 93 percent of emergency patients had their treatment completed within four hours, which was an improvement of almost 90 percent.
– We also noticed that the proportion of patients leaving the emergency room before being seen fell by 60 percent, due to shorter waiting times. this is of enormous importance. the earlier we can diagnose a heart problem, the smaller the damage and the more efficient the treatment, stresses Marie bennermo.
lean has also reduced overcrowding on the wards and has led to treatment being initiated more rapidly. according to Marie bennermo, the improved care is due to new, more efficient working practices, better order, smoother patient handling and more efficient collaboration between doctors, nurses and auxiliaries.
the introduction of lean in the heart clinic has been such a success that the hospital’s management has decided to intro- duce lean throughout the hospital.
Sweden
sweden Manager christer norrman
Major customers:
astraZeneca, ericsson, Vattenfall, Volvo.
Market comment:
acando in sweden has a comprehensive offering of services and solutions within management and it. Growth has been good during the year within application management and business intelligence, and the development within the it area was stable.
www.acando.se
Md Michael Mörchen
Germany
Major customers:
eads/airbus, Vattenfall europe, hansenet, iKea it, comdirect.
Market comment:
the German operation offers a broad range of services and solutions within management and it. collaboration with several of the major customers was strengthened further during 2009, at the same time as a number of new customer relationships were initiated.
www.acando.de
Finland
Md ferhat Kaya
Major customers:
altia, anglo nordic.
Market comment:
the operation in finland specialises in sap projects and continues to develop well with good profitability. during 2009, the sap offering was complemented with business intelligence-related services.
www.acando.fi
