A company’s most efficient and probably most lucrative working tool today is a smart database

While many people are spooked by the breakneck speed of change in the IT sector, smart managers are using new technologies and methods alongside accelerated working practices to exploit this evolution for its economic advantage. This approach does, however, require sound marketing and IT knowledge and ongoing training. To obtain this, smart business managers will promote the building up of internal expertise and make selective use of external specialists.

Interview with Roger Kriz in 2017, member of the Management Board and Key Account Manager at n c ag, Urdorf – Thomas Gysin

The database: deemed the central hub, or so-called nerve center, of a production or retail company. In no other sectors are technologies and methods changing and growing faster. The technical and organizational complexity thus demands that you have a confident overall view of everything. And this is exactly why, as an add-on to internal knowledge, external support with solid experience in similar or even unrelated industries is needed. The input of external expertise is, so to speak, creative controlling, allowing the right strategic decisions to ultimately be made. Particularly when introducing new processes and new software systems, external experience can help ensure smooth and trouble-free implementation into existing digitalization projects or ones being set up. The perspective of an external expert is especially valuable, says Kriz, because it comes free of bias and their solutions are often simpler and thus more efficient.

Standard software or customized solutions?

On the surface of it, opting for standard software is often aimed at finding a faster and more economical solution. Added to this is the view that standard solutions are reliable and a safe bet as they have been installed elsewhere and are already used by many other customers. But, figuratively speaking, we are not talking “tailor-made” or “off-the-shelf” solutions here – the consequences are far greater. Important interfaces could be lost and work processes can easily lead to dead ends. If all target groups could no longer get the relevant information at the right time because they were forced to go through a lengthy official procedure in a standardized process, this would lead to a fatal slowdown of all work processes – throughout the company. The scope of action would be drastically restricted, and competitiveness would ultimately be lost. That is why n c ag provides a lot more than just sales consulting for off-the-shelf software solutions.

As Roger Kriz puts it, his job is to think entrepreneurially, to understand the work processes of a company, to expedite them with individual solutions, to make them simple and secure, to offer them at market conditions, and also to guarantee 24-hour support.

Operating internationally, 8,500 employees, 30,000 products, 20 languages, one central database, one system: it’s not easy, but it has to be made straightforward.

This is given as an example, and it applies to large corporations just as much as to small and medium-sized companies, says Roger Kriz: Where employees from different countries have to communicate and access the same data, obviously in the local language and taking into account the local currency, technical and legal requirements, in order to make decisions at the same time – today, all this can only work by having a smart database.

Of course, you could claim that this was possible in the past without IT support. Yes, that is true. But you have to consider that the time differences on the various continents didn’t allow for immediate availability, language barriers had to be overcome using interpreters or complex translations, and country-specific contracts had to be worked out before decisions could be made. Yes, it was all possible back then, but nowadays it wouldn’t be competitive.

Also worthy of mention are web-to-print options. Because, even in a distant future, the world will not be without print products. Catalogs, price lists, instructions for technical installations and, of course, business stationery, product sheets and advertising materials – they will always exist. A database must be linked to automated standardized layouts, incorporating all CI specifications, and have data ready for retrieval – the images and graphics in your preferred resolution, the texts in all required languages and with country-specific characteristics. Today, for example, if a Swiss SME needs a 200-page catalog with country-specific product images, prices and technical descriptions for 20 different countries in 20 languages, it has to be printed and delivered in under two weeks.

Strategic consultant, then database architect, finally 24-hour supporter!

At n c ag, Roger Kriz is first and foremost a strategic advisor for customers, not just keeping an eye on IT technology but also having to think entrepreneurially. His responsibility is to plan projects that incorporate the absolute optimum in terms of technical possibilities on the one hand, and are economically viable in every way on the other. When setting up and expanding a database, he guides the customer like an architect, monitoring each individual step, and can’t simply pass on his responsibility when the project is completed. A database has to function around the clock, be intuitive for all users, even for complex tasks. And it must also remain competitive for several IT years, so has to be scalable and compatible with future software updates.