During the company’s new offices inauguration in Esch-Belval, Olivier Spahn, partner of delaware Belux and Managing Director of delaware Luxembourg, confided for an exclusive interview. He talked about the firm, its growth and what the future has in store for delaware Luxembourg.

delaware is a well-known global IT company, established almost 20 years ago. Can you introduce your activity, and the services you provide?

delaware was founded in 2003 by 3 partners who left Deloitte Belgium, accompanied with 120 consultants. Today, the company employs 3500 people worldwide, can rely on 70 partners, has 30 offices in over 15 countries. Working on 3 ecosystems – SAP with OpenText, Microsoft and Salesforce –, delaware generates a turnover of 450 million of euros.

During its first years, the company offered services essentially focused on SAP, with the will to provide mid to large-sized clients. Now, we cover the full SAP ecosystem – SAP S/4HANA, SAP RISE, SAP CX, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Concur, etc. –, but also Microsoft – with Azure, data analytics, Office 360, AI, ERP, which includes Microsoft Business Central and Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations… –, and Salesforce – with the basic CRM functionalities but also the development on the Salesforce integration platforms.

delaware has evolved into a global company that delivers advanced ICT solutions and services. We develop, innovate and implement international management consulting, effective strategies and change management solutions. We’re supporting our customers in their business and digital transformation, providing them the insights, the advice and the tools they need to achieve their business goals. 

On what fundamental principles delaware is based on?

At delaware, we really want to create a positive impact in a challenging world. Our goal is to build an organization that lasts – a company that lives on through succeeding generations and our customers’ successes. To be able to achieve that dream we need to respect the world we live in. Taking care of our people and having a positive impact on our environment are essential elements of what we wish to accomplish. We share the same values for 20 years: care and respect for our employees, our clients and our partners; team spirit, because we try to be the best advisers to our clients, assisting them in their digital transformation; entrepreneurship, in that every consultant has its chance to become associate at delaware one day; commitment, as our motto attests to: "we commit, we deliver".

delaware has its headquarters in Belgium and expanded over the years to other European countries like France, the Netherlands, UK and Germany, but also to Asia with a.o. China, to the United States and to Brazil. What’s your presence on the market in Luxembourg today?

We grew fast in the Luxembourgish market: the size of the company has doubled every year for 3 years now. Even if our evolution is stabilising, we will keep growing in the country. delaware Luxembourg was created in 2011, after a merge between Alliance Consulting and delaware. As we are part of delaware Belux, we have 7 offices in both Belgium and Luxembourg: 6 in Belgium, and the one we’re just opening, in Esch-Belval. Knowing that, our 50 Luxembourgish consultants and 1500 Belgian employees can work on projects in the two neighbouring countries. 

In Luxembourg, our company still has a focus on SAP solutions, providing customers – like SES, ArcelorMittal, POST Luxembourg, Cargolux, Viking, Landewyck, Foyer Assurances, and more… – with traditional SAP projects or support, focused on ERP scope. Some of our Belgian colleagues also provide The Luxembourg State – CTIE, CGDIS, Police…–, mainly in Human resources. We have 26 SAP consultants in Luxembourg, who cover the Core ERP in SAP S/4HANA.

Concerning Microsoft, our main customers are Quintet, BIL, Hëllef Doheem… In 2020, after the great success story with Microsoft in Belgium, we wanted to develop and implement this ecosystem in Luxembourg too. delaware Luxembourg established a local Microsoft team of 25 experienced consultants on Azure, Data, Modern Workplace and now, also on Business Central. And it was a great initiative: we notice the benefits, as our activity has grown a lot since creating the team! As Microsoft is also a Belux organization, we were able to immediately acquire the much-coveted Azure Expert Managed Services Provider (MSP) certification, which is unique in Luxembourg.

Sometimes, we also cross-sell our ecosystems, SAP and Microsoft: Landewik and Quintet opted for this possibility, for example.

Finally, over the 50 and more employees in our company in Luxembourg, we can count 20 nationalities. This diversity embodies Luxembourg, which is a cosmopolitan place, with a global outlook.

In 2019, you moved to Bertrange, getting you closer to your partner SAP. Today, what are the motivations that led this choice of moving to Esch-Belval? What opportunities can the opening of these new premises offer to delaware Luxembourg?

Right after Luxembourg City, Belval is probably the other economic heart and soul of the country. We stay near to our clients in Belgium, Luxembourg and France. The fact that the office is in a modern and active city, with an ease of transport is a real opportunity for our consultants, whether they are coming from Belgium or France. In addition, we have some customers in Belval, like the University of Luxembourg. We really wanted to find an office, that we could give that typical delaware look & feel, and where all our employees could gather, after this covid period. Now, it's a done deal! It was the right choice for us to move here.

How do you plan your evolution in the next years? 

We are totally aligned with our local Luxembourgish market, and perfectly integrated within the strategy of our group. But we also have some specific projects for our various ecosystems. 

Moving to SAP S/4HANA will be a mandatory step soon for many companies. We aim to support both existing and new customers with this transition.

We feel that new opportunities for Microsoft Office 365 and Azure in Luxembourg will emerge, due to recent regulatory changes in the last 2 years – specifically in the financial sector. We will also invest in Business Central, since ERP is our core business, and one of our main goals is to become the 1st actor in Business Central in Luxembourg in the next 3 years.

So, we plan to keep developing our services in Luxembourg with our 2 partners – SAP and Microsoft – to whom we are close. And, in addition, we would like to develop a third ecosystem, with Salesforce.

Last but not least, we will also focus on preparing the next generation of leaders. We hired 150 juniors in Belgium and 10 in Luxembourg on September 1st, 2022 who will rub shoulders with more experimented consultants and gain experience.