An article by SAP in the November issue of “The Inside Track” e-zine for partners, read the original here.
Janina Luoto is the CEO and owner of Finnish SAP gold-partner Islet Group. A family-owned — and run — business, Islet has a strong sense of culture and a profound drive to deliver tech for good. Earlier in 2020 Janina was also a finalist in the Nordic Women in Tech awards, in the Digital Leader category.
Islet has a really clear goal: to implement business-leading, cloud-first SAP technology that makes a difference to customers and to the planet. The 22-year-old company, with offices in Finland and Hungary, has undergone a major transformation enabling it to deliver solutions fast for its client-base and grow its team of ‘Isletters’ even in the most challenging of climates. “We’ve always been pioneering in our diverse thinking and working in the world of tech,” explains Janina. “We were founded 22 years ago by my mother, which was very unusual in IT at that time, and since then we have actively promoted equal opportunities in our industry.”
Indeed, 50% of the workforce and management team are women and Islet cooperates regularly with organisations such as the Mimmit Koodaa (women code) movement, which aims to inspire women to learn to code and steer their career paths towards opportunities in tech. This forward-looking, pioneering spirit was the driving force behind Islet’s transformation into a sustainably growing cloud first business.
Says Janina: “Over the past five years we’ve undergone a huge change, not just in terms of how we look and feel as a business but in terms of becoming truly a different kind of player in the market. We have an agile methodology to deliver, for example, full scale S/4HANA Cloud, SAP Business ByDesign and Ariba solutions totally online. It takes us three months on average to close opportunities.”
As partners, we need to transform to be ready for tomorrow. It requires a mindset change for sure but as an ecosystem we need to be ready for that shift in how the world interacts with tech. Also, different technology ecosystems come together which requires broader capabilities and understanding as well as closer cooperation between partners.
The results of putting customers and employees first and moving towards a cloud first business model are clear to see: last year Islet grew by 64% and, even with the arrival of a pandemic, 2020 will see growth continue by a further 30%. “Operating in the cloud space means we have recurring revenue secured for the next three to five years. It’s very positive and makes it easier to forecast.”
Recently becoming one of the first SAP Ariba partners in Finland, Islet is looking for an even stronger footprint on the cloud business. The company also regularly collaborates with other partners to deliver innovative projects. But, as Janina says, the passion that lies behind the company is the endeavour to change the world for the better by harnessing the best of technology.
We are here for more than just implementing the tech: with tech we can save the world. We are currently developing a sustainability framework to help customers to bring sustainability to the next level in their technology projects.
The company itself takes the long-term view on sustainability, encouraging its team to drive forward a series of projects including, for example, the Baltic Sea protection programme #ISLETGoesItämeri which challenged people to run, bike or walk and raise money for every kilometre covered, and the Women Code (#mimmitkoodaa) movement, the aim of which is to increase equality in the Finnish software industry by providing accessible, free-of-charge, workshops for women interested in coding but with no previous experience. Janina is also a Sustainable Development Steering Committee Member at the Finnish Family Business Association: engaging and empowering family businesses towards a more sustainable future.
“Despite the unfortunate world situation at the moment, we see that the impact of digitalisation and the amount of software driven business, also within traditional industries, will grow remarkably in the coming years. Our goal is to triple our business in five years, by investing in our people, customers and sustainability.”
#IsletGroup #SAP #SAPpartner #SAPInsideTrack #introduction