Alexander Zaal, manager at SG: “Zanders is very strong on substance. That fits in well with our culture.”
Partner: SG Automatisering
Down to business, northern style
As an IT service provider operating across the Netherlands, SG|automatisering (SG) has been working for nearly 30 years for property managers, local authorities and healthcare institutions.
The paths of Zanders and SG cross regularly. They are a well-matched couple. “Like Zanders, we prefer to let our results speak for themselves,” explains Alexander Zaal, a manager at SG.
With its treasury management system SG|treasury, SG is the market leader in the housing association sector. The company also holds a prominent position among local authorities and healthcare institutions. Thanks to its sector-specific functionality and the many years ofexperience with automating treasury processes, SG|treasury dovetails with the information needs of organisations in the public sector. And with its ERP system SG|tobias, SG is one of the main providers in the housing association sector.
“The cooperation with Zanders leads to improvements in our software, which benefits all our clients.”
In recent years SG’s and Zanders’s paths have crossed regularly. After all, Zanders also supports various public sector organisations with treasury advice. The necessary information is often supplied by SG|treasury.
Zanders and SG introduce treasury scan at a distance
SG also sells an ASP variant of its treasury software. This means that the software runs on a server at SG and can then be accessed anywhere in the world via the internet. Organisations which buy this software on demand can benefit from a new service provided by Zanders and SG, the Treasury Scan ASP.
This scan consists of a remote analysis of an organization’s financial position from a treasury perspective. The findings of the treasury scan can be laid down in a report with conclusions, recommendations, specific improvements and proposed follow-up actions or transactions.
Hence it is hardly surprising that the contacts between SG and Zanders have gradually become more intensive in an effort to raise their mutual service provision to an even higher level. While retaining their independence, both companies want to combine their knowledge and expertise in the treasury sphere. This enabled Zanders to use its expertise to make a major contribution to the development of SG|treasury.
The knowledge partnership between SG and Zanders has led, for instance, to improvements in SG’s treasury software and the introduction of a new service, the Treasury Scan ASP (see box). SG knows the housing association market inside out. “We’ve been active in this market for 30 years,” says Zaal. “That’s a long time. And the only way to do this is through long-term relationships.That’s how we know exactly what’s going on. We know like no other the challenges which housing associations face.” The housing association world is always in flux.
The market is always changing. Zaal confirms this: “It’s true, a lot has changed. There’s the introduction of the direct payment of corporation tax. Or the introduction of the Consultation Act, which governs relations between landlords and tenants. We offer our solutions in order to respond to these developments as quickly as we can.” Zaal heads Treasury & Property Management at SG. This business unit is responsible for, among other things, the SG|treasury package. SG|treasury supports asset managers with information and knowledge. It is a powerful application which offers tools at strategic and operational level to develop and implement effective asset management policies.
Knowledge appreciated
Zaal is himself a certified corporate treasurer. He followed the course at his employer’s request. SG explicitly invests in knowledge. “Our unit has five certified treasurers”, he explains. “So we also step in at treasury departments to support the corporate treasurer at operational level. This makes us more than just a software supplier. We know very well what we are talking about.” That knowledge is appreciated, as is shown by the figures. More than 130 housing associations use SG software; and of the 25 largest associations, 21 use SG’s treasury software. And 20 of the 26 municipalities with populations over 100,000 are now also using the package.
“Our software is ideal for the public sector and the health service,” according to Zaal. “Our solutions are fully geared to the very specific laws and regulations which public sector organisations need to comply with. For instance, it’s very easy to print out particular documents required with the annual accounts. It’s almost impossible to prepare these documents in Excel, but in our system it can be done with a couple of clicks.” Another advantage is SG’s ability to connect to a records database without any customisation.
Also for medium-sized organisations
For a long time the professionalisation of treasury managementwas the domain of large organisations. That is changing gradually. Medium-sized organisations are now also recognising the importance of streamlined treasury management and the accompanying software. According to Zaal: “These organisations also want to determine their market value, register their derivatives, and document their cash flows more effectively. Our software is very well suited to help them with all these activities. The system has many features as standard. These features can be scaled up step-by-step as required.”
In these situations SG invariably acts solely as a supplier of software: “We don’t want to be an adviser. The roles of supplier and adviser should be kept strictly separate. Our core business is software, and we stick to that. We provide the software and its implementation. Zanders then often gives advice on the use of the system.”
“We only enter into partnerships with companies that have proved themselves and can offer clear added value through their products or knowledge. We have been working with Zanders since the year 2000. They know how to use our system, and they are familiar with the structure of our software like no other.” But there is more to the Zanders-SG partnership.
For instance, Zanders also actively contributes to the improvement of SG’s software. Sometimes this even leads to a new product. Zaal says: “There’s no doubt that the cooperation with Zanders leads to improvements in our software, which benefits all our clients. A good example is the development of our derivatives module.”
What does Zaal think about the cooperation with Zanders? “What we appreciate in the Zanders people is their constructive criticism. And there’s an accessible, open atmosphere at the company. It’s also very strong on substance. That fits in well with our culture. We’re consultants who eat, sleep and drink treasury management. Just like Zanders, we prefer to let our results speak for themselves.”
