Rod Taubman (Acclimation)
While some companies may be focusing on business continuity during uncertain times, Acclimation managing director Rod Taubman believes those that go out and take a chance now will be better prepared for financial uncertainty than those that don’t.
‘Business as usual’ is a term that is starting to lose relevance during the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Instead of going back to old ways, the managing director for the SAP consultancy believes customers should be trying to find a new way forward.
“At this time, fortune favours the bold and, while many companies are focused on building business liquidity and maintaining business as usual, business leaders that are seizing this opportunity to prepare for change will be better prepared for a recession than those taking a wait-and-see approach,” Taubman told ARN.
“In the past six months, many of Acclimation’s customers have used the slower period to invest in new technologies and leverage the expertise of their key people who now have the bandwidth to prepare for an inevitable market reshuffle.”
Some of these customers may soon be sourced from Queensland and Western Australia, as Acclimation is looking to expand into those states, even with the ongoing pandemic.
Its strategy, which Taubman said comes during an business environment that is likely to be “never the same as before the pandemic,” also includes a stronger focus on supply chain solutions, as Acclimation’s customers have been re-evaluating their risks around supply chains and logistics.
“There is also an eagerness to streamline B2B and B2C with supply chain, e-commerce and procurement solutions. In a world with less face-to-face interactions, efficient workflows are key,” he added.
Finding success for the consultancy at the moment, Taubman continued, is based on stability, the ability to de-risk projects, providing cloud solutions and having the infrastructure to be able to work and deliver solutions from anywhere.
The latter attribute is something that Acclimation has particularly embraced, as it has experience with remote solution deliveries, and has in fact pivoted to almost 100 per cent remote delivery.
“Customers are happy to engage with Acclimation in this way because it has a history of delivering successfully in this manner pre-pandemic,” Taubman said.
To build up these customers, the consultancy is focused on customer retention and growth – a part of its strategy that has persisted from before the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the retention side, Acclimation expanded its services in support and other managed services, while the acquisition side sees it bringing in customers in existing markets, as well as new locations, such as the aforementioned expansion into Queensland and Western Australia.
As for how these customers are engaging with the consultancy, this is happening through cloud, digital transformation, supply chain and analytics projects, as well as online and e-commerce investments.
Taubman also sees customer demand demand increasing for its SAP application management service growing due to the rising numbers those wanting to move to the cloud.
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