Growth in the IT sector demands more than just relentless expansion. For netgo, a strategy, solution, and service provider focusing on applications & data, cloud offerings, data centers, networks, and security, it’s also about successfully integrating new elements across its operations to promote efficiency and continue making customer satisfaction a priority.
As one of Germany’s 20 largest IT solutions providers, netgo is on a mission to break into the top ten in the next decade. “Our strategy isn’t solely rooted in organic growth. We’re broadening our horizons by acquiring interesting companies that expand our portfolio or strengthen our market position,” says Andreas Rohde, Compliance Officer and Head of Integrated Management Systems at netgo.
The complexity of balancing growth and compliance
Navigating such rapid expansion has its challenges. After acquiring 13 companies over five years, netgo was struggling to scale and integrate. Each new acquisition brought a new set of methodologies and practices to the organization, as well as a new group of employees who were suddenly asked to let go of the way they’d always done things. To grow successfully through acquisition, netgo must integrate different corporate cultures, assimilate new internal processes, and ensure that it maintains a unified approach to compliance.
By 2019, the company had grown so much, so quickly, that it clearly needed a centralized, adaptable platform to harmonize all its disparate systems and processes.
Starting with sales process bottlenecks
The need to centralize sales processes first drove netgo to action.
At the time, the company’s former CEO and founder was personally responsible for a critical PDF sales guide which was updated annually. But the bottleneck in access to the CEO and the inability to frequently refresh and disseminate the sales guide across internal teams made it clear that the company needed a new approach. It needed a tool that could visualize, segment, and manage the sales guide as a company-wide process.
Mapping and optimizing processes across multiple teams
In its quest for such a solution, netgo found Nintex. The Nintex Process Platform provided netgo with the straightforward, intuitive solutions it needed to map, share, assess, and optimize its sales processes across teams. Automated workflows ensured both new and existing employees were easily able to adhere to essential sales processes, affording a clear, transparent view of roles and processes.
“Our use of Nintex capabilities was very intentional,” said Rohde. “Nintex promised platform compatibility with key systems, and its intuitive nature stood out without compromising depth or capability.” Nintex’s organized folder structure also facilitated process navigation. Because each process could be marked with its designated owners and experts, roles were not just defined but visible and accessible across an ever-expanding organization.
The original PDF sales guide, spanning over 157 pages and heavily text-based, has been significantly improved through the implementation of Nintex Process Manager. The guide has been transformed through into multiple processes, making it much clearer and more accessible for our employees. This change has greatly simplified onboarding for new sales managers, enabling them to quickly understand and adapt to netgo’s sales processes.
Managing complex compliance and certification requirements
As a result of its expansion, netgo also encountered several compliance and certification challenges that stood between it and the next stages of growth. In addition to adhering to legal requirements such as the new German Supply Chain Protection Act and establishing a whistleblower system, it also sought to expand its certification status. This included adopting the international standard specifying requirements for a quality management system (ISO 9001 and ISO 20000), an environmental management system (ISO 14001), and information security management systems (ISO 27001).
netgo used Nintex to streamline, document, and communicate processes throughout its operations. Nintex simplified the ISO certification process as the platform promoted teamwork and facilitated collaboration. Additionally, it centralized and standardized processes, allowing for clearer oversight and easy updates. The Nintex audit trails reduced risks and pinpointed opportunities for improvement, aligning seamlessly with the ISO’s focus on continuous progress. By visualizing the processes, employees now have access to clear documentation that helps them better understand and engage with the workflows related to their tasks. This has also reduced the risk of deviating from the established processes and minimized the occurrence of mistakes.
“Securing ISO certifications becomes more efficient and cost-effective as everything is methodically organized. There’s no need to sift through old documents for evidence—it’s all readily available,” Rohde states. “The mandatory approvals, escalations, and notifications control process deviations reduce exposure to risk and the number of errors experienced. This tight control, an easy to access audit trail, and clear evidence means the certifiers are in and out quicker.”
Workflow reduces time, and errors and builds a culture of continuous improvement and accountability
The company also integrated Nintex capabilities into other operational workflows and has seen improvements across the board. With netgo employee onboarding, for example, the newly structured process saves time for new hires and management alike, while significantly reducing paperwork errors. The establishment of process managers and contacts, and the emphasis on continual documentation and refinement, have transformed netgo’s workflows, and feedback from new employees has been more positive than ever.
netgo’s work with Nintex goes beyond unifying and centralizing systems and helps to optimize the greater organization. “We’ve been able to move toward a renewed clarity, direction, and vision,” said Rohde. Fostering process ownership and emphasizing continuous refinement has helped the company grow a vibrant culture of accountability.
The road ahead
As netgo charts its ambitious journey forward, the insights from this phase of growth will continue to deliver value. The company has used Nintex to find unity within a heterogeneous and ever-evolving workplace. As it moves forward, the netgo team will aim to keep balancing detailed process management and tight compliance standards with new acquisitions and maintaining the flexibility to always innovate for their customers. With the right tools, strategies, and partners—including Nintex —in place, netgo is poised for exponential growth within Germany and beyond.
