Qics' leap forward. A new era in project management
26-04-2024
Main Capital Partners' investment in Qics
More than two years ago, Main Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Qics. Our goal of the buy-and-build strategy we execute with Main is twofold. On the one hand, we want to introduce our solutions to the international market. On the other hand, we want to have the strength to expand our product range and serve other verticals as a leading best-of-breed player.
Why buy-and-build
As a small best-of-breed player, you can often only focus on one specific target group – in our case accountancy – with one product, within one country. But if you want to achieve more, you either have to work twice as hard or take over another business, in the Netherlands or abroad. With our buy-and-build strategy, we want to grow both organically and through acquisitions.
Focus on project management software
The world of acquisitions was a new for us. When we started working with Main, we first started researching what would suit us. During that research, it became clear that we want to focus on project management software. Our own software, QicsMilestones, also focuses partly on project management, but does not cover the entire spectrum. QicsMilestones mainly focuses on the operational aspect, the process itself, and in particular its financial settlement. The project is already there, with QicsMilestones you can then monitor your budgets, plan, account for hours and send invoices at the end of the ride. Software is also needed to manage the projects themselves. This includes assigning tasks to different people, creating Gantt charts to plot the work over time and recording dependencies. Of course, you can go one step further, or one step back, depending on how you look at it. It is also important that a project fits within your strategy. No matter how big your business is, you'll always have to deal with limited resources. That's why it's important that you choose the projects that best align with your strategy.
Partners in project and portfolio management
We then started looking for companies that are active in this field. In doing so, we found two parties: the Danish ProjectFlow and the Dutch Fortes. ProjectFlow provides an intuitive Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) tool. They really put an emphasis on monitoring projects, assigning tasks, and ensuring a proper distribution of work. Fortes focuses mainly on strategic portfolio management and scaled agile In other words, they cover the process from idea to realization: it starts with determining which projects a company should carry out in the first place.
Project support from A to Z
With QicsMilestones, in combination with what these two parties offer, we can support organizations from A to Z in their projects. This starts with making decisions about whether or not to start a project, evaluating its contribution to the strategy, estimating the costs and benefits, scheduling resources, monitoring the progress of the projects and sending invoices. In addition, we can also assist organizations that carry out internal projects, such as change projects, where the invoicing of hours is not applicable or where hours are not directly linked to an invoice. These organizations also need appropriate tools to manage such projects effectively.
Expansion of services and expertise
All of this means not only that we can expand our presence to multiple countries, but also that we can serve a wider range of sectors. In addition to our focus on the accountancy sector, which we of course still pay full attention to, we are now also attractive to larger ICT companies, for example. We can offer added value to them by not only supporting them in the execution of projects, but also in strategizing and effectively managing projects, including agile working. In addition, we can use our extensive expertise in the field of data warehousing and analytics to provide Fortes and ProjectFlow's customers with high-quality reports and analyses.
An amalgamation of three companies
Although we are technically acquiring two companies, it feels more like merging three entities into a new company. We can now support projects much more broadly than we ever could have done on our own, and we can expand our activities to multiple countries. In short: a win-win-win situation for all parties involved. If you want to know more about the different solutions, check out our solutions. There you will find all the ins and outs.
Curious?
Curious about how our new combined strengths can take your business to new heights? Please feel free to contact us, we will be happy to help you on your way.
