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Andrew Krauze, Edge Ltd | Enterprise Nation

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Andrew Krauze

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I founded Computer Consultants Ltd (“CCL”) in 1986, and in July 2017, I sold controlling interest to Private Equity
Following the sale of my business, I took three months to evaluate my options; in this period, I was approached by three organisations to join as a Non-Exec/Board level advisor. In addition, I have also been engaged by a Private Equity firm in a variety of advisory/consultancy engagements
I have found being a Mentor/Advisor/Non-Exec both rewarding and enjoyable, and I look forward to many more challenges
My Career summary highlights
I started CCL as a ‘one-man-band’ in 1986; over the next thirty years, I grew the business to be the UK’s largest independent ERP/Management Consultancy conducting over 2,500 engagements.
In 2001 I started CCL Forensics, which became the largest Digital Forensics company by 2007, with the Group employing over 100 staff
A brief recap of my career journey before founding CCL: -
· Having left the Army after three years, where I secured my accountancy qualifications, I choose to follow a career in sales
· In 1979 I joined Olivetti as their youngest salesman, which was my start in the computer industry
· By the end of 1980, I was the top salesman in the country (over 300 sales-people), leading to several job offers
· In 1981 I joined Sperry Univac to sell entry-level ‘mainframes’; this was a fascinating period as Sperry’s attitude to selling was the polar-opposite of Olivetti. Olivetti was the epitome of high-pressure sales, whilst Sperry’s approach was “laid-back” which did not suit my ‘driven’ temperament or ambitions
· In late 1982 I was enticed back to Olivetti as a senior salesman, however in 1983, Olivetti had a strategic change of direction, establishing a network of resellers to replace their direct salesforce
· In 1984 I joined two former Olivetti colleagues at Mytec, an Olivetti reseller, in the role of Sales and Operations Director. This was an excellent experience and prepared me for the launch of my own business
In 1986 I decided to leave and establish CCL
I established CCL with a clear vision: providing independent Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) ‘specification and selection’ consultancy services.
That services profile developed over three decades as the market changed and other revenue opportunities became apparent
The following is a timeline of significant events in CCL’s history that define my vision for the business, and me as an individual: -
· 1995, CCL is acknowledged as the largest provider of independent IT ERP consultancy services in the UK
o This was my driving ambition from 1986
· 2001, established the Digital Forensics business
o CCL needed to diversify post Y2K, Digital Forensic (“DF”) did not exist in 2001, this was genuine pioneering
· 2002, diversified into IT security consultancy
o This was part of CCL’s continued diversification strategy, in hind-site I was arguably 10 years too early for the SME market
· 2004, achieved ISO 9001
o The start of my drive for methodology and quality consistency of deliverables
· 2007, became the largest Digital Forensics company in the UK
o Having achieved number ‘one’ status in Consultancy, I was determined to do the same in Digital Forensics. Subsequently, we were bigger than our next four competitors combined
· 2008, achieved ISO 27001
o Further commitment to quality
· 2009, diversified into Electronic Disclosure (“ED”) services
o ED was a natural extension from DF, less technically challenging, although more customer challenging as the end customers were professional services firms, eg Law firms
· 2010, established the R&amp;D team
o CCL needed to innovate and differentiate, so I established an R&amp;D team which ultimately comprised five full-time staff and four other support staff, giving CCL a differentiator in the provision of DF services, plus achieving the objective of developing our own intellectual property
· 2010, achieved ISO 17025; the first DF company to secure this accreditation
o This became our flag-ship quality standard; we were the first DF provider in the UK to secure this ISO standard, a standard which is significantly more demanding than all the other standards, we had achieved to date, and became our primary differentiator
· 2012, commenced sales of CCL’s own developed products, Epilog, Pip &amp; Dunk, followed by Ribbon and Cascade
o This was the manifestation of the R&amp;D team’s efforts, with sales to over 500 companies in 30 countries
· 2013, consolidated the four CCL companies into CCL Solutions Group
o The consolidation bought the businesses into one cohesive and valuable unit
· 2015, acquired Blackthorn and a London office
o The London acquisition gave CCL a presence in London as well as two key customer contracts
By 2017 CCL was employing circa 100 staff with an annual turnover of £6.7million
What were the driving objectives of CCL?
Three key objectives drove the business:
· Innovation &amp; differentiation
· Quality accreditations
· Sales and excellent customer service
Why did I structure the business under these objectives?
Ironically, I placed sales as third as I understood that if you create a business that its customers see to be innovative and different from its competitors, sales become a by-product; although never easy
Quality standards became very important for two reasons:
· They were a mechanism to ensure all analysts and consultants delivered the same or similar work, under a structured methodology that resulted in consistency and quality
· With a reputation for quality, strong sales performance became a by-product
With these objectives in place, I became more focused on: -
· Marketing &amp; creating the CCL brand
· Operational excellence and efficiency
· Profitability
Over time these objectives were continually developing. Ultimately my role was to devise and own the strategy whilst working with a management team to deliver agreed objectives. This has been both challenging and rewarding, as I played the role of both ‘peace-time’ and ‘war-time’ General over the three decades as global events impacted the UK economy.
How would I describe myself, or how do other people see me?
· First and foremost, a salesman
· Driven by a pioneering spirit
· The developer of business strategies
· Problem solver
· Mentor to like-minded entrepreneurs
· Keen awareness of market drivers and competition
· Enthusiastic &amp; entrepreneurial
2018, I commenced my new career of being a Mentor/Non-Exec
o To date, I have worked with:-
§ IT Consultancy, c120 employees
§ Specialist Recruitment company, c12 employees
§ Automotive Telematics company, c400 employees
§ Software House, c60 employees
§ IT Managed Services business, c 40 employees
§ IT Infrastructure business, c100 employees
§ Tech start-up, providing products to the Yachting industry, c6 employees
§ Mentoring a Mentor that was advising organisations on how to achieve accelerated growth and change management
Over the past 4.5+ years, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed supporting these organisations, predominately working with CEOs. The common themes of these engagements have been some or all of the following:-
· Addressing the loneliness &amp; isolation of being CEO
· Sharing the pressure of decision making
· Providing impartial &amp; constructive advice not available from their management teams
· Addressing issues with the management teams and their business
· Clarifying the business Vision, Mission &amp; Values
· Challenging business, sales &amp; marketing and operations plans
· Authoring &amp; co-authoring Business plan
· Reviewing inhouse ERP &amp; CRM systems &amp; reviewing critical business process
· Looking at acquisitions and disposals
· Planning for exit

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