As co-initiator of the Forum PME/KMU, a platform bringing together French- and German-speaking executives and business leaders, I am always pleased to speak with entrepreneurs active on both sides of the Sarine in order to draw on their experience for the Forum. One of them, Jerry Krattiger, is Chairman and co-founder of SOLVIS SA, an IT services company specialising in cybersecurity, headquartered in Basel with an office in Lausanne. “What are the reasons that lead companies to collaborate?” I asked Mr. Krattiger.

“At the heart of collaboration,” he told me, “there is always the idea of pooling resources, which makes it possible to achieve more than if an organisation decides to go it alone. Companies collaborate either to enter new markets, increase their visibility, share resources and, importantly, innovate.”

One noteworthy point, as my interlocutor stressed: the stock market is more receptive to announcements of strategic alliances than to mergers, because strategic alliances and other partnerships make it possible to combine assets and expertise without having to pay the price of an acquisition. “These kinds of structures can also signal a stronger integration down the line, while allowing both parties to step back if they so choose.”

Yet in many cases, these new allies are also your competitors! “In some cases, collaborating with your own competitors can be a relevant and effective approach,” Krattiger said. “But as with any strategy, it is absolutely critical to know precisely what you expect from an alliance and what its strategic objectives are.”

Concretely, how is the idea of collaboration put into practice in a company such as SOLVIS?

“SOLVIS,” Jerry Krattiger explains, “specialises in identity and access management, process automation and the securing of IT infrastructure, for example data encryption, security audits, smart cards and digital certificates. In addition, SOLVIS offers a range of cloud-based solutions, which are particularly attractive to SMEs. Our clients are mainly active in pharma, the financial sector, particularly private banks in Geneva, logistics, retail, government organisations and NGOs.”

In this highly complex value chain, how does SOLVIS navigate?

Our technology strategy is built primarily on a Microsoft architecture and Microsoft technologies. We have established a limited number of technology partnerships on which we rely and whose technology we resell on the Swiss market. In total, there are five different software publishers, which enable us to offer highly specialised solutions to our clients.”

“In fact,” Krattiger continues, “we favour partnerships that are built to last. Our partners describe us as highly loyal and find us particularly attractive because SOLVIS covers most of the national territory and is present in Switzerland’s two main language regions. This is especially appealing to our foreign partners, because we have the linguistic and technical capabilities to cover the entire Swiss market, including Ticino. These companies work with us to enter new markets and gain access to our client base.”

“An interesting point,” I said, “already raised in these pages by Daniel Fournier, of the eponymous group active in interior design, is the appeal, for foreign clients, of Swiss companies offering a nationwide approach. The Forum PME/KMU aims to facilitate this kind of approach.”

SOLVIS does not only bridge Switzerland’s regions, but also science and SMEs. “We have established collaborations and privileged relationships with certain universities of applied sciences (in particular HEIG-VD in Yverdon and the Fachhochschule in Lucerne), Jerry Krattiger told me, which makes it easier for us to recruit and to access high-quality resources. This type of collaboration allows us to increase our visibility and our reputation.”

“Sometimes certain projects are too large and, with our own resources, we are unable to respond to this type of demand. This pushes us to collaborate with other companies of a similar size, sometimes with slightly different skill sets. Some of them are direct competitors, but this allows us to challenge the very large consulting firms and retain at least part of the business. This kind of collaboration makes it possible to share resources and gain access to centres of expertise that would otherwise remain out of reach.”

And here is Jerry Krattiger’s final advice: “In any collaboration, it is crucial to keep your own interests as a company in mind.”

Dr. Peter Köppel, Consultant for Le Monde Economique and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Köppel+Partner