Meet our Chief Services Officer -Tatu Heiskanen

Experienced professional

Tatu has a solid track record in theIT industry and his last 20 years have been highly eventful. His career in software began with the development of a training assessment system at the turn of the millennium. Prior to joining VividWorks, he worked as a product development director for online payment services, in process mining, and designing a SaaS solution for a software provider’s licensing business.

Based on this experience and insight, Tatu is confident about meeting the challenges that lie ahead in shapingVividWorks’ operations.

"The sector in which VividWorks operates and the tools it uses are fascinating. In addition, I am curious by nature and want to learn new things all the time", says Tatu about his reasons for joining VividWorks.

SaaS is the next big step

Tatu spentJanuary familiarizing himself with the team and tools at VividWorks, but sinceFebruary he has been getting down to business, tackling various challenges and obstacles. A transition from licenses and customized solutions towards a cloud-based, flexible SaaS business model lies ahead.

"The world and markets of 3D modeling have changed in general. Thanks to VividWorks' solid technology expertise, the possibilities are almost limitless, but we have to differentiate ourselves and find our niche. A Blue Ocean strategy applies in this respect too. VividWorks’ technology is highly adaptable, so SaaS is the way to go", Tatu concludes.

Applying the same solutions simultaneously to multiple customers enables fast upgrade deployment, which benefits the customer's business. Scaling of operations also becomes easier, creating opportunities for new business models.

The basic idea behind the SaaS modelis to provide the customer with an easy and rapidly deployed solution. Customer service and support are therefore a key part of a well-functioning SaaS provider. For VividWorks, this means reorganizing its existing ‘Support’ function.

"The goal is to shorten response times and make the support process transparent, enabling the customer to track the progress of support requests. Since the software in question is almost always critical to the customer's business, downtime should be kept to zero."

Putting people before everything else

Despite his many years and various roles in the IT sector, Tatu considers himself more of a people expert than a technology specialist.

"In this line of work, you need to know a certain amount about technology, but its people that get results. We people are predictable in the sense that if we are valued as people and professionals, we feel as if we count and will commit to doing our best."

Based on these ideas, Tatu will continue working with his team to provide customers with market-leading solutions that are genuinely profitable. Quality begins by focusing on the mapping phase and requirement specification.

"Incomplete preparatory information often creates unnecessary friction in the delivery phase, which affects everything: schedules, the customer and budget. In addition, patching a solution up later rarely or never provides the best result nor a solution that withstands change. A cool head is the key asset, despite the breakneck speed of the sector."