From application development to connectivity and security: there’s little that Easi can’t do. Step by step and according to a clear plan, Easi is growing in Belgium and abroad.
Companies today can turn to Easi for a broad range of IT needs. The company with headquarters in Nivelles has built up its expertise step by step through targeted acquisitions. “We build our portfolio based on the problems that customers have,” says Thomas Van Eeckhout, CEO of Easi, a role he shares with Jean-François Herremans.
Van Eeckhout has been active at Easi since 2006 and that’s not unusual. In a sector where staff turnover seems the norm, employees remain loyal to Easi. “Stability is a major problem in the sector. Our management consists of people who started their careers here. People are guided in their careers here and get the opportunity to become shareholders. That continuity also comes across well with customers.”
Oil Spill
There are companies that choose to do one thing well, but Easi keeps its sights broad. Van Eeckhout: “Previously our focus was on technological niches, but that became too limiting. Now we want to be able to offer companies large and small 360° support. We stay close to customers to support them as broadly as possible. With certain activities we also go higher in the market or serve specific verticals. Software allows better verticalization.”
“Although we go broad in terms of activities, we often enter with one specific mission. That can start small, like a pentest or an AI track. Once customers see what else we can do, the collaboration often grows like an oil spill,” Van Eeckhout adds.
According to Van Eeckhout, it’s necessary that Easi doesn’t get stuck in one specific domain. “The market evolves quickly, staying relevant is a challenge. If we had missed the train to security in 2017, we might have had it much harder now. Security has become a major part of IT infrastructure. The survival phase is over. Our positioning is clear.”
Vanilla
Easi positions itself as a ‘human’ ICT partner that dares to look beyond technology. Van Eeckhout explains what that means for Easi: “The sector needs to dare to look in the mirror. Projects often lack a clear goal. We hear it often enough that a project starts well, but stalls as soon as an external consultant leaves again.”
“It’s all become a bit vanilla. Many companies earn their bread by deploying profiles. That’s their full right, but what are you building? We always talk about company culture, but in many organizations people are mainly building their own careers. Customers want stability and you can only offer that if you have it internally. That can’t be put into a KPI, but it’s very important.”
“Our focus on the human aspect starts internally, and we carry that through to projects at customers. In IT, people assume that everything changes every five years, but it’s not so black and white. We look through the trends to their value. Only the impact on our customers matters. For that you need people with curiosity and affinity with technology. I still feel that involvement every day right up to the coffee machine. If we can keep bringing that, we’ll land on our feet,” says Van Eeckhout.
You can only offer customers stability if it’s also there internally.
Thomas Van Eeckhout, CEO Easi
Crossroads of AI and Security
The drive is still visibly present in Van Eeckhout too. “We continue to grow nicely, with acquisitions in Belgium and Luxembourg. Every week we onboard customers and new people we attract adapt quickly. There’s good dynamics in the company. In the medium term we want to continue growing abroad through acquisitions, but we won’t do that hastily. Every solution we add must also be relevant in other markets.”
AI is these days, like for every IT company, an unavoidable topic for Easi, but not something it wants to jump on blindly. Van Eeckhout confirms: “It’s a topic that opens many doors, but we focus mainly on initiatives around data and security. Thanks to the AI hype, companies are starting to think more consciously about it. That’s what we want. First the basics must be right. Resilience is crucial, but less sexy as a topic. If you as a company realize that it’s not ‘if’ but ‘when’, more budget comes for security and recovery.”
“We stand at the crossroads of AI and security. The risk will rise exponentially. You won’t hear us shouting that the world is changing fast. That happens step by step. Security and AI will reinforce each other. The investments by vendors benefit companies. The concrete application of AI in security is accelerating, but we must realize that this is also happening on ‘the other side’,” he adds.
Proud to be Belgian
Van Eeckhout concludes on a chauvinistic note. “We are a purely Belgian company that is equally active in Flanders and Wallonia. I think Belgian companies may be a bit prouder and may also express that pride on a daily basis. There may and must be healthy competition, but we may also wish each other success. The market is big enough for everyone to grow their business.”
Security and AI will reinforce each other. Investments by vendors benefit companies, but we must realize that this is also happening on ‘the other side’.
Thomas Van Eeckhout, CEO Easi
In de reeks ‘ICT in België’ focussen we op lokale, Belgische spelers in de sector. Wil je nog meer Belgische specialisten ontdekken? Hier vind je alle interviews uit de reeks terug.