SAP consultancy Expertum expands into Netherlands

Expertum, a Belgium-based SAP consulting firm, has opened its first international office. From its new base in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the IT services firm aims at building a sustainable place in the Dutch SAP advisory space.

Founded in 2006, in Brussels, Expertum is an IT consulting firm that specialises purely in SAP services. The company supports clients across a full range of SAP products and solutions, including its HANA, Business Intelligence, Cloud, Governance Risk & Compliance (GRC) and Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), from advisory to execution.

In recent years Expertum has grown to become a mid-sized player, currently boasting a team of around 65 SAP Experts, according to the firm holding more than 825 years of combined SAP experience. On the back of an expansion strategy – Expertum has two offices in Belgium and aims to grow in mainland Europe – the firm last week unveiled it has opened its first international office. The new office is located in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in a business area that houses several large SAP players, including Atos and Capgemini, and is located relatively close to SAP’s Dutch headquarters, based in Den Bosch.

“The opening of the Utrecht office is a response to the increased demand for Expertum’s Innovative Solution Portfolio in the Netherlands, where several SAP customers are investing today in the new SAP Innovative Solutions, mainly in the areas of SAP HANA & Big Data, Business Intelligence and Cloud Offerings,” explains Hans Bockstal, CEO of Expertum.

To lead the expansion in the Netherlands the IT consultancy has brought Sjoerd van Middelkoop on board, a former consultant at Accenture, and most recently served Intenzz, a Dutch company specialised in SAP implementations. “He brings more than 10 years of consultancy and management experience in the SAP market, together with in depth knowledge of SAP Business Intelligence and the SAP HANA Platform. As well as proven projects in the EMEA Region,” says Bockstal.

“I am excited to be part of this new endeavour," says Van Middelkoop on his new role. He adds: "Expertum Belgium’s success is the evidence of their commitment to build the best solutions for their customers. Their long-term customer relationships and successes demonstrate Expertum’s value as a flexible partner for responding to complex SAP and non-SAP business challenges. I fully expect Expertum to become a strategic partner throughout the Dutch market in the years to come." 

The Dutch operations is however set to face fierce competition. In recent years the SAP market in the Netherlands has heated up, partly driven by growing expenditures on technology by clients, but also by the need for IT firms to specialise, helping them stand out in the rapidly growing crowd of IT consultancies. According to a recent research by Consultancy.nl, the Dutch market counts nearly 14,500 IT consultancies, and more than 50,000 IT service providers that may also offer consulting operations. Well-known local players in the market include Centric, Ordina, KPN Consulting and SAP specialists such as Magnus and The Next View.

Despite the competition, Bockstal says he is confident Expertum can successfully position itself in the landscape, stating “We are confident that we will also be able to exceed our customers’ expectations in the Netherlands by focusing on top quality with our unique approach and innovative offerings.”