Warsaw/Cologne/ Tokyo, 28th August 2020: On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, Sollers Consulting announces new strategic initiatives. The business and IT consulting company will intensify its activities in France and in the US. In addition, there will be an increased focus on digital banking solutions. To support its growth ambition, Sollers Consulting has recently opened a new office in Gdańsk and plans further expansion.
Exactly 20 years ago, on 30th August 2000, Michał Trochimczuk and Marcin Pluta established Sollers Consulting – a company which has played a crucial role in helping insurers and banks in their digital transformations. Two decades after its foundation, Sollers Consulting employs 640 highly qualified business and IT experts who have supported 80 financial groups in Poland, German speaking countries, the UK, Scandinavia, Japan, France, and many other countries.
Insurers in France and the US go ahead
Now Sollers Consulting will expand and intensify its activities in the US and in France.
“US insurers are in great demand of business and IT support as they strive to move their infrastructure to the cloud. In our current projects with two US insurers, we have acquired a deep understanding of challenges the industry is tackling. Many companies plan to modernise their IT infrastructure. We are looking forward to supporting the market in taking the next step in its digitalisation effort,” comments Michał Trochimczuk, Managing Partner at Sollers Consulting.
“The French insurance market is about to speed up its digital ambitions and we recognise a considerable demand for professional support. Currently two French insurers rely on our international experience and we are quite confident that other insurers will follow to keep up with the competition,” comments Marcin Pluta, Managing Partner at Sollers Consulting.
Stronger Focus on the banking sector
For the past 20 years Sollers Consulting has specialised in supporting financial institutions with a strong focus on the insurance industry. However, the consultancy relies also on ample experience working with the most digitally advanced banks in Europe. In a new initiative, Sollers Consulting will now put an additional focus on digital banking.
“Many banks are looking for digital solutions which allow them to leave their legacy IT structures behind. With our experience in creating quick solutions for complex challenges, we see a huge potential in the banking industry,” comments Trochimczuk.
From a two-man-company to an international player
Agility and the ability to adapt to markets and industry needs are part of Sollers DNA. When Trochimczuk and Pluta registered the company on 30th August 2000 in Warsaw, they were reviewing business processes, operating models, IT roadmaps and IT strategies of multimedia companies, IT providers, telecoms, investment companies and a healthcare start-up.
“The Dot.com crash in 2001 was a major challenge for us. Our office was in my private flat, and it took us a great effort to convince companies to work with Sollers. A really interesting project during that period was building one of the first online gambling apps in Poland,” recalls Pluta.
In 2004, Sollers Consulting started its first project in the insurance industry. Insurance became the company’s focal point after Sollers started cooperating with the Danish core system provider Tia Technology in 2009.
“At first, Marcin and I launched a price comparison website in Poland, but we gave it up as we understood that the market was not yet ready for this business. After we started working with Tia Technology in 2009, we increased our engagement in the insurance sector. Then we went on to cooperate with the insurance core system providers Fadata in 2011 and Guidewire Software in 2012,” recalls Trochimczuk.
In 2014, Sollers Consulting initiated RIFE, an omnichannel platform which supports insurance sales. It helps financial institutions to quickly react to the markets and is appreciated for its low-code approach and easy implementation. RIFE was the first step of Sollers Consulting to become a complete IT support provider for insurers and banks, offering a broad range of services including digital channels, data, cloud, and core system implementation, among others.
Sharing experience across the borders
When the originally two-man-company in Warsaw grew to 30 employees in 2006, the decision was made to grow abroad. The first Sollers project outside Poland was conducted in Romania. Since then, the company has supported companies in the US, Brazil, Benelux, Italy, Greece, and many other countries. Today, the majority of Sollers projects are in Germany, the UK, Japan, Scandinavia, and Poland.
“When people from Spain, Portugal and France living in Warsaw joined Sollers, we switched our company language to English. Today, Sollers Consulting employs specialists from 19 countries,” comments Pluta.
At the beginning of August, Sollers Consulting opened a new office in Gdańsk which will initially employ 90 specialists. This is the company’s fourth office in Poland and the one in total, following Lublin (2013), Cologne (2015), Poznań (2017) and Tokyo (2018).
“We will continue to be a trusted digitalisation partner that not only focuses on insurance core systems, but also acts as a consultant to keep up with the changing environment of the entire financial industry. We look forward to supporting our customers with their next challenges on the way to a better digital future,” emphasises Pluta.