If we imagine for a moment that we are “boiling the funds” of any company, it will quickly become clear that a major part of running a business is about making decisions. And if you want to run a successful business, it is a prerequisite that you predominantly make the right decisions. Hence the name of the consultancy – Dcide.
Thomas Riisager, founder and owner of Dcide, has, with his background as a production engineer, and both broad and deep experience from a number of companies in Denmark and abroad, created a unique consulting business. A network-based consulting firm that helps private and public organizations with process optimization and strengthening decision-making ability. Dcide provides specialist advice within three focus areas;
- Process optimization (business, production and quality)
- Sustainability (climate, social and governance)
- Digitalization (transformation, automation, development and implementation)
Do the Most Important Thing First
Dcide was established with the aim of helping companies create growth and attractive workplaces through process optimization and digital support. With that in mind, Thomas has spent a large part of his working life building a network of subject matter specialists, industry specialists and technology partners that Dcide can draw on when a task requires it.
“It is often about helping the company to see itself a little from the outside. What works and what does not work. By mapping the existing processes, it becomes clear where the chain is jumping off and where there is therefore a need for optimization. Dcide likes to work based on Lean principles in relation to optimization, and as soon as the processes have been mapped, it becomes much easier to identify the impact points that are most important right now,” says Thomas with a directional hand gesture.
“Based on the process analyses, we, in collaboration with the customer, set benchmarks for where the company needs to go and specific objectives for each benchmark. With these insights in place, we create a plan for which buttons need to be pushed to bring the intentions to life. In most cases, this involves identifying different options for digital support. We typically present two to three alternatives, as well as a business case, so that the customer is equipped to make the right decision,” explains Thomas.
The Classic 80/20 Paradox
Previously, as a company, you were forced to let standard systems eat you up, and according to Thomas, that was inappropriate. “Customers had to choose between a number of systems that almost solved the task. Often, the technology choice meant that it was necessary to correct processes and procedures to adapt to the system. From a consultant's perspective, it's quite annoying – it was the classic 80/20 paradox. You invest in a system to utilize only 20% of the functionality. The price obviously reflects the entire system and users have to get on board with the complexity that was offered to them.
Thomas Riisager, Dcide
Helps companies make sustainability and green transition a good business.
The Exception Confirms the Rule
On rare occasions, customers have chosen to have a system hand-coded from scratch to avoid having to adapt to the system. This is both expensive and not without risk in terms of delivery time, availability and technical security. There are of course sunshine stories about companies that have developed good, robust systems within the agreed schedule and budget, but that is probably more the exception than the rule,” Thomas elaborates, weighing the claim in his hands.
“But fortunately that is no longer the case,” says Thomas with a smile. “It has been a good three years since my long-time partner, Jørgen Ahm Petersen, mentioned to me that he had heard of a no-code platform developed by a Danish company. We decided to take a closer look at the platform and visited TS in Birkerød.”
Here, Thomas and Jørgen got their first introduction to the TS No-code Platform. “I clearly remember that we built a simple CRM system in a few moments, but it happened so quickly that I just had to ‘play’ with it a little before the ten fell,” explains Thomas and continues. “It was super interesting that you could develop modularly – without coding at all. It was exactly the system we had been missing – a platform that was both fast, flexible and scalable,” says Thomas, leaning forward in his chair.
Applications Should Be Adapted to the Business, Not the Other Way Around
“The fact is that no matter how skillfully and thoroughly you have provided consulting work, it can be difficult for the customer to maintain the agreed strategy and behavior over time. Here, digital support of the processes plays a central role. Using intelligent workflows, you can route exactly the behavior needed to keep the company on track and at the same time spare employees from trivial tasks that can be advantageously automated,” explains Thomas and continues.
“Since we entered the TS partner program, Dcide has completed a number of projects for our customers, where we have repeatedly experienced how valuable it is to be able to deliver applications that are precisely adapted to the business and not the other way around. This means that we can be even more ambitious in terms of process optimization and automation. It also means that we can let customers onboard at their own pace, that we can digitize the processes at pace and ultimately tie the entire business model together as the organization achieves the digital maturity it needs. Today, several of our customers have even trained their own resources so that they can make changes to existing solutions and develop new applications for other parts of the business.”
It All Has to Work Out
Data quality and access to data have only become more important over the years. “My dream of gathering all company information in one relational system, and making the relevant information available to the various stakeholders when they need it, is now both realistic and quite affordable,” says Thomas with a smile and a shrug.
Our conversation ends here, as Thomas has a meeting with a client who needs help planning the coming year’s sustainability efforts. “Modern dynamic companies operate with multiple bottom lines,” says Thomas as he stands up. “Growth can be seen solely as a financial consideration – growth in revenue, increased capitalization on existing products or services, or in a broader perspective. That’s what we’re here for. We help companies create growth, but not at the expense of an attractive working environment, the climate or good business practices. It all has to work out – and through digitalization we can often help companies eliminate waste, which then benefits the climate and requires a more sustainable approach for the companies we help. And then it all really makes sense.” See you.