I have been doing video interviews with a number of C-level execs and practitioners about acrobatics they have been seeing in various vertical sectors during the COVID-19 crisis and the "New normal" they can expect as the economy wakes up. Here is the index to the growing list of interviews.
This time it is Darren Roos who is CEO of IFS, which is a leading European vendor of ERP, field service and asset management software. He has had other successful stints at SAP and Software AG. He joined me from his home in London, UK
He talks about heroics in his customer base. He pays them tribute with the term "challenger mindset" and calls them "beacons of light in the darkness". In the US, he cites Munters (they manufacture and service air treatment solutions and saw an acute need to have field technicians conduct complex service calls) and Raven Industries (which jumped in to make PPE). COBA (in the UK switched its operations within weeks to manufacture medical tubing). Induflex in Denmark did similar. Some of IFS' customers were involved with the UK NHS rapid construction of Nightingale hospitals to handle the surge of COVID-19 patients.
I particularly liked his comments in the leadership section about "over communicating" during a crisis and how partners like TCS are stepping up to do remote projects in a travel-challenged environment.
Overall, very optimistic session and nice to get a positive point of view about the UK and Scandinavia, and a very different vertical perspective focused on complex, asset intensive businesses.