What does Rank 1 do?
Peter Vindevogel: We started out offering IT consulting services. We built a strong foundation in the early years in this area. To companies looking to strengthen their IT team, Rank 1 offers assistance with experienced consultants who are experts in their field. Rank 1 looks for the ideal balance between the company’s needs and the particular phase in a consultant’s career. The cooperation should add value for both.
In addition, we also provide IT professional services. The client outsources a part of the tasks to us. The collaboration model is entirely different from that of the well-known managed services. Launching these professional services was a crucial step in our growth. The demand for such services turned out to be very high.
Raf De Backer: In the case of managed services, you take over everything; the client hands over the responsibilities to the provider, which are strictly defined in contracts. Our professional services model is a co-sourcing model conducted in partnership with the client. We agree carefully on who does what. We are known for our flexible and pragmatic cooperation.
We offer professional services mainly for SMEs and middle-market clients. Consulting focuses on enterprise clients. Today we are growing in both these service areas.
How does Rank 1 make a difference?
Peter: The combination of these two services is pretty unique and innovative. It benefits both the client and the consultant.
Raf: We hire two types of people. For consulting, we have in-house experts who specialise in one specific domain or technology. Our professional services division employs generalists who can work with various clients in small and larger companies. Consulting assignments often involve long-term projects, and it’s a nice change of pace for these experts to occasionally help a professional services client. The know-how of such a top expert is highly appreciated by our SME clients. This delivers a host of benefits. Moreover, our consultants enhance each other’s strengths.
Peter: We don’t do body shopping. In that, we’re different. Many Belgian companies second their employees purely with a focus on profit, while we focus on our consultants. Is the assignment with the client an opportunity for them? Can they grow during the assignment, take the next step in their careers or obtain a certificate?
What are some of the milestones from the past decade?
Peter: The launch of our professional services division was crucial. In the beginning, our professional services were focused mainly on small companies. In 2020, we became active in the middle-market sector, resulting in substantial growth. This was also a milestone, as were our regional activities.
Raf: We established ourselves regionally two years ago, with an office in Genk. With Rank 1 Euregio, we serve Wallonia, Limburg and the area bordering the Netherlands. In time, we would also like to extend this set-up to other regions.
In IT, the job market is very competitive. How does Rank 1 succeed in attracting and retaining talent?
Peter: We try to help our people reach the next level quickly. Their knowledge proliferates because we provide them with intensive guidance, offer them the right projects and encourage them to obtain certificates. Knowledge is the key to this profession.
Raf: People appreciate this. This is why we have low employee turnover. We set the bar high. Not everyone can handle that. We choose quality over quantity. Finding talent can be challenging. What we’re really looking for is a cultural fit. If there is a cultural fit, people will stay longer with us. Peter and I are always involved in job interviews because this is very important.
How would you describe this cultural fit?
Peter: It’s hard to put into words. We sense whether someone fits with us. This phrase sums it up: ‘We do what we say, and we say what we do.’ No empty promises. We keep our word. When candidates come to us, we often hear that their previous employers did not keep promises. That’s frustrating. We respect our agreements, with the client as well as the consultants.
Open communication is essential. Even difficult messages are delivered in an honest, straightforward and transparent manner. You have to be able to deal with that. There is an open, flat structure. There are no team leads to report to. If there’s something on your mind, step into my office. One happy family, so to speak.
How do clients find their way to Rank 1?
Raf: Word-of-mouth advertising is essential for us. We grow organically, thanks to satisfied clients, without investing heavily in marketing. The references via Gumption and the Gumption companies were important at the start.
Peter: We solve IT problems. You can never have control over everything in the technical area. But our clients know that we don’t shy away from problems. As a start-up, getting your name out there takes work. But now, 10 years later, we can say we’ve succeeded. Our vendors, clients, and job applicants all know Rank 1. We even have a foothold with the larger companies.
Do you see an evolution in the issues clients approach you with?
Raf: Actually, no, because at Rank 1, we solve classic IT problems. We are more of a traditional integrator: we monitor clients’ core processes and guide them through digital transformation. Naturally, we always keep up with the latest technologies and innovations in our field. And for other questions outside our focus areas, we can also count on our partners and fellow companies within Gumption’s ecosystem.
Peter: Although the level of complexity has increased, client demand has remained the same: making sure the IT activities run smoothly so that the client can focus on its business. But at the same time, we also think ahead. According to our clients, this is where we make the difference. Not all IT integrators do this.
Raf: We have many clients in the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers are concerned with tangible things. For them, our pragmatic and flexible approach is what offers them the most significant added value.
What does Gumption mean to Rank 1?
Peter: Gumption gave us credibility and clout from the start. This has accelerated our growth. There is a beautiful philosophy behind the co-creation principle, and we have already successfully put this into practice a few times for our clients by working together with the other ecosystem companies.
Raf: The better we know each other within the group, the more successful we can be together. Naturally, this is challenging with 800 people. There is certainly an opportunity here.
What entrepreneurial lessons have you learned over the past decade?
Peter: Had I looked into a crystal ball ten years ago, I would have been happy with our results today. An entrepreneurial journey involves trial and error. Raf and I have been in the business for a long time. We have gone through a lot, and our experience keeps us from making mistakes. Making a mistake occasionally is okay, but it’s important to keep track. We are happy with our current course and are still learning every day.
Raf: By staying true to our values, we have become the reliable, successful player we are today. We’re not opportunistic. If a task goes against our values, we don’t do it. Saying no is part of it.
Peter: It comes down to what I said earlier: ‘We do what we say, and we say what we do.’ This will remain our guiding principle for the next 10 years as well.
What are the ambitions for the next decade?
Raf: We may expand our regional operations in East and West Flanders. We also expect continued growth concerning the middle-market segment.
Peter: Companies with 50 to 500 employees are attractive clients for us because they have IT issues where we make a difference. The larger, often international companies work with service teams from other countries. This may seem cheaper but they do not provide the same quality. Our Flemish SMEs understand this and prefer to pay for more certainty. IT is an essential part of their business operations. They need people close by to solve important problems quickly and smoothly. Stable and reliable: that’s us.
Can you quantify this proposed growth?
Raf: We’d rather not do that. We want healthy growth: healthy for our organisation and our consultants. We do this by monitoring quality and keeping clients happy. We’ve proved this over the past decade. A knowledge enterprise must protect its talents from burnout. The risk of growing too fast is something we want to avoid at all costs.
Peter: Even as an umbrella organisation, Gumption has never set targets for us. Instead, it gave us all the freedom to explore and conduct the business we believed in as a start-up. This has paid off. We want to safeguard our healthy foundation. However, this does not prevent us from exploring new horizons. Our ambition is by no means satisfied. We plan to continue with the same enthusiasm as before.
What does Rank 1 do?
Peter Vindevogel: We started out offering IT consulting services. We built a strong foundation in the early years in this area. To companies looking to strengthen their IT team, Rank 1 offers assistance with experienced consultants who are experts in their field. Rank 1 looks for the ideal balance between the company’s needs and the particular phase in a consultant’s career. The cooperation should add value for both.
In addition, we also provide IT professional services. The client outsources a part of the tasks to us. The collaboration model is entirely different from that of the well-known managed services. Launching these professional services was a crucial step in our growth. The demand for such services turned out to be very high.
Raf De Backer: In the case of managed services, you take over everything; the client hands over the responsibilities to the provider, which are strictly defined in contracts. Our professional services model is a co-sourcing model conducted in partnership with the client. We agree carefully on who does what. We are known for our flexible and pragmatic cooperation.
We offer professional services mainly for SMEs and middle-market clients. Consulting focuses on enterprise clients. Today we are growing in both these service areas.
How does Rank 1 make a difference?
Peter: The combination of these two services is pretty unique and innovative. It benefits both the client and the consultant.
Raf: We hire two types of people. For consulting, we have in-house experts who specialise in one specific domain or technology. Our professional services division employs generalists who can work with various clients in small and larger companies. Consulting assignments often involve long-term projects, and it’s a nice change of pace for these experts to occasionally help a professional services client. The know-how of such a top expert is highly appreciated by our SME clients. This delivers a host of benefits. Moreover, our consultants enhance each other’s strengths.
Peter: We don’t do body shopping. In that, we’re different. Many Belgian companies second their employees purely with a focus on profit, while we focus on our consultants. Is the assignment with the client an opportunity for them? Can they grow during the assignment, take the next step in their careers or obtain a certificate?
What are some of the milestones from the past decade?
Peter: The launch of our professional services division was crucial. In the beginning, our professional services were focused mainly on small companies. In 2020, we became active in the middle-market sector, resulting in substantial growth. This was also a milestone, as were our regional activities.
Raf: We established ourselves regionally two years ago, with an office in Genk. With Rank 1 Euregio, we serve Wallonia, Limburg and the area bordering the Netherlands. In time, we would also like to extend this set-up to other regions.
In IT, the job market is very competitive. How does Rank 1 succeed in attracting and retaining talent?
Peter: We try to help our people reach the next level quickly. Their knowledge proliferates because we provide them with intensive guidance, offer them the right projects and encourage them to obtain certificates. Knowledge is the key to this profession.
Raf: People appreciate this. This is why we have low employee turnover. We set the bar high. Not everyone can handle that. We choose quality over quantity. Finding talent can be challenging. What we’re really looking for is a cultural fit. If there is a cultural fit, people will stay longer with us. Peter and I are always involved in job interviews because this is very important.
How would you describe this cultural fit?
Peter: It’s hard to put into words. We sense whether someone fits with us. This phrase sums it up: ‘We do what we say, and we say what we do.’ No empty promises. We keep our word. When candidates come to us, we often hear that their previous employers did not keep promises. That’s frustrating. We respect our agreements, with the client as well as the consultants.
Open communication is essential. Even difficult messages are delivered in an honest, straightforward and transparent manner. You have to be able to deal with that. There is an open, flat structure. There are no team leads to report to. If there’s something on your mind, step into my office. One happy family, so to speak.
How do clients find their way to Rank 1?
Raf: Word-of-mouth advertising is essential for us. We grow organically, thanks to satisfied clients, without investing heavily in marketing. The references via Gumption and the Gumption companies were important at the start.
Peter: We solve IT problems. You can never have control over everything in the technical area. But our clients know that we don’t shy away from problems. As a start-up, getting your name out there takes work. But now, 10 years later, we can say we’ve succeeded. Our vendors, clients, and job applicants all know Rank 1. We even have a foothold with the larger companies.
Do you see an evolution in the issues clients approach you with?
Raf: Actually, no, because at Rank 1, we solve classic IT problems. We are more of a traditional integrator: we monitor clients’ core processes and guide them through digital transformation. Naturally, we always keep up with the latest technologies and innovations in our field. And for other questions outside our focus areas, we can also count on our partners and fellow companies within Gumption’s ecosystem.
Peter: Although the level of complexity has increased, client demand has remained the same: making sure the IT activities run smoothly so that the client can focus on its business. But at the same time, we also think ahead. According to our clients, this is where we make the difference. Not all IT integrators do this.
Raf: We have many clients in the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers are concerned with tangible things. For them, our pragmatic and flexible approach is what offers them the most significant added value.
What does Gumption mean to Rank 1?
Peter: Gumption gave us credibility and clout from the start. This has accelerated our growth. There is a beautiful philosophy behind the co-creation principle, and we have already successfully put this into practice a few times for our clients by working together with the other ecosystem companies.
Raf: The better we know each other within the group, the more successful we can be together. Naturally, this is challenging with 800 people. There is certainly an opportunity here.
What entrepreneurial lessons have you learned over the past decade?
Peter: Had I looked into a crystal ball ten years ago, I would have been happy with our results today. An entrepreneurial journey involves trial and error. Raf and I have been in the business for a long time. We have gone through a lot, and our experience keeps us from making mistakes. Making a mistake occasionally is okay, but it’s important to keep track. We are happy with our current course and are still learning every day.
Raf: By staying true to our values, we have become the reliable, successful player we are today. We’re not opportunistic. If a task goes against our values, we don’t do it. Saying no is part of it.
Peter: It comes down to what I said earlier: ‘We do what we say, and we say what we do.’ This will remain our guiding principle for the next 10 years as well.
What are the ambitions for the next decade?
Raf: We may expand our regional operations in East and West Flanders. We also expect continued growth concerning the middle-market segment.
Peter: Companies with 50 to 500 employees are attractive clients for us because they have IT issues where we make a difference. The larger, often international companies work with service teams from other countries. This may seem cheaper but they do not provide the same quality. Our Flemish SMEs understand this and prefer to pay for more certainty. IT is an essential part of their business operations. They need people close by to solve important problems quickly and smoothly. Stable and reliable: that’s us.
Can you quantify this proposed growth?
Raf: We’d rather not do that. We want healthy growth: healthy for our organisation and our consultants. We do this by monitoring quality and keeping clients happy. We’ve proved this over the past decade. A knowledge enterprise must protect its talents from burnout. The risk of growing too fast is something we want to avoid at all costs.
Peter: Even as an umbrella organisation, Gumption has never set targets for us. Instead, it gave us all the freedom to explore and conduct the business we believed in as a start-up. This has paid off. We want to safeguard our healthy foundation. However, this does not prevent us from exploring new horizons. Our ambition is by no means satisfied. We plan to continue with the same enthusiasm as before.