When Dirk Schwindling was appointed CEO of TCPOS – a leading provider in the POS technology sector for the hospitality and retail industries, and part of Zucchetti Group – in 2018, he was tasked with boosting commercial opportunities. So far, he’s living up to his reputation.
He’s focused on coordinating the development of products and services, designing TCPOS’ strategies, and highlighting the benefits of the company’s integration with Zucchetti’s solution portfolio.
Dirk had a solid track record going into the position – he’d taken over important leadership roles at TCPOS, managed the German, Austrian, and Eastern European subsidiaries, and worked closely with strategic partners and key accounts. With this experience, he’s wasted no time in driving the business forward.
“For me, being appointed CEO continues to be a very exciting and inspiring professional challenge,” he said. “TCPOS is a company with over 10,000 customers operating on an international level. My goal is not only to strengthen our leadership position by focusing on innovation in the area of POS solutions, but to make TCPOS a global provider of technological solutions by increasing the synergy with other companies within the Zucchetti Group.”
One of Dirk’s first moves was the acquisition of Systopia, a leading next generation POS, order and payment solution provider operating across the UK, Europe, North America and Asia. Systopia boasts a long and successful partnership with Zucchetti – for many years it’s been the main distributor of TCPOS software solutions worldwide. With branches in the UK, USA, and India, Systopia has an international presence covering services through delivered partnerships. It’s a huge advantage for Zucchetti as the group now has a stronger presence in the aforementioned markets.
Dirk explains that for the last three years, he has been focussed on pushing international growth, while ensuring Zucchetti is the number one IT company in Italy. The CEO is also striving to grow the group’s subsidiaries in Europe. “We have a strong plan to acquire new companies, to enlarge our portfolio with new products, to create more cross selling potential to become a really global player, and also on a European level.”
“With the acquisition of Systopia, Zucchetti strengthened its leading role as an international provider of IT solutions for the corporate catering and hospitality segments,” Dirk says. “After many years of mutual collaboration and trust it felt natural to us to join forces to better enjoy the opportunities of lively markets like the UK and US, which have already proven successful for us.”
The global pandemic hit the group hard but thanks to Dirk’s leadership and emphasis on innovation, it overcame all obstacles. On a personal note, he describes it as a “strange period,” saying it “took one or two weeks to get used to the new rhythm but it’s been helpful as I’ve had a chance to slow down and make some adjustments to the way I work.”
“Working remotely was nothing new for us, but being forced to do it was odd at first, but everyone approached it really well and in some cases it’s actually been more effective. The virus has changed corporate culture – we are generally planning better and the effectiveness of daily work is higher.”
The new reality we’re now faced with requires companies to implement new digital solutions to meet the new market needs. The hotel and restaurant industry and the retail trade are some of the sectors most affected by this change in consumer trends – customers are increasingly using multiple channels to interact and process their orders. This makes the digital transformation an imperative for these sectors. Because only by moving towards a management model with a 360º vision of the business, which takes into account customer preferences, and allows payments to be managed through multiple devices quickly and efficiently, will they succeed in building customer loyalty and surviving in an increasingly competitive market. To facilitate this, Zucchetti Spain recently launched its revolutionary POS software for the HORECA sector, and it’s already been implemented 100,000 times worldwide.
“Spain is a key market for Zucchetti, where companies in different sectors continue to show appreciation for our solution portfolio,” Dirk says. “We are proactively developing business for both our POS concept and the other integrated solutions that are part of Zucchetti Cloud Core Suite. So we are investing locally in making TCPOS, HR Infinity, Mago ERP, KonaKart, eCommerce, and the other top-class solutions designed for the success of our clients’ business. We are convinced we really make the difference in the country.”
So, what does the immediate and long-term future hold for Zucchetti? Dirk says this: “We must continuously innovate ourselves and our products. This requires flexibility, dynamism, and agility. We are learning how to make better use of our human capital and to integrate full competence into management decisions.”
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