What is the collaboration with De Rolf Groep about?
“We are developing a product together called Mijn Academie. It is an online learning platform, mainly for primary school teachers. Teachers have to keep training, and the government has set aside time and budget for that. On the platform they can follow online courses, and they can sign up for courses and training given in a classroom.”
“De Rolf Groep already had a platform, but it was dated and did not do everything they needed. They bought it from another supplier, so they had little say in which features were built. We talked it through and decided to build a new platform that does meet their wishes. The aim is to win the market together.”
“That makes it a special collaboration. We work as partners. We take care of the technical side: building the software, developing it further and running it. They provide the content and do the marketing and sales. The income is shared. That is different from a traditional project, where we send a quote and get paid for the hours we work. Here we share in the success of the product.”
“The collaboration itself is good. It is a nice project and a nice client. We visited them with the development team from Serbia to get to know each other, and to see what else they do. That gives the team a better feel for the product.”
How did you go about it, and why is it a good match?
“We do not work on the basis of quotes here. We decide together which direction the product takes. Both of us have an interest in its success and both share in the proceeds. That is not completely unique for us. We have more partnerships like this, and it was through one of those partners that we met De Rolf Groep.”
“This form of collaboration suits them, and we know the market. We are also good at building technically complex solutions. That is what makes it a match.”
How do you make a plan for something like this?
“It starts with getting to know each other and understanding where the company wants to go. At the beginning we want to know the client and their vision, and then we put a dot on the horizon. De Rolf Groep was very clear about that. They see this as a growth market and are convinced that a well-built platform lets them win a large part of it. Today they have a small share, so there is a lot of room.”
“They are also thinking about the kind of licences they can sell, and they see teacher training as part of their service. You can sell a box of iPads, but if nobody teaches the teachers what to do with them, the iPads stay in the box. De Rolf Groep is changing from a company that supplied school materials into one that also supplies the knowledge to use them. Mijn Academie is an important part of that.”
“The first version launches soon, because they need feedback from the people who use it. What catches on, and what do we develop further? That first version has to be a working system: a teacher logs in, registers for a course and follows it, and the school receives an invoice. Later versions add the features that we think will bring in new customers.”
When is the collaboration a success for you?
“You can measure that in several ways. Our shared goal is a successful product that both of us benefit from. That is the real test. It also matters that the client is happy with the product and with how it was built. We have to understand each other well.”
“Along the way we have to agree on how to develop and expand the product from the client’s wishes. What do we do first, and what do we postpone? What do we think matters technically, and what do they see among users? The final test is that the product takes off and brings the value we have in mind.”
Want to know how Kim Bakker of De Rolf Groep sees this project? Read her interview.