No matter what you are selling, a car, your design work, or a software as a service (SaaS), you have to listen more than talk. Why? Because the most successful form of sales — and product development for that matter — dates back about 2,500 years ago. Whatever product or service you are offering needs to evolve around not only the set of needs your prospects have, but also the order in which they need those needs fulfilled. This is exactly what Yann le Bihan kept in mind when he created Sciforma project and portfolio management tool back in 1982. And that’s how the solution has been evolving ever since.
Why did you start your business?
As an engineer working in Indonesia in the early 80s, I could measure and see the benefits of project portfolio management. But at that time, there was a large disconnect between the available software products and the targeted customers. The software products that were available were too abstract to be used on a daily basis and were only aimed at the project managers who possessed high technical skills.
The theory was good but not the application. My dream was to make all aspects of project management more accessible to everyone.
Share your story with us. What were your triumphs and challenges overcome?
Biggest Triumph: My biggest satisfaction was being spot-on about the market expectations and creating an ergonomic software which not only helped the population of project managers but all those associated with project management (sponsors, team members, executives, resource managers, etc.). For me, it was a sure bet.
In the first generation of project management software, project managers were not able to link visually activities together. They had to enter codes and then, they could only see the results after printing.
Our first product had all the results on screen, immediately available, easy to use, and most of all, effective for managing projects, resources, and costs.
Biggest Challenge: To stay current and pertinent with the people expectations, understand their business, guess what they will ask for in two or three years. To get success, it requires not only having the reputation of being good, but you need to truly be the best.
What problem does your SaaS (software as a service) solve?
It is classic.
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First it allows companies, who have projects and offices throughout the world, to have easy and timely access to project information no matter where that project may be.
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Second, for those companies who do not have the manpower or equipment to maintain the infrastructure, it allows them to have all the benefits of a full feature system without the maintenance and upkeep.
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Third, it eases communication with the stakeholders who do not belong to your company.
What makes your SaaS solution stand out from the competition?
Many things. Sciforma is a subtle mix between powerful and ease of use, collaboration and control. My favorite feature is the Designer which is MAGIC. It allows you to customize your solution in few clicks, create your workflows… The biggest challenge for companies is not to create processes but to make sure they are efficient, understood and accepted.
Sciforma porfolio management can support you in your vision, your communication, your management. This is why our motto is: Vision, Focus, Control.
What do you think is your customers’ favorite part of your solution?
Portfolio Analysis: it’s invaluable to our customers. They are able to analyze and compare their proposed and ongoing projects as well as visualizing the impacts on their portfolio and organization in term of budget, time and resources. The real-time pipeline management allows them to compare new ideas and active projects, view time distributed resource availability, and budget allowances.
What’s your favorite thing about being an entrepreneur?
I am able to live the life I always wanted to have.
Is there any advice you’d like to offer to other entrepreneurs?
Dare.
Which other tech company do you most admire and why?
Apple fascinates me for their quality of execution at every level; it’s very impressive. Google, for their technical creativity. I also admire Magic Plan from Sensopia as it is a mix of intelligence: you can realize natural plans that seem very easy while there is a very complex technology in the background.
What’s one key trend you see emerging in your industry?
I don’t think there is only one key trend, but a few that together are changing the market place.
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First, I think there is an obvious technology trend to switch to HTML5.
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Rules and plans are essential, but communication, collaboration, team spirit are also crucial.
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As we are already seeing, SaaS is deeply modifying the way project management is done. All the stakeholders are now involved.
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And lastly, I see project management becoming a service and not only software as as service.
Want to see if Sciforma Project and Portfolio Management Software is just what your team is looking for? And see how Sciforma and its user reviews compare with other apps in the portfolio project management software category.