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Blog | Cadac Group back on track after tough years


11 February 2025

In 2022, we set the outline for a 'new' Cadac. With more focus on our own self-developed software, one platform for all our products, all software available in the cloud, as Software as a Service. Marketed by flexible teams and people, agile and customer-oriented down to their capillaries. In my view, the only way to cope with the changes that are coming over us at breakneck speed, with Artificial Intelligence as the buzz word, of course. After all, those who adapt best and fastest survive, as I like to quote Darwin's theory of evolution, more topical than ever.

1280-jan-baggen-climb

Nicely summarised above, our ambitions. But change is not easy. It requires adaptation, action, a different way of working, pace. Everyone has to go along, certainties are suddenly called into question, functions change. Actually, the whole of Cadac had to be overhauled. Let me take the reader through the changes with the most impact.

Integration NedGraphics

First of all, there was the full integration of NedGraphics, which was acquired in 2007. A company with specialists who know everything about Geo-information within the government domain, with self-developed software that governments could rely on for years. Largely operating independently. Unfortunately, the government software was in need of renewal. Municipalities, water boards and other organisations can no longer find IT people to keep things running, they want to get rid of locally running CAD systems and Oracle databases. They want to be unburdened with regard to maintenance and require intuitive and user-friendly software for the management of their objects in the public space (Cadac Catalog), the display of various types of data on a topographical map (Cadac Carto) and the application of the Environment and Planning Act (Cadac Compass).

The answer is SaaS, the service with which we at Cadac have been facilitating industry, construction and infrastructure and now also the government for many years. Software on the servers, in other words. Users log in and can work with the software, without any problems. The supplier takes care of maintenance, of course in the Cloud. A step we had to and wanted to take with the former NedGraphics. Joining the Cadac platform, finally taking advantage of the synergy benefits. And from 2023, haste was required. Logical perhaps, but it was a process that took a lot of energy and also led to the departure of valued employees with a long track record. Not everyone could or wanted to go along with the change. 

Cadac software

The second central goal was to develop more Cadac software. As Cadac, we are a Platinum Partner in Europe of software giant Autodesk from the US, a specialist in design and engineering software. But it is vital for us to have Cadac software; Cadac Intellectual Property. In 2023, we therefore set up a DevOps department consisting of about eight dedicated software teams, each with their own development domain. In our opinion, each team has the ideal size between five and ten developers. A completely different approach than before, which was mainly characterised by an overly large and cumbersome development department in which a lot of time was lost in communication and consultation, and on the other hand the "one-man-bands" with all the associated vulnerabilities. Again, easy to say, but a big change for our people.

Now, two years later, we have fortunately proven that the above approach has worked. All DevOps teams have delivered and the software is now being rolled out to our customers, which is completely renewed in many areas. We provide all Cadac software as a service, running on the Microsoft Azure Cloud and with a renewed user-friendly and recognisable Cadac interface. To guarantee the security of our customers' data, Cadac meets the highest security standards, partly guaranteed by the ISO 27001 certificate acquired in 2024. I am very proud of the above achievements because all our Cadac software is now fully up to date and ready for the next wave of innovation: AI. If we hadn't updated our Cadac software in time, it would have been impossible to ride this wave. 

One platform; u-turn with Sales 

Another complicated process that mainly took place behind the scenes, but had a major impact: the construction of one e-commerce platform for all our customers. One place to buy or renew software licenses, book advice and consultancy, and get support. A technical operation that cost blood, sweat and tears. And just when you have all the systems live, Autodesk decides to switch to its New Buying Experience. All Autodesk software is provided directly by Autodesk to the customer, and Cadac receives a commission for its sales efforts. A change that would have an impact on many of our internal processes. Yet this change was also the reason to see new opportunities and hopefully respond to them smarter than our competition. An important decision was to handle our data in a different way. But before we would benefit from this, we first had to collect and inventory all available data. We have collected all available data from Autodesk, Cadac CRM, the Cadac website, etc. in our Databricks-based data warehouse. This was not an easy process, but we are now reaping the benefits of this investment. We are getting better and better at defining standard questions that guide us in sales and marketing based on the available data. The Cadac Digital Advisor and the Cadac Sales Avatar are the first AI tools that help our sales advisers to advise the customer even better.

And then there was the u-turn with sales. In 2023 and 2024, Cadac definitively transformed from a supplier of Autodesk software with associated services to a Cadac software house with related services within the Autodesk ecosystem. The focus on Cadac software is the reason for our customers to continue to buy Autodesk software from us. This seemingly negative change for the development of our Autodesk revenues therefore turns out to be mainly beneficial for Autodesk in practice. Autodesk software is for sale everywhere, in order to stay in business and compete, we had to focus entirely on the Cadac software and its added value. Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ), Product and Asset Lifecycle Management, Chain Integration, just a few topics that our sales advisers should be able to exchange ideas with our customers. Because we also have to distinguish ourselves during the sales process on the basis of knowledge, quality and drive. Not something that all our sales advisers were suitable for.

International expansion 

And then there were and are our international plans. Our market position in the Dutch-speaking Benelux has traditionally been strong, but we want to grow in Europe. Initially, we tried to approach the European market with an international call centre from the head office in Heerlen. In practice, however, the distance between prospect and Cadac turned out to be too great. Local presence is a precondition for success in our business. That is why we started looking for local strategic partners, the Cadac Affiliate Partners. Entrepreneurs who want to help build the Cadac brand within the Autodesk world through a kind of franchise construction. We already have Cadac Affiliate Partners in various countries within Europe and are on the verge of rolling out the programme further. This also requires a lot of effort and flexibility. The Cadac Affiliates strategy includes an ambitious growth scenario started in 2023 and for which we have fortunately recently received full support from Autodesk. Autodesk values regional partners and understands very well that the market requires customisation and not necessarily mass.

Less turnover, rare loss

We didn't publicise it, but all the changes left deep scars in our organisation and results. For the first time in 25 years, we suffered a loss in 2023, which was rare for Cadac and something we had not factored in. Reorganization and innovation costs a lot of money, that much is clear. Revenue fell by around 15-20 percent in 2023 to around 50 million and the loss was around one million euros. Reason to doubt our strategy? No, we were convinced of our new course, although it is difficult as a DGA to stay true to your strategy if the company suffers a loss. Fortunately, we saw a positive turnaround fairly quickly in 2024. Long story short: at the beginning of 2023 we were in the valley and looked up to the mountain peaks, at Christmas last year we had a fantastic view from those same peaks. The number of customers had grown, we sold more Cadac software, the market knew how to find us better, the Cadac organisation is in order and turnover will have increased by fifty percent to around 75 million in 2024, the profit level is back to normal and even at an "all-time high". We have made our turn, we are "future-proof".

Are we done then? No, we never are. Time does not stand still anywhere and certainly not in our world. Autodesk has strong growth ambitions, they want to double their turnover in the next five years, we have to realise this with them. We know from experience that Autodesk's growth also works out well for our Cadac software. In 2025, we will intensify the acquisition of Cadac Affiliates in Europe. The focus on creating additional value for our customers by developing innovative Cadac software remains a top priority. We are going to investigate what AI means to us, how we can use it. Not easy, but we have a grip on our data, all software is SaaS-based and those are two absolute conditions for taking the next steps with AI. The first applications are already live. The Cadac Digital Advisor, for example, which advises customers on choosing the most optimal software licensing structure. 

Cadac Group and Autodesk in Munchen 2025

The train is running

We will grow again, also in manpower. Talent is always welcome with us, although we are mainly looking for people who want to work together (in the office) and are not afraid to take initiative, who are agile and have change as second nature. We find them too; because Cadac is seen as very innovative, ambitious and therefore attractive as an employer. This was also recently confirmed by the entire Autodesk board with which the Cadac Group management shared its joint plans at the end of January 2025. According to insiders at Autodesk, Cadac Group is considered a blueprint for the ideal Autodesk Partner. Next year, Cadac Group will celebrate its 40th anniversary. Just like for 2025, we expect a lot from 2026 and 2027. The track has been laid, the train is moving.

Would you like to know more about Cadac and our impact? Visit our 'About Us' page for more information and figures. Do you have any questions? Feel free to contact us.

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